Author: Pastor Mike

The Kitchen Table Devotional

David Day 45

Then Saul clothed David with his garments and put a bronze helmet on his head, and he clothed him with armor. 39 David girded his sword over his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. So David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” And David took them off.

1 Samuel 17:38-39

Some people just can’t take “no” for an answer. Even after agreeing they will try to dress you up in their attire. Looking the part can really feel good but it’s not good. Real victories take more than looks. People won’t put their faith in you until they see your faith on you. Faith comes by hearing but trust, for most, comes by seeing. Live out what you believe in. A testimony is invaluable in building trust. Trust isn’t something we get because we want it, it’s something we all must earn. Today, listen to what others say but live what you believe.

The Kitchen Table Devotional

David Day 43

But David said to Saul, “Your servant was tending his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went out after him and attacked him, and rescued it from his mouth; and when he rose up against me, I seized him by his beard and struck him and killed him. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted the armies of the living God.”

1 Samuel 17:34-36

Remember your testimonies of God’s power and faithfulness. People like to remember their tales from the past, but your testimonies of God’s hand and heart in your life will allow you to take on life’s challenges. Let your testimonies carry you into tomorrow. Need a testimony? Surrender your life to Jesus and surrender your life to His love, starting now.

The Kitchen Table Devotional

David Day 42

Then Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth.”

 1 Samuel 17:33

Never forget that faith comes by hearing.  We hear and then we see.  Many say, “Show me, and then I’ll believe.”  God says, “Believe and I will show you.”  David had heard both God and Goliath and because he heard God, he could see what Goliath and Saul couldn’t.  Many people will have a lot of reasons for why you can’t or won’t but you’ll never go wrong trusting God.  Saul depends on the tests of man but you have the testimony of God.

The Kitchen Table Devotional

King David Day 41

When the words which David spoke were heard, they told them to Saul, and he sent for him. ³² David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail on account of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”

 1 Samuel 17:31-32

Death and life are in the power of the tongue (Prov 18:21).  Never underestimate the power of a word of faith.  In a world of fear, many hearts are just looking for something to believe in.  People have just as much capacity to repeat faith as fear, especially when life is fearful and somebody else has the courage to speak it.  When they heard David, they repeated it, and David’s word of faith gained power to change the world they were all living in.  You can be that catalyst of change too.  Speak Jesus!

The Kitchen Table Devotional

King David Day 39

Now Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger burned against David and he said, “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your insolence and the wickedness of your heart; for you have come down in order to see the battle.” ²⁹ But David said, “What have I done now? Was it not just a question?” ³⁰ Then he turned away from him to another and said the same thing; and the people answered the same thing as before.

 1 Samuel 17:28-30

Faith is offensive to those who don’t have it.  People with faith have optimism and opportunity.  People without faith are left with obscurity and offense.  Keep the faithless accountable and your faith functional.  Take God at His word.

The Kitchen Table Devotional

King David Day 37

When all the men of Israel saw the man, they fled from him and were greatly afraid. ²⁵ The men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who is coming up? Surely he is coming up to defy Israel. And it will be that the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father’s house free in Israel.”

 1 Samuel 17:24-25

There is fear in what we see and faith in what we hear.  Faith comes by hearing… (Romans 10:17).  What they saw made them dart but what they heard made them dream.  Your spirit lives on what it hears.  David measured life by what he had heard but the men of Israel measured life by what they saw.  The enemy loves to distract us by what we see.  God determines us through what we hear.

The Kitchen Table Devotional

David Day 36

As he was talking with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine from Gath named Goliath, was coming up from the army of the Philistines, and he spoke these same words; and David heard them.

 1 Samuel 17:23 You won’t know your real enemy by what you see but by what you hear.  You could say the same thing about your leader.  Jesus said that out of the mouth, the heart speaks.  A man isn’t an enemy because he is big, boastful, or bad, he’s becomes an enemy when he threatens what you know and believe to be true.  It might be that the person who is close to you is really the enemy of you.  Listen to their words but believe God’s word.  Words open a window to the heart.

The Kitchen Table Devotional

David Day 35

Again the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day; give me a man that we may fight together.” ¹¹ When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

 1 Samuel 17:10-11

There’s only one reason to be afraid.  There may be other reasons to be wise but only one reason to be afraid.  Never go by yourself.  Your enemy is at his best when you are by yourself.  And we so quickly agree with our enemies’ demands.  Saul, and every man in his army, were afraid because they accepted the terms of the tyrant.  David would go out there, but not by himself.  He’d take the Holy Spirit with him.  You can too! 

The Kitchen Table Devotional

David  Day 34

He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel and said to them, “Why do you come out to draw up in battle array? Am I not the Philistine and you servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves and let him come down to me.

 1 Samuel 17:8

Your enemy is so predictable.  He works to keep the fight physical only by addressing and appealing to your human senses.  Look at me, listen to me, lose to me, or die.  The enemy wants you to look down, look out, and even look in but he doesn’t want you looking up.  Keeping this fight horizontal is critical to his plan.  We’re not just servants of the king, we’re servants of the King of kings.  Never forget, that God gives us a vertical option in this horizontal world.