Faithful, Fearless and Fighting Spirit

Reading: II Samuel 23:8 - 12

When we look at the account of the mighty men of David we see that Eleazar, son of Dodai the Ahohite was one of the three. This is mentioned in verse9. The three qualities of this mighty man of David were:

1. Eleazar was a Faithful man
2. Eleazar was a Fearless man
3. Eleazar was a man who was full of Fighting spirit

He remained with his master – David during his time of difficulty and crisis. He never left him according to verse10. When others retreated he stood his ground and struck down the Philistines with his sword. We see the quality of faithfulness in Eleazar here.

Secondly he was a Fearless man. He did not run at the time of battle but he fought fearlessly against the enemy – the Philistines. He fought till his hand grew tired. He did not fear the great army of the Philistines but persevered till they got victory.

Thirdly and lastly, Eleazar was a man with full of Fighting Spirit. He consistently fought and it is written in verse 10 that his hand froze to the sword. He kept on fighting till the LORD brought about a great victory that day.

Lesson to learn and implement:

What about us? As God’s children we ought to be faithful, fearless and of a Fighting spirit. People should testify about us that if they assign a task to us, then we will surely and faithfully complete it. They should also trust us to be fearless people, who will not grow weary and tired till we accomplish the given task. Lastly they should have that testimony about the children of God that we have a fighting spirit. That we will be people of victory and will fight till the battle is won.

By Steven Christian

The Remnant

They that feared the LORD spoke often one to another and the LORD hearkened… and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon His name.

Malachi 3:16

Malachi the prophet looks at the qualities of the Remnant and we have a lesson here to learn from that group of people:

1. They that feared the LORD – Proverbs 23:17; Psalms 111:10

Fearing the LORD is a lost jewel and sounds an out-of-date talk to us and hence we are not being able to live life to the fullest. Solomon reminds us in Proverbs that the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding (Prov.9:10). He also says before this about the benefits of the fear of the LORD in Chapter 8:13a: to fear the LORD is to hate evil. Again in chapter 10:27 he exhorts: the fear of the LORD adds length to life, but the years of the wicked are cut short.

2. They spoke one to another – Romans 12:10,16

Malachi points the other quality of the Remnant as that of fellowship. They spoke one to another. This helped them to remain focused on their calling. They could celebrate about their growth and were helped in the areas of hindrances in their walk with the LORD. They became accountable one to another about their lives and shared with openness and assurance that their sharing will only lead to building them up in their spiritual relationship with the LORD as well as with each other.

3. They thought upon His name – Daniel 11:32

The third and the last quality of the Remnant is that they kept thinking upon their LORD’s name. The focus of their talks and personal lives was Jesus Christ and the upon His name. What was the significance of His name to them was always on their mind. They reminded themselves about the great I AM God they worshiped. They also eagerly awaited the promised Messiah. Their lives spoke volumes about their awaiting their promised Saviour.

Let’s all look at our own lives in the light of the above and we will be able to enjoy the benefits of the same. We will then be His witness to this wounded world. We will make sense to them then.

Mr. Steven Christian
(Cell Group Leader)

From Old to New

We are thankful to God for His faithfulness to us during our successes & failures, joys & sorrows, good times & bad times in 2008. We are thankful to Him for His promise of being with us – Immanuel in this New Year 2009!

None of us would have dressed ourselves with OLD clothes on the Christmas or even on the NEW Year day. Then why do many of us still struggle to live the NEW life that Christ offers to us? Or in other words why have we not put off the OLD self in this NEW Year?

All this emphasizes on the two words – the OLD and the NEW.

The Bible reminds us in:
II Corinthians 5:17: Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a NEW creation, the OLD has gone, the NEW has come.

We praise God that since we are in Him, we are already a NEW creation. But that implies that the OLD self in us has to give way to the NEW self in us. St. Paul in his epistle to the Ephesians 2:1-10 talks about our OLD life and the word but in the 4th verse makes a radical change… but because of His love for us and His rich mercy He accepted our OLD state of death in sin. He has then given us a place with Jesus Christ in heaven and has seated us there in Him.

God has done what was required by offering us SALVATION in and through Jesus Christ. Now it’s our turn to live in this NEW identity. We are exhorted again by the apostle Paul in Ephesians 4:22-24 to become NEW in our minds. To put off the OLD self and then put on the NEW self is what God desires from us in this NEW year of 2009. Paul also talks about this even in his epistle to the Romans in Chapter 6:6-14.

No one likes the OLD things but the NEW ones. In the same manner, as we have begun this NEW year of 2009, God reminds us that when He has made us NEW through Christ, it’s time we start living in that identity.

Putting on CHRIST is synonymous to putting on the NEW self. Romans 13:14 says: “Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”

By Bro. Steven Christian