Month: May 2023

The Lord is My Shepherd, Part IV

/ Don McGarvey / Leave a comment

Troy Mills Christian Church

Sunday, May 28, 2023

Text: Psalm 23:4-5

Bible Reading: 2 Samuel 22:2-3 “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. He is my refuge, my savior, the one who save me from violence.” (NLT)

#1—You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

          First,

          Second,

          1 Peter 5:8—Our enemy identified.

          Romans 8:35, 38—Our enemy is defeated.

#2—You anoint my head with oil.

          Solomon 2:5—often, the “little things” get the best of us.

#3—My cup runs over.

          Mark 6:30-44—Five Thousand.

          Mark 8:1-13—Four Thousand.

#4—Surely goodness and mercy.

          Goodness—action on the part of God.

Synonyms for “goodness”—pleasant, beautiful, excellent, lovely, delightful, joyful, fruitful, precious, cheerful, kind, correct, and righteous.

          Mercy/Love—the “Core” of God’s character.

          Psalm 100:5—

#5—I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

The Lord is My Shepherd, Part III

/ Don McGarvey / Leave a comment

Troy Mills Christian Church

Sunday, May 21, 2023

Text: Psalm 23:3-4

Bible Reading: Psalm 34:8-9 “Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him! Fear the Lord, you his godly people, for those who fear him will have all they need.” (NLT)

#1—He restores my soul—

          Ephesians 2:1–

#2—He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake—

          He leads—

          Paths of righteousness—

                    Ephesians 2:10—

          For His name’s sake—

                    Proverbs 18:10—

#3—The valley of the shadow of death—

          Numbers 23:19; Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8

          Psalm 34:19—

          John 16:33—

#4—Your rod and your staff—

Conclusion: No matter what happens to us, we have a shepherd who is always with us; He provides for us; He gently leads us; He fixes us when we get banged up and need to be restored; He protects; and He never changes.

Giant Killers, Part III

/ Don McGarvey / Leave a comment

(This is the script, with a few edits, from the third Giant Killers podcast done on April 25, 2023)

We started off in Numbers 13 where Moses sends 12 men, one from each tribe, into the Promised Land to bring back reports about the people, the crops, and the cities.

You might remember God had already promised to give them the land. I believe the purpose of this excursion was to bring back such a glowing report that it would energize the people of God to continue moving forward. They had spent a lot of time in the desert. They were hot, dusty, and tired. They wanted to see this Promised Land that was flowing with milk and honey.

But that’s not what happened. The crops were great. The land was great. But the cities were fortified and then someone saw giants and everything changed. The giants made them feel like grasshoppers.

Ten members of the group brought negative reports. Their reports were full of negativity, fear, and doubt. Only Joshua and Caleb came back convinced that God would provide the victory over the walled cities and the giants. They were confident of this.

We also discussed David and his encounter with Goliath. We know that God had prepared David for this time by bringing a bear and a lion for David to fight. So, when David faced the giant, he did so with confidence that God would help him just as God had done with the bear and the lion.

Later, we read about some of David’s mighty men and how they faced giants. They defeated the giants and brought about great victory for God’s people.

The truth is that we are all going to have to face giants in our lives. Some of those giants are large and intimidating. Some can cause us to doubt whether we can go on. But we have been given a promise that the same God who was with David and his mighty men will be with us.

There’s a little saying that makes the rounds of social media from time to time about how when we face the giants, we need to focus on how big our God is rather than on how big the giant is.

We also talked about the benefit of hanging around others who have defeated their giants.

The mighty men of David were part of his army. They were loyal to David. They disciplined themselves so they were ready for battle whenever the time came. They didn’t have to go into training, they never stopped training.

There are a couple of other things about being a giant killer that we need to be aware of.

When David was preparing to face Goliath, King Saul called him and forced him to try on his suit of armor.

Now we know Saul was a head taller than most of the Israelis. And his armor would have been made just for him. So, I would imagine when David tried on this armor, it was almost humorous to see. It’s a sure thing it didn’t fit and if David had tried to wear it, he would have been fed to the dogs by Goliath.

Don’t try to be like someone else. Yes, I know I mentioned trying to find a mentor, or a coach to help you. But if they are truly going to help you, they won’t try to make you do everything the way they do. They will help you find your strength, develop your abilities, and help you be what God has created you to be.

Be faithful to the things of God in every part of your life. Don’t try to wear someone else’s armor. You won’t survive.

None of David’s mighty men had walked the same path as David. They all had unique abilities. Different backgrounds in their training. But they all stayed true to who God created them to be.

One more thing about being a giant killer is that it takes determination. We must be committed to the task.

After David discarded Saul’s armor, he picked up his sling and found five smooth stones.

We understand the sling since that was probably a weapon used by a shepherd. But why five smooth stones?

Truthfully, no one knows. It’s all speculation. But it’s an interesting speculation. Perhaps David knew of the four giants referred to 2 Samuel 22. Remember the guy with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot? And Goliath even had a brother.

Maybe those extra smooth stones were for them.

Or maybe picking up five smooth stones to go after Goliath was a picture of determination.

David could have said as he picked up each stone, “I’ll get you with this, but if I miss, I’ll get you with this one……”

In David’s journey, he faced many giants. Some of them were four footed, some had two feet but some of the giants David faced were things within his own self. He had to learn to deal with his own failures. He had to learn to repent. And he had to learn how to find strength in the Lord.

In 1 Samuel 30 we read about the time the Amalekites attacked David’s city. They ransacked the city and burned it down. All the wives and children of David and his men had been taken.

I don’t know why but David’s 400 men turned on David and were talking of stoning him.

In verse 6 of 1 Samuel 30, we read that David is destressed due to all of this but we are told that David found strength in the Lord his God.

I remember one time I decided to try and figure out what it was that David did to find strength in the Lord.

After a couple of hours of researching the original language, reading several commentaries, and going back to some ancient scholars, I still didn’t know what he did.

I just knew that David found whatever it was that he needed to do to find strength in the Lord.

Maybe he prayed. Maybe he played a harp and sang to the Lord. We each need to discover what works for us in tough times and then remember to do what helps us find strength in the Lord.

Always remember our God is bigger than the giants. Our God is faithful! He is mighty! And He is more than able and willing to go before us and give us what we need to defeat the giants in our lives.

The Lord is My Shepherd, Part II

/ Don McGarvey / Leave a comment

Troy Mills Christian Church

Sunday, May 7, 2023

Psalm 23

Bible Reading: 2 Peter 1:3 “By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, he one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.” (NLT)

David was a shepherd….

The shepherd of his father’s flock–

          The shepherd of Israel–

#1—He makes me to lie down.

          John 10:14—

          Zephaniah 3:17—

          Isaiah 49:14-17–

#2—In green pastures.

#3—He leads beside the still waters.

Psalm 23 “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. {2} He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. {3} He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. {4} Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. {5} You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. {6} Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” (NKJV)

Giant Killers, Part II

/ Don McGarvey / Leave a comment

(The following is the script for the second part of our Giant Killers Podcast.)

Last time I wrote about the story of Moses sending out the twelve spies into the Promised Land.

This was not an excursion to see “IF” they could do what God said, but it was an excursion designed to bring back reports of what the land was like, what kind of crops it produced, and what the cities were like.

When the spies returned, they had samples of the produce it was beyond imagination. And the land truly was a land flowing with milk and honey. It was everything they had hoped it would be. But they saw fortified cities. And even worse, they saw giants.

So, ten of the twelve spies said, “No way.” We can’t do it. If Moses is intent on leading us to the Promised Land, then we need to select someone to lead us back to Egypt.

Even though God had told them the land was theirs. And even though God promised to send His angel before them to lead the way and to fight on their behalf, they still said no.

I mentioned last week that I was confident no one could name any of the ten who brought back a negative report. But we could all name the two who said, “We can do this.”

Joshua and Caleb were the two who said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”

Some days it seems as if giants surround us. Things that stand in opposition to the plans God has for us.

We know from Scripture that God’s people had to come against giants.

Giants such as Goliath. You can read about David and Goliath in 1 Samuel 17. Later in 2 Samuel 21, we read about four other giants. They were probably all related to Goliath. One of them was Goliath’s brother but one of David’s mighty men took care of him.

You might remember another of the giants. This one had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. He was the math major of the group.

Anyway, one of David’s brothers took care of him.

I’ve always been fascinated with the idea of being a “giant killer.”

One of the things I’ve learned about giant killers is they are faithful to what God puts in front of them to do. They have learned about the faithfulness of God by being faithful themselves.

David’s mighty men were soldiers. Going to war was what they did. So, it shouldn’t surprise us they encountered these giants. They didn’t try to use someone else’s armor or someone else’s weapons. They stayed true to what God had for them.

It also shouldn’t surprise us they defeated the giants. There are two reasons why they defeated their giants.

First, God was with them. Second, David was their leader. He was their mentor. The example they wanted to follow.

I’ve often thought it was unfortunate that we don’t know more about the Mighty Men of David. We know they took out giants, and defeated armies of enemies. But what got them to that point? They didn’t just go out and pick up a sword and start looking for giants.

David, for example, watched over his father’s sheep. In the process of being a good shepherd, he had to fight a lion and a bear.

He was also a good shot with his sling shot. If this is so, that would mean he had to practice with his sling shot. As best I can figure, those abilities don’t just happen.

I’ve learned several lessons about giant killers from the life of David.

First, if I want to be a giant killer, I need to hang around other giant killers. I need relationships that will build me up, encourage me, challenge me, and keep me accountable.

Find someone who models what it means to be a giant killer. Ask them to mentor you or if you can meet with them periodically. Ask them if you can have phone calls and facetime them or zoom call them. Ask if you can e-mail them or text them. Develop a relationship with them.

I want to take a little rabbit trail here. Occasionally, we need to take stock of who influences us. Who are the ones who influence you? Do they encourage you? Do they challenge you? Do they make you want to be better than you are? Or do they cause you to be discouraged and feel as if you won’t make it?

If there are those who cause you to doubt or feel discouraged, you might consider moving a little further away from them than you have been in the past. In other words, do they pull you down? Are they critical? Do they encourage you to pursue God? Do they encourage you to dream? And to pursue your dreams?

If they don’t do these things, you need to move them out from being influencers in your life.

You don’t have to be mean to them. You don’t even have to quit being friends with them, but you need to stop allowing them to be a toxic influence.

Second, I need to be faithful to the things God puts in my path. Some of things may seem to be “below us.” Some of those things won’t be glamorous. But if we aren’t faithful in the little things, I don’t believe God will open the door for the bigger things.

(The original Podcast can be listened to on the following platforms: Google, Apple, and Spotify.)

Always in Pursuit.

Giants in the Land

/ Don McGarvey / Leave a comment

(This is the script from the first of three podcasts on the subject of Being a Giant Killer the scripts for the other two will be posted over the next couple of days.)

There’s a remarkable story in the Old Testament book of Numbers and chapter 13.

Moses and the nation of Israel were making progress on their trek out of four hundred years of Egyptian slavery. They were headed toward the Promised Land.

God had promised Abraham, the very first Jew, that He would give Abraham’s descendants this land. And now it was close to happening.

If we read Numbers 13, I think we will come up with the idea that this excursion by the twelve was not so much to see if they could take the land, after all God had already promised to give them the land. Instead, the purpose of this excursion was to answer the questions found in Numbers 13:18-20.

Here’s what Moses told them to look for.

#1—Were the people strong or weak.

#2—Was the land good or bad.

#3—What were the cities like? Were they like camps or walled cities?

#4—Was the land rich or poor?

#5—Were there forests or was the land bare?

They came back with glowing reports about the rich soil and the crops it produced.

They came back saying the land was truly a land flowing with milk and honey!

After this though, their report changed. The cities were fortified. And someone saw giants.

The giants made them feel like grasshoppers and ten of the men came back saying they would not be able to take the land.

Two, Joshua and Caleb, argued. They said, “we should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”

When the ten saw the giants and the fortified cities, they forgot what God had promised.

Two time in Exodus, God promises to give them the land. In Exodus 6:4, God promised Moses and established a covenant with him to give the land of Canaan to the Israelis.

This was also the land God promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Then later in Exodus 23, God promised to send His angel ahead of them and he would bring them into the land.

But they forgot these words. The giants and the fortified cities caused them to forget.

As I was reading Numbers 14, I came to verse twenty-three. Listen: “not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors. No one who had treated me with contempt will ever see it.”

Doubting God’s Word seems to be likened to treating God with “contempt.”

They were willfully doubting God. They were willfully disobeying what God had instructed them to do. They were in contempt of God and His Word.

Pretty scary, isn’t it?

Have you noticed there are still some giants in the land? And there are some places God wants us to take for His Kingdom that are fortified with intimidating walls. It looks as though there is no way for us to overcome it. But we must remember what the promise of God is. The promise of God is that He will go before us, He will lead the way, and He will give us victory.

Just as God sent His angel ahead of Israel, I’m convinced that God will send His angel or angels before us and that through Him we will overcome.

There were other giants mentioned in the Bible.

We all know the story of David and the giant Goliath.

David didn’t pay as much attention to the size of Goliath as he did to the size of his God.

I was reading the biblical account of David defeating Goliath once and the thought came to me that this might not be a fair fight.

Listen to what David said to Goliath, perhaps the last words Goliath ever heard. David said, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, who you have defied……”

Goliath wasn’t the only giant mentioned in the Bible.

In 2 Samuel 21, you will discover four more giants.

These giants were all related. Even Goliath had a brother who was defeated by David’s brother.

The one that intrigues me is the guy with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. He might have been a math major.

These giants were all evil. They were intent upon destroying God’s people, causing fear and doubt to arise. Remember, fear and doubt left unchecked leads to contempt of God. At least it did for ten of the twelve spies. And they died in the desert.

But just as God had promised Israel victory over the giants of the Promised Land, and just as He gave victory to David and his mighty men over Goliath and his family, God will help us and lead us to victory, if we will follow Him.

Just as the giants had things in common, the giant killers had things in common too.

But that will be where we start next time.

(You can listen to the podcast, “Take Ten with Pastor Don) every week on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.)