This month’s healing service was profound and mind-blowing. God indeed blessed us with His mighty presence which was evident throughout the service. From the inception of service to the end, we are certain healing and deliverances took place. Most importantly, we appreciate God for the numerous souls that accepted Jesus Christ in service, we are hopeful that we will be a mighty instrument to ensure they remain in the faith.

As we progressed in service, we heard testimonies from our brethren of God’s faithfulness. The first testimony was that of Sis Ibiye David from Mile 1 church, who God gave a miracle job after the proclamation of His servant the International Director, during the last healing service. We also heard testimonies from three other brethren.

God’s word was brought forth by the International Director, Pastor Isaac Olori, with the topic “Dealing with your Goliath”. The text was taken from 1 Samuel 17:1-11. “Goliath” from the topic represents those situations and circumstances that are intimidating and overwhelming and also seem insurmountable. Highlights from this sermon include:

The features of Goliath

1. Goliath takes the battle to your territory and puts you on the defense (1 Samuel 17:1). Goliath was in a territory that belonged to the Israelites and as such made the Israelites concede defeat even before he approached to fight. He was also the champion of the Philistines.
2. He was a man of great stature and had a lot of heavy ornaments on his body. He was an intimidating person.
3. Goliath speaks lies. “Am I not a philistines and you servants of (1 Samuel 17:8).” This was not the truth because the children of Israel were the servants of the Most High God. From this, we can see that the enemy speaks lies, in order to make us believe things that are not true. The enemy would want you to remove your eyes from your relationship and connection with God, so you begin to face your problems alone. You must know that you are a child of God and only God can tell who you are.
4. It is evident that some problems will only succumb when they find a man that can confront them, just like Goliath. (1 Samuel 17:9-10; John 5:7).
5. Goliath afflicts with fear and discouragement (1 Samuel 17:11). This made the Israelites dismayed (A sudden loss of courage, overwhelmed and disheartening terror. A sinking fear to render you helpless). However, to contend with Goliath, your spirit must arise because all things are possible with them that believeth.
6. He defied and disdained God’s people.
7. Goliath does not only fight with physical weapons, he fights with his gods (1 Samuel 17:43). He had both physical and spiritual amours. He thought he would win them from the realm of the spirit. Some situations cannot change except we give ourselves to prayer because there are spiritual forces that must be disarmed.

How David approached Goliath

1. David overcame fear and discouragement with courage. David was not considering defeating Goliath because he knew that was sure. When the enemy saw that he could not discourage David through the words of Goliath, he came through his brothers and Saul. Nonetheless, David encouraged the heart of Saul and this was made possible because of his connection with God (1 John 5:4). David drew strength as a result of his covenant relationship with God. There is something inside us that has the capacity to overcome and face any challenge, we must overcome fear.
2. He armed himself with the testimonies of God’s faithfulness. You must arm yourself with the testimonies of God’s faithfulness because it increases your amour over the enemy. The problem God had with the children of Israel was that they forget the things God do for them and so when faced with challenges, they find it difficult to go back to God for help.
3. David recognized the true identity of the enemy (1 Samuel 17:36). Every uncircumcised person has no covenant relationship with God (Ephesians 2:1).
4. David did not fight with a borrowed weapon (1 Samuel 17:40). When fighting Goliath, do not fight with a borrowed armor. We must arm ourselves with the right spiritual armor and choose not to be defiled. David used a smooth stone taken from running water, which signified the presence of the Holy Spirit, and a life void of sin. A rough life full of sin, cannot defeat the enemy. David also knew the secret of the name of God (Proverbs 18:10; Philippians 2:9-11; Acts 3:16).
5. David took a step of faith.

Finally, God is in front of our battles, He only needs us to identify with Him by living a life void of sin and trusting in Him to win the battles for us.