Growing Your Faith Lessons

1. Giant faith has to be prepared beforehand? You don’t just show up one day with Giant faith. Giant faith has to take small steps to gain confidence in order to take bigger steps, in order to take larger steps, in order to take Giant Faith steps. Take David for example:

* Facing Lions and Bears (1 Sam. 17:34-36)

   1. I have courage to undertake it, and strength to perform it.

   2. Both have been tried in a very signal manner:

    a. A lion came upon my flock, and seized a lamb; I ran after him, he attacked

    me, I seized hold of him by his shaggy locks, smote and slew him, and

    delivered the lamb.

    b. A bear came in the same way, and I attacked and slew him.

  3. This, with whom I am to fight, is a Philistine, an uncircumcised man; one who

    is an enemy to God: God therefore will not be on his side. On that ground I

    have nothing to fear.

  4. He has defied the armies of the Lord; and has in effect defied Jehovah himself:   

    therefore, the battle is the Lord’s, and he will stand by me.

  5. I have perfect confidence in his protection and defense; for they that trust in

    him shall never be confounded.

  6. I conclude, therefore, that the Lord, who delivered me out of the paw of the

    lion, and out of the paw of the bear, will deliver me out of the hand of the

    Philistine.

* Facing Family (1 Sm. 17:28) – Eliab knew of the bounty on Goliath. If he could defeat Goliath, he could marry the king’s daughter Michal, the name and prestige that would go along with being a hero, being exempt for taxes, but he would not enjoy all these things being dead. That is how Eliab saw it. David do not care for any of those things, instead this uncircumcised Philistine has defied the one true God and must pay the price. David put God first (Mat. 6:33).

* Facing Giants.1 Sam. 17:41-47 – Facing the lions and bears, facing his family’s taunting of him, has prepared him for this moment. It is taking one step at a time that grows into Giant Faith (Eph. 4:15; 2 Peter 3:18).

* Facing Opposition (your enemies) – 1 Sam. 18:6-16; 1 Sam. 19 – David had enemies all round him. 1) Saul was jealous of David success – and why is that. David was defending God honour, and Saul was cowering in the corner afraid of his own shadow.

2) The Philistines would not just go away, so while dodging the spears of Saul David went to fight for his country in God’s honour. Giant Faith is always defending the Faith.

* Facing Rebellion from your own inner family (2 Sam. 15:6, 13-17; 2 Sam. 18:19-27) – This is where Giant Faith is really tested. Facing lions, bears, brothers, giants, is one thing, but being tested by your intermediate family is another. Samson was to take the throne when David dies – not kill David and then take the throne. David’s training as a father was called into question here. Did I do enough, why was I not a better example to him, why does he hate me so much, etc.?

2.  Who are Giants of the Faith?

The answer to this question is – the believer, the Christian, the child of God, the servant of God; and how much we have to offer Him! There is a sense in which the unbeliever has nothing acceptable to offer to Him – look up and see what Proverbs 15:8 tells us! Before an unbeliever can offer anything to the Lord he must receive salvation from the Lord – look up Psalm 116:12-14; then, having taken the gift of salvation, as a believer he has much to offer to the Lord Jesus; and in each offering that he makes, a statement of faith is also made in the presentation of the offering. What does this involve for the Christian? It involves:

1. Giant Faith are those with Praise and thanksgiving to God (Psalm 116:17; Jeremiah 33:11; and Hebrews 13:15).

2. Giant Faith are obedient (Gen. 12:1-4).

3. Giant Faith will not compromise their walk, faith, or trust in God (Job 13:15; Dan. 3:16-18

4. Giant of faith is not afraid to take on Giant Challenges – From taken on huge animals, an oversized man, to massive responsibility of leading a nation, all lead us to believe that those with Giant Faith is not afraid to take on Giant Issues

These are costly offerings to bring before the Lord, but is He not worthy of the very best? What offering is He calling you to make, what promise? Go through the list above again. Does He ask you to make the promise of faith suggested this lesson? In concluding this study please ponder the great testimony of the Apostle Paul in Philippians 3:4-14.

3.  How are Giants of Faith made?

1. Giant Faith should be made in God’s way. What was God’s way for David? It may be seen in taking responsibility for his personal sins (Ps. 3; 51; 2 Sm. 24) or holding others accountable for their own (Saul, Goliath), We see accountability in him. We learn that all he was doing and contemplating for the Lord was on the basis of his sacrificed life. Whether we come to God to worship Him or to serve Him, there is only one way of approach Him, and that way is by the offering that has been made by our great Sacrifice (Hebrews 10:19-22). Any promise that we make, any declaration of desire and intention to serve the Lord or to give our all to the Lord, is only acceptable on the grounds of Calvary.
2. Giant Faith is made when we sacrifice greatly – We learn this from verses 2 Sm. 24:23, 24. Araunah would have given the threshing-floor and the oxen to David for David to offer a sacrifice to the Lord, but this was not good enough. David must buy them, at a cost, so that he could give sacrificially to the Lord. No-one else could do this for him. It is our offering that the Lord wants, not what someone else gives for us; it is our voluntary act of sacrifice that is pleasing to the Lord.
3. Giant of faith is not afraid to take on Giant Challenges – From taken on huge animals, an oversized man, to massive responsibility of leading a nation, all lead us to believe that those with Giant Faith is not afraid to take on Giant Issues.

These are costly offerings to bring before the Lord, but is He not worthy of the very best? What offering is He calling you to make, what promise? Go through the list above again. Does He ask you to make the promise of faith suggested this lesson? In concluding this study please ponder the great testimony of the Apostle Paul in Philippians 3:4-14. For example, take the question of the giving:

       * Do we sacrifice our time – “I don’t have time to pass out flyers, I don’t have time to teach a class, I don’t have time to come to church, I don’t have time practice for choir, I don’t have time to prepare my sermons. Sounds familiar.  Satan knows he has but a short time. We think we have no time for God, but Satan does more for his kingdom with less time than we do for Gods kingdom.

       * Do we sacrifice our gifts – I know of Christians who have talent, gifts beyond normal, and will not use them for God. But when the boss, school, social gathering, or some other venue comes up they are the “life of the party”, the hero that “saved the day.” What a waste of your spiritual gifts.

       * Do we sacrifice our money – do we give money to the Lord and to His work. Is it not true that many of God’s people pay all their bills, buy their necessities and enjoy their luxuries, and then, if there is anything left over, they give something to the Lord? There is no sacrifice in this kind of giving. The Lord would have us give in a sacrificial way, and any promise that we make to Him must be characterised by sacrifice.