Sometimes I am David and sometimes I’m Saul. The two handled things really differently because they had two different relationships with God.
Sometimes I’m in the valley of Elah dismayed and terrified like in 1 Samuel 17. In verse 11. “On hearing the words of the Philistine, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and greatly afraid.” When I face giants, I can get scared. OK so maybe my giants aren’t 9 foot 9” Nephilim (read Genesis 6) offspring, but they are pretty big and definitely inspired by the evil one.
When I am in the valley of Elah, I have a choice: cower in fear or stand in faith. I can let the demonspawn win and cripple me with fear or I can look to Heaven and say to God “I need you to handle this.” Life is full of choices and we must make our choice: faith or fear.
The battlefield is a scary place, and in first Samuel 17, the Philistine taunted the Israelites. He mocked them. Sometimes we get that treatment when we follow the Lord. People will belittle us and everything about us. The world doesn’t get us and hates us, but so do people controlled by a religious spirit.
I don’t see demons around every corner, but I do see their effect on people. The spirit of religion tells people that they are good people and they are okay because they go to church and pray. Well, Muslims and Buddhists do that! I am sure they are not in a relationship with Jesus. You can go to church and still not have a right relationship with God. You can have a whole choir full of unsaved religious people.
The spirit of religion blinds people and throws up roadblocks. If you can accept it or not, these are demonic attacks. One example would be you’re at church and the pastor preaches on the necessity of a quiet time with God. You get convicted by the spirit that you need to read the Bible every day. On day one you’re five minutes into your quiet time can you start thinking of all the things that you have to do to not be late for work. The spirit of religion may say something like “ hey you read the Bible that’s a great start that’s enough you’re OK.” And you miss the message that God was going to tell you while you were reading.
As for me, I want to be a David. I want to have a heart after God.
Following Jesus 