Benaiah And Courage

Let me continue with sharing on David’s Mighty Men of David from 2nd Samuel 23 and in this post we will look at verses 20-23: ²⁰ Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done mighty deeds, killed the two sons of Ariel of Moab. He also went down and killed a lion in the middle of a pit on a snowy day. ²¹ He killed an Egyptian, an impressive man. Now the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, but he went down to him with a club and snatched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear. ²² These things Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did, and had a name as well as the three mighty men. ²³ He was honored among the thirty, but he did not attain to the three. And David appointed him over his guard.

I must confess, my favorite among David’s mighty men is Benaiah. He was the son of a valiant man name Johoida who had done mighty deeds himself. Benaiah killed two sons of Ariel of Moab which compared to the other mighty men who had killed 300 enemies may not seem that impressive, but there’s much more that Benaiah did.

We read here that he descended into a pit on a snowy day to kill a lion and succeeded! Thinking this through, does this sound like something you would really want to do? What do you think the odds would be if you were to fight a lion? How about fighting a lion in a pit? How about in the pit with a lion on a snow covered floor? Most people in their right mind run from lions not chase after them. The Bible does not tell us if Benaiah had any sort of weapon but do you think it would have really mattered? Weapon or not weapon this was more than dangerous. In spite of all the obstacles and difficulties, Benaiah succeeded and his courage clearly is seen in the act.

But there is yet another incident which our author reports where Benaiah battled an impressive Egyptian man. The problem for Benaiah was that he encountered this impressive fellow at a time when he had no weapons. The Egyptian had a spear like that of Goliath and was eager to do battle with Benaiah. Benaiah went down to the Egyptian, with only a club in his hand and taking the Egyptian’s spear from his hand, Benaiah then proceeded to finish him off with his own weapon, not unlike the way David killed Goliath with his own sword. He was a courageous warrior and a man who fought for his King!

The amazing thing about Benaiah is that he was the son of a levitical priest which would put him in line to be a priest – 1 Chronicles 27:5 tells us this: The third commander of the army for the third month was Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada the priest, as chief; and in his division were 24,000. We would not expect a levitical priest to take on lion or to take on others and fight anyone for that matter. Here was a priest willing to dirty his hands and put his faith into practice. Perhaps it was as a reward for his faithful service that David put him in charge of his bodyguard. Benaiah was a man of great courage – like we should all be but are we? Are we willing to step into dangerous places and allow the Lord to work? Are you willing be courageous for Christ? Sadly, many are not willing to step out. Many are unwilling to show their courage. Will you?

How are you currently stepping out in courage right now?

I apologize for the slackness in posts and in responding but live is moving quickly right now – been preaching revival services,  preparing sermons, visiting the hospitals, ect.  – it has been crazy – praying for a slower weekend.

Mighty

In Chapter 23 of  2 Samuel we see some of David’s Mighty Men and their courageous acts looked at by the writer.  This week, I hope to post on them  because in them we can see the courage that these men had but more than that we can see how mighty our God is.

Take a moment and look 2 Samuel 23 verses 8-12: These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite, chief of the captains, he was called Adino the Eznite, because of eight hundred slain by him at one time; and after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there to battle and the men of Israel had withdrawn.  He arose and struck the Philistines until his hand was weary and clung to the sword, and the Lord brought about a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to strip the slain. ¹¹ Now after him was Shammah the son of Agee a Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered into a troop where there was a plot of ground full of lentils, and the people fled from the Philistines. But he took his stand in the midst of the plot, defended it and struck the Philistines; and the Lord brought about a great victory.

Here we see David’s three mightiest men. They are Josheb, Eleazar, and Shammah. First there is Josheb. Now with him there is a little controversy over how many enemies he killed. Here it says 800 and in Chronicles it says 300 – I have no idea which is the right number – but most likely one is a copyist error. Regardless if he killed 300 or 800 – it is a huge number of people to kill in a day! He is certainly a real warrior and courageous man who fought for his king!

Then we have Eleazar who was fighting with David against the Philistines. Apparently the Philistines were prevailing over the Israelites, at least through the eyes of many of the Israelite soldiers who fled before them. Eleazar seems to have been defending a field full of barley, which the Philistines may have intended to plunder or destroy. Eleazar is fighting alongside David, even though everyone else had fled – these two courageous men stood their ground. The Philistines fell before Eleazar, and he continued to fight to the point that his hand cramped, frozen to the sword. The battle was won, due in part to the courage and perseverance of Eleazar. When the people returned to the site of the battle, all that remained to do was to strip the dead of the spoils. Eleazar fought for his king and stood his ground!

The third of the big “three” is Shammah, the son of Agee. On this occasion, the Philistines were once again doing battle with the Israelites. They gathered for battle where a plot of land had a crop of lentils growing. Once again, it seems the Philistines want to deprive the Israelites of their crops. To win this plot of ground was to obtain necessary supplies and to deprive Israel of them. The people fled from the Philistines, but Shammah stood his ground and striking down a number of the Philistines. Again, a great act of courage showing love for king and country!

There is more to each of these stories because I left out a piece that is mentioned in verse 10 and in verse 12 which is: the Lord brought about a great victory that day. These men showed courage and because they did – God brought about a great victory! It is God who brings the victory. Every blessing, every victory, anything we have is brought about by God – never forget that but also do not forget that you also have to be sensitive enough to do as the Lord directs. You have to step out in courage. Are you willing to swallow your pride and step out in courage so that the Lord can bring about the victory in and through you? Are you willing to do that uncomfortable and right thing so that the Lord can work? The Lord will bring about the victory in your life as long as you are courageously putting yourself the position for Him to work! It is time that we did put ourselves in position for Him to work! Are you doing it – I challenge you to begin even now!

How are you putting yourself in a position for God to work?  What are you doing right now to put yourself in the position for God to bring you the victory?

It takes Courage!

I saw this liked it and wanted to share it:

IT TAKES COURAGE – Author Unknown

It takes strength to be firm,
It takes courage to be gentle.

It takes strength to conquer,
It takes courage to surrender.

It takes strength to be certain,
It takes courage to have doubt.

It takes strength to fit in,
It takes courage to stand out.

It takes strength to feel a friend’s pain,
It takes courage to feel your own pain.

It takes strength to endure abuse,
It takes courage to stop it.

It takes strength to stand alone,
It takes courage to lean on another.

It takes strength to love,
It takes courage to be loved.

It takes strength to survive,
It takes courage to live.

I like this poem but I love what these have to say about courage:

Deuteronomy 31:6
Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you. – (NKJV)

Joshua 1:3-9
I promise you what I promised Moses: ‘Wherever you set foot, you will be on land I have given you … No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you.

Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. (NLT)

1 Chronicles 28:20
David also said to Solomon his son, "Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the LORD is finished. (NIV)

1 Corinthians 16:13
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. (NIV)

These are some of my favorite verses on courage – what is your favorite Bible verse on courage?

Courageous Christian Life

Joshua 1:6 – 9  "Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.  "Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go.  "This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.  "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."

Look at the phrase: be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you: Joshua must take great care to observe the law. God’s word and Joshua’s commitment to it would be the pillars supporting his success. If we desire to be men and women of Christian courage then we must take care to know what is in the Word of God and we must make the commitment to live by. We must take time to read it daily. We must take time to know it and study it. We are not doing this out of duty or because we have gotten up at this time for the last 20 years and done it this way but we do it out of deep love for Christ. I also want you to see that Joshua did not only need to read God’s word. It had to be on his lips (shall not depart from your mouth), and it was in his mind (meditate in it day and night). Be sure to know and live out the Word of God if you wish to live the courageous Christian life. 

Then we have the phrase:  For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success: Obedience to God’s Word is a guarantee of Christian success but not that it promises a life without problems as we already discussed, but it does insure a life able to deal with anything, because it takes full advantage of God’s presence and promises. Something else to add to this and that is Christian success is not measured by the same standards as the world’s success. Even if the world considers us as sheep for the slaughter, we are actually more than conquerors through Him who loved us (Romans 8:36-37).

We also then see this phrase: For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go: The final encouragement, repeated from Joshua 1:5, reminds us that Joshua’s success did not depend solely on his ability to keep God’s Word. It depended even more on God’s presence with him. The same is true for all of us. We need not be dependent on self at all but wholly on God.

Friends, there is just as great a need for people to stand for the Lord now as there was in the days Joshua! All around us, Christians are falling by the wayside. What we need is for God’s people to be moved in the depths of their souls to stand up, renew their commitments to the Lord and say, "By God’s help, I’ll stand and not fall all the days of my life! I will commit to living the Courageous Christian life."

How would you define living the Courageous Christian Life?

Courage and Obedience

Joshua 1:1-4 – 1 Now it came about after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, that the LORD spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant, saying, 2 "Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. 3 "Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses. 4 "From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory.

So what do we see here: We see that Moses has died and God reminds Joshua of this fact. I am sure that Joshua is well aware of this fact because of the death of Moses, Joshua is now in charge. Have you ever been in a position at work or somewhere else where the main person is sick or held up for some reason and now all the sudden you are in charge? You might have been training for that day to come but when it comes – it can take your breath away and sometimes your courage along with it. All the sudden you are standing there with all the responsibility squarely on you. That is the position that Joshua is in – now all the responsibility of leading the people of Israel is squarely on his shoulders.

So God reminds Joshua that Moses dead but also reminds him that He has given them land. There is land right there that is for the taking and all the need to do is go and get it. Joshua is commanded to lead the people into Canaan to claim the land that they had been promised by the Lord. The land was given to them back in Gen. 12:7 and the promise was reaffirmed to every succeeding generation of the nation of Israel. The land was their land! There was no need for them to continue their wandering around in the wilderness. They had a land, all they had to do was to go and take it!

I look around me as I go through my weeks and I see Christians who are defeated, who struggle with sins, who, for all intents and purposes are wandering around in a spiritual wilderness living in fear. It does not have to be that way! God has promised you and I can live in victory but the caveat is that you must live in obedience to Him. Just read verses like 2 Corinthians 2:14 which says: But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. Or read verses like Rom. 8:37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. I believe with all my heart that God did not save you to see you defeated! Most of the time, we are defeated because we refuse to walk in obedience! I am talking about living a life of obedience to Christ which in turn leads us to triumph in Christ and conquering through Him. Let us live the obedient life! Living in obedience is the start to being a courageous Christian.

Have you ever found yourself with responsibility square on your shoulders when you did not expect it?  Have you lived in defeat rather than in obedience?

Cowards Claiming Courage!

2nd Samuel 4: 5- 8 5 So the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, departed and came to the house of Ish-bosheth in the heat of the day while he was taking his midday rest. 6 They came to the middle of the house as if to get wheat, and they struck him in the belly; and Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped. 7 Now when they came into the house, as he was lying on his bed in his bedroom, they struck him and killed him and beheaded him. And they took his head and traveled by way of the Arabah all night. 8 Then they brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron and said to the king, "Behold, the head of Ish-bosheth the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life; thus the LORD has given my lord the king vengeance this day on Saul and his descendants."

Ishbosheth is taking a siesta or his afternoon nap. This dynamic duo slips in the building like they are going to get grain but they go to Ishbosheth’s room. They go into this room where he is sleeping and stab him in the stomach. They slip out of there but before doing so they cut off his head. They carry the head with them and head across the valley to the other kingdom. They then give David the head as a present and think that they will be handsomely rewarded for there getting rid of Ishbosheth. Then they claim that they were used by God to make David the king over the entire kingdom because there are no more heirs to the throne but little do they know that there is still Mephibosheth. They also say that God has given David revenge on Saul and his entire family.

First thing, as we have been talking about courage this week, we see here two men who lack courage in one way and who foolishly think they are showing courage in another. These two guys instead of having the courage to kill Ishbosheth in a battle or overthrow his government in any other way sneak in and kill the man while he sleeps. This is for certain a pretty uncourageous or cowardly thing to do.

You see though we do the same type of things just in different ways. We talk about people behind their backs to try to kill them with sneak attacks. We do not say things to people’s faces but we whisper sarcastic and rude comments to people about others. We think we are being courageous in saying something but the truth be told we are acting very cowardly.

Secondly they then go to David and foolishly think David is going to see what they did as courageous. They just did something uncourageous and now try to make it seem as though it was some type of great courageous act that God had a part in.

These two guys try to pin their uncourageous acts on God.  Let us never be cowardly claiming to be courageous like this dynamic duo do!  How often do we end up blaming God for the uncourageous things that we do and say that it is what God would have us do?  It is sad but it happens.

I encourage you to practice true courage and that is aligning yourself with God and doing what He calls us to do.  He calls us to be brokers of grace, mercy, and love – to live life like that is truly courageous!

Have you ever seen cowards claiming courage?  What are your thoughts on courage and cowardice? 

Courage or Control?

1 Now when Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he lost courage, and all Israel was disturbed.

The other day we looked at this verse and looked at Ishbosheth and his losing courage.  When we look at the people of the kingdom, they become paralyzed with fear or disturbed or trouble.  In other words – they too lost courage.  When you have no faith and things go wrong you become unable to move and you are stuck. The reason that I would guess that they have no courage is because they really lacked faith in God or they felt like they lacked control. Control and courage do not fit together – people follow courageous leaders and rebel under ones who try to control them.

Thinking about courage and control  and our lives, think about this:  if we really trusted God with our finances we would treat them the way God wants us too but most people want to control their finances themselves rather than allow God to work through their finances. If we really trusted God then we would not be stuck in fear when it comes to sharing the gospel. We lose courage because we cannot control the situation and know how someone will react if we present the gospel to them. Are you beginning to see the connection between courage and control and God?

We will often block God because we want control which is because we do not have the courage to follow God to do whatever He wills. Where is it in your life that you have no courage and you want to control things in your life? Is it at home? Is it at Church? Is it with your kids? Is it with your husband or wife? Where have you substituted control for courage?

It is cowardice and not courage to have to be in control. Courage is taking the action to have God be in control. Are you Courageous or a Controller? If you are a controller – you need to work on courageously turning things over to God.

Now it is your turn to let me know what you think about courage and control.

Courage–what is it?

So let me ask, what is courage?

The dictionary defines it as: Mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty. I define it this way: Courage is the ability to move forward in the face of things that are fearful but all the while you are trusting in God to have His will be done.

The Word of God tells us that we need to have courage! Look at Joshua chapter 1. There are four times in this chapter where Joshua is told to be strong and courageous. In verse 9 of Joshua 1 we read this: "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."

We need to align ourselves with God. Follow what he tells us to do. When things do not go our way, we need to not be afraid or dismayed. Why? Because of this: for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go. This is where we find our courage. This is where we find the strength to face those things which are fearful for us. The fact is that when we align our lives with God then He is with us wherever we go. It comes down to the fact that we need to be aligned with God and when we are, we know He is with us, and we know we can make it through!

So let me ask you:  do have courage?  Do you have the ability to move forward in the face of things that are fear but you are trusting in God to have His will be done?  Do you see the connection between courage and having a life aligned with God?  How would you define courage?

Your turn.

…Lost Courage…

2^nd Samuel 4: 1 Now when Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he lost courage, and all Israel was disturbed.

Ishbosheth had no power in the country because Abner was the one who were really running things. Ishbosheth hears of the death of Abner who was really the true strength of the kingdom and he lost his courage – verse one literally says that he lost courage.

Anytime that courage is talked about my mind goes to the Wizard of Oz – I think it is because for a long time when my daughter was young it was her favorite movie and we watched it over and over and over. In the movie we meet the Cowardly Lion.

Courage was what the Cowardly Lion wanted to get from the Wizard of Oz. When Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and the Tin Man first meet the Cowardly Lion he comes across as being very courageous. This, of course, doesn’t last long when Dorothy slaps him on the nose for chasing after Toto her dog. The Cowardly Lion starts crying and creates quite a fuss. Dorothy criticizes his behavior and she says to him, “… why, you’re nothing but a great big coward!” And, the Cowardly Lion with great self-pity in his voice says back to her, “You’re right, I am a coward! I haven’t any courage at all! I even scare myself.”

How many of us are like Ishbosheth and the Cowardly lion? When things do not go the way we think they should, we lose courage. When someone actually challenges what we believe, we lose courage. When we are face with a trial that seems too big, we lose courage. We talk a big game but that is to keep people bay and having them realize that we are simply cowards.

Courage will be the topic throughout the rest of the week but for now  – think about the questions I just asked.   How do you deal with life when things seem to fall apart, or you get challenged, or you face a trial?  Do you lose courage?  Do you talk a big game to keep people at bay but inside you are really cowardly?