OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL - MONDAY - 20/1/2014 - ATTRIBUTES OF GOAL GETTERS BY PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE

ATTRIBUTES OF GOAL GETTERS

MEMORISE

Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.

Proverbs 22:29

READ

1 Samuel 17:20-33

1 Samuel 17:20 And David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him; and he came to the trench, as the host was going forth to the fight, and shouted for the battle.

1 Samuel 17:21 For Israel and the Philistines had put the battle in array, army against army.

1 Samuel 17:22 And David left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the carriage, and ran into the army, and came and saluted his brethren.

1 Samuel 17:23 And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words: and David heard them.

1 Samuel 17:24 And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid.

1 Samuel 17:25 And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free in Israel.

1 Samuel 17:26 And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?

1 Samuel 17:27 And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that killeth him.

1 Samuel 17:28 And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle.

1 Samuel 17:29 And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause?

1 Samuel 17:30 And he turned from him toward another, and spake after the same manner: and the people answered him again after the former manner.

1 Samuel 17:31 And when the words were heard which David spake, they rehearsed them before Saul: and he sent for him.

1 Samuel 17:32 And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine.

1 Samuel 17:33 And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.

MESSAGE

The children of Israel were intimidated for forty days by Goliath. David came to the scene and made enquiries about what would be done to whosoever defeated the giant. The reply he got fascinated him and straightaway, he set for himself the goal of defeating the giant. To David, nothing could stop him from being the king’s son-in-law. When Eliab, David’s brother heard about his intention, he rebuked him. Eliab was angry with David because he was jealous. He was jealous because David had been anointed as king instead of him earlier on. Goal getters would not be deterred by any act of jealousy. What did David do to reach his goal? He ignored Eliab. Anyone who wants to reach his or her goal must not be distracted by envious criticism. If your goal is to work for God, do not listen to what anybody may be saying. Focus your attention on the Almighty God and do not be mindful of the scornful (Psalm 1:1). You have to press on if you want to reach your goal. There will be those who may want to slow you down but you have to push them out of the way and keep doing what you know God wants you to do. This is one way to reach your goal.

There are many lessons in the Bible reading of today for those who aspire to achieve the set goals of their life. It is not how long but how well. Within a short period of getting to the battlefield, David was already standing before the king! The Bible in Proverbs 22:29 says,

“Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.”

If David had not been a diligent person, when his brother rebuked him, he would never have gotten to King Saul; he would have been discouraged. It took diligence for David to run towards the battle when the giant rose to crush him to death. The Bible in 1 Samuel 17:48 says:

“And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.”

The rest was history for Goliath when the smooth stone from the sling of David sank into his forehead. As if that was not enough, when Goliath fell, the Bible says that David still ran and stood upon the Philistine, took the sword of the giant all by himself and cut off his head. David was diligent enough to feel the pulse of the Philistine to know that he was still breathing. He then diligently completed the assignment. I pray that as you focus on God with diligence and with the help of the Holy Spirit, you will reach your goal in Jesus’ Name.

PRAYER POINT

Father, please remove all obstacles hindering me from reaching my goal, in Jesus’ Name.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR

1 Thessalonians 1-4;

Psalm 19:7-14