Just DO IT - Matthew Boyd

How To Kill A Giant:

As Christians, we all have our giants that we have to overcome. These giants are strongholds that we have allowed Satan to control in our life: music, our tongue, pornography, what we watch, alcohol, drugs, friends... just to name a few. The problem is, like the Israelite army when it came to Goliath, most Christians fall to their giant, letting it rule their life instead of slaying it. Let's take a look at David, and see how he was able to slay his giant:

1. Don't be discouraged by others.

1Sa 17:28-30 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. And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause? And he turned from him toward another, and spake after the same manner...

David ignored his brother and he ignored the discouragement. In verse 33, King Saul tried to persuade David to turn back, but David answered respectfully. Ignore peer pressure, and be respectful to your elders, but don't let them discourage you from slaying your giant. Those that mock, make fun, or discourage are the same ones that are ruled by their own giants.

2. Rely on God to help you slay your giant.

1Sa 17:37 David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee.

David relied fully on God to slay Goliath. Satan has been around for so much longer than you and I. He has mastered the art of temptation and has so many tools at his disposal: we are no match for him... by ourselves. 1Jn 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. But God is so much powerful than Satan.

Philippians 4:13

3. When the giant is down, cut off its head!

1Sa 17:49-51 And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David. Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.

When Goliath went down, David didn't start celebrating: he ran to the fallen giant, jumped on his back, drew his sword, and cut his head off. Once the head was severed and it was clear that the giant was dead, only then did the enemy flee. When God gives us the strength to put our giants down, cut off the head or the source of our giant. If your giant is music, don't keep your cd collection, throw it out and replace it with good Christian music. If your giant is having the wrong friends, invite them to church and witness to them, or if they are a 'Christian' too, then correct them when they swear and don't tolerate their dirty jokes. If your giant is pornography, setup safeguards on your computer; set your computer to send an email to your mom, pastor, or good GODLY friend with a list of every site you visited that month. If you don't cut off the source of your giant, then when you turn your back, that giant will stand back up and win another few battles.

4. Share your giants with others that will hold you accountable.

1Sa 17:57 And as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand.

When David walked off that battlefield, he was carrying the head of the giant. David carried the proof of his Victory, and showed it to Saul and many others. As you fight your giants, share with others (others that will hold you accountable) your battles and your giants. Ask their advice and guidance, and when your giant is down, that person will be there to hand you a sword and say "Finish the job".

Do You Love Your Father?

John 1:12 "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:"

If you've believed on His name, or put your trust in Jesus to get you to Heaven, then you are now His child. He is your Father. Is God a good Father? Well duh! That obvious. Of course He's a good Father, I mean, He IS God! So what makes Him a good Father?

1. He Cares for Me.
I Peter 5:7 "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." I have some friends that had their dad walk out on their family. I have some friends that don't even know their dad. I have a friend that had his dad steal his car! Not God! God cares so much about me, He knows how many hairs are on my head. I don't even know that. He knows more about me than I know about me. He wants to hear my prayers. He wants a relationship with me.

He wants to give us good gifts - Matthew 7:11
He has given the gift of Heaven to us - Ephesians 2:8-9
He will never leave us - Hebrews 13:5
He loved us first - I John 4:19
God proved His love for us by dying for us - Romans 5:8

2. He Chastens Me.
I let my 15 month old daughter do whatever she wants which means I'm the perfect dad. NOT!!! I don't let my daughter put her finger in a light socket. I don't let my daughter eat ice cream and donuts all day, every day (although, she did polish off 5 of those small powdered donuts by herself this morning. She left me proud and starving). I don't let my daughter walk out toward the street. If I let her do those things, I would get WORST DAD OF THE YEAR award. I chasten or correct my daughter to teach her and protect her.

When we stop focusing on God, and we start getting involved in sin, God will bring some things into His child's life to chasten or correct us. James 1:15b says "... sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." God has used a police officer giving me a ticket as a form of correction. Another time, it was minor car accident. "But Bro. Matt, that's mean." No, that's love. Hebrews 12:6a "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth,..." I am who I am today because of events like those. That ticket cost me about $200, but it saved me a lot of regret. That car accident really scared me! But it got my attention, and I got serious about God! I stopped hanging around some bad friends that were helping me get into tons of trouble.

3. He Challenges Me
In John 14:15, Jesus says "If ye love me, keep my commandments." Most people will say "yeah, I love God!" but their actions say that they don't love God. If you love God, you will keep His commandments. What are some of His commandments?

I John 3:23 "And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.

If we love God, we will put our trust in Him to get us to Heaven. If we love God, we will love one another. This means we will build others up, not tear them down. We will help, forgive, and honor others and we won't hurt, curse, or lie to others.

So do you love God?

Glory! That's Good!

I like to eat! I've got a birthday coming up March 12 (hint, hint), and my wife and I will probably go to one of my favorite restaurants: Olive Garden! I love Italian food. I love pasta. I love their gnocchi soup. I love their breadsticks. I love their mints!

When I go to Olive Garden, I usually start out with the gnocchi soup. The soup is pretty good, but the best thing about it: FREE REFILLS! I can eat as many bowls of soup as I want. I usually get one for an appetizer and one To Go. I almost always order the tortellini. I don't know what they fill those little pasta squares with, but it's goooooooood! And then the mints. Those wonderful brown and green candies. I once had a waitress give me a whole To Go bag full of those mints! I gave a very good tip that day.

I Corinthians 10:31 says "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."

When I go to Olive Garden, it is easy to eat to the glory of God. I am happy to give God the glory while I'm eating.

"Praise God for these melt-in-your-mouth breadsticks!"

"Thank God for Olive Garden!"

"Hallelujah, that's good!"

It is easy to give God the glory while eating. Somethings, however, are not so easy for me to give God glory for:
1. Shopping: I hate the crowds, and my wife takes 20 minutes to decide blue or light blue.
2. Sitting in line forever at a fast-food restaurant. I'm there because I want fast food.
3. Driving during rush hour. People don't know how to drive.
4. Being sick: I hate being sick!

But according to the verse we just read, we are to honor God in everything we do!

That must have been hard for Joseph. Joseph was hated by his brothers, sold into slavery by his brothers, falsely accused when he chose to do right, thrown in prison for something he didn't do, and was forgotten about for another two years after helping out the king's butler. But even going through all of that, Joseph still honored God.

Attitude

Joseph's attitude toward everything that he went through was this: God is in control! During each phase of Joseph's life, he brought glory to God. It's easy to honor and glorify God when everything is going good, and when we're on the mountain tops of life. But God wants glory in those valleys too. That's the whole reason we were created.

Revelation 4:11 says "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created."

We were created to bring honor and glory to God. Joseph went through so much more than we could probably imagine, and he still gave God the glory. So next time you're eating at a nice restaurant: Give God the Glory! and next time you're sick, or you've been sitting in the drive through for 20 minutes: Give God the Glory!

GET BACK UP!

When I moved up to Michigan last November from Florida, I got super excited. There would actually be snow in winter! Sledding, snowmen, sledding, snowball fights, sledding, snow on Christmas Day, sledding... What I failed to realize is all the misery that came with snow: shoveling the driveway, shoveling the sidewalk, scraping ice off the car windows, the freezing cold, THE ICE!

ICE + MATTHEW BOYD (that's me) = TODAY'S BLOG

I was at work shoveling snow when I stepped on a patch of ice! I must have looked like a cartoon the way my feet slipped right out from under me. Next thing I know, I'm sitting on the cold, hard ground. After I stopped crying (just kidding, I never cry), I got back up and started back to work. I slipped another couple of times, but those weren't as bad.

Proverbs 24:15 says "For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief."

Living in today's world is a lot like walking on ice: When you're not paying attention, you WILL slip and fall! But it's when you GET BACK UP that makes the difference. A righteous or good man isn't perfect. He just GETS BACK UP.

What does it take to GET BACK UP?

1. It takes a DECISION!
One of my favorite verses is Daniel 1:8a "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat..." This decision affected Daniel's whole life. God was then able to take Daniel and use him to do great things.

2. It takes DETERMINATION!
Notice that the verse says 'seven times'. It takes determination to get back up over and over and over and over again! But he keeps getting back up!

Next time you fall into sin, get back up. I John 1:9 says "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Go to God and ask Him to forgive you for that sin. He wants to forgive you and when you ask for forgiveness, He picks you back up, forgives you, and doesn't bring it back up.

GET BACK UP!!!

CHAINS

Proverbs 1:8-9 say "My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck."

What do you think about when you hear the word 'chain'? I think about Spike, the big bulldog off the TV show 'Tom and Jerry'. He's just fallen asleep right outside his doghouse when Tom sneaks up and attaches the chain to Spike's collar. Tom then retreats to just outside the reach of the chain and gives a shrill whistle. Spike jumps up, charging at Tom until suddenly "UMPH!!!"

CHAIN = RESTRICTION!

Proverbs 1:8-9 say that our father's instruction and our mother's law can be chains about our necks. That doesn't sound to good. But think about it: Why would someone leash or restrict a dog? I can think of several reasons (thanks to my brother's dog!)

1. It keeps the dog out of the street!
Every parent (saved or unsaved) wants the best for their children. When your mother's law is that you can't go to certain parties, she's trying to protect you from some bad decisions. When your father's instruction is restricting your dating life, he's trying to protect you from making a mistake you'll regret. He's trying to protect your purity!

2. It keeps the dog out of the garbage!
You really don't realize how nasty garbage is until you have to pick up after a dog's been through it: left over spaghetti, dirty baby diaper (why do they like that?), snot tissues, scabby bandaids (I just threw up a little in my mouth!), etc... No wonder garbage stinks! Your mom and dad's rules and restrictions are there to keep you out of that stinking garbage called SIN.

3. It keeps the dog close to home!
After years of training, that dog (if trained right) will not leave it's master. It wants to stay close. When you're out of the house and you've followed your parents restrictions most of your life, you'll stick close to those guidelines you've been taught. You're less likely to make terrible mistakes later in your life.

4. It keeps the dog from hanging with strays!
Everyone knows someone that is/could be a bad influence in their life. Those restrictions that your parents have for you can keep you from getting too close to that bad influence. One of the saddest stories in the Bible start with the phrase "but Amnon had a friend..." Amnon was too afraid to commit a terrible sin, but his friend was a bad influence. It cost Amnon his life!

5. Chaining up the dog keeps your shoes clean!
Just an observation!

Proverbs 1:8-9 "My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck."

AN EXAMPLE WORTH FOLLOWING

Hey! Welcome to the blog! My name is Bro. Matt and I'm a youth pastor at Sycamore Baptist Church in Jackson, Mi. I'm starting this blog because I want to help teenagers to be better Christians. 

"Well, Bro. Matt, what do you know about being a teenager?"

Good question, I'm glad you asked. For starters, I'm only 24. I'm not that much older than you seniors, and I'm not even twice as old as you 7th graders. I don't call an xbox 360 a Cube Station (gamecube/playstation), I know about tweets, hashtags, and pokes. I know texting abbreviations and what they mean: lol, tots, hmu, rofl, etc... I also know that being a teen isn't easy. The peer pressure and temptations are outrageous! To be a Godly teen is even HARDER!!! To always make the right choices... I'm hoping this blog can be a blessing to you and that it can help you grow as a Christian.

So let's get started:

I Timothy 4:12 says "Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." A lot of teens know I Timothy 4:12a "Let no man despise thy youth". Many teenagers growing up in church use this to 'put parents in their place' or to correct a youth pastor. 

STOP!!! STOP!!! STOP!!!

Let's concentrate on I Timothy 4:12b "but be thou an EXAMPLE of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." Did you know, as a teenager, you can set an example for ADULTS? Yeah, No Kidding! You can be an example for adults to follow and look up to. 

"How?"

1. In Word

Are you a man (or lady) of you word? Do you keep your promises? Are you know for lying? Tell dirty jokes? Swear? You, even as a teenager, need to keep your word. Proverbs 12:22 says that lying lips are abomination to the Lord. 

2. In Conversation

Conversation means 'lifestyle'. Does your lifestyle honor God? The music you listen to should honor God. If there's swearing in the music, you shouldn't be listening to that song or even 'artist'. Lyrics about sex, drugs, alcohol, etc... should be a dead giveaway: This music doesn't honor God! 

Are you known as a flirt or a jerk? Those traits don't honor God. How about as kind and forgiving? That sounds Biblical: Ephesians 4:32 "And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."

3. In Charity
Charity means love. I'm not talking about the googly eyes and the boyfriend/girlfriend stuff. I'm talking about the senior that takes the time to help a freshman with their 'easy, easy' math homework, and after an hour of that awkward freshman picking their nose and not paying attention and not understanding that simple math problem, the senior hasn't given them an atomic wedgie yet: that's charity. There's a whole chapter about it in I Corinthians 13.

4. In Spirit

A good attitude goes a long way. Daniel had an 'excellent spirit' and God blessed him. 

5. In Faith
Proverbs 3:5-6 says "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." In every difficult situation, take it to God. What does His Word say?

6. In Purity
I Corinthians 7:1 "Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman." That'll solve a lot of problems right there. In the words of Emperor Cusco ( The Emperor's New Groove) "No Touchy!" until you're married.

Follow these few traits and you can be an EXAMPLE worth following!