Taffi Dollar - Winning No Matter What - Part 2
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I’m here to tell you today when you get a revelation of how God brought you through when nobody else was there but you and God you cannot quit, you cannot give in, you cannot throw in the towel because like David did there are always going to be temptations. There are always going to be battles in life, obstacles, challenges, people with their opinions, the temptation to lean more into what they’re saying than what God is saying. But you know what? We’ve got to stay attentive in every situation and understand that we win no matter what.
Look at 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 8 and 9 of the Passion Translation, TPT. «Though we experience every kind of pressure», I won’t ask anybody to raise their hands because that pandemic that we are coming out of and have come out of, there was all kinds of pressure through isolation. And he says, «Though we experience every kind», He says everyone experiences every kind of pressure, «We’re not crushed. At times we don’t know what to do…» I’m telling you there were days I didn’t know if I was going or coming. Somebody’d say, «How are you doing»? I don’t know how I’m doing. Sometimes I just have to say bless God I’m here, still here, adjusting to this new normal, this new way of doing things. He says, «At times we don’t know what to do,» look at what he says here, «but quitting,» what? «Is not an option».
That was David’s attitude. «I’m not going to quit. I am not going to give in. Big brothers, Saul, I know I’m the most inexperienced one, but you know what? I cannot quit on God. He’s done too much. I have too much a revelation of his power and his ability in my life to quit on him. I’ve come too far. I know too much. I’ve seen too many things». And so we have to remind ourselves when those human opinions want to come up and elevate and say, «Well, you know, you’re not qualified. You’re not equipped. You don’t have the knowledge. You’ve never done that before. You know, we don’t do that. That’s not what we do». Trust God. And when God causes you to be in circumstances and to be in situations, quitting is not an option. We don’t give in. I won’t give up, and I won’t quit. He says, «We are persecuted by others, but God has not forsaken us».
My goodness. We are persecuted. He says all that live godly are going to suffer and have some hard times in life. We’re going to have challenges. We look at that in John 16. Some of these scriptures I won’t turn to for the sake of time. In this world you’re going to have some tests, you’re going to have some trials, you’re going to have some tribulations. He says we are persecuted. We’re going to experience some things, people’s opinions, people who are more in tune with the world’s way of doing things versus having a consciousness of God. We’re persecuted, but God has not forsaken us. He has not forsaken us. He never will and he never has. You got to remind yourself when it seems like he has forsaken you, he never will, and he never has. He did that to Jesus.
In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus said, «My God, why has thou forsaken me»? Jesus had to take that cup and stand in our behalf and to stand in our place so that now as a result of what Jesus dealt with and how Jesus overcome we don’t have to experience being forsaken by God. He says, «I will be with you in trial. I will be with you in the hard time. I will be with you in the test. I will be with you when the going gets tough. I will be right by your side». God has not forsaken us. He says, «We may be knocked down…»
How many of you know sometimes you’re going to get a little knocked down, be caught off guard, things are going to happen? You know, there’s a devil loose. He’ll do and arrange things to distract, to detour, to try to get your focus. But you know what? You’re not out. I’m not out. You know why, 'cause I keep getting up. I’m going to keep showing up. I’m going to keep doing what I did before because quitting is not an option. He says you might be knocked down, but we’re not out for the count. My goodness. Not out for the count. My goodness. When that boxer gets in that ring and, you know, he may get knocked out or get hit and it may knock him out off his feet, but you know what? Until the fight has been called, he can get back up and start fighting again. Though I fall seven times, he says a righteous person will get back up. I will arise. I will shine for the glory of the Lord has risen upon me.
So we remind ourselves that temptations are real to life, pain is real, hurt is real. Temptations are real that he had to fight Goliath and fight the things that the others were dealing with, but much more real is our triumph and our victory in them. We looked at 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 57. Last week we looked at 2 Corinthians chapter 2, verse 14. I will be repetitive. Let’s turn there for just a few minutes just so we can anchor ourselves in these scriptures, these truths, 1 Corinthians. And we will remind ourselves of our triumph and our victory. Glory be to God. Now, he says here in verse 56, «For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God. Thank God. He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ».
Now, let’s look at 2 Corinthians chapter 2, verse 14. It says in the NLT, «But thank God…» There it is again. How many of you know we just have to be thankful and have a spirit of thanksgiving? He says, «But thank God. He has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume». And so one translation says that he always causes us to triumph. I think that’s the King James. Always means that our victory is guaranteed in all ways and in every place. Our victory is assured. At the site of every battle get victory in your view. Don’t get defeat in your view. Don’t get the mindset of, «What are people going to say? What are people going to think? How am I able to do this»?
Get victory in view and to begin to see yourself in the way that God sees you because your victory is guaranteed if you don’t give in, if you don’t give up, and if you don’t quit. Say, «My victory is guaranteed if I don’t give in, if I don’t give up, and if I don’t quit». Thank you, Lord, for the victory today. Let’s just thank the Lord for the victory today. Thank you, Father. We believe to see your victory. We thank you for the victory that was purchased for us over 2,000 years ago. Victory in every way, victory in every place. We win no matter what because you are on our side and we trust in you, not the fear of man. Glory be to God. Glory be to God. Now, giving in is a temptation that wants to overtake you.
We can look at this in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 13. There’s a temptation in this life to give in, to give up. But look at what it says here in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 13. I love this because it reminds us how in the midst of trials who we are. He says in the New Living Translation, «If you think you’re standing strong, be careful not to fall». That’s what pastor’s been emphasizing, is for us to depend, to rely on God because if not we’ll begin to rely and depend on ourselves. I was looking over some scriptures late last night, and I was thinking about some things that I’m working on, and the Holy Spirit just said, «Don’t approach this based on the relationships that you think you have, that you think you’ve cultivated, that you think you can connect and make happen». He says, «Do you know why you have those relationships? It’s because of me. I put you in places at the right place at the right time».
So we in many instances come to a point where we think that we’re standing because we know how to stand. «I know what I’m doing, and I can make something happen». And so, he says, «If you think you’re standing strong, be careful». If you think you can depend on yourself, that you can rely on yourself, he says be careful. You think you don’t need to consult God concerning this situation, that you got it all figured out because of what you know, and what you can do, and where you’ve been, and what to navigate, he says be careful.
Be careful not to fall because that’s what happens in many instances in life. Because David was out there, you know, in the shepherd’s field and he could have easily just say, «Hey, I can do this because I defeated the lion, I defeated the bear». But no, he gave God all the credit. He says, «Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he would defy my covenant with God»? He says, «If God helped me defeat this lion of God, helped me defeat this bear, he’ll be just like one of them». David depended, David relied, and he was standing strong. You know why? Because he knew that he was standing on God’s Word and standing on the covenant of God. So he says if you think, if you think, 'cause you know, our mind deceives us.
You know, you accomplish a few things, you experience a few successes, you get, you know, elevated, and you start thinking, «Oh, I did this». And our mind will trick us because pride will come in. And what does it say? It will cause us to fall. He says, «If you think you’re standing strong, be careful,» be careful, «be careful not to fall». God says, «Depend on me. The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience». Temptations to quit, to give in, to throw in the towel are never unique but always common. You know, we think that in the midst of certain situations that, «This is only something that I personally have gone through. No one else has had to deal with this situation, with this child, with this debt, with this whatever».
He says no, they’re not unique, they’re common. He says the temptations are no different from what others experience. God is faithful. You know why? Because someone somewhere has gone through what you’re going through. The best thing for me to do is to pray and to seek God on how to go through this, what to do like David did. You know, Saul was throwing the armor that he had at him to wear. I’m sure his brothers were telling him certain things. «Why are you here? You’re not even supposed to be here. You just showed up. Go back to where you were before». But David, he made up in his mind. He says, «I’ve got to do what I believe God is leading me to do at this time in his life».
And so it says, «And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand». It seemed unreal. It seemed just bewildering for someone as young and inexperienced as David was, untrained, unequipped, ignorant to a certain degree, unintelligent; all those things in comparison to those who were trained, his brothers who were equipped, who were more skillful when it came to weaponry and artillery and all those kinds of things. It seemed maybe even comical to a certain degree that someone like David would be able to have victory in this situation. But you know what? God knew what was in David. God knows what’s in you. Sometimes when we don’t even know what’s in us, we don’t even think we can stand up to the Goliaths in our life.
«Lord, this is too big. This is too much. This is unheard of. No one in my family has ever dealt with this». He says no, this temptation is not more than you can stand. He will not allow the temptation to exceed your ability to resist. He will not allow it to overwhelm you, to overtake you. God draws a line in the sand and commands that the temptation can go no further because he designed it for you to pass it. There are certain tests, you know, statewide tests that are presented to students.
And you know what? Based on the curriculum it’s designed for them to pass it. How many of you know they’re not giving kindergarteners calculus problems? They’re not giving second graders algebra because they couldn’t pass it. And so it is in our life. God knows what we have the capacity to pass. He doesn’t give us anything which will exceed our ability. So we have to remind ourselves that, «I can do this. Lord, you got more faith in me than I have in me. I need to get on your side of the desk. I need to see me like you see me. I need to believe like you want me to believe».
I need to cut off, I need to get out of the comments, I need to be letting go of all of that stuff and getting myself over to thinking like God thinks. The thoughts that he has for me are higher than my thoughts that I have. He says think higher. He says, «My thoughts are higher concerning you». And so in the midst of temptations we must remind ourselves when we want to give in, when we want to quit, when we want to throw in the towel that they are not allowed to exceed our ability to resist. You can pass it. You can get the promotion. You can make it to the other side. You can experience the promises of God. You can be and do everything that he has said concerning you.