Jehovah Tsaba - The Lord Our Warrior Part 2
In this episode of "Heartfelt Conversations with Diana," Diana opens up about her recent struggles, emphasizing the importance of seeking joy and divine guidance during difficult times. She reflects on her personal journey of overcoming an abusive past, drawing parallels to the biblical story of David and Goliath to inspire courage and faith in all who listen. Diana encourages all of you to cultivate a close relationship with God, remain patient, and trust in His plan. True transformation comes from spiritual endurance and divine support.
Diana’s Notes
Hey, Everybody!!! Welcome back to Heartfelt Conversations with Diana. I am so happy to be with you today! Before we dive into today’s episode, I would like to share that this has kinda been a hard week. I am going to be sharing some things throughout the podcast and some are still painful. As I seek God on how and what to share, memories come back to the heart, to my soul, so I have been kinda sad a little, I guess. Plus, I have been missing my mom and the tendency (at least for me) can be to fall back on old habits and let things roll around in my mind over and over… and over, that are not necessarily good things. God tells us in His word to set our minds on eternal things, heavenly things, Kingdom things. Colossians 3:2 in the AMP Bible reads: Set your mind and keep focused habitually on the things above (the heavenly things), not on things that are on the earth (which have only temporal value).
So, if anyone else out there has been feeling frumpy, grumpy, down, sad, edgy, and you don’t know why or you feel you are alone, stir up some joy inside!! It is the only way to battle this. I throw on some really good upbeat praise and worship music and dance, dance, dance!!!! It makes me happy and I get to laughing at myself, and then the Holy Spirit is able to minister to my heart because I am not in my head pushing Him out because I am all stressed out. I may listen to songs that remind me of God’s power and strength over the enemy and how the blood of Jesus makes me right with God. Nothing I do or don’t do! It’s in the BLOOD, Baby!! Inspire yourself, go for a walk, enjoy nature, think about how blessed you really are. Look for God to show up in your life, call on Him, and then expect Him!! Okay, whew! I had to get myself stirred back up again, so thanks for going through my brain process with me. LOL
Doing the podcast is not easy at all for me. I learned to live a shut-down life. I just sorta lived life and didn’t share too much about myself. I was very private and kept what was going on inside me to myself. I didn’t have anyone I really confided in or trusted. I would tell people what I thought they wanted to hear or some version of it, but rarely did I ever share from my heart. I believed that if people didn’t really know you, then they couldn’t really hurt you. Oh, they might tweak a nerve or two, cause a little aggravation or irritation, but they COULD NOT HURT YOU! Really hurt you!! And pretty soon, you are lost, wandering around in the wilderness, not even knowing who you are anymore.
In episode 4, Jehovah Tsaba: The Lord Our Warrior, we began a conversation about David, the shepherd boy. David knew who he was and he knew Who to follow; he was definitely not lost! He had been following God his whole life tending to his father’s sheep. We left off in that episode that David was getting ready to face a big battle and fight a giant that was terrorizing his entire country. David had confidence in God’s protection over him because David had a relationship with his God. They had been through battles together before. There was trust and confidence David placed in God that gave him courage and boldness to face the giant Goliath. I shared in that episode that I did not have the companionship with God that David did, so my relationship with God was not as close as it could be, as He would have liked it to be. I often wished that I could have been like David. I thought he was so strong and bold and courageous. And, he was! I knew he had absolute faith and trust in God. I think I was fascinated at how confident, sure, and steady he was.
I was nothing like David. I was not strong, bold, or courageous. I was timid, weak, easily manipulated, and controlled. I had also previously mentioned that I was in a very violent and abusive relationship. In 1981, my senior year of high school, I became pregnant with my second child, a little girl. Jimmy did not let up on his beatings at all while I was pregnant. In fact, if he could have had his way, he would have beaten her out of me; and he tried. I was not close in my relationship with Jesus, and of course, I thought God had it in for me, but I knew He existed. I prayed every day for God to protect us. I had no idea how to get out of this torture chamber, I had no idea how to fix this, and I didn’t think I should call anyone. I didn’t know if I would get them hurt, so I didn’t say anything to anyone. I just prayed… A lot! I don’t even know if I prayed the right way, but I know God heard me and I know He answered me. I know I have been hearing from Him ever since. Even though I drowned Him out for decades, He was there, waiting for me. Because of the abuse and violence, I had a high-risk pregnancy with a lot of bed rest, but my daughter was born premature. They sent her by ambulance to a hospital with a neonatal unit about an hour away. I was terrified for her to be out of my sight. I would imagine most of it was due to the environment we lived in. I am amazed at how compassionate and loving the nurses and doctors were at this hospital. Every one of them was kind and encouraging with lots of hugs and support! These are very, very special people!! God bless all of you.
For a while, a nurse would come to check on my daughter. Make sure she was gaining weight, eating enough, and taking her vitals. Just making sure everything was looking good. While she was coming to the home, because in the beginning it was a couple of times a week, the abuse pretty much stopped, but once the nurse stopped coming, the beatings started up again. My son was 2 and he had learned to remain pretty quiet while playing. Jimmy was not his dad and the grandfather of my son was a local judge, so Jimmy was abusive in other ways besides hitting. But my daughter made Jimmy angry when she would cry, and she happened to cry quite a bit in the beginning. I tried to hold her as much as possible to keep her sounds as quiet as possible, but if nothing worked and she would cry, I would do whatever I could to distract him so he would hit me instead. Often, my son, at 2, would be comforting his little baby sister while I was being beaten in the next room. I may have believed God was against me, but He had to love innocent children, so I prayed. Every single day I cried out to God for His protection. David had a cry too, but his was not a weeping cry, his was a battle cry.
David was just a young teenage boy whose dad, Jesse, told him to go take some supplies to his three older brothers, so that is what he did. David is curious, asking the other guys what’s going on. For 40 days, a Philistine giant - Goliath taunted King Saul and his army to send out a man to fight him, but no one wanted to fight this massively huge warrior.
I am reading 1 Samuel 17: 4-11 MSG BIBLE: A giant nearly ten feet tall stepped out from the Philistine line into the open, Goliath from Gath. He had a bronze helmet on his head and was dressed in armor—126 pounds of it! He wore bronze shin guards and carried a bronze sword. His spear was like a fence rail—the spear tip alone weighed over fifteen pounds. His shield bearer walked ahead of him. 8-10 Goliath stood there and called out to the Israelite troops, “Why bother using your whole army? Am I not Philistine enough for you? And you’re all committed to Saul, aren’t you? So pick your best fighter and pit him against me. If he gets the upper hand and kills me, the Philistines will all become your slaves. But if I get the upper hand and kill him, you’ll all become our slaves and serve us. I challenge the troops of Israel this day. Give me a man. Let us fight it out together!” 11 When Saul and his troops heard the Philistine’s challenge, they were terrified and lost all hope.
Verse 12 goes on to say in the first two words: Enter David. I LOVE THAT! Who was David, nobody! He was a shepherd. Yes, he had been anointed one day in the future to be king, but right now he was a little stinky shepherd boy.
So, David arrives at camp with supplies his father told him to take to the battle for his three older brothers. David was curious and started asking the guys, hey, what’s up. Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard David chatting it up with the guys and it made him a little testy. Probably due to the whole king thing. I am sure Eliab thought that when the prophet Samuel showed up to their father's house to anoint the next king, it would surely be him. He was the oldest. And when Samuel saw him, even Samuel thought he would be God’s choice. I am reading the Message Bible, Chapter 16, beginning with verse 6:
When they arrived, Samuel took one look at Eliab and thought, “Here he is! God’s anointed! But listen to what God says.
Verse 7: But God told Samuel, “Looks aren’t everything. Don’t be impressed with his looks and stature. I’ve already eliminated him. God judges persons differently than humans do. Men and women look at the face; God looks into the heart.”
So, each son passed by Samuel, and the Lord did not choose any of them until all 7 sons passed by. In verse 11, Samuel asked Jesse, “Is this it? Are there no more sons?” Jessie tells Samuel that the youngest son is out tending the sheep. Samuel instructs Jesse to go get him, they will wait. So, here comes David and the Lord tells Samuel, “anoint him. This is the one.” I LOVE THAT!! In verse 13, Samuel took his flask of oil and anointed David, with his brothers standing around watching. I just bet they were all jealous! The Spirit of God entered David like a rush of wind, God vitally empowering him for the rest of his life.
OK! Back to David, so he is talking to the guys and Eliab hears him and is immediately angry and accuses David of deserting the sheep and just showing up to watch a battle. Remember, David’s brothers are jealous of him and they are full of anger.
In 1 Samuel 17: 28-30 MSG Bible, Eliab says, “What are you doing here? Why aren’t you minding your own business tending that scrawny flock of sheep? I know what you’re up to. You’ve come down here to see the sights, hoping for a ringside seat at a bloody battle!” So, what does David do? He said, “What is it with you? All I did was ask a question.”
Verse 30: Ignoring his brother, he turned to someone else, asked the same question, and got the same answer as before. David took up the challenge that Goliath was issuing to the Israelite troops because David was not afraid. David knew where his strength came from and he knew God would deliver the Israelites into victory. David wanted to fight, and he told King Saul, who said to David: "you can’t go and fight this Philistine. You’re too young and inexperienced and he’s been at this fighting business since before you were born."
I want to continue reading this from the MSG Bible; I love David’s response:
Verse 34-37: David said, “I’ve been a shepherd, tending sheep for my father. Whenever a lion or bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I’d go after it, knock it down, and rescue the lamb. If it turned on me, I’d grab it by the throat, wring its neck, and kill it. Lion or bear, it made no difference—I killed it. And I’ll do the same to this Philistine pig who is taunting the troops of God-Alive. God, who delivered me from the teeth of the lion and the claws of the bear, will deliver me from this Philistine.” Saul said, “Go. And God help you!”
Isn’t David’s response great? He is giving God the glory, the honor, and the recognition! He is saying I don’t need any credit, I am just a man, but I serve a God who delivered me from a lion, a bear, and he will deliver me from this giant. David had courage, confidence, and boldness. Not in himself, but in God, in God’s Word and His Truth! David wasn’t thinking he was capable of defeating Goliath on his own. David knew he could not defeat Goliath, but he had the courage to step up and take on the challenge and God honored him for it. In fact, in Chapter 13 verse 14, Samuel was telling Saul the kingdom was being taken away from Saul and Samuel told Saul: 1 Samuel 13:14 (NASB), “The Lord has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”
That young shepherd boy had a heart for God, and he placed his trust, faith, and life in the hands of Almighty God.
Listen, sweet friend, this world is hard, I know! We all have giants to face. Yours may be different than mine, but they are just as big and scary and overwhelming to you, as mine were to me. Some days are harder than others and you may wonder, where is God in all of this? Why can’t I see Him or feel Him? Do you know He loves you so much? He wants to be part of your life and show you His ways? He wants to fight your battles with you, walk beside you in the dark.
I want you to know that I am praying for you and if you need more prayer, or you have questions, please send an email to heartfeltconversationswithdiana@gmail.com. I will answer your questions as best as I can.
Thanks for listening to Heartfelt Conversations with Diana. Please join me next time. Until then, please subscribe to the show and share this with your friends and family. Let’s build up a community of strong, bold, and courageous women fighting the battles of life with God by our side. God bless you! Bye-bye, everybody!!!
Songs to inspire you
Same God (Live From The Loft) | feat. Jonsal Barrientes & Brandon Lake | Elevation Worship
Evidence (Studio) - Josh Baldwin
Trust In God (feat. Chris Brown & Isaiah Templeton) | Elevation Worship
Scriptures from this week's Podcast
Colossians 3:2
Set your mind and keep focused habitually on the things above (the heavenly things), not on things that are on the earth (which have only temporal value).
1 Samuel 17: 4-11
A giant nearly ten feet tall stepped out from the Philistine line into the open, Goliath from Gath. He had a bronze helmet on his head and was dressed in armor—126 pounds of it! He wore bronze shin guards and carried a bronze sword. His spear was like a fence rail—the spear tip alone weighed over fifteen pounds. His shield bearer walked ahead of him.
Goliath stood there and called out to the Israelite troops, “Why bother using your whole army? Am I not Philistine enough for you? And you’re all committed to Saul, aren’t you? So pick your best fighter and pit him against me. If he gets the upper hand and kills me, the Philistines will all become your slaves. But if I get the upper hand and kill him, you’ll all become our slaves and serve us. I challenge the troops of Israel this day. Give me a man. Let us fight it out together!”
When Saul and his troops heard the Philistine’s challenge, they were terrified and lost all hope.
Verse 12-15
Enter David. He was the son of Jesse the Ephrathite from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse, the father of eight sons, was himself too old to join Saul’s army. Jesse’s three oldest sons had followed Saul to war. The names of the three sons who had joined up with Saul were Eliab, the firstborn; next, Abinadab; and third, Shammah. David was the youngest son. While his three oldest brothers went to war with Saul, David went back and forth from attending to Saul to tending his father’s sheep in Bethlehem.2
Hebrews 10: 36:
For you have need of steadfast patience and endurance, so that you may perform and fully accomplish the will of God, and thus receive and carry away and enjoy to the full what is promised.
2 Samuel 8:6
I have Victory wherever I go.
1 Chronicles 29:11
Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, O LORD, and this is Your Kingdom. We adore You as the One Who is over all things.
Psalms 149:4
For the LORD delights in His people: He crowns the humble with victory.
Additional Resources
Diana’s Home Church:
Valley Family Church - Pastor’s Eric and Alexa Jones
www.valleyfamilychurch.org
Other recommended Jesus-centered churches who teach the True Word of God:
Elevation Church - Steven Furtick
https://elevationchurch.org/
Joseph Prince Ministries - Joseph Prince
https://www.josephprince.org/
Joyce Meyer Ministries
https://joycemeyer.org/