Daily Devotional
Matthew 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
God’s promises and purposes concerning your life will come under attack; we know that this is true because Matthew 11:12 said that the “kingdom of heaven suffereth violence”. What that means is that every good plan of God concerning your life will come under persistent attacks. The use of the phrase “suffereth violence” indicates that the attacks will be persistent and continuous. In light of this truth, how will you choose to respond? The response that will give you the victory is to be violent or aggressive; that is evidenced by the scripture saying that the “violent take it force”.
David was the aggressor when he took on the giant. The first way in which he showed more aggression was that He never sat back and waited for Goliath to come to him, that would be David playing defense. Instead, David ran towards the problem. 1 Samuel 17:48 said that he “ran toward the army to meet the Philistine”. The only way to overcome any problem is to confront it.
The second way in which David showed greater aggression than Goliath was to throw the first punch. 1 Samuel 17:48 said that David put his hand in his bag, and took out a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead. Because David made the preemptive strike, the Giant never had any chance to cause any hurt to David. Being reactive or waiting to see what the enemy will do is the wrong approach; it is setting up yourself to be defeated.
How David operated is exactly the approach that Mathew 11:12 is instructing us to take. It says the violent take it by force. The use of the phrase “take it” means that we should go out and get what was promised to us rather than sit back and wait for it to come to us. David never did the latter, he confronted the situation. The scripture also says we must take it by “force”; that means that we must be the aggressor. The aggressor in any boxing contest is the one who throws the most punches and typically they are the one who comes out on top.
Life Application: Get aggressive and take what God has promised by force by confronting the difficult situations that will arise and be proactive in throwing punches while attacking from all possible angles.
Prayer: Lord, help me to be proactive in my approach instead of reactive. Guide me by your Spirit as I confront the various challenges I face. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Daily Devotional 
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