Recently as I’ve taught “Secrets That Intensify the Power of God in Your Life” and “The Precious Holy Spirit,” I’ve been reminded again and again of the great news I have for you: Your legacy of protection, promises, and plenty begins today!

You may be thinking, “Pastor Benny, how can you write those words right now with all the unrest and polarization getting worse everyday?”

God is telling me, again and again, that hope and restoration are on the way! I hear it in my spirit during the night. I hear it wherever I go during the daytime, and I keep receiving it during my intimate times with the Lord.

And as I’ve spent time the past few days in worship and prayer, I’ve been led back to the dramatic biblical account of David, known as “a man after God’s own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14), and the miraculous turnaround he saw in his life that began, quite literally, in the ashes of defeat.

David’s Story of Hope and Faith

Go with me back to 1 Samuel 22 when David, the future king, had to flee for his life from a jealous King Saul. He and his weary band of 400 followers fled into the wilderness, escaping to the cave of Adullam. There the smell of ashes drifted through the darkness as they kept scattered fires to warm themselves and cook their meager meals. They faced certain annihilation. They wept until they had no more tears. Their situation got so bad that David’s rag-tag group even talked of stoning him.

But David taught them a message of hope and faith. How do I know that? It’s there throughout the Psalms, David’s Holy Spirit-inspired journal and songbook, composed during the worst and best times. It’s chock-filled with passages such as, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1) and “surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever” (Psalm 23:6).

Something miraculous happened in the time between 1 Samuel 22 and 1 Samuel 30. The group grew to 600 men, and when they faced another attack, they discovered that everything they had was destroyed. When David and His soldiers came to Ziklag, they found it had been “burned with fire; and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive…and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep” (1 Samuel 30:3-4, NKJV). Tragically, only burnt ashes and remnants of destroyed lives remained.

But this time there was no hiding fearfully in a smoky, dank cave. No! Something had changed. What happened to this band of warriors must surely be one of the most amazing transformations of any group in history, resulting in them recovering all that had been lost.

David created a treasure map of epic proportions for his men to follow, pointing the way for believers today to move from the ash heaps of defeat, destruction, and distress into a legacy of protection, promises, and plenty.

This can be your story, too!

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Five Powerful Points from David’s Treasure Map

Each of these steps can help you trace your way from the ash heaps of life to the mountains of triumph:

1. Praise: “David encouraged himself in the Lord his God” (1 Samuel 30:6).

• • Praise is a God-given garment that covers your life (Isaiah 61:3) and brings God into your situation (Psalm 22:3).
  • David knew that praise gives you access into the presence of Almighty God (Psalm 100:4) and serves as the ultimate weapon by unleashing His power in every battle you face.
  • You may feel like doing anything but praising right now, but the second you start lifting your praises to God, He walks into the midst of your mess.

2. Agreement: David called for the priest Abiathar to bring the ephod (1 Samuel 30:7, NKJV).

• • The ephod was the symbol of agreement in prayer.
  • Throughout his life, whenever David sought God’s direction, he came into agreement with people that he trusted spiritually (1 Samuel 30).
  • Agreement is a spiritual principle in the New Testament as well as the Old Testament (Matthew 18:19).
  • Agreement is a venture into the divine, too often untapped by believers today!

3. Pursuit: David asked the Lord what he should do. God said, “Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all” (1 Samuel 30:8).

• • Faith is a battle, an action, not a thought or feeling.
  • God responds only to faith. David didn’t sit around fuming. He released his faith by stepping forward and taking action.
  • Once we know what to do, it’s time to move forward. When you act in faith, God acts!

4. Authority: David and his warriors fought powerfully from twilight to the next evening when the battle was won (1 Samuel 30:17).

• • A God-given authority that releases supernatural power in our lives at precisely the moment we need it.
  • David and his warriors went forward into battle at Ziklag and kept fighting until the enemy was subdued. He didn’t stop until all was recovered (verse 19).
  • Today, more than ever before, we must step out in the spiritual authority God has given us. We must follow the Great Commission and penetrate the enemy’s camp!

5. Giving: After the battle at Ziklag, David sent a portion of the spoil unto the elders of Judah (1 Samuel 30:26).

• • Giving is how we seal our recovery.
  • Giving was David’s victorious declaration of total restoration, and it was a way of life for him!
  • Today, as in David’s time, giving protects your future!

Five Steps, One Powerful Result!

These God-directed steps made the difference in David’s life and his legacy. Long before the victory in 1 Samuel 30 was assured, he built up his faith and made the decisions that would directly affect his future. Moreover, he made the commitment to follow God in faithful obedience, no matter the cost. As a result, triumph and restoration eventually came! And within a single generation, David’s kingdom was literally overrun with abundance. By the time his son Solomon became king of Israel, silver and gold were as plenteous in the land as stones (2 Chronicles 1:15). Can you imagine?

David was a willing and generous giver at the proper moment because he was grateful for what the Lord had done and knew that his act of giving would impact generations to come! His heritage was blessed beyond imagination as long as they walked in obedience.

God has given us the same promise that He gave to David and believers throughout the ages:

“All these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God” (Deuteronomy 28:2, KJV).”

“Overtake” means being overpowered by God’s blessings in every area of your life, no matter what challenges you currently face!

David planted seed generously to seal his life-changing restoration. Today I am asking you to sow your most sacrificial seed so I can continue to proclaim the name of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord through every means possible!

Make the Connection Between Your Need and Your Seed

Giving is not a matter of merely sending an offering. It is a powerful decision to act in faith by releasing your seed so that God’s blessings for protection, promises, and prosperity can be released from heaven to flow over you, to literally overtake you.

What are your greatest needs today? The answer is in your seed.

The amazing key to changing your life (and the prospects for others) is in the seed that you sow. Giving puts you in line for God’s covenant blessings of protection, power, peace, and plenty!

As a covenant believer, when you give, you can lay claim to all of God’s promises, for He promises:

I will greatly protect you. I will set you in a high place, safe and secure before my face. I will answer your cry for help every time you pray, and you will find and feel my presence, even in your time of pressure and trouble. (Psalm 91:14-15, TPT)

Again, what do you need from heaven? Think about that for a moment, write out your prayer needs, and then take action by making the divine connection between your need and your seed. The harvest is always determined by the seed! And God wants to bless you abundantly, in surprising ways so you can be a blessing!

Send your seed today! Help me fulfill the Great Commission in freshly anointed ways as we step into new, unlimited frontiers together!

Make the divine connection between your need and your seed!

Send your best offering today, not only to help penetrate the enemy’s domain with the Gospel, but also to seal His protection, promises, and plenty in your life!

Let’s tell the world that our precious Master, Jesus, is the only hope for the world today.

I’m asking you to stand with me as you plant your most generous seed-gift to help me proclaim that Jesus saves and Jesus heals!

Wrap your seed with expectant faith and watch God “open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.” (Malachi 3:10, NKJV).

And I pray that your future will be safer, brighter, healthier, and more glorious than your past!

For the glorious and eternal cause of our precious Lord Jesus Christ,