A Spiritual Awakening: Unchains the King David Giant in You

By Simone Ambalita

A spiritual awakening embraced will give you the ability to...

• stop the debilitating chatter of naysayers and self-doubt and manifest the abundant life promised to you by God.

• Free yourself from the bondage of religion and enjoy a personal love relationship with your Saviour.

• Unchain the Giant within and realize your life long dreams.

• Kick self sabotage to the curb and claim your God given inheritance.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Mar 25, 2022
• ISBN: 9781664226814

Simone Ambalita

Simone Ambalita is a woman of faith and an inspirational blogger. She believes that our unadulterated truth is sometimes stranger than fiction. She is a survivor of domestic violence and childhood sexual abuse. She used God’s Word to triumph over the pain, shame and silence of the past. Regardless of opposition, she dares to live what she believes, spread the healing love of the Creator and boldly speak her truth to empower others and help them overcome emotional, spiritual and physical roadblocks and point them in the direction of the Source of all creation Who can help them live undefeated lives where they can make manifest their hopes and dreams, and birth the best version of themselves.

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Copyright © 2022 Simone Ambalita.

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except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents,

organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products

of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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ISBN: 978-1-6642-2682-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-2683-8 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-2681-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021904833

WestBow Press rev. date: 05/17/2022

Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMP), Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission. www.Lockman.org

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale House Ministries, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (GNT) are from the Good News Translation in Today’s English Version- Second Edition Copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.

Scripture marked (KJV) taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMPC), Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission. www.Lockman.org

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

CONTENTS

Chapter 1     I Am Courage

Chapter 2     The Power of Trust

Chapter 3     Change Your Perspective Change Your Life

Chapter 4     Silent Strength

Chapter 5     Don’t Judge Yourself Harshly; In a Barren Land, Life Comes A’Bloom

Chapter 6     You Are Not Fighting Demons; It’s The Unchaining Of The Giant within You

Chapter 7     Learning Spiritual Obedience

Chapter 8     You Grow Outside Your Comfort Zone

Chapter 9     The Willingness to Surrender to Our First Relationship

Chapter 10   An Unchained Spirit Is Free To Receive and Manifest Abundant Life

Chapter 11   I Embrace The Birth of My Authentic Self

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CHAPTER 1

I AM COURAGE

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The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill

And to destroy: I am come that they

Might have life, and that they

Might have it more abundantly. (John 10:10 KJV)

S ometimes, we look for miracles outside of ourselves without realizing that we are the miracle we have been praying and searching for. Long ago, a young man came face to face with a physical giant; he realized that there was an even greater giant, unseen to the naked eye, within him. The miracle he needed was within. See, this young man possessed God-given strength and courage. But it took the pressure of a real-life crisis to awaken that giant within, where this young lad became the miracle he needed. Whatever situations you may encounter, whether big or small, you are equipped with everything you need to overcome. You may not be David, but know you are stronger than any circumstance or situation life throws at you. And sometimes, it is the pressure of a real-life event that brings strength and courage to the forefront.

Here is the story: Goliath and his comrades confronted David. Their agenda was to annihilate young David. In stature, he was much smaller than his adversaries. The situation seemed grave, for Goliath was an actual giant. But David did not focus on the physical stature of his opponent. Neither did he focus on his size. The implications of this situation were more than physical. While David may not have realized it at the time, this was a divine setup for the unchaining of that giant spirit within. David did not know he was about to experience a spiritual awakening, where inner strength and courage would emerge and be sufficient weaponry in this fight. Depending on his God-given inner strength and courage, this young man with a single stone in a slingshot slew Goliath.

Well, you may say you are no David, but here is the thing: if you are reading this page, you are as human as David. David was of no high esteem. He was a shepherd boy. The closest David got to battling giants was when he fought off bears to protect his herd. Like most ordinary individuals, he may have had a very human response when antagonized by Goliath and his cohorts. At the time, his shepherd boy’s reality may have been David’s view of himself.

Nonetheless, how he perceived himself did not change the fact that greatness, strength, and courage resided within him. So many of us have occupied a similar space as David. But his story shows us that our past does not determine our future. Neither is our current reality a predictor of our future. You are whoever God says you are. And you have what it takes to overcome whatever the giant may be in your life. Often, we look at our current reality, and that is all our eyes can see. Our current reality can be the Goliath in our life. Our present reality can cloud the vision of where we were created and destined to be.

David’s shepherd boy reality did not change the deposit within him that qualified him for his future. Royalty was in his DNA, and his shepherd boy reality was refining the skills he would need to kill Goliath with a single stone. Ordinary people can do extraordinary things. Just like David, your current position does not determine your future. There is an overcomer in you. There is a seed of goodness within you. Once fertilized, you will live up to your highest potential. This young man was what we would call today an underdog. David was like you and me. He had hidden within him greatness that man’s eyes could not see. Just about all of us, at some point in life, have had to confront a Goliath. What is the Goliath in your life?

Goliath does not have to be a person. It can be an ugly fear that tries to prohibit you from believing and taking actions that will result in you living up to your highest potential. The young man of this story was not aware of his potential. Neither were his father and brothers. Even Samuel, who was God’s prophet, did not see the king in David. There is no blame to place for this lack of awareness. The Creator knew what He had deposited in David, so He instructed Samuel to anoint him king.

Never underestimate the value of the deposit hidden within you. The average person may not have chosen David to be king. But the Creator is not an average God. He knew all along what He had deposited in this young man, which we will find out as we go on. There is so much untapped, unrealized, and unexplored potential in each of us. The years come and go so fast, and before we know it, we are looking in the rearview mirror of life with one question in mind: Where have all those years gone? You may not think so, but the world needs that deposit of goodness, strength, courage, and resilience hidden within you, especially now. The Creator wants you to live a more abundant life while here on earth. Your past and current reality must not define you or determine your future. You have everything within you to be all that God created you to be, whereby you can live your authentic life.

See, every day, we get up and go through the motions of life. The best we can, we accept the challenges of a new day. We face the fiery trials of life in silent solitude. We make sacrifices not only for our benefit but also for the good of others. We do all this, never giving a second thought about what is transpiring deep within the most sacred part of our being. These days, in a fast-paced and ever-evolving world, we try to cram a week’s to-do list into a twenty-four-hour day, and then we give our exhausted selves a pat on the back, saying at least we were productive today. And for some of us, the only thanks we receive for all our hard work and irrecoverable time is a monetary reward, which does nothing for our most vital part, our spirit.

While money is essential to survival in this modern world, we need a healthy spirit to enjoy the fruits of our labor. However, with material accumulation being a false measure of success, it is no surprise that most of us tend to focus on the grooming and nourishing of our physical self to be effective competitors in the consumerism rat race. We feed our intellectual minds with self-help food so that our material being can develop intellectually and compete at an elite level in the ascent to maximum material accumulation, while lost in the fray is our spirit.

Positive motivational nourishment is essential and significant when cultivating a mindset that allows optimal physical performance in this competitive material world. It should not be abandoned or overlooked. It is necessary and vital, and serves our highest good. Focusing solely on the carnal composition and allotting most of our time and attention to our physical needs will never bring about the wholeness, happiness, and satisfaction our higher self so desperately needs. A carnal approach to what is intended to be an exquisite spiritual expedition will always result in us experiencing this earthly journey from a place of deficit, imbalance, and chaos. And sooner or later, we fall victim to the stress and pressure fused to conducting life from the weakest part of our composition, our physical self. This approach causes us to lose that innate passion, zest, and love for life and living. Hijacked from us is true freedom, for our spirit is trapped in a perpetual state of spiritual bondage. Our spirit needs even more care and attention than our physical self. The neglect of our higher self adds only sorrow to our earthly pilgrimage. The blessings that make us rich and add no sorrow come when we unite with the Spirit of the living God. Neglecting that spirit who exists outside the human gaze, who lives eternally, and who is more real than our robe of flesh is detrimental to the well-being of our mind, body, and soul. It cripples us from reaching our highest potential. Living this way, we can complete our earthly journey, oblivious to the fact that we have stolen from ourselves the inheritance of a more abundant life while here on planet earth. Our Creator wants us to have life and have it more abundantly, for so it is in heaven, so shall it be on earth (John 10:10 KJV). Deficit is not our birthright. Oppression and bondage are not our inheritance. The good news is, if there is breath in our body, change is possible. Regardless of our temporary yet current earthly reality, endowed with free will, we can and must choose to have this birthright promise permeate our conscious and subconscious belief system where it can be made manifest throughout our earthly journey.

Admittedly, change is not always easy or comfortable, but positive change rewards not only are sweet but serve our highest good. We may not change all the world’s woes, but we have the needed resolve and courage to change ourselves. Unfortunately, sometimes it takes a blessing disguised as a drastic life event to initiate a shift in our perspective, wherein we fully appreciate that we are more than flesh and blood. And we start the process of attending to our spirit.

There are times when the Creator, Who has the power and ability to intervene in our lives, allows us to experience trials and to suffer so we can become conscious of and sensitive to the agony of our spirit. Often, it is in the valley of human suffering where courage comes alive, and we embrace the changes necessary for our spirit’s growth and happiness. Sadly, this is not the case for everyone. Some individuals grapple with this inner stirring and engage in silent combat with their duality, for the deficit of their spirit creates severe inner turbulence and anguish. And rather than look inwards and change course, some put an end to their earthly journey prematurely to escape the suffering. An early end does not have to be the case. You are the miracle you so need. Within you, you have the fortitude that allows for inner self-examination, which gives way to positive change whereby you can overcome oppression and depression.

The demands of daily living make it easy for us to overlook the stirrings of a spiritual awakening. Not only that, the programming of our thought process starts from birth. In the private and public sphere, we are conditioned to think and focus on making our physical self stronger and intellectually smarter so as to do well in the corporal world. Little or no attention is given to the primary and enduring part of our being, our spirit, and primary self. And little or zero time is spent communing with He Who holds the world in His hands. We are well-informed about navigating in the material world from a carnal place, but we have little or no knowledge of our higher self and what it means to live from a place of spirit.

Because of its chameleon-like nature, we can perceive this inner spiritual happening to be something that it is not, which complicates matters even more. The truth is, from the time we take our first breath in this material world, we must never forget the importance of self-love and self-care. On this pilgrimage back to the Source from which we came, we must nourish our spirit and function from our primary and eternal self. It is equally important that our physical self and our spirit be synchronized and stay in a harmonious state, anchored in the Spirit of the living God. To maintain this anchored state, we must love ourselves enough to dedicate quality time each day for inner self-examination and meditative fellowship with the Holy Spirit, where this way of being becomes as natural and consistent as inhaling and exhaling life-sustaining air.

True and abiding self-love has nothing to do with the ego. This love is the umbilical cord that connects body and spirit. Transported from this is nourishment for the soul. This love is a disciplined way of treating and caring for our mind, body, and spirit, while honoring the Spirit of God, Who lives within us. This type of love allows our spirit to grow and take the lead in all aspects of our life. Please know, you are deserving of such self-love.

For some of us, the mere thought of putting aside quality time to be alone with ourselves and the Master-builder of this universe floods our mind and soul with guilt. And this may be because our subconscious belief which says putting oneself first is selfish and egotistical. We have the bravery to deal with much in life. We can carry the heaviest of loads. Yet, we are challenged when it comes to the courage needed for deep introspection of our higher self, who may be in a state of famine and drought, yearning for more, needing to be put first, and longing for the care and love we show to others.

As we get entangled in the web of the busyness of living, there is a tendency to forget how important we are. You are significant and deserving of self-care. You are just as significant as the people you love the most and care for the best. At times, we all need a little encouragement and a friendly reminder that there is no you without you. Take a moment to inhale deeply and infuse your entire being with love. Now, exhale all your cares slowly. Do this as many times as necessary until self-love is oozing out your pores.

The ailments of our body are often visible and discoverable by science. However, the spirit’s suffering is easily overlooked; it’s outside the gaze of the carnal eyes. True wellness means being balanced and centered, wherein we care for ourselves in whole, not in part. So be careful. What may seem like a case of melancholy, what seems like a person acting crazy, what appears like unidentified inner unease, or what seems like a disorganized and chaotic life that’s always in a constant state of flux may be the stirrings of this spiritual awakening. When embraced, it can give way to a lively and beautiful life-altering experience. You do not have to be religious to see this happen. The embrace of this process results in living intentionally, where each day you make a conscious decision to think thoughts, make choices, and take actions that are in keeping with the Creator, Who is the personification of love.

Here is where you intentionally set your mind, body, and soul on whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things (Philippians 4:8 NIV). In other words, you have the power to take captive your thoughts where you meditate on that which is good and positive.

If we form opinions, pass judgments, or draw conclusions based on shallow, substanceless views, we run the risk of overlooking what is beneath the surface of our carnal selves, others, and even situations; thus, we do ourselves a grave injustice. And with that, we place ourselves in a position to miss out on vital and wonderful life experiences that are loaded with possibilities and gems of goodness. None of us wants to sabotage goodness from being poured into our lives. Most if not all of us want to maximize in our lives the things that help us grow and aid us in the living of our best life. The lessons gained from surrendering to an inner awakening are a source of goodness and filled with endless possibilities. The value harvested from these lessons helps to position us on the path of higher purpose, which leads to divine destiny steps and results in the living of fulfilling and satisfying lives.

You may ask how I know this to be true. Well, here is what you should know: I am not a doctor in any sense of the imagination. Neither do I believe I am sage of our time. What I am is a simple and ordinary person like you who has experienced some of the same life’s woes as you. There emerged an inner conviction that has produced a powerful belief that in sharing stories of old in love and with love, it is possible to change the trajectory of our future positively for our good and the good of humankind.

Jon Gordon and Daniel Decker have a quote in their Stay Positive book that resonates with me; it says, through adversity, we have a choice. We can run away from each other, or we can run toward each other, and what we must remember is connection breeds commitment. The question is, are we willing to heal, extract the positive from the past, take a new direction, and commit to calling forth that which is good in ourselves and our fellow human beings? Are we willing to embrace each other as we take constructive and positive action to manifest the promise of a more abundant life while here on earth? Are we willing to encourage and support each other as we grow and bloom spiritually and physically? I hope that by sharing, you are inspired to look beyond the trials of life and the pain of yesteryears to happier, brighter, and better tomorrows. And rather than run away from each other, we will run towards each other with love and in love, and commit to supporting each other as we persevere to be the positive change we would like to see in this world.

Here is the thing: Trials tend to make us feel as though there is no light at the end of seasons of hardship. But please know that is deception in motion. Our ancestors suffered just as much as we did (or even more). The fact that we are still here is a testament to the strength and courage we possess to endure and overcome. Deception aims to fog our vision where we cannot visualize the bountiful goodness that is on the horizon. It is human to feel as though you are the only one going through whatever you have gone through. You are not alone. Just about all of us feel this way when faced with trying times. What you must know is, everything that happens in this world happens at the time God chooses (Ecclesiastes 3:1 GNT). There is a quote by Joel Osteen that says, If you will do your part and keep believing, at the right time, God will bring you out with victory. The things that have happened in our lives are not to break us but rather to refine and strengthen us. We all have been through something or are going through something. That is life. Whatever the trial may be, know that you can get through it victoriously. You are stronger than life’s storms, which is sufficient reason to hope for brighter and better tomorrows.

Sacred scripture is loaded with stories of people who overcame adversities, encountered challenges, and faced crossroads. Examining some of the intimate and flawed moments in the lives depicted in sacred scripture and people of modern days, you will smile at yourself, give yourself a warm and nourishing hug, and be reassured that you are perfectly human with a David-like, giant spirit. And at your core, all you want to do is live your best and most authentic life and experience abundant life while here on earth. Each of us has a seed of goodness and greatness within, and once nourished, we can live from a place of hope with the expectation of brighter tomorrows, where a more abundant life becomes a reality.

[Our Creator said this:] For I know the plans I have for you, declare the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and will bring you back from captivity. (Jeremiah 29:11–14 NIV)

This amazing and mighty Creator has equipped you with everything you need to live your best life. It does not matter what position you occupy in life at this moment. You are important to the Creator. Each one of us matters to the Source from which all of Creation sprang forth. The Master-builder of this magnificent universe cares for us. He cares for you, the individual. He wants you to flourish in all aspects of life with effortless ease. This does not mean you will not have to work and work hard at times. But the joy that flows from within makes even hard work seem effortless. To live this earthly journey, how the Creator intended, caring for ourselves, is not an option, especially our spirit. It is a must if we sincerely desire to live our best and most authentic life. Ephesians 5:29 (NIV) tells us that no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body. Our spirit is no different, for what is true for the physical is true for the spiritual. If anything, our spirit is even more important. Therefore, we must nourish and cherish that divine part of ourselves, for while the body perishes at the end of our earthly journey, our spirit lives eternal, and the one who gets [this] wisdom loves life; the one who cherishes [this] understanding will soon prosper (Proverbs 19:8 NIV).

The Creator not only loves us but also longs to commune with us. In the same manner, our spirit yearns for a personal relationship with the Source of all of creation. This gravitational pull between our spirit and the Spirit of the living God gives way to what is a spiritual awakening. The positive personal changes