How To Slay A Giant

We are familiar with the story of David and Goliath.  We know the story ends with a slingshot, and David cutting off the giant's head with the giant's sword.  But what led up to this event, and what can we learn about how to slay our own giants?  There is a process involved in slaying a giant.  I found four steps to slaying a giant, and each one starts with the letter P.
1. Preparation:  David's time as a shepherd boy was not wasted time.  David spent his time developing his relationship with God.  When Saul's servants looked for someone to come play the harp and minister to Saul, they found David.  1 Sam. 16:18, "Look, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a mighty man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a handsome person; and the Lord is with him."  David was courageous, wise in his speech, and had developed such a relationship with God that others could see it.  He was respectful and obedient to his father when asked to go see his brothers.  God was preparing David for great things, and David was preparing himself.  (He was also getting very skilled with the slingshot.)
2. Practice:  David was putting into practice the things he was learning.  He slew a lion and a bear that came to attack the sheep.  It is practice that makes the difference.  The distance between knowing and doing determines results.  Practice is necessary to accomplish anything worthwhile.  "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." James 1:22.  Practice is the bridge between knowing and accomplishing. 
3. Proving:  After seeing David's persistence to go against the giant, Saul dressed David in his armor.  With Saul's armor on, David couldn't even walk.  David said, "...I cannot go with these, for I have not proved them."  1 Sam. 17:39.  We can only walk with what we have proved.  Each one of us has to prove for ourselves the will of God.  Rom. 12:1,2 says we are to have a transformed mind, so we can prove what is the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God.  We can not walk with another person's revelation, we each need our own revelation from God in our lives. 
4. POW:  After preparation, practice, and proving, David's time had come to slay the giant.  He took out of his shepherd's bag one stone, put it in his sling, and ran toward the giant.  His confidence was not in his own ability, but in God.  The giant was dressed in armor from head to foot.  There was only a small spot exposed, and David knew that stone would hit its mark. With skill he slung that stone so hard that it sank into the giant's forehead, and the giant hit the ground.  There is power available to those who are prepared, practiced, and proven God in the small things.  We can slay our giants as we walk with God through the process.

At what place am I at today in the process of slaying a giant?

The Elder Son

The story of the prodigal son contains three main characters: the younger son, the father, and the older son.  The younger son has taken his portion of the inheritance and gone to a far country to waste his substance.  After awhile, he returns to his father with a repentant heart.  The father is so happy to receive him back that he orders the best robe to be put on him, a ring to be put on his finger, sandals for his feet, and the fatted calf to be killed.  They will celebrate the return of the son who was lost and is found, who was dead and is now alive.  But there is an older son  who comes home from working in the field.  In fact, he has been working faithfully in the field for many years.  He comes home to the sound of music and dancing, and inquires what is going on.  Then he finds out that his younger son has returned, and the father has put on a party, and killed the fatted calf.  He is angry and would not go in, so the father came out to talk to him.  He said to his father, "..these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends."  Luke 15:29.  The older son has reduced his place in the family to "serving" and "not transgressing".  He was not living out of the joy of relationship with his father, but instead he was living to not transgress against his father.  His mindset had become one of works, and performance to earn a blessing from his father.  The father said, "Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours."  The older son did not realize that he always had the father with him, and anything that belonged to the father, belonged to the son.  Sometimes we as God's children can fall into the thinking that we will earn God's blessing if we serve Him, and not transgress His commandments.  But the Father says that because we are His children, we are always with Him, and everything He has is ours!  What do you need today?  The Father is with you always, and all that is His is yours.  You can come to Him anytime for whatever you need.  Sometimes the younger son who has just repented understands grace more than the older son, who has been serving for many years.  Come to the  Father out of love, and grace, and receive of His blessings today.

Do I realize that I am always with the Father, and all He has is mine? 

Moving Up In Wisdom

James 3:13-18 tells us there are two kinds of wisdom.  First, there is the wisdom that is of this world.  "This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic."  Living by this wisdom comes from a heart of bitterness, envy, and self-seeking.  It is a wisdom that springs out of comparison with others.  Comparison leads to bitterness, envy, and dissatisfaction.  It leads to strife, where every evil thing is possible.  "For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there."  God does not want us to live by this kind of wisdom.  This wisdom is ruled by the senses, our lusts, and gives the demonic realm a place in our lives.  We need to move away from this earthly wisdom to God's wisdom.  There is a wisdom that comes from heaven.  "But the wisdom that comes from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy."  This wisdom is first of all pure.  It has pure motives and pure actions.  There is nothing dishonest or deceitful about this wisdom.  This wisdom is peaceable.  It does not produce turmoil or a troubled heart.  It brings peace into your situation.  It is gentle, not forceful or imposing itself on another.  It is willing to yield.  It is easily intreated, that is, it is easy to enter into a treaty with.  It is willing to listen so as to understand another person's point of view.  It seeks to see things from the other person's perspective.  It will move around to the other side of the table to view a problem from another viewpoint.  It is full of mercy and good fruits.  It is full of compassion and acts with tenderness and sensitivity to another.  It is without partiality, that is, it does not deal with favoritism or unfairly.  It has no hypocrisy, no hidden agendas, no ulterior motives, but is only transparent.  "Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness."  NIV.  Sow peace into difficult relationships.  This wisdom makes us peacemakers, who sow in peace, and reap a harvest of righteousness.  This wisdom will make us into peacemakers, who will be called the children of God.

How can I move into God's wisdom today? 

Blessed Are The Peacemakers

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God."  Matt. 5:9.  God wants us to live in peace with ourselves, and with others.  God has come to make peace with us.  2 Cor. 5:17-21 tells us that God has reconciled us to Himself.  He has given us a message of reconciliation, so that we can say to others, "Be reconciled to God."  Col. 1:20 tells us He has made peace with us through the blood of His cross.  Eph. 2:14 says that He Himself is our peace, and has made both Jew and Gentile one, breaking down the middle wall of partition that was between us.  Jesus came as the Prince of Peace.  Jesus was the greatest peacemaker!  He came to give us peace.  In the world we will have tribulation, but He has overcome the world!  He has come that we might know peace with God, and the peace of God.  First, we must come into peace with God.  God has already reconciled us to Himself, having paid the price for our sin.  Now we must simply receive by faith what has already been done.  Romans 5:1 says, "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."  Through Christ we are no longer enemies of God.  We are at peace with God.  Now God wants us to learn to walk in that peace.  Phil. 4:6,7 tells us that we are to bring all our anxieties to God, and then the peace of God, which surpasses our understanding, will keep our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.  Peace will act like a soldier, guarding and keeping our minds from all the worries and cares of life.  Col. 3:15 tells us to let the peace of God rule in our hearts.  The Amplified Version says, "And let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts (deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds, in that peaceful state) to which as (members of Christ's) one body you were also called (to live)..."  So many things want to rule in our hearts, but we are to let God's peace rule and reign over us, and be the deciding factor in the questions that arise in our minds.  Today, let peace rule in your heart.

How am I letting peace rule in my heart today? 

Walking In Peace

Sometimes peace comes because Jesus comes and says, "Peace, be still" as in Mark 4:39.  The storm is stilled, and all around you is peace.  This is wonderful, and we appreciate the miracle of stilling the storm.  But other times, we experience peace in the midst of the storm.  This is more like the eye of the hurricane, where all is still in the storm, yet the storm continues to swirl all around.  Gideon experienced this kind of miracle in Judges 6.  The Midianites oppressed Israel, and each year came and destroyed the produce of the ground, as well as the sheep, oxen, and donkeys.  They would leave nothing behind, and Israel was left impoverished year after year.  Gideon was threshing wheat in the winepress to hide, when the angel of the Lord spoke and said, "The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!"  Gideon did not see himself as a mighty man of valor!  He did not believe that the Lord was with him.  He argued with the angel.  The Lord sees us differently than we see ourselves.  He sees us as the mighty men and women of God that He made us to be!  He is with us!  His tangible presence is with us!  He manifests Himself to us everyday, though we are sometimes like Gideon and don't recognize it.  You can confidently say, "The Lord is with me."  He has already promised that He would never leave me, nor forsake me.  Even in the midst of the storm, the Lord is with us!  Gideon asks the angel to confirm these things.  He prepares an offering and sets it before the angel.  Fire from the angel's staff consumed the meat and the bread.  Now Gideon perceived this to be an angel of the Lord.  There Gideon built an altar to the Lord and called it, "The Lord is Peace", or "Jehovah Shalom."  Gideon has changed!  He now knows God as his peace.  Nothing has changed on the outside, yet Gideon has changed on the inside.  He has a confidence by the peace of God, that God is in control, and will bring peace in the midst of this storm.  The enemy no longer has the upper hand.  Gideon is no longer afraid.  By Jehovah Shalom, Israel will conquer their enemy.  By the peace of God, we will conquer our enemy.  The storm may still be brewing, but inside we know we have the victory.  We know we will overcome by the peace of God in our hearts.  We must walk in peace, whether the storm is stilled, or the storm is still brewing.  He is Jehovah Shalom, the Lord our Peace.

Are you walking in peace today?

Compromise - David

David has been greatly blessed by God, and now he is ruling over all Israel.  In 2 Sam. 11 we read that in the spring of the year the kings go out to battle.  While Joab and all Israel went out to battle, David remained at Jerusalem.  It seems that David was not where he should have been, out with the battle.  Usually people get into trouble when they are somewhere they shouldn't be!  Obedience begins when we go where God wants us to go!  David observed a beautiful woman when he walked on the roof of the king's house.  Here David made his choice to compromise.  He inquired about who she was, and eventually had her brought over to the king's house.  He took advantage of her there, and soon the news came back to him that she was with child.  David compromised morally, taking a woman that was another man's wife.  He knew she was Bathsheba, Uriah's wife.  Uriah was one of David's mighty men, loyal to David unto death.  David decided to cover up the sin with Bathsheba, so he asked that Uriah would be sent home.  David talked with Uriah, and sent him to his house to be with his wife.  However, Uriah never went to his house, because he was loyal to his men.  David even got Uriah drunk in hopes that he would go to his own house.  But Uriah stayed loyal to his men.  So in a final act of betrayal and murder, David sent a letter with Uriah telling Joab to put Uriah in the hottest place of the battle.  Now David has covered up his adultery by lying and murder!   But what is done in private is known by God.  Nathan's revelation, "You are the man" brought David to a place of repentance.  David cried out to God in Ps. 51, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me."  There is life after compromise!  Though there was much pain and heartache, God did forgive David, and restored him.  Life would never be quite the same for David, but he did experience God's forgiveness and presence once again.  The good news is that God will heal us from our compromise when we cry out to Him.

Do I need forgiveness for anything in my life?

Compromise - Eli

Eli was the priest in Shiloh at the time of Samuel's birth.  We are told about the wickedness of Eli's sons, Hophni and Phinehas.  The Old Testament law was that when sacrifices were offered, the fat was to be burned first, before the meat was eaten.  However, these sons did not respect the offering, and would demand the meat while it was raw, and threatened to take it by force if it wasn't given to them.  They also would lay with the women at the door of the tabernacle.  They did not listen to their father Eli when he corrected them.  But Eli was compromising along with his sons.  In 1 Sam. 2:29 the Lord said to Eli, "Why do you kick at My sacrifice and My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling place, and honor your sons more than Me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel My people?"  Eli was compromising with God, in order to honor his sons.  He did not want to lose the relationship with his sons, so he compromised his relationship with God.  By doing this, he lost God's blessing on his life.  Israel came under attack from the Philistines, and they lost the battle, and Hophni and Phinehas were killed in the battle.  When the news of the battle came to Eli, he fell backwards off his seat, and broke his neck and died.  Then Phinehas' wife heard the news, and she went into labor, and died after the child was born, which she named Ichabod, which means "the glory has departed from Israel."  Eli's compromise was very costly for Israel.  Because he did not put God first, but allowed compromise into his life, his family, and his nation suffered greatly, and came into captivity to their enemy.  Compromising our relationship with God for other people will always bring bad results in our lives.  We can learn a lesson from Eli - Do not compromise with God.

How can I stop compromise from becoming part of my life?