1 Samuel 17:2-11 [NASB]:

“Saul and the men of Israel were gathered and camped in the valley of Elah, and drew up in battle array to encounter the Philistines. The Philistines stood on the mountain on one side while Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with the valley between them. Then a champion came out from the armies of the Philistines named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he was clothed with scale-armor which weighed five thousand shekels of bronze. He also had bronze greaves on his legs and a bronze javelin slung between his shoulders. The shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and the head of his spear weighed six hundred shekels of iron; his shield-carrier also walked before him. He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel and said to them, "Why do you come out to draw up in battle array? Am I not the Philistine and you servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves and let him come down to me. "If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will become your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall become our servants and serve us." Again the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day; give me a man that we may fight together." When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.”

What can you say but “WOW”? This has to be the scariest thing that many of these people have faced. Sure, they had been in wars before. But never against GIANTS. When Goliath is described, really try to picture him. Picture him how the scripture describes. How terrified would we be to face this giant in battle? Hand to hand combat, mind you. In reading this, I hope you realize my point – we all have giants in our lives. Maybe we do not have literal ones, but there are times where we feel that something is too much for us to handle. These giants usually come in spurts. There are times where it just seems that things in life are too big, too much, too heavy. We feel that we cannot go on. This is what the Israelites were facing. They were facing a giant. They could not go on anymore. They could not fight this giant – even together.

Now read 1 Samuel 17:31-37 [NASB]:

“When the words which David spoke were heard, they told them to Saul, and he sent for him. David said to Saul, "Let no man's heart fail on account of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine." Then Saul said to David, "You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth." But David said to Saul, "Your servant was tending his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I went out after him and attacked him, and rescued it from his mouth; and when he rose up against me, I seized him by his beard and struck him and killed him. "Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted the armies of the living God." And David said, "The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine" And Saul said to David, "Go, and may the LORD be with you."”

Now what can we say to this but “WOW”? Honestly, here we have such a YOUNG man coming to face a giant that no one else wanted to battle. When he was criticized by Saul for being too young and too fragile, he had a retort immediately. And what was that? He had already faced a lion and a bear. He had already proved to himself that he can take on that giant. He was a fighter. He did not back down.

The entire point of all of this was to show that we have “lions and bears” for a reason. We have the smaller battles and trials in life because the LORD is preparing us for something bigger coming along. In my field of study, we call this RESILIENCY. Consider that word. Do you know what it means? It means that we go through a bunch of little things, but we do not let them get us down. We trudge through them. And when the bigger giants come, we have already beaten all the little things in our life, and we know that we can fight and win. Resiliency is the key when it comes to facing giants in our lives.

There are times where we feel that suffering and battles and trials are beyond compare. But when the giants come, we realize how trivial those smaller “lion and bears” were. We also realize that we are better prepared to face whatever comes our way. When it seems like the “lions and bears” are bringing you down, fight! They are preparing you for something much greater. The LORD is taking care of us in His own special way.

Be resilient. Empower yourself. Fight your battles.

[mh]

Psalm 51:10-13 [NASB]:
“Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from Your presence
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
And sustain me with a willing spirit.
Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners will be converted to You.”

In January, I decided that I would pick a passage, and it would be my “passage of the year”. I was reading through the Psalms and found these verses. I have read these words everyday for the past six months. I pray them daily. I just wanted to share what has been a constant reminder in my life of what the word of God can do for me. I have found forgiveness, solace, and encouragement in this passage. Not only can I read it and realize that we have forgiveness of sins, but that the Lord is always near to me. Also, I can pray for a willing spirit to teach His word, and bring those who are lost to the Lord. This has been something that God has provided for me. And I have brought someone to Him this year, which was the most amazing thing that I have done in a while.

This passage has done wonders for my life. I thought I would share what has helped me in my daily walk with God this year. I hope that you can read it, and part of it can somehow help you in your walk with the Lord.

[mh]

I have been considering this word and a few verses in 1 John. I will mostly be using 1 John 2:3-6:

“By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.” [NASB]

Verse 6 contains the word “abide” but I think it is important to read it in context. We will know if we are walking in the same manner as Jesus if we are keeping His commandments, therefore abiding in Jesus Christ. I think here we see the word “abide” being used as a verb, meaning – our lives need to be a verb, not an adjective. To kind of explain this idea, instead of just describing our love for Christ based on emotion and feelings, we need to show our love for Christ with our actions and our lives. We will know Him if we keep His commandments, and by walking the same manner as He did.

If you cross reference to John 15:10: “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.” [NASB] Jesus, himself, explained this idea of keeping commandments and abiding to his disciples. Obviously we have to take some action in order abide in God. It is not an option for Christians not to follow the example of Jesus. Many Christians claim to “reside” in God, but they are not following the example of Jesus in their conduct. We are to dwell in the Lord by conducting our lives in holiness and goodness, just as Christ did.

All talk of knowing God, loving God, or even of "believing" or "having faith" is meaningless in the mouths of Christians who dishonor the commandments of the Lord through disobedience and failure to do the "work of faith" (aka – the commandments set before us). Matthew 7:21 says, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.” [NASB] Just because we say we love Him, does not mean that we show we love Him. Our obedience to His commandments is what proves our abidance in Jesus.

I think the basis of abiding is through obedience. Christianity is not necessarily easy. Being completely submissive and following the law of the Lord is hard at times. But no one ever said it was going to be easy. Jesus even said that “the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it (Matt. 7:14).” [NASB] But I think if we put on the heart of obedience and truly want to follow Jesus and be like Him, obedience will be second nature. 1 John 5:3 states, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.” [NASB] Look at His commandments as taking care of us rather than being something we "have" to do. Our love for God is shown through our obedience of His commandments.

I have to step back every day and make sure that my actions are in line with my words. If I proclaim Christ, am I showing Him as well? I struggle daily to abide in the Lord by following the commandments set before me. I have to realize that my words and my actions both need to embody the persona of Christ.

Living up to the perfection of Jesus proves difficult, but it challenges me daily.

Are you up for the challenge?

[mh]

As I took a look at these verses this past week, I considered the implications they had in my life. Our society today tells the youth to do whatever “feels good” or is “right for them” (absolute versus relative truth). This idea of relative truth permeates our country. We are slowly slipping into the coma of selfishness, where we can only focus on ourselves. When we only focus on what “I” want, our attitudes and actions may cause us to lose sight of the Lord. According to these verses, we are to love our youth, and follow our hearts, and yet we must have a standard. We have to test the desires of our eyes and the impulses of our hearts. We are to REMEMBER the Lord in all we do. The Father will either praise or blame our lives in the final Day of Judgment, and this makes every detail of life significant rather than meaningless. When we consider this thought, it gives direction to our hearts and discrimination to our eyes.

I know that in my life I have not always tested what my eyes desired and the impulses of my heart. I fell into the deception that society set before me. I focused on “me”. I can see other Christians falling into the same trap that I did. And I think it all boils down to attitude and focus. Before I could really let my “heart be pleasant” and before I could “remove grief and anger” from my heart, I had to realize that my attitude needed adjusting. For example, sometimes my heart was not set on truly worshipping the Lord during services. I felt bored a lot of the time. But that was my selfish attitude showing through. Our lives are for our Living God and we are constantly in service to Him. I finally realized that my self-serving attitude needed to be turned into a God-serving attitude. And it was not until I made that change in my life that I could truly focus on God and what He wants me to do.

I am daily striving to keep my attitude in check and focus on God. I need to remember Him daily because time is running out. If I do not keep my focus on the Lord now, in my old age, my days will be filled with, “I have no delight in them.” I want to rejoice in the Lord now, and every day for the rest of my life.

I challenge you to examine your attitude and focus, and do not fall into the deception that society offers to you. Remember the Creator.

“The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.” Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 (NASB)

[mh]