“Facing Your Giants” by Max Lucado Continued

Chapter 3:

Saul’s anger puzzles David.  What has he done but good?  He has brought musical healing to Saul’s tortured spirit, hope to the enfeebled nation.  He is the Abraham Lincoln of the Hebrew calamity, saving the republic and doing so modestly and honestly.  He behaves “wisely in all his ways” (18:114)  ”all Israel and Judah loved David” (18:16)  David behaves “more wisely than all the servants of Saul, so that his name became highly esteemed.”  (18:30)

Yet, Mount Saul keeps erupting, rewarding David’s deeds with flying spears and murder plots.  We understand David’s question to Jonathan: “What have I done?  What is my iniquity, and what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?” (20:1)

Jonathan has no answer to give, for no answer exists.  Who can justify the rage of a Saul?

Who knows why a father torments a child, a wife belittles her husband, a boss pits employees against each other?  But they do.  Sauls still rage on our planet.  dictators torture, employers seduce, ministers abuse, priests molest, the strong and mighty control and cajole the vulnerable and innocent.  Sauls still stalk Davids.

How does God respond to such cases?  Nuke the nemesis?  We may want him to.  He’s been known to extract a few Herods and Pharaohs.  How he will treat yours, I can’t say.  But how he will treat you, I can.  He will send you a Jonathan.

God counters Saul’s cruelty with Jonathan’s loyalty.  Jonathan could have been as jealous as Saul.  As Saul’s son, he stood to inherit the throne.  A noble soldier himself, he was fighting Philistines while David was still feeding sheep.

Jonathan had reason to despise David, but he didn’t. He was gracious.  Gracious because the hand of the Master Weaver took his and David’s hearts and stitched a seam between them.  ”The soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.” (18:1)…

Oh, to have a friend like Jonathan.  A soul mate who protects you, who seeks nothing but your interests, wants nothing but your happiness.  An ally who lets you be you.  You feel safe with that person.  No need to weigh thoughts or measure words.  You know his or her faithful hand will sift the chaff from the grain, kep what matters and with a breath of kindness, blow the rest away.  God gave David such a friend.

He gave you one as well.  David found a companion in a prince of Israel; you can find a friend in the King of Israel, Jesus Christ.  Has he not made a covenant with you?  Among his final words were these: “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matt. 28:20)

Has he not clothed you?  He offers you “white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of you nakedness may not be revealed” (Rev. 3:18).  Christ cloaks you with clothing suitable for heaven.

In fact, he outdoes Jonathan.  He not only gives you his robe; he dons your rages.  ”God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:21 NIV).

Jesus dresses you.  And, like Jonathan, he equips you.  You are invited to “put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firn against all strategies and tricks of the Devil” (Eph. 6:11 NIV).

From his armory he hands you the belt of truth, the body armor of righteousness, the shield of faith, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (vv. 13-17)

Just as Jonathan protected David, Jesus vows to protect you.  ”I give them eternal life, and they will never perish.  No one will snatch them away from me” (John 10:28 NLT)

You long for one true friend?  You have one.  And because you do, you have a choice.  You can focus on your Saul or your Jonathan, ponder the malic of your monster or the kindness of your Christ.

Beverly chooses to maximize Christ.  Isn’t easy.  How can you shift your focus away from the man who raped you?  He entered Beverly’s home under the guise of official business.  She had every reason to trust him; personal acquaintance and professional associate.  He worked for the state and requested an audience with Beverly.  But he took more than her time.

He denied and successfully covered up the deed.  As he continues to move up the political ladder, Beverly spots him on the evening news, encounters him at parties.  While he feigns innocence, she churns within.

But not like she used to.  Two years after the rape she met her Jonathan.  A friend told her about Christ – his protection, his provision, and his invitation.  She accepted it.  Memories of the rape still dog her, but they don’t control her.  She isn’t left alone with her Saul any more.  she seeks Christ rather than revenge; she measures choices against his mercy, not her violator’s cruelty.  Beverly ponders and praises the living presence of Jesus.   Doing so heals her soul.

Major in your evil emperor, if you choose.  Paint horns on his picture.  Throw darts at her portrait.  Make and memorize a list of everything the Spam-brain took; you childhood, career, marriage, health.  Live a Saul saturated life.  Wallow in the sludge of pain.  You’ll feel better, won’t you?

Or will you?

…to be continued.

He makes his point very well, doesn’t he?!  I think it all boils down to something I thought of quite a while ago, we can be bitter or we can be better! Just my thought.

Love and hugs, 

Terri

Related articles

• Some Excerpts From “Facing Your Giants” by Max Lucado; Food For Thought (terri0729.wordpress.com)
• More From Max Lucado’s “Facing Your Giants” (terri0729.wordpress.com)

The Ten Commandments Award

I want to thank Terry for nominating me for this award.  You can find her at 
http://terry1954.wordpress.com/2012/07/01/the-ten-commandments-award
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Terry has become a good friend to me since she started following my blog.  Please take a moment to stop by and visit her.  She is a wonderful writer, a caregiver to her brother who has Parkinson’s, and an inspiration to all.

The Ten Commandments are from GOD, and are the standards to which we are to hold ourselves. The 10 commands can easily be grouped into two groups — love for God and love for others. These commandments where given to Moses and the Children of Israel in the wilderness after their escape from slavery in Egypt.
Can you imagine how much better our world would be IF all people lived and followed these commandments?

Ten Commandments from the Bible
Exodus 20:3-17. :

1. You shall have no other gods before Me.
2. You shall not make unto thee any graven image.
3. You shall not take the name of the Lord God in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
5. Honor your father and your mother.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness.
10. You shall not covet.

RULES: The rules for this award are that you must answer the following ten questions and nominate ten blogs that you think deserve the award.

1. Describe yourself in seven words.-  mother hen, loving, silly, lighthearted, serious minded when needed, gentle, leprechaun.

2. What keeps you up at night?-  not much – I sleep pretty soundly

3. Whom would you like to be? - I would not change a thing.  I am me!

4. What are you wearing now? - a sports bra and shorts (it’s hot in here)

5. What scares you? - losing my parents

6. What are the best and worst things about blogging? - I love all of the wonder people that I have “met” through blogging and I hate letting people down when I’m sick and don’t respond to their comments.

7. What was the last website you looked at? - Terry’s blog for this award.

8. If you could change one thing about yourself what would it be? - As I said earlier, not a thing.

9. Slankets, yes or no? - Since I don’t know what that is, I’ll say no.

10. Tell us something about the person who nominated you. - I find Terry to be a warm hearted and caring individual who selflessly took on the task of caring for her brother after he became I’ll.  She is a good friend to me and a true inspiration, as well as a testimony to the strength of love.

Bonus Question: What is your testimony for Jesus Christ? – Well, most of you already know my story and for those who don’t, I’ll put it in a short synopsis:  I have survived; MS, physical/emotional/mental abuse, I am a recovered alcoholic (I can say recovered because it’s been over 20 years now) and a recovering drug addict (meth, cocaine and crack – not long enough yet for me to say “recovered”).  God has brought me through it all, even when I purposely ignored Him and thought my life was worthless, He stood right beside me every step of the way.  If you’d like more than that, check out my “About Me” page for the details.

Okay, now for my nominations to pass this award on to.  In light of the type of award this is, I chose some people that I think of as “people of faith” and who would appreciate this award as much as I did.

Nominations:

1- PrayerPoints by liz

http://prayerpointsbyliz.wordpress.com

2- Jackie Paulson

http://postadaychallenge2011.wordpress.com

3- abichica

http://chicpress.wordpress.com

4- beautifullystated

http://realwalk.wordpress.com

5- tsizzles

http://writersfield.wordpress.com

6- jesusmyjoy

https://jesusmyjoy.wordpress.com/

7- Maria Tatham

http://www.christianfantasyforwomen.com/

8- Autumn Sunshine

http://autumn-sunshine.net/blogs

9- poeticjourney

http://poeticjourney251.wordpress.com

10- Eric Alagan

http://ericalaganfanclub.wordpress.com

That should do it!  Thanks again Terry for thinking of me for this one!

picture it & write; Decisions

Which one should I choose? A couple dozen keys were littered out in front of me. The elderly woman with gnarled hands and a crooked nose spread them out. This couldn’t be real. Surely it was just hocus pocus. But, what if it wasn’t? The woman stared at me intently, waiting for my choice. “All I want is a new start,” I sighed. These keys wouldn’t help that journey. The woman responded in a hoarse voice, “What do you value most, young man?” Dreams, love, heart, memory, life, wealth, health… and countless more keys glistened. I wanted to grab them all. Which one should I choose?

- Ermisenda Alvarez

http://ermiliablog.wordpress.com/2012/07/01/2952/

Your Sunday icanhascheezburger Laughs

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LOL! Too cute!

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This one too!

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The winner of the Goat Handstands Championship!

Electrified

This Week’s Sermon From Bruce Ball; The Golden Rule

The Golden Rule Matthew 7:12 by Bruce Ball I am sure that all of us have shopped at J.C. Penney at some time or other, but I want to tell you something that you probably did not know about Penney’s. It used to be known as “the Golden Rule store”. In fact, when Mr. Penney first started, his first several stores were called that. Mr. Penney did not like to use the word “employee.” He called those that worked for him, “Associates”. He treated them just as well as he would like to be treated, too. He was able to take a general store in 1902, and build it into a multi-billion dollar business, because he actually lived the Golden Rule. Mr. Penny tried his best to always treat people like he wanted to be treated. He treated them with love, respect, kindness, understanding and encouragement. Do you try to treat others in your life like this – or not? Our normal instinct is to think that we would be nicer to others if they would show these attributes to us, isn’t it? But, that’s the Problem. Jesus didn’t say, “Treat people with the same Respect that they treat you.” He said, “Whatever you want men to do to you, do to them.” And for us to be able to do that, we must love our fellow man. And that is impossible unless Jesus Christ is at the center of our hearts, as it is only through Him that we find enough love to love other people. MATTHEW 5:43-44 tells us, “You have heard it said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ I tell you, ‘Love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you.” We are commanded to love everyone. That is how Jesus lived on this earth, and if we are Christians, we must strive to be like Christ. How will the world know that we are Christians? They will not know that by reading a sign over our doors. They will only know that by the love we have in our hearts for other people.   Andrew Murray said, “My relationship with God is part of my relationship with men. Failure in one will cause failure in the other.”   John Ashcroft said, “The most important thing my dad taught me is that there are more important things than me.”   There is an old saying that goes, “A pat on the back is only a few vertebrae away from a kick in the pants, but the results are much better.” 1. HAS YOUR ATTITUDE BEEN GOLDEN LATELY?   Have you been able to show the Golden Rule in your attitude lately? Many people will say they can do that with ease, “if only” -   · If only they measure up to my standards · If only they do things my way · If only, if only, if only Jesus did not say to do these things “if only” they do something for you first. He commanded us to love people, even when they didn’t meet any of our high and mighty criteria.   There was a man once sitting by a tree near a creek, reading his Bible. Something caught his eye and he looked to see a scorpion caught between two roots of the tree.   The man reached over to help the scorpion loose, but each time he tried to grab it, the scorpion tried to sting him. A man who was standing nearby watching this said, “Don’t you know it is the scorpion’s nature to sting? Why don’t you just forget it and let it die there?”   The man smiled and looked up and replied, “Should it be necessary that I change my nature to accommodate someone else’s nature? The scorpion may sting, but I help, that is my nature.” When God’s love fills your heart, you cannot help but share it – with all things.   Jesus knew there are two ways of giving. One way is to give in hopes that you will get something out of it. That is like the man who bought his wife a ping-pong table for her birthday.   He knew she wanted it, but he expected to use it as much as she did. In effect, he didn’t just give to her, he gave to her with the expectation that he would have it, too. When we give with expectations of getting something back, we aren’t really giving in the first place.   The other way is to give with absolutely no expectation of getting anything back. That is what Jesus is talking about. That is the best way to show your love is to freely give, just because you want someone else to be fulfilled in some way. You sacrifice your own feelings for someone else’s feelings.   What you feel on the inside of your heart determines what you show on the outside of your attitude.   In PHILIPPIANS 2:5, it says   “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.” Has your attitude towards others been golden lately? 2. DO YOU HAVE AN ATTITUDE OF SUCCESS?   Jesus made a statement that is perhaps the most important Key to Success that you will ever encounter. It is so basic that even a child can understand it, yet it is so profound that none of us can live up to it without the power of Jesus.   What is the statement that Jesus made? It is the one that most of us learned as children. It is in MATTHEW 7:12.   “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sum’s up the law and the Prophets.”   Jesus’ whole ministry was one of seeking the blessings of God. But right in the middle of it, He seems to have thrown us a curve ball. Now, not only do we have to live in right standing with Him, but we also have to live in right standing with other people. He is basically telling us that if we treat others as good as we want to be treated, we will receive God’s blessings for doing that.   We are evaluated by God, and rewarded in direct proportion to the way we treat and feel about other people. That is scary, isn’t it? But to be successful as Christians, we must do this.   There is a story of a young boy who had been invited to attend a friend’s birthday party and was eagerly awaiting the day he could go. On that day, however, there was a near blizzard outside, and his father thought it was too dangerous for him to walk the short 3 blocks to his friends house, and it was much too dangerous to drive the boy.   The little boy reacted tearfully and begged his father to let him go. Finally, the father recanted and gave his permission. The boy bundled himself up started walking down the street. The wind and snow blew so hard against him that what should have only taken 10 minutes took nearly an hour.   Finally, the boy got to the house. As he rang the doorbell, he looked back to see the shadowy figure of his father disappearing into the snow. His father had followed every footstep to make sure the boy was safe.   It is all about sacrifice, isn’t it? When we are able to sacrifice what we want; what we need; what we think; so that we can freely give to someone else what they want or need, we have proven ourselves successful as a Christian.   Has your attitude been one of success in Christ lately? 3. HOW DO YOU NORMALLY TREAT OTHERS?   A brother and sister were in the attic looking through the letters their parents had written to each other many years ago. The boy asked, “Are you sure these belong to mom and dad?” The sister assured him that they did. He then told her, “That’s not the names they call each other now!” Did you know that each time you talk negative to your spouse, you are actually robbing him or her of some of their self-worth? Yet, how many times do we come home very tired or get busy concentrating on something just to snap at the other?   In those situations, we would never think about saying that we didn’t love them, so why are we talking to them in such a way that says it to them? The marriage counselor told the husband to start being more attentive to the wife and start treating her with more love. So, one day he comes home a little early with a dozen roses in one hand and a box of chocolates in the other.   His wife opens the door, sees him and burst into tears. In between sobs, she says, “Little Johnny threw up, your parents called and said they were coming over for dinner, and to top it all off, you come home drunk!” This describes too many people today. Now, if we cannot treat our families better than that, how are we going to be able to treat other people better than that?   In PHILIPPIANS 2:4-5, we are told how our attitudes are supposed to be. ‘Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interest of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.’   IN CONCLUSION A farmer must sow his seeds before he is able to reap a crop. Likewise, we must sow our seeds before we can reap our crops. The difference is the seed a farmer uses might be corn or wheat. The seeds we sow are the seeds of love from our hearts, and the crop we reap are the rewards of God’s love for us.   It is a process that begins in our thoughts. What we think about becomes our primary focus. Our primary focus will soon seep into our words and very quickly, our words reinforces that focus into our actions.   There is a quicker way of saying it: Garbage in – Garbage out. And, it works every single time.   Someone once said, “If you will cheat in practice, you will cheat in the game. If you cheat other people, you will cheat God. And when you cheat God, you really cheat yourself.”   Another person said, “Sow a thought, reap an act. Sow an act, reap a habit. Sow a habit, reap a character. Sow a character, reap your eternity.” The farmer cannot expect to reap a crop of corn if he plants the seed of wheat. You reap what you sow. What have you been sowing for the Lord lately?   Little Chad was in 2nd grade. He was a little slower than the other children and that made them shun Chad.   A couple of weeks before Valentines’ Day, Chad came home and told his mother that he wanted to make cards for everyone in his class. She knew how they treated her son, but she helped him make 35 cards.   On Valentine’s Day, she waited by the curb for the school bus to bring him home. When it got there, she saw all the kids laughing and getting off the bus, and then she saw Chad walking by himself near the back of the bus. When he got off the bus, he was very happy, and told his mother that he didn’t forget a single classmate, that he remembered them all. They still shunned Chad, but he remembered each one of them with a card.   Will the VICTORY SINGERS please come back on stage?   We have shunned Jesus Christ from the very beginning, too, but He has remembered each one of us in His love. And He wants us to show that love to other people, too, just like Chad did – for the sake of loving, not for the purpose of receiving anything back.   Obedience is not always easy. His classmates were not treating that little boy very well. But he treated them the way he wanted to be treated, no the way he was being treated. That little boy was living the Golden Rule. How many of us can say the same thing?   If this lost and hurting world is going to come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, it will not be from some epiphany of sorts. It will be from people like you and me showing the love of Christ to others from our hearts.   I spoke this morning about the necessity of being in church. We must be careful, though, because there is a lie sweeping our nation that says, “I accepted Jesus years ago and was baptized, so I am still saved today.” Let us be very careful with how we choose to believe that lie. And, let us be just as careful with having the absolute knowledge that we are saved rather than thinking we are.   Do you remember the man I told you about who tried to free that scorpion so it could live? Jesus came to earth in hopes of freeing us so that we might also live. Website   Write Us   Subscribe   Facebook   Twitter   Books   Donations