David and his men must of been tired of getting and killing and fighting the giants, They just kept coming. Kind of like reoccurring sickness, sin, fears, anxieties.
"And it came to pass after this, that there was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob: then Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Saph, which was of the sons of the giant." 2 Samuel 21:18 Saph means to "snatch away or to wait at the threshold" Its the habitual sins that keep sneaking up on us it seems that sin or attacks keep coming when we least expect it and when we are most vulnerable.
"If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door.Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it." Gen. 4:7
The same is for us, these habitual things that are crouching in and out of our lives, we must master it, or they will master us. Fear may rise when you decide to take on these giants but the beauty is we can be like the heroes of these stories overcoming the giants, by overcoming are fears.
The man who killed the giant is Sibbecai means to wrap around the trees , surround and enclose a protected pasture. Do we rely on the Lord for his help when placed with fears. Do we seek intimacy? We can snuggle up against God our Abba Father and Let him Shield us . and let the Lord say to you Delight in my presence, where you where always meant to be.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
The Second Stone
2 Samuel 21:15-17 (English Standard Version)
War with the Philistines 15There was war again between the Philistines and Israel, and David went down together with his servants, and they fought against the Philistines. And David grew weary. 16And Ishbi-benob, one of the descendants of the giants, whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of bronze, and who was armed with a new sword, thought to kill David. 17But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid and attacked the Philistine and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, "You shall no longer go out with us to battle, lest you quench the lamp of Israel."
This enconter with Ishbi-benob occured years after Davids battle. David was now king, raised a family, and waged many wars. The enemy had their giants, and used them to attack when the other was feeling weak and vunerable.
The name Ishi-benob comes from the word to retreat. Retreat is what the giant wanted the Israelites to do.
That is also us to, we retreat when we have been attacked. We think no one understand what we have gone through when in reality, we have someone that has gone through it all, to walk with us through things. If you think of it Jesus was tempted in every way possible, He defeated the cross and Hell for us, and took on all our sins, He pretty much expierenced every kind of emotion that we could prob think of. Yet we think that we have to walk through things alone. The stone that will slay this giant of discouragement is having divine perspective in our situations.
we dont have to retreat when we do this we have to resists the devil and he must flee(James 4:7) whatever the giant might be- worry, fear, anxiety,persistant sins, etc- take the focus off the giant and put it on the power of God inside you through his Holy Spirit. Speak scrpiture and truth and remember we arent alone.
I love this song by Tenth Avenue North By Your Side
Why are you striving these days
Why are you trying to earn grace
Why are you crying
Let me lift up your face
Just don't turn away
Why are you looking for love
Why are you still searching as if I'm not enoughT
o where will you go child
Tell me where will you run
To where will you run
And I'll be by your side Wherever you fall
In the dead of night Whenever you call And please don't fight These hands that are holding you My hands are holding you
Look at these hands and my side
They swallowed the grave on that night
When I drank the world's sinSo I could carry you in
And give you lifeI want to give you life
(Chorus 2x)
Cause I, I love youI want you to knowThat I, I love youI'll never let you go
(Chorus 2x)
War with the Philistines 15There was war again between the Philistines and Israel, and David went down together with his servants, and they fought against the Philistines. And David grew weary. 16And Ishbi-benob, one of the descendants of the giants, whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of bronze, and who was armed with a new sword, thought to kill David. 17But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid and attacked the Philistine and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, "You shall no longer go out with us to battle, lest you quench the lamp of Israel."
This enconter with Ishbi-benob occured years after Davids battle. David was now king, raised a family, and waged many wars. The enemy had their giants, and used them to attack when the other was feeling weak and vunerable.
The name Ishi-benob comes from the word to retreat. Retreat is what the giant wanted the Israelites to do.
That is also us to, we retreat when we have been attacked. We think no one understand what we have gone through when in reality, we have someone that has gone through it all, to walk with us through things. If you think of it Jesus was tempted in every way possible, He defeated the cross and Hell for us, and took on all our sins, He pretty much expierenced every kind of emotion that we could prob think of. Yet we think that we have to walk through things alone. The stone that will slay this giant of discouragement is having divine perspective in our situations.
we dont have to retreat when we do this we have to resists the devil and he must flee(James 4:7) whatever the giant might be- worry, fear, anxiety,persistant sins, etc- take the focus off the giant and put it on the power of God inside you through his Holy Spirit. Speak scrpiture and truth and remember we arent alone.
I love this song by Tenth Avenue North By Your Side
Why are you striving these days
Why are you trying to earn grace
Why are you crying
Let me lift up your face
Just don't turn away
Why are you looking for love
Why are you still searching as if I'm not enoughT
o where will you go child
Tell me where will you run
To where will you run
And I'll be by your side Wherever you fall
In the dead of night Whenever you call And please don't fight These hands that are holding you My hands are holding you
Look at these hands and my side
They swallowed the grave on that night
When I drank the world's sinSo I could carry you in
And give you lifeI want to give you life
(Chorus 2x)
Cause I, I love youI want you to knowThat I, I love youI'll never let you go
(Chorus 2x)
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
The First Stone Thrown
I think we all know the story of David and Goliath. Goliath stood over nine feet tall, covered head to toe in armor weighing prob well over a hundred pounds to cover him. His spear alone prob. weighed well over fifteen pounds, with that just being in the tip. Would you want to face Goliath? At first thought do you really blame the Israelites for not wanting to fight him?Every morning and every evening for forty days he shouted to the Philistines in his big deep voice, "Hey, you guys! I dare you to find one man to fight me. If he can beat me we will become your servants, but if I win you will all become our servants." When Saul and all his men heard this they were very afraid. Three of these men were David's three oldest brothers. They were the only ones in David's family that could go fight because they were old enough.Now David's father Jesse heard about the giant and was worried for his sons. He called David out of the fields and asked him to take some food to his brothers and report back how they are doing.
So David set off to visit his brothers. As he approached them he heard Goliath shouting his challenge like he did every morning. "Isn't someone going to stand up to this man?" David asked the men in the army. "Then I will fight this giant Philistine."
David was young at this time, slim, a teenager. Standing next to Goliath, David would of been swallowed up in his shadow. Yet with great faith, David stood up and put a stone in a sling and twirled it at Goliath and Killed Him. Goliath means "to be disgracefully stripped naked"(Giant Killers) The power Goliath had was one of intimidation. The Israelites must of felt naked and stripped of their courage by Goliath.
How often does our sins, weakness, failures, and persistent "giants" in our lives keep us feeling naked and feeling disgraced. We feel vulnerable and exposed and for most that is not a place that we like. God has give a a stone to sling against our Goliath's. Our identity in Christ. Satan can accuse us all day long of what we have done, he can tempt us, he can even bring things our way like he did to Job. But the Word says that "there is no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus" Romans 8:1 . I am a child of God. I am forgiven.
I really like the last paragraph to the chapter so I am going to type it.
"Putting on that truth--the truth of who God says I am-- has helped me defeat the giants of shame and fear that once held me so captives that I did not want anyone else to even know what I have been delivered from. My, how things have changes! Now God uses my greatest failures to bring him glory and to others who are tapped in the strongholds of various giants into the freedom that is found only in Him"
Psalm 139
Search Me, O God, and Know My Heart
1O LORD, you have searched me and known me! 2You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.3You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.4Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.5You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. 7 Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?8If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!9If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,10even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.11If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,"12 even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.
So David set off to visit his brothers. As he approached them he heard Goliath shouting his challenge like he did every morning. "Isn't someone going to stand up to this man?" David asked the men in the army. "Then I will fight this giant Philistine."
David was young at this time, slim, a teenager. Standing next to Goliath, David would of been swallowed up in his shadow. Yet with great faith, David stood up and put a stone in a sling and twirled it at Goliath and Killed Him. Goliath means "to be disgracefully stripped naked"(Giant Killers) The power Goliath had was one of intimidation. The Israelites must of felt naked and stripped of their courage by Goliath.
How often does our sins, weakness, failures, and persistent "giants" in our lives keep us feeling naked and feeling disgraced. We feel vulnerable and exposed and for most that is not a place that we like. God has give a a stone to sling against our Goliath's. Our identity in Christ. Satan can accuse us all day long of what we have done, he can tempt us, he can even bring things our way like he did to Job. But the Word says that "there is no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus" Romans 8:1 . I am a child of God. I am forgiven.
I really like the last paragraph to the chapter so I am going to type it.
"Putting on that truth--the truth of who God says I am-- has helped me defeat the giants of shame and fear that once held me so captives that I did not want anyone else to even know what I have been delivered from. My, how things have changes! Now God uses my greatest failures to bring him glory and to others who are tapped in the strongholds of various giants into the freedom that is found only in Him"
Psalm 139
Search Me, O God, and Know My Heart
1O LORD, you have searched me and known me! 2You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.3You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.4Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.5You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. 7 Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?8If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!9If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,10even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.11If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,"12 even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.
"A faith without suffering is not faith"
So I decided to start blogging again!
Its has been a journey.. over the past few months. I have been thinking alot about the journey that i have been on, and that God says that in his word,"You keep track of all my sorrowsYou have collected all my tears in your bottle.You have recorded each one in your book." Psalms 56:8 How amazing is this...not only does he hear your cries about our anxieties..but he loves you enough to bottle them up. you want to know something that changed my heart about my seizure.I realized i was angry i at GOD, which is ok, God knows my heart, and releasing my frustrations could bring me clser to the Lord. I could not see the Lord in all of the seizure situation and felt a little abandoned. The Lord has always given me extreme amount of faith so its not life i lost my faith , but i knew that i wasnt the same since my seizure either, but i didnt really know why until i started praying and asking.
so I told him, then I asked him to show me where he was when i had my seziure because i surely didnt feel him, and you know what I completely look at it differently. God showed up in amazing ways over the past few weeks. it was like once i told the Lord i was frustreated and gave that to him, He was like, ok now let me walk you in freedom. And he has taken me back over those moment of my seziure and the ambulance ride and shown me where he was. He was there holding me when I fell on the floor in the restraunt, and was there in the ER, He was there through the family there took care of me. He has been there the past couple of months, through the frustrations of the migraines, the taking new medicines and not being able to drive once again.
I am was silently hurting but I am ok with that, because through the hurt God has brought so much restoration, I have felt like he has said " I am sorry you didnt feel me near, but I was there all along, I not only heard you crying, i have bottled your tears and have them written on a ledger. " This blogging thing is part of what God is teaching me now. Its been a couple of weeks but that moment of clarity is still clear in my head. I am now doing a study on Giants and David slaying them. Did you know that there was more than one? The bible talks of the army slaying more than just one (1 Samuel 17; 2 Samuel 21:15-22 and 1 Chronicles 20:4-7) The book I am reading is Called Giant Killers and it goes though a different kind of appoach to Giants in peoples lives and a biblical way to declare freedom. I am excited to see what God is going to do and where God is going to take me.
Its has been a journey.. over the past few months. I have been thinking alot about the journey that i have been on, and that God says that in his word,"You keep track of all my sorrowsYou have collected all my tears in your bottle.You have recorded each one in your book." Psalms 56:8 How amazing is this...not only does he hear your cries about our anxieties..but he loves you enough to bottle them up. you want to know something that changed my heart about my seizure.I realized i was angry i at GOD, which is ok, God knows my heart, and releasing my frustrations could bring me clser to the Lord. I could not see the Lord in all of the seizure situation and felt a little abandoned. The Lord has always given me extreme amount of faith so its not life i lost my faith , but i knew that i wasnt the same since my seizure either, but i didnt really know why until i started praying and asking.
so I told him, then I asked him to show me where he was when i had my seziure because i surely didnt feel him, and you know what I completely look at it differently. God showed up in amazing ways over the past few weeks. it was like once i told the Lord i was frustreated and gave that to him, He was like, ok now let me walk you in freedom. And he has taken me back over those moment of my seziure and the ambulance ride and shown me where he was. He was there holding me when I fell on the floor in the restraunt, and was there in the ER, He was there through the family there took care of me. He has been there the past couple of months, through the frustrations of the migraines, the taking new medicines and not being able to drive once again.
I am was silently hurting but I am ok with that, because through the hurt God has brought so much restoration, I have felt like he has said " I am sorry you didnt feel me near, but I was there all along, I not only heard you crying, i have bottled your tears and have them written on a ledger. " This blogging thing is part of what God is teaching me now. Its been a couple of weeks but that moment of clarity is still clear in my head. I am now doing a study on Giants and David slaying them. Did you know that there was more than one? The bible talks of the army slaying more than just one (1 Samuel 17; 2 Samuel 21:15-22 and 1 Chronicles 20:4-7) The book I am reading is Called Giant Killers and it goes though a different kind of appoach to Giants in peoples lives and a biblical way to declare freedom. I am excited to see what God is going to do and where God is going to take me.
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