Take Goliath Down ....by Max Lucado

Hello brothers and sisters, I blessed by reading this, and i hope you will blessed too... so i want to share it with you.

May all have the blessed weekend.

Enjoy the reading......

Take Goliath Down
by Max Lucado

Goliaths still roam our world. Debt. Disaster. Dialysis. Danger. Deceit.
Disease. Depression. Super-size challenges still swagger and strut,
still pilfer sleep and embezzle peace and liposuction joy. But they
can't dominate you. You know how to deal with them. You face giants by
facing God first.

Focus on giants—you stumble.

Focus on God—your giants tumble.

1. THE STONE OF THE PAST
Goliath jogged David's memory. Elah was a déjà vu. While everyone else
quivered, David remembered. God had given him strength to wrestle a
lion and strong-arm a bear. Wouldn't he do the same with the giant? A
good memory makes heroes.

"Remember His marvelous works which He has done" (1Chron. 16-12)

Catalog God's successes. Keep a list of his world records. Has he not walked
you through high waters? Proven to be faithful? Have you not known his
provision? How many nights have you gone to bed hungry? Mornings
awakened in the cold? He has made roadkill out of your enemies. Write
today's worries in sand. Chisel yesterday's victories in stone. Pick up
the stone of the past. Then select ...

2. THE STONE OF PRAYER
Note the valley between your thumb and finger. To pass from one to the next you
must go through it. Let it remind you of David's descent. Before going
high, David went low; before ascending to fight, David descended to
prepare. Don't face your giant without first doing the same. Dedicate
time to prayer. Paul, the apostle, wrote, "Prayer is essential in this
ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long" (Eph. 6:18 MSG).

Prayer spawned David's successes. His Brook Besor wisdom grew out of the moment he "strengthened himself in the Lord his
God" (1 Sam. 30:6). When Saul's soldiers tried to capture him, David
turned toward God: "You have been my defense and refuge in the day of
my trouble" (Ps. 59:16).

Invite God's help. Pick up the stone of prayer. And don't neglect ...

3. THE STONE OF PRIORITY
Let your tallest finger remind you of your highest priority: God's reputation.
David jealously guarded it. No one was going to defame his Lord. David
fought so that "all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with
sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord's" (1 Sam. 17:46-47).

David saw Goliath as a chance for God to show off! Did David know he would exit the battle alive? No. But he was willing
to give his life for the reputation of God.

What if you saw your giant in the same manner? Rather than begrudge him, welcome him. Your cancer is God's chance to flex his
healing muscles. Your sin is God's opportunity to showcase grace. Your
struggling marriage can billboard God's power. See your struggle as
God's canvas. On it he will paint his multicolored supremacy. Announce
God's name and then reach for ...

4. THE STONE OF PASSION
David ran, not away from, but toward his giant. On one side of the
battlefield, Saul and his cowardly army gulped. On the other, Goliath
and his skull-splitters scoffed. In the middle, the shepherd boy ran on
his spindly legs. Who bet on David? Who put money on the kid from
Bethlehem? Not the Philistines. Not the Hebrews. Not David's siblings
or David's king. But God did.

And since God did, and since David knew God did, the skinny runt became a blur of pumping knees and a swirling sling. He ran
toward his giant.

Do the same!

Let your ring finger remind you to take up the stone of passion.

One more stone, and finger, remains:

5. THE STONE OF PERSISTENCE
David didn't think one rock would do. He knew Goliath had four behemoth
relatives. For all David knew, they'd come running over the hill to
defend their kin. David was ready to empty the chamber if that's what
it took.

Imitate him. Never give up. One prayer might not be enough. One apology might not do it. One day or month of resolve might
not suffice. You may get knocked down a time or two ... but don't quit.
Keep loading the rocks.

Keep swinging the sling.

David took five stones. He made five decisions. Do likewise. Past. Prayer. Priority. Passion. And persistence.

Next time Goliath wakes you up, reach for a stone. Odds are, he'll be out of the room before you can load your sling.

From Facing Your Giants
Copyright (Thomas Nelson, 2005) Max Lucado