12/28/13

From Ben Fronczek... Things that Sabotage Our Success – Part 4 – Distractions

Things that Sabotage Our Success – Part 4 – Distractions

(By Ben Froncek)

Opening Reading: Luke 10:38-42

“As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” (NIV)

This past week I read a story someplace on the internet (I can’t remember where) about a young woman who dreamed of becoming a great violinist. She knew how important it was to be dedicated to the art and practice every day but for some reason at first she did not seem to have enough time to practice like she wanted to. You see, after she got up in the morning she had a routine where she would eat her breakfast, exercise, shower, do some light housework like make her bed, put away her dishes, start a load of laundry, sweep or vacuum the floor, pay any bills that may have come, put out the mail, check her email and face book accounts, call her mother, run to the store for groceries and so on. By that time she was ready to eat lunch, then fold the laundry, go out and get the mail and go through it… And before she knew it either the day was almost over or she had no energy to practice her violin the way she needed to.

So she became frustrated because she thought that she would have more time to practice living on her own than she did living at college or in her parent’s home. She realized that she was even more distracted and was continually being sidetracked from doing what she needed to do to reach her goal.

After thinking about it, she realized that her everyday routine and these distractions were sabotaging her future and she knew that she had to make some changes. From that point on she decided to dedicate the first two hours of each morning to her music and violin; and so those other chores had to wait until after her practice time was complete. And because of that change she went on to become a great musician.

As you have seen in this series of lessons, there are all kind of things that can sabotage or even short circuit our success. It may be because of our own ‘Stinkin Thinkin,’ when we start doubting our own ability or whether we even deserve anything better that what we already have, or even our own unwillingness to change our particular routine and get out of those unproductive ruts. Last week we talked about the danger of thinking we have to wait on or for others to accomplish our goals. I also talked about the danger of listening to those naysayers in our life and letting them discourage us.

Today we are dealing with a very familiar problem; the distractions in life.

You may really, really want to do something, or accomplish something just like this young lady who had a dream of becoming a great violinist. You may have the ability, the talent, the drive, the support from family and friends, but somehow we allow all these other things in life to consume our time and trip us up.

In our opening reading today we read a story about two women, Mary and Martha. And what did the text say about Martha who was all agitated because her sister Mary wasn’t running around like a chicken with her head cut off like she was? The text says that Martha was distracted. Distracted from what, to do what? She was more consumed with the housework and preparation of food for her guests than with spending quality time with the Lord Himself.

We can get sidetracked or distracted by all kinds of things; some good and also by things that are not so good and which may be sinful.

We wonder where our time goes and why we can’t seem to make time for doing and learning new things, or achieving new goals. There is all kinds of busy work and chores we can get caught up doing like our violinist and Martha. But there are also other things that absorb some of our limited time. For example listen to these updated statistics:

The average American over the age of 2 spends more than 34 hours a week watching live television, says a new Nielsen report — plus another three to six hours watching taped programs. In fact, adults are exposed to various screens — TVs, cellphones, even G.P.S. devices — for about 8.5 hours on any given day, according to a study released by the Council for Research Excellence. It’s been estimated that American people spend about 1/3 of the time awake plugged into some kind of screen.

Couple that with the time you spend at work, and then doing household chores we all have to do, time we spend checking in or on family members (whether paying them a visit or calling them on the phone), time we take to eat and take care of our bodies, and time we take to rest and sleep, no wonder we don’t have time to accomplish anything new, exciting or great.

Benjamin Franklin once said, “Lost time is never found again.”

The Bible is literally full of examples of people who allowed themselves to get distracted or be sidetracked by things causing them to get off track or sink.

Peter wanted to walk on water, but after he took his first few steps on water after leaving the boat heading toward Jesus, we read that he was distracted by the wind and the waves. He took his eyes off Jesus and began to sink.

In my younger days I hung around a friend who raised champion hunting dogs. When they wanted to train a young Beagle to become a Field Champion, they would run it with a mature seasoned beagle. Why? Because the older beagle would stay on course and follow only one rabbit trail. You may have heard stories where a young hunting dog would start off following one animal’s trail to be sidetracked by another animal’s trail that crossed their path. It would continue to jump from one scent and one animal to another. But a seasoned dog will stay true to that one course.

I think many of us are like that young dog that hops from on animal to another. It’s like we have A.D.D. (Attention Deficit Disorder) or something. We start out doing one thing and we get sidetracked and start doing something else, and before you know it we wind up doing ten things and never finish the one thing we started out to do. We allow our self to get sidetracked too easily and many of us don’t manage our time very efficiently. We wind up being late for appointments, late for work, late for church, late for everything because we get distracted or sidetracked and then we wonder why we can’t learn something new or achieve our any of our goals.

Concerning getting sidetracked by things that can distract us, Solomon wrote some very wise words in Proverbs 4:23-27 Listen to what he wrote:

“Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. 24Avoid all perverse talk; stay away from corrupt speech. 25 Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you.26 Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path. 27 Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil.” (NLT)

So what is Solomon’s advise?

• #1 Determine what you want to do. Focus in on what you what to do or achieve. There is a purpose for your life and it is important to discover that purpose and not let a thousand little distractions rob you of it.

• #2 Mark out a straight, safe path, or the quickest way to get there. Drop unimportant things, even if is disappoints some people

• #3 Stick to that path and keep your eyes on the goal. Move from living life aimlessly to living you life with a purpose. Remember you are capable of doing great things with God’s help.

• #4 Don’t let petty things in life distract or sidetrack you from achieving what you really want to do.

• #5 Guard your heart and keep you heart from following any kind of evil. Why? because there are plenty of things out there to lure you away from your goal. That’s why these things are called temptations. People spend hours and hours and sometimes a lifetime pursuing corrupt, ungodly, destructive, evil behavior or things. And that is such a waste. Many of us know people who are consumed with alcohol, drugs, or maybe even TV.

• #6 Focus on keeping the main thing the main thing.
The problem is that the main thing gets crowded out by a lot of things that are not even related to the main thing.

I can’t help but think of Paul’s words as he talked about achieving the goal of his life, and that was to become like Christ and sharing in His resurrection. Concerning this

Paul writes in Philippians 3:12-14

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

Notice the urgency and drive in Paul’s words.‘Press on’, ‘Straining’

So try not to allow too many things to sidetrack or distract you from doing what you really want to do.

I pray that this series of lesson will help you in years to come.

In closing I want to encourage you to dream and pursue some of those ideas and goal that you have. You never know, some of them may have been given to you by God Himself.

Don’t under-estimate you ability, value, or worth. Don’t be satisfied with the status que, and don’t simply settle for the rut you are in. Be flexible, and willing to try something new.

Don’t let the naysayer lead you to believe something is impossible if you know you can do it.

Trust in the Lord and His desire to bless you and help you. And remember as you pursue life, always put Him first.

For more lessons click on the following link:http://granvillenychurchofchrist.org/?page_id=566

From Jim McGuiggan... Booze again

Booze again

Now the UK government has committed to spending several millions of dollars advertising that people not even take one drink because it’s too risky. It’s too risky because the drinker might drink more and maybe even go over the legal limit. Isn’t that great? They’ve just given the public more hours to drink (they said) to fight "excessive" drinking and now they’re spending millions of taxpayer’s money to tell drinkers not to take even a single drink if they intend to drive. They give the pubs more hours to ply their booze to drinkers and now they advertise on national television that anyone who plans to drive shouldn’t even drink one! Yes, I know I’m repeating myself. I just want to hear myself say it so I can get it clear in my mind. The figures on death due to drunk drivers have climbed and the government quite rightly want no more deaths. But the worry over increased boozing has been growing and deaths on the roads are only one of the tragic elements that generate the worry. The cost to life, limb, the economy, police presence, innocent bystanders, court cases and on and on is astronomical.The truth is, there's no way to measure the damage the booze industry inflicts on society.

So that’s what a handful of "experts" have come up with, huh? They want a crowd of friends to go to the pubs for a good time, a good time with longer hours to have a good time, and they expect them to pay attention to DON’T EVEN DRINK ONE DRINK. And a group from say six to ten will all come in one car, won't they? Yeah right! So if there's more than one vehicle there has to be more than one in the group that'll refuse to drink even one. So here we have these ones and twos, sitting there nursing their lemonade or cola while the rest get giddy with pleasure?And millions will be spent trying to sell that? Oh well. The booze industry loves these "experts".

So what’s the answer? I don’t have an "answer" that’ll fix it. I'm insisting that until we see the booze industry for the parasite that it is we’ll not look for a radical solution, or a radical part solution. We won’t dare to attempt the politically disastrous and much less will we think the unthinkable. Do you think the booze industry will stand for advertising restrictions that will bite into their profits? Do you think anyone in the corridors of power will insist that we treat booze the way we treat other drugs that are produced by pharmaceutical companies that have serious side-effects? Cannabis is outlawed and booze is advertised with government protection? Ecstasy that kills its tens (damn it!) is pursued by the government and booze that kills and maims and saddens its millions is treated like a good-natured uncle and given even more hours to spread its infection?

A handful of people will continue to sit in some office and come up with the kind of laws and foolishness we’ve recently heard. The tobacco industry has felt the power of opposition but the booze industry? The rich bosses in the industry must laugh up their sleeves at what they get away with. They must bust out laughing--it's too hard to hold it in--in their business meetings when they think of the stupidity and gutlessness they face as the opposition. No smoking adverts on television but booze and sex, booze and elegance, booze and "the great life", booze and humour, booze and holding on to your dreams, booze and friendship, booze and happy family life—all over the screen, day in and day out.

And then some Christians talk about how harmless it is to support the booze industry with a beer or a glass of wine every now and then?

Arrrrrgggggghhhhh!

From Mark Copeland... Instructions To Women (1 Timothy 2:9-15)

"THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY"

Instructions To Women (2:9-15)

INTRODUCTION

1. The purpose of 1st Timothy is found in 1Ti 3:14-15...
a. That we might know how to conduct ourselves in God's family, the
church
b. E.g., Paul's instruction to men regarding prayer - 1Ti 2:1-8

2. In 1Ti 2:9-15, Paul addresses the women, and gives instructions
concerning...
a. Their adornment - 1Ti 2:9-10
b. Their submission - 1Ti 2:11-15

[His instructions may seem antiquated, but women seeking to please God
will do well to give earnest heed. Consider, then, what is written
about...]

I. THE ADORNMENT OF WOMEN

A. "IN LIKE MANNER..."
1. Just as men are to pray 'everywhere', 'without wrath and
doubting' - 1Ti 2:8
2. So these instructions to women apply 'everywhere', 'without
wrath and doubting'
3. "The apostle had stated particularly the duty of men in public
worship (1Ti 2:8), and he now proceeds to state the duty of
women. All the directions here evidently refer to the proper
manner of conducting public worship, and not to private duties;
and the object here is to state the way in which he would have
the different sexes appear." - Barnes
a. "He had said that he would have prayers offered for all
people (1Ti 2:1ff), and that in offering such petitions he
would have the men on whom devolved the duty of conducting
public devotion, do it with holy hands, and without any
intermingling of passion, and with entire freedom from the
spirit of contention." - ibid.
b. "In reference to the duty of females in attendance on public
worship, he says that he would have them appear in apparel
suitable to the place and the occasion - adorned not after
the manner of the world, but with the zeal and love in the
cause of the Redeemer which became Christians." - ibid.

B. "ADORN THEMSELVES IN MODEST APPAREL..."
1. Lit., "adorn themselves in adorning attire"; the word modest
means:
a. "orderly, well-arranged, decent" - Vine
b. "well-arranged, becoming' - RWP
c. The NASB uses the word 'proper'
2. "It does not, properly, mean modest in the sense of being
opposed to that which is immodest, or which tends to excite
improper passions and desires, but that which is becoming or
appropriate." - Barnes
3. What constitutes 'proper' apparel is further defined by Paul as
he continues...

C. "WITH PROPRIETY AND MODERATION..."
1. Propriety means "a sense of shame, a shrinking from trespassing
the boundaries of propriety, proper reserve" - Hendriksen
2. Moderation (translated 'sobriety', KJV) means "sanity; then
sober-mindedness, moderation of the desires and passions. It is
opposed to all that is frivolous, and to all undue excitement
of the passions. The idea is, that in their apparel and
deportment they should not entrench on the strictest decorum.
Doddridge." - Barnes
3. The point is to avoid extremes: "Be not the first by whom the
new is tried, nor yet the last to lay the old aside." - Pope

D. "NOT WITH BRAIDED HAIR, GOLD, PEARLS OR COSTLY CLOTHING..."
1. Note that Paul is not dealing with brevity of clothing per se
a. Rather, clothing and hairstyles designed to draw the
attention of others
b. Of course, drawing attention through brevity of clothing
would violate the spirit of the letter, as well as the word
translated before as "propriety" or "shamefacedness" (KJV)
2. Is Paul condemning all adorning of the hair or wearing of
jewelry?
a. Compare what Peter wrote in 1Pe 3:3-4
1) Both appear to be a use of the comparative 'not'...
a) Where 'not' is not used as a literal prohibition
b) But to compare one thing to another (not this..but
this)
2) For example, look at Jn 6:27
a) Did Jesus condemn working for food?
b) No, He was emphasizing what is most important
b. Sarah evidently adorned herself such that her beauty could
not be hidden (cf. Gen 12:14-15), but her true beauty was
adornment of a meek and quiet spirit - 1Pe 3:5-6
3. "It cannot be supposed that the mere braiding of the hair is
forbidden, but only that careful attention to the manner of
doing it, and to the ornaments usually worn in it, which
characterized worldly females. It is not to be supposed that
all use of gold or pearls as articles of dress is here
forbidden; but the idea is, that the Christian female is not to
seek these as the adorning which she desires, or is not to
imitate the world in these personal decorations." - Barnes

E. "BUT, WHICH IS PROPER FOR WOMEN PROFESSING GODLINESS, WITH
GOOD WORKS..."
1. Here is where the emphasis is to be, not on outward apparel!
2. As per 1Pe 3:3-4: "Do not let your adornment be [merely]
outward - arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on
[fine] apparel - rather [let it be] the hidden person of the
heart, with the incorruptible [beauty] of a gentle and quiet
spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God." (NKJV)
3. Good works befits women professing godliness (godly piety)
- e.g., Dorcas, Ac 9:36,39

[Sisters in Christ, what do men notice most about you? Attention to
physical adornment, or your godly conduct? Be careful not to let the
physical take precedent and block out the spiritual! Now consider
Paul's instructions regarding...]

II. THE SUBMISSION OF WOMEN

A. "LEARN IN SILENCE WITH ALL SUBMISSION...TO BE IN SILENCE"
1. The word "silence" (NKJV, ASV, NRSV) - 1Ti 2:11-12
a. Translated "quietness" (KJV), "quietly" (NASB)
b. Found here and in Ac 22:2 ("all the more silent") and 2 Th 3:12 ("work in quietness")
c. Related to the word used in 1Ti 2:2 ("peaceable life")
2. "The apostle goes on to give some other instructions to women,
how they should behave themselves in public worship, in the
church of God;" - Gill
a. "he would have them be learners and not teachers, sit and
hear, and learn more of Christ, and of the truth of the
Gospel, and to maintain good works;" - ibid.
b. "and he would have them learn in silence, and not offer to
rise and speak, under a pretense of having a word from the
Lord, or of being under an impulse of the Spirit of the
Lord, as some frantic women have done;" - ibid.
c. "and if they should meet with anything, under the ministry
of the word, they did not understand, or they had an
objection to, they were not to speak in public, but ask
their own husbands at home; see 1Co 14:34." - ibid.
d. "And thus, they were to behave with all subjection; both to
the ministers of the word, and to their own husbands; - ibid.
3. Thus women should "listen attentively to instruction, without
attempting to teach in public" - Barnes

B. "DO NOT PERMIT A WOMEN TO TEACH OR TO HAVE AUTHORITY..."
1. Note that this pertains to "over a man"
a. Compare his comments with those in 1Co 14:34-37
b. Women may certainly teach other women, children - cf. Tit 2:
3-4
2. Both 1Ti 2:11-12 and 1Co 14:34-37 appear to deal with the
conduct of women in the public assemblies and worship of the
church

C. REASONS AND REASSURANCES FOR SUCH CONDUCT...
1. Reasons for the submission of women in the church - 1Ti 2:
13-14
a. Adam was formed first, then Eve
1) "Man was made as the lord of this lower creation and
placed in the garden, and then the woman was made of a
rib taken from his side, and given to him, not as a lord,
but as a companion." - Barnes (cf. Gen 2:7-23)
2) "All the circumstances combine to show the subordinate
nature of her rank, and to prove that she was not
designed to exert authority over the man; compare notes
on 1Co 11:8-9." - ibid.
b. Adam was not deceived; Eve being deceived, fell into
transgression
1) Neither the serpent nor Eve deceived Adam; he allowed
himself to be persuaded by Eve after she ate - cf. Gen 3:17
2) Eve was deceived by the serpent, which she readily
acknowledged - Gen 3:13
3) The woman's susceptibility to deception is thus offered
as a reason why women are not to have a leadership role
over men in the church
2. Reassurances for women who learn in submission - 1Ti 2:15
a. "She will be saved in childbearing" (NKJV)
1) "To be understood not of a temporal salvation, or being
saved through childbearing, through the perilous time,
and be delivered out of it..." - Gill
2) "...for though this is generally the case, yet not
always, nor always the case of good women. Rachel died in
child bed." - ibid.
b. But though subject to man, with no leadership role in the
church, and susceptible to bearing children in pain and
sorrow (cf. Gen 3:16), a woman can be saved as well as a man
- cf. Ga 3:28
c. She can be saved even in this function (childbearing), not
by means of it - RWP
1) Paul is not saying women must bear children to be saved,
for he teaches elsewhere the value of the single life
- cf. 1Co 7:32-35
2) Yet generally speaking, this is God's creative purpose
for women (motherhood)
d. "Provided they continue in faith and love and holiness, with
modesty (self-restraint)"
1) Faith, love, holiness - virtues necessary for salvation
2) Modesty (self-restraint) - virtue necessary for submission

CONCLUSION

1. In a world obsessed with fashion and equality, it is not easy to be a
'daughter of Sarah' today

2. But for women 'making a claim to godliness'...
a. Their adornment will be modest and discreet, accompanied with good
works
b. Their service will be faith, love, and holiness, accompanied by
submission and self-restraint

In the words of Peter, such conduct is "...very precious in the sight of
God. For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in
God also adorned themselves..." - 1Pe 3:4-5

From Gary... The Heavens, the Earth and Beyond...

Once in awhile, I look at the NASA website and as I reviewed December's pictures today, two pictures caught my eye. The top one is from Fairbanks, Alaska and shows how the Northern lights can change over a mere half hour period. Below that is a picture of the sun, with slices showing how it looks using various wavelengths of light. These are stunning pictures and to me seem to SHOUT the wonderfulness that awaits our viewing. But what about the spiritual realm? We can see how God affects Christians as they continually change (like the top picture) and how their actions in all aspects of their lives reveal the Spirit working in their day-to-day existence (second one). But what awaits us beyond these things? Several very, very large books could be written on this, but I would just like to consider just ONE of the myriad passages from the Scriptures that we COULD consider...

Revelation, Chapter 4

1 After these things I looked and saw a door opened in heaven, and the first voice that I heard, like a trumpet speaking with me, was one saying, “Come up here, and I will show you the things which must happen after this.”

2 Immediately I was in the Spirit. Behold, there was a throne set in heaven, and one sitting on the throne 3 that looked like a jasper stone and a sardius. There was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald to look at. 4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones. On the thrones were twenty-four elders sitting, dressed in white garments, with crowns of gold on their heads. 5 Out of the throne proceed lightnings, sounds, and thunders. There were seven lamps of fire burning before his throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. 6 Before the throne was something like a sea of glass, similar to crystal. In the midst of the throne, and around the throne were four living creatures full of eyes before and behind. 7 The first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like a man, and the fourth was like a flying eagle. 8 The four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within. They have no rest day and night, saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come!”

9 When the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to him who sits on the throne, to him who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives forever and ever, and throw their crowns before the throne, saying, 11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, the Holy One, to receive the glory, the honor, and the power, for you created all things, and because of your desire they existed, and were created!”

This world is a marvelous place, filled with so many wonders that I could spend a lifetime presenting pictures of its magnificence and still there would be untold thousands of pictures to view. But- to see God in all HIS SPLENDOR and then realize that he loves me so much that HE would DIE for ME. How could anyone possibly find words to describe these things??? I do not have that ability, but, for today, just think about these things and ask myself: Am I doing everything that I could do to please the CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE? Since the answer is obviously,"NO", then, I must do something about it!!! How about you????

12/27/13

From Ben Fronczek... Things That Sabotage Our Success – Part 3 – No Help and Naysayers

Things That Sabotage Our Success – Part 3 – No Help and Naysayers

By Ben Fronczek

As we began the New Year, I started a series of lessons I have titled Things that Sabotage our Success. As I thought about how we forget and cast our New Year resolutions, I could not help but think about so many others dreams and goals we have sidetracked or cast aside over the years. I have to admit, members of my family have great imaginations and we have had some great ideas, and have thought about doing some awesome things only to shelf many of those ideas and never act on them.

And so I asked myself why… why do we do this? And after thinking about it for some time, I am convinced that we allow certain things to sabotage or short circuit those ideas, plans, and goals. I therefore wanted to share with you some thoughts on this topic because I think that we all can be guilty of robbing ourselves of the benefits of our great ideas; ideas that God Himself may have planted in our heads.

In part one, the first thing I mentioned,that I believe sabotages our success is our own‘Stinkin Thinkin;’ When we start to doubt ourselves, when we start to doubt our ability, and even worst yet, when we start thinking that we unworthy of success and feel like we don’t deserve anything better than we have right now. That’s what I consider, ‘Stinkin Thinkin.’

In that lesson I made mention of the fact that the Bible tells us that we are created in God’s image… He made us with the awesome ability to reason and be creative, and make and do wonderful things. As His children, why wouldn’t our heavenly Father want us to be creative and blessed by the fruit of our ideas and work of our hands. So we need to get rid of that ‘Stinkin Thinkin,’ and start believing in our self, and realize we are worthy because we are God’s children created in His image to do some amazing things with His help.

Last week in part two, I mentioned something else that can hinder us from reaching goals or keep us from doing things that we would like to do; and that is when we get too comfortable in our own ruts. The point is sometimes we can get so comfortable or even dependent on our particular routines we don’t want to change for any reason; even if that change is for the better or will help us get or achieve what we only dream of.

I talked about not clinging too tightly to our routines, and the importance of getting out of our rut and occasionally changing our routine, trying and learning something new so we can keep our self fresh, alive and creative.

Today I would like to consider two more things that I believe can hinder us or even short circuit us from achieving what we only dream about doing. These two items are closely related and can be observed in the same Old Testament story I read to you last week, the story of David and Goliath.

Even though a lot of people never read the Bible, this is a classic story known by people all around the world. I wish more would take the time to read and study this epoch story because there are some good lessons to learn from it.

The story begins in 1 Samuel 17. (Click on site if you would like to read). Here we read about two armies that are gathered to fight one another. The army of God, the Jewish army led by King Saul, made camp on one hill in Judah, and the army of the Philistines has made camp on a opposing hill, and there is a valley between them. Both had a goal. The Jews want to get rid of these evil, pagan Philistines from the land God had promise them through Abraham, and the Philistines wanted to rid the land of these invading Jews.

Rather than both armies charging one another they set up camp on their hill and Goliath, a giant 9 foot tall Philistine warrior would stroll down into the valley everyday and challenges the Jews to send one man down to fight him. That went on for 40 days, and Goliath belittles and insults the army of the Living God the whole time. This is where I mentioned the fact that both armies seem to fall into a rut allowing this daily routine to go on and on. Both armies stayed in camp and didn’t do anything other than watch ol’ Goliath do his thing day after day; that is until a teenage boy by the name of David came on the scene.

David was a young man who tended sheep for his father. He loved his nation and he dearly love God and was appalled when he heard Goliath speak one day while delivering supplies to his brothers who were in the Saul’s army.

I don’t think he could believe what he was hearing as this giant of man spoke insult after insult. David was probably also disappointed that there wasn’t one man in the Israeli army who was willing to go down there and kick that Philistine’s butt.So in verse 26, David starts asking around,‘What do you think will be done for the guy who gets rid of this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel?’

And the next thing we read in verse 28 is that David’s brother got really angry with his little brother for even implying that he could kill Goliath.

But David’s strong words are reported to the King, and David is ushered to King Saul. In verse 32, David tells the King,

“Let no one loose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”

In other words, “Let me at him, I’ll take care of this big oaf!”

And do you remember how the king responded?

Let me read what King Saul had to say to David. He said,

“ 33 “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth.”

In other words, Saul was saying, “David, you can’t do it! It’s impossible! The man, this giant is a highly skilled fighting machine and you are just a boy. He’ll eat you alive and spit out your bones boy.”

Now all this leads me to the two points I would like to make today regarding things that can sabotage or short circuit getting things done. Somehow these two problems did not affect David and so we see he went on to become very successful and achieve his goal despite these negative traits.

The first point is sometime when you want to get something done or achieve a goal,sometimes you just can’t wait on (or for) someone else to do something to help you achieve that goal. For example, did you ever hear or do this? Well I’m going to lose some weight. But first I need to get my wife to stop cooking all that good food and those yummy deserts.

David knew that even though he had a whole army behind him, he knew he couldn’t count on their help, and so he did what he had to do without them. Sometime if you wait on others you’ll never get anything done. Sometime you have to be the one to make the first move like David before others will join in.

And the second point is; there is always going to be those who say you can’t do something you want to do. The problem is when you let them get the best of you.There may be times when you when you want to do or acquire something that may not be in your best interest but that’s different If you know that you can do what you want to do, that you can achieve your goal like David, be careful not to let someone talk you out of it.

How many times have you had a good idea, or wanted to do something good and a family member or friend knocked the wind out of your sail by telling you, ‘That’s dumb’ or ‘You’re not capable of doing that. Who do you think you are?’

Even though Saul didn’t think David had a chance in this world against Goliath, David had no doubt in his mind that he could take this big man down. Look at what David says next,

Read 17:34-37

“But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.37 The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”

David had two things going for him, #1) Some experience dealing with some big and terrifying savage beasts; a lion and a bear, and #2), He had faith that his Lord and God would deliver him as He had in the past.

After taking on a lion and a bear, Goliath may not have even seem like much of a challenge for him, especially with the Lord’s help. The guy was big, he was weighted down with 125 pounds of armor on his chest alone, not including all the other armor he was weighed down with. He probably moved slow compared to David. Right from the beginning David had no intentions of fighting him hand to hand. His plan was a simple one, to drop him in his tracks with a stone to the forehead. A little unconventional, but he knew that he had a good chance of taking Goliath down, and he did it.

David did not wait around for others to achieve his goal, nor did he let the negative comments of others discourage him. These are valuable lesson for us to learn because everybody isn’t going to think like you, nor have the same ambitions and goals and experiences that you have.

The other day I was reading some interesting advice, written by of all people, a boxing coach by the name of Bud Bilanich, who is also called the The Common Sense Guy, He wrote “Negative people are a drag on your goals, your ambitions and your life andcareer success. They are quick to tell you what you can’t do, offer little encouragement, and hate to see you prove them wrong by succeeding. Hold these kinds of people at arm’s length. Don’t spend time with them. Instead, invest in friendships with positive, upbeat people; the kind of people who not only don’t belittle your ambitions, but do what they can to help you make them a reality.”

Mark Twain said, “Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great ones make you feel that you too can become great.”

I think this is good advice. When you want to do something special or great, something worthwhile, even something good and godly, it is inevitable that you are going to encounter people who can discourage you…. Those people set us on a path to ‘Stinkin Thinkin’.

David did not let everyone else’s lack of ambition or negative comments discourage him. You shouldn’t either. That’s what leadership and leading is all about!

If I know David, he completely trusted in his God, that He would protect him as He had done before. I can’t help but believe he prayed about it which gave him even more strength. He knew what he needed to do was right and good and for the benefit of others. It wasn’t a selfish goal. And I don’t think all our goals should be selfish ones either.

When you know that you are doing things for the right reason, and you believe what you want to do will also benefit others like David did that day, it helps give you the extra strength to press on.

I believe that’s what gave Jesus the extra strength when He needed it, when he allowed Himself to be tortured and then went to that cross where He willingly stretched out His arms to be nailed to it.

His goal was to save us from our sins and make a way so that we can live on after this life and go to God’s spiritual kingdom in Heaven.

It was a great goal, the greatest goal ever, but His friend tried to talk Him out of it, but He knew He had to do it for them… and for us. He willing took to the rap for us, the penalty for everyone of our sins. He was innocent, the most innocent man who ever lived, but He chose to suffer the penalty for our sin. He cared for us that much and it empowered Him to do what He had to do.

Doing what you know is right can become a powerful force in your life.

I pray that when you have a good idea, a dream, and idea that is worthy of accomplishing you won’t feel the need to wait on other, and I pray that you will not let the naysayers discourage you. Remember David and remember Jesus’ example.

If anything, seek out those who will build you up and encourage you, and ask God to bless what you want to do and then do it!

For more lessons click on the following link:http://granvillenychurchofchrist.org/?page_id=566