Lucky in Love

 

I want to share a passage of scripture with you that has deeply touched my heart since I felt Father begin to help me un-learn and re-learn about the relationship dynamic that I truly have as His child.

 "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." ~Romans 5:8

I attached the picture above  to this thought because I feel that sometimes we all make the mistake of thinking that God’s love for us was just a game of chance or just a stroke of freakish luck but that is simply not true.

 

His love is complete and deep and it covers past every stain, no matter how deep. It was in the time when we were yet still actively  moving in direct opposition to Father that HE MADE THE DECISION to extend that love toward us.

It was while we could care less about Him that He looked and made the choice to forever decide how He would always feel about you and I.

 It was not a game of chance to send Christ to the cross in order to restore that relationship between us and our Father FOREVER but rather it was a brilliantly planned out move that was made.

 

 

I remember one night a few years back sitting on a curb of a gas station in a very rough part of town.

 

Let me just say that I do not make a habit of sitting on gas station curbs in bad parts of town.

 

My phone had rung and by the tone of the voice on the other end of the line I knew that this was a priority.

They had called and by the way that they were distraught I knew that my Father wanted me on that curb. The person was crying and talking about being done with life, and as I drove to meet them I remember asking the Holy Spirit (I call Him Big Boy), “Big Boy, I need your words more than ever and I thank you for them because you arranged this meeting, not me.”

When I pulled up he was sitting on a curb beneath a single outside light. As I walked up to him he looked up and quite honestly I have never seen eyes that swollen from crying in my life.

I dropped down next to him and put my arm around him and he broke all over again. We talked for about two hours and I will never forget what surfaced in that conversation. “Dan, I let God down and that hurts more than anything combined.”

 

I stopped him and reminded him of this passage and explained something I have thought about many times since. “You can’t let God down because you were never at any time ever holding him up. In the relationship it is always Him that holds you up.”

 

Today, I just feel in my Spirit that there is someone who will be reading this that may need to be reminded that you are loved not because of who you are but because of whose you are. You did nothing to earn it and you can do nothing to keep it. Father has already decided before any event or mistake how He felt about you and he has NOT changed His mind.

 

If you are this person may i please recommend the post at the following link for further proof!

 

http://themanandthewall.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-day-i-defriended-god.html

 

If you were encouraged by this post, may I invite you to follow this blog on Tumblr for a shortened version of  what you are reading.

 

themanandthewall.tumblr.com

 

 

Climbing with you,

~Dan

 

If Ever We Begin To Think That It Is About Us

 

I saw this video some time back and honestly the image that it has frozen on here is a powerful picture and one that my mind has never quite released from it's grip.

 I noticed a few things right off the bat and I got chills as I watched it, because there is so much going on in this encounter that if you are not careful, you will miss completely.

I do not know the artist and had never heard any of his music but I will say that sometimes as someone is used as a vessel in the lives of others through talent that it becomes very easy to become more concerned with the appearance of a performance than with the object of the performance.

I saw a group of polished professionals who had went to a bad part of town to shoot a video that captured the transforming reach of a awesome God into the worst of the worst. There was a lot of concern put into the seating, and the lighting and the sound and then the group is approached by a homeless man named "Danny".
Danny was interested in hearing the artist sing and so he began to sing his song "God of second Chances" and that is when the bottom fell out.

Danny drops to his knees and begins to weep and then begins to pour his heart out to Father.
All of the sudden it begins to become apparent that "Danny" is being used to help remind the artist and everyone that watches the footage that the object of prayer is not the answer, but rather the object of prayer is Father.

Sculpture named "Homeless Jesus"

The object of praise is not to move other people, it is to an audience of one.

I think of the King Saul who got twisted up in his thinking to the point that the throne of Israel was about him. He fought for "his" right to "his" throne, and God used a humble shepherd boy to remind him that the object of the nation of Israel was in fact about Him.

It will forever amaze me that when we go through seasons where we tend to make a production out of ourselves and showcase our talents (Talents that were God given by the way ) as our own. That Father brings along the perfect reminder to us of why our talents were given in the first place. We were given the ability to express Him because His Spirit resides in us!

"But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you." ~Romans 8:11

What has God given you the ability to do?

The object will always be Him and when we operate in that mindset, the finished product is amazing!!!

Climbing with you,
~Dan


The Man and The Wall is now on tumblr, and there are almost daily posts that take 20 seconds to read. Just a quick boost of encouragement in inspirations words, videos, and I am excited about this development.
Just click the link below and click "Follow" at the top of the page to recieve the updates.

http://themanandthewall.tumblr.com/

Love Notes From Father

 

The house was dark.

 

Dark and quiet.

 

The coffee was hot and it was blueberry flavored (my favorite) and for a parent of small children, this time of day is prime real estate. No one is calling your name, grabbing your legs, asking for refills, or in need of the wisdom of Solomon to answer the inexhaustible torrent of questions that begin with the word "Why?".

So I sat at the table and drank my coffee and I took a mental road trip. I looked around the empty table in the dining room and i began to think about each of the people that would fill those chairs in just a few hours.

Have you ever just spent time thinking about the people that you love? Amazing stuff huh?

 

No matter what that person has done, good or bad, your mind most often remembers a time that you shared with them that was amazing. Perhaps it was a vacation, or a reunion, or a conversation out by the pool over things that were not important?  Maybe it was just time that you spent not talking with your words but time you spent talking with your eyes?

Little mannerisms about them that could never be invented by someone on their own but were given to that person by God to make them truly unique.

 

I began to think of my child that sits the closest to me. My youngest child has, in my opinion, been given the task in my life to help me understand my relationship with God as my Father.

 

He loves cars, so I very quickly grabbed a piece of paper and began to scratch out a very simple love note along with a little picture of something that he enjoys.

 



 

Then I looked over to the place where my little girl sits and just began to think of how incredible that she makes life with her personality and the absolutely crazy things she finds humor in. She is so much like me in how she expresses herself it is insane and she is my main dance partner during clean up time in the kitchen after dinner. She wants to workout and run with Daddy all the time and her smile is absolutely infectious. She is the word "Hope" personified.

Her favorite movie is the cartoon "Frozen" and her main desire is to one day be a princess that lives in her daddy's castle forever. (Her prince had better come with his own castle)

 

So i found myself writing her a little note to explain my love for her along with a simple drawing of the things that I know she enjoys.

 

 

Then my mind went to the opposite end of the table where my shadow always sits. My oldest son and I stayed at that spot in the mental road trip for a bit.

This guy is incredible to me because he is my first born. I still remember holding him as he drew his first breaths and on that day all of the sudden everything in the world seem to take a new meaning. He was finally here, in my arms and ready for me to be a father to him.

 

I think there are several emotions that you will always remember in this go around in life and the feelings that come at birth of your first child will always be one of those moments. My oldest son loves being with me doing whatever it is that I am doing. The night before he and I were in the gym working out and he was doing his best to keep up with everything.

 

He asked if when he got to be my age if he would be able to lift the same amounts of weight and I told him, "No buddy. I am pretty sure that if you keep doing what you have done tonight that when you are my age you will be lifting twice the amount that daddy is lifting."

He surprised me when he began to cry and said, "Daddy, I never want to do more than you or be stronger than you." That moment will stay with me, and so as I wrote his note I included a simple drawing of that time together.

 

 

I guess as I wrote these I was thinking about a letter that my Father wrote to me long before I was born. His heart was filled with emotion as He held me and watched me take my first breaths.

 

He sat at His table as well and as He looked around the places at the table He began to think about the people who will soon be filling those chairs.

 

"Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." ~ Ephesians 2:5-7

 

He thinks of you and He thinks of me.

 

His heart is overwhelmed with emotion as He thinks about those conversations that we have with Him in quiet times when we pour our hearts out to Him. It is all of those times that we look up at Father and just love Him for what and for who He truly is in our lives.

 

For Joshua in the Bible it may have been the conversation that he had with God before crossing into Canaan land.

 

For Moses it might have been on top of mount Siana or at the side of the way where he saw the burning bush.

 

For David, I believe one of those "Daddy I love you" moments would have to be found here;

 

"When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour." ~ Psalms 8:3-5

 

Where are yours?

 

Where are those "Daddy i love you" moments that the Father remembers with you and smiles?

 

He leaves us love notes every day and they usually entail a created thing that we enjoy with Him.

 

For some it is a sunrise or sunset that burns the sky with color, or the affection we receive from a member of the family status pet. It could be the flowers that bloom beside your mailbox or the sound of little feet running through your house.

 

It might be that cup of blueberry coffee that you enjoy with Him in the quiet darkness of an early morning.

 

The crack of a bat against a ball on a lazy afternoon baseball game?

 

A hot relaxing shower or a drive home from working the late shift?

 

Whatever it is please know that you enjoy those things with the Father. They are His signature to a love note that He wrote through the sacrifice of His son and it was just for you!

 

 

Sometimes I will leave my oldest son a picture half completed in the mornings. I set the picture, and the main character and I will even set the scenario in the drawing, but I leave it up to him to finish the picture.

 

We decide what we do with the pieces that He has provided.

 

If the Father has allowed a pain or circumstance that hurts us then please understand it is our opportunity to do with the "Love note" what He made us to be able to do. We decide what we do with what we have been given.

 

I am always looking forward to seeing the story that my son creates with what I give him, and so does Father look forward to seeing us take life for what it truly is, a gift from Him to enjoy and create with Him.

 

As you look at the note that Father left you this morning, take some time to just love Him for it! It was written with you in mind!

 

 

This is the picture from my son that I found waiting for me this morning on the table. His returned expression of love to his father. This is what our praise looks like to our Father. It is not perfect by any means, but it is a pure love from our heart to Him!

 

 

Climbing with you,

~Dan

  

 



Just How Loud Does He Have To Say It?

 

I will never forget the day that I had my paradigm to God's "beyond audible" voice changed in my life.

 

I spoke in detail about it in the post "Do you hear what I hear?" and today's post is one that I would like to use to illustrate what I was expressing in that post.

 

There was a time in my life that I used to view God as someone who was mostly mad or mostly sad with me and my behaviour. "Could I make Him happy?" was the big question for the day and more often than not my failures would squelch that chance each day.

Then there was the whole issue of trying to go through the ritual of "listening" to Him. I did not know how to do that and I would pray and pray and feel as if I was talking to myself.

 

May I just stop here and say that I love how loudly that Father speaks.

 

I used to think that He only spoke through what was written in the Bible or through the pastor at church and so I would read the Bible until my eyes blurred and listen intently each and every week waiting to "Hear from Heaven" and I would pray and try with all my might to confess every sin I could think of in order to be worthy to have Him stoop to speak to me.

 

Then one day He opened my eyes to be able to "hear" Him.

 

Wait a minute. Opened your eyes to hear?

That's exactly right!

 

The Father's voice in our life is beyond audible!

 

We look for it to be heard in the way that we expect it to be and it must sound like the tone that we think it should be and we miss Him completely. I want to share something with You that Father shared with me in regards to hearing His "Beyond Audible" voice.

 

I was driving home from work this past Friday when a truck drove up in front of me. I could not help but notice the skull on the back window,

 

It was a picture of death and it stared me in the face for several miles. I would try to merge to the next lane in hopes of passing this guy but he kept merging with me and it was beginning to really frustrate me.

 

It is Mardi Gras time here in Mobile and I work very close in proximity to two large rescue missions, so in my commute I pass by these places and see the best that the can do with a heart that is open and searching for fulfillment (In a lot of cases).

 

It is very sad and especially during this time of the year with Mardi Gras it seems to really draw attention to the sight of people laying literally in the gutter passed out from an alcohol induced stooper.

 

I hate seeing people hurt by the effects of searching for fulfillment from empty wells.

 

 

The symbol on the truck in front of me reminded me for several miles of what I had seen throughout the day at work as well as the fact that the devil is alive and actively seeking to steal, kill, and destroy.

 

As I drove I breathed out a silent prayer that asked, "Father, why is this stuff everywhere I look? I hate seeing this and seeing people at the end of their rope and searching to seemingly no avail."

 

Just then a small Mercedes Benz cut in between me and the "Truck of death" and I had  to mash down on my brakes to avoid hitting it in the rear and my first reaction was to look at the license plate of the car.

 

That is when I became aware of a beautiful expression of an awesome God!

 

 

I realize that there are people who refuse to believe that God speaks to us daily and does so through more than just the Bible that we have. I have had people ask me if I really thought that I was good enough to hear God's voice every day, and I think its the wrong question to ask. The real question should be, "Do you think God is big enough to get through your thoughts of distraction to speak to you today?"

 

I saw the license plate of the car that was now between me and "Death and Evil" and I was amazed! 

 

Favor of God

That is when I heard Him speak into my spirit with that still small voice.

"Dan, your focus is off course. You are focused on what is wrong with the world and not focused on who is right. It is MY favor that stands between you and evil and you would have to go through ME to get to anything that could  ever hurt or harm you. It is MY favor that holds you up and it is MY favor that sustains you and MY favor alone that provides everything you need. Where ever you see evil Dan, MY favor is close at hand.
I am always present if you look for ME and there are people that will even be at this festival tonight that you are complaining about who are making wrong choices  because they are seeking to satisfy a thirst that I have placed within them.  It is a thirst for ME that they have, and they will be out in force looking to fill that void. MY favor will be seen by them when they ask to see ME, and Dan, some will find MY favor for them even in the middle of all of the evil that tries to block it out of their view."

I sat there stunned.

The God of the universe was using a license plate in traffic to speak an answer to a prayer that I had spoken to Him with my heart?

How incredibly simple yet complexly powerful was that?

It is all lined out so well to us that we miss it in our attempts to put a "formula" or "Science" behind the voice of God in our lives.

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." ~Proverbs 3:5-6

Ways = Everything that I do, Everywhere that I go, and Everyone that I meet.

Acknowledge = Search for or Discover

If I am seeking to see God, I will see Him. It really is that simple.

He is everywhere you are and He is  constantly broadcasting out His voice to you if you will have ears to hear and eyes to see.

He truly is speaking with the intent to direct your path.

Take a moment today and ask Father to open your eyes to hear His voice. It will change your life!!!

Climbing with you,

~Dan

I would NEVER do that, or would I?

 

October 14, 2012, Felix Baumgartner ascended more than 24 miles above Earth's surface to the edge of space in a stratospheric balloon. Millions across the globe watched as he opened the door of the capsule, stepped off the platform, and broke the speed of sound while free falling safely back to Earth. Felix set three world records that day—and inspired us all to reach beyond the limits of our own realities, and re imagine our potential to achieve the incredible.

There is a statement that the space jumper Felix Baumgartner makes as he stands in the doorway of the space capsule just before he steps out into history as the highest space jump that i want to point out in case you missed it on the video.

"I wish you could see what I can see. Sometimes, you have to get up really high, to understand how small you are."

That statement resonated in my spirit and I have never forgotten it, nor have i ever forgotten seeing the curvature of the earth as Felix fell. Everything seemed to be in slow motion and completely still and for that few minutes there was nothing else that mattered except the realization that the things that may have bothered me that morning suddenly seemed insanely small.

As we watch something like this, we are really inspired and amazed but inevitably the thought goes through our mind at some point in the viewing that says, "I would never do something like that!" or maybe the thought says, "That is CRAZY!!! That guy is CRAZY!!!"

This is the problem.

We would NEVER do something like that.

I had the same thoughts as you until one day I decided that I needed to try something similar and the day that I tried it, my world, my relationship dynamics, and my comfort zone were forever changed!!!

While Felix Baumgartner looked out on the world from 24 Miles up, something similar had actually been done centuries before and it had been done without the help of a stratospheric balloon.

The method that was used then is the method that I decided to try.

One of the people in the Bible that I feel that I most closely understand is David. He stumbled just as much as he succeeded but his heart truly did want that relationship with Father.

One of the things that David had that was absolutely amazing was an ability to fully operate in times of distress with the proper perspective between himself and God.

He was not afraid to take the time to honestly look at himself or his circumstances in the reflective lens of God's magnitude.

"When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour." ~Psalms 8:3-5

"The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord's throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men." ~Psalms 11:4

"But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased."     ~Psalms 115:3

What is David really saying in these Psalms?

"I wish you could see what I can see. Sometimes, you have to get up really high, to understand how small you are."

Have you ever reached your limit?

I mean you have just hit a wall at full speed and you take a step back feeling completely overwhelmed and stunned that you are in the place that you are?

I was in that place this week and right there in the middle of that situation I decided to space jump.

I was out in my backyard and the night sky was FULL of stars and it was deep. I thought to myself, "Dan, if you were 60,000 feet up in the air, how important would this situation be?"

What would matter to you at 60,000 feet up?

Nothing. It would seem so small and the only thing that would really matter would be how much closer you would be to Father. You would truly catch a glimpse at how big He really is because you would see how small you really are.

At the end of the day what really matters anyway?

Being right in an argument?
Being the best?
Getting the best deal at another persons expense?
Getting the job done no matter what it does to people you leave in your wake?
How tough you are?
How business savvy you are?
How much money you made?
What kind of car you drive or the brands of clothes that you wear?

At the end of the day what matters most is what you did with the relationship that you have with Father. The realization and understanding that He truly is all that you need and that you operate your life out of Him and what He has made you through Him.

There are many ways to gain this perspective and you do not have to mentally space jump. For some it is forced when they hear the words, "I'm sorry but it is cancer." Some are able to see this when they receive layoff papers or an eviction notice and for some it comes when they receive a late night phone call.

It is that moment where suddenly nothing else matters but your relationship with Father and the realization that you are now closer to Him than you have ever felt the need to be before.

It is those times when we receive the understanding of the words;

 "I wish you could see what I can see. Sometimes, you have to get up really high, to understand how small you are."

Times when we realize and are reminded about just how BIG our Father truly is and how small that the distractions we so busily occupy ourselves with truly are.

I want to challenge you today to take a moment in a quiet time to just refocus on how BIG Father is and thank Him for the relationship that He made possible to us through Jesus.

It is powerful and He is powerful!

"Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?" ~Isaiah 66:1


Take a space jump today, the view will change your life!

Climbing with you,
~Dan

Daddy, Where are You?



One of my favorite hats to wear is the hat that says, "Daddy".

I am not the most patient Dad, and I am in no means the best. I do not have a monopoly on the "Daddy" skills and I will be the first to admit that my mistakes as a Daddy are plenteous, however I do love being a Dad.

It is one of those things that a lot of people can be, but few truly are.

It is also amazing to me how the dynamic that we have in our relationship with God changes when we become a parent and specifically when we become a father. (Sorry Moms, but Dads do get a unique understanding on this one.)

 As a father, God has used my son Blake to teach me more about Him and His relationship with me than any other living soul. I love all of my children and each of them has been used, and will continue to be used,  by God to teach me, but Blake has had a significant impact on my life.

I have posted about some of these things in previous post such as, "Daddy's Hand" (Click)and "No Multi Tasking Allowed" (Click) and it overwhelms me how a child this small can be such an effective teacher of the nature of relationship with a God of the universe.

Yesterday I was enjoying a day off from work and just being at home. I love my home and if I were given a choice of activities to do on a day off, being at home with my family would be my first choice.

My youngest child Blake was particularly happy that his daddy felt this way yesterday and decided to reward me by being the clingiest child that has ever walked the earth.

Have you ever had a day like that?
Everywhere you went there was a 3 ft shadow following you?

He would bring me toys to see, books to read and hats to wear and all with the command, "Daddy... Bwake...play".

And play we did.

This went on throughout the day and really it was not as annoying as I make it sound, but there were a few times when I just said, "No buddy, not now."

He would walk off and a few minutes later be back with the request that always started with , "Daddy..." Children have no concept of time and really all they know is that they want and need.

Last night when bedtime rolled around, he was still extremely clingy and as I carried him down the hallway to bed dragging his blanket he did something very unexpected. He began to cry so I decided to lay down with him for just a bit to calm him down.

I looked him and said, "Blake, you need to sleep in your bed."

He patted my bed and said, "Daddy, down".

We laid down and in no time we both were asleep. This morning as I was getting ready for work in the next room I heard him call out, "Daddy? Daddy? Where are you?"

I opened the door and looked into the bedroom and saw the light from the hallway slip across the floor, up the bed, and onto the bed where it spotlighted this little boy.

There he was. Sitting upright with his blond hair sticking straight up, cheek red from where he had been sleeping on it, and his eyes closed tightly because of the light. He held his little hands in front of his clenched eyes and called out again as he looked toward the light, "Daddy? Where are you?"

The place where I had been laying was still warm, and he knew I had to be somewhere close by but just could not place where that might be so he called out.

I stood there and just stared at this little boy absolutely overwhelmed at the picture God let me see through this moment.

I was in the next room and fully aware of where Blake was and fully assured that he was safe in the dark even though he was startled by my apparent absence.

Have you ever been there?

You suddenly looked around and felt as though Father was gone?

The place beside you was warm indicating His presence "at one time", but it seemed as though you had been abandoned?

You  may have even found yourself at times through tears of emotional overwhelming crying out, "Daddy? Daddy? Where are you?"

This passage came to my mind as I went to reassure him that Daddy was there and that he was OK.

"Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:" ~ 1 Timothy 1:19
 
 I like that phrase.

"Holding faith"

Timothy was Paul's preacher in training and felt the calling of God to deliver a message like Paul's to those around him. Paul was writing a letter of advice and the words in this book truly are amazing words of advice.

This term "Holding Faith" surfaces and it is this term that brings to mind the actions of a little boy yesterday that have reshaped my understanding of my Father!

"Holding Faith" does not mean to hold it in your hand like you would hold a book or a pen. It literally means "To grasp or cling to tightly" like a valuable possession!

Let's look at it in that light.

"Cling tightly to your faith in Christ and always keep your conscience clear, doing what you know is right."

In other words, once you have a grasp of who God is, what He has done, and who you are in Him, never let it go for anything or anybody or any circumstance that life may bring your way!

There will be days when you will be clingy to the Father and not want to let Him out of your sight. There will be nights where you wake up and feel completely alone and distant from your Father's arms. There will be moments when your heart is overwhelmed by His absence but NEVER, under any circumstances, ever decide that in your loneliness that He has lost sight of you!

He knows exactly where you are!

Let me say that again and if you feel that your decisions have made Him leave read this again slowly and out loud:

HE KNOWS EXACTLY WHERE YOU ARE!

You are safe, and He is closer than a prayer away and just in case you were wondering... That is really really close!

Cling tightly to the knowledge that the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead now dwells within you!

"But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you." Romans 8:11

Paul's prayer for the church at Ephesus was this:

"For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,  Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." ~Ephesians 3:14-19

To live by Faith is to live your life out of the abundance of Christ!

It is to live your life as He sees you and in His view of you rather than your own view of you. The victorious Christian life is only achieved by believing that God truly is who he says He is and that He has done what He has said He has done and that you now are what He says you now are!

Cling tightly to that Faith. Do not let another person, organization, or religion tell you anything different than what He himself has told you!

Go ahead, call out within your soul, "Daddy? Where are you???"

Listen very closely, because the answer that Father gives is this, "Here I am, you were never out of my sight. Go ahead and cling as tight as you want! I am here with you."


Climbing with you,
~Dan

Bigger Than Any Giant

His touch instantly revealed to him the smoothness of the stones in his hands. A sharp shiver rocketed up through his spine to the base of his neck as the wave of reality of what was happening suddenly crashed into his shoreline of common sense.

He could be sitting with his harp perched on a rock out in tall grass like a marooned sailor in a sea of green surrounded by grazing sheep that looked like whitecaps in the wind blown grassy waves right now, but instead he was tasting the dirt that had blown back into his face where he had tossed it into the air to judge the wind speed in that valley.

There just several yards to his left was standing the largest human being that he had ever seen in his life.

There is no doubt that David had been prepared for this moment. His adversaries had increased in size and would continue to increase in size. It was a lion, a bear, and now a giant. It would become seven giants down the road and then entire armies. The obstacles in David's life never stopped growing and increasing, but neither did his methods and skills in handling those obstacles. It was his hands, a knife, a sling, and then an entire army of soldiers at his disposal. God equipped him in accordance with every difficulty.

I was reading this event and was again inspired by it, but this time i noticed something that I had always missed up until this point.

David's biggest obstacle that day was NOT a giant on the field.

David's biggest obstacle that day came before the giant and his obstacle was the same one that stops so many giant killers it is pathetic.

When David was stirred to challenge the obstacle of a giant he was faced with a more deadly obstacle. Eliab.

Wait a minute?

Wasn't Eliab his brother?

^"And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle."   ~ 1 Samuel 17:28

Eliabs show up before and in the middle of every challenge that you will face and their sole purpose is to keep you from taking on the giants in your path.

I am not sure why Eliab was so mad at David or tried to stop him in his purpose. It may have been because the same passion to slay the giant pulsed in Eliab's heart but he stopped short. There is no doubt that Eliab wanted that giant killed just as bad as David, but Eliab had decided long before David and his purpose showed up that the giant could not be defeated.

That is what happens to most Eliabs in life.

The first thing to do before the challenges in life that come your way is to stop for a second and survey the situation and put it into a size perspective against the God that led you to that path.

"IS MY GOD BIGGER THAN THIS CIRCUMSTANCE?"

He led you to this and He can lead you through it, and if you look back over the battlefields of your life you are going to see that your enemies have increased to this point along with your skills and methods for handling these walls.

Look at this response!!!

^"Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied." ~ 1 Samuel 17:45

This is AWESOME!!!

"Dude, that's all your going to bring to fight the God of the universe? Seriously???"

His perspective was set, but it was Eliab who stood in the shadow of his giant.

Eliab stands between you and your giant and he challenges your purpose by questioning your motivations.

Listen to David's response carefully because this is the key to handling the Eliabs that each obstacle will bring.

^"And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause?" ~ 1 Samuel 17:29

It went back to the purpose that was placed within his heart by a God so much bigger than the obstacle that he now faced..

It seems so feeble sometimes in the shadow of a giant, but reminding yourself of what you have inside that drove you to this wall is more than enough. It seems like such a simple response doesn't it?
 Is there not a cause?

This question is so tremendously huge that it staggers the mind to really understand that was being asked then is the same question that is asked of you and I anytime an obstacle stands between where we were are and where we were made to be.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN WHAT YOU  ARE SUPPOSED TO DO ENOUGH TO TAKE THE FIRST STEP DESPITE THE INABILITY TO SEE THE STAIRCASE?

Do you believe in what you feel you are supposed to do enough to risk a chance that others will believe in it as well?

 ^"And he turned from him toward another, and spake after the same manner: and the people answered him again after the former manner." ~ 1 Samuel 17:30

David's purpose inspired and army who were more than ready to adopt a purpose and move ahead in that purpose as well.

His touch instantly revealed to him the smoothness of the stones in his hands. A sharp shiver rocketed up through his spine to the base of his neck as the wave of reality of what was happening suddenly crashed into his shoreline of common sense.

"Giants were made to be killed." ~Scott Baker



You were made for greatness. It beats within your chest and the victories ahead far surpass the magnitude of any obstacle that seems to loom larger than life. What have you been made to do and be?

Don't allow anyone who has been stopped by the same obstacles to tell you that you are unable to defeat what you face. Your purpose is bigger than you or anyone else.

Climbing with you,
~Dan