Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Five Smooth Stones (RP1)


            Have you ever stood on the threshold of something new or painful or difficult in your life and wondered if you were up to the challenge of dealing with it or enduring it or overcoming it? A few weeks ago I announced that I have been battling an illness for the last year. Well based on the recommendation of some very good doctors, my wife and I decided that I would begin some intensive drug treatments in a few weeks. The best we can hope for is that the illness will go into remission and I can live a normal life. The prognosis is good but only if I continue regular treatments for the rest of my life. It has been a somewhat daunting task to determine the best course of treatment and then accept that course of treatment as a lifelong reality. It represents the giant I am facing in my life right now.

I know many of you face similar, and even more daunting giants in your life every day. Maybe you too face an illness, yet the possibility of remission for you is always beyond grasp. You’ve been tasked to be the new leader of your church but you just can’t get anyone on board with your vision for ministry so you begin to wonder if you actually heard God’s calling or if you just imagined it. You did so well in your classes last semester but this semester you are struggling more than you have at any other time and you begin to wonder if you’re cut out for college. You’re great at your job and everyone thinks you’re perfect at what you do. Then you receive a promotion that is well deserved and suddenly all the people who thought you could do no wrong question whether or not you can do anything right. You love your spouse more than anything and you seemed to relate and communicate at a level reserved for only the most blessed relationships. Then, with the passage of time you no longer relate or communicate at any level except at a destructive level and every day seems like a battle to try and get back to the way things used to be.

It would seem that we all go through periods in our lives when we feel like life’s warriors and conquerors and periods when we’d prefer to lock ourselves in a closet and hope life doesn’t find us until next week sometime. Why do you suppose this happens to us? Well, it’s probably a combination of a number of things: Stress, fatigue, or maybe something we ate last night. Most likely, though, it is because we fall into the trap of relying exclusively on our own frail strength, distorted wisdom, and foolish guile to accomplish life’s tasks or overcome life’s obstacles. I know that sounds strange—how else would we accomplish life’s task except through our own strength, wisdom, and guile? What if you knew, with relative certainty, that your actions were according to God’s will? What if you were confident that you were acting in obedience to God? Wouldn’t your strength, wisdom, and guile take on a different dimension; a divine dimension? Who, then, would be responsible for the outcome of your sincere efforts—you or God? How do we get to the point where we can say that no matter the outcome, we are acting according to God’s will and trust that He will use our efforts to accomplish His purpose? What would it take to have such courage and confidence that God will work in us and through us to accomplish His specific task? What if I told you that all it takes is Five Smooth Stones and God can accomplish anything He wants through you? King David learned this lesson very early, even before he was king and received the promised perpetuity of his throne.

Subject Text

1 Samuel 17:38-52
                        38Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. 39David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. “I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. 40Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine. 41Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. 42He looked David over and saw that he was only a boy, ruddy and handsome, and he despised him. 43He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44“Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!45David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.” 48As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. 49Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground. 50So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him. 51David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine’s sword and drew it from the scabbard. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. 52Then the men of Israel and Judah surged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath and to the gates of Ekron. Their dead were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron.
Context

            Come on! You have to admit that this is one of the best stories of the Bible. I mean, who hasn’t heard the story of David and Goliath? However, in order to fully appreciate the gravity of the story, we need to understand it in its proper context. During the period of our Subject Text, the Philistines occupied the territory of Gaza along the Mediterranean Sea. (It is a common mistake that some people make to assume that modern day Palestinians are descendants of the Philistines. Actually, the two are completely unrelated and have no ancestral connection. Their only connection is their occupation of similar territories and the similarity in their name.) And as you can imagine, they were constantly warring with Judah who sought to drive out the Philistines because they occupied a portion of the land given to the tribe of Judah when the land was divided between the twelve tribes of Israel.

We see at the beginning of Chapter 17 that the battle lines have been drawn between the Philistines and Israel. The text tells us that the Philistines established their battle camp along the hills between Socoh and Azekah with the Israelites occupying the hills facing them with the Valley of Elah between them. At the head of the Philistine army was the giant Goliath who was described to be more than nine feet tall with armor and a spear to match his massive size. He stood at the edge of the valley and taunted the Israelites for 40 days with an all or nothing challenge that he would fight any soldier Israel sent out in a one-on-one battle and the loser’s side would surrender in their entirety to the winner. Israel, for their part, wanted nothing to do with the challenge. The army of Israel was paralyzed with fear.
Meanwhile, back in the small town of Bethlehem, David, the youngest of eight sons to his father Jesse, was tending his father’s sheep while the older sons were part of Israel’s army hiding in their tents from Goliath. Jesse sent David to the war front with some roasted grain and loaves of bread for his brothers as well as some cheese for the unit commander. When David got to the front lines with the delivery from his father, he found Israel’s army cowering in fear and Goliath continuing to taunt them. David was indignant that no one was doing anything about the verbal insults being hurled at Israel’s army. When David questioned some of the men standing around him, his oldest brother suddenly grew a spine and confronted not Goliath but David and chastises him for being critical of Israel’s inaction against the Philistines—basically telling him to go back to tending his sheep where he belongs and leave war to the “real men.” The only problem is that the “real men” were doing nothing and David wasn’t about to stand for it. Instead, David sought out King Saul who apparently was also cowering in his tent and told him that he would accept Goliath’s challenge and that’s where our Subject Text begins.

Text Analysis

            38Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. 39David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. “I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off.
Once David convinces Saul that he is confident and capable of beating Goliath, Saul outfits David in his own battle gear in vv. 38-39. The only problem was that David wasn’t a soldier and wasn’t accustomed to wearing any armor let alone being fully armored from head to toe. “In ancient epic literature the arming of the warrior for battle is a major ritual, and armor itself is considered an extension of the character and prowess of the warrior.”[1] David, however, was like a fish out of water wearing all that armor and decided it served as more of a disadvantage than an advantage, so he removed all of Saul’s battle armor.

40Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.
            We are presented with quite a contrast to Goliath in v. 40 when David equips himself for battle with his shepherd’s staff, a rock-throwing sling, and Five Smooth Stones he gathered from a nearby creek that he places in his shepherd’s pouch—hardly the tools of a seasoned warrior. What do you see when you compare these two contrasting images? On one side, we have a nine foot, grizzled, warrior wearing more than 125 pounds of bronze armor with a bronze javelin strapped on his back and carrying a spear with a thick shaft tipped with an iron point weighing 15 pounds alone. He is the challenger who is arrogantly sticking out his chest implying that he cannot be beaten; that Israel has no warrior that can match him in size, strength or battle prowess; he needs no help; he is self-reliant. On the other side, we have a young David. The only thing we know about him is that he was handsome and “ruddy.” Which, in this case, probably means he was tanned. So if good looks and a nice tan were a deadly weapon then he’d be set. But alas, battles aren’t fought with good looks or a great tan, they’re fought with real weapons so what does David bring to the fight? A shepherd’s staff, a sling, and Five Smooth Stones. Oh and a God with a reputation of making mountains tremble and seas part. David needs help; but he is God-reliant. “So here’s David, stripped down to his own simple garments, and armed with his own simple shepherd weapons—his sling and his staff—ready to do battle…The beautiful thing about this story is it’s perfect example of how God operates. He magnifies HIS name when we are weak. We don’t have to be eloquent or strong or handsome. We don’t have to be beautiful or brilliant or have all the answers to be blessed of God. He honors our faith. All He asks is that we trust Him, that we stand before Him in integrity and faith, and He’ll win the battle. God is just waiting for His moment, waiting for us to trust Him so He can empower us to battle our giants. Remember, Goliath is still a giant—still an imposing presence. David had all the odds against him. There wasn’t a guy in the Philistine camp—or probably the Israelite camp either—who would have bet on David. But David didn’t need their backing. He needed God—none other.”[2]

41Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. 42He looked David over and saw that he was only a boy, ruddy and handsome, and he despised him. 43He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44“Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!”
            With his simple shepherding weapons in hand, David approaches the warrior giant. I find it interesting that empires could care less about the relative strength of their opponents. Their objective is conquest and the weaker the opposing nation, the better. Weaker nations require fewer resources to conquer and thereby reserving precious resources for the more formidable nations. Honor in conquest is somewhat irrelevant—nation-building is the objective. The attitude of warriors on the battlefield is less about conquest and more about being the best by beating the best. For a warrior, there is no “honor” in destroying a weaker opponent, only brutality. And while some warriors revel in the brutality, the most ruthless pursue honor in battle and that is only possible by beating the best. We can see this playing out in vv. 41-44 as David and Goliath face-off in battle. Goliath is insulted! Where’s the honor in killing someone half his size? Great! Before, Goliath was just arrogant, boisterous and obnoxious, but now he’s angry too. Now he’s not only going to beat David, he’s planning on making a statement by killing him and feeding his dead body to the buzzards. Goliath intends to send a message in response to the perceived insult. However, David has a secret weapon at his disposal—the Creator of the universe! And God intends to send a message as well through this unassuming and relatively unarmed shepherd. “After waiting for forty days, Goliath is disappointed and disgusted when he sees the youthful, unarmed David coming toward him. How much glory is there in killing a defenseless youth? David listens to Goliath’s curses and then acknowledges that his main weapon is ‘the name of the Lord Almighty.’ Because of David’s apparent weakness, the glory for the victory will go to the Lord, and this could be a testimony to the whole world…David believes that the battle is the Lord’s and that victory does not depend on who has the best weapons or the most soldiers. Just as parting the Red Sea terrified the nations, so the death of Goliath will demonstrate the power of Israel’s God.”[3]

45David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”
            For 40-days the Israelites have had to listen to Goliath bloviate and pound his chest as he hurled insults at them without opposition or response. But now it’s David’s turn to say a few things to Goliath in vv. 45-47. Note the difference in the discourse between the two. Goliath wanted everyone to fear him and what he would do to them and how he would be victorious and how he would conquer Israel’s army. David wanted everyone to fear God and what God would do for him and how God would be victorious and conquer the Philistines through him. “At the heart of warfare in the Hebrew Bible is the belief that Yahweh was a ‘warrior,’ or literally a ‘man of war’…God is present with the Israelite army during the war, and he is the one who provides the victory because ‘the battle…is the LORD’s.’ He is ‘mighty in battle’…Indeed, the Pentateuch [the first five books of the Bible] cites a work provocatively titled ‘The Book of the Wars of the Lord’…Even though this work is not extant, much of the Hebrew Bible narrates wars in which Yahweh fought on behalf of Israel.”[4] Goliath was self-reliant while David was God-reliant. Goliath put his faith in himself, in his fighting skills, in his armor, and in his weapons. David put his faith in God knowing that it is by and through God’s strength that he and Israel would be victorious and saved. If Goliath was offended and angry before, how do you suppose David’s threat sounded in his ears? Goliath threatened to kill David and feed his body to the birds but David ups the ante by telling Goliath that he will not only kill him but then chop off his head! Not only will Goliath be food for the birds and wild animals but so will the dead bodies of all the fallen Philistine soldiers after Israel routes them. I’m guessing if Goliath wasn’t already adequately fueled and on fire for a fight, David’s response to Goliath’s challenge fanned the flames into a raging inferno.

48As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. 49Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground. 50So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.
            The fight was on in vv. 48-50! Goliath made his approach toward David and David countered by running toward Goliath and as he ran, he loaded one of the smooth stones into his sling and launched it at Goliath. One stone was all it took. In a matter of seconds, Goliath’s massive size, military expertise, defensive armor, and formidable weaponry crashed to the ground in a heap as the stone from David’s sling found its mark and sunk into Goliath’s forehead. For 40-days Goliath and the Philistines were supremely confident and now that Goliath’s challenge had finally been met by what clearly seemed like a weaker opponent in David, Goliath is face down in the dirt with a rock embedded in his skull without having even attempted a single fighting thrust! I’m sure everyone expected the battle to be short and swift but this—there is no way either side expected this outcome! Come on! Everyone loves an underdog but sometimes rooting for the underdog is simply a fleeting wish when the underdog is so hopelessly overmatched like David was against Goliath. Careful! Did I just trap you into thinking that David was the underdog in this fight? Be honest! I caught some of you didn’t I? You see David wasn’t the underdog was he? Think about it—who was Goliath’s opponent? That’s right—Goliath wasn’t preparing to engage in a battle with David, he was setting foot in the ring with God fighting through David! Nevertheless, you can bet that both the Israelites and the Philistines were in shock and trying to understand what just happened. “Goliath is not prepared for battle with David. Even if he knows how effective a simple sling and stone can be, he must have underestimated David’s marksmanship. No doubt, this young shepherd boy is unlike any other warrior Goliath has ever seen. But superior strength and military resources are useless against the representative of Yahweh. The contest is over before it begins. David kills Goliath with one of his choices stones. Since he does the job ‘without a sword in his hand,’ Yahweh has been true to his word: He saved ‘not by sword or spear.’”[5]

51David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine’s sword and drew it from the scabbard. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. 52Then the men of Israel and Judah surged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath and to the gates of Ekron. Their dead were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron.
            When God acts, He doesn’t just dabble in fixes or nibble around the edges of a solution. When God acts, He makes a statement that is unmistakable and David’s battle with Goliath was no different as we see in vv. 51-52. The message of killing Goliath wasn’t loud enough so David ran to where Goliath was lying face down in the dirt, drew Goliath’s sword from its sheath and cut Goliath’s head off with it. Now that’s a statement! And the Philistines heard it loud and clear because, either in their fear or in confusion, they forgot the surrender terms established by Goliath and ran for Gath and Ekron; two of the five cities in the Philistine confederation of cities. I’m guessing that surrender would have been a better option for the Philistines because the armies of Israel chased them all the way to the gates of the two cities all the while littering the roadside with dead Philistine soldiers. Think about this for a minute. Less than an hour before these events, the great and mighty armies of the Lord were cowering in their tents! It would be a mistake to think that it was because of one skillfully placed stone delivered by the hand of a handsome shepherd with a nice tan that the entire Philistine army was on the run. Think about it, they weren’t losing the fight, they didn’t even engage in the fight! They ran the minute they recognized they were overmatched. Not by a simple shepherd but by a God so mighty that He could use anyone or anything to accomplish His purpose—even a simple shepherd armed with just Five Smooth Stones.

Application

            When my girls were small, like most little kids I know, they loved polished rocks. Well, in one of my weaker moments (my wife will tell you that I had lots of those), I agreed to buy them a rock tumbler. The girls thought it was the greatest idea in the world because they could have as many polished rocks as they wanted whenever they wanted them. For those of you who know what a rock tumbler is, I can hear you groaning. I’ll give you the short instructional version of a rock tumbler. I suppose it can come in any size but this one was small enough to sit on my workbench with about a one-quart sized drum. You place a handful of ordinary rocks in the drum along with some water and the stage-one abrasive material that comes with the tumbler kit. You place the drum on the tumbling machine and it rotates slowly, constantly mixing and churning the rocks, water, and abrasive. After a number of days, you drain the water, add fresh water, and add the next stage of abrasive. Ultimately it was a five-step process that took weeks! If you don’t have kids of your own, I’m going to give you a word of warning to store away for future reference—never, never, never undertake anything for your young children that will take weeks to accomplish! Let me tell you how the story ended for us. After about a week, and hearing ‘Daddy are the rocks done yet?’ for the millionth time, the rock tumbler went into the trash and dad went to the store and bought them each a bag of polished rocks for $5! Ok so that little lesson in parenting was gift from me to you. So what’s my point in sharing this illustration? Well, we often rely on our own strength to accomplish something that God is prepared to help us with. David didn’t first have to polish the stones he put in his satchel, God’s creation already prepared them for him. In the same way, God has provided stones for us to accomplish the tasks and help us overcome challenges in our lives. Let me share with you the Five Smooth Stones God has provided.

Stone #1—Prayer

            For prayer warriors, this stone stays nicely polished because of its constant use. However, for many believers, prayer is an afterthought—something they intend to do more of one day. But prayer is our lifeline to God. It’s what connects our hearts with His. Prayer is the thing that says, ‘I need and want you in my life God. I can’t do life without you.’ Prayer is our way of telling God that what He wants for us is what we want for ourselves. There are many forms of prayer—prayers about being forsaken by God; prayers of surrender; prayers with tears; prayers of personal examination; prayers for personal transformation; etc. More simply, however, when we pray, we are “Like children before a loving father, we open our hearts and make our requests. We do not try to sort things out, the good from the bad. We simply and unpretentiously share our concerns and make our petitions. We tell God, for example, how frustrated we are with the co-worker at the office or the neighbor down the street. We ask for food, favorable weather, and good health.”[6] Prayer is the language of our hearts crying out to the One who sustains us daily and loves us unconditionally.

Stone #2—Silence & Solitude

           Can you think of anything more antithetical to our present day culture than either silence or solitude? We are bombarded daily with noise and visual stimulation in virtually all aspects of our lives during all times of our lives. Most of us are regularly around people and when we’re alone we keep our minds occupied with the sounds of music or images from the television or computer screen. As a result, we never make ourselves available to hear God’s voice. More accurately, we never allow ourselves to hear God’s voice. We find that we are neither content to be alone nor are we comfortable surrounded by people. Silence and solitude are essential if we are serious about our relationship with God and with people because without mastering silence we cannot hear God’s voice and without mastering the art of being alone, we will never learn how to engage with people as God expects. “Without silence there is no solitude. Though silence sometimes involves the absence of speech, it always involves the act of listening. Simply to refrain from talking, without a heart listening to God, is not silence. ‘A day filled with noise and voices can be a day of silence, if the noises become for us the echo of the presence of God, if the voices are, for us, messages and solicitations of God. When we speak of ourselves and are filled with ourselves, we leave silence behind. When we repeat the intimate words of God that he has left within us, our silence remains intact.’”[7] (For a more information on the practice of Silence & Solitude, see my two part series on the practice of Silence & Solitude at: http://seredinski.blogspot.com/2012/01/silence-and-solitude-pt-1.html and http://seredinski.blogspot.com/2012/02/silence-and-solitude-pt-2-conclusion.html).

Stone #3—Humility & Submission

            In the context of our lesson, it’s hard to understand how humility and submission can be a good thing for a warrior. But Goliath lost his head due to his arrogance and self-reliance and David became the giant-slayer; he recognized that victory would come by God’s hand alone and therefore submitted his cause to the sovereignty of God because David was God-reliant. We fall into this trap ourselves everyday when we face the trials and struggles of our lives as though every outcome depends on our own strength; our own wisdom; our own effort. However, this is unnecessary if we are willing to humble ourselves and submit ourselves to God’s will for our lives instead of limping along living according to our own will. (For more about a life of humble submission to God you can read an earlier lesson titled “A Life Humbly Submitted To God” at: http://seredinski.blogspot.com/2012/01/life-humbly-submitted-to-god.html).



Stone #4—Scripture

            What do you suppose the world would be like if we had access to life’s Owner’s manual? Wait! We do have access to the Owner’s manual—it’s called the Bible! The sin and destruction that surrounds us in our world should be no surprise when we realize that the Bible is the most purchased and least read book of all time. We have available the manual that can give us life and many simply place in on the self as decoration or to impress guests. But the Bible is so much more. The Bible contains the words to not only living but to eternal life! The Bible is God’s gift to all of us because “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man [and woman] of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Tim 3:16-17).” When we make Scripture reading and memorization part of our daily lives, we will begin to understand the world and our lives from God’s perspective; we will have to tools at our disposal to live our lives according God’s divine plan for us.

Stone #5—Faith

            If we could only have just one stone in our arsenal of stones, it should be this one. David had good looks and a great tan; he had a staff, a sling, and he had a handful of rocks; he had an army behind him (albeit not the most courageous army); but the most important weapon he had was faith in God. Without faith that God would provide, protect, and save him, he never would have been able to confront a nine-foot tall giant, skilled in hand-to-hand combat, covered in bronze armor, and armed to the teeth with a real warrior’s weapons. Faith is the thing that set David apart from Goliath. Goliath had faith in himself, his skill, his experience and his weapons—all very important when engaging in a battle. David had faith in God—the most important thing when facing any battle. Remember faith is the only weapon that any of us need when we face the greatest giant of our lives—death. Through faith in Jesus Christ, death is no longer a feared enemy because Jesus conquered death when He rose from the dead. Faith that God can and will accomplish His will in and through us is ultimately the only weapon we need.

            We are confronted with giants every day of our lives at church, at school, at work, and at home. Some of us battle giants within ourselves as well every day—substance abuse, addiction, self-hatred, depression, anxiety, cancer, MS, paralysis, or some other malady that taunts us and threatens to destroy us. Let me encourage you to do something today, tomorrow and everyday for the rest of your life—face the giant or giants in your life, and with Five Smooth Stones in your arsenal tell your giant, “today the battle belongs to the Lord!”




[1] Leland Ryken, James C. Wilhoit, Tremper Longman III, gen. eds., Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1998), p. 77.
[2] Charles R. Swindoll, David—A Man of Passion & Destiny, (Dallas, TX: Word Publishing, 1997), p. 45.
[3] Walter A. Elwell, ed., Baker Commentary on the Bible, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1989), p. 205.
[4] Wllem A. VanGemeren, New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology & Exegesis, Vol. 2, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1997), p. 786.
[5] Bill T. Arnold, 1 & 2 Samuel—The NIV Application Commentary, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003), p. 257.
[6] Richard J. Foster, Prayer—Finding the Heart’s True Home, (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 1992), p. 9.
[7] Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline—The Path to Spiritual Growth, (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 1998), p. 98.







(Audio version; Music: "Stay And Wait" by: Hillsong United and "You Never Fail" by: Hillsong Worship)

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