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Day 78, or March the 19th.

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Be yourself and trust in God.

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Our thought today comes from 1 Samuel chapter 17 verse 45.

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David said to the Philistine, You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I

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come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you

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have defied.

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Now the big picture surrounding this verse.

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Exactly halfway through the book of 1 Samuel, God is true to His word and rejects Saul

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in favour of a young lad called David.

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Saul had been warned many times, but he failed to mend his ways, so God honoured His word

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and appointed a new king, who was the youngest of eight sons of Jesse, who lived in Bethlehem.

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David goes on to kill the giant Goliath in what must be one of the best-known adventures

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in the Bible.

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It all took place not far from Jerusalem, in the valley of Elah.

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Not much has changed since those days.

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In fact, the stream in the valley is still there, and is a great source of smooth, round

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stones.

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Now our action step for today.

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Samuel learns a fundamental quality of God when he anoints David, and that is that God

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looks on the inside and not the outside.

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He sees us as we are and not as how we try to get others to view us, by projecting a

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particular image which disguises the real you.

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David didn't project any false image as he encountered Goliath.

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Goliath, on the other hand, was so macho you can almost taste the testosterone from here.

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David didn't exhibit blind faith either.

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In fact, he used a lot of wisdom and cunning.

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He picked up five stones even though he was confident of hitting Goliath first time.

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Actually, Goliath had four big friends, so David was planning for possible future encounters.

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He certainly trusted God, but he used common sense and his own expertise as well.

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That's what God expects us to do every day.

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Trust him and do all we are able to.

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Don't ask God to do what you can do yourself.

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At the same time, trust him to do what only he can.

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That's a great partnership -

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just ask Goliath and his big friends.