The Book of Generals: War and Peace

  • Pastor Duane Cross
  • Feb 21, 2010
  • Series: The Greatest Story Ever Told

THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD

“The Book of Generals: War and Peace”

 Pastor Duane Cross  |  02.21.2010

“A certain man in Maon, who had property there at Carmel, was very wealthy.  He had a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel.  His name was Nabal and his wife’s name was Abigail.  She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband, a Calebite, was surly and mean in his dealings.”                             ( I Samuel 25:2-3)

“So he sent ten young men and said to them, ‘Go up to Nabal at Carmel and greet him in my name.’ Say to him: ‘Long life to you! Good health to you and your household! And good health to all that is yours!’ ‘Now I hear that it is sheep-shearing time. When your shepherds were with us, we did not mistreat them, and the whole time they were at Carmel nothing of theirs was missing.  Ask your own servants and they will tell you. Therefore be favorable toward my young men, since we come at a festive time. Please give your servants and your son David whatever you can find for them.’”                              ( I Samuel 25:5-8)

“Abigail lost no time. She took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, five seahs of roasted grain, a hundred cakes of raisins and two hundred cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys. Then she told her servants, ‘Go on ahead; I’ll follow you.’ But she did not tell her husband Nabal.”                                                                                                        (I Samuel 25:18-19)

“When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed down before David with her face to the ground. She fell at his feet and said: ‘My lord, let the blame be on me alone. Please let your servant speak to you; hear what your servant has to say. May my lord pay no attention to that wicked man Nabal. He is just like his name-his name is Fool, and folly goes with him. But as for me, your servant, I did not see the men my master sent.’”                                                                                       ( I Samuel 25:23-25)

“David said to Abigail, ‘Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me. May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping  me from the bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own hands. Otherwise, as surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, who has kept me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, not one male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by daybreak.”                                                                 (I Samuel 25:32-34)

4 STEPS TO A FORGIVING HEART

I  Recognize your anger.

“My heart grew hot within me, and as I meditated, the fire burned.”        (Psalms 39:3)

 1)  Admit it.

 2) Unplug it.  

 3)  Release it. 

II  Recognize a true friend.

“Faithful are the wounds of a friend.”                                           (Proverbs 27:6)

III  Recognize that vengeance is God’s.

“Do not take revenge, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord.”                                                                 (Romans 12:19)

IV  Recognize the grace you have been given, and give it in return.

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.”                      (Psalms 51:1-2)

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