Customer Reviews

Facing Your Giants: The God Who Made a Miracle Out of David Stands Ready to Make One Out of You

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Once again, Christian living master Max Lucado impresses with a study of the life of David, failure and success, a Biblical figure whom God himself proclaimed "a man after his own heart" (Samuel 13:14).

As usual, Lucado chooses an important theme for Christians to follow. Too often in our lives, we focus on the overwhelming stresses in our lives, fear, failure, doubt, a shady past, whatever it may be. In the beginning of the book, Lucado vividly paints a portrait of tiny David and how he stood firm against a nine-foot giant, against all odds, in the midst of others' doubt, and dropped the behemoth with one stone hurled from a sling, the simplest of weapons. Lucado cleverly and effectively shows that David's focus was on God, not the towering threat that loomed over him. This is how we should live our own lives, with our focus on the Master, on the one who sits upon the throne and guarantees our success if we just trust in Him.

I say in the title of this review that the book was released just in time because the book's release coincides with the phenomenal Christian movie, Facing the Giants, which harbors the same themes as this book. Lucado himself has marveled that God works in amazing ways, as we learn in this book by studying the tumultuous but God-seeking life of David.

This book is for anyone, Christian or not, who know they have been dwelling in the negatives of their life, overpowered by "giants", and encourages them to set their sights on God instead and ask him to help you face these giants and understand: "Focus on giants -- you stumble. Focus on God -- your giants tumble."

I got a copy of Facing Your Giants for Christmas this year. It was an appropriate gift considering what I've been through in the past two years or so. Depression. Financial problems. Premature baby. Etc. So I do have a few giants of my own to face.

Facing Your Giants is the first book of Max Lucado's that I have read and I absolutely loved it! Max uses the life story of David to correspond with issues that are relevant today. David's entire life was one struggle after another. He was the youngest of his brothers and was made the sheep herder. He defeated Goliath. He conquered Jerusalem and ruled over Israel. He was victim to his own adulterous ways. And the story goes on. Do any of these symbolically speak of you?

Max Lucado's writing really brings the story of David to life. He uses modern language that is easy to read, entertaining and very profound. Sometimes I wondered if he was actually writing about ME! The book is biblically accurate and touches on a number of factors you should consider while facing your own giants. Facing Your Giants is a fantastic read for anyone who is struggling with problems (which would be just about anyone alive). I can't wait to move on to some of his other writings. I'd recommend this book to anyone!

Max Lucado is known for his encouraging books, and this book is no exception. Here, he studies King David, both the good and the bad, to show us how to face the giants in our lives.

The ultimate lesson is simple, when your focus is on God, giants fall. Yet he uses stories from first and second Samuel, both the good and the bad, to show us how this played out in David's life.

The book works as a biography, showing us the events in David's life as they happened. While most chapters are a self contained lesson, it does allow us to see how one event often led to another.

Obviously, we see David fighting Goliath. But we also see him hiding from Saul, his friendship with Jonathan, hiding with the enemy, keeping his promises, falling into adultery and murder with Bathsheba, and watching his own children spin out of control. From this we learn the importance of friends and family, but ultimately the importance of putting our focus on God.

Max Lucado very rarely brings anything new to the table. That's certainly the case here. There is very little I haven't heard before. But he always puts such a fresh, encouraging spin on things, I always see things in a new light. And even when admonishing us, he still does it gently.

I set this book down reluctantly when I finished. My heart was encouraged, and my focus was where it needed to be, God. If you need some help remembering where your focus needs to be, this book is for you.

No one more literally faced a giant in their life than when David met Goliath on the battlefield. Using that picture and illustrations from the life of David, Max Lucado talks about conquering your own giants in the book Facing Your Giants: The God Who Made a Miracle Out of David Stands Ready to Make One Out of You. It's an excellent read, and highly inspirational.

Contents:
Facing Your Giants; Silent Phones; Raging Sauls; Desperate Days; Dry Seasons; Grief-Givers; Barbaric Behavior; Slump Guns; Plopping Points; Unspeakable Grief; Blind Intersections; Strongholds; Distant Deity; Tough Promises; Thin Air-ogance; Colossal Collapses; Family Matters; Dashed Hopes; Take Goliath Down!; What Began In Bethlehem; Study Guide; Notes

When you think about David and his life, it's easy to skip from killing Goliath to being king. But there were a number of other "giants" between those two points, and even more once he ascended to the crown. Saul sought to kill him on a regular basis. His sons turned against him. He lost family members due to death and disobedience. For all the positives in his life, he had even more struggles and giants to subdue than most of us. Max Lucado looks at various episodes of David's life and relates them back to similar giants we face. It could be as common as reaching a point of exhaustion and deciding not to push on (David at Brook Besor). Or it may be an extended dry season where you're isolated from everything and everyone you hold dear (David and the cave at Adullam). But in all cases, God is still present and waiting to lift you up when you turn to Him.

I appreciate Lucado's ability to take a minimal narrative that's found in Scripture and paint color around it. He's able to inject life and emotion into people that can be minimized when you read the straight text without taking time to ponder. In addition, he easily moves the historical event into today's world and relates it to situations more familiar to us. For instance, I never quite thought of Goliath's army as being a "bloodthirsty gang of hoodlums boasting do-rags, BO, and barbed-wire tattoos." But if you think about it, is that so different than some armies out there today? :)

An excellent read, and one that will help provide you with direction and hope when facing the giants in your own life.

Lucado gives us, in this awesome book, many small one liners and brief sentences that are POWERFUL! This book can be life transforming. Lucado's style is easy to read and can be done in a devotional type format. I think this is his BEST BOOK YET, applying to anyone who has a 'giant' still lurking around. SUPER!

This book helped me so much, that I bought 3 more as gifts. It is light and sometimes humorous without neglecting difficult issues.

If I pick up a book like this, it has to mean something to me. I don't want to sit arm in arm at Starbucks with Rick Warren singing, "If I had a low I. Q., I could be purpose driven too!" I don't want to do that, ok? I know that to walk on water, you have to get out of your boat, and John Ortberg did pretty well with that. But it still left me feeling empty. But most people know the story of David and Goliath. A man like me wants nothing more (STILL, even today) than to take on a big ugly sucker (just like Goliath, who thinks he can trash my God), and just beat the bloody, snotty, dirty piss right out of him! That's just how it is with me, ok? Deal with it! You don't like that vocabulary, too bad. This caught my attention. But in all honesty, I didn't care to pick it up. It didn't have my attention to the point where I wanted to go out of my way to read it. But at my Bible study leader's urging, I picked it up. I loved it!

Hey, Lucado makes it pretty clear that there are more then just Goliath's out there that are giants in our lives. The thing is, we don't have to let fear rule us, and we can fight these bad boys. We can come right at them, just like David did, "In the name of The Lord, the God of Heaven, who will help ME defeat you!" Those are fighting words. "Turn the other cheek" never meant just standing back and taking crap. If you believe that, there's something wrong with you. Especially a man, and it is feminine if you feel that you have to stand there and take everything. Our Bible speaks beautiful words, words of love. But The Bible also speaks of justice, and it makes very clear how important holiness is. The Bible says, "There is a time to kill." and it says, "There is a time for war." It also goes as far as to say, "There is a time for casting stones." That's Ecclesiastes, and it is IN THE BIBLE! So don't use "Turn the other cheek" as your personal punch line just because confrontation makes you uncomfortable! Learn how to face off with the stupid stuff in life. Don't focus on your giants, focus on God. There is some really good stuff in this! If you happen to get ticked because you are always left out, then quit looking at that other person. Simple things that we SIMPLY don't apply to daily life. Work hard for your boss, but don't go dwelling on what the boss thinks. Give some thought to what God thinks. Make God your refuge, not the bar or your job! What's that first commandment say? YOU SHALL HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME! Some Goliath's in your life might be somebody, or even a group of people that you don't like. Sometimes we need to think before getting instant gratification in revenge for one simple reason. God isn't through with that person yet. Until we die, until we breathe our final breath, God isn't finished with us yet! Hey, there's temptation, there's SO much more I could go on about. Who knows, there just may be a NEVERTHELESS in your life. But you'll never know until you get up the guts to face up.

This was great. And I didn't just put it down like some appetizer (burp, good snack!) and say, "That was good stuff!" I allowed myself to digest the teachings of Max Lucado. I gave myself some reflection time on this one. Hey, if you're REALLY looking to be "Purpose Driven", then Rick Warren's in every store, probably even in Lowes and Sears! But if you're ready to kick Goliath's butt, and go toe to toe with some GIANTS in your life, then this is it! Yeah, it is simple teaching. But it is also some teaching with guts, and it isn't afraid to throw a few stones. This will fire you up for Christ, and it'll get the pulse racing at times! I LOVED IT!!!

Has Max Lucado ever written a bad book? No! I read mostly war history books but whenever Max publishes a new book, I'm there. "Facing Your Giants" was, once again,a message that I needed for this time in my life. Too bad many Christians do not understand their God like Lucado does, and he brings the love of God to the reader in a simple, easy to read manner. Read this one, and again, identify with God.

While I am a big fan of Max Lucado he has outdone himself with "Facing Your Giants". This a unique study of King David's life. It is a story which has practical applications for our current times. Thanks Max!

This book is amazing! The detail that Lucado expresses is great. Lucado really eplores King David's life and identifies many parallels to our lives. He reminds us that David was human and made many mistakes, as we have, but the truth to gather from David is to never give up.

The trademark saying from Lucado, "Focus on your giants, and you stumble. Focus on God, and your Giants tumble." rangs true for me, even more than I realized. With my Giants, I now focus on God and my troubles begin to diminish and disappear. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has "Giants" in their life that are seeking to make you stumble and fall. Whether the giants are other people or personal troubles, this book will teach you that God WILL help you face those giants.