This week we begin a new study session called “Fighting Your Battles” by Jonathan Evans. We will watch a Right Now video session each week and have our discussion based on the lessen. We will learn in this study about the challenges of those in the Old Testament and how relevant it is to our lives today.
God chooses the faithful to face giants and to fight battles for our strengthening and for His kingdom. These difficult times are a part of every Christian’s calling.
Because of Christ’s victory on the cross, anyone who puts their trust in Him is “more than a conqueror” before they ever step foot in the ring. God places us in situations where we can use our passion, our opportunities, our abilities, and our experiences to defeat any giant.
Knowing that the win has already been won should give us a different view of both the battle and our giant. Others may be paralyzed by fear, or by the size of the problem, but those who are called see the size of the God who calls them instead.
As we become surer of who we are in Christ, we’ll recognize the ways God has equipped and prepared us to defeat the giant who is standing before us. Then, like David, we can run to the battle with full confidence that the Lord will fight for us.
We overcome, not by our might, but God’s.
If God has called you, then God is for you.
And if God is for you, then you can be confident that no giant can stand against you.
Watch Session 1…
A lot of Christians today are fighting for victory instead of fighting from victory. They don’t understand the fact that we’ve already been called for this battle. We’ve already been called to overcome. We already have the call of “conqueror.”
All the things that we’ve overcome in our lives are just to prepare us for this next moment, and to let us know that our calling is much bigger than our giant.
The battle is necessary for the victory to be experienced.
How do you view the giants in your life? Are they “opposition” or “opportunities”?
When a giant shows up in your life are you more prone to view yourself as a victim or a victor?
How do you tend to view God in the midst of your battle? Does he seem absent or present?
Besides the size of our opponents, what are some of the other characteristics of our giants that sidetrack us? What concerns or barriers have you seen Satan use to keep people from recognizing who they are in the Lord? In what ways does the evil one blind us, limit us, or limit God’s power in our minds and hearts?
For David, knowing that he’d been called to the battle and called to conquer affected everything as he was “entering the ring” to fight Goliath, including his preparation. Think of a particular opponent you’ve faced in the past. How would your preparation and approach have changed if you had trusted that the Lord had called you, equipped you, and would fight for you in that situation?
What difference does it make to know that the opponents and difficulties that come at us are never just random circumstance, and are often part of our calling from God?
In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. – Romans 8:37 ESV
What do you think is meant by the assurance that we “overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us”? Why would the Lord describe our victory in these words?
For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn[a] among many brothers and sisters. And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory. – Romans 8:29-30 NLT
God has very intentionally “drafted” each person for His championship team.
What does that say about how He views and values us?
Many of the wins we read about in Scripture weren’t just for the men and women of Bible times. In powerful verses like the ones below, God has promised His people victory today against their giants too.
“No weapon that is formed against you will succeed; and you will condemn every tongue that accuses you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their vindication is from Me,” declares the LORD. (Isaiah 54:17)
Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. (1 John 4:4)
You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:9)
Whoever has been born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith. (1 John 5:4)
How can believers reset their focus and develop “a different spirit” so that the giants in life don’t intimidate them?
In Closing
As we end the study today, let us be aware of each other’s prayer needs related to the giants we’re each facing. Let’s be honest about where we feel we need a more God-focused perspective or assurance of our calling.
Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to open up our heart throughout this study so we can receive the truths of Scripture and victoriously live out our faith. And rebuke the discouragement and fear that the enemy wants to put in our path.
Evans, Jonathan. Fighting Your Battles Workbook: Every Christian's Playbook for Victory (p. 16). Harvest House Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Evans, Jonathan. Fighting Your Battles Workbook: Every Christian’s Playbook for Victory (p. 10). Harvest House Publishers. Kindle Edition.