Alright, everybody.  Welcome to Valley Creek.  Hey, we’re so glad that you’re here with us today.  Come on, whatever campus you’re at, Denton, Flower Mound, Lewisville, the venue watching online somewhere in the world, let’s just welcome each other together for a moment. We are so glad that you’re here.  Whatever is going on in your life today, we believe that God has something great for you.  You see, hope is here because Jesus is here.

And so, today is a great day because we’ve got some new services, some new service times happening at some of our campuses.  And so, if you’re at a new service or a new service time or you’re in a new space, I just want to say thank you for helping us create space and opportunity to keep reaching more people in our city.  We are a family on a mission and every decision we make always answers this question.  How do we best reach more people with the hope of Jesus?  And so, if you’re in a new service, new service time, thank you for serving, thank you for creating that space and that opportunity. 

See, it is a great season here at Valley Creek.  Actually, it’s been a great year this year because our theme for this whole year has been to pioneer.  The theme for Valley Creek Church 2019 has been to pioneer.  This is a year where we’re taking new ground, where we’re moving forward, we’re increasing and advancing, going to new places and we’ve defined a pioneer as someone who goes into the unknown for the good of others and the glory of God, and in the process, finds freedom for themselves.  And that’s what we’ve been doing all year.

We’ve been taking ground in our lives, in our families, in our church, in our city, in our region, and we said that we were created to move mountains and walk on water and fight giants in Jesus’ name and that’s what we’ve been doing.  But sometimes, in the midst of all that pioneering, sometimes it feels like some mountains don’t move, some water is too stormy to walk upon, and some giants don’t seem to fall. Do you know what I’m talking about?

It’s like sometimes in the midst of all the movement forward, it seems like some of the giants in our lives, they just won’t go down.  They won’t be defeated.  They won’t crash to the ground.  And so, what do we do with that?  We’re going to start a new series today called Face Your Giants.  And for the next few weeks, I want us to just talk about some of the things that we deal with that are holding us back because I would bet if you were anything like me, you’ve got some giants in your life, some things that are keeping you from moving forward.  And let’s be honest, giants are nasty.  They growl, they roar, they drool, they’re ugly, they taunt you, they intimidate you, they are ruthless, and they are relentless.  But it’s time to learn how to face them in Jesus’ name.

And so, right at the beginning of this series, let’s just go ahead and define a giant together. A giant is anything that stands in between you and the promises of God that feels impossible to overcome.  It’s a great definition of a giant.  A giant is anything that stands in between you and the promises of God that feels impossible to overcome.  And I would bet you’ve got some giants in your life, some things that have positioned themselves in between you and the promises of God.

You say, “What are the promises of God?”  Anything God promises.  Like joy, and peace, and life, and breakthrough, and freedom.  You name it.  And it feels impossible to overcome.  A giant can be anxiety, depression.  A giant can be mental health issues, it can be rejection or insecurity.  It can be brokenness, it can be sickness in your body.  It can be a sin issue, a temptation.  It can be doubt, it can be fear.  It can be finances, it can be comfort. There are all kinds of giants.  It’s anything that comes in between you and the promises of God that feels impossible to overcome.  It’s the things that start declaring never and always over your life.  A guy will never go away or I will always be in your way.  That’s what a giant says.

In fact, in John 10, Jesus says, “The thief or a giant comes only to steal, kill, and destroy, but I have come that you may have life and have it to the full.“ The giants of your life want to steal, kill, and destroy anything and everything they can in your life.  They want to take away the life, the promised life that Jesus has come to bring you.  But what I want you to get right out of the gate is that you are a pioneer.  You are a conqueror, you are victorious, you are an overcomer, you are a giant killer and you come from a long line of giant killers.

You are made in the image and likeness of God, the ultimate giant killer. Moses was a giant killer, Joshua was a giant killer, David was a giant killer, Jesus, the disciples, people in our church that have walked with God for years are giant killers.  You come from a long line of giant killers. And you got to start with that understanding.  You see, while your giant may be big, Jesus is bigger.

Your giant may be big.  Let’s be real honest with that upfront.  Your giant is probably big.  He probably roars, he probably growls, he definitely drools, and is ugly.  He’s big, but Jesus is bigger.  And what I love is that the Bible in the Old Testament is full of stories of people going out and fighting physical giants.  The people of God went out and fought these physical giants.  And while we don’t fight physical giants today, the giants we fight are still just as real and what that does is it teaches us its physical pictures of spiritual truths, it teaches us how they dealt with the physical giants as how we deal with the giants in our lives.

And maybe the greatest example of a story of a giant, of someone facing a giant, the story of David and Goliath is probably one of the most famous stories in all of the Bible.  You’ve probably heard it before.  We use it when we see anybody that’s small taking on something big or like when your favorite team is a super underdog and they’re playing the champion, you know.  It’s like, “Come on, we’re David.  We can take on Goliath.”  Yes?

Come on, you know what I’m talking about, right?  But what is that?  It’s actually a real story.  It’s not just a fairy or a fable tale or something we tell our kids or something that gets cheered on in the locker room.  It’s a real story that really happened.  You see, the story of David and Goliath go something like this: The Philistines -- the enemies of God, lined up for battle against the Israelites, the people of God.

And they were down in this valley and here is Goliath, a Philistine champion and he is like the giant of all giants.  He has defeated all kinds of other giants, he stands more than nine feet tall, he’s been victorious and he conquered everything in his life.  And here are these two battles or these two battle lines and they lined up in every day for 40 days.  Goliath comes out and he taunts the Israelites.  He says, “Hey, why don’t you send over your best fighter and come and fight me?  And if I beat him, you’ll be our slaves, but if you beat me, we’ll become your slaves.”  Well, I’m talking about the valley of the shadow of death.  And so every day for 40 days, Goliath comes out and does that taunt. 1 Samuel 17, “For 40 days, every morning and evening, the Philistine champion, Goliath, the giant, strutted in front of the Israelite army.  As soon as the Israelite army saw him, they began to run away in fright.”

Did you ever feel like that with a giant in your life?  You see, you got to put this in context.  For 40 days, every day the Israelites, got up in their tent, they got dressed, put on their armor, went to the battle line and then Goliath showed up.  Every morning and every evening, he strutted in front of them.  He began to intimidate them, to taunt them, to mock them, to ridicule them, and they ran away in fright. You see, I think that’s what happens to us.  I think we wake up and more like, “Today is the day.  Today is the day I’m going to face my giant.  Today is the day I’m done with this anxiety.  Today is the day I’m done with this depression.  Today is the day I’m done with this sin habit in my life.”  More like today is the day, we get dressed up, we get all ready to go, we come to a church on a Sunday, we get all pumped up.  We’re like, “I can do it tomorrow.”  We wake up, we get dressed, we stepped out, and there is our giant.  And he starts taunting and mocking and ridiculing and he is relentless and he is ruthless, isn’t he?

And then David shows up.  A little shepherd boy and he looks at Goliath and he’s like, “I’ll go fight him.”  And he goes into a stream and he finds the five perfect stones puts them in his little bag, puts one in his sling, starts running towards Goliath who starts mocking him and he’s like, “Are you serious?  You, a boy, are going to come and fight me?  And David says, “Hey, you come at me with a sword and swear but I come at you in the name of the Lord.”  Swings his stone, hits Goliath in the forehead, hits the ground.  David runs to Goliath, pulls out Goliath’s sword, cuts off Goliaths head and lifts it up and shows the army.”

Some of you are like, “Did you really have to add in that detail?”  Yes, I did.  Because that detail matters because what it was saying is that Goliath wasn’t just taking a nap, Goliath was dead.  Victory was theirs and the whole Israelite army rises up with a cheer and chases down the Philistines, defeats the rest of the giants and gets this amazing victory.  And that’s the life that we want, isn’t it? We want to be able to face our giants and find that kind of victory in Jesus’ name.  And that’s what this series is all about. You see, Romans 8, it says, “In all of these things, in the midst of any and every giant in your life, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”  Against any and every giant in your life, you are more than a conqueror which means you are not just going to survive, you are going to be completely victorious in every way, in Jesus’ name.

And so what we’re doing in this series is we’re trying to stir up our faith a little bit.  And here’s what we’re going to do.  We’re going to take a look at the Old Testament stories of guys who actually fought physical giants and learn from them how we fight our spiritual giants.  And what we’re going to do over these next few weeks is we’re kind of going to create a manifesto, a guidebook, a handbook, if you will, of lessons on how we can face our giants.  And each week, the lessons are going to build, they’re just going to keep going.

So if you’re not here on a week, I would encourage you, go online, YouTube it.  We put it all out there.  I mean, steward the word of God in your life.  If you’re serious about wanting to face your giant, you’re going to actually have to like take these lessons as they build and what I need you to understand, this series is not about giving you a bunch of content.  It’s about actually helping you take a step forward to face the giant that’s holding you back in your life.  This is about learning to follow Jesus in the midst of the giants around us. And what I want you to understand is that your future is on the other side of the giant you’re afraid to face.  So don’t let your giant hide your future.  Yes, your giant may not have fallen yet, but he will in Jesus’ name.  Are you with me on that?

About half of us are excited to face our giants.  The rest of us are like, “Nah, he’s alright.” Okay, so, I’m going to give you some lessons, how do you face your giant?  First thing is simply this, lesson number 1, admit that there are giants in your life.  Really profound, isn’t it?  Admit that there are giants in your life and this is where it starts.  You actually have to acknowledge or admit that there are things in your life that are keeping you from moving forward, that there are giants that are standing on the promises of God.  You actually have to stop and say, “Yes, I’ve got some giants, this is what they’re like and this is what they’re doing to me.”

Come on, you won’t face what you won’t call out.  You can’t defeat what you haven’t defined.  You won’t go face something that you don’t believe that exist or that is there. I mean, think about it, David actually had to knowledge Goliath was there before he would go face him.  That’s how it starts, you have to admit that there is a giant in your life.  And so what I’m trying to tell you is don’t do that religious thing like, “Oh, I’m good.

Ain’t no giant in my life.  I’m good.  I got it all figured out.”  Don’t do that.  Humility is the beginning of breakthrough.  And if you say there are no giants in your life, then you have to ask yourself, are you actually following Jesus?  Because if I’m following Jesus, I’m moving into new areas of darkness and as I’m moving forward, those areas of darkness are supposed to get defeated, but those giants wake up and they begin to roar. So you got to actually admit that there are giants in your life.  In other words, let me say it to you like this, it’s okay to struggle, it’s not okay to lie about it.

Come on, are you with me today?  Come on people.  Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on.  Let’s wake up, let’s wake up, let’s wake up. Listen, this is the real stuff.  This is the real stuff.  You got giants in your life, I got giants in my life.  So lean into this thing, don’t let it hold you back.  In fact, the giant of apathy may be pushing on you right now.  So you know what?  I’m not having any of it. 

It’s okay to struggle, it’s not okay to lie about it.  Look, it’s okay to have giants in your life.  There’s nothing wrong with you, you’re not weird, you’re not crazy, it’s not your fault, you’re not the only one.  It’s okay to struggle, but it’s not okay to lie about it.  It’s not okay to act like it’s not there, we’ve got to take it out of the darkness and into the light.  Think about it, giants are rooted in the kingdom of darkness.  Which means the moment you bring them out of darkness and into the light, confess it, acknowledge it, it already begins to lose its power.

Come on, look at these verses, “When I had nothing, desperate and defeated --” maybe you feel like that today.  “I cried out to the Lord and He heard me, bringing His miracle deliverance when I needed it the most.”  That’s a great verse.  He says, “Hey, there’s a giant in my life, I’m crying out, God hears me and He’s going to bring His miracle deliverance when I need it the most.”  “God, I got giant in my life and I need your help.” Or how about the next one, it says, “Pour out all your worries and stress upon Him and leave them there, for He always tenderly cares for you.  He says, “Hey, God I got some giants in my life.  I’m worried, I’m stressed out about it, I’m going to bring them out of the darkness into the light, I’m going to set them at Your feet and I’m going to believe that You care for me.”

Listen, your giants are real.  Anxiety is real.  Depression is real.  Mental health issues are real.  Rejection is real.  Insecurity is real.  Brokenness is real.  Ungodly beliefs are real.  The struggles in your life, they’re real.  And this is where the church at large has messed this up over years because we act like they’re not real.  We say, “Hey, you just need to have more faith, move forward, your giant isn’t real, get over it, move on.” “It’s not even the big deal.  It’s not even there.”  Listen, can I tell you, if that’s ever been said to you by the church, I am so sorry.  That’s not God’s heart.  Your giants are real.  It’s okay to struggle, it’s not okay to lie about it.  It’s okay.  And here’s what I’m trying to tell you, don’t let the giant of shame keep you from facing the other giants in your life.

Don’t let shame roar and growl and make you like if you bring this out of the darkness into the light, everyone’s going to shame you and you’re going to be left out and they’re going to define you by this.  That’s a lie from the pit of hell.  Don’t let the giant of shame keep you from facing your other giants. Come on Romans 8:1, it says, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” There’s no condemnation, there’s nothing wrong with you.  It’s okay to struggle, it’s not okay to lie about it. And so get help, ask for prayer, go to a counselor, go to a doctor, get professional help.  And you know what?  That’s going to take some effort.  And it’s probably not going to work on the first time, David didn’t pick up the first five stones he found.  He kind of searched for the five right stones.  And maybe you’re going to have to try more than one counselor, maybe you’re going to have to ask more than one person to pray for you.  But come on, get help because it’s okay to struggle, it’s not okay to lie about it. I mean, have you ever sat and wondered like why does God allow giants in your life?  He allows giants in your life so you can be victorious.

He allows the work of darkness to come at you so you can rise up and be a conqueror, victorious and an overcomer in Jesus’ name, because until you rise up and walk in victory over a giant, victory is just a theory.  He wants you to be desperately dependent upon Him, to cry out for Him and He wants to show you the power and the authority that is at work within you, in Jesus’ name. Are you with me on that? So some of you, you need to hear, “It’s okay to struggle, it’s not okay to lie about it.”  Some of you need to hear, “It’s okay to not be okay, but it’s not okay to stay that way.”  It’s okay to not be okay, it is not okay to stay that way.

Hear me, the giant is not your friend.  Don’t become familiar with the giant, don’t fear your giant, don’t flee your giant, but he’s not your buddy.  He’s not your homie, he’s not your tribe, he’s not hanging out with you like a backpack on your back or on a tandem bicycle or riding shotgun with you.  Do not be okay with the giant in your life. This is why Galatians 5:1 says, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.”  Has set us free.  So any area of bondage in our lives, is an area where a giant has moved in, it’s an area of darkness and we can’t be okay with that.  This isn’t your identity, it doesn’t define you and you can’t just be like it just is what it is. Come on, do you ever see those people on TV that have those crazy wild animals for pets? Like a grizzly bear or a tiger or like a poisonous snake?  And they take it out and they play with it and they cuddle it and they’re like, “This is General Ben.”

And then one day General Ben rips their face off and everybody’s like, “What happened?”  They’re like, “Okay, that was a grizzly bear.  I don’t know why you ever petted it in the first place.“  That’s how some of us treat our giants. “This is General Ben.”  He ain’t a general and his name is not Ben.  He’s anxiety and he’s come from the pit of hell.  He’s depression and he’s a work of darkness.  He’s insecurity and it’s not acceptable for him to hang out in your life.  See, we get complacent.  We just this think this is the way it is.  This is how it’s always been, this is how it’s always going to be.

It’s okay, I’ve learned to manage it.  I’ve learned to cope with it. That’s a lie from hell.  This is not General Ben, this is a giant and he wants to work his way into your life so he has victory over you and God has given you victory over him.  Never be okay with something stealing, killing, and destroying your life. 1 John 3:8 says, “Jesus came.  Jesus, the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil.”  If Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil, don’t be okay with the work of the devil in your life.  Don’t accept it, don’t embrace, don’t own it.  So, you know what, there’s a giant in my life and I’m tired of it.  And I don’t know how I’m going to find victory over it yet, but I’m going to face it in Jesus’ name because I am not okay with you being in my life anymore.  You can’t defeat what you won’t define and you won’t face what you haven’t called out.

So, here’s the question, what giant is in your life?  What giant is in your life?  My sense will be, some of you today, like, this is so real and so raw but you are so afraid to bring it out of the dark.  You’ve tried to find freedom over this thing that has kept you in bondage for years, and years, and years.  You’re terrified to give Jesus a shot because you figured out how to manage it and cope with it.  You don’t want to be disappointed one more time, but I’m telling you, you don’t get to cope with a wild animal.  You can’t manage a giant.  It will turn on you at the least opportune time.  It’s okay to struggle, it’s not okay to lie about it.  It’s okay to not be okay, but it’s not okay to stay that way.  You’re not always good and it’s not okay to stay not good.

This is the life that we’re looking for in Jesus.  Are you with me on that?  Lesson one, you got to acknowledge that it’s real.  And here’s what -- some of you, just the freedom for you today is you’re in a church that says, it’s okay to not be okay.  There’s nothing wrong with you for struggling but let’s learn how to face that giant in Jesus’ name because it’s a work of the devil and it must fall to the name of Jesus.

Second lesson is simply this, remember who you are.  Admit that there’s a giant in your life and then remember who you are.  What I love about David is, he never forgot who he was.  He knew he was a beloved son whom the Father was well-pleased than he was from the Israelites, the children of God.  So, when David shows up to fight Goliath, he kind of looks at Goliath and he’s like, “Who are you?”  He’s like, “I’m David.  I’m a beloved son, like, who are you and where did you come from, because you are a defeated enemy of God in his name.”

In fact, 1 Samuel 17, I love this.  It says, “David, talking to Goliath, he says, ‘Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?’”  Do you know what I think is so cool is that David is the only person who never refers to Goliath as Goliath.  Read the entire verse.  He never calls Goliath “Goliath.”  He only calls him an uncircumcised Philistine.  Some of you are like, “That stresses me out a little bit.”  They’re like, “Is that actually in the Bible?”  Yes, it is.  What does that mean?  The Israelites were the circumcised.  They meant that they had a covenant relationship with God.  So, when David calls Goliath an uncircumcised Philistine, what he is saying is, “You are already a defeated enemy of God. You’ve already been defeated, so I have nothing to be afraid of you, because I know who I am.  I’m David.  Who are you again?”

And it changed the whole perspective.  See, what I’m trying to tell you is, you are not defined by the giants you face, you are defined by the God that you follow.  And when you remember who you are, no giant can tell you who you’re not.  You define your giants.  They don’t get to define you, and when you remember who you are, you’re always going to have a faith and the courage to go and face any giant in your life because you’re like, “I know who I am.  Who are you again and why are you here?”

I mean, do you remember the Israelites, after 400 years of Egyptian slavery, God sets them free.  They are the children of God.  He brings them to the Promised Land, Promised Land.  It’s promised to them, it’s theirs.  All they’ve got to do is cross the Jordan River and go and take it, but the land is full of giants.  Giants standing in between them and the promise of God and they felt impossible to overcome.  So they send in 12 spies to check out the land and when they come back, they bring this report.

Say, “The land that we travelled through and explore will devour anyone who goes to live there.  All the people we saw there were huge.  We even saw giants there and next to them, we felt like grasshoppers,” and that’s what they thought too.  Huge problem.  They go into the Promised Land, the abundant life, the Kingdom of God that belongs to them.  All they have to do is take it, but they go in and they see giants, and the moment they see giants, they allowed the size of their giants to determine who they believe they were.  They allow what they saw to have more authority than what God said, and all of the sudden, because they see these giants, they start defining themselves as grasshoppers.  But they weren’t grasshoppers, they were the children of God, but they allowed the giant to tell them who they were instead of God telling them who they were.  And the problem with that is identity determines behavior.  Who you are will always determine what you do.

And so, if you want to know what you believe about yourself, just look at your behavior because you will always do who you believe you are.  In fact, if you’ve been here, you’ve heard this before.  So help in, does identity determines behavior?  If that’s true, then fish swim, birds -- [Audience Says Fly]. Come on, cows -- [Audience Says Moo], Dogs -- [Audience Says Bark], Cats -- [Audience Says Meow], Grasshoppers get squished.  If you believe you’re a grasshopper, you will spend your life getting squished by giants, but if you believe you’re a beloved son, you will spend your life squishing the giants.  Come on, if you feel like everywhere you go in life, you’re always getting squished, you’ve got an identity problem.  You see yourself as a grasshopper.  So you go into a situation and you allow giants to squish you because that’s what you believe about who you are, but when you start understanding who you are in Jesus, you start going out and squishing giants, man.

Come on.  When they went into the land, yes, there were real giants in the land, but the real giants were in their minds.  The moment they tried to move forward in life, the giants in here, woke up, the anxiety, the insecurity, the doubt, the fear, the intimidation, all started to roar. And yes, there were giants out there, but God allows giants out there to awaken, the giants in here, so we can defeat them in Jesus’ name.  He wants you to be free.  See the giants roar and tell you who you’re not, God whispers and tells you who you are. And the quietest whisper from God is more powerful than the loudest giant’s roar.  Come on, can I just tell you something, you are not who the giants say you are, you are not the giant’s roar, you are not a grasshopper, and you are not the giant in your life.

You are not your anxiety, you are not your depression, you are not your shame, you are not your failure, you are not your brokenness, you are not your sickness, you are not your past, you are not your doubt, you are not your fear.  You know who you are?  You are a beloved some or daughter, fearfully and wonderfully made in the image and likeness of God, you’re the head and not the tail.  We’re starting to wake up.  You’re the head, and not the tail, the spirit of God inside you, the kingdom of heaven is within you, you have the keys of the kingdom, all authority in heaven and earth has been given to Jesus, he’s transferred it to you, you are victorious and overcomer, and you have been empowered to destroy the works of the devil, that’s who you are. So listen, I get it, that’s really hard to believe when you feel like you’re always getting squashed, and that’s why we got to start changing our thinking, we got to learn lesson number two, because here’s what I want to tell you, you don’t have to be afraid of your giant, because your giant is terrified of you.

Think about this, giants know you have been empowered by God to destroy the works of darkness, they’re terrified of you.  The giants of life, are terrified that the people of God, will one day wake up and actually figure out who they are in Jesus’ name, because they know they can’t stand against us because of what Jesus has empowered us to do, and what Jesus did on the cross and the resurrection.

That’s why they roar, that’s why they growl, that’s why they say all the things that they say, because they are terrified that you will figure out who you actually are, in Jesus’ name.  You don’t have to fear them, they are terrified of you.  And that’s why these lessons build on each other. See, you become what you behold, you will become what you behold, in other words, whatever you look at, you become like that thing and it starts to define your life. So the more you look at your giant, the bigger the giant becomes, and the smaller you become, but the more you look at Jesus, the bigger be becomes, and the bolder you become.  Don’t look at God through your giant, look at your giant through God.

If I try to look at God through my giant, guess what, God gets really small, giant gets really big, and I get really defeated.  If I look at my giant through God, all of a sudden, God gets really big, I become really courageous, and all of a sudden, I say, who are you back there?  Where did you come from? Come on – so here’s my question for you today.  Are you focused more on your giant or more on Jesus?  Who gets more of your affection, your attention, your focus?  Because that’s what’s getting bigger in your life.  You become what you behold, the more you look at Jesus, the more you realize that everything that’s true about Jesus, is now true of you.  That he’s a mirror of who you now are.

This is why 1 John 4:17 says, “as he is, so we are in this world,” everything that’s true about Jesus, is true about me because he is victorious, so am I, man, because he is a conqueror, so am I, because he’s an overcomer, so am I, because he’s courageous and bold, and strong and fearless, so am I, everything that’s true about him, is true about me. So we got to remember who we are and start saying, you know what, I’m a beloved son or a beloved daughter, who are you?  Oh, you’re that’s uncircumcised Philistine, yeah, you’re already defeated in Jesus’ name. So you start looking at it and you start saying, oh yeah, you know what, anxiety, you’re standing on my peace, depression, you’re standing on my joy, brokenness, you’re standing on my freedom, insecurity, you’re standing on my significance.

Temptation, you’re standing on my freedom, in Jesus’ name.  And all of a sudden, you start realizing who you are, and who they are, and you become tired of allowing them to own what Jesus has given to you. Come on, have you forgotten who you are?  Have you forgotten who you are?  Have you allowed the giant’s roar to have more authority in your life, than the whisper of God?  And has that caused you to back up, and withdraw and just start accepting the works of darkness as the normal reality of your life?  Come on, this is how Jesus did it, 1 John 3:8, it says, “But the son of God came to destroy the words of the devil, identity, behavior,” he knew who he was.  Jesus never forgot who he was, that’s why he could face every giant, he would walk up to any and every giant, leprosy, sickness, death, a storm, blindness, muteness, a demon, sin, shame, the grave.

He walked up to any, and every giant and he knew who he was, and he looked at it and he said, hey, giant, you’re standing on the promises that belong to my people, and enough is enough, I have come to make this right.  Identity determined his behavior, he remembered who he was, and that’s’ why he walked in victory. Lesson 1, admit that there are giants in your life, lesson 2, remember who you are, do you know what lesson 3 is? Everything builds for lesson three, do you want to know what it is? Okay, you’re going to have to come back next week and I’ll tell you what the 3 is next week.

Because, some of you are like, “Sweet, this is done.”  And some of you are like, “I need lesson 3.”  I know.  Lesson 1 and lesson 2 build us to lesson 3, and lesson 3 is where the breakthrough really starts coming, but until you start applying lesson 1 and lesson 2 to your life, you’ll gloss over 3. And so here’s the invitation for you this week: admit that there’s a giant in your life.  Actually, take the time.  Ask God, “God is there a giant in my life?  What is it?”  And then confess it.  Tell one person in your life.  “Hey, there’s a giant in my life.  I haven’t told anybody.  It’s been back here.  It’s been keeping me moving forward for years.”  Bring it out of the darkness and then to the light.

And the moment that you do that, guess what, you just defeated the giant of shame.  And because you just defeated the giant of shame, all of a sudden, you start to feel a little more victorious, and you start to feel little bit more like a conqueror.  And you start building up some winds and the wind column because shame follows the moment it comes out of the darkness and into the light, and that you can actually face the giant as there.  So admit it, acknowledge it, tell one person this week if you really want to deal with some of those junk that’s been in your life.

And then the second thing is remember who you are.  I would challenge you, every day between now and next Sunday, every day, at some point in time, say out loud, “I’m a beloved son or daughter in whom the Father is well pleased.”  Say it.  You’ll like, “Can I just think it?”  No.  Say it.  Speak it into the atmosphere like you actually believe it.  You say, “But I don’t believe it.”  I know and this is part of the journey of learning to let your faith rise.  “I am a beloved son or daughter in whom the Father is well pleased.  I’m going to say it even though I don’t feel it, even though I may not mean it, but I wanted to be true in my life because that’s what God’s word tells me.”

And then you start looking at the giants this week that show up and you start saying, “Anxiety you stand on my piece today.  You may be winning today, but you’re standing on my piece and that belongs to me and we ain’t going to be doing this for much longer.”  “Depression, you’re standing on my joy.  I’m just not okay with that anymore.”  “Insecurity, you’re standing on my significance, and I’m just not accepting that anymore.”  “Rejection, you’re standing on my acceptance and I’m not okay with that anymore.”

And starts speaking it out because this is the life that Jesus came to give you.  And at some point in time, you get tired of being friends with the giants.  Maybe you’re not there yet.  Some of you, you bought in to this like religion, this apathy, this sense of like this passivity as a giant, man.  For some of us, we’ve just become so passive in life.  You don’t like your job, you don’t like your spouse, sometimes you like your kids.  You don’t like the world that you have so you try to figure out how to numb it and cob it.  That’s a giant, bro.  That’s not just like, “Ah, I’m 40 years old, like such as life.”  That’s a giant.  60, 14, you pick the age.  I don’t care.  I’m just not okay with the giant in my life anymore.

So I’m going to pull my arm down and step back and say, “We ain’t friends and I don’t want to be familiar with you and I’m tired of being afraid of you and I’m tired of fleeing you.  I think I’m ready to face you because you’re standing on what Jesus says belongs to me.”  That’s what this series is about.  It’s about actually leaning into your life a little bit, letting some faith and some courage and some strength rise up.  See hear me, you don’t have to go and defeat your giant because Jesus already has.  Every giant in your life, either has, is, or will fall in the name of Jesus.  We just have to have the courage to face it in his name.  So close your eyes with me. Close your eyes with me.  Let me just ask you.  What do you feel like God wants to say to you today?

What’s the Holy Spirit whispering to you?  It’s okay to struggle.  It’s okay to not be okay.  It’s okay to have some giants in your life, but let’s not be okay with them staying.  Let’s not allow things to be stolen, killed or destroyed.  If Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil, then I don’t want to accept a work of the devil, anyone of them in my life.  In all these things, any and every giant you face, you are more than a conqueror, he says.  And this series isn’t a ra, ra, it’s not a get over it.  It’s not have more faith.  It’s a change of perspective.

It’s face your giant, not fight your giant because Jesus will do that on your behalf.  But for some of us, got to lean into your life a little bit.  He got to rise up a little bit.  You got to get to that place where you become resilient enough to say, “I’m not okay being not okay anymore.” And so Jesus this week, as we go through our lives, would you point out where giants have taken ground?  Would you point out the places where we are in bondage or oppressed the places that you offer us victory or freedom, the place where you are just even inviting us just to face a work of darkness so that we could be free to a new dimension in Jesus’ name? I pray for every person in this room that this would be the season and we have the courage to face what’s holding us back to deal with it in Jesus’ name to go to new place with you because victory belongs to Jesus, and it’s in His name we pray, amen.