Men face many challenges that can stop or delay their advancement in life and the Kingdom of God. Sometimes the things we love are (or can)
become the challenges in our lives. In other words, these challenges are your
giants and every man must confront his giants. Our challenges are both
external and internal - at work, school, church, the community – all external but I
believe it’s the challenges of the inner man that is most central to how we
overcome our challenges and issues.
Your giants could be personal (physical, emotional,
psychological), social or spiritual. Each of us must identify our giants first
before we can defeat them. The Apostle identified the root cause of these giants in the scriptures:
1 John 2:15-17 Love not the world, neither the things of the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in Him. For all that is in the world; the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.
This scripture identifies every source, the root cause of
every challenge, trials, test you will face in life. Also the Apostle John gives us the
answer to our challenge - He who does the will of the Father will endure. The
will of God is the Word of God. The Bible has the solution to defeat every giant in your life.
There are great men in our country have faced and defeated their personal
or social giants. The Bible is full of examples of how great men managed their challenges,
their giants and defeated them. A look at their lives would be a lesson for every man alive.
Here are some examples of giants men faced in the Bible:
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#
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Men
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Giant
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Scripture
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Notes
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1
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Adam
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Disobedience, Lust for Power
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Genesis 3
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Expelled from the Garden of Eden
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2
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Lucifer
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Pride
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Isa 14; Ezek 28
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Expelled from heaven and became satan
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3
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Moses
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Frustration lead to Disobedience
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Num 20:8-12
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Had a murmuring and complaining
congregation who did not see the promised land
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4
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Joshua, Caleb (12 spies)
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Fear vs. trusting in God’s word
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Numbers 13
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Follow God rather than popular
opinion
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5
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Gideon
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Low self esteem
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Judges 6
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Called to lead but lived in doubt
and low self esteem
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6
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Samson
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Fornication, sexual immorality
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Judges 13 thru 16
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Lust of the flesh, died while
fulfilling his destiny
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7
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King Saul
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Disobedience, Lust for Power
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1 Samuel 15
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Lost the anointing of God and
the kingdom; rebellion - witchcraft and stubbornness is iniquity and idolatry
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8
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King David of Israel
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Pride, Adultery, Murder
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2 Sam 24; Acts 13
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Numbered the people to show his
power and the result was 70,000 died; Adultery and murder However David was always quick to repent; A
man after God's heart.
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9
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Solomon (wisdom & wealth)
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Sexual immorality, Idolatry
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1 Kings 11:3
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Womanizer, fornication
lead to Idolatry
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10
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Naaman, captain of the King of
Syria's army
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Arrogance, Pride
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2 Kings 5:1 – 11
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Expected the prophet
Elisha to do a public show to heal him instead of obeying instructions
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11
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Gehazhi, Elisha’s servant
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Greed
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2 Kings 5:20 - 27
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Because of greed he got the leprosy
of Naaman.
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12
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Daniel
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Position and title
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Daniel 6: 10-28
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Sent to the lion’s den because of his belief
in God. Faith in God in the face of death
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13
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Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego (3
Hebrew young men)
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Position and title
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Daniel 3: 13-30
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Thrown into the fiery furnace because they stood
on the Word of God. Trust and Faith in God in the face of death
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14
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Hosea
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Unfaithful wife
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Hosea 1
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Obeyed God rather than leaving his wife
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15
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John the Baptist
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Doubt, unbelief and offence due
to being imprisoned by Herod.
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Matt 11:2 - 6
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Are you the one or should we
look for another? Blind, lame, deaf, dead, poor (gospel) blessed who not offended.
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16
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Apostle Paul
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Beatings, shipwreck, assassination,
prison and death, Thorn in the flesh
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Acts 10 to 26
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Faithful to God and the call on
his life. Humility – open every epistle – servant or slave of Christ
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17
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Apostle Peter
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Racism, Prejudice
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Gal 2: 11-21
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Ate with the Gentiles but
separated himself when the other Jewish Christians appeared
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18
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Apostle John
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Persecution and prison
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Revelation 1
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Exiled to prison for preaching
the Gospel
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19
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Fredrick Douglas
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Fight racism in the church to
help the anti-slavery movement; Was born a slave but still stood on Christian principles of
truth, love and integrity
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Regarded as a great man, an
abolitionist against slavery
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20
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Martin Luther King Jr.
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Racial discrimination
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Walk in love at the risk of his
life
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The giant list: pride, disobedience,
frustration, fear, persecution, sexual immorality, greed, lust for power and
influence, pleasing man rather than God, doubt, unbelief, prejudice, racism and
discrimination.
Jesus did – he faced every test and trial. Jesus
Christ faced and defeated the ultimate giants of sin and death by giving His
life for all mankind so we can be victorious over our giants.
The question for you and I is – Do you have a strategy to
defeat your giants?
