TheFighter

00:11Life is not a lecture, it is a set of lessons

Hi, I'm Dr. Gian. Life is not a lecture. It is a set of lessons. Pull up a chair. Let's talk about how to live them.

00:36The fight of life

I want to talk to you about something every one of us faces. The fight. Not a physical fight in the ring, but the fight of life. The battles that come against your calling, your family, your future, your faith.

00:50Life is a championship: you show up to win

Life is a championship, an MMA championship. You don't show up hoping to survive. You show up to win.

00:59A boxer walks into the ring to win

A boxer walks into the ring for one reason. To win. He does not come to lose. He does not come to receive punches. He comes to hit the opponent, to defeat the rival, and to live as the champion.

01:15The mindset is built long before the fight

That is the mindset. And that mindset does not appear the night of the fight. It is built long before he steps between the ropes in the ring.

01:28The key is preparation

The key is preparation. Correct? Preparation requires training. Training means learning about the rival. Studying the way he moves, the way he thinks, the way he attacks.

01:43Rest, food and pushing your body

It means taking care of yourself. Resting when you need to rest, eating the right food, pushing your body when it wants to quit.

01:52Sparring: practice against someone who hits back

It means sparring, practicing against someone who is trying to hit you back so that when the real fight comes, you are not surprised.

02:02Mental readiness

And above all, it means mental readiness. You must believe you can win before the bell rings.

02:12Defeated in your mind before it starts

If you step in the ring already defeated in your mind, the fight is over before it starts.

02:20Do you see yourself as a winner?

Do you see yourself as a winner? I mean, really see yourself. Not as someone who hopes things will work out, but as someone who trains, prepares, and steps into the arena, expecting victory. Because that is the posture that God wants for His people.

02:40David practiced long before Goliath

Look at David. Long before he ever stood in front of Goliath, David was practicing. He started small. He shot at targets. Then he moved to small objects. Then to moving objects. Then to small animals. Then to larger, more dangerous animals.

03:01One level at a time

He did not wake up one morning and decide to fight a giant. He had already learned how to win. One level at a time.

03:12Overcoming is a process

Overcoming is a process. You do not jump from the first level to the championship. You train. You practice. You get hit in practice. So you know what it feels like. You learn. You get back up and you keep going.

03:30David learned to win by trusting God

David learned to win. And the way he learned was by trusting God. He began to believe in himself because he was learning to believe in God who was with him. That is the secret.

03:44The God who calls you equips you

Your confidence is not rooted in your own ability alone. It is rooted in the fact that the God who called you is also the God who equips you. And here is something very important.

03:57The voice of the Holy Spirit

Hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit is super powerful. When you listen to that voice inside your heart, you will always have the advantage. The Holy Spirit will tell you what you need to hear at the exact moment you need to hear it.

04:15What do you need to hear right now?

So let me ask you, what do you need to hear right now?

04:20God loves you, forgives you, embraces you

You need to hear that God loves you. Not because you have earned it, but because He is love. You need to hear that he forgives you fully, completely, no leftover shame. You need to hear that he embraces you. You are not standing at a distance. You are healed. You need to hear that. You need to hear that he gives you talent, gifts, ability, and opportunity. And you need to hear that he envisions you, winning.

04:53God believes in you

God believes in you. He is counting on you. There is an assignment with your name on it, and he is looking for you to step into it.

05:05There are many battles ahead

There is an enemy ahead. There are many battles ahead. That is not fear talk. That is reality. The Christian life is not a vacation. It is fight of faith. You need to get used to battle. You need to learn how to triumph.

05:22Bring the victory to the feet of God

And when you win, you bring that victory to the feet of God, so that he gets the honor. That is the goal. Not so you can boast, but so he is glorified.

05:37Faithfulness produces fruit

And there are rewards. Honor, recognition, a place of distinction and authority. Not because you chase the rewards, but because faithfulness produces fruit. If you only believe, if you train, if you listen, if you keep going, those rewards will come. God is not unjust. He does not forget your labor of love.

06:08The enemy is real

But understand this, the enemy is real. Satan and his forces do not want you to succeed. They hate it when a believer wins and gives the glory to God. Hallelujahs are intolerable to the forces of darkness. They will do anything to stop you. They will use discouragement. They will use delay. They will use people close to you even. They will whisper that you are not enough. That you have already failed too many times. That this time will be no different.

06:47You have failed before? Train again

Well, probably you have failed in the past. I have. We all have. That is not the end of the story. Learn the lessons. Get back in the training room. Gain clear perspective. Believe again that you can defeat any giant that stands between you and the next victory God has for you. The past does not have to define the future when you are willing to train again.

07:19Close your ears to the wrong messages

You must not hear the wrong messages, my friend. There are voices that want to defeat you. They will tell you it is impossible. They will list every reason you should quit. You must close your ears to any indication that you will not make it.

07:41Depend on God and the voice inside you

You must constantly depend on God in order to move forward, especially when the time is right. The time comes for the battle. You must be focused on that voice inside your heart that says you will win. You can do this task. You can perform this function. That is why you are here. Believe that voice. Believe the Holy Spirit inside you, telling you that you will win.

08:12Nobody believed in David, except God

When David went to fight Goliath, it was not easy. Everybody told him he was not capable. Even his own family mocked him. They said he was too young, too small, too inexperienced. No one believed in him except the most important person who can believe in you. The Lord God Almighty. That is exactly your job. You must become like David. Go against the enemy with everything you have. Do not listen to anything else. Focus on the words from God and the Holy Spirit telling you that you can do it. That is how you are going to win the fight that is ahead of you.

08:54The fight will come: will you be ready?

Life is a championship. The boxer trains because he intends to win. David practiced because he intended to protect the sheep and later to face the giant. You have battles ahead. Some of them are already forming on the horizon. The question is not whether the fight will come. The question is whether you will be ready. Will you prepare? Will you train your mind? Will you take care of your soul? Believing, trusting in God. Will you listen to the Holy Spirit more than you listen to the doubters? Will you see yourself as a winner because God sees you that way?

09:38You do not have to fight alone

You do not have to fight alone. You do not have to invent the strategy, my friend. You do not have to carry the weight of the outcome by yourself. Your part is to train, to believe, and to obey the voice inside your heart. God's part is to bring that victory to your faithfulness, to your commitment to serve him and bring glory to him.

10:06Decide that you will show up as a fighter

So right now you must decide. Decide that you will show up as a fighter. Decide that you will close your ears to every voice that says you cannot do it. Decide that you will open your heart to the one who says you can. Because when you do that, when you believe, when you practice, when you depend on God, you will not just survive the battle. You will win and you will bring the victory to the feet of the one who deserves all the glory.

10:44The fighter in the arena of life

The name of Jesus Christ, my friend. We have been talking about the fighter. About the man or woman who stands in the arena of life and refuses to quit.

11:01Back to King David

I want to take you back to one of the greatest moments in the scripture with King David. One more time, think about him. How he defeated Goliath. He fought the giant, but he also fought armies. He fought even his own failures. He fought for the throne. God promised him.

11:30David had no New Testament

But here there is something that amazes me. During the days of David, there was no New Testament. Nobody was talking about the doctrine of grace. The way we understand it today. There was no written revelation of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Are you aware of that? The full picture of redemption through the cross had not yet been revealed.

11:58Romans 6:23: the gift of God is eternal life

When you read in Romans chapter six verse 23, the second part of the verse says, "The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

12:16David fought without the written revelation

That is the message I have for you today. That is the gift David did not have that written knowledge. He knew that the Lord God is gracious. He knew that God is merciful and compassionate, but he did not have the full New Testament revelation that you and I hold in our hands. And yet David fought. He stood. He overcame.

12:45What you and I have today

Now you and I have access to the doctrines that tells us about the communion we can have with the Holy Spirit. We have the teaching of the apostles. We have the letters of Paul, Peter, John and James. We have the finished work of Jesus Christ. Our Lord clearly explained.

13:09Justified by faith, an inheritance that cannot be taken

We know that we are justified by faith. We know that the Holy Spirit lives inside of us. We know that we have an inheritance that cannot be taken away.

13:25He did not have Romans or Ephesians

David did what he did. All that, all that fighting without this written knowledge. He did not have Romans. He did not have Ephesians. He did not have the gospel of John sitting on his shelf.

13:42The mentorship available today

And what about the mentorship that is available today? You and I can turn on a screen and watch great preachers, correct? You can listen to teachers who have spent decades studying the Word. We can learn from men who have walked through the fire and come out with wisdom. David did not have that either. So how did he do it?

14:10Holiness, devotion, prayer, obedience

He understood the value of holiness. He understood the value of devotion. He understood the value of prayer. He understood the value of obedience. He understood the value of surrendering. He understood the value of accountability.

14:31A sling, five stones and the heart of a fighter

David knew about courage because he learned to believe in himself, to exercise his faith in God. He did not wait until he felt ready. He stepped into the valley with a sling and five stones because he believed that the same God who delivered him from the lion and the bear would deliver him from the giant. That is the heart of a fighter. Here is the challenge for us.

14:59We have more light than David had

We have more light than David had in terms of knowledge and books and reflections. We have more teachings than David had. We have more access to the Holy Spirit's power than David had in his days. The blessings, the prayers of our mentors, the encouragement of so many preachers.

15:20If David could fight with less, what excuse do you have?

So if David could fight with less, what excuse do you have, my friend? If he could stand for holiness without the full revelation of the New Testament, how much more should we stand? If he could stand devoted in prayer when the temple was not even built yet, how much should we pray? If he could obey God when the path was unclear, how much more should we obey when the Word is clear?

15:56The enemy says you do not have enough

My friend, the enemy wants you to believe that you do not have enough. Not enough knowledge, not enough strength, not enough support, not enough time. But David proves that the fighter is not the one with the most resources.

16:15The fighter is the one who...

The fighter is the one who has a heart that is fully given to God. The fighter is the one who values holiness more than comfort. The fighter is the one who practices devotion when no one is watching. The fighter is the one who prays when the answers are delayed. The fighter is the one who obeys even when it costs something. The fighter is the one who surrenders to the outcome surrendering to God. The fighter is the one who stays accountable. And the fighter is the one who has learned to exercise faith in God. Even when he has to believe in the call has placed on his own life.

17:07You are not fighting alone

My friend, you are not fighting alone. The same God who was with David is with you. The same Holy Spirit who was active in the Old Testament is living in you today. If you belong to our Lord Jesus Christ.

17:25Have you opened your heart to Him? Now fight

Do you have you opened your heart to him? Because here is the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. You have the gift of eternal life. You have the written word. You have the body of our Lord Jesus Christ on earth in the church. You have the power of the Holy Spirit. Now take what you have and fight. Fight for your family. Fight for your calling. Fight for holiness. Fight for the people God has placed in your life. Fight the good fight of faith. David did it with a heart that was after God's own heart.

18:08What will you do with what you have?

What will you do with what you have, my friend? I believe you will fight. I do. I believe you will stand. I believe the same courage that rose up in David is available to you right now through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

18:30Go and be the fighter God called you to be

Go and be the fighter God has called you to be. Thank you for watching. I pray for you. And if you have never given your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ, this is the moment. Receive that blessing, my friend. I encourage you to continue watching and reading materials that we have here available. And of course, remember that part of the joy of life sometimes is through humor.

Transcribed from the video and lightly corrected. Spoken words are kept as Dr. Gian said them.