You are a Target: The Epic Battle Week 1/Chapter 1
- Girls with Swords study series/chapter 1
- Jul 11, 2016
- 5 min read
Well, I hope you all have enjoyed your first chapter by now. Our first week’s readings consist of chapters 1-3 and between the book and the fencing manual there is just so much material, it would be almost impossible to try and cover them all in one blog so I will try to blog on each chapter throughout this week to give you a chance to interact on each one individually. There is so much to take away from this first chapter of Girls with Swords by Lisa Bevere. Bottom line is: “We are in an EPIC battle!
This first Chapter is entitled “You Are a Target” and Lisa starts off with a quote from Wendell Phillips, “Christianity is a battle, not a dream.”
Christianity is real, active, engaging, participatory…so it’s not this dream where things are perfect or simple or easy. It is by its very nature certainly a battle.
The overall point of this first chapter, and perhaps the book, is for us to “see the sword of God’s Word and the cross of Christ as instruments of war that fight in order for the world to experience God’s love” (FM, p. 4).
“the attacks on your life have much more to do with who you might be in the future
than who you have been in the past” - Lisa Bevere
With that statement, she wants us to quit looking at ourselves as victims and realize that the enemy is threatened by our potential as daughters of the One True God.
In light of the spiritual battle raging around us, Lisa exhorts us to be equipped for this battle so that we can be fighters, not victims of deception.
One of the goals of this study is to get you to work with God to shift your mindset from victim to victor! So why call us a target?? Because understanding that we are targets proves that we are a ‘threat’ to the enemy.
*Fencing Master: "You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you.” – Eric Hoffer, American Writer
This quote drives home the point that Lisa is making in this first chapter: The enemy does not attack things he’s not threatened by.
You are a target
You might be a ‘hero’ (or a victim, or a prisoner of war….the choice is yours!)
The enemy couldn’t stop you from being born but he will try to stop you from birthing the gift/purposes of God that are within you. Three ways the enemy comes to us so that what is in you will not come forth:
1. Oppression 2. Distraction 3. Destruction
Points for Discussion: 1. In the light of this revelation, what do you perceive that the enemy might be trying to prevent or cause you to compromise in your future? 2. What percentage of your prayers are reactionary or need-based? (ie: This is happening, or I need help, so I pray)? How often are your prayers crafted directly from the Scriptures (read/pray the scriptures to God)
3. Look at the Lord's prayer in Matthew 6:9-15. How can this prayer be ‘relevant’ to you today? What is the substance behind this prayer?
Lisa gives us specific scripture verses she calls "Sword Words" (Philippians 3:12; Philippians 3:24; Philippians 4:13) 4. Is there one scripture that particularly resonated with you? What would you say is a vital “Sword Word” for you in this season? "What lives in our hearts becomes evident in our words, and the evidence of our words become tangible in our futures." (pg 2).
Be empowered and claim truths as these for yourself: “You are a beloved, royal daughter of the Most High God.” The enemy “will do all that is within his power to hinder or bend your growth to his purposes and distract you from your heavenly destiny.” But remember: “This is not about you. This is not about me. And to be quite honest, it is not even our battle. This battle belongs to the Lord. We are his weapons of light in a world of darkness.” - Lisa
And the “fact that you are female makes you a more specific target and the worthy recipient of Satan’s enmity.” (Genesis 3:15). God has created women to stand for virtue, skill, nurture, intuition, life giving, and wisdom (FM p. 6). But our enemy works “hard to distract you so you will never give birth to God’s plan for your life.” Sometimes his distractions come in the form of poor health or social media or television or a novel. Other times his tactics are less subtle. He may work toward diminishing God’s assignment on your through outright oppression (mental, emotional, physical). Or he will work hard at division, dividing families and churches because “what he divides he can ultimately destroy.”
Do you notice the list of D’s? In Joanna Weaver’s book Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World, similar tactics of the enemy are described. She coined them as the Deady D’s. Her list included Discourage, Doubt, and Distract. Now we could add to the Deadly D’s Divide, Diminish, and Destroy. Six very Deadly D’s indeed. They seem to increase in intensity.
The first three D’s are subtle. I can be discouraged on any given day, but if I don’t guard my heart, the enemy will use that discouragement to grow doubt in my call or in another person. And if I don’t get those feeling to God in a hurry, bitterness and resentment can grow to the point of dividing me from the people and purpose God had intended for me…which leads to a destruction of life and plans and hope. (see the progression?)
Are we weaponless? Hopeless? Helpless? Absolutely not! We are girls with swords! God will never leave or forsake us. But we must take up our swords, the Word of God, and fight back. “Becoming who God created you to be is at once your best offense and defense against all the enemy’s strategy.” Do you believe this? (FM p. 13)
“...we create an environment for this to happen when we say what He says about us.”
In the book, Lisa gives a great many statistic and story to illustrate and demonstrate just how women are targets today…from sex trafficking to the unhealthy view of our gender (think media-driven).
Back in Moses’ and Jesus’ days the enemy seemed to target the boys (examples of male gendercide), but today his focus has shifted to women. This ‘shift’ right here should cause us to stop and ponder that for a moment. If the enemy ‘targets that which is a threat to him, what is it about women that he is so threatened by to cause the same kind of gendercide that happened to men in the bible at the coming King?? The gendercide of females (an upward of 100 million women) are gone from our generation. It’s time for us to stop fearing the specific attack against us as women and instead, take up our swords so we can enter the fight.
Now that being said, It is not my desire (nor do I believe it is Lisa’s desire) to cause you to see the enemy behind every little bad thing that happens (that actually gives him more power than he really has). We need to understand that sometimes bad things happen because we live in an imperfect, fallen world (tornadoes and tsunamis will happen). And we need to know that God values free will so much that He allows every person in His creation to make their own choices, including the bad ones, and too often we’re left battered and broken because of our own poor choices. However, we cannot forget that there is a very real enemy who seeks to kill and destroy all that he can before his time is up. But we aren’t defenseless. God has given us His Word as a sword. Next blogpost, we’ll look at chapter 2, "A Sword is Born" and how we begin to take that sword up and use it!
- pastor m, #girlswithswords
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