April 21, 2025 • 24 mins
Have you ever noticed how quickly your hope fades when circumstances take an unexpected turn? That new job, relationship, or achievement promised happiness, but somehow left you wanting more. In this powerful spiritual kickoff, we dive deep into Romans 15:13 to discover why placing our hope in our "happenings" always leads to disappointment.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Chris Grainger (00:03):
Welcome to the Lion Within Us, a podcast
serving Christian men who arehungry to be the leaders God
intends you to be.
I'm your host, chris Granger,let's jump in.
All right, guys, this is yourspiritual kickoff episode.
Are you ready to go?
I sure hope you are All right,let's get right into it, okay?
So the scripture this week isgoing to be in the book of
Romans, chapter 15.
Just looking at one verse,verse 13,.
(00:23):
Okay, the book of Romans,chapter 15,.
Just looking at one verse,verse 13.
Okay.
It says may the God of hopefill you with all joy and peace
as you trust in him, so that youmay overflow with hope by the
power of the Holy Spirit.
And that's just a beautifulverse.
Right there, paul obviouslyjust hanging on the rim when he
wrote Romans, listening to theHoly Spirit obeying.
(00:44):
And then you get this type ofbeautiful scripture that you
know.
A couple thousand years later,we're still just studying and
thinking about and trying toapply it to our life.
And that's again the spiritualkickoff.
That's what it's all about,fellas, is how do we simplify
and apply God's word into ourlife and align within us?
We're here for one reason,that's disciple leaders.
(01:12):
That's it.
And as we disciple leaders, weneed to understand the
application of God's word.
That's really what it's about,and this SKO each and every
Monday is really that just myreflections on that.
And we do this as well, mondaythrough Friday, inside the Lion
Withinist community.
So highly encourage you to gocheck out thelionwithinus, start
your community experience,click over there on offerings
You'll find it and join acommunity today.
I'm telling you, it's a greatway to get that little boost,
(01:32):
that little kick that you needevery day.
And the cool part is the way wedo it Even if you can't be on
the live stream that we havegoing on the videos posted.
So I mean, it's literally therefor you to consume and it
libraries there.
So maybe you need an extra daywhere you just need a couple of
booths to go.
Look, you can go get a few ofthose, uh, daily spiritual
kickoffs that no one else gets.
It's a, it's exclusive contentdirectly within the line, within
(01:56):
that us.
So head over there, start yourcommunity experience today.
All right, all right Now.
So for this one, before we getinto it too deep, we need to
understand where is the book ofRomans?
You got New Testament, matthew,mark, luke, john, acts, romans.
Ok, so you know we had the bookhere and we need to understand
something we'll be talking aboutthis way this entire week is
(02:18):
when we get stuck, when lifethrows us a curveball, what do
we do?
How do we respond?
And this what we see in Romans15, 13, is a wonderful reminder
that our hope, ultimately, ourjoy and any peace we're ever
(02:38):
going to find, is not relying onour circumstances, but it's
really founded when we trust theGod who never fails us, because
if we put too much hope in ourhappenings, that changes.
That's all circumstantial, youknow.
That's why you guys hear metalk about sometimes happiness
is tied to your happenings.
(02:59):
Like I can be super happy attimes when things are going my
way, but as soon as that thingstopped going my way, guess what
?
Chris ain't happy, no more.
And that just may be.
I don't know if that's new toyou, if you ever heard it that
way before.
But when we try to find our hopeand our happenings and the
things, the circumstances ofthis world, it's going to leave
us at some point unsatisfied.
Because I don't care howawesome that new truck is, I
(03:20):
don't care how awesome that newhome is that you've bought, or
even the new marriage.
You're in honeymoon land.
At some point you're going tohave a fight.
You just are.
Things are just going to leavedown, the truck's going to break
down.
At some point you'll be like Ican't believe we live here.
(03:41):
You know what I'm saying,because we try to find our hope
in things in this world and it'snot there.
And we need to check thisscripture and try to think
through what the Holy Spirit canreveal to us.
So the first thing we need tounderstand is hope can restore
things for us, because thisisn't just like wishful thinking
(04:03):
or blind optimism like, oh,it'll be what it'll be.
No, it's a confidentexpectation.
We, as believers, can have aconfident expectation in the
promises of God and that cansustain us in some difficult
times because it helps us shiftfrom what's happening right now
to what's going to happenforever.
No matter how crappy it getsright, the dawn is coming, it
(04:30):
just is, and the Holy Spirit,through the revelation that we
get with that, is the hope thatfills us to the point it should
just overflow from us, not justenough for us to get through the
day and survive.
No, but I'm talking aboutthriving thriving and sharing
and helping and caring.
(04:51):
When we trust in God fully,we're beacons.
At that point the light's justgoing to pour out and then
you'll be able to face theobstacles that come your way and
that's going to lead to atransformation of joy.
Okay, because when we talkabout joy you guys heard me talk
(05:11):
about this before, if youlistened to the show at any
length Joy is not tied to yourcircumstances.
Joy is a deep relationship withGod.
You know, when we lost ourdaughter, zero joy, zero
happiness.
Rather, we still had joy.
Why?
Because we knew that she waswith him in heaven.
And when you start leaning intothat, you start thinking about
(05:33):
that, start thinking about hispresence in your life.
Even if you're going throughthe darkest, darkest places,
there can be light there, therecan be life there, and that's
rooted in his work and him doinghis work in all things for good
, says Romans 8, 28,.
Right, so it's not fleeting orfragile or something like that,
(05:56):
but it's enduring and it'stransformative.
And if we let the joy of theLord truly be our strength, it's
going to change how we approachstuff, fellas, you'll become
more resilient.
You're going to be able toendure those trials gracefully.
Can I get an amen on that,because you know that God is
(06:18):
shaping you for something somuch greater, so much greater.
That joy, fellas, it's somethingthat just can't be explained
Again.
My life verse it said Jamesconsidered it pure joy when he
faced trials.
And it makes no sensewhatsoever until you go through
a trial and you come out of itand you can look back and go oh
okay, I see why I needed toconsider that joy, because
(06:40):
here's how God has drawn methrough that and that leads to a
redemption, because God isreally good at making things new
.
He just is.
So if you're being weighed downby, maybe it's a past mistake,
maybe something that happened,you just can't shake it, or
maybe something's happeningright now.
(07:00):
You don't know how you're goingto get out of it, or you're
just paralyzed with fear.
We need to remember I pray youremember that His mercies are
new every morning, fellas, andrenewal is possible because God
ain't done with you.
I know that's not good English,but just to be real, god ain't
done what you felt, boy, it'sjust the way it is the alarm
(07:20):
clock, the empty tune, the wayPastor Joey says.
That's proof that God is notdone with you and there's
potential to be transformed andrenewal begins when you start
with that simple act ofsurrendering.
You just lay it all at his feetLike Lord.
I can't carry it, I don't havethis, I do not have this, but I
know you do, and the Holy Spiritis going to start guiding you
(07:48):
and directing you, giving youthese little nudges to take
these steps of faith into thefuture.
So this is building yourconfidence in his ability to
redeem every part of your story.
There's not a part of yourstory that can't be used for
good.
You just have to lean into itand it should overflow, because
Romans 15, 13 doesn't stop athope, joy and peace.
No, it don't stop there.
It calls us to overflow.
(08:10):
Our trust in God, fellas shouldproduce an abundance that can't
be contained.
It's kind of like you startfilling that water jug up and
you've got to get the water off.
I do this all the time on thefarm.
Fill up the big tanks and stufffor the horses.
You come back.
Oh crap, I forgot that one.
Guess what happens when I goback?
It's overflowing, it's justoverflowing.
(08:30):
That jug can't contain it.
Neither should we, becausewe're not supposed to just hoard
everything.
No, we're not supposed to, butwe're supposed to share.
And when you do that sharing,you're becoming that instrument
of his grace.
At that point, how about that?
God is using you and you're aninstrument of his grace.
(09:02):
No-transcript.
God is calling you to trust inhim fully and when you finally
do this, he's going to fill youwith a hope that restores, that
transforms, and that renews andredeems that you can't even
begin to put your mind aroundand just reflect on it for a
(09:24):
second.
You know, when you startthinking about it, about what
gives you hope when life feelsoverwhelming or uncertain.
And it is my prayer as we justunpack this Romans 15, 13 again
may the God of hope fill youwith all joy and peace as you
trust in him, so that you mayoverflow with hope by the power
(09:48):
of the Holy Spirit.
You see how that verse justcame to life now it's so much
more alive just by going throughthose reflections.
That's the God we have, the Godof hope.
He's filling you.
It doesn't say fill yourneighbor, it says filling you
with all joy and peace.
The rarest commodity on earthis peace of mind.
I'm going to amen on that one.
But we have to put our trust inhim and if we do that, that
(10:12):
overflow of hope.
It's just going to be pouringout onto others and it's all
because of the Holy Spirit.
It's just.
It's beautiful how Paul justties all this together and I'm
praying that you're starting tosee now how you can apply this
to your walk and to your life.
Now, if you don't have thishope, if you don't have that
(10:33):
relationship with Christ rightnow and you're listening to the
Lion Within Us you're here for areason.
I'm not naive enough to thinkthat everyone who listens to the
Lion Within Us is a believer.
It's just not.
There's too many listeners outthere to think that everyone who
listens is a Christian.
Maybe you're curious, maybeyou're just trying to understand
what this Christian thing isall about, or I don't know.
(10:56):
Maybe somebody tricked you andsent you this podcast and you
know what you're running and youdon't want to stop and you're
hearing my voice.
Whatever it is, I want to sharewith you.
If you're missing that peace,any source of peace in your with
you, if you're missing thatpeace, any source of peace in
your life, if you're alwaysanxious or worried or stressed
out or bitter or angry, it couldbe a reason for this.
(11:19):
It could be because you'venever seen your life in Christ.
You've never truly taken thatstep of obedience.
Maybe it's because you don'teven know what to do.
I just want to start off bytelling you, whatever the lie is
, that the evil one's tellingyou right now about you.
Don't believe it.
Maybe he's telling you you'refat, or you're dumb, or you're
slow, or you're not good enough,or you're just an adulterer, or
(11:41):
you're just someone who's justbeen divorced no one can ever
love you or you're not any good,like you're pathetic.
Whatever that lie is, it's alie and he wants you to believe
it.
I want you to know that you'remade in God's image.
That is who you are, and Godloves you so much.
And just think about it.
He took the time to form thefirst man, adam, with his hands.
(12:05):
I just think that I can't getover that.
And he breathed the breath oflife into Adam's nostrils.
And when Adam sat up, he wasface to face with God, made in
his image and doggone it.
You are too.
You just are.
You're not perfect, no, you'renot perfect, but you're perfect
(12:25):
in the eyes of God for sure,because he loves you so much.
The problem happened a couplepages into my Bible.
Was that relationship that Adamhad with God was fractured
because sin entered the world,and sin is, very simply,
anything that separates us fromGod.
That's all sin is.
Adam had to be escorted out ofthe garden with Eve.
Now this is where we've been atright.
(12:48):
There's this gap between a holyand righteous God and us as
sinners.
And the problem is, guys I wasthis way for a long time is we
try to close that gap on our own.
We're trying to do this.
We're trying to come togetherand close that gap through our
actions, through the things wedo, from helping people, you
know, through the things we dofor, you know, helping people,
(13:10):
donating money, going to church,reading our Bibles, you know,
leading family devotions, allthese things that we try to do,
do, do, do, do, do, do.
But ultimately they're notearning our salvation.
But often we think we are.
We think if we could just begood enough, right, if we could
just be good enough, we'll getinto heaven.
The problem has to do with ourdefinition of good and our
(13:33):
standard there, because if we'recomparing ourselves to people
on death row, okay, we'reprobably doing pretty good.
Okay, not judging here, justsaying If you haven't killed
anybody, you're not on death row, not bad.
Problem is, instead ofcomparing to the person on death
row, we need to be comparingourselves to a holy and
(13:54):
righteous God.
Now, when we do that everysingle one of you out there,
including me, I'm at the frontof the line.
We all fall short, all of us.
So there's just this gap thatexists that we can't close on
our own, no matter what we tryto do and we think that we can,
(14:15):
and we try to coach it up and wetry to just get better and just
try to lean in and do more andbootstrap and all the terms
right, me, me, me I try to closethis gap.
You're never going to do it.
What you need is not a coach.
You need someone to step in anddo for you what you can't do
for yourself.
You need a Savior.
And this is where Jesus enters.
(14:36):
Very simply, he left heaven ona rescue mission for you, for me
, for the entire world, and heleft His throne, was born of a
virgin, fulfilled all theprophecies, did all the miracles
, the teachings Love, love, love.
Just go Matthew, mark, luke andJohn, just read about Jesus and
(14:57):
the wonderful things he did andthen to fulfill the prophecy
and to pay the penalty for yoursin and my sin.
He said I'm going to do it forthem.
They can't pay it, but I can.
And he willingly went to thecross, was crucified and died.
His perfect blood paid thepenalty, the atonement, the
(15:18):
propitiation for our sin.
Then they laid him in a tombright, but this is more like an
Airbnb for Jesus.
He didn't stay there long threedays, right, and it's the
reason we don't.
It's not like we're going to afuneral and we go to church or
something like that because thetomb is empty.
(15:38):
He rose, he overcame death, andthat's who we serve, that's who
we worship, not some dead guysin a tomb, but a living Savior.
And then he told him look, I'mgoing straight to heaven and I
am the way.
I am the truth, I am the life.
No one comes to the Fatherexcept through me, and he is it.
He's the name above all names,and we have to recognize that.
(15:59):
And that's where he sits rightnow, and what he's inviting us
to is a free gift of salvationthrough faith.
We put your trust in him.
So you just need to first, atthe gate, understand that, yes,
you are made in God's image, butyou are a sinner and you need
something.
You need a savior.
(16:21):
You can't do this on your own.
You can't earn it on your own.
Your mom, your dad, yourgrandparents, they can't do this
for you.
This is a you decision that hasto be made directly with God.
And once you recognize that youneed a Savior, at that point the
question is are you going toconfess him as Lord and I mean
(16:41):
Lord over your entire life,every area, your finances, your
career, your marriage, your kids, your community, like when
you're in traffic, every area ofyour life?
Because if you just hand it allover to him, you're like Lord.
I trust you Just be preparedfor the things that he's going
(17:03):
to call you to.
It's not always going to beeasy, but I guarantee you it
will always be better than doingit without him.
And it takes the first step ofobedience.
It's confessing him as Lord,and I'm going to pray for you
right now.
If you're listening to my voice.
You've never confessed Jesus asyour Lord and Savior and you
(17:24):
feel like you're being called todo that today.
Do it right now.
Now, if you're driving, let'snot close our eyes and pray, but
you can still pray out loud andjust invite the Lord right now
into your life.
Just surrender it all to him,bring it to the cross.
Just let the Holy Spirit takeit from there.
(17:46):
So, father, I'm just prayingfor that one listener who's
ready to just give it to you.
They know, they know, know,know that they need to make this
decision today.
So I pray you give them thecourage to do that.
I pray you also just give themsome encouragement as they take
this first step of obedience.
(18:06):
Put some people in their lifethat we're going to help them on
their discipleship journey,because getting to the start
line is not enough.
We want to run the race well.
So I just pray you just be withthat listener.
You guide them, direct them,just give them that peace that
passes all understanding, and wejust love you so much.
God in Jesus' name.
(18:27):
Amen, all right, so now, if youjust confess Christ as your
Savior, I want you to send me anemail because I want to send
you some free stuff.
I want to get you a Bible study.
I'm going to get you a coupleof PDFs that are going to really
help you get started in yourdiscipleship journey, and I also
want to see if we can get youplugged into a good
(18:48):
Bible-believing,gospel-preaching church.
So send me an email, chris atthelionwithin Don't forget the
thelionwithinus.
Let me know which episode youlisten to as well, if you're
listening to this particular one.
And then what I want to doagain, I'm going to reach out to
you, I'm going to have a seat,send you all the things that I
(19:08):
talked about for free anyway,just get you, get you started
with all that.
And then I love to hop on acall and just just give you a
little encouragement, pray withyou, answer any questions you
may have and just try to just bea little bit of a cheerleader
for you as you get started.
All right, so again, chris atthelinewithinus is a great way
to do that.
And then look again, you can goover to thelinewithinus to find
(19:32):
all the different ways we serve, we help.
We have our weekly roar whichreally comes out on Mondays.
If you're listening to thispodcast, when this one comes out
, the spiritual kickoffs comeoff, come out every Monday.
We do the, the daily spiritualkickoff, monday through Friday,
and within our community.
So you go to the line withinthat us, click over an offering
to get started today with that.
Then we have our, our, our line, our line, our leadership
(19:57):
assessment.
I can talk, I promise Ourleadership assessment.
Okay, we have that.
We have our Bible studyresources from YouVersion.
Lots of fun ways you canconnect with us there.
You can even connect with medirectly on the YouVersion Bible
app.
We can be friends there andthen when we do a Bible study we
do about usually two a month iswhat we lay out and then you'll
be able to walk through a LionWithin Bible Study that is, on
(20:19):
the Bible app directly with me.
You can comment, you can havesome fun there.
It's just a great way to engage.
So again, thelionwithinus youclick on that free tools, bible
studies and you can have a linkto connect with me directly on
eVersion, which would beincredible.
I would love to do that withyou and then we can hopefully
grow in our discipleship journeytogether on that app.
(20:40):
So all these fun things, guysthat we're talking about, the
lionwithinus again within ourcommunity lots and lots of fun
ways we try to help guys.
We have our discipleshipmasterminds.
Obviously, that's a big thingLion lunches, friday forages,
bible studies.
Guys, we're leaning in everyday to help you be the leader
that God intends you to be, andthe only thing that's missing
(21:03):
from what we're doing is you.
It only works when guys arethere.
So I encourage you to go tothealignwithinus, check out the
ways to get started with ustoday.
It's a great way, great greatway to lean into your
discipleship journey and look ifwe can help you within your
men's group at church.
Let me know we love to come andhave conversations and
encouragement, be a little bitof a kick in the pants sometimes
(21:26):
that we do need as men.
So, again, thelinewithinus ishow you get started with all
that.
Okay, so come back on Wednesday.
Fellas, we're going to have areally good episode for you.
I think you're going to enjoyit and I'd love to see you guys
get your feedback from it.
We're talking a lot more aboutthis idea of hope and how it's
never too late, all right.
So, guys, have a great day, getafter it.
Thank you so much for listeningand remember to keep unleashing
(21:54):
the lion within.
I don't know about you, but Iused to find Mondays really
rough.
I would find myself trying toreset for work, trying to get my
bearing on the family calendar,trying to find time for my own
spiritual growth and development, and often I found myself
overwhelmed or just flatlyignoring aspects of my life that
I know are meaningful to me.
(22:15):
What I learned was that if I hadimmediate access to important
and impactful spiritual topicsand reflections to start my week
well, after the allure of aSunday sermon has passed, I
would set my whole week up to bemore meaningful and for the
opportunity to make a trueimpact that getting such a boost
(22:40):
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So so, in just a few minutes,we hope to arm you with insights
(23:02):
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today.
Welcome to the Lion Within Us, a podcast
serving Christian men who arehungry to be the leaders God
intends you to be.
I'm your host, chris Granger,let's jump in.
All right, guys, this is yourspiritual kickoff episode.
Are you ready to go?
I sure hope you are All right,let's get right into it, okay?
So the scripture this week isgoing to be in the book of
Romans, chapter 15.
Just looking at one verse,verse 13,.
(00:23):
Okay, the book of Romans,chapter 15,.
Just looking at one verse,verse 13.
Okay.
It says may the God of hopefill you with all joy and peace
as you trust in him, so that youmay overflow with hope by the
power of the Holy Spirit.
And that's just a beautifulverse.
Right there, paul obviouslyjust hanging on the rim when he
wrote Romans, listening to theHoly Spirit obeying.
(00:44):
And then you get this type ofbeautiful scripture that you
know.
A couple thousand years later,we're still just studying and
thinking about and trying toapply it to our life.
And that's again the spiritualkickoff.
That's what it's all about,fellas, is how do we simplify
and apply God's word into ourlife and align within us?
We're here for one reason,that's disciple leaders.
(01:12):
That's it.
And as we disciple leaders, weneed to understand the
application of God's word.
That's really what it's about,and this SKO each and every
Monday is really that just myreflections on that.
And we do this as well, mondaythrough Friday, inside the Lion
Withinist community.
So highly encourage you to gocheck out thelionwithinus, start
your community experience,click over there on offerings
You'll find it and join acommunity today.
I'm telling you, it's a greatway to get that little boost,
(01:32):
that little kick that you needevery day.
And the cool part is the way wedo it Even if you can't be on
the live stream that we havegoing on the videos posted.
So I mean, it's literally therefor you to consume and it
libraries there.
So maybe you need an extra daywhere you just need a couple of
booths to go.
Look, you can go get a few ofthose, uh, daily spiritual
kickoffs that no one else gets.
It's a, it's exclusive contentdirectly within the line, within
(01:56):
that us.
So head over there, start yourcommunity experience today.
All right, all right Now.
So for this one, before we getinto it too deep, we need to
understand where is the book ofRomans?
You got New Testament, matthew,mark, luke, john, acts, romans.
Ok, so you know we had the bookhere and we need to understand
something we'll be talking aboutthis way this entire week is
(02:18):
when we get stuck, when lifethrows us a curveball, what do
we do?
How do we respond?
And this what we see in Romans15, 13, is a wonderful reminder
that our hope, ultimately, ourjoy and any peace we're ever
(02:38):
going to find, is not relying onour circumstances, but it's
really founded when we trust theGod who never fails us, because
if we put too much hope in ourhappenings, that changes.
That's all circumstantial, youknow.
That's why you guys hear metalk about sometimes happiness
is tied to your happenings.
(02:59):
Like I can be super happy attimes when things are going my
way, but as soon as that thingstopped going my way, guess what
?
Chris ain't happy, no more.
And that just may be.
I don't know if that's new toyou, if you ever heard it that
way before.
But when we try to find our hopeand our happenings and the
things, the circumstances ofthis world, it's going to leave
us at some point unsatisfied.
Because I don't care howawesome that new truck is, I
(03:20):
don't care how awesome that newhome is that you've bought, or
even the new marriage.
You're in honeymoon land.
At some point you're going tohave a fight.
You just are.
Things are just going to leavedown, the truck's going to break
down.
At some point you'll be like Ican't believe we live here.
(03:41):
You know what I'm saying,because we try to find our hope
in things in this world and it'snot there.
And we need to check thisscripture and try to think
through what the Holy Spirit canreveal to us.
So the first thing we need tounderstand is hope can restore
things for us, because thisisn't just like wishful thinking
(04:03):
or blind optimism like, oh,it'll be what it'll be.
No, it's a confidentexpectation.
We, as believers, can have aconfident expectation in the
promises of God and that cansustain us in some difficult
times because it helps us shiftfrom what's happening right now
to what's going to happenforever.
No matter how crappy it getsright, the dawn is coming, it
(04:30):
just is, and the Holy Spirit,through the revelation that we
get with that, is the hope thatfills us to the point it should
just overflow from us, not justenough for us to get through the
day and survive.
No, but I'm talking aboutthriving thriving and sharing
and helping and caring.
(04:51):
When we trust in God fully,we're beacons.
At that point the light's justgoing to pour out and then
you'll be able to face theobstacles that come your way and
that's going to lead to atransformation of joy.
Okay, because when we talkabout joy you guys heard me talk
(05:11):
about this before, if youlistened to the show at any
length Joy is not tied to yourcircumstances.
Joy is a deep relationship withGod.
You know, when we lost ourdaughter, zero joy, zero
happiness.
Rather, we still had joy.
Why?
Because we knew that she waswith him in heaven.
And when you start leaning intothat, you start thinking about
(05:33):
that, start thinking about hispresence in your life.
Even if you're going throughthe darkest, darkest places,
there can be light there, therecan be life there, and that's
rooted in his work and him doinghis work in all things for good
, says Romans 8, 28,.
Right, so it's not fleeting orfragile or something like that,
(05:56):
but it's enduring and it'stransformative.
And if we let the joy of theLord truly be our strength, it's
going to change how we approachstuff, fellas, you'll become
more resilient.
You're going to be able toendure those trials gracefully.
Can I get an amen on that,because you know that God is
(06:18):
shaping you for something somuch greater, so much greater.
That joy, fellas, it's somethingthat just can't be explained
Again.
My life verse it said Jamesconsidered it pure joy when he
faced trials.
And it makes no sensewhatsoever until you go through
a trial and you come out of itand you can look back and go oh
okay, I see why I needed toconsider that joy, because
(06:40):
here's how God has drawn methrough that and that leads to a
redemption, because God isreally good at making things new
.
He just is.
So if you're being weighed downby, maybe it's a past mistake,
maybe something that happened,you just can't shake it, or
maybe something's happeningright now.
(07:00):
You don't know how you're goingto get out of it, or you're
just paralyzed with fear.
We need to remember I pray youremember that His mercies are
new every morning, fellas, andrenewal is possible because God
ain't done with you.
I know that's not good English,but just to be real, god ain't
done what you felt, boy, it'sjust the way it is the alarm
(07:20):
clock, the empty tune, the wayPastor Joey says.
That's proof that God is notdone with you and there's
potential to be transformed andrenewal begins when you start
with that simple act ofsurrendering.
You just lay it all at his feetLike Lord.
I can't carry it, I don't havethis, I do not have this, but I
know you do, and the Holy Spiritis going to start guiding you
(07:48):
and directing you, giving youthese little nudges to take
these steps of faith into thefuture.
So this is building yourconfidence in his ability to
redeem every part of your story.
There's not a part of yourstory that can't be used for
good.
You just have to lean into itand it should overflow, because
Romans 15, 13 doesn't stop athope, joy and peace.
No, it don't stop there.
It calls us to overflow.
(08:10):
Our trust in God, fellas shouldproduce an abundance that can't
be contained.
It's kind of like you startfilling that water jug up and
you've got to get the water off.
I do this all the time on thefarm.
Fill up the big tanks and stufffor the horses.
You come back.
Oh crap, I forgot that one.
Guess what happens when I goback?
It's overflowing, it's justoverflowing.
(08:30):
That jug can't contain it.
Neither should we, becausewe're not supposed to just hoard
everything.
No, we're not supposed to, butwe're supposed to share.
And when you do that sharing,you're becoming that instrument
of his grace.
At that point, how about that?
God is using you and you're aninstrument of his grace.
(09:02):
No-transcript.
God is calling you to trust inhim fully and when you finally
do this, he's going to fill youwith a hope that restores, that
transforms, and that renews andredeems that you can't even
begin to put your mind aroundand just reflect on it for a
(09:24):
second.
You know, when you startthinking about it, about what
gives you hope when life feelsoverwhelming or uncertain.
And it is my prayer as we justunpack this Romans 15, 13 again
may the God of hope fill youwith all joy and peace as you
trust in him, so that you mayoverflow with hope by the power
(09:48):
of the Holy Spirit.
You see how that verse justcame to life now it's so much
more alive just by going throughthose reflections.
That's the God we have, the Godof hope.
He's filling you.
It doesn't say fill yourneighbor, it says filling you
with all joy and peace.
The rarest commodity on earthis peace of mind.
I'm going to amen on that one.
But we have to put our trust inhim and if we do that, that
(10:12):
overflow of hope.
It's just going to be pouringout onto others and it's all
because of the Holy Spirit.
It's just.
It's beautiful how Paul justties all this together and I'm
praying that you're starting tosee now how you can apply this
to your walk and to your life.
Now, if you don't have thishope, if you don't have that
(10:33):
relationship with Christ rightnow and you're listening to the
Lion Within Us you're here for areason.
I'm not naive enough to thinkthat everyone who listens to the
Lion Within Us is a believer.
It's just not.
There's too many listeners outthere to think that everyone who
listens is a Christian.
Maybe you're curious, maybeyou're just trying to understand
what this Christian thing isall about, or I don't know.
(10:56):
Maybe somebody tricked you andsent you this podcast and you
know what you're running and youdon't want to stop and you're
hearing my voice.
Whatever it is, I want to sharewith you.
If you're missing that peace,any source of peace in your with
you, if you're missing thatpeace, any source of peace in
your life, if you're alwaysanxious or worried or stressed
out or bitter or angry, it couldbe a reason for this.
(11:19):
It could be because you'venever seen your life in Christ.
You've never truly taken thatstep of obedience.
Maybe it's because you don'teven know what to do.
I just want to start off bytelling you, whatever the lie is
, that the evil one's tellingyou right now about you.
Don't believe it.
Maybe he's telling you you'refat, or you're dumb, or you're
slow, or you're not good enough,or you're just an adulterer, or
(11:41):
you're just someone who's justbeen divorced no one can ever
love you or you're not any good,like you're pathetic.
Whatever that lie is, it's alie and he wants you to believe
it.
I want you to know that you'remade in God's image.
That is who you are, and Godloves you so much.
And just think about it.
He took the time to form thefirst man, adam, with his hands.
(12:05):
I just think that I can't getover that.
And he breathed the breath oflife into Adam's nostrils.
And when Adam sat up, he wasface to face with God, made in
his image and doggone it.
You are too.
You just are.
You're not perfect, no, you'renot perfect, but you're perfect
(12:25):
in the eyes of God for sure,because he loves you so much.
The problem happened a couplepages into my Bible.
Was that relationship that Adamhad with God was fractured
because sin entered the world,and sin is, very simply,
anything that separates us fromGod.
That's all sin is.
Adam had to be escorted out ofthe garden with Eve.
Now this is where we've been atright.
(12:48):
There's this gap between a holyand righteous God and us as
sinners.
And the problem is, guys I wasthis way for a long time is we
try to close that gap on our own.
We're trying to do this.
We're trying to come togetherand close that gap through our
actions, through the things wedo, from helping people, you
know, through the things we dofor, you know, helping people,
(13:10):
donating money, going to church,reading our Bibles, you know,
leading family devotions, allthese things that we try to do,
do, do, do, do, do, do.
But ultimately they're notearning our salvation.
But often we think we are.
We think if we could just begood enough, right, if we could
just be good enough, we'll getinto heaven.
The problem has to do with ourdefinition of good and our
(13:33):
standard there, because if we'recomparing ourselves to people
on death row, okay, we'reprobably doing pretty good.
Okay, not judging here, justsaying If you haven't killed
anybody, you're not on death row, not bad.
Problem is, instead ofcomparing to the person on death
row, we need to be comparingourselves to a holy and
(13:54):
righteous God.
Now, when we do that everysingle one of you out there,
including me, I'm at the frontof the line.
We all fall short, all of us.
So there's just this gap thatexists that we can't close on
our own, no matter what we tryto do and we think that we can,
(14:15):
and we try to coach it up and wetry to just get better and just
try to lean in and do more andbootstrap and all the terms
right, me, me, me I try to closethis gap.
You're never going to do it.
What you need is not a coach.
You need someone to step in anddo for you what you can't do
for yourself.
You need a Savior.
And this is where Jesus enters.
(14:36):
Very simply, he left heaven ona rescue mission for you, for me
, for the entire world, and heleft His throne, was born of a
virgin, fulfilled all theprophecies, did all the miracles
, the teachings Love, love, love.
Just go Matthew, mark, luke andJohn, just read about Jesus and
(14:57):
the wonderful things he did andthen to fulfill the prophecy
and to pay the penalty for yoursin and my sin.
He said I'm going to do it forthem.
They can't pay it, but I can.
And he willingly went to thecross, was crucified and died.
His perfect blood paid thepenalty, the atonement, the
(15:18):
propitiation for our sin.
Then they laid him in a tombright, but this is more like an
Airbnb for Jesus.
He didn't stay there long threedays, right, and it's the
reason we don't.
It's not like we're going to afuneral and we go to church or
something like that because thetomb is empty.
(15:38):
He rose, he overcame death, andthat's who we serve, that's who
we worship, not some dead guysin a tomb, but a living Savior.
And then he told him look, I'mgoing straight to heaven and I
am the way.
I am the truth, I am the life.
No one comes to the Fatherexcept through me, and he is it.
He's the name above all names,and we have to recognize that.
(15:59):
And that's where he sits rightnow, and what he's inviting us
to is a free gift of salvationthrough faith.
We put your trust in him.
So you just need to first, atthe gate, understand that, yes,
you are made in God's image, butyou are a sinner and you need
something.
You need a savior.
(16:21):
You can't do this on your own.
You can't earn it on your own.
Your mom, your dad, yourgrandparents, they can't do this
for you.
This is a you decision that hasto be made directly with God.
And once you recognize that youneed a Savior, at that point the
question is are you going toconfess him as Lord and I mean
(16:41):
Lord over your entire life,every area, your finances, your
career, your marriage, your kids, your community, like when
you're in traffic, every area ofyour life?
Because if you just hand it allover to him, you're like Lord.
I trust you Just be preparedfor the things that he's going
(17:03):
to call you to.
It's not always going to beeasy, but I guarantee you it
will always be better than doingit without him.
And it takes the first step ofobedience.
It's confessing him as Lord,and I'm going to pray for you
right now.
If you're listening to my voice.
You've never confessed Jesus asyour Lord and Savior and you
(17:24):
feel like you're being called todo that today.
Do it right now.
Now, if you're driving, let'snot close our eyes and pray, but
you can still pray out loud andjust invite the Lord right now
into your life.
Just surrender it all to him,bring it to the cross.
Just let the Holy Spirit takeit from there.
(17:46):
So, father, I'm just prayingfor that one listener who's
ready to just give it to you.
They know, they know, know,know that they need to make this
decision today.
So I pray you give them thecourage to do that.
I pray you also just give themsome encouragement as they take
this first step of obedience.
(18:06):
Put some people in their lifethat we're going to help them on
their discipleship journey,because getting to the start
line is not enough.
We want to run the race well.
So I just pray you just be withthat listener.
You guide them, direct them,just give them that peace that
passes all understanding, and wejust love you so much.
God in Jesus' name.
(18:27):
Amen, all right, so now, if youjust confess Christ as your
Savior, I want you to send me anemail because I want to send
you some free stuff.
I want to get you a Bible study.
I'm going to get you a coupleof PDFs that are going to really
help you get started in yourdiscipleship journey, and I also
want to see if we can get youplugged into a good
(18:48):
Bible-believing,gospel-preaching church.
So send me an email, chris atthelionwithin Don't forget the
thelionwithinus.
Let me know which episode youlisten to as well, if you're
listening to this particular one.
And then what I want to doagain, I'm going to reach out to
you, I'm going to have a seat,send you all the things that I
(19:08):
talked about for free anyway,just get you, get you started
with all that.
And then I love to hop on acall and just just give you a
little encouragement, pray withyou, answer any questions you
may have and just try to just bea little bit of a cheerleader
for you as you get started.
All right, so again, chris atthelinewithinus is a great way
to do that.
And then look again, you can goover to thelinewithinus to find
(19:32):
all the different ways we serve, we help.
We have our weekly roar whichreally comes out on Mondays.
If you're listening to thispodcast, when this one comes out
, the spiritual kickoffs comeoff, come out every Monday.
We do the, the daily spiritualkickoff, monday through Friday,
and within our community.
So you go to the line withinthat us, click over an offering
to get started today with that.
Then we have our, our, our line, our line, our leadership
(19:57):
assessment.
I can talk, I promise Ourleadership assessment.
Okay, we have that.
We have our Bible studyresources from YouVersion.
Lots of fun ways you canconnect with us there.
You can even connect with medirectly on the YouVersion Bible
app.
We can be friends there andthen when we do a Bible study we
do about usually two a month iswhat we lay out and then you'll
be able to walk through a LionWithin Bible Study that is, on
(20:19):
the Bible app directly with me.
You can comment, you can havesome fun there.
It's just a great way to engage.
So again, thelionwithinus youclick on that free tools, bible
studies and you can have a linkto connect with me directly on
eVersion, which would beincredible.
I would love to do that withyou and then we can hopefully
grow in our discipleship journeytogether on that app.
(20:40):
So all these fun things, guysthat we're talking about, the
lionwithinus again within ourcommunity lots and lots of fun
ways we try to help guys.
We have our discipleshipmasterminds.
Obviously, that's a big thingLion lunches, friday forages,
bible studies.
Guys, we're leaning in everyday to help you be the leader
that God intends you to be, andthe only thing that's missing
(21:03):
from what we're doing is you.
It only works when guys arethere.
So I encourage you to go tothealignwithinus, check out the
ways to get started with ustoday.
It's a great way, great greatway to lean into your
discipleship journey and look ifwe can help you within your
men's group at church.
Let me know we love to come andhave conversations and
encouragement, be a little bitof a kick in the pants sometimes
(21:26):
that we do need as men.
So, again, thelinewithinus ishow you get started with all
that.
Okay, so come back on Wednesday.
Fellas, we're going to have areally good episode for you.
I think you're going to enjoyit and I'd love to see you guys
get your feedback from it.
We're talking a lot more aboutthis idea of hope and how it's
never too late, all right.
So, guys, have a great day, getafter it.
Thank you so much for listeningand remember to keep unleashing
(21:54):
the lion within.
I don't know about you, but Iused to find Mondays really
rough.
I would find myself trying toreset for work, trying to get my
bearing on the family calendar,trying to find time for my own
spiritual growth and development, and often I found myself
overwhelmed or just flatlyignoring aspects of my life that
I know are meaningful to me.
(22:15):
What I learned was that if I hadimmediate access to important
and impactful spiritual topicsand reflections to start my week
well, after the allure of aSunday sermon has passed, I
would set my whole week up to bemore meaningful and for the
opportunity to make a trueimpact that getting such a boost
(22:40):
would help your week to getstarted on the right foot.
We would love for you to signup for the weekly roar, which is
our newsletter that is producedby the lion within us.
Each week will deliver apowerful reflection and
practical steps to help youapply scripture with clarity and
purpose, all being rooted inlight and truth.
So so, in just a few minutes,we hope to arm you with insights
(23:02):
for living out biblicalleadership with confidence and
strength, and maybe even have alittle extra bounce in your step
.
If that sounds useful, headover to thelionwithinus slash
ROAR to sign up today.
Slash ROAR to sign up today.
That's thelionwithinus slashROAR to get your weekly ROAR
(23:25):
today.
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