June 30, 2025 • 25 mins
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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, fellas, it is yourspiritual kickoff episode.
Let's get right into it.
Okay, I'm so excited to be herewith you today.
The book of Job is where we'reat.
Not job, job, chapter 8,.
We're only going to look at oneverse this week.
Okay, it's verse 7.
(00:24):
It says your beginnings willseem humble, so prosperous will
your future be.
Now we need to see how we cansimplify and apply this to our
life as Christian men.
Okay, and this is a big deal.
This is why we do the spiritualkickoff episodes.
It's because taking God's wordand reading it, that's going to
bring us so much of wisdom andinsight.
(00:45):
And then we have to startturning that into discernment,
to actually applying it to ourlife, and that's what we try to
do on this SKO episodes.
Okay, now we also do this.
If you enjoy the spiritualkickoff episodes, we do a
version of this, monday throughFriday at the line withinus.
Okay, it's free.
It's a great way just toconnect.
If you like the messages, ifyou like what you hear on the
(01:07):
podcast.
You may enjoy this as well.
Okay, so again, head over tothelinewithinus You'll see it
right there on the primary page,the homepage for to start your
daily spiritual kickoff.
I want to encourage you guys togo check that out.
Jump in, I jump in.
I'd love to meet you, have aconversation and just hopefully
encourage you along the way.
Okay, so now we need to know,understand when we look at this
(01:29):
scripture.
First of all, we need tounderstand where is the book of
Job?
Okay, it's in your OldTestament.
This is not New Testament, jobis Old Testament.
I know some of you guys arelike Chris, why are you doing
stuff like that?
Obviously, we know that.
Well, no, it's not obvious.
Not everybody knows that.
I don't know that when I firststarted reading the Bible.
So these are things we have tolearn, and where you're going to
find it is right before thebook of Psalms.
So usually, if you open yourBible right to the middle, you
(01:53):
probably will land in Psalms.
You're going to land somewherein Psalms.
Just back up a little bit tothe left, you run right into Job
, and there's something kind ofcool about the idea that where
you start doesn't determinewhere you're going to end up.
I like that idea, but we haveto be careful with verses like
(02:19):
Job 8-7 here, because we need topause and get honest about what
the verse is really telling usand then also, conversely, what
it's not telling us.
Context matters you can't takeone verse without context, boys
and girls.
Context matters.
And this verse, we have torecognize, comes out of the
(02:41):
mouth of a guy named Bill Dads.
He's a Shoei, he's one of Joe's, he's one of his buddies and
he's well-meaning.
I'm not picking on him, buthe's theologically misguided at
times, and we have to remember,at this point in Job's life and
his testimony, he's losteverything, guys.
He had lost his family, he hadlost his wealth, he had lost his
(03:04):
health too.
I mean, he was in terriblehealth, and his buddy was just
checking on him.
He was just going to be therewith him, he was trying to
encourage him, and his basicmessage to Joe right here was
like look, bro, get your acttogether, because if you get
your act together, the guy'sgoing to take care of it and
(03:24):
he's going to bless you eventenfold more than you ever can
imagine.
And there's just a flaw in thatthinking, though, because what
he's really trying to positionJob with is some conditional
type of prosperity, like you dogood, okay, and God's going to
bless you financially, okay, andto me, fellas, what we have to
(03:45):
be careful of that gets veryclose to prosperity gospel, and
I know you guys aren't for that.
Neither am I.
And Job right here in thisstory is a counter argument to
that.
Right, because Job wasrighteous Okay, he was a
righteous dude.
Yeah, he still suffered, right,he went to some treacherous
(04:06):
stuff.
So we have to think, okay, well,is this verse useless?
Like, how can we use this verse?
I will tell you no, it's not atall.
This verse is absolutely useful, but it's also not a blank
check from God.
We have to recognize that,because this is a reflection of
one man's limited understandingof how God works.
(04:26):
Okay, and and this is adescriptive type of way of
thinking, but it's notprescriptive right, it tells us
what he believed, not what Godwas going to guarantee for Job,
okay.
So we have to be super cautiousabout this as we, as we work
through this, not to extractpromises from Scripture and try
(04:51):
to intend that to be as aformula.
I'm telling you you have to besuper careful.
The ultimate idea of the verseis great things can rise from
humble beginnings, and that'sseen throughout scripture.
But it's not the guarantee.
Okay, we're not guaranteed thatjust because you, it's not,
it's not contractual, it's notlike all right, god, if I do
(05:14):
this, then you better do that.
No, it don't work that way,boys, it just doesn't.
And we have to remember Goddoes love the small beginnings,
because we see story and accountover and over again where God
starts small and that's OK.
Think about David.
He was the youngest of theyoungest.
We just watched some of David'slast night on Prime.
That's really great, by the way.
(05:34):
I don't know if you've beenwatching that or not, fellas,
but he was anointed.
He was tending sheep.
Look at Gideon right, he washiding down in a wind press bro,
like that's what he was doing.
He was called to lead a doggonearmy.
Are you kidding me?
Or look at the disciples thathung out with Jesus, that Jesus
picked, just ordinary dudes thatwere entrusted with the
(05:57):
greatest message of all time, ofall time.
And then, obviously, our Lordand our Savior, jesus, born in a
manger, okay, in the middle ofnowhere.
Nothing good comes fromNazareth, right, this is just
nowhere.
Bethlehem is nothing.
Nazareth is where he grew upNothing Like.
(06:17):
Are you kidding me?
There's nothing good that cancome from either one of these
places.
Yet he is our Messiah, he isthe King of kings and Lord of
lords, and I'm telling you,jesus even shows us this man
when he talks about, in theparable of the mustard seed
right, the tiniest of the tinybut growing into something huge
and expansive.
Okay, so, as we start thinkingthrough this, remember God does
(06:42):
not despise the start.
He delights in that man, but wehave to start trusting in his
timing, not our timing, and oneof the greatest challenges I've
faced, fellas, and maybe you canrelate, but the whole idea of
being patient.
I hate when people tell me to bepatient.
I'm just going to be straightup, and hate's probably not a
(07:03):
great word to use here on aChristian podcast, but hey,
you're here, why not just bereal?
I hate when people tell me tobe patient Because I want impact
now, I want clarity right now,I want results right now.
I don't want to be patient, butGod calls it that.
He calls me to that, and whatI'm starting to recognize more
(07:23):
and more is that his timingdoesn't align with my sense of
urgency.
Right, and it can be sofrustrating, bro.
So frustrating.
I mean we're building themastermind and stuff.
We're getting all that stuffout.
It's been I've been fullthrottle since the beginning,
but it takes time to geteverybody there.
(07:44):
That's okay, because what I hadto remind myself is that, even
though I'm not maybe seeing theprogress that I want, that
doesn't mean God's not working.
Okay, but I'll thank thatbecause I'm not seeing the
progress but God just ain'tdoing nothing.
And I'm telling you thatcreates some tension.
(08:08):
And think about the farmer outthere who's starting at the soil
and remember that those rootsare growing long before he
starts seeing any fruitappearing.
Right, and we have to rememberthat because this stuff is not
like a microwave type of culturethat we live in.
(08:29):
It's just not instantaneous.
It's more like marinated right.
It takes some time to seep in,to soak in.
There's some struggle that'sinvolved.
There's a lot of prayer that'sinvolved.
It takes a whole lot of faith.
Okay, and if we can lean intothis, this idea of waiting on
God, and embrace the process,I'm telling you it can be a big
(08:54):
shift for us mentally and be abig encouragement for us as well
.
And a couple of little thingsto consider.
See whatever's in front of you,whatever he's calling you to as
a call to hope.
Okay, not some contract forprosperity.
We're going to walk by thatfaith and what he's calling us
(09:15):
to do and then remember God'scharacter.
Okay, if he is perfect, he isholy, he holy, he is god.
That's most important.
And recognize that, leaning intothe small beginnings.
That is a good place to start.
That may be a small beginningin whatever ministry he's
calling you to, or maybe a smallbeginning in your marriage or
your, or the way you lead yourkids or your career, whatever it
(09:39):
may be, but what he's callingyou to, I guarantee you one
thing he's calling you to stayfaithful.
Guarantee you one thing he'scalling you to stay faithful.
He wants you to stay faithful,even if you're not seeing the
results that you hope to see.
And I've had to preach this tomyself over and over and over.
And this is a daily thing, guys, a daily, daily thing.
But one thing that we couldstart doing more and that I need
to do a better job of iscelebrating the process, because
(10:03):
, as God is shaping you, ok,remember this is often more
important than what he willeventually do through us.
Ok, because, because that whatGod is shaping us to do, that is
.
That is what matters the most.
And those humble beginnings,guys, they are not signs of
failure, they're invitations tofaith.
(10:26):
And we have to remember that,because God sees the whole story
.
That's the problem.
We can only see the piece ofthe story that we're in right
now.
He sees the whole thing.
So even if we feel like, if youfeel like maybe right now you're
stuck, and you're stucksomewhere that you definitely
didn't choose to be there andyou're stuck somewhere that you
definitely didn't choose to bethere, I'm just telling you that
(10:49):
, guys, the work you do in thoseobscure moments that matters so
doggone much, and the seedsthat you're planting right now
are important.
And there's a couple thingscalled patience, perseverance
and trust, and we have, asChristian men, we have to think
where are we going to put thatat?
Where are we going to put ourultimate source of hope?
And if it's in anything outsideof God, fellas, I'm just going
(11:12):
to encourage you, redirect it.
Redirect it, okay, and thinkthrough how impatience could be
limiting your personal trust inGod.
No one ever is going to comeand say I don't trust you.
God, but I'm telling you, theactions we take sometimes says
that doesn't it.
I know it does for me.
(11:32):
So that's my encouragement toyou, fellas.
That's how we take Job 8-7 andapply it to our life.
Hopefully you are encouraged bythat.
And look, if you haven'taccepted Christ as your personal
Lord and Savior.
I just want to take a minutehere just to share the good news
of recognizing that you knowwhat you have a decision that
you need to make Now.
You may hear most of the guyslisten to the line and ladies we
(11:54):
recognize less.
The ladies listen Our believers.
I recognize that the majorityof our demographic have
confessed Christ as Lord andSavior, but I'm not ignorant
enough to think that everyonewho's listening to the podcast
has put their faith in Christ.
So I just want to encourage you.
If you fall in that category whohave not put your faith in the
(12:16):
Lordship of Christ, look, Idon't know why you haven't made
a decision.
Maybe no one has shared whatthat actually looks like, which
I will do that with you rightnow.
Or maybe you've been hurt by achurch, and I'm here to tell you
someone who's gone through somerecent church hurt.
I get it, I totally get it.
Okay, and there's no such thingas a perfect church.
You know why?
(12:37):
Because they're full ofimperfect people.
That's no excuse not to lean in, okay, and there's definitely
no excuse for me to not sharethe best news I know on the
planet, and that's that God hada perfect design man.
It was perfect, bro, likeeverything.
When God created everything,it's exactly the way he wanted.
And then, when he created manthe first man his name was Adam.
(12:59):
He formed him with his handsand then breathed the breath of
life into Adam's nostrils.
And the crazy part was, is Adam, when he set up for the first
time, he was face to face withGod.
And I just think that's justcool, bro, I just think that's
just awesome.
Like man, he was face to facewith his creator and things were
great.
Great, for like two pages Hitmy Bible, man, maybe one and a
(13:26):
half in yours, I don't knowBecause sin entered and that sin
separated us from God, andthat's what we've been fighting
for.
The rest ever since.
Between now and between thenrather than now, is that
separation between us, and theproblem is man.
We often try to compareourselves to things of this
world.
Okay, that's a dangerous trap.
(13:48):
We have to be super carefulabout that, because when we
start trying to compareourselves to things of this
world, we fall victim to thethought and idea that we're good
, like, compared to this personover here.
I'm feeling pretty good aboutmyself and the problem is the
standard man.
The standard is wrong becausethe comparison that we should
(14:08):
have is not with others, it'swith the holy and righteous God.
Here's the problem with thatstandard.
We all fall short, every singleone of us.
There is no standard out there.
You put me on a basketballcourt with I don't know, michael
Jordan.
I'm going to fall short everytime because he's just better.
We all fall short.
You put us on a scale with God.
(14:30):
Every single one of us.
None of us matches up.
So we have this gap and we tryto overcome this gap with stuff
in this world.
This is where so many guys tripup because they think, well, I
just got to be a good dude, Ijust got to show up better and
love my wife better and love mykids better.
If I just do these things, man,if I could just do X, y, z, man
, and just show up every day,surely that would be enough.
(14:52):
And I'm like nope, sorry, it'sjust not, because works-based
righteousness does not exist.
There is no work that you cando to earn your salvation.
That's the bad news.
Okay, so we've got the bad newsout the way.
The good news is you don't needa coach to help you get better.
(15:12):
You need a Savior to come inand do for you what you can't do
for yourself.
That's where Jesus comes intoplay.
We don't need a coach, we needa Savior.
That's where Jesus comes intoplay.
We don't need a coach, we needa savior.
And Jesus left heaven on arescue mission for you, for me,
for the entire world, andspecifically to save us.
He was born of a virgin.
He performed all the miracles.
He fulfilled all the prophecies, went out there and showed us
(15:35):
directly the path to salvationand told us that it came through
him and made the ultimatesacrifice.
What he said?
You know what?
The sin that everybody outthere has committed.
It runs through each and everyperson in the world.
I'm going to pay for that sinwith my perfect blood.
I'm going to go to the crossfor them.
I'm this perfect sacrifice.
I'm going to take that, I'mgoing to own that and I'm going
(15:58):
to pay it in full.
And that's what he did.
He paid it in full.
Jesus paid it all.
So he, when he went to the cross, he died for the sin of the
entire world and he died for youand if you're hearing my voice,
the you is you, bro.
He died for you and what he did?
(16:18):
We took him and we laid him ina tomb because we thought he was
dead.
I mean, he died, he didn'tfaint or go to sleep, he died on
the tomb, on the cross, laidhim in a tomb.
Except, there's a bigdifference, and this is where
you have to go to.
This is the fundamental fact ofChristian theology and what we
believe.
He didn't stay dead, he roseThree days later.
(16:41):
Jesus rose, he's alive, andthat's the difference between
what I believe and what the restof the world believes.
That aren't christian.
It's because we worship aliving savior, not some dead guy
in a tomb somewhere, man, it'sjust.
It ain't like that.
He's alive and because he lives, we have the gift of salvation
(17:03):
when we put our faith in him,and right now he's in the right
hand of the Father.
I mean, it tells us there is noother name under heaven that
has been given among men bywhich we must be saved Fellas,
this is Jesus.
He is the way, the truth andthe life.
That is it.
So, oprah, or all these otherpeople out there on YouTube,
whoever who said there are justthese different paths to heaven?
I'm just telling you.
(17:24):
I'm sorry they're wrong, theyare not accurate.
There's only one way, and that'sconfessing Jesus as Lord and
Savior and submitting your lifeto him and then following him
and being obedient to what wecall the Holy Spirit.
So once you submit your life toChrist, the Holy Spirit comes
and dwells.
You have a new heart, theblinders fall off and at that
(17:46):
point you are walking with theLord.
But it takes the first step,and that first step is
confessing him as Lord.
If you've never done that, I'mjust going to invite you to do
that right now.
Listen to the podcast.
You may be like Chris, that iscrazy.
Going to invite you to do thatright now.
Listen to the podcast.
You may be like Chris, that iscrazy.
There's no way I would do this.
Listen to a podcast.
I'm like, why not, bro?
God's calling you to do it.
You know, god's calling you todo it, yet for some reason you
(18:08):
just keep putting off and justputting it off and putting off.
Oh, today's not today.
I'm just telling, I'm going toencourage you.
If you're listening and youfeel that conviction, take the
step of obedience and let's praytogether and accept Christ as
our Lord and Savior.
So, father, for that onelistener who's tired of doing it
(18:28):
their way and recognize thatthey want to do it your way, I
pray.
You just be with them right now.
I pray you hear their.
I know you hear their prayerand I just pray you just put
some people in their life that'sgoing to encourage them, that's
going to equip them, that'sgoing to help them in their walk
.
Also, recognize the evil one'snot going to like this.
The evil one's going to be veryupset that they have made this
decision and he's going to tryto do all he can to discourage
(18:50):
them.
I just want to pray againstthat.
Just give them strength, prayfor encouragement and just thank
you, father, that they'retaking this most important step
today.
It's in your name.
We pray Amen, all right, solook, if you just accepted
Christ as your Savior, I want tohear from you, okay, so shoot
me an email,christhelyonwithinus, let me
know which episode you listenedto and that you've accepted
(19:10):
Christ.
I want to hook you up with somefree resources.
We've created a lot of thingsat the Lion Within Us and I got
some resources that are going tohelp you get started with how
you study the Bible, somescriptures to start thinking
about and start getting equippedwith.
Just want to give all thatstuff to you, ok, so again, send
me an email.
Also, I'd love to just hop on acall and just give you a
virtual high five and a fistbump and pray with you and be an
(19:32):
encouragement to you as youstart your discipleship journey.
All right, so, guys, thank youso much for listening and for
hanging out.
All right, so, guys, thank youso much for listening and for
hanging out.
There's so many other podcastsyou can listen to, so I'm blown
away each week for how many ofyou guys listen to the show.
Very thankful for that.
I'll come back on Wednesday.
I guarantee you're going toenjoy this conversation with
this guest on Wednesday.
It's absolutely just aphenomenal conversation.
(19:54):
I'm super excited to get thisone out for you guys.
I'd also encourage you to headover to thelinewithinus.
I, for you guys, I'd alsoencourage you to head over to
thelionwithinus.
I feel like a broken record.
I say it so much, but this isthe one way we connect with
others and share what we've beenbuilding.
Guys, we put a ton of work anda ton of effort into this stuff,
not to try to build ourselvesup at all, but try to build you
(20:16):
up.
Thelionwithinus is where youget all those resources.
If you're interested in ourleadership mastermind, I would
highly encourage you to startthat process, apply and see if
it'd be a good fit for you.
First of all, we got to see ifyou're a good fit for what we're
built, because it's not foreverybody.
Okay, I'm just gonna be honestwith you, it's not.
There's some, some exclusivitythat comes with this, because we
(20:39):
recognize we can't serveeverybody.
But the guys that are trulyleaning into their walk, that
want accountability, that want apeer group of advisors, that
want some guys to come alongsideand help them in their journey,
man, this is a really great,great resource for you.
So I highly encourage you to goto thelinewithinus, submit your
initial interest in ourLeadership Mastermind and let's
(21:02):
start having that conversation.
Okay, all right, guys, have agreat day, get after it, give us
a rating review that would behelpful and hopefully we'll see
you here on the next episodes.
Have a great day and rememberyou know what's coming.
Keep unleashing the lion within.
I've got something big to share.
We're making a major shiftbecause we know the battle was
(21:24):
real and it's time more men hadaccess to the support they need.
For too long, guys have beentrying to carry the weight alone
pressure at work, tension athome, wounds from the past in a
world that demands strength butoffers no place to rest.
We see it, we've lived it, andthat's exactly why we built our
community.
It's a stronghold, a placewhere warriors can find rest,
(21:45):
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Inside you'll find access toour daily spiritual kickoffs
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(22:08):
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If you've been waiting for theright time to jump in, this is
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Go to thelionwithinus and jointhe community and see for
yourself what happens when irontruly sharpens iron.
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, fellas, it is yourspiritual kickoff episode.
Let's get right into it.
Okay, I'm so excited to be herewith you today.
The book of Job is where we'reat.
Not job, job, chapter 8,.
We're only going to look at oneverse this week.
Okay, it's verse 7.
(00:24):
It says your beginnings willseem humble, so prosperous will
your future be.
Now we need to see how we cansimplify and apply this to our
life as Christian men.
Okay, and this is a big deal.
This is why we do the spiritualkickoff episodes.
It's because taking God's wordand reading it, that's going to
bring us so much of wisdom andinsight.
(00:45):
And then we have to startturning that into discernment,
to actually applying it to ourlife, and that's what we try to
do on this SKO episodes.
Okay, now we also do this.
If you enjoy the spiritualkickoff episodes, we do a
version of this, monday throughFriday at the line withinus.
Okay, it's free.
It's a great way just toconnect.
If you like the messages, ifyou like what you hear on the
(01:07):
podcast.
You may enjoy this as well.
Okay, so again, head over tothelinewithinus You'll see it
right there on the primary page,the homepage for to start your
daily spiritual kickoff.
I want to encourage you guys togo check that out.
Jump in, I jump in.
I'd love to meet you, have aconversation and just hopefully
encourage you along the way.
Okay, so now we need to know,understand when we look at this
(01:29):
scripture.
First of all, we need tounderstand where is the book of
Job?
Okay, it's in your OldTestament.
This is not New Testament, jobis Old Testament.
I know some of you guys arelike Chris, why are you doing
stuff like that?
Obviously, we know that.
Well, no, it's not obvious.
Not everybody knows that.
I don't know that when I firststarted reading the Bible.
So these are things we have tolearn, and where you're going to
find it is right before thebook of Psalms.
So usually, if you open yourBible right to the middle, you
(01:53):
probably will land in Psalms.
You're going to land somewherein Psalms.
Just back up a little bit tothe left, you run right into Job
, and there's something kind ofcool about the idea that where
you start doesn't determinewhere you're going to end up.
I like that idea, but we haveto be careful with verses like
(02:19):
Job 8-7 here, because we need topause and get honest about what
the verse is really telling usand then also, conversely, what
it's not telling us.
Context matters you can't takeone verse without context, boys
and girls.
Context matters.
And this verse, we have torecognize, comes out of the
(02:41):
mouth of a guy named Bill Dads.
He's a Shoei, he's one of Joe's, he's one of his buddies and
he's well-meaning.
I'm not picking on him, buthe's theologically misguided at
times, and we have to remember,at this point in Job's life and
his testimony, he's losteverything, guys.
He had lost his family, he hadlost his wealth, he had lost his
(03:04):
health too.
I mean, he was in terriblehealth, and his buddy was just
checking on him.
He was just going to be therewith him, he was trying to
encourage him, and his basicmessage to Joe right here was
like look, bro, get your acttogether, because if you get
your act together, the guy'sgoing to take care of it and
(03:24):
he's going to bless you eventenfold more than you ever can
imagine.
And there's just a flaw in thatthinking, though, because what
he's really trying to positionJob with is some conditional
type of prosperity, like you dogood, okay, and God's going to
bless you financially, okay, andto me, fellas, what we have to
(03:45):
be careful of that gets veryclose to prosperity gospel, and
I know you guys aren't for that.
Neither am I.
And Job right here in thisstory is a counter argument to
that.
Right, because Job wasrighteous Okay, he was a
righteous dude.
Yeah, he still suffered, right,he went to some treacherous
(04:06):
stuff.
So we have to think, okay, well,is this verse useless?
Like, how can we use this verse?
I will tell you no, it's not atall.
This verse is absolutely useful, but it's also not a blank
check from God.
We have to recognize that,because this is a reflection of
one man's limited understandingof how God works.
(04:26):
Okay, and and this is adescriptive type of way of
thinking, but it's notprescriptive right, it tells us
what he believed, not what Godwas going to guarantee for Job,
okay.
So we have to be super cautiousabout this as we, as we work
through this, not to extractpromises from Scripture and try
(04:51):
to intend that to be as aformula.
I'm telling you you have to besuper careful.
The ultimate idea of the verseis great things can rise from
humble beginnings, and that'sseen throughout scripture.
But it's not the guarantee.
Okay, we're not guaranteed thatjust because you, it's not,
it's not contractual, it's notlike all right, god, if I do
(05:14):
this, then you better do that.
No, it don't work that way,boys, it just doesn't.
And we have to remember Goddoes love the small beginnings,
because we see story and accountover and over again where God
starts small and that's OK.
Think about David.
He was the youngest of theyoungest.
We just watched some of David'slast night on Prime.
That's really great, by the way.
(05:34):
I don't know if you've beenwatching that or not, fellas,
but he was anointed.
He was tending sheep.
Look at Gideon right, he washiding down in a wind press bro,
like that's what he was doing.
He was called to lead a doggonearmy.
Are you kidding me?
Or look at the disciples thathung out with Jesus, that Jesus
picked, just ordinary dudes thatwere entrusted with the
(05:57):
greatest message of all time, ofall time.
And then, obviously, our Lordand our Savior, jesus, born in a
manger, okay, in the middle ofnowhere.
Nothing good comes fromNazareth, right, this is just
nowhere.
Bethlehem is nothing.
Nazareth is where he grew upNothing Like.
(06:17):
Are you kidding me?
There's nothing good that cancome from either one of these
places.
Yet he is our Messiah, he isthe King of kings and Lord of
lords, and I'm telling you,jesus even shows us this man
when he talks about, in theparable of the mustard seed
right, the tiniest of the tinybut growing into something huge
and expansive.
Okay, so, as we start thinkingthrough this, remember God does
(06:42):
not despise the start.
He delights in that man, but wehave to start trusting in his
timing, not our timing, and oneof the greatest challenges I've
faced, fellas, and maybe you canrelate, but the whole idea of
being patient.
I hate when people tell me to bepatient.
I'm just going to be straightup, and hate's probably not a
(07:03):
great word to use here on aChristian podcast, but hey,
you're here, why not just bereal?
I hate when people tell me tobe patient Because I want impact
now, I want clarity right now,I want results right now.
I don't want to be patient, butGod calls it that.
He calls me to that, and whatI'm starting to recognize more
(07:23):
and more is that his timingdoesn't align with my sense of
urgency.
Right, and it can be sofrustrating, bro.
So frustrating.
I mean we're building themastermind and stuff.
We're getting all that stuffout.
It's been I've been fullthrottle since the beginning,
but it takes time to geteverybody there.
(07:44):
That's okay, because what I hadto remind myself is that, even
though I'm not maybe seeing theprogress that I want, that
doesn't mean God's not working.
Okay, but I'll thank thatbecause I'm not seeing the
progress but God just ain'tdoing nothing.
And I'm telling you thatcreates some tension.
(08:08):
And think about the farmer outthere who's starting at the soil
and remember that those rootsare growing long before he
starts seeing any fruitappearing.
Right, and we have to rememberthat because this stuff is not
like a microwave type of culturethat we live in.
(08:29):
It's just not instantaneous.
It's more like marinated right.
It takes some time to seep in,to soak in.
There's some struggle that'sinvolved.
There's a lot of prayer that'sinvolved.
It takes a whole lot of faith.
Okay, and if we can lean intothis, this idea of waiting on
God, and embrace the process,I'm telling you it can be a big
(08:54):
shift for us mentally and be abig encouragement for us as well
.
And a couple of little thingsto consider.
See whatever's in front of you,whatever he's calling you to as
a call to hope.
Okay, not some contract forprosperity.
We're going to walk by thatfaith and what he's calling us
(09:15):
to do and then remember God'scharacter.
Okay, if he is perfect, he isholy, he holy, he is god.
That's most important.
And recognize that, leaning intothe small beginnings.
That is a good place to start.
That may be a small beginningin whatever ministry he's
calling you to, or maybe a smallbeginning in your marriage or
your, or the way you lead yourkids or your career, whatever it
(09:39):
may be, but what he's callingyou to, I guarantee you one
thing he's calling you to stayfaithful.
Guarantee you one thing he'scalling you to stay faithful.
He wants you to stay faithful,even if you're not seeing the
results that you hope to see.
And I've had to preach this tomyself over and over and over.
And this is a daily thing, guys, a daily, daily thing.
But one thing that we couldstart doing more and that I need
to do a better job of iscelebrating the process, because
(10:03):
, as God is shaping you, ok,remember this is often more
important than what he willeventually do through us.
Ok, because, because that whatGod is shaping us to do, that is
.
That is what matters the most.
And those humble beginnings,guys, they are not signs of
failure, they're invitations tofaith.
(10:26):
And we have to remember that,because God sees the whole story
.
That's the problem.
We can only see the piece ofthe story that we're in right
now.
He sees the whole thing.
So even if we feel like, if youfeel like maybe right now you're
stuck, and you're stucksomewhere that you definitely
didn't choose to be there andyou're stuck somewhere that you
definitely didn't choose to bethere, I'm just telling you that
(10:49):
, guys, the work you do in thoseobscure moments that matters so
doggone much, and the seedsthat you're planting right now
are important.
And there's a couple thingscalled patience, perseverance
and trust, and we have, asChristian men, we have to think
where are we going to put thatat?
Where are we going to put ourultimate source of hope?
And if it's in anything outsideof God, fellas, I'm just going
(11:12):
to encourage you, redirect it.
Redirect it, okay, and thinkthrough how impatience could be
limiting your personal trust inGod.
No one ever is going to comeand say I don't trust you.
God, but I'm telling you, theactions we take sometimes says
that doesn't it.
I know it does for me.
(11:32):
So that's my encouragement toyou, fellas.
That's how we take Job 8-7 andapply it to our life.
Hopefully you are encouraged bythat.
And look, if you haven'taccepted Christ as your personal
Lord and Savior.
I just want to take a minutehere just to share the good news
of recognizing that you knowwhat you have a decision that
you need to make Now.
You may hear most of the guyslisten to the line and ladies we
(11:54):
recognize less.
The ladies listen Our believers.
I recognize that the majorityof our demographic have
confessed Christ as Lord andSavior, but I'm not ignorant
enough to think that everyonewho's listening to the podcast
has put their faith in Christ.
So I just want to encourage you.
If you fall in that category whohave not put your faith in the
(12:16):
Lordship of Christ, look, Idon't know why you haven't made
a decision.
Maybe no one has shared whatthat actually looks like, which
I will do that with you rightnow.
Or maybe you've been hurt by achurch, and I'm here to tell you
someone who's gone through somerecent church hurt.
I get it, I totally get it.
Okay, and there's no such thingas a perfect church.
You know why?
(12:37):
Because they're full ofimperfect people.
That's no excuse not to lean in, okay, and there's definitely
no excuse for me to not sharethe best news I know on the
planet, and that's that God hada perfect design man.
It was perfect, bro, likeeverything.
When God created everything,it's exactly the way he wanted.
And then, when he created manthe first man his name was Adam.
(12:59):
He formed him with his handsand then breathed the breath of
life into Adam's nostrils.
And the crazy part was, is Adam, when he set up for the first
time, he was face to face withGod.
And I just think that's justcool, bro, I just think that's
just awesome.
Like man, he was face to facewith his creator and things were
great.
Great, for like two pages Hitmy Bible, man, maybe one and a
(13:26):
half in yours, I don't knowBecause sin entered and that sin
separated us from God, andthat's what we've been fighting
for.
The rest ever since.
Between now and between thenrather than now, is that
separation between us, and theproblem is man.
We often try to compareourselves to things of this
world.
Okay, that's a dangerous trap.
(13:48):
We have to be super carefulabout that, because when we
start trying to compareourselves to things of this
world, we fall victim to thethought and idea that we're good
, like, compared to this personover here.
I'm feeling pretty good aboutmyself and the problem is the
standard man.
The standard is wrong becausethe comparison that we should
(14:08):
have is not with others, it'swith the holy and righteous God.
Here's the problem with thatstandard.
We all fall short, every singleone of us.
There is no standard out there.
You put me on a basketballcourt with I don't know, michael
Jordan.
I'm going to fall short everytime because he's just better.
We all fall short.
You put us on a scale with God.
(14:30):
Every single one of us.
None of us matches up.
So we have this gap and we tryto overcome this gap with stuff
in this world.
This is where so many guys tripup because they think, well, I
just got to be a good dude, Ijust got to show up better and
love my wife better and love mykids better.
If I just do these things, man,if I could just do X, y, z, man
, and just show up every day,surely that would be enough.
(14:52):
And I'm like nope, sorry, it'sjust not, because works-based
righteousness does not exist.
There is no work that you cando to earn your salvation.
That's the bad news.
Okay, so we've got the bad newsout the way.
The good news is you don't needa coach to help you get better.
(15:12):
You need a Savior to come inand do for you what you can't do
for yourself.
That's where Jesus comes intoplay.
We don't need a coach, we needa Savior.
That's where Jesus comes intoplay.
We don't need a coach, we needa savior.
And Jesus left heaven on arescue mission for you, for me,
for the entire world, andspecifically to save us.
He was born of a virgin.
He performed all the miracles.
He fulfilled all the prophecies, went out there and showed us
(15:35):
directly the path to salvationand told us that it came through
him and made the ultimatesacrifice.
What he said?
You know what?
The sin that everybody outthere has committed.
It runs through each and everyperson in the world.
I'm going to pay for that sinwith my perfect blood.
I'm going to go to the crossfor them.
I'm this perfect sacrifice.
I'm going to take that, I'mgoing to own that and I'm going
(15:58):
to pay it in full.
And that's what he did.
He paid it in full.
Jesus paid it all.
So he, when he went to the cross, he died for the sin of the
entire world and he died for youand if you're hearing my voice,
the you is you, bro.
He died for you and what he did?
(16:18):
We took him and we laid him ina tomb because we thought he was
dead.
I mean, he died, he didn'tfaint or go to sleep, he died on
the tomb, on the cross, laidhim in a tomb.
Except, there's a bigdifference, and this is where
you have to go to.
This is the fundamental fact ofChristian theology and what we
believe.
He didn't stay dead, he roseThree days later.
(16:41):
Jesus rose, he's alive, andthat's the difference between
what I believe and what the restof the world believes.
That aren't christian.
It's because we worship aliving savior, not some dead guy
in a tomb somewhere, man, it'sjust.
It ain't like that.
He's alive and because he lives, we have the gift of salvation
(17:03):
when we put our faith in him,and right now he's in the right
hand of the Father.
I mean, it tells us there is noother name under heaven that
has been given among men bywhich we must be saved Fellas,
this is Jesus.
He is the way, the truth andthe life.
That is it.
So, oprah, or all these otherpeople out there on YouTube,
whoever who said there are justthese different paths to heaven?
I'm just telling you.
(17:24):
I'm sorry they're wrong, theyare not accurate.
There's only one way, and that'sconfessing Jesus as Lord and
Savior and submitting your lifeto him and then following him
and being obedient to what wecall the Holy Spirit.
So once you submit your life toChrist, the Holy Spirit comes
and dwells.
You have a new heart, theblinders fall off and at that
(17:46):
point you are walking with theLord.
But it takes the first step,and that first step is
confessing him as Lord.
If you've never done that, I'mjust going to invite you to do
that right now.
Listen to the podcast.
You may be like Chris, that iscrazy.
Going to invite you to do thatright now.
Listen to the podcast.
You may be like Chris, that iscrazy.
There's no way I would do this.
Listen to a podcast.
I'm like, why not, bro?
God's calling you to do it.
You know, god's calling you todo it, yet for some reason you
(18:08):
just keep putting off and justputting it off and putting off.
Oh, today's not today.
I'm just telling, I'm going toencourage you.
If you're listening and youfeel that conviction, take the
step of obedience and let's praytogether and accept Christ as
our Lord and Savior.
So, father, for that onelistener who's tired of doing it
(18:28):
their way and recognize thatthey want to do it your way, I
pray.
You just be with them right now.
I pray you hear their.
I know you hear their prayerand I just pray you just put
some people in their life that'sgoing to encourage them, that's
going to equip them, that'sgoing to help them in their walk
.
Also, recognize the evil one'snot going to like this.
The evil one's going to be veryupset that they have made this
decision and he's going to tryto do all he can to discourage
(18:50):
them.
I just want to pray againstthat.
Just give them strength, prayfor encouragement and just thank
you, father, that they'retaking this most important step
today.
It's in your name.
We pray Amen, all right, solook, if you just accepted
Christ as your Savior, I want tohear from you, okay, so shoot
me an email,christhelyonwithinus, let me
know which episode you listenedto and that you've accepted
(19:10):
Christ.
I want to hook you up with somefree resources.
We've created a lot of thingsat the Lion Within Us and I got
some resources that are going tohelp you get started with how
you study the Bible, somescriptures to start thinking
about and start getting equippedwith.
Just want to give all thatstuff to you, ok, so again, send
me an email.
Also, I'd love to just hop on acall and just give you a
virtual high five and a fistbump and pray with you and be an
(19:32):
encouragement to you as youstart your discipleship journey.
All right, so, guys, thank youso much for listening and for
hanging out.
All right, so, guys, thank youso much for listening and for
hanging out.
There's so many other podcastsyou can listen to, so I'm blown
away each week for how many ofyou guys listen to the show.
Very thankful for that.
I'll come back on Wednesday.
I guarantee you're going toenjoy this conversation with
this guest on Wednesday.
It's absolutely just aphenomenal conversation.
(19:54):
I'm super excited to get thisone out for you guys.
I'd also encourage you to headover to thelinewithinus.
I, for you guys, I'd alsoencourage you to head over to
thelionwithinus.
I feel like a broken record.
I say it so much, but this isthe one way we connect with
others and share what we've beenbuilding.
Guys, we put a ton of work anda ton of effort into this stuff,
not to try to build ourselvesup at all, but try to build you
(20:16):
up.
Thelionwithinus is where youget all those resources.
If you're interested in ourleadership mastermind, I would
highly encourage you to startthat process, apply and see if
it'd be a good fit for you.
First of all, we got to see ifyou're a good fit for what we're
built, because it's not foreverybody.
Okay, I'm just gonna be honestwith you, it's not.
There's some, some exclusivitythat comes with this, because we
(20:39):
recognize we can't serveeverybody.
But the guys that are trulyleaning into their walk, that
want accountability, that want apeer group of advisors, that
want some guys to come alongsideand help them in their journey,
man, this is a really great,great resource for you.
So I highly encourage you to goto thelinewithinus, submit your
initial interest in ourLeadership Mastermind and let's
(21:02):
start having that conversation.
Okay, all right, guys, have agreat day, get after it, give us
a rating review that would behelpful and hopefully we'll see
you here on the next episodes.
Have a great day and rememberyou know what's coming.
Keep unleashing the lion within.
I've got something big to share.
We're making a major shiftbecause we know the battle was
(21:24):
real and it's time more men hadaccess to the support they need.
For too long, guys have beentrying to carry the weight alone
pressure at work, tension athome, wounds from the past in a
world that demands strength butoffers no place to rest.
We see it, we've lived it, andthat's exactly why we built our
community.
It's a stronghold, a placewhere warriors can find rest,
(21:45):
truth and a band of brothersstanding beside them.
And starting now, we're makingit easier than ever to step in.
We've lowered the barrier tojust $15.99 a month.
That means, for less than thecost of a drive-thru lunch, you
can join a brotherhood that'scentered on Christ and built for
growth.
Inside you'll find access toour daily spiritual kickoffs
every Monday through Friday, ourLion Lunches, our Bible Studies
(22:08):
, our Friday Forge Gatheringsall that and so much more.
Every man needs a strongholdand you don't have to fight
alone.
If you've been waiting for theright time to jump in, this is
it.
Go to thelionwithinus and jointhe community and see for
yourself what happens when irontruly sharpens iron.
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