Welcome to the lion within us, a podcast, serving Christian men who are hunger to be the leaders. They’re pred dusting to be. I’m your host, Chris Grainger. Let’s jump in. Alright guys, it’s your spiritual kickoff for the week now we’re gonna be digging into the book of Matthew. Okay. Matthew chapter seven versus 24 and 25.

But what it says, therefore, Everyone who hears these words of mind and puts them into practice is like a wise man who has built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the steam streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against the house. Yet it did not fall because it had its foundation on the rock.

Guys love that scripture we’ll dig into at so now, first of all, where’s Matthew. We need to know this stuff. Matthew’s the first book of the new Testament. Okay. So you got Matthew, mark, Luke, and John that’s the gospels. Matthew’s the very first one. So if you go in your Bible, just usually it’s, it’s pretty, pretty clear on where the new Testament starts.

Matthew’s gonna be at the very beginning. Okay. Now this scripture is actually towards the end of the sermon on the Mount. Okay. Now, now a lot of guys, you you’ve heard this, this, the sermon on the Mount, it’s a couple chapters in Matthew. It is wonderful. It has a ton of. Go read it, but this is getting towards the end of okay.

And for me, the, the, what, what precedes this verse. Okay. Is the scariest verse in the Bible for me personally, as it says, GE that’s when Jesus says I never knew you. Okay. And that’s basically saying for those who do, who do not know him as Lord, right. That kind of goes back to you. Can’t can’t just be a good guy again in heaven.

Right. So anyway, we’re gonna dig into this scripture and we’re going, I wanna consider two verbs. Because Jesus gives pretty clear two verbs that he lays out and he’s commanding us to do. Okay. The first verb is to listen. And the second verb is that he actually says, put into practice with that. You can equate that to just act right.

Do something okay. Now starting with, to listen. That’s the hardest part. That is the hardest part for us guys. I get it. You know how often we’re just not quiet enough to actually listen, just hear what he’s trying to tell. Right. Or we do listen and we don’t like what he does say. And we try to force things on our own instead of trying to do it his way now, is it just me or is this resonating with some of you guys, right?

Listening is so hard. You know, it’s, it’s, it’s a, it’s a skill you have to really work at. This goes in your marriage just goes in your career, just goes in your finance everywhere, everywhere you need to practice really intentional. Listen. So that you can understand what people are trying to tell you and what, and what, and, and so you can learn and discern and grow.

You know, if you’re always chattering, chat, chat, chat, chat, chat, chat, you will never be able to discern what God is trying to tell you. So it’s really, he’s, he’s, he’s very clear right here. Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mind, we have to be actively listening, actively listening to understand.

Then he tells us. We gotta act. We gotta act too many men, you know, know what to do, but they never actually put it into action. Right? So I equate this to ch to change an oil in a car. You may know all the details, what you need to do, the tools you need to get the supplies where the actual, the, the, the oil pan is the plug.

All the process where the oil filter is. You may note everything in and out on how to do it. Okay. But if you don’t actually get your hands dirty and get your tools and get underneath that car and get to working, the oil’s not gonna change itself. You gotta actually do it. You know, the pews on Sundays, they’re full of men that here don’t act.

Remember what James says? James meant one of my favorite chapters in the Bible. 1 22. He says, be a doer, not just a hear. So be a doer of the word, not just a hear, right? Cause I mean, he is very clear. He needs us to act now, what does he say? As we keep digging to the scripture, he says, well, we’ll be like the wise man who builds his house on the rock.

Right. And guess what the rock is guys. Jesus. He is our rock. He is a firm foundation, right. And if we keep him at the center of everything, we do everything. We can stand firm in the trials and the storms that are going to come. Now I’ve told you guys trials, I got three philosophies. You’re either in one, which sucks.

You’re coming outta one. Hallelujah. Or you’re getting ready to go in one. I’m praying for you. I mean, that’s really, it that’s the three scenarios, right. But if we have Jesus as our rock, we can withstand the. No matter what we’ll go be able to and just think about, you know, I just, we went to the beach this year and a lot of you guys, I know we traveled to the ocean and things like that.

When you go to the, to the ocean, you see these oceanfront homes, their foundations are usually different than a standard home, right? Their foundations are what they’re deeper. They really sink deep into the ground. Cause they’re trying to get a good, good. Firm solid foundation in rock, if they can so that when the winds come, the hurricanes come when the season, the hurricane season comes and it starts pounding and you have a hundred, a hundred plus mile hour winds, you have to have a firm foundation and you know what the houses that are built, right.

And they have that firm foundation. They can withstand those storms cause it’s gonna come and their storms are going to come, but they’ll be able to withstand them. You’ll be able to. Versus the, the houses that don’t have the firm foundation, you know what, they’re probably not gonna make it through those storms, you know?

So we have to make sure that we’re building everything in our life centers around Christ. And that means we have to humble ourselves, not living for what we desire, but for what Christ desires for us. But we have to be able to hear the word and hear him say, you know what? You have to slow down and give him a chance and you have to.

Give him a chance to speak, but you got to listen. And then once he actually tells you something, you gotta take action guys. So we, we gotta take action. We gotta be sharing the good news with others. We have to be getting out there, evangelizing trying to save souls. We cannot just sit here and just be hearers of the word.

Right? We gotta share that with others, embrace the uncomfortable feeling and get after it. I mean, that’s what he is trying to tell you, right? Everyone who hears these words of mind and puts them into practice as a wise man. And I know you guys want to be wise. We all want that. We all strive for wisdom.

Don’t just let this stuff fall on death, ears, get out there and make it happen. All right. So again, this scripture’s powerful. I love it. Matthew 7 24 25. Go check it out, highlight it in your Bible and think about this week. What do you need to be doing? To start actually hearing the word of God. And then what do you need?

What is he trying telling you right now to do that? You haven’t done. You just gotta act. You gotta actually put it into practice. That’s the hard part. All right, guys. Now come on back on Wednesday. So what you can expect Wednesday, I’m going be diving deep. Okay. Into the topic of marriage. I’m tell you.

Marriage is something these days that, that we, we, we, we completely have gotten off track as a, as a society, but the Christian worldview, the, the way that God has designed marriage is beautiful. And I got a guy he’s gonna be talking about magnetic marriages, not just good marriages. I want you guys to have amazing, just phenomenal marriages, right?

And again, this scripture we were that we went through today, points to building our life on the rock of Jesus. And he’s the foundation of our marriage as well. Guys, you’re gonna be able to withstand it cause the storms are going to come in your marriage. They’re going to come. You have it centered. If you had the foundation, right.

You’ll be able to withstand it. All right, guys, the question I have for you this week, do you have a magnetic marriage? I mean a truly magnetic marriage, not just checking the box, not just roommates. No, we don’t want roommates. We want, we want intimacy. We want connection, communication, partnership. That’s not roommates.

So make sure you come back to the Wednesday episode. I’m gonna tell you what we’re gonna dig deep. You’re not gonna be disappointed guys. So there you go. So now I know. That there may be guys, maybe some girls listening as well, who have not actually accepted Christ as their savior. So on the line within us, on the spiritual kickoffs, we just wanna share that good news with you, you know, and the good and the news is this.

All right. First of all, we need to recognize one thing is that we’re all centers and we all fall short of a glory guy. That’s it? And there’s nothing we can do unfortunately, to, to, to overcome. There’s nothing. There’s nothing you can do. You can’t, you can’t be a good person and make your way into heaven.

Cause hell’s gonna be full of good people. It is that’s and, and if there wasn’t another way, it would be tragic, but guess what? There is a way to get into heaven and his name is Jesus. Jesus king. He was born of a Virgin. He, he, he lived here on earth and one of these shells that we’re walking around in a humanly form, he was fully God fully man.

And he showed us, he taught us he and he showed us the path to heaven and it’s through him. And then we crucified him. We nailed him on across. And why do we do that? Ultimately? To pay for our sin. He was de sacrificed the lamb of God. Okay. You guys are here that a lot, the lamb of God. All right. Guess what?

They put him in a tomb. You know what, you know what came out? The lion, the lion of Judah. It came out. We do not worship a dead man. We worship a risen living savior who right now. As you’re hearing this wherever, you’re hearing this on the treadmill, uh, in your car at work, wherever right now, he’s sitting at the right hand of a father.

You know, today is your day. If you get called to heaven today, if you get called your number’s up, you’re gonna have to stand before him. And you are going to either say, he’s going say, you know, well done, good and faithful servant, or he’s gonna say I never knew you. So you have an opportunity. You, you do.

Do you choose to follow him? You’ve never done that. It’s very simple. You gotta admit that you’re a sinner. You have to admit that you’re a sinner. You know, you’re not, you’re not a mistake in need of a life coach. No, you’re a sinner in need of a savior. You need to know that you need to believe that that Jesus is God, he’s it.

He is it. You have to truly believe that in your heart. And I just saying the words you have to really lean in and believe it, and then you have to confess him as Lord. And once you confess him as Lord. Of your life. You say, you know what, God, I can’t do this. I, I, I, I need you. It’s it is just you, what do you need?

What do you want me to do? I will follow you at that point. The holy Spirit’s gonna come. It’s going, it’s gonna take away that old fleshy heart, and it’s gonna be right in your heart and it’s gonna guide and direct you on your path. And then that’s it. At that point, then we have to do what this scripture.

Tell us today, we gotta go out. We gotta start listening. And. That’s where a lot of Christians get wrong, but you know, what, if you’re a new Christian, if you just accepted Christ today, you’re in a wonderful position, a wonderful position, because you’re gonna have a fire in you. You’re gonna have a fire to go out and share what wonderful news you have with others.

And you also have the lion within you. That is awesome. You have the power right now. So if you’ve done that, if you’ve said that prayer, just now send us an email support the lion within.us. Why do I want you to send an email? I wanna celebrate with you. I wanna send you some resources. I wanna jump on a call and give you some, some areas that that’s gonna help you on your walk.

That’s it? Cause you know what? The attacks are gonna come. State’s gonna come after you. You’re on the, but you know, you’re on the winning team now you’re on the winning team. But the tax are going to come and I wanna support you in that. So again, support at the lion within us, send us an email, love to hear that.

And you know what, we’ll share that salvation and we’ll share those as we get ’em as they come in, because you know what guys, we are trying to do, what we can at the line, within us to spread Jesus, to be the light. And you’re listening to this for a reason. If you’re still listening to the podcast right now, you’re listening to this for a reason.

Maybe we’re bringing some value to you. Maybe we’re, we’re bringing some light to your day. That’s what it’s all about. And guys, we’re gonna keep doing it. You know, Satan is pushing back hard against us, but we’re pushing back even harder and we’re not gonna stop fighting. We’re not gonna stop leaning into this because there is a passion.

There is we are doing good and we are, we are trying our best to always do whatever he tells us. And you know what it is never about me. I can promise you. Is nothing about Chris. This is all about Jesus. We’re just trying to use the lion within us to, to, to be, uh, uh, his voice, to resonate with people all over the world.

I mean, it’s crazy how the downloads, how things are working and people are listening. We’re just gonna keep sharing. We’re gonna keep giving him all the glory, not us, but. So thank you guys for listening from the bottom of my heart means the world. Leave a rating and review, as I promise you, dad does make a difference if you’ve done nothing for the line within us, but listen, just to leave a rating review.

That’s all I ask. If you wanna engage more, join the lion den. That’s it. Go to the line within.us. Join the lion den. I guarantee you, by joining the lines den, we will connect you. I’m gonna send you a message. We’re gonna be getting together. I we’ll have opportunities to actually jump on a call. That’s right.

An actual call and talk like humans. Like we used to do. We’re gonna actually do that and have a conversation. So join the lion den, check out some resources, the Bible study to courses, guys, all that stuff’s there to 10 scriptures, all that stare on the, on the main site. But join the lion tent. It’s free.

It’s an easy way to be part and connected with us. Cuz you got a lot of darkness coming at you. Every. Align within us. We’re gonna try to send you some light, some positivity, some good news. So that to support you in your wall, cuz we know you wanna be a leader. You, we know your search is for truth and we know you and are looking for the confidence to lead your family.

We just wanna come alongside, put our arm around you and show, Hey, you can do this. We’re here. So guys, thank you. Come on back on Wednesday, make sure you check out the episode. Hey, if you haven’t listened to any of the previous episodes, go back into catalog. Listen to ’em guys. What are you waiting on? We have some really great outstanding episodes that are alive right now.

Love for you to go back, check some of those out. Give us some feedback. Thank you again. Get after it this week. Don’t forget to listen, then act, get out there and unleash the lion within.

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So there’s something there for all you guys, whether you’re looking for books for yourself, or maybe you’re researching ideas for other. This is gonna be a resource that brings you value. So check out the line with end slash book to see what would serve you the best right now, and start sharpening your mind to be that leader.

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