Welcome to the Lion Within Us, a podcast serving Christian men who are hungry to be the leaders God intends you to be. I’m your host, Chris Grainger. Let’s jump in. All right, boys, it’s your spiritual kickoff for a week. I hope you are ready. This is gonna be a good one. I have been really looking forward to unpacking this scripture.

And guess what? It’s only one verse so you don’t have to hang with me through a a bunch of long scripture reading. It’s one. It’s a powerful verse. It’s in First Corinthians. Okay. First Corinthians, chapter 16, verse 13. Be on the alert stand firm in the faith. Act like men. Be strong. That’s the verse guys.

That’s the verse right there. Okay, We’re gonna really, I’m gonna look into that. The first thing you need to know is, where is First Corinthians? It’s in a New Testament. Okay. Go through your gospels again. What are the gospels? Matthew, Mark, Luke, and. And you get the a Romans, then you get the first Corinthians.

Okay, So that’s really where it’s at. Go to the New Testament, find it. Then you’ll flip over right past Romans. You’ll, you’ll, you’ll be there. Okay? Now this is a wonderful scripture that men need to have a clear understanding of. Cause this the guys going back to what it says, be on alert Stanford and the faith act like men.

Be strong. That resonates with guys I. So what we’re gonna do, I wanna break this down into four sections. This is really the way this, the scripture works. So let’s just break it down the way the scripture is. Okay. The first section, be on the alert. Okay. Clear instruction that we as men need to take key to.

We have to look up and pay attention. This means at home, in our marriage, at work, in our actions, our community, wherever we find your. Look up. Satan is roaming, right? It says he’s roaming like a lion. He is looking. It’s your job as a spiritual leader to be on the alert. Now, if you knew tonight that a thief was gonna come to your home, what would you do?

Think about that. What would you do? You knew tonight you were gonna be getting robbed. I bet you would be on high alert and you’d be ready, right? You would. This is going directly to what this verse is telling us, right? We have been called to. Bottom line. Do not be a sheep. Be a sheep dog. What does a sheep dog do?

It looks out for the bad stuff. It’s only alert. It’s always, it’s always monitoring. We have been called to do that. Be the sheep dog. Be on the alert. Always be ready so you can understand what’s gonna be coming at you guys, cuz you never know, but you need to be. Take this, take this to heart, and seriously be that sheep.

Be the only alert right here. Now, second part of verse was it sells stand firm and the faith leaders take a stand. And if you do that, you need to understand it. That doesn’t mean just taking a stand when that’s convenient, when ain’t talking about fair weather Christian stuff. Here guys, you have to take a stand at all times.

You know, there’s no up and down when it comes to following Jesus. You know if you make that decision, you have to follow him at all times. Bottom. The world’s gonna throw trials, it’s gonna throw lies, hearsay, all sorts of things at you. You must be routed in truth. So when Jesus says you rock and you believe that and, and you have a firm faith in that, you can stand firm.

It really is that simple. So do you know what you believe and how you can articulate that to others? We should be able to do this. We should be able to articulate our truth to others and stand firm in the face of adversity, okay? Knowing where our sense of power comes from, the Holy Spirit. So we have to stand firm into faith.

It’s not just a loosey goosey thing, guys. You have to stand firm. And I’ll tell you what, too many times you go and gets tough. The Bible goes out the window and I’m gonna do it my way. Terrible, terrible. When going gets tough, we need to cling to him. Stand firm in the fade. That is to call. Third call. What does he, what does he tell us right here?

Act like man, . That’s pretty direct right now. Some translations say, be courageous or be brave. So if you, if you go read the different translations, you, your Bible may say something around that. Okay? The core of masculinity right here starts with responsibility. That’s it. We were responsible for our sales first, and then for those, God has entrusted us to lead from your wife to your children, to those that may work for you and be, you know, direct reports, things like that to your job, to act like men.

Now, becoming a man does not just happen and you just don’t wake up one morning and next thing you know you’re a man. No, you have to grow. It’s through the test of life and those trials where you prove yourself as a man. That’s it. And when you look at Jesus, he is a man’s man, buddy. Tell you what. Cleared the temple with a whip yelled at the dead guy, brought him back to life, you know, told the, the Pharisees of br of Viper.

With that mike drop moment he had. I mean, Jesus was just epic. Epic. Then what did he ultimately do? He carried that cross on his back for you and. Then he hung, they, he hung on it. I tell you what guys, He’s the ultimate example of what it means to be a man. So, do you need to remember wherever you’re at today, act like a man.

That is so important. It’s getting lost. And I know there’s so much out here about, you know, toxic masculinity, all this. Not, not, we’re gonna kick all that stuff out. We’re gonna act like a man the way the Bible says. There is nothing wrong with that. Now, the fourth part of the scripture be. Okay, Now most guys would think the Jim, I feel you guys now you rubbing those biceps, you feeling like, Yeah, I’m strong.

That ain’t anyone we’re talking about here. Boys we’re talking about spiritual strength. We’d have to remember that Jesus, he is our source of strength, and if we trust and lean into him, we can be strong. You know, a godly man amids their own weaknesses and are strong in the spirit. We have to remember that.

So when you think about being strong, just don’t think about how much you can bench press. I’m sure you guys are impressive. Do whatever. Spiritual strength. Now, I didn’t bring up the verse after this for the spiritual kickoff, but I can’t leave what I tell you. Cause ultimately if you read, uh, first Corinthians 1613, you gotta read 14 two as it says.

Let all that you do be done in love. Okay? Love guide. That’s it, it all comes down to love the ma. The most manliest thing you can do is show loved to others, and we are commanded. I mean, guys, we are commanded to, to, to do so. And if we strive to be Christlike, then we will drive everything we do and it’s gonna make such an impact on the decisions we make, the actions we take, the, the person that other people see.

So let all that you do be done in. Because that’s what being a lion is all about. So yes, we need to be on the alert guys, particularly now, more than ever, we need to stand firm in the faith. I totally believe that there’s too many lukewarm Christians out there and we need to go to Revelation. Maybe we’ll unpack that on a s SCO here in the future of what lukewarm Christians look like and what ultimately happens to them.

They get spit out. We gotta act like. Not act like boys. Act like men. That’s not easy, but which is what you’re called to do. Be strong. Not our strength, but the strength that comes through the Holy Spirit. Once we deny ourselves, humble ourselves, and just lean on him, and then remember that all that you do, all that you do be done in.

So guys, that spiritual kick off, I’ll tell you what that scripture, I was so excited to, to, to do this SKO this week. This is scripture that I feel speaks to the lion within US community bottom line. And I want you to think about this week as we go into the week here. Here’s your question, How do you define.

That that word in itself has such a condemnation disease, right? It really has people polarized one way or the other. How do you define it and then start thinking about how does guys’ word define it? What does that look like? You’re not gonna wanna miss the guest. This week we have a return guest, but guys, so is a hammer.

This is a big time episode. We’re gonna be really digging deep into a lot of the issues around masculinity, what that looks like, what it looks like to be a man these days, obviously. What does it look like to be a leader? Don’t wanna miss it. Now, you know, on our spiritual kickoffs, if you have, if you’re listening to the line with us and you’ve never accepted Jesus as your personal savior, this is your lucky day.

Today is a day, and you may be wondering, what is all this Christian stuff about Anyway, very. God came to earth. That’s Jesus. His name is Jesus. He was born of a virgin and he performed many miracles. He did all these things. He, he taught all these things for us, but then he paid the ultimate sacrifice for our sin.

And a sin Guys is anything that separates us from God. That’s it. And there’s nothing we can do, Nothing we can do to pay the price for our. You can’t work your way out of it. You can’t be a good dude. You can’t help all the old ladies cross the street pack groceries, do none of that stuff. It’s not there.

That’s works based theology and it’s wrong. What we have to do is completely, completely surrender to him. So when Jesus hung on that cross and they nailed him to a cross, he paid the penalty, the price for our cent. That’s the atonement that he was paid. So, So your penalty, penalty for your sin, the penalty for my sin, all of that, all that was paved by Jesus Christ.

And so then they, he, he, he died. But then three days later, guess what? He rose. So we’re not worshiping a dead guy or some guy that’s in a tomb somewhere. No, he overcame. Then he arose. He did even more miracles. Then he went up to the right, He ascended to heaven. Now he’s sitting at the right hand of the Father and it says, no one gets to the father except through him.

And every knee’s gonna bow, confess him as Lord. So either you know him and you confess him right now, or you’ll have eternity separated from him. And I don’t want that for you. I want you to be obviously in the brotherhood with Jesus. Cause that makes a decision. You have to make a decision. Why you’re on Earth, why you still have opportunity.

Cause guys, as, as much as, as, as I, you know, you guys may not wanna think about this, The mortality rate is 100%. 100%. Now, the only way you will get by that is Jesus comes back before you die. But then you have to answer, You still have to have an answer that you have to give. So if the, if that rate is 100%, you’re not promised tomorrow, you’re.

I’ve been dealing with this a lot mentally myself, just trying to just think through, you know, just kinda like a midlife crisis, if you will, but you know, not promised tomorrow. So you gotta make the most out of every day. So with that mindset, if you have never put your trust into Jesus crisis, your savior, the days the day, and admit you’re a sinner.

Believe that he is the son of God and to confess him as your Lord. That’s all you gotta do. Now, if you’ve done that now, I want you to take one more. Email us at Support the lion within.us right there. Support at the line within us. Okay. Now, not gonna try to sell you anything. Try to try to push anything down your throat.

All I wanna do is arm you with some information. It’s gonna help you in your journey, okay? You just entered a battlefield, whether you realize it or not, you just. I know you weren’t expecting that fine print on the dotted line, but you did. You just entered a battlefield. The blinders are off. Now it’s time to get in and learn how to fight, and this is a great way just today reading God’s word and letting this soak into our heart.

That’s our sword. We have offensive weapons, guys. So again, email us support at the line within us. I wanna send you some resources. I wanna give you an encouragement. I love to jump on a call and just pray with you. That’s it. Just to be an area of support. So guys, this spiritual kickoff spoke to you, share it with someone, particularly your, your brother’s out there.

This is a very, let’s say, masculine sko, right? Love this scripture out of First Corinthians. And guys, this scripture of First Corinthians is something we can very easily apply to our lives today. You don’t have to think about this one. I mean, this is one you can just, Okay. Stand firm and say, act like, man, be strong.

Got it, Got it. Check those boxes, guys. Do it. Okay. Now again, after you share with others, give us a rating and review. That stuff matters. If you’ve been listening to the Lion and you haven’t gone and do a five star rating and review, take action today. That does make a big impact. Then go to the new line within.us guys, we’ve redesigned our.

It’s awesome. It’s there to serve you. And on that site you’ll have links to our new community. If you have not joined our community, what are you waiting on? This is a way for guys to connect, okay, to to share ideas, to be part of our events. Guys, we have so many things going on the Bible study, the resources, it’s all within the community.

So go check out the line with end. Join the community. Check out again. Check out all our resources, but everything’s gonna be there. Guys, we really simplified stuff down for you. So I thank you so much for taking the time to listen to the line within us today. I pray that this served you well. I highly encourage you to come back on Wednesday’s episode.

You’re not gonna want to miss this conversation. That’s powerful. This is impactful. This will actually give you, uh, serve you in so many ways to be able to be that leader. God intends you to. Doesn’t happen by mistake. Takes intent. Show up guys. We’re gonna be here. All right? So get after it. Have some fun.

Go back in your, in your Bible, First Corinthians 1613. Make sure this is underline, highlighted, circled. Whatever you need to do, make this thing stand out for you. Get after it guys. See you back on Wednesday. It’s time to unleash the lion within.

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