Welcome to the Lion Within Us, a podcast serving Christian men who are hungry to be the leaders they’re predestined to be. I’m your host, Chris Grainger. Let’s jump in. All right, guys. Welcome to your spiritual kickoff for the week. I hope you’re ready. We got a good one. I, Let’s, let’s just dig right into it.

We’re gonna be in First John a, First John chapter one verse seven. So only looking at one verse this week, so a little bit easier for you guys. Okay. What it. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus, his son purifies us from all sin.

Love that scripture guys, really, we’re gonna dig into that. We’re gonna see the spiritual kickoff. You know, maybe we’ll get a good kick in the pants and get us going to see how walking in the light, what that actually means to give us a ways to actually apply this. That’s it. Apply it to our life cause.

The line within us, what we’re all about, simplifying and applying scripture. We gotta figure out how to take these, these verses, what God’s word, use that mirror and start using it in our walk. Okay? First of all, where is First John? Okay, it’s towards the back of the New Testament. So have first, second, third, John.

Then you have the Book of Jude. Then you have the Book of Revelation. So you may wanna go back and just find Revelation at the very. And then back up a few, you’ll find, and there’s not, they’re not very thick pages. There’s not very, you know, they’re not, not very long. So be careful flipping back or you , so you know, you’ll flip right past it.

Okay, so now this author is the same author of the Gospel, John. Okay. This is just a much shorter epit. Okay. So what we have going on here, we’re gonna be looking in detail at what to Walk In the Light is all about and really to walk in. It boils down to one thing, living in obedience with God’s commandments, okay?

Living in obedience with God’s commandments. And that is hard guys. That is so hard to do. I get it. But that’s, we’re a call to do. And if we walk the light, we’re gonna see what from, from first John here. A few things are going to happen. Okay? First of all, what’s the first thing we will have great fellowship with other believers?

Cause what it say right here, if we walk in the light as he is, We have fellowship with one another. So he’s talking about it. Other believers do not miss the importance of this. Do not believers should be the most charged up people on the planet. Right? The method believers are just a bunch of sticks in the mud and then just as boring, you know?

We just we’re, uh, you know, do khakis and fleeted jackets and we don’t have anything fun. That’s wrong. It’s crazy. It’s just, it’s unreal. It’s completely false. True fellowship with fellow believers is awesome and it’s only experience at the spirit level, right? The spirit level with other believers. That’s what it’s about.

That’s why I always emphasize the importance of the lion, Dan guys and discipleship groups. We need these things in our life. We are not designed, we are not designed to do life alone and we can’t do it. It’s so important that the way God. We are meant to be in community and together with other brothers and sisters in Christ.

That’s what it’s all about. Cause when you’re alone, Satan, he’s gonna attack, right? And he attacks the hardest. When you’re in isolation, he’s gonna attack you in isolation, Condemnation’s gonna creep in. Self doubt’s gonna rise. Next thing you know, you got all these bad thoughts. You know what? And we need to remember, there is no, no combination for those that are in Christ.

Those dos, they’re, they’re, they’re, they’re, they’re completely from the dark. We have to get out of that darkness and let the light of the truth shine. That’s what it’s all about. You gotta get outta that darkness. So those bad thoughts, when you tell yourself that you’re not good enough, you’re not smart enough, you can’t figure this stuff out, you know you’ll never be here.

You’ll never achieve this. This person has so much more than I got stopped. Stop. That’s dark. You’re in the darkness at that. You gotta get out of it. Gotta get out of it and walk into light and walking with fellow believers, strong fellow Christian men who are gonna be to come to side of you throughout your journey.

That is critical. That’s why John tells us right here, that fellowship one another is so important. The second thing he talks about is about the light continually cleansing us from our sin, right? Because we fit if, if you’re, if we have that. It’s gonna bring out the open areas that we need to be aware of.

Then once we see it, we can acknowledge it. Then once we acknowledge it, we can let the Holy Spirit start working, helping, and doing its work to defeat it and get the sin out of our life. This process called sanctification, guys, that’s what it’s all about. Continually striving to be like God and growing in our walk, and it’s a daily.

It is a daily grind. You never actually, you know, win. Like there’s no program, there’s no checklist, unfortunately. Cuz guess what? Tomorrow it all starts over. It all starts over. But we can be growing in our walk every day continually to strive to be like God. That’s what it’s all about. We can always letting the spirit guide us.

You know? Say again, wants to kid us in the dark. He wants to get us off the path. He wants to keep our blinders. So we don’t see what’s going on. He wants you to stay in your comfort zone. He wants you to just to, to not do anything that’s out of the norm. He wants you to be Luke warm. You’re not gonna do anything.

You gotta push back against this and realize that the perfect lamb of God, the perfect lamb of God, Jesus paid the penalty for our sins, but the lion of Judah overcame death. And we have that power within us. So guys, we need to be the light. Ever, wherever you are, whether it’s at home, it’s at work, it’s within your community, your neighborhood, the grocery store, even a gas station.

I get a gas prices through the roof. It’s unreal. But still at the gas station, you could be the light. You could be the light in convenience store, there’s everywhere you can do. Everywhere you are is an opportunity to shine. Never turn to dimmer now. Right? There’s so, so you. Some of these houses, you have the demmer switches, right?

You, you can turn a dimmer up. You can turn a dimmer down. Nuh. That’s not how. That’s not how it is when you’re a Christian. It’s either all in or soft. Guys, do not have a demmer switch. Get rid of it. Walk into light. Let the Holy Spirit guide you have fellowship with other believers. It’s so important. And then share about the wonderful thing called grace that Jesus poured out for.

If we do that, guys walk to light, have that fellowship and let that blood of Jesus purifies from our sin. At that point, we are in a good position to rage, to battle, to fight, to fight for our families, to fight for our careers, to fight for, uh, the, the ones we love, the, the, our community, the people around this to be the light.

That is what the lion within us is all about. So this week we’re gonna be talking about discipleship. Cause what, when he is talking about having fellowship with one another, that’s really discipleship growing in Christ. The question I want you to think about, how do you make disciples? I mean, does that, is that concept even, uh, something you recognize or is it completely foreign?

Cause if it’s, if the idea of making disciples is completely foreign, or if you’re not even sure how to. This is the week for you. We’re gonna get very tactical, very tactical on ways you can start applying right now to make disciples, maybe to be a disciple, right? And God doesn’t happen by accident. It takes intentionality.

You have to lean in, you have to do some things that you are aren’t currently doing. You have to try new things. You have to get outta your comfort zone. We don’t want lukewarm, we want on. We need to be on fire for Jesus every day, letting that light shine. So there I, I love that scripture. Hopefully that gives you a little insight to, to, to at least what my takeaway from it and pray that it serves you well as you move forward.

So when you hear First John one, seven in the future, hey, think about that light and that fellowship and then how you can be purified from your sin by the blood of Jesus. Now, again, on the lion within us, we realize not everybody who listens is a. We pray that they are, but they’re not. Some of you guys maybe are on the fence.

You’re trying to figure this stuff out. And Chris, you’re talking about just light stuff and, uh, fellowship and purify. Understand. I’m not exactly sure what you’re talking about. It’s all good. Very simple. What we had to start with is an understanding of who we are. We are made in the image of God, right?

And then when sin entered the world and sin guys, anything that separates us from God, when that entered the world at that, You know, we’re, we’re broken, we’re sinners. And you, me, your neighbor, your mom, yes. Even her, we’re all sinners. And we all fall short of the glory of God, period. And there’s no way we can’t, we can’t pay it back.

We can’t work ourselves into good, you can’t good your way into heaven. They’re just not, hell’s gonna be full of good guys. It just is. So if you can’t work your way in, can’t buy your way. There, there, You know, God doesn’t need your money. How do you get in? Well, there’s only one way, Jesus. He is the way, the truth and the life.

He is it. There is no other way to the Father, except through him. So Jesus, God came from heaven, born of a virgin, walked, put on one of these shells, these, these, these humanly flesh shells, and walked around, did all the miracles, did all these different things, taught us, gave. So much to learn from. He taught in a lot of parables.

Love Jesus’ teaching. Then what did he do? He paid the penalty for our sins. And as this scripture says, the blood of Jesus purifies us from all sin. That’s what it did, cuz the only way that your sin can be paid for, it’s through blood. They used to sacrifice lands and, and, and have these different types of, um, Procedures that they would do to actually pay for to a tone for the sin.

Well, Jesus took all that away. He is the perfect lamb. The perfect lamb of God. You know what? He died. He hung around across. He paved the penalty for our sins. His blood ran. His blood just flowed, and then they laid him in a tomb. And if a story stop there guys, there’s nothing that we would to be excited about, right?

He’s just another dead guy. Three days later, though, three days. He overcame it and out of that tomb, So he just rented that tomb. He didn’t even need it. He was just kinda like a little, little motel. He just rented that thing. He came out and what came out was the lion of Judah. So yes, he paid the penalty.

He was the lamb, the perfect sacrifice, and he rose the lion. Then he walked amongst us. He, he showed himself to over 500 people and he has senator to heaven, and he’s sitting at the right hand of the father right now. And the only way to. The only way is through him. So when you die, this is going to happen.

Mortality rate’s 100%. You’re either, you’re gonna stand in front of Jesus and he’s either gonna say, Welcome, good, and faithful servant. Or he’s gonna say, I never knew you. So how do you make sure you get in? How do you, how do you get the Holy Spirit? First, you gotta admit you’re the sin center. You just need to know that you are a sinner.

You are a not mistaken in need of a life coach. You are a sinner in need of a savior. And as soon as you get through that, through your, through your thick head, Better. So just that, that at admitting then you gotta believe. You have to believe that Jesus is the son of God. Guys, this is a hard thing. This is not a mind thing.

This is a hard thing you have to believe. Then you have to confess him as Lord. You just gotta say, You know what, Jesus, I can’t do this. I can’t do this thing called life alone on my own. I need you. I need you to guide me. I need you to direct me. I need you to show. And I confess you as my Lord. It’s not about me anymore.

It’s about you. And when you do that, the Holy Spirit is going to enter your heart. You’ll have a, you’ll have a new heart. Heart for the Lord. And at that point, guys, you have the lion within. And when you have the lion within, then you could start unleashing it and attacking and fighting and helping other Christians, other people, get to know him, have a relationship.

That is the gospel and that my friends, is what it’s all about. So if you just prayed this prayer, if you just accepted Christ to your heart, I want you to do me one thing. Email us, support the lion within.us. Why do I want you to email? That’s first of all, I wanna celebrate with you. Then I wanna give you some resources to help you on your path.

Cause you just entered a battlefield and just like a a, a brand new soldier, they go to boot. I wanna give you some things to prepare you, to help you get started cuz you’re on fire. You are ready, you can do this. But you need to be prepared, you need support and we’re gonna plug you right in and get you the support you need to go out, fight the battle.

So guys, I pray to serve you well this week. Again, first John one, seven, go highlight this one in your Bible. Study it come back on Wednesday. We’re gonna be really digging into disciple. What that means. How can you start making disciples around you? How do discipleship group work, groups work? You know, guys, there’s a lot of talk out there about discipleship groups.

What are they, How do they work? What’s the best way to, to make them actually, uh, be implemented and move forward? You know, there, there’s some thought that needs to go into this, so come back and check that out. Give us a, give us a rating and review please. Five star rating. One or two sentence review makes all the difference in the world.

Join Alliances Den. It’s on the website. The lion within.us. Okay, go check it out. Join Alliances den. That’s free. Guys, we’re building a lot of things right now. A lot of things in process. Memberships are coming, right? We, we have a lot of content we’re working on to serve you in the future. You’re not gonna know any of that stuff if you’re just sitting Ali.

So take one step. Just one step. Join the lions den. That’s easy. First name, email. I’ll send you a message. We’ll go from there. There’s nothing more to, nothing more to it than that. Maybe you wanna check out the 10 scriptures to fight like a lion. You know, we have the habits that every lion needs to to have in their life.

We do have the Bible study, We have the online course guys, we have resources. Go check it out. At this point, check out the catalog of the podcast. Some of these conversations guys, all of ’em are just, are powerful. But some of ’em may really hit you at the heart. Really. I mean if you’re thinking about perseverance or, or things you’re struggling with, listen to some of these men share their stories cause it’s through that act of sharing where we grow.

You guys, go check it out again, come back on Wednesday. I pray that this serves you well. You got your spiritual kick in the past, if you will, for to, to get going for the week. So thank you for joining. Come back again. Look forward to serving you next time. This is gonna be a great conversation, guys. I promise you this one coming up you’re not gonna wanna miss, so get after it and unleash the lion within.

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