Welcome to the Lion Within Us, a podcast serving Christian men who are hunger to be the leaders God intends you to be. I’m your host, Chris Granger. Let’s jump in. Alright fellas, it’s your meet episode of the week. I’m excited to be here with you and we’re gonna try something different today. But before we get into that, we’re always open the line within us with God’s word that’s that guides and directs everything we do.

So our, our, our scripture this week is out of the book of John. Chapter 16 verse 33. These things I have spoken to you so that in me, you may have peace in the world, you have tribulation, but take courage. I have overcome the world. Guys. Such a powerful verse. Go back to the spiritual kickoff. If you missed that spiritual kickoff you guys have really took away to try to unpack where, where you would understand how we can simplify and apply this to our life.

And guys, I am telling you. If you, if you understand that he has overcome the world, that the tribulations are going to come, but where we can have victory, there is power and that. So today we’re gonna be talking about victory in Christ, how we can overcome dart valleys and actually move towards that permanent joy.

Phyllis, I’m so excited to have this one for you. So what we’re gonna be doing, Pretty subtle episodes. I’m trying something new and I really wanna get your feedback on this stuff. Okay? Because really you’re the listener. It matters to you. It matters to me what you think. Okay? So what we’re gonna do, I teach Sunday school.

I teach Sunday school. I usually do about every other week. And I love teaching Sunday school. It’s something that I, I really kind of got, uh, somewhat I not forced into, but I was asked to do if I would teach. And I thought, you know what? Sure, let’s try it. And I found that I absolutely love it the first couple weeks.

I was so nervous, y’all. I mean, just up there, just mumbling and stumbling all over myself. You guys have heard me do that from time to time here, and I, but I found that I put a lot of effort in preparing those Sunday school lessons, and then I teach the lesson and it’s gone. You know, the, the lesson’s gone and some of the lessons, the Holy Spirit reveals so many things to me that I want to share that with you guys.

Okay? So when I’m gonna start doing, Usually once a month. You guys probably have noticed a cadence. Usually it’s around once a month. We do us these solo episode weeks where, where it’s just me sharing message. I wanna start sharing some of these lessons cuz there is so much in God’s word that can guide and direct us.

And absolutely I’m gonna try to, to, to bring in instances how I apply this to my life and give that to you guys directly. But there’s so much guys that we can learn just from walking with him. And just spending time in the word together. And I know you’re busy. I know you guys got a lot going on, but my prayer during this time, particularly for this episode today, is that we’re gonna just understand, you know what?

There’s gonna be an opportunity for us to grow in Christ. And that opportunity comes when we dig in. You gotta drop the plow a little bit and actually get into the word. And when you do that, it is so awesome. I get fired up on it, so hopefully you will too. All right, so the main point we’re be talking about today is that in Christ we have victory over anything the world’s gonna throw at us.

And if you went back to that spiritual kickoff, you know that’s true because he has overcome the world, not you, not me, Jesus. He has overcome the world. So think about, uh, a victory. Maybe think about the last victory that you actually had the last time you won something. Okay. And for some of you guys, maybe it’s been a while or maybe not.

Maybe you’re in a bowling league or maybe you’re in a softball league or, or some type of sports thing, or, or maybe you won an award at work, you know, a high performance award or, you know, uh, you, you search, you set certain records for maybe attendance or things like that. There’s all people like to be rewarded.

Let’s just be real. Totally get it. Okay? So rewards are fun. That’s why you see so much gamification going on out there, uh, with business and things like that. It’s because people keep score. Like you cannot put a bunch of dudes on a basketball court, give ’em a ball and expect them just to shoot around.

Like eventually a game’s gonna break out. And guess what? They’re gonna keep score. Keep, keep score. Why? Cuz that’s what we do. That’s just who we are. I think that that’s part of, uh, uh, the way God designed this. Okay. Now, recently I actually was able to have Clarence Hayes, if you guys remember back, way back in, in the, uh, Uh, the podcast, Clarence came on and he talked about his book to Pursue of Victory, and recently I was able to actually have Clarence back on the sh on in the community or ask me anything.

And one of the things came up that just re I I remembered and I wonder to share that with you guys. Okay. Now it has, it’s an, it, it’s, it’s, it breaks down what he talks about as things that derail us for being victorious and he breaks it down into four words. Sin, excuses, laziness, and fear. And when you look at those four words at the surface level, you discover there’s really only one thing that’s going derail you, right?

And it’s you take those four words, sin, excuses, laziness, fear. What’s the first letter? S E L F Self, oftentimes ourself is what derails us the most from being victorious and what Christ has for us. So now we have to recognize these areas in our life guys, and we gotta start pruning that stuff out. Okay.

So that’s just a great acronym. I think if, if we want something that we can, can actually start using more and more is just recognize, hey, when, when I feel like I’m not walking or doing things that I, that, that I should be. Is this a straight up sin? Am I saying, and we should know that there should be some conviction there, or maybe I’m just making some excuses.

I’ll get to it. Eventually, yes. Or I can’t do that because of this. I can’t, because we hear that I can’t because Yep. Starting to make excuses or laziness. Let’s just be real. We’re a laziness society. Right. You look around, people don’t wanna work out. People don’t want to get up. People don’t wanna put in the work.

They, what do they want? Instant gratification. They want stuff given to ’em. I’m just being real fellas. Now, this may be turning you off right now. Well, maybe this is, you know, maybe you don’t wanna listen to this episode, that’s fine. But if I got your attention this far, hang with me. The last one. The last one, fear.

Think about that. Fear. I’m gonna tell you right now. Fear is one of the greatest tools that say music. He is, he is a master at using fear because if he can render you ineffective and render you to where you don’t do any work that God’s called you to do, he’s one. He’s one. And often he does that by placing this fear inside of us.

You know what? Ah man, I probably should go on that mission trip, but man, I just don’t know. I don’t know. I should give it to this organization cuz I know that they help. Uh, you know, human trafficking victims or, or, or, or, or help, uh, people who are living in poverty. But, you know, I, I’m not sure about that.

Or, man, I really think I need to start sharing the, uh, my testimony with people I run into and, and, and start living out my faith more. But man, what if people start judging me? All these things, I’m just telling you, felon, this stuff’s real, right? Right, man, I don’t know if I shared a good, if I share, start talking Jesus.

People are gonna think I’m weird. Or if they, if I start asking somebody about their faith, then what if they ask me a question and I don’t know, and then I’ll look silly? Does any of this stuff sound familiar? And I know it does. You know why? Cause I’ve had the same thoughts, guys, because Saint uses the same tools on me.

So look, we have to understand that fear Look, that is not, that’s not from from God, that is from the evil one. So what we’re gonna be doing today, We’re gonna look at some scripture in John. Now, John 1633 is where we’re going to end up. Okay? But we’re gonna go back earlier and we’re gonna, I’m gonna read some, a little, a few pieces of scripture and then we’re just gonna unpack it together, and that’s how we’re gonna go about, that’s how I teach Sunday school.

I really g love doing that. Uh, pastor Jovi has taught me a lot on that, just by his preaching style. Just that, uh, verse by verse going through unpacking. And I find that’s the best way if you want to grow in God’s word. Just let, just, just sit in it, sit in and soak. So let let this help you. So we’re gonna be in John 16.

I’m gonna, I’m gonna read a couple verses right here to get us started. So we’re, we’re gonna start off at 19 through 22. Okay. So we’re looking at verse 19. It says, Jesus knew that they wished to question him, talking about the disciples. Okay. And he said to them, are you deliberating together about this?

That I said a little while and you will no longer see me. And again, a little while you will see me. Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament but your world, but the world will rejoice. You will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy wherever. Whenever a woman is in labor, she has pain because her hour has come.

But when she gives birth to the child, she no longer re remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world. Therefore, you too have grief now. But I will see you again and your heart will rejoice and no one will take away joy away from you. Okay, so guys, let’s just look at that scripture and let’s think about it, Jesus, for telling me right here.

Uh, that he was gonna be leaving, but it wasn’t sinking in at this point. It really wasn’t sinking in at this point. Cause when you look at 20 and he’s telling like, look, you’re gonna lament, you’re gonna cry. That probably been hard for those guys to hear, because remember these, uh, most of them have been rolling with him for over three years.

Right? Just imagine a buddy you got, you’ve been rolling with him for your, for as long as you can remember, and he’s telling you, you know what I, I want basically, I’m outta here. I gotta leave, I’m gonna die. That will be a hard pill to swallow, right? So understand this is, this is very important just to see the context of where the disciples were, maybe where you are in your journey.

Let’s just look at verse 19 and 20. Okay. Just, just those two verses directly. It says he knew that he wished that they wished to question him, and he said to them, are you de deliberating together about this? And I said A little while, and you’ll not see me. And again, in a little while, you will see me.

Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weeping lament, but the world will, will rejoice. You agree, but your grief will be turning to joy now. What’s going on? They were curious cause of what he actually had said in verse 16. So verse 16 says, A little while you’ll no longer see me, and again, in a little while you will see me.

Now, that’s a confusing statement right there, right? I mean, you would be confused too if your buddy says, you know, a little while you won’t see me, but then you will see me. You would be thinking, well, maybe they’re going to a store and they’re coming back. That’s not what Jesus was talking about. He was talking about his literal death, but then the resurrection, right?

That’s what he was talking about. And he as a Messiah, he was revealing to them in the moment things that were going to come and he had to be direct with them and head on with the way he explained it. That’s the way he was. Those disciples, he had to be direct and head on, right? They didn’t even pick up the nuance, the nuances there.

So that weeping and that morning that Jesus is talking about right here, that is real. That is real. They saw him crucified on that cross imagine torment that they were going through their mind. Just, just from a human element. Their friend was crucified. Y’all, this is big deal. Big deal. And then when Jesus says, you know what, though?

The world’s gonna rejoice what he said right here. He says, truly, truly, that you are going. You, you will weep in lament, but the wor world will rejoice. You will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy. Guys, I’m gonna tell you right there that that’s interesting. When you start thinking about it, why would they world rejoice?

Well, they’re going to rejoice because they got rid of what they thought was the troublemaker, right? They, everybody thought Jesus was a liar, a blasphemer. He had all the Jews that were going up against him. They didn’t like what was going on. But what did they wanna do? Crucify him. Crucify him, and they got what they wanted.

They were happy, right? They literally let a a, a thief go, right? A criminal go. So they could crucify an innocent man. It’s crazy when you think about it, but they were rejoicing in that moment. But, but that sor, that sorrow that the disciples were feeling that didn’t last long, that turns to joy. Victory was coming, it would come to them, but they had to walk through a valley first.

And that’s a great lesson to take right here, guys. You will weep, you will lament, but the world of rejoice, you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy. That’s not maybe turned or could be turned. It says your grief will be turned into joy. And I know you may be in a trial right now. You’re like, there is no joy in what I’m in.

I totally get it. Things happen. Right? I totally get that. The world is full of this stuff, but I’m just telling you, you trust the sovereignty of God and understand that, that it is, we’re not, it’s not circumstantial. That you, the only way you gonna have any joy is having that relationship with Jesus.

That’s what he’s telling right here. He’s telling, look, your, your sorrow is gonna shift the joy, buddy. That’s when it gets really good. Now let’s look at another next verse. Very interesting verse, verse 21. Whenever a woman is in labor, she has pain because her hour has come. But when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that child had been born into the world.

Okay, now, I’ve never personally given birth to a baby. Guess why? Because I’m a guy. And I know that’s controversial these days. That’s another podcast topic in of itself. But let’s just be real. I’ve witnessed it and it’s painful. I can only imagine what you ladies go through, right? And that’s when the pain, when you think about it, when, if you’ve ever been with, with a lady and she’s going through, uh, childbirth, you know, in that moment when the pain gets real, right?

And. You started getting those contractions, they start intensifying and next thing you know, you know what, you’re in full blown labor and that stuff. At that point, once you’ve been in full blown labor and you, and you’ve been with, uh, I’ve been with my wife in full blown labor a couple times now, like sometimes they can’t even speak, they can’t speak.

They just have to breathe their way through those contractions. Right? And that, that pain is intense. It’s intense, and look, I, I, I understand. I always like to, like, like to joke with this one too about whenever I tell this story, you know, talking about the difference between, uh, kidney stone pain, baby pain, and how, you know, guys that pass kidney stones, it’s worse than, than having a baby.

I mean, there’s a lot of pushback on that, but my, my only reason I bring this up is like, yo, yo. I’ve never seen seen a dude say, I wish I had another kidney stone. But I’ve heard plenty of women say, you know what? We should have another baby. I’m just saying. So I don’t know if that’s something to do with the, the level of pain, but I thought it’s worth sharing.

But at that moment, let’s put yourself back into this moment. What Jesus is, is, is sharing here, when do you forget the pain of childbirth? You forget the pain when you hold the child, when you hold a child in your arm. At that moment, you completely forget about all that pain that was endured. Ask any mama out there and she’ll tell you at that moment, joy, joy enters your life.

There’s a, there’s a a, just a, your heart’s full right there. Right? And we as, as, as, as, as, as believers and as as people in general. We were built for this. That’s what we want. This is a great analogy. This is why Jesus use this, uses this analogy because it’s a wonderful way for us to connect and what we can expect with him, right, with him, that, that, that joy that we have when we get to hold our child.

And look, if you haven’t held that, had that opportunity to hold your child before, look, I’m with you. I’m praying for you. If you want to hold a child, I totally get it. But you just have to trust in the sovereignty of God. But when you have that waiting for us, In our savior. And how beautiful. How beautiful is that?

And the last verse right here, we’ll look at here real quick guys, for in this little section is verse 22. Therefore, you too have grief now, but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice and no one will take your joy away from you. Now, what he says right now is your time of grief. That could be confusing, right?

Because he just talked about the joy. He just talked about the joy, you know? So plus, remember, he’s still, uh, literally in the center, in the room with these guys, right? He is with them in the upper room. They’re still talking. So what they were probably thinking like, Jesus, what are you talking about now?

Why are you saying that? Right? But he was gonna be violently taken away. We know that he’s gonna be violently taken away from those guys, and we know his, what he was gonna be put through. But again, he loved them so much. He was preparing them for this. Preparing them for this because he says, I will see you again.

Right? That broken fellowship would be restored. There would be a time, yep, where that would be broken up. He wouldn’t be there, but there would be a restoration, right? It wouldn’t be the same frequency, like Jesus didn’t hang out with him the same, at the same frequency level as as he did before, but they had the assurance that they would see him again, and that was tremendously comfortable, guys.

Tremendously comfortable. He says, you will rejoice. You will rejoice. We’re we are released from sorrow. They would be too, right? This joy he’s talking about, this ain’t fleeting guys. This is permanent joy that he is talking to about here. Ultimate joy. I’m talking about the peace that passes all understanding joy and that fellas, that is what we have when we put our trust and our, and our, and our faith in the lordship of Jesus Christ.

And there is nothing more powerful than that guys. Nothing more powerful than that. So he’s just telling him right here, look, he’s going to come. You’re gonna have grief. You’re going to have it. He’s not saying, he’s not saying maybe he’s like, Nope, you’re going to have this grief, but, but I will see you again.

Right? Guys, I don’t know about you. That gets me such encouragement, such hope to have, just to be able to read these words and to understand that the cross is not the end. It’s not the end, the resurrection, that that comes right after the crucifixion. He had to do that. He had to do that reunion. Follow separation joy, follow sorrow.

Just remember that cuz you may be in a season right now where it just absolutely sucks. I’m just being real with you guys. I know there’s a lot of you guys who are struggling right now. Take hope in these words from our savior. Joy is coming. Joy is there. Joy, follow that sorrow. You’re going through that trial, going through that tribulation.

If mind, I’m telling you guys, you’re, you’re not the lone ranger here, our savior, he understands that he connects with us. He feels all the feels. He’s right there with us guys. So hopefully that just that right there is a little encouragement. So we’re gonna take a break and then we’re gonna come back and we’re gonna pick up in John, and we’re gonna go see a little bit more about, about these things of how we can keep overcoming these dark values.

Start transitioning to permanent joy. We’ll be right back fellas.

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All right. Now let’s skip down in our scr in our scripture, and we’ll still be John 16. Okay. And we’ll look at verse 27 through 30. Okay? 27 through through 30. It says, for the father himself loves you. Because you have loved me and have believed that I came forward from the Father. I came forward from the Father and have come into the world.

I am leaving the world again and going to the Father, Jesus Epel said, lo, now you are speaking plainly and are not using a figure to a figure of speech. Now we know that you know all things and have no need for anyone to question you by this. We believe that you came from God. Right here, guys. Very interesting Scripture.

And we go all the way back to the beginning of John one. And, and you know, John one starts off, in the beginning was the word and the word was with God, and the word was God. And then it says in verse 14, and the word became flesh developed among us. And we saw His glory. Glory as the only begotten from the Father full of grace and truth.

So we understand that right there, he’s Jesus is clearly, clearly stating where he comes from. Right? He, he’s letting them know like, I have come from the father and that I, I’m coming into the world from the father and I’m leaving the world to go back to him. Right? That’s what he’s telling right here. So, and he’s, he’s not making any gray area.

He’s just being very direct. So let’s unpack this scripture verse by verse as, as we grow together. So verse 27 says, for the father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that have come forth from the father. Huge implications here, guys. Huge implications, right? God’s been silent for 400 years to this point, right?

And Jesus told him that God loved him, and that had to be extremely impactful for them. Just think about it. He’s telling ’em that God loves him. He even clarifies to how right He, he, he, he says, because you have loved me. And believe that I have came forward from the father. So he’s, he’s laying that right out for him, right?

This new, he created a new relationship with God when, when he came here and these guys couldn’t even imagine what he was doing. And it was no longer about the laws. The sacrifices or, or, or, or the priestly things. No, it wasn’t about that. It was about relationship. This is another thing that came up the night guys, and, and where, to me, where it’s like, If you feel like you’re always just serving, I’m just serve, serve, serve.

Wow, that’s great. We are called to serve. I, I am big on servant leadership and all these different things, right? I think that we should be doing, if you’re in a local church, you should be serving. But the convicting part for me was don’t miss the relationship. Her father wants a relationship with you.

You’re a man. He wants a relationship with his son. If you’re, if you’re a female, he wants a relationship with his daughter. So we could get so wrapped up into serving and checking the boxes that we’re doing that for ourselves versus doing it for him. So make sure that we prioritize the relationship first.

Now serving should come because of whatever desire to be with him and to grow with him. The process of sanctification, but the relationship has to be the priority. And Jesus has a relationship with these guys. He loves ’em. John even calls himself the one whom, whom Jesus loves, right? Which I still don’t see how you can give yourself your own title.

But anyway, that’s what he does. And guys, this is very important stuff as, as we understand the relationship matters, and we look at 28, what’s 28 says, I came forth from the father and have come into the world. I am leaving the world again and going to the father. So he’s clearing up the whole question that many of us guys ask all the time.

Yo, where are you from? Right? How many times you guys asked that, Hey, where are you from? This is just a common question. So he was an incarnation of God on Earth. That was it. And he’s always been with God, period. Right? The entering part was key cuz he created that new covenant when he did that right? And he did that for everyone, Jews and the Gentiles.

And this is what rubbed so many people wrong. This wasn’t just a Jewish thing, this was for everyone. Right? And this leaving created some sorrow for sure. We’ve already talked about that. But they knew if it had, if he had to leave, it was the best if he went to the father. Right? They, they get that. They understood that.

And that’s the beauty of the gospel, fellas. That is it. That is it. He took on his, he took on, when he took us humanity to the father, he took all of our sins with him. And that’s, man, I don’t know about y’all. That just gets me fired up. It really does. Right? And that’s plane talk right there. But he’s giving ’em plane talk.

And how many times do you guys, guys go out there? Maybe you can relate with this. Maybe you guys got people that work who you can never get a straight answer, or they feel like they always have to give you the most articulate answer. I’ll tell you what, if you can answer something in five words, don’t use 10, just use five.

There assumption should be said about the ability to have straight talk. You know, it should be a core value that we as Christians have. Don’t feel like you have to always go in here with these huge words and, and price it. No, just keep it simple. Jesus spoke very plainly to them, very plainly to them. And think about it for, for you right now, what did the truth of the gospel will come clear to you?

Was it there some through some deep theological, uh, overview of justification? No. Most likely it was someone simply sharing the good news of the gospel. I totally get, we want, we should be growing in Christ. We should definitely be challenging ourselves, but don’t miss a simplicity of what Jesus is trying to, to teach them and to show us.

Now let’s look at these last two verses of this. Part of this part. The disciples said low. Now you are speaking plainly. You’re not using a figure of speech. Now we know that you are all things and you have no need for anyone to question you by this. We believe that you came from God. Right. So they had that aha moment.

You can hear it right here. The disciples had an aha moment. Holy crap. Like I get it now. Right? And how does that make you feel? Like when you’re putting a puzzle together and you finally get that final piece of the puzzles and it starts, and then you start to, oh, I got it, I got it, I got it. Right. It gets you pumped up.

Right? So imagine them. They had all these teachings. They had all these parables. All these stories that that Jesus told. Now, To get that clarity, get that clarity right. It had to just be such a wonderful moment to finally, like, I totally get it. Now, maybe we’ve done this like math, like from engineering school.

I remember doing a lot of math. And when you finally get that moment where, where these certain principles or, or, or these actions fall in place and it clicks, right? Boom. Okay. Oh. That’s what you’re, I see what you’re doing there. That’s what was going on here, fellas. That’s what was going on here. And I just think it’s a, it’s a, it’s a beautiful thing.

Um, when we start thinking about it, to understand that they got, that, that is from, from the good news of the gospel. This is where Jesus is promising to hear, right? The truth is, we gotta have him. We gotta have Jesus right to go to the Father. We need to understand that. And everything about our victory guys.

Everything about our victory is based on the fact that he is with him right now. Think about it. He’s with him right now. He’s sitting at the right-hander father, right? No one gets to, to him except through him. He is the way, the truth in the life, right? He is it. There’s no other path, guys. So we had to be super clear on that, super intentional on that.

As we move forward in our faith, I’m telling you, it’s, there’s something power about powerful about that. And I, we’re gonna wrap this up today, here in a minute, on how we can have peace and courage because of our victory in Christ. So we’re gonna take our last break of the day, guys. We’ll be, we’ll be right back and we’ll dig into this last piece of scripture.

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All right guys, so we’ve been working through this part, this part of John. Okay, so we were, we started off here in John 16 and we, we met, uh, 19 through 22. And then we started talking through, uh, where were we at 27 through 30 is what we just read. And now we’re gonna finish it up 31 through 33. So we’ve been all over the place really, where we’re talking a lot about, uh, the, the different things of Jesus’ departure, what, what that impact was, what he was trying to teach his disciples.

Now let’s get down to these last couple verses cuz this is really where. I guess you could say it’s all leading to this is kind of getting to this, this, to this, to these moments, and it’s where it says right here in 31, Jesus answered Him. Do you now believe behold an hour is coming? It has already come for you to be scattered each to his own home to leave me alone, and yet I am not alone because a father is with me.

These things I have spoken to you so that in me, you may have peace in the world, you have tribulation, but take courage. I have overcome the world. Guys powerful verses right here. And it’s so cool that he just didn’t say like maybe, or hopefully in this last statement, right? No, he’s confidence. He’s confidence.

And he delivered that and he spoke it by the creator of the universe. He spoke these things, right? He is our conqueror. Guys, we should have so much, so much confidence in this, right? Because things may be going pretty good. I totally get it. Some, some may. Some of you guys may be crushing stuff and you don’t feel like you even need to conquer.

Like, Chris, I got this stuff. Don’t worry about it. You know, what’s the worst that can happen? I, I, I’m out here, I’m doing my thing. I make plenty of money, have nice cars. I, I’m just trying to listen to the line with, just to make sure I’m not missing anything. Be careful. Be careful because eventually you know what’s gonna happen.

Life life’s gonna happen. Jobs get lost, bro. Just straight up, even if you’re an entrepreneur and you have your own business, things happen. Right? You have to be ready for that health, you know, healthy one day going the next. I’m telling you, fellas, it’s real. There’s things that are just out there, sickness, all these things, they’re just out there, kids, right?

Kids. Hey you, you want a stressor? Add some kids to your, to your life. That’s just a stressor. I’m just being real with you, fellas. Life happens. Cancer, all these things that are out there, worries, anxieties, broken hearts, fellas. I’m just telling you, we all need conqueror and we have it. We have it. We put our faith in Jesus.

So let’s look at these last couple verses here, just verse by verse. Fellas, Jesus said to them, verse 31, do you now believe, okay, this could be a statement or question, depending on the context, right? Could be clarifying and also declaring, right? So either way, Jesus is showing up right here, and he was showing encouragement to these guys.

And then they were starting to finally get it. Okay. I’ve been showing you, I’ve been trying and trying and trying and now praise the Lord. You’re starting to get it. And look, he does that with us too, guys. Let’s just be real. Cuz how many times, I’m sure my Xavier sitting up there watching me like, Chris, what in the world are you doing?

And finally, when I do it his way, he, I I, I could probably hear him if I, if I could hear that, that. Him speak from heaven directly about time. Praise the Lord. Right? He finally gets it right and now you believe and it’s so important, que guys, you need to ask yourself to ask question where you do you now believe that may be one of the most important questions.

This is a spirit led thing. This is not in my notes or anything. Do you believe it’s okay to read this stuff and to think through the stories of the accounts? And to have it kind of at a distance, at arms length for the guys that are watching on YouTube trying to do that arms length, right? Think about the old guy, uh, who, who does the, uh, the Heisman, right?

The Heisman maneuver, right? Boom. Got that arm out, keeping that arms length. Do you believe though, are you keeping Jesus at arms length or you accept him into your heart? Because here’s the thing, fellas, once you accept him in your heart, everything changes. Everything changes and just be aware of that. So maybe that’s the most important question you need to ask yourself today is do you believe, okay, now look at verse 32 by whole, when an hour is coming and it’s already come, or you will be scattered and each to his own home and to leave me alone.

And yet I am not alone because of father is with me. So this time as Jesus, Jesus talking about right here, he’s actually filling some prophecy back in Zacharia. Okay? So if you go to Zacharias 13, 7 13 verse seven and says, strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered, right? And that’s what’s going on right here.

Now I think about all an heels, right? You, you know, if you hit that an hill, what’s going happen? They going everywhere. They are going everywhere, right? And it, and it may fall, uh, but it’s going. But think about Aunt Hills too, even though you’re knock ’em down. Guess what happened? Ain’t gonna come right back up.

Right? They’re going to eventually rebuild right now, do you think when Jesus said right here, do you will leave me alone? Do you think that made Jesus sad? May I think about stuff like that. You know, like, think about you when, when you’re left alone by yourself, how do you feel? Couple of things I thought about, deserted, abandoned, lost, insignificant, right?

We all feel those things. Heck in line within us, we’re all about helping guys who feel lost and alone. Man, that’s it. You know, they feel disconnected. They’re looking for that, that group of guys, they just don’t have it. Jesus felt the feels, man, he’s right here. But how beautiful is it that he didn’t that, that he had the yet part of this statement?

Right? I’m alone. Yet he says right here, he was not alone and neither are we. Why? Why was he, why was he not alone? Right here? What just says? He says, yet, I am not alone because the father is with me. He is with, he is with you guys. And that’s the greatest part we have. We’re not alone either. No matter what we’re going through, when he was going through his torture, when Jesus was being crucified on that cross, he was not alone.

Where was boys at? His boys were hiding in the shadows. The only one that we really know that was there was John. Cause he told John to take care of my mama. Right. He’s the only one that we really know that was there at the crucifixion. The rest of them, they gone, you know what they were doing? Take care of themselves.

Cuz it’s our nature. It’s our nature. You may be saying, well Chris, if I was there, I would be with him. Oh yeah. You can’t say that. There’s tons of persecution. How quickly do we have when that persecution hits? This is real. This is what’s is real. He’s reminding them right though. Look you guys, I’m not alone, right?

And neither are you. And there is so much comfort in that verse right there, guys. He is not alone. And we need to understand because the father’s with it. And the father’s with us. And this last verse to now, we’ll look at together. Together, guys, it’s the verse of the week. These things I’ve spoken to you so that in me, you may have peace in the world, you will have tribulation.

But take courage. I have overcome the world, God, this fi again, final words of encouragement right here. Final words of encouragement that Jesus has given. Again, he’s getting ready to give his priestly prayer, but he’s with his boys right here. He’s with his boys right here. He’s with them. He’s trying to make sure that they understand.

Look, some, some stuff’s getting ready to go down. It’s getting ready to get real. It’s not gonna end well. And you guys may think, you guys may think that I’m gone and that, that we lost. I need you to understand. Take courage. I’m gonna have to overcome. I’m gonna be victorious. And guys, cause we have put our faith and our trust in our lordship, in Jesus Christ.

We have two and that’s what you can hang your hat on fellas. If anything, just hang your hat on that right there. Take courage. And I know the world’s throwing all sorts of stuff at us fellas. I am telling you, I teach Sunday school also with the line within us. You know when you start doing this type of work, you see all the darkness that’s out there.

The way that marriages are under attack, the way that our kids are under attack when sickness hits. I just, I literally just saw a post the other day for a lady in our community, 32 years old, cancer killed her. And you see this stuff, man, and it, it don’t, it doesn’t make any sense. And you’re like, why? Why?

You know, you hear old things. Why does good things happen or bad things happen rather to good people. And that drives a lot of people away from the church. Matter of fact, a good friend of mine, I, I’ve heard that the reason he will not plug into the church is he, he ask himself this question, particularly when it has to do with kids and things like that.

And look, we can give you all the theological answers in the world of why bad things happen. They’re not gonna bring you any comfort, any comfort in those moments. Well, all we can have right here, It’s courage that our savior has overcome the world and that his sovereignty is in all things. Look, I don’t know why we lost our daughter.

I’ll never know that one, but I trust in him. And at the moment of this recording, her birthday’s coming up in a couple weeks and it’s still hard and it’s extremely hard. My wife was breaking out big time all night. Like if you’re listening to this right now, I love you girl. And. I’m just telling you fellas, there’s things that happened we can’t have answers to, but I can promise you this.

You can be victorious. We can have that life of victory, Vic. It may not look be like what we think of, but to what the world thinks of in victorious. But we can live, have victory in Christ. We can’t. We can overcome dark valleys. You know, we’re not in that valley more where we lost faith anymore. We still go there from time to time and get sad.

But we have joy. We know that when she opened her eyes, she saw Jesus. I believe that with all my heart, and for people who don’t have that type of comfort or don’t have that type of belief, I just feel I’m really sad for ’em. And as believers guys, as as Christian men, we got to start standing up and letting our faith drive our walk.

And don’t be ashamed of the gospel. And it can’t just be a Sunday thing either. This has gotta be a everyday thing. Every day. Look for those opportunities cuz if you look for opportunities to share the good news of the gospel, just John 1633 right here. Just share this little story with someone. You’ll never know what the Holy Spirit can do with it.

That’s too often we put always spiriting in a box. I do put ’em in a box. I don’t know, man, I don’t know about this. This may be, this is uncomfortable. You know, people may judge me all the things that we say. Right? It’s real. Just being real with y’all. Cause I know how it is. Take courage. I understand. He’s overcome the world and you can be victorious, fellas.

I’m telling you the question a week though. Who gets the credit when you are victorious? I just pray, just do by listening to God’s word right here and seeing how I try to simplify and apply this to my life, that you could do the same, that you could have simplify and apply this to your life and take this right here and walk in confidence, not cocky, but confidence in our Lord and our Savior, Jesus Christ, because of what he did on the cross, and it counted, guys, it totally counted.

It matters. This is such a big deal. So I’d love to know what you guys think of this, man. This, I’m thinking about doing this more and more, maybe once a month for, for our solo episodes. Just going through a lesson like this. This is typically how I teach. I love your feedback on this episode, and I know I ask you for, for, for, for your feedback all the time.

But if you would just send an email to support at the line with us, I get that, that comes directly to me. I love your, your, your insight. Do you like this format? Uh, would you like more topical stuff? But if you, if you enjoyed this one, hey, let me know. And you know what? If you didn’t enjoy it, if it absolutely sucked and you said, Chris, you just need to have guests, let me know that too.

I need to know what’s real. Cause I ultimately want to serve you, the listeners with what you enjoy, what you find value in. I know most people listen to podcasts when they’re doing stuff, and that’s great, but at the end of the day, I wanna try to give you something that’s gonna help you grow closer to Christ and be that leader that God intends you to be.

So many of us just feel like we can’t be that leader. So my prayer is, while by spending a little bit more time in God’s word with you guys, that it’s gonna help you grow, maybe we’ll have some more. Its written as you can remember, that John 1633, you gotta have that and that will help us grow in our walk.

So I pray you will share this with someone else. That’s the best way to help. Help the podcast, share it with someone. Ratings review, definitely help. If you can just open up whatever app you’re on, give us a five star rating and review what whatever way it works best for you. That does matter. If you wanna support the show, that would be wonderful.

We, we’d love to have the, we have a lot of donors now, so go to the line with N Us. You can go to the donate page. Maybe you want to be a monthly donor or monthly supporter. That would be awesome. Or one time donor. Whatever works for you. Just know that every little bit helps. So don’t, don’t think it’s too small.

We got guys, we got a lot of guys who just give five bucks a month. Hey, that, that really makes an impact. And we have guys who give a lot more than that. So look, whatever the Lord leads you, we still have the community. Uh, for sure. There’s so many wonderful things going on in there, guys. And I also, if you, if you wanna just see the community.

Just sent an email support at the line within us. I will set up a time. I will show you the community. Be be glad to appealed back the, the curtain for you. There’s nothing to be hidden here. I’m very open, very transparent. I do this with people all the time cause I want you to see what you’re getting. And again, we still have a 30 day free trial.

We’re, we’re, we’re just gonna have that cuz I’m a really big proponent in letting people see what it, what, what value we have. And you know what, if you don’t see any value, you got 30 days canceling. That’s the greatest way you can support the line within us. It’s just about being part of the community, not just gonna support the, the line within us, but it helps you grow.

Cause I’m telling you, I have seen more growth in some these Christian men than than I ever dreamed marriage is being healed. Pornography being kicked to the curb, uh, areas of our life. Being strengthened by, by digging into the word challenges, accountability. I’m telling you, I can’t make this stuff up because nobody would believe it.

It’s just unreal to see how, how men are helping each other and how they’re craving. They’re just craving connection, community, uh, being able to, to actually talk openly and not worried about, Hey, am I gonna see that dude later at, at, at, at the grocery store or at out the dinner? I don’t want him to know about all this stuff’s going on in my life.

I’m Tony. None of that happens here. These guys just open, they just share. It’s really awesome. So highly encourage you to check that out. Again, we do have the daily spiritual kickoff. That’s an, that offers out there for, for a lot of guys too that maybe just want to have that daily kick in a pants to get you going.

The daily spiritual kickoff is where it’s all about. We still have coaching when there’s all sorts of ways, and then speaking. Uh, so if I can, if you feel like. There’s something that can help you or your men’s group go to the line within us slash speaking. You should be able to see it on the main page.

There’s a, there’s a link there to go check it out. Our speaking, we have several different ready made presentations that can really help. Facilitate discussion in your men’s group. That’s what it’s all about. You know, it’s not just about me coming in and giving us some sp some speech. I mean, I could totally do that.

There wouldn’t be a lot of value there. What I like to do is come in and give the topics. I, I, I have presentations and let’s get guys talking. Hey, let’s just get guys talking and having conversation, because the conversation happens. That’s when iron starts sharpening iron. I’ve seen it time and time again within the line within us, the way we roll.

And fellas, you need help with that. Go to the line with n us slash speaking. Connect me with your pastor. Connect me with your men’s group leader. Whatever. Connect me with you. Just reach out. And guys, I’m telling you, there’s opportunities here to grow. Men’s ministry is suffering. We gotta take a stand.

And when we need to start doing that with some, like the resources we built here are, is to combat that directly. It’s not the end all be all, but it’s a doggone good start for you guys to start leaning in, having your own man’s group, your own discipleship group. Let me come in, let me show you how to do it, and then you take it, you go out there, you replicate it, and then you just keep unleashing allowing then that’s what it’s all about, fellas.

So hopefully you’ll come back on Friday. Acts on really fun tips. I think we’re going to help you. A couple of ’em are actually from our community itself. From from our guys directly. So again, let me know if you think about this one. Love for your feedback on it. Thank you so much for taking the time to listen to the line within us.

There’s so many other podcasts out there. The fact that you listen to, to this one week in and week out, it just warms my heart. It’s so good to, to, to see this, that, that hopefully we’re doing the work, uh, and being obedient to the spirit, and that is making an impact in your life. So keep after it. Stay strong.

See you back here for our fun Friday. And don’t forget to unleash the lion within.