Welcome to the Line Within Us, a podcast serving Christian men who are hungry to be the leaders Scott intends you to be. I’m your host, Chris Granger. Let’s jump in. All right, guys. Spiritual kickoff time. Let’s go. So we’re gonna be in the Old Testament, okay? Old Testament. We’re gonna be in the book of Micah, chapter six, looking at one verse, verse eight.

He has shown you immoral. What is good and what does a Lord require of you to act justly. To love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. This is a powerful little verse right here, guys, and we’re gonna unpack this. We’re gonna find out how we can simplify and apply this to our walk. Okay? Now, first thing we need to know, gotta know where these things are is, where is Micah?

And this is a tough one, guys. This is not easiest. It’s in the Old Testament. It’s right after Jonah. But the problem is with Jonah, that’s only like two pages in your Bible too. So that can be hard to find. But it’s right before Najam. Right before Haba. So it’s, it’s kind of in there, in, in, in some of the minor, the minor prophets there and, and your Old Testament.

So you may actually have to go check out the old table contents cause it’s short and it’s, it’s, it’s kind of just plugged in there so that, that gives you an idea of where to look. So Micah was actually a Jodan and he preached to the common people of Judah. And his name, which I thought was pretty cool.

When you find out little facts like this, his name actually means who is like Yahweh and we know what Yahweh is, right? That’s the covenant name of God, right? Just, just like breathing Yahweh. Okay. It’s actually Y h w H. We added a and a e, uh, just for a pronunciation standpoint, but this is Yahweh, so this is actually what we’re, what we’re reading right here is part of Israel’s first response to God in this book.

Alright. And this verse is one that we can de can directly simplify and apply to our life. I’m telling you fellas, this is, this is, so, this is such, uh, impactful verse right here. And it starts by recognizing that guys has shown us, you know, what is good, right? So I mean, how, so how do you, how do you know?

How do you know you get into his word and when he gave us his word and the is what we need to understand is we have to take this word, we have to spend time with him. Because if you, if you truly desire him, you’re gonna have that desire to spend time with him, right? And that means spending time in his word, right?

And once we accept Christ as our savior, we’re actually gonna have the Holy Spirit that’s gonna guide us in that work. It’s gonna convict us in these areas, right? But there’s no subs substitution whatsoever out there. Guys. We’re spending time with him and his words each and every day. You know, no one has to ask me, do I need to go spend time with Becca?

I want to spend time with my wife. I do. I have a desire to be around her. She has a desire most days to be around me. The same thing should be for spending time on God’s word. It should be a drive force. Okay? Now, as we get into this, to to, to the scripture here, it asks us what does the Lord require of you?

Okay? So it’s not as, it’s not working down like a workspace, righteousness type of road, but it does point out what should be our desire, and that should be to be more like him. It’s a requirement right now. Can salvation can’t be earned? Let’s get that clear. But when we surrender our hearts to his way, it’s going to impact everything that we do and it’s going everything.

So that requirement there, there’s, there’s, there’s sermons that have been preached. Just on that one word, what does the, the Lord require of you? So this is not, he’s just asking passively, no, this is a requirement. He wants to make sure you understand these things are required. To, to, to do if you wanna follow him and surrendered his ways.

So this, so let’s start breaking this stuff down. Now. It’s very practical when you start applying it, cuz he’s, how does he start off with, he starts off with acting justly. Acting justly. Then he says, love mercy, and walk humbly. But acting justly means you have to actually do something, right? You have to take some action.

When you have the opportunity, when you have that opportunity out there to correct something. Maybe that’s something that’s not in alignment with what God desires. Are you going to act or are you gonna ignore? Right? Because it’s easy to just kind of put your hands up, yo, I’m standing out of that, but this is just, this is not my problem.

I’ll let somebody else deal with it. And when those injustices happen and we just like, you know what? That’s, that’s not me to figure out. That’s not what God’s calling right here, right? God is telling you right here, you know, even though this is not comfortable for you, you need to act justly. And you have to do that.

You have to lean in guys. And sometimes it’s gonna be very uncomfortable. It’s not gonna be fun, but you’re gonna have to lean in and do this stuff. So, so again, we are called to do this and we need to take action on the injustices in this world, right? And we can do that by leading with love, right? But don’t miss the verb here, guys.

That verb here, right here, that God’s calling us out is act. You have to act. And that means making something happen today. Today. Okay, so then we have to see next in this scripture. It cause us to love mercy. Now, when I hear mercy, you know, I always think about, uh, not getting what I do deserve, right? You have the whole mercy and grace thing.

Grace is getting, uh, what we, uh, is getting what we don’t deserve and not, and mercy is not getting what we do deserve, right? So when you think about this here, we think about the mercy that he pours out to us. He pours it out to us each and every day, and we should pour that out on others as well. This should be a key driver in our actions and and, and it should help us identify times when it needs to be ex extended to others, especially for two others that are going through a tough season.

Y’all. I mean, think about this, right? It’s so easy to forget the power that’s showing mercy. The one person, the one person, and a power, and a and a time of need. How powerful that can be. Right. Maybe they’re going through something and all you’re doing, all you can do is just show them that act of mercy and kind and just let ’em know that you care or, or take ’em something or, or, or, or, you know, a meal or, or share a kind word.

Just that one little act, can it be so uplifting to others. But mercy is something that’s almost like forgotten in our culture these days. Nobody thinks about mercy. It’s all about me, me, me. What can I do for myself? What can I do to keep you down? So, because if you’re down, that means I can advance. That’s not what God’s calling us here, and God’s calling us to act justly and then to love mercy.

You should love this, right? And we need to really be thinking, okay, how can I start loving mercy and walking this out in my life? Then it gets to humbly to, to walking humbly with God. Okay. Now, the best definition of humble that I’ve always used is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.

Okay. So if we just to get that understanding, if we’re walking humbly with God, we are not thinking, uh uh, you know, less of ourself. No. We’re giving him glory at all times. At all times. Right. And when something is corrected or promised, solved, do you immediately give him the glory or are you trying to get the limelight?

Let’s be real here. Let’s be real, and I totally get it. We all like to be recognized for the good works we do. However, if you’re a Christian leader and you’re listening to the line within us, we need to know that all the glory is is and we are simply acting in obedience to what he calls us to do through the Holy Spirit.

That’s it. This podcast mic is hot right now. I’m saying words into it that, that I am being obedient to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will do the conviction. There’s nothing that I can say myself, Chris, that’s gonna do anything in your life that’s gonna make you convicted to do more work or to be more holy, or to try to pick up your Bible and read more.

No, there’s nothing I’m gonna do that can say that you know what it can do. The Holy Spirit within you though can have that conviction to make you want to want to be closer to him. That’s what it’s all about. So as you move throughout your day, as you move throughout your week, think about if you’re acting justly.

Are you doing that? Are you walking? Are you are not walking? Are you loving with mercy? And are you walking humbly with God? Those three things, right? He’s gonna show you what to do, guys. I’m telling you, he will show you, but you have to make the decision. I’m not gonna be obedient and I’m going and, and am I going to take action?

If I choose to do that, am I gonna start walking and then I’m gonna start loving as he desires. And I’m gonna tell you what, if you choose this these ways, you choose his ways, man, you, that’s, that’s on the path of unleashing the, the line with them right there. The problem is so many times we don’t choose that way.

We don’t choose his ways. We want to choose our ways cuz we got this, we have that mentality. And you guys hear me talk about it all the time. And when you read a verse like this, write outta Micah, you know, minor prophet. He’s think, okay, the Lord choirs this in me to act justly, to love, mercy, to walk humbly with your God.

And you start thinking about, am I really doing that? And I’ll just be straight up with you guys sometimes when I look at this stuff. Okay. Act justly. Yeah. I try to, to, to try to do that. The one I struggle with out these three, cause you know, I’m, I’m, I be as transparent as I possibly can with you guys.

It’s probably the love mercy part. I don’t, I, I definitely love trying to stand up and, and for what’s right and start speaking and being open about these things. You guys in line within us, we’re all about, you know, just speaking truth about our marriages, about our finances, about our careers, uh, parenting, all the, the things that are important, and then walking humbly with God.

You know, you can never say that you are humble. Cause the moment you say you’re not that, that you are humble. You’re not humble, right? It’s one of those weird things, but I really try to make sure people understand when I talk to ’em about the line within us, and I talk about it a lot with, with different people, all pretty much every day.

It’s not the line within Chris, it’s the line within us. And, and that is it. God has all the glory, all, all the success we have, all of our members, all the resources that we’ve built, everything that’s helping other men. Uh, it, it’s just, This is his glory. And I’m just trying to just be obedient and ultimately, I’m trying not to mess it up, but just give him all the glory.

This point as many people as I can to him. Cause he, he is gonna be the one that saves him. Not me, but just walk. Just, just use this, this one little verse, guys. Act justly. Love mercy. Walk humbly with your God. Know who you are with your God, because I’m gonna tell you, there’s some things coming in our world.

That we need some strong men that are believing that that stand with Christ to start standing up. This week, we’re gonna be talking about it. We’re gonna be talking about some hard stuff guys. We’re gonna be actually talking about human trafficking this week and what you can do to take action to make an impact.

And I wanna know one thing. When you hear that word, human human trafficking, what is your response going to be? Are you gonna actually take some action? Are you gonna love with mercy? Are you gonna walk humbly with God to help these women who are dealing with this? So I, I really hope I encourage you to come back.

This isn’t gonna be a powerful episode. Uh, with, with our guest on Wednesday, guys, I learned a ton, a ton around human trafficking. How it impacts us, what we can actually do for our line within this community. Hey, there’s gonna be an action to take, a true action to take, and not just not trying to donate money or anything like that.

We’re, well, I’m, I’m really big on that stuff, but this is an action you can take as a man involving get, getting actually moving that will actually make an impact in human trafficking. So I cannot wait to share this with you, uh, on Wednesday’s episode. So, you know, hopefully you’ll come back for that. Now, if you, if you’re listening to this, We call this our spiritual kickoff, and you’re here because someone may be sharing an episode with you and you’ve never really surrendered your, your life to the lordship of Jesus Christ.

Or maybe you are a listener and you think you’re a believer, but you never, you know, you’re, you’re questioning some things. Lemme just tell you where you gotta get clear on this before you can do the work that God’s called you to do. You gotta walk with him. And the only way you can walk with him is you gotta surrender your life to him.

So if you’ve never surrendered your life to him, it’s okay. Right? Right. Now, where you’re at is a great opportunity to do just that. You have to admit that you’re a sin, that you’re a sinner in need of a savior. You’re not a mistake in need of a life coach. Nope. You’re a sinner in need of a, of a savior.

Say everything we, we’ve done has, has, since the fall of man has, has. We fall short of the glory of God and there’s nothing we can do to work our way in. We can’t work. Be a nice person. And just get our way, uh, until right standing with God. No. So what did God do? He sent his son Jesus Christ, and he came from heaven and, and took on a human flesh, walked amongst us, taught us, showed us the miracles, gave us all the different ways of God, and then paid the ultimate penalty for us Sins on that cross.

Let me tell you guys, he died. He didn’t pass out. He actually, he died. They laid him in a tomb, but death cannot hold him. Three days later, he rose and praise the Lord. We worship a living savior, not a dead man. And right now he’s sitting at the right hand and a father. So you have to believe in Jesus as the son of God, and I think truly believe that he’s the son of God.

Not that he was just a good guy, but he was the son of God. And then you confess to his Lord. Not teacher, but Lord, he can’t just be a guide. He has to be a Lord of everything that you do. And if you confess him as Lord and believe that he’s the Son of God, knowing that you are a sinner, at that point, the Holy Spirit’s gonna sin.

It’s going to give you a new heart. You’ll be walking with him, and at that moment you have. Within inside the lying within, we just gotta get it out. So if you, so right now, if you’re saying, you know what, I’m ready. I don’t know if I’ve ever really surrendered my life through the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

I won’t encourage you right now, but let’s bow your head. Well, if you’re not, if you’re driving, don’t bow your head. You keep your eyes open. If you’re driving, and I’m just gonna pray this over you and then we’ll, we’ll, we’ll finish up the spiritual kick call. So Father, just thank you so much for all the listeners out there who are just taking time to spend time in your word.

So prayerfully, Lord, I’m giving them something from your word through the Holy Spirit that is encouraging them, that has given them some hope for today. That where that, where they can take this scripture for one and start moving forward with what you’ve called ’em to do. But for those that are listening, God, who are, who are ready to accept you as their savior, I just pray this over now.

I just pray that you just give them that peace that passes all understanding. I pray you, you just come into their life right now and that they surrender to you and to your lordship. I pray father, the God that you just move mindly in their life, that you give them opportunities, I pray, uh, hedge protection around them cuz Satan is gonna be mad.

He’s gonna be attacking and I pray, Lord, that you right now, you put that protection around them so that you can get so they can do the work that you’ve called them to do as we have another soldier ready for the battle. Right here on earth to do the fight to stands firm against in the faith, against the darkness, against the evil one.

And we pray all this according to your will in Jesus’ name. Amen. Alright, so if you guys just, if you just prayed that you just accept the Christ of your savior, welcome to the team. Okay? Now send me an email support at the line with ann.us. I got a couple free resources I wanna send you. I wanna send you some scriptures.

I wanna send you a Bible study. I just wanna give you a big old virtual hug, first and foremost. Let me know. Send me an email at support@thelinewithin.us. Hey, this is accepted Christ. Listen to the spiritual kickoff, and we’re gonna get you, we’re gonna get you, uh, ready for the battle that you just entered.

Now you’re, you’re in the battle. Now that the blinders are off, don’t worry. We have plenty of resources to help you, help get, get you plugged into the church if you need to. Whatever you need, we just wanna come alongside you to serve you and just help you in your walk. Iron fellas. So thank If you do enjoy the daily spiritual kickoffs.

We have a great opportunity. I know you’ve heard the ads, but here’s one more chance for me just to share with you how it works. Every morning, Monday through Friday, good Lord willing, I go live inside our community and we have our daily spiritual kickoff. So a little bit different than what you guys get here where we act.

We le read, read bigger pieces of scripture. Usually we’ll read a bible, uh, a chapter of the Bible or a significant section of the Bible, and then I just unpack what the Holy Spirit has revealed to me. I have a lot of resources here to try to, to understand God’s word. And we just share that simply. So it’s a livestream type feed where you can be part, you can chat with me directly, you can chat with other members, and we just grow when God’s word together.

And guess what? If you don’t me, if you can’t make the, uh, the live, when I go live in the mornings, we post it there as a video. So this is exclusive video that you have as a member of the line within this community. No one else has it. So you can watch that at your leisure. Uh, maybe make that part of your, of your daily Bible reading.

Uh, for a lot of our guys, this really helps them and their daily scripture because, you know, I’m, I’m, we’re laying it out for you. We’re making it super convenient to get into God’s word, but also puts some onus on you, on you to have some accountability. Not just be plugged into the word when you’re sitting in a church pew on a Sunday.

So again, go to the line with them, us scroll down to where you can start that da daily spiritual kickoff membership. If you’re not ready for the full line within US community, hey, that’d be a great way to get started. Okay? Now, if you are ready for the full, for the full community, jump in. That’s where all the events are happening.

Then match your minds to ask me anything, all of our group events to business meetings. Guys, there’s, there’s just too much to list at this point. I’m telling you, hop in there. It’s a 30 day free trial. Nothing to lose if you don’t. If you’re not served, if you’re not getting served with it, hop out within a month.

You have an entire month to see what it’s about. So I highly encourage you to check that out. Now, hopefully you’ll come back on Wednesday. I’m telling you, this episode, this meat episode is coming up. It’s big. It’s a big topic, but the expert that we had that we brought in, he breaks it down in such a impactful way, okay?

Where his, it is gonna get real, it’s gonna really show the dark side of human trafficking. But there’s also light. There’s light at the end of the tunnel. That light is what we can do as Christian men to take action. So highly encourage you to listen to that one. Highly encourage you to also check out our community cuz we have a challenge that’s going on right now in the month of June that’s gonna be tied directly to.

This to, to this episode on human trafficking. So if you wanna make a direct impact with the line within us, this is your chance. Anyway, guys, get after it. Have a great day. Hopefully I’ll see you back here on our Wednesday meet episode. So stay strong, get into the word, understand this Micah six, eight, and keep unleashing the lion with them.

Does your men’s group feel stale? Is men’s ministry at your church simply going through the motions? If the answer is yes, the lion within us is ready to give you the kickstart you need to get moving in the right direction. We have a host of topics from marriage, parenting, finances, and leadership that I am delivering myself to help your team start doing the work God has called you to do.

So I’m ready to come serve your groups in person and to get started. Visit Delion within. US slash speaking, that’s the lion within us slash speaking there. You can contact us directly or share the link with your church leadership to get started. Again, that’s the lion within us slash speaking and I look forward to helping others unleash the lion within.