Chris Grainger
Host
00:03
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 Granger. Let’s jump in. Our guy spiritual kickoff time, excited to have you here. So let’s get right into the word. So we’re going to be in the book of 2 Corinthians. Okay, 2 Corinthians, chapter 4, verse 18. So we fix our eyes. Now I don’t know what it seemed or what it’s unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal Love. That verse, fellas. We’re going to unpack that here and see how we can simplify and apply this to our life to help you be the leader God intends you to be.
00:40
Okay, now, first thing we need to know we’re in 2 Corinthians. I know sometimes you get confused, like man. I don’t know where these dog books of the Bible are. Don’t worry, chill out. So just go to your New Testament. Okay, find your New Testament. Usually it’s the notary in your Bible. You know you’ll have that break in the New Testament, usually a couple of pages or one page that says New Testament. So then you have your gospels, you have Matthew, mark, luke and John, then after that you get to Acts, then Romans, and after you pass Romans, you get the 1st and 2nd Corinthians. Okay, so that’s really where you’re going to find us, and we’re not in 1st, we’re in 2nd Corinthians.
01:13
So what’s going on in this letter? Here is a letter that Paul wrote to Corinth. Okay, and you can kind of think of Corinth as like the Las Vegas back in the day. Right, there were a lot of things going on. They did what they wanted to do, they liked it. If it felt good, hey, let’s just do it. Right. And it was full, full of immorality. You know, there’s a reason they say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Right, the same thing was going to Corinth. Maybe they even had shirts that said that. Right, I don’t know, but it may sound familiar to you. And the reason it should, because it hits very close from home.
01:45
Okay, now, this is actually 2 Corinthians, but actually it’s believed that Paul potentially wrote four letters total, and these are just the two that were found. Okay, so, either way, there are tons of wisdom, tons of insight for us here that we can directly apply it to our wall, fellas. So we’ll go back up a verse as we look at this and really think through how we can, can, can apply the previous teachings from Paul to better understand this verse. So what he’s doing before this power minds his readers to not lose heart because our inner man is being renewed day by day. Okay, and then he also flat out says that the outer man is decaying and we don’t like to think about this, but the reality is it exists. Right, it really does.
02:30
Let’s face it the more birthday candles you have on your birthday cake, the more likely that things are starting to get stiff. Right, you got to have more naps. You can feel that physical toll on your body. You know, sometimes you got to have that time all smoothly just to get going. You know, and we just need to understand that our bodies, they’re constantly being worn down. We’re wearing them out. They’re being used to, hopefully, we’re using them to do God’s work, but they’re wearing out.
02:57
Okay, and the same thing was said for Paul, right, and you know, paul felt immense persecution, you know, because he was pointing so many people to the good news of the gospel. He absolutely was getting hammered over and over and over. Right, and we need to remember that. Okay. So when we get to this verse here today, it makes me a kind of immediately puts a little bit more perspective and focus into my wall. Okay, so think about it as believers. I hope lies in something far greater, far, far greater than anything that can be found here on earth. I don’t care if you’re crushing it in your career. I mean, you live in a mansion, you got all the cars you got, you got the girl your dreams. There’s so much more waiting for us, as believers, than any of those things.
03:45
Any of those things, okay, because all that stuff is going on here, fellas, ultimately is you’re chasing happy, you’re chasing happy, and happy is what happiest times, your circumstances, and guess what Circumstances change, right, I don’t care, from houses, cars, money, all the stuff we just talked about, the, even the weather, right, I know, the other day it was raining, this today is the sun shining, and how many times do we let the weather affect our happiness? Right, and we got to remember, man, if the happiest times are circumstances, there’s got to be something else, and it is. It is because I aren’t a what, all the physical things that we’re just been talking about here, that we want to hold, possess, that drove that drives so many decisions that we try to make right, and we want more. We want more. We want more because the world tells us what, whoever has the most tough winds, right? Well, who made that rule up? Is my question. Well, who says whoever, whoever dies with the most tough wins? Well, oh, they still die and they still face eternity.
04:48
And this can bring us so much disappointment, fellas. I’m telling you because the inner day, it doesn’t really matter what what’s under that dog on Christmas tree of ours. No, what matters is the relationship with those that are around that far surpasses what you have underneath it. And Paul is teaching them right here in this, in this verse, to get our eyes off of the shiny and temporary things Right that drive us and put our eyes on something of more significant value. Think about that for a second. If we let our actions be driven with the Holy Spirit reveals to us, okay, if we actually let that and we make a commitment to every day, chase him, chase Jesus, then we can find that joy right here on earth today, whatever day you’re listening to this, you can find that joy. And a cool part about joy it’s not tied to your circumstances. It doesn’t matter about what’s going on around you, okay, it’s tied to your relationship we have with your heavenly father. That’s what truly matters Right now. I’ve got chooses to bless you financially and I hope that he does. Great if he. If he chooses to bless you with good health, great if he chooses to bless you with a Wonderful family and a bunch of growing kids and all this abundance around you, that is wonderful, wonderful, but we didn’t. You got your member. All those blessings are temporary nature. They just are. They really are.
06:21
We has to focus on the items that he desires, like building those relationships with others, and do it all we can do to share the good news of the gospel With as many people as possible, because we have to bring as many people to heaven with us. Fellas, that’s our call, that’s the great commission. We have to go, therefore, and share with others and point them to the Lord. Jesus Right, and if we align our actions with his directives and focus on the eternal impact the eternal impact, not the temporary you could directly right here, fellas, today, I Start being obedient with your actions. And from there, that’s when you start unleashing the loud end. You hear me talk about it all the time unleashed the loud end. What does that mean? That means bringing more and more people to the goodness of the gospel by sharing what Jesus Christ has done through you right now. Right now, fellas.
07:16
So we don’t fix our eyes on what’s seen it’s not about what we see right here but on what’s unseen our relationship with our Savior. Because I’m telling you, the temporary stuff that’s gonna fade, that’s gonna go away, that’s gonna rust, that’s gonna decay, but the unseen, the unseen that’s eternal. That’s what I care about and that’s what I want you to focus on and hopefully, prayerfully, the Holy Spirit speaking to you right now to let go of those temporary things that are holding you down. And chasing the fancy, chasing the shiny Remember old fish hook analogy you guys hear me talk about this in the past. That fish hook looks really good, it’s shiny, it’s sparkly. A lot of these things make a lot of noise and it’s so irresistible to that fish and man. I’m sure it feels so good in that moment to take that bite of that fish hook until that fish finds out there’s a hook in it. And that’s what we have to be careful of. There’s so many things in this world that look great, look enticing, and when we take that bite we find that there’s a hook there. So just don’t chase, the temporary Focus on the eternal and then lean into that and at least allow it.
08:26
Then, all right now, I want you to think about this question this week. Here’s your question this week what holds eternal significance versus mere passing moments? Think about that, the eternal significance in your life. What holds that Versus just the stuff, our circumstances that pass, that change to go up, to go down? You know you can have good things that happen, but you’re gonna have bad things that happen too. It’s just reality. So think about that.
08:54
Okay, now for you guys out there who have never put your trust or surrender your life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, you have an opportunity. Your opportunity is today is to say you know what I’ve been trying to do, this thing called life my way, and it’s not working. Maybe you’re hurting, maybe you’re tired, maybe you’re just tired of chasing, you’re tired of running, and if that’s the case, you’ve never submitted to the Lordship of Jesus. I’m gonna give you a chance to do that today, but you need to know, if you think you need to know, what you’re doing right, understand what you are submitting to.
09:30
And it starts off with admission. You have to admit that you’re a sinner. You’re not a mistake or need of a life coach. No, you’re also not a cupcake. That’s no flak or a skittle. No, you’re a sinner and need of a savior. That’s it. And a sin is anything that separates us from God. And there’s nothing that you can do, fellas, nothing you can do that can build that bridge between sin and God on our own. So you can’t help thousand old ladies across the road. You can’t give to all these charities that do great things. You can’t just good way, nice, your way into it Doesn’t work that way. Now should you still help old ladies and give to charity? Absolutely okay. But so far it’s your salvation. That’s something you can’t earn. You can’t earn it. So that’s the first thing, is that admission?
10:15
Then you have to believe that you truly believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Not that he’s some cool teacher or rabbi or miracle worker. Nope, jesus is the Son of God. Now you have to actually believe that. You can’t just say the words, you have to believe that in your heart. And when he came down from heaven and took on a flesh and walked with us and taught us and gave us all these parables and these teachings, and obviously he performed the miracles and the signs, but ultimately, when he went to Calvary and was crucified for us, that when he pushed up on his nail pierced feet, he was thinking about you. He loved you, right then, right there. And when they put him to death and his blood ran, that blood ran for you. And that covers all the sins, that all the sins of the world were paid for when God’s Son was sacrificed. Then, three days after that that was three days he rose, he overcame death and right now that he ascended to heaven, he’s sitting right at the right hand of the Father.
11:19
And, guys, you have to believe in your heart that Jesus is the Son of God. Then what do you have to do? We just got confessed to the Lord. That’s simple. At that point, once you admit you’re a sinner and you believe that he is the Son of God, you confess him as Lord. And once you confess to this Lord, guys, ah, the Holy Spirit comes and it adheres to you. We call it the lion within. It’s right there and you’re at that moment. You are ready to go out and do the work that he has called you to do. The blinders are off, the battle is on, but you’re not alone, fellas. So, if you’re ready to accept Jesus as your Lord savior, today is your day. Let’s pray together, so follow. Just thank you right now.
12:00
For whoever’s listening, I just pray blessings for them. I pray that, lord, that they understand that they are a center and need of a savior, they understand that you are the Son of God and they wanna confess you as Lord over their life right now, god. So I just pray peace over that person who’s listening right now, who is confessing you as their savior. I pray you guide and direct them, that you give them wisdom and discernment. I pray you just touch them in a way that they can feel your presence. God, I pray you put people in their path. That will help them, that will guide them, that will direct them, that will keep them headed towards you. I pray you open doors that need to be open for them, shut the ones that need to be shut and just give them that special anointing to get out. Do what you call them do. We pray all this according to your will in Jesus name, amen. All right, so if you just accept the Christ as your savior, hallelujah, welcome to the team.
12:54
I’m good to have you here. Here’s what I want you to do. I want you to send me an email support at thelionwithanus. Now. Why do I want you to send me an email? Because I want to send you some stuff. First of all, I want to give you a virtual this month, maybe. Get on a phone call, get you charged up, hear how God is moving in your life right now. But I also want to give you some free resources. I want to hook you up with some verses that you need to know. I got a Bible study. I want to give you there’s things I want to make sure that I give it your hands that start equipping you to do the work, because I’m telling you, the most on fire, people out there are brand new Christians and too often, brand new Christians are not prepared or not equipped and people are not pouring into them enough to help them get equipped to go out and do that work. I want to give it to you. I want to hook you up, get you ready. So, yeah, support at thelionwithanus. It’s a great way to connect with us there.
13:45
Okay, now, if you enjoy the spiritual kickoffs, I’m encouraging you to join our daily spiritual kickoff. That’s a great way to support the lion withanus, the things that we’re doing every day, monday through Friday, I go live, we read God’s word, reveal what the Holy Spirit says is showing me and also get to engage with the guys directly. So it’s like a live chat environment where you can connect with me, you can ask questions one-on-one. If you can’t make the lives for that day, don’t worry about it. We post the recordings in the community as well and that’s all part of that daily spiritual kickoff. So you’ll have links in the show notes for that. For those that are interested, we have the community rock and roll and all the fun events that are happening there. So I highly encourage you guys to check out the community. There literally is something happening almost every day of the week or so. Then the community, not to mention the community itself the guys are coming together to be able to connect, have conversations, engagement fellows you are missing out if you have not joined that and then our leadership coalition program for you business leaders out there. We wanna start actually taking God’s word and applying it to your work to be able to be the leaders that he’s called you to be while you’re actually at work. So it’s not just a Sunday thing. Go check out the lion within that us slash leadership. That’s where you’re gonna find all the information there. Okay, so check that out.
15:03
Come back for a Wednesday episode. I’m telling this episode of Wednesday. This guy’s on fire, he is fired up, he’s charged up, he’s got an amazing story and he is gonna have you ignited. I’m gonna. That’s your little tip. So if you can figure out who it is between here and Wednesday, send me an email. I’ll let you know if you got it right. But, trust me, this is not gonna be one that you wanna miss. All right, so give us a rating, write a review. All that stuff matters. Fellas, be sure to share this stuff out. That helps more than anything. And looking forward to seeing you back on Wednesday for this beat up. So it’s gonna be a fun one. So have a great day. Do remember to second Corinthians. Okay, go practice this verse and then make sure that you focus on the eternal, not the temporary. All right, get after it. Keep unleashing the lion within.
15:50
Are you enjoying the weekly spiritual kickoff? If so, we are now offering a way to participate in our live daily spiritual kickoffs that happen Monday through Friday in our community. This is your chance to chat with me directly and other members of our community to dive into scripture and to leave with practical ways to simplify and apply God’s word to your daily walk. And here’s the best part you get all of this for just $5 a month. So, for what most people pay for a breakfast meal, you can join us on this journey of spiritual growth and leadership which will always lead you full. Our community is dedicated to supporting each other and pushing forward in our faith. Come join me in the lion’s den and become the leader God intends you to be. Sign up now at the lionwithinus and let’s start this journey together. Remember, it’s only $5 a month for this amazing opportunity. So visit the lionwithinus so you don’t miss out.