BetterMan Core: Lesson 7

Well, welcome to session seven, A Real Man Courageously Follows God's Word. Guys, we're well over halfway now into our journey, and we're actually building out that definition, man, where the rubber hits the road of what it means to live out the things we're learning, those four life-giving responsibilities. Now, let me review a little bit. We defined last week a vibrant faith from the good life, that a vibrant faith begins with God's mercy, that it comes alive when we believe in the finished work of Jesus Christ and are born again. We talked about what happens inside of that faith transaction, that you don't sign up for a club, or you don't get a membership card, that the moment you put faith in Jesus is a decision that you're going to follow Him for the rest of your life, and God's life enters a man. I think the key marker of that whole conversation last week is that you're truly born again, that the life of God comes to take resonance in you, that there's more to you than merely a man, meaning that God's starting to empower and permeate every part of your life. We talked about that it joins us to a living hope that Jesus isn't merely some religious figure. He's not a relic, but He is a real God that we get to know in real life, that He's someone that we can have intimacy with, relationship with, that the more God's life permeates our everyday life, it's going to change and empower everything about us. It assures us of life in heaven, somebody say, amen, that we're going to live forever in heaven with Him, because heaven is ultimately being with God, our Father, forever. It promises us eternal security, gives us peace, gives us hope. The truth is, men, when a man's eternity is secure, he can enjoy the ride. He can enjoy what lies ahead. I remember coming to faith and reading the Bible, and I thought, man, these dudes are fearless, man. When I first read the scripture, I was blown away by the amount of passion and tenacity, man. They were ready to go bear hunting with a switch.

They were scared of nothing, because their eternity was secure. Here's the truth, men. When death isn't something to be feared, life is something to be enjoyed. It's something to set in motion a tenacity and a fearlessness in life. Every man's spiritual journey is different, but I have found that we share similar seasons. I want to give you a frame up, and you can decide where you are in your spiritual journey. There's spiritual seasons of a man's life. The first is the winter, the winter, a season of struggle. That season of a man's life is when he's wrestling with the big questions. Is there life after death? Is this all there is to life? This is when they ask the question of man. I remember asking these questions as a 19-year-old. Is there a God, and can you really know Him? Or is that just some weak man's crutch? Is the Bible actually true? In the winter season, men, in the dark and in the coldness of it, they'll wrestle through these things. Did Jesus really rise from the dead? Is the resurrection believable? Is Jesus the only way to God? Is there multiple paths, or is there one? Does God actually care or think about me? The question in that winter season means, what does it mean to go to heaven, and how do you get there? How serious should I be about spiritual things, and where do I start? Why am I here? I've talked to innumerable men. What purpose is there for me on this planet? That's that winter season.

Maybe some of you are still there. You're struggling. You're wrestling. Man, listen, if you're wrestling, we're so glad you're on the journey with us through Better Man. Just don't stop now. Keep asking good questions, because there are good answers. Do it in the midst of people that have wisdom that you don't quite have yet. That season, the winter moves to the spring. That's the season of surrender. That's when you're establishing a new life with a growing faith. That's when the spiritual world comes alive. Maybe that just happened for you recently, where you, I'm telling you, your eyes were open to a God that loves you. His Son for you and that you came to believe and you are born again and you are made alive. That's the springtime when things bud and begin to bear fruit. Maybe in that you're starting to experience God's presence personally. I mean you're walking with God in His Word and you're reading the Scripture and now all of a sudden it actually makes some sense to you. Maybe you're praying some prayers and God's answering and you're seeing His power displayed in your lives. Maybe your life's beginning to change for the better. Maybe you're starting to think differently. Maybe you're starting to love differently. Maybe you got new values. I remember my whole world had to be reoriented. I was learning the ways of the kingdom of God. The ways to live for things that have life and will matter forever. I swear it's 2nd Corinthians 5 17 says if any man is in Christ he's a new creature. The old things have passed away behold the new things have come. So you have the season of winter that men struggle wrestle through coming to discern what they might believe and then you have that season of spring where things come alive and then there's the summertime. In a man's life that could be the season of significance.

That's we're making some bold changes and special contributions. That's when a man flips the script and sees what it means to truly live a life that can make a difference. You start serving others more and more. That it's not about you anymore. It's about the glory of God. It's about the good of other people. Maybe you start generously giving your money to kingdom purposes. You're not trying to hold on to. You're trying to invest in. You're free from the love of money. You're focused on things that'll matter a million years from now. Maybe you start leading in your church and you start serving in ministry and man you're one of those people that the pastor can identify somebody that's in their corner and is believing for kingdom purposes. Maybe you're starting to be a mentor and a disciple maker. You're not only a man on fire for God you're helping other men's get close to the flame. Maybe you start giving more time to the work of the kingdom non-profit like kind of work. You're one of those first Timothy 618 kind of men. You're doing good. You're be rich in good works. You're be generous and ready to share. That's the summertime man and I I long to see more and more men being used of God in the summertime making a significant contribution to the work of the kingdom. There's also the fall man that's the season of satisfaction. That's if God willing you live a long life that you finish well and you get to look back and encourage and support the next generation of leaders. I'm thinking about men in our church family now that have mentored and mentored young men and had taken Sunday school classes of high school age kids and just kept cycling through for decades and decades and they're gonna get soon to the end of their life and realize that they've made the most significant contribution to the kingdom and in that they're receiving the good reward of saying that they had a part in raising up real men. Maybe you're making some strategic final investments in the kingdom and you're for your family and you're reminiscing in that last season. I hope the Lord willing unless Jesus comes back I get to the end of my life and I get to look back over God's goodness and faithfulness and what he's formed in my own family and let me be a part of in the family of God. I remember when Paul

wrote this in 2nd Timothy 4 verses 6 and 7 he said, I'm almost used up. The time of my departure is close. What a statement. I have fought the good fight. I've kept the faith and in the future I have God and his reward. Don't you want that? To get to the end of your life if it comes soon or if it comes later. To get to the end of your life and say, man I lived for what mattered. I fought the good fight. I lived for the faith. I made contributions here on earth. You can't skip seasons. So if you're in the winter before you can get to the fall you got to have the spring or you surrender. You got to learn how to live in the summertime where you make significant investments in the kingdom of God. Here's three observations about those four spiritual seasons. No one can move you through these spiritual seasons except you. The journey from one spiritual season to the next is deeply personal. It's a heart journey that only God can join you in. You get to do a lot of things amidst others in the faith family and other men but only you and your relationship with God can walk through each of these seasons. and keep progressing. The church can't move a man through these seasons. They can help. A spouse can't. They can encourage. Life is great to have good guides and a road map, but you still got to get in the car and go on the ride. As it pertains to a personal relationship with God, no one can make decisions about your next right step but you. And I just want to look you in the eyes and say, men, no matter where you are, what season, there's always more. There's always more in your relationship with God. Let's keep moving. Let's keep getting to know Him more and more for a number of reasons. Some men never leave the season of struggle. Others will return to it from time to time. They stay skeptics. Can I let you on a secret? Listen, if you find yourself in that season of struggle and you're a skeptic, our God is not afraid of your questions. He's been doing this a long time. He's met a lot of different people with a lot of different questions, and while you are uniquely you, and you probably share some similar skepticism, the skepticism that others that went on the journey actually found answers to. As I've told many skeptics before having the privilege of walking with them, I don't mind you having questions. I just hope that you won't be lazy in your pursuit. Meaning, don't just make a decision without coming face to face with some of the acknowledgments of who Christ is and His kingdom and some of the things that you can go on the journey and find to be true for yourself. I've told skeptics before, if I'm wrong, if I'm

wrong, then at the end of this, I'm wonder. But if you're wrong, you're in a lot of trouble. So at least keep moving. The skeptic never goes all in. Their indecision is a decision around faith. Dabbling isn't a decision as it pertains to the spiritual life. You have to make a decision. Are you willing to keep moving? Boys merely believe men come to follow. I say that to those that are just merely churchgoers. You're like, oh yeah, I believe. Well, have you moved beyond just a merely an acknowledgment of to an all-in pursuit of God? Successfully moving through each of these seasons requires two essentials. Two essentials. If you're going to keep moving through these seasons, teaming up with other men. We keep coming back. This is a core truth in the Bible, but also in the Better Man Journey. Teaming up with other men to share life together and grow spiritually. Again, as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. That if you're going to keep growing and keep moving in your spiritual seasons, you're going to need other men. You're also going to need private time engaging God in His Word. Reading or learning how to listen to His Word. What the heart most needs is a real engaging relationship with God on a heart level. And one of the primary ways for you to have that is through the scripture. Psalm 119 verses 10 and verse 18 says, With all my heart I have sought you. Open my eyes that I may behold wonderful things from your law. Here's the psalmist saying, man, with all my heart I pursued you. And to do that, I need my eyes open to see you in the scripture. So let me give you some practical moves for teaming up with other men and how to walk into God's Word, man, to make your relationship with God real in an everyday way. If you're a new believer, and I mean new as in recent, or new as you're finally serious, you're finally serious about your faith, why not seek out some more established believers to meet with together to formulate a spiritual life growth plan that works for you? It's key to a spiritual start having some other people that are just a few years down the road to follow. Man, I came to Cross on a Sunday, 19 years old. And on Thursday, I met with two men, that baseball coach and the guy that was a staff member at the church I came to Cross. I met with them that Thursday. The Thursday after that Sunday at 6 a.m. at Shawnee's. I don't know where you are, and if you know what a Shawnee's is. But back in the day, that was a breakfast buffet place. And when I come to Cross, man, you could still smoke in restaurants. And so there's people in there smoking at a breakfast buffet. So you was dying from smoke inhalation and from the food you're eating. But we made our way to a boost in the back. And listen, man, for the next two years, I met with those men on Friday.

Thursday mornings, and we opened God's Word together, and we beheld wonderful things in His law. And it expedited my spiritual growth in a way that nothing else could have. Other men, in His Word, in passionate pursuit of Him, Proverbs 13 20 says, He who walks with the wise will be wise. I want to encourage you guys, learn how to master the basics with the help of a mentor or a small group. Realize that if you're new to the faith, you're longing for spiritual truth. First Peter 2 2 says, Like newborn babies long for pure milk of the Word, so that by you may grow and respect your salvation. That you're, listen to me, you're longing for more. You're longing for Him. Remember of our story, Katie and I, we have five kids, but two of them, they're twins. And people ask me all the time, what's twins like? I was like, man, it's like two babies. It was all out all the time. But let me tell you what, we never had to teach our twins how to teach that. We never had to teach them to cry for nourishment, cry for milk, because it just comes natural. I'll tell you something about you spiritually. When you came to know Christ, you were longing for spiritual truth, for milk, and that's found in God's Word. You can't skip the basics and become the man of God you're intended to be. I was a baseball coach for a while, and one of the things is no matter what, you got to go back to the basics. That Major League Baseball, when they go to spring training and report a guy that makes tens of millions of dollars each year for playing baseball and hit 30 plus home runs, you know the first thing he does? He sets a tee out, puts a ball on it, and he'll hit 100 baseballs off a tee, and he'll do that every day. Because no matter how advanced you get, you'll always come back to the basics.

Guys, listen to me, there's nothing like going back to God's Word and learning how to fall in love with Him through it. How to, and listen to me, find some online resources, find some others that can counsel you in how to approach God and His Word. I'm going to tell you more about that in a minute. Proverbs 11, 14, where there's no guidance to people fall, but in the abundance of counselors, there is victory. If you're a seasoned believer, just spoke to the new believer. If you're a seasoned believer, cultivate some spiritually solid men friends to do life with. Interact over the Bible and great Christian resources. Push one another to grow as men and pursue spiritual adventures together. Go out there and see things happen in your community. Seasoned believers are oftentimes way too bored. Find some younger men to invest in. Find some needs in your community and be a part of the answer to it. One of the things that I long to do every year is to get outside of our country into the nations and to see our God at work. To get on the front lines of the advancement of God's kingdom globally and then to come back and to apply those same truths locally. When I came to know Christ, I felt like I came to know Christ, started being discipled and got a passport and was blessed to go and see that our God is advancing His story, that Jesus is being made known everywhere. Get in on the adventure. If you're a seasoned believer, if you're bored, it's not the Christianity you'll find in the scriptures. Invest yourself into the lives of younger men. Find some ways to make an impact. 2 Timothy 2 says, these things that you heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. You guys, you're never going to arrive in your faith, but if you're striving to walk

with Him, you have something to give to others. Let me give you some practical moves for establishing a private time with God. I gave you some landscape for your teaming up with others. Let me help you know how to tether and connect to the divine, who is Jesus. One thing I know is that godly men are not accidents. They're not freaks of nature. I found this, that men of God that have tarried in the presence of God are those that bring about change in the world. You can never underestimate the cumulative work of God in someone's life. Men of God are shaped, I'll say it again, in the presence of God. They've learned how to be with Him. They've learned how to meet with God, and there's no shortcuts to that, but there are proven paths. Jeremiah 29 13 says, you will seek me and you will find me. When you search for me, you will find me. for me with all your heart. I want to encourage you guys, listen, set a regular time and place for your meeting with God. The ultimate man, Jesus, would often rise before dawn to meet with his Father in heaven. If God in skin gave time every day to meet with God his Father, how much more so do we as humanity need to give time? I remember I was going to officiate the wedding for a guy. And he was marrying this awesome young lady who had a godly dad. And he was intimidated by the thought of now becoming the spiritual leader of this dad, this dad who had raised all these godly daughters. And he's marrying one of them.

And he's intimidated by that thought. And then he came to me one day even more intimidated after this happened. He was going to pick her up early one morning. They were driving out of state to do something and come back that day. But he got there like 5 AM. And he'd always wondered about in the office of his soon to be spouse's dad, there was this leather chair that had this wore out place. And it was weirdly positioned in the seat cushion. It was like in the lower back. And he's like, why is that place wore out? Is it just a cheap chair? Why is it like that? Until he went to pick her up early that morning. And she'd opened the front door so he could come in, help her get stuff and leave. And he walked by his soon to be father-in-law's office. And he saw one light on. And he saw that man, her dad, knelt down. And he was a bald headed guy. And he's knelt down. And he's leaned in. And the bald part of his head is in the small of that leather chair. And his bald head over time had wore a spot out in the leather. And he looked at me. He said, dude, I'm about to marry his daughter and be her spiritual leader.

And this guy has wore leather out praying for his family. He said, what am I supposed to do with that? And this is my response. I said, well, you better get you a chair. You better get you a place that you meet with God every day to be the kind of man that when your future children come by, they know where to find their dad with their God. You can be that kind of man. Another helpful tip in your relationship with God is have a good study Bible, pen, even a yellow highlighter. Man, you need to find your way to engage God in His word. Having the right resources is one of the best ways to get practically in position to experience God's presence. Me, I remember my first New Living Translation study Bible. I wore that thing out from front to finish because everything was new. And I was learning how to meet with God in a real way. And it had some helpful things that highlighted it. One of the greatest gifts I've ever received on this planet was my great grandmother's Bible. She gave it to me right before she died. She was the first believer in my family that I really knew that loved Jesus. She gave me her Bible not months before she died. She said, I want you to have this. She said, but I just want you to know, baby, it's got markings all in it. And they used to say we shouldn't do that, but I just couldn't help it. She couldn't help it because she was meeting with Him.

It's one of the most precious things I have. Have that for future generations in your family. Once you get there, so He's gotten you a time, He got you a place, He got you good resources. Now that you're there, hear me now, welcome God in. Maybe start with a good morning, God. Start with acknowledging the presence of God. That you're not merely having an informational meeting. Listen to me, you're having an intimate meeting with the God of the universe. Make it a relational time. Honestly tell God where you're at in that moment. Practice being in His presence. See Him there with you. When you get there, practice these three R's. So you've got you a good place, you got you a good time, you got you good study resources. You've welcomed God in, His presence. And then once you get there, open the scripture and read. For many, one of the most spiritual decisions you can make is a practical Bible reading plan. I'm a one-year Bible guy. Maybe that doesn't work for you, it works great for me. Maybe you're, you gotta know, maybe you'll be a book of the Bible kind of a guy. Maybe you need devotional, whatever way it is, know it for you and then stay true to it. Read, once you read, also react to it. You've opened the scripture, you're reading it. When God is speaking to you,

listen to me, this is not what God just said, this is what God is still saying. If you wanna hear God's voice, read verses, God is speaking to you. Respond. As you see it, highlight it. Write some things in the margin. Have you a good journal. Don't be shocked when God shows up and speaks in the scripture. Put question marks beside things that you can ask a trusted friend to seek out answers later. And once you got through that section that you're reading, reflect. Reflect on what God's saying to you and what this might mean for you in your life. Slow down enough to be with God relationally. And then the last thing I'd encourage you to do, pray. Pray and commit your day to Him. I know that prayer is intimidating to most men, but prayer is at its best when it's relational at its core. He just wants you to meet with Him. Talk to Him. You've heard from Him. Now talk to Him. Respond. Man, listen to me. This can play out in 15 minutes, play out in 30 minutes, and play out at multiple times in a day. It's not about that. I want to encourage you with this though. Why would we not give God our best 30 minutes every day? If that's the morning time, if that's lunch time, if that's not time with you, that you set the time and the place and you give God your best 30. Whatever it might look like, maybe the first thing is give Him your best 10 and let it grow from there. Matthew 6 verses 9-13 teaches us about prayer. My Father who is in heaven, I honor your holy name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give me this day my daily bread. Forgive me my sins as I forgive those who sin against me. Lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from evil. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen. When they asked Jesus how to pray, He didn't give them a specific prayer. He gave them a model prayer to engage the holiness of God and engage our need for God daily to engage the desire to see the kingdom of God come. If you don't know quite how to pray yet, take that model and make it your own. So men, I want to encourage you to be the kind of man that learns how to courageously follow God's word, to learn how to fall in love and live in a relationship with a real God that can really change you and do it with some other men. Take some time at your table now to walk through these and identify what spiritual season you're in and steps you can take and keep moving with us. We're getting

closer and closer, man, of walking out this full definition and we look forward to being with you next week.