Man up...be who you are in Christ

‘Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like minded, having the same love, being one in Spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own self interest but each of you to the interest of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus”  -  Philippians 2:1-5

Now that we know who we are in Christ, (see blog #5) we as men, husbands and fathers need to BE who we are in Christ. As Paul points out to the Philippians above, if we truly believe that we are friends, heirs and accepted and united with Christ, then we need to be like minded in Christ. Now Paul is speaking to the church and fellow believers here but it can also help us to realize that everything you do as the leader of your family, the Man of the household, you need to do without selfish ambition or vanity. You must humbly value your wife, and yes even your kids, above yourself. No matter what “feels good”, “looks good” or “sounds good” you must look out for the interest of your loved ones over your own.

Yes, I know you work hard, yes, I know you may feel like your missing out on something, and yes I know you’ve sacrificed; but if we are one with Christ, if we have the Spirit living inside of us so that “We can understand what God has freely given us.” (1 Corinthians 2:12) then we need to live up to what we’ve already attained by not only realizing that we need to be like Christ but realize once and for all that you ARE like Christ.

BE who you are guys, humble yourselves like Jesus did, put your family ahead of what you think you deserve and love them almost as much as you love Him. I think it’s the least you can do for a God that has done so much for you. (Philippians 2:6-8)

A homework assignment...

John 1:12 – John 15:15 – Romans 8:17 – Romans 15:7 – 1 Corinthians 3:16 & 6:19 – 1 Corinthians 6:17 – 2 Corinthians 5:17 – Galatians 4:7 – Galatians 5:1 – Ephesians 1:3 – Ephesians 1:4 – Ephesians 1:7 – Ephesians 1:13 – Ephesians 4:24 – Philippians 3:20 – Colossians 2:10 – Colossians 3:4 – Colossians 3:12 – 1 Thessalonians 1:4…

Okay, time for some homework..but this is homework that is going to make you feel really good..homework that is going to remind you, no matter how hard it gets this week, who God says that you are. This is going to be an exercise that affirms your identity in Christ..or easier said.. this is an opportunity to really understand how awesome it is to be called a believer in Jesus Christ.

See all you gotta do is take 10 minutes out of your busy day and look up each of these verses listed above (thanks to Kenneth Boa on Bible.org). and read them..That’s it..that’s the assignment. Now when you do so, be prepared to be reminded of the incredible truths, from Scripture, about who you are in Christ.

Oh, and just in case you don’t have the time right this minute, here’s a cliff notes version…you are a child of God, a friend of Jesus, an heir with Christ, you’ve been accepted by Christ, you are a new creature in Christ, you have been set free, blessed, forgiven, sealed with the Holy Spirit, made complete AND holy, beloved and chosen..WOW!! Remember that guys..remember that fathers.. remember that “head of the households”..No matter what, you are all of the above and more when you walk with the One and Only..when you put Him first in your family and in your own life.

Now get cracking on that homework and be blown away at who you are because of what He has done.

A Mixed Up Crazy Day

“Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval”

John 6:27

Right after Jesus amazes everyone by feeding 5,000+ people with five of loaves of bread and a couple of fish, the Savior of the World says these words in John 6:27. What truly is amazing is how these words were placed in my heart one crazy, mixed up day at work. You know the kind of day I’m talking about..nothing is going right, boss is yelling, orders aren’t being filled. Just when I thought I couldn’t take it anymore I grab the Book, open randomly to page 971 and these 34 words hit me over the head like a ton of bricks. See it’s one thing for you to know that I actually labor for a “food” company and have for 21 years but it’s a whole other thing that these words would be right there reminding me of what really matters..(my salvation and unending realization that I belong to Him no matter what.).just when I needed it most. Our God is truly (stop me if you’ve heard this before) amazing!!! 

Okay you ask..what else?..well how about the fact that in this scripture it reminds each of us not only that we should be working for the eternity that awaits us but also that the Son of Man has simply GIVEN it to us..yeah..that’s right. just flat out given us the right to be called His children and an opportunity to be with Him someday in heaven forever. We certainly don’t do a thing to deserve it..in fact I would argue that I spend more time deserving a lifetime away from Him..but that doesn’t matter to our King. He simply loves us so much and desires a relationship with us so much that He was willing to die for you and me and then give us eternal life..no strings attached..Now you have to accept that gift by answering His call but to me that’s pretty easy..a whole lot easier than the boss’s yelling..orders not being filled.. etc…Men, Fathers, Sons..don’t just work for food that spoils..work for Him and the everlasting life He has for you and your family..

A Downpayment...

“Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come”

2 Corinthians 5:5

I’ve been hanging out a lot, as you can tell, in Paul’s two letters to the Church in Corinth. It’s interesting how He places things in front of you when you are charged with a task.

In 2 Corinthians 5:1-10, Paul is reminding us of all that we have to look forward to even when things in this world seem hopeless or at the very least, “less than appealing”. What’s really cool according to Paul is that God guarantees each of us, who believe in Him, awesome things to come in heaven by giving us a down payment..a deposit of the Holy Sprit. The very Spirit that came upon the first church at Pentecost and the very Spirit that is guiding each of us right now so that we desire to do the things that His Word calls us to do.

I mean think about verse 5 for a moment…God loves us so much that He sends His one and only Son down onto this Earth, to teach and to reach and then die, so that we can be in Heaven someday forever and THEN.. comes back to life to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt who He is and THEN.. gives us His Sprit as a down payment to the unbelievable eternal life in Heaven that awaits us…Wow!! Where on earth do I sign up for that??!! What on Earth would you want more for your kids than that???!!

Listen guys, Never stop praying, never stop reading His Word, never stop teaching your kids about who Jesus is, what He’s done and what is in store for them when they believe. Be as excited for that deposit..as excited for that guarantee as you would be for a Straight A in Math or the winning goal in what ever sport they may play..Be the Dad that shares “what is to come”….

What a gift!

What we have received is not the Spirit of the world, but the Sprit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us

1 Corinthians 2:12

The person with the Sprit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments for “who has the mind of the Lord so as to instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.

1 Corinthians 2:15-16

WOW!! What a gift. A gift of the Holy Spirit placed into each and every one of us who believe (Romans 10:9). But also, what an incredible responsibility, especially for us as men, as husbands to our wives, as fathers to our children and leaders of our families. Paul reminds us that we have received, not the Spirit of this world and all the selfishness that goes with it but the Spirit who is from God. The Spirit that was given to each of us who believe so we can live our lives in such a way that will bring Glory to His name and to lead our families in a way that can be a bright light to those who are living for the world. But how?? How can I continue to do what His Word says when there is so much temptation, so much greed, so much envy in this world?? It begins by praying. Praying that this Spirit that our God has so generously poured into you, is a spirit that will continue to instruct, lead and fill you with the incomparable understanding that we have the mind of Christ. A mind that will discern what you know to be true in your heart and that will allow all of us, as men, to put God first in all we do everyday..to be the one who recognizes and then shares with those we love, what God has freely given us.

Step up and share what He has freely given you!

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 

Be the Man of the House God Calls You to Be

“Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 1 Corinthians 1:20

It’s still hard to believe that there was a time in my life that I didn’t care one bit about who God was. How there was a time in my life that no matter what happened I actually thought I was in total control and nothing but ME mattered. I remember my wife telling me early in our marriage that we really should be ready to raise our kids with the understanding that God is first and foremost and that there is absolutely, positively nothing that can ever change His love for us or our kids..of course back then I fought it and said NO WAY!! “We are going to raise our kids the way I say we’re gonna raise our kids! After all I’m “the Man of the House”!!. I’m in charge!!”

Funny how God works. I mean how could I have ever thought that the Creator of all things, the Savior of each and every one of us, the one who loves us so much that He would sacrifice himself so we can be in a relationship with Him now and forever.. how could I ever think I could compete with that?

Well you know what? I praise him everyday for “hittin’me” over the head and helping me to understand that I could never compete with that..I praise Him everyday for making it so clear that He was in charge and that we were going to live His way and raise our kids in the only way that His Word implores us too.

See I thought I had it all figured out until I finally realized and decided to put God first in my life by choosing Him..and more than anything else I pray and have faith that my kids will follow His lead through me and put Him first in all they do.

If you haven’t thought about that, I encourage you to pray about it right now..to pray that you become the “Man of the House” that He has called you to be..Put God first in your family, step up and let everyone know who is in charge.

Why blog on these topics?

This blog is for men by men that are also dads and in a nutshell offers perspectives on parenting, marriage and living godly lives.  There have been a lot of books written on these subjects.  Google search parenting books and the results say about 128,000,000!  Marriage books about 240,000,000! Living godly lives about 10,400,000!  That's a lot of books and more and more continue to be written so why a blog?  Thing is, most of the books I've read on these topics are good in theory but in practice they don't help much.  Why?  I believe it's because the answers simply are not found in these books.  I'm not discrediting all books on these subjects, some are great and give some great and godly advice.  However, the best and first place we should be looking for answers and advice on how to parent, how to have a great marriage and how to live a godly life is the Bible.  God's very own words to us about everything.  I pray this blog helps you gain a better Biblical perspective on how to parent, be a great husband and how to live a more godly life.  How we plan to do that is by looking at Bible passages and talking about how we men put it into practice in our own lives.  


Tomorrow's blog is a general overview of parenting and how the Bible tells us way more about it than most of us realize!