Speaker 1: 1:10

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. All right, fellas, it is your spiritual kickoff time. Let's go so.

Speaker 1: 1:22

Scripture of the week this week is Psalm 23. You guys know that Psalm, right? But we're going to look at just two verses, verses five and six. It says you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows. Surely, your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Beautiful scripture, guys. You guys know this.

Speaker 1: 1:47

Psalm, 23 Psalms is probably one of the most well-known psalms out there. So now, how can we simplify and apply these two little pieces of the Psalm to our life? Well, that's what we're going to attempt to do today. First thing we need to know is where is Psalms? We're not going to take anything for granted. It's just after Job, before Proverbs. Usually, if you just open up your Bible to about halfway, you're going to hit it. You'll be right there at it, right, real close to it. And Psalm 23,. Again, one of the most comforting passages that's out there. I mean, people have Psalm 23, coffee cups and shirts, all that stuff out there.

Speaker 1: 2:26

And these two verses reveal something to us when we start thinking about it. It reveals the declaration of God's extravagant abundance right in the middle of opposition. Okay, we're not talking about passive peace here. We're talking about active provision, particularly when we have enemies present. These enemies would love for us to fall. They just would, because God doesn't remove the enemies first. No, he prepares the table right in front of them. Bro, he's like yo watch this, watch it. In the very space where fear and scarcity would seem natural. Right, god sets out a banquet for a blessing brother. Provision, peace, grace, identity, purpose, all these things are straight from him and the enemy can see it. He can't do anything about it. How awesome is that.

Speaker 1: 3:22

And that anointing part. Like he says, he anoints our heads with oil. That's a symbol for us. Fellas, we're chosen, we're set apart. That's who we are. Fellas, we're chosen, we're set apart. That's who we are.

Speaker 1: 3:34

And that anointing really was marked for a specific purpose as believers. It also kind of points to and signifies the anointing of the Holy Spirit, the very presence of God resting upon us. Right, because we are equipped for the battle ahead, even though we may not feel like it. We are equipped and the awesome part is we ain't fighting alone. We're never alone, no, and he shows us right here how much he loves us because the cup overflows. We ain't talking about barely scraping my boys. It's about more than enough, and this is not just for our comfort. It's meant to spell out and bless other people with it as well. That's a tangible expression of God's abundance of goodness flowing through us. Now we're not talking about prosperity gospel either here, fellas. No, we're talking about recognizing the blessing that comes when we are obedient to God, taking those steps of obedience.

Speaker 1: 4:33

And verse 6 kind of shifts from the present to the future. It says surely goodness and love will follow me Notice that that will. It's not, hopefully. Or if I do things right. It says surely, surely his goodness is actively chasing us down, even with the enemy pursuing us right, coming in from all sides. We're going to be resting in him because his goodness and love is after us Every day. And I'm telling you that's just a salient truth that we need to remember more, because too many of us walk through life acting like we're spiritual orphans. And I'm over it. They're afraid. They're afraid there's not going to be enough or enough provision, or enough favor, or enough grace. I'm saying, bro, do you not realize that there's so much more grace in Jesus than they got sin in you?

Speaker 1: 5:37

At what point are you going to start recognizing that to be true? Because if you believe you're sitting at the king's table, that you have been anointed for this work and your cup is overflowing, what are you complaining about? Let's go so this week, challenge yourself, think about are you living from a place of abundance or fear? Do you recognize the table that God has prepared? Or are you too focused on the enemies that are around? And man, I totally get it, because it's so easy to focus on the enemies, because the enemies are right here.

Speaker 1: 6:11

I got to do something about this. But we have to put our trust somewhere and if you embrace the anointing that God has placed on your life, that's going to change everything. That's going to help you keep from shrinking back into doubt and once you do embrace it, you're going to see evidence in your life of that abundance and it's going to talk about with blessings and encouragement and people are going to be drawn to it right Because you have a seat at the table. You have a table, you have an anointing, you have a promise. It's time to start walking in it and we should live like our cup is overflowing, because it is overflowing, and the quicker we recognize that to be true, the better things are going to be. The quicker we recognize that to be true, the better things are going to be.

Speaker 1: 7:04

Now, look, all these blessings, this anointing, this overflow of love and grace is experienced by the believer who has put their trust in the Lordship of Jesus Christ. And I'm not naive enough to think that everyone who listens to the line within us is a believer. They're at least probably curious. So if you've never, if you can't look back at your life and say this is the defining moment when I surrendered my life to the Lordship of Christ, like, if you don't have that, that stake in the ground, maybe things have just been kind of loosey-goosey. Or I go to church every now and then, or I go with my wife and I'm trying to learn more about it.

Speaker 1: 7:43

Look, bro, you need to know one thing this is such a big deal you wouldn't want to just kind of risk this. You got to get this right. You need to know for sure that Jesus is your Lord and Savior and it starts with just having a good understanding that God loves you, is your Lord and Savior, and it starts with just having a good understanding that God loves you. And God's perfect design. When he created the earth and the world, everything, the universe, everything he had. This perfect design, because he is God, is good, he is love, he is our creator, he is our comforter, he is our redeemer, he's all that. He created it. And when it came down to man, he formed Adam with his hands, which I think is just super cool. Then he breathed the breath of life into Adam, who was the first man. And Adam was face to face with God. And it says we're made in his image. That's pretty doggone awesome, if you ask me. Right, like Adam's made in the image of God. And it went really well in the Bible for like two pages, bro, maybe a page and a half, depending on your type, the size of your fund.

Speaker 1: 8:39

But when sin entered the garden, that fractured your relationship with us and God. Okay, and then Adam and Eve, they were escorted out. And now there's this gap that exists between a holy and righteous God and us as sinners, and that fractured world leads us to chase things like money and sex and drugs and alcohol and all these different status and relationships, and we chase all these things trying to fill this void. But there's just this knowing that, man, there's something missing. There's just something I can't put my finger on, and it's because, outside of a relationship with Christ, nothing on this earth is going to fully and fully satisfy you. It's just not so.

Speaker 1: 9:27

Once we recognize that to be true, okay, what the heck do we do If we can't buy our way into heaven and we can't work our way to heaven, can't help little old ladies cross the street, go to church and pray and all this stuff? Right, we can't do stuff on our own to earn that salvation. How do we do it? Well, you need someone to do it for you, you need a Savior. That's where Jesus comes in, who left heaven on a rescue mission for you and for me, for the entire world.

Speaker 1: 9:57

Born of a virgin, fulfilled all the prophecies, did all the teachings, performed so many miracles and signs and healings and wonders. It just blows you away. Then he paid the ultimate penalty for our sin when he went to the cross and died for us. He paid for your sin and recognize please hear me he was thinking about you. He did it for you and Jesus died. He didn't pass out and faint or go to sleep, no, he died on the cross. Then they took him and they laid him in a tomb. Okay, and the crazy part is he only needed that tomb for a couple days. It's like an Airbnb. You know what tombs are supposed to be forever right? Not with Jesus. He didn't need it very long. It's like an Airbnb. You know what tombs are supposed to be forever right. Not with Jesus. He didn't need it very long. He rose, he overcame death.

Speaker 1: 10:50

Why do you think we don't wear black like we're going to a funeral every weekend? We go to church because we worship a living savior, not some dead guy in a tomb. That's the fundamental difference between Christianity and the rest of these religions out there. Jesus lives Like he lives. That's such a big deal. So now, what do we do with this information?

Speaker 1: 11:16

Because then he ascended to heaven. He's right-handed Father, he's the way, the truth and the life. What do you do with that? Well, you've got to turn from your old ways. It's called repentance. You've got to put your trust in Him and confess Him as Lord and Savior of your life.

Speaker 1: 11:33

And that's the hard part. And here's why it's hard, because to do that you have to recognize you need something. And most guys don't want to think about that. Most of us want to think we got it all figured out or that we are, at least we're in control. And Jesus is saying, and the salvation is saying I'm not in control, he is, I'm going to surrender my control and follow him. And when I do that, the abundant life that he's promised, that he's talked about, the blessings, the grace, the love that's going to be poured out on me and it changes everything about everything. It just does. And if you haven't had that moment in your life where you've surrendered your life to him, I'd encourage you. Today is the day rendered your life to him. I'd encourage you. Today is the day there's lots of false thoughts out there that you have to be that a moment of salvation can only happen in a church building or church service. Nothing gets church Heck. I want you guys to be saved. Salvation can happen anywhere.

Speaker 1: 12:36

If you're right now wrestling with this whole idea, you just heard the gospel. You're like you know what? I've never really done that. I can't look back on my life and definitively say this is when I confessed to him as Lord and Savior that today could be the day. It could be right now, wherever you're at, maybe you're on a treadmill, or maybe you're at work, or maybe you're driving your car, or maybe you're just chilling out, you're waiting for your spouse or something I don't know. Wherever you're at, and you try to kill time. You saw the steak on a line with dinner. What is this junk? You listen to it. You've got this part of the episode, bro, you're here for a reason. There are no coincidences out there.

Speaker 1: 13:24

God's working some things in your life right now, and he's hoping that you're going to take that step of obedience and confess Him as Lord, and I am too. I'm hoping you're going to do it, and what I'm going to at least do for you is give you an invitation to accept Him as Lord and Savior right now, and I'm going to pray with you, and if you feel like this is who you are, this message is speaking to you directly. Let's pray, let's confess him as Lord and Savior and invite him into our life. So, father, just thank you for today we love you so much. And for that one listener who has been struggling, who's been battling, who's been kind of wrestling with you, god, for a long time, I pray you hear their prayer right now. I know that you do and I just pray for the encouragement for that person that you just put people in their life that's going to help them get started on this discipleship journey that you just it's just awesome that you put them on that. And if there's any way that I can encourage him, father, I pray you show that, make that just abundantly clear so I can see that. But you just be with them. Please Give them encouragement, give them hope and just thank you for how much you love us in Jesus' name. Amen, all right, so look, here's the deal.

Speaker 1: 14:35

If you just accept the Christ as your Lord and Savior, what you do, what you as your Lord and Savior, I want you to send me an email at chrisdelanwithinus. I want to get an email from you. We'll give you a bunch of free resources. We have lots of resources guys. I'm going to hook you up with, see if I can get you plugged into a good church. I also just want to give you a virtual high five. Really, just encourage you, pray over. You Try just to be a source of encouragement as you start your discipleship journey. Because here's the thing it's a tough journey, it's not easy, it's not cupcakes, rainbows and butterflies, no, it's war. But I want to come alongside and at least encourage you as you get started.

Speaker 1: 15:13

Okay, so, chris, at the line with thatus, fellas again thinking about are you living from that place of abundance or fear? My prayer is that you are living in abundance, particularly the abundant life that he has called us to. I also would encourage you to come back on our Wednesday episode. We'll have a really fun conversation about throwing rocks. And what does that look like? I promise you, fellas, it was probably a terrible teaser, but it's going to be a fun conversation. You're going to enjoy it.

Speaker 1: 15:39

But head over to thelinewithinus. That's thelinewithinus. We've redesigned so much guys. Really, the primary area that we're trying to help guys with now is the mastermind groups. Those are awesome. That's where we've got. Our process has been completely locked in, based off of several beta groups, and we know what guys are searching for the most and what's helping guys the most. And you may think, man, I'm not a mastermind type of guy Like bro. Yes, you are. The evil wants you to think that you're not, but I am telling you without a shadow of a doubt you are, because we've built this.

Speaker 1: 16:16

We've seen the change, and I'm not talking about this. It's not just for, like, business leaders, ceos, vice presidents, we have those Yep, we had those in the line within us. This is for everybody, because everybody needs to take the leadership role at home, with our children, at work, in our communities, in your health Fells. This is what we do. This is how we help encourage you. So thelionwithinus is how you get started with all that stuff. We have our course, we have our assessments, our Bible plans, all that fun stuff. But again, thelionwithinus is how you get started with it. Okay, all right, guys, have a great one. Come back on Wednesday. Look forward to hanging out with you then and just keep on leashing the lion within. We're making a big change that I think you're really going to enjoy.

Speaker 1: 17:05

I spend a lot of time thinking about our spiritual kickoffs and, honestly, I love doing them each week, so much so we started doing them live, every Monday through Friday inside our exclusive platform, and here's the best part We've decided to give full access, completely free, so now you can join our daily spiritual kickoff space at no cost. Every day, we go live to read the word, to encourage each other and find simple and powerful ways to apply God's truth to our lives. You'll even have the chance to engage with me directly, and if you missed a live stream, don't worry. The videos are posted the same day so you can catch up whenever it works for you. This is exclusive behind-the-scenes content that is not available anywhere else, and now we've removed every excuse. So if you're ready to get started, head over to thelionwithinus and grab your free access today. Let's grow together.