The Lion Within Us - Leadership for Christian Men 

539. Jeremiah 20:9 - Spiritual Kick Off

Chris Grainger

Have you ever felt God's truth burning so intensely inside you that keeping silent became more painful than speaking up? True leadership isn't about external accomplishments but begins when God ignites something within your heart that transforms everything about you.

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Chris Grainger:

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 Grainger. Let's jump in. All right, fellas, it is your spiritual kickoff time. I'm excited to be here with you. Let's get right into it, okay?

Chris Grainger:

So the scripture of the week this week is in Jeremiah, chapter 20, verse 9. It says but if I say I will not mention his word or speak any more in his name, his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in. Indeed, I cannot. Fellas, beautiful scripture. Now let's just think about the whole premise of the spiritual kickoff episodes each week is how can we simplify and apply God's word into our life? Ok, and we're going to attempt to do that with this verse out of Jeremiah each week is how can we simplify and apply God's word into our life? Okay, and we're going to attempt to do that with this verse out of Jeremiah. First thing we need to know is where is the book of Jeremiah? We don't want to take anything for granted here to lie within us. It's in your Old Testament, and if you can find Isaiah, so if you open up Midway, you probably land in the Psalms, right, keep flipping over and you'll get to Isaiah and then after that is where you'll find Jeremiah. If you get to Lamentations, you will live it too far. Just back up, ok, all right.

Chris Grainger:

So now Jeremiah this this was not written from comfort, of success or popularity or anything like that. He was frustrated, he was. He was rejected, he was actually went through a lot of suffering, and this raw experience called him to speak out for God. Right, and he was constantly opposed to doing so. And for us today, as men, as leaders, this is kind of like a warning and an invitation for us. It warns us about the dangers of suppressing the truth of God. Right, if God's put this in you and you just suppress it, that's dangerous. And it invites us instead to experience the unstoppable power of calling too strong to silence. So we're going to be wrestling with this dichotomy as we think through this today.

Chris Grainger:

The truth here there is a truth that, ultimately, is going to become a fire with inside us, because Jeremiah wasn't motivated by, you know, instagram followers. You know that wasn't. That wasn't a thing for him. He obeyed God's call to speak and when he did that quite often he was. He was mocked, he was persecuted and he left him isolated. It doesn't sound very fun to me. Yet he recognized being silent. That's just not an option, because God's word became a fire within him and he refused for that to be contained. That is the mark of a leader right when the weight of the truth you carry is heavier than the fear of what it might cost you.

Chris Grainger:

And I know that's super easy to say, but I'm telling you this is a big deal, because leadership is true leadership. We know that obedience to God outweighs any personal comfort we may experience and quite frankly, this is the part that doesn't turn on many people at all. But obedience usually can't not usually but sometimes leads to suffering. It just does. But as Christian men it's easy for us to think that leadership starts with the things we do externally right the decisions, the strategies, the performance, all this stuff. But Jeremiah has shown us no. True leadership starts internally, when God lights up something in your heart and it changes how you think and how you speak and how you act and how you live and how you show up. It transforms you from a manager of circumstances to a messenger of truth. You get that Anybody can manage circumstances. It doesn't take a lot. But to be a messenger of truth, that's a big deal.

Chris Grainger:

And Jeremiah wanted to quit. We all do. Every leader gets there. I've been wanting to quit things throughout my leadership journey all the time, but the fire doesn't light up. The fire didn't light up for Jeremiah. The fire didn't light up for me here at the Lion Within. There's been some days at the Lion.

Chris Grainger:

I'm just going to be quite honest. I'm like I don't know if I want to do this anymore, but wanting to walk, but that's just not an option and there's a tension here of biblical leadership we need to recognize, because sometimes you want to walk away but you know you can't because the call of God burns too hot to ignore. It's just too hot and there's a cost to telling the truth. It's violent God. This is whether you're living at home, at the office, maybe you're trying to do some leadership roles in your church. There's going to be moments that speaking God's truth is going to threaten our comfort. It's going to push our reputation, it's going to push our relationships. It may even push your livelihood and that's scary.

Chris Grainger:

And the temptation here this is what you hear a lot on Sundays. It's to soften the message. I'm just going to soften it up to where it's easier to consume. Or there's a temptation to say nothing, or to sidestep the hard conversations, right, just to not have it at all. But we can't do that. Jeremiah, in this verse specifically, is telling us that we cannot silence the truth, because it doesn't relieve the burden. The burden is still going to be there and it's going to. It'll make you sick if you just just just try to just pretend that it's not there.

Chris Grainger:

Fire is meant to be released, are you kidding me? Not contained. That's why leadership has to be coupled so closely with obedience, because the fire within isn't the vision, the agenda or the dreams. It's his word, it's the calling to align our leadership, our influence and our voice with his truth. Okay, because there's some significant cost when we try to quench a fire and a couple things happen here. We become numb to his voice. Okay, because if you ignore the spirit's prompting, your heart becomes a little bit harder and and and all of a sudden you don't have that fire. Once it just turns to Everest, it's so hard to to get it going again. Right, and if at some point it just turns to cold ashes. Think about a fire, a campfire. If fire, If you leave, if you just burn it out the coals at night, you wake up the next morning. It's just ashes, right.

Chris Grainger:

And sometimes, when we're numb to his voice, you know when you're wanting to hear something. He's not going to say anything because you've turned your back or you trade eternal impact for temporary comfort. That's probably a bigger one, because the, the, the world, it tells us that you know what we need to be comfortable now, and we need leaders who are, who are walking truth to love and are not thinking about the, the, the temporary applause, right, or the avoidance of conflict. No, no, we, we need to lead into the, the ultimate responsibility we have as leaders, and when we don't, then we forfeit that eternal influence that God has given us.

Chris Grainger:

So if you feel like there's a fire inside of you right now and maybe there's just something that's just been gnawing at you, pay attention. Make sure it's not a passion and that it truly is a calling. It could be like that hard conversations with your spouse that you've been putting off, or with your kid, or maybe it's for standing up for that biblical integrity in the workplace. You know you should, but you just haven't done it yet. Or it could be confessing that old sin that's in your heart that you know that you need to address and you just keep putting it off. But whatever it is, whatever scenario it is, obedience is how you release the fire. Suppressing it is just going to wear you out, and the more you fight it, the more you also become weary.

Chris Grainger:

So I'm telling you, fellas, lean into this, because if you're called to lead which I know you are then you're called to speak, and sometimes that means speaking life into your kids, into your marriage, into a workplace. And God, the message that he's given you is meant to be shared with others. Don't hold it in. No, let that fire burn, because that's what the world needs more of. It's leaders like you that are boldly speaking the truth. So if there's something burning in your heart that you're too afraid to say, get it out, absolutely get it out. And I also want to encourage you for you listeners out there who've never surrendered your life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and I'm not naive enough to think that everyone who listens to the Lion Within has I just want to just let you know you know what God loves you.

Chris Grainger:

There was a perfect design he had in mind when he created everything and it went really great. The design was awesome for like a page and a half of my Bible. Then it just went downhill. What happened? We ran, sin, sin entered and then we were separated from God. And that's a big separation too. Okay, because sin fractured everything that God had created, which was good. It fractured that relationship with us and Him and I wish we could get our heads around how big a deal sin is. It's not really a word you use that much anymore anymore, outside of of, you know, christian circles, but says a big deal, because it's really anything that separates us from God. That's a sin. And so we go from the creator of the universe forming us in his hands and breathing the breath of life into our nostrils and we're face to face with our creator. To now we're separated from him. There's a separation nostrils. And we're face to face with our creator. To now we're separated from him. There's a separation.

Chris Grainger:

And then we try to fill that separation with things. Because there's this void in our life. We try to fill it with money, prestige and power, relationships and all the things. Sometimes we try to fill it with drugs and alcohol and sex and all these different things, to feel like if I just got this thing then I'd be fully and finally satisfied. It just doesn't work out. So many of the most quote unquote successful people, the richest people in the world, are the most miserable Because, at the end of the day, there's nothing on this side of heaven that's going to bring you complete joy and fulfillment outside of a relationship with Jesus Christ. So there was this big gap, right, and we recognized that there's nothing we can do to overcome this gap. So what do we need? We're in a situation where we need someone to save us, right? We don't need a coach to make us better. We need someone to come in and do for us what we can't do for ourselves.

Chris Grainger:

That's where Jesus enters the scene, who literally left heaven on a rescue mission for you and for me, for the entire world, was born. Who literally left heaven on a rescue mission for you and for me, for the entire world, was born of a virgin, fulfilled all the prophecies, did all the teachings, did all the miracles, all the signs, then paid the ultimate penalty for our sin when he went to the cross and died, the perfect death for us. The perfect Lamb of God paid the penalty for your sin, for my sin, for the sin of the entire world. Then they laid him in a tomb. It was like an Airbnb, because he only used that thing for three days and then he overcame that.

Chris Grainger:

And that's the difference between Christianity and the rest of these, these quote unquote religions out in this world. In the world, it's because we worship a living savior, not some dead guy. Are you kidding me? No, jesus lives. That's the celebration. That's why we should be excited. That's why we should tell others about it. So they didn't have a decision to make. Okay?

Chris Grainger:

So if I recognize this to be true, and I believe Jesus is the Messiah and I believe he died for my sins and he's the Savior that I need, what do I do? Well, you better repent, turn from your ways and go to him, run to Christ, run to him and go to him. Run to Christ, run to him, confess him as Lord and Savior of your life, and at that point you'll have the Holy Spirit in dwelling and at that point the scales are going to fall off. You're going to see the world in the way that he wants you to see it, and then you can start walking what we call, at the line within us, this discipleship journey, where you're being discipled but you're following him. You're seeking to do the things that he's called you to do. It's not going to be easy, but it's going to be worth it, and it's going to be so much better than anything this world can offer you, and that's my encouragement to you.

Chris Grainger:

So, if you've never surrendered your life to the Lordship of Christ, guess what? You don't have to do it sitting in a church on a Sunday morning. You can do it right now. Maybe you're on a treadmill, maybe you're just walking down the road, maybe you're driving in your car. I don't know where you're at when you're listening to the lion Guys. They're all over the place.

Chris Grainger:

But if you haven't fully surrendered, why not? Why not take right now and just do the business with God that you've been putting off doing, and just see where God takes you from there? So I'm going to pray for you right now. I'm praying for that one listener Maybe it's just one, and you know this is something you've put off for far too long. Well, it's time to lean in and do the business for God that he's waiting for you to do. So, father, just thank you, we love you, we praise you. I just pray for that one listener right now who recognizes their need for a savior. They also recognize that they need you, that, jesus, you are what's missing in their life. Maybe things have been going really well in their career or maybe they hadn't been Wherever they're at Lord, we know that things are so much better when you are brought in. So we just, we just just hear their prayer where they are surrendering, they're repenting, they're believing, they're putting their trust in you as their Lord and Savior, and I just pray you just walk with them, guide them and direct them in Jesus name, amen. All right Now.

Chris Grainger:

So if you just accepted Christ, I want to hear from you. Send me an email, chris, at the lion within dot us. I will send you some free resources to get you started. I also want to find out kind of where you're located to see if we can get you plugged into a good Bible-believing, gospel-preaching church to help get you encouraged along the way. And also, I just want to have a high-five with you. Just celebrate, man, let's go. This is what this is all about All the work in the life within us. Seriously, it's about trying to bring as many people as we can into that relationship with Christ. And then the ones that aren't in a relationship with Christ, hey, let's walk beside them, let's encourage them along the way, all right, so, guys, come back on Wednesday. Looking forward to this conversation on Wednesday. You're going to really enjoy this one. Particularly for you guys who sometimes can be a little hot-headed, this may be a phone for you to listen to, for sure. Head over to thelinewithinus that's thelinewithinus to check out all our new resources, new homepage layout. There's so many cool things we got going on at the website, fellas, so check it out. Highly encourage you also.

Chris Grainger:

Get plugged into a mastermind. I mean, I'll start talking about this more and more because I know this is how we help guys the most and I'm tired of just sitting on the sidelines and trying to just be indirect. Look, I'll be very direct. Get it to a mastermind. Well, chris, I'm not sure if I have time for a mastermind. Yep, I totally get it.

Chris Grainger:

The evil one doesn't want you to do any of this stuff. The evil one wants you to think that you can do. Just keep doing things you've been doing. You'll be fine, but you know in your innermost being that that's not right, you know, or else things would be better right now. I'm just telling you, it gets so much better when you walk through this life with fellow brothers in Christ, and that's what the Mastermind offers.

Chris Grainger:

So the lionwithinus, check it out. Obviously, our Christian leader assessment. We got our weekly roar, we have all the different ways that we serve with our community, with the daily spiritual kickoff, all that stuff. But for that one listener, you know who you are, bro, the lion withinus head over there. Now get your mastermind started today. All right, we'll see you guys on Wednesday. Thank you guys so much for listening. Give us a rating review. Just keep unleashing. There we go, the lion within.

Chris Grainger:

I've got something big to share.

Chris Grainger:

We're making a major shift because we know the battle was real and it's time more men had access to the support they need.

Chris Grainger:

For too long guys have been trying to carry the weight alone pressure at work, tension at home, wounds from the past in a world that demands strength but offers no place to rest. We see it, we've lived it, and that's exactly why we built our community. It's a stronghold, a place where warriors can find rest, truth and a band of brothers standing beside them. And starting now, we're making it easier than ever to step in. We've lowered the barrier to just $15.99 a month. That means for less than the cost of a drive-thru lunch, you can join a brotherhood that's centered on Christ and built for growth. Inside you'll find access to our daily spiritual kickoffs every Monday through Friday, our Lion Lunches, our Bible Studies, our Friday Forge Gatherings all that and so much more. Every man needs a stronghold, and you don't have to fight alone. If you've been waiting for the right time to jump in, this is it. Go to thelionwithinus and join the community and see for yourself what happens when iron truly sharpens iron.

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