Chris Grainger: 1:38

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 episode. Let's get right into it. Okay, I'm so excited to be here with you today.

Chris Grainger: 1:52

The book of Job is where we're at. Not job, job, chapter 8,. We're only going to look at one verse this week. Okay, it's verse 7. It says your beginnings will seem humble, so prosperous will your future be. Now we need to see how we can simplify and apply this to our life as Christian men. Okay, and this is a big deal. This is why we do the spiritual kickoff episodes. It's because taking God's word and reading it, that's going to bring us so much of wisdom and insight. And then we have to start turning that into discernment, to actually applying it to our life, and that's what we try to do on this SKO episodes. Okay, now we also do this. If you enjoy the spiritual kickoff episodes, we do a version of this, monday through Friday at the line withinus. Okay, it's free. It's a great way just to connect. If you like the messages, if you like what you hear on the podcast. You may enjoy this as well. Okay, so again, head over to thelinewithinus You'll see it right there on the primary page, the homepage for to start your daily spiritual kickoff. I want to encourage you guys to go check that out. Jump in, I jump in. I'd love to meet you, have a conversation and just hopefully encourage you along the way.

Chris Grainger: 3:01

Okay, so now we need to know, understand when we look at this scripture. First of all, we need to understand where is the book of Job? Okay, it's in your Old Testament. This is not New Testament, job is Old Testament. I know some of you guys are like Chris, why are you doing stuff like that? Obviously, we know that. Well, no, it's not obvious. Not everybody knows that. I don't know that when I first started reading the Bible. So these are things we have to learn, and where you're going to find it is right before the book of Psalms. So usually, if you open your Bible right to the middle, you probably will land in Psalms. You're going to land somewhere in Psalms. Just back up a little bit to the left, you run right into Job, and there's something kind of cool about the idea that where you start doesn't determine where you're going to end up. I like that idea, but we have to be careful with verses like Job 8-7 here, because we need to pause and get honest about what the verse is really telling us and then also, conversely, what it's not telling us. Context matters you can't take one verse without context, boys and girls. Context matters.

Chris Grainger: 4:14

And this verse, we have to recognize, comes out of the mouth of a guy named Bill Dads. He's a Shoei, he's one of Joe's, he's one of his buddies and he's well-meaning. I'm not picking on him, but he's theologically misguided at times, and we have to remember, at this point in Job's life and his testimony, he's lost everything, guys. He had lost his family, he had lost his wealth, he had lost his health too. I mean, he was in terrible health, and his buddy was just checking on him. He was just going to be there with him, he was trying to encourage him, and his basic message to Joe right here was like look, bro, get your act together, because if you get your act together, the guy's going to take care of it and he's going to bless you even tenfold more than you ever can imagine.

Chris Grainger: 5:04

And there's just a flaw in that thinking, though, because what he's really trying to position Job with is some conditional type of prosperity, like you do good, okay, and God's going to bless you financially, okay, and to me, fellas, what we have to be careful of that gets very close to prosperity gospel, and I know you guys aren't for that. Neither am I. And Job right here in this story is a counter argument to that. Right, because Job was righteous Okay, he was a righteous dude. Yeah, he still suffered, right, he went to some treacherous stuff.

Chris Grainger: 5:43

So we have to think, okay, well, is this verse useless? Like, how can we use this verse? I will tell you no, it's not at all. This verse is absolutely useful, but it's also not a blank check from God. We have to recognize that, because this is a reflection of one man's limited understanding of how God works. Okay, and and this is a descriptive type of way of thinking, but it's not prescriptive right, it tells us what he believed, not what God was going to guarantee for Job, okay. So we have to be super cautious about this as we, as we work through this, not to extract promises from Scripture and try to intend that to be as a formula. I'm telling you you have to be super careful. The ultimate idea of the verse is great things can rise from humble beginnings, and that's seen throughout scripture. But it's not the guarantee. Okay, we're not guaranteed that just because you, it's not, it's not contractual, it's not like all right, god, if I do this, then you better do that. No, it don't work that way, boys, it just doesn't. And we have to remember God does love the small beginnings, because we see story and account over and over again where God starts small and that's OK.

Chris Grainger: 7:05

Think about David. He was the youngest of the youngest. We just watched some of David's last night on Prime. That's really great, by the way. I don't know if you've been watching that or not, fellas, but he was anointed. He was tending sheep. Look at Gideon right, he was hiding down in a wind press bro, like that's what he was doing. He was called to lead a doggone army. Are you kidding me? Or look at the disciples that hung out with Jesus, that Jesus picked, just ordinary dudes that were entrusted with the greatest message of all time, of all time.

Chris Grainger: 7:37

And then, obviously, our Lord and our Savior, jesus, born in a manger, okay, in the middle of nowhere. Nothing good comes from Nazareth, right, this is just nowhere. Bethlehem is nothing. Nazareth is where he grew up Nothing Like. Are you kidding me? There's nothing good that can come from either one of these places. Yet he is our Messiah, he is the King of kings and Lord of lords, and I'm telling you, jesus even shows us this man when he talks about, in the parable of the mustard seed right, the tiniest of the tiny but growing into something huge and expansive. Okay, so, as we start thinking through this, remember God does not despise the start. He delights in that man, but we have to start trusting in his timing, not our timing, and one of the greatest challenges I've faced, fellas, and maybe you can relate, but the whole idea of being patient.

Chris Grainger: 8:35

I hate when people tell me to be patient. I'm just going to be straight up, and hate's probably not a great word to use here on a Christian podcast, but hey, you're here, why not just be real? I hate when people tell me to be patient Because I want impact now, I want clarity right now, I want results right now. I don't want to be patient, but God calls it that. He calls me to that, and what I'm starting to recognize more and more is that his timing doesn't align with my sense of urgency. Right, and it can be so frustrating, bro. So frustrating. I mean we're building the mastermind and stuff. We're getting all that stuff out. It's been I've been full throttle since the beginning, but it takes time to get everybody there. That's okay, because what I had to remind myself is that, even though I'm not maybe seeing the progress that I want, that doesn't mean God's not working. Okay, but I'll thank that because I'm not seeing the progress but God just ain't doing nothing. And I'm telling you that creates some tension.

Chris Grainger: 9:43

And think about the farmer out there who's starting at the soil and remember that those roots are growing long before he starts seeing any fruit appearing. Right, and we have to remember that because this stuff is not like a microwave type of culture that we live in. It's just not instantaneous. It's more like marinated right. It takes some time to seep in, to soak in. There's some struggle that's involved. There's a lot of prayer that's involved. It takes a whole lot of faith.

Chris Grainger: 10:17

Okay, and if we can lean into this, this idea of waiting on God, and embrace the process, I'm telling you it can be a big shift for us mentally and be a big encouragement for us as well. And a couple of little things to consider. See whatever's in front of you, whatever he's calling you to as a call to hope. Okay, not some contract for prosperity. We're going to walk by that faith and what he's calling us to do and then remember God's character. Okay, if he is perfect, he is holy, he holy, he is god. That's most important.

Chris Grainger: 11:01

And recognize that, leaning into the small beginnings. That is a good place to start. That may be a small beginning in whatever ministry he's calling you to, or maybe a small beginning in your marriage or your, or the way you lead your kids or your career, whatever it may be, but what he's calling you to, I guarantee you one thing he's calling you to stay faithful. Guarantee you one thing he's calling you to stay faithful. He wants you to stay faithful, even if you're not seeing the results that you hope to see. And I've had to preach this to myself over and over and over. And this is a daily thing, guys, a daily, daily thing.

Chris Grainger: 11:31

But one thing that we could start doing more and that I need to do a better job of is celebrating the process, because, as God is shaping you, ok, remember this is often more important than what he will eventually do through us. Ok, because, because that what God is shaping us to do, that is. That is what matters the most. And those humble beginnings, guys, they are not signs of failure, they're invitations to faith. And we have to remember that, because God sees the whole story. That's the problem. We can only see the piece of the story that we're in right now. He sees the whole thing.

Chris Grainger: 12:14

So even if we feel like, if you feel like maybe right now you're stuck, and you're stuck somewhere that you definitely didn't choose to be there and you're stuck somewhere that you definitely didn't choose to be there, I'm just telling you that, guys, the work you do in those obscure moments that matters so doggone much, and the seeds that you're planting right now are important. And there's a couple things called patience, perseverance and trust, and we have, as Christian men, we have to think where are we going to put that at? Where are we going to put our ultimate source of hope? And if it's in anything outside of God, fellas, I'm just going to encourage you, redirect it. Redirect it, okay, and think through how impatience could be limiting your personal trust in God. No one ever is going to come and say I don't trust you. God, but I'm telling you, the actions we take sometimes says that doesn't it. I know it does for me. So that's my encouragement to you, fellas. That's how we take Job 8-7 and apply it to our life. Hopefully you are encouraged by that.

Chris Grainger: 13:16

And look, if you haven't accepted Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. I just want to take a minute here just to share the good news of recognizing that you know what you have a decision that you need to make Now. You may hear most of the guys listen to the line and ladies we recognize less. The ladies listen Our believers. I recognize that the majority of our demographic have confessed Christ as Lord and Savior, but I'm not ignorant enough to think that everyone who's listening to the podcast has put their faith in Christ. So I just want to encourage you.

Chris Grainger: 13:49

If you fall in that category who have not put your faith in the Lordship of Christ, look, I don't know why you haven't made a decision. Maybe no one has shared what that actually looks like, which I will do that with you right now. Or maybe you've been hurt by a church, and I'm here to tell you someone who's gone through some recent church hurt. I get it, I totally get it. Okay, and there's no such thing as a perfect church. You know why? Because they're full of imperfect people. That's no excuse not to lean in, okay, and there's definitely no excuse for me to not share the best news I know on the planet, and that's that God had a perfect design man. It was perfect, bro, like everything. When God created everything, it's exactly the way he wanted. And then, when he created man the first man his name was Adam. He formed him with his hands and then breathed the breath of life into Adam's nostrils. And the crazy part was, is Adam, when he set up for the first time, he was face to face with God. And I just think that's just cool, bro, I just think that's just awesome. Like man, he was face to face with his creator and things were great. Great, for like two pages Hit my Bible, man, maybe one and a half in yours, I don't know Because sin entered and that sin separated us from God, and that's what we've been fighting for.

Chris Grainger: 15:11

The rest ever since. Between now and between then rather than now, is that separation between us, and the problem is man. We often try to compare ourselves to things of this world. Okay, that's a dangerous trap. We have to be super careful about that, because when we start trying to compare ourselves to things of this world, we fall victim to the thought and idea that we're good, like, compared to this person over here.

Chris Grainger: 15:37

I'm feeling pretty good about myself and the problem is the standard man. The standard is wrong because the comparison that we should have is not with others, it's with the holy and righteous God. Here's the problem with that standard. We all fall short, every single one of us. There is no standard out there. You put me on a basketball court with I don't know, michael Jordan. I'm going to fall short every time because he's just better. We all fall short. You put us on a scale with God. Every single one of us. None of us matches up. So we have this gap and we try to overcome this gap with stuff in this world.

Chris Grainger: 16:12

This is where so many guys trip up because they think, well, I just got to be a good dude, I just got to show up better and love my wife better and love my kids better. If I just do these things, man, if I could just do X, y, z, man, and just show up every day, surely that would be enough. And I'm like nope, sorry, it's just not, because works-based righteousness does not exist. There is no work that you can do to earn your salvation. That's the bad news. Okay, so we've got the bad news out the way. The good news is you don't need a coach to help you get better. You need a Savior to come in and do for you what you can't do for yourself. That's where Jesus comes into play. We don't need a coach, we need a Savior. That's where Jesus comes into play. We don't need a coach, we need a savior.

Chris Grainger: 16:57

And Jesus left heaven on a rescue mission for you, for me, for the entire world, and specifically to save us. He was born of a virgin. He performed all the miracles. He fulfilled all the prophecies, went out there and showed us directly the path to salvation and told us that it came through him and made the ultimate sacrifice. What he said? You know what? The sin that everybody out there has committed. It runs through each and every person in the world. I'm going to pay for that sin with my perfect blood. I'm going to go to the cross for them. I'm this perfect sacrifice. I'm going to take that, I'm going to own that and I'm going to pay it in full. And that's what he did. He paid it in full. Jesus paid it all.

Chris Grainger: 17:39

So he, when he went to the cross, he died for the sin of the entire world and he died for you and if you're hearing my voice, the you is you, bro. He died for you and what he did? We took him and we laid him in a tomb because we thought he was dead. I mean, he died, he didn't faint or go to sleep, he died on the tomb, on the cross, laid him in a tomb. Except, there's a big difference, and this is where you have to go to. This is the fundamental fact of Christian theology and what we believe. He didn't stay dead, he rose Three days later.

Chris Grainger: 18:16

Jesus rose, he's alive, and that's the difference between what I believe and what the rest of the world believes. That aren't christian. It's because we worship a living savior, not some dead guy in a tomb somewhere, man, it's just. It ain't like that. He's alive and because he lives, we have the gift of salvation when we put our faith in him, and right now he's in the right hand of the Father. I mean, it tells us there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved Fellas, this is Jesus. He is the way, the truth and the life. That is it. So, oprah, or all these other people out there on YouTube, whoever who said there are just these different paths to heaven? I'm just telling you. I'm sorry they're wrong, they are not accurate.

Chris Grainger: 19:07

There's only one way, and that's confessing Jesus as Lord and Savior and submitting your life to him and then following him and being obedient to what we call the Holy Spirit. So once you submit your life to Christ, the Holy Spirit comes and dwells. You have a new heart, the blinders fall off and at that point you are walking with the Lord. But it takes the first step, and that first step is confessing him as Lord. If you've never done that, I'm just going to invite you to do that right now. Listen to the podcast. You may be like Chris, that is crazy. Going to invite you to do that right now. Listen to the podcast. You may be like Chris, that is crazy. There's no way I would do this. Listen to a podcast. I'm like, why not, bro? God's calling you to do it. You know, god's calling you to do it, yet for some reason you just keep putting off and just putting it off and putting off. Oh, today's not today. I'm just telling, I'm going to encourage you. If you're listening and you feel that conviction, take the step of obedience and let's pray together and accept Christ as our Lord and Savior. So, father, for that one listener who's tired of doing it their way and recognize that they want to do it your way, I pray. You just be with them right now. I pray you hear their. I know you hear their prayer and I just pray you just put some people in their life that's going to encourage them, that's going to equip them, that's going to help them in their walk. Also, recognize the evil one's not going to like this. The evil one's going to be very upset that they have made this decision and he's going to try to do all he can to discourage them. I just want to pray against that. Just give them strength, pray for encouragement and just thank you, father, that they're taking this most important step today. It's in your name. We pray Amen, all right, so look, if you just accepted Christ as your Savior, I want to hear from you, okay, so shoot me an email, christhelyonwithinus, let me know which episode you listened to and that you've accepted Christ. I want to hook you up with some free resources. We've created a lot of things at the Lion Within Us and I got some resources that are going to help you get started with how you study the Bible, some scriptures to start thinking about and start getting equipped with. Just want to give all that stuff to you, ok, so again, send me an email. Also, I'd love to just hop on a call and just give you a virtual high five and a fist bump and pray with you and be an encouragement to you as you start your discipleship journey. All right, so, guys, thank you so much for listening and for hanging out. All right, so, guys, thank you so much for listening and for hanging out. There's so many other podcasts you can listen to, so I'm blown away each week for how many of you guys listen to the show. Very thankful for that. I'll come back on Wednesday. I guarantee you're going to enjoy this conversation with this guest on Wednesday. It's absolutely just a phenomenal conversation. I'm super excited to get this one out for you guys. I'd also encourage you to head over to thelinewithinus. I, for you guys, I'd also encourage you to head over to thelionwithinus. I feel like a broken record. I say it so much, but this is the one way we connect with others and share what we've been building. Guys, we put a ton of work and a ton of effort into this stuff, not to try to build ourselves up at all, but try to build you up. Thelionwithinus is where you get all those resources. If you're interested in our leadership mastermind, I would highly encourage you to start that process, apply and see if it'd be a good fit for you. First of all, we got to see if you're a good fit for what we're built, because it's not for everybody. Okay, I'm just gonna be honest with you, it's not. There's some, some exclusivity that comes with this, because we recognize we can't serve everybody. But the guys that are truly leaning into their walk, that want accountability, that want a peer group of advisors, that want some guys to come alongside and help them in their journey, man, this is a really great, great resource for you. So I highly encourage you to go to thelinewithinus, submit your initial interest in our Leadership Mastermind and let's start having that conversation. Okay, all right, guys, have a great day, get after it, give us a rating review that would be helpful and hopefully we'll see you here on the next episodes. Have a great day and remember you know what's coming. Keep unleashing the lion within. I've got something big to share. 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. 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.