Welcome And Scripture Setup

Chris Grainger 1:43

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, guys. Spiritual kickoff time. Let's get into it, okay? So I think you're going to enjoy this one this week. Scripture, right at the very beginning of the Bible, Genesis 3, verse 12. It says, The man said, The woman who you gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate it. All right, fellas. We're going to see how we can simplify and apply this to our life as Christian men. Again, where is Genesis? Right there, very beginning of your Bible. It's the easiest book to find besides Revelation. Okay. So go right there, go to the third chapter, you're going to find this one. And when I read this verse, I see something far bigger than some bad decision some guy made. You know, Adam specifically. What I see is the first recorded moment of a man abdicating his responsibility. And let's just be real. The consequences were catastrophic. Because if we back up a little bit in scripture, we we learned something critical here. We don't want to pass by. Adam was there the whole time. He wasn't absent. He wasn't running an errand. He didn't go to the grocery store. He wasn't even unaware. He stood beside Eve as this serpent twisted the truth, questioned God, and planted doubt. And at any moment, my boy could have stepped in. He could have led. He could have spoken. But he didn't. He stayed silent. In silence, when leadership is required, it's not neutral. It's a choice. And that silence, guys, if we start thinking about the world we live in today, it is killing so many things. Quiet, passive men who advocate leadership create space for destruction to enter. Let me say that again. Quiet, passive men who advocate leadership create space for destruction to enter. And when guys choose not to lead, somebody else will. And scripture makes it clear that that someone, quite often, is Satan and his minions. And they're running to take the front, to take the lead, to take the reins. Okay? And then this is where pressure starts hitting. God asked a direct question of Adam. And Adam responded by doing what comes naturally to guys who have fallen. What did he do? He just shifted the blame, bro. He just shifted the blame. First he pointed to Eve. And then he said in the same breath, basically, God, it's your fault. He said, the woman you gave to be with me. So what is what left that is unsaid is just as loud, it's just as loud. Basically, if you hadn't put her here, this wouldn't have happened. That's what Adam's saying, right? And that's a brutal acquisition to level against a loving and all-knowing God. But it's not unfamiliar, is it? How often do we blame God for things that go when they don't go right? Right? When things don't exactly work out the way we want. How often do we blame him? Or how often do we treat him like he's some cosmic vending machine? Like, you know what? I'm going to put in my money, I'm going to put in my order, and you better pop it up. Deliver to me, God. This is what I want. It's almost like we're faithful when he delivers and we're distant when he doesn't. And both of those postures are flawed, guys, and we have to be super careful. Because both reveal a heart that's unwilling to take responsibility. And here's the hard truth we need to recognize we need to wrestle with, okay? Blame shifting produces weak men. And when weak men lead, whether it be at home, in a church, in a workplace, poor decisions are going to follow. Not if, but they are going to follow. And the fallout is going to be unevitable, man. It's going to be pretty bad. And Genesis 3.12 is not some ancient historical book. No, this is, it can be used as a mirror. It should force us into some uncomfortable questions. It should force us to ask, where have I stayed silent when I should be leading? It should force us to ask, where have I deflected responsibility instead of owning it? It should force us to ask, where have I blamed others or God to avoid facing my own failure? And the lesson is pretty clear. If we choose not to lead again, Satan will gladly take the reins. And we can't allow any voice as men to lead us other than the voice of the Holy Spirit. And that leadership has to shape our actions, our decisions, and how we respond. And that type of life requires diligence, guys. It requires attention. It requires humility. But it is worth it. And Scripture warns us that those who fail to look back are doomed to repeat the same mistakes. Genesis 3.12 is not something we should just move past. It's something to learn from. Whether it's how we lead our wives or how we parent our kids or how we make ethical decisions at work. We are responsible. No one else. At all times. We are responsible for a loving and holy God. So let's take this opportunity right here to learn from this mistake. Because if we don't learn from it, we're doomed to repeat it. And let's let it help us identify where we've gone silent and where we've tried to hand off responsibility that was ours to carry. It's time to lead. I mean, verses like this are so simple, yet we fly by them. And we just fly by them and we think of it as just like it's reading a fairy tale of, you know, oh, look, this is what happened to Adam. Okay. No, man. It's such a great chance for us to learn when you think deeper about each word, the context, and how we can apply it to our life. And that's what I hope that we've done here in what six minutes on this episode. Because if anything the lion is doing for you, my my hope, my goal, my desire, well, this is what God laid on my heart, is that it draws you into a deeper, abiding relationship with Him. That you leave a spiritual kickoff episode or a meet episode or even our member spotlight episodes now with a better understanding of what God's calling you to do. You know, I'm giving you reflections of scripture for what the Holy Spirit's revealing to me. And some of you find that useful and helpful, and you listen, and I'm so thankful that you do. But I'm not the end-all be-all. The Holy Spirit is. There are things right here in Genesis 3.12 that I didn't talk about today that the Spirit is probably showing you. And that's a good thing. There's no one person who unpacks scripture and can give you every context and angle and perspective that the Holy Spirit has. It's impossible. So what do you do? You take discernment from things like this, and then you also read for yourself, pray, and ask for your own discernment. And through a combination of these different events, the Spirit's going to guide and direct you. And he's going to show you what's important. But the fact that you're taking the time to think about it, to wrestle with it, that's what's most important. And that's what we do with these episodes. This is why this is so important to me, guys. This is why we do it every day. So I try to invite you into it because I just feel like there's nothing that beats when men get together and wrestle with the scriptures. There's something powerful that happens. And when we're intentional about it, and when we're not uh trying to posture ourselves up as like uh know-it-alls or or deep theologians, but we just say, you know what? What do you want to show me, Holy Spirit? And you come into with that posture, man, it changes everything. And that's what it's all about. So hopefully, you know, you've enjoyed this episode. And again, the way you get the discernment from the Holy Spirit to read scripture and understand it better, is that you have you are indwelled with the Holy Spirit, i.e., you have surrendered your life to Christ. If you haven't done that, I just encourage you to take that opportunity to really question. All right, if what are you waiting on? Why is this a stumbling block for me? Why, if I know that uh my way hasn't been working, you know, I think most of us will admit that. And there's a free gift waiting for me called salvation that comes with the peace that passes all understanding. Well, all I have to do is surrender my way to God and confess him as Lord and Savior. That's all you gotta do. Right? It's not like you gotta stroke some big check or do a bunch of exercises. No, you just you just have to surrender and repent and confess him as Lord. Why do we stop? Why do we hold back? And I think you know, part of it is, man, the world has sold us a bag of lies, man. You just have. They've made us think that this Christian thing uh is for Mr. Goody Two Shoes, or it's for the dude who makes, you know, uh lots of money and nice cars. It's just he needs somewhere to go on a Sunday morning to uh make his wife and his kids happy. No, man, that's like you're missing the point. It's all about a relationship with God. And that's it. He just wants a relationship with you, man. That's it. I mean, you can you can be making you know, uh minimum wage or you can be making 500k a year. It doesn't matter. He just wants a relationship with you. And he's wondering, you know, what are you waiting on? So if you're listening to this and you've never had that moment where you surrender your life to him and you're going through life and you and you feel like you just can't find contentment, you're always on edge, maybe you're just angry, uh, maybe you're just questioning God in so many areas, maybe you've had a bad health diagnosis. I don't know what it is. There's so many things that are happening out there in the world we live in. But you just you never have, this is probably the best way to put it. You never have just this sense of peace. If you don't have the sense of peace, it's because you're looking and you're trying to find that peace in the wrong areas. Because we're never gonna find it outside of a relationship with God. You're not gonna find peace in another zero in your bank account. Now, it may make you happy. I'm not against zeros in bank accounts. Don't get me wrong. Okay, it may make you happy for sure. But at the end of the day, you're not gonna find peace there. How do I know this? Well, i.e. Hollywood. That's some of the most miserable people on the planet. And they're loaded with money. So it's not found in the money. You know, money's not a bad thing, but when we start worshiping it and becomes an idol for the love of money, there's a whole lot of problems with it there. No, the peace that I'm talking about only comes through a loving personal relationship with God as our Heavenly Father. And that's between you and God. I can't do it for you. No one can. It literally has to be between you and Him. So the question that you kind of that we we wrestle with here on this spiritual kickoff episode is how long are you gonna keep resisting the gift of salvation that is being laid at your feet? How long you gonna keep pushing, doing it your way, struggling, tired, deflated, discouraged instead of turning to him and saying, Lord, I can, but you can't. And that's an answer I can't I I can't get you to that point. I can only point you to the source, that source of freedom, that source of newness of life. And that source is Jesus. If maybe you're listening right now and some of the things I'm saying are really hitting home, I'm I hope they are. But I'm not gonna sit here and tell you that uh I have all the answers or a quick fix for you either, for your individual situation. What I will tell you that that peace I was talking about is available regardless of the situation, because once we have a relationship with God, it changes everything about everything. Now you're gonna still have your struggles, still have the things that hit you, stress, anxiety, all those things of the world, they're just real. But you'll be able to walk through it and hold your head high in a much better state of mind, but also just a better spirit. And as someone who battles anxiety pretty regularly, I mean, it's just stress, anxiety hits me pretty hard. Leading the lion has been challenging. Putting out three podcasts a week for four plus years, and writing articles for the Bible app and running a full community and um planning live events and mission trips and writing books and then working, you know, having another job, and then doing uh the things with my family and four kids and a farm, it wears me out. And I'm totally honest with you guys, I'm tired. Your boy's tired. Maybe you can stell in my voice today. If you if you could if you can hear that I'm tired, I'm sorry. I try to amp it up on the SKOs, but I just feel like today's a day to be just to kind of go off script a little bit and just to be as honest as I can with you guys. And I'm just telling you, I have had seasons recently where the anxiety was gripping, and I literally had to start speaking some it is written against it. But I can also tell you, I've seen the power of what happens when you do that. I mean, as recent as last weekend when I'm recording this, I'm recording this on a Monday, so Saturday, Friday or Saturday evening. I can't remember, it's one of those evenings. It was bad. I mean, it was to the point I was forgetting I had to make a phone call. I I didn't know what was going on. I said, you know what? This feels like a spiritual attack. So I know what I need to do. I need to pull out my sword. And what's the sword? The sword is the word of God. You know, it says that in Ephesians 6. You guys, you know, we talk about that a lot. So I just started speaking the word of God over the anxiety and declaring that it had to leave. And I spoke, therefore now there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. You know, the uh the uh that um he is the way, the truth, the life, you know, he is the gatekeeper. I was speaking things like um uh God demonstrates his own love towards us while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. I mean, there's just over many verses as I can, just over and over and over. John 3.16, and whatnot any verse that came to mind, I started speaking against that anxiety. And I'm gonna tell you what, buddy, within a couple minutes, it was gone. I mean, gone. And I told my wife, I was like, she didn't even know. I was, I was, I did this sitting in the in the dining room, and I told her what I'd just done. She's like, why didn't you tell me? I'm like, well, I just wanted to have this battle with the evil one head on. I'm sure it was one of his minions. But I needed to have this head on, and it's time for me to start practicing more of what I preach. Because I do a lot of preaching, a lot of teaching, because you guys know Eric's lying. But man, when you put it to practice, it makes a big deal. And look, again, this all comes back. This works, all right, and you find the peace once you have the relationship. I mean, even right now, just after speaking those few verses, I feel a sense of charge in my voice coming back. It's amazing the word of God and the power that it has when we seek to unleash it. I mean, unleash the lion within us, not just a cool catchphrase, although it is pretty dope. It's not just it's unleashing the power of the lion within us, the Holy Spirit within us, the lion of the tribe of Judah that exists within each and every single one of us as believers. So if you never confess Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then you're missing out on the greatest opportunity that exists. And that's walking and abiding with Him in all situations, no matter what. So I invite you, listen to a podcast wherever you are, to surrender your life to Christ. And you may be thinking, bro, are you kidding me? Like, this is a podcast. I'm just trying to like make the day go by at work, or whatever you're doing when you listen to it. I get it, man. Like for 9% of you guys, that's fine. But that 1%, or that one dude who's listening right now, I'm talking to you. And I don't know what your name is, but I'm talking to you. And you know I am, because you're getting all fidgety and you're looking down and you're like, man, I think this this this this old boy from North Carolina, he's speaking directly to me. I am. It's not me, it's the power of the Holy Spirit speaking through me right now, to you. It's time for you to stop doing it your way. It's time for you to surrender, it's time for you to admit that you're a sinner. It's time for you to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and it is definitely time for you to confess him as Lord and Savior. But that's you. Let's pray. Father, that one listener is at the end of his rope. And whatever I've been saying has been hidden. Not because I got a lot of awesome things to say, but because you are awesome, God, and you are speaking to this man's heart right now. I pray that he not only hears, but he takes the step of obedience and confesses you as Lord and Savior of his life. And Lord, it's not gonna instantly get easier for this dude. It's not gonna instantly gonna get so much better or things are gonna be automatically reconciled. But I can tell you one thing: it's a whole lot better walking with you and having the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit than trying to do anything on my own. And hopefully this man's gonna feel that same way. So I pray you encourage him. I pray you protect him. The Evil is very frustrated right now. I just pray against it. I just speak peace into his life and curse into his life. We love you, God, and we praise you. It's in your name we pray. Amen. So look, I know I kind of went off a beaten path there today, but I feel like it was important. And just for you guys to know, I mean, you listen to podcasts and all this, and these these people who put out all this content. I'm a content creator. Like, I get it. You're supposed to put out good stuff. But I'm not gonna put out stuff that's not real. I'm just gonna be honest with you, man. Ain't gonna do that. Your boy still struggles with anxiety. I still struggle with anger, I still struggle with cussing. I mean, there's just things that come up on a regular basis that I'm battling. And you don't have to do a battle alone. And then quite quite frankly, battling these things at church, almost impossible. You know, I'm not I'm not bashing the church. I'm just telling you, based off of my experience, what I've seen, it's all it's pretty much impossible to battle the stuff there. You gotta have other places, other outlets. The land could be it for you. I don't know if it would be, but you'll never know until you take a look. So I encourage you, just check out what we're building. Well, you know, something so much of what we do is free, guys. We just give it away. Then we have our community, where we have our events, we have our masterminds and all that stuff. But either if it's free Bible apps, whatever, if there's anything that we've built at the Lion that helps you in your discipleship journey, that's all I care about. That's it. Just helping you grow closer to that deep, abiding relationship with Christ. That's my hope. That's my goal. And look, we're even doing speaking and stuff like that. So, man, look, reach out. Send me an email, Chris at thelionwithin.us. I'll get the email. I'll respond to you. It won't be a bot or anything like that. Do the best I can to respond to them. I get lots of emails and things like that, but I'll do the best I can to respond to them and help you any way I can in your discipleship journey. If your church wants to try to do something for their guys and you need someone to come in and give a charge, hey, that's right up my alley. Got tons of things. Already prepared to come in and help you guys. So I hope to hear from you. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you for putting up with me today. No one a little bit longer than normal, but I appreciate you guys. Give us a rating and review. If you want to be a donor to the lion, just go to the lionwithin.us slash donate. You can connect with us there. Highly encourage you. Daily Spiritual Kickoff, community, the um for the application to leadership mastermind, all the stuff we have, everything is found at thelionwithin.us. Okay? All right, guys. So get after it. Have a great day. Thanks for hanging out. We'll see you here next on the next episode where we have a great guest. It's gonna be a lot of fun. You're gonna enjoy that one. Other than that, fellas, get after it. If I can support, you know where to find me. And you know what's coming. Keep unleashing the lion within. Let's just say it out loud. Marriage is one of the greatest gifts that God can give a man. And one of the most consistent places where we can feel unsure of what we're doing. Even the strongest marriages have moments where you look at your wife and you think, you know what? I love you. I'm so committed to you. But right now, I have no idea what I should do next. And that's why we launch something new inside the line within us community. It's our very first support group. And it's for husbands. And we're calling it committed and occasionally confused. This isn't just a place for men in crisis. Though if you're there, hey, you're welcome. This is for any man who refuses to coast and wants to take his marriage from good to great. So inside you'll find an active chat and a feed, honest conversations, and brotherhood that says, you're not alone. We've been there. Let's bring this to God and grow. And we're also doing a monthly couples night where your wife is invited because we're not letting the world set the agenda for our homes. Now, if you want access to this support group, it's very simple. Go to thelionwithin.us and join the Lions Den. Okay, that's thelionwithin.us. Start your 30 day free trial of the Lions Den community, and boom, you have instant access to the committed and occasionally confused support group. We'll see you inside the den.