Welcome And Weekly Scripture

Chris Grainger 0:02

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 right into it. Okay. So the scripture of the week this week is 1 Timothy. The first chapter, uh, and actually the second verse is very at the very beginning of 1 Timothy. It says, To Timothy, my true son in the faith, grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father in Christ Jesus our Lord. All right. Now, we're going to take some time this morning, guys, and see how we can simplify and apply this verse to our life and understand, you know, what God wants us to see here. Okay. Now, when you open up, when you when you start going through the epistles and see, it can be kind of hard to understand where they're at. So 1 Timothy, this right here, you go through, you know, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1st and 2nd, 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, then you get to 1st and 2nd Timothy. Okay. So it's towards the back of your Bible is where you're going to find it. Uh, if you get to Titus or Philemon or Hebrews, you know, typically Hebrews is a little bit longer, you recognize you went a little bit too far, so just back up. So that's where it's going to be found, okay? Uh, and we're gonna see again how we can simplify and apply this to our life. We do this Monday through Friday at the Line Within Us. We call it the Daily Spiritual Kickoff, guys. Okay, so that's what it's called. Uh if you go to our website, and you may see Daily SKO. We abbreviate it because you know that's just the way the world works these days, right? There's acronyms for acronyms. And the cool part about the daily SKO, I just finished teaching this morning, actually. I was teaching ironically in 1 Timothy 5 this morning. And the the great part about the daily SKO is you can join live, just get that daily spiritual kick, the the little boost you need to get your day going Monday through Friday, and you can chat directly. The chat feed is just wide open. It's always fun seeing what guys are chatting about. If you can't make the live, don't worry about it. We put the video inside the platform for you. You can access it whenever you want. And we've gone through so many books of the Bible, fellas. There's there's a library of videos and content just ready for you to hopefully be an encouragement to you. Uh then the cool part is we have our prayer quest space, and then that's what you have access to in the daily SKO. And every Monday we have a prayer warrior huddle, that's what we call it. Every Monday we have so open Google Meet to anybody in the Lion, daily SKO members, Lion In members, mastermind members, it doesn't matter. We open it up to everybody because we want to center everything we do with the lion on prayer and being intentional about going to God and praying for the needs of others. So if you have items you need prayer over in the life of some brothers in Christ to lift that up for you, it's a great place to do it. And then that not only that prayer closed huddle, you have there's a there's a forum, there is a chat. So we got guys constantly,

Daily Spiritual Kickoff And Prayer

Chris Grainger 2:56

all throughout the day, all every day, putting things that they need prayer over. Big stuff, little stuff, all in between. It's about it's about giving you a space to share what's on your heart. Now look, guys, it's all free. That's the way our that's our free way to serve you. That's why we've done this. It's called a daily SKO. And the cool part, we even give you a free gift. So if you sign up for it, you'll get a link. If you're in the continental U.S., you'll get access to a free gift. We'd love to put that in the mail and get that to you, okay? All right. Now, let's think about this verse. Because what Paul, I love how he says right here, he's calling Timothy a true son. Okay, now think about this. So Paul wasn't Timothy's biological father. We don't know a whole lot about Timothy's biological father. We know a lot about his grand his mom and his grandma, but not his biological father. But he calls him a true son in the faith, right? And that's not casual the way Paul is speaking here. That's intentional. That's a relational type of language that he's using. Because Timothy, remember, how did he come to the faith? Through a lot of Paul's ministry in Acts 16, we see that. And from that point on, Paul doesn't just convert him, he starts investing in him. I mean, that's such a big deal. He traveled with him, he trained him, he corrected him, he encouraged him, he was fathering him spiritually.

Adam Rushing 4:20

Okay.

Chris Grainger 4:21

And Timothy doesn't just listen, he followed, he learned, he was absorbing. And then from that absorbing, he started what? Living it out. Okay. And that's why Paul calls him a true son. He's not just a listener, not just a student. He's a son. I mean, there's a difference between being a student to someone, a student-teacher relationship, versus a father-son relationship. There just is, right? That that is what Paul's pulling at here. And let's think about what this looks like from Timothy's perspective for a minute, okay? Because when I read this, I can't help but think, you know, when I read 1 Timothy in general, you know, Timothy had already heard most of what Paul was writing to him, right? This wasn't brand new

Paul And Timothy Mentorship Model

Chris Grainger 5:07

information or anything like that, but Paul still took the time to write it out clearly, intentionally, and directly. It made me wonder why. I think it is because this is where real mentorship comes into action. It doesn't just assume that you know. It definitely doesn't try to rush it, it reinforces it. Right. Paul knew that I'm not just speaking to Timothy. I'm trying, I'm shaping Timothy to being the man that I know God wants him to be. And he didn't want anything to leak out or to be misunderstood. That's leadership, fellas. Sometimes it does take, we got to take the time to slow down and making sure we're truly connecting with the ones we're trying to help. And if we think about the world we live in today, it's easy to miss this, right? It's easy to miss this because we love to pour into others. We love to lead, we love to be the guy with answers, uh, but maybe sometimes we neglect that being the guy who needs guidance. And I know I did for a long time, fellas. I did. Right? I just missed it, and it cost me. And there was there was a point in my life, you guys are gonna hear about it more this week in the episodes that are to come, where everything changed. No, I had a I I had and still have a wonderful earthly father. I do. I love him to death. And the spiritual mentor piece was was was God put that in my place with a wonderful man, you guys are gonna hear hear from as well. And it just really helped shape me, helped help me grow in the spiritual areas of my life. And here's the thing to think about when Paul, in this Paul Timothy dynamic that we were kind of unpacking, when we start trying to find guys that are a little bit further on our walk who could be our spiritual fathers, you know, they they need to be, first of all, a lot further down the road than we are.

Adam Rushing 7:04

Okay.

Chris Grainger 7:05

Why? Because then they can see things that we don't see. Right? We also have to find, here's the hard part I've found. We got to find guys that are willing to tell the hard things that others won't say. It's very easy to find yes men. It's it's ones that are willing to say the hard stuff that's challenging. But I've recognized something with my mentor. Anytime we meet with him, we meet usually once a week or every other week.

Adam Rushing 7:34

It's very regular. He's never rushed, he's never distracted. And when I meet with him, I feel like I matter. You know what I'm saying?

Chris Grainger 7:47

I just feel like I matter. And these days, guys, that can be rare. Because think about how fast life moves. How quickly we have to move from this to this to this to this. You got you got all your task stuff stacked up, you got your counter that's just screaming at you, that you got to get more and more and more and more and more. It's hard to find guys that are just there, man. Just there. And I can tell you one thing, it's it's it's been wonderful for me. And we see right here in this scripture the power of the spiritual father. Because when Paul says son, he says, son, right? We we we can put our heads around that. I mean, I think about my own son. I think about little Judah. And there is a love for that little boy, it can't be fake. I'm not faking it. And it's not a transactional love, it's not a surface-level love, it's a deep love. It's a deep love. I love my son. And this is what spiritual mentors, when they're actually genuinely care, this is what they bring. They don't bring just knowledge and correction. You can get that off a book. You know, you can get that anywhere. They bring care. Genuine care. And that's a that's just hard to explain till you've experienced it. But once you got it, bro, like you don't want to ever be without it. And so maybe this for us a challenge today to think to think through is to go find one. Because this is not just gonna happen. It's not just gonna fall on our lap, you know. You have to be intentional about seeking it out, right? It's not gonna be easy, but it's worth it. So I thought it was worthwhile on this on this episode is to give us a little kind of a blueprint or some things to consider, even if it's indirectly, on what to look for in a spiritual mentor. Okay. 1 Timothy chapter 3, uh, if you go a little bit further in 1 Timothy, Paul lays out some qualifications for overseers. Uh, but I mean, that's leadership qualifications, guys. You know, we're just not talking about just pastors here. And this is what you should look for. I mean, he talks about, first of all, being above reproach, okay? What does that mean? Just a man that has that's integrity, right? Not a perfect guy, because there ain't no such thing as a perfect guy, but an integral guy, right? He talks about being faithful in his marriage. And you should be able to look at this man that for your spiritual mentor. What does his marriage look like? Is he leading her well? Is he loving her well, right? How does he treat other women in that correlation to his wife? Self-control, Paul talks about. So this is not an impulsive guy, right? This is a guy who's who's always gonna have uh that level of self-control in his demeanor. Paul talks about being prudent and respectable. Okay, what does that mean? Wise and steady, bro. Just wise and steady. He says hospitable, okay? So that means a man that's open and relational, not just closed off just thinking about himself. He says he's got to be able to teach, right? So he's got to be able to actually be able to communicate truth clearly, okay? Gentle, not aggressive. So this means that he's a strong man, but not a domineering man. Okay. This also, he tells us, he shouldn't be driven by money. Now, that means he's got to be a good steward. And that that the pro this the stewardship priorities are aligned to God. Doesn't mean he can't have nice stuff. It just needs to make sure that make sure that stuff

What To Look For In Mentors

Chris Grainger 11:23

doesn't have him. Okay. It says he's got to lead this household well. Look, that's gotta be it. His first ministry has got to be in order. Okay. It's got to be not prideful. This is a challenge you want. Just is. And that's that's a big deal to think about okay, what tests has this guy been through and how has he proven it over time? Doesn't that pride show up? Is he saying, look at all the stuff I've done? Or you say, Man, look at all the stuff God has done through me. See how that that that little bit of of change and posture, and it changes everything. And the last thing he talks about is being respected by others. Because our reputation matches reality, fellas. So that's the type of guy. And think about this for that list. How many of those boxes are you checking? And look, we're just not we're not trying to condemn you right now. I'm definitely not trying to condemn you. I fall short on some of these on a consistent basis. And I'm trying, I'm constantly working on getting better in these areas. But for the man that wants to speak into our life from a spiritual mentor standpoint, we should see a consistent theme of these items. And then for you, okay, if if I'm not checking these boxes, where do I need a course correct? We all got these areas. Put it in motion. Okay. Then think that at the end of the day, Timothy didn't become who he was by accident.

Adam Rushing 12:53

He had Paul. He had the apostle Paul for crying out loud.

Chris Grainger 12:56

He had a spiritual father, he had a mentor, he had a man who cared enough to invest deeply and consistently in his life. But here's it's here's the thing to think about before we leave this verse. Timothy was humble enough to receive it.

Adam Rushing 13:11

He was humble enough to receive it. And that's the model we can take from a little small verse like this. Be thinking about who's our Paul?

Chris Grainger 13:21

If you don't have one, what's stopping you from finding him? Right? Because we have to be thinking about who is currently speaking truth and wisdom into our life. Guys, and look, if you need support, if you need encouragement in this, if you just need a bunch of Timothy's, just a bunch of brothers, or Barnabases rather, you know, just some brothers in life to do lay with and ask questions, check out the Lion Dennis. This is this is how we connect guys all over. We've been able to, I can affirmly say, can create some Paul-Timothy relationships, not by anything that we've done that's awesome, but just creating the environment for God to move in a very unique way. And we have some guys right now who have who have who have very clear Paul-Timothy relationships in place. And it's awesome to see. Maybe that's what you're looking for. Maybe that that could be our way to help you. Okay, so the linewithin.us to check that. So look, all the ways we try to serve, connect is all about helping our brothers and sisters, our brothers in Christ rather, walk together. Right? And and and really just to continue down our own individual discipleship journey and recognize we can't do it alone. Now, continuing in our discipleship journey means that first of all, we need to have that saving relationship with Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. And maybe you're listening to The Line within us, and someone just shared this episode with you for some reason, and and and the topic resonated, this whole idea of mentorship and pouring into others. And I'm very appreciative that you listen to it this far. But look, if you if you listen to this

Humility And Finding Your Paul

Chris Grainger 14:59

just for those leadership topics, or those tips rather, and you haven't, you don't have a personal relationship with Jesus as Lord and Savior, like you're missing the greatest thing uh that that that I could ever share with you. And that's the good news of the gospel. And I'm not naive enough to think that everybody who listens to the Lion Authenticist is a believer. I recognize that the majority of you guys are. Not everybody. Not everybody has. So look, if you're hearing my voice right now today, wherever you are, whether you're in the gym or riding down the road or just taking a walk, wherever you are, maybe you're at work and you just have you have podcasts on this background noise. Recognize this, right? Today could be the day that you make the greatest decision. Now that will not only impact your life, but what happens when this life is over. And look, I'm not trying to scare you or to put some type of fear mindset into it. Nope, this is not it. I just want you to know that something so much greater is available to you. And it starts by first recognizing that you are made in the image of God. And like when you look in the mirror, you may see some jacked-up guy

The Gospel And How To Respond

Chris Grainger 16:16

who's got all these mistakes and all these scars. I get it, bro. I got them too.

Adam Rushing 16:22

But God doesn't see that. He made you in his image, he knit you together in your brother's womb. Right? He knows you.

Chris Grainger 16:30

He wants to have that relationship with you. And goes back all the back all the way back to Genesis in the garden with Adam when he set up and he was face to face. God formed him with his hands, breathed the breath of life into Adam's nostrils. Then Adam set up and he was face to face with God. This perfect, loving relationship. I mean, I just think about that all the time. Like, how cool it must have been for Adam just to be in the garden with God, bro. Like that, how awesome was that.

Adam Rushing 16:58

Unfortunately, you know, that that that connection and peace was limited because sin entered the world and that separated us from God.

Chris Grainger 17:10

Okay. Now, here's something that not many people talk about these days. You you you guys, we all are sinners. We're not just guys out here who make mistakes from time to time, who trip up. No, we're sinners, right? And the sin is anything that separates us from God. That's it. So don't try to overcomplicate it. And then what we try to do, I think what the world has done a really good job of is making us think that we can overcome the sin in our life by the actions that we take. I remember, I mean, I've talked to so many guys, like, well, man, we think about how you think you get in heaven. Like, what do you think that's gonna be like? I think it's gotta be a good person, bro. It's gotta be it's just gotta be nice. Gotta help people. Oh, really? Yeah, I think just I just take care of my family, help me, you know, be a good person. You know, I'm not really, I hadn't killed anybody, you know. So I think, you know, they'll probably let me in. Like, hmm. Unfortunately, no. Unfortunately, no. It's nothing to do with deeds. Now we're saved to do the works, but we're not saved from them, bro. We're not. There's no such thing as works-based righteousness. So you can't earn a right standing with God based off the actions we take. So that confuses a lot of guys. Guys are like, wait a minute now. Like, so you're saying I'm a sinner, and that is separating me from God, and I can't do anything to overcome the sin of my life, then what in the world am I supposed to do? And I'm like, exactly. Exactly. There's nothing you can do. Somebody had to come in and do for you what you can't do for yourself. That's why we need a savior. Okay. That's what Jesus did for us, who left heaven on a mission for us to pay the penalty for our sin. That's exactly what he did. He was born of a virgin, fulfilled all the prophecies, did all the teachings, the miracles, showed us, without a doubt, that he's the way and the truth and life. Right? There's no other path to heaven. And then he willingly went to the cross to die for our sins. Because the penalty of sin is death. And the only thing that covers it is blood. And Jesus' perfect blood covers our sin. So he he, Jesus, paid for the entire sin of the entire world. For God so loved what?

Adam Rushing 19:31

The world that he sent is one holy son. Right? That's this is Jesus. This is what he did for us, okay? So now, Jesus died on a cross, they put him in a tomb, and then does the story stop there? Heck no, bro. No. Or else, like, what are we talking about?

Chris Grainger 19:51

He would just be another dead guy. That's not Jesus. In three days, he rose. He lives. He's the risen saved. That's who we can put our trust and our hope in. Right. So, yes, the mortality rate is still at 100%. But guess what?

Adam Rushing 20:11

When we submit our life to the worship of Jesus Christ, at that point, he promises eternal life with him.

Chris Grainger 20:20

And glorified bodies, by the way. Not these things we run around right now, we're getting headaches and tired and exhaustion and cancer and all the sickness, none of that stuff. Get glorified bodies with him. So maybe thinking now, like, oh man, that sounds awesome. How do I sign up for that? I get you. What you have to do is very simple. First of all, man, own it. Just own it. I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner and I and I need a savior. I can't do it for myself. I recognize that. Finally, I'm seeing that to be true. And I believe that Jesus, he and he alone, is my savior.

Adam Rushing 21:04

Jesus. And so you believe that. And you then you confess it as Lord of your life over everything. Over everything. Lord, I have messed up.

Chris Grainger 21:15

I have taken the wrong path for too long. But at this point today, I'm confessing you as Lord. And then at that point, the Holy Spirit comes and it dwells. The old is gone, the new is here. And you'll be able you'll be walking with Him. There's beauty in that. It is so beautiful. And that freedom comes once we have that, declare Him as Lord, and we take that step. So now it's the most important part. Taking the step of confessing Jesus as Lord and Savior. So if you want to do that, let's just pray together right now. You don't have to be sitting in a church or at a service to do this. You can do this wherever you are. But now's the perfect time to invite Jesus. Jesus into your life. So let's pray, Father. I don't know who's listening right now, who is at that point, and they recognize that their way has just not been working, Lord, but they also recognize that they're a sinner. They and they have uh made the decision to follow you. And they know, Lord, that um there's nothing they can do to overcome their sin. And they don't even know right now, maybe they don't even know how this works. They just know that they want to put their trust in something besides themselves. They're laying aside the pride and coming to you. And I just know you love that, Father. So I pray you be with that man or that woman who's listening right now, who's confessing to you, who's just pouring out their heart to you, who's recognizing, Lord, that you are their Savior. I just pray you put people in their life that's gonna help them, encourage them, walk with them. And I'm just so thankful just to be a small part in sharing the best news they'll ever hear. So, Lord, we love you, we praise you. And I just pray it has protection over this person as they start their discipleship journey. It's in your name we pray. Amen. All right. So look, if you just accepted Jesus, boom, touchdown. Let's go. Send me an email, okay? Chris at the lionwithin.us. I got a bunch of resources. Like the lion is not short on resources, okay? So I'd love to send you some things to get you started, just to help you out, some scriptures and things like that, some habits and tricks and tips and all these little things we try to help people with with it in their discipleship wall. So you can just send me an email. I would get that to you. I'd love just to first of all hear from you that you've accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior and celebrate with you. Uh, and if you're not in a church, happy to help you get plugged in. We got we got guys all over literally the world. So depending on where you're located at, we may have some guys that can give you some good um recommendations for church to get plugged into. Okay. So love to hear from you on that. Uh looking forward to you guys coming out and hanging out with us on our next episode. It's gonna be a special one. I think all our episodes are awesome, okay. The one that's coming up means, I'm just gonna be honest, it just means a little bit more to me, okay? Uh simply because of what this man has done for me in my life. And uh I'm just blessed and honored to be able to share uh some of that with you. So I'm not giving any spoiler alerts, but uh just looking forward to that and for you guys being uh hopefully encouraged by the message, okay? So, guys, the linewithin.us is where you find us on daily spiritual kickoff, lines then, putting your application for the leadership mastermind. We have all those things happening at all times, fellas. So those things are moving in a very good direction. We have our uh Bible app. Go to the Bible app, I'm just a guy series, fellas. That thing

Next Steps Resources And Community

Chris Grainger 24:48

has done fun, just blown us away on how phenomenal it's performing. So that's a great way to get connected on the Bible app. Hey, look, do the some of the I'm just a guy plans with other guys. I mean, what a great way just to have a small minute. You can do that on the Bible app. So if you got your small group of guys, you got you can connect with each other as friends on the Bible app, and then you can send out a plan and do it with them. And the cool part is when you do that every day, it gives you a prompt and a place to put comments and kind of like a feed. You guys could just be doing a Bible app together throughout the week, and maybe you guys are working in different parts and you're not able to see each other that much. The Bible app is a great way to keep that connection. So it keeps you plugged into God's Word. The devos or the Bible, the Bible plans from the Lion Within Us are just they're designed for guys. And I guarantee you, if you go through them, you'll have some prompts, you'll have some some areas to discuss, and hopefully uh you'll be encouraged along the way. So all that stuff, again, the linewithin.us, or just open up the Bible app, search for the line within us, follow us on the Bible app. That way, when we when we release new plans, which happens about every two weeks uh or two to three weeks, a new plan will come out. Hey, you'll get the alert, you're getting notifications, and you'll be right there, ready to uh to jump into it. Okay. All right, guys, look forward to seeing you next time. Thanks so much for listening. Give us a rating review and review if you don't mind. And then, you know, the linewithin.us slash donate if you want to support the show and all the things that we're trying to do to help men in their discipleship journeys to be the leaders that God intends them to be. We'd love to have your help and your support, okay? All right, guys, have a great day. Get after. We'll see you next time. Let's keep on leashing the Lion Within. If there's one habit that can change a home, it's this when a husband prays with his wife, not because it's a magic formula, but because it recenters your marriage under God's authority and care. And let's be honest, a lot of guys want to do it, but most don't know how to start without it feeling awkward. Maybe you tried it before and it felt forced, or maybe you've never tried it because you don't even know what to say. Or maybe you're thinking, Man, I'm not a pastor, I'm just a guy. And that's why we created this guide. It's our how to pray with your wife. Simple guide. It's biblical, it's practical, and it's designed to help you start praying with your wife in a way that actually feels natural. So it's a five-section guide and it gives you a simple framework to get started. Okay, it makes sure everything is grounded in scripture, and it also has a powerful PDF that you can pull up whenever you need, especially when things get off, because they're gonna get off. That's normal. So this is all about reclaiming your marriage and reclaiming the spiritual leadership reigns of your home. Because praying with your wife is one of the strongest ways to fight for unity, to build trust, and to write the ship when life starts to pull you off a course. So if you're ready, get access today at thelionwithin.us slash guides. That's the lionwithin.us slash guides and start unleashing the line within at home by leading your marriage through prayer.