“Stand true to your calling to be a man. Real women will always be relieved and grateful when men are willing to be men”  My dear warrior,
I have become increasingly more aware of men struggling with what it means to be a man; struggling to understand what true masculinity is in a culture that is increasingly antagonistic towards what God designed men to be. Culture defines manliness as being tough as nails, showing no emotion; or demands men to be emasculated, submissive and sensitive; or downgrades/ debases/ demotes them to purely sexual beings, driven by their libido and knowing little more than animal instinct. None of these is correct, and each of them is a distortion of the reality set forth by our Creator.
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 “Love may forgive all infirmities and love still in spite of them: but Love cannot cease to will their removal.” My dear warrior,
So many are offended by the doctrines of God, by Scripture itself; even people who call themselves believers. We're living in a time in which it is counter-cultural to be a lover of God, to be a man or woman after His own heart and mind. In a society where men create God in their own image and exchange truth for a lie so they can comfortably live in their own sin, I challenge you to wrestle with these topics and not be offended by the Word of God. Do not be put off by this seemingly difficult topic, but rather allow your heart to become ravenously hungry after God’s heart, and challenge yourself to delve deeper into God’s nature.  “My responsibility is to obey, to surrender my heart and to yield myself to the will of God. It is in the process of obedience that we gain understanding." My dear warrior,
As Christians—as warriors for Christ—we must live with utmost intentionality. The rest of the world may be lazy in their dealings, drift through life, simply get lucky or live any number of ways, but we are not meant to live as the world lives. We are not meant to think as they do. Warriors are intentional about each and every action they carry out: from the way they hold their weapons down to the way they dress, making sure they are armed to the teeth without you ever knowing that they have even one weapon on their person.  For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. - 1 John 5:3 Dear Warriors,
What if when God said, “be holy, even as I AM holy,” it wasn’t just a command. What if it was an invitation? What if God is inviting us to be like Him? When I read that verse and I hear His voice, I don’t hear an angry, wrathful taskmaster saying “Be holy, or else!” I hear a gentle, loving God whisper to me like He's sharing the greatest secret in the world with me. He nudges me in the ribs and says, “Hey, be holy. Even as I AM holy. Wouldn’t that be awesome?” What if when He said, “You shall be holy unto me, because I the Lord am holy and I have separated you from other people, that you should be mine,” it was a beautiful promise? A promise that says because He loved us so much that He sent His only Son to save us, that we are being transformed in His image. A promise that says He has purposefully set us apart to be made like Him. In those moments, I find my heart is absolutely exhilarated. My heart is set alight as I am filled with a desire to be more and more like my Creator. I want nothing less than to be like Him!  “Don’t become like the people of this world. Instead, change the way you think. Then you will always be able to determine what God really wants—what is good, pleasing and perfect.” Dear Warriors,
You have a life inside of you that is completely unstoppable. Nothing can stand in your way - unless you choose to be stopped. It is a matter of choosing to be unstoppable (realizing that Christ is the source of your strength), or choosing to give into despair and giving up all hope. For this purpose, God instructs us to renew our minds each day. What does it mean to renew your mind? It means you must go to Him daily and let Him transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Spend time in the Word. Let Him influence your thoughts for the better, push out negativity, and remove thoughts that would counter what He wants to do in your life. When you renew your mind, you are getting rid of any festering bitterness that is eating you up from the inside out. You say no to anger, no to grudges and unforgiveness. You choose to forgive. You choose love. You choose to make God your focus, and to see from His point of view, to think like Christ.  Dear Warriors,
Have you ever noticed that some people (or characters) just seem to change the atmosphere when they enter a room? It seems that everyone drops what they are doing as their attention is instantly drawn to this one person. I'm thinking of the Clint Eastwood’s, Han Solo’s and James Bonds. I'm sure a few people come to mind. They just seem to command a presence. Perhaps you don’t know any warriors in real life, but think of the samurai, or military commanders; think of William Wallace, Spartacus or Aragorn, who in their rousing battle speeches changed the mood of an entire army! My dearest warriors,
Last week, I touched momentarily on the difference between condemnation and conviction. I’m finding more and more that people do not understand the difference between these two things, and are unwittingly submitting themselves to lies that keep them from moving into their God-given potential. Rather than becoming warriors, they stay foot soldiers at best, and are casualties of war at worst. To refresh: Conviction is from God. Condemnation is from the enemy. Conviction is when God points to a very specific thing in out lives that is not right; he points to a flaw in our character, an ungodly trait in our lives that He wants to fix. He wants to upgrade us constantly, to remold us and reshape us into the image and likeness of Christ. Though there may be a sting here for not having lived up to His expectations, it is no more than when alcohol touches a wound. It may sting for a moment, but then He applies the soothing salve, a healing balm to make us whole. When God convicts us, He is encouraging us to run to Him, so that we can partner with Him and move forward in our development! |
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Mere Humanity: Becoming a Mature Christian in an Immature World 
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