MEN OF GOD - ENDANGERED SPECIES OR ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL?

Exactly ten years ago, I did a 75-minute seminar at the long-running Iron Sharpens Iron National Men's conference (St. Louis) called "DEPRESSION- THE SILENT KILLER OF MEN". This followed a couple other teaching workshops I had done at Focus on the Family, Colorado Springs on "LIVING WITH POWER" based on the first book I ever wrote, called TWO MINUTE WARNING.

Both topics may seem completely opposite to each other and in a sense, they are. Both - living the life God has called His men to live and just barely breathing, after getting beaten down by everything ungodly is the opposite ends of the same slide rule of life. 

One way of living is natural and ordained by God. It does, however, come with a caveat. This way of life is the result of a personal relationship with God, through Jesus Christ as Lord of one's life. There is no other way. What results from this Father-son relationship is God giving us a huge measure of His power. Anyone of us who is born-again can testify it to be true.

He says in John 1:12 (all Scriptures are NASB - New American Standard Bible) "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His Name". There it is - we, who have received Christ have the right/authority to operate in Kingdom Power - right here on earth. If this is done according to Scripture, we can have life and life abundantly.

The opposite is true. We already know that those who have rejected Christ can still have what they think is a perfect life, here on earth while covering up their emptiness with things and fun in the sun right up, until their last days.  However, there are many in the middle who live lives of quiet desperation. They may appear to be normal on the outside, but then plaster over their wounds and emptiness with golf, all kinds of physical pursuits (including illicit affairs etc.) and alcohol. Some fall into gambling and pharmaceuticals, even those of an illegal nature.

In the fall of 2017, I worked with a fellow member of the Gideon Bible Society as we handed out hundreds of college New Testaments, at what was once a Christian university. Three months later, I heard that this man, who was once a pilot of a big corporation, went into his garage, turned on the engine, sealed the garage door and took his own life. There was not thought of the effect on his young family (he was in his low 50's) or testimony. I later heard that he never recovered from being stripped of his job as a pilot and getting grounded. While he was a Christian man, his focus was all wrong - it was on what he DID for a living, not WHO HE WAS in Christ.

Here is where so many men lose it. They may know somewhere in the back of their minds, that there is a purpose to life and it is not the 9 to 5, the mortgage or the college bills. It is preparing for Eternity. Too many ignore the warning signs and especially the Warning Signs from Jesus Christ and the Bible that it is appointed for man to die once, and then the Judgment. This is real. This is some real stuff. 

I am not a professional medical or any such thing as a psychologist. But I know how to study human nature and through the Grace and Spirit of God, I know how the Bible and the Lord has the answers for EVERYTHING which ails humankind. If we would just listen, trust, obey and pray. Amen.
NEXT: WHY MEN DON'T PRAY

NEW LIFE: A MONTH OF VERSES: JANUARY 31, 2016

VERSE: Make every effort to present yourself approved to God, an unashamed workman who accurately handles the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15).

EQUATION: Hard Work + Devotion to the Word of God = Untold Blessings x The Fruits of Obedience.

ACTION: Knuckle down to the necessary diligence required not just for the work of the Kingdom, but to grow closer to the Father so that His heartbeat becomes yours and mine.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, many of us who are wholly committed to You, have no problem standing and dying on the Hill of the Truth of Your Word, because we are not ashamed of the Gospel, the power of Salvation, that it is. What we have a problem, not just now, but always, is keeping our nose to the grindstone and trying not to get distracted by the things of this world and just the difficult things of life. So help us to adopt Psalm 119 as our own for the rest of 2017 and the rest of our lives, so that we may be found even more worthy to be called Your workmen, and that the overflow of our efforts will not just accurately portray and proclaim You as You are, but that many may come to see You, as You truly are, to the Praise and Glory of Your Name, in all Your goodness, grace, glory and Power and Love, through the greatest Name above all the other names-  the Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom all honor is ascribed, amen and amen.

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