Becoming the Man God's Future Requires

Good morning sir!

Welcome to day one!  What a great men’s retreat we all experienced!  God spoke and our hearts were open to receive His word.  Thank you for joining me on this 21 day journey of ‘becoming the man God’s future requires!

Please pray with me: “Lord, I come to You fully aware that I need You to work inside of my heart.  My spiritual heart needs surgery, so I surrender my heart to Your gentle hands.  Keep my eyes focused on You while You cleanse my heart!  In Jesus’ name, amen!”

Pastor Paul led us through an amazing process these last few days.  So many good things. One of the slides he showed said this: ‘Pride Puts Us in Opposition to God.’

Who do you want your opponent to be?  God?  Who in the world can stand against God?  No one!  Full stop.  

But man, when we live in pride, is doing exactly that!  God is opposed to you.   ‘God is opposed to the proud.  But gives grace to the humble.’ James 4:6

God is at work in the heart of every one of us, and I am so thankful He is!  I find it so interesting that right before this revelation, James calls his readers ‘adulteresses’, of all things!  But that forced me to think about how intensely God wants us to be His!  He is really jealous for our affection and devotion.  But He also knows how easily our hearts can be lured into pleasure, worldly pursuits, and lusts. 

But He doesn’t give up on us!    And then James writes these amazing words: ‘But He gives a greater grace!’

That is so cool!  That encourages me today!  

Let’s close with this prayer: Lord, I thank You for Your greater grace!  Let Your grace pull me into deeper connection and devotion to You today!  Amen!