Authentic Manhood series notes

33 Men's Bible Study Notes


Tell your kids the following 4 things...
I love you
I will never lie to you
I will stick with you until you are grown
There are boundaries, don't cross them

Important to give kids the above because then you are providing emotional support, truth, security and discipline

I am a man.  I am called to take care of myself and my family.  I have to stop allowing Brie to take care of me.  That is being a lazy little boy.

Is being married to me a blessing?  How can I make myself better.  I need to identify these things and put them into action.

Men go through seasons of life.  We need to plan for those seasons by seeing how others planned for them before us and then following those plans which have been proven to lead to success.  When I make a plan I need to do so with the end in mind.  I need to seek God for where He would have me go and then make a plan for his to get there.  Now He may not always tell me exactly where He would have me go or how He would have me get there, but I must still seek and then trust Him to lead me and accomplish the purposes that He has for me.  As long as I am remaining obedient to God and His Word then I am in his will.

Seek out mentors who are in the next stage if life so that I can learn from them.

What we sow in one season we will reap in another season

In order to budget my time appropriately between work, family and God, I must create margins.  It is good to work hard, but I must have margins so that I can go between these responsibilities smoothly and with appropriate ease

Seasons of life:
Spring - 18-20 - becoming a man
Summer- 20-30 - growth
Fall - 40-60 - influence
Winter -60 plus - sage/champion/coach

As a man I must always:
Reject passivity
Accept responsibility
Lead courageously
Invest eternally

In order to do these things, as well as to serve God in general, it is not so much about working harder and straining harder to serve God.  This is important, however, this all is most effectively done when we are in such great communion with God that we serve and live effectively for Him naturally, out of the strength and ability that comes from being in constant communication with Him.  Being in constant communication with Him also seeks to effectively motivate me to joyfully live for and serve Him.

The goal of life should be to try and make God look as great as He is by living for Him and loving Him and in doing so serving others.

Don't be a fearful parent

Just like an athlete should never fear an opponent, we parents should not "fear" the influence the world will have on our children.  When you fear your opponent in sports, you increase the likelihood that they will win.  When you fear Satan and our sinful world, you are playing into their hands. Yes they should be respected, but not feared, because we have a God who is infinitely more mighty than they could ever hope to be.  As parents, we must have confidence that He will guide and direct our children.  Therefore, we must teach our kids to live in the world, but not be of it, and trust God all the while to guide and direct them and keep them safe and becoming more Christ-like each moment of their lives.

Praise you LORD for who You are!!

Stop trying to figure it out....just trust His promises!

I know that all of God's promises are true, but I have a problem with trying to figure out why they are true.  The answer to that question will always be "because He is God".  I need to accept this and put my trust in Him and His promises, rather than an understanding of "why" it is true.  God has never failed me or let me down.  His promises have always been fulfilled in my life, and they will always continue to be.  Therefore, I must stop trying to figure things out and simply trust Him.  What a privilege to do so.  And what a stress-reliever this is too.  Trying to understand all the ways of the Creator is futile.  Simply trusting Him brings incredible joy and peace.  Thank you LORD!

Total Surrender....I Haven't Been Even Close

A life that is truly surrendered will be one which reflects that of Jesus.  He was the perfect example of surrender and humility.  He was equal to God, yet He did not live His life to gain the recognition that should come with that.  Rather, He lived as a servant.  He humbly lived His life in total surrender to God and His purposes, and this meant living as a servant, not for His glory, but for the glory of God.

When you think about all the accolades that Jesus gave up it is incredible.  He deserved to be absolutely worshiped 24/7 here on earth.  And He did not simply give up these accolades.  It is not like He simply hid in the background and went about life in that kind of humble way.  Instead He displayed TRUE humility.  Instead of seeking "Equality with God", He made Himself a servant.  It is so important to get a clear picture of this.  He was God, and was absolutely worthy of all praise and glory that comes with that, yet instead He chose to make Himself a servant of those who should have been worshiping Him.  I MUST GET THIS!!  If anyone who has ever existed deserved to take a break, take it easy and pursue their own glory, it would have been Jesus.  A big reason why He did not seek any glory, but instead made Himself a servant was because He was providing the perfect model for us of how a Christian is EXPECTED to live their life.

I am humbled and embarrassed when I reflect on these truths.  Jesus was 24/7 dedicated to His Father's will.  He was 24/7 dedicated to serving others because this is what God called Him to.  He did not even for a second live for Himself.  Every single moment was for Jesus.  If I compare this to my life, I am ashamed.  I am a selfish, selfish person.  I live for myself.  I live looking for ways to please myself and serve myself.  God has called me to follow the example of Jesus, and yet I fall so very short.  I am not even close.  I realize that I will never be close, but I am not even close, to what I could be.

I must begin following the example of Jesus.  I must humble myself before Him and be surrendered to Him.  I must stop being motivated by things that bring me alone happiness, and begin surrendering to Him completely so that I begin to be motivated by the desire to serve Him wholeheartedly.  If I truly am imitating the life of Christ, I will be motivated to serve others.  I will be motivated to look for ways that I can deny myself, and put my family well before myself.  I will even be motivated by putting others well before myself because this is what Jesus did.  If I am not imitating Christ, then I am wasting my life, because He provided the perfect model of what a perfect life looks like.  I will never be even close, but I need to get a whole lot closer.

In my life I have been motivated by the things that I enjoy, by things that can bring me glory.  I know that God has blessed me with things that I enjoy so that I can enjoy them, but I need to start enjoying them in the ways that He means for them to be enjoyed.  My purpose for doing these things must be to glorify and honor Him.  They must be to worship Him, and to bring Him alone glory, not myself.  These are how God wants me to enjoy them.  These are the best ways, the most pure ways, to enjoy anything.  My glory is far to small a thing to live for.  God and His glory is the only thing worth living for.

What to tell Aivs about making choices for God.

Aivry was talking about what she wants to be when she grows up and saying hiw she hopes "God chooses it".  We are so proud if her for this.  I have been trying to seek God for how to help her understand the ways that God gives us choice....

God often allows us to choose.  He wants us to ask Him if it is what He wants us to do though.  As long as you are doing it in a way that pleases Him He is happy.  Sometimes He will say He wants you to do something and that is also exciting because He knows what is best.  But He will always lead you through every circumstance.

Just like when your Mom offers you 2 choices of cookies, she wants you to choose the one that you like the best.  Unless God calls us to something, it is the same with our life choices.  God wants us to choose the new we like the best.  He is just wants us to them live out that choice in a way that honors Him.

Therefore, in seeking God it is about seeking Him to make sure that He is okay with you pursuing those things, and then pursue those things in a way that pleases, worships and glorifies Him.

Do not offer your body to sin

ROmans 6:13 tells us that it is important to never offer the parts of my body to sin.  Therefore, anytime I am tempted tons in, I need to tell the part of my body that would be involved in that sin, "No sin, you cannot have my body".  It may be my hands, eyes, feet, mouth, etc., but I need to say no to sin, because I live in Christ and in Him I am a " new creation ".  To help with this I need to dedicate myself every day to God.  Another thing I can say when tempted is to remind myself that sin is not my master.  God is my Master.  "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength."  And this is because each and every decision is exactly that - a choice.  I need to choose to do the right thing and allow God to provide me the strength to do that.  If I look at this as a bunch of decisions it may seem overwhelming, but when I focus on each decision one at a time, it becomes much more manageable.  In those decisions focus on saying, "Sin is not my master, and sin, you cannot have any part of my body".

The other thing t

What would Jesus do?

It is important to constantly be asking "What would Jesus do?". Jesus did everything perfectly and so why would I not attempt to do everything in line with what He would do?  It us foolish not to.

When asking thus question it is important to recognize that God calls each person to different things.  Therefore, when we asking this question the answer will always involve obedience to the Father.  So when I am asking what Jesus would do, I am also asking, " What has God called me to do?".  This was what Jesus was on earth to do, and so this is what I too am called to.

One thing that is really important to remember is that Jesus was completely surrendered to the Father...even unto death.  He did not want to have to endure the cross if at all possible, but He did say, "Not my will but Your's Father".  If Jesus was completely surrendered in something as big as that, then I definitely need to be surrendered in EVERYTHING.  I must be surrendered in every aspect of my life.

Not my will, but Hour's please Father.