Luke 11:21 – When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe…
I’ve often said that the most important thing in your life is God’s blessing. If you’ve ever felt like a ship without a rudder trying to find God’s blessing but not sure how, maybe I can offer some insight, especially for the young men.
First and foremost, I need you to know that, if you will take God’s Word to heart in order to think and act and speak like a man instead of a boy, God will bless what you are doing because your God is a Father who loves you. You’re His son. He likes to bless you and help you and encourage you, and God’s grace is there for the men who are willing.
Most guys want to be respected, followed, and esteemed. I’ll let you in on a secret: nobody follows a victim. Real men are not victims. If, to this point, your whole life has been, “I’m a victim of circumstances, of a failed father, of a broken home, of a difficult life, of a downward economy, of a broken culture, of a demonic attack”, you may be a victim, but let me tell you this, nobody follows the victim. You want to lead? You have to start being a victor.
The “want to” always precedes the “how to”. If you want to be a man, God will help you learn how to be a man. If you look at all of our cultural problems, the solution to almost every one is this: a godly husband and father. God’s answer is to send men like you to do the things that He has called you to do.
The Holy Spirit will tell you what your next step is. Some of you need to give up your hobby, not because it’s evil, but because right now with a wife and young kids, you don’t have time for it. Some of you definitely need to give up your porn habit. Some of you definitely need to give up your regular and over drinking. Some of you definitely need to give up your laziness. Some of you need to give up your crummy work ethic. Some of you need to give up your bitterness against your father. It’s time to start taking responsibility for your own life instead of blaming everyone else, walk in God’s will, and receive His blessing.
Father God, I pray for a strong spirit of conviction on the young men. God, I pray that they would take this as a somber and sober word, not just for themselves but for all the guys they know. The guys that they know are dating women they shouldn’t be dating, sleeping with women they should not be sleeping with, going to the bar, hanging out with the boys rather than going home to open the Bible with the family. I pray, Lord God, for these young men who have been wrongly taught that if they put food on the table that that is the sole sum of their responsibility. They’re also to put the Bible in the hands of the family and wisdom into the heart of the family and life into the soul of the family and love into the conversations of the family.
I pray, Lord God, for those men who are fearful of getting married because they don’t want to take on responsibilities. I pray for those men who are fearful of becoming husbands and fathers because they don’t want a double portion of responsibility. I pray for those men who have those responsibilities and are trying to hand those off to women, children, institutions, organizations. Lord God, you made men to carry a load and we are like trucks and we drive straighter with a load. And Lord God, when a young man is living his life without a load of responsibility, he has a hard time keeping his life straight. And so Lord God, would you help to load up these young men with a lot of responsibilities so that their life could be straightened out and they could move forward in Jesus’ good name. Amen.
What do you need to start doing today? What do you need to stop doing?