Underdogs

God loves underdogs. As men of God we know that in our flesh dwells no good thing. However, we have been strengthened with His mighty power by the Holy Spirit which he gave us when we were born again. In the midst of the spiritual battle the Lord is our refuge and strength. He is our shelter from the storm.

In the days of Noah, God called Noah to warn the people of the coming flood. They went about their daily business and didn’t listen to God’s warning. Then when the flood came, they weren’t ready and they didn’t know what hit them.

Our times are challenging times. The average Christian guy is casual in his walk with the Lord. He’s stressed and doesn’t think he can do anything about it. He’s struggling with his walk with God. He cannot say, “Lord, without you I’m nothing. I need help.” Many casual Christian men have a father wound. Their dad never said, “son, I love you.” Guilt and shame dog and condemn the casual Christian. He’s angry and doesn’t know the cause of his anger or how to deal with it. Even though he’s attended church and has been to men’s retreats, he still feels uncomfortable on spiritual turf. He avoids places or situations where he might be asked to pray or look something up in the Bible. He’s fearful and doesn’t know where to turn. He finds his identity in his work and accomplishments. He strives for the world’s definition of success. He pursues the things the world holds dear: beauty, honor and money. He see’s himself as a good guy even though he’s not involved with his church. He’s an underdog when it comes to the things of the spirit of life in Christ.

Bob Bennet says that men of this world have been marginalized. They have been relegated to the margins of our popular culture. They have been emasculated and pushed aside while the women have taken center stage. The average guy has acquiesced to his marginal position trying not to offend the world’s standards of political correctness.

According to Isaiah 55:8-9 God said, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Therefore proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy path.”

His ways, His Purpose, and His plan are much higher than ours. We don’t understand the end from the beginning…..but he does. As a follower of our Lord, our purpose is to follow him in close proximity.

The first chapter of 1 Corinthians says, not many noble, not many wise are called. God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the wise. For the wisdom of the world is foolishness to God.

God has chosen the weak, the base, the foolish, and the despised things of this world so that no man can glory in his sight. Repentance is to turn from myself and unto Christ. Our credentials are not in our own accomplishments but only in Him. For he who knew no sin was made the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in him. Christianity is all of thee and none of me….that we may be to the praise of the glory of His grace.

By God’s grace he has called us and chosen us to be holy and without blame before him in love.

When God called Moses to confront Pharaoh, Moses said, “why me, Lord. I can’t speak. I’ve been banished from Egypt as a murderer. Why have you chosen me?” God chooses the things that are despised of this world to show the power of his grace, mercy, and love.

According to 1 Corinthians 1:30, “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” According to this verse we’re saved from sin and the effects of sin. This includes the penalty of sin, the power of sin, and the presence of sin.

Salvation from these effects of sin also covers the three tenses of salvation. In the past tense were saved because of what Christ did on our behalf….not because of our own worthiness. Righteousness means that we have been saved from the penalty of sin. In the present tense, sanctification means that we are being saved, set apart from the power of sin. We’re separated from the power of sin according to the working of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in heavenly places far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named either in this world or that which is to come….. In the future tense, Redemption means that we will be saved from the presence of sin for when that which is perfect is come at Christ return, we shall know even also as we are known.

We’re not successful by the world’s standards. Jesus said, the abundance of a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of things which he possesses. By his standard, he came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. He has called us to stand in the power of his might according tot he spirit of Christ in us the hope of glory.

God chooses underdogs from the world’s perspective….ordinary men who have the meekness and humility to humble themselves under the mighty hand of God.

God chose Joseph to provide and protect the nation of Israel to be separated in the land of Egypt according to God’s plan.

Likewise, he set Moses apart to lead the children of Israel out of the bondage of Egypt to the promised land flowing with milk and honey. God had a plan for his life. God got his attention through a burning bush that wasn’t consumed. God called Moses to a high and mighty calling to deliver his people. Moses’ life was an example of His grace and mercy.

Jesse’s son David was also the story of an underdog. David was Jesse’s youngest son who was tending his father’s sheep. When Samuel told Jesse that God was calling one of his son’s to be anointed, Jesse left David in the field. Even though David was chosen to become king, he often walked outside of God’s will. He sinned woefully with Bathsheba, but he repented of his sin and God restored him to an upright position. God is rich in mercy and grace. A broken and a contrite heart, God will not forsake.

God has called men of God for such a time as this. He’s called us to be salt and light in a world of darkness. He’s called his men to stand in the gap as his wall of protection around the city. We’re watchmen on the wall to put on the whole armor of God that we may be able to sand in the evil day and having done all to stand.

Despite the pestilence and pandemic, God says, fear thou not for I am with thee. Be not dismayed for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee, yea I will help thee, yea I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

From the world’s perspective, Jesus was an underdog. Jesus lived one solitary life according to this poem attributed to James Allen Francis:

He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant. He grew up in another village, where he worked in a carpenter shop until he was 30. Then, for three years, he was an itinerant preacher.He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family or owned a home. He didn’t go to college. He never lived in a big city. He never traveled 200 miles from the place where he was born. He did none of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but himself.He was only 33 when the tide of public opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. One of them denied him. He was turned over to his enemies and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. While he was dying, his executioners gambled for his garments, the only property he had on earth. When he was dead, he was laid in a borrowed grave, through the pity of a friend.Twenty centuries have come and gone, and today he is the central figure of the human race. I am well within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned–put together–have not affected the life of man on this earth as much as that one, solitary life.

As underdogs and as servants of our Lord, may we humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God,
That we may ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace,
Your brother in Christ,
Michael

Lead Us to Pray

How has God called each of us as Christians and men of God… to fulfill the great commission, to make disciples of all nations, and to serve others by serving them the bread of life? According to 2 Corinthians 5, God has given us the ministry of reconciliation: to connect God’s people back to him. To do this he has committed unto us the Word of reconciliation, the truth of scripture, God’s message of deliverance by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

The world teaches us what it means to be a leader, but how does God define his leaders? EM Bounds said, “Praying men are God’s chosen leaders whom God has brought to lead his people to Christ, sanctified according to to his purpose. He has called them to be men of prayer.” 2 Corinthians 5 says, therefore we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. To whatever position he’s placed us in the body of Christ, he has called us first to be men of prayer. God calls his ministers to lead and to bless his church which is his called-out, his elect and chosen.

Godly leaders are different from worldly leaders. The world chooses leaders according to worldly credentials. However, leading in the church requires men who having walked in fellowship with their Lord, live to do their master’s will. The church is not an organization but rather a organism. The church is the elect of God, the called-out living body of Christ.

The false church that looks for better methods to pursue worldly success. However, God does not look for better methods. He looks for better men….men mighty in prayer. In Jesus’ day, the Romans ruled over their empire with an iron hand. When Jesus broke upon the scene, the people realized that he was different from their oppressive worldly rulers. They wanted to make Jesus their earthly king. However, Jesus said, That’s not why I’m here. They asked him, “Jesus, what’s your plan?” He pointed to some lowly uneducated fishermen and a despised tax collector. He said, “those men over there, they’re the plan.” God chooses the lowly things of the world to confound the wise.

Those who spend time in the Lord’s presence are the ones whom God has chosen to lead his church. A pastor and a godly man must spend time in close proximity with his Lord. Jesus didn’t say to his disciples, “do what I say.” Rather he said, “follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” He said, if you abide in me and my word abides in you ye shall bear much fruit. He said, I am the vine and ye are the branches. Therefore abide in me. A fruitful life is the result of abiding with and within the living vine.

God asks each person he’s called, “what is it that you want? What do you desire most? What is the object of your delight?” The world thinks that prayer is telling God what we want. However, the Bible says that this is the opposite of prayer. Prayer is not telling God what we want. Instead prayer is telling our heart what God wants. Prayer is not aligning God’s heart with my heart, but rather, aligning my heart with God’s heart. This is the meaning of Psalm 37:4, “Delight thyself also in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”

The next question he asks is, “what’s that worth to you? What are you willing to sacrifice to achieve what you value most?” The world tells us that sacrifice is something that we give up and that in giving it up, we’re poorer. However, from God’s perspective, only when we give up the things of this world can he fill us with the things of highest value, the things of the spirit of life in Christ.

Prayer is the key to abiding in Him. When we live live life rejoicing in the Lord together with our brothers and sisters in the household of faith, our prayer will be an outpouring of praise and thanksgiving. Prayer and praise is the product of a thankful heart. Our prayer will glorify God and encourage and edify one another within the body of Christ.

The Navigators Colossians 2:7 program leads small groups through a discipleship training program. Pete recalls that when he was a novice assistant pastor, an elder in his church asked him to lead a small group to go through this basic Christian training program. The first sessions began with the most fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith. As a young pastor, Pete didn’t think he was qualified to lead the elders whom he admired as seasoned men of God. However, one elder encouraged him, “never apologize for reminding us about the foundations of our faith.”

Men and women of God see life through the lens of Jesus Christ and him crucified. 1 Peter 4:16-17 says, “Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?”

God expects men of God to be salt and light in a world that has lost its salt of truth and has turned to darkness. He’s called true disciples to be counter cultural to the culture of this World. To follow him we must love him more than the things of the world. After Jesus had trained his disciples and after his resurrection, Jesus asked Peter, “do you love me?” Is he the object of your affection? The question is “do you want to spend the rest of your life learning to become just like him?” The cost of following him is to turn from the things of the world. The first of the Ten Commandments says, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” In other words, “there shall be nothing between my face and your face.” 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “But we all with open face beholding as in a glass (mirror) the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory (of the flesh) to glory (of the spirit), even as by the spirit of the Lord.”

Jesus said, “in this world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” Our comfort is not in the comfort of this world. Our comfort is in the comfort of Holy Spirit. The job of the Holy Spirit is to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable.

Jesus calls us to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. 2 Timothy 5 is about suffering. Through the trials and affliction, through the tribulation and pressure of this world, we will learn to trust our souls to the captain of salvation.

When a man is faithful he shall receive a crown that fadeth not away. Our confidence is not in the insecure things of this world. The only security is in the rock of our salvation. Only Jesus Christ is the sure foundation. He alone is our refuge and strength.

He alone is worthy of our prayer and praise. Therefore may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable unto thee, O Lord my strength and my redeemer.

That we may live a life of prayer, a sweet smelling savor…. to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
MIchael