MAN UP!!!

1 Corinthians 16:13 
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. 
(NIV)

Deuteronomy 31:6 
Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you. 
(NKJV)
Read this next passage, as if you were Joshua, and the Lord is directly talking to you.
Joshua 1:3-9                                                                                                            I promise you what I promised Moses: ‘Wherever you set foot, you will be on land I have given you ... No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you.Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you Wherever you go. (NLT)

                                  He will carry you!


   Over the last few years, I have been in direct contact with a "Fatherless Generation".  I have spent many years coaching baseball and football, and have seen the effect of fatherless boys and girls first hand in Children's Ministry.  I thought the church would be a place where Men of God could be found, but found just as many fatherless children there as in the world.  I have prayed for these families constantly and have seen God move in some of the families.  The thing that disturbed me the most was the lack of a Godly male influence in families that had a father present.  I could beat around the bush.  I could sugar coat the way I feel, but I choose to be as blunt as I can in the attempts to wake some of you up.   MAN UP!  It's time to be the man God called you to be.  He did not call you to pervert His word, He called you to uphold it.  He did not call you to sit down, He called you to stand up.  He did not call you to give in to sin, He called you to defy it.  It is really easy to sit down and do nothing while Satan inspires your children to become like him.  God blessed you with the opportunity to show your children how to live like Christ.  This is not a burden you bare.  It's what God has called you to do.  You were made for this purpose.  You should love your wife, as Christ loved the church, showing your children how a healthy, God based relationship should look like. If you sit down and leave it all to your spouse, Satan will fill the gap for you.  Are you giving your family to God or letting Satan have free rein?
   Here's the cool part!  God is not asking you to do this alone, He is with you every step of the way.  He never said it would be easy, but He said He would never leave you nor forsake you.  It's time to be Men of Courage. Take hold of God's word, and establish a relationship with God first.  Don't accept Satan's request in your home. Whether it be through music, video games, tv shows, clothing, internet, or any other means Satan may use.

Joshua 24:15

New King James Version (NKJV)

¹⁵ And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

WHEN GODLY MEN SIT DOWN, EVIL ME WILL STAND UP!  STAND UP FOR CHRIST.  BE THE MAN OF GOD YOU WERE CALLED TO BE.  ITS TIME TO.....

MAN UP