I've been asking the Lord a lot recently about where to go with my writing, having felt no inspiration for some time to put pen to paper (electronically of course).
I've basically no interest in throwing more content onto the internet for no other reasons than self-importance and needing to somehow have my opinion heard.
I genuinely only want to say what God wants to say through me, and share what God is saying and doing in my own life and experiences.
I can't be anything more or less than who He has created me to be, so starting and staying there is a really good place to be.
In the words of Bill Johnson the Senior Pastor of Bethel Church in Redding, (my current home church), "God is faithful to keep His promises, but He's not obligated to keep my potential".
What is our potential you ask??
Jesus is the standard and the example, so He then is also the answer. Boom. It only took me a paragraph to get to the blog title.
My earnest desire is to walk as far as God has created me to, into my potential and promises as a Kingdom man. I believe that is the design for all men and women - to walk into the promises and potential of their created design as humans. We are the limiting factor in that equation, not God.
Since I'm a guy, I'm going to put my focus now on the manhood part of this narrative - but ladies, if you've started and gotten this far, keep reading because it is highly likely that what you can take away from this will be just as valuable for you - in the sense that obviously you probably know a lot of men and even live with one or more and so do a lot of life with us.
I don't feel a long blog coming out of me today, what I feel is more like a launching point on what is a huge topic - KINGDOM MANHOOD.
All of the Bible is in Jesus, but not all of our Lord Jesus is contained in the Bible.
Therefore, the reality is that we will be discovering new facets of the Kingdom and our manhood in Jesus for eternity. I don't know about you, but that's way too big for me to wrap my little pea brain around.
Thankfully, Jesus is not expecting us to know beyond our limits in the sense of experientail knowledge. He is commanding us however to know and love Him. Yes it is a command, not a suggestion. The Bible is not full of God's opinions that we are to take under advisement. The Bible contains God's commands to us His people, which are ultimately for our good.
The first and greatest is to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, all of our soul, all of our mind, and all of our strength. The 2nd is like it, love our neighbors as ourselves. Upon these rest all of it. (paraphrasing Matthew 22:34-40)
So what is the foundation, the launching point for being a Kingdom man?! LOVE.
Don't take my word for it - see a few of my favorite scriptures below on the subject, straight from the mind of Christ:
"Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith" - 1Timothy1:5
"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing." - 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." - 1 John 4:7-11
A couple things about these, starting with familiarity. Many of us, even raised outside of the church like I was, have heard these verses many many times. The only time I ever heard 1 Corinthians 13 verses was at weddings, and I don't recall ever seeing anyone actually live it and walk it out in or out of marriage. So the words meant literally less than nothing to me.
I really could have included more verses from both 1 Corinthians and 1 John, as they so beautifully expound on this love narrative as I call it.
Love suffers long - love does not seek its own - love forgives all, love believes all. WOW. Imagine a world filled with men who not only believe this, and are in pursuit of it, but refuse every other false doctrine that is out in the world now raised up against the knowledge of God's perfect law of love.
1 John 4:12 says that if we love one another then God abides in us and His love has been perfected in us. That's just crazy.
I few years ago I started reading a book about kingdom manhood that was recommended to me, (I won't share the title nor the author), that contained zero references of any kind to the scriptures and points I just shared. NONE. Not one reference to what God says is the key to being a man like Jesus. Biblical, sacrificial, God-like LOVE.
I was disappointed and saddened that our modern Christian worldview can have a foundation based on everything but knowing, modeling, sharing and becoming the love of Christ.
I'll simply go back to God's word and say what He's saying about it:
"Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked." - 1 John 2:3-6
The love of God can actually be perfected in us. In you, in me. In all MEN. (and again ladies - you're amazing too - but as I'm a dude I'm speaking to the other dudes today directly).
You may be speaking through your screen at me now saying, "What do you mean brother, we can't be perfect. Only God is perfect". Well, you might have a point if a) it wasn't in His book and b) the definition of perfect meant without any errors or sins or flaws or mistakes. As I've been taught to understand it by Bible teachers way smarter than me, that word perfect actually can mean to operate exactly within ones design and purpose.
When I live and believe as God has designed and created me to live and believe, than I am in that state of perfection.
Take a look at more scriptures on the subject:
"...till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" - Ephesians 4:13
"but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” - 1 Peter 1:15-16
Holiness and perfection are absolutely attributes of God alone - and yet one of the great mysteries for us to behold is that God our Father actually wants us to walk in this reality with Him. Be holy, as He is holy. Walk perfect (in your created design), as He is perfect.
I will tell you that it is my steadfast opinion that all of my life as a kingdom man is not only wildly improbable to grasp, but absolutely impossible to walk out. On my own. Without God.
That's the point. With God, all things are possible.
I really want to encourage you today to start with these simple verses I've shared on love. Simple because love is really not a complicated thing when we see it from God' point of view - AND - absolutely unreachable before we knew Jesus, while being absolutely reasonable and logical once we are born-again believers committing our lives to Jesus.
I believe God has so much more to say on this subject, and I intend to keep writing about it.
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I send my love and blessings for you and your family today, and I pray that you would know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3).
