Tag Archives: faith

What Does It Mean To Be A Godly Man?

A question I am often asked by other men is, “What does it mean to be a godly man?” Is it just about reading and knowing the Bible? Is it just about character? Is it just about being able to provide godly counsel? Here is a quick outline:

Fully convinced God exists. You are convinced the God of Scripture created humanity in His own image (Genesis 1.) A part of being made in His image is that we reflect His glory, therefore, a person couldn’t possibly become a godly man without being fully convinced in God.
Sin is destructive. In Genesis 3 we see sin enter into the story of humanity so that everything and everyone we see today is fractured in sin. Do you believe this? Are you convinced of this truth at the global and personal level? You must!
Complete hope in life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus is God in the flesh. Jesus has come to take our sin at the cross. Jesus has come to conquer death through the resurrection. Are you captivated by this truth? Are you in awe of this truth? (1 Corinthians 15)
Love for God’s Word. Do you love the Bible? Do you love reading the Bible? Do you love talking about the Bible? How could we become godly men if we don’t love God’s Word? (2 Timothy 2)
Obeying God’s Word through faith in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. This is key! God’s Word isn’t about following rules. Godliness isn’t trying really hard to look like God. Godliness is walking by faith in Christ every day until we are face to face with Jesus. (Romans 1)
Convinced of stewardship. None of this world is ours. It all belongs to God, therefore, in Christ, we are all managers or stewards of resources, talents, and gifts from the Lord. The sooner a man sees himself as a steward instead of an owner, the sooner he will grow in godliness. (1 Peter 4)
Taking responsibility. We are going to fail as men. Failure is going to happen spiritually, physically, emotionally and mentally; therefore, when those moments come into our life we would do well to stop making excuses and embrace responsibility. (Proverbs 28:13)
Repentance. Repentance means to acknowledge our sin and turn from our sin as we trust in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. God’s Word teaches us it is the kindness of the Lord that leads to repentance. Repenting of sin daily is a mark of a godly man. (1 John 1:9)
Teachability. Are you able to learn from others? Are you so convinced of your wisdom that it is hard to consider others might have something better? Are you curious about life? Are you curious about others? Is there humility about you so that you are convinced that God’s glory shapes how you see yourself in Him? (1 Peter 5:5)
Servant-Leadership. Do you enjoy putting others before yourself? Do you enjoy dying to your flesh? Do you enjoy perseverance? These are all marks of godliness. Waiting to be asked. Waiting for the applause of men. Waiting for someone else to take responsibility. These are marks of spiritual immaturity. (Matthew 20:26)
Live Courageously. Take risks by faith in Jesus. Put yourself in a place that is spiritually uncomfortable. If the Lord brings an opportunity, take it! Open the Bible. Pray out loud. Volunteer to help. Give money away. Initiate that conversation with that person that you have been thinking about. Godly men walk by faith in the Lord instead of themselves. (Joshua 1:9)
Biblical view towards money. Money isn’t evil. Money is a gift to be used for His glory, therefore, learn to steward money. Learn to give money away. Learn to bless others. Learn to make as much money as you can but know that a large salary is going to take their pound of flesh. Rarely will a man get a large salary and freedom.
Friends with other men. Lone rangers are going to have a hard time building godly lives and godly character. There’s no way any one man could see all his blind-spots. He needs other men to help him grow. He needs friends that will have honest conversations with him. (1 Thessalonians 5:11)
Perseverance. Life is hard. Following Jesus is hard. Living faithfully is hard. You’re going to want to quit. You’re going to want to give up. Godly men stay faithful. Godly men keep trusting the Lord. (James 1:12)

The fact you have taken the time to read this article is a sign of the Holy Spirit at work in your life. Praise God! You want to grow and mature in Christ. Praise God! God’s Word calls us to be rooted and established in our faith in Jesus. Start today!

A godly man can change the direction of friendship, change the direction of his family, change the direction of generations to come, therefore, don’t wait but seek the Lord. Start growing in Him today!

How Do You Build a Successful Life?

How many times have you been driving down a bumpy road and thought your car was about to fall apart? Sometimes the car hits one of those bumps and you feel the frame of the car slam into the wheels and you are convinced your car is about to fall apart! In those moments you need good shocks that can absorb the bumps of the road.

In the same way, life can be like those bumpy roads. It can be a call from a doctor, an argument with your spouse, a meeting with your supervisor, a late night of waiting for that teenager to send in an update about where they are; life can get really bumpy.

How are we supposed to enjoy life if there are so many bumps in the road? Are we supposed to move out into the middle of nowhere? Wait! There’s tons of bumps in the road in the middle of nowhere 🙂

Sometimes a person can become so fatigued by the challenges of life they try to reduce the amount of possibilities. We cut off friends. We break off relationships. We build a fortress of solitude around ourselves and still challenges in life will break in and create some bumps. What do we do?

The universities don’t teach how to absorb those challenges. Our careers might give us some coping skills but even our careers won’t help us when it feels like the world is being pulled out from under our feet. Copy and paste these somewhere to help you remember:

1. Do you believe God Is Sovereign? The word “Sovereign” means “Control.” Do you believe God is in control of all things? Do you believe God is with you always? What was Joseph believing when he was being betrayed by His brothers? What did Jacob believe when he was working for a wicked uncle? What was David believing when he was hiding in a cave after being anointed to be king? What did Paul cling to when he was in prison, shipwrecked, beaten, bitten by snakes and left to die? What did Jesus hold on to when the Father’s will was for Him to be spit upon, beaten and put on a cross? It is the follower of Jesus who goes through the ups and downs of life but you keep trusting your Heavenly Father because He is in control. (Romans 8)

2. Is your ultimate hope growing in God’s glory? The Apostle Paul wrote, “The sufferings of this world are not worthy to be compared to the glory that is to be revealed.” James teaches us to consider the sufferings of our day to be joy in light of God’s glory. Do you glory in His glory? Do you believe if the Lord only brought you hardship and pain in this life, He is still worthy to be praised? Do you believe the words of Habakkuk, “Thou there be not fruit on the vine, nor food in the stall, I will exalt you!” Do you believe what this world has to offer is not the best this life has to offer? When you turn your trust to His glory it will carry through any pain this world has to offer.

3. Are you celebrating God’s goodness in your life today? Right now! You woke up this morning. You just took a breath. You have people in your life. You have talents and gifts. You have challenges to persevere! And most of all, through faith in Jesus, He calls you His for eternity! You might not make it to tomorrow. You might not make it home today! Therefore, rejoice in the Lord today! Write down His blessings in your life. Recount them every day. Tell Him of all His goodness. Hug the people around you. Write a note of encouragement. Send that text. Laugh with those people. Enjoy the work of your hands. Why worry about tomorrow? Instead, enjoy more today!

4. Are you putting yourself in a place to be captivated by His presence? The glory of the Lord is around you at all times. He hears our prayers. He intercedes on our behalf. He speaks encouragement into our soul. He is our helper. He is our comforter. In every storm of life, He is there, He is working and He is good.

Wind and waves come in life but there is only one who rebukes the wind and the waves. He was there with Moses. He was there with Joseph. He was with David. He was next to Esther in those moments when she uttered those timeless words, “For such a time as this.” But you need shocks to make it in this life.

Spiritual Fitness: 2024

New year, new you! It seems like every place we look, someone or something is trying to help us prepare for the new year. Why is that? It’s not like 2023 was inherently evil and 2024 is going to provide a new outlook on life.

But a new year does provide an opportunity for reflection. The season is slowing down. Weather is cooler. Nights come earlier. It’s like all of creation is getting tucked in for bed and in the same way there are some benefits for reflecting on the care of our mind, body and soul.

Our church family provides a resource called Yearly Rhythms, which you can get for free on a Sunday morning at our resource table or you can order your own on Amazon. There are tons of resources for us to learn how to care for our bodies. This particular writing will focus on how we care for our soul.

Last summer our family was returning from our trip to South Padre Island. It’s the nicest beach in Texas, so we try to go every year. On our return home we realized we were short on gas and my wife said, “We can get gas at this exit.” But the gas station was on the other side of the highway and I didn’t want to waste ALL that time going to the other side of the highway, so I said, “We will just wait for the next exit.”

Little did I know, the next exit for gas was 40 miles away! Unfortunately we noticed this about 10 miles into our journey and my wife said, “We better turn around and go back to that gas station.” But I have this unusual gift where I find it almost impossible to turn around for anything, so I said to my family, “I bet we can make it!”

Everyone in the car sighed in disbelief. At this point I could tell my wife was irritated but I thought the worst case is that I will have to walk to the gas station, so I confidently told everyone, “Don’t worry. Everything will be fine.”

10 miles later into the trip, half-way there, we saw the Border CheckPoint so we all said to ourselves, “Great, we can get gas from them.” Unfortunately, the Border Patrol is familiar with these types of questions and they quickly said, “No, we don’t have gas but here’s a list of companies that will bring you gas.”

At this point the fuel gauge is beyond E. It’s not on the E. It’s fully on the other side of the E. I begin to admit defeat. I tell my family we will stop driving, leave enough gas for the AC to stay on and I will call a company to bring us gas.

But to my surprise, when we called the company to bring gas, which is a $50 fee just to transport the gas, the person asked, “What kind of car?” We told him and he said those little cars can go forever! We asked in disbelief, “Are you sure?” The gauge is beyond the E. He said, “Just keep driving. You will make it!”

Sure enough, we made it to the gas station. Of course, I turned to my family and said, “See, what were yall worried about?” Nobody thought it was funny.

I share this story because sometimes we can treat our spiritual soul like I treated our gas tank on that day. Every day, throughout the day, we have opportunities to feed our spiritual soul but many times we say to ourselves, “I will be fine! Just keep going.” This is what leads me to a few encouragements:

If we have never trust in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, we need to start there. It is our faith in Jesus that gives us a spiritual tank to fill up!
Next, Jesus calls us to fill up our spiritual tanks every day, throughout the day. Jesus calls it being a disciple. Jesus has this conversation with Peter when Jesus goes to wash their feet. At first Peter protests, “You could never wash my feet” because Peter thought this would be too humiliating. But Jesus’ response is, “Peter, you have already been made clean. You just need to be washed.” Filling up our spiritual soul is like a good washing!
Time in Scripture. It can be a verse a day. It can be a passage or a chapter. It can be a quick reading or a deep study but the key is to ask ourselves these three questions:
- What does the Scripture teach me about God’s character?
- What does the Scripture teach me about humanities character?
- How does Jesus bring us rescue?
Prayer. In the same way, prayers can be long, short, silent, written; it doesn’t matter. On January 21, 2024 our church family taught through the Lord’s prayer and made these observations to include in our prayers:
- Adoration
- Submission
- Trust
- Confession
- Protection.
Gospel. Our time in God’s Word and prayer should lead us to a place of repentance. Repentance means to turn from sin and turn to Jesus. Repentance softens our heart for God. Repentance reminds us of the glory of God. Repentance shouldn’t fill us with shame and sorrow but joy and hope.
Rest. The bible calls it Sabbath but our faith in Jesus gives us an eternal Sabbath, so that our rest can take place in many shapes and sizes besides one day of the week. But we should still look to incorporate times in our week when we remind ourselves, “God is my provider and protector!”
Giving. Giving financially is a way to remind our soul that we are not the provider and protector. Our country provides opportunities for comfort and prosperity, so that it is easy to feel like we are the ones providing and protecting, therefore, giving is a tangible act of worship, so as to say, “This dollar is not my savior!” You can give in a lot of different ways but if you Partner with North Village Church then you can see how to give HERE.
Serving. God’s Word calls us to look not only after our own interests but also the interests of others, therefore, where in your week are you serving someone else that doesn’t benefit your own interests? I have found that I enter into those moments kicking and screaming. I tell myself, “I don’t have time, I don’t have energy” and yet every time afterwards I think to myself, “I am so glad I did that!”
Sunday Worship. Are you connected to a church family? A church family provides a spiritual covering of protection. I can’t imagine going throughout the day or week all alone. We all need to be committed to a church family.
Fellowship. Our culture is increasingly moving toward an isolated culture. We can pick what we want to eat, what we want to watch, what we want to listen to and curl up in our bed and never have to be around other people. At first glance, it sounds awesome but over time I have found that we will become bored and depressed when we are just focusing on our interests. We need the flavor of other people!

I have found when I am incorporating these spiritual disciplines into my life it leads me to a spiritual tank that is full. It doesn’t mean I won’t have any problems in life. I still have all kinds of problems but it does mean I can weather those problems more securely. My roots in Christ are deeper. My foundation is more solid. My support is more deep. My emotional maturity is more grounded. My thoughts are more clear.

It doesn’t mean layers of anxiety, fear, and discouragement never come my way but it means I can spot them sooner and the truth of God’s Word shapes how I respond to them when I see them coming.

Who Am I to Speak into Someone’s Life?

How many times do we think to ourselves, “I should probably give direction based on God’s Word about what this person should do with their life?” There are probably some of us who can’t help ourselves, some of us who think those things internally but never say anything, and there are also some of us who think, “Why would someone listen to what we have to say?”

Colossians 3:16, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom.”

But God’s Word actually invites us to speak into the lives of other people and below are just a few responses we might give to that invitation:

Nobody would care what we have to say.
I am not qualified to speak into someone’s life.
I need to get my life in order before I talk to someone else.
I’ve made too many mistakes.

As a result, we tend to see people in our life put themselves in a harmful place and we never say anything. Even worse, we wait till that horrible thing happens in their life and then we say under our breath, “I saw that coming a mile away!” But let’s look at Exodus 3:

10 Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.”

11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?”

12 And He said, “Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain.”

13 Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?”

Moses has all the typical excuses that we give today. Who am I? What will I say? Why should they listen? If we looked at the next chapter we would see, “What if they don’t listen? I am not good at this? You should send someone else.”

What is God’s response to all those objections? Look at Exodus 3:

14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

15 God, furthermore, said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations.

16 Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I am indeed concerned about you and what has been done to you in Egypt.

We tend to give excuses by focusing on ourselves, our resources, our abilities, our wisdom, our gifts but God’s response is to look at His calling, His power, His resources, His wisdom and invites us to trust in Him.

This doesn’t mean we need to walk up to strangers and tell them what to do but God has called us to speak into the lives of others who are in Christ. We are called by God to prayerfully consider, “Who needs to be encouraged, who needs to be challenged, who needs to be acknowledged, who needs to be served, who needs to be prayed for” and we get this opportunity every time we come together on Sunday morning for worship.