Mánus’ mission is to love his wife well and to encourage and strengthen other men, two things that he does imperfectly but passionately nonetheless. He was raised in church and made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ at the age of 12, a decision from which he has never turned back. Mánus finds his calling in connecting with other men, encouraging them to love God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength. Along with a couple close brothers, Mánus has helped to launch The Warrior Poets, an as yet informal collection of men intent on worshiping God. The desire of the Warrior Poets is to abandon pretense and band together in three-strand cords, which are not easily broken, with the sole aim of reconnecting the hearts of men to the heart of God. Mánus finds his solace in quiet contemplation, singing, writing, and laughing as deeply and as often as possible.
I must continually bring my whole life back to Jesus. It’s because of what He did, not because of what I do or don’t do. Going further, Paul said,
“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9
God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt)
, NASB)
I’m not advocating a lazy, do-nothing Christianity. The point is that God wants more for us than just a bunch of people waiting in line for a handout. His goal is to grow us into mature sons and daughters who know Him, love Him, and out of that strong relationship, make requests as part of an ongoing conversation with Him. At any point where we divorce our understanding of Scripture and the heart of God from relationship, we have made a serious error and are in need of swift correction.
Of course God knows what we need and His good heart longs to completely satisfy us. In fact, He knows what we need before we ask, before we even know what we need. But He’s up to something much bigger than we can imagine. When Jesus met the woman at the well in John chapter 4, she though their conversation was only about water. Jesus had in mind the salvation of an entire village. He’s no different today.
Look at the needs in your life. By all means bring them to God with confidence that He is ready, willing, and able to meet them. Also, take time to prayerfully consider how the answer to your prayers will be much bigger and better than you ever imagined. How is God maturing you through this need? How does He want to show Himself strong on your behalf?
Lord, please forgive me for my faithless self-idolization and help me remember that I don’t earn anything in the Kingdom of God; it’s all by grace, through faith. Show me what You’re up to in my life and help me raise my expectation to meet Your ability. In Jesus’ name, amen.
