Manup Moment - Jay Cookingham

One of my favorite authors G. K. Chesterton says this about joy. “Joy is the gigantic secret of the Christian.” Joy has the wonderful side effect of strength; it’s an energy drink for the soul. Joy lifts, joy empowers, joy endures…it comes from inside…from the life God imparts.

Insecurity is a cage and a fear that keeps you from trusting people and ultimately, God. For many men this is a huge battle and they believe the lies of their failures. Lies that shout that they are not good enough, that they are worthless and weak.

The New Testament is full of “new life” instruction that involve living like you were dying moments.

Everybody, if they are honest with themselves, feel afraid sometimes. Feeling afraid, that’s not the issue…being controlled by that fear is. Thankfully, Father God has a answer for fear.

Following Christ is a life long journey…walking out the Great Commission is a journey of disciple making.

Repentance then is part of walking a holy life; it’s re-connecting to God’s heart when we drift, fall or rebel (sin) against His ways. It’s a turning point in our life that helps us remember the truth. Sin wants you to remember your failure, the wrong you have done, but repentance remembers the goodness of the Father and returns to Him.

Every man needs a strategy for his faith. Here are 4 quick tips to put into our faith arsenal.

This is the holding pattern of faith; standing firm, armed and dangerous We must take the initiative to put on the armor and stand firm in the battle because we love the King. It’s not a matter of “letting go and letting God,” where you are passive and God does it all.

Too often a leap of faith is avoided because of fear…because we think we can’t see where our feet will land. This is where our fear and faith collide. Faith is seeing God with (spiritual) eyes wide open…seeing where He’s going, what He’s up to and knowing we’re supposed to follow. Human sight sees in human ways….focusing on trials, sorrows, difficulties, failures…and allowing these to keep us from jumping out of captivity.

In the seminars I teach, I’m often asked this question. How do we become sons? That’s easy…when we accepted the call to follow Jesus, when we bent our knees to the Messiah…. We became sons. John 1:12 says… But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. John 1:12

If I told you that I was planning on stealing your name… your identity, so I could wreck havoc on your financial status, your reputation and mess with all your relationships…would you let me?

This is the critical junction of one’s life—being able to identify and accept God’s vision for us—as sons first. This is where the doorway to manhood hinges, here is the thrust, and the sending off point of our lives. Here we taste of the goodness of God and become able and willing to make known that goodness to others.

I think we can learn a lot from cardigan wearing, Presbyterian minister/TV kid show host. He had something to say about being a neighbor…at least his life did

Finding my heart again is one reason I believe God messes with me. My heart is valuable to Father God, He fought for it, and He redeemed it and made it alive again. This search and rescue mission proves the value of my heart and helps make sense of the time when I feel so restless.

Changes are one of those constants in life, like seasons they carry promises and challenges but with deadlines not of our choosing.

This push me, pull me, tugging sensation is the tension of following Christ, abandoning my selfish desires and pursuing His and His alone. It’s the leading of the Holy Spirit, placing us, positing us and aligning our will with the Father’s. What we see…or don’t see is not as important as what we know.

To understand hope is to capture a vision of how God sees life. Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Romans 15:13 I do believe that hope is oxygen for our souls… it breathes life into the empty part of our souls. Hope makes you believe redemption is possible.

Will we choose to see God as Father… will we only accept the lens of Jesus Christ to see Him through? Not our past, not our failures, not the way we were raised or the abuse we may have walked through…just the way Jesus shows us.

We have to make a stand…let’s go 1 Corinthians 16: 13-14 “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 14 Let all that you do be done in love.” This verse is saying Keep your eyes open, hold tight to your convictions, give it everything got, be powerful, and love without stopping

One of the greatest mistakes I made in the early days of this journey with God was projecting the image of my dad (and the way he treated me) onto that of Father God.