Friends,

It has been a long drought since I last wrote my WFTDs.  It’s my intention to write more often going forward, so if at any time you no longer wish to be on these emails, please let me know.  My hope is that they will always be encouraging.  If they are helpful, I always like hearing that, and if they are not helpful, or if there is a point you disagree with, I’m always open to hearing from you on that as well.  My ultimate goal in writing is three fold – 1) selfishly, writing helps me organize and solidify the things God is showing me through life and His Word, driving them deeper into my own heart and mind 2) God has promised us in Isaiah 55:10-11 that the Word of God going forth is always fruitful – “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” So my trust is that in writing, specifically putting forth the Word of God in my writing, that we will all be edified, growing in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and as we see Him in His Word, we will be conformed more and more into His image.  (2 Cor 3:14-18)  “For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts.  But when one turns to the Lord,the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” 3) My hope is that my writing while theological and doctrinally sound, will put a personal face to the outworking of our faith.  Without exception, everyone of God’s people in the Bible have examples of great faith, but also failure.  There are struggles in life, there are struggles in faith, and following Christ is not a sprint but a marathon.  It’s one thing to say that, it’s another to live it and extend grace to others who are not where they would like to be right now in following Christ.  So I want to be a voice of encouragement who are in that place right now, as a fellow sinner saved by grace, the steadfast love of God is neverending and God’s mercies are new each day. (Lam 3:23-24)  Today is the day of salvation. (Heb 3:14) Forget what lies behind yesterday and press on towards Jesus today (Phil 3:13-14).

With all of that said, today a question I’ve been given to answer is “What is a man of God?”  When I say a “man” of God, know that this applies equally to women and is meant to be gender neutral.  I’m going to quickly give a very high level definition of a man of God from the Bible, and then turn to what does a man of God look like today.

First and foremost, a man of God is chosen, set apart by God for His purposes.  Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, Job, all of the major and minor prophets of the Old Testament, the Disciples of Jesus, and Paul, all were chosen by God for a purpose.  God was the first mover in each man of God, and the man of God responded in faith to action.  Further, that action, in every example of a man of God came with struggle, forgoing comfort in the world to pursue the will of God.  So a man of God, while fallen and imperfect, has a heart that desires and is willing to pursue the will of God above their own desires for pleasure or comfort that the world would offer.  Their soul is satisfied in God.  For brevity’s sake, I will just give one example, but the Bible is full of examples as noted above.  Consider God’s call on Abraham (called Abram before God gave him the name Abraham) in Genesis 12:1-5 – “Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan.”  Put yourself in Abraham’s shoes.  You’re 75.  Your family was your protection in those days.  God has told you to leave the comfort and protection of your family to go and travel for Ur to Canaan, which in those days was about a 1,100 mile trip.  Abraham has to go to his family and tell them he’s leaving, and then go knowing that he will be traveling will basically 1,100 miles without modern transportation of any kind, without modern medical care, without having any assurance of actually making it there, except that God had told Him to go.  This is faith in action.  Hebrews 11:8-10 speaks of this – “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land,living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.”  

As believers in the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, a man of God has been granted faith, but that faith is much more than just to believe in a historical fact – that Jesus died on a cross to save sinners.  Satan knows that.  The demons believe that, but they are not saved by their belief.  James 2:18-20 “But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!  Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?” A Man of God’s faith is faith in action.  What does His life say about what He believes?  So what if someone goes to church, goes to a Bible study, etc. –  is their faith in action?  Are they doers of the Word?  James 1:21-22 – “Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.  But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”  A man of God is not perfect.  With the exception of Enoch, every example of a man of God from the Bible has fallen in one way or another.  A man of God, however, is a man of faith – who believes God and His promises and will repent from their sin, and turn again to follow the Living God.  A man of God will not justify sin, or make light of sin for which our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ shed His blood for.  A man of God will not remain in sin, because He cannot, the love of God controls Him, burning his heart for repentance, and drawing him in meekness to follow God in righteousness.  Consider 1 John 3:7-10 – “Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.  Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.  No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.”  Tough language, but it is the Word of God.  To minimize it, is foolishness.

My exhortation today for us men, is to ask ourselves the question.  Am I a man of God?  If the Holy Spirit dwells in you, where you fail above, let today be a day of refreshment for you, to draw you to repentance and action.  A second question, to hone in on a singular point – how is your faith in action?  In my own life, I have justified sin, and the mercy of God has always drawn me to repentance and faith to follow Jesus.  This second question was particularly convicting for me, however.  God has made me a teacher, yet how have I exercised that?  How am I willingly forgoing comfort to grow the Kingdom of God?  For me the answer right now is to continue writing, to start a new Bible study with a couple other men of God held in a public place like a coffee shop each week, to serve the homeless and elderly at least once a month, to grow my financial giving to the Lord, among other normal disciplines of Bible reading/prayer/pursuit of personal righteousness in daily living.  Each of you are gifted differently, so what your faith in action will look like will be different, but it should be apparent.  My exhortation to single women is to pursue a man of God if it is God’s will for you to be married.  Part of your faith in God’s promises is that you trust He will bring that man into your life.  Stop trying to “make” it happen with a guy who claims to be a Christian, but where you’re having a lead spiritually in the relationship to bring them to church, pray, etc.  A man of God will be a spiritual leader, you will not have to make suggestions to him for those things.  Too many godly women are hurt by men who claim to be Christian, but are not truly a man of God.  My exhortation to married women is to encourage your husband to be a man of God through encouragement as you see God working in His life, even as your strive to do the same.

Grace and Peace,

Adam