A man is ______ .
What words come to mind when you first read that sentence? What would first come to mind for members of your small group?
A man is:
- Leading
- Working
- Interceding
- Caring
- Providing
Yet sometimes, men can be missing. Absent. Disengaged. Disinterested.
On the whole, our culture is confused about what it means to be a man. Notions of masculinity have, in many corners, become toxic. Perhaps now, more than ever, we need the answer to this question. Tony Evans steps into this need to help your group wrestle with masculinity in his new Bible study Kingdom Men Rising. This study speaks truth into a poorly defined and disoriented culture about the purpose and future of masculinity from a biblical perspective.
Through this Bible study, men in your group can grapple honestly with the unique questions and circumstances they face today. It invites men deep into their own stories to reveal the true expression of masculinity—God’s intent.
Why not see for yourself?
Below is an excerpt from a “personal study” section that follows one of the study’s weekly teaching sessions.
Three Principles of a Purpose Driven Life
Never measure God’s movement without first taking a look at your own. Far too often, God is waiting on us as men to do something before He will make His move. Whether it is Moses holding out the rod before He parts the sea, or Peter keeping his eyes on Jesus before He rescues him from the storm—God frequently waits to see how we respond in faith before He fully reveals His hand in our lives.
In the story we are studying this week found in Joshua 3:7-17, the priests had to literally “walk by faith” before they would see God move. They had to put their feet in the water prior to God parting it for all to cross. Their example reveals three important principles we should all live by as kingdom men: Listen, Obey, and Stand.
- Listen
The priests had been asked to dedicate themselves for the specific task at hand—stepping into the flooding Jordan River. In order to do this, they needed to focus on what God said by consecrating themselves before Him. They wouldn’t be able to hearHim if they had distractions in their lives at that time. Kingdom men need to set aside distractions in our lives as well so we can better hear God in order to understand His instructions clearly.
Ask yourself: What are you hearing from God recently?
- Obey
I don’t know about you, but stepping into the water of a river in order to get that same water to go away doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. Yet that is what God asked the priests to do. Obeying God as a kingdom man doesn’t always involve understanding His methods. Faith doesn’t always make sense. But it can make miracles. Be willing to obey God when He makes your part in His plan clear to you.
Ask yourself: How are you obeying based on the time you spend listening to God?
- Stand
In verse 17 we read that the priests had to stand their ground in order for the Israelites to pass safely. It says,
And the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood
firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed
on dry ground, until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan
Kingdom men must never waiver when called upon to serve God. Standing in the middle of what was previously a raging river isn’t the safest place to be, from a human perspective, but God doesn’t call us to live safely, He calls us to live by faith. Sometimes that means standing strong where you are and in what you believe in so that those you love can get to where they need to go as well.
Ask yourself: Why is it better to trust in God’s power than in human limitations?
This content was excerpted and partially adapted from from Tony Evans men’s Bible study: Kingdom Men Rising.
Leave a Reply