pm-man-matters

[pm-man-matters]

God’s First Gift!

PERSPECTIVE MATTERS... Man Matters!

“...But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man He made into a woman and brought her to the man.” ~ Genesis 2:20-22

If you don’t know the purpose of a thing, you will likely either abuse it or be abused by it. This is a profound truth worth taking note of. Recent headlines have brought to light what has been going on in the dark corridors of power for likely as long as power has been wielded by men and held over the heads of women. Ignoble examples of sexual abuse on behalf of men in power over women have been bombarding our national news headlines on nearly a daily basis. To their credit, victimized women have been shrugging off the shame that plagued them, in many cases for decades, and have been stepping forward to transfer the shame to the ones who truly deserve it: the men who abused and took advantage of them. As a result, celebrity men are falling like flies in the face of allegations of sexual misconduct. But make no mistake, this dysfunctional behavior is not limited to the domain of the rich and famous alone.

Somewhere, as a consequence of the Fall of mankind, when sin made its debut on the earth, the blessing that mankind in the form of both man and woman was initially blessed with became twisted. The “subduing and having dominion over” edict that man and woman were jointly given over the earth began to manifest itself in a dastardly different manner. Man began to subdue and exercise dominion over woman and women over men, against the order that God had originally and purposefully ordained. What God had ordered and ordained, Satan twisted and made onerous. For God had created the man and the woman as equal co-regents over the earth for the expressed purpose of managing the resources of earth on behalf of the Kingdom of God jointly. The outcome that God desired required the output of them both equally as co-laborers in partnership with one another.

Somewhere in the twistedness of man’s sin condition, man began to abuse the very first gift that God had given to man after man’s creation: woman. Men, we as a group have some repenting to do where God’s first gift to us is concerned. “Well Pastor,” you say, “I’ve never personally abused a woman sexually or any other kind of way. I’ve never so much as called a woman outside of her name,” you counter. Well, that’s great. You are to be commended for the conduct of your character toward women. But that does not absolve our innocent hands of the harm done to women by the guilty among us. God is not only interested in your hands remaining innocent. God is just as interested in getting your innocent hands involved in the healing work that He desires to be carried out. God is looking for you to do what He Himself by His own nature does: Intercede on behalf of both innocent victims and guilty transgressors.

“...The LORD saw it, and it displeased Him that there was no justice. He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede.” ~ Isaiah 59:15-16

Before God Himself acts, He looks for someone who’s willing to jump in and act on His behalf. My brothers, let us not leave God to wonder why there is no man willing to intercede on behalf of women done unjustly by men among us, whether those men be powerful or powerless. Those men who execute abusive power over women sexually, emotionally, verbally, physically, financially or in any other tangible or intangible manner do us all shame and should be shamed for doing so. The worse thing we can do as men is to remain silent and still in the face of injustice of any kind, particularly when it is aimed at those unable to defend themselves.

Women are a gift. It would do us all well to remember this truth especially as the Christmas gift-giving and receiving season is now in full swing. Woman was God’s first gift to man after man was created and found lacking in both partnership and companionship. As Genesis 2:22 points out so poignantly, God presented the woman to the man as a present, God’s first gift to man. It is God who purposed to present and then join the man and the woman. Adam, the first man, was smart enough to see woman as she really is: “bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh” (Genesis 2:23). As a consequence of sin, we men have become less cognizant of this truth to the peril of both ourselves and women alike. A man who abuses a woman, literally abuses his very own self, and often unaware.

It would take one sin-sick soul to abuse the glorious gift that God personally presented and gave to him. But everyday some sin-sick soul is doing precisely that, sullying the gift, the present that God presented. Whether she was given to you personally or not does not matter. Know for certain that she has been gifted to someone: her father to love and to raise, her brother to look after, and eventually to a man that is purposed to be her husband to love, provide and protect her. She is a personal gift intended for someone if not for you. 

God takes His gift and His giving personally. God demonstrated this so vividly through His second and best gift to all of mankind: Jesus Christ, the gift that God presented to take away the sins of the world. Those who abuse that gift, who reject it, reject God Himself and shall be condemned to eternal death. So men, take great care with every woman you encounter. Treat her like a lady, whether she was purposed for you or not. Somewhere out there, there is another man encountering the woman God purposed and intended for you. Surely, you wouldn’t want someone abusing the gift that was personally purposed for you! Women are a gift that we as men will have to give an account for before God as to how we treated. Handle gently each and every glorious gift that God has given, and that’s each and every girl and woman that you ever encounter. Perspective Matters...

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#FirstGift

[pm-man-matters]

What Measure of Man Are You?

PERSPECTIVE MATTERS... Man Matters!

“But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, ‘Where are you?’" ~ Genesis 3:9

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stood at the modest height of just 5′6″ and tipped the scales at 173 lbs. The man he looked up to, Mahatma Gandhi stood at an even less impressive 5′5′’ and was of slight build. These two men would never be mistaken for heavyweight boxing champions. Yet each man was a giant of his generation. They each went down in history for bravely and conscientiously leading movements that changed the tone and tenor of the world, not just their own nations. And in the 2017 World Series just recently concluded, the sports world got to witness the physical exploits of the smallest man in big league baseball. Standing just 5′6″ the Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve, three-time American League Batting Champion and five-time All Star, led his team to its first World Series Championship and as the leading candidate for American League Player of the Year is arguably Major League Baseball’s single best player. It just goes to show that there is so much more to the measure of a man than just his measurements. These world-changers were not left to be measured only in terms of their modest physical stature, but in the immense size of their spiritual stature, often referred to in sports terms as “heart.”

“What measure of man are you?” Here is the definitive question in the life of a man... The measure of a man was first called into question by God when the first man, Adam, rebelled against his Creator, his failure revealed in the perfect paradise of the Garden of Eden. Adam was supremely surrounded by everything he could possibly need and want for a life that was absolutely full, satisfying and complete eternally. In his perfect garden paradise, all supplied for him by his Creator, Adam and his wife had nothing missing, nothing lacking and nothing broken. Life could not possibly be more perfect. Until it wasn’t... At the moment of Adam’s rebellion, “perfect” would be forever lost and replaced by problems. Lots and lots of problems punctuated by pain.

It was in the midst of his sensing his mounting problems that man fled the scene of his crime, his former intimate relationship with God and from his true better, authentic self. Man’s crime was the sin of disobedience to God’s explicit instructions given to maintain his life-giving and purpose fulfilling environment. When problems began to ensue upon the earth, God looked for His manager, the man whom He divinely put in charge of the pristinely perfect environment of the earth. “Where are you?” was the beckoning call of God to the man He created. And it still is His beckoning call today.

Man, “where are you?” No matter the measure of your physical person, where you are spiritually will determine what difference your physical presence will make in any and every situation within which you insert and assert yourself. In spite of the modestness or immenseness of your physical measurements, the measure of a man will always be determined by his spirit and the resulting content of his character. Heart matters matter most. For out of your heart flow the issues of your life (see Proverbs 4:23). To live a large life will require an equally large heart.

Where you are spiritually will determine who you are and what you shall become in every other sphere, realm and dimension of your life as well as in the lives of others. If you are found to be a spiritual pygmy, it will matter little if you possess a towering physical stature and frame. You will eventually be revealed for the colossal midget of a man you truly are. There will likely be ample time and chance to reveal the measure of man you truly are. As wise King Solomon noted, “time and chance happen to them all” (Eccl. 9:11). 

Where you are spiritually cannot be determined while you are embedded in moments of comfort and convenience, but is revealed during times of challenge and controversy. In the difficult times of trial and trouble, “where are you?” In the chance that times of challenge and controversy color the circumstances of those around you, “where are you?” Can you be counted on by your family, your church, your community, your nation, and your world, or will you be counted out? What measure of man will you be found to be? Where you are will determine the measure of man you are. Our times demand the presence of men who are spiritual giants with immense hearts. Be a man that can be counted on, not counted out. Perspective Matters...

Be encouraged, enlightened and enriched daily. Visit us online at https://PerspectiveMatters.org/man-matters.html

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[pm-man-matters]

Let’s Make Dignity Fashionable Again!

MAN MATTERS...

"Adorn yourself with majesty and dignity; clothe yourself with glory and splendor.” ~ Job 40:10 ESV

It does not matter how the times may have changed, dignity never goes out of style. There is perhaps nothing more masculine and emblematic of manhood than a man who wears his dignity well. The clothes that adorn the man will either compliment or detract from the dignity within him. But clothes don’t make the man, dignity does.

It is unfortunate, and so painfully obvious, that the fine gentlemanly art and science of dignified manhood has been lost on our contemporary generation. Witness the sagging pants to the revealing of underwear, profanity publicly proclaimed without discretion or shame, the blatant misogyny leveled at women, and the mindless disrespect shown one another using racial epithets as terms of endearment that once accompanied the lynching of our people not much more than a generation ago. It seems the more that dollars have increased among our people in recent years, dignity has decreased disproportionately. One might even declare the uncomfortable truth that dignity may have very well all but been dissolved from our midst today. Regarding our dignity as men, we have been slothful to our shame. And sadly, our women and children have followed our slothful example relinquishing their dignity as well.

In recent years our collective exodus from our once vaunted community churches has left us void of the intimate knowledge of and personal experience with God, who by His grace gives us knowledge concerning our very selves. What we have abandoned is not a false knowledge of our inauthentic contrived selves, but rather the knowledge and experience of our authentic, genuine selves: the work of our Creators hands, a people made in the image and likeness of God, who Himself is the very definition of divine dignity, glory and majesty. 

His divine dignity is the majesty that God the Father wears in all His incomparable glory. It was seen in Jesus - Yeshua - the Son of God, in the meekness (meaning “power under control”) of His majestic humility that He wore all the way from the manger to the cross, all in order that we might be redeemed from our eternal death sentence on account of our sin and be saved. It is a divine dignity that can be fervently experienced by us and those who encounter us by way of the presence and power of the indwelling Holy Spirit residing in us who are born again. It is the Holy Spirit, the effervescent source of the divine dignity that never fails, no matter what duress it may be put under by the trials and troubles of this world. Oh, how we men so especially need to be reconciled to the divine dignity of the Lord again. Our times demand dignity.

Dignity itself will not necessarily eliminate altogether the oppressive injustices which seems to find its way to press upon us the duress we would welcome any relief from. But a dignity that can be seen, heard and felt will lessen the prevalence and preponderance of indignities prevailing against the bears of a dignity that is divinely inspired, sourced and supplied. I do personally believe with Christ-certainty, that such divine dignity is the fuel that makes us who God called us to be: more than conquerors, able to do all things through Christ who strengthens us. For it is the residing dignified presence of the Holy Spirit, the very same Spirit that resided in Christ, “who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us” (Eph.3:20). It is not the frailty of human dignity that we should desire, but the divine dignity of God Himself.

We need more than a change of our wardrobe and personal style to resurrect the dignity that we ourselves put to death in favor of the adoption of an antichrist culture and spirit that has a long and pronounced history from biblical times to the present day of seeking to wipe out males, maleness and manhood. Pharaoh and King Herod were co-opted by this demonic spirit to wipe out the Hebrew males to prevent giving rise to the overwhelming power to be exemplified by the Son of Man who would come into the world to reveal the Son of God, the long awaited Messiah. In days of old, the devil took a more direct approach to wiping out males. Today he is exercising greater discretion, deception and stealth to accomplish his aims. Wherein he once attacked murderously using a direct approach, today the devil is attacking males by attacking their dignity through the seduction of the culture of hip-hop.

We who are Christ-conscious, blood of the Lamb bought, redeemed men of God are of His lineage, made in His image and likeness, having been saved to carry forward His legacy left to us to: 

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Mat. 28:19-20). 

“...destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8).

As godly men, we are explicitly called upon to imitate Christ, not the culture of this world and its kingdoms. To imitate Christ is to wear His divine dignity and majesty, forsaking the perverse culture of a world seeking to effeminate males or create societal menaces out of them in an effort to neuter their dignity. Christ adopted us for the express divine purpose of walking out His divine dignity and majesty on the earth as His ambassadors. We are emissaries of the King of kings and His kingdom in an alien land, a land where dignity has been alienated in favor of indignity, masculinity alienated in favor of femininity. Look around you... How distinctly would divine dignity stand out among all the indignity you see on display every day? Dignity is as distinctive as light in the midst of darkness, because light is precisely what divine dignity is. In a world full of darkness, dignity will cast its light and make you distinctive, giving you a distinguished distinction. Your dignity will easily cause you to stand out and stand apart for all the right reasons. 

God requires of the leaders He calls that, “He must manage his own household well, with all dignity...” (1 Tim. 3:4). Dignity is the distinguishing characteristic found in the men that the Lord chooses to use for His divine purposes. The absence of noble and worthy leadership today, whether in God’s house, the White House or your house, is evidence of the dearth of dignity in our world. No question about it, dignity makes all the difference. Be different, a man of distinction. Be a man who distinguishes himself and makes a difference. Become a man who demonstrates divine dignity in each and every setting. Be dignified in your dress. Be dignified in your speech and vocabulary. Be dignified in the company you keep and in your choice of companions. Be dignified in your comportment, the respect that you show yourself and others. Be dignified in your work, work ethic and professionalism. Dignity is not determined by dollars. Dignity is determined by character. Let’s make a concerted effort to make dignity not only fashionable again but stylish as well, just as so many of our forefathers did. They might not have had much back then, but they had dignity and they wore it well. Perspective Matters...

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#DoDignity

[pm-man-matters]

Don’t Sample the Slab!

PERSPECTIVE MATTERS... Man Matters!

“21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man He made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said, ‘This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” ~ Genesis 2:21-23

Well, I don’t know about where you live, but out here in the Western United States, to coin a title of an old Stevie Wonder album: it’s Hotter Than July! That means it’s grilling time... BBQ season. The season for ribs. It’s the time of the year for real men everywhere to don their favorite apron, slip on a glove and man the outdoor BBQ grill. BBQ ribs are one of my specialities for grilling. In fact, just yesterday after a long day of work I picked up a slab of ribs, along with a side of collard greens and mac-n-cheese from my favorite soul food restaurant to indulge in a Sunday soul food feast courtesy of someone else’s grilling labor.

But I’ve come to you today to talk about a whole different kind of rib. You see, summer time isn’t just the season for ribs and BBQ. Just as we grill masters spend a little extra time dressing our ribs with an ample amount of seasoning for the grill, the heat of the season has “other ribs” spending a little extra time undressing themselves with the expressed intention of keeping themselves cool and making us hot. You know exactly what “other ribs” I’m referring to. ‘Tis the season for more than just BBQ. It’s the season for revealing sun dresses, skimpy short-shorts, halter-tops, plunging necklines and every kind of scantily clad attire short of nudity that a woman can wear outside without getting arrested. Summer is the season when temptation runs a muck.

There is just something about what God did with a single rib taken from around the side of a man that makes Him something more than a creative genius: it exemplifies His deity. Just how God got all that out of something like a single rib is simply beyond my own finite comprehension. But He did... And how glorious is the handiwork of Almighty God! But as wondrous as what He has created in the glorious form of a woman is, He only intended us to have just one. If God truly intended us to have more than one rib, He would have pulled out a whole slab!

Greed is unbecoming a citizen of the Kingdom of God. In fact, Proverbs gives counsel to the wise saying, “...put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony” (Proverbs 23:2 NIV). This suggests that greed, or more specifically gluttony, will kill you slowly so you might as well just slit your own throat and get it all over with. Greed and gluttony is another way of our suggesting that God isn’t who He says He is; that He is a liar, not a good provider. Greed and gluttony evidences our lack of faith in God’s provision being sufficient. Throughout the Word of God we find in every case where it was practiced, greed and gluttony in the form of multiple marriages - and that goes for multiple sex partners - brought damaging and even damning consequences. We have the benefit of eavesdropping in on the instruction of a kingly father to his princely pupil, his son, writing: “Drink water from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well” (Proverbs 5:15). King Solomon, a vaunted consumer of women by the slab, would have done well to have followed his own advice. Perhaps experience taught Solomon a lesson he desired to convey to his son and the Lord to us.

Being greedy for ribs - or any other good thing bestowed by the King of kings - isn’t necessary for a Kingdom citizen. The King Himself has promised to “supply every need of yours, according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:19). The King has promised not to withhold any good thing from His children: “For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does He withhold from those whose walk is blameless” (Ps. 84:11). You cannot have been short-changed or robbed of your ribs if God purposed you to have one rib to be your portion, your all in all. “He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD” (Prv. 18:22). That’s “a wife” singular, not “wives” plural or - ahem - a plurality of those who might otherwise perform wifely functions without the benefit of the wife title and the obligations that come with it. God intended one rib for life; one wife for one lifetime!

There simply is no lack in God’s provision. None! So if you have your one rib my brother, liberally season her with affection and adoration regularly. Marinate her in your love, evidenced by the loyalty of your commitment, provision and protection. And slather her with heaping portions of the secret sauce of passion. Remember you were not promised a slab, you were purposed a rib. Bon apetit!

Now, for the brothers yet to be presented and joined to their missing rib, this may just be your season. She’ll be easier to spot in the summer. In fact, the good rib God purposed for you will stand apart because she’ll be a standout. She’ll be the one in the crowd not scantily attired but sacredly adorned. Surely you can’t miss her today. In a sea of over-done cosmetic beauty and undignified attire, hers will be a beauty easy to recognize. She will be compliant with the Word of the Lord rather than complicit with the ways of the world. Desirous of someday becoming a wife, she will heed the instruction given to wives: “3 Do not let your adorning be external - the braiding of the hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear - 4 but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious” (1 Pet. 3:3-4). She will live by the principle that says, “Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised” (Prv. 31:30). Find her, praise her, love her.

Now just remember fellas, etiquette and good manners are still required of gentlemen at an outdoor BBQ. Don’t sample the slab; find your rib. Perspective Matters...

Be encouraged, enlightened and enriched daily. Visit our online blog at https://PerspectiveMatters.org/man-matters.html

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#JustARibNotTheSlab

[pm-man-matters]

You Are Amazing!

PERSPECTIVE MATTERS…

Man Matters!

“For You formed my inward parts; You knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in Your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” ~ Psalm 139:13-16

Men especially take note: You are amazing! I know that you likely do not hear it often, if at all, but without a shadow of a doubt you are amazing. It has become the culture of our times to castigate men and manhood. Men and manhood have been diminished in our current culture to a caricature. It is all too common in contemporary culture that men, whether cast as husbands or fathers are the butt of jokes and the object of derision, diminishment and scorn in sitcoms and movies.

Whether it was the racist ignorance of All in the Family’s Archie Bunker, the buffoonery of The Jeffersons’ egomaniacal George Jefferson, the under-achievement of Good Times’ James Evans or the never-do-well Clark Griswold of National Lampoon’s Vacation Movie series, men can’t seem to catch a break. It is as if we as men are always coming under derision of one kind or another. From The Temptation’s 1970s anthem to men and fatherhood, “Papa Was A Rolling Stone” to the present day, the hits against men keep coming. Well, it’s high time my brothers that we begin to sing a new song and walk in step to a new rhythm that has the whole world singing and walking right along with us rather than against us.

I’ve been sent to remind you today that in spite of what our contemporary culture might suggest, you my brother are amazing. Now, you need to understand that just because I suggest it does not make it so. It is because God said it that makes it so! Regardless of the circumstances of your birth, you were purposed by God Almighty to enter this world when you did, where you did and how you did to become who He created you to be: amazing. There is no such thing as fate in this God-ordained universe; there is only predestination. You, my brother, have been predestined and purposed by God not merely to exist or to survive but to live and to thrive upon this earth for all the days that God has planned for you to live upon it in amazing fashion, purpose and intent.

As the above-captioned Scripture attests and gives evidence to, you were formed by God, having been carefully and lovingly knit together, “intricately woven” by His holy hands. You are “fearfully and wonderfully made” to fulfill a fearful and wonderful purpose. What makes your purpose fearful is that you cannot possibly fulfill it on your own apart from inviting God into your life to partner with Him in fulfilling it. Fear going it alone. What makes it wonderful is that God will do it through you if you partner with Him.

Ephesians 2:10 confirms this heavenly assertion: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). Man of God, you are the product of God’s artful “workmanship” purposed for “good works” - to lead a good life that God predestined for you before you were conceived. The days of your life were predestined - predetermined - written in the book authored by the same holy hands that intricately, fearfully and wonderfully made you.

Now man of God, it is entirely up to you to walk in the “good works”, the good life that God predestined for you. God says that, “we should walk in them”, not that we necessarily would walk in them. He didn’t give you the heart and mind of a robot, He gave you free-will to either walk His way or to walk your own way. But if you walk your own way, be sure that you’re on your own. The outcome of falling short of walking in God’s predetermined works, His perfect plan for your good life is to fall short of all that He promised and purposed for your good. Choose your own career path, you’ll fall short. Choose your own wife, you’ll fall short… Make your own life choices without involving God in your decision making and you’ll fall short of the good life that God Himself predestined for you.

Be determined to walk instead in God’s predetermined plan for your life. The good life - God’s predestined plan for your life - requires that you “should walk” in His ways, not your own. To walk in the ways of the Lord is the pathway to good days and the good life that God has predestined, predetermined, prearranged, and preordained for you. God has an amazing plan for your life because He made you an amazing man! His purpose and plan is equal to the amazing, intricately-woven person He created you to be. Your inward parts have been God-created with God-purpose and God-potential shut up inside of you. The world awaits your revealing what God put inside you!

It matters not what color, culture or class you are, God created you to be amazing. You are… You’re here… So you are without excuse: You are indeed amazing! Now, walk in it… Amazing men are able to do amazing things. Confound our contemporary culture, be amazing and amaze the miseducation of our society. Remember brothers, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13). No matter what society says, You Are Amazing! Man Matters! Perspective Matters…

Be encouraged, enlightened and enriched daily. Visit our online blog at: https://PerspectiveMatters.org/man-matters.html

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#YouAreAmazing

[pm-man-matters]

How A Hero Becomes Heroic!

PERSPECTIVE MATTERS... Man Matters!

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” ~ Romans 12:1

Perhaps you may or may not realize it, but brother did you know that you are somebody’s hero? Especially if you are a father... There is a precious life under development that is looking up to you. Their thoughts toward you are primarily of good. But the constancy of their upward gaze upon you as their hero will depend upon who you’re looking up to for the strength to be what in your own strength you cannot be. 

A hero moniker is a badge of honor, but it is a heavy weight to try to bare alone. The secret to a hero’s strength is that it is not his. Every hero needs help. What makes a hero heroic, is the fact that he is wise enough to know and readily attests to the help he needs and where he must go to get it. And he persists at the source of his strength until he receives what he came to the source for. He knows he must wage a battle on his knees before he can battle effectively in the three predominate rings of his life: ministry, marriage (family) and the marketplace. His hero reputation hinges on outcomes in these arenas primarily.

Heroes are not self-made men. A hero is the product of an inner strength that is not of this world. Just as the fictitious Superman was a character not of this world but sent from another planet to root out evil from this one, the source of your heroic strength is not of this world. To keep the label of “hero” on your chest in the eyes of those who look up to you will require not a cape but that you to look up constantly to the Lord, your Heavenly Father, Hero of heroes and Hero to heroes. Just as Samson was not the source of his own heroic strength, you must never be the source of your own. There is a word for the heroic strength that has God as its only source: dunamis. It is a Greek word that means supernatural strength, miraculous power. The English words dynamite and dynamic are translated directly from this Greek word, dunamis. It is the stuff of God not of man!

The greatest gift that you can give yourself, and especially to those who look up to you, is the gift of yourself back to God who created you as His gift to this world. God made you with superhero tendencies that can only be attained by the power of His Spirit that only dwells in those who invite Him into their heart. “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, say the LORD of hosts” (Zec. 4:6). You are created to be a transformer but first, you must be transformed (see Romans 12:2). You need His dunamis before you can be dynamic!

I touch and agree with the Apostle Paul and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ this prayer, that the hero in you be fully manifested by the presence and power of the Spirit of the Living God in you:

“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith - that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:14-19). Amen!

May you live among your progeny heroically and leave to them a legacy of a living hero, made so under the dynamic governing authority of our loving God. Heroes are found where Perspective Matters...

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#TheHeroInYou

[pm-man-matters]

A Man With A Plan Needs God’s Hand!

PERSPECTIVE MATTERS... Man Matters!

A Man With A Plan Needs God's Hand!

"The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD." ~ Proverbs 16:1

Professional plans, entrepreneurial plans, personal plans... An industrious man is full of plans. Plans are good, some are even great. But a plan not put before the Lord to test are doomed one way or another. For even if your plans succeed that were not the will of God for you, you will have still failed at what matters most: the fulfillment of purpose. Whatever purpose God has for you is infinitely greater than whatever you may have purposed for yourself apart from Him.

The greatest challenge in life is knowing what to do. Your life's journey does not come with a GPS to pinpoint for you every turn you must take to fulfill your purpose and reach your life's ultimate destination - your destiny. But you are in no ways left alone to have to figure it all out by yourself. The Lord your God is your constant companion and His divine guidance is just a humble prayer and a silent listen away. "Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established" (Proverbs 16:3).

When your way gets clouded by the obstacles of your own self-doubt or the opinionated criticisms of others, there is a place you can go where you are always warmly welcomed and received. That place is the throne room of the Lord and it will be wherever you are, because the King is everywhere you are. God promised to never leave you nor forsake you. Just humble yourself before Him and pour out your heart. You can have every confidence that your humility and out-pouring will be met by God's supernatural strengthening and filling. Your humility before the Lord will allow God to take you to such precipitous heights in His strength when all your pride and self-sufficiency would have done is left you grounded.

So yes, be a man with a plan! Just be sure to take all your plans before the Lord before you act on them. Because if your plans are indeed from God, you will only be able to accomplish them in His strength, not your own. A God-sized plan will always demand the need for His hand. From a big God come big plans... But from the heart of man comes a small plan by comparison. If your plans are such that they are beyond what you have in the bank and what you have in your tank, then they are likely from the Lord. Huddle with your Master and follow His instructions. After prayer time, then it's game time. He's about to make a champion out of you, a mighty man of valor, more than a conqueror! Pray, grind and slay the Lord's way, because Perspective Matters...

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Become A Man Of Meaning!

PERSPECTIVE MATTERS… Man Matters!

“Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.” ~ 1 Corinthians 16:13-14

It is estimated that as of 2014, there are approximately 3,477,829,638 males on the earth.* Yet despite what the numbers might suggest, manhood today is long on theory but short on examples. That problem has especially been exacerbated in the African American community by the effects of societal injustices that have waged war on the spirit, the psyche and the very soul of black men for generations. A crushed spirit, broken psyche and debilitated soul risks leaving a legacy of the same brokenness left to fester and multiply to succeeding generations. You simply cannot violate the principle of sowing and reaping. A seed will produce only after its own kind. Brokenness begets brokenness; wholeness begets wholeness.

To break the spiritual code of brokenness inherent in the spiritual DNA of the perpetually crushed spirit, broken psyche and debilitated soul requires a mutation of meaning to dislodge the sullen state of meaninglessness that has infiltrated the soul and spirit hid behind the veil of physicality of what passes today for manhood. For manhood is not predicated on the outward physical presence of genitalia found between a man’s legs, but rather the inner presence and power of that which is found beneath the sternum on the inside of the very heart of a man. For it is with the heart, at the very core of a man, where authentic manhood originates.

The development and fulfillment of manhood is not the product of an accidental incident but a purposed process of spiritual growth. Manhood is not evidenced in the reproduction of children as a legacy. Real manhood is evidenced by the reproduction of meaningfulness that a man multiplies in his wake. Where he goes and who he encounters will be left with an impression that they have encountered a man on assignment, not just a man on a mission.The meaningful conduct of a man demonstrating authentic manhood will separate him from all other pretenders to the throne of manhood. By the sheer force of the love in his heart for his God, his woman, his children, his family and his community will influence the meaningful way he lives and loves. The richness of a meaningfully lived life will leave a legacy worth modeling and multiplying.

There is a definitive kingdom perspective that men are ordained by God to have and to walk in. I like to think of it as “kingdom swag.” Wherein women have as their benchmark the noted biblical example of the proverbial “Proverbs 31 woman,” men who would demonstrate true biblical manhood have their biblical benchmarks as well. Our ultimate example to imitate of course is Christ. Another one of those benchmarks is the simple two-verse passage that appears captioned above, 1 Corinthians 16:13-14. There is an unmistakeable watchfulness, standing, acting, and strength done in love that evidences authentic manhood. Authentic manhood has a certain rhythm or heartbeat: “kingdom swag.”

Primarily, manhood evidences itself by who and what it covers. What a man covers he watches over. He is the “watchman on the wall” on behalf of his wife, his children, his family and his community. It is no coincidence that God required of those males who would become His men, in the earliest days of their natural lives to have surgically cut away what covered that which outwardly identified them as males. For what ultimately makes a real man out of you, what evidences the fulness of authentic manhood, is an altogether different hood or covering than that which is physically circumcised: It is the spiritual covering of the Lord over the man’s heart that truly circumcises him as a man consecrated to the Lord. It is God’s watching over the ways of a man that brings a man into authentic manhood.

What would ultimately make a man out of a male, a gentleman out of a little boy, would not be his genitalia but the gentleness of his heart toward the Lord. For inside the hardened exterior of the “mighty man of valor” lies a gentle heart that only stiffens in response to and in respect of covering his woman, his children, his family and his community. Manhood would surrender its life to protect those which it dutifully and lovingly covers. Watchfulness will likely present times that necessitates a man to take a “stand firm in faith.” In the midst of every threat to his well-being, manhood takes its stand for righteousness and justice sake. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “If a man hasn’t discovered something he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.” That is what it means to demonstrate authentic manhood.

In the African American experience, existential threats to our women, our children, our families, our community at large and to ourselves have been a never-ending daily part of our lives in America. These daily threats to our existence are the legacy that we have been left with since we landed on North American shores in chains from out of the dungeon holds of slave ships beginning in 1619. Hostility towards us, especially as the covering and “watchmen on the wall” on behalf of our families and communities, can too frequently engulf us in a hardness that can hamstring our own humanity. To be a black man in America has largely been reduced to our being stereotyped as bitter, angry and prone to violent criminality as a display of faux strength in the face of often real deadly opposition. To “act like men” is to evidence strength and to “be strong” certainly, but there is a particular kind of strength that evidences authentic manhood. It is not that over-hyped, testosterone-centric, cultural phenomenon popularly known as machismo or thug life that makes for authentic manhood. No, the variety of strength that best evidences authentic manhood is meekness. “Say what?,” you say. I didn’t stutter, I said, “meekness.”

For all the strength that he displayed as the defender and liberator of his people, it is written of Moses, “Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3). Jesus, our seminal example of manhood under the complete consecrated control of the Almighty Spirit of God, described Himself saying, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Matthew 11:29 KJV). An overview of the earthly lives of these two consummate biblical examples of manhood should be enough of an endorsement for this variety of strength to be striven for by men whose aim is to live meaningful lives that demonstrate authentic manhood.

Biblically, the word translated “meek” means power under control. Such a variety of strength is the epitome of authentic manhood. The word for “meek” in the original New Testament Greek is antithetical to any sense of weakness that the word “meekness” might otherwise convey to the ignorant and ill-informed rendering of the same word in our English. Much to the contrary of any present weakness, meekness describes a condition of the mind and heart, and as “gentleness” is appropriate rather to actions, the meekness manifested by the Lord and commended to believing men is the fruit of absolute power. The common assumption is that when a man is meek it is because he cannot help himself; but the Lord was “meek” because He had the infinite resources of God at His command. Described negatively, meekness is the opposite to self-assertiveness and self-interest; it is equanimity of spirit that is neither elated nor cast down, simply because it is not occupied with self at all.

In 2 Corinthians 10:1 the apostle Paul appeals to the “meekness… of Christ.” Christians are charged to show “all meekness toward all men,” Titus 3:2, for meekness becomes (beautifies or enhances) “God’s elect,” Colossians 3:12. To this virtue the “man of God” is urged; he is to “follow after meekness” for his own sake, 1 Timothy 6:11, and in his service, and more especially in his dealings with the “ignorant and erring,” he is to exhibit “a spirit of meekness,” 1 Corinthians 4:21, and Galatians 6:1; even “they that oppose themselves” are to be corrected in meekness, 2 Timothy 2:25. James exhorts his “beloved brethren” to “receive with meekness the implanted word,” 1:21. Peter enjoins “meekness” in setting forth the grounds of the Christian hope, 3:15. Meekness, seen from a biblical and kingdom perspective, is a weapon of definitive strength to be wielded with the deftness of a skilled assassin.

Meekness is the strength employed by authentic manhood. For not only is meekness power under control, but it is the One whose control it is under that gives it its power. Meekness is power under the control of God who is love. Put another way, meekness is a strength that is exhibited by a power under the control of pure, absolute and resolute love. Authentic manhood then exhibits a strength of character that produces actions under the influence of selfless love. Love is the legacy that authentic manhood leaves. Against all odds, men of meaning governed by meekness make a difference and leave a legacy that makes them unforgettable. Become a man of meaning, aspire to greatness through Christ-like meekness. “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). Remember, meekness is not weakness. Perspective Matters…

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* Statistics cited from cia.gov.

#MeeknessNotWeakness

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Men of God Love Differently

PERSPECTIVE MATTERS... Man Matters!

“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her...” ~ Ephesians 5:25

Men, we are a “peculiar people.” Now I believe that many, if not most women, would agree whole-heartedly with that assessment! But the truth of the matter is that God refers to His people generally as a “peculiar people” in four distinct passages of Scripture, two in the Old Testament and two in the New Testament (Deut. 14:2; 26:18; Titus 2:14; 1 Pet. 2:9). What particularly makes us “peculiar people” is the way that we are called to love. As people of God, we have an immovable, unchangeable anchor that acts to both center and ground our love upon: “For the love of Christ controls us” (2 Cor. 5:14). The world’s love is governed by the vagaries of human emotion. Kingdom love is governed by the solid rock who is Christ in whom “there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17). Love is serious business where God is concerned.

As men of God in particular, we are called and emboldened by God to especially love in peculiar fashion. If “the love of Christ controls us” genuinely, then it should be evidenced by who we love and how we love... In keeping with the Word and will of God, the first and primary object of our love and our affection must be the Lord without exception or excuse. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment” (Mat. 22:37-38). It is here, with our adherence to this “great and first commandment,” that our peculiarity regarding who and how we love is concerned begins. Unlike men of the world, we must love God first, above anyone and anything else, PERIOD!

Now this peculiarity of ours from the world’s norm will get you into trouble with most women right off the bat. Why? Because every man worth his salt knows good and well that nearly every woman vying for his romantic interest wants nothing less than command of his complete attention and affection, PERIOD! More typically than not, she is not willing to play second fiddle to anybody or anything, and that includes God. Never mind what she might tell you. Her attitude and her behavior will tell you the truth! Like it or not, our actions tell on us; they reveal the truth about us, despite what we might tell others about ourselves. So men of God, pay close attention. Attitudes matter and actions matter even more!

But this isn’t all bad when you view it from God’s perspective. Regardless of whether you meet women harboring such an attitude at a club or a church, she just exposed herself as a potential Delilah, or even worse, a Jezebel. In other words, her attraction may prove a fatal distraction to your God-assignment. Beware of the bearer of spiritual diabetes! Satan knows exactly what candy to present in just the right package to sugar-shock God’s purpose right out of your life. Didn’t your mama teach you that everything that looks good isn’t good for you? The good news is, once exposed, now you know what you’re working with. And if you have a discerning spirit, you will not work with that kind of woman at all. Nope! You put her on the unemployment line lest she put you out of line with “the great and first commandment” and out of fellowship with your “first love.” If God is to remain your “first love,” you won’t have room for a goddess!

Brothers, the only type of woman that our peculiar way to love will ever appeal to, is a woman in whom dwells the very same Spirit of the Living God that dwells in you. Don’t believe that lie the world would have you believe that “opposites attract.” Opposites only attract accidents... You don’t need those kinds of collisions of spirits and wills happening in your life. The last thing you want to have your love life resemble is a demolition derby. Just because she is “saved” doesn’t necessarily mean that she was saved for you. Save yourself some trouble and be discerning enough to give relational matters the time they need to prove themselves to be of God for you or not. We are admonished by the Word of God: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). Chasing what’s false will make you false yourself.

But from out of that small remnant of women taken from out of the world and placed into the kingdom of God, will the attitude be evidenced that would encourage your deepening intimacy with the Lord as a qualifier before you ever get intimate with her. It will be that rare gem of a woman that will welcome with open and loving arms the man that will love God first and her second. It is that woman who displays wise wifey material. That is the woman on whom God will green-light your peculiar way of “who and how” to love upon. “She does him good, and not harm all the days of her life” (Proverbs 31:12).

Love that is genuine and true is not to be taken lightly by men of God. Men of God must be especially discerning upon whom they lavish their love on beside God. The reason is because of the peculiar way that men of God are called to love. As noted in the above-captioned Scripture, men of God are called to love our wives “as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her.” We are called to love ONE woman for one lifetime. That’s a big deal. And we are to love her in sacrificial fashion to the point of dying to ourselves. YIKES! I don’t know about you, but that’s a huge deal. Now, this may be an odd way of viewing it, but it is the honest truth about it: Men, when you attend your own wedding, you are also attending the funeral of your own will. Marriage is a baptism. A part of what you’ve known about yourself has to die so that what you’ve yet to know about yourself, your wife and the plan of God for your life together can live. A wedding witnesses the death of willfulness and selfishness so that the will of God and selflessness can live long and prosper you both. To quote an old Motown favorite, now “Ain’t That Peculiar”?

To men of God, loving is witnessed by giving and dying so there can be abundant living. Now that is peculiar. And we witness a peculiar way to love in this world because of who first loved us. Men of God love differently. Only genuine women of God can handle a genuine love like that, because Perspective Matters...

Be encouraged, enlightened and enriched daily. Visit us online at: https://PerspectiveMatters.org/man-matters.html

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Fatherhood In The Hood!

PERSPECTIVE MATTERS…

Fatherhood In The Hood!

“And He will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.” ~ Malachi 4:6

For a man who only raised daughters, this photo and the words that accompany it are still poignant. This dad’s daughters will marry some other fathers sons… So man up brothers. We all have skin in this game!

Fatherhood is the crossroad where manhood meets compassion born of passion… Children are the byproducts of a moment of a man’s passion. But the passion that began a life in a moment is meant to continue for a lifetime and then pass on from generation to generation. Fathers, may your passion be rediscovered and continually unleashed in your compassion for your children and their mothers.

If you’ve been written out of the story of your child’s life, it's never too late to edit the script and rewrite the story. Don’t be erased from your child’s life by the errors you made as a father. Know that love puts faults to flight. "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins" (1 Peter 4:8 NIV).

The love of the Lord for you and your children was evidenced by the blood He poured out of Himself for you on the cross. He gave His life temporarily so you could live yours eternally. The love of Christ is immeasurable toward you. But figuratively it can be contained. It is contained in the blood of Jesus. That blood is the solution to the heartbreak of the broken relationship that ails you and your children.

Let there be a “Red-Out” in your heart and then in your home. Let the shed blood of Jesus blot out both the transgressions found in your stumbling as a father and blot out the sections your errors erased you from in the story of your child’s life. What “White-Out” does for the errors made on the printed page, “Red-Out” can do for the errors made on the tablet of you and your child’s heart. “Red-Out” the page where heartbreak smudged the story of your fatherhood and your child’s childhood. The same love that Christ used to cover your sins against Him is available to cover your faults made against your child. Remember, trust and believe that “Love never fails” (1 Cor. 13:8).

So faltering fathers faint not! Man up… Your sincere love will not fail you where your love for your child is concerned, no matter how old they may now be. That is all because of what the Word of God has declared over the position and place of fathers: “the glory of children is their fathers" (Proverbs 17:6). Dare to recapture your lost glory. "Let [your] love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good" (Romans 12:9). The world loves a great comeback story. So comeback to your children. Love your way right back into your rightful position and place as God changes the condition of your heart toward your children and the hearts of your children toward you. For this is the promise and the Word of the Lord over you and your children.

Where fatherhood is especially concerned, Perspective Matters…

Stay encouraged, enlightened and enriched daily… Love the Lord and "Like” our page. Visit our website at: https://PerspectiveMatters.org/man-matters.html

#FathersInTheHood

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Real Men Pray!

PERSPECTIVE MATTERS... Man Matters!

“Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands far away; for truth has stumbled in the public squares, and uprightness cannot enter. Truth is lacking, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. The LORD saw it, and it displeased Him that there was no justice. He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede...”  ~ Isaiah 59:14-16

A generation ago, a group of courageous men challenged and chided by a hostile nation, gathered and organized in humble church basements and sacred sanctuaries to petition first to the Lord their complaint. And God moved among them to start a movement that would soon galvanize the attention not only of a nation, but of the world. This act of humility before their sovereign God evidenced the profound fact that world-changers first begin on their knees what God will then give rise to. The very same power that gave rise to their risen Savior from out of a tomb two thousand years ago would be made available to them to defy the enemies of God’s justice and righteousness.

From its humble beginnings, born in the basement of a now historic black church in Montgomery, Alabama, what would become known as the American Civil Rights Movement was launched by a group of praying men moved to come to the aid of their community, bent but unbowed under the duress of a rule of law that was unjustly conspired to use against them. The suppression of social, judicial and economic justice was a part of the daily existence of black people coming up in this era historically referred to as “Jim Crow.”

“Jim Crow” was a derisive slang term for a black man. It came to mean any state law passed in the South that established different rules for blacks and whites. Jim Crow was the name of the racial caste system which operated primarily, but not exclusively in southern and border states, between 1877 and the mid-1960s. Jim Crow was more than a series of rigid anti-black laws. It was a way of life for more than one hundred years.

Thankfully, both for the betterment of the nation and for the world, godly men were found to intercede on behalf of God and their besieged communities. Men bravely and courageously stood in the gap after first waging the spiritual warfare that was continually required of them on their knees. Where justice on every hand was found lacking, men were found who stood up under the threat of violence and death. And there, “in the shadow of the valley of death” they proceeded to unify and pray, and pray and unify. In the shadow of the valley of death they labored until they found themselves covered by the favor of the Lord found under “the shadow of the Almighty.” They were persistent to P.U.S.H. - Pray Until Something Happens! And it did... 

The freedoms that we in our generation take for granted every day in America were gained by the work of these men, and the women who were faithful helpmates to them, in collaboration and cooperation with the Most High God. You see, they knew to do then what we must be just as diligent to do today... PRAY!

Prayer changes things... And nothing changes things like men who pray. What worked a generation ago will work today, if only men - real men - would gather together to pray. Real manhood makes a real difference... Real men pray! Where the continuing battle for justice and righteousness are concerned, Perspective Matters...

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Stand Upright On Your Feet!

PERSPECTIVE MATTERS...

Man Matters!

“Now at Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his feet. He was crippled from birth and had never walked. He listed to Paul speaking. And Paul, looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be made well, said in a loud voice, ‘Stand upright on your feet.’ And he sprang up and began walking.” ~ Acts 14:8-10

God is the Creator not only of man but of mobility. God’s glorious machinery of judgment and righteous is described in the Scriptures as “a wheel within a wheel” (Ezekiel 1:16). His Word is called “living and active” (Heb. 4:12). God is the Creator who sets everything into motion for the expressed purposes of fulfilling His will on the earth just as it is in heaven.

But to cause things to happen - to materialize on the material earth, God who is spirit requires a man to connect, collaborate and cooperate with Him to bring His purposes and plans about. When God moves He is looking for those who are willing to move along with Him. He is looking for “a man after His heart,” who will do all His will (see Acts 13:22). There is nothing that gets God’s attention quite like demonstrative faith. Faith that is ready to spring up at any given moment whenever it is required to bring about God’s will for a given situation at any time. 

Here was a crippled man who had never walked before. Yet through the eyes of the apostle Paul, God saw faith in the crippled man’s eyes. God saw someone He could trust with a miracle and a miracle was given to him because he was ready to take it and walk in it, even though he had never taken a step before in his life.

Well, this cripple embodies an entire generation of many men today. Men who have been paralyzed by fear, by ignorance, by tradition, by religion even and find themselves stuck like Chuck in a rut of immobility that manifests itself economically, socially, relationally, and spiritually. Rather than walking in the fullness of the Lord they are paralyzed by the limitations impressed upon them by their circumstances, their fears and the expectations of others.

If ever there was a time to rise and arise, to spring up to the demands of the destiny that awaits you, that time is right now! Life demands that you spring to your feet and attempt what you’ve never attempted before. Your upward mobility is calling. Forget about what had you paralyzed and immobile yesterday. Today is the day of salvation... Today you will attempt and accomplish what seemed impossible only yesterday. Don’t question it, just do it!  You will be amazed that what had you stuck yesterday God will use to have you sprung today. So Man of God, today spring into action, your faith is all that is required of you! 

Don’t be afraid to walk in the fullness of the salvation the Lord promised to His children, His kingdom citizens. The prosperity of the Lord is laid out in front of you. And remember with each new step you take on ground you’ve never covered before, Perspective Matters... 

#StandUp #FromStuckToSprung