Forged- Becoming the Man God Made You To Be: Month 3- November

Month 3: November

Write up for series - In the Christian faith, being forged as men paints a powerful picture. It comes from the process of forging metal—heating it up, hammering it, shaping it into something strong and useful. For men of faith, being forged means God is shaping us through His Word, His Spirit, and even through life’s challenges to make us into the men He designed us to be.

-You know, unlike the sword that we are making together… we as men do not get fashioned into a proper shape ONE final time that just stays that way. We continue To get heated… To bend… To break… To need to be Re-Shaped…. and Re-forged. See, we are an Ongoing process that requires Constant attention from God to be shaped into the Men that He has designed us to be formed into.

-And here’s the thing …. when it comes to the sword, it’s a VERY LIMITED PARTNERSHIP. The Maker gets to to choose the materials, the time, the place, the design, and so on…. The Maker gets to make pretty much every choice about what happens in the process. Yeah, the materials have SOME influence on what decision the Maker makes, (like temperature level,) but for the most part the materials just lay there.

-But see… that’s not the case at all when it comes to the forging process of You and I Becoming The Men that God Made Us To Be. We aren’t materials that were made to just “LAY THERE” and be shaped… we are supposed to contribute WAYYYY MORE to the process than just that. “SHOWING UP” is not OUR part of the process men…. it is just ONE part of the process. And SHOWING UP isn’t even the first step in OUR part of the process… The first step is having a desire inside…. A longing in our hearts to be in the presence of God….

Scripture: Psalm 15:1

New International Version (2011) Psalm 15

LORD, who may dwell in your sacred tent?

Who may live on your holy mountain?

-David begins this Psalm by crying out with a longing to be in the presence of the Lord. He starts by asking Him who may dwell in His sacred tent. This tent was the Tabernacle or the temporary dwelling place of God that the Israelites continuously setup and broke down as they journeyed to the Promised Land. It was a constant reminder of the presence of God in their lives. But see… David wanted to go deeper than the presence of God in his life…. he wanted to be in the presence of God.

-Now you might think those 2 are the same thing…. but they aren’t! God having presence in your life, CAN take little to no effort on your part without long-term commitment. When David asked “Who may dwell in Your sacred tent?” that literally meant temporarily. In fact, that’s why he went on to say “Who may live on your holy mountain?” It’s because David wanted to double down and ask God, not just to join Him in a temporary set-up… he wanted to go LIVE.... in His presence at God’s permanent address.

-So when someone you know very well, (not just a casual acquaintance,) invites you to THEIR home… you know THEIR permanent address. What do you need in order to get there and then get invited in? (Let some people answer the question)

-Let’s take a little bit of a left turn here…. I want you all to take a few minutes at your table and work together to come up with a 1 sentence definition of what Integrity is. (Don’t use your phones!)

-Have someone from each table read their definitions

-So now I want to take you back and show you what David says are the first requirements to live on God’s holy mountain in Psalm 15:2

New International Version 2 The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart;

-Dictionary.com Defines “Integrity” as … The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles that one adheres to consistently.

-And here in Verse 2 is where we receive The Call to Integrity

The Truth is: David says we are to Walk Blameless…. Do What is Righteous…. Speak Truth From The Heart

-Now that sounds like “Perfect Pie in the Sky” type of stuff, but…..

What Does That Kind of Integrity Means For Us? It Means…

Living with moral consistency.

Walking in honesty and authenticity.

Integrity is looking Honestly at Yourself before God. Take a good long look in the mirror… (Illustration using the mirror)

This Kind of Integrity Also Means For Us…

Being the same man in the dark as you are in the light.

Proverbs 11:3 Proverbs 11:3 (NIV) 3The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.

-This Is The Danger of a Divided Life

The Truth is: …..

This Is A BIG Struggle For Us…. This Looks Like….

Compartmentalizing faith and real life.

Being a godly man on Sunday but a different man at work or home.

Temptations to compromise when no one is looking.

-(WAP) Integrity is about who you are when no one is watching—living as the same man in private as you do in public.

Ending: The Man in the Mirror

-Everyone take out your phones and put it in “selfie mode”. Look at the man on the screen and start taking a real evaluation of yourself… no filters, no fluff, no lies, no bull. Be honest and authentic about how hard it actually is to be a man of integrity. Now don’t look away from the man that is staring back at you… And hear this…

God doesn’t want & DOESN’T EXPECT perfection—He wants Authenticity and Wholeness from you.

God also DOESN’T EXPECT you to do it alone — He wants Accountability and Community FOR you. Pick 1 guy beside you, and Put your hand on his shoulder while you continue to look at the man staring back at you on your phone screen. Now you guys come side by side together with your phones until you can see each other in your pictures at the same time. I bet you went from serious face to smile and that’s because 1…. some of us are funny looking, but 2…. it brings PURE JOY to do this thing called LIFE together and that is a part of God’s plan for us!

Table questions:

1. Define what integrity means in your life this week.

2. Identify one area of dishonesty to surrender to Christ.

3. Where are you tempted to be one person in public and another in private?

4. Share one struggle with a brother in Christ.

TAP Moment For Scriptures