Being a Man of God in the Real World - Lessons from Timothy

MAN UP BIBLE SERIES Project Timothy Lesson Three

THE REAL WORLD This lesson will focus on how to be a Man of God and a success in this world. Can you do both? We see some models in the world today. A few athletes and celebrities but even that can be shaky when they let us down for all the world to see. It is not a sin to do great things for God. On the other hand by putting God first and giving him priority in our lives we will see it all fall into its proper order. Seek God first and all these other things will be added to you. (My paraphrase) If we can keep things in the proper order and make the things of God a priority than the success we all seek as men will be there. The things God sees as most important will be the things that are done. Following Jesus one step at a time is the secret to the fulfillment we all seek as men. No one sets out to be a failure in life. But it does happen and the way we learn and bounce back from failure makes all the difference in the world. We also need to model a Godly perspective for the Young Men in our Corps. They need to see from us what is really most important. Don t kill your ego, SANCTIFY IT! Purify your motives. Make the things of the Kingdom of God your priority and all the rest will happen. Test it. Try it! You will be amazed at what the Lord can do with Men who are fully surrendered to God!

THE REAL WORD Matthew 6 New International Version (NIV) Giving to the Needy 6 Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.2 So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,4so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Prayer 5 And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.9 This, then, is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11Give us today our daily bread. 12And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13And lead us not into temptation,[a] but deliver us from the evil one.[b] 14For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.15But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. Fasting 16 When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.17But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,18so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Treasures in Heaven 19 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.22 The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy,[c]your whole body will be full of light.23But if your eyes are unhealthy,[d]your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!24 No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. Do Not Worry 25 Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?27Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[e]? 28 And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you you of little faith?31So do not worry, saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or What shall we wear? 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

REAL TALK Do you believe that God wants you to be a success? Have you made the things of God your priority in Life? What stands in the way? What does it mean to Seek first God s Kingdom?

REAL STEPS How to be a success in God s Eyes: 1. Be a Person of Prayer I Thess. 5:17 2. Live by God s Word Psalm 119:105 3. Your Faith is Powerful Luke 17:6 4. You are an Agent of Change John 14:12 5. You are being transformed Romans 12: 1 ,2 6. Have great expectations Phil. 1:6 7. Live on Purpose Jer. 29:11

TIME TO CLOSE So this Project Timothy is an attempt to reach out and minister to the Young Men in our Corps across the Western Territory. As I travel around I see them looking for someone to lead them. Every time I challenge them to be the next great generation for God they jump up from their seats and move forward. Trouble is they are not being challenged in most of our Corps. So here is a secret: LIVE FOR GOD NOW! Do not waste all these years in sin as your fathers have done. There is nothing out there for you except heartache and moral decay. You are not to young to pray. You are not to young to witness for God. Hearing from God is not something reserved for the old! You can hear God and make a difference right now! Praying is the place to start but it is not just you telling God what you want him to do. It is listening to his heart and following His lead. In all the noise of the world stop, take off the headphones, turn off the computer, phone and games and listen to the Creator. He has a lot to say to you and he has a perfect plan for you as outlined in Jeremiah 29:11. Plans not to hurt you but to help you and give you a future! You have a perfect future that God is trying to talk to you about! Time to MAN UP!