Vital Men Devotions

Doing it Right

During the past week I have had to be involved in something in which the focus of what we had to do was surrounded by the overarching influence of “We have to do what is right.” This is not the topic I was planning on writing on this month, but during last week and over the weekend the only thing that keeps resonating in my head is this theme.

In our documentation and on our website, we have 5 Reasons To Be a Vital Man. To me this is our Code. This is the Code we sign up for when we decide to be a part of Vital Men. This is the Code we agree to live by every time we walk into our work and our communities. This is our Code when we live out our lives as fathers and husbands.

In the Marines, they have a statement they always say to each other when they are living out their code together. It is Semper Fi. This is the short form of Semper Fidelis. It means “Always Faithful”. They have committed to their code and to their brothers to be Always Faithful. I think we as men of God and as Vital Men need to take this same oath over our Code.

Our Code is:

1. It is VITAL to have Christ in your heart and know He is your Savior. Matt 22:37
2. It is VITAL to love and servant lead your wife. Ephesians 5:25.
3. It is VITAL to love your children and be an example. 1 Timothy 3:4
4. It is VITAL to be involved in Christ’s church. Hebrews 10:25
5. It is VITAL to be an example of Christ at your work and in your community. Romans 12:1.

Are we willing as brothers to live up to and uphold this code? Are we willing to push deeper into it to try to find out what it really means to follow this code as Vital Men? I think we are. I know that in the discussions on Wednesday nights that there is a strong desire to do this and do it well.

As we push forward this month and into the future I will focus on these things and other truths about “Doing it right” and being “Always faithful”.  Remember that just because it is how it is done today or done a certain way, doesn’t mean it is right. I think we need to push into and try to understand what we believe is right. Together as Christian brothers.

As we discuss Man vs. Wife this month, I would like all of us to look at #2 in our code. Are we all pushing into and trying to do better at loving and servant leading our wives? We all know this isn’t always easy. Sometimes it can be downright hard. Sometimes we fail. But in being “always faithful” to our Code, are we getting back up after being knocked down and going after it again?

In the journey of life there have been times where it was very difficult to do what is right. Many times it can even be obvious what is right. But doing what is right would affect other people. I called my eldest son and we had a conversation about this. Towards the end of the conversation  he said to me, “You always have to do what was right man. That always has to come first. Others may not understand, but you are called to do what is right.” Affirmation and wisdom.

We are called to do what is right. Let’s live true to our Code and be Always Faithful.

Semper Fi my brothers,

Jeff Ruiter

As I’ve been thinking and praying about this month’s theme Man vs. Wife, it sometimes literally feels like a battle. How do we understand our wives? How do we relate to a woman? What goes on behind the eyes of the opposite sex? For us as men the battle begins. Or does it have to be this way?

It seems like this battlefield is unending as we find stats of divorce continuing not only to climb in everyday marriages, but also in the Christian community as well. Men looking outside their marriages for gratification. The enemy is convincing both sides that the grass is greener and everyone involved will be o.k. as they pursue their own happiness. Where does this cycle end and how do we wage a battle against this great enemy of misunderstanding and divorce?

As I’ve been looking into these answers, I’ve come across this book by Mark Driscoll called Real Marriage. It holds some incredible depths of truth about marriage as well as truths of Scripture. Truths about not only loving my wife, but what does it mean to have a friendship with her. It say’s in Song of Songs 5:16 Such, O woman of Jerusalem is my lover, my friend. King Solomon is taking not only the love in intimacy, but taking it deeper to a friendship. He is saying here that you can have a friendship with your wife.

I have always appreciated some of the things my dad has said to me over the years. He would tell me that it was one thing to love your wife, but it was another to say you like your wife. In his wisdom that struck a chord in me. Do I treat my wife as not only the love of my life, but do I treat her as my friend? Think about this for a minute. There is truth in this wisdom. Mark Driscoll wrote, “Marital friendship requires both the husband and wife to be willing to invest what it takes to be a good friend.” I see far too many couples going out to eat, drinking coffee, or in their car sitting in silence. Miles apart from each other, existing in a marriage. For us as God’s men we are called to invest in our wives. Learn to be in friendship with one another. Learning to laugh and have fun with each other like we did when we dated.

It says in Proverbs 18:24, “A man who has friends must himself be friendly.” It’s easy to be a friend with another man, but could this apply to our wives? I believe God intended friendship to begin with Adam and Eve, but sin got in the way. We’ve been trying to cover up and hide from each other ever since. It takes work and forgiveness in friendship and especially with our wives.

Men, today is a new day. How can we change this theme Man vs. Wife into friend to friend? It’ll take work and fighting battles. We as men need to lead the way in friendship. Not waiting on our wives to befriend us but to step to the plate and forge ahead. We’ll continue this theme all of February. Learning what it means to have a friendship with our wives. Let’s always keep Christ as our focus and forge ahead in this battle and take back the land. Be encouraged for great progress is happening as Jesus is changing our hearts to be a real man of God.

Strength and courage,

Mike

Have you ever thought about the different names of God?  Why is it that the Bible references so many different names? I would like to explore these names (at least some of them).  Here is why:  The names of God are references to His character – the very nature of who God is.  We as men attempt to be true to who we say we are, meaning in alignment through our words spoken and our actions.  This is the meaning of integrity.  As I said, we attempt it, but God on the other hand cannot be anything but true to who He says he is.  It is out of the character of God that these different names of God are referenced in scripture.  For me, these names are an encouragement.  For example, Elohim is the name for God used in the first verse of the Old Testament - ‘In the beginning, God (Elohim) created the heavens and the earth…’

Here is what Strong’s NIV Concordance says about  this name of God: Elohim – God (plural of majesty; plural in form but singular in meaning, with a focus on great power); mighty one, great one, judge.

How does this encourage you? Here is what it makes me think of – If God is big enough to be able to create the heavens and the earth and everything in them, then the struggles I have are not too big for him.

Jeremiah 32:27 “I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?”

God the Creator – Genesis 1:1

Isaiah 45:18 ‘For this is what the LORD says— he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited— he says: “I am the LORD, and there is no other.’ (I love that – there is no other)

God of all the earth – Isaiah 54:5

Be encouraged that God is Almighty,

Steve

I only chose a few verses that the name of God is referenced this way.  It is many times over throughout the entire Bible.  Dig in for yourself and see.

Balancing through life with my Best Friend

I have received calls, received thoughtful notes, received care packages and presents, received help and handyman repairs, received a hug, received prayer, prayed with, received backup in parenting with trustful and wise words spoken to my children, shared joy and sorrow, and all this from a great friend who keeps showing up and giving love because of the love that lives in his heart.  Thank you, Doug for being a great friend and continuing to show me what a great friend is; I appreciate your sacrifices and the contributions you make into my life and family.  I am a better man and a better friend because of you.

John 15:13 (NKJV) 13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.

Proverbs 18:24 ESV A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Proverbs 27:17 ESV Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.

Hebrews 10:24-25 ESV And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

(The author of Hebrews was talking about Vital Men!)

Last night with God’s help I had the privilege of gathering with Vital Men and talk about life’s journey in relationship with women and the amazing gift that I have received from God in my wife Mia.  In just a few days we will be upon Valentine’s Day in which each of us men has an opportunity to be thoughtful, express appreciation, and profess our love.  Make some plans to honor the ones we love.  Don’t miss the mark; make it all about her from your heart aligned with God’s.   If you don’t know how to do it, He does… the Bible is packed with love letters and directives on how to do it straight from our life’s manual that he gave us.

Coach’s Challenge:  Be a great friend.  Just as we so often receive, may each of us reach out in some way to give to a friend today.  A call, a note, or just go drop in on them.  Invest time and energy into your relationships – first is Jesus and the rest will flow from a heart that belongs to Jesus.  What a friend we have in Jesus.

Coach’s Missing Finish:  Last night I forgot to remind each of us to finish strong.  You have the power available to make changes that will fill your life with more joy and set you on a course to finish strong.  May I offer one of my favorite quotes provided by the words of Hunter S Thompson: 

“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!”

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20

How is the discipling going? Are you making disciples and growing as a disciple? I am often convicted on this issue when I look at how much I have been given and how little I go out of my way to reach out to others at times. I’ve seized some opportunities, but I’ve also missed many. I don’t always have the right words to say or the right timing to hear the concerns of others, but I do have the willingness and opportunities that will come and go – and God can supply the rest. Each year that passes, I am made more aware of how short our time is to impact those around us. In the past month, several people I’ve known have passed away and this creates an abrupt wake-up call to how much we take others for granted – we just assume and live as if they will be here tomorrow and always. The reality is, one hundred years from now everyone reading this will be long gone.

What would it take for you to share what is most important to you with those who are most important to you? Do they already know? You have a story to share. Maybe when you were a child, or later in life, you asked Jesus into your heart. It may not be a great story in your eyes, but it was definitely significant to you.  Do you really want others to join you on this journey?  You never know the impact your story or your invitation may have on the life of another, unless you give it a chance to make it count. Is your story meaningful to you, and if so, is it worth sharing with others? Can we make opportunities to do this? Can we invite others along on God’s Great Adventure? Not just an offer of free fire insurance, but an invitation to experience and live with a love from God that is deeper with more possibilities than can be experienced anywhere else in the world.

So, whether your mission field is right here (family, friends, neighbors, strangers) or half way around the world through a supported missionary, your efforts and prayers have a chance to make a difference in lives you cannot even measure. K.P. Yohannan, who has worked much of his life evangelizing the lost is better able to articulate similar feelings about what God has put on his heart. I think we all want to do what we can, but we are often distracted by so many things going on in our lives that we lose our focus. Strive to live without regrets, without fear, with a desire to experience God more fully, and with a love that overflows from all areas of your life.

Strength and Courage in Christ,
Clark

On December 20th, 2003 I got down on one knee at the park where we went to on one of our first dates and asked a beautiful girl named Becky to marry me. We had met a couple of years earlier and I had grown to deeply love her and deeply appreciate the way she lived like Jesus. The good news on that day was that she said yes!

In the gospels we see time after time that when people encountered the good news of Jesus, their lives changed. Many of these people knew, or understood, little to nothing about what it meant that Jesus was the Messiah, but boy did they have some good news to share afterwards. For the blind man it was that he could now see! For the paralyzed man it was that he could now walk! For the underdogs and outcasts, it was that Jesus had chosen them!

At the age of 21 Jesus began to reveal and bring the good news into my life. Before then I had lived far from God for several years. In those years I wasn’t concerned about things like finding a good church, hearing a good sermon, or figuring out which translation of the Bible I liked the best. I didn’t care about Christian music, tithing, good theology, or any of it. What I really cared about was finding life. I wanted things like peace, hope, purpose, adventure and excitement, and the feeling like I belonged and was a part of something special. When I did eventually encounter Jesus a big part of it was through spending time with a group of guys who were striving to live a full life, changed and continuing to be changed by Jesus. They were living the good news that I was looking for. Their lives showed me a Jesus that could change my life.

I wonder sometimes if we limit the good news to a gospel presentation or to an invitation to church when what Jesus offers is really so much more. He came so that we may have life; rich and satisfying lives (John 10:10 NLT). It’s absolutely true that Jesus’s death and resurrection is the game changer. Amen! But do we sometimes lose sight of the how the game has actually changed in our lives, or that it should be continuing to change? The story about my wife saying yes to marrying me is not only good news because she said yes on December 20, 2003, but because the good news of that day continues to grow through our marriage today. In fact, if our marriage had turned out differently it wouldn’t make much sense for me speak of the events of that day as good news.

So here a few questions that I’m asking myself: Am I letting the good news of Jesus continue to bring more fullness and freedom to my life? Are there ways that I’ve reduced the good news to a one time moment in my past or a lifestyle of being religious?

May we live as men who represent daily the good news that Jesus saves and radically changes lives.

Craig Zuithoff

Third Church Director of Student Ministries

Strength and Courage is more than just words being said. It’s making a choice of a lifestyle to serve Christ. Joshua was a normal man yet a chosen leader from God. The Lord gave Joshua special instructions to lead his people. It says in Joshua 1:8 Study this book of Instructions continually. Meditate on it day and night so that you will be sure to obey it. These were important Words from God to Joshua and to us today.

Joshua chose not to allow the bondage of Egypt to grip his life. We as men have the same choice today. We can allow the bondage of sin to control our lives or we can walk in the freedom by faith in Jesus Christ.

Joshua also chose not to wander in the wilderness anymore. He chose to get over unbelief and study God’s instructions. How does this apply today? We can choose to wander around allowing the enemy to defeat us or we can believe in what it says in Romans 10:9 that we can believe by faith and call on the name Jesus and confess with our mouths and we shall be saved!

Joshua could of also just sampled the inheritance by only going to the borders of the promise land. Seeing it from a distance, but not allowing the Holy Spirit to help him step into it. We struggle with the same things today. Allowing the enemy to fill our minds with stinkin thinkin. Seeing the borders but being afraid to cross them and denying the power of Jesus and his name.

Joshua was a man of strength and courage. It says in Joshua 1:9 This is my command – be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. We as men still have that promise today. Jesus was strong and courageous all the way to the cross. He took our sin and shame. He saw each of us while he hung for our sins. Jesus was a real man and as well as God. He loved us so much and yet he went up Calvary’s hill.

Men, let’s cross the Jordan together and be a Joshua generation. Let’s allow our life style to die and enter our spiritual inheritance of a loving God. This takes getting over it and being men of strength and courage. Remember the promise land still brings battles, but we can do it together and Jesus has already given us the victory. Remember that each man influences 10 others and the Holy Spirit always adds unto them. These are encouraging days men. Let’s get over it and our Egypt. Let’s be strong and courageous and cross the Jordan to the promise land that Christ has for each of us!

Strength and courage,

Mike