Skip to content The Warrior's Heart: Busting Through the Wall Oct 3 · 35 min ...more
The Warrior's Heart: Busting Through the Wall
October 3, 2025 · 35 min
Pastor John Mark uniquely connects physical endurance with spiritual perseverance, reminding men that God doesn't want "13.1-mile guys" who quit halfway, but warriors who finish their race.
Series "Men's Breakfast" with John Mark Caton October 3, 2025 · 35 min · "Men's Breakfast" with John Mark Caton
Pastor John Mark uniquely connects physical endurance with spiritual perseverance, reminding men that God doesn't want "13.1-mile guys" who quit halfway, but warriors who finish their race. ...more Show the full description Show less Pastor John Mark uniquely connects physical endurance with spiritual perseverance, reminding men that God doesn't want "13.1-mile guys" who quit halfway, but warriors who finish their race.
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John Mark is the Senior Pastor of the thriving Cottonwood Creek Church in Allen, Texas, where he has served since 1995.
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The Warrior's Heart: Strength, Mission, and Armor 0:02 Welcome to Men's Breakfast with John Mark Keaton. Join us as John Mark shares his insights with other men in his ministry rooted in the timeless truths of the gospel. Today's message will encourage you to0:14 inspire, inform, and invest in the lives of others. This is Men's Breakfast with your host, John Mark Caton.0:23 Love to hear you guys, fellowship in and, get to know 1 another and introduce yourselves to each other. Couple of weeks ago, if you're new here, we started a new series entitled the Warrior's Heart. That first week, you0:35 remember, we we looked at, the Warrior's Heart. We really looked at the idea, of David and Goliath that man looks on the outward appearance, god looks on the heart. And, that's what we need to understand regardless of0:46 what we look like in our walk, in our faith, what others might think of us, whether they're inside the church or outside the church, whether they're in our family or outside of the family. You know, the reality of it is0:56 what really matters for man is his heart. And we looked at David's heart and where he developed his heart and his ability to, go and ultimately take on Goliath when no 1 else in all of Israel, would. That's1:08 when we looked at week 1. Then the second week, last week, we looked at the call on the warrior. That there's always a battle for us to fight, that every man in this room, outside the room, listen to this podcast, there1:19 is some sort of battle, that you are being called to fight. Sometimes it's a battle against self, other times it's a battle against Satan, sometimes it's a it's a battle against, the world,1:31 and so we always have to understand there is a battle for us to fight. And so today, I wanna talk to us about the warriors weapons. What are the weapons that you and I need to use and understand1:43 if we're ultimately gonna win the battle. Nothing rocket science about this, but there is a reality, guys, when we leave this room, we better be ready to fight. We better be ready for the battle. We better have1:55 our weapons. And so if you wanna just take out your smart device, whatever it is, take some notes, and we'll walk through the weapons that we have that God wants to give us, so that we can2:07 engage in the battle. I love this quote that I ran across, a battle hardened warrior never will it will never enter the the battlefield without his armor, a clear2:18 mission, and the confidence that he can win the battle. Did you get that? We never want to enter the battlefield. Man, without our weapons, without a clear mission, and then ultimately2:30 with the confidence that we can win. Well, what what is our mission? Man, our mission is to be the men that God wants us to be. That's what he called us to be. Why? Because that's the way he set up the kingdom. For men2:42 to be strong, for men to be warriors, for men to be, the kind of men that even when others fell and falter, that we're gonna stand the test of time. And so we need to understand that is our call. We have to2:54 know that is our mission. We also have to have confidence so we can win. I don't know where you sit today in your mind or your heart, if you feel like, man, I am just on the precipice of an amazing victory,3:06 or I'm about to lose it all. That today, God wants to say, man, I have some confidence with God's weapons according to God's will and with3:18 others around you that you can ultimately win your battle. And so let's start off. First of all, where does, if we're gonna step into the battlefield and on the battlefield, where does the man get his strength? We talked3:30 a little bit about this last week, but I wanna circle back. Our strength ultimately comes in the lord. And that means we spend time with the lord. If you are wanting to get stronger physically, what do you have to3:42 do? You have to spend time with the weights. You have to spend time in the gym. If you wanna, be able to run further, if you, are a marathoner. How many of you ever run a marathon? I've run 3. How many of3:54 you know you'll never run another marathon in your life? Yeah. Exactly. How many of you have run a half thon? How many of you run a half thon? She made it halfway and quit because that's the way I look at4:06 it. That's not anything to brag about. Every once in a while, I'll drive by, I'll see someone has a have you ever seen a sticker on the back of a car, that says 13.1 miles? That's a half thought. How many of you does4:17 anyone have 1 of those on your car? Don't don't acknowledge your failure. Right? I made it halfway through the course and quit and here's my sticker. Guys,4:28 don't do that. Alright? My fear is, and I've seen it over and over again, and probably you have too, that there are some men that they've made it halfway to where God wants them to be.4:41 They made it to the wall and they quit. They made it until their legs gave out and they just quit and they walked away. And I want you to know, God doesn't want a bunch of 13.1 mile guys in his4:52 church. Alright? Now, that doesn't mean he won't step up and save you. He's got some aid stations along the way. If you've run a marathon, I remember my very first marathon I had ever run, I I was never a runner. I I was5:03 a baseball player. Alright? That means that from time to time, most of the time I ran 90 feet. If if I really hit it hard, I ran a hundred and 80 feet to second base. Alright? And then every once in a while, I'd get to5:15 jog all the way around. But here's what I also know, there are times that that I was not built to run. I was not I was a catcher. I wasn't built to run. And I'm sitting there talking with a guy 1 time, Ross Robinson.5:27 He's at, he he's with Operation Christmas Child now. We're over at Prestonwood and he had just run the New York marathon. And he looked at me and I said, oh, that's no big deal. I was just kidding. You know, I I've never5:39 run a 5 k at the time. And he goes he goes, I bet you can't. Well, his wife's there, my wife's there, and I said, I can do it. And he shook my hand. And that's good. So5:51 that's how I got sucked into my first marathon. And I go out there and run. I've never run a 10 k, never run a 5 k. When I started the race, I literally it was a cow town marathon. Jean and I trained for it, trained for6:03 it. I remember training running up Plano going, you just gotta have a 3 hour run today. I'm like, what am I doing? And I started that race. I didn't know if I could make it to the end. I really didn't. And6:15 I felt awesome. 5 miles, awesome. 10 miles, awesome. Halfway point, awesome. Gina says, I'm gonna slow down. I said, yeah, just get back. I got this thing.6:27 15 miles, I was awesome. 18 miles, I was like, you know what? I'm gonna be the 1 dude that never hits the wall. There is a mile 20. I did. Wow. And I totally hit the6:38 wall. I totally hit the wall. I remember saying, alright, I'm just gonna walk through this aid station and then after the aid station, I'm gonna start running again. And I would, and I'd run about 250 yards and I'd need6:49 to walk again. And then it just became I'm not quitting. I'm not quitting. Then there were thoughts in my mind, well go ahead and quit. You've made it a long way longer than the people who have 13.1 mile sticker.7:01 Maybe they'll give a 22 mile sticker. You know, something like that. And I remember being miserable those last couple of miles until I turned the last run and you come7:12 down that Cal Tem Boulevard, all the bricks. And I turned and I saw the finish line. And I will tell you all the accolades I'd ever had in my sports career, I started7:24 crying. I had goosebumps. Why? Because I was able to do something I truly didn't know I can do and that is still in my sports career7:35 and let me tell you, in my sport, that is still the most thrilling thing I've ever done. And, man, I just I was like, man, I look good. I had about 4 and a half percent body fat. I got over that. And then you7:47 run across this line and you're just, I can't believe I did it. I can't believe I did it. And then they take a picture of you. Right? And then they mail the picture to you. Anybody ever done this? And there's this fat7:59 old man right next to me in my picture. I'm not kidding. I'm like, this guy looks like 30 years older than me. He's got a gut. I look lean and mean and he finished8:11 right next to me and I'm like, how did he do it? How did he do it? Well, he had trained and been a runner all of his life. And so guys, here's where some8:23 of you are. Some of you, you're halfway. Some of you have hit the wall. Some of you are going to hit the wall, but I want you to know God calls all of us to8:35 finish the race, to finish the race. And let me tell you what, that guy that finished next to me, he looked better than me. Alright? He looked better than me. I had sweat, salt. I didn't know you were supposed to wipe8:47 your face off. When Gina finally crossed the finish line, I hugged her. She goes, what's on your face? And it was just dried sweat. Anybody ever seen that? I was like, I didn't know. Right? I didn't know. And so here's8:56 what you and I need to understand, there might be some guys next to you that don't look like much, but they're gonna be the guys that get you across the finish line. There are gonna be some guys that pace you9:09 and push you and challenge you, but if you will stay in the battle and stay in the race, you'll make it all the way there. So let's look at our strength. Our strength as men is in the Lord. Here's what Paul says,9:21 Ephesians chapter 6 verse 10. He says, says, finally be strong. Everybody say be strong. In the broth. In the Lord and in the power of his might. In other words, if you feel like9:32 quitting and giving up, man, gain strength from God. That's what you're doing right now. An encouragement from God. Look at just everybody stop, pause, look around the room. Look around the room.9:44 Alright? There are there are a bunch of other broken men running their race. Some of us look a little more ragged than others. Alright? Some of us are hurting more than others. Some of us are well prepared than more9:56 well prepared than others. But here's what we know, our strength comes in the Lord. And I love it. He says, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. You know what10:07 Paul is saying? Yeah, we are strong in the Lord, but a warrior never goes to the battle alone. Do you know that? A warrior never goes to battle alone. There there's always a battalion,10:19 a platoon, a group of men that he shows up on the battlefield with. And guys, it's the same way in your life. God didn't call you and you alone to fight your battle all alone. If we're gonna be10:31 true warriors, if we're gonna have real strength, if we're gonna have ultimate victory, if we're gonna make it to the finish line, you need to learn to run with the pack. A pack of guys that are going in the same10:41 direction, that are moving towards the same goal, that are moving in such a way that God says, man, that's who I want you to run with. That's why we always push fruits. That you and I want to be in a group of other guys10:52 that are running the race together. Some are in better shape, some are a little further along, some are a little further behind, some just need they need to get behind someone and draft. Someone needs to lead the pack11:03 lead the pack, but a warrior never goes to the battlefield alone. And I love what Paul says, be strong, but be strong in the Lord. And surround yourself with other dudes. Isaiah the prophet put it this11:14 way. I'm gonna preach a series on this in a couple of weeks just as whole Isaiah 40. I love this. Isaiah 40 verse 3. He says, but those who hope in the lord, that's our commanding officer.11:26 Alright. God's given us a call. But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on the wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary and they will walk and not faint.11:39 Man, our commanding officer, God, says don't quit. And then I love those words, those who open the Lord, they will renew their strength. That's a promise. That's a11:50 promise that if you hit the wall, if you'll put your hope hope in God, if you'll run with others, there will come a point when you gain new strength. If you12:02 run that marathon, if you hit that wall, it it lasts for a season. It it's a long season. It's a herding season. Your legs say I'm done. Your lungs say I'm done. Your12:14 mind says I'm done. But if you will keep going, there came a time between 20 miles until about 23 that I just struggled. And then all of a sudden, you begin to gain new strength. Why? Because you12:26 don't quit. But you also not only do you not quit, but when you go through an aid station, part of my problem and others problems is when I was at the early part of the race and I was feeling good, I skipped those12:38 aid stations. But I learned later in the race that I always, every time I went by, I would grab something to drink or I would get a gel of carb and I would do it. Why? Because my body12:50 need new strength. And so some of you, you might just be exhausted right now. You're worn out. Can I just encourage you? Gain some new strength and believe that God's gonna give it to you. Believe that God's gonna13:01 infuse with his spirit, his word, and other men in your life. He's gonna give you the ability and the strength to make it to the finish line. So here he says, but those who hope in the Lord will renew their13:13 strength. They will soar on wings like eagles. Guys, some of you in here today say, man, I can do anything but that. I might wanna crawl. And some of you may be crawling right now. You know, an13:25 eagle, when it's first born, it doesn't soar. Matter of fact, it just hangs out in the basket for a while letting mama feed it. How many of you know? Some of you might13:37 be in that state right now, mate. This this whole faith, this Christian walk, it is new to you, and you're looking to some other people soar. You know, part of their call, if they're further in the faith, is there to13:48 feed you, there to encourage you, there to protect you. And when it's your turn, you're going to soar. And I've seen those seasons in my life where I thought anything I could do anything but soar again, and then13:59 all of a sudden I stay faithful to God and faithful to his word and I keep my hope in him, and then all of a sudden what happens happens is you look back a year or 2 after that, you know, I can't believe I was back14:10 there. And so if you're in 1 of those seasons right now where you have hit the wall or you can't store, can I encourage you keep doing the right thing, keep hitting the aid station, get get in get in God's word,14:22 stay with God's men? There'll be a day you'll be soaring and you'll be helping and feeding others. Then go on and read it. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. You can14:34 do it. We can do it, but as long as we understand where our strength comes from. Not from me, it's from God being surrounded by other people and having proper nutrition14:46 of his word. And you say, Pastor, my my problem is not, that I'm tired. My problem is not that I've I've hit a wall. Pastor, my my problem is this sin in14:58 my life that I can't shake, this struggle in my life that I I can't shake. Matter of fact, pastor, I've been struggling with this sin, and a lot of people don't know about this sin,15:10 or this hurt, or or or this health problem I've had for a year or 2 years or 3 years or, man, it's a relational failure that if other people knew, you know what? Paul called that his thorn.15:22 Remember Paul? He he says Paul says, I had a thorn in the flesh. What I love about that thorn that Paul talks about in the new testament is we truly don't know what that thorn is.15:34 Some people think it's a physical element, some people think it's an emotional 1, some people think it's something else. I think the beauty of it is God wanted to leave it, blank so you could fill in your struggle15:46 and my struggle. Remember what Paul did? He cried and prayed and cried and prayed and cried and prayed and fasted over and over that God would take it away from him and God didn't. At that15:58 point, Paul had a choice. I'm gonna quit, I'm gonna put the 13.1 mile sticker on my car, or I'm gonna keep going.16:09 Maybe there's some of you that you've been praying over and over and over again that God would remove this struggle from your remove this heartache or remove this, and and God hasn't done it. And you16:21 say, pastor, why why didn't God take away all I can't tell you. I will tell you what, I I serve, guys, a miracle performing God. I serve16:33 a powerful God. I have prayed and seen God do some amazing miracles in people's lives. And I'll I'll be honest with you. I want him to do it for everybody.16:45 I want him to do it for everybody. But I've also seen God choose not to remove something from people. Instead, they'll use it for his glory. Whatever16:57 their thorn in thorn is becomes an opportunity for ministry. So Paul prays over and over and over again. And so notice after god's finally said no, here's what Paul says and, here's what it says in second17:09 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 9 and 10. He says, but he said to me, this is God speaking. Paul said, God remove it. Paul said, God remove it. Paul said, God remove it. And17:21 then notice what Paul says, but God said to me, my grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly.17:33 So God says, my grace is good enough. My power is good enough. Respond. Paul could have, kicked the ground,17:45 walked away. Paul could have been mad at God. Anybody ever been a little mad at God? I can tell you I have. Your pastor's been mad at God before. I don't really wanna fight that battle long term. How many of you know?17:57 But but but Paul could have said, dadgum it. I'm doing mission trips, I'm planting churches, I'm preaching, I'm leading my family, I'm I'm writing these books. And Paul could have said, if you're not going to do this18:09 for me, I'm not going to do anything for you. But, Paul didn't do that. And instead, Paul says, therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness so that Christ's18:21 power may rest on me. And look at verse 10. That is why for Christ's sake, I delight in weakness. I delight in insults. I delight in hardships. I18:32 delight persecutions, I delight in difficulties for when I am weak then I am strong. Let's walk through those 1 at a time. Notice, he says, I delight18:45 in weaknesses. Were you weak? Have have you ever done 1 of those self inventory tests that that you're just, alright, what are my weaknesses?18:57 What are my strengths? Every guy in this room, you have some amazing strengths, but you have some weaknesses. And Paul says, you know what? I'm I'm gonna rejoice in my strengths, but I'm also gonna rejoice in my19:07 weaknesses. Notice what he says next, not all insults. Hey, anybody badger you about, your faith? Anybody, mock you about your weaknesses? He19:19 says, you know what? When people insult me, I don't wear that as a badge of courage that I'm all in for God. If you're gonna insult me, insult me because of my faith, because of my trust in God, because of my19:30 belief in God. Then he goes into hardships. God, guys, God is calling men to not be quitters. That if things get a little hard in your life,19:42 a little hard in your family, a little hard, at the office when you're walking with him, man, we don't quit. That's not the warrior's heart. Man, sometimes I'll look at a19:54 documentary or or watch some historical, you know, show about some some of these guys in Vietnam or war 2 and some of the stuff they went through or even even some of the readers, recent war. I'm like,20:06 god, how hot must that have been? How hard must that have been? But the beautiful thing about a warrior, it doesn't matter about the circumstances or the hardships that they don't quit. They've got20:18 a clear mission. They're fighting with their friends, and they trust their commanding officer, then we are doing what we're called to do. And so20:30 Paul says, listen, I'm gonna glory in my hardships. He says, persecutions and difficulties and hardship for when I am weak, that's when I'm strong.20:42 So a warrior's heart understands where our strengths come from. Number 2, look at this, a a war a warrior's heart and a warrior's mission is to take your stand.20:55 That's it. I take my stand. I'm gonna go to my post and I'm gonna stay there until God relieves me. What do you mean? I'm gonna go to where God wants me to go and I'm gonna stay there21:07 until God calls me home. I'm gonna be faithful in the battle from now until God calls me home. You say, where do you see this? Look at Ephesians chapter 6 verse 11. He21:18 says, put on the full armor of God and we love to focus on the full armor of God, but notice the mission. So that you can take your21:30 stand. Underline that take your stand. We we love the armor and I'm gonna talk a little bit about the armor, talked a little bit about it last week. But here's the reality, Why do you wear the armor? So you can take your21:41 stand. That's the whole purpose. Now there's some things armor helps us do, we'll see at the end of that verse. He says, so we can defeat the devil's schemes, but at the end of the day, our call as men21:54 is to take our stand. Guys, I I want you to know, God places a special call on men that he doesn't place on women.22:06 God places a priority on the position of men in his church that he doesn't put on women. And if we don't take our stand, we are22:18 letting our families, our kids, and the future generations down. So, yes, we put on the full armor of God, not so we can walk around and look good, but so that we can take our stand. So let22:30 me ask you a question. Are you taking your stand for God? Does your wife know it? Does your kids know it? Does your family know it? Does your22:42 church know it? Do you take your stand in such a way that we understand, man, I'm gonna be here regardless. Even if I am the last man22:54 standing, I'm not gonna leave my post. That's exactly what Paul says. Look at first Peter chapter 5 verse 8. What do we do when we take our stand? He says, be on alert and be so reminded.23:05 Why? Because your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. So why don't we take our stand? Well, because Satan's worn around. How many of you23:17 know Satan would love to take you out today? Satan would love to trip you up today. And now notice what he says, Satan will roll around, it says like a roaring lion.23:29 What can you just imagine being out I've never been this, I've never been on the safari unit. Can you imagine being out in the field and hearing a lion roar? I love to hunt. How many of you like to hunt? You like to23:41 hunt? There's always something unique that, you'll be up in the trees, you got your bow there, you're sitting there and all of a sudden the sun goes down, you're hoping that deer shows up, that buck you've been hunting23:51 all year that, if they're like my bucks, they show up, they'll pause for the camera Yeah. Until I'm in the tree. How many of you all know that? I got some of the greatest pictures of some24:03 of the greatest bucks that I've never seen in purpose and in person. It's like they show up and they go, hey, too bad you're not here today. Yeah. I I don't But here's the deal.24:15 So you're up in these trees, everything's peaceful, I love it, man, my blood pressure goes down. Then you'll climb down out of the tree as the sun goes down and it's like 400 coyotes are within 10 yards of24:27 you. Have you ever experienced it? You're like, where are they? I'm like, they they were they were totally quiet 2 minutes ago. The sun goes down. I get out of the tree and guess what? They24:39 start howling and I'm like, where are they? I can what if what if you got out of the tree and it was a lion? Didn't it? I think I would stay in the tree and I'd call Gina. Hey, baby.24:52 Jay, can you get the truck, come get me. What does the roaring lion do? He wants to scare everything around, wants to establish his dominance. Satan will do the same thing in your life. Man, he'll roar25:04 and hopefully you will abandon your position. Now, if you don't abandon your position, notice what it says. He says, roaring around looking for someone to devour.25:17 Who does a lion look for? That 1 that lags behind the pack, that 1 that's hurt a little bit, that 1 that makes a25:29 mistake, that 1 that doesn't hold its position. And once they can peel it away from the pack, it becomes easy prey. I don't know if you've been following up, up25:41 in the Midwest, a wolf pack has developed. Have you seen that? That they're taking down some of the largest elk we have and every once in a while, a wolf pack, they don't know why it happened, but a unique25:53 endeavor. Wolves were, you know, they were almost extinct there for a while, but now they've collaborated into a new wolf pack and they've got video of these wolves just getting these elk and all they have to do is peel26:04 1 elk away from the herd and then they start circling, then they wear it down, then they beat it down. It's done. And that's exactly what Satan wants to do with you guys. He wants you to leave the pack.26:17 He wants you to not get rejuvenated, not take, God's word and sustenance that you need to stand strong and to stand firm. Forget what your mission is. And then as soon as he peels you away, he's26:28 gonna tear you up and he's gonna dog you out and let me tell you what, he's not even gonna say grace before you eat shit. And after he's done with you guys, he'll go after your family,26:41 he'll go after your friends. And that's why it's so important that we would stay passionate about staying at our post so Satan won't devour us.26:53 Look look at what Paul says to Timothy in second Timothy chapter 2 verse 4. He says, no 1 serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please27:05 his commanding officer. In other words, he says, you know, a soldier doesn't get all torn up in politics. Doesn't get all torn torn up in the little stuff and into the small27:17 stuff, but instead, they please the commanding officer. Guys, let me encourage you with that. Man, just just sit down and say, God, what do you want me to do? I'm halfway27:29 through my race, some of you young guys. I'm 3 quarters through my race, some of us older guys. I won't even go further than that.27:41 But you need to ask yourself a question. God, what do you want me to do with the rest of my life?27:53 And guys, here's the good news. Doesn't matter where you've been, doesn't matter what you've done, Matters where you're headed, and it matters what you're gonna28:05 do. I truly believe there's some guys in this room, if we're to be honest about ourselves or you'd be honest about your past, you would say, you know what? I really haven't done much for God. I stand here28:17 with 100 percent confidence, looking in every guy's eyes in the room, that God doesn't care what you've done. He cares more about what you're about to28:29 do, And God is moving in a powerful way, in a real way in our church, and I will tell you, if the momentum's gonna stay behind us, it's gonna be because28:40 men choose to be out in front of us. God's calling every guy to be that way, to to to be that. No 1 serving as a soldier gets entangled in28:52 civilian affairs. Let's just let the muck go away. But rather tries to please his commanding officer. That's what God has called us to do. So man knows his mission, he knows his29:04 strength, and he knows his armor. Here's where we get to his armor. Look at Ephesians chapter 6 verse 13. What did he say? He says, first of all, you put on the belt of truth. John and as you think of the belt of29:16 truth, he says, therefore put on the full armor of God so that when the day of evil comes you may be able to stand your ground and after having done everything to stand, to stand firmly with the belt buckled around your29:27 waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. And he says, in addition to all of this, take up that shield, but again, the only29:39 way we can take up the shield and put on the armor is first of all, we have a warrior's heart. If we know the call to the battlefield and we understand our mission, we should stand firm. He says, in29:51 addition to all this, take up the shield of faith with which you will can extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil 1 and then take on the helmet of salvation, the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. So that30:02 belt of truth, man, that comes from God's word. I I love what Jesus said calling them out in John chapter 8 verse 32. He's calling, the Pharisees and the religious leaders. He says,30:14 you're children of Satan and Satan's been a liar from day 1. I love what Jesus said in John chapter 8 verse 32. He says, then you will know the truth, the belt of truth and the truth will set you free.30:26 Guys, the more we will dive into God's word, the more we'll be able to stand against the lies of Satan. Do you understand that? Let me tell you what, a lie of Satan right now is if you have this thought30:38 in your mind because of my past, because of what I've done, because of my failures, God can't use me. That is a lie from Satan. Some of you right now are thinking, no, I wish I had really committed myself to the30:50 war back when I was 25. Because if I had done that, God could really hear hear me. That is a lie from Satan. So he said, you know, if I've done if I hadn't done31:02 this or if I hadn't done done that or if I hadn't struggled, if I don't struggle here, that's a lie from Satan. You all know what the truth is? God still got so much more planned for31:13 you in the days ahead than you can ever imagine if you're willing to take your stand. And then I love what Jesus said, and the truth will set you free. You wanna be more31:25 free than you've ever been? Man, just you and God have a conversation when you get in your car. Say, God, waste a lot of time, waste a lot31:37 of energy, waste a lot of thought, but I'm not doing it again. That'll be the most freeing experience that you could ever have. And you then say, God, I believe I31:49 waste a lot of time. I'm not proud of some things I've done, but I believe God with your help, what I'm about to do is32:01 gonna be more for your kingdom than I or anybody around me ever thought possible. Then I love that. He says the breastplate of righteousness, and that's not a self righteousness. It's just, man, I'm32:13 just gonna be who God wants me to be as best I can. The shoes for the gospel of peace, verse 15. Man, I just wanna understand it's the grace of God. It's all God. It's not my works. It's God moving through me. And to32:25 take that shield of faith, I I love that idea of the shield of faith. If you go look back at the armor and the shield of those Roman soldiers which Paul was talking about, they had several shields.32:38 But, some of the shields were these big shields that when they would they would move forward and advance on an enemy and at that time, you know, it was mainly archery and the enemy we what would they do? They would they32:49 would tie these little, these little rags on the ends of their arrows. They would dip them in some sort of flammable liquid and they would light them up and they would shoot them at soldiers. The soldiers would approach.33:01 You've probably seen the arm the armor. What those soldiers would do when they were making their advance, they would come together and they would put their shields side by side by side and the first row would be side by33:11 side then the second row would be this way, this way, this way, and they would come looking like a metal turtle. Anybody ever seen pictures of that? Guess what? 1 dude can't do that,33:23 but a bunch of guys together can stand against the arrows if we have our shield of faith. Then he says not only at the helmet of salvation, have you settled your salvation? Then he says, the sword of the33:35 spirit which is the word of God are you in the word? So, guys, do you have the heart of a warrior like David?33:47 You may not look like much, but with God you can be much. Do you understand your call to the battle? Every man in this room has been called to the battle.34:00 And do you know your weapons, and are you wearing? Let's pray. God, thank you so much for an opportunity just to be challenged by your words.34:12 God, my prayer for every man in this room is they would see that they've got more ahead of them than they do behind. God, let none of us pull up, stop short of our finish line.34:24 In Jesus' name we pray. Amen and amen. God bless, guys. Have a good 1.34:30 Thank you for tuning in to Men's Breakfast with John Mark Cayton. For more information on John Mark's ministry and resources, please visit johnmarkkayton dot com. Until next time, remember, we're34:42 on this journey of life together.In this video 0:00 The Warrior's Heart: Strength, Mission, and Armor
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