Skip to content Push & Pull Part 1 with Dusty Davis Jun 17 · 46 min ...more
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Since 2000 Every Man Ministries has been activating men worldwide to live out their truest identity in Christ through its discipleship resources, live events, and steaming platform.
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Identity in Christ: The Foundation of Faith 0:00 Brothers, we live in a very, very confusing time. Our culture has redefined everything. We no longer live where there is objective truth, but rather each0:12 person is living out their own subjective truths. We live in a a cancel culture that is now truly post Christian. And it really reminds me of0:24 when Israel was living without a king. With with no 1 true northing them to God's truths. It says in Judges 21 25, In those days, Israel had0:36 no king. All of the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes. It was a mess. Brothers, it is a mess. But I wanna0:48 pause. And although this isn't where we're gonna spend most of our time today, I wanna give you a little bit of an encouragement, kind of with that ominous backdrop. As you and I feel0:59 squeezed to the edges of society, as our faith in Jesus Christ is less respected, is more challenged, and more unacceptable really, than at any other1:11 point in our lives, I want us to remember this. Christianity began in the margins. It began in prisons and with public executions. And it has always1:23 been the moral minority. Now, fast forward around 3 25 A. D, Constantine, right, married the church and the state. We see the beginning of Christendom. Right? And the church began to1:35 experience influence and power. The problem is, the church might have grown stagnant. Has grown lazy. And actually what's happening1:47 right now, with Christianity being pressed back to the edges, this is where we thrive. This is where the gospel went around the planet and toppled the eternal Roman1:59 kingdom that was thought to have never been able to end. So take heart. While it might be a challenging time, it is truly an amazing time to be a follower of Jesus Christ. Okay,2:10 times are challenging and confusing, but exciting as God's men, who desire to live for Jesus Christ, in the spaces and places that he's put us. But you and I have2:22 to decide who we are, and what we're about. Or to put it in another way, you and I need to settle up our identities, and then what truths we2:34 are going to identify with. In terms of our beliefs, our life pursuits, our passions. What guides our behavior? What informs our actions?2:46 We have to sort out the head and the heart, and how those 2 things play together. So those 2 things, our identity and how we identify, those really are 2 hot buttons in culture right2:58 now, aren't they? We hear them talked about all the time. We're going to start with identity. As God's men, if you and I don't answer the identity question, we will never be3:10 able to move out powerfully in our faith, or be used by God to push back darkness, to build his kingdom, or to love other people the way that we're called to. Truly, everything in your life3:21 and mine hinges on seeing ourselves as we truly are. Identity informs everything. God knows this. I mean of course God knows this, but God modeled this for you and3:33 me, even with his own son. Alright, at this time Jesus is a 30 year old, single carpenter, living with his mom. Sounding more like a Seinfeld character at this point, right? But as3:45 God drew him into his mission, the purpose of his life, we see this. Now, remember, this is before Jesus had ever taught anything, before he'd ever healed anybody, before he had revealed3:57 who it is that he was, before he had done anything miraculous. In Matthew chapter 3 in verse 17, God said this, and a voice from heaven, that's God the father, said,4:09 this is my son, whom I love, and with whom I'm well pleased. Look at everything that our father in heaven communicated in this 1 passage, starting with the4:21 very first thing he said, This is my son. He was speaking identity. This is the king of the universe saying, that's my boy. And guys, nothing makes a son's4:33 chest puff up, or makes his back straighten up, like being claimed by his father. Like being spoken that deep identity of sonship. The expression, this is4:45 my son, conveyed Christ's identity. Who he truly was. Now, my dad was a very mellow guy. Loved Jesus, still loves Jesus. He was a4:57 surfer. He was a drug dealer. Technically, he was a pharmacist. Tomato, tomato. Right? My dad's blood pressure never rose above normal, but I remember surfing 1 day5:09 with my dad and my youngest brother. My My youngest brother couldn't have been more than 7. He was on the inside on a body board having fun, and we were sitting out back surfing, and a guy caught a long wave inside, and5:19 I noticed my dad kind of watching him. And this guy headed towards my little brother, and then made a big show of how my brother got in his way. Sprayed his board at him, kicked his board out, hooted and hollered.5:32 I thought my dad was going to come unglued. Here's a little piece of advice for you brothers, it's not the loud guys you need to be scared of. It's the guys who stay quiet when they get upset. But my dad very purposely5:43 paddled right over to this guy and said 3 words, that's my son. He went on to say, if you have any further problems, you can speak to5:54 me, but that is my boy. My dad was speaking ownership, protection, and supervision over my little brother. That's my son.6:06 Did you know that that is what the father in heaven speaks over you and over me? Did you know that that's exactly his heart, as his eyes are on you? That's my6:18 boy. That is who you are. Look at what the scripture says about God's heart towards us. Isaiah 41, or 43 rather, in chapter 1. Says, do not fear. Why?6:30 For I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. That's your mine. Look at that identity. I called you by name, individually, and you're mine. That's who you belong to.6:42 John 1 12, yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, what happened? He gave them the right to become children of God. The right, the6:54 privilege, the identity of being called God's own children. The children of greatness always introduce themselves as such, right? I'm pretty sure the first thing out of the prince's mouth is,7:06 hey what's up, I'm Dusty, my dad's the king, you know? Right? Whether he's using it to get out of trouble, right, or just to impress people, they know that that's their greatest identity. Did you know that you are a son7:18 of the king? The eternal living God. That's true of you. As you put your faith in Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1 5 says that, He, God the Father, predestined us, you and7:30 I, for adoption into sonship through Jesus Christ. In accordance with his pleasure and his will. That is the story of salvation brothers.7:41 God expanding his family through adoption, bringing that which was on the outside into the very center of his family and his will. First7:53 Peter 2 9 says that you and I are a chosen people. Are you guys hearing all the intentionality in this? A royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special8:05 possession. Chosen, royal, special possession, that is who you truly, truly are. And you know what that means?8:17 It means there's some things that you're not. For better or worse, you are not the letters that follow your name. You are not your title or the degrees that have been conferred upon you. For some in a high position, that8:28 might hurt the pride a little bit. For some in a low position, that might lift you up. But it's true of both of you. That is not the truest thing about you. For better or worse, you're not the content of your bank8:39 account. You're not your desires, the godly, or the ungodly desires that you and I possess. You know, our culture right now is so hell bent on convincing children that8:51 they are nothing more than their sexual desires and sexual identity, when that's not true even of healthy God honoring sexual desires. We are more than that. We are God's children, holy and dearly loved as9:03 we've just been reading about. You're not the house you live in, the car you drive, or the people that you run with. You are God's son. If it seems as though I'm hammering this9:15 over and over, it's because you and I will never live beyond our identity as God's men. And so we need to get this right. It's the building block of everything else that God9:27 wants to do in us, and through us. And nothing else will fall into place in our lives if we don't get this right. This is my Son. What else did the Father say? Whom I love. Whom9:39 I love. This conveyed Christ's worth. How deeply the Father loved and valued the Son. Did you know that God loves you?9:52 Now, you might gloss over that and think, of course God loves me. John 3 16, For God so loves the entire world. In his infinite capacity, in his perfect love, God doesn't just love all of us, he loves10:04 each of us. It's an incredibly boundless love that we can't even understand, because we only have a human capacity to love. That every single day, God the father10:16 sits in anticipation and expectation that his boys would come and sit with him, and be with him. He loved us before we loved him. This isn't10:28 a love that he returned to us, this is a love that came in when you and I were shaking our fist at him. Romans 5 8 says that while we were still sinners, while our fists were raising shouting crucify this guy, get him10:40 out of my life. He offered his life for us. Such is the nature of God's love for you and I. The word paints a beautiful picture of the love of our great God. Here's just a couple places to10:52 encourage you. Romans chapter 8, verse 35 through 39 says, that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Say nothing.11:03 Nothing. Nothing is not my heart, my doubts, my fears, my sin, nothing. His love perseveres, pursues,11:15 tracks us down, pulls us in. Zephaniah 3 17 says this, that God the father rejoices over you with gladness. That he will quiet11:27 you with his love, and exalt over you with loud singing. Can you imagine the God of the universe covering you with his love, rejoicing over you? It's true.11:39 It's true. It's truer than anything else about us. This is my son whom I love, what was the last thing he said, with whom I'm well pleased.11:52 Which conveyed the father's heart. His disposition towards his son, this was his attitude. If his emotion towards his son was love, then his attitude towards his son was 1 of pleasure.12:04 Did you know that God is pleased with you? That in Jesus Christ, covered by his blood, that that becomes the position of the Father's heart towards12:16 us? Fully pleased with us. Remember, this was before Jesus had done anything to earn the Father's love or pleasure. God12:28 was pleased with him, because he was his son. Now, I told you guys in the beginning, God has gifted me with 4 incredible children. When my kids were12:40 born, I fell madly, uncontrollably, irresponsibly in love with them. I still love them that way. Every time I see them, I12:52 throw my arms around them. My boys are now grown men, and I still kiss them every time I see them, because I just love my kids. I love them before they could do anything to reciprocate or earn13:04 my love. At the time that they were born, they were capable of maybe 3 things, right? Eating, pooping, crying, that's it. This is before they could smile, roll over, walk, or do anything, yet I was so pleased with13:15 them, because they were mine. The same is true of the father's heart for you and me. He loves us because we're his. Praise God that he loves us based on who he is, and not13:27 based on who we are. As fallen humans, we extend love, and so far as the person is worthy of love. Now as God is creating in us a new heart that loves like he does, we start to love out of the overflow of his13:39 love. But God's perfect love towards us has nothing to do with our performance, or even our receptivity towards it. He loves based on who he is.13:51 Guys, all of that so far is just to remind us that without the proper identity, without the proper mindset about who we are in God, we will never be able to move out and do14:03 the things that he's calling us to. But once we begin to settle the identity picture, right, who I am, I need to look to what I identify with. And this is really answering the question that's going to give14:15 meaning and direction of our lives, which is what am I about? Right? What am I going to do now? Most of us, I think, would say that we identify as Christians. ButThe Balance of Being and Doing 14:26 sometimes I wonder if we're as confused as our culture is when they say they identify as something. Let me explain, okay? We now live in a time, and an age, where you and I can simply14:38 choose to identify as something, and then, we're that thing. We become that thing immediately. We no longer live in a truth based reality, but rather, everyone is14:50 living out their own individual false truths. We think now that we simply are what we believe ourselves15:02 to be. Fantasy is reality. All we gotta do is believe we're something, and then we're that thing. What I said is, brothers, do we do the same thing with our15:14 faith? Do we simply identify as being a disciple? A follower of Jesus, and then think that we are? Time out. Huge15:26 disclaimer. I am not talking about salvation. Please don't get this confused. I am not in any way hinting towards any type of earning our faith. Scripture is too clear about15:38 this. We are saved by grace through faith. Period. Full stop. Our complete forgiveness, restoration, salvation was15:50 achieved by Jesus Christ on the cross. Period. What I'm talking about is what happens next. Because we weren't just saved from something, from sin and death, we were saved towards16:01 something. The life of a disciple following transformation. But don't get those 2 things confused. I'm not saying that we must do these things in order to be saved. How about we've been saved?16:13 And freed to do these things. Saved towards transformation. Not to gain our salvation again, but because we already have it. Now moving out to be16:25 used by God. We desire to follow the 1 who gave himself for us. But you and I can't identify as Christians, and then just stay where we are, physically or16:36 spiritually. That's the thing about following Jesus. I have to follow. What if I told you right now that I'm out on a run? You think, this guy's off his rocker, maybe, but he's certainly not on a run, he's sitting on a16:48 chair. Yet, I'm afraid that we might be doing that same thing. Believing that we're moving without moving.17:01 I can't just think of myself or identify also with the things that the spirit wants to create in me over a lifetime, and then think that I've achieved those things. Or think that he's done those things in me, for17:11 example. I can't just think that I'm a patient person. I have to display patience. I can't just identify as being generous. I must17:23 do generous things. I can't just identify as being a follower of Jesus, and choose not to follow him. 1 of my life verses, for this17:34 reason, is Micah 6 8. Read this with me. Know, oh people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you,17:47 to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. Say act, say love, say walk. Act,17:59 love, walk. He laid it out for us. He showed us what he wants. He wants you and I to act justly. Not just like the idea of justice. Not just post18:11 about it on social media. But to bring justice into the spaces and places he's placed us to act with justice. To love mercy, this is a great 1,18:23 because we're getting both the head and the heart. I want you to offer mercy. Isn't it interesting how we always want justice and judgment for you,18:35 and grace and mercy for me. Isn't that funny? I always want the bad guy to get it, but I always want the Lord to give me his mercy, his grace. But you and I are called to love mercy. To not only offer18:47 it, but to have a heart that desires to offer it. And called, lastly, to walk humbly. In a culture that elevates the individual. That loves the self18:59 made man, the self made woman, the person who did it on their own. Like Sinatra said, who did it my way. This is the person we elevate. We love the MVP. We love the guy who19:10 should be showered with praises. And God is saying, walk humbly. Walk humbly. Fight against that desire in your heart to receive praise, and be a person who offers it. To the19:22 only 1 who's worthy. Walk humbly. God is showing us how to do everything, and here's the ticket boys. And he's assuming that we're going to do it. He's showing us things, and then he's got an expectation19:34 that he's going to see that in the hearts and lives of his men. The Christian life is 1 of action. But not a life only of19:46 action. You and I need to keep a close eye on our hearts. Right? Just like the scripture warns us, because our enemy is crafty, and if he can't pull you and I into outright sin, he's gonna try19:58 to derail us on our discipleship to Jesus. Alright, man. I'm assuming that a few of you played football. I'm praying that some of you did. K? Any offensive linemen out there?20:10 Big boys, I'm talking to you. That was me. No, it wasn't. Right? As coach Curry said, I was a slim hipped gazelle. I was a wide receiver. But even20:22 us tenderfoots had to block sometimes. And I remember 1 of the lessons the coaches gave us, right, is irregardless of the read, irregardless of the play, right? Even if I'm supposed to kick the guy outside, if the guy's20:33 hell bent on going inside, coach just said, just take him further than he wants to go. Take him so far inside that he can no longer affect the play. This is20:45 a place that the enemy is gonna try to attack you, and try to attack me, as we pursue the rhythms of both being and doing, the rhythms of our head and our heart, and our hands and our feet, And20:57 the enemy is going to try to find the way that we naturally lean hardest, and push us all the way out of the play. Completely ignoring the other half21:08 of God's call on our lives. Let's look at it like this brothers. If we're talking about the discipleship and the rhythm of being and doing, right? Being, being, the things that go into us, right? The heart21:20 attitudes, the truth in our minds. Then that starts to look like spending our time studying God's word. And that's a great thing. And then we attend every men's bible study and every conference21:32 that we can, and we consume podcasts and we digest books, and we listen to different speakers, and we talk to different friends, and our minds and our lives keep getting filled with more and more and more of God's truth.21:41 And it's awesome. But there's no expression. Guys, if all of our life is intake intake intake intake and no output output output21:53 output, things go bad real quick. We become like the guy who sits at home eating all day long, and never going out to use the energy he just filled his body with. Or22:05 another way to look at it is sitting at home and reading a book about exercise, but never walking outside and putting it to practice. Here's a difficult truth for you and I today.22:17 Being without doing leads to apathy. Being without doing leads to apathy. I become a Christian whose head is full of22:29 knowledge, but whose arms become so atropied they can never help anybody. I had the opportunity recently to visit the Dead Sea on a tour of Israel, with 1 of my good friends, Todd Moorhead,22:41 and his ministry, Grafted Ministries. Incredible opportunity, the Dead Sea's a trip, right? It's so salty, it feels like you're laying in a pool of acid. You float, and I don't just mean like you're buoyant, I mean like22:51 you're laying on top of the water. It's a trip. But not 1 thing lives in the Dead Sea. You want to know why? Because the Dead Sea has no outlets.23:04 The Dead Sea only receives. It's literally dying because it just takes. The same is true of our23:15 faith brothers. A faith that is just receiving, receiving, receiving with no outlet, is dead. Guys, with nowhere for the fruits of the spirit, for God's truth to be expressed,23:27 released into this world, it's dead faith. Look at what our brother James said in James 2 17, faith without works is dead. Often misconstrued passage. He is not23:39 saying that, so if you have works, then you have faith. What he's saying is, real faith is going to make you want to do something about it. He's saying that our hearts and23:51 our minds are going to be transformed as we encounter Jesus in his word. And then we look for opportunities to 1 another, 1 another. Isn't it interesting? All the things that the Bible24:03 calls me to do, it's a little challenging to do those things by myself. You know, confess my sins to 1 another, pray for 1 another, bear with 1 another. I need another. I need to move out.24:15 Right? The cross of Christ is vertical and horizontal. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and your neighbor as yourself. We were designed to intake and then24:27 express the things that God is doing in our hearts. There's no such thing boys, as a clear vision of the bloody savior and a lazy Christian. It just can't be. God's man cannot24:38 sit at the foot of the cross and see that sacrifice and not be moved to do something. To follow after him, to learn more about him, and then to make him known to other people. The24:50 kingdom doesn't have a need or a place for Christians who wanna sit around, intake, and just get fat, spiritually. Matthew 1125:02 12 reminds us exactly why. Kenny shares this verse with me all the time, as an encouragement and a challenge. From the days of John the Baptist until25:13 now, the kingdom of God has been forcefully advancing. Say forcefully advancing. And forceful men lay hold of it. Boys, we're in a battle. The25:25 kingdom is moving out in power, and in truth. And the enemy is taking note and pushing back. John Stuart Mill put it like this, The only thing necessary for evil men to25:37 triumph is for good men to do nothing. Is that not close enough to home? How about this 20 22 version of that, in our battle against the enemy? All the enemy needs to do25:50 is encourage Christians to move out of their state, surround themselves with other Christians, build bomb shelters, and hunker down. In order for the enemy to overcome, all he needs to do is26:02 convince men to sit back and fire off angry political darts on social media. If the enemy needs to stop the kingdom, all he needs to do is convince men that the sexually explicit shows26:14 that they're so interested in are fine, and not affecting their faith. That the amount that they drink every day is not impacting those around them. That missing church is fine, because our hobbies take26:26 time. We deserve it. And the traveling sports teams of our kiddos are very important if they're ever gonna go pro. Am I getting too real? With myself? With my brothers?26:38 Guys, we cannot believe the lie that as long as the good book is going into me at regular intervals, and on podcasts as I'm running, it really doesn't matter how I live that out. Right?26:50 I can't fill my mind without living it out. True faith wants to express itself. So if being without doing leads to apathy, what about if I fall27:02 off the other direction? Like we said, right? A good and effective block is just taking a guy, whichever direction he's inclined to go, just taking him too far? What if it's not an emphasis on being in my27:13 life that comes really naturally? What if it's the doing? As men, what if that's what resonates with me so much that the enemy is just behind me, pushing me towards doing, doing, doing, to the exclusion of27:25 my intake. What does that look like? Looks like this. It becomes a life of action without introspection. A life with no inspiration from God's word. No accountability,27:38 no transparency. It becomes do, do, do. And don't ever worry about the be, be, be. It becomes an obsession, right? Usually with either service27:50 or righteous living. Which neither of those are bad things, in and of themselves. But the problem is, it usually becomes dependent upon human effort. It becomes28:01 dependent on the things that I'm going to do for God, the sin that I'm going to kick out of my life, and this is what happens guys, doing without being leads to28:13 legalism. Without a place, and a rhythm, and a time, and a space for the Holy Spirit to lead you and I into truth, to encourage and correct and train us in righteousness,28:25 by the way, those are all things that this book will do when applied to your and my life. You and I will just have actions without God's heart behind them. At best, we'll become Pharisees.28:37 At worst, we'll become washed around by the half truths of our culture. It becomes hands that serve Christ with hearts that are potentially falling away from28:49 him. And we end up giving ourselves to whatever the latest call for action is. Right? Whatever the latest outrage, whatever the latest political cry is, and we lead scrambled lives marked by29:01 frantic energy without true spiritual direction. When it's a life of all doing and no being, we just fall off the rails the other way. Sometimes it even makes us angryShow more In this video 0:00 Identity in Christ: The Foundation of Faith14:19 The Balance of Being and Doing29:09 Prioritizing Time with JesusComments No comments yet. Start the conversation.
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