Cultivating the Character of the King.

Look down the long halls of History and you’ll see arrogance has been the Achilles heel of every bad King or Queen to ever sit on a throne.  Now, in complete contrast to this, look back to the history of Israel and the life of its chief legislator.  Moses was one of the greatest men, greatest leaders, greatest generals, greatest geniuses, to ever walk the Earth.  He wasn’t just a good King, he was a great one.  This is the divine commentary on him: “Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the Earth” {Num. 12:3}.  “The face of the Earth”?  Wow.  What about King David?  There were numerous times when David could have seized the throne from Saul, two when he could’ve killed him himself, and it would’ve been within his rights to do so.  But he doesn’t.  He waits on the timing of God!  He humbles himself.

This is the picture of a noble heart, of the Kings and Queens made in the image of their mighty God choosing humility over arrogance, others overs self, in the very circumstances we find it hardest to do so.  The Truth is we either choose to live with humility of heart, choose it for ourselves as a way of life in a self-absorbed world or ...our Father will arrange to have it chosen for us.  I’m not going to speak for you, but I’d much rather humble myself so that Abba may one day exalt me; rather than the other way around.  I think anyone with even an ounce of wisdom would!

Every time in your life you make a choice {and it’s always a choice} to put others before self, to serve rather than be served, to humble yourself and let Abba do the exalting, to keep your mouth shut rather than ‘fight to be right,’ you cultivate the character of the King.  Your character evolves... and you move one step closer to becoming the man or woman you were meant to be, to the image Jesus had in mind when He breathed into you His Life!

Consider how compasses operate, and how a slight change of one or two degrees can navigate you to a radically different place.  This is the illustration Dr. Greitens used when he spoke to those of us present at Harding University of the importance of allowing our character to evolve in the moment by being willing to do the hard thing right in front of us.  Small or large, to do the hard thing now forges character; it shapes who we are; and it leads to perseverance.  And if there is one thing you will need in a fallen world, in this world in this New Year, it’s perseverance— the ability to endure.  May Abba bestow it abundantly upon His Children!

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296 | hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – where the Word and the Spirit are one.

Another Side to the Story.

We’re a mere four days away from the Day when, as His faithful Followers, we will celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ our King.  The Scriptural account reads like this: “And the angel said to” the shepherds in the field, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you Good News of great joy which will be for all the people.  For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” {Lk. 2:10-11}.  This single sentence defines for us the Mission and Ministry of the Messiah: the Greek Soter = ‘Savior,’ Christos = Anointed One {fully man}, and Kurios = Sovereign Lord and Master {entirely God}, all wrapped up in one.  He is the “Savior” of man and Anointed One of God, the long-awaited Messiah of Israel.  He also happens to be very God of very God: undeniable Deity and sinless humanity welded as One forevermore.  What incredible news that is, wonderful, soul-saving— and to the nations of this Earth— kingdom-crushing News.

But there is another side to the Story.  The birth of Jesus was so much more than just a picturesque event in a quaint little town, witnessed and watched by a motley assortment of Temple animals, faithful shepherds, and magi from afar.  That much you already know.  What you may not know is what unfolded according to Revelation 12:1-7: this was the moment of the Great Invasion, of Eternity into Time, of Creator into the realm of Creation, our God choosing to take upon Himself the mantle of human weakness {a physical body} and defeat Satan on his own turf.  As author Phillip Yancey has said, it was “a daring raid by the Ruler of the forces of good into the Universe’s seat of evil.”  This is no ‘silent night’ for the enemies of God; this is D-Day times infinite.

The angels appearing this night were the angelic Armies {the ‘Hosts of Heaven’} passing in review as their King, Creator, and Commander lay crying in the fodder— Luke 2:13-14.  The apostle John tells us, “the Son of God appeared for this purpose [‘this’ sole and solitary ‘purpose’]: to destroy the works of the devil” {1 Jn. 3:8b}.  I.e., to go to War for those He loved {4:19}, to battle for the hearts of men {Isa. 61:1} and to offer us the Gift of Life— both eternal and abundant {1 Jn. 3:1-2}.

My prayer, as the shepherd of a flock I deeply, deeply love, is that this be ever present in our minds as we live out our days in a World long at War.  One half of our lives is the physical, the temporal, and the visible; the other half, which the Word enjoins us to accept as the real half, the weighty half, the most crucial component of reality, is the spiritual, the Eternal, the invisible.  We must choose to live every moment with one foot in each, simultaneously in both the temporal and the eternal, with the latter dominating the former.  And we must rivet the eyes of our hearts on the glorious Person of the Lord Jesus Christ.  For the Mission He came to accomplish, my Brothers-in-Arms, is a done deal: “It is finished” forevermore! {Jn. 19:10}.  The Battle has been won and the Ultimate Victory {His Cross, Resurrection, and Ascension} already achieved.  Don’t ever forget this.  We are what He is— Victorious!  If you will choose to ‘wage war’ from that position, neither you nor your life will ever be the same.

May the blessing of His grace, the peace of His presence, and the power of His Life rest upon you, your family, and your ministry to a fallen world full of broken people.  The year which lies before us is full of promise and of hope for those who live in the Light of Jesus’ Love.  May we embrace it, and all its opportunity, like we embrace our Lord …with the passion and hunger of a long-awaited Lover.  Amen and amen. 

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296 | hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – where the Word and the Spirit are one.

Service Sets the Example.

Gandhi once said, “The best way to ‘find yourself’ is to ‘lose yourself’ in the service of others.”  Jesus paints an even stronger picture.  Mark 8:34— “Then He called the crowd to Him along with His Disciples and said, ‘If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself....”  ‘Denial of self’ is a completely different animal than ‘self-denial.’  This is not a minuscule matter of one fewer cupcake after dinner so your daughter will have some left for the kids in her class tomorrow ...giving up ice-cream for Lent, or alcohol for Easter.  And the next phrase shows it.  “And take up his cross and follow Me.”  The “cross” is not an instrument of inconvenience, the cross is an instrument of death!  ‘Take up your cross’ is not a way of saying, “Gut it out in your marriage.  Grit through your physical pains and sufferings.  Endure this present economic hardship.”  That is ridiculous.  And not only this, it’s a slap in the face of the Son of God, who suffered and died on Calvary’s cross so you and I could be free from sin, Satan, darkness and death forever!

In John 12:24 Jesus told a group of Greeks who were seeking an audience with Him, “The man who loves his life [‘Who clings to it and all it offers him with everything he has... instead of surrendering it willingly to the Lord of All Life’] will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for Life Eternal.  Whoever serves Me must follow Me; and where I am, My Servant also will be.  My Father will honor the one who serves Me” {vv. 25-26}.

This is crucial to the Life of the Kingdom: Humility is essential to effective service in the Kingdom of Grace.  It’s the truest expression of submission and surrender to an authority above your own, to someone greater than self.  Humility is a stance of the heart.  You’ve either chosen it as one of the Paths of Life, or you’re living out of arrogance and ego: constantly on the defensive, always looking for the negative {all you ‘pessimists’ out there!}, ever-observant of the faults, flaws and failures of others {and quick to point them out while simultaneously ignoring your own}, quick to speak, quick to condemn, slow to hear and slow to forgive {sound familiar?}, easily offended by the slightest change in your situation, ever-ready to judge those ‘wicked sinners’ who are so much more broken than you.  Well, maybe they are... and maybe they aren’t.  Maybe they’re just more honest about how deeply their hearts ache for this world to be made right, for their King and His Kingdom to finally come!

Live long enough and you’ll come to realize every person has something to offer; every single human being has gifts and abilities.  But you, my friends, as Children of the Most High, have supernatural gifts to offer a world which desperately needs them!  Jesus said to His Apprentices, “The greatest among you will be your servant” {Matt. 23:11}.  Now listen close.  Service sets the example for others.  Self-pity, on the other hand— the bitter belief that you’re not being served enough, ‘no one is serving me!’— is a heart-killer!  Anytime, all the time.  In the words of Navy SEAL Dr. Eric Greitens, “When people are able to look beyond themselves and be of service to others, they actually become stronger....  Winners step outside themselves and remember there are people to their left and to their right counting on them to be strong.”  Let me reframe this.  “Overcomers {Rev. 1-3} step outside themselves, their own pain and self-pity, their self-hatred and self-absorption, and remember there are fellow-warriors to their left and to their right counting on them to trust in the essential goodness of God, and to ‘be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power’” {Eph. 6:10}.  Amen.

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296 | hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – where the Word and the Spirit are one.

A SEAL’s Wisdom.

On Service to Those Around Us.

In the words of former Navy SEAL Dr. Eric Greitens, “When people are able to look beyond themselves and be of service to others, they actually become stronger.  Winner step outside themselves and remember there are people to their left and to their right counting on them to be strong.”  I would reframe this slightly as, “Overcomers step outside themselves, their own pain and self-pity, their self-hatred and self-absorption, and remember there are fellow-warriors to their left and to their right counting on them to trust in the essential goodness of God, and to ‘be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power’ {Eph. 6:10}.”

On Community.

“Community creates the structure around you to keep you alive, to strengthen and encourage you in living a life of purpose.”

On Confronting Fear, Pain, and Suffering.

“By repeatedly confronting your fears, you gain courage; by repeatedly confronting your pains, you gain strength; by repeatedly confronting your sufferings, you gain wisdom.”

Considering how compasses operate, and how a slight change of one or two degrees can navigate you to a radically different place, Greitens speaks of the importance of allowing our character to evolve in the moment by being willing to do the hard thing right in front of us.  Small or large, to do the hard thing now forges character; it shapes who we are; it leads to perseverance!  “Every time in your life you make a decision to confront your fears, to overcome your pain, to face your suffering, your character evolves.”

On the Power of Motive.

“If you have the right why... you can make it through any how!”

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296 | hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – where the Word and the Spirit are one.

I Praise You, Abba....

In the words of author Ann Voskamp,

From all our beginnings, we keep reliving the Garden Story.

Satan, he wanted more.  More power, more glory.  Ultimately, in his essence, Satan is an ingrate.  And he sinks his venom into the heart of Eden.  Satan’s sin becomes the first sin of all humanity: the sin of ingratitude.  Adam and Eve are, simply, painfully, ungrateful for what God gave.

Isn’t that the catalyst of all my sin?

Our fall was, has always been, and always will be, that we aren’t satisfied in God and what He gives.  We hunger for something more, something other.  {One Thousand Gifts, p. 15, Italics Mine}

Jesus lived a Life of supreme gratitude to God His Father, the Abba of Heaven and Earth.  The Scriptures recording His thanksgiving, His unashamed appreciation for Abba’s limitless largesse, are too numerous to even list.  But here are a couple.  “At that time Jesus said, ‘I praise You, Abba, Lord of Heaven and Earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.  Yes, Father, for this was Your good pleasure” {Matt. 11:25-26}  The word for “praise” means ‘to profess, to acknowledge... openly, freely, from the heart.’

In the Feeding of the Four Thousand Mark records Peter’s eyewitness account.  He writes how Jesus “told the crowd to sit down on the ground.  When He had taken the seven loaves and given thanks, He broke them and gave them to His Disciples to set before the people, and they did so.  They had a few small fish as well; He gave thanks for them also and told the Disciples to distribute them.  The people ate and were satisfied.  Afterward the Disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over” {8:6-8}.  Just one more example of the lavish generosity of grace, which should cause us as His Followers to be immensely and eternally grateful beings.

John in Revelation 11:16-17 wrote, “And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshipped” Him, saying: “We give thanks to You, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign!”

Peter say’s we “are a Chosen People, a Royal Priesthood, a Holy Nation, a People belonging to God, that” we “may declare the praises of Him who called” us “out of darkness into His wonderful Light” {1 Pet. 2:9}.

Paul goes for the trifecta in Colossians 3:15-17 and nails it.  “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one Body you were called to peace.  And be thankful.  Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.  And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”

Ringo said, “All you need is Love....”

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296 | hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – where the Word and the Spirit are one.

Grace Is Our Eternal Residence.

The Messianic Age in which we currently reside, which began with the birth of Jesus and will close with His glorious Return, is the Age of Grace.  In Ephesians 2:6-7 Paul said, that God has “raised us up with” Jesus, “and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ [which is our unique privilege and position as the Children of God in the Age of Grace] ...in order that [a phrase used to express a ‘final purpose clause’] in the coming Ages [all the Ages following this, including Eternity] He might show the incomparable riches of His grace ...expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”

Scripture says we are to live our lives by means of grace through faith.  Colossians 2:6 says, “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord….”  As Kurios, ‘as Master, as Sovereign,’ not Savior, not Redeemer, not Friend, not Lover, not Prince-ruler as Hebrews 12 puts it, “Author and Finisher of our Faith,” but “Lord” and Liege, Sovereign Ruler of our Creation.  Now, “continue to live in Him ...rooted and built up in Him [When you build something up you ‘strengthen and secure’ it, you give it what it needs to grow, right?  We could say ‘grounded and growing in Him.’], strengthened in the Faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness,” v. 7.  Why?  Because grace is ‘the attitude of gratitude’ and our hearts are overflowing with a love of grace.  It was by grace through faith that we “received Christ Jesus as Lord,” therefore, by grace through faith we’re to “continue ...in Him”!

Grace is a glorious treasure and incredible resource to which we have access in and through the Lord of Glory— Romans 5:1-2.  Grace is both our present state and permanent condition.  And thank Abba it is!

Paul begins Romans 5 with, “Therefore,” drawing on his dissertation in ch. 4 concerning Abraham as the “father of the faithful” {vv. 11-17}, he says, “since we have been justified through faith….”  Dikaios was a legal term in ancient Greece; it means in context to ‘be vindicated’ before the Universe, ‘acquitted’ of all our crimes, ‘declared righteous’ in the eyes of Abba.  It’s a soul-shaking, heart-healing, Hallelujah-inducing fact of reality!  Because of this fact, “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  Which is what Scripture calls “reconciliation” {Rom. 5:10-11}, the offer of peace from holy God to fallen man …and fallen man’s embrace of it.

“Through whom [This Lord and Liege, this Savior and Sovereign] we have gained access by faith [There’s that little phrase for the second time in as many vv.: ‘by faith,’ and it opens the door to every single aspect of relationship with God and communion with our Creator.] into this grace in which we now stand.”  Notice “we,” first person, the Apostle included.

“Danger, Will Robinson, Danger:” technical point of grammar coming, so if you’re looking for an opportunity to glaze over, now is the time to do it.  The verb Paul uses is the perfect active indicative of histemi.  The indicative mood means this is an undoubtable occurrence.  You once stood ‘outside this grace, but now you are firmly ensconced within it!’  The active voice, which means the subject accomplishes the action, is used because our faith is the means by which we ‘gained access.’  We received this gift from the hand of God, and we did it willingly, knowingly, and consciously.  This, my friends, is critical to the concept of faith.  Trusting in, believing on, accepting and embracing does not happen by accident.  Faith, like love, is a choice we make, a conscious decision to accept a Reality far beyond what we can visibly and tangibly see, hear, smell, taste and touch.  That is the heartbeat of faith.  And finally, with the perfect tense Paul settles the issue unequivocally: the glorious grace of our glorious God is the realm of Freedom in which we stand forevermore.  Hallelujah!

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296 | hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – where the Word and the Spirit are one.

Grace— the Foundation of Intimacy With the Trinity.

Grace is the sum total of our Spirituality.  Everything we have by way of divine power, resource, presence and provision is courtesy of grace.  Everything we know of the nature of Abba, every ounce of divine wisdom distilled in our souls, every step of maturity taken in concert with the Spirit, every Word of challenge, comfort or encouragement from the heart of God was given us in grace, received by us in grace, after having been communicated to us {you guessed it} by grace!

It’s a soul-freeing aspect of Life in the Spirit to know that as Abba’s Children we’re not under the harsh light of the Law, but rather the shadow of mercy and grace— Romans 6:14-18.  Jesus’ Followers are bound by something higher, deeper and stronger than any Law ever uttered... the Royal Law, the Life of Love— Matthew 22:34-40; Mark 12:28-34; Luke 10:25-28; John 13:34-35; and James 2:8-13.  In Ephesians 5 Paul wrote, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved Children [The picture, the imagery here, is of little children who feel safe and secure in the love, acceptance, and protection of their parents, seeking to emulate and imitate them.  Paul’s saying this is precisely how it should be for you and I as the Children of God.]... and live a life of love, just as Messiah loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God,” vv. 1-2.  “Just as,” meaning ‘exactly like’ your “Messiah,” meaning you and I are to follow the footsteps of the One who “loved” us enough to give up everything on our behalf and “sacrifice” Himself “to Abba” in our place.

“My Command is this,” said Jesus in John 15:12: “Love each other as I have loved you [Selflessly, sacrificially ...with blood, with sweat, with tears.].”  And what does this look like in praxis?  Well, Gentlemen, Ladies, Kings and Princesses: “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends,” v. 13.  And there it is.

In Galatians 5:13 Paul wrote: “Do not use your freedom [‘Your liberty,’ which is the primary issue under grace— ‘freedom,’ not bondage.] to indulge the sinful nature [the ‘sin within’], but through love serve one another.  For the entire Law is summed up in a single command, ‘Love your neighbor [‘Love the other, any other’] as yourself,’” v. 14.  So, the Apostle repeats what the Master has stated over and over again in the course of His Mission: the totality of divine revelation comes down to this issue right here— our willingness to love the others, the different from, the opposite of, the weird, the wild, the wonderful.  And as a critical component of this, to let ourselves be loved …in the midst of our mess— not cleaned up, tidied up, washed up, dried up, polished up or prettied up; but here and now, alive and kicking, naked and exposed.

The Royal Law, the Life of Love, is a universal reality, a Code of Honor encapsulating Life in the Kingdom of Grace.  The Law of Moses, on the other hand, belonged to the nation of Israel in an Age when Israel was His Chosen Nation as a witness to the world.  It has never been given by God to any other nation besides Israel.  Furthermore, it wasn’t transferred to the Body and Bride of Christ in any way, shape or form; and any pastor, church, or organization functioning under the Law as the means of salvation, spirituality or service is doing so outside the dictates of Scripture, making themselves as Paul said in Philippians 3:18 “enemies of the Cross of Christ.”  The Truth is: Ignorance may be bliss, but it’s definitely not victory!  Can I get an ‘Amen’ for the glory of grace?

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296 | hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – where the Word and the Spirit are one.

The Heart of a Hero of Faith.

Consider how you live, what you think, the movements your heart makes when you’re not living in communion with your Creator.  How the fog of unreality rises around you, all the unnecessary drama which comes into play, all the peripheral issues which somehow get thrust right smack into the centre of your life.  When grace is not pulsing through our very being, we tend to live under a cloud of contempt— primarily for others, but equally for ourselves.  It’s an unholy and incredibly unhealthy place, one not fit for God’s Creatures to dwell in, one where Royalty {1 Pet. 2:9-10} should never be found.

In his novel Gates of Fire, author Steven Pressfield has Xiones, a squire and archer in the Spartan heavy infantry, speaking to the Persian king Xerxes after the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC {the ‘Hot Gates’} and saying:

Of what does the nature of kingship consist?  What are its qualities, in itself?  What, the qualities it inspires in those who attend it?

…I will tell his majesty what a king is.  {Pause}  A king does not abide within his tent while his men bleed and die upon the field.  A king does not dine while his men go hungry, nor sleep when they stand at watch upon the wall.  A king does not command his men’s loyalty through fear, nor purchase it with gold.  He earns their love by the sweat of his own back and the pains he endures for their sake.  That which comprises the harshest burden a king lifts first and sets down last.  A king does not require service of those he leads, but provides it to them.

In the final moments, before the actual commencement of battle, when the lines of the Persians lay so close across from the defenders that their individual faces could be seen, Leonidas moved along the Spartan and Thespian fore-ranks, speaking with each platoon commander individually.  When he stopped beside Dionekes I was close enough to hear his words.

‘Do you hate them, Dionekes?,’ the king asked, in the tone of a comrade— unhurried, conversational— gesturing to those captains and officers of the Persians proximately visible across the no-man’s land.  Dionekes answered at once that he did not.  ‘I see faces of gentle and noble bearing.  More than a few I think whom one would welcome with a clap and a laugh to any table of friends.’

Leonidas clearly approved of my master’s answer.  His eyes seemed, however, darkened with sorrow.  ‘I am sorry for them,’ he avowed, indicating the valiant foemen who stood …across.  ‘What wouldn’t they give, the noblest among them, to stand here with us now.’

That is a king, your majesty.  A king does not expend his substance to enslave men, but by his conduct and example makes them free.  {Emphases mine}

Prophet, Priest, Warrior, King: at a single point in human history {which is His-Story} all of those roles are melded into one Man— the Lord Jesus Christ, the Master and Messiah in whose image we are being formed.  God is waiting right now, gentlemen, to bring these things to life and fruition within you and within me.  God has brought you to this place at this time in the History of the Ages for a purpose.  Your life is a masterpiece in progress {Eph. 2:10}, a masterpiece of strength and honor, conviction and courage, regardless of how you feel about that progress in the present.

There are no secrets to success in the Life of the Kingdom: All it takes is all you’ve got... surrendered and submitted to the sovereign will of your King.  Those who give all find it; those who don’t, don’t.  In the end, the Eternal End, it comes down to this.  Are you willing to humble yourself before your Lord, live as if ‘there is a God ...and I’m not Him!,’ and hang in there for the Long Haul?  Because that’s what it takes to be a Hero of Faith.

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296 | hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – where the Word and the Spirit are one.

The Core of Authentic Manhood— Continued.

The Apostle’s encouragement to embrace the Warrior-spirit begins like this.  “Keep your eyes wide open to danger; stand true to the Lord, firm in the Faith; act like the men you are; be strong!  And let the Life you live be one of love” {1 Cor. 16:13-14 RR Exp}.  The four pillars of a man’s soul in Scripture can be embodied by four things: Prophet, Priest, Warrior, and King.  Every man, without exception, has been designed by His Creator to exist in these four arenas.  And not just to exist, but to excel… to the glory of his Great Designer.

“Be brave,” say’s Paul, act like men of courage.  This comes from the Greek word for manliness, for courage in Conflict.  This is the Warrior concept: ‘be a warrior, be courageous in battle.’  The recovery of the Warrior-spirit is essential for the healing of the masculine heart.  Because the Warrior is born for a Cause greater than himself.  You will never live in the divine definition of the word until you live for something greater than yourself, until you live for something beyond yourself, something transcendent, something which will be here long after you’re gone.  The Warrior is trained to stand in harm’s way for the love of others.  He’s willing to stand in harm’s way and, if necessary, lay down his life displaying what Jesus called ‘the greatest love.’  “Greater love has no one than this,” spoke our Lord, “that one lay down his life for his friends” {Jn. 15:13}.

Why does the Warrior “lay down his life”?  So that those left behind can continue on in liberty and in peace, in Freedom and in Life.  The Warrior is devoted to peace, but willing to die for the Freedom of others.  Freedom is a priceless treasure, for out of freedom come all things worthwhile; out of freedom come all the momentous decisions {great and small} that glorify the sovereign God of this Universe.  The Warrior— listen up, men— is incapable by virtue of his character and training of shirking his duty, his responsibility for the safety of others!  He knows that responsibility rests on his shoulders, if on no one else’s.

Last of all, we have the King.  To “be strong” is to ‘be continually increasing in strength;’ it’s from one of the Greek words for power and perseverance over the long haul.  That’s one of the qualities it takes to make a king …and to make a man: the ability to finish strong.  This is the quality King David had and that our Lord had as the King of Kings.  One that is wise enough to know the way, diligent enough to stay focused on it, bold enough to take those first few steps of risk on this road of adventure, and far-sighted enough to leave a heritage behind for future generations.  These are the kind of leaders the world needs.  Because this is what the finest kings in history were made of, of which David was certainly one, and in whose guise our Lord will Return at the Parousia.

As Children of God, men and women alike, we need to look within and be honest about what we find.  We need to look around and see the world for what it is so that our hearts and lives stay grounded in reality.  We need to look ahead with Hope, with the absolute assurance that our King is coming and our Abba is in control.  And finally, we need to look above, to keep one eye, in fact, fixed there at all times.  As Paul wrote, “Since, then, you have been raised with the Anointed One [Identified eternally with His Resurrection, and all its power and all its Life.], set your hearts on things above, where the Anointed One is seated at the right hand of God [‘Seated’ because He is ruling!].  Set your minds on things above, not on the things here below.  [And why?] Because you died when Jesus did, and your Life is now hidden with Him in God.”  Now for Paul’s finishing thought.  “When Messiah, who is your Life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory” {Col. 3:1-4 RR Exp}.  Hoooaaahhh!

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296 | hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – where the Word and the Spirit are one.

The Core of Authentic Manhood.

Let’s return one more time to 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 just to summarize a bit of what we’ve seen.  We have in five very straightforward commands Paul’s own Code of Honor for the Royal Army of the Lord Jesus Christ: “Keep your eyes,” he says, “open to danger; stand true to the Lord, firm in the Faith; act like the men you are; be strong!  And let the Life you live be one of love” {RR Exp}.  Which reminds me of a beautiful saying the ancient Romans used— Amor Est Vitae Essentia, meaning ‘Love is the Essence of Life.’

Now... the core of manhood and masculinity in the Scriptures is embodied in four things: Prophet, Priest, Warrior, and King.  You’ve heard me say that every man is designed to be a Prophet, a Priest, a Warrior and a King, that these are the four pillars of a man’s soul.  So, let’s develop these in a little more depth.

The Prophet is, according to the first command in our passage, the person who is to watch, to remain vigilant.  Why?  Because he is a visionary.  The prophet looks within because he holds himself in the searchlight of Scripture.  The prophet looks around because he’s intensely interested in reality, not the fantasy-land of sinful speculation about others’ lives, and not the wistful longings of ‘I wish it were.’  A man must see what the world truly is and what must be done in light of this.

He not only looks within and around, he looks ahead.  The Prophet sees the present Age but he always looks at it in light of the future.  He sees the things which must be done, but he sees them from the standpoint and the scope of the blessing they’re going to bring to the lives of other people.  The blessing we have to share is borne in the greatest Struggle of all: the struggle within our own souls as to who will be our God?  Both sides of your Story— the disastrous victories and the glorious defeats— contain within them seeds which will bear the fruit of blessing in others’ lives one day.  Share your Story!

What about the Priest?  His command is to “stand fast in the Faith:” a military command which has to do with our relationship to the Trinity.  And this means priesthood {1 Pet. 2:5-9}.  The Priest shares in the weakness of the weak and points to the absolute strength of the Omnipotent God!  Hebrews 5:2 tells us that the priest can “deal gently” and compassionately with sinners, with the “misguided” and mistaken, and with those who are “going astray, since he himself …is beset with weakness.”  You get the point?  He cannot serve unless he’s weak enough to admit that only Christ’s Spirit can give him strength {Phil. 4:19}.  So you and I should fit right in.  You say, “But you just don’t understand how weak I am.”  Ohhh, but I do; for that same strain of sin, that same wave of weakness, runs right through every one of us.  But sin is not the final word on you and I.  Grace is.

Grace is the first word, the last word, and every word in between.  Grace is like oxygen to the Sons and Daughters of God; it is the air we breathe, the nutrients we absorb, the lifeblood in our veins.  Without it, we die; apart from it, we wither ...our souls a shriveled and shrunken version of their former selves.  Grace cleanses, purifies, empowers and provides; it clarifies the essential issues of Life in the Kingdom of God.  It draws us near to the heart of our Father and moves us out in the service of others.  Grace is gratitude.  And a grateful heart is a glorious heart.

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296 | hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – where the Word and the Spirit are one.