By Johnie Stevens
The battle grows stronger as men are confronted by attacks from opposition. Therefore, this creates courage against Compromise! These oppositions are overtly seeking to draw men closer by employing deceptions and attacking vulnerabilities of the man, his body, his mind and his soul.
The first attack comes from the world, who hates men because of their confession that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior. The world hates men who worship a God for himself and not one that is in the form of a 30-inch chain dangling around his neck. The world hates men who are seen loving their children and taking responsibility as fathers.
The second attack is the flesh. The desires of the flesh get control as it is easily satisfied with one press of the button on a cellular phone, where there is immediate access to virtual pleasure that takes the flesh to a place of secrecy and silence. The flesh also enjoys a secret place where man gets preference when he dials a 900 number and listens to that soft voice that tells him to first give the 16-digit card number, the expiration date and that 3-digit security number on the reverse side of that platinum credit card. The voice then tells the man how strong he sounds and how she would love to carry him to paradise if only she could be with him. There is movement, and the man quietly disappears into the guest bedroom, locks the door as his being extends forward beyond normal. He forgets that he is watching his family while his wife is at Bible Study. He is interrupted when his son knocks on the door and asks, “Daddy, what are you doing in there?” The flesh desires attention, and if not careful it will accomplish its mission, even if it means hiding to achieve a release.
The third attack is from our adversary himself, the devil. He wants to destroy all men and take control over their family. The devil encourages compromise over courage. He wants to see men distracted by the “gusto” a man gets after a slightly chilled draft; by advocating pride over obedience; by whispering deceit into the man’s ear, such as; “your Pastor will never know that your mission trip is the cover-up for an excursion with your assistant ministry leader (your wife’s sister). Furthermore, the devil puts his hands over your eyes and leads you to destruction. He enjoys men abusing their positions as ministry leaders. So he (the devil) is satisfied when a ministry fails.
The goals of the opposition (world, flesh and the devil) are simple. They are calculated to (covertly or overtly) convince men to choose compromise over courage. To combat the oppositions and to choose courage, men need to be developed in their disciplines (physical, emotional and spiritual).
Through these developed disciplines, men can do what is required and choose what is right when it is needed or when it is necessary to police his emotions, his desires, his actions and yes, his oppositions. The disciplined man is not born with attributes to police himself against oppositions. Nevertheless, when learned and fully developed, men are conditioned to control themselves in a variety of scenarios. Without discipline, men are not totally free.
When disciplined men are developed through deliberate plans from their fathers, from other men and from their church, a transformation begins. With this transformation, impulses bent towards
his emotions, his desires and his actions are now developed to be used as a blessing in any situation.
In order to build psychological development, fathers must invest love, modeling (correct behavior) and time into their children. When men are connected in fellowship with other men, in a place where sharing examples of life from experiences, the environment is favorable for psychological development. When men join the local church where teaching, guidance and the truth is based on the Word of God and scriptures come alive, this leads to the development of the men’s spiritual discipline. These spiritual disciplines are (and will be) essential for men’s survival because men are targets of an invisible adversary whose objective is to destroy ALL men.
So, men must be in a Truth Revealing environment in order to open their hearts for the acceptance of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the touchstone that men need to activate courage against compromise.
Men, come to a place where the vision, mandate and mission are focused on you. A place where there is a strong spiritual leadership. A place where there is a connected and relative Men’s Ministry, whose leader, Bishop Merton L. Clark, is committed to honoring fathers, building men and raising sons. Come join us at the next Abishai Inspired Men’s(AIM) meeting where you will learn more, and apply how to make spiritual disciplines a part of your life.
My name is Johnie S. Stevens; I am an Abishai Inspired Man!
Johnie S. Stevens has been a member of Truth Revealed International Ministries since 2009. He is married to Jada V. Stevens and together they have seven beautiful daughters. Johnie is a facilitator of Assimilation Ministry, a servant to Follow-Up Ministry and a Trainer for the Abishai Inspired Men (AIM) Ministry.