God Is Not Looking For Strong Men

You're listening to an X Church podcast. We hope this message will light up

your day. This message I spoke the last X Men devotion, and yes

it was for men, but as I was weighing out, the law says,

hey, this message is not only for men or for men, it

is also for ladies and soul. You will see some images are about to

share with you, and you go like, why all men that this is

the background story, the begul story, that it started as a men's message,

but you will see how it also applies to all of us. Let's

start with the first question. What's your image of a strong successful man or

woman? What's your image of a strong successful man or woman? So all

of us have an image of success? No, we we all have an

image of what strong means, and we want to be that. I think

most of us we want to be strong, we want to be successful,

and we might very well followed that image if that is the image that we

have. So is your image of successful and strong being great physique? Let's

look at that photo. You know that was me just about six months ago

now in my dreams. Yeah, let's not look at the naked man so

long in church is it great wealth? Is it great wealth? Is it?

Oh? You know, to be successful in life, to be strong,

I need great wealth. And then and then you know, and then

I'm I've made it? Is it great following? This guy has got five

hundred million people following him. That's a lot of people, right, that's

about half a billion people in the world following one man. I don't know,

is it on Instagram or on Facebook? And look at the car behind

him? You know, is that is that your dream car? I don't

know what what? What is strong? And what is successful? To you?

Is it great power? Having bodyguards all around you everywhere you go?

You know, ten twenty bodyguards walking around you. Why because you know with

a flip of your of your finger, you can cause uh, you know,

nuclear war? Is it? Great style? You know this has been

a long time when I was growing up. Oh, GQ man, GQ

man, great style and some of us are you know, really into style?

Fashion? Uh? And you know in that magazine he stays right on

top the fashion the ten best suits for your holiday season? Wow? Anyway,

what what is it? What is it? What is it? What

is your image of success and strength? Well, God's image of strength and

success? Is very different. Look at this picture now, you know the

world will look at this picture and go like, hey, weak men,

men dying on the cross being whipped by you know, other men and being

nailed there, right, and uh, let's compare that. We what we

just saw the first picture was a half naked man called the Rock, and

we go like, yeah, I wonder that physique and all the other pictures

I just showed you were strength in the eyes of the world. But the

strength that God sees is so different. Is his son hanging on the cross.

And for some of us who believe this, Jesus was really the man

of the man right, the man's men, right, not all, not

anyone can do this. So let me give you the next slide. As

men reach out their hands to pump iron, the only iron in Christ's hands

were the nails that hung him on the cross. So we've got to decide,

right what iron to reach out for. Jesus also had iron in his

hands. I guess he was and will always be the first and true iron

man. You can't smile at that. It's to play our words, iron

man, iron man. Jesus was and will always be the first and true

iron man. You know, friends, the next light says he wasn't even

good looking Jesus. I mean, I thought to myself, Father God,

maybe okay, you made Jesus poor, because as a scripture says, he

became poor so that we became we might become rich. All right, You

cause him to be born in a manger. Can't even give him a proper

hospital. Okay? When he died, he died on the cross, you

know right, I mean, Father God, you are the king of kings,

lord of lords. Can't you give your son something? At least make

him good looking man? But no, I say fifty five verse two to

three, for he shall grow up before him as a tender plan and as

a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness. And

when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him,

No beauty meaning her. When you, if you were in the earth doing

Jesus time, Jesus will be walking on the streets right, and some of

you ladies won't even look at him. Twice, that's what the Bible is

saying, no beauty that we should desire him. You're with me, not

some of you ladies, or even mender. Well, we'll walk and he

got Oh, you look twice because tall maybe six foot five? Good looking?

You know, blue eyes, I don't know, Okay, muscular right

this Jesus, if he passed you on the road, naturally you will not

turn twice to look at him. No beauty, You should desire him.

So the only reason why people even turn around her was because of his presence.

He's anointing his love, his care. I think if you look into

Jesus, Isaac, you might not see beauty, but you will see like

eyes that cause you to think, can a man love me so much?

I think the eyes of Jesus feel love, not necessarily, uh, you

know, feel with the color that you like. He's despised and rejected by

men. So you and I will despise him, reject our Nola, not

him, la, Nola, bring him on our team now, Nola,

not him? La? Can you invite Jesus on our committee? No?

Allah, Jesus, are you please? You think about it? Is a

scripture. He's despised, rejected by men. Father God, couldn't you at

least give him some loops height? Come on, La? Why are you

make him so normal? Right? So? I guess the message to all

of us is that we don't need all that to be worthy of value,

to be great. Now you have that, it's bonus. Are you know

all of us can look like Daniel? I mean, you know it's Alberta

Albert Albert Just don't think of your shirt this all the yeah, with all

the backslape. I think if if I to my share, you guys all

were right away. Yeah, you're you're share never to come from a fifteen

as we hid, We hid as it were our faces on him. You

get you know, have you ever seen if people are embarrassed about you,

they come into it and then they hide. I hope he doesn't see me,

you know, you know, because you you're embarrassed. That means uh,

Jesus can make you embarrassed. M pimples. Maybe I don't know.

He was despised and we needn't esteem him. Okay, you get the picture.

God doesn't need us to prove our worth. You see, ladies and

gentlemen, a lot of us are living wanting to proof ourselves, and there's

a lot of stress, a lot of stress. I'll prove to my mom,

I'll prove to my dad, I'll prove to my wife. I'll prove

to that guy who forsook me. I'll prove to that guy who left my

company that you know, I prove to that fellow who sacked me, I

prove. And the Lord is not wanting us to prove anything, not to

him or to anyone else for that matter. Jesus said, this is the

next scripture. If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself.

You know, you know what. It's so difficult to deny ourselves because

we actually want to prove ourselves, and the Lord saying, don't need to

prove, just deny yourself. Deny No, this goes against my nature.

I need to prove, And the Lord says, no, the more you

want to prove, the more stress you will be in life. Don't prove.

Deny yourself. Take up your cross, just as I did. Follow

me, for whoever desires to save his life will lose it, or whoever

who loses his life or my sake will find it. For what profit is

it to a man if he gains a whole world and loses his own soul?

Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? So I

pray that just by that word, some of you will be released this morning

from having to prove anything to anyone. Don't need to prove your value.

Don't need to prove your worth seriously. In fact, the other side that

the flip side of a coin is true. Deny yourself. It's okay,

Loah, it's all right. I deny myself this, right, I deny

myself this glory. I deny myself this. You know, deny denying yourself

actually takes away the stress. I don't need to prove all right now,

I like this next slide. God thought we were worth the death of his

son, even while we were still sinners and totally undeserving. You and I,

ladies and gentuine brothers and sisters, are already worth to God. And

in God's eyes, he thought you and I were worth the death of his

son, even before we lifted a finger to serve him, even before we

did anything to love him. He thought, son, you are to go

to the cross for these people because they are worth your death to me.

So we've got to have a different kind of eyesight today and not live under

any kind of stress of men. Can Let's now talk about God's grace being

sufficient. You know the title of this message really is that God is not

looking for strong men. He's not looking for strong women. That's the title

of this message. Okay, God is not looking for strong men. So

you can imagine now when I spoke at X men devotion at night, I

spoke at men devotion at night. I said to the men, he's not

looking for strong men. He's looking for dependable men. That's why I said

to X men, he's looking for men and women. Now I'm going to

say, who need him. He doesn't want to cut us to come to

a place where but we don't need him. And so the next scripture we

read is My grace is sufficient for you. My grace is efficient. The

worst efficient means enough. He's not more than enough. It's enough. And

I want to say to you right now, please give room for God's grace

in your life, because His strength is made perfect in weakness, meaning to

say that His strength is not made perfect in weakness, meaning that you and

I will not experience the perfect strength of God if we are not weak.

So there's always going to be opportunities for all of us to present ourselves as

weak. Are you Okay? God is not looking for strong men. This

is my title and also the next light, what is strong men? Or

what does it mean? Men and women who are strong don't need God?

So he's not looking for people who don't need him. Next light, second

chronicle sixteen nine. I like sixteen nine because my birthday. But second chronical

sixteen nine for the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole

earth to show himself strong. On behalf of those whose heart is loyal to

him. In this you have done foolishly. Therefore, from now on you

shall have war. So let's focus on his eyes run to and fro throughout

the whole earth to show himself strong. So God his mission is to show

himself strong, not looking for strong men and women. But God wants to

show himself strong. Can I hear amen whose heart is loyal to him?

So God is looking for loyal men and loyal women, Men and women who

be loyal, faithful, and depend dependent on him. Why, because he

wants to show himself strong. You need to get that. Next is a

longer scripture. We're gonna read it unless I should be exalted above measure by

the abundance of other revelations. A thorn in the flesh was given to me,

okay, who gave it to him? God gave it to him.

God gave a thorn in the flesh to Paul, a message of satan to

buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing, I

pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me, And he

said to me, my grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is

made perfect in weakness. Therefore, most gladly, I will rather boast in

my infirmities. I will boast in my infirmities, in my lack, in

my weakness, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. How will

the power of Christ rest upon your ladies and gentlemen, when you are and

I are deep pendent, when you and I are weak before Him, when

you and I boast in our infirmities, not in our strength, but in

our infirmities. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs.

And you want to hear in need. It's good to be in need,

because then you look to the Lord. In persecutions. Are you being

persecuted for anything? It's all right, boast in it. Say, oh,

you know, it's fine, because in this God is with me.

But the last sentence, there is bolded for you, for when I am

weak, then I'm strong. I pray that that will be your anthem,

for when I'm weak, then I'm strong. Next line. I finally overcame

addiction to pornography the day I acknowledge I couldn't overcome without God's help. So

I told you before. For ten fifteen years, you know, I was

addicted to pornography, and it was terrible because I was feeling guilt. And

yet I was a leader. I was already a leader, a youth reader

in church in the f GA, I was a youth leader. And yet

you know, all my serving could not break through, all my coming early

to church and all that, and all the externals, nor even the passion.

I had passion to serve the Lord, but none of these, you

know. And I told me before, I'll tell you again the reason why

I, and a lot revealed to me later, was that every time I

fell, I would say to God, God, I'm so sorry, I'm

so sorry. I will never do it again, I promise you. Thank

you Lord for forgiving me. But I will, and it's always been I

will. I promise. How sure are you you can keep that promise without

God's help, but for years because of guilt, right and because suddenly you

are forgiven and you feel God's love that you suddenly bounce into this I promise

you and I will never do it again, only to find myself back in

the same place two days later. And God was allowing it to happen because

he was trying to show me that Kenneth, without me, you can't do

it. And so the day I was totally delivered, I think he took

about altogether fifteen years, so Jess, the year before I got married,

you know, so now you know, you know, I got caught up

with it even as a child, you know, by ten, by eleven

a video, I was caught up into it. And then I tried to

you know, all these years, you know, seventeen eighteen, I was

a ready a leader in my my my church, my youth leader. And

then just before because I was really struggling with this, and I thought to

myself, how how am I going to even marry a wife? You know,

when I'm I'm in this addiction, and the Lord delivered me just I

think it was months before I got married, and it was like this,

Lord, I really can't do this without you. I'm sorry. I'm really

sorry. But I tell you what, God, I'm not gonna say I

promise you anymore. I'm not gonna say I won't do it. I I

I'm gonna say. I'm gonna use the word. I want to say it

like this. I will fall without your Lord. I will fall by tonight

again if you don't help me, a Lord, I will, you know.

So I went the other way around God. So in a sense,

I was boasting in my weakness. I was boasting my informative. I said,

God, I can almost guarantee that I'm going to disappoint you again tomorrow,

you know. And then I felt His strength come upon me and picked

me up and was perfected in me. We hope you've been blessed by this

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a good week ahead for you. God bless