The Lion Within Us - Leadership for Christian Men
Christian men are in a battle for their lives. Satan will do everything possible to destroy them. The Lion Within Us is a community that provides encouragement to become the leaders God intends us to be. Our main focus lies within three categories: Health (Mental/Physical), Wealth (Careers/Finances) and Self (Husbands/Fathers/Brothers in Christ). By sharpening these areas of our lives, we can find the strength needed to stand firm in our faith and unleash the Lion Within.
The Lion Within Us - Leadership for Christian Men
563. Jeremiah 1:5 - Spiritual Kick Off
The sacred value of human life isn't a political stance—it's at the very core of the gospel message. Drawing from Jeremiah 1:5, "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you," this powerful episode unpacks the profound truth that God recognizes and values every life from the moment of conception. We confront the uncomfortable reality that our culture often devalues the most vulnerable among us, particularly the unborn.
We’re going live every weekday with our Daily Spiritual Kickoff—free and exclusive inside our community. Join us for a powerful Word, real encouragement, and practical ways to lead with faith at home and work.
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It’s time to stop sitting on the sidelines.
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Our devotionals dive deep into the pillars that define The Lion Within Us - health, wealth, and self. Whether you're seeking spiritual growth, financial wisdom, or personal development, these devotionals are tailor-made for you. Connect with The Lion Within Us on the Bible App. 👉 https://thelionwithin.us/bible/
Welcome to the Lion Within Us, a podcast serving Christian men who are hungry to be the leaders God intends you to be. I'm your host, chris Granger. Let's jump in. All right, fellas, this is your spiritual kickoff episode and let's get right into it. I'm so excited to be here.
Chris Grainger:I absolutely love the SKOs, by the way, but you probably know that by now. So, anyway, the scripture of the week is in the book of Jeremiah, the first chapter, and I want just one verse this week, verse 5. It says before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born, I consecrated you, I appointed you a prophet to the nations. Beautiful verse. We're going to unpack it. We're going to think about it. This is going to be a heavy week. I'm're going to unpack it, we're going to think about it. This is going to be a heavy week. I'm just going to be honest. This is a heavy week because we're going to hit some brutal truths that are quite often just glossed over. They're not even touched from many pulpits on Sundays, and doggone it. We're going to lead into the heart of conversations, because that's what matters, but before we get into any of that, just need to know to start a spiritual kickoff episode. We dig into the Word. If you enjoy this, skos is what we like to call them. We do this Monday through Friday within our line, within this community, and again, it's all 100% free. We open that up free.
Chris Grainger:This year, guys are joining pretty much every day. It's been incredible just to see. So if you're just looking for just a little extra content or a little extra encouragement, man, I'm telling you the daily SKL I just finished as, as recording the podcast, I came off an SKL. We had a bunch of guys in there. Skl we had a bunch of guys in there. We're just going through Old Testament prophets right now. Jose is what we're working through and it's just such an encouragement to me. So, guys all over the country, canada, australia, all over the world. Basically at this point, which is kind of cool, rio de Janeiro just had a guy join from Rio de Janeiro and it's just cool because the ultimate thing that's tying us all together is God's word and that's it, and we're really focusing on that. We're leaning in on that. And again, if you like, the spiritual kickoff episodes that we have here on the podcast, we got five more for you that we don't put anywhere else and we don't post that stuff anywhere else. Fellas, it's not like we're trying to get downloads or anything like that. No, we just serve and we try to encourage other guys. So the Lion Withinus is how you get started with that.
Chris Grainger:Ok, now, as we dig into this scripture for Jeremiah, I need to know, first of all, where is Jeremiah? Ok, it can be a little bit confusing. So it's in your Old Testament and it's right after the book of Isaiah. Ok, so if you find Isaiah again, kind of towards the middle of your Bible, just keep flipping to the right and you'll see. You'll run into the book of Jeremiah.
Chris Grainger:Ok, again, one of the major prophets and beautiful verse, because it talks about before you were born. Ok, and there's a lot of weight to those words. Right, lots of weight, because what, what God is doing? Right here is he's declaring to Jeremiah, ok, that this is, this is what right here is he's declaring to Jeremiah, okay, that this is what your purpose is. It's not just a personal calling. This is a reminder to him that, hey, he was in charge and he deeply values life. In particular, he had a lot of things he wanted Jeremiah to do and it just when I sit back and I reverse verse, because you always think about pro-life. You go to Psalm 139, and I do too. That's a great verse.
Chris Grainger:But man, right here before, even before that happened, bro, he knew Jeremiah. And that's the part, outside the Christian worldview, that people can't make sense of, right? Because you think, well, sperm hits an egg and makes a baby and at some point, depending on who you listen to, it actually becomes a baby. And I'm like, no, bro, the whole point is like, at that moment, that is a baby, that is life. But the crazy part for me to try to wrestle with is, even before that little moment, god knew, he knew, he knew, he knew about me, he knew about my brother, he knew about my kids, my parents, you, he knew about us. And that is something that, man, if you start wrestling with, it's just pretty cool. And you hear lots of Christians talk about that out there, about that.
Chris Grainger:Every life has a purpose and every life has dignity and there is a divine design. And that's right, that's not wrong, it is right. But the real test, bro, really starts coming when we're called to do something, to take action. So this is moving from just words of affirmation to actual defense, and maybe you're defending with your time or your prayers or your voice, and sometimes you're defending from a place of discomfort because it's not comfortable being on this side at times. Right, jesus never said it's going to be easy, bro. He's like pick up your cross, follow me. Yes, but his way is so much better. It's better because the gospel, at the end of the day, the gospel, is pro-life, because it's about rescue, right, redemption. Jesus came to save the lost, to redeem those who are broken Guess what we're all broken and to bring light to this dark world and the problem man. It just bothers me and the guest.
Chris Grainger:On Wednesday we're going to talk about this. I don't know how to prep you guys for it, but it's just going to be real. Because how to prep you guys for it? It's just going to be real Because the culture we live in devalues the most vulnerable among us, and that's just real. The unborn, completely devalued. And as a Christian man, I can't just sit silently.
Chris Grainger:Now I'm using and trying to utilize the platform of the lion, what God has built, to bring awareness and have conversations and to hopefully start provoking guys to take action, because we have to be reminded that we are called to stand up and speak for those who can't speak for themselves. I mean, it tells us that all throughout the Bible. Proverbs 31 tells us that directly. Okay, and I'm not talking political posture here. Again, I'm not a big. I have my political views, but I try not to bring them out to the line. Okay, because that's not what this is about.
Chris Grainger:But this is a gospel-driven conviction. Gospel-driven Every life, the born and the unborn, guess what? It's sacred Because they're image bearers of our creator, right, womb to tomb baby. That's what it's all about, and we have to remember this. And if we go back to Genesis, we're a man in his image. Yes, that means we need to be all about serving and helping others in their own journey.
Chris Grainger:And this requires fellas. If you're going to be pro-life, it requires my old buddy Al talks about it you're going to be pro-life. You're going to be pro-abortion. I mean pro-adoption as well. You can't be pro-anything from abortion. It has to be off our radar.
Chris Grainger:But it also requires for us to have compassion as well as courage, because you have a woman out there who's facing a pregnancy that she, she, wasn't planning. And guess what? Right, there may be lots of surprise babies, you know, surprise parents, rather, but ain't no surprise babies, period. God knows about them all, he just does. So when we run into this situation, we have to be so attuned that we address it with love and not shame, not condemnation. You remember now, there's no combination for those in Christ Jesus, right? So it can't be condemning, right, and maybe you're not the guy who is running a ministry to support these women, but I tell you what we should support the ones that do right, and we have to be willing to boldly just actually speak truth in a world that really prioritizes comfort foremost. That's what they want. Nothing to convict us. We don't want to ever be convicted, we want to be comfortable, and that just ain't it, man, that just ain't it.
Chris Grainger:And at the end of the day too, I know several guys out there, just very prominent speakers and stuff, podcast hosts, people like that, who love to debate. They're all about debating, and I'm just not into that, be honest, I'm just not into debating because it ain't about winning a debate. No, it's about defending the image bearers. It's about aligning my heart and the hearts of others with God, who forms the life in the womb and he recognizes every little baby out there, every person, even you, bro, fearfully and wonderfully made.
Chris Grainger:So if we can kind of put to the side that we're in this big debate and choose to you know what, lord, how would you utilize me? How should I use the opportunities you've given me today for people who are struggling in this area or considering these areas? How can I educate or encourage or equip, or just come alongside and let them know that you know what? You may be scared right now, but every life is valuable and you don't need a platform, guys. You don't need a podcast to do this. You don't need a bunch of influence at a company. What you need is a willing heart, right? Just willingness to say Lord, I'm willing to be used. Please provide me the opportunities, and you can start with simple stuff.
Chris Grainger:Fellas, start praying right now for the unborn children and their mothers and just add that to your prayer routine. I mean, there's power in prayer. If you don't believe that, then I'm not sure why you listen to the line. There's power in that. But then you have local pregnancy. Can't even say that word right now. Resource centers out there, not Planned Parenthood let's just clarify that stuff. That's a joke.
Chris Grainger:We're going to really unpack that on Wednesday, but the ones that actually care. I'm big, I'm all in on this organization called Preborn. We support like five of their preborn. You know where you see the babies I can't think of the name of the word right now. I've had a bunch of them with all the kids we've had. You know, when they come in with the wand and they show you ultrasound, there you go. I know it would come to me and that's what they do. Their ministry 100% is they take the women and usually the percentage rate is through the roof that if a woman can actually see her unborn baby, that the chances that she'll go through with an abortion dramatically decrease. So we support that. Our family supports that.
Chris Grainger:You could do stuff like you're doing right now educating yourself and really looking at what Scripture is going to talk about and what Scripture teaches us about life. Now the guest on Wednesday, and really look at what scripture is going to talk about and what scripture teaches us about life. Now the guest on Wednesday. This is one you're not going to want to miss If you're trying to really get educated on this. You want to sit and just soak in this? All right, then you need to be available to mentor, to encourage, to talk, to walk with people as they're walking through this. And this could be guys and girls, right, because it takes two to have a baby, boys. Let's just be real there.
Chris Grainger:But so many times the woman is the woman in crisis. We need to be willing to be there, right, and we cannot be apathetic about this. We have to be convicted because life matters, because God says it matters, right, and if he knows us before we were born, the way this says in Jeremiah, then we must treat every life as one worth fighting for and we have to get that framing correct. So the question this week and you really just have to think about this on your own is how are you yourself look in the mirror right now how are you defending the voiceless in today's culture? They're out there and I'm telling you, once you see the darkness and we're going to expose the darkness this week my prayer is that it moves you to conviction and that conviction stirs you up to do something. My prayer is that it moves you to conviction and that conviction stirs you up to do something, because there's lots of pew sitters out there, boys, but that's not what being a lion is all about. And also, I'm here to tell you if you're going through this thing called life and you never surrender your life to the lordship of Jesus Christ. And you're listening to the lion maybe there's something that was catchy with the title.
Chris Grainger:I don't know how podcast stuff works. Sometimes Guys listen, you listen to a Christian podcast and you're not even Christian. It's okay. You're here for a reason, brother. I'm happy to have you here, happy to encourage you and happy to share with you the best news, the best news I could possibly ever even uh utter on the podcast and that is that god loves you, man, like he does, and there's this perfect design that god had.
Chris Grainger:Go back to the beginning of your bible, open it up and you start. You'll start seeing how god built this beautiful world and he spoke all these things into existence until he got to man. He did a little bit different with man. He formed him with his hands. There's a personal something that when you take something, you make it with your hands right. And then he breathed into his nostrils. It's called the Ruah of life, the breath of life. And then the first man his name was Adam, by the way he sat up and he was face to face with his creator. Bro, it was awesome. Can you imagine face to face with God in the garden? It's all great. It's hunky dory for like two pages in my Bible.
Chris Grainger:Then sin enters. And don't get all hung up on what sin is. Sin is just anything that separates us from God. It is there and now we have this chasm, this gap between a holy and righteous God and us, and we try so many guys I talk to that aren't saved and I'm like, bro, what's your plan? How are you getting out of here? What do you think is going to happen? Today's your day. Just curious. Where are you going with that?
Chris Grainger:Well, man, I think I just gotta. I've probably been good enough. That's gotta be a good person like I just gotta do. I just gotta do what's right. Gotta be ethical yeah, there's nothing wrong with ethics. For sure I want you to do good, but I always follow it up. But how good is good like? Is there like a scale that I can look at and see, have I checked this many good boxes in a day if I help this many old ladies cross the street, or if I do this many good deeds or give the dismayed charities? Like, is there a number involved with that, because I'm an engineering background. I like numbers is what does that look like? And that's when they start squirming.
Chris Grainger:Well, I don't know. I don't know either. As far as I know, there isn't one, of course. I know there isn't one from God's word. So we can't work our way into a right standing with God. So if I can't do it myself, if I can't be coached up right, then what can I do? If a coach can't help me figure this stuff out, then I'm left to figure it out on my own. And if I figure it out on my own, that's a pretty dire circumstance to find ourselves in.
Chris Grainger:And the reality is we don't need a coach to help us figure this out on our own. To do better, we need a savior coming to do for us what we can't do for ourselves. You see the fundamental difference there. This is where so many people get hung up right. We need to recognize that I can't do this, and that's where a Savior comes in. And that's Jesus, who left heaven on a rescue mission for us, was born of a virgin, fulfilled all the prophecies, did all the teachings, did all the miracles, did everything, showed us, taught us. This ministry changed the world. And the primary difference in his ministry is that he went to the cross and chose to pay the penalty for our sins. He took it all on, every piece of it. He took it all on and they nailed him to a cross and he died. He didn't pass out and faint or go to sleep and all that stuff. Jesus died and they laid him in a tomb and it's like a funeral, right. So we should just be mourning, we should be sad because our Savior's dead.
Chris Grainger:But the story doesn't stop there, the way it stops with so many other religions, because so many other religions they're, you know, quote, unquote, they're chosen one. They go, they ain't coming back, they're still in the ground. But guess what? For Jesus, three days, it was like an Airbnb baby, that's all he needed, and that tomb was empty. He came walking out and that is who we serve, a risen, living Savior, and he showed. There's so much evidence of the resurrection it'll blow your mind. Blow your mind. And then he ascended and that's where he's at right now. He's in heaven, he's right hand of the father. He is the way, the truth, the life. There's no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved. Period. It's Jesus.
Chris Grainger:So it takes a little. It takes first recognizing that you are a sinner, and that is where so many people get hung up, because they don't think that you are a sinner. And that is where so many people get hung up Because they don't think that they are. I'm just here to tell you, buddy, you are, you're a sinner in need of a savior. You need to believe also that Jesus is that savior. There's no one else. There's no other path. Oprah's wrong, sorry, period. Jesus is it.
Chris Grainger:And then, once you recognize that you have that self-awareness and that reflection, then it moves. You have to move to a posture of submittal, submitting to him and acknowledging him as Lord and Savior of your life. That means Lord and Savior over not just Sunday, but Monday through Saturday as well, your marriage, your children. As Lord and Savior of your life. That means Lord and Savior over, not just Sunday, but Monday through Saturday as well, your marriage, your children, your career, how you treat people, all this stuff. He has to be over every area of your life. Okay, so if you've never done that, then today is the day. Confess Jesus as Lord of your life. Well, chris, I can't do that Let today's the day, confess Jesus as Lord of your life. Well, chris, I can't do that.
Chris Grainger:Let's do a podcast, why not? I don't see anywhere in the Bible that says you have to be sitting in a church pew on a Sunday morning to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Now we're getting ready to pray, so don't close your eyes. If you're driving, but you can totally accept Christ as your Savior while you're driving. If you're driving, but you could totally accept Christ as your savior while you're driving, if you're feeling a nudge and a prompting, don't put off the business that the Lord is encouraging you to put to to handle today, cause I'm telling you, none of us are promised, none of us. And I'm not trying to be doom and gloom, to scare you, I'm just telling you just reality the mortality rate is still hovering around 100%, boys, that's just the way it is. So it's time to take that action.
Chris Grainger:So, if you're out there and you're ready to submit your life to the lordship of Jesus Christ as your personal lord and savior, let's pray together. Father, I just pray for that one listener. Savior, let's pray together, father, I just pray for that one listener. They've reached the point where they know this is what they need to do. I pray that you hear their cries out to you. I pray that they know that they are loved. I pray you put people in their path. That will encourage them on their new walk with you.
Chris Grainger:And I also pray against the attacks of the evil one, because he is pissed off right now Because that one dude out there is saying you know what, I'm going to follow God, I'm going to do it his way and I'm making Jesus the center of my life. So I know heaven is rejoicing. I know the evil ones are absolutely losing their minds. I just pray that you give this guy encouragement, give him wisdom, give him discernment, give him strength. It's in your name that we pray this.
Chris Grainger:Amen, all right, look, if you just accepted Christ, hit me up Seriously. Send me an email, because I won't send you as much as free resources and we have tons of them, by the way, chris at the lion within dot US. Okay, that's my email address, so just email me. Tell me which episode you're listening to, if you don't mind. I'm super curious. I'm always curious on which episode, and then I'm going to hook you up. I'm going to send you some free downloadable type stuff that will help you get started on your journey. We also have some really good guys in the Line Within Us community that I want to find out where you're located and if you need help finding a church. I'm going to at least give you some things to consider, some green lights as well as red lights, some areas to think about when you go looking for that next church family that you need to get plugged into, because you do need to get plugged into one. Ok, so again, chris, at the line within that US and look, guys, I'm telling you this episode is coming up next in your podcast. If you want to drop some Wednesday, it's going to be. It's going to be a hammer. It's going to be a hammer. I've been so excited for this episode. Went through the guy's book, it bothered me in so many ways and it also illuminated to me. Man, we need to be talking about these items a whole lot more than we are so highly encourage you to come back on Wednesday, check it out again.
Chris Grainger:The line within that us starts your daily spiritual kickoff. If you like these SKOs, hey, money through Friday, go get that. Join the community. We're talking 1515, guys, I mean, come on, you spend more on that, on gum, probably for the month. $15 gets you plugged into our full community. It gives you ideas of how you can grow in your Christian walk. It gives you a bunch of brotherhood, a bunch of fellowship, a bunch of fun events that we have each and every week. Just a great way to engage, have a little bit of fun and it's super clean. That's why we have our own app. We have the way that we do stuff, guys, because we're not putting out his junk out there on Facebook and all these other social media platforms.
Chris Grainger:No, we built it because we want to serve guys in a truly meaningful way. So the line withinus is where you find that. That for the, for the level up guys, leadership mastermind, baby, that's it. I'm telling you, we've gone all in on leadership mastermind. The groups are filling up and it's been incredible. The feedback is awesome. I'm so excited to see how God moves in these men's lives.
Chris Grainger:If you need that small personal board of advisors that you don't have, we're talking small guys. These groups, seven guys, seven, not 70. Seven, so you can come in, you can be heard, you can ask questions without judgment and I'm telling you, guys, the conversations, the structure. The way we've developed this system in place, man, it's second to none. Not because we're awesome, but because we're obedient to what God's called us to do. So if you like the podcast, if you're looking for that brotherhood, if you feel a little bit isolated, if you feel a little bit spiritually passive, we need to chat.
Chris Grainger:There's a very in-depth assessment that we lay out to get guys going with. Just getting started with the Leadership Mastermind. That's the first step. So if you go to the linewithinus slash mastermind okay, remember that slash mastermind you'll find all the information there. All right, so go check it out. Fellas, look forward to hearing from you.
Chris Grainger:We'll see you on our next episode. Give us a rating and review. That would be awesome if you could do that. And other than that, you know what's coming right. Keep unleashing the lion within. I've got something big to share.
Chris Grainger:We're making a major shift because we know the battle is real and it's time more men had access to the support they need.
Chris Grainger:For too long, guys have been trying to carry the weight alone pressure at work, tension at home, wounds from the past in a world that demands strength but offers no place to rest. We see it, we've lived it, and that's exactly why we built our community. It's a stronghold, a place where warriors can find rest, truth and a band of brothers standing beside them. And starting now, we're making it easier than ever to step in. We've lowered the barrier to just $15.99 a month. That means, for less than the cost of a drive-thru lunch, you can join a brotherhood that's centered on Christ and built for growth. Inside you'll find access to our daily spiritual kickoffs every Monday through Friday, our Lion Lunches, our Bible Studies, our Friday Forge Gatherings all that and so much more. Every man needs a stronghold, and you don't have to fight alone. If you've been waiting for the right time to jump in, this is it. Go to the lion withinus and join the community and see for yourself what happens when iron truly sharpens iron.
