Becoming Men Of Excellence, Lighting Up The World

Becoming Men Of Excellence, Lighting Up The World 6/16/12 Joshua 1:1-9 Ephesians 5:25-6:4

I can recall a number of years ago I was having a conversation with one of the women in the fellowship hall. She was dressed extra nice that day and had her hair done very well. I said, “You really look nice today.” She jokingly said, “yes maybe I’ll find a piece of a man.” I said a piece, why not the whole thing. She said, these days, you’re lucky if you just get a piece of a man.

In her way she was saying, “boy to have a good man would be something awesome to have.” Men when you are at your best, you can be something awesome. I want us to realize that each man here, can become a man of excellence who can light up the world.

You have received a key chain with a challenge to “Be A Man of Excellence.” It has a flashlight included in it, to encourage you to not only lead, but to show others the way. You see the person with the light is the one up front, making sure to create a path that others can follow. I want you to know from the start, being a man of excellence does not mean being a man of perfection. As men, we will stumble, we will fall, we will make mistakes, and we will disappoint even ourselves, but we will not stay at those places.

The way we respond to those situations will be an opportunity to discover the grace and mercy of god and be a light others on what a man of excellence does when he stumbles. You see the psalmist wrote in Psalm 37:23-24 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delighteth in his way, though he fall, he shall not be cast down, because the Lord upholdeth him with His hands. Men it’s good to know that even when you fall, you’re still in the hands of God.

Becoming a man of excellence and being a light as a leader, means that you’re willing to believe what the word of God says that you need for life as opposed to what the world claims that you need. Becoming a man of excellence has little to do with what the advertisers tell us that we need. Every ad that’s directed toward us tries to lure us with either the desire for power, sex, or money.

The Bible teaches us, we only get one go around in life, so we should give it our best shot, knowing that in the end, we will have to stand before God and give an account for what we have done.

What man will stand before God and brag about how good of a player he was with the women? What man is going to be excited in God’s presence over the number of luxury or sport cars he had, the houses he lived in, or the money he made and spent? Who will stand before the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and boast bout a position he had, the number of touchdowns he scored, or how many platinum records he put out?

What kind of a man is going to stand in God’s presence, and have God starts to brag on him? God shouts out to heaven, and says “look out now, here comes da’man.” It’s the man who fills the needs that God has placed inside of him. It’s the man who decides to strive to be a man of excellence in all his ways, seeking to providea light for others to follow. Let’s look at how we can become such a man.

Today we are going to look at the call of Joshua, and seek to discover three of the real needs God has placed within a man so that he can become a man of excellence. One of the important needs a man has, is the need for respect. The first place that respect has to come from is from the man himself. Respect for one’s self comes from the confidence that God has given you life for a purpose. You know that you are somebody.

There is something you have been created uniquely to do, and only you can do the job in the way God wants it done. Some of us think that call is to be a great lawyer, or investment banker, or professional athlete. But the actual calling may be to be a great father to your own children or to sincerely love your wife as Christ loved to church. It might be to be a coach, an uncle or a big brother, or even to invest yourself in a ministry in the church as a youth leader. None of us know where we have the greatest impact for God in our lives.