Mantle Monday - 06 08 26

Gentlemen, it's that time again. Happy Monday to each and every one of you. Thank you for taking a moment out of your day to reflect on what God might be saying to you. This week I have the honor of writing the devotional after I sent Hunter a random video on Facebook and he decided that qualified me to write a devotional HAHA! In all seriousness though, I’ve had some time to reflect on what the video said and in the past week something else happened that made this devotional that I am writing all the more powerful in my life. A little over a year ago my wife and I lost our little girl, she was a late term still born and the loss was crippling. Just a few days before that my contract with a company was not renewed and I lost most of my income overnight. About a week before that, our 5 year old son had nearly broken his neck in a gymnastics accident and we were in the midst of figuring out how to make sure he healed properly and got back to a normal life. Spring of 2025 was our fiery furnace moment if we had ever had one. We spent quite a while there and at times it seemed like we would never get out. I don't know how many times I read through Job’s story over the next multiple months. But, through it all, God. God provided for us in incredible ways, he used the situation to help us grow stronger in our relationship with him. My wife and I grew closer together and it helped me get perspective on where our life was heading and what we were trying to build. I personally got to see how our story and the way that God took care of us help others in their walks. The video I had sent Hunter started off by stating Daniel wasn’t spared the lion's den. David wasn’t spared facing Goliath. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were not spared from the fiery furnace. They were not spared from having to go through their difficult situations rather God spared them in their difficult situations. David still had to fight Goliath Daniel still went to the lions den And Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego still went into the furnace But in their trials and tribulations God was with them. Many of us pray to be spared from trials or tribulations. But my prayer for you this week is that if you are in your furnace, If you are experiencing a trial, a tribulation or something that you feel you cannot handle on your own and the weight of life is crushing you, I pray that you find strength in God. He will shut the mouths of lions, he will keep the flames from burning, he will help you conquer your enemies. Our primary passage this week is James 1: 2-4 “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.” You must remember that faith is like a muscle, and like a muscle it must be strained and stretched for it to grow. These times in life are not easy, they are not fun, but I believe they are worth it. Remember Christ is our firm foundation, the rock upon which you stand. If you feel like you can't keep going on, lean on him for the strength to take your next step. I love you man, God’s got you. Challenge: Reach out to one man and tell him about something that you are worried about or something difficult going on in your life. Song of the week: Firm Foundation (He won’t) - Cody Carnes, Chandler Moore and Austin Davis If you have a prayer request, respond directly to this text so our team can pray for you and the situation.