Michael DiMarco - God Guy. Becoming the Man Youre Meant to Be

God Guy

God Guy

Becoming the Man Youre Meant to Be

Michael DiMarco

2009 by Hungry Planet

Published by Revell
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.revellbooks.com

Printed in the United States of America

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansfor example, electronic, photocopy, recordingwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

DiMarco, Michael.

God guy : becoming the man youre meant to be / Michael DiMarco.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-0-8007-1941-8 (pbk.)

1. Teenage boysConduct of life. 2. Teenage boysReligious life. I. Title.

BJ1671.D56 2009

248.832dc22

2009026728

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture is taken from Gods Word, a copyrighted work of Gods Word to the Nations. Quotations are used by permission. Copyright 1995 by Gods Word to the Nations. All rights reserved.

Scripture marked NIV is taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Scripture marked NKJV is taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture marked NLT is taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Published in association with Yates & Yates, LLP, Literary Agents, Orange, California.

Interior design by Sarah Lowrey Brammeier
Creative direction by Hungry Planet

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Contents

Live in me,
and I will live in you.
A branch cannot produce
any fruit by itself.
It has to stay
attached
to the vine.
In the same way, you cannot
produce fruit unless
you live in me

John 15:4

1
Do You Know a
Double G?

I believe that the God Guy (occasionally referred to as a Double G) is the STRONGEST guy on the planet, not because of what he does but because of who he WORSHIPS.

Everything he does is affected by the fact that he knows and is related to the most powerful being in the universe. Because of that he knows where he came from and where hes going. His life isnt perfect; it wasnt meant to be. Its sometimes obnoxious, sometimes loud, and sometimes messy. He has big plans, big hopes, and big prayers. He wants what every other guy wants: respect and acceptance. He wants people to like him and to look up to him. He wants a life of peace. He wants to be a hero. Some days hes on top of the world and nothing can bring him down, and some days he hits bottom, but what makes him different from just any guy is the God he serves. His right relationship with the Creator of the universe. Whats a right relationship? Imagine asking God with the most reverent attitude, We good? And God responds, Were good. Thats a right relationship. And unlike the average guy, a Double G can admit that he cant do this messed up and crazy life on his own, and he is totally willing to trust that God can. When life is more than he can handle, God is more than he needs.

UNLIKE THE AVERAGE GUY, A DOUBLE G CAN ADMIT THAT HE CANT DO THIS MESSED UP AND CRAZY LIFE ON HIS OWN, AND HE IS TOTALLY WILLING TO TRUST THAT GOD CAN.

The life of the God Guy is not affected as much by what others think of him or do to him as it is by who God is. He defines his life by the fact that he belongs to God. The most crucial moment in his life was the moment he said, Yes, God, I believe. The second most crucial? When he realized he cant do it alone. It was when the Double G came face-to-face with all power and all strength and didnt run and hide. When Jesus reached out of the pages of that old Bible, grabbed him by the hoodie, and said, Come with me. Make me Lord of your life, and I will be with you always. You will never have to fear again.

HE DEFINES HIS LIFE BY THE FACT THAT HE BELONGS TO GOD

Do you remember? Did you say yes, or didyou pull away?

I remember when I said yes. I had been searching for a long time for something bigger than me. Bigger than my ego, bigger than my faults, bigger than my shame. I was seventeen when I said I believed, but it was over a decade later when I finally said, I cant do it alone. I think I have a pretty lame testimony, because I spent almost fifteen years of my life faking like I was a Christian but living a lie. Id lie, cheat, steal, and hop from one girlfriends bed to another, saying, Well, shes the one, so we might as well.

I lived the life of the nice guy turned bad boy before I realized that God just wanted me to be real and honest, and hed work on me from there. No frontin, as he may have whispered to me once or twice. And thats when I finally said, I surrender all, because finally realize Im not good at being perfect, but you are. Yeah, Im quick like that. Instead of just talking a good game, I started to live it and started talking about my real life, not the one that a Christian guy was supposed to have. Now I believe and freely testify that I mess up daily, with the exception of when I let God stay in control.

God changes lives. There is no question. If he hasnt changed yours, then its your own fault, not his. He wants to; you just havent let him. Its easy to believe that he wont come through, that youll be duped into believing some lie. But Im living proof that that isnt true. He was there all along; I just didnt have the facts or purposely ignored them to stay in control or do and get what I wanted.

If you believe that Jesus is who he says he is, then you are a God Guy.

That may or may not have changed your life up to this point, but look out, because we (God and me) are about to rock your world. I believe that if you are reading these words right now, youre reading them for a reason, and it isnt because you are being punished or Granny is trying to fix you by buying you this book. Its because God has something to do in your life. He wants to make you into the man you were created to be. So youve gotta trust that a change is coming and get ready to take the wildest ride of your life.

Searching for More

If you are a God Guy, its because of who you worship, not who you are or what youve done or failed to do. His reaching out and choosing you changed who you were at the very core. You might not feel it every day, but trust me when I say that it did.

Yet deep down inside you might feel like a failure, like youre not the man you were meant to be. All those missed opportunities, so many wrong decisions. Sure, youre a good guyyou havent turned your back on him or tried to be a bad guy; youre just human and sinful. Thats how the story goes for a lot of us.

But now you want MORE.
You want MORE of him,
MORE of the real you,
MORE FAITH.

Its true what they say, you know, that there is no one righteous, not even one (Romans 3:10 NIV). So it should be no surprise that your life might not be exactly what you pictured. And its good that you want more, because more is exactly what youre gonna get when you take a fearless look at Gods Word and are willing to let it shine some light on all your bruises, cuts, bumps, and zits. When you let it into the very center of your thumping heart with all its selfish motives and unmet fantasies, all its noble hopes and dreams, you set yourself up for a soul renovation. Anyone can benefit from exposing their life to Gods Word. And as a guy who wants Gods thoughts to be your very own, you cannot fail to open up Scripture and be changed. The only question is, how much change are you willing to go for?