Beyond Any Mask: What Kind of Godly Character Are You?

By David Hamil

The contrast between Christian and non-Christian, for some in the world today, has become quite blurred because there are professing Christians who, in God’s eyes, are stained from and smell like the polluted garbage of the world. With a mask on, they appear to be the model Christian, but beyond the disguise, they disobey God, lie, covet what’s not theirs, and sadly practice other fruits of the flesh.

God reminded Samuel the prophet (see 1 Sam. 16:7) that our inner qualities – our character traits – mean far more to Him than “outward appearances.” Why” Because your character drives your destiny.

If you really want the character of Jesus and want to live out God’s purpose for your life, you must:

• Allow the Holy Spirit to expose your ungodly weaknesses
• Shed your hypocrisy (i.e. stop pretending to be someone you’re not)

Please accept this personal challenge to join me on this journey as we boldly:

• Seek to remove any mask you may be wearing
• Come to the altar of repentance before God
• Learn to live as the “real deal” before a generation that needs you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: CrossLink Publishing
• Release date: Sep 5, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386864301

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BEYOND ANY MASK

BEYOND ANY MASK

David L. Hamil

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Beyond Any Mask: What Kind of Godly Character Are You?

Copyright © 2017 by David L. Hamil.

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CrossLink Publishing / Castle Rock, CO

www.crosslinkpublishing.com

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, except for brief quotations in reviews, without the written permission of the author.

Printed in the United States of America. All rights reserved under International Copyright Law.

Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright © 2000; 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Public Domain).

Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, IL 60188. All rights reserved.

Front cover image provided by Len Smith of TheSwordbearer.org. Used by permission.

Author’s note: The name satan and related names are not capitalized. We choose not to acknowledge him with a proper name (unless his name starts a sentence), even to the point of violating grammatical rules.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

LIST OF TABLES

FOREWORD

PREFACE

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

INTRODUCTION

PART I – CHARACTER RECOGNITION

1 – AN INTRODUCTION TO CHARACTER RECOGNITION AND PERSONAL SWOT ANALYSIS

CHARACTER RECOGNITION

PERSONAL SWOT ANALYSIS

2 – PERSONAL SWOT STRENGTHS

FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT – GODLY CHARACTER TRAITS

OTHER GODLY CHARACTER TRAITS

3 – PERSONAL SWOT WEAKNESSES

FRUITS OF THE FLESH – UNGODLY CHARACTER TRAITS

OTHER UNGODLY CHARACTER TRAITS

4 – PERSONAL SWOT OPPORTUNITIES

SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES

MINISTRY OPPORTUNITIES

5 – PERSONAL SWOT THREATS

THREAT SCENARIOS

PROBING THREAT QUESTIONS

PART II – CHARACTER RESTORATION

6 – COURSE CORRECTION

INTRODUCTION

DAVID’S SIN PLIGHT AND COURSE CORRECTION PROCESS

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

PART III – CHARACTER MAINTENANCE

7 – CHRISTIAN LIVING

INTRODUCTION

TRAINING FOR BATTLE

SUITING UP FOR BATTLE

FIGHTING THE BATTLE

CLOSING THOUGHTS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ENDNOTES

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure 1. Holy Spirit Analyzing Our Character Traits

Figure 2. Personal SWOT Analysis Template

Figure 3. Personal (Biblical) SWOT Analysis

Figure 4. Biblical SWOT – Strength and Weakness Quadrants

Figure 5. Biblical SWOT – Strength and Weakness Quadrants

Figure 6. Personal SWOT Opportunities

Figure 7. Personal SWOT Threats

Figure 8. Action-Reaction-Consequence (ARC) Scenario

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. Scripture References for Godly SWOT Strengths

Table 2. Scripture References for UnGodly SWOT Weaknesses

DEDICATION

Who to dedicate this book to was an easy, slam-dunk decision for me. Long before the first keystroke was entered on the manuscript, while assembling various notes and putting together an outline, I knew that this book must be dedicated to a lady I’ve grown to love and admire more over the many years we’ve spent together. I met Marina, my lovely bride, over thirty-seven years ago. God put us together. I seriously don’t use that statement as a cliché. She was fourteen when I first met her and fifteen when we had our first date. I was (David clears his throat…) somewhat older. I learned at her early age where her heart was, and witnessed the heart of her mom. I knew one could tell a lot about a girl if one observed her mom’s actions. It did not take long before I knew she was the girl for me; she was (and is) a woman after God’s own heart. I’ve witnessed an amazing Godly strength of character in her that grows stronger year after year as she strives to do everything, under Holy Spirit anointing, to be a Godly wife to me, mother to our daughters, and Mimi to her grandkids. She sacrificially gives of her time to put and love God first, her family second, and then dealings with our friends. Marina is a God chaser and a role-model woman to be admired. She’s put up with a lot when she did not have to, hanging in for us and for our family. I’m a much better man because of her in my life. She is my love bird, my mate for life.

dedication

FOREWORD

When David Hamil asked if I would consider writing the foreword for his book, Beyond any Mask: What Kind of Godly Character Are You? I was both curious and honored. Curious about the message of his book and honored to be asked to endorse not only the hard work of an author but also a message that was forged in the furnace of real life. David allows us to learn from some of the most difficult moments of his life and how God is able to restore anyone to wholeness and Godly character.

In my years of ministry, I have watched people rise from failure and succeed. Unfortunately, I have seen others never recover from their fall. What’s the difference? When someone takes ownership of their mistakes, they are able to overcome their mistakes. David has done this and takes us on his journey from character collapse to character strength.

In Part One, David helps us to really take an honest evaluation of our true character—our integrity. In Part Two, you will come to understand how your character can truly change. When one genuinely places their trust in God and surrenders to His Word, transformation occurs from the inside out. Finally, in Part Three, David shares what he has learned and practices consistently to allow God to continue to shape his character.

This book is not a lesson in theory; it’s a road map of restoration from a real man’s life. I encourage you to learn well the truths that David has been so willing to honestly share. Your character will be strengthened, and your life will be blessed.

George H. Sawyer

Senior Pastor

Calvary Assembly of God

Decatur, Alabama, USA

PREFACE

My friend, if you’ve ever acknowledged before God and men and women that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He is your Savior, then I believe this book is for you. Given the fact that you are a Believer, your spiritual life falls into one of the following three categories:

Cat 1 – you’re a wayward Christian, or

Cat 2 – you have some questions or uncertainty about where the traits of your nature stand in the light of God’s standard,

Cat 3 – you’re an on-the-rock (of Christ) solid Christian.

The Holy Spirit inspired me to write this book for the explicit purpose of asking you the same book-title question He has asked of me for quite some time. Why? you ask. I’m asking you this question because God really (in a big way) cares about your character. Why would God care about my character? you inquire again. The answer is contained in two truths:

Your character, if analyzed at any point in time, clearly indicates if you are presently salt and light to the world He is trying to reach, and

Your character drives your destiny (i.e., where you are going).

You’ll learn, as you read and study the material presented in this book, that I was a wayward, backsliding Christian for a dark season in my life. I know without a doubt there are Believers, who hold this book in hand, who are in a similar situation—you’re away from Christ.

God cares, and I sincerely care about who you really are with any mask removed. Looking beyond any mask, what kind of Godly character are you? If you’re running from God (i.e., wayward or backslidden), then you likely have some idea of what kind of character you’ve become. This book is definitely for you. I shouldn’t have to remind you that God already sees you for who you are without any masks. Scripture reads that there is nothing hidden from Him (see Hebrews 4:13). We might fool people with the façade, but there is no fooling God. He knows where we stand. Although He might see you now in your current backslidden state, He loves you enough to not want to see you remain in that state. If you’re not running from God but you are wondering where your character traits line up to God’s standards, then the message shared in this book is also for you.

Here’s a synopsis of the book’s contents:

Part I – Character Recognition: You’ll learn what God already knows of your character.

Part II – Character Restoration: You’ll learn how to correct any character deficiencies.

Part III – Character Maintenance: You may learn some new, or be reminded of, Christian Living best practices to help you walk as Jesus did on this earth.

Cat 1 and Cat 2 Believers need to read and study this book’s material from cover to cover. Cat 3 Believers should, at least, flip to Part III – Character Maintenance section of this book to see if there are any practices that could help you in your daily walk with Christ.

Trust me: the Holy Spirit wants you to honestly answer the book-title question periodically. If the Holy Spirit points out that you have one or more problem areas that need to be addressed, then by all means don’t delay correcting them. Only God can take your weak areas and turn them into strengths. You cannot successfully fix your spiritual problems by your own power. You can try to do so, but I’m confident that your Band-Aid fix will only be a temporary solution to the problem. However, when you allow the Holy Spirit to repair (or restore) you into right standing with God, you can be assured that it will be done right. Once your life is back on track (i.e., God’s track), then drive to live out your Christian life under the Holy Spirit’s power and, I believe, you’ll find your character will stay above reproach. When you’re right where God would have you, then you can be an authentic (not fake) light guide with salt seasoning to a lost and dying world. You’re also destined for great things in His kingdom.

David L. Hamil

February 26, 2017

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

To:

My Creator, Father God, my Savior, Jesus Christ, and my daily companion the Holy Spirit, who inspired me to write this book.

My parents, Bob and Ramona Hamil. I was so blessed of our Lord to be raised in a Christian home. My parents’ instruction was foundational in shaping me to be the man of God I am today. My dad was head of our home and an exception provider; he’s a humble, loving man of God. My mom, for most of my growing up years, was a homemaker. I thank them both that my mom was home with my brother and me during our early years. I have such fond memories of our family time. My only regret is now it (the time) seemed to go by so fast, and I was starting a family of my own. Dad and Mom were, and still are, exemplary models of Godly parents who love God and love His people (family and friends).

Pastor George H. Sawyer. Pastor Sawyer is the founding and senior pastor of Calvary Assembly of God in Decatur, Alabama. I spent over fifteen years under Pastor Sawyer’s shepherdship at Calvary Assembly. Thank you, pastor, for providing