Incredible Men,
Yep — two emails this week. That's on me.
I wrote Tuesday's email early because I had a full week ahead and wanted to get ahead of it. Turns out I forgot to actually schedule it, and it went out Sunday evening instead of this morning.
So you got a bonus one. Consider it extra fuel for the week.
I'm not going to pretend it was on purpose — but I will say this: both messages are worth reading. Don't let either one sit in your inbox unopened.
Thought for today .... Most men are working under a curse and don't even know it has a name.
"By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground."— Genesis 3:19
Sweat of your brow. That phrase is not just a description of hard work. It is a description of a way of living — striving, forcing, grinding, exhausting yourself just to produce enough. Always pushing. Always behind. Always one crisis away from feeling like it's all going to fall apart.
If that sounds familiar, you are not weak. You are cursed.
And I mean that in the most liberating way possible — because a curse that has a name can be broken.
I lived that verse for decades without knowing it had a name. From the kid mowing yards in Houston at seven years old — knocking on neighbors' doors for fifty cents — through businesses, real estate, and every hustle in between. I worked hard. I created income. I provided.
And I was terrified the entire time.
Even when the money was good, the fear didn't leave. Because fear was never really about the money. It was about what I believed I was worth without it. It was about a boy from a trailer park who thought grinding was the only way out.
That is the curse of the sweat of the brow. And it is far more common among successful, hardworking men than anyone wants to admit.
Here is what most men were never taught:
Jesus came to break that curse.
At the cross, when the crown of thorns was pressed into His head — thorns, the very symbol of the cursed ground in Genesis 3 — He was absorbing and reversing the curse of painful toil. He bled where the curse lived.
"Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us."— Galatians 3:13
This means there is a difference between working hard in Christ — empowered, purposeful, building something that matters — and working hard under the curse, grinding against the grain of who you actually are out of fear.
One gives you life. The other just gives you a living.
Here's how you know which one you're in right now:
If you stopped tomorrow — not the income, just the activity — would you feel peace or panic?
Your answer tells you everything about what's actually driving you.
"It is the blessing of the Lord that makes rich, and He adds no sorrow to it."— Proverbs 10:22
God wants to bless your work. But He also wants your work to come from rest, not from fear. From purpose, not from proving. From who He made you to be — not from what you're terrified of becoming.
You were designed to build. To create. To provide. But the fuel was never supposed to be anxiety.
This week's assignment: Ask yourself one honest question — Am I working from calling or from fear? Not what you want the answer to be. What it actually is.
Name the fear. Lay it down. And give your work back to the God who put it in you in the first place.
If you want the full Incredible Provider & Protector guide — a Biblical field guide to becoming the man your family can count on — reply PROVIDER and I'll send it directly to you.
"As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. I will provide and protect — by the Spirit of God inside me, not by my own strength."
Rise up, Incredible Man. Your family is waiting.
With you in the fight,
Pastor D
P.S. — The man who works from fear and the man who works from faith can look identical from the outside. Same hours. Same hustle. Completely different foundation. One is building on sand. The other is building on rock. You already know which one holds when the storm hits.
You're receiving this email because you matter to God — and you matter to me. Whether we've met or not, I'm for you, I believe in you, and I'm praying that you step fully into who God created you to be. I consider you an Incredible Man — not because you're perfect, but because you're called. Called to live with conviction, lead with integrity, and stand firm when life gets hard. The word incredible comes from the Latin incredibilis, meaning "not believable." It describes a man who lives differently — set apart, grounded, and unwavering.
I'm grateful you're here.
