Confirmation - 3/30/06

Okay, so I just published the post below this one and loaded the page to make sure everything uploaded. The automated Verse of the Day on the right had the following scripture posted:

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.

6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

It's confirmation for me that this was really where God directed me in answer to my prayer to speak to me through His word tonight. This verse is from Isaiah, the Old Testament prophet who told of the coming Christ, the Messiah. Jesus' life - and death - was the fulfillment of that prophecy. His fulfilling that promise meant we didn't have to live by the law of Moses to be holy any longer; like the verse above states he was crushed for OUR iniquities. We can now live under his grace, washed clean in His sight by the power of his blood, the power of his love...

Law & Order - 3/30/06

There is a spiritual law at work in our lives that I don't quite understand. For reasons I cannot fathom, blood is spiritual currency; it can be traded for redemption. That’s why the Jewish people sacrificed animals, because our sin brings about death and blood can erase sin. But, only sinless blood. That makes every one of us broke.

There is one however who is not broke. Just one. The book of Revelation, the book that describes the end of all things, shows a moment in time where Heaven looks throughout all of history for one person worthy enough to open the scroll that brings about God’s final plan. Here, worthy meant "without any sin." No one was found, not one person ever. John, the author of the book, began to weep. An angel then told him, “Do not cry! The Lion from the tribe of Judah, David’s descendant, has won the victory so that He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals” Revelation 5:5.

Jesus is the powerful Lion of Judah he spoke of, the one who is not spiritually bankrupt. The victory spoken of here is obeying his Father and allowing himself to be killed. His blood was sinless, the only blood powerful enough. His was the only spiritual bank account big enough to cancel OUR debt – and He did it out of love for us. He resisted the urge to have legions of angels strike down his oppressors and instead let them shed his sinless blood on behalf of our sinful selves.

I opened my Bible tonight and began reading an excerpt in the margins from Six Hours One Friday by Max Lucado. It described the moment when the Father in Heaven cast my sin, our sin, onto Jesus and then allowed Him to be slain in our place.

“Hour of death, moment of sacrifice, it is your moment. Rehearsed a million times on false altars with false lambs; the moment of truth has come… The living must die so that the dying can live. The time has come to kill the lamb…”

The instant man first sinned, this was the only option remaining to bridge the divide sin caused between rebellious man and a perfect, holy God. And He followed through with it because He loves us each so much.

Immediately after reading that, I flipped over a chunk of pages. I know God was speaking to me directly through the words on the page (like I asked Him to before starting my devotion) because my eyes were already focused on the line that read, “I have loved you.” Yup. I know this to be true, and believed He was telling me this now through His word, but the English teacher in me became confused by the tense. What do you mean, “have loved?” That’s past tense. You don’t love me still?
Then I read the next line of the verse, “The greatest love a person can show is to die for his friends.” ... I have loved you...

BAM! Yes, he has loved me because He died for me – past tense, thank you very much. And, whoah! He called me – us – His friends! John 15:12-17, “This is my command: Love each other as I have loved you. The greatest love a person can show is to die for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know what his master is doing. But I call you friends, because I have made known to you everything I heard from my father. You did not choose me; I chose you. And I give you this work: to go and produce fruit, fruit that will last. Then the father will give you anything you ask for in my name. This is my command: Love each other.”

We’ve been promoted here. From servant, to friend. We have been told His plan – by doing so He offered to us His friendship. We prove ours to Him by doing what He commands. We’re not slaves, we don’t have to. But if we obey His teachings, we’re friends with the most high God and if we work for Him we can have anything we ask for in Jesus’ name.

I think of my friends, and how I want them to get along with each other because I love them all. You probably feel the same way. Same with Jesus. We’re His friends and He wants us to love each other. Loving others is His command, which in some circumstances may in itself be work. But this is the work that bears fruit – fruit that lasts. Loving others enough to bring them into God’s presence so they may be touched by His love is hard work, and can be done in countless ways. But that work bears the fruit that will last forever.

Loving each other will restore order. Again, I don’t fully understand spiritual law, but I know blood has power in it and the most powerful blood has been shed for me and anyone else who will receive that gift. That’s the law that will bring about ultimate order through His loving sacrifice. Revelation 5:11-12, “Then I looked, and I heard the voices of many angels around the throne, and the four living creatures, and the elders. There were thousands and thousands of angels, saying in a loud voice: ‘The Lamb who was killed is worthy to receive power, wealth, wisdom, and strength, honor, glory, and praise!”

That’s my friend...

Is he yours?

Watch Where You're Steering ... 3/27/06

James 3:4-5, 7-12, “Also a ship is very big, and it is pushed by strong winds. But a very small rudder controls that big ship, making it go wherever the pilot wants. It is the same with the tongue. It is a small part of the body, but it brags about great things… People can tame every kind of wild animal, bird, reptile, and fish, and they have tamed them, but no one can tame the tongue…We use our tongues to praise our Lord and Father, but then we curse people whom God made like Himself. Praises and curses from the same mouth! …Do good and bad water flow from the same spring? …can a fig tree make olives, or can a grapevine make figs? No! And a well full of salty water cannot give good water.”

It’s strange to think that the tongue has so much power over our lives. But the more I think about it, the more clearly I see how our daily lives, our interactions with everybody, is based on language. What we say – or don’t say – determines how others see us and how we respond to the circumstances in our lives.

It’s also a convicting reminder that our tongue and what we allow to be said should be constant; always the same. Either be a spring of life, love, and truth untainted by sour words, or allow bitterness to speak for you without the façade of misleading wisdom.

If I’m frustrated at work or in a situation at home, I’m better off to bite my tongue than to lash out with a forked tongue and poisoned lips, causing damage; so that any words of truth I speak at other times may have impact by their own weight and not diluted by the sourness of what I speak on other occasions.

Plus, harsh words leave wounds that contradict the blessed love I’ve been given, the same love I’m commanded to pass along to others. Proverbs 12:18, “Careless words stab like a sword, but wise words bring healing.” I’d rather serve God as one who has healing words rather than carelessly creating wounds with a sword that God will have to heal in that person later on.

Even more, as a Christian my entire faith is weighed and measured by what I say. If I want to bring glory to my Father and truth to a non-Christian, I should be consistent in the words I speak to that effect. James 1:26, “People who think they are religious but say things they should not say are just fooling themselves. Their ‘religion’ is worth nothing.” Ouch! Spiteful words are just one thing that creates the stereotype of the Christian Hypocrite – an image used so often as an excuse not to believe in the truth of God's word. I’d rather be completely silent before allowing a personality conflict to demonstrate to another that my “religion” is worth nothing.

My tongue directs my life. I use it to praise my Father, that is what is in my heart and what I want to share and what is spoken from my mouth should reflect that. Luke 6:45, “Good people bring good things out of the good they stored in their hearts. But evil people bring evil things out of the evil they stored in their hearts. People speak the things that are in their hearts.” My God has been working in me my entire life to change my heart. I can do my part then to prevent cavalier comments from staining His good work…

Money Money Money ... (MONEY!) - 3/25/06

Ecclesiastes 5:10&11, “Whoever loves money will never have enough money; whoever loves wealth will not be satisfied with it. This also useless. The more wealth people have, the more friends they have to help spend it. So what do people really gain? They gain nothing except to look at their riches.”

I don’t really feel like I’m struggling with materialism at this point in my life, but I know I have in the past and there may be a point in the future when I’ll do so again. So, I’m going along with what I feel to be God’s direction here in His word today.

I came across this scripture almost immediately after opening my Bible. It used to be a favorite of mine — probably back when I first discovered my materialism, “He who loves money will never have money enough.” This from the wisest King ever to rule — and probably the wealthiest. I believe Solomon was speaking from wisdom AND experience here.

The line directly following this quote in the scripture explains a bit about why the lover of money never has enough, “whoever loves wealth will not be satisfied with it.” That’s because happiness isn’t found in wealth. Wealth is “useless,” as it says here. Happiness cannot come from things. Sure, you may have more friends with increased wealth, but they’re not the kind that bring happiness either, they’re the kind that help you spend money. Chances are when the money runs out, so will they.

A favorite quote of mine I heard a couple years ago goes, “If you can’t be happy without it, you won’t be happy with it.” If there is one thing you’re pining for — putting your hope for happiness into — you’ll see when you get it that it wasn’t what you really wanted or expected because such things cannot bring lasting satisfaction or happiness. Hope in Christ is the only lasting source of satisfaction and pure joy.

Yesterday I was listening to the “Spirit” SIRIUS radio station at work. Between songs, the DJ played a great quote that caught my attention, “Envy is counting someone else’s blessings instead of your own.” If we focus our energy on serving God rather than ourselves, our needs will be met AND we’ll be rewarded. If we are good stewards of what we have been given, even more will be added to our lives, according to the parable in Matthew 25:14-30. I believe that applies to being good stewards of everything God has given us, not just money: our homes, the people in our lives, our bodies … we must demonstrate responsibility to our God before we’re blessed with increase.

To do so, we must constantly seek His will to truly serve Him and not ourselves. Remember, you cannot serve yourself and Him at the same time. “No one can serve two masters. The person will hate one master and love the other, or will follow one master and refuse to follow the other. You cannot serve both God and worldly riches” Matthew 6:24.

I will then continue to try and serve God — something permanent — rather than the temporary possessions and lifestyles of this world.

Longing, Love, & Loyalty - 3/22/06

James 4:2-5, 7 & 10, “You do not get what you want, because you do not ask God. Or when you ask, you do no receive because the reason you ask is wrong. You want things so you can use them for your own pleasures. So, you are not loyal to God! You should know that loving the world is the same as hating God. Do you think the scripture means nothing that says, ‘The Spirit that God made to live in us wants us for himself alone?’

So give yourselves completely to God. Stand against the devil, and the devil will run from you. Come near to God, and God will come near to you. Don’t be too proud in the Lord’s presence, and He will make you great.”

There is so much truth here. James 4 is a great chapter. Here, we are reminded that we need only to ask and we shall receive what we need from our loving God. It's possible though that if we have asked and did not receive it's because the reason we asked is wrong. Are we asking Him to provide something that would help us to better serve Him? Or are we asking for something that will serve our own will and our own desires - or for our own plan in our lives rather than His? MY GOD IS NOT MY GENIE. I've had to remind myself of that several times. I serve Him, not the other way around. Yes, he has the power to give me anything, but won’t do so if that thing will replace God in my life.

Read the next part of the above scripture — if you ask of something for your own pleasure, you are not loyal to God. In fact, loyalty to the world makes us God’s enemy. Hmmm...that’s not really a position I want to be in. At some point, every Christian has to face his or her longing for worldly things, and power — absolute control over every aspect of our lives. This is one of the hardest things to give to God; control of our will.

The scripture above also quotes a line from Exodus, reminding us that God wants us for Himself alone. This is from the original Ten Commandments where God admits to being a jealous God. In fact, the very first commandment is to have no other Gods except Him, followed by the commandment to worship no idols. We worship Him and Him alone.

Check, and, check. I’ve never made a Golden Calf or a statue of a man with the head of a jackal. You can come over and check for yourself. Definitely never worshiped either of them.
Except … we can idolize and worship less obvious replacements of God. Fame. Money. Power. Money. Control. Success. Money. Good looks. Talent. Money. Control. These are the true American Idols, Simon.

Read the book of Hosea. He was an Old Testament prophet, and God commanded him to marry a prostitute, Gomer. He made her promise to stop doing her business and devote her love and loyalty to him. So she did. For awhile, then she started to go back to her old ways. Grounds for divorce, right? Nope. God commanded Hosea to take her back and ask her to re-commit herself to him. Whoah! Why? Because the Israelites — and we — have done the exact same thing to God. There is no other human experience that can explain the emotions God has when we replace Him with other things except infidelity. He feels cheated, and rightfully so.

I have been Gomer. I’ve let the devil tempt me in the past to seek out my own will or chase sin; to make my own selfish plans for my life and I know that it hurt God. But He took me back and would a thousand times over. The scripture in James clearly states that if we resist the devil and his temptations, he will flee from us. The One whose Holy Spirit lives within us has already defeated the devil so we need only to declare our allegiance to Jesus and that will chase him away. And if we come near to God, He will come near to us. So we can easily prevent any future "Gomerisms" by making an effort to draw near to God every day.

His love will never fail us, never end, and never give up. We’re human and make mistakes, but we’re forgiven before we even ask for it. That’s living under grace. What’s more, living for Him rather than ourselves will bring about greater blessings than anything we would have chosen for ourselves anyway. “Don’t be too proud in the Lord’s presence, and He will make you great.” Humble yourself enough to serve His will instead of your own, and He will take great joy in elevating you so all can see God’s power in your life. You will have great success and blessings so that He may receive the glory. Then, our longing will not be for material things, but only for Him and His Love, and He will have our Loyalty until that day when we get to be with Him and His other servants for eternity in His love, His peace.

Additives & Preservatives - 3/16/06

(Nutrition = Bible)
2 Peter 1:3, “Jesus has the power of God, by which He has given us everything we need to live and to serve God. We have these things because we know Him. Jesus called us by His glory and goodness.”

Read that verse again, slowly.

By the power of God, given to Jesus, WE have been given EVERYTHING we need to live and to serve God. Remember Luke 12:22-31? Your God has taken care of you; He knows everything you need before you do. Think of these as preservatives. In one sense, He’s brought these things into your life to keep you fresh and healthy, so you can focus on more important things rather than seeking them out on your own. In another sense, they are pre-serve-atives. “Pre” meaning “before,” and “serve” referring to serving God. They are first given to you when He calls you so you can be free to go out and serve God without worrying where your next meal will come from.

Now read the second line of the scripture — we have all we need to live, and serve God, because we know Him. We have a relationship with the source of all things. God is our one true God, but also our father, our friend, our teacher, our love. He doesn’t want the relationship a donor has with a charity — He wants to be a part of our lives.

Look at the next line in the scripture to confirm that. HE called US. It’s not like He was playing intergalactic monopoly with angels and then we interrupted Him with a prayer or petition. He first chose us, our entering into His presence is the return of our heart to His call.

So if we don’t have to worry about the basics in life, then what? Read on! 2 Peter 1:5-9, “Because you have these blessings, do your best to add these things to your lives:

To your faith, add goodness; to this add

Knowledge; to this add

Self Control; to this add

Patience; to this add

Service for God; to this add

Kindness for Brothers and Sisters in Christ; to this add

Love

…if all of these things are in you and growing, they will help you to be useful and productive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

These are the additives that follow Jesus’ pre-serve-atives. He’s taken care of you, and now you are free to respond to the call of His service. There are more blessings for you in doing so. God still has a lot of work to do in this world, and wants to use us as His hands and His feet to go out and do that work. But, we’re not puppets or robots. We have free will, and must make a conscious decision and honest effort to add this list to our lives and serve Him, always giving the credit, the glory, and honor for what we’ve achieved to our Lord.

He Is, I'm Not - 3/16/06

Not my favorite sounding song, but the lyrics are powerful since we have a LIVING God. God originally told His people His name is "I AM." He is everything, and is never locked in the past or the future. He IS, and is to come as the scripture states. These lyrics echo that:

I am the maker of the Heavens
I am the bright and morning star
I am the breath of all Creation
Who always was
And is to come

I am the One who walked on water
I am the One who calmed the seas
I am the miracles and wonders
So come and see
And follow me
You will know

Chorus:
I am the fount of living water
The risen Son of man
The healer of the broken
And when you cry
I am your savior and redeemer
Who bore the sins of man
The author and perfecter
Beginning and the end
I am

I am the spirit deep inside you
I am the word upon your heart
I am the One who even knew you
Before your birth
Before you were

Chorus:
Before the Earth (I am)
The universe (I am)
In every heart (I am)
Oh, where you are (I am)
The Lord of love (I am)
The King of Kings (I am)
The Holy lamb (I am)
Above all things

Chorus:
Yes, I am almighty God your father
The risen son of man
The healer of the broken
And when you cry
I am your savior and redeemer
Who bore the sins of man
The author and perfecter
Beginning and the end
I am

Mark Schultz - "I Am"

Trust in Faithfulness - 3/12/06

Galatians 3:6, "...Abraham believed God, and God accepted Abraham's faith, and that faith made him right with God." (Quoted here from Genesis 15:6)
Galatians 3:11, "...Those who are right with God will live by trusting Him." (Quoted here from Habakkuk 2:4)
Galatians 3:3, "You began your life in Christ by the spirit. Now are you trying to make it complete by your own power? That is foolish."

As a practicing Christian I believe God, and know He has accepted my faith to make me right with Him. This is a gift offered to me through the price His son paid; I have faith in Jesus who died for my sins - in my place. That faith has reconciled me with the one holy Creator of all things.

Therefore, according to this scripture and countless others, I must live by trusting in Him. Given the price He paid, I cannot live for myself anymore. I am called now to be His hands and feet with all other Christians, doing His work here before we're blessed with eternity in His presence.

I must be careful always though not to take back the control of my life that I've given to the only one who deserves that control. The first of these scriptures sets the model for faith leading to a right relationship with God. The second scripture commands how I should live my life after being right with God - by trusting in Him. The third scripture warns against the foolishness of trying to use my own power to complete my life.

There is no reason not to trust Him; no reason to take back control when I can't see the whole picture. "...In Christ, God has given us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly world." Ephesians 1:3. He's given us everything. What's more, "Because of His love, God had already decided to make us his own children through Jesus Christ." Ephesians 1:5. We have been given everything in the spiritual realm. Then as his children, why wouldn't he give us everything we need in the earthly realm?

Sadly, I don't believe He could give us everything in the material sense and still trust us to keep him as the center of our lives. If we have control over all the material things we desire, we would feel mighty important and focus our attention on things rather than God. But He will give his children everything according to their need.

Going back to Galatians 3:11 then, we must live daily trusting that He will provide. In my case, I don't know where I will live or work in five months. But God led me tonight to the scripture James 4:13-15, "Some of you say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to some city. We will stay there a year, do business, and make money.' But you do not know what will happen tomorrow. Your life is like a mist. You can see it for a short time, but then it goes away. So you should say, 'If the Lord wants, we will live and do this or that.'" Again ... I must trust the God of All, in all things...

Kingdom Culture - 3/11/06

John 12:42-43, “But many believed in Jesus, even many of the leaders. But because of Pharisees, they did not say they believed in Him for fear they would be put out of the synagogue. They loved praise from people more than praise from God.”

A true follower of Christ is just that — a follower. A believer who has taken the extra step to act on what he or she believes is true. A follower is willing to walk away from anything they once held valuable for the sake of God. They love praise from God more than praise from people.
But the verse above refers to the opposite — those who love praise from people more than praise from God. They are believers, but they refuse to act on their belief for fear of rejection.

Their culture was centered around the synagogue and the fear of being banished from it; ours centers around entertainment and gratification of individual/selfish desires. People living in both cultures must decide between trading praise from people with praise from God — by acting out what they believe to be true.

The culture of the Kingdom of God is what unites the two groups, and anybody in any other culture or ethnic group. Mutual beliefs and values separate the Christian from the surrounding culture, turning them into a beacon of kingdom values. 1 Peter 2:11, “Dear friends, you are like foreigners and strangers in this world. I beg you to avoid the evil things your bodies want to do that fight against your soul.”

Our culture promotes so many of these evil things that fight against our soul as “normal” and even a “rite of passage.” A quote in the Max Lucado Bible from Walter Wangerin addresses the world’s “healthy” promotion of sexual activity. This is a quote from his book As For Me And My House. Sorry for the length, but it’s good food….

“…[they] justified their sin by the premise that sexual satisfaction is somehow their right — because God made them this way and they can’t help it; because the world makes so much of sexual experience; because they don’t receive enough “loving” from their spouses.
But in fact, the marriage vow subordinates one’s individual satisfactions in all areas to one’s marital partner — declaring publicly that sex is less important than one’s spouse, less important than the health of the relationship. Sexual satisfaction is no longer a right, but a blessing, a gift of the relationship to its partners….

He who worships anything of himself is a candidate for extra-marital sex. His marriage is vulnerable. His desires have become his privileges. So long as he is his own god, he feels himself free to obey nothing and no one but himself.

But he who takes seriously his declared commitment to the mutual relationship with his spouse, will guard the marriage even against the assaults of his own desires. His attitude sensitizes him, making him careful, wary, and aware. He will be able identify as threats those desires that are purely personal and merely self-satisfying. He will recognize them already when they are weak and small, before they grow monstrous and demanding; and…while he can, cut them off and quench them.”

A Big Ol' House - 3/6/06

2 Timothy 2:20-21, "In a large house, there are not only things made of gold and silver, but also things made of wood and clay. Some things are used for special purposes, and others are made for ordinary jobs. All who make themselves clean from evil will be used for special purposes. They will be made holy, useful to the Master, ready to do any good work."

God's house is big. There, you will find all kinds of things - and people. Some may hesitate coming into God's presence, God's service, or God's love because they don't feel like they have anything to offer the One who created it all. But he loves us so much! He doesn't want that mistaken idea to stop us. Like the lyrics to the song "More" by Matthew West, "I love you more than the sun / and the stars that I taught how to shine / you are mine and you shine for me too / I love you yesterday / and today / and tomorrow / I'll say again and again / I love you more."

The scripture above clearly states that God will make anything - anybody - holy, useful to do any good work through His love for us. All we have to do is "...run away from the evil young people like to do. Try hard to live right and to have faith, love, and peace, together with those who trust in the Lord from pure hearts" 2 Timothy 2:22.

Then, we can be a useful member of God's household regardless of what we're made of. Part of a household we really cannot fathom. He'll use whatever we bring to Him, gold, silver, wood, or clay. We'll offer ourselves wholly to his service.

And He wants all of us to be with Him in his house at his banquet table. Like the parable of the banquet table, where after some guests arrived, and there was still plenty of room in the home, "The master said to the servant, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes, and urge the people there to come so my house will be full'" Luke 14:18. God wants a full house!

You have an open invitation to come to the Father's house and join us all at the great banquet table - He has prepared a place just for you.

Our Daily Bread - 3/3/05

During one of the songs at the worship service last night, I started thinking about the Israelites wandering the desert after leaving Egypt, relying on God to provide them their food. I also thought about how God commanded them to take no more than they could consume in a day. If they tried to store up additional baskets of manna, the extra amount would rot and be useless.

These people were forced to rely upon the Lord from day to day. When they went to bed, they didn't have food for breakfast the next day. But they trusted in God, and when they stepped out of their tents the next morning, their daily bread - the manna from heaven - lay all around them. What faith it takes for us to do the same; to look at our empty plates or bank accounts or lives and trust that God will provide exactly what we need, when we need it, and in the amount that will perfectly satisfy that need.

This was before the desert theme at the worship service was explicitly explained. One part of the service included a tub of sand in the middle of the floor. We were encouraged to reflect on a lonely, barren desert place, an analogy for seeking God's direction during difficult times in our lives. We were asked to come forward if we wanted, to run our hands through the sand and wait on the Lord, wait and listen to what He may say to us.

I was grabbing handfuls of sand, letting the grains fall through my fingers as I prayed. There were zip lock bags there, and we were asked to fill them with the sand and take it with us to remind us of the experience, of meeting God in a desert place.

I had a bit of sand on my fingers already, having let it slip through them when I decided to fill a bag to take with me. I began to reach for a fistful when I had a thought that was not my own, "Take only what you need." I didn't think I needed many grains of sand to remind me of the box or a desert, so the pinch that was already sitting on my fingers I sprinkled into the bag.

Then I came home and read the scripture about the manna, "This is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. The Lord has commanded, 'Each of you must gather what he needs' ... so the people of Israel did this, some people gathered much and some people gathered little ... each person gathered just as much as he needed" Exodus 16:15-18.

I believe this scripture and this encounter is God's way of reminding me to trust in Him and His provisions according to His will. I also believe I'm going to soon be in a situation where I have access to plenty, but should take only that which I need, lest the excess I bring into my life rots and stinks - as did the additional manna the Israelites gathered for themselves.

Spiritual Athletes - 3/2/06

1 Timothy 4:6-7, “…You will be made strong by the words of the faith and the good teaching which you have been following. But do not follow foolish stories that disagree with God’s truth, but train yourself to serve God.”

This sounds like God’s exercise program. Like an athlete training for his or her event, we must “train (ourselves) to serve God.” Except we don’t train for a specific sport. We train for living according to God’s plan and His will rather than our own. This will take an incredible amount of endurance since we will be in the game for the rest of our lives. But, the training is ongoing – we train ourselves to serve God by constantly living in His word (the Bible) and practicing the teachings we find there.

Like the Olympics, we are each athletes who bring to God our own special abilities that He strengthens for the big game. Not every athlete is a runner or skier or snowboarder. Likewise, not all of God’s athletes are equipped with the same skills. Some are teachers or prophets or musicians or missionaries, for example. God can use anything you bring to Him, to further the kingdom and spread the word of His Good News.

The verse above also says we’ll be made strong by words of faith and good teaching. We’ll need that strength. Like any good sporting event, there is competition. The enemy is training his own athletes to compete against God’s plan. The verse states there are, “foolish stories that disagree with God’s truth.”

We need train every day to stand strong against misleading, foolish stories and stand firm for the ultimate truth, with the ultimate Coach guiding us. Every day we compete for Him. And, we shouldn’t worry about how much we can accomplish at any given time. Just do it! A coach wouldn’t have an athlete in training attempt an Olympic skiing long jump if he or she almost broke a hip on the bunny slope. Like I wrote about David, we will practice with Him for increasingly more challenging tasks – and greater victories. We just need to step up and accept the challenge. So, hit the gym! Open your Bible and start building some spiritual muscle so you can be a formidable presence in God’s fight.

“we will run and never stop
yeah we all will stand together
taking everything we are
and then praising Him forever."