Category Archives: Salvation: A New You

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

April 26, 2014

Posted under

Attitudes & Behavior, Salvation: A New You

SAY IT AIN’T SO, JOE

All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. [1 Corinthians 9:25 (NLT)]

Yesterday’s news included the story of a Major League baseball player caught blatantly cheating; unfortunately, it is an all too common occurrence. It’s not just pitchers using pine tar, but also Olympic sprinters using steroids, champion cyclists blood doping, baseball players using performance enhancing drugs, athletes taking money to throw games, and NFL football players accepting money to deliberately hurt opposing players. Back in 1980, a Boston marathon runner even took the subway just to win the race!

This got me thinking about Louis Zamperini and his experience in the 1938 NCAA track championships. In Laura Hillenbrand’s book Unbroken, the author relates how Zamperini’s track opponents attempted to injure him during the race to keep him from winning. In spite of having a cracked rib, both shins punctured and one of his toes impaled by sharpened track spikes, Zamperini won, setting a new NCAA record, having run the mile in four minutes eight seconds.

These all were gifted athletes, among the best of the best, but that was not enough for them. Why were they not satisfied simply by doing their very best? What joy could possibly come from a win that is accomplished by cheating?

I’m not sure we’re all that different from some of these athletes; it’s just that we’re not in the limelight and our tactics might be a bit more subtle. Do we ever want to win an argument at all costs? Are we ever more interested in proving the other person wrong than in finding the right solution? Have we cut corners to give ourselves an unfair advantage? Does our sense of competition come from the desire to show someone else how weak they are? Has it become more important to defeat others rather than defeat what is weak within us?

Lord, help me defeat the enemy within. May I always meet my challenges with integrity. Run with me, Lord, run with me!

The Challenge is from within. The Opponent is yourself. The Reward is private. The Victory is having met the challenge! [Anonymous – seen on the back of a race event t-shirt]

And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? [Mark 8:36 (NLT)]

 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. [2 Timothy 4:7-8a (NLT)]

 

 

 

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

April 7, 2014

Posted under

Faith & Hope, Salvation: A New You, Sorrow, Grief & Regrets, Today: Make it Count

He’s Just Around the Corner

2014-4-7Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die.” [John 11:25-26 (NLT)]

Dear Lord, console those who mourn and fill them with hope. Wipe their tears and help them find comfort in both their faith and memories. Reassure them that life for the believer does not end at death but will continue forever in your loving presence. Guide the bereaved through their grief and bring them to a place where they again will have laughter and joy in their lives.

I tell you the truth, anyone who believes has eternal life. Yes, I am the bread of life! Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, but they all died. Anyone who eats the bread from heaven, however, will never die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh. [John 6:47-51 (NLT)]

“Death is Nothing at All”
[Henry Scott Holland, Canon of St. Paul’s Cathedral]

Death is nothing at all.
I have only slipped away into the next room.
I am I and you are you.
Whatever we were to each other, that we still are.
Call me by my old familiar name.
Speak to me in the easy way which you always used.
Put no difference in your tone.
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.
Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household word that it always was.
Let it be spoken without affect, without the trace of a shadow on it.
Life means all that it ever meant.
It is the same that it ever was.
There is absolutely unbroken continuity.
Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?
I am waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near, just around the corner.
All is well.

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

March 17, 2014

Posted under

Faith & Hope, Salvation: A New You, Sharing Our Faith

There Are Still Many Martyrs Today

Because of me you will be taken to stand before governors and kings, and you will tell them and the non-Jewish people about me. When you are arrested, don’t worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given the things to say. It will not really be you speaking but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. [Matthew 10:18-20 (NCV)]

According to persecution.org, this past week eight Christians were arrested in Shush, Iran, for the crime of “spreading Christianity;” a church being constructed by Christians in Islamabad, Pakistan, was bulldozed by angry Muslim neighbors; Islamic extremists in Somalia publicly beheaded two women for being Christians; and, in Sri Lanka, a mob of over 250 people, led by Buddhist extremist monks, broke into a Christian pastor’s home and beat him and his wife.

These Christians knew how much it could cost them to speak up for Jesus, but they also knew it would cost them a great deal more not to speak at all. In this nation, we’re not likely to be persecuted for being Christians or arrested for sharing our faith. We should boldly witness for Christ and yet few of us do. What’s our excuse? While Christians elsewhere are being arrested and tried for their faith, most of us are silent about ours. Our silence is a denial of Christ. Beware, we may find ourselves in the highest court, in front of another judge, if we don’t stand before others right now and speak of our belief.

All those who stand before others and say they believe in me, I will say before my Father in heaven that they belong to me. But all who stand before others and say they do not believe in me, I will say before my Father in heaven that they do not belong to me. [Matthew 10:32-33 (NCV)]

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

March 6, 2014

Posted under

Attitudes & Behavior, Holidays & Holy Days, Salvation: A New You

A Season of Gain, Not Loss (Thoughts on Lent)

Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. [Ephesians 5:10 (NLT)]

When I was a young girl, I would give up something I liked, such as candy, gum or cookies during Lent. I then anxiously looked forward to all of the goodies I would enjoy in my Easter basket at the end of Lent. As I got older, I found Lent a perfect time to go on a diet and give up fattening sweets. My thoughts were probably more about my appearance in a bathing suit come summer than the spiritual aspect of this pre-Easter season.

Fortunately, my concept of Lent has expanded and Lent is no longer a time to renew the diet that fell by the wayside in late January. I still give up something I like (sweets often topping the list) but I also give up a behavior of mine I don’t like (which is a far greater struggle than not having chocolate). Lent isn’t just a season of fasting and sacrifice; it is a season of self-examination, reflection, repentance and growth.

O Lord, who hast mercy upon all, take away from me my sins, and mercifully kindle in me the fire of thy Holy Spirit. Take away from me the heart of stone, and give me a heart of flesh, a heart to love and adore Thee, a heart to delight in Thee, to follow and enjoy Thee, for Christ’s sake, Amen. [St. Ambrose of Milan (339-397)]

So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness. [1 Peter 2:2-3 (NLT)]

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

March 2, 2014

Posted under

God's Promises, Salvation: A New You

No Funerals for Him

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! [2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT)]

My pastor pointed out that the gospels make no mention of Jesus conducting any funerals. Jesus didn’t conduct funerals because his business wasn’t death; it was life! He was in the business of resurrection! Our old selves may have died, but a new and better person was born! Thank you, God, for this new life!

Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. [John 10:9-10 (NLT)]

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

February 2, 2014

Posted under

Holidays & Holy Days, Salvation: A New You, Today: Make it Count

Are We Ready for the Big Day? (Super Bowl Sunday)

I don’t think, friends, that I need to deal with the question of when all this is going to happen. You know as well as I that the day of the Master’s coming can’t be posted on our calendars. He won’t call ahead and make an appointment any more than a burglar would. About the time everybody’s walking around complacently, congratulating each other – “We’ve sure got it made! Now we can take it easy!” – suddenly everything will fall apart. It’s going to come as suddenly and inescapably as birth pangs to a pregnant woman. [1 Thessalonians 5:1-3 (MSG)]

It’s Super Bowl Sunday and the past few weeks have been filled with hype about this event. We’ve heard from coaches, players, sports analysts, bookmakers and weather forecasters; we’ve even seen previews of the ads that will be shown during the game. People have stocked up at the grocery and liquor stores, donned their favorite team’s colors, and planned their parties and menus. With ticket prices so high, many made sacrifices to attend the game; some even sold even their cars to purchase tickets. All of this planning and excitement are for the earthly rewards of a championship trophy, money, fame, a few hours of entertainment and bragging rights.

I couldn’t help but compare the elaborate preparations for this yearly event with our preparations for the day we will meet with God. In football there is a clock that tells us when time is running out; life isn’t that way. We’ll never know when the final whistle will blow. Unlike the Super Bowl trophy, God’s reward will be eternal; there won’t be another opportunity to play again the following year. Some day we will all give an accounting of our lives to our Father in Heaven. What kind of preparations are we making for that special day?

You’ve all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You’re after one that’s gold eternally. [1 Corinthians 9:24-25 (MSG)]

There is no escape for the man who squanders his opportunity to prepare to meet God. [From “Hope for Each Day” by Billy Graham]