God must increase and I must decrease
Here we are at the end of another football season. I enjoyed coaching the 9-10 year old team for my son and his friends for the second year. I couldn’t help but make the analogy of how football practice and our walk with God are so similar. Gathering the kids for practice, many of these kids do not have a clue on what they are doing or the work and repetition it takes to get better. As the coach it is my responsibility to show them the correct way of doing it. We do it over and over again until the child has mastered the drill that we are working on. I would be doing a disservice to the child to not take the time to show him how to do it correctly. The reason for making them do it again and again until it is correct is because #1 if not done correctly injury can occur and #2 by doing it correct the child will be much more effective in a game situation.
Just like our relationship with God, He is there to shows us how to do it correctly to avoid injury and to be more effective. God does not move us on to other responsibilities until we have mastered exactly what it is He is teaching us now. And just like these children learning to play football, we need to do the drill over and over again until we have mastered it before God will move forward with us. The purpose is so we can be more like Christ. In order for us to be more like Christ, we first need Christ within us. In the words of John the Baptist, standing waist-deep in the river: “He must increase and I must decrease.” Paul says the same thing in Galatians 2:20: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” The only way Christ can increase and I can decrease is similar to a football practice, constant repetition and involvement within His word and talking with him through prayer.
Where do you stand with God?
Thanks for taking the time to watch this…I told God from day one I would share His story any time I could. This was shown in September at Liberty University’s spiritual emphasis week prior to Clayton King speaking. You can watch the full sermon by clicking the hyperlink…when you get to the Liberty page, click the Convocation tab and go to the video September 7, How do you believe in God?
Enjoy.
Do you do what is right or what is easy?
I would say for the biggest portion of my life, through the age of 30, I have always been an individual who has done just enough to get by. I was always cutting corners and looking for the path of least resistance. Some of you may know exactly what I am talking about, but for some maybe not. Starting back even in middle and high school I was satisfied with a B or C in a class. I could have easily worked a little bit and received a higher grade, but my motto was to exert as little effort as possible to get by and keep mom and dad from killing me. You become what you practice, so this same lackadaisical attitude started to follow me into all areas of my life, sports, college, relationships, worship for God and prayer. I once heard Suze Orman say, “Do what is right, not what is easy”. Of course, she was talking in a financial context, but it struck me as a very compelling statement. Read more
Preparation, Vital to Opportunity
In our year end staff meeting I quickly touched on some introspective points we as people need to focus on to make us better as a distance learning team. These characteristics can also be used to make us better husbands, wives, sons, daughters or ministry workers etc. The specific characteristic I touched on in the meeting was “prepare for opportunity before it comes”. What you do today really does effect what happens tomorrow. I could continue this and spin it into why we should prepare so we are better as an organization, but instead I want to take that principle and spin it so you grasp for other areas of your life other than just work. God really does have a plan for your life, but He also expects us to prepare for the time when He is ready to move within us. If we are lazy, complacent or disobedient to what He is refining us for, He will not be able to move you into that opportunity that He has waiting. Consider Noah, he had to build an ark that took between 80 and 120 years of preparation before God could move and fulfill His plan in Noah’s life. Read more
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