Failure is important. Every winner loses, But not every loser wins. When you fail let it teach you valuable life lessons like…..1- You don’t always get what you want…2- Being right, doesn’t mean you’ll win…3- Heart is more important than skill…4- Never take anything for granted.

Jesus never gave up on us. He could have walked away from the cross at anytime. He chose to die for us and all our imperfections, once and for all, unconditionally. So as Jason Meraz sings in this song, ” I Won’t Give Up”……I don’t wanna be someone who walks away so easily. I am here to stay and make a difference, that I can be the difference.

As I close I am reminded of an old saying…..Giving up is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

May God Bless you and keep you this week.

Joshua 1:9 – Have I not commanded you? Be Strong and Courageous. Do not be afraid: Do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

1Corinthians 9:24 – Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.

Writer Dallas Willard writes about the drive to significance as “a simple extension of the creative impulse of God that gave us being”. Willard goes on to say that we were built to count as “water is made to run downhill”. As I have written before, we all count. Most of us do not think that we are enough and that we don’t count. Somewhere in our lives we were probably told that lie by a teacher, parent or another person. Unfortunately we took it to heart and our lives began to reflect this lack of self-esteem. We can change this. We need to right now believe our life can be a significant one, directed outwardly toward others. As Willard concludes, “the search for significance is hardwired into our natural drive and calls us to follow God and use it for his own significant ends”.

Matthew 4:14 – Come, follow me, Jesus said, and I will send you out to fish for people.

Romans 8:1 – There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Spiritual indifference is when there is a lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern for God. Our lives become dull and we no longer care about the truth, especially about God. We just don’t care. I think that pretty well defines where we are today. Social media among other things has robbed us of our desire to know the truth. We only want to be seen or heard regardless of what is true or false. We simply want to count our followers and we will sell out who we are in order to boost our numbers. In the Bible the scripture from Revelations 3:15-17 talks about being neither cold or hot, but being lukewarm (indifferent). Jesus goes on to say that He is about to “spit us out of his mouth” because we are lukewarm. He further states that we are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. In Matthew 13:15 Jesus states that people’s hearts have become calloused; they hardly see or hear the truth. We can change our condition if we would turn toward the truth and let Jesus heal us…. Might be something to think about…..Yes?

Matthew 13:15….. For people’s hearts have become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.

Revelation 3:15-17…. I know your deeds that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other. So because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I am about to spit you out of my mouth…..But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked……

The Holy Bible in John 1:1 reads as follows, ” In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The Word refers to Jesus Christ. Obviously words were big in the Bible. God spoke the world into existence. Don’t ask me how He did it. But I believe it. Words are important. .. Very important and should always be taken seriously. However, words have lost much of their power. We need to reclaim the power of the spoken word. What we say is very important. When we say “I love YOU’ we can give another person new life and new hope. When we say, “I hate you” we can destroy another. Author Henri J.M.Nouwen puts it this way, “Lets join God in using words to create goodness, being quick to breathe words of love in the lives of those we know and meet”. AMEN

Genesis 1: 3-4 God said “Let there be light” and there was light. God saw that the light was good.

Do you wonder what Christians believe? The following lyrics from Phil Wickhams’s song, “Song of the Saints” answer this question. Following are some of the lyrics….. This we believe that we have a Father……creator who was and who is and will be ……..who sent us his son, and poured out his spirit with power to heal, resurrect and redeem……glory to God the Father……glory to Christ the risen one…All hail the King with heaven sing……This we believe that we have a savior…….Jesus the Christ for our sin crucified……We believe that on the third morning gone was the stone , for He rose back to life forever He reigns, let his praise fill the skies.

We believe in the saving Gospel

We believe in the living Word

We believe in the Holy spirit moving in His Holy Church

We believe in the King of Heaven

We believe that Jesus is coming again

We believe in the blood that washes

We believe in the cross that saves

We believe in the Resurrection

We believe that Jesus is coming again

We believe our King is returning

And He will wipe every tear from our eyes.

This is what Christians believe…..

AMEN

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I think you get the picture.

I think that most people who hold the Holy Bible in low regard have not spent much time, if any, reading it. I know it can seem overwhelming, especially at first glance. It can be confusing and lots of folks say, “where do I start”. But if one would be patient and give it a chance it would open up a whole new life to them. I have always thought of the Bible as God’s instruction manual for how to live our lives to the fullest. He created us, so it makes sense. It will answer all of one’s questions if one stays the course and makes the Bible reading a part of there daily lives. It is a beautiful and fascinating look into the life of Jesus from the beginning of time through the present and beyond. The scriptures are the best medicine for everything that is ailing mankind. Give it a try. You will not regret it, for it is life saving..

John 10:10….I have come so that you may have life and have it to the fullest.

Proverbs 4:10….Listen, my son, accept what I say, and years of your life will be many. I will instruct you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run you will not stumble. Hold on to instruction, do not let it go ; guard it well, for it is your life.

Romans 12:2…….Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…….

John 14:6……..Jesus answered, “I am the Way, and the Truth and the Life….

Author Dan Crenshaw, in his book “Fortitude” raises some good questions on who you want to be vs what you want to be. As a high school teacher for 40 years there is no doubt that schools put all their energy in preparing students for “what they want to be”. Very little time and instruction goes into educating students on “who they want to be”. What class did you take in school that taught good character traits like honesty, responsibility, tough-mindedness, decency, politeness, good manners, being humble, saying please and thank you, being disciplined, being even tempered, reliability, being productive, etc. Think of the benefits to the person and society if we took the time to teach these to our kids. Its not just the parents responsibility. Its all of our responsibility. Every adult in America should want their child to be exposed to these good teachings. Whether at school or at home or how about at both places, we need to help one another find out “who they want to be”. AMEN

1Peter 3:3-4…..Do not let your adorning be external —the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or clothing you wear— but let the adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.

God Bless You and have a great week……

The mystery of God is unsettling to all of us. We want to have an answer to everything. We need to learn to live with the understanding that mystery is where God works because if He only does what we understand is he God? Throughout the Bible Jesus urges us to lean not on our own understanding. One of my favorite scriptures is Proverbs 3: 5-6 which reads, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him and He will direct your paths”. We all should enter into the mystery of God. God Bless You.

We all have a story to tell. Our lives are our story. Unique and different from everyone elses. But there is a bigger story than ours….way bigger and Jesus is the main character in this story. We all need to take a serious look at this “biggest story of our time” and see what it is all about. Find out for ourselves. I really don’t care what someone else says. I want to learn what Jesus says about my life. I want to hear what he says about eternity, forgiveness, purpose, truth and wholeness. I want as much about the big picture as possible. We should not settle for anything less. We should go to the cross and kneel before Jesus ourselves and not rely on someone elses opinion on Jesus. GO AND SEEK GOD.

Jeremiah 29:13 – You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.

God Bless you and have a great week………….

Henri J.M. Nouwen writes, “to be grateful for the good things that happen in our lives is easy, but to be grateful for all of our lives…..the good as well as the bad, the moments of joy as well as the moments of sorrow, the successes as well as the failures, the rewards as well as the rejections –that requires hard spiritual work.” My whole life has revolved around sports. I coached for 40 plus years. I will be honest, it bothers me still today when an athlete gives honor to Jesus in victory, but never in defeat. We all hear them praise Jesus for their victory, but seldom if ever in defeat. They go to Disneyland if they win the big one, they go no where if they lose. I am still waiting for that one ‘star’ player to give thanks to Jesus in defeat. Thank you Henri Nouwen, well said and a very important message.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 – give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.