3 Ways to Elevate your Game in 2016
2 Peter 1:5-105 In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. 8 The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins. 10 So, dear brothers and sisters,[a] work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away.
The Christian life is about Direction not Perfection and Here are three actions and attitudes that I believe God can use to center our lives as we move into all this has for us this coming year.
1. Practice & Train – Our habits determine our performance
On January 15 2009 shortly after his plane took off from LaGuardia Airport Captain Chelsey Sullenberg report to air traffic control that the twin engines of his jet had shut down after sucking in an entire flock of birds. The plane was going to crash; it was just a matter of where and when. Could he return to the airport? Could he land the plane at the nearest airport over 12 miles away in New Jersey? Captain Sully quickly decided that the best option to land his plane and save the lives of his passengers was to land in the Hudson River below. The Captain calmly announced to his passengers to brace for the impact of a crash landing, and then proceeded to land his plane in the river. The engines were producing zero thrust, and the passengers recalled the silence before hitting the water. After the plane hit, all 155 passengers were evacuated, and captain sully stayed on the sinking plane walking it over 2 times to make sure that every passenger had been evacuated. Every single passenger and crew member survived the incident. After this event the biggest question on everyone’s mind was
HOW DID THE CAPTAIN MAKE SUCH A WISE DECISION UNDER A MOMENT OF SUCH GREAT CATASTROPHE?
Captain Sully summed it up in an interview on national television by saying this I’ve been making small regular decisions every day of my piloting, that have been deposited into the bank of my experience, education, and training. And on the day that plane went down the there was a large balance in my bank account, so I could make a huge withdrawal when I had to figure out how to safely land that plane. The defining moment of his life wasn’t a one minute decision, but the instinct of a person who had given their life to practicing wise decisions.Warren Wiersbe once said “a faith that can’t be tested, can’t be trusted”Are we practicing those small wise daily decision, so that we can make that large withdrawal when catastrophe hits our lives?
We practice and Train through Spiritual Disciples
Disciplines of Abstaining
Ways of denying ourselves something we want or need in order to make space to focus and connect with God.Solitude, Silence, Sabbath, Submission, Fasting
Disciplines of Engaging
Ways of connecting with God and other peopleBible Reading, Worship, Prayer, Fellowship, Reflection, ServiceLife is 10% what happens to you and 90% the way you respond to it
2000yrs ago one the first Christian leaders, Paul gave this advice “Forgetting what is behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on towards the goal for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus.” in Philippians 3:13-14 that advice from God’s Word has stood the test of time.
2. Get off the Bench and into the game
John Wesley averaged three sermons a day for fifty-four years. In his work of Evangelism he traveled by horseback more than 200,000 miles. His published works include a four-volume commentary on the entire Bible, a four Volume work on the history of the church, six books on church music, and seven volumes of Sermons. He also edited a set of fifty books known as the Christian Library. He was greatly devoted to his work never waking later than 4am and seldom concluding his work before 10pm. See John Wesley knew that warming up the pine (or sitting on the bench) meant that if he was not in the game God was going to use someone else. By sitting on the sideline we are asking God to pass us up, we have get in the game and play the position God had appointed for us.We all have a position to play in the Kingdom of God, and we should be walking by our strengths and spiritual gifts not someone else’s
The things that kept you out of the game in 2015 don’t have to keep you out in 2016 We determine our effort, no matter what happens it’s always our choice to play You have to be present and make an effort to experience a miracle. Miracles don’t happen when we are not present!
3. Stay Focused - Don't let the opposition distract you
The Bible describes the opposition like this: 2 Corinthians 11 A serpent trying to deceive God’s People John 10 a wolf trying to defeat God’s flock 1 Peter a lion trying to devour God’s children
The enemy has already been defeated, but he wants you to think that there’s still time on the clock. He will hit you with any obstacle to hold you back you from God’s will to elevate your life Health, Finances, Relationships, whatever. But in the midst of these trials remember this about the enemy: The Devil is not in the first two chapters of the Bible, and he’s definitely not in the last two chapters!
It’s like one my favorite sweatshirts says; Jesus beat the devil, with a big ugly stick!!! The enemy has been defeated and we have the victory, through what Christ accomplished for us on cross.
Faith without Trails is an empty promise to God
We can Practice, We can get into the Game, and we can stay focused, but we only win when God is directing the plays.
I’m reminded of the story of a young child that was playing in a sandbox. After digging around he hit something hard with his toy shovel, and began to uncover a large rock almost as big a he was. He sat for a moment and realized that a large rock had no place in a sandbox, so he began to dig it out. After the entire rock was uncovered, he began to leverage his weight against it to push it to the edge of the sandbox. After about 15 minutes of struggle to get the large rock to the edge, he realized that he would not be able to lift the rock over the large lip on rim of the sandbox. Out of options and now extremely frustrated, he began to cry thinking that he would never be able to accomplish this enormous task. After a few minutes his father who was washing dishes in the kitchen sink looked out the kitchen window and realized that his son was crying in frustration. The father dried his hands and walked out the backyard approaching the sandbox. He looked down at his son and asked “son why are you crying”. The son began to explain that the rock did not belong in the sandbox, and there is no way that he would be able to get it out. The dad listened, and when his son finished he asked, “well son did you use all of your strength”. The son replied “of course I used all my strength, every ounce of it”. Then the father reached down and picked up the rock and set it just outside the sandbox, and he looked up at his son and said “NO SON. You didn't use all of your strength, because you never asked me to help you with my strength.
Psalm 46:1 “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help- in trouble”See the young boy practiced his digging, He realized that the rock wasn't going to move itself, and he was focused on getting the rock out of the sandbox. But the final portion of the equation was that he had to rely on strength greater than his own to finish the task.
GOD is our COACH directing the Plays We can Practice and Train, Get off the Bench, and Stay Focused, but the only way to win in life is to allow God to direct us every step of the way