Perseverance

There are parts of life where sometimes, things get challenging.  In athletics, playing time can be sparse for young players. Older players get tired of drills and fundamentals.  Players and coaches alike can hit plateaus and become complacent and stop striving for change and improvement.  Sometimes other things that look like fun can creep into our minds and distract us from our mission and our goals.

For every obstacle we face, we must Persevere!  The dictionary defines it this way: to continue in a course of action even in the face of difficulty or with little or no indication of success.

Romans 12:12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

That is what we must do.  We must continue improving, striving, working even in the face of difficulty.  Rejoice in the struggle for that is part of the process of improvement!  

We must remain committed to God's work in our lives first and our individual preferences second.  Nothing can derail us from our team goal!  Every one of us must take the long view of life: it exists to glorify God with our thoughts, attitudes and actions and prepare us for eternity as men (and women) of character.  

If we let the results of circumstances, challenging obstacles or playing time distract us from that then we will have forgotten the purpose of athletics.  

Challenge yourself to endure the obstacles and difficulties of the "daily grind"!

Parents, lead your children by encouraging them to see the "Big Picture" about life and the future.  

We must persevere and remain united for the cause of Christ

Honor!

Honor: 

a showing of usually merited respect : recognition

What is honor?

It is a person who conducts himself in a noteworthy way.  Someone who esteems his life as worth something to God and therefore acts godly.  To honor someone or something is to cherish or value it as special, above the commonplace.  We honor many things in life, things that we place a high priority in or on.  We hopefully honor family by setting aside time, money and love for our family.  We honor truth by despising lies.  We honor life by hating murder.  We honor justice by cherishing equality and freedom!

God expects His people to be honorable by first honoring Him above all else.  We honor God by esteeming or valuing Him above all else, even our own lives.  We cherish His Word (the Bible), obey what He said and love what He loves.  By doing this, we become people of honor.  We become honorable and prove to Him that we honor Him.

I pray that we all learned to be honorable in our lives this year:  To honor God with ALL of our thoughts, intentions, words, attitudes and actions.  We failed to do that at times (of that I am sure), but we can repent, seek the forgiveness that Christ offers and thereby honor His sacrifice and trust His word to forgive because Jesus paid for our sin.

^{1 Samuel 2:30 -} Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I promised that your house and the house of your father should go in and out before me forever,’ but now the Lord declares: ‘Far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed.

This verse teaches us that true honor comes when we esteem God for who He says He is.  God is the only one who can reward us with true honor, elevating us to the individual platforms that He bestows.  If we make Him THE priority in our lives, He will honor us, provide for us and reward us with a greater influence over others so we can continue to honor Him in front of a bigger audience!

Teamwork/Unity in the Body!

We have many brothers and sisters who are part of our Christian team (aka the Body of Christ, the Church).  We must cooperate with one another and work together in unity to reflect how the God-head works and the testimony of saving grace to a lost and dying world.  We must remember that each person has a role to play and a job to do.  As we fulfill our roles and show responsibility in our jobs, our faithfulness will show.

1 Corinthians 1:10 - 10 I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.

This verse teaches us to be united in spirit and work together as a team because we all have a common bond in Christ and we represent His name.  How sad when Christians cannot find commonality in Jesus.  There are times to separate (incorrect theology or unrepentant sin in someone's life), but true believers always have the unity that comes from having the seal of the Holy Spirit on our life and power of the Gospel in our hearts!

Authentic Christianity!!

Authentic: 

Of undisputed origin; genuine: "authentic 14th-century furniture". Made or done in the traditional or original way: "authentic Italian meals". Sincere: Free from pretense or deceit; proceeding from genuine feelings. (of a person) Saying what they genuinely feel or believe; not dishonest or hypocritical. Consistent: (of a person, behavior, or process) Unchanging in achievement or effect over a period of time. Compatible or in agreement with something: "injuries consistent with falling".

What is a consistent, authentic, sincere person look like?

It is a person who has the same character in every situation.  The sincere comes from the Latin "sin cera" meaning "without wax".  In ancient times, pottery was a very big business.  Pots were used to carry water or hold food.  True pottery was very important and very valuable.  Fraudulent pottery sellers would take wax and fill in cracked pottery before painting over it to cover the wax.  Signs would be posted next to the pottery that would say "Sin Cera" to inform potential buyers that the pottery was genuine, uncracked and whole.  The word has come to mean truthful, having integrity or forthright.  Are we sincere in our life?  Are our dealings honest?  Are we a consistent person of character in all situations?

God expects His people to be people of integrity, sincerity and consistency.  That is what we need this week in order to continue on in the playoffs.  We need authentic work, sincere preparation and consistent character to continue to be what God calls us to be!

Titus 2:6-8 - ⁶ Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. ⁷ Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching showintegrity, dignity, ⁸ and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.

This verse teaches us that a man's character needs to be sincere.  The reason we are to be authentic is so that our opponents (unbelievers) will be put to shame by our honest conduct and have nothing bad to say about us while proving our obedience and faith in God!

Godly Flexibility

We need to be very flexible.  I am talking about the ability to adapt to changing circumstances without missing a beat.  God has called us to adapt to the circumstances He brings our way with grace, knowing that He brought them and is in complete control over them.  He expects our reaction to glorify Him.

Romans 14:5-6 - One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God

This verse teaches us to be flexible in regards to the needs of others, putting the conscience of others before our own preferences.  That is precisely what we do when we are unselfish and flexible, willing to be used in the way God wants us to be.  This sometimes shows itself in the way coaches use players...maybe not what the player (or parent) wants, but a flexible, adaptable player does what is asked of him for the benefit of others!

Homosexual Athletes and Sinful Behaviors

With all the fuss over "gay" athletes announcing their sexual orientation, there has been quite a stir in the media.  When churches, pastors and Christians stand up in protest a myriad of responses come flying.

Usually statements like, "Only God can judge" or "It isn't a choice, it's who they are" make their way front and center.

The problem with those statements is that God already did judge, calling it an abominable choice and condemned it, giving us the right and responsibility to declare sin for what it is: an offense before a Holy God!  Hear me out.  I am not saying that homosexuals are alone in their wickedness; sex outside of marriage, lying, cheating, stealing, murder, pride, pornography and behaviors like these are all sin as well and God tells us to avoid such practices and further to repent if we commit such deeds.

As Christians (true believers in Jesus Christ), we do in fact sin and fail to bring God praise and glory with every facet of our life.  But true Christians recognize this and repent of their sin, not excuse or ignore it as though God isn't offended by it.  The other issue at hand is whether a person can truly be a Christian if they live a lifestyle with sinful behaviors and consistently ignore the warning of Scripture to repent as if nothing is wrong.  

Something is wrong!  So many "Christian" Leaders call for tolerance of sinful lifestyles, but Jesus told us that we will know those who are His by their fruit.....that means we are to evaluate the behaviors of others and in humility, attempt to help hold them accountable by sharing your observations of their life with them.  (We must also be willing to accept the same feedback from others about our life)

Jesus said that the proof of loving and following Him was obedience and when disobedience occurs, repentance over the sin.  Paul reiterated this in Romans and several other epistles.  John said in his letters that Christians are known by their actions and darkness does not exist consistently in the life of a believer.

We really need to stop feeling sorry for people whose lifestyle puts them at odds with God and start feeling compassion for their souls!  Sharing the truth of what God said with them is far more "loving" then tolerating their sinful behaviors because it endeavors to make them right before their Creator and redeem them from an eternal Hell.

Spiritual Mental Toughness!!

What often separates champions from the rest of the group is Poise.  In watching many big playoff games, it was clear that the mental toughness it takes to be poised is what allows Champions to win.  They simply have more poise in the crucial moments of the game.  Life requires mental toughness and poise when tough times hit.

Many of us adults have had "terrible times" blow thru our lives; times when we have lost a job, a loved one, struggles with an illness or some other difficulty.  At those moments, our maturity, poise and mental toughness is revealed.  Do we trust in God as sovereign over our circumstances or do we breakdown our faith and worry or do what we should not do and opposite of what we have practiced or prepared to do....or maybe that is our problem.  Maybe we haven't spent enough time cultivating poise (ie. faith in the God who could create the world in 6 days) so when the struggles of life hit us, we break down and stop fulfilling what God has called us to be.  Sports often reveals our poise and points out where in our character we have fallen short.  When circumstances reveal our weaknesses, we should immediately seek the Scriptures to find our source of strength and grow into the mature believers God has chosen us to be!

2 Timothy 3:16-17 - ¹⁶ All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of God may be complete [MATURE], equipped for every good work.

This verse teaches us that the Bible is where we find the materials necessary to know God and His expectations for our life to be mature and poised as we move thru the process of life.

Christian Responsibilities!!

We have a very independent and individualistic culture in America.  Much of it stems from the "American Spirit" which tells us that we don't need help, we simply need an opportunity and the will to succeed.  But that is not Biblical, nor is it true (or even practical for that matter).  Name one thing that is a great accomplishment that was done by ONE person!

Sure we can all think of the name of the person who received the credit, but that person got to where they are with the help of ......teachers, parents, friends, etc....

The Bible expresses the need for accountability all throughout its instructions.  That is why God created families and the instituted the church.  This is why fellowshipping with other like-minded people is SO important.  God knows that when we are by ourselves our hearts which are deceitful and wicked will trick us into doing things that are disobedient to Christ.  But together, we can watch out for one another and hold each other accountable, sharpening us into the tools for God's use.

We need responsible men.  People who are reliable, who lead with trust at the center of their character.  Men who lead their families in the priorities of the Bible.  Men who understand the importance of the local church and Christian fellowship.

Hebrews 10: - ²³ Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; ²⁴ and let us consider how tostimulate one another to love and good deeds, ²⁵ not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

This verse teaches us that Our job as Christians is to confess the truth of God to others and to help those we know do the same by regularly and faithfully being together with them, the church!.