The Heart of a Champion

“I’ve never not envisioned success” ~ Kyler Murray

1. Who is Kyler Murray? He is an outstanding athlete.

  • 2018 Heisman Trophy Winner

  • Won 3 straight Texas High School football championships, finishing his career with a perfect 42-0 record as a starting quarterback

  • Drafted 9th overall in 2018 Major League Baseball to play baseball for the Oakland Athletics

2. Are his words, “I have never not envisioned success” important?

  • Technically speaking, the double negative is bad grammar but,

  • his optimism is impressive!

3. What does his statement have to do with the Christian life?

  • As Christians we are “more than conquerors” (Romans 8:37)

  • We “can do all things through Christ who strengthens us” (Phil. 4:13)

  • We go “from strength to strength” (Psalm 84:7).

  • “Through God we will do valiantly, for it is He who shall tread down our enemies” (Psalm 60:12).

  • “The Lord will make you the head not the tail, you will always be at the top never at the bottom if you faithfully obey the commands of the Lord your God” (Deut. 28:13).

“God grant me a prevailing optimism, a strong confidence in You. Help me to face life with the heart of a champion, and never imagine failure as I follow Jesus Christ”

Guidelines for Getting Better

In John 5:6-8 Jesus ministered to a man who had been sick for 38 years. In so doing, the Lord gives us some guidelines for getting better.

1. Quit Blaming Others - The poor fellow in John 5 saw himself as a victim. When asked by Jesus if he wanted to get better all who could do was blame others. "No one helps me. Other people cut in front of me." Woe is me. We see this pitiful thinking displayed all across the American landscape today. Everyone is a victim. No one is treated fair. But wait! This same victimhood mentality creeps into our thoughts also. We feel as though the reason we are suffering is because someone did us wrong. Jesus lovingly confronts this and redirects us to a healthier mindset.

2. Elevate - Jesus said to the paralyzed man, "Rise." In other words, "Get up, raise yourself up, don't stay down!" For us to get better we need to elevate the following:

  • We need to elevate our attitude
  • We need to elevate our virtue
  • We need to elevate our imagination 
  • We need to elevate our prayer.

3. Be Responsible - Jesus told the man, "Take up your bed." This is a command related to personal responsibility and it is the opposite of blaming others. We have to exert energy and make things happen. Getting better requires effort. Quit laying back hoping things improve. Take the initiative, and 

4. Go Forward - Jesus told the man, "Walk." This speaks of going forward, leaving things behind. A new future is discovered only as one leaves their current reality and embraces a new reality. Don't stay where you are at.

Thank God there is healing from old hurts, hangups, habits, broken relationship, and emotional scars. 

 

Finishing Strong

Races are won at the finish line not the starting line, and so it is with life, marriage, investing and everything else in life that's important.  It is not how you start, it is how you finish that matters.

John 2 records the story of a wedding that started good but was about to become an embarrassment when they ran out of wine. Yet in miraculous fashion, Jesus helped them finish strong when He turned water into wine.  Then it was said, "You have saved the best for last." 

And isn't that what we want? We want our last years to be our best years.

1. To finish strong we must pray. Mary wisely brought the concern to Jesus. "They are out of wine." Is prayer your first response or last resort?

2. To finish strong we must obey. The servants did as Jesus directed. They filled the water jars with water, and notice they filled them to the brim. How is your obedience bucket? Is it half-full or do you fill it to the brim?

"Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey."

Achieved Ministry or Received Ministry?

My friend Rick Shepherd talks about the difference between an "achieved ministry" and a "received ministry." That is, you can work for and attain some things or you can let God give you His blessings. Clearly the later option is best. This difference between an "achieved ministry" and a "received ministry" is vividly seen in Genesis 11 and 12.

At the Tower of Babel they said, "Let us make a name for ourselves." So they built a tower up to heaven, but their "achieved ministry" did not last. In the next chapter God appears to Abram and says, "I will make your name great." After these many centuries, Abraham is still revered by Christians, Jews, and Muslims. His "received ministry" endures.

  • An achieved ministry involves human effort. A received ministry is from God’s grace.

  • An achieved ministry is about my glory, but a received ministry is for God's glory.

  • Achieved ministries never last, but received ministries have eternal impact. 

 

The End of the World

More and more believers, myself included, believe the end of the world is approaching. Prophecy signs are everywhere and common sense tells us the world is getting more dangerous. 

What should we do? How should we prepare? You and I may say, "We don't know what to do." We can find comfort from the example of Noah. He too was on the cusp of earthly destruction.

As recorded in Genesis 7, God does three acts of kindness for Noah.

  1. God tells Noah when and where to escape, v. 1
  2. God tells Noah what to bring, v. 2-3
  3. God tells Noah how much time he has, v. 4.

In these uncertain days, I am trusting God. If there are drastic steps to take, God will direct.