Devotional
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January 03, 2012
Set:
If someone walked up to you and asked, “What does it mean to play ‘in the zone’?” how would you respond? What professional athlete comes to your mind when you think about playing in the zone? As an athlete, you have certainly been in the zone at least once. To play in the zone means that you are unstoppable. You are the “go to.” You can’t miss. I think you get the point—when you are in the zone, it is an awesome experience.
What does in the zone mean if you relate it to your spiritual life instead of your sports experience? Have you ever been in the zone spiritually? What does it take to get in the zone? Let’s dig deeper with a few questions based on Ephesians 5:1-10.
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January 02, 2012
Set:
We don’t often hear of Apelles or the Christians who lived in the household of Aristobulus. Most of us read quickly past these names and never give much thought to who they were or what their role was in the church at Rome. Yet, to Paul, they were important enough to be mentioned in his letter to the Romans. This tells us that in Christ’s service, the “little guys” are as important as the “all-stars.”
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January 01, 2012
Set:
During the 2003–2004 basketball season, I experienced what coaches fear most. We won only two games while losing twenty-five. Most of our games were not even close. The boys tried hard, but we were overmatched in most games. It was a difficult and humbling time. I questioned myself and my ability. About halfway through the season, as the losses mounted and the frustration and disappointment increased, I came across these verses during a study time. Suddenly, everything came back into focus.
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December 29, 2011
Set:
Recently while reading a book, I was reminded of the parable of the hidden treasure. This lesson from Matthew 13:44 offers a powerful message in just a single verse of Scripture. The beginning of Matthew 13 says that Jesus had been standing in a boat, teaching a crowd on the shore. Then, in verse 36, we are told that He left the crowd and went inside a house. When they were inside, the disciples asked Him to explain one of the parables He’d used, and once He’d finished that explanation, He offered another two-sentence parable.
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December 28, 2011
Set:
As a sophomore in junior college, playing baseball was the primary way I found value in life. However, when it turned out that I wasn’t cutting it on the baseball field, my coach told me to consider trying football. He’d often said that “we reap what we sow” during his talks about how Jesus Christ could impact our lives and even our baseball careers. Personally, my motivation had always been self-centered and about me. But I was now facing the end of something I had depended on since childhood to get the affirmation I craved. The Holy Spirit had been calling me, though, and later that day, I accepted Jesus as my Savior and Lord.
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December 15, 2011
Set:
I remember sitting at an FCA Camp in Marshall, Ind., when I was in high school, believing that I could conquer anything. Over the last several years, I’ve grown to miss that feeling. After a period of spiritual dryness, I have started once again to look for ways to build my faith. I started to read the Bible more and am doing devotions to help me grow closer to God.
Through the help of the Holy Spirit and God’s Word, I came up with a simple method called “SUN UP.” It stands for Scripture Understanding Navigate Under Prayer.
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December 14, 2011
Set:
I play fantasy football with my friends. Although it’s not technically a sport, it is fun. Recently, a person offered to trade me two of his players for one of mine. His players were good, but I didn’t see them as great, so I battled about this trade, I looked at player stats, future projections and schedules to analyze this trade. In the end, I didn’t make it. Why? Because I was afraid! I was afraid that the players were not going to be as good as the one I had and that the two players would let me down. I had fear that my team wouldn’t be as good, and that if I traded that player I would lose the championship.
The next week the players he offered me scored a combined 40 points. My player scored 7. In hindsight it would have been a good trade.
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December 13, 2011
Set:
Our girls’ volleyball team just won state, and it was so exciting! Seeing their hard work, dedication, sheer talent and determination all come to fruition was amazing. These girls were united as a team and stood strong in the face of some very tough competition. They also had a great coach leading them and the full support of the student cheering section, which traveled across the state on several weekends in order to cheer the girls on.
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December 12, 2011
Set:
Recently, I made a pretty significant change in my life. After working for the same company for more than 11 years, I changed jobs. It was a really hard decision—one I agonized over for weeks. I wasn’t unhappy in my job, and I worked for and with some amazing people. I hadn’t even thought about leaving, but another opportunity came along and I really started thinking about possibly making a change. The old line “It’s not you; it’s me” was really true in this case.
But I realized that I’d become comfortable. Too comfortable. And not just in my job. I was too comfortable in my prayer life, in my faith walk, and in my daily Scripture study. I wasn’t challenging myself to have a deeper, closer relationship with Christ.
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December 09, 2011
Set:
Scripture is the basis of our faith. But, sometimes, I think we get so caught up in life that we start to look at familiar verses and almost label them as cliché. As sad as that sounds, we hear verses like John 3:16, Philippians 4:13 and Jeremiah 29:11 and simply pass them by or say to ourselves, “Oh, I’ve heard that a thousand times.” While that may be true, it doesn’t take away the relevance of Scripture!
A high school coach of mine once said that when things go wrong, it is important to go back to the basics—to the foundation of the game—and to re-establish a routine. He was talking about softball, but I think this relates to our faith in a profound way.
