Devotional
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October 05, 2012
Set:
Fall has always been a wonderful season for me. I love the leaves crunching and the beauty of the harvest sunsets. I enjoy sweatshirts and sweatpants and the warmth of an outdoor fire. In fact, campfires are one of my favorite things. I love the sound, the smell and the fellowship that usually comes with a good campfire.
Recently, this short, yet powerful, verse from Proverbs caught my attention. Proverbs 26:20a says, “Without wood, fire goes out.” Don’t you just love how the Bible can be so simple, yet so profound?
When I read this verse, I thought, “Duh! Of course a fire dies out without wood.” And then the Lord rumbled inside my heart. He seemed to ask, “What are you fueling your fire with?” It was a great moment of conviction.
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October 04, 2012
Set:
In any sport, we as athletes are susceptible to adopting a number of bad habits that can hinder us from becoming the best athletes we can be. Whether it is a sloppy technique or poor reads, any bad habit prevents us from becoming the “perfect” athlete that each of us strives to become.
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October 03, 2012
Set:
On Monday we shared the story of Texas Rangers' All-Star Josh Hamilton, whose career was initially derailed by drug and alcohol addiction. After several stints in rehab, he was still unable to escape those vices under his own power. Looking back, he admits he didn’t realize how he was hurting those closest to him as his life revolved around satisfying his craving for more drugs and alcohol. Once he hit bottom at his grandmother’s home in 2005, his heart was opened to God’s love and how much he needed Him to overcome his addictions and heal the brokenness in his life.
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October 02, 2012
Set:
Recently, I was serving as a course marshal for my school's cross country meet. That basically meant that I stood at a certain place and made sure the runners went the right direction. The high school students had to make three laps, so I saw all of them three times.
One particular runner was fourth-from-last on the first lap. On the second lap, he was last, and I thought there was no way he would even finish. He was struggling to breathe with each step he took. On the final lap, as he approached me, a man from the sidelines joined him and completed the race with him. The man was definitely not dressed to run as he was in street clothes, yet he stayed with the runner to the end. Perhaps without the man running beside him, this runner might not have finished.
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October 01, 2012
Set:
The story of Texas Rangers' outfielder Josh Hamilton has been well-chronicled. Major League Baseball’s first overall draft pick in 1999, his career and future was derailed by drug and alcohol addiction beginning in 2003. In his own words, he hit rock-bottom on Oct. 5, 2005 when he stood on his grandmother’s porch, having nowhere else to turn after going on a drug binge. She took him in and under her care Hamilton’s heart was opened to God’s love and how much he needed Him to heal the brokenness in his life.
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September 29, 2012
Set:
The freshmen football team opened their season with a 16-14 win. Even though the game was called at halftime due to storms their momentum would likely have carried them through the second half. They didn’t look like a newly formed freshmen squad. Their footwork specifically was like that of a more progressed team. Sure, there were a couple of plays and other things that needed to be corrected, but the practice they’d put in showed up in the way they played the game. There were well-executed routes, wonderful kicks, a quarterback who stood his ground, an NFL-like catch, a fantastic run and a blocking wall that was picture perfect.
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September 28, 2012
Set:
The Israelites had just lost their leader Moses. It had fallen to his second-in-command to take over. Joshua had led before, but never had he been THE man. And on top of that, he was replacing a legendary figure. The expectations would be enormous. Joshua had to have been terrified.
Sometimes we find ourselves in over our heads. Fresh out of seminary, I applied for my first campus ministry position expecting to be an associate campus minister. Well into the interviewing process, I was informed that I had been misinformed. If I were hired, I would be THE campus minister. With no real experience and no other offers looming, I accepted the position. I was terrified. Yet, I remained in that position for over 20 years.
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September 28, 2012
Set:
It was an ancient custom to shoot an arrow or cast a spear into the country which an army intended to invade. We see this in college football when the Florida State Seminole rider hurls the spear into the ground or when the USC Trojan warrior pierces the soil with his sword.
An open window in the pasage above symbolizes a variety of opportunities that come to us during the course of a competitive contest. The release of the arrow in this opportune moment is our ability to capitalize on the opportunity and turn into a surge of momentum for the team. The bow and arrow represent the strategic development of our talents and deployment of our assignments.
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September 27, 2012
Set:
As a young baseball player, I found myself on the losing end of a lot of games. Many times my team had the mindset of losers, and our attitudes showed that we had lost the game long before the seventh inning. We went through the motions to the finish, but we were defeated long before the end of the game.
Perhaps many of us live as if God were keeping score, as if He has His own scoreboard with everyone’s name on it. One side lists “Good Works” and the other “Sins/Bad Things.” Can you imagine if eternal life depended on being perfect or trying to make sure all our good outweighed our bad? We would be like my little league team: living in defeat with no hope.
