Living for Jesus Daily

Today's professional athlete may be overpaid, but they contribute more to our society than we give them credit for. If you want a metaphor for desire, intensity, focus, passion, going for it with reckless abandon, then observe our professional athletes at work. The teach us the importance of preparation - they teach us how to win.





Arnold Schwarzenegger said it this way, " You can learn almost everything you need to know in life from sports."
In life, if we fail to compete effectively we may not enjoy the benefits and privileges enjoyed by those who compete successfully.
Thus we know that it is important , humanly speaking, to know how to win. Vince Lombardi said, " Winning isn't everything it is the only thing."

The pursuits of fame, glory, and wealth are what drive the professional athlete, however the Christian is to be motivated by something more permanent. Tales of the glory of the legends of old have long fell silent. We seek the approval of God and the everlasting reward to be given by Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Paul, in I Corinthians 9:25-27, put it this way, " 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control," .

The professional athlete is not indifferent about the outcome of his or her endeavors. They practice and train hard, study film, and are constantly seeking to add to their knowledge and skill to give them a competitive edge. They will to win. This is what living for Jesus daily is all about. We need to be focused and we need to be doing the things that we know to do. Reading the word, praying, loving our brothers and sisters in Christ, loving our enemies, and all those things that Jesus talked about in the Sermon on the Mount. We must strive to walk in the Spirit, and deny the lustful desires of our sinful nature.

Since the list can go on and on we need to study our bibles often. What happens to an athletes when they fail to know the rules? They are disqualified. Ignorance is not an excuse. 

As we learn how to conduct ourselves we must be sure to walk in the spirit, because or natural sinful nature is at war with our desires to live a life pleasing to God.

Being born again is not merly a claim or a proclamation of belief or faith, rather it is the experience of your life being permeated by the presence of the Holy Spirit.

(Permeate: definition 1, to pass into or through every part of)

Two things are absolute characteristics of every born again believer.

1. They have a sincere desire to do away sin in their lives in order to please God.


2. They have a craving for the word of God. Just as you would think it strange for a new born baby to have no desire for it's mothers' milk; it would be equally strange for a person newly born in to the family of God spiritually to have no interest in the Bible which is the word of life.

I want to speak directly. I don't think that I am special, but I know that I have eternal life within me. I want to influence as many people as possible to take careful inventory of their lives and to be certain that they have truly established an eternal relationship with Jesus Christ. I heard a sermon recently that provoked me to thinking. The title was "Almost Christians" . Judas Iscariot was used as a chilling example of just how close a person can be to Jesus and yet remain unconverted, unchanged, and yet not be born again. Jesus said that "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." This mysterious transaction is a necessity and mere church membership and familiarity with Jesus is not enough. You must be born again.

Can we have confidence in our elected officials, or have we been disappointed to many times already.
This is important.  Government affects our lives in many ways.  Our safety and security, access to resources, and ability to reach our God given potential just to name a few.  Unfortunately  as long as fallible, sinful human beings are in charge there will be more than enough cause for disappointment.  The prophet Isaiah would have us look forward to a day in the future when we will dwell in peace and safety, and we will have no cause or reason to doubt the one who is in charge.




Isaiah 9:5-7
⁵ Every warrior's boot used in battle 
       and every garment rolled in blood
       will be destined for burning,
       will be fuel for the fire.
 ⁶ For to us a child is born,
       to us a son is given,
       and the government will be on his shoulders. 
       And he will be called
       Wonderful Counselor, ^[b] Mighty God,
       Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
 ⁷ Of the increase of his government and peace
       there will be no end.
       He will reign on David's throne
       and over his kingdom,
       establishing and upholding it
       with justice and righteousness
       from that time on and forever.
       The zeal of the LORD Almighty
       will accomplish this. (NIV)

This is very comforting to me in this day when it is difficult to have any confidence in human governments.  Even the best governments are fraught with corruption, and are biased toward the needs of the rich and powerful.

Verse 5 is self- explainitory; in the future we can look forward to a day when man's inhumanity to man will come to an end.   There will be no need for the things that are associated with warfare. Why?  Because Jesus will reign with wisdom, fairness, and power.  He will not allow one group to oppress the other.  He will reign with justice and righteousness.

Jesus is not depending on our feeble efforts to bring this to into being, "The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this."  Amen.

Naked is a perfect methaphor to describe the state of every human being as they stand before the righteous gaze of a Holy God.  Naked makes me think of four things in particular.  Being vulnerable, exposed, ashamed, and destitute.  When Adam and Eve sinned the first thing that they realized was that they were naked.  So, of course they made an effort to resolve this awkward situation.  They made garments out of fig leaves.  However, later God provided for them garments made of animal skins.  I think that the fig leaves speak clearly of man's religious endeavors.  We try to cover our nakedness with good deeds, giving to charity, church membership and attendance, and just trying to make ourselves acceptable to God through our own efforts.  However the animal skins speak of God's provision;  they speak of Christ. 

One other thought.  Remember God's promise to Adam that the day that he ate of the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, he would surely die. He did not die, but some innocent animal did die in his place.  Here we have the doctrine of substitution.

Have you ever felt like you were not doing enough for the Lord? I know that I have. I do not sing in the choir, I am not a Minister, and neither am I on the deacon board. Although recently I have begun working with the music department as a sound engineer in training. Nonetheless, it doesn't seem like much. When I watch a film like the passion of the Christ it is almost impossible to feel anything but guilt and shame for my performance as a christian. That is until I came to realize that the real bulk of christian service happens outside of the church. I now realize that I serve the Lord everyday that I show up for work on time, and perform my duties to the best of my ability without mumuring or complaining. I serve the Lord, when I dedicate myself to prayer for my friends and neighbors who need to know the transforming power of the Holy Spirit in their lives. I serve the Lord when I trust in him completely, because this changes everything about my demeanor and attitude in Life. I am an effective witness for Christ; not when everything goes my way, but when I demonstrate an ability to cope with the situations in my life. I have been told on several occasions that I have a sunny dispostition about myself. Always polite,kind,honest, and caring. I am not trying to shine my halo, but I want to share the fact that by just living my life according to the commandments of Jesus; that I am serving him in the most effective way possible. I am serving him 24 hours a day 7 days a week. This is not easy; it requires that I love my enemies, refuse to promote myself, and to trust in the Lord no matter what the external situations.

"For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.

 It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,"

Life is definately not a bowl of fruit.

Life is unfair
People are unreliable
The Future is unpredictable
Death is unavoidable

This is the human condition and although we all know it is true:  many chose to live their lives as if it is not so. When our lives are over and we stand before God he is not going to be concerned about many of the petty things that we humans are preoccupied with on a daily basis. No one is going to be able to write God a check to earn his favor. He is not concerned about our status in society. He will not be moved by how fly, smooth, cool, handsome, beautiful, or whatever other people say we are. He is concerned about how much our lives emulate the life of Christ.


Since much of what preoccupies the thinking of most people is ultimately meaningless in light of the fact that we must die and leave it all here, and everything we do and all that we are will eventually be forgotten. Should not our ambition be to seek the approval of God and not the praise and adoration of men?

None of us  have  time to waste. Set your affections on things above not on the things of the earth. You will be standing before God sooner than you think.

Just like Adam and Eve, we also make choices everyday.  How we use our time, and what we invest our energy and resources in pursuit of.  God is going to judge us based on what we really cared about in this life.

The choice for Adam and was essentially between submission to the will of God and self- determination.
I believe that living for Jesus daily means that you are striving to deny yourself and submit to the perfect will of the Father each and everyday.