Winning

"Winning isn't everything. . . . . it's the only thing!"

Winning is the goal of everyone who competes, whether it be sports or politics or the Christian race itself. But is it the winning of the contest alone that is important, or is it the process of how you came to win that truly makes it special?

A couple of opposing candidates for county office happened to be sitting next to each other in the local diner... One turned to the other and said, "You know why I'm going to win this election? Because of my 'personal touch.' For example, I always tip waitresses really well and then ask them to vote for me." "Oh, is that so?" replied the other. "I always tip them a nickel and ask them to vote for you."

There are a multitude of strategies that can be used to win. Winning at any cost puts the focus only on the goal of coming out first. This goal oriented attitude leaves little room for the importance of people and relationships. This attitude is not just relegated to sports, or politics. It also shows itself in the business world, and sometimes even in families.

In New England, we are getting accustomed to winners. The Red Sox have just celebrated their sweep of the Rockies in the World Series. The Patriots are undefeated, even though there are some rumblings in the media of the way they are doing it. The Celtics looked poised to do well this year, and even the Bruins have more wins than losses. There's no doubt that it is more fun to be around winners than losers. But the goal of winning needs to include more than just the final tally.

Jesus teaches us that the goal of His followers is to be like Him. Jesus' goal was to do the will of His Father, and that must become our goal as well. Jesus tells us that there are only 2 things we need to do to accomplish this: 1. To love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and 2. To love our neighbor as ourselves.

God's goal for your life is that you would learn to love Him with everything about your life, which you can't do unless you come to know who He is. Then you must couple that with loving other people with the same intensity that you love yourself. Now that doesn't mean loving just some other people, but all other people. This is one reason why God ordained the church. That you & I would learn the importance of people and relationships. You need to be involved in touching the lives of other people, and you need people to be involved in touching your life. Christians who believe they don't need to be involved in a local church have missed this very important aspect of God's will for them.

I've had the opportunities of experiencing winning in various sports I've been involved with, as well as a few other areas in life. But the memories of those times are not just summed up with trophies, or rings, or plaques. They can be nice, but they should only serve as reminders of the people that were involved; the team mates, the coaches, even the opponents, that were all necessary to experience victory.

Friend, I hope you are a winner today! But I hope your sights are set higher than just a game or contest. Face today with the goal of loving God and loving people, then you will be a winner in God's eyes.

Living For The Past Or The Future

Is your life today based on your past or your future?

It is an exciting day to be a Boston Red Sox fan. As we look a week ago in the past, there were few people who actually believed the Red Sox would be where they are today. After all, they were down 3-1 to the Cleveland Indians. They had lost 3 in a row, and they didn't look particularly good in those losses. Most people looked at the situation and thought it would be the Indians facing the Colorado Rockies in the World Series. (Even those of us who are considered people of faith!) Not that we thought it impossible to see a comeback, especially after 2004. But sometimes we look only at our current circumstances in light of our most recent history, whether good or bad.

While there are valuable and important lessons to learn from the past, how we live today and look to tomorrow cannot be ruled by the past.

". . . but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ
Jesus." - Philippians 3:13-14

The apostle Paul tells us to be on guard that we don't live our today in the past, whether it be past victories or past defeats.

Those who live in past victories will become content and will not pursue or tackle the next challenge. "I've already experienced victory, why take the chance that I might lose the next time?" This can also apply spiritually. You may have experienced God doing wonderful things in you and through you in the past. When you speak of spiritual things, do you only reflect of those things that happened long ago? What about today? Will not the Living God work today? I believe He will. So don't let the past victories keep you from pressing on toward the goal that Christ still has set before you. There is so much more.

Those who live in past defeats will have difficulty believing that they will achieve anything in the future. Some will allow a "victim" mentality to excuse them from even trying to live a life that is fulfilling and is beneficial to people around them. While there certainly are defeats and hurts in our past that run deep, God wants to give us hope for our future.

"For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." - Jeremiah 29:11

God doesn't want you to let your past dictate your future. He has a plan that He has put together specifically for you, and if you know Christ (which is the ONLY way to come to the Father) then you have hope for your future.

Many times God wants to teach us spiritual lessons from our life's experiences. If the Red Sox let their past rule their future they would not be where they are today. They would have either been content with their victory in 2004, or they wouldn't have had the hope that they could win another game. They would not have experienced the excitement of coming back 4-3 without being down.

Today is a new day. Will you look to Christ to direct your future starting with today? No matter what has occurred in your past, you can live today making right choices. Making right choices today, will lead you to the right future, the one God has prepared just for you.

God at work

Have you ever wondered how God works?

As a Christian, and a pastor, this is one of the questions that I find most people have. If we could just figure out how He does what He does, then we would know the formula. Maybe it's if you use the right words and phrases in your prayers. I remember not too long ago as we were praying with one of our children, I ended the prayer with a simple "Amen." Being quick to seize on the opportunity my child quickly spoke up, "Dad, you didn't say 'in Jesus' name.' " While it is important to pray in Jesus' name, I don't think that is done just by adding it to the end of our list of wishes we ask of God. Praying in Jesus' name really means to pray with the understanding of His will for us or a particular situation. To pray as Jesus would pray.

Well, if it's not using the right "magic" words, then maybe God is waiting for us to make some type of sacrifice or good deed. After all, if I do something nice for Him then maybe He will do something nice for me. Again, we fall short if this is our understanding, for God has told us that He knows what we have need of. There is nothing in your life that has escaped God's notice; therefore, there is nothing that happens in your life that He doesn't already have the answer for.

Instead of trying to figure out how God works, maybe we should just take rest in the simple truth that He does. He has always wanted to make Himself known to people. Even now He is wanting to make Himself known to you, and He wants to work in your life. Why not ask Him what His plans are for you?