Jesus is everything

Today's Bible study began with watching a few videos. The first of which is the video above.  It's a skit done to a song by Lifehouse called "Everything".

The video starts by God welcoming one of His creations into the world.  He begins showing her all of the great and wonderful things he made for her, because He loves her.

Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love - 1 John 4:8

But then comes sin.  Just like in life, sin comes in a ruins and sabotages our relationship with God.  It could be money, boyfriends/girlfriends, our appearance, drugs, alcohol, it could be anything.  And often times it is a combination of things.

All of these things separate us from God.  In Romans 6:23 it says the wages of sin is death, which is why after she experiences all the world has to offer, she begins to hold a gun to her head.  Romans 6:23 ends with hope by saying the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.  Even through everything this world has to offer, everything that can take you down, all of the sin, Jesus is there.

John 3:16 tells us that God so loved us that He sent His Son to die for our sins.

Then, right at the point she is ready to end it all, she makes a choice and turns to Jesus.  We see her struggling to get back to Jesus.  Following Jesus is counter to what this world wants you to do.  This world wants you to live for yourself and do what ever pleases you.

Then, in my opinion, the best part of the video is when it shows Jesus coming in and standing between her and the world.

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. - 1 Corinthians 10:13

He will come and provide a way out, as he did for that girl, so he will do for you.  When life seems like it is bearing down on you and you don't know how you can take another minute, know God loves you and you can always give your burdens to Him.

This video may play out differently because we are all unique, but the one thing always remains, God is always there for you.

The second video I showed was a speech given by a pastor name S.M. Lockridge.  Pastor Lockridge studied with Billy Graham and was the pastor at Calvary Baptist Church for 42 years.  In his speech, he basically describes Jesus.

"That's my King"

I couldn't agree with him more.

Humble Yourselves

This week I find myself being drawn back into the book of James.  I really love the way God directs the topics I’ll talk about in the Bible Study each week.  I end the week not having any idea where we are going and God always comes through with just what the team needs to hear.

“God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you…Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.  James 4:6-7,10

The proud are those who have high self-esteem or who relish in their own importance, in other words, they think they’re above everybody else.  This could extend to anything; appearance, sports, strength, and even religion.  It also could extend to stuff that you own.  But don’t confuse this with feeling of knowing we excel in certain spots more than others.  It comes down to where your heart is and if you want to exalt yourself because of your position or if you want to exalt God. 

The opposite of being proud is to be humble.  When you humble yourselves before the Lord you are saying that you are insignificant and that your importance wanes in the presence of the Lord.  This is when the Lord can use you.

When you submit yourself to God you are letting God have full control of your life.  You aren't trying to do it by yourself because that will lead to pride and boasting, which we have already determined that God opposes.  This is easy to say, but hard to do because our earthly bodies want to revel in stuff that is pleasing to us. 

We want to make the decisions and we want to have the glory and we want to be accepted. 

How easy is it for a football player to exalt himself after a touchdown, or a baseball player after a home-run or even a student after getting an “A” on a test.  Again, it’s ok to be excited but we can’t let it define who we are.

The devil wants you to get excited and get lost in the moment.

In 1 Peter 5:8 it says the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.  The devil only has lies and deception, nothing else.  He tries to make you think you are the reason for the way things are. If you resist the devil, he flees.  When you let God reign in your hearts, the devil has no place to go.  So when we draw near to God, meaning let God reign, the devil will flee because it’s all or nothing.  We can draw near to God by talking to him, by praying and by reading His word, the Bible.

I challenged the guys by asking them which they thought God wanted more...for the team to win or for the individual members to use their talents to honor God.  It's kinda sobering to realize that everything you are is because God gave it to you.

As a side note, I need prayer for my dad.  He is going in for a double bypass heart surgery tomorrow.  He doesn't know the Lord.  Please join me in praying for my dad’s recovery and that God would draw him closer.

Also, the varsity team has 13 players injured.  We have a parent’s prayer night on Wednesday @ 7:30pm in the Clovis West Teacher’s Lounge.  Come by and pray.

Ironmen Unite!!!

Transformation

How often do you look into the mirror and wish you could change your appearance.  Maybe you want to be in better shape, or change your hair color, or lose some weight.  I think we all struggle with how we look at various times in our life.

Retailers know we want to change ourselves and focus their message accordingly.  How many times have you seen pills that will shed pounds, or drinks that give you energy?  How often do you see ways to make tons of money overnight?

It is hard to change the outside, and even more difficult to change the inside.

But that’s part God cares about…

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. – Romans 12:2

Changing yourself isn't easy and it doesn't happen overnight.  It takes discipline and happens slowly.

God calls us to be “transformed”.  The Greek word for transformed is related to the English word metamorphosis.  Take for example a tadpole.  The tadpole starts its life swimming around the lake, but one day it will transform into a frog.  It will change its entire structure and morph from a swimmer that lives entirely in the water to a frog that lives entirely on land.  When the tadpole becomes a frog, it will be exactly as God intended.

We start to get transformed by the renewal of our minds.  Quite simply, renewing our minds by starting to think and ask ourselves WWJD (What Would Jesus Do).  When we start to pray and live for Jesus and have Jesus live through us, then we can be transformed in the person God wants us to be.

Today's Bible Study was packed, I counted 33 young men.  Before we talked about Romans 12:2, I played some videos for them.  The first two were music videos by a Christian rapper named Lecrae.  To be honest, rap music isn't my first choice, by Lecrae's music is powerful.  After those two videos, we watched a couple of i am second videos.

iamsecond.com has videos of athletes that have given their life to Christ and the videos share their story.  We watched Matt Barkley, QB @ USC and Bradie James, Inside Linebacker for the Houstan Texans.

Help me pray for these young men.

During the game last week, I witnessed one of them having a seizure on the sidelines during the game.  He is doing better today.  There were three young men total that left the game with concussions.

God is doing great things with this team.  The record is 1-5, but in God's eyes they are undefeated.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me - Phil 4:13

Never Give Up

The last week was emotionally charged.

Marquis Sutton, senior at Edison, was fatally shot and past away on Monday, September 24th.  Here we are, trying to get ready to play football, coming off a win at Bullard, and suddenly, the game takes a serious backseat.

I started to recap the season so far for the Golden Eagles Varsity team, it has been a season like no other so far.  The team started off the year with a great summer workout, with hopes and expectations held high.  Then, on the Wednesday before the first game, we lose our tight end for the season.  Not only did he break his ankle, he did it at Wednesday practice.  Not many weeks after, we lose another player, same injury, also at practice.  So now, the team has witness two players receive year ending injuries.  We then get a rest with the bye week and come back strong against Bullard with a win.  This is short lived because of the death of Marquis before the game.

I don't believe in coincidences, and I made sure to convey it with this weeks message.

"We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not detroyed;" - 2 Corinthians 4:7-8

Lets take the passage in four segments..

First, afflicted but not crushed.  The word afflicted means bodily pain, trouble or pressure.  So this life, there will be bodily pain and there will be trouble and pressure, but it won't crush us.  A better way to look at this is by saying "Pressure will not defeat us".  Lets take an example of a boxer.  he gets in the ring and takes a pounding for 12 rounds and endures the pain which goes along with it.  He doesn't stop when he feels the pain, he pushes through it.  If he did stop, he wouldn't be much of a boxer.

Second, perplexed or confused but not driven to despair or hopelessness.  Life will throw a bunch of stuff at you.  Sometimes you wont know what to do, but if you give those cares to God, you'll always have hope.  So confusion will not discourage us.

Third, we will be persecuted but never abandoned by God.  If you put your faith in God and ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior, never will He forsake you.  Jesus will always be with you.  "Never will I leave you, Never will I forsake you" - Hebrews 13:5.  Go back to our example of the fighter.  The opposition doesn't deter him from continuing his battle.  He goes into the fight knowing God is with him. 

Lastly, there will be time where you are struck down.  There will be times in your life when it feels like you can't go on, times where you just don't know how you are going to get through.  When these times occur, fully rest in the Lord and know that he is God. "Be still and know that I am God" - Psalm 46:10.

I've purposely used the example of the fighter, but you can easily see how any of life's examples can be substituted.  

Lets look at football...

1. The pressure of the game will not defeat us
2. Confusion of the outcomes will not discourage us
3. The opposition will not deter us
4. Hard hits will not destroy us

Remember, man's extremity is God's opportunity.  When we can't, God can.

"I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength" - Phil 4:13