Suffering for Him

     When was the last time that you suffered to gain something in your life? Was the suffering worth it? Did you up getting what you wanted? Would you endure all the suffering and pain to do it again? How about every day? 

     When I played baseball in high school, I put my blood, sweat, and tears into three years and left everything I had on the field.  As a sophomore, I found out how much work I had to do and I started immediately after the season ended. I worked for the final two years of my career and made myself the player I was because of all of the work I put in. It wasn't easy getting up at 7:30am in the summertime when I could be doing other things with friends to go to the field to throw, hit, work on blocking balls in the dirt, working on receiving, throwing down to 2nd, and even running poles, but I knew what I had to do, and I did it. All of my hard work and "suffering" paid off and I got recognition for it by being selected to the All-District team in a district with teams with guys getting drafted and a pretty stout group of catchers. Was I as talented as some of those guys? No, but I made myself the player I was because of the work I put in and how bad I wanted it. I paid the price for what I wanted and attained it through my suffering. Do we do this for Jesus? Do we want to? Those are some tough questions aren't they? 

I heard this quote from my pastor at my church a couple of weeks ago and it resonated with me and has been something that I think about every single day. He said, "Christ suffered and died on the cross for us and our sins, and when we become Christians, Christ stops suffering for us and we begin to suffer for Him". That is something that hits you hard. If you really think about that statement, it should ring true if you are saved by the blood of Jesus and are a Christian. 

So what do I mean by all of this? And what do I mean when I say, suffering for Him? Jesus suffered and died on the cross for each and every one of my sins, past, present, and future, along with yours, and everyone else's in this world! Yes, the entire world! He took a near death beating and had to carry His own cross to a place where He was going to hang on that cross and die. For US! He knew that long before it was ever going to happen, yet he loved us so much that He endured all the pain and suffering for all of our sins. He was beaten brutally, gashed open, given a crown of thorns, mocked, and spat on, covered in His own blood, nails driven through His hands and His feet on to a cross to die for us, and did nothing about it. Think about that for a minute. Could we endure such pain and suffering? This is what Jesus did for us. What should we do for Him?

Romans 8:17 says, and if children, also heirs-heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ-seeing that we suffer with Him so that we may be glorified with Him. Also, 1Peter 3:17 says For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil. These two verses, and I am sure there are others, explain the point I am trying to make here. When you choose to follow Christ and live for Him, He no longer suffers for us, we begin to suffer for Him and His sake. Choosing to live for Christ and becoming a Christian is when this happens. We take up our cross and do our very best to live for Him and do His will.  That doesn't mean that it will be easy. There are going to be trials and tribulations along the way. There will be trials and tribulations, I can promise you that. I have had many and I am sure that there will be many more. Things aren't always going to go our way and things aren't always going to work out the way we want them to. We will be persecuted, lose friends and family members, boyfriends, girlfriends, and suffer countless trials and all for our Lord Jesus Christ and His will. When you live for Christ and suffer and have trials in your life, that's when you know you are a Christian. Christ didn't say that things would be easier when choosing to follow Him, but you are guaranteed a home in heaven when He comes to bring us all home. So, let me ask you, are you suffering for Him or is He still suffering for you? Only you know the answer. 

Suggested Reading

1Peter 3:17

Romans 8:17

Mark 8:34-38

Running the Race Part 2

Part 2

Hebrews 12:1-2 1Therefore since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us, and run with endurance the race that lies before us, 2keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that lay before Him endured a cross and despised the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of God's throne.

     The second verse of this selection calls us to recognize and accept the fact that Jesus died for us and paid for our sins in full on the cross at Calvary. In this entry, I want to break down verse  two and look at what it is calling for us to do in our lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

     "keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith"

     The first part of this verse tells us that we should keep our eyes focused on Jesus, who is the perfecter of our faith.  Keeping our eyes on Jesus is easy, right??? We go to church on Wednesday nights, and Sunday mornings and nights, so it can't be that hard can it?? Well, if you are a Christian, you know that it is a struggle every single day. Yes, the struggle is real...it's very real. The devil is continually looking for that crack in our armor so he can sneak in and pull us away from Christ. If you think that after becoming a follower of Christ that things get easier and everything will always work out, I am here to tell you, you are wrong. Very wrong. Yes, Jesus loves us and has a plan for each of us, but He gives us choices to make and we have to choose between what He wants for us or what we want for us. Sometimes that is hard but the right decision is usually right there in front of us. Prayer and keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus will lead us to do what is right and what we need to do. Remember, Jesus is the perfecter of our faith, and He will always lead us in the right direction as long as we call on His name and look for His guidance. In 1 Thessalonians 5:17, Jesus tells us to pray without ceasing. This verse is a prime example among many others that help us to keep our eyes on Jesus. If we pray daily about everything, we cannot lose sight of what God has in store for our lives. Daily prayer and meditation leads to the "perfection of faith" that is talked about in Hebrews 12:2. 

     "endured a cross and despised the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of God's throne"

     For me, this is the most heartbreaking part of this entire verse. Endured a cross and despised the shame...

     Jesus suffered a brutal beating, ridicule, shame, and was crucified to save us. Let me say that again...Jesus suffered a brutal beating, ridicule, shame, and was crucified to save YOU and ME. I have seen the movies, The Passion of The Christ, and recently, Son of God, and I am not ashamed to tell you, I shed tears watching my Lord and Savior suffer such a brutal death. I could not imagine the immense pain and suffering that He went through just to save the world from sin. And He knew His fate long before it ever even occurred, because that was His purpose. That is a love that is so amazing that we will never know the true meaning of because only Jesus could do such a thing. For that very reason, I will follow Him and do His will. How could you not? Where is Jesus now you say? He is sitting at the right hand of God the Father in all His glory, preparing a place for you and me in heaven, and all we have to do is accept Him in our lives to secure the mansion he is preparing for us there. In John 20:29, Jesus says blessed are those that have not seen, and yet have believed. Many people say seeing is believing, but trust me, I haven't seen Jesus, but I believe with everything that I am that He is truly alive and working in my life. What about you? Take that leap of faith and trust Him. You will see a change and He will make himself known to you. 

Suggested Scripture: 1 Thessolonians 5:17

                                John 20:29

     

Running the Race Part 1

Often times in sports you hear the old saying that a season is a marathon, not a sprint. This saying is true. It's not how fast you start, it's how you finish. Many times in sports you see teams racing out to these fast starts and gaudy records only to see them falter when it matters the most and then what can be called a successful season, ends up a disappointment.  

In life, you never know what day could be your last and the race is on to live for Jesus and do His will and bring as many people to Him as you can. There is no time to waste when it comes to spreading God's word. Two of my favorite verses in the bible are from Hebrews 12:1-2 which says, 1Therefore since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us, and run with endurance the race that lies before us, 2keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that lay before Him endured a cross and despised the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of God's throne. Those two verses are so powerful and teach us many things about what God wants us to do in our lives. 

There are two things for verse 1 that I want to touch on and then I will cover the areas of verse 2 in Part two of this entry. 

"let us lay aside every weight and sin that so easily ensnares us"

This part of verse 1 calls us to break away from the weight of everyday things that tend to bog us down and lay it all at the cross.  Many people struggle with just turning everything over to God and letting Him working their lives. I have struggled with it myself and still do, but I am doing everything in my power to give every struggle, problem, and care to God and let Him lead my every step because that is what He wants from us. He wants us to trust and depend on Him for EVERYTHING. 

"run with endurance the race that lies before us"

The second part of verse 1 calls us to run the race and be a witness for God for as long as we are on this earth to seek Him without ceasing. God not only wants us to seek Him and follow Him, He wants us to lead others to Him. Running with endurance means that we must continue to witness for God even when people reject Him and we think it is too hard. We must persevere. No one said it would be easy. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it. God gives the toughest battles to his strongest soldiers. Seek God and do His work, for this is the race set before us.

Suggested Scripture: Hebrews 12:1-2

Is Second Place Really First Loser?

How many times in your life have you heard the "Second Place is First Loser" comment made? Being an athlete back in the day and a coach now, I have heard this many times, but can this really be true? To me, the answer is no, and there is one reason and one reason only why I feel this way, and His name is Jesus Christ!

Too often we get caught up in winning and being the best at our particular sport, craft, job, or whatever it may be in life that we strive to be the best at, and lose focus on what really matters the most. I admit that there have been times that I have done the same thing, and it is easy to do if you are completely focused on being the best at what you do. Now, I'm not saying that striving to be the best at what you do is wrong by any means. What I am saying is that we should strive to be the best that we can be for God and give Him the glory in all that we do.

I recently came across a website that really intrigued me and made me think about this very topic.  It is called I Am Second. It is about putting God before ourselves in life instead of focusing solely on living life selfishly for good old number one (Us). It is very humbling and some of the stories of these athletes and regular average joes just like you and me, giving testimonies of how God changed their lives and they started to live for Him and His will instead of their own selfish wants and needs are truly amazing. One person you may recognize that is part of this movement and gives his testimony is Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols. I highly recommend that you take a look at this website and become a part of the I Am Second movement. It can change your life.

So, again, I ask you, Is second place really first loser? The answer is simple, no. Our focus in life should be on God and striving to be the best players we can be on His team and giving Him all the glory while doing so. We are called to be on God's team. He wants us to accept Him into our lives and get to work bringing people to Him so He can change their lives and add them to His team and His kingdom. There is no greater team to be on, and no greater feeling than being second to such a wonderful Savior! My name is Ricky Howell, and I am Second.

The I Am Second website is Iamsecond.com.

Suggested Verses to read:

Colossians 3:2

Matthew 6:33

Playing The Entire Game

Have you ever played in that game where the other team had a huge inning and all of the sudden you are down three or four runs or more, or in basketball, where the other team made a big run and you went form being up a few to down ten or more? More importantly, in the game of life when the chips are down and things aren't going your way and things just keep piling up and there seems to be no end in sight, how do you handle that situation?  Do you hang your head and just give up? Or do you weather the storm and persevere continuing to fight your way back into the game?

I sports and in life, there are going to be may obstacles in your way that are there to prevent you from reaching your ultimate goal, and that is winning and being successful. In sports, there are going to be times when you will be down a few runs or down fifteen points, and that's when you have to really dig in and climb your way back into the game. That's why you play all 21/27 outs in baseball, all four quarters/both halves in basketball and all four quarters in football. The game is not over because of one bad inning, one big run, or quarter. You have to play the entire game.

In life, the devil is relentlessly chasing after you to keep you from accepting Christ into your life by deceiving you and making you think that things are better than they really are. If you are a Christian, he is trying to tear you away from Christ and get you back on his side, by tempting you with things that entice you to stray from God. You always have to have your guard up and be alert to the fact that the devil is trying to take you away from God, just like God is wanting you to accept Him into your life and live for Him. This battle is raging and is very real.

There will be times in our lives where things keep piling up and we feel that there is no way out of the struggles we have. This is a time when we turn to God and lean on Him. He will help us persevere and get through all of our struggles and problems. Its easy to quit and give up, which is exactly what the devil wants you to do, but staying the course and persevering to achieve that goal and defeat those struggles by leaning on God is the true way. God wants us to ask Him for help and accept Him into our lives. He will show us the way and give us the tools to be able to take on any struggles we may encounter in life. Don't let that one bad inning, big run, or the daily struggles of life define who you are. Give it all to God and He will help you to persevere and defeat those struggles.

Suggested Verses to read:

Ephesians 6:18

1 Timothy 4:16