Prizefighter

By Elaine James –

My first week of empty nesting. The last two of my four children were going off to college. I kept imagining myself being alone. The adversary kept jabbing me with “You are never going to make it! You are going to fall apart! Those kids are your life. You cannot do anything else!”

I desperately prayed, “God I just can’t fall apart. This is where life is now. Help me!”

It was impressed on my heart to read the book of Philippians. My study Bible recommended that the reader focus on certain verses of that book. There are many good verses that I like, but I was praying and asking God for a personal revelation for me. I actually get excited about praying and reading, because at some point a verse does pop out at me! Then I just read it over and over till I can journal some thoughts to help me carry through the day.

“And do not [for a moment] be frightened or intimidated in anything by your opponents and adversaries, for such [constancy and fearlessness] will be a clear sign (proof and seal) to them of [their impending] destruction, but [a sure token and evidence] of your deliverance and salvation, and that from God” (Philippians 1:28 AMP).

This was the verse! Consider the phases of life as a boxing match. We’re God’s prizefighters! Are we going to throw in the towel and give into fear, intimidation or sadness? Are we wimps or fighters? We have to be careful or we can get hit hard and be KO’d (knocked out), ending up depressed or sick.

This verse put it into perspective for me. It is a daily choice. I am a competitive person by nature. I cannot let Satan win. I cannot let him destroy me. If I draw near to God, He can disable Satan and make it so he won’t have control over my life. God can give me the energy to fight! How about you?

I think that we have no choice about being in the boxing ring of life. There will always be round after round with many bouts of fighting. I know that if we take breaks between those rounds and go to God’s corner where he coaches and delivers us, we can be prizefighters!

Prayer: Dear Lord, help me embrace Your promise to deliver me. I want to draw near to You and be energized by You so I can be a prizefighter. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Full Circle on the USS Midway

By Peter Lundell –

I wanted to become a Navy pilot. Yes, indeed. But my left eye was 20/25—not perfect, so I couldn’t. In the meantime God led my life another way. Yet I always wondered about the Navy pilot thing. What if…? And why did God lead my life in a different direction?

I found out “what if” when I had the privilege of visiting the aircraft carrier USS Midway.

I got to sit in the pilot’s seats of several jet aircraft. My mind sizzled. How will it feel? Here we go! And––Dials, levers, buttons, and lights all around me. Gag, choke, get me outa here. I love the feel of flying, but I couldn’t take the technical onslaught of what I’d have to go through to pilot a jet.

Then on deck I learned about landing these planes, sometimes in the dark, on a midget runway continually rising and falling as much as ten feet, with cables to grab and stop the plane. And every single landing is graded. Graded! And every grade affects a pilot’s career. The pilots argue with the graders and always lose.

I would have either jumped ship or died of stress.

Rarely does a person get to enter the world where he almost went—and then see for himself what it would have been like. I’m thankful I did.

All those years I wondered what might have been. No more. I learned that God knew me better than I knew myself. He knew beyond what I could see. He led me in the way I was born to walk. Even when I dragged my feet.

We all have “what ifs.” God doesn’t explain everything. He lets us wonder. When we find out, we know. When we don’t find out, we can only know by faith.

What are your “what-ifs”?

“Lord, You know me better than I know myself. Forgive me and correct me in the moments I disagree. Teach me patience to see what You see—and the humility to trust when I cannot see.”

“But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold” (Job 23:10 NIV).

Who-What-Where-Why?

By Anne C. Johnson –

Sweat rolled down my back as I watched my daughter, Moriah, give commands to Dasher, our three- year-old golden retriever mix, during her 4-H dog obedience class. They have worked together for two years training for the county and state fairs. Moriah’s teacher often uses Dasher as an example for different maneuvers and techniques to the other 4-H members.

One night during practice I sat on the sidewalk with the other 4-H mothers and watched our children train. Long shadows from the surrounding fir trees offered little escape from the sweltering heat.

Moriah and her class stopped to guzzle down water. Dasher flopped to the ground, his chest heaving. “He’s doing good today, isn’t he Mom?” Moriah asked.

“He’s too hot to do anything else,” I told Moriah as Dasher gazed at me with dark brown eyes.

“Here boy.” Moriah tried to get Dasher to drink, but he wouldn’t budge. “You’re right Mom, he’s too hot.” She lifted Dasher’s water bowl above his head and doused him with water.

Dasher jumped to his feet, eyes wide with wonder. I could just hear his poor puppy mind yelling, “Who? What? Where? Why?”

His mini soaking didn’t scar Dasher for life, but he definitely shied away from his water dish the rest of the night.

God is also in the dousing business, saturating me with His words. There are times in my life when I feel run down and exhausted. When I want to flop on the ground and pant like my dog, God pours out His word from heaven. I may be at church, or listening to the radio or talking with a friend, when God’s Spirit pours over me like water from a heavenly watering dish. During these moments all I can do is stop and sputter in amazement. The God of the universe, creator of all that is, has taken a minute to reach out to me and pour His love on my tired thirsty soul.

I praise the Lord that I live in America where I can go to a Bible-teaching church. I thank God I live in a society that currently allows Christian broadcasts to be aired daily. I am grateful for all my friends who have spoken God’s truth into my life. Each of these avenues are ways in which Isaiah 44:3 comes to fruition, “For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring and my blessing on your descendants.” (NIV)

Like Dasher, I wonder, “Who? What? Where? Why?” And then I see my loving Heavenly Father (who) speaking his words (what) wherever I am (where) to show me His love (why). May God never stop dousing me with His words, and may I always be attentive to His subtle showers of love when my body and soul are thirsty.

Praying

By Charlotte Riegel –

How do you pray? Do you talk to God as if He is the Big Daddy in the Sky, holding a switch and just waiting for you to step out of line? Do you pray to God as if He is the heavenly Santa, giving you everything you ask for if you’ve been nice? When you receive a ‘lump of coal’ in your stocking of life, do you grumble, complain, and pout, “It’s not fair!” Do you pray to God as if He is a close friend, sitting in the chair beside you, or walking along the road of life with you? Is He someone you can chat with for a long time? Can you spend time with God in silence just enjoying each other’s presence?

Our prayers often reveal superstitions, or preconceived/subconscious notions we have about God. Do you fall asleep while praying, like the disciples who could not watch with Jesus during his time of agony prior to the crucifixion? Do you argue with God while praying, like Jonah or Job did? Perhaps read the stories of these two men to be reminded of God’s responses.

The disciples watched Jesus pray and asked Him to teach them how to pray. His model prayer in Luke 11:1-13 encourages us to acknowledge God as holy and honored and to ask for our daily sustenance. We are challenged to recognize that God’s forgiveness of our sins is directly connected to our forgiveness of others. Are you holding a grudge against someone? According to God’s Word, your relationship with Him is contingent on your relationship to others here on earth.

In this model prayer we are told to ‘ask’, ‘seek’, and ‘knock’, and keep on doing so. When we choose not to, what does this indicate concerning our view of God, or the view we have of ourselves?

Jesus prayed with confidence based on His relationship with His heavenly Father. Yet He also said, “Thy will be done” because he understood God the Father comprehended the bigger picture to which He was submitting.

When life seems confusing or troublesome, remember you are only a small piece of a much bigger picture. Determine to fulfill your role in the Kingdom even if you do not see the bigger picture because you trust the ONE who does.

“Our Father in heaven: May your holy name be honored; may your Kingdom come;
may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today the food we need.
Forgive us the wrongs we have done, as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us.
Do not bring us to hard testing, but keep us safe from the Evil One” (Matthew 6:9-13 GNT).

Breaking Chains That Bind

By Charlotte Riegel –

“I wonder when I’m going to make something of myself?” asked my husband after yet another setback in his fight to succeed. I had heard this statement off and on for too many years. He had attempted several careers and always hit a wall, or seemed to climb ladders only to discover they were leaning against the wrong wall, if they were even leaning against any wall at all. He was discouraged and I was tired of hearing the negative put-downs of himself.

I felt as if he had done amazingly well to keep our family of 7 protected from the elements, fed and clothed throughout the many challenges we encountered. It occurred to me that perhaps the power of his words was part of the problem. I confronted him about the phrase he absentmindedly spoke all too frequently.

We agreed to invite a trusted, highly respected friend for dinner to discuss ridding my husband of this bane and then praying for the bondage to be broken. He graciously agreed to participate.

After considerable discussion over dinner about the futility of how life seemed to be treating my husband, we shared various scriptures then placed a piece of plastic chain links around one of his legs and a leg of the chair he was sitting on to symbolize how these words of failure were binding him. After praying for God to break the power of these words over his life, he took scissors and cut the chain to emphasize God’s power to set him free from the bondage he had been in.

I never heard him say those words of failure ever again. He increasingly felt more accomplished and much happier as the years progressed.

“Thank you, Lord, for vividly showing us the power of our words. Help us to choose wisely what we say each day.”

“It is what a man thinks of himself that really determines his fate.” Henry David Thoreau

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