1 Corinthians « Journeyman Journal

0.09 Seconds

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

I love watching the Olympics…especially the Winter Olympics.

I live vicariously through these athletes that have sacrificed so much and worked so hard for that one moment. I love the patriotism of it all…rooting for your country and against the French. :cool:

These guys (and gals) are so good that the difference between winning and losing is often measured in fractions of a second. That was the case yesterday with Bode Miller. He took the Bronze (in case you weren’t paying attention). What blows my mind is how far away he was from the Gold…0.09 seconds!

Think about that for a second. 9/100ths of a second difference over the span of a course that’s longer than a mile. NBC reported yesterday that that represented about 11 feet difference at the finish line…over the course of a mile! I think if you and I raced from one end of a room to another there would be a larger distance than 0.09 seconds. Incredible!

And it got me thinking about what it takes for the top athletes to get to the place where they are that close at the end. Dedication. Determination, Sacrifice. Discipline. Effort. Training.

And what if we put that much effort into our own spiritual race? Paul says we’re in a race…a race that actually matters…

Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize?
So run to win!
All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away,
but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing.
1 Corinthians 9:24-26, NLT

Are you running your race to win? Are you striving for the “eternal prize”? Are you running “with purpose”? Or are you just shadowboxing?

I’m racing toward the finish line…how close behind you will I be? 0.09 seconds?

16.02.2010 Spiritual Musings, Sports No Comments

Expected to Teach

Thursday, January 21st, 2010

Teaching is both by gifting and my passion. But I understand that it’s not everyone’s gifting (1 Corinthians 12:28).

However, we need to be careful not to use that as an excuse in our spiritual lives. We are supposed to be teaching others about spiritual things…

You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others.
Hebrews 5:12, NLT

As I read this passage,a couple of thoughts come to mind:

There is an expectation of growth in our spiritual lives. We are supposed to learn and graduate from “spiritual milk” to “spiritual meat”. It’s natural…and it’s unnatural not to grow.
There is an expectation that we will take others on the journey with us…we are supposed to be teaching others the spiritual truths we learn as we grow. You don’t have to be some Biblical scholar, but you need to be sharing your experiences…how God has been teaching you and how you have grown.

I’ve been praying this week about who God wants me to pour my life into. Who should I be taking on the journey with me? Who can I teach…and learn from at the same time?

I got my answer…how about you?

21.01.2010 Discipleship, Spiritual Development, Spiritual Musings No Comments

Not My Way

Thursday, April 16th, 2009

“God in his wisdom saw to it that the world
would never know him through human wisdom…”
(1 Corinthians 1:21a, NLT)

This is the passage my devotions started with yesterday. We don’t get to know God through our wisdom. It doesn’t work that way…it’s not God’s plan. In fact, God ensures that we don’t get to know Him that way.

But why?

Because if He allowed us to get to know Him based on our own wisdom and knowledge, we would take the credit. Of course we would…that’s what we do. We don’t get to really pursue God—it’s the other way around. God pursues us.

Again…why?

God pursues us so that we will know that He loves us. There is no doubt. No question. God loves us. Period. He loves us so much that He wants to be sure that we don’t get in our own way and take the credit for His love (I’ve done this). He loves us so much that…

“…he gave his one and only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him
will not perish but have eternal life.”
(John 3:16, NLT)

Now, why would I want to go and mess that up? :wink:

16.04.2009 Devotional, God's Love, Spiritual Musings 1 Comment

Don’t Buy the Lie

Saturday, March 7th, 2009

I will confess up front that this is not the first time I have blogged about this topic (you can read the first post here), but it came up again yesterday and I just have to get it off my chest…so bear with me (it might be for me but it might also be for you).

Here is what is sticking in my craw today:

God will never give you more than you can handle.

We have all heard this phrase/comment before. There are many Christians and non-Christians alike that think this is good theology. It’s what the Bible says, right? God promises never to give us more than we can handle, right? We cling to this idea when life is rough. We cling to it when we feel like we just can take any more.

But there is a problem…wait for it…

This is NOT God’s promise. Scripture does NOT make this promise. It is a lie.

::INSERT PREGNANT PAUSE HERE::

I know…blasphemy! Of course that’s what the Bible says. I’ve heard it…I’ve read it. But, you haven’t.

Here is the passage that this idea comes from:

If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall.
The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience.
And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand.
When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.
1 Corinthians 10:12-13, NLT

This is a passage about temptation. It is not about trials, but we often read it that way. The truth is, sometimes God does give us more than we can handle. Why? So that we will turn to Him and learn to depend on Him instead of ourselves. There have been many times in my life when God has had to give me more than I could handle so that I would learn a lesson and stop being so self-sufficient. He promises never to give me more temptation than I can handle (although even that sometimes doesn’t seem true either), but He never promises that life won’t get out of hand.

The good news? He never abandons us. He is always there. He just wants us to lean on Him..to turn to Him when things get rough. God isn’t interested primarily interested in our happiness or our comfort. He is interested in us being more like Him and in having a relationship with us. And sometimes it takes us getting more than we can handle before we toss some of it on Him.

Whew…I feel better now!