Wonderboy!

2 Corinthians 10:1-6

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Corinthians%2010%3A1-6&version=NIV;NLT

 

In the 1984 movie The Natural, Robert Redford played the role of a baseball Phenom, Roy Hobbs, who had a supernatural bat called Wonderboy. As a young boy, Hobbs had made his bat from a tree that had been hit by lightning. He engraved both the name of the bat and a lightning bolt onto the barrel of the bat, memorializing its origin.

 

Years later, as a middle aged rookie in major league baseball, Wonderboy provided Roy Hobbs a spectacular comeback as he almost single handedly brought the fictitious New York Knights from last place to the World Series.

 

Hobbs most memorable home run was when he hit the cover completely off the baseball leaving the fielders and umpires a ball of unraveled string. Wonderboy was indeed a bat with mystical powers.

 

In 2 Corinthians 10, Paul was defending himself against false teachers who were spreading lies about his authority as an apostle. His defense lead to these verses.

 

³ For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. ⁴ The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.        NIV

 

Paul was invoking the same divine power that raised Jesus from the dead. It is this divine power that changed his life and carried him through a life dedicated to serving Christ. A life that was full of controversy, conflict, hardship and persecution. Yet, through it all, he remained faithful to Christ.

 

Peter recognized this same divine power.

 

³ By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. 2 Peter 1:3 NLT

 

Do you ever wish that something supernatural would happen in your life; that God’s divine power would come down like a lightning bolt and do something? We don’t have to depend on a fictitious, mystical bat because something supernatural has already happened. However, we do need to pick up the bat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Building Blocks

2 Peter 1:3-8

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Peter%201%3A3-8&version=NIV;NLT

 

At my house, there’s an area in the living room that is dedicated to our grandchildren with various toys for them to play when they visit. One of the toys that they enjoy is a set of large Legos. Normally, what happens is one of them builds a tower that the other knocks down. No sibling rivalry there.

 

Each time a block is placed on top of another it becomes a building block. The foundation of course, is most important because if the foundation isn’t constructed correctly, the whole thing will fall down; even without the help of a grandchild.

 

The definition of a building block is “a unit of construction or composition; especially something essential on which a larger entity is based”. If you think about it, that’s what Peter is describing in these verses.

 

⁵ For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; ⁶ and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; ⁷ and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. NIV

 

Peter knows all about building blocks and growing in his faith. He was very impetuous and immature during Jesus’ three years of ministry on earth. It wasn’t until after the resurrection and Pentecost that Peter began to bear fruit. The truth is that all of us who have been called have received what we need to bear fruit.

 

³ By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. NLT

⁸ The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. NLT

 

As I thought about these verses, some questions came to mind. What am I doing to grow? What do I need to change to grow? And, in the spirit of my grandchildren’s Legos, What are the building blocks of my spiritual growth?

 

Whatever your answers are to these questions, the goal is to share in God’s nature; to become more like Jesus.

 

 

 

Life is the Trip

John 3:5-8; John 6:53-59

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%203%3A5-8%2CJohn%206%3A53-59&version=NIV;NLT

 

What’s the most hungry that you’ve ever been? For me, it was the Boy Scouts Polar Bear overnight that I attended as a teen. I had to do all of my own cooking, and basically I starved. When I got home Saturday night, my Mom fixed seven slices of her mouthwatering French toast which I devoured in front of the TV until I fell asleep.

 

 

When teaching, Jesus would often use earthly objects and events that people could easily visualize in order to drive home a spiritual lesson. Because of this, he spoke to Nicodemus about being “born again”.

 

In Capernaum, he taught in the synagogue about the “Bread of Life”. Bread from God was a familiar image to the Jews. After all, God had provided manna for the nation of Israel as they roamed the wilderness for forty years.

 

The crowd that Jesus was teaching had been a part of the five thousand he had miraculously fed. They followed him, not because they knew who he was, but because they were hungry. Jesus on the other hand, was trying to steer their attention from the temporal to the eternal.

 

²⁷ Jesus told them, “Don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you…                       John 6 NLT

 

^33 “The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world…  ³⁵ I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.  John 6 NLT

 

When I got home from the Polar Bear overnight, all I could think about was food and sleep. HALT is an acronym that stands for Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired. These are emotions that can affect you any day of the week. You don’t have to go on a winter camping trip to experience them. Life is the trip.

 

How do you deal with HALT distractions in your life? How does the Bread of Life regain your nourishment; refocus your sense of purpose; revitalize your spiritual strength? Answer these questions and you will experience the abundant life that Christ promises.

 

 

 

 

 

Two-A-Days

Romans 12:1-3

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%2012%3A1-3&version=NIV;AMP

  

Traditionally, this is the time of summer when two-a-day football practices begin.

As the name implies, two-a-days are where players participate in two practices every day… for two weeks… in the heat of August.

 

It’s a time that separates the men from the boys. It’s a time when you run to the point of exhaustion… and then get sick. It’s a time when you have muscles ache that you didn’t even know you had. It’s a time to prove yourself.

 

The purpose of these grueling practices is to get into shape physically. But it is also to get into shape mentally. In effect, it is the coaches saying to you, “You’ve had all summer to do whatever you wanted to do, and now you’re mine”!

 

By spending more time with the players, the coaches can establish the culture of the team. They stress sacrifice, discipline, and commitment. It’s an emphasis on team over individual. In some ways, that’s what Paul was calling the Roman believers to do also; a fully committed sacrificial life.

 

Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies [dedicating all of yourselves, set apart] as a living sacrifice, holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your rational (logical, intelligent) act of worship.

 

Then, like the coaches demanding a radical change from the summer, Paul calls for the Romans to a life of change; a transformed life.

 

² And do not be conformed to this world [any longer with its superficial values and customs], but be transformed and progressively changed [as you mature spiritually] by the renewing of your mind [focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His plan and purpose for you].          AMP

 

Two-a-days are a physical, mental and emotional boot camp to prepare players for a season of football games. As Christians, we need “two-a-days” that prepare us spiritually, emotionally and mentally for life. These two-a-days come through worshiping the Living God by offering your bodies as a living sacrifice with all your heart, soul, mind and strength in everything you do and say.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some other verses that you may fine helpful.

 

 

Mark 12:30-31 New International Version (NIV)

 

³⁰ Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ ³¹ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

 

Romans 6:13 New International Version (NIV)

¹³ Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.

 

2 Corinthians 3:18 New International Version (NIV)

¹⁸ And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

(The word used for transformed in this verse, is the same Greek word that is used when Jesus is transfigured.)

 

1 Peter 2:4-5 New International Version (NIV)

⁴ As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— ⁵ you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.