Pickleball

A Series on the book of James
Trials and Rewards
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
James 1:1-18 

[James is one of my favorite books of the Bible. In some ways, it’s similar to Old Testament wisdom literature like Proverbs. It includes many practical applications to help a believer grow in their faith. In this series, we will look at the wisdom of James’ letter and how it applies to our lives.]

When you play sports, your goal is to win. And if you win often enough, you might earn an award.

 

During high school and college, I loved to play sports. Even until I was in my forties, I played tennis. But I was only an average athlete, and certainly never won any awards. That is… until I started playing pickleball at the age of 74. I finally won an award! Such as it is.

 

James wrote his letter to Jewish Christians who were scattered across the Mediterranean world due to being persecuted for their faith. You can imagine how difficult their lives must have been. Essentially, they were turned upside down.

 

Not only were they persecuted for their faith, but they went to countries where there were different cultures, languages and religions. Most likely, they were poor, had no job or place to live, and only knew the people who had fled with them.

 

They were refugees who faced many challenging trials. Trials that would present them with very difficult choices. Sometimes, it could even be a matter of choosing between following their faith or rejecting it. Therefore, James wrote to them about trials.

 

² Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.      NIV

 

The Message puts it like this.

 

^2-4 Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work, so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.          MSG

 

In sports, the goal is to win. The more you practice and play, the better your skills are. Through repetition, you challenge yourself and push yourself to improve. In our faith-life, the goal is to become “mature and complete”. Our faith is challenged and strengthened by trials. That’s how we learn and grow.

 

Besides the benefit of becoming “mature and complete”, James held out another carrot for them. He told them that if they persevered through their trials, they could win an award – the “crown of life”.

 

¹² Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.            NIV

 

It’s fun to win an award – even if it’s a meaningless pickleball award. But winning the “crown of life” – that’s incomparably superior!

 

It’s time to compete for what truly matters. It’s time to go into spiritual training; to strengthen our faith through trials; to become mature and complete; to receive the crown of life.

 

Copyright 2026 Joseph B Williams

Feel free to share this blog with others.

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

 

Endlessly Rolling Waves

Series on “I am Joe’s Favorite Verses”
James 1:2-4
 (Click on the link below to read the verses.)
James 1:1-18 

[Many years ago, there used to be articles in the Reader’s Digest titled “I am Joe’s ___” with the blank being filled with a body part or organ. Over the years, I’ve written down verses that are meaningful to me on 3x5 cards. In this series we’ll be looking at some of my favorite verses. In other words, “I am Joe’s Favorite Verses”.]

 

 

In 2016, my family met in Wrightsville Beach, NC to celebrate my oldest sister’s 50^th wedding anniversary. One morning, some of us got up early to go deep sea fishing. As we left the docking area the sun began to rise. It was a beautiful day; so calm and peaceful. But that would soon change.

 

The captain picked up speed as we headed into the open sea. He kept going and going until we couldn’t see any land. Then he maintained a high speed in the open sea even when we kept crashing into the endlessly rolling waves. After about thirty minutes of that, I lost my breakfast and anything else that was in my stomach.

 

Life can be like those endlessly rolling waves. You feel like things are out of control. You’re tossed from one wave to another. And with no land in sight, there’s nothing firm for you to hold onto. So, you just hang on for dear life.

 

Following the stoning of Stephen, “a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem”. People were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. No doubt, they may have felt like they were being tossed around by endlessly rolling waves.

Many years later, James wrote his letter to those Jewish Christians.

 

² Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, ³ for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. ⁴ And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.   ESV

 

In other words, instead of avoiding trials and testing of your faith, James said to embrace them. For him, it was a matter of perspective. That is, taking a vertical perspective on life, not a horizontal one. Try to look up to see what God is doing.

 

Paul, who originally was a primary cause of the persecution against the church in Jerusalem, after his conversion, put it like this in his letter to the church in Rome.

 

³ We can rejoice, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. ⁴ And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. ⁵ And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.    NLT

 

The ESV translates the last phrase of verse 5 as “God's love has been poured into our hearts”. I like the visual of that. The picture of God opening my heart to pour his love into it, is beyond my comprehension.

 

During those times when the Jewish Christians felt like they were being tossed about by the endlessly rolling waves, James advised them to simply pray. That they ask God, not just for knowledge, but for wisdom. Wisdom that would be proven “by living an honorable life, doing good works with humility”.

 

Faith works! It works when we’re tested. It works when we pray. It works when our lives reflect His hope, love and wisdom.

 

Copyright 2025 Joseph B Williams

Feel free to share this blog with others.

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

Two Questions

A Series on the Psalms – a collection of prayers
Feeling spiritually dry
 (Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Psalm 63 

[Life is filled with emotions. The book of Psalms is a collection of prayers that express our emotions which are the cry of our soul for help and hope. In this series, we will be looking into the Psalms to learn more about ourselves and our Lord.]

  

David had two questions to answer. But in order to do so, he needed to flee into the Judean Desert. His son Absalom had crowned himself as king and led a rebellion against his father. He followed David into the wilderness with the intent of killing him.

 

The Judean Desert was the perfect place for David to hide. It is described as being “marked by barren wilderness, mountains, terraces and escarpments. It is crisscrossed by a number of valleys and has deep ravines cutting through the rock”. It’s also a stark land devoid of food and water.

 

Having been driven from his home, David must have felt isolated and alone. In addition, he was no longer in the presence of the Lord in Jerusalem where the sanctuary and the ark resided. Instead of being a safe place, the surrounding wilderness of Judea had become a spiritual desert for David.

 

¹ O God, you are my God;
    I earnestly search for you.
My soul thirsts for you;
    my whole body longs for you
in this parched and weary land
    where there is no water.            NLT

 

In his whole being, David desires the Lord. His soul thirsts and his flesh yearns for the Lord. He will seek him at dawn; watching for him; waiting for him. He will think about him throughout the night.

 

⁶ As I lie in bed, I remember you;
    all night long I think of you.    GNT

 

Throughout the Bible, the wilderness is the setting for extreme experiences including a severe lack of food and water, isolation, danger, divine deliverance and encounters with the Lord.

 

The nation of Israel wandered in the wilderness for forty years. Once that generation had passed, the next generation was given this command by Moses before entering the Promised Land.

 

⁴ Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. ⁵ Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.   NIV                            Deuteronomy 6

 

As a result of David’s exile in the desert, he was able to answer two life-changing questions. First, what do you want so badly that you’re willing to do whatever it takes? And second, what keeps you awake at night?

 

Sometimes, we have to wander in the wilderness; we have to go through dry times; we have to struggle with adversity. And when we come out at the other end, we find that like David, there’s nothing more important than knowing the Lord.

 

Copyright 2024 Joseph B Williams

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

 

Murphy's Law

Romans 5:1-5

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%205%3A1-5&version=NIV;NLT

  

When I was first married, we had a small leak in our half bath downstairs. When I tried to repair it, instead of tightening the pipes, I disconnected them. Do you know how small those pipes are? And do you know what small pipes do to water pressure? Water shot out of there so hard and fast that pieces of toilet paper were blasted onto the ceiling.

 

That was a perfect example of Murphy’s Law which is, “Everything that can go wrong, will go wrong”. Yup! Been there, done that!

 

My co-worker recently had a streak of bad luck. First her stove died and they went for weeks before the replacement arrived. Then one of their cars was making some weird noises. Several hundred dollars later, the noise was gone. Finally, the dish washer started leaking and had to be replaced. Have you ever heard of the saying, “If it weren’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have any luck at all”? Been there, done that!

 

Adversity, affliction, problems, struggles, suffering, issues, trials, temptations, testing, or troubles - whatever you want to call them; we’ve all experienced them. But Paul and James suggest dealing with them in a highly unusual way.

 

³ We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. ⁴ And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.    NLT

 

² Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.      James 1 NIV

 

To respond to adversity with rejoicing or pure joy seems not only counterintuitive, but ridiculous. Why would you do such a thing? I’m glad you asked.

 

⁵ And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.   NIV

 

³⁸ And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. ³⁹ No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.         Romans 8 NLT

This is not to say that adversity isn’t hard, because it is. But even in adversity, we can know that God is with us; He is working in our life to draw us closer to Him; and that He loves us no matter what happens.

 

 

That, my friend, is cause to rejoice.