One Shining Moment

A Series on Spiritual Turning Points
Moments in Time: Defining
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Genesis 32:22-32 

[God is always at work in our life – drawing us to him, helping us to become the person he created us to be and leading us to opportunities to serve him. In this series we will look at spiritual turning points in the lives of real people and the moments in time that it happened. Applying this to our own life, sometimes this happens suddenly, sometimes gradually, but always with purpose.]

 

The NCAA men’s basketball tournament, better known as March Madness, recently finished. Since 1987, after the clock of the championship game has hit 0:00, CBS has played the song titled “One Shining Moment”.

 

As the song plays, video clips are shown from throughout the three-week tournament highlighting game-changing plays. For many, this song is the climactic finish where you can see the raw emotion of the players, coaches and fans.

 

But, out of the 68 teams that start the single elimination tournament, only one team wins. For that team and for those players, it is a defining moment. Because for the rest of their lives… they will be national champions!

 

Jacob was constantly struggling with others to get what he wanted. Even at birth he grabbed the heal of his older twin brother Esau – a sign of things to come. Later, as a young man, Jacob made a “deal” with Esau for his birthright. Finally, he stole Esau’s blessing by deceiving their father, Isaac.

 

Because of this, Esau planned to kill Jacob once their father died. When Jacob learned about this, he fled to go live with his uncle Laban. After a month Jacob arranged with Laban to work for him for seven years. In return, Laban was to give Jacob his younger daughter Rachel in marriage.

 

However, when the time came, Laban tricked Jacob and gave him his older daughter, Leah. As a result, Jacob worked for another seven years – this time to marry Rachel. But Jacob’s struggles continued when Leah, whom Jacob didn’t want, gave birth to many sons while Rachel, whom Jacob loved, had none.

 

After twenty years, the Lord told Jacob to return to his family in Canaan to fulfill the covenant that he had made with Abraham. Therefore, Jacob gathered his wives, sons, servants and all of his livestock and possessions and left.

 

However, he was worried about how Esau would receive him. And when he learned that Esau was coming to meet him with an army of 400 men, Jacob proceeded to send gifts of livestock to precede their meeting. He also sent his wives and sons to a safe place while he stayed for the night by himself.

 

All that night Jacob wrestled with a man. But Jacob wouldn’t let him go until the man blessed him. So, the man blessed him and then changed his name from Jacob, which means “deceiver”, to Israel, which means “struggles with God”.

 

Jacob had struggled his entire life, but he finally realized that his real struggle was with God. The result was that Jacob was a changed man for “I saw God face to face”. It was his “one shining moment” that defined the rest of his life.

 

If we’re honest, we struggle with God just like Jacob. Paul wrote about this struggle in his letter to the Romans.

 

²¹ So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. ²² For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; ²³ but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. ²⁴ What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? ^25a Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!  NIV            Romans 7

 

Jacob struggled. Paul struggled. We struggle. How are you seeking Jesus? How has he redefined you?

 

Copyright 2026 Joseph B Williams

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www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

A Scene from a Horror Movie

A Series on Living in the Wilderness
The demon possessed man.
 (Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Mark 5:1-20 

[In this series we’ll be looking at people who lived in the wilderness of life. In fact, there are times when we all feel like we are living in the wilderness. During those times, it’s important to remember that the Lord is faithful, that He loves you and is always with you.]

  

When I was a kid, I loved watching horror movies. One of the scariest was Psycho. I can still hear the screeching sound just before the shower scene where a deranged Anthony Perkins viciously kills Janet Leigh.

 

But nothing rivals the scary scene that Jesus faced. Larger and larger crowds of people had been following him. In an effort for some peace and quiet, he and his disciples sailed at night across the Sea of Galilee when a sudden storm threatened their lives. Jesus calmed the waters and the disciples fear.

 

But fear would come again!

 

It was still dark when they reached the shore. Imagine how frightening it must have been when Jesus was immediately confronted by a naked man who was possessed by an evil spirit. When he saw Jesus, he ran up to him, fell on his knees and screamed in an unearthly voice.

 

This man had supernatural strength. In the past, he had been chained hand and foot and kept under guard. However, he always managed to break the chains. Nobody was strong enough to subdue him. He was out of control crazy.

 

⁵ Day and night he wandered among the burial caves and in the hills, howling and cutting himself with sharp stones.                      NLT

 

Following this, something even more bizarre happened. The demon begged Jesus not to torture him but to send him into a herd of nearby pigs. When Jesus complied and exorcised the evil spirit, the entire herd of almost two thousand pigs plunged down a steep bank into the lake and drowned.

 

The final scene of this story is Jesus sitting with the man who had been possessed but now was fully dressed and in his right mind. He was no longer driven by the demons. He was no longer living in the wilderness. He was at peace.

 

In our culture, people commonly don’t believe in demons or evil spirits. But we can understand and agree that there is something within us that keeps us from doing the good that we desire to do. Something within us that we struggle with.

 

Paul wrote at length about this struggle in Romans. He described how he wanted to do the right thing but kept doing evil. Then he came to this conclusion.

 

²¹ So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.   NIV

 

Most likely, your struggles haven’t been like a scene from a horror movie. But we all struggle with sin. Thankfully, Paul didn’t end by just describing this struggle. He went on to give these words of hope, not only for him, but also for us.

 

²⁴ What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? ²⁵ Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!       NIV

 

Copyright 2024 Joseph B Williams

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

 

 

Fight the Good Fight of the Faith

1 Timothy 6

 

In February of 1990, Buster Douglas shocked the sports world by defeating the undisputed heavyweight champion, Mike Tyson. It was like the movie Rocky come to life. Buster Douglas came out of nowhere to beat the most feared boxer of his day.

 

Paul knew what it meant to be in a fight, and wrote to Timothy about it. “But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”

 

Obviously, following Christ is not for the weak of heart. Like a boxer, there is work, sacrifice and discipline. Like a boxer, there are some things that you need to flee. And like a boxer, there are other things that you need to take hold of.

 

However, unlike a boxer, you aren’t alone in the fight. When you “made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses”, you gained the love, support and accountability of your brothers and sisters in Christ. But there is even more involved in the fight than this.

 

Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

 

As followers of Christ, our fight is everywhere. At work, at home, at church, in our mind – it follows us wherever we go. A battle can happen literally at any time. We must be ready. We must prepare through reading the Word, meditating, accountability with fellow believers and prayer.

 

Buster Douglas had one good fight. After that, he never fought the same again. We don’t have that option. “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”  That someone is you and me.

 

Take to heart what Peter wrote to the scattered believers in Asia: “Therefore prepare your minds for action; discipline yourselves; set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when he is revealed.” 

 

We must be ready to “fight the good fight of the faith”.