March Madness

If you live in America any length of time you will at least be familiar with the statement 'March Madness'. This is the time of the year that College Basketball takes center stage and teams battle to be deemed the National Champion of College Basketball. The best team in that year. Over Sixty teams are selected to compete to reach their ultimate goal. Often through the brackets teams will lose by one or two points by a last second heroic shots. In one moment they are done, failure, falling short of the goal they had set out to accomplish. No amount of Faith could change that reality for them.

In the same way, many Christians live with this same kind of mentality. We have goals and dreams that we pursue, hoping that we will accomplish them, but always fearing the worse. Thinking that in order to win I need to be the best. The problem with this kind of thinking is there is only one winner, leaving a whole lot of losers. So it is important for you to understand this very important Truth. Christ is the Winner, Satan is the Loser! If I am in Christ I am a Winner already, if I am in Satan I am a loser already. The Bible says that I am More Than An Overcomer. You are MORE THAN an Overcomer. We are in Christ and have already won, so we fight every battle, do every task, fulfill every dream with the understanding that I already possess the Trophy. It is already done. When we live life with that mentality, stress disappears, Faith is king and we experience abundant life. We will also overcome the little demons of Jealousy, envy, and covetousness that tries to trip us up. So today pray like you just won, walk with a holy swagger, and talk with words of confidence. If God is for you, who can be against you. Answer: NOOO ONE!

Seasoned With Salt

It is interesting to discover how much the great men of the Bible are just like us.  Over the last few weeks I have been studying the Epistles of Paul in the Bible. I came across one of those statements Paul makes that reveals how much like us he is.  Here is what he writes in Colossians 3:21, "Pray that I may proclaim it (Gospel) clearly, as I should." Paul, probably the greatest apostle of all time, asked for prayer that even he would be able to reveal the mysteries of the Gospel to the lost in mind and heart.  How do you share the gospel to a spiritually blind and deaf person?  Answer: With the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in you. Wow! If Paul needed help than I can take solace in knowing that I am not broken. There is one more thing I want to show you in this verse in Colossians. Paul then gives us all wisdom on how to present the mysteries of Heaven in our day to day life. In verse 5-6 it says "Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders: make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation always be full of grace, SEASONED WITH SALT...”  We all know people that put salt on their food, because it causes the flavor of the food to be more pronounced.  It makes the food taste better.  When our conversation with lost people is full of grace and seasoned with salt, we will find that they will want to talk more.  They will ask questions and inquire about issues of the heart either because they are just merely curious or because they have questions that need to be answered. There is something about when they converse with you that makes them believe you know something they need to know. Try seasoning your conversation this week with salt.  Drop little spiritual truths in your conversation. Make statements that they may not fully understand but would cause them to ask you to explain.  If you will do this not only will you have fun, but you will be strengthened in your faith and understanding because of the revelation God will give to you during the discussion. So start shaking the salt shaker.