Testimony #9

Commitment to Excellence

If anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules. 2:Tim 2:5

God has given us unique gifts and abilities to be used in the body of Christ. You may not know what those gifts are, or how you can use them in your local church, but God designed us to work together, the Bible tells us that cause's us to grow to maturity and we are built in love. The gifts that equip the believer allow us to compete according to Gods rules, there are many opportunities to use those gifts in your place of worship, and God will identify your unique spiritual gifts as you walk with him.

Proverbs 4:25 says keep your eyes fixed straight ahead…verse-27 do not turn to the right nor to the left; turn your foot from evil. The danger of not playing by the rules starts when we lose center of attention on the Lord and wander as a result of focusing on the things of this world. Today's NFL athlete that stays fit and well balanced in all areas, receives the ultimate prize- respect from his teammates, maturity emerges as a leader as he competes by the rules, he becomes the go to guy on game day. Here's the problem, just like in the body of Christ- when praise and glory, along with fame come some of us let it go to our head, pride follows the danger of looking to the right looking to the left! It's the ugly side of not being balanced and grounded in Christ, the results can be destructive, and the division that follows eventually destroys many churches. In the NFL teams suffer when pride surfaces among players it can be overwhelming to function as a team much less win on Sundays "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. "Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. James 4: 6-7, the believer must submit to the creator in order to keep the devil away. In the game of football the player must submit to the coaching staff.

When players obey team rules, the organization starts to win on Sundays. What type of player looks to the right and to the left, and one that fixes his eyes straight ahead and keeps focus every moment of his playing days?  As spectators we recently saw the good, bad and the ugly with the Raider organization when Randy Moss was traded to the Patriots many of us read the newspaper clippings about the pride and disobedient behavior. In Randy's defense his determination to win was not the problem its when the team was not winning he would make a choice to wander, Randy Moss is near unstoppable with the right frame of mind and that's where the danger lies of losing focus and forgetting that it’s a team effort the same holds true in the body of Christ as believers when we play by the rules our prize will come when our Lord says job well done faithful servant as we go into the Kingdom of Heaven. God's word says there's a mansion waited for us. And lots of "Bling Bling! Actually it's the crown of jewels of being a team player that played by the rules.  The ultimate prize in the National Football League is the Super Bowl! One man that comes to mind that brought his (A) game everyday was Jerry Rice a man that focused and set his eyes on the prize playing by the rules, the outcome numerous Super Bowl appearances with the 49ers and once with the Silver & Black. Both Randy and Jerry where given awesome physical talent and unique gifts by God, these two men are good examples of the balance we need in our lives. We should never forget it’s a team effort, as fans and players of the Oakland Raiders trust in leadership we will eventually get back to the Super Bowl! As well in Christ trusts in the Creator and not the creation. Love the Raiders but "Trust in Jesus! We wish Randy the best! God bless the Moss family. Thank you Jerry for the memories...

 

Pastor Mando
"Just Keeping it Real!