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www.truthworks.com 10 SEPT 04 devotion archive |
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BE THE BALL! I tell you the Truth, Before I had a life (meaning before I had the responsibility of being a dad and husband), I played golf at least twice a week - three times a week when my friend Jimmy and I could get by with it. Back then, we used an expression to mentally give us a feel for striking the ball. My partners and I would commonly encourage each other to “be the ball.” The idea was to focus on a fluent, natural swing causing you to strike the ball, which became an extension of who you are. Lucky for me, I wasn’t the ball. Because my ball loved to hit trees head on and take plunges into any nearby water hazard. While “be the ball” may have never helped me in my game, the idea that the ball is under my control made me think about how I need to “be the ball” in my walk God.
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Timothy 2: Paul’s instructions to young Timothy serve as a reminder of who we are and why we are here. We are to be instruments for noble purposes, useful to the Master. Most of you have witnessed of my love of sports, especially baseball. Interestingly enough, if you ever visit Cooperstown’s Baseball Hall of Fame, you’ll easily notice that there has never been a baseball bat elected into the hall of fame. You’ll never find a player’s glove being nominated for inclusion. You won’t find Mickey Mantle’s shoes and cap being honored for their unbelievable statistics. Yet every player ever nominated to the hall of fame used tools of the game to accomplish the feats that got them elected. You and I are instruments of God’s hands. Our job is not to win or loose and especially not to receive the glory. We’re here to be used by the Master for good and noble purposes. Sometimes that’s a difficult position to be in. We get to the place where we see God using us for some really cool stuff. And we can suddenly think we’re really cool stuff ourselves. There’s a fine line between glorifying God with our beings and being glorified ourselves. You and I have a responsibility when handling the things of God. We only need to look as far as Lucifer to see what can happen when our service to God becomes our own downfall. Lucifer was second only to God Himself in the kingdom when he fell because of one simple thing – he wanted the glory that was meant only for God. The result was the sin of pride, which tends to be the origin of most problems in our own lives. What this means is that you and I must continually humble ourselves before the throne. We need constant reminders that this world is not about “me.” My purpose in life should be a single minded thought – to bring glory to God. Glory to God should be my goal for all things. My school work, my job, my friendships, my dress, my speech, my life – should all be directed to glorifying the Creator. So let’s all be instruments that are willing to be used by the Master for noble and good purposes. And let’s “be the ball!” Your Servant, <*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< Prayer Requests (and Praises!) If you have a prayer request and would like to see it here, please drop me an email so we can share with others. Please pray for the many friends in Florida that have endured consecutive weeks of hurricane weather and the possibility of a third one this coming week. - Randy Please reply if you have prayer requests, comments or simply need an open ear. I always enjoy hearing from you. <*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< <*))))))< Copyright © 2004 Truth Works Publishing. All rights reserved.
Unless otherwise specified, all scripture quotations taken from the HOLY BIBLE,
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. NIV.
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