Friday, July 12, 2013

God Says You're on the Winning Team!


Remember the days of picking kids to be on teams? We wanted the best to hold the line, throw the ball, jump the rope and more. There were the ones that were always picked last. It was hard because kids wanted to be nice, but they wanted to win. So the struggle between having a good team and having a good heart was there on the playground for the whole world to see.

Sometimes the underdog just got made fun of and left to suffer in his or her own problems. Other times we’d find out that the underdog was actually a shining star with talents none of us knew! It was amazing to see the look on the face of the kid who didn’t fit in as everyone cheered on the victorious home run or breaking through for Red Rover.

Our country is in a bit of a mess. I might say we may be in the last inning. There’s trouble at all the bases and the opposing team appears to be bigger, stronger and “badder”.  We’re the underdogs that’s for sure.  Unless we do something drastic we can’t hope to win. Can we?

You’re probably feeling the heat yourself. Life can be a big a mess as the playing field of life gets littered with all kinds of problems. You know you’re the weaker link, the last to be picked and you may even have been left out of the game altogether.  Unless you do something drastic you won’t win. Will you?

Is there hope for us on the underdog team? Is there hope for you as an underdog yourself? Maybe you’re thinking about throwing in the towel and making yourself fit in with the other team. You’re tired of having a good heart, full of good intentions and being lonely and outcast and unappreciated, undervalued and discarded like a bad penny.

Oh beloved, I encourage you today to get out the Play Book of Life and read:  The underdogs win! It may look rough, the sky may be growing dark, the winds of change are blowing in and the devil himself is howling at your door. But God says you are on the A Team! God says you’re a Winner! God says you are victorious not a victim! He says you are beautiful, perfect and redeemed. He says you are able and content and valiant! He says greater is He who is in you than He who is in the world!

It may be the last inning and you may be struggling, but God says I love you and I AM for you and that’s all that matters in the playing field of life!

Psalm 112:6-8 Such people will not be overcome by evil.  Those who are righteous will be long remembered.  They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the Lord to care for them.  They are confident and fearless and can face their foes triumphantly.

1 John 5:5 And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

I John 4:4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.

I Corinthians 1:8-9 He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns.  God will do this, for He is faithful to do what He says, and He has invited you into partnership with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 8:31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?

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