Tackled by a two year old = two separated ribs

In my house we play a brutal game called tackle. Once you are on the ground it’s a no hold bar game of wrestling. I did this when we just had Nevaeh, she tackled me at the age of two and separated two of my ribs. Now when we play, I have all four kids jump on me and drag me to the ground. It’s awesome! Usually once I get a kid pinned to the ground, I make them say something, like “Say mommy is beautiful” or “Say I smell like dirty socks!” All the kids are quick to answer this, except Ty. Ty won’t give up, he was done this until he was crying after about 15 minutes. He doesn’t give up and is afraid of nothing. I love Ty’s resistance. He won’t give up. In life we don’t like to give up.

Giving up is not a quality people want. We don’t back down from situations, we want to overcome. We want to handle it on our own; we want to be the hero, the one who can do things on our own. We want to push ourselves beyond belief and come out stronger in the end. Sometimes what we do isn’t the best thing. Sometimes we are called to give in.

Everyday I look and try to apply some scripture to my life. Since my lost post I have been reading through Galatians 1:11-24.

Some scripture I process it and feel like God is telling me something immediately. Other times, I don’t, so I continue to read the same scripture over. So since my last post I have contemplated this section of scripture. The story of Paul’s life is so intriguing to me. He was a successful religious leader and was known for persecuting Christians. He was moving up the chain of command pretty quickly. God then changed him and the same people he focus on proving wrong and hurting to the point of killing them. People heard this in Galatians 1:23…”The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.”

Paul was a successful person in his view, yet soon he gave in. God called him and Paul gave in. Galatians 1:16… “To reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being.” He felt such a calling by God, he didn’t consult others. He knew what mission God gave him, he went out and did it. Paul could have been an extremely successful religious leader, but God called him to a different ministry. He gave in. He didn’t look back. He didn’t look at who or what happened or what he gave up. He was called to preach and share the love of Jesus to other people. The same Jesus he was trying to destroy other followers. Paul gave in and didn’t look back. Giving in is not a weakness.

For years Paul didn’t consult with other people. He didn’t go and visit with the apostles. He had his vision from God and did it. He gave in and went all in. I love this quality about Paul. He felt called by God to do this will and didn’t think of people around him. Paul went all out and it started with giving in.

What do you need to give in? Get the noise out, get the voices out of your head that hold you down. What do you feel called to do? Ty doesn’t give in and in some aspects of life that will help him out greatly, but in other aspects of life it will hurt him.

What do you need to give into? What do you need to change in your life? One of the greatest changes I ever did was give up on my old way of life and give my life to Jesus. The next move was being a year away from being a full time sports writer and going into ministry instead. I have no regrets for what God called me too. Giving in is not always a bad thing, it worked for me and even more it worked for Paul. Giving in might be the smartest decision of your life.

Have a great day.

Murderer to minister

Transformations are beautiful. I love shows like the Biggest Loser, because it shows changed life. Every person who tries and listens to what they do on the show changes their life for the better. I think it’s the reason health pills focuses so much on people who lose great amounts of weight. Why they showed Jared wearing the huge pants he used to fit into is a huge change video. Christianity is about transformation.

Paul was once a murderer of Christians and now he is one. Paul used to be called Saul and Saul was one of the people known for trying to stop the church from going, he was one of the people that persecuted the church. For people following Christ he had them thrown into jail. He did not approve of Christians and what they stood for. He was one who witnessed Steven being stoned to death. He was not a good person towards Christians and was looked as one if not the main enemies of Christianity.

1 Corinthians 15:9…

“For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.”

Paul realizes the wrong things he did, but he changed. Verse 10…”But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not with effect. No, I worked harder than all of them – yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.”

Now Paul is not gloating here. This dude traveled more, suffered a ton more opposition, wrote a ton of the New Testament and created more churches. He knew it wasn’t him but God that caused all this to happen.

A murderer to a missionary. What an amazing story. All the time it’s amazing to see the transformation of Christ. At Central Michigan University, there was a guy that was a standout guy. He was an awesome person someone who everyone in the class just enjoyed. On the outside it seemed like this guy would be the party of the campus. Then we talked about faith and I told him I was a Christian. He said that was awesome and he was too! He said he owes the rest of his life to God. He went on to tell me his life story.

He went through high school and the start of college as a big partier. It got to the point he started hitting harder drugs on a consistent basis and it was starting to destroy his life. It was while he was getting high as he realized he was starting to get addicted to this. He said he never prayed and was at a point while getting high that he prayed. He said God I need you to take this from me otherwise I am going down a road I can’t travel back from. At that point he felt the presence of God with him and it changed him forever. He no longer had the desire to get high anymore. He started attending church and the reason he is still here today and doing well is nothing short then the grace of God.

God can transform. Jesus gives us grace to overcome what once held us down. I have seen God transform some of the most vilest/worst people and give them a second chance. God turned Paul from a murderer of Christians to an amazing apostle of Jesus. God can transform us when we give our lives over to him.

Faith is powerful and can change us for the better. If you need a fresh start, another chance at life or the opportunity to make a difference in your life or others, Jesus gives us that chance.

Jesus transformed me and can do the same for you. Have a great day.