6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."
7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
In our crisis moments, we can motivated to turn to the Lord. Even though there may be a human tendency to try to work things out ourselves, it is He Who is calling us to seek His face, so that we might experience what He wants to do in our lives even in our hardship. He will give us the proper attitude toward our trial, and the strength to withstand. Our goal should not be to have the difficulty removed, but to allow the Holy Spirit to do His lasting, inward work in the midst of it. And, through it all, we can depend on the Lord to give us joy.
The apostle Paul is a great example for us about someone who persecuted the early Church in
arrogance, but following his conversion, ministered with humility. Here is a passage from Acts 20:
18 And when they had come to him, he said to them: "You know, from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you,
19 serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews;
20 how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house,
21 testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
So, you've heard the numbers. The Cleveland Indians last won a World Series in 1948 during the Truman administration. That's according to USA Today, which reports that the Chicago Cubs last won in 1908, when Teddy Roosevelt was the President. They haven't even been there since 1945.
So, when the World Series gets underway tonight in Cleveland, there will be plenty of excitement, as the longsuffering Cleveland sports fans have a chance for the second championship in the past year, following after the NBA's Cavaliers. The Cubs, with an incredible fan base and venerable Wrigley Field, are attempting to win it all after having the regular season's best record.
More numbers relative to tonight: #8 and #20. Two players to watch; one from each team.
8 would be Chris Coghlan, 2009 National League Rookie of the Year. A CNSNews.com profile, referencing the website, TheIncrease.com, relates a crisis moment in Chris' life. When he was 15, Coghlan, who is now 31, came home and learned that his father, a Maryland police officer, had been killed in an accident. Coghlan told The Increase: “I was crushed,” adding, “I didn’t even know who God was, really, but I was mad at Him. I was thinking, ‘Why would you take the most important person in my life away from me?’”
He turned to baseball and signed with the Florida Marlins, where he met Darren Roberts. Coghlan relates: “He walked me through the scriptures...I remember him sharing Ephesians 2:8: ‘For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this not from yourselves, it is a gift of God, not by works so no one can boast.’ I realized there was nothing I could do to earn my salvation - that it was only through the grace of God.”
This year, according to CNS News, Coghlan and his wife Corrie adopted a boy, Judge. Chris says, “Because of the circumstance and what God has allowed me to see an ego through...my heart is for kids who don’t have an earthly father.”
Rajai Davis wears #20 for Cleveland. He was the 1,134th player selected in the 2001 Major League Baseball draft, by Pittsburgh in the 38th round, according to a story on the Beyond the Ultimate website, which related that things were tough for Davis as a pro, which led him to turn to God.
He says that growing up in Connecticut, “My mom took me to church, her parents went to church, adding, “Going to church was something that we all did, it was tradition." He went on to say: “In 2002, I got to my brink. I wasn’t playing, I wasn’t on the track that I wanted to be on, so I started reading the Bible in the morning time, I prayed before I’d get up to bat, I’d read the [Bible] at night.”
So, there you have it - Coghlan and Davis; two guys who possess faith in Christ who will be in the World Series, which begins tonight. I think there are a couple of takeaways from their stories:
The first is so very important, even for us today. Perhaps your testimony includes your discovery of God's love in the midst of a crisis moment, and that crisis led you to pursue a walk with Christ. A crisis can lead to salvation, and for those who are saved, crisis moments can provide us with an opportunity to turn to God. Troubles can help us to experience God's strength; so when there is a trial, we can seek the Lord and allow Him to perfect His work in our hearts.
I think something else that can be instructive for us is the concept of humility. When you perform at a high level as a professional athlete, no doubt ego can become a strong factor. I would say that Chris Coghlan put aside ego and devoted himself to helping children without fathers, even to the extent of adopting a child. Rajai Davis experienced the temptation of ego getting in the way, so he turned to people who could keep him grounded. Staying humble involves taking our eyes off ourselves and placing them on the Lord and what He would have us to do.
+++++
The apostle Paul is a great example for us about someone who persecuted the early Church in
arrogance, but following his conversion, ministered with humility. Here is a passage from Acts 20:
18 And when they had come to him, he said to them: "You know, from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you,
19 serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews;
20 how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house,
21 testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
So, you've heard the numbers. The Cleveland Indians last won a World Series in 1948 during the Truman administration. That's according to USA Today, which reports that the Chicago Cubs last won in 1908, when Teddy Roosevelt was the President. They haven't even been there since 1945.
So, when the World Series gets underway tonight in Cleveland, there will be plenty of excitement, as the longsuffering Cleveland sports fans have a chance for the second championship in the past year, following after the NBA's Cavaliers. The Cubs, with an incredible fan base and venerable Wrigley Field, are attempting to win it all after having the regular season's best record.
More numbers relative to tonight: #8 and #20. Two players to watch; one from each team.
8 would be Chris Coghlan, 2009 National League Rookie of the Year. A CNSNews.com profile, referencing the website, TheIncrease.com, relates a crisis moment in Chris' life. When he was 15, Coghlan, who is now 31, came home and learned that his father, a Maryland police officer, had been killed in an accident. Coghlan told The Increase: “I was crushed,” adding, “I didn’t even know who God was, really, but I was mad at Him. I was thinking, ‘Why would you take the most important person in my life away from me?’”
He turned to baseball and signed with the Florida Marlins, where he met Darren Roberts. Coghlan relates: “He walked me through the scriptures...I remember him sharing Ephesians 2:8: ‘For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this not from yourselves, it is a gift of God, not by works so no one can boast.’ I realized there was nothing I could do to earn my salvation - that it was only through the grace of God.”
This year, according to CNS News, Coghlan and his wife Corrie adopted a boy, Judge. Chris says, “Because of the circumstance and what God has allowed me to see an ego through...my heart is for kids who don’t have an earthly father.”
Rajai Davis wears #20 for Cleveland. He was the 1,134th player selected in the 2001 Major League Baseball draft, by Pittsburgh in the 38th round, according to a story on the Beyond the Ultimate website, which related that things were tough for Davis as a pro, which led him to turn to God.
He says that growing up in Connecticut, “My mom took me to church, her parents went to church, adding, “Going to church was something that we all did, it was tradition." He went on to say: “In 2002, I got to my brink. I wasn’t playing, I wasn’t on the track that I wanted to be on, so I started reading the Bible in the morning time, I prayed before I’d get up to bat, I’d read the [Bible] at night.”
Change began to occur as study of the Word became part of Rajai's daily life. He says,
"It became something that I looked forward to doing,” adding, “I would gain strength in just listening to the Word, and then I would apply that word to the field, and I would believe that God was going to work through me.”
Davis attempts to stay grounded in his approach to major league baseball. He is quoted as saying,
“It’s difficult because your ego tends to get in the way...What I do is I try to surround myself with the right people so that they might influence my spirituality more than my faults, my failures.” One of those "right" people is Torii Hunter, who encouraged him during his time with the Detroit Tigers.
"It became something that I looked forward to doing,” adding, “I would gain strength in just listening to the Word, and then I would apply that word to the field, and I would believe that God was going to work through me.”
Davis attempts to stay grounded in his approach to major league baseball. He is quoted as saying,
“It’s difficult because your ego tends to get in the way...What I do is I try to surround myself with the right people so that they might influence my spirituality more than my faults, my failures.” One of those "right" people is Torii Hunter, who encouraged him during his time with the Detroit Tigers.
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