I recently read that golf great Tiger Woods has a case of the Yips. I am not much of a
golfer, but I guess I have heard of this thing called Yips before and I know it is used
in reference to other sports as well.
Well, whatever comes over me at times came
over me and I had to dig a little more on this thing called Yips. I found many
descriptions and definitions; I found it even listed on the Mayo Clinic Website, but
there were a couple of descriptions that made the most sense to me.
The first was from Urban Dictionary (not a site I recommend too often so be
careful); anyway, according to the Urban Dictionary the Yips are over thinking
something so much you become unable to do it. The other was from the Free
Dictionary and they define the Yips as nervousness or tension that causes one to fail
to perform effectively.
So bear with me, but if I combine the two I come up with, overthinking something so
much that nervousness and tension overcome our ability to do, act or accomplish. So,
where am I headed with all this? I am taking the long way around, but it would seem
to me that even in our Christian Walk we may come down with the Yips...especially
when it comes to sharing the Gospel, the Good News with others.
There is a cure...in Luke 12 we read:
11 “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not
worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, 12 for the Holy
Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.”
So if we trust, so if we truly believe we can as they say “just do it!” If we can prevent
our overthinking about how others might react or how we might be viewed or how
we might sound or...well you get the picture. And if we can trust in the amazing
grace of God Almighty, if we rest in the incredible love of Christ, if we walk in the
comforting power of the Holy Spirit we can overcome the Yips.
Trust, Rest, Walk - Philippians 4:13
I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
Grace and Peace!
Being “in the Word” has been on my mind lately. Not sure I really care for the
jargon, but it is descriptive. Spurgeon said we should immerse ourselves in God’s
Word. The older I get the more I agree...If we believe (and we do) that God is our sovereign over all creation; if he is our heavenly Father, maker of Heaven and Earth, shouldn't we desire, crave, need to read every word He has written?
Recently I had a couple of encouragements. I am using a devotional guide to prayer
that my daughter gave me and our weekly topic was the Authority of the Word. On
the first day of this weekly devotional, I was led to Genesis 1 and 6 times in 24
verses (if I counted correctly) we see “And God Said,” followed by “And it was so.”
This of course is the creation account and it is so easy to see the importance, the
power, the wonder of God’s very Word.
Later in the week I was reading Acts 27:25 where Paul says:
"So keep up your
courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me."
I find that
so amazing; amazing faith, amazing grace, amazing Word!
It just struck me that our God speaks and it is so; our God speaks and it is just as he
tells us...how can we not read his Mighty, Amazing, Powerful, Wonderful, Loving
Word?
Father, grant us a ready spirit, provide us uncluttered minds, give us hearts to
comprehend and feel the majesty, power, love, and grace of your Redemptive
Word...
Grace and Peace!
Came across this story on Fox News about the persecution of Christian Missionaries...and while that in and
of itself is newsworthy the thing that touched me most, the thing that humbled me most was the reactions of
the Christians. It doesn’t really matter who did what in this, just look at the reactions of the missionaries.
Oh, to be more and more like Christ!
A portion of the story by Todd Starnes is below...
Could you imagine the international outcry if Christians had burned 45 mosques?
But that’s not what happened in Niger. The Christian community did not retaliate. They did not
respond with angry voices.
“That’s because we are people of mercy and grace and faith,” Neal told me. “We don’t react in the
flesh and we don’t react out of anger.”
Indeed, Christian leaders in Niger held a press conference and announced they forgave those who
burned down their churches.
“The church is recognizing this is something to be joyful over — the church and their faith have been
proven,” Neal said. “Jesus said rejoice and be exceedingly glad when men persecute you, for great is
your reward in heaven.”
The Muslim mobs may return, but that’s OK with Neal.
“We are preaching the Gospel and living as an example before the people,” he said. “It was
demonstrated in our response. It is not our nature to be aggressive or violent. We forgive those that
attack.”
Good words spoken by a man with a deep and abiding faith in our Lord.
And yet I still can’t seem to get over the image of that charred Bible found in the ashes of that church
house. I’m reminded of a passage of Scripture from the Old Testament.
“The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.”
Grace and Peace!
Our Church is doing a series on true community and we have spent several weeks
looking at what true community looks like; community focused on studying and
learning from God’s Word, focused on fellowship (more than a potluck dinner), focused on
eating and sharing meals – both the Lord’s Supper and in homes, and focused on
prayer.
We recently had a passage from Nehemiah 8 as our call to worship and as I dove
into this passage a bit I could see even more true community:
Nehemiah 8:9-12
“This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn nor weep.” For all the people
wept, when they heard the words of the Law. 10 Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions
to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not
sorrow, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” 11 So the Levites quieted all the people, saying, “Be still, for the day is holy; do not be
grieved.” 12 And all the people went their way to eat and drink, to send portions and
rejoice greatly, because they understood the words that were declared to them.
This passage is about a scattered people brought back together and restored into
relationship with God and with each other, which to me is key and vital for true
community. And if you dig into this a bit you can see that as they were in
relationship with each other and as they started to understand God’s word they
found true joy. Joy in the Word, joy in grace and forgiveness and even joy in a
troubled world. Can’t we all relate to that?
Then as they found this true joy, it became their strength – the Joy in the Lord is
their (our) strength. I had to keep digging so I looked up the Hebrew for strength
and this word has in its essence this feeling of a safe harbor. So Joy in the Lord
found through His Word and through relationships with Him and each other is our
safe harbor. It is our literal safe harbor, our safe place for rest, for relationships, for
peace and for love.
It is a safe harbor like no other!!!
Grace and Peace!
