Inspired by the Number 2632

2632

One of my favorite numbers is 2632.  Why you ask?

Lacking extraordinary natural ability, Cal Ripken, Jr. excelled due to hard work and attention to fundamentals.  He did the little things right, and he did them consistently. Cal played his entire 20-year career with the Baltimore Orioles.

From May 30, 1982 until September 19, 1998, Cal played in 2632 consecutive games.  This feat eclipsed Lou Gehrig’s previous record by 502 games and earning him the nickname The Iron Man. Undoubtedly over the course of the streak, Cal played a few days when he just didn’t “feel like” playing.

Ripken’s baseball achievement should inspire us toward a spiritual achievement. We can be spiritually what Cal Ripken was athletically.

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The Best Crop to Cultivate In Your Heart

cultivate

I planted a garden this year.  Even though I am 53 years old, I still like to play in the dirt. I like to cultivate things. It’s not a large garden by any means, but it’s mine.

What Do You Cultivate?

All of us try to grow something in our lives.  For some, it’s our financial standing. They do everything with a view for how it will make more money for them.

Others grow popularity.  They want to know and be known by the right people. They want other people to know who they are.

Many people try to cultivate possessions.  They want the best house, car, clothes, or any other objects that the world values.  Their life is a massive pursuit of more, better, and new.

You can probably think of a lot of other things that people you know try to grow in their lives.

A New Crop to Cultivate

I have read the verse countless times in my life. But when I read and studied Psalm 37:3 the other day, I saw something new for me.

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Winning the Waiting Game

I hate waiting. Red is a beautiful color EXCEPT on a traffic light in my lane. I avoid a certain unnamed big box discount retail establishment because it is notorious for long waits in the checkout line. Doctors’ offices stretch the capacity of my attention span unlike any other place. I ate at a restaurant the other day where my server could more aptly be called by the previous nomenclature of “waiter,” because wait is what I did.

I know that in Isaiah 40:31, God promises that those who wait for Him will received renewed strength, but waiting does not come naturally for me. Waiting is something that we all must do from time to time; it is one of those necessary evils in life.

I ran across something while reading my Bible the other day, however, that has given me new encouragement for my seasons of waiting, and I hope it will be helpful to you. When Jesus was ready to ascend back to heaven, he met with his disciples one last time on the Mount of Olives and gave them an order to wait.

And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father… – Acts 1:4a

They expected Jesus to overthrow the Roman government and establish their idea of kingdom, but instead he told them to… wait. The object of their waiting, though, was a great encouragement – the promise of the Father.

So, they obeyed. Had they gotten impatient and left Jerusalem and went about doing their own thing, they would have missed the promise of the Father. Instead, they stayed where they were, faithful day in and day out to the little things of life. They faithfully obeyed the last instructions until they received new ones. In Acts 2, the promise of the Father came and the Holy Spirit poured out in them and empowered them for ministry that changed the world.

Our church is in a season where we are waiting on God’s promises to us, and I know many individuals who also are in waiting mode. As we wait, let’s be faithful day in and day out to obey what we know God has already instructed us. Don’t miss out on the promise of the Father for your life or your church because you were not faithful in the waiting.

What have you learned while waiting on God? Feel free to share in the comment section.

In THIS Jungle The Lion Never Sleeps

In Daniel 6, we read the familiar story of Daniel in the lions’ den. Daniel 6:3 clues us in on the kind of man Daniel was – he distinguished himself above others because “an excellent spirit was in him.” Because he was that kind of man, he found favor with the king and was set to become second in command over the whole kingdom.

One truth we cannot escape, one that is illustrated throughout the Bible is that we reap what we sow (Galatians 6:7). Daniel was in a position to receive God’s blessing because he consistently demonstrated whole-hearted daily commitment to God. While he found favor in God’s eyes, and in eyes of the king, he fell into disfavor with his colleagues who grew jealous of Daniel’s rise to prominence in the kingdom.

Living for Jesus will not ensure that we will avoid critics and detractors. In fact, Paul warned Timothy that all of those who desire to live godly lives will suffer persecution (2 Timothy 3:12). In Daniel’s case, through the scheming of those who despised him he found himself thrown into a den of lions. Miraculously, God closed the mouths of the lions.

If you are living a godly life, you, too, have your detractors. You know what it is like to be criticized for being who you know God wants you to be. Your detractors have their own lions – slander, criticism, negativity, ridicule, just to name a few. Just remember, if you are living a faithful life for Jesus, those “lions” say more about your detractors than about you.

My encouragement to you…stay faithful. The only “fault” Daniel’s detractors could find in him was his faithfulness to God (Daniel 6:4-5). Stay faithful and entrust your lions’ den to God. Pray that He will give you strength to stay faithful, that He will shut the mouths of your lions, and that He will deal with your detractors in His way and in His time.

What I Got from The Blood Moon

blood moonI missed the Blood Moon Wednesday morning. I went out to see it, but when I looked up all I saw was fog. It figures that the morning of such an interesting celestial event would also be the foggiest morning in South Georgia.

I am not so enamored with the latest fad of attributing the Blood Moons (total lunar eclipses) to end time prophecies. The Jewish Calendar has always centered around the moon cycles and full moons and lunar eclipses happen with enough regularity that over the course of 4000 years or so some significant things will align with those eclipses.

Every 27.32 days, the moon completes an orbit around the earth, and we tend to mark the beginning of that orbit as the “full moon.” Without fail…27.32 days…every month…for 6000 years since the earth was created. The earth completes a turn on its axis once every 24 hours, and a lap around the sun once every 364.25 days. Consistency created by a consistent God.

God is orderly and consistent – we refer to it theologically as His FAITHFULNESS. Just as we can always count on creation to remain constant, so also we can count on God to always be the same. He never diminishes, never has a bad day, never takes a day off, never comes in late. He never sleeps nor slumbers. He is always 100% “on.” The cycles of nature, including the lunar cycles, remind us that we can hold to His unchanging hand.

As for the end times… what if this string of “blood moons” does portend the return of the Lord? What difference does that make? How differently would we live our lives if we knew today were our last day on earth? Well, the truth of the matter is, we should live EVERY DAY as if it were our last. It could be. Let’s not wait for the two-minute warning to start trying to win the game.

What to Do When Your QB Gets Hurt…and other life lessons from football

Aaron Rodgers – Green Bay Quarterback and Discount Double-Check Salesman – left last night’s game with an injury. Green Bay lost 27-20.

Sunday, the Houston Texans led 21-3 at half-time when their head coach, Gary Kubiak, collapsed while leaving the field.  They lost the game 27-24.

As I thought about the challenges these teams faced, I thought about some challenges my family and I are facing.  What do you do when things don’t go the way you planned?  These football teams can’t decide to wait until they can play under better circumstances. They make adjustments and move forward.

In life, when circumstances seem to mount against us, we can’t just stay in bed and wait for “better times,” we have to adjust and do the best with the circumstances presented us.

At just the right time – as usual – God sent a needed Scripture to me this morning that helps me see how I can continue even with less than desirable circumstances.

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. – Romans 12:12

  • REJOICE in hope – my life is not a random flow of unrelated coincidences.  GOD IS IN CONTROL.  My confidence for today  and all of my tomorrows rests in my Sovereign God who is working His plan for my life.  My game plan may need  adjustments, but HIS cannot be thwarted.
  • Be PATIENT in tribulation – Keep on keeping on, even when the going gets tough.  Don’t quit, shrink back, or make excuses.   Do what you CAN and stop complaining about what you CAN’T.
  • Be CONSTANT in prayer – Stay in touch with the ONE in control of the plan.  He is the one to guide my adjustments.  Acknowledge Him in all my ways and He will make my path straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

When circumstances catch you off guard, remember, our all-knowing God knew they were coming all along.  Trust Him and faithfully keep doing the last thing He told you to do until He tells you to do something else.