John 8:23-24
Jesus said, "You're tied down to the mundane; I'm in touch with what is beyond your horizons. You live in terms of what you see and touch. I'm living on other terms. I told you that you were missing God in all this. You're at a dead end. If you won't believe I am who I say I am, you're at the dead end of sins. You're missing God in your lives."
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
A professor at my university alma mater, Arkansas Tech, has done a study on boxers and boxing matches. He has found a correlation between those boxers who believe they will do well… and speak and train positively for a good outcome and their overall success rate. Boxers who go into a match concerned that their opponent may be stronger… or considering themselves the underdog… generally do not perform as well throughout their career.
The professor is using this research to illustrate the power of positive thinking in any arena… even boxing. One of the points he makes is that successful boxers visualize themselves winning. You could argue that the boxer doesn’t know for a fact he will win. He can’t see the win, literally. But he believes in himself… he works hard to accomplish his goal…and in essence, he is in touch with what is beyond his horizons.
We are so often like those Jesus was talking to in this passage… we live in terms of what we see and touch. If something is not right in front of us, we won’t believe in it. So we fail to understand how God can do such mighty, powerful, amazing things for us… because we can’t physically see and touch Him. So often we miss God in all this and are at a dead end… and for many of us, it is a dead end of sins, just like Jesus describes.
Search your heart today… see where you may be missing God in your life. Ask Him to be present… to give you His Holy Spirit to fill your heart. Ask Jesus to forgive your sins, and accept His salvation… the gift of His blood on the cross. Oh, sure… you can’t see a single bit of this, but you can envision it. You can feel the Holy Spirit at work in your life… and you can see evidence of God’s hand in even the most mundane parts. Start to picture your life with God and believe that He is doing great things in and through you. Like the boxer, imagine a positive outcome… expect it! See where your faith can take you… and prepare to be amazed and truly blessed!
©2011 Debbie Robus
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