Failures vs Success #13

If you are a believer of Christ, at some point in your life you will face a trial. God says many times in the bible that you will have something put in your life that you will have to overcome. Some of these things are from the circumstances around us, some from our own sin, and somethings happen simply because God allows it to. As I read more in scripture and even looking at the lives of people today, a lot of their stories are similar. We’ve seen many people make a comeback and overcome a specific event or events in their life and be looked at as a success. So my question is, is failure really the opposite of success or is failure just a stepping stone to get to success? 

A trial is a divinely ordained difficulty that God causes or permits so that He may grow us and conform us to be into the image of Christ. The purpose of the trial is like a makeover. It is to completely change our view of God in a positive way. God wants to develop us spiritually and he does that by testing our faith because that builds endurance. 

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. - James 1:2-4

I have faced many trials in my life and I feel if I would have prepared myself with these teachings, the outcome would have been a lot faster and smoother along the way. One thing that I can say about my success is failure has definitely been a big part of it. From failing on the court and having to fight back from injuries, from failing in relationships and having to shift my view on what’s important, to even failing on being a good friend and family member and not being selfish has led to many life changing details in my life. 

One of my favorite comeback stories of all time is Derrick Rose returning back to the NBA after three knee surgeries. After losing athleticism, being doubted and overlooked, he comes back to the league and plays at arguably an all star level. He had to overcome many different trials he was facing. Dealing with the surgeries and focusing on his health, being traded from NBA team to NBA team, moving his family from city to city, and the pressure of being a high profile athlete that was in the media for not being as successful as he once was. I don’t think anyone would call his career a failure at this point, but many would say because of his injuries he did not live up to the success many thought he would have. Because Rose never gave up, worked hard doing everything he could do, and leaving the rest in God’s hands, he received his comeback. We too can overcome and receive our comeback if we take the Derrick Rose approach and take it one step at a time letting God lead us through our trial.

Now that we know that there will be trials in our life, now it’s time to talk about how we are supposed to approach and look at them. I am a very organized planner, precise, “my way” type of person. I am very critical of the things I work hard at. It’s safe to say that for a long time, I was a believer in, “if it’s not successful, then it failed.” My playing career as an example, my high school basketball team did not get very many team wins like we projected. We had a number of committed college athletes on the team, with a lot of talent. However, we did not make it out of our sectional in four years. I had individual success while I was there, but for a long time I looked at my high school career as a failure. What I didn’t realize was how this would alter how I approached which college team I chose to play for and pretty much how I lived the rest of my life. I wanted to win, not individually but collectively as a whole.

In a trial, God says we must first pray. We should ask God for wisdom on how to handle our trials head on. Then, we must go to scripture and find what God says about your specific problem to understand deeper. Then lastly, we should ask God for help from spiritually minded people who can teach us how to best apply biblical truth to our problem. Most importantly, we must go to God in faith and not doubt. 

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.- James 1:5-8

God has a funny way of turning things around on us. I now put winning on a bigger level on and off the court more than I ever have before because of some events that happened in my past. Even as I go through various trials today, with my current playing career, relationship status and even future plans, I have learned to put God’s teaching first and to be joyful during the trials because I know at the end I will be more like Christ. 

If you’re in a trial, or just want to learn more, I encourage you to read through the James chapter 1 to start. Learn the reasons behind trials, how to face them the right way and also how to overcome and receive your comeback!

Win the Day #12

I’ve been talking to a mentor and friend and I realized that I can sometimes fall victim in something that God calls us not to do. Sometimes I worry and focus so much on the future that I miss the responsibilities that I need to focus on today. 

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” - Matthew 6:34

In the world today, setting goals and properly planning to take the steps to achieve your goals is a responsible task. By doing this, we try to organize and put ourselves into position to succeed. Nothing is wrong with striving for a goal, but the problem comes when we get so focused on our future that we try to take it into our own hands. 

I just think about how one of my main goals as a kid was to play professional basketball. I worked hard knowing what was ahead if I properly executed the plan that was set. I worked so hard that I actually put basketball before my faith and God. Of course, at the time I didn’t realize that but now I do. I understand how It allowed me to stray away from God’s purpose over my life.

God’s word says he will give us enough grace needed for each day. He says this because we have so many other things to think about each day, that to worry about what is on our plate for tomorrow will become overwhelming. Pastor Tony Evans said it best, “Today, is the tomorrow that you worried about yesterday.” Meaning don’t borrow from tomorrow’s to do list and worry about how you’ll complete or accomplish something meant for tomorrow, when you have to think about today first. 

When I think about winning each day, it takes me back to my high school football days. Each week we had a unified team goal to win on Friday night. For us, winning on Friday meant we had to start the Saturday before. We all came in on Saturday morning to watch the next team’s film, and then we went out each day of the week to execute that specific day's tasks to help prepare ourselves for the big game on Friday. Anyone that knows me well enough, knows that my senior year of football was probably my favorite year of sports in my life. That is mostly because of the coach I had. He was by far my favorite coach to play for, and that was because he conducted a team like I've never seen before. We were organized, competed hard each day, all got along and we all bought into the team goal.

 Now, you’re probably wondering how I have played division I college basketball and professionally overseas and pick my senior year of football as my favorite year. Well, each day for me all I had to do was attack and win that specific day. I was taught to play the quarterback position from my head coach and assistant coach day by day. I was new at the position and hadn't even played football since my freshman year in highschool. I chose to play football the summer going into my senior year, so they were forced to teach me the position quickly, but also only give me enough that I could handle. We had a good team, and many of my teammates went on to play college football. At the end of the year, I ended up receiving an award for MVP of our team. Not because I was the best, there were far better football players on that team, but because my head coach and assistant supplied me with enough knowledge to lead the team each day. 

Same goes for our spiritual life. We all play for a great, unbeatable coach in God. To see the success we are looking for, we must follow His playbook. However, we must understand He only gives us enough we can handle. So, each day we need to turn the page and ask, what can we do to dominate today and when tomorrow comes, we will repeat the cycle. Walk with the lord and walk in his plans, and soon we will be living out His playbook for our lives.  

“For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them.”- Ephesians 2:10 

Michael Jordan Last Dance #11

Today is a bittersweet day for me. One of the best sports documentaries/movies I’ve ever watched, “The Last Dance” airs its final two episodes tonight. The mini series focused around Michael Jordan and his years with the Chicago Bulls has been nothing but amazing to watch for all the sports people in the world. For me, I have always loved Jordan’s game, but watching some of the behind the scenes interviews, stories and deeper understanding of his life allowed me to see another side that I never got to see because of my age. Each week as my dad and I watch together, I get a deeper meaning of his career and because of that, I can apply it to my life and the world today. 

As I sit back and take in all of the episodes, one of the main things I took away from it was, Jordan dedicated everything he had to basketball. Because of this, it allowed him to branch out and be able to reach other things like endorsement deals, movies and commercials, his own clothing brand and even his own organization. This stood out to me because in today's society, we are told and taught to explore and never limit our options because it gives us more opportunities to succeed. I am not saying as a kid, you shouldn’t play multiple sports or in school keep your field options open for your career, but I am saying if we give and dedicate everything we have to God, he will allow us to branch out in his will. 

If you were like me growing up, then Michael Jordan did nothing wrong in your eyes. That obviously was not true, but after watching this documentary I got to see how imperfect Jordan was. It took MJ seven years to win his first championship. His road towards it was not easy. He spent less time with his family, less time on the golf course and even forced his teammates to raise their level over the summer rather than taking vacations. One thing he didn't do was give up or accept being average. During those first seven years, he could have been complacent and accepted that he was just going to be a great individual player and score and dominate his position. However, he wanted to win so badly that he had to elevate his understanding of the game, rely on his teammates and coaches more to achieve his overall goal to win a championship. 

Our lives as a Christian are solely dependent on Jesus. With that being said, none of us are perfect. God has already given us victory and our championship, but it is up to us if we receive it here on earth or have to wait until we get to heaven for it. Just as Jordan had to dedicate his summers to basketball and rely on his peers and coaches, God calls us to do the same for His kingdom. Dedicate your time to his word, help other people along the way and let his victory live through your life. Also, the good thing about it is, if you haven’t been doing that, you can start right here, right now and make the change. God doesn’t hold it against us for taking a while to do it, but loves when we convert and give it all to him. 

One part of the documentary that intrigued me was how Jordan was highly criticized when he did not take a stand in the political world. He was shunned for it because ultimately it came down to race. A black democratic governor versus a white republican governor. Jordan was expected to take sides of the black governor because of his race but Jordan did not endorse either side. I think his quote the media put out was, “Republicans buy Jordans too.” Today, there are social and racial issues that continue to get worse. I understand the stance of what Jordan was expected to do and I understand the stance Jordan actually took. However outside of Jordan’s actual situation that was portrayed, my main takeaway was that sometimes we get so worldly that we do not consider God’s take on a matter. It is okay to support any race or any political party or person as long as their word matches what God says on an issue. 

In 1993 Michael Jordan retired for the first time and went to play baseball. This was right after his father passed away and was always a dream of his. Jordan to me is without a doubt the best sports interviewer of all time. Always professional in the media and knows how to answer questions in a respectful, knowledgeable way. One thing that I found interesting was that the media related Jordan’s father's death to MJ’s personal life. Majority was gambling and trying to link the two. In our life, there will be unfair situations, things we can’t control and things we wished never happened, but that doesn't mean it's the end of the world. If you've made a mistake, that is okay. God accepts mistakes if we come to him about it. That is called repenting and the goal is to learn, give it to God and be better in a future situation if tested. I learned from Jesus and Jordan to always be respectful, shed light on your situation and lean close to the people who care for you in your life. God has restored us using Jesus Christ, so ultimately everything is in His hands. No we can’t control everything that happens here on earth, but we do know who is in control so that is why we are never to panic or get out of sorts. 

I could talk forever about this topic and documentary, but I just wanted to touch on a few details as we go into the last week of episodes on MJ’s great basketball career. Remember, God is in control of all, Jesus is the key to our salvation, and we should dedicate everything to serving his will and allowing him to live through us. 

Spiritual Growth #10

As we are wrapping up and getting into our last steps of spiritual growth, it’s important to remember that this is a transformation process to bring us closer to God. Allowing Him to live in us and through us as we serve His kingdom. 

13. Calling:

God has called all of us here to serve His kingdom. Within that, He has given us all a specific job and way we can do that. Our designed purpose is linked to our experience, opportunities, passion and abilities. Where all these things meet, is where we will find our purpose. Our calling is not just something we do for a living or a job to make money from, but our divinely pre planned service for God.  

10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. - Ephesians 2:10

When I was in college, our coaches made us write on our shoes, what was our purpose for playing. They did this to motivate us and remind us that we have a bigger reason we all chose to grind and do all the hard work we are doing. Many players wrote down a family member or someone they knew that passed away. I remember having a couple different reasons why I played the game of basketball, especially at that intense level. One that sticks out to me that I wrote down on my shoe was, P.O.L. or providence over luck. Providence is God causing or allowing things to happen for His purpose. So for whatever reason, I know at the time God was using basketball to be a part of my life to help me individually and for His kingdom, ultimately leading me to my calling or purpose. 

14. Obedience:

The response of your spiritual growth is your obedience. We need to understand that God’s new covenant when Jesus sacrificed for all of us, embedded in us all His teachings and wrote it on our hearts for forever. Obedience activates the word and work of God in our lives. 

19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.- James 1:19-25

 

One thing that changed my life was when I got to college and I saw what the definition of hard work really meant. Majority of the things I did in high school did not compare at all. I soon adjusted and was used to "working hard." So much that, even until this day my workouts are more intense than most people. When I played professionally in Germany, many times I had to workout and lift weights alone or with one other teammate and because of my changed nature, the workouts I did kept me in shape and healthy. 

 

15. Maturity: 

The absolute goal of spiritual growth is maturity within. You know when you have matured when you can consistently view and live life from a heavenly perspective rather than earthly view. When you operate this way, mature Christians can often see, hear and have thoughts on things that regular humans can’t. This is because they are close to God and able to detect when something is from Him rather than something from the world. The spirit is helping them to think God’s thoughts. Mature believers have transformed lives that reflect and transfer values of the Kingdom of God. 

12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.- 1 Corinthians 2:12

 Now that we have concluded our 15 step breakdown of spiritual growth, I highly encourage you to study and implement them all into your life. As a believer our goal is to grow closer to God and serve His kingdom, but first we must understand how and which steps to take. He has given us all the ability to do so, but it is on us to take the required actions to go forward.

Spiritual Growth #9

We are covering the next four parts of our spiritual growth breakdown and as we go deeper, it is important to remember the reason for all this. Getting closer to God brings us deliverance, and brings heaven down to us on earth. Going deeper gives the opportunity for Christ to live through us and allows the spirit to grow closer to God. 

9. The Church:

The church explained in the bible is meant to be a support system for individual Christians. We were never meant to go through life and grow spiritually closer to God alone. Spiritual growth is not an easy one day process, it takes work. The good thing is, as believers, God allowed for us to have people we can rely on to help us and the other way around. 

I have learned that the term “church” goes beyond the building. Yes, the building gives the opportunity for a larger gathering and more organized setting, but the church travels way beyond those four walls. Recently, because of the virus today in the world we aren't able to physically go to the church building. I’ve found ways to still attend church service online and my friends and I have been doing bible plans using the YouVersion Bible app. Leaning on them to push me to grow closer to God has been great, because we all can relate to each other's lives and be a positive honest influence to each other in areas of our life that we need support in. 

10. Giving:

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. - James 1:17 

One of the most important things regarding spiritual growth is understanding that anything we have is not ours, but God’s. Money, talents, property and possessions are things God has given us to simply manage it wisely. 

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it,

    the world, and all who live in it. - Psalm 24:1

That is why it is a sin to have idols and put things like money or your career before we give back to God and realize that we only have these things because of Him. I think about when I was in college and our coaches would schedule community service projects for our entire team to do. For us as players, it was mandatory but our coaches did this, because they knew how fortunate we all were. To be in the position to play or coach college basketball, very few get the opportunity to do, so we must realize that we have been blessed and try to become a blessing for others. 

11. Trials:

Trials are the test of spiritual growth. The purpose of a trial God creates is to develop us, and allow us to grow and mature spiritually. One thing to understand about trials is, it is created by God and different from the consequences that come from sin. Trials are not easy to handle, and that is because God wants us to get deeper with him. God is in control and even though we may struggle through a trial, we have to remember it has a good purpose. That is why the bible says to be positive and know that a trial is an opportunity to grow in your spiritual life. Also, we must understand that if we have the right attitude, and know that God is in control of all things, then He is in control of your trial and will guide you through it. 

Looking back on my basketball career, I always had a love/hate relationship with the preseason. It was good because the season was upon us, but it required a lot of hard work to prepare for the upcoming season. Conditioning tests, three to four hour practices and heavy weights weren’t to punish us, but just get us ready to have a successful season. Our team goal was to always win a championship so even though we didn’t always enjoy the preseason, we knew how important it was to help us reach our goal. 

12. Temptation:

Temptation to sin is not from God. God won’t cause us to sin, and even though the devil can not make us sin, he will try and trick us into it. An important thing to remember as a believer, is even the devil has to go to God to ask for permission to try and get to us. When it comes to temptation, the devil will use deception, false advertising and persuasion to try to offer you something that looks inviting and influence you to it because he can’t physically force you. While dealing with temptation, we must understand our position in Christ. The devil’s goal is to use sin to break our relationship and growth with God. 

Understanding temptation and how the devil wants to attack you, will help your growth because it will allow you to be more aware and have your eyes on the right prize. The devil tried these same tactics on Jesus, but was not successful and God says that same strength he gave to deliver Jesus from the devil, he has given us. 

 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. - Hebrew 4:15

Spiritual Growth #8

Growth within God is possible within every believer. Continuing on with our breakdown of spiritual growth, we are going to add to conversion, identity, sin and grace. As we covered before, spiritual growth is the process of allowing Christ to live within us and express himself through us. 

5. Faith: 

The action needed for spiritual growth is faith. Faith is trusting even when you can’t see. Faith is living out the word of God even when times are tough. What most believers don’t realize is, faith is above our five senses, it deals solely with the spiritual realm. God wants to know you trust Him enough to act on His word. Faith is so important to the spiritual growth process that without it is displeasing to God. 

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.- Hebrews 11:6 

Growing up playing competitive basketball at an early age, I found myself always looking at player rankings and which players sports reporters thought were good. I was ranked in the state of Indiana but I was never ranked nationally. I played against other nationally ranked players and I felt I could compete just as good, if not better than them, so I would always question these reporters. However, I received good guidance from my father and AAU coach and they reminded me to trust the process and have faith in the future. During a time of doubt or times when you are unsure, that is when faith should kick in the most. Stay faithful to your work ethic, faithful to your beliefs/ethics and most importantly faithful to the Lord and His will.  

6. Holy Spirit:

The spirit is the heart and soul of your spiritual growth. Only the strength within us from the Holy Spirit will our lives produce what we are supposed to. What some believers don’t realize is, it is possible to be a Christian and to not have the spirit of God live through us or have the spirit alive within us. 

When I got to college, I experienced a new level of hard work. Class, weights, practice and study tables day in and day out was exhausting. I remember my roommate and I specifically finding time to take a nap between classes. With all of this going on, one could feel this was straining and tiring causing them to relax or “sleepwalk.” However, if I wanted to succeed and not just be a player on the team but a leader, I had to use and enable the power within my teammates, coaches and academic advisor to help me succeed. 

7. Scripture: 

God’s word should be more than just positive words and more of living out your spiritual understanding. The bible is not just to give us information but a guide to look to. It is your playbook in knowing how to live your life and defeat the enemies against the Kingdom of God. It’s important to spend time in the word and search what God says, but more important to allow this the word to live through you. 

In college, I played for two really good coaches that specialized in their offensive play calling. Both had many different offensive plays with hundreds of different options to those plays. As a point guard, I took pride in knowing all the plays and where every position was supposed to be. For me to truly understand and be able to execute the playbook in practice and games, I had to spend time studying on my own and with assistant coaches. 

8. Prayer: 

God has given us a way to connect and communicate with Him in the spiritual realm, and that is with the use of prayer. Prayer is the access of spiritual growth and causes all parts of Christian life to relate to one another.  I am a big believer that confidence is built through what you work at. If you want to build confidence in your athletic performance, in your studies or in your relationship with the Lord, you must work at it. We previously spoke about faith, well praying goes hand in hand with faith because it is a part of action. Faith + works= God intervention. What praying does is shift your focus and worries of a situation to God. We will speak on the other part of action God calls us to do, but praying gives God’s strength to a believer. 

Now that we have spent time talking about eight parts of the spiritual growth breakdown, I encourage you to start implementing these into your routine. We will continue to talk more about spiritual growth, but its important to understand that it’s possible to grow spiritually because Christ lives within every believer.