Of all the things that God provides us in our lives, His undying love and grace are the most important. God’s love is unfailing, unending, unequaled, and indescribable. God loved us so much that He sent His one and only Son to earth to die on a cross to pay for our sins. Jesus gloriously rose from the dead and defeated the devil and death giving us the free gift of eternal life. We can trust in God’s love because it is pure and self-sacrificing. God has everything, but still loves us so much that He wants us to be with Him in heaven forever. Corrie ten Boom stated it this way. “The perfect motive is that God so loved the world. The perfect gift is that he gave his only Son. The only requirement is to believe in him. The reward of faith is that you shall have everlasting life.”

 Knowing that the all-powerful God loves us is a wonderful feeling! As a result of this, we have what we need for our life on earth until our work here is done. We can share God’s love with others because we have been richly blessed! We can praise His name our whole life!

God is the world’s greatest provider because He takes care of all of our needs. In our time on earth we may still experience hardships including health, financial, and family problems. However, God has freely given Christians the only thing that they need; eternal life in heaven. Because of this we have joy, peace, and hope in our time on earth. Having Jesus as our Lord and Savior means that we are blessed beyond belief.
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Psalm 84:11 states, For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. Based on this verse it might be easy to think that if a Christian is experiencing troubles then something must be wrong because the verse states, no good thing does he (God) withhold. Christians are certainly sinners and so our lives are not blameless. The beautiful thing is that because Jesus paid the price for our sins on the cross, Christians are viewed by God as forgiven, holy, and blameless people. The Gospel message is a proclamation of prosperity that Christians will experience. Prosperity is not defined by earthly standards though. It is not wealth and health. It is the joy and peace of living life with the Holy Spirit as our constant companion and the blessed true knowledge of a place in heaven awaiting us.

When we remember that all good things come from God we can remain humble and use these opportunities to praise God.

No matter what our accomplishments are, we matter because God cares for us and values us. Author Dale Carnegie once said, “We all have an innate, unquenchable desire to know we are valued, to know we matter. Yet affirming this in each other is among the most challenging things to do in our day and age.” We can remember the parable of the lost sheep. The shepherd searches for one lost sheep out of a hundred and rejoices greatly when it was found (Luke 15:1-7). God wants all to be saved and share in the joy of heaven. We matter because God has created us and cares for us. Our purpose, to glorify God in all we do and share His love with others, is able to be accomplished through His power. We can keep this in mind throughout the day and at the start and end of each day.

​Dietrich Bonhoeffer states, “We are silent at the beginning of the day because God should have the first word, and we are silent before going to sleep because the last word also belongs to God.”

References:
Carnegie, D. & Associates (2011). How to win friends & influence people in the digital age. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Bonhoeffer, D. (1954). Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Community. New York: HarperCollins.

Stohlmann, M. (2015). The world's greatest engineer. Seattle, WA: CreateSpace. 
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Everyone likes to be a part of the winning team and that is what we have in Christ.  Billy Graham, speaks of this confidence, “I’ve read the last page of the Bible, it’s all going to turn out all right.” But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:57.
           
Jesus Christ secured the victory over sin, death, and the devil once and for all with His death on the cross and His victorious resurrection. Because of this, death and the devil have no power over us.
“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” 1 Corinthians 15:55. That does not mean that evil does not exist and the devil is going to give up. However, we know that we are victors in Jesus Christ and that God triumphs over evil. With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies. Psalm 60:12.
           
​God wants us to pay attention and focus on His love in our lives through studying and discussing His Word, worshipping in church, and being active in prayer. That way we can block out the lies of the devil. Max Lucado had a sermon on our thoughts and what we should focus on. Gnats are annoying and pestering creatures, but instead we can focus on the thoughts that come from our free gift of eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Each day we need God as the focus in our lives! There is an old saying that seven days without God makes one weak. For each day there is a different name. Sinday, Mournday, Tearsday, Wasteday, Thirstday, Fightday and Shatterday. We need God’s presence and help in our lives every moment of every day.

In the Lord’s prayer, we pray for God’s will to be done. Luther’s Small Catechism explains what happens when God’s will is done. “He breaks and hinders the plans of the devil, the world, and our sinful nature, which try to destroy our faith in Christ Jesus…He strengthens and keeps us firm in His Word and faith and helps us lead God-pleasing lives.”

No matter what moment it is in our lives, we are better off being close to God. A beautiful hymn written by Sarah Flower Adams is “Nearer My God to Thee.” It is based on Jacob’s dream at Bethel in Genesis 28:11-19. Through the dream God spoke to Jacob and let him know, I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. Genesis 28:15. It is the same promise that He makes for us.
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When the ship, the Titanic, was sinking, the band members choose to stay on board and play this song so that others could be saved in the life boats. They knew that they faced almost certain death, but were confident in their sacrifice because they knew that heaven awaited them. This was the act of people that know they are victorious through Christ. Only Christians could have this sense of calm and peace before meeting death because they know that death is not the end. It is only the beginning of a beautiful life in heaven. The second line of the hymn means that Christians are willing to bear their crosses even to the point of death and still sing with gratitude their hearts desire of nearer my God to thee. 

Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
E'en though it be a cross that raiseth me;
Still all my song would be nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!

References
Luther, M. (1529). Luther’s small catechism. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House.

 Adams, S. F. (1841). “Nearer my God to thee.”

Stohlmann, M. (2016). The world's greatest coach. ​Seattle, WA: CreateSpace.

The movie, Moneyball, is a true story of how the Oakland Athletics used mathematics and statistics to identify talent in players that would be a good fit for their team, given their budget. One scene in the movie shows Jeremy Brown, a portly 240 pound minor league catcher that needs a boost of confidence. Brown hits a long fly ball to the outfield. He almost never goes to second because he is afraid of getting thrown out. This time, however, he gets up speed to go for it, but is so nervous that he falls over rounding first base. He crawls back to first base while everyone is laughing. However, they are not laughing because he did not make it to second, but because the ball went about 60 feet over the fence for a homerun.

​If there were ever a time to dare,
To make a difference,
To embark on something worth doing,
It is now.
Not for any grand cause, necessarily--
But for something that tugs at your heart,
Something that’s your aspiration,
Something that’s your dream.
You owe it to yourself to make your days here count.
Have fun.
Dig deep.
Stretch.
Dream big.
Know, though, that things worth doing seldom come easy.
There will be good days.
And there will be bad days.
There will be times when you want to turn around,
Pack it up, and call it quits.
Those times tell you that you are pushing yourself,
That you are not afraid to learn by trying.
-Author unknown-

 ​​References:
Zaillian, S. & Sorkin, A. (2011). Moneyball. Culver City, CA: Sony Pictures.

Lucado, M., Warren, R., Jeremiah, D., Maxwell, J., Hayford, J., & Hybels, B. (2013). On this holy night: The heart of Christmas. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.

Maxwell, J. (2012). The 15 invaluable laws of growth. Live them and reach your potential. New York: Center Street.

​Stohlmann, M. (2016). The world's greatest coach. ​Seattle, WA: CreateSpace.

In 2010 Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga had recorded 26 straight outs. It was an amazing feat in itself and he was just one out away from a perfect game! In over 135 years of Major League Baseball history, which is over 200,000 games, there have only been 23 perfect games. History was about to made. Armando got a ground ball from the next hitter to the first baseman Miguel Cabrera. The ball required Cabrera to move to his right moving away from first base. This made Armando have to run over to first base to receive the throw from Cabrera. The runner was going fast to the base but the throw hit Galarraga’s glove before the runner touched first base. Galarraga started to celebrate. The only problem was the umpire called the runner safe. It was an unbelievable mistake given the history that was going to be made.

After the game the umpire watched the replay and realized his mistake. He went into the locker room and could only say two words, “Lo siento”, which means I’m sorry. Galarraga responded with class and said, “No one is perfect.”

Though in sports there can be glimpses of perfection, no one is able to sustain it for more than a game or two. God however, has pitched a perfect game for an eternity. He was around before the world began and will be around for eternity. In all of that time, He has never made a bad decision. As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him. Psalm 18:30. He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he. Deuteronomy 32:4.

In sports, statistics are often kept that detail the highlights and lowlights of a game. Negative plays including turnovers, missed shots, strikeouts, errors, and incompletions, all detail the mistakes that players have made. Statistics are even kept now on referees and umpires that can highlight mistakes. In our own lives, we know that we all will have times when we sin and mess up. In sports, mistakes go down in the permanent record, however, in our Christian lives we know that God forgives us our sins and they are completely erased forever. There is a poem by Louisa Fletcher that details the thoughts many might have at one time or another in which a person would want to start over. The beauty is that, in Christ, each day we are made new as forgiven and free children of God.

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The Land of Beginning Again
I wish that there were some wonderful place
In the Land of Beginning Again.
Where all our mistakes and all our heartaches
And all of our poor selfish grief
Could be dropped like a shabby old coat at the door
and never put on again.
I wish we could come on it all unaware,
Like the hunter who finds a lost trail;
And I wish that the one whom our blindness had done
The greatest injustice of all
Could be there at the gates
like an old friend that waits
For the comrade he's gladdest to hail.
We would find all the things we intended to do
But forgot, and remembered too late,
Little praises unspoken, little promises broken,
And all the thousand and one
Little duties neglected that might have perfected
The day for one less fortunate.
It wouldn't be possible not to be kind
In the Land of Beginning Again,
And the ones we misjudged
And the ones whom we grudged
Their moments of victory here,
Would find in the grasp of our loving hand-clasp
More than penitent lips could explain...
So I wish that there were some wonderful place
Called the Land of Beginning Again,
Where all our mistakes and all our heartaches,
And all of our poor selfish grief
Could be dropped like a shabby old coat at the door
And never put on again.
-Louisa Fletcher-

In this world there are various things that society emphasizes as most important; possessions, popularity, money, status, power, and even family or loved ones. At times we can look to these things to give us what only God can give. However, nothing on this earth can fulfill us like God’s love! No one lived a perfect life except Jesus, so there will be times when we sin, but motivated by God’s love, we can strive to put Him at the forefront of our lives. We can remember the words of the great song, “In the morning when I rise,” throughout the day. “In the morning when I rise, give me Jesus. You can have all the rest, give me Jesus.”

Jesus was the greatest life teacher because His truth sets us free from the power of sin. Without Jesus, we would be lost and condemned to hell for our sins. With Jesus we are declared holy and perfect and receive His righteousness. Because of this we can follow Jesus’ example set on earth for how to live out God’s love in our lives. Motivated and empowered by His Word this is possible.

We can take to heart these words about Jesus from Pastor Max Lucado. “I believe that He is a fountain of living water that will never be exhausted. I believe that He is a source of wisdom and strength that will never be expired. I believe that He has grace for every sin. He has answers for every question. He has an authenticity, a realness to Him that can captivate your heart. I believe that He can do for you what no possession can do, what no promotion can do, what no election can do, what no circumstance can do. I believe He can.” What we have in Jesus is greater than anything we have or don’t have in life! 

​Reference
Lucado, M. (2015). “The good life.” Retrieved from http://media.oakhillschurch.com/default.aspx?page=3679&item=472
Stohlmann, M. (2016). The world's greatest coach. ​Seattle, WA: CreateSpace. 

Coach Dean Smith was a legendary basketball coach at University of North Carolina for 36 years. He grew up in a small Kansas town and was the son of Baptist school teachers. When he retired in 1997 he had 879 victories, which was the NCAA Division 1 men’s basketball record at the time. For all his accomplishments on the court, he had equal triumphs in working for and developing his players for success off the court. Smith was a champion for racial integration recruiting the first black athlete, Charlie Scott, to the University of North Carolina. Once a fan of an opposing team called Scott a racist name, and Coach Smith got so upset that he had to be held back from going after the fan. Scott commented that, “It’s one of the very few times I ever saw Coach Smith become that angry and volatile. It surprised me, but it also made me proud that he was my coach.”

Smith cared about his players’ lives and not just about basketball. His players graduated with an astonishing 96 percent graduation rate, which is much higher than the university’s overall graduation rate! It could be, in part, due to his one firm rule that he told his assistant: If any of his players ever needed to talk to him, his assistant should interrupt whatever he is doing, no matter how important it seemed. He also kept in contact with his players after graduation and would send them letters of encouragement when things were going bad if they were struggling with something. 

An editorial once had four lessons that can be learned from Dean Smith’s life. They are:
1. It’s not about you — even when it is.
2. Family isn’t just your relatives.
3. Stand up for what you believe in.
4. Small graces loom large.
You will notice that none of these are about basketball. The first is about humility, the second loyalty, the third about courage, and the fourth about kindness. Dean Smith once said, “You should never be proud of doing what’s right. You should just do what’s right.” It was the way he tried to live his life and it is clearly based on his Christian faith. It was not fame that Coach Smith sought out but development of men that would carry them beyond the basketball court into excellence in all areas of life. 

Great coaches develop players that are better when they leave the program then when they enter. It was the same with Jesus. When Jesus left earth, He never really left the disciples. He could always be reached by prayer and the disciples received the Holy Spirit as well. It is the same gift and power that all Christians receive. We have the Holy Spirit within us to guide and direct our ways. The disciples were emboldened when they received the Holy Spirit and Christians are as well. Max Lucado, in his book Come Thirsty, states:
“Lord, I come thirsty. I come to drink, to receive. I receive your work on the cross and in your resurrection. My sins are pardoned, and my death is defeated. I receive your energy. Empowered by your Holy Spirit, I can do all things through Christ, who gives me strength. I receive your lordship. I belong to you. Nothing comes to me that hasn’t passed through you. And I receive your love. Nothing can separate me from your love.”

As Christians we are all on Jesus’ team. He cares for each one of us and wants to stay in contact with us. Jesus desires nothing less than a 100 percent graduation rate. Our graduation day is when our time on earth is done and our place in heaven awaits us. We can be confident that Jesus has a firm rule: that no matter what time it is or what we have done, we can always come to Him and ask for advice, encouragement, or whatever help might be needed. 

References:
Strachan, M. (2015). “15 inspiring stories about dean smith that prove he was so much more than just ‘michael jordan’s coach’.” Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/09/dean-smith-stories_n_6646750.html

Posnanski, J. “Dean smith: A life well-lived.” Retrieved from http://sportsworld.nbcsports.com/remembering-dean-smith-north-carolina-coach/

Lucado, M. (2004). Come Thirsty. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.

Stohlmann, M. (2016). The world's greatest coach. ​Seattle, WA: CreateSpace. ​

      Passionate teachers or coaches are positive and find the best in any situation to continue to motivate their class or team. This was a lesson that I learned from my players when I was coaching football. For two years I coached 8 man football at Trinity Lutheran High School in Reseda, CA. When I got there the team had not won a game in three years so I knew it was going to be a difficult task. Early in the season we played a very tough team and ended up falling behind 50 to 0. The guys kept playing hard, though, and on the next kick return one of our players brought it back for a touchdown! The team was happy because they scored on a tough opponent. After the game I should have focused on the positive effort the team displayed and the improvement we were showing. Instead I told them that we should feel bad because we got beat by so much and still have a lot of work to do. One of the freshmen on the team said to me, “What am I supposed to do, sulk and be down about the game? What is done is done. I am not going to let it get me down.” It was a fitting lesson for me and I agreed with the player. Later that season we were able to pick up a victory because the team stayed positive and continued to work hard.
            In the Old Testament, Joseph, as well, did not get down when times were tough for him. He continued to focus on positive things like the love of God and living this out to others. At each stage in his life, Joseph tried to be the best that he could be. He did not always have many possessions or the best of circumstances, but he was still happy. It is a lesson that we can take with us. Happiness happens not when our circumstances change, but when our attitude towards them changes.
            Coach Bill McCartney coached football for the University of Colorado Buffaloes who had not beat Nebraska for 23 years. He decided that he would change his players’ attitudes before the next time that they played in 1991. He challenged every player to call an individual and tell them they loved them and were dedicating their performance to them. Every play was going to be a dedication to the person they called. Coach McCartney then had the final score of the game put on 60 footballs so that each player could give the ball to their loved one. The final score: Colorado 27, Nebraska 12.
            Most people spend 86% of their time thinking about themselves, but only 14% of their time thinking about others. It was clear that in Joseph’s life that this was not the case. He gave credit to God and was working towards helping and taking care of others no matter where he was.
            Many people have held grudges against their brothers or family for far less than being sold into slavery, but Joseph did not. He was an optimist and trusted in God’s plan that good can come out of a bad situation. One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Genesis 50:20 where Joseph is addressing his brothers after their father has died. Joseph’s brothers think that he may try to get back at them now for what they have done. Joseph however sees all of the struggle and hardship that he had to endure differently. You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
            It is evident that Joseph would agree with the words in Philippians 4:11-13 that we should all take to heart, as well. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
            Because of Christ’s love for us, our mindset can be one of gratitude. We can show God’s love to others by loving what we do, working to help others, and looking for the good in any situation. Everyone has a passion. Christians know where their passion comes from—from the boundless love of God— and that is more motivating than anything else. When we work hard to show God’s love to others and to give glory to God we are successful no matter what our circumstances or the outcome. 
​Reference
Stohlmann, M. (2016). The world's greatest coach. ​Seattle, WA: CreateSpace.