March 26, 2015

"Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself." Matthew 22:37-39

Home plate is the connection base where you commit to God to receive His power and purpose.

First base is the character base where you consecrate yourself to his personal plan for you.

Second base is the community base where God's love in you connects with God's love in others to create community in His Spirit.

Success at second base is evidence you have successfully connected at home and at second. Second base is where your godly love will get expressed or you lack of love will get exposed.

When you get into second base you are considered to be in "scoring position" because you can get home from there on a base hit by a team mate. So getting to second base is VERY important!

How will you get there?

A few helpful thoughts.

• Keep short accounts. 

The Bible says, "Be angry but sin not. Don't let the sun go down on your wrath." 

Get over things quickly. Extend grace and give the benefit of the doubt. Think well of others. If it bothers you too much then humbly meet with the person and work through it.

• Forgive what you can't fix!

Unilateral forgiveness is the best kind. You need forgiveness from time to time so don't hesitate giving it to others. Take the high road and be the bigger person. Love like Velcro and forgive like Teflon!

• Give more than you get!

Who do you like best, givers or takers? Right! So be a giver! Add value to everyone you meet. Do more than is demanded and more than expected. Give what you would like to receive. 

Let's see: keep short accounts, forgive what you can't fix, and give more than you get. Who does that sound like?

The Best Second Base player ever, Jesus!

Will you move into scoring position today?

March 25, 2015

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.  Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”  Romans 12:1-2

Home plate is where you connect with God. Everything begins and ends at home plate.

First base is where God connects with you! First base is the personal character base.

The home plate connection is about commitment and the first base connection involves consecration.

The Apostle Paul describes that first base connection with the Christians in the Roman church. Character connection begins with several decisions or in the original language “a decisive dedication”.

This verse highlights three levels of consecration that develops His character in you:

Consecrate your body!

Consecration happens at an altar where a sacrifice is laid there as a worship offering to the Lord. This is the image Paul portrays in this admonition.

Here’s the literal rendering of this thought:

“I appeal to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship.”

Have you done that? Have you consecrated yourself to Him?

Consecrate your will!

Once a sacrifice was offered on the altar, whether it be a lamb or a heifer or a dove, it stayed there lifeless until it burned up in the fire on the altar.

But your consecration is a “living sacrifice”. The problem with living sacrifices is it can get up off the altar.

So, a consecrated “living sacrifice” must make a willful decisive decision to remain on the altar. A living sacrifice consecrates his will to the Lord daily, refuses to follow the pattern of the world and chooses to follow the pattern of God.

Have you done that? Have you consecrated your will to God?

Consecrate your mind!

“But be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God,”

God doesn’t demand an educated mind or a shrewd mind or a creative mind or a brilliant mind, He demands a transformed mind! A transformed mind is a mind that has been cleansed by the blood of Jesus and fundamentally changed at the deepest level by the power of Christ.

When God transforms your mind, you will think differently than you did before! When God transforms your mind His Word will become clearer to you each time you read it. When God transforms your mind you will think more about God and less about yourself!

First base is the character base and that character is developed by a consecration of your body, will and mind to God – EVERY DAY!

Have you done that? Will you?

CHARACTER – don’t leave first without it!

March 24, 2015

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.  Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”  Romans 12:1-2

All this talk about baseball we have been doing on Sunday mornings and with my fantasy baseball teams drafted and now the weather is warming I got anxious to see when opening day is for Major League Baseball. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the MLB season opens March 31^st!

I have no idea how good the Nationals will be or how much improvement by Chicago Cubs will show, but I know this – on opening day there will be batters coming to home plate and running the bases in the right order. No one will even thing of running the bases backward.

When game time arrives on March 31^st and the first pitch is thrown all the attention will be focused on home plate. Does anyone doubt that?

On that day, as well as today and each day in between your focus should be fully trained on home plate, your connecting point with the God of your salvation!

In your spiritual relationship with Christ every day is opening day! Every day you must come to the plate to reconnect with fresh grace, fresh power, fresh peace, fresh purpose, fresh hope, fresh joy, and fresh presence! Yesterday’s connection was sweet but it is stale. You don’t want to come to today’s challenges in yesterday’s experience.

It’s nice to remember that first time you came to the plate and how thrilling that initial connection with Christ was! And it is wonderful to reflect on those bygone days when to connected on the sweet spot with Jesus and took it deep! But those blessings won’t do anything for you today.

None of us know when our last trip to the plate will be but there will be one. And you can’t say for certain that day won’t be today. Would you want to be depending on past connections that last time you step to the plate?

Me neither.

Imagine coming to the plate today and making a solid connection with God that is so real and so pure and so satisfying that you just have to wait for a moment before heading up the first base line!

Imagine doing that again tomorrow and the say after that until the last trip to the plate when your faith connection becomes sight!

Imagine becoming like Him as you see Him as He is!

If you like those images and find them inspiring, head to home plate and renew your connection with Christ! He is waiting to connect with you!

March 23, 2015

"Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place. Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me."   Psalm 51:1-10

How many times can I disappoint God by my sins, especially the besetting sins or those who just keep commiting the same sin over and over? Will there be point and time when God will say, "That's it! You're done! No more mercy or grace for you!"?

Face it, with every other relationship there is a point where one more disappointment is the deal-breaker and that person will bail out on you. They either end the relationship or withdraw emotionally from you. That hurts so much that it can cause you to be guarded and cautious in all relationships. The fear of losing a relationship and being rejected should we disappoint them one more time can be almost paralyzing. It can put tremendous pressure on all of your relationships and create insecurity.

Perhaps David feared he had disappointed God so much that there would be no redemption for him. He obviously was plagued by guilt and remorse. In out to God, David asks for 3 things to happen?

Transgressions blotted out – "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions." THIS IS THE ACT ITSELF – “Please Lord, forget I ever did what I did, blot it out so it can never be seen again!”

Iniquity washed – "Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place."  THIS IS THE GUILT IT BRINGS – Guilt is the leftover stuff, the anger we have at our self, what we cannot forgive about what we did, the punishment that I am putting on myself, I cannot forgive me.

Sin cleansed – "Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." THE ONE WHO DID IT – The stuff in me that causes me to do these things, I want this cleansed, I don’t want to be that person.

David sinned terribly and disappointed His God and himself. This prayer of three-fold contrition restored him to fellowship with God and helped him work through his guilt and disappointment with himself.

If you fear you have disappointed God and wonder if you can be forgiven and restored, read Psalm 51 several times humbly and prayerfully. Then pray that Psalm sincerely to God. See if God's grace will meet you as it did King David.

March 22, 2015

"Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives." II Peter 3:11

The most beautiful place I have ever been is Lake Tahoe in the High Sierras on the California and Nevada border. I would love to go back there some day.

If I aspire to return to Tahoe and I tell all my friends that I want to go back there, but then if I make reservations for a hotel in Miami Beach and buy an airline ticket for Miami, what would people think?

At best they would be a bit confused! They would assume that I am confused. They would probably be right. It IS a mixed message.

What sort of a message are you sending when you say you want to go to Heaven but you can display attitudes and behaviors that do not reflect Heaven?

That is essentially the question Peter asks of these saints. In essence the question he poses is, "How can you think you are going to Heaven if are living like hell?"

Logically, how can you believe you are destined for a holy place when you are living an unholy life? If getting to Heaven involves a personal relationship with a Holy God, how can you expect to maintain that relationship if you are living an unholy life? Why would you want to spend eternity in a holy place when you aren't comfortable living a godly life?

To get to the destination you desire you must get on the right road and move in the right direction. The road to Heaven is the road to a holy and godly life. A life like that can only be lived in the power of the Holy Spirit in fellowship with the Holy God.

Is that the road you are on? Is that the direction you are headed?

March 21, 2015

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33

One reason many people miss out on the Home Run Life is they worship their career instead of worshiping Christ.

Why would they do that?

They probably do that because they regard their career as their provider rather more than they trust Christ as provider.

Perhaps you have struggled with that.

Do you find yourself frequently missing church in order to get work done?

When you are in church or Bible study, do you find yourself thinking about what you need to do at work?

Have you found yourself cheating your family out of time because you spend too much time working?

Do you find yourself getting more satisfaction and fulfillment out of work than you do out of time with your wife or children?

If so, here is a principle to live by:

“My purpose is in my Creator not my career! So I will live and work for my Creator first!”

That is another way of saying what Jesus stated in our text. Put God first and God will help you put everything else in order. Get the big thing right and the smaller things will line up better as well.

Another way to say this is “run the bases in order”!

If you start with your connection with God at home plate you are putting Him first!

If you get to first base and allow God’s Spirit to shape your character you are putting Him first!

If you learn how to live in love and fellowship with others at second base you will put Him first and others second.

When Jesus says to “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness” I believe that is exactly what He is saying! “Run the bases in order!” Jesus says!

People who are more career devoted than Christ committed find themselves getting more fulfillment from their job than they do from their Jesus.

Those who are more career oriented than Christ oriented will run directly to third base trying to be more productive. It will not occur to him how counter-productive that is until he finds his relationships suffering or himself making moral compromises to “get ahead”.

Temporary success brought about through taking shortcuts will cause one to because more dependent on self and less dependent on God. When he is riding high he will think of himself as a self-made man in no need of a God.

For long-term success in this life and eternal success in the next one, run the bases in order! Make sure you begin by connecting with God the allowing Him to correct you and make healthy connections with others! Do those three things before you do anything else?”

Run the bases in order! Do it every day in every way!

March 20, 2015

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:1-2

The Home Run Life is based on this Biblical fact that God has a pattern for your life!

Likewise, this verse states that the world also has a pattern to follow.

Obviously, these two patterns conflict with each other so when you are living according to one pattern you are living in opposition to the other.

If life is illustrated by a baseball diamond and the four bases represent the four critical issues of life, connecting with God, developing character, learning to live in community and being productive in life, then God’s pattern would be represented by running the bases in order.  By contrast, the pattern of the world is demonstrated by running the bases backward.

There are two ways to get to third base. Third base represents the competency base where you produce what you need to prosper in life. Third base is a very important base and getting there is crucial.

One way to get there is to run from home plate up the third base line directly to the base. That is the fastest and easiest way to get to third. Why wouldn’t you do that?

You wouldn’t do that because it is against the rules! It is against the rules because it leaves out the right half of the field! If you tried this is a baseball game you would be out and perhaps kicked off your team.

How would you feel if you were watching the seventh game of the World Series and with the game and the Series on the line in the bottom of the ninth with the winning run out at second base, the star player from your team rips a base hit and the runner at second takes off determined to round third and score? But about the time he gets to third, so does the hitter who ran from home to third. The batter is called out and the base runner in his confusion stops short of third base and is tagged out.

How upset would you be? Wouldn’t you be yelling at your TV and calling that player a fool? Of course you would!

As ridiculous as that scenario seems, it is exactly how most people live their lives. It is the pattern of our world! It is how you run in life apart from knowing God through Christ.

Third base is the production base and we all long to be productive, so why not run there and make it happen? It sounds logical doesn’t it?

To the sinful mind it sounds logical. But in fact, that effort to be productive is actually counter-productive. It results in failure every time. It takes the fun out of the game and deprives you of the joys of being on first base or second base.

This clearly illustrates the truth Paul is proclaiming to the Romans, “God’s pattern is better!” So, you should surrender to God and submit to His way of playing the game! When you do, He will transform how you think about the game and change how you play it. As you connect with Him at home, as He develops His character within you at first base, as you learn to live in community with others at second and when you learn to produce results at third, you will discover a game you never knew before! You will enjoy it more than you ever have before! You will enjoy your team mates as never before! You will win more than you ever won before!

What I have just described is the Home Run Life! Everyone wants to live the Home Run Life but few ever do because it takes a commitment to allow God to fundamentally transform your life. It requires a change of direction and submission to a new manager. You must submit to a new set of rules and a new umpire.

Are you ready to play to win?