Get A Bucket, Get A Stop

​Love you all, praying for you,
 
I just love God’s Word.  It tells you how to win.   If you’ve ever played competitive sports, or coached your kids…  Winning a game comes down to winning a quarter.  And ultimately winning a game comes down to winning this possession.  You have to score, and you have to get a stop.  You have to stop them from scoring.  You gotta get a stop, and you gotta get a bucket.  Whether a basket, a 1st down, a goal, a point, or a touchdown, You got to stop something, and you gotta do something, in order to win.  You have to get small victories, or the victory won’t be yours.  Life, especially Spiritual life is the same, only the stakes are much higher.  Performance in the spiritual life isn’t for destination.  What you do cannot earn your salvation, only Jesus death in your place can cover your sin, and earn you a place in heaven.  Nothing you could do could make up for the sin you were born in, and the sin you committed, you’re already run-ruled.  It’s like being down twenty touchdowns with a minute left in the fourth quarter…  You just need to believe in Jesus’ death in your place, and Salvation will be yours.   Just like God said, “He who believes in His Son, has life.” and your salvation is sure.  After that - what you stop and what you do - is for reward up there, and purpose fulfilled down here.  Any sport is just a game, you can always do better next game.  But in life, you only play one.  And if the game is life, today is this quarter, and this moment is this possession - this next decision.  What is ‘get a bucket’ and ‘get a stop’ in life?  Get a bucket – is a victory – doing what God told you to do, what He has for you in this hour.  That’s victory in life!  You have to ask, or you won’t know.  If you ask, Hell tell you, and then just do it!.  You could do something else, something different than what He said, or He wants for you, cause you didn’t believe him, didn’t ask, or didn’t want to – that’s an airball.  But if you do what He told you to do in this hour… that’s a bucket, ‘nothin’ but net!’  If you do what he told you despite adversity, temptation, and opposition… that’s your ‘and one!’ You score in traffic, and go to the free throw line!  A three or four point play!  So what’s a stop – in your spiritual life?  Stopping a temptation, stopping the enemy from scoring, deceiving you into doing something less than God’s best for you… feeding your flesh instead of your spirit – sowing compromise, rather than righteousness.  It usually starts with your mouth.  Your mouth is the control valve of your mind, and therefore your spiritual life.  You can sin with your mouth, or overcome sin with your mouth – and fill your heart with righteousness though God’s word, so righteousness flows out.  There’s something incredible about spiritual life – if you’ve been born into it, and filled with power from on high… you get a mulligan, a do over.  Like the kid on the playground that every time he misses a shot, he calls a foul.  God really does that for you.  It’s called forgiveness.  If you repent and turn from what God said ‘don’t do,’ or from doing something other than what God told you to do… He’ll forgive you.  Because when it comes to sin – falling short of God’s best… whether it rolls around the rim, and just comes out, or you miss by a mile – you still lose this possession, the other team gets the ball no matter how close or far the miss).  God’s forgiveness if you give your life to Him, covers and cancels ALL your prior misses.   You could be 0 for 15 in the first half… You can still drop 50 in the second half!  God’s forgiveness cancels out a disastrous first half of life.  His Grace helps you to get on fire in the second half.  Then, forgiveness is there if you need it… but if you learn to walk in grace, you need a lot less forgiveness.  Grace is the power to do right when you don’t really want to.  You start to mature, the things of God become the things of you.  The things He desires become the things you desire, and the goodness and blessing that your actions used to disqualify you for, now become your daily experience.  Some players can never even imagine scoring 50 points in a game.  But that’s what God has for you!  Praying that today you’ll know what He has planned for you to do (PiVAT before dinner) so you get a bucket!  Praying that you’ll know how to think (PRISM – the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God).  Praying that you will overcome the enemy by the blood of the Lamb that covers your sins past, and the power of your testimony (Your Daily Call) which helps you overcome.  Praying that you will choose His plans in this moment, so you get a bucket, and choose His grace which helps you overcome temptation, so you get a stop.  His grace is power to say ‘No’ to sin, whether, doubt and unbelief, pride and greed, or the things that used to enslave you, but praise God, no longer have to do! You’ve got grace to overcome!  Praying that you’ll get a bucket and get a stop today, so you’ll go on a run!  For the rest of your life.  That you’ll drop fifty every day!  And that your testimony of victory will keep you overcoming! 
 
Love you all,
dad