May 18 Devotion

Today I’m going to talk again about basketball. Specifically, about the NBA playoffs. In both of the conference finals, we find the number 8 seeds. The Miami Heat are playing in the Eastern conference finals. The Los Angeles Lakers are playing in the Western Conference finals. What’s interesting about both of these teams, is that they had to play in the play-in tournament to get into the playoffs. They had to play extra games to get where they are today. And I believe this might be the first time ever that teams that had to go through that, made it to their respective conference finals. Pretty incredible.

In order to be in that situation to begin with, these teams did not have the best regular seasons. The Lakers had to come back from being several spots down to even make it into that play-in tournament. Miami kind of floundered around a little bit before they got into that situation. I think they may have actually been a 7 seed right there before the end of the season. Now, what does this have to do with our faith? Actually I think a lot. Getting to the point that they are in right now, means they didn’t quit. It shows that it doesn’t matter where you start, or where you’re find yourself midstream, it’s how you finish that matters. Our lives are just like that. I for one can tell you that I did not start at all where I needed to be. Far from it. And I’ve had many slips as I have moved on in my life. As I aged, there were many times that I was going off course. But now I like to think that I am finishing strong. I’d like to think that I have let God take control. I still have my struggles. But I have a Lord and Savior that’s helping me push forward.

In the Bible, we read how God will continue working on us until the end. He will continue chipping away if we let him. It’s not too late. No matter where you are in life, it’s not too late. Even if you have strayed off the path he paved for us, it is not too late. But it’s up to you to let him in. It’s up to you to let him work in your life. And to let him continue working in your life until Jesus Christ returns. Up to you. So today, I challenge you to look at yourself and do an inventory of where you are. I ask you to be honest with yourself. Truly honest. What is it that’s keeping you from letting Jesus Christ take control? What’s keeping you from letting him work on your heart? What’s stopping you? I promise you this much, if you let him in, truly let him in, your life will change in ways you can never imagine. And then you can finish strong. You can be in the conference finals of your life.

Daily Devotional

Sign up for the Daily Devotional email list.

May 31 Devotion

God‘s timing is always perfect. It never ceases to amaze me. He always seems to send somebody just at that “right” moment. The last two

Read More »

May 30 Devotion

I’m aware that I talk about Coach Armstrong a lot when I write these devotions. I do so because we had so many conversations that

Read More »

May 29 Devotion

Today is Memorial Day. Today is the end of a three day weekend. The end of a holiday. Today is the day symbolized as the

Read More »

May 28 Devotion

This morning is the Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend. The 3 day holiday that we celebrate because we are honoring all the incredibly brave men

Read More »

May 27 Devotion

As I’m writing this, I am wondering about the broken pieces that we have in our lives. The things that caused us harm. Caused us

Read More »

May 26 Devotion

Yesterday, Barbara and I took all of our grandkids to the Dickerson Park Zoo. Better known as the Springfield Zoo. We enjoy this trip. Trying

Read More »