The Better Way to Win - Day 128 Month 5-8 Week 19-2

Today's Reading (Bible in 1 year)


Deuteronomy 10,11,  Jeremiah 17, John 3:22-4:6

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%2010%2C11%2C%20%20Jeremiah%2017%2C%20John%203%3A22-4%3A6&version=NASB1995


The Better Way to Win


“He must increase, but I must decrease.”  Those words were spoken by John the Baptist.


I want to be a winner and I doubt that I am different from most.  It’s human nature to strive to be the winner.  In the Olympics, there is not one athlete that wants the silver medal.  In last year's World Series of baseball, the Toronto Blue Jays were heartbroken to come in second best though they came in higher than 28 other teams.  Our entire world is built around winning, whether it's to make more money than the next person or a sports enthusiast cheering for the winning team. Being better than the next person is finite.  We can only be better than the next person here while we are alive on earth.  To be the best on earth counts for absolutely nothing in eternity.  


So what brings value for eternity?  I thought you’d never ask.  We have learned in our reading over time that we are told to love God with body, mind and soul and “Love your neighbour as yourself.”  When you have been blessed to receive much, God expects you to bless your neighbour who is  in need.  I was reading an article on Jimmy Carter this morning.  When Jimmy Carter left office as president of the United States, he put on a hard hat, picked up a hammer and built homes with Habitat for Humanity, using his name and position to bring attention to the needs of this world.  Imagine if Elon Musk used his $839 billion to fight poverty in the world.  We’d be in a changed world.


Everything we have is given to us by God.  Our skills and abilities are a gift from God, whether it’s to be a great athlete or the ability to make a lot of money, it’s a gift from God.  So those gifts should be used in service for God and His purposes .   For the olympian that wins the gold medal it means using that podium to bring glory to God and to use your voice to direct people to Jesus.  Use your wealth or abundance of your gifts/talents to love your neighbour.  This could reduce the effects of  poverty; or if you are a skilled contractor that “has enough,” use those skills to build a community of tiny homes for those who need shelter.


In the end, if I have done my part to the best of my ability to bring any abundance I have to God’s kingdom, then I’ve been successful.  


Have a great day

Steve

steve.d.pauls@gmail.com 


You can subscribe to this blog and receive an email each day or week.  Just visit the following link. https://follow.it/my-faith-view-from-here-daily-readings-and-thoughts?leanpub

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 15 - Week 3 Day1 Let Your Heart Rest

Today's reading Genesis 24:61 - End of 25 Psalms 14 Isaiah 12 - 13:5 Matthew 11 Thought for today (sorry but this is heavy) Today my heart is heavy.  I couldn't sleep well.  I figured that I may as well get up and do my morning reading and blog post.  So much is going on this world!  So much death.  So much war.  I long for what we read about yesterday of the eventual peace that will be in God's Kingdom.  In Psalm 14 from today's reading, we read "The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God."  They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good...They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one. "  This is a Psalm of David, Israel's great king who God describes as a man after His own heart.  I think it's because David always wore his heart on his sleeve.  He was real and you see it in the Psalms he wrote.   My heart is heavy because...
Read more

Day 20 - Week 3 Day 6 The Rock

Today's reading (Bible in 1 Year) - If you have not read my introduction or blog from the beginning, I felt a strong motivation to read the whole Bible in a year and discover something new each day to share. Genesis 30:25 - end of 30 Psalm 18 Isaiah 17 Matthew 13:44 - end of 13 Thought for the day We have rocks!  We live on a rocky shore and our whole property is full of rocks.  You can't dig down more than 6" anywhere on our property and not find a rock.  It's very frustrating when you're trying to dig a garden or plant a tree.  Interesting though, they shift.  Every spring, my mower finds new rock locations.  During the winter freeze and thaw and freeze and thaw and freeze and thaw (that's how it is here), the rocks in the ground shift again and again.   There is one rock on our property that does not shift!  At the shore we have a lava rock outcropping.  It's goes out about 20 ft and and at high tide, you can touch the water from it. ...
Read more

Day 25 Week 4 Day 4 Green Pastures

Today's reading (Bible in 1 year) Genesis 36 Psalm 23 Isaiah 22:1-14 Matthew 17 Last evening, my wife, Sylvia, read a statement to me from a bishop in the Episcopalian church in New Hampshire.  He advised his Episcopal clergy to get their affairs and wills in order "because it may be that now is no longer the time for statements, but for us with our bodies to stand between the powers of this world and the most vulnerable".  Sometimes, peacemaking puts one in the place where death is a possibility in the protection of the most vulnerable.  It's an ominous thing to think about. Today we read Psalm 23.  What a powerful Psalm to read in it's fullness but hopefully you just read it and I'll simply mention verse 4 where it says " Even though I walk through the valley of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me " Did you hear that?   You are with me! On November 16, 2025 my mom passed away and went to be with Jesus, 2 days before her 98th birthday.  My mo...
Read more