Are You Average?

BIBLE READING: 2 Thess 3: 16 - 18 16 Now may the Lord of peace himself give you his peace at all times and in every situation. The Lord be with you all. 17 Here is my greeting in my own handwriting—Paul. I do this in all my letters to prove they are from me. 18 May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

1 Timothy 1:1-2: 1 This letter is from Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, appointed by the command of God our Savior and Christ Jesus, who gives us hope. 2 I am writing to Timothy, my true son in the faith. May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord give you grace, mercy, and peace. NLT

BLOG: What will take you from great to being elite? I listened to a press conference by Penn State football coach Jim Franklin after their 1 point loss to Ohio State. You can watch the whole conference on Youtube, but it is the portion around the 2-minute mark that impressed me.

While anyone could have stood up there and said, "Well, luck wasn't on our side today." Or, "We were having a bad day." This coach described how their team has gone from being average to good, from good to great, and now they were going to have to go from being great to being an elite team. He told everyone that the price they would have to pay to become that team would be greater than what they have done.

When you look at your life, would you describe yourself as average? Great? When you look at your relationship with Christ, would you say Good? Elite? Here is a truth that you need to know. The answer to both of those questions should be the same. Your relationship with Christ should influence the rest of your life.

Start your day with Jesus before you pick up your phone to review your emails and messages. Take time to pray and receive from Christ. He will prepare you for what is about to happen.

Yield your character to Christ. None of us are perfect. But we do want His love to do a good work in our heart. That can only happen when we permit Him to do so.

Pursue His will for your life. You know what you want to do with your life. But what does God want you to do? His plan for your life will bring greater fulfillment.

Work on the basics.  Study your Bible, pray every day, go to church,  worship with others, and learn to become a generous giver.

Embrace humility, reject pride. When you accept that God is your provider and that He is in control, you will move up and start growing.

PRAY: Dear Jesus, help me grow and become the best follower of You I can be. AMEN