“People stop and stare
They don’t bother me
For there’s no where else on earth
That I would rather be
Let the time go by
I won’t care if I
Can be here on the street where you live
Let me be on the street where you live”

Recognize those lyrics? It’s from one of my favorite musicals, “My Fair Lady”. This particular song was sung by the character Professor Henry Higgins, a pompous phonetics professor who made a wager and took it upon himself to transform a Cockney working‑class girl into someone who could pass for a cultured member of high society. Little did he know that as she transformed from caterpillar to butterfly, his heart began a transformation as well. He began to fall in love. The lyrics are all about a man who wants nothing but to be in the presence of the woman who makes his heart skip a beat. Just to be on the street where she lives was enough for him to know that she was near. I have talked about this before but after a worship conference I recently attended, I’ve been recently pondering this notion of longing and seeking out the presence of our God with the same passion as one who was madly in love with the person of their dreams. What if our hearts longed for God with everything we had? What if we desired and pursued Him like our lives depended on it? Yes, it is true that God’s presence is all around us and He is near but there is a difference though when it comes to “seeking His Presence”. The Bible tells us in 1 Chronicles 22:19, “Now set your mind and heart to seek the LORD your God.” Jeremiah 29:13 says, “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” Seeking His presence is us giving our wholehearted attention to meeting with Him and us experiencing Him through prayer, worship and meditation on His Word. The Bible tells us in Hebrews 11:6 “ And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Notice it says He rewards those that earnestly seek Him. Not halfheartedly but diligently. When we focus all our attention on being with Him more than anything, without any distractions, the Bible promises us we will be rewarded. That reward is simply His manifestation in and through our lives. It’s not just an emotional experience too. It can be at times but spending time with Him is based out of our faith not simply an emotional high. Sometimes you’re not going to get that fuzzy feeling and that’s okay. What’s more important is that you are making every effort to seek Him more than anything else. When we do this an amazing thing begins to occur. Jesus’s love begins to manifest itself in our lives. What does that love look like? It’s found in Galatians 5:22-23. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Many scholars think that there are many fruits of the Spirit but I believe that there is only one fruit. For the Bible calls it the fruit of the Spirit not the fruits. Love is the fruit and the characteristics of the fruit of Love is joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, patience, gentleness and self control. You know it when someone has encountered the living God not because they fall over backwards and get all overly excited but because you will see the reflection of God’s love in their lives. This is always a good measuring stick for how to know we have been in His presence not some stirring experience. There are many Christians who have this incredible emotional high and look I’m not against passion but there are some who instead of seeking God, they end up seeking the feelings or the miraculous signs and they actually miss out on a real encounter with the Living God. There are those that just seek out God for His hand. God is like a Genie, rub the lamp, say a few prayers and hopefully God will give you what you want. In Psalm 27:8, David talks about seeking God’s face not His hand. “My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek.” David longed to be with God. He didn’t just seek Him because he needed something from God. Christians that seek after God for the wrong reasons tend to be more selfish and struggle more with the fleshly desires. When we are truly experiencing His presence we will truly be reflecting His image. So the next time we approach God to spend time with Him, let’s pursue the relationship with everything we have. Let’s chase after Him with all our hearts, soul and minds. Let’s not go before Him chasing feelings nor go to Him just wanting stuff. Let’s just enjoy being with Him because our lives depend on it and nothing else matters. Let’s expect to be rewarded with the manifestation of His presence and be transformed to exhibit more and more the fruit of His Love. Let’s praise Him, fall down before Him in awe, because there is nowhere else on earth that we would rather be. May our hearts ache like a heart sick lover longing to be with his love. May we too sing out to the top of our lungs before our God, “Let the time go by I don’t care if I can be near on the street where you live.” Oh, God, let me be on the street where you live!

Remember the phrase, “Be Kind Rewind”? If you know what that means then congratulations, you’re a dinosaur like me. If you don’t, basically there was a time before Netflix and Hulu, people would flock to a Blockbuster to rent and take home VHS tapes of their favorite movies to watch. On the cover would be a simple reminder from your friends at the video store, that after you watch your VHS movie of the week, before returning it, make sure to rewind the tape for the next person to watch. I remember there were times I would be so annoyed after putting the tape in the VCR for the first time and finding out how the movie ended. I remember thinking horrible thoughts that I’d like to do to that person for being such a rude inconsiderate idiot. How dare they make me rewind the whole thing which maybe took a whole five to ten minutes of my life! Now this is a lighthearted illustration but there will be many times in our lives when we will have to face morons and when we do, we will be faced with one of two choices. Will we be kind, or give them a piece of our mind? As Christians we are reminded everyday to “be kind and rewind” in our dealings with others. Jesus commands us to “Treat others as you would want to be treated.” This is the famous Golden Rule, and one that most people are familiar with and would agree on. However, where most people fail in this area, is that we only think we are to show kindness to those who are kind back to us. That’s not at all what Jesus is saying here. Jesus isn’t referring to just loving lovable people. If that was the case, who would need a Savior to help you do that? It’s easy to treat people with respect when they are nice to us but what about those that are just plain rude or hurtful? No, this verse is applying to everyone especially our enemies. For Jesus goes on to ask in Luke chapter 6 verses 31-36, what good is it to love others who love you? For even “sinners” do that. He then goes on to point out that we should do whatever we can to show our enemies love to them, even lend them the cloak on our backs. This is not easy but God promises us that He will reward us. You see, too many people practice love to others who will love them back because they know they are getting something in return. But Jesus doesn’t want us to love others to expect anything in return from anyone. He wants us to be totally dependent on the Father’s love for us, so that the only expectation we should have is that our Heavenly Father will provide for us. In doing this we prove that we are truly sons and daughters of God. How did we become children of God? It is only by God’s mercy. Scripture says “when we were still sinners, Christ demonstrated His love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us”. We were once objects of His wrath but His unconditional love rescued us from sin and death. Remember, His kindness leads us to repentance and only those who have been loved much can love much. Is this easy? Absolutely not and sometimes we will fail to respond in love but take heart, you weren’t saved because of your goodness. God is gracious and kind and will always rewind, giving us another chance to start over.

Luke 6:31-37 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
31 [a]Treat others the same way you want [b]them to treat you. 32 If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. 35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, [c]expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. 36 [d]Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Romans 5:8 New International Version (NIV)
8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

When your car breaks down do you ever take it for repairs at your local dentist office? If you do, you probably wouldn’t get the desired results you want. Your dentist may own a car but his or her knowledge of how a car operates is very limited. Now if you need your wisdom teeth taken out, then of course the dentist is the person you can trust to conduct the proper procedure because that is what your dentist specializes in. Your dentist knows everything about your teeth and what makes them healthy and what the root issues are that need to addressed. So whether we have a tooth ache, or a leak in our engine, we will call the so called experts in that particular field to fix the problem and offer us the best solution. It’s just common sense. Then why is it as believers, we take our broken hearts and our hurts and instead of going to the only expert on our lives, we turn to something else in this world that is less experienced? Instead of trusting in our Creator who knows us best, we turn to toxic relationships, addictions, and other things in this creation that really only numb the pain momentarily but end up making things only far worse than they were before. The scripture says in Psalm 139:1-6,
1
“You have searched me, Lord,
and you know me.
2
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3
You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4
Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.
5
You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
6
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.”
Notice that God searches us and knows us. In these first six verses just count the number of times it says to know. Observe the words perceive, discern, and familiar. What does this tell us about our God? He is omniscient, He is all knowing. Think about it, God knows everything about us. He knows what makes us tick, He knows our every thought, He knows what makes us happy, what makes us sad. He is familiar with all our ways. That’s comforting news for us who believe in Him. What this tells us is that God understands us. He understands the why and the what that causes us to act in certain ways. When others might not understand our pain or our situation, God does. This should be great encouragement for us that when our lives are a mess, we have the God of the Universe who loves us and knows us completely. He knows exactly what we need. Are you in need of a tune up? Stop trusting yourself to some Gomer Pyle body shop, and trust yourself to the One who knows you more than you’ll ever know yourself.

If you ever listen to any successful athlete speak in an interview, they will exhibit a confidence in their words and demeanor. There is always an inner strength inside of them that carries themselves even through a tough loss. Even successful athletes like quarterback Tom Brady of the New England Patriots, has had to face many challenges both in life, and in the game but he always finds a way to overcome.  It pains me to do this because I am not a Patriot’s fan but I have to admit, I have never seen such a fierce competitor like Tom Brady. Down for the count, the Patriots were losing badly to the Atlanta Falcons in the Super Bowl and everyone watching including myself counted them out. I had all but left the Super Bowl party and went home thinking it’s over, only to wake up the next morning to find the Patriots mustered up one of the greatest comeback wins in football history.  You see, what makes an athlete great is the ability to see the obstacles as a means to victory and not a hindrance to the goal of winning. If Tom Brady and the Patriots saw the game as most of the fans did,  they would’ve given up hope and thrown in the towel but they didn’t, instead they saw a greater reality, they saw possibility. So, I got to thinking, as Christians, why don’t we display this same attitude when faced with obstacles that come our way in life?
Ever read 2 Kings 6:14-23? I wasn’t real familiar with the story. It’s about how the Syrians had a massive army sent to surround the city where Elisha was staying with his servant to kill Elisha. And it says when the servant woke and saw the massive army he became afraid and asked Elisha what do we do? And Elisha told him not to fear but prayed that God would open his eyes to see. And then the servants eyes were opened and he could see that there were angel armies with chariots of fire surrounding them. What does this mean for us? Whenever we are faced with difficulties or up against situations that seem overwhelming, we can either look at them from a starting point of defeat and negativity like the servant who was afraid or we can view them through the eyes of faith like Elisha and open our eyes to see the reality of the situation. In every difficulty there is an outcome that is going to bring us a victory. We must renew our minds in this truth and hold on to his promises. May He open our eyes like He did Elisha’s servant to see that He is surrounding us today and no matter the situation we are up against, we don’t have to respond in fear but in faith. He loves us and has nothing but the best for us.

I remember as a father taking my daughter Natalie swimming. Natalie’s eight now but when she was younger, and not a strong swimmer, I used to encourage Natalie to swim in the pool with me in the deep end. For some reason, she just wanted to stay in the shallow area but being a loving Father I yanked her by the arms and dragged her into the deep end with me. I remember her saying “daddy don’t let me go, daddy don’t let me go”! I would just smile and reassure her that I wasn’t going to let her go. She was safe in my arms and I wasn’t going to let anything hurt her. Today, Natalie is a good swimmer but for her to get to that point, she first had to learn to let go of her fears and trust me to teach her. God our Father is like that with us. He takes us out into the deep waters of life to challenge us and to teach us and He says , “trust me my daughter, trust me my son”, but of course we tend to fear the unknown, it’s uncomfortable for us, and we want to go back to the shallow area where it’s safe. But I want to encourage you to let your guard down, to trust and dive in, even if the waters seem so deep and overwhelming and you’re so far from the shore. I just know there is a blessing to be had in all of this. Not a strong swimmer? Dont need to be. Daddy’s with you, He is always with you! Just let go of the swimmies and hold onto Him, He will never let you go! HE WILL NEVER LET YOU GO!!!!!!!

Deuteronomy 31:8

“It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

“What’s going on at the airport?” I looked down at my phone and saw the text message was from one of my coworkers from a group chat. “Someone tried to jump”, another colleague of mine replied. The next text message popped up on my screen from another coworker.  “0MG, who was it?” The text messages went back and forth, as we tried to figure out who this person could be and what exactly happened. To my dismay, I discovered that it was a successful suicide attempt.  I stood there in disbelief and shock, wondering what would I have done if I was at work that day. I just couldn’t believe it, that a fellow coworker of mine would plunge to his own death from the tenth floor of a hotel balcony at my local airport. What was going on in his mind? Sadly, there are people like him everyday who struggle with depression and anxiety to the point where eventually it destroys them. I have friends and know people that struggle with it on a daily basis. I am no expert on the disease of depression and if that is you, I want to encourage you that there is nothing wrong with seeking medical attention and therapy. Please, if that is you, do whatever you can to get the help you need. But for most of us, we may not require medical attention but from time to time we encounter moments of depression and fear. Whenever we encounter these feelings, they can be like giants coming against us, ready to devour us. They can also halt us in our tracks from moving forward in life. I had a moment like this just the other day. I’ve been moving forward in a particular area of my life and it’s been amazing to see God work. However, sometimes life happens and doubts creep in trying to slow down God’s work and the next thing I know, I’m looking up at the Giant of Fear and Depression. They just stood there blocking my path of victory and soon it became no longer a path of victory but a path of uncertainty. The Giants just laughed at me and taunted me all day. I felt frozen in my tracks, overwhelmed with  worry. Later that day, I sent out a helpline to a few friends who I know are prayer warriors. I asked them to battle with me in prayer and they did. Later that day, I took my three year old son for a walk at the Waterfront Park. As I pushed him in the stroller, I was just listening to worship music trying to hear from God. I was getting nothing from Him but I kept pressing in. Then I heard it. It wasn’t coming from the worship music but it was coming from my own son. I took off my headphones just to hear what this youngster of mine was shouting out. I listened and as I heard him, I started to get the goosebumps. My son was shouting with such fervor over and over and over. He cried out at the top of his three year old lungs, “You scared? No not me! You scared? No, not me! You scared? No, not me!”.  He wouldn’t stop, he would yell it out with such passion to every jogger and bicyclist that passed us by. I guess, he wanted to let the whole world know. It was at that moment, I realized, it wasn’t a message for the whole world, it was a message for me.  God my Father was speaking through my son. God was reminding me that I need not be afraid but to remember that He is not scared. Where my faith fails, His faith will see me through. Then I thought of my son, he reminded me of the child like warrior David from the Bible. David was just a boy but he had more faith than any of the hundreds of Israelite men did that day when they faced the giant Goliath. All of them were shaking in their armor that day but David faced him with the living God. He shouted out affirmations to Goliath that he was going to be defeated. Look at the passage in scripture where David is talking to Goliath. Notice what he says in 1 Samuel 17:45-47.
45 “Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.”
Did you notice it? The word “will” is used over and over. “I will strike you down”, “he will give you into our hand.” David spoke out and confessed declarations against his giant. He didn’t say the words if or maybe. No, he declared it confidently boasting in His God saying that it would be done.  You and I face giants everyday and if not today, don’t worry they will come.  The giants have different names too from Fear, Depression, Anxiety, but whatever the giant, my encouragement to you is this.  Remember, as believers the same God of David is our God too. He is bigger than any giant that comes our way.  Declare your victory with confidence, believing it’s already accomplished.  Not that it might be done but that it will be done. And when He delivers us and we’re standing over our giant, remember to give Him the praise,  for it’s all for His glory anyway.  What is it that’s coming against you from seeing the promises of God fulfilled in your life? Rise up warrior child and declare your victory! Listen, do you hear it? It’s the sweet sound of triumph coming from the mouth of a babe. “You scared? No not me! You scared? No, not me!” May this be our battle cry!

1 Samuel 17:50
50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him.

I remember one Sunday afternoon, my family and I put on our game faces. We stuffed our cooler with sodas and beef jerky and we all crammed in the SUV for our once a year, three hour pilgrimage, to see our beloved football team, probably lose again. But it didn’t matter, win or lose it was more about spending time and having fun with the family. I will never forget when we got there and had to scurry through the parking lot to the stadium, the atmosphere was electric. Tailgate parties were everywhere, and in full swing. The smell of barbecue was in the air, music blaring, fans from both sides, having fun, playing cornhole games with their family and friends, drinking, grilling, and tossing footballs around. What a great day for football. Now keep in mind, we wore our favorite team’s logo front and center on our shirts and it was proudly displayed too. However, I was quickly reminded that we were the visiting team. As we made our way through the tailgate parties, it was amazing how everyone stopped what they were doing and showed their appreciation and respect for our devotion to our football team. Yes, the home team fans were so kind, letting us know how much they really felt about us. They welcomed us with open arms, applauded us and rolled out a red carpet for us. It was like a ticker tape parade. “Hip-hip hooray!”, they merrily cried as they all cheered us on, like we were the royal family. Some gave gifts and offered us their hot dogs and beer. We respectfully declined of course. It was an amazing experience, such a euphoric moment with everyone coming together and cheering on their fellow man. Right now you’re probably reading this and your rolling your eyes, wondering what planet was this on? You’re right, it was far from that. Actually, the sound of boos was so loud it was almost deafening. Yes, it was nothing but boos coming from strangers full of booze. We even had my six year old and seven year old nephews with us but they didn’t care if they cried or not. They kept at it anyway, shouting at us obscenities and curses. It was the worst feeling ever, having crowds of people just look at you with so much hate and disgust. I don’t care if it was supposed to be all in fun, it sure didn’t feel that way to me at the moment. I really thought to myself, this isn’t worth it, let’s go home. Some people take their football so seriously that they could care less about hurting anyone’s feelings or making them feel unwanted or uncomfortable. I don’t care who you are, but no one likes being booed at, no one. No one in this life should be made to feel unwanted or rejected. Unfortunately in this life, we all must face rejection one way or the other. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve faced it with my career goals and with my dreams. I would prepare everything and give it my all, only to find that the person on the other side of that table holding my fate in their hands, didn’t see me as a valuable asset to their team. Then there’s rejection in relationships. Have you ever been turned down by that girl or guy you had a crush on? Yep, I’ve been there. There’s also been a number of times where friends have even excluded me out of their lives for no good reason or I’ve been nothing but a great friend to this person, always giving this friend advice and help but when it comes to their part, there’s no reciprocation in return. Sometimes,  I have often faced it when trying to share my own faith. Some people have laughed at me for believing in Jesus, some have gotten upset with me but all I did was lovingly share what Christ was doing in my life. Let’s face it, rejection sucks and unfortunately we all must bump into it from time to time. The question is how are we to respond? As believers Jesus tells us to follow Him. Let’s take a look and see how Jesus handled it and let’s follow His example. I was reading in Matthew 8:28-34. In this passage Jesus and his disciples arrived by boat at a place called the Gadarenes, a heavily populated country inhabited by Gentiles. Here they were met by two demon possessed men who were so fierce and violent that they prevented them from passing by. When the demons realized they were dealing with Jesus, they pleaded with Jesus to send them into the pigs. Jesus exercised His authority over the demons and cast them out of the two men and into the herd of pigs. The pigs then rushed off a cliff and into the sea and drowned. The herdsmen were so upset, they told the rest of the town what Jesus had done. The whole town came to Jesus and pleaded for Him to leave immediately. Wow, can you imagine this? Here Jesus just freed two men from demon oppression and the only thing they cared about was their pigs. Hey, I don’t know about you, but I love a good barbecue, but not that much. These people were putting pigs over Jesus just because Jesus was interfering with their economy and their way of life. I can only speculate what the disciples were thinking. Perhaps they thought to themselves “Why the nerve of these people!”. “Don’t they know what we’ve been through? We just went through this terrible storm, we’re wet, tired and hungry. Jesus is amazing and kind. He’s got an incredible gift of teaching, He’s healed many people, He just freed these two men and this is the thanks we get?” Perhaps they expected the people to welcome them into their homes and feed them and shower them with love but the town didn’t see Jesus the same way they did. So how did Jesus respond to this rejection? In Matthew 9:1, it tells us that Jesus got into another boat and went to His own town. In other words Jesus moved on. He didn’t stay in that place of rejection, He moved forward and took His ministry elsewhere. For some of us we need to be reminded of this. When we are excluded, mistreated or abandoned, we can’t stay in our hurts. Staying only leads to anger and resentment. The only chance for us to survive, is to get into the boat and move forward. For some of us moving forward is moving on from a relationship that is toxic, for some of us it’s changing the direction of our career goals, or changing the course of our dreams. For some of us moving forward is forgiving the ones that hurt us and restoring that relationship. Jesus did that to reconcile with us. When He hung on the cross facing the ultimate rejection, He said, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” He was able to move forward from the grave and ascended into heaven. If we can learn to forgive, we too will be able to ascend and rise above our hurts and when we do, we will be able to see our situation from a heavenly perspective. Jesus was no stranger to rejection and He didn’t let that impact His purpose in life and neither should we. So, the next time we find ourselves stuck on forsaken island, don’t wallow in your pain and stay there, you will only destroy yourself and others around you. Remember, you’re with Jesus, and He will never leave you nor forsake you. His love is all we ever need. Just follow Jesus into the boat and set sail for greater adventures.  As you go further out into the deep, you’ll look back on that once enormous island of suffering and hurt and all you will see is just a tiny little speck in the water. Nothing but a distant memory and all because you decided to move on.

It’s hard to get up when you feel tied down. It’s hard to sing when you’ve lost your joy. It’s hard to laugh when your heart just wants to cry. It’s hard to breathe when the weight of this world just pulls you below the surface. Sometimes there’s only so much of this life you can take and you wonder how much longer? You look at yourself in the mirror and you don’t even recognize the person staring back at you. You know what you have to do, and you know who you want to become and you know what you need to change, so you try to make it happen. You put on the heavy armor that still doesn’t fit right. You take with you the massive sword you can barely lift above your shoulder and you try to win a war that never was yours to win in the first place. You return once again defeated and crushed licking your wounds.  Maybe it wasn’t supposed to be, perhaps tomorrow I will try harder but again you repeat the same cycle of defeat and you wonder why even bother. It’s hopeless but maybe instead of trying to win a whole war, we take one battle at a time. Instead of our man made armor, we trade it for a sling and a tiny rock. Instead of mustering up all our strength, we start with just a small mustard seed of His faith. How about we take just one step forward and tomorrow we take the next? How about today we take one breath, today we say one prayer, today we just do that one thing. Remember, it takes time and soon that one day,  will become one day we look back and celebrate what God has done in and through us. No one ever heals from surgery overnight, no one masters a skill without practice. God didn’t create the world in one day, He took His time.  Let God do His  work in you and just keep moving forward by His grace. Don’t try to swallow the ocean. Just take it one day at a time, till one day, you’ll be free, soaring on wings of eagles, never looking back.

Isaiah 40:31 English Standard Version (ESV)
31
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.

If you ask me what my favorite movie is, without hesitation, I’m going to tell you it’s the movie ROCKY. You know the one about the boxer, who comes out of the slums of Philadelphia and gets the once in a lifetime chance to fight the heavyweight champion Apollo Creed? Yes and I have to admit I have had the guilty pleasure of watching Rocky fight in Rocky 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, and even the black Rocky in Creed 1 and Creed 2, which is actually the story of Apollo Creed’s son, where he fights the son of that scary Russian dude from Rocky 4. Hey, I don’t make this stuff up.  I’m just waiting for a Rocky movie where he one day joins the Avengers, so he can fight against the forces of evil before they destroy Manhattan, AGAIN! Poor New Yorkers! Anyway I digress. Actually I want to talk about the first one.  The first one will always be special to me. There’s so much to love about the first movie. The love story between Rocky and Adrian, which is actually the heart of the movie, “Yo Adrian!” “Yo Rocky”, “I love you!” and who could forget the lovable loser Paulie, Rocky’s boisterous nemesis Apollo Creed, and the old and tired trainer Mickey, whose best line in any movie was “Rocky you’re gonna make him eat thunder and crap lightning!”. Love that quote! Not to mention a killer soundtrack, the inspirational “Gonna fly now” and to this day when I hear “Eye of the Tiger”, I want to quickly stop whatever I’m doing and go run up some stairs. And of course my favorite part is the ending. One of the best endings in cinematic history. The music plays, Rocky goes the distance with Apollo, and he’s standing in the ring all bloodied up. Reporters swarm around him to ask questions and all he can yell is “Adrian!” and Adrian comes running through the crowd and calls out Rocky’s name. She finally makes her way onto the ring and the two fix their eyes on each other. Both knowing they never would’ve made it this far without the other.  Rocky tells her he loves her and Adrian replies back that she loves him, they hug, then the picture freezes on Rocky’s face. It is a face that speaks volumes of a man who finally proves it to himself and to the rest of the world that he was more than just a bum. Yes, I’m a Rocky fanatic! Why? Because he’s a fighter! He’s got that fighter spirit inside him that no circumstances no matter how challenging or how stacked the odds are against him, he’s going to dig deep and find that inner strength to fight on and go the distance till that final bell. As believers we face challenges and hardships everyday. We have two choices to make, either quit and give up or persevere and fight through it. Our trainer in Hebrews reminds us, in Hebrews 12:1-2, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” What are those things we allow to hinder us from going the distance to reach the finish line that God has marked out for us? Is it fear, is it anxiety, is it doubt, or discouragement? The Bible says to get rid of it, throw it off, remove it but it’s not possible on our own. For in the next verse our trainer of Hebrews tells us how. In verse two he says, “ fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”. You see our living example and hope is found in the one who endured Himself. Jesus could have folded under pressure, He could’ve called for His angels to attend to Him on that cross. But He didn’t. Why, because of one thing and that was “the joy set before Him”. You know what that one thing was? You and me. Jesus fixed His eyes on us. He focused all His faith believing that one day the dream of us being united with Him forever was going to be fulfilled. That’s what motivated Him through the hardships, through the cross, that’s what got Him to last another round and not throw in the towel. For us our joy should be to fix our eyes on Jesus, knowing that the trials we face are worth going through and the battles in life are worth fighting for because it all leads to one thing, being eventually reunited with Jesus face to face! The Bible says we’re already seated in the heavens. By faith let’s continue to hold fast to that dream of being united with Christ in heaven and let’s believe that the dream of being seated with Christ is now, just like the scripture says. Let that dream fuel us to never give up, so whatever opponent we may face in the ring, whether it’s Mr. T or Mr. T’s son, we will find ourselves looking down on our foe from a heavenly perspective, standing tall. And when that final bell rings and we’re still standing, all bloodied and bruised, we will be screaming out His name “Jesus!” and Jesus will be screaming out our name too, making His way through the crowd and onto the ring. And then we will see Him face to face and He will take us in His arms and embrace us, telling us we are His champions and that’s when we will know it was worth not giving up, that’s when we will know it was worth the fight.

Hebrews 12:1-2 New International Version (NIV)
12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Business as usual”, the young twenty something waiter tells himself as he flashes his “business as usual” smile to the strangers sitting in his “business as usual” section. He serves their “business as usual” drinks and takes their “business as usual” orders. His focus however is more on the television as his favorite sports team conducts “business as usual” on the football field and is minutes away from winning again. If only he was at the game, he pretends to nod his head as he jots down the orders in his “business as usual” way. On the way to the kitchen, he picks up the tip left behind from the last table. It’s twenty dollars and he pockets it in his apron pocket, with the rest of his profits from the busy afternoon. His team wins again, tables are tipping well, he can’t help but think about the hot date he’s got later with the new girl on campus. He laughs at a joke told by one of his co-workers as he inputs the orders into the computer. Life is good, just “business as usual”. His manager calls out to him, he turns around and sees her standing at the “to go” counter, holding the phone. She motions for him to take the phone from her hand, curious, he grabs it and tries hard to listen while covering his left ear to block out the noisy kitchen. “Hello?”, he cracks a smile as he watches one of his co-workers accidentally drop a load of dishes. His smile quickly fades, shock and disbelief soon settle in, he can’t believe what he’s hearing. More laughter coming from the kitchen, but he’s zoned them all out, nothing else matters right now, he slams the phone in anger and screams. “Be tough, be strong, you got this”,  he tells himself but the emotions get the upper hand and he pounds his fist over and over against the wall. The manager tries to console him, but one look at him and she knows. Being a mother of three, she knows the look, the look any child gives you when they’re lost and trying to find their way home. It’s the same look she had when her whole world shattered before her, the day she first set eyes on her husband of seventeen years, laying lifeless in a hospital gown. All of the dreams and plans they shared, now forgotten and discarded like items in a card board box in lost and found. For the young man, all he could muster was “mom, why did you leave me?”, there was nothing he could do, her car was found upside down off the interstate bridge. The woman who raised him by herself, who was his best friend and believed in him, had now left him for good. Her car flipped upside down, his life along with it. No more business as usual. Death, it comes for us all and stories like these occur everyday. Sometimes the narrative is told through the lives of others and we are the minor characters who watch from afar, and sometimes the story includes us and we are forced to play the main characters in a tale we want nothing to be a part of. Why? Why us? Why now? Where’s my happy ever after? These are questions we all wrestle with, no matter how mature we are in Christ. We all question God, some of us even get angry with God and some of us unfortunately turn away from Him. No matter where we are in this story, Death is the antagonist we all must face as we turn through the pages of our lives. The question is, not how to avoid it but how are we going to handle it when it comes? If you are going through it now, my heart goes out to you. God has never promised us that there would be no suffering in this life but He does promise us that for believers in Christ, He would never forsake us nor leave us. He did promise us that He was preparing a place for us in heaven, He did promise us that one day, He would resurrect our bodies and that one day there would be no more suffering, and that one day He would wipe away every tear. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ just flip through the pages of your book and you will find that Death dies and we live! All this is made possible because Jesus, the author of our story became a character in our novel. He became death for us on the cross. He knew great loss when He was separated from His Father. “Father why have you forsaken me?”, He cried as He hung on a cross. He gave His last breath and descended into the depths of Hell. Just when the demons thought they had Him bound to the chains of Hades forever, three days later, He rose! Three days later He triumphed over the stink of the grave. Death lost that day and because of His resurrection we too can triumph over the grave. Is Christ in your story? If not, I encourage you before you get to the end of your book, to invite Him to be a main character in your narrative. Ask Him to come into your life and put your trust in Jesus, believing He is the only way to overcome Death. Having Jesus in your story won’t take away the suffering you may have to face nor will it take away the pain of loss in life but He will give you His peace and He will give you His joy to overcome it. The God of suffering knows a thing or two about loss and death but He also has mastered a thing or two about life after death and what it takes to win. If Jesus overcame death, we too can overcome. What chapter do you find yourself in? Will you let His invincible joy take over, will you let Him be the center of your story? Death will rear it’s ugly head, that chapter is coming but if your story is about you, then you will lose and Death will overcome but if it’s about Jesus, I promise you, you will find your happy ending. Suffering with loss? Hurting and feeling crushed by the pain? Remember the author of our story wants to be in our story. He wants to walk through the pain with you. He wants to be that shoulder to cry on, He wants to be the words that will encourage your heart. He wants to be that invincible joy to carry you through the suffering that can’t destroy. Remember Job in the scriptures? He suffered great loss and lost his family, his livestock, his wealth, everything. However, he was still able to muster up his praise. “The Lord gives, the Lord takes away but blessed be the name of the Lord”.  Look to Him for your spark child of God, in time things will heal, our happy ending is coming, take heart and remember we are the children of the promise.

Job 1:21 New International Version (NIV)
21 and Job said:
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart.[a]
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
may the name of the Lord be praised.”

John 16:33 New International Version (NIV)
33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Deuteronomy 31:6 New International Version (NIV)
6 Be strong and courageous, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Revelation 21:4 New International Version (NIV)

4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”