Today's Coach is Dan Britton of Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Today Coach Dan calls a great Play.
"We need to Stretch the Field."
"Put on our Uniform of Faith."
"But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on Faith and Love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet."
I Thessalonians 5:8
What is Faith?
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1
Think of a Light Switch. When you turn it on you know the Light is going to turn on even though what you Hope for is not seen - Electricity.
How do you know this? By Experience.
As you Experience God working in your Life your Faith Grows and makes you Stronger and Stronger.
How do you get Faith?
"So then faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
Romans 10:17
The Better you Know and Hear the Playbook and Practice the Plays (as if you were in a Game) the more Faith and Confidence you will have on Game Day.
By the End of the Season your Faith is on Auto Pilot and you Execute God's game plan in you Life with Confidence each day.
There will be temporary setbacks along the way so Remember Win One Day at a Time.
Coach Lombardi says,
"It's easy to have faith in yourself and have discipline when you're a winner, when you're number one. What you got to have is faith and discipline when you're not a winner."
Vince Lombardi Green Bay Packers
Now Check out what it means to "Stretch the field" of your Faith as you read Coach Dan's FCA commentary.
Now - Just Go! Win the Day!
Rick
Phil 4:13
http://huddle360.blogspot.com
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READY: Hearing this, Jesus was amazed and said to those following Him, " I assure you: I have not found anyone in Israel with so great a faith! - Matthew 8:10 (HCSB) SET:
I love rubber bands. They are one of the greatest inventions ever! They are simple, practical, and useful. And, while there are many uses for them, one of the most basic functions of rubber bands is to hold a group of objects together.
I always keep a rubber band around my wrist. You never know when you might need one! But my habit took on new meaning this past year when my friend and FCA teammate, Donnie Dee, who also wears one around his wrist, offered me a challenge.
When I asked him why he wore his rubber band, he said that it was a constant reminder that God wanted to stretch him daily. I was converted on the spot!
Rubber bands are pretty useless unless they are stretched. When they are extended beyond their standard form, they can hold things together and accomplish their purpose.
After hearing Donnie's reasoning, I began to look at my rubber band as a reminder to have rubber-band faith.
Think about it. Faith is much like a rubber band in that it is useless unless it is stretched. Our faith needs to be tested, because when we step out of our comfort zone, it is expanded.
Scripture tells us that Jesus was astonished only twice—once for a man's great faith (Matthew 8:5-10) and once for a group's lack of it (Mark 6:4-6).
The Roman commander in Matthew had so much faith that he asked Jesus to just speak words of healing and his servant would be made well.
Jesus' response was, "Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith." (Matthew 8:10). That's rubber-band faith.
I think we all need to examine our level of faith and ask ourselves if it is getting stronger or weaker. When we are willing to step out and stretch ourselves, God shows up and does what we can't do.
We need to keep putting ourselves in situations where we whisper, "God, if You don't show up, I am bound to fail. I can't do this in my own strength."
As competitors, we have been blessed with incredible talents and skills to perform at a high levels. It's hard to have rubber-band faith as athletes and coaches because we rely too much on our own abilities.
But we need to step out and ask the Lord to stretch us on the field of competition and in the arena of life. When we have rubber-band faith, we will immediately respond, "God did it!" instead of, "I did it!"
True faith begins at the edge of your comfort zone. Be bold and courageous and step out, letting God extend you. Trust me, you were made to be stretched.
GO:
1. In your own words, how would you define rubber-band faith?
2. When has your faith been stretched the most? How did God show up?
3. As a competitor, how can you play with rubber-band faith? How can you live with rubber-band faith?
4. Read Mark 6:4-6. Why was Jesus astonished? What can you learn from this passage?
WORKOUT: 2 Chronicles 16:9 Luke 7:2-9 Hebrews 11:6
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dan Britton serves as FCA's Executive Vice President of Ministry Programs at the National Support Center in Kansas City. He is the co-author of WisdomWalks – a real-life guide for walking purposefully with God and others. He and his wife Dawn reside in Overland Park, Kan., with their three children: Kallie, Abby and Elijah. As a former professional lacrosse player, he still loves playing and coaching lacrosse and running marathons. You can e-mail Dan at dan@fca.org.
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For more information about FCA please visit FCA.org.
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