NEXT MAN UP - ARE YOU READY: Devotional by Lorilyn Roberts

I’ve often thought one of the neatest things about sports is the parallel you can draw between sports and Christianity. So, to give a wonderful example of what I mean, last Saturday I captioned a college football game, Kennesaw State University versus Wofford.

One thing that made captioning this game unique is that I actually attended Kennesaw State University eons ago when I took a history class. I believe it was an American history class. I’ve always been a history buff even when I didn’t know I was one.

For those who aren’t familiar with Kennesaw State University, it’s located in Kennesaw, Georgia, about twenty miles north of Atlanta. The College has an enrollment of about 30,000 students and the football team, known as the Owls, is a recent entry in the Big South Conference.

Last Saturday the Owls and the Wofford Terriers squared off in the first round of the FCS playoffs. I’ve captioned hundreds of games in every sport imaginable over the past twenty years, but midway through the second quarter, the ordinary game became extraordinary—at least for me.

Tommy Bryant, Kennesaw State’s star quarterback, suffered an injury and had to leave the game. Tommy had played every second of every game for the entire season. Jonathan Murphy, the backup quarterback, had not taken a single snap. For twelve games, he sat on the sidelines and watched.

I’d seen this scenario dozens of times before. A team works their tails off to make it to the playoffs only to have their star player go down, and their dreams of winning a championship go down with him.

So, I didn’t expect this game to be any different. Oftentimes, in the first possession, the team panics, fumbles the ball, and the opponent gets possession and runs it down the field for a touchdown.

But not this time. This unknown, backup quarterback came in and took over like he had been playing all season and led Kennesaw State to a 28-21 playoff victory. In the process, Jonathan set several records, including running for 206 yards, the most by a quarterback in conference playoff history.

As I captioned the game, I began to think about that young man, Jonathan Murphy. The Owls played their first game against Point University on August 31. From August 31 to November 30, Jonathan watched from the sidelines. Every week for three months he practiced with his team knowing that the chances of even entering the game were slim but also knowing he had to be ready if called upon at a moment’s notice. If Tommy Bryant became sick or injured, Jonathan Murphy was the next man up.

Week after week he practiced.

I never participated in sports at that level when I was young, but my daughter competed for years in gymnastics. From a distance, I could imagine the time Jonathan spent conditioning and practicing. I know the sacrifice it takes, the perseverance, and the determination to be the best.

I don’t know if I could be that self-sacrificing for my team. I’d want to be in the game. Maybe I might work hard for the first month, but surely toward the end of the season, I’d be depressed. Maybe I’d lose interest. But not Jonathan Murphy. He was ready.

Juneau, Alaska

Inspiration and insight came to me when the game was over. Is the Christian life not like that? We go for periods of time without trials or tribulations. Life is good. And then something happens, and life is not good. Life is hard. Are we ready when those times come?

I like the New Heart English Bible Translation of 2 Timothy 4:2: “Proclaim the word, be urgent in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with all patience and teaching.”

It’s not enough to just be ready when God calls us to step up—we need to be spectacularly ready, just like Jonathan Murphy when he came on the field and led his team to victory. 

Is God worth it? Can we sit on the sidelines, tempted to think God doesn’t need us? Perhaps we slack off on our daily Bible reading, or we quit talking to God. Maybe we become a little worldly in our thoughts, or we lose that fire in our belly for the things of God. Are we willing to diligently work hard for Christ even if we don’t get noticed?

Sometimes, when I’m working on a book, I wonder if anyone will ever read my book. I remind myself when the evil one gets in my ear, “I write for an audience of one.”

In my twenty years of captioning, I don’t believe I have ever seen a young man come into a game like that, who had not played all season, and play so brilliantly. If anything, his poise and readiness inspired me to look into my heart and tell God, “I want to be that person for you, to be ready at a moment’s notice if called upon, always proclaiming Your Word in season and out of season, living my life for you, even when life is dull.

Let’s face it, most of life is pretty ordinary, but we never know when God will call us from the sidelines to be His man or woman of the hour. You or I might just be God’s next man up. I pray that I’ll be ready.

You can read more of Lorilyn Roberts’ blogposts at LorilynRoberts.com

CREATIVE WRITING INSIGHTS: “#Iwritebecause” by Lorilyn Roberts

CONFESSIONS OF A CHRISTIAN HOMESCHOOLING MOM: Devotional by Lorilyn Roberts

Reposted by Reader Request

Confessions of a Christian Homeschooling Mom

Leaves floating in the pool always signal the end of summer for me and the beginning of autumn. With fall comes my assignment of homeschooling Joy. 

While some days it’s a pleasure and other days a chore, I recently thought about curriculum in an unusual way. It reminded me of something funny years ago when I homeschooled Manisha.

In the fourth grade, she was given an assignment to set up a study schedule for the week—what subjects and how much time she should devote to each one. I chuckle as I remember her daily homeschooling curriculum:  Reading, five minutes; English, five minutes; science, five minutes; history, three minutes; math, thirty seconds; lunch, one hour; and recess, the rest of the day. While that may have seemed like a great curriculum to Manisha at ten, I would hate to imagine where she would be today in her second year of college if I had allowed her to “go her own way.”

homeschooling convention

Last spring over Memorial Day weekend, Joy and I went to the Florida Homeschooling Convention in Orlando. It was a time of refreshment as I reflected on what we had accomplished over the past year and what I hoped to do for this next year. Upon arriving Joy and I quickly ate and hurried down to the exhibit hall, where I spent hours pouring over the books, curriculum, games, and “ideas” on display. 

Most of the vendors return every year and there are always new ones to check out. This annual tradition encourages me to keep on keeping on for another year until God shows me it’s time to enroll Joy in a traditional school. We just take homeschooling one year at a time.

Each year I assess Joy’s strengths and weaknesses and which curriculum (or non-curriculum) would work best for the following year. I have not used with Joy the same materials that I used for Manisha. Each of my daughters is unique, and as a homeschooling mom, it’s been a joy to tailor the curriculum to meet each of their specific needs. I have to admit, that I have made mistakes. A couple of times I tried math programs which caused far too many tears. It required the unexpected expense and time of switching to something else. But I have never doubted God’s calling to homeschool, even as a single parent. I have been brought to my knees at times by the sheer burden and feeling of inadequacy. I could not do it without the Lord’s help.

science experiment

But my heart’s desire to give my daughters the best that I can goes a long way in God’s provision. He makes up for what I lack. As I recall what Manisha wanted for a curriculum many years ago, in my finite wisdom, of course, I knew one minute of math a day would not prepare her for Algebra, and twenty-five minutes of English a week would not be sufficient to write a ten-page term paper on International Relations as a sophomore in college. We can chuckle at the absurdity, laughing because we know ourselves. Are we really any different?

art

In the broader context of life, reflecting on God’s great plan for each of us, do I know what His perfect curriculum is for me?  Do I know what I need in His economy to become the person He created me to be? If God way back at the beginning of time had asked me to design my own curriculum, what would I have asked for? The human side of me would have said, “God, how about a little place on the beach with a pool, lots of books, and a Starbucks latte twice a day. I don’t want to cook, wash clothes, worry about car repairs, computers that crash, or anyone I love getting sick. In fact, give me a life where I never have to worry about anything.”

I know it’s not very “spiritual,” but if the truth is told, I don’t think anyone would ask for heartache. After all, we don’t have the mind of God. Our little thoughts are not like His. We long selfishly for a fulfilling life, to have our needs met, and to be accepted by others. The Bible is full of all the perils that accompany that mindset, beginning with Adam and Eve.

Atlanta Aquarium, Field Trip

One of the courses in my life curriculum (which I never would have asked for) was working for twenty years as a court reporter. I never liked court reporting—the adversarial nature of it, the long, unpredictable hours, the fact that most of what I wrote was meaningless in God’s great scheme (who cares that someone found a cricket in a can of beans). Plus it was something I never wanted to do but circumstances willed it.

Sometimes life takes away our freedom to choose. Things happen. In those moments of doubting God’s best for us, we should cast our eyes on Jesus, who did the will of His Father and not His own. I “begrudged” those years until very recently, feeling like much of my working life was wasted. How many books could I have written during that time?  I can’t say I was filled with discontent, but certainly, upon occasion, I have questioned, why didn’t God allow me to pursue writing at a much younger age?  Why did “this” have to happen?  You can fill in the blank with your own “this” and ask your own “why.” I have said to myself more than once, things would have been so much better if I had chosen “this” but couldn’t.

Horse Show Field Trip

What better choices could there be than what my heavenly Father chose for me?  Do I not trust Him completely? Does He not know the best curriculum to mold me into His image?  Cannot my sorrows and loss be counted as gain for the kingdom of heaven? 

Jesus tells us in John 15:7, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.” Jesus gave this command to His disciples on the eve of His crucifixion. Little did His followers know what was about to happen. But Jesus knew if His words “abided” within their hearts, it would be sufficient to bring them through the dark days that lay ahead.

Kayaking Adventure with Homeschooling Friends at Cedar Key, Florida

God has given us everything we need to equip us for His heavenly kingdom. Our curriculum has been chosen by the King of the universe. He molded each one of us from clay. He breathed life into us. He gifts us with talents and blesses us with hope and so much more than we deserve. He loved us so much He sent His only Son to die for us. No doubt His curriculum is vastly different from and better for my soul than anything I could possibly envision.

When I took my novel course in my Master's studies, I learned that one of the greatest novelists of all time, Charles Dickens, began his career as a court reporter. So I am in great company. Who knows how God will use those years down the road. After all, He is THE great designer, craftsman, artist, and author.

Missions Trip to Nepal.
Joy took picture of me reading to children

God knows exactly what curriculum we all need to complete a doctorate in life and graduate Summa Cum Laude. And for each one of us, God lovingly designs the classes. I think a doctorate would fittingly describe the many difficult courses we must take to become everything He longs for us to be. And it will probably require—at least for me—more than thirty seconds of suffering, two minutes of patience, five minutes of sacrifice, and five minutes of prayer.

If we can cease our striving, our complaining, and slow down, God might just exempt us from a life class we would rather not take. “Godliness with contentment is great gain,” according to I Timothy 6:6; and that Starbucks latte, well, I do enjoy one upon occasion. Now, by God’s grace, I just need a teaspoon of patience and a tablespoon of love to enjoy another successful year of homeschooling.  

As an addendum, I actually wrote this article a few years ago, but recently, someone asked me to repost it as it was no longer available on the web. Manisha, my oldest one (on the right in the picture) graduated with honors from St. Leo University with a bachelor's in psychology. She now has a professional position in the movie industry and is on her own now (I miss her terribly), and Joy has an A.A. degree from  Santa Fe State College. She is still trying to figure out what she wants to do long-term.

Looking back at those ten-plus years homeschooling, I wish I had done one thing more: I wish I had smelled more flowers. Enjoy homeschooling; the days pass all too quickly. Take that trip to the ice cream store. Enjoy that movie. Cook more meals. Spill more coffee. And don't forget to laugh until you cry. Believe me, God is in the details, and He won't disappoint you. You will succeed if you give your best to Him!

WHERE IS YOUR FUTURE HOME: Devotional by Lorilyn Roberts

 

Mount Everest

After spending a week in Nepal and returning home, I appreciate the little things so much more—I can drink tap water, enjoy coffee with breakfast, and eat anything I want. I’m not sneezing anymore from allergies. The air is clean, and I love sleeping in my own bed. I know this sounds trite, and I don’t mean it to be. God uses the mundane and ordinary in this world to teach us about the extraordinary in the next.

My home is here in sunny Florida where we have far too many cats and a rescued dog. This is where I’m comfortable. It’s where most of my friends are and where I work and play and do far too much complaining about mostly meaningless things.

Nepal was foreign to me. What made it familiar were the relationships with the Christians I met. We worship the same God, we sang the same songs in church, and Joy and I enjoyed the sweet fellowship of the Christians in Nepal in their homes and places of worship.

I’m reminded of Matthew 16:19 which says, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you lose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Our job in this world is to build a foundation for the next. Are you sending ahead of your homecoming an investment in the future?

If you aren’t a Christian, you wouldn’t want to go to heaven. It would be outside of your comfort zone. The Holy Spirit is not in you because you rejected God; neither are Christian relationships. You chose not to be part of that world. You rejected the most important relationship, Jesus Christ, who died so that you would have an inheritance at your homecoming. Jesus said, “I go and prepare a place for you.”

We live in worlds of comfort zones here, and there are thousands of them, scattered to the four winds. Home is our familiar world, but it is temporary. Where will your future home be? Nothing familiar exists in hell. Hell was made for the devil and his fallen angels—not for humans. In heaven, we will have the Body of Christ, the relationships we’ve forged here, and whatever we have here will be so much more there.

Let us not grow weary of doing good (as I’m apt to do at times), because we are God’s workmanship, created for good works. We are building a kingdom right here on earth.

I longed to do a better job of keeping my priorities in order—and I want God to renew His Spirit within me. Help me, God, to have more of you in my life, in my home, in my world, and less of me. Your Kingdom is increasing here, I know it, even though outwardly, we may be persuaded to think otherwise, but you promised in Isaiah 9:7, "Of the increase of His government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.” I believe before I went to Nepal I was allowing the evil one to convince me otherwise.

Now I see your kingdom with more hope and with more belief in the impossible. In Isaiah 64:4, you say, “Since ancient times, no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him.”

God’s kingdom is expanding here in our homes, in our communities, in our government, and in our world. Nothing except our unbelief can stop God’s power from being manifest everywhere. Seize the moment and make your home a “taste” of your heavenly home. What greater gift can we give our families than a preview of what’s to come?

THE NEW HEAVEN AND EARTH: Devotional from "Am I Okay, God?" by Lorilyn Roberts

And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and he will dwell among them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be among them, and he will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.

—Revelation 21:3-5

Would you like to visit the garden in Seventh Dimension – The Door? Evil lurked in that garden, but when Jesus returns, he will create a new earth free of sin.

*~*~*~*~*~*

From Seventh Dimension – The Door, a Young Adult Christian Fantasy:

Evening came. I wanted to love but I was unwilling to give up my hate. Could the king’s words penetrate my hardened heart? What joy would fill me if I surrendered everything to the king?

Baruch nudged me with his nose. “Where do we go now, Miss Shale?”

The crowds were leaving to return to their homes. I didn’t feel like I had one. I closed my eyes and prayed. “If I’m a daughter of the king, please forgive me. I’m sorry for my wrong attitude.”

Nothing changed on the outside, but I felt better on the inside.”

—Shale Snyder, chapter thirty-two

*~*~*~*~*~*

While I can’t change the world I face each day, I can cleanse my thoughts through reading the Bible. I can pray when I am driving, when I am cooking, or when I rise or go to bed. I can confess to God my pain when I feel overwhelmed by the unexplained darkness—when bad things happen.

By allowing God to work in my heart, I can gain a heavenly perspective, lifting my spirit from the gutter that robs me of my joy.

Take a few moments and imagine what God is preparing for you. Your negative thoughts can be redeemed, helping you to live each day with renewed hope for a brighter future.

Someday, God’s new heaven and new earth will rise from the ashes following the greatest war ever fought in the universe. God and his angelic warriors will fight in the last battle against Satan and the demons of darkness. Earth will be the battleground and man the prized possession.

While man’s salvation is already secured by Jesus’ death and resurrection, the finality of souls’ destination is only within God’s purview. Satan does not know; neither does he know everything you think. Satan is not omniscient. He has nothing to lose—except you.

Even as the battle wages, once we accept Jesus, we can rejoice. We can know for certain where we will live for eternity.

Where is heaven? A place where our failures will no longer paralyze us; where perfect love casts out fear, pure joy abounds with unceasing laughter, and unfettered peace will last forever. It’s but one heartbeat away for those who believe in Jesus Christ.

Until we enter heaven’s gates, we have to deal with sin. The curse, passed down from Adam and Eve, plagues all creatures. Everything eventually dies.

The best thing about heaven is Jesus lives there—as king. No more elections, no more dictators, and no more czars. He said he was going to prepare a place for his followers, and someday he would return and take us back with him.

What will we see, and what will we look like?

Heaven is inhabited by millions of beautiful angelic creatures. When we pass through heaven’s gates, we will be clothed in spiritual bodies that will no longer be physically imperfect but eternally perfect.

Some saints will shine brighter than others, depending on their faithfulness to God, just as some stars appear brighter in the night sky. There will be rewards for our good works and for bringing others into the kingdom.

In heaven, there’s no competition for food or toll for survival—even in the animal kingdom.

For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.

—Romans 8:22  

The wolf and the lamb will feed beside each other Children will play with lions. The sound of crying will never be heard again. The old order of things will have passed away. When God wipes away our tears, our afflictions and troubles will no longer be remembered.

Heaven is never dark because the glory of God gives it light. The New Jerusalem will radiate with the majesty of God. The city will be built of gold, pure as glass. The foundations of the walls will glitter with precious gems and the twelve gates made of pearl will greet city visitors. Nothing impure will ever enter the city.

The River of Life will flow from God’s throne, and the Tree of Life in the city square will bear a different fruit each month. Its leaves will be for the healing of nations. Whatever we have here will be even better there—in beauty, fullness, and purity.

Heaven in Revelation has many mysteries beyond our understanding. The four winds who obey God and the four creatures who give praise to our heavenly father—who are they?

The Bible doesn’t give us a map to heaven, but in Genesis 28:12, Jacob “had a dream, and …a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and … the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.”

In Revelation 4:1, John saw an open door to heaven; and in Acts 7:56, Stephen said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”  

Because it’s impossible for anything defiled or sinful to enter through the gates, it would have been impossible for anyone to go there if God had not provided a way. God said in Leviticus 26:12, “I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people.”  

Today we battle against the unseen powers of darkness—the prince of the air and his demonic minions. But through the Holy Spirit, we have a taste of heaven here. When we receive Jesus into our hearts, the Comforter indwells us. The Spirit whispers to us in our sleep, comforts us in our pain, and implores us never to give up.

The Bible reminds us of God’s unwavering truth. Thousands of years of attacks upon it and God’s chosen have strengthened the validity of the Bible’s claims. Even the rocks would cry out in praise to the heavenly father if it were possible.

When Jesus hung on the cross, he said to one of the two thieves beside him, “Truly, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). I take comfort in the fact that for the last two thousand years, Jesus has been preparing a place for you and for me.

Someday heavenly music will fill our ears. We will splash with joy in heavenly waters emanating from God’s throne and walk on streets of gold. We will be reunited with those who have gone before us. We will feast at the marriage supper of the Lamb, and all those whose names are written in the Book of Life will see the face of God.

In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

— John 16:33

What a glorious eternity awaits us. Until that day, let not the heartaches of this world discourage us from remembering the richness of God’s grace here—found in Jesus Christ.

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I am thankful I am a daughter (or son) of the king. I am thankful that my salvation is assured through Jesus’ death and resurrection. Help me to honor the king in all my ways so that he may be glorified— until I enter the pearl gates of heaven.

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