PARADIGM SHIFT

• Love.  Show love for those you know, and those you don’t.
• Joy. Take joy in the achievements of your child, his or her teammates, and their opponents, no matter how small.
• Peace. Allow peace to override the “heat of the game”.
• Patience.  Players and officials will not always make the play or call you think is best…but they probably thought it was the best one at the time, so it’s OK.
• Kindness. Not everyone will always do it right – they might need better training, or they might be doing their best.
• Goodness. Players don’t always see the “big picture”. Draw them a circle that draws them in.
• Faithfulness.  Be true to your convictions.
• Gentleness. Be fair in talking about others. If it’s not nice, don’t say it.
• Self-Control. Do not allow outside influences to affect your actions.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self‑control.  Against such things there is no law.  Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.  Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

~ Galatians 5:22-25 ~

- A part of the CLAY Team Sports Ministry Christlike Athletics Handbook

Fall: Week Two

Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit:

Beatitudes I – (Matthew 5:3-10)

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.“

- Matthew 5:3 (NIV)

Now that we quickly got to the heart of the Sermon on the Mount last week, it is time to zoom out and refocus on the beginning of Jesus’ message: the Beatitudes.  Jesus stood up and basically blessed the normal, everyday ‘good man,’ which completely flew in the face of the honor-system of ancient Israelite culture.  A man was to be high and mighty, rich and successful, well-known and respected.  Sound familiar?  But this Jesus guy just stood up and said “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

The meaning of the term “blessed” is often confused, but after looking at the Greek and Hebrew roots of the word, I found that it referred to having a kind of joy that is uninfluenced by outside forces.  Also, the structure of the Beatitudes mirrors the structure of Psalm 1:1 and a few other Old Testament verses that imply that this was an exclamation, not just a hopeful ideal.  William Barclay sums this up in his commentary, The Daily Study Bible with this interpretation: “O the bliss of the man who has realised his own utter helplessness, and who has put his whole trust in God, for thus alone he can render to God that perfect obedience which will make him a citizen of the kingdom of heaven.”

In order for us to truly “seek first His kingdom,” we need to humble ourselves and submit to the will of the Lord.  The Bible and church history are filled with the weak, the broken, and the lost who were called by God to do great things.  Look at Abraham, Moses, David, the Twelve Disciples, Paul, and so many more.  God does not want the self-righteous, independent, nor arrogant in His kingdom; He wants those who have truly witnessed His love and who whole-heartedly love Him back.

A look back at 2 Chronicles 7:14 shows us that the first step in turning back to God is to humble yourself and pray.  I urge you to take a look at yourself and realize that if you are trying to live independent from God, then you will never experience true joy.  Please talk to God this week, but more importantly, just listen; spend some quiet time in prayer everyday, and it will help re-center you and God will give you the strength to do all things (Philippians 4:13).

So I was sitting in the “Holy Week Chapel” service here at school a couple days ago and found myself wondering why are the services around Easter so dry and formalized.  The concert band and the choir were up there performing, there were lengthy Scripture readings, and many of the students in the room were asleep.  Now I go to a Christian school, but not everybody on campus is a Christian.  Easter is about the resurrection of Christ and how He defeated sin and death to save us!  This is the whole point of the Gospel; if we can’t get this message across to unbelievers, then what hope do we have?  If there was one church service a year that didn’t put people to sleep it should be Easter Sunday!  Easter is to be the day that the Church comes together to celebrate what Jesus did for us through His death and resurrection, but instead it is all about candy and bonnets.

This blog is not merely a commentary, it is meant to challenge people, and this is your challenge for Easter –> CELEBRATE!!!  Be joyful, be happy, show the love of Christ!  Liturgical calendars list the seven weeks after “Easter Sunday” as “Easter Season,” which is supposed to be a time of celebration.   Enjoy Easter Sunday with family and friends, but do not lose that joy and excitement when you return to work or to school on Monday morning.  Remember the cross, and remember the resurrection!

“Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

- 1 Peter 1:8-9