This is one of my FCA devotionals that I get that I really wanted to share. God loves us no matter how many times we fall into sin, as long as we are willing to accept his forgiveness. This is exactly what I needed to read, I hope this can encourage you as well.

READY:
“As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”
-Psalm 103:12

SET:
God gives second chances. Actually, God gives us more than just second chances; He gives us millions of chances, because despite our endless mistakes and sins God still loves us. I don’t know about you, but I mess up a lot. Whether it is by having pride, judging others, denying God’s will in my life or giving into temptation, I just cannot seem to stop feeling like I am failing God. After seeming to let God down so many times it is hard to understand that God still has a plan to use me to do His will. But, boy, does He have a plan.

In the Gospels we read a lot about Simon-Peter, one of Jesus’ most steadfast disciples, who promises never to leave Jesus and then fails miserably by denying Jesus three times. Once the rooster crows and Peter realizes his broken promise to Jesus, he buries his face in his hands and weeps.

We all have been in Peter’s shoes. As if messing up wasn’t bad enough on its own, we also have to deal with the fact that we swore to God that we wouldn’t mess up again the last time we gave into temptation. Sorrow hits us square in the face, and we are left feeling hopeless and far from God. Fortunately there is hope in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! In times like these, God wants us to admit our sins, accept His forgiveness and grow closer to Him so that He can use us to do His will.

Let’s go back to Peter. After Christ rose from the grave, He appears to Peter and asks him three times if Peter loves Him. Peters answers with passion, “Yes Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus then builds Peter’s confidence and prepares him to go out into the world by giving him the task to take care for God’s children. Peter denied God, but God did not give up on him. Nor does God give up on us when we deny Him with our sin.

Today, when temptation gets the best of you and you feel as though you have messed up so many times that God cannot use you, think again. Confess your sin, accept His forgiveness, and listen for God’s voice to guide you to do His will. God has great plans for your life, so don’t give up on yourself or on God.

GO:
1. Have you given up on yourself or on God because of your sin?
2. Is there something you are ashamed of that you need to admit to God and hand over to Him?
3. Are you listening to hear God's will for your life?

WORKOUT:
John 21:15-17
Philippians 1:6
Ephesians 2:22

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Christa Larson

Now it's your Turn. Write your own FCA Devotional... Go to www.FCAResources.com, create an account and "submit your own FCA devo!".

How many things?

I love the game of basketball.

I have played basketball for as long as I can remember, and I play it whenever I get the chance. I go to open gyms whenever I get the chance and wherever they may be, and if I am on my way home and I am not loaded with homework, I will stop at the YMCA to work on my jump-shot.

I played basketball all four years of my high school career, but that didn’t mean I necessarily “played.” My first three years in high school I was a very chubby, slow kid. My freshman season I maybe played a minute a game on the junior varsity team--but I went to most of the open gyms and would always say to myself after each year, “this is the summer that I’m going to change.”

My junior year I was called up to the varsity team late in the season and got the opportunity to suit up for varsity the rest of the season--sitting on the bench. I was so proud of myself for making the varsity team, and felt I had a great shot to be a starter the next season. Then, the summer before my senior year, my coach told me, “I see you as the eighth` man next year.”

A verse in the Bible that I discovered in high school was Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Notice this verse does not say “a few things” or “some things,” but it says “all things.”

A standard for making the varsity team in try-outs each year is that you have to be able to run a 6:30 mile before the first game. All my years in the basketball program I had believed this to be impossible. My sophomore year I ran a 10:30 mile and followed that up my junior year with a 9:45 mile. There was no way I could run a 6:30 mile.

The summer before my senior year I worked harder than I ever had before. No longer was I just going to open gyms, but I was going to go to the weight room too, even if I had to go by myself. Just about every day that summer I went to the weight room or hit the track to do some running. By the start of my senior year I had felt different than I ever had before -- but I still had to put my work to the test.

During the first mile times, I felt confident I could run a record mile time, but I finished with a time of 6:45. I only had two more days to run a 6:30 mile. I decided to rest my legs the next day, giving myself one more mile run before the first game.

I went out to the track, giving my brother the stopwatch -- I had so much adrenaline and could feel myself running faster than I ever had before. As I sprinted across the end of the mile, my brother showed me my time--I had just run a 6:18 mile ... I ended up starting every game my senior year.

Nothing is impossible for my God!

I am not trying to say that God is going to give you a billion dollars because I have learned that ultimately He has a plan--but I know that finishing that mile was not me, that was all God.

For me it was making the varsity basketball team, for many people in the Bible it was the blind getting the chance to see, or the lame being pulled up to their feet. For someone else it may be surviving and beating cancer.

What things could Christ do for you?

Confidence in Christ

Ever since my freshman year in high school I have wanted to be an NBA analyst for ESPN -- after I realized I might not ever make it to the NBA. My plan is to become a sports journalist for a newspaper, and then work my way into sports broadcasting. Here at EvCC I have taken just about every journalism class offered, including being a part of The Clipper’s newspaper staff for what will be five quarters after this quarter.

My first two quarters with The Clipper I was the lone sports writer, a position I cherished because that is what I want to become in the future. I was able to focus on just writing about sports and not worry about what else made the paper -- as long as my stories were in. I had developed a comfort zone in the paper and I worked really hard to show why my work deserved to fill the sports pages.

Last year, my advisor asked me if I wanted to be an Editor-in-Chief of the paper for the next quarters to come. At first I didn’t think I would be good enough to be a leader of the paper because I just focused on sports and knew little of everything else in the paper. I wasn’t confident in my leadership abilities.

1 John 2:28 says, “And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.” If I am not confident before a group of striving journalists, how can I expect to be confident when Jesus returns?

Moses was also a man who didn’t feel like he could be a good leader. When God called Moses to deliver the Israelites from Egypt, speaking through the burning bush, Moses’ initial response was, who was he to go down and bring the children of Israel out from their Egyptian bondage?

God told Moses to have confidence in Him and that He would be with Moses the whole way. Moses eventually went on to lead the Israelites safely out of Egypt and out of reach of Pharaoh.

After taking a week to think about my advisor’s offer, I accepted the position and have been Co-Editor-in-Chief of The Clipper ever since. I have learned so much in the experience that I know I couldn’t have learned if I would have remained in my comfort zone. What if Moses had turned down God’s offer and remained a shepherd in the desert?

While I am in no way near the level of Moses, I hope to learn from Moses and his decision to trust in God’s plan, that if God opens a door for me I would be confident in His plan and that He will always be there if I trust Him.

Racing to Win

Pardon my interruption but welcome to my blog, my name is TJ Cotterill. With my blogs I am going to try to tell a story that can relate in some way to illustrations in the Bible. I got my idea for this blog from a daily devotional I get from “Fellowship of Christian Athletes” [FCA]. I have always wanted to submit a devotional of my own, but then got the idea to instead start my own using a blog. So I hope you enjoy what two cents I have to give and hopefully God will use me to impact your life.

--

This weekend marked the second weekend of my internship at the Evergreen Speedway at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds in Monroe, WA.

My internship is actually really awesome because I get to help announce the races and -- because of my journalism background -- I also get to write up the race recaps for evergreenspeedway.com.

This last weekend I got my first opportunity to announce a race after one of the announcers gave up his microphone so I could take over during the Renegade Main. Luckily for me, it only ended up being an exhibition because only two of the renegade cars showed up. I was lucky because most of the people took the opportunity to head to the beer garden and weren’t there to watch me stumble over my words and struggle to find the name of the drivers. After the race, I turned to my co-announcer and held out my hand towards him and showed him how furiously my hand was shaking.

After the race I gave the microphone back to the other announcer and went back to my notebook to take notes on the next race. The next race was the Stinger Main, and little did I know those little cars would end up being the most memorable of the night.

I am currently trying to read through the New Testament of the Bible two chapters at a time, and after I am done with my reading I pray that I would find a way to apply what I read to my everyday life. The Stinger main from that night reminded me of 1 Corinthians 9:24: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.”

Steve Peters was driving the number 30 car known as “The Battlewagon,” a car he has driven for many years. Peters started the race in the back of the field -- tenth out of 14 cars -- but by lap nine he had worked his way up to third place. The interesting part about Peters’ position was that one spot in front of him was “Battlewagon Junior” driven by Peters’ son Sean Peters.

Over the next four laps, the top three spots would remain the same with the father-son combo of Steve and Sean in second and third, and it appeared Sean’s car had the definite speed advantage over his father Steve. With just ten laps to go, Sean bumped into the first place car, spinning both of them out and allowing Steve to take the lead, which he would hold on to the rest of the way, winning the Stinger Main.

Even though Steve Peters started in the back of the field, even though it looked like his son had the faster car, Peters was racing to win the race. I know that in my life it seems so easy to just give up when things aren’t going my way, when I am in the back of the pack.

The Apostle Paul, like Steve Peters, was also a person who was in “the back of the pack.” Paul was Pharisee who persecuted those who stood up for Jesus Christ, but when Paul made a decision to live for Christ, he went all out. Paul is now known for writing nearly half of the New Testament, even though he could have quit when people didn’t trust him because of his past. He could have quit when he was himself persecuted and thrown in jail numerous times for preaching God’s word; instead Paul knew what Jesus had done for him and what God was calling him to do. Paul ran the race to win.

Hopefully I can learn from Paul and Steve Peters in that even though I was rough in my first announcing stint, I shouldn’t give up. Even though there are times in my life where I appear to be in “the back of the pack,” nothing should stop me from living my life to win the prize -- a prize I pray would be a lifetime in heaven.