A
Lesson In Golf -- Living Life Under Par
Part
II of III
November
2009
Prayer: Father, I pray that those
reading this lesson will be doers of the word and not hearers only in
Jesus Name – Amen.
* * *
*
Last month we left off
discussing how you can learn from your mistakes and move forward. If you ever watch a professional
golf tournament, you never see a golfer mess up on a hole and throw a
pity-party. No, they dig
their heels in the ground and figure out a way to get out of the mess they
find themselves in. And guess
what, the next day they have an opportunity to face that same hole and do
better. Another observation,
I’ve never known a golfer to get discouraged and not come back the next
day to play. Normally, no
matter how bad they play on the first day. They come back to finish the
tournament. They go to bed,
get up and go at it again. If
you’re facing a difficult situations, before you go to bed seek God’s
wisdom on how you should tackle this problem. Thank God that He will give you
the wisdom on how to get out.
Get up the next day and thank God for victory. Do you always get the victory the
next day? No, but thank God
that you got up. Keep doing what God says and the victory
will come.
Philippians 3:12-14 (CEV) says
“I
have not yet reached my goal, and I am not perfect. But Christ has taken
hold of me. So I keep on running and struggling to take hold of the prize.
My friends, I don't feel that I have already arrived. But I forget what is
behind, and I struggle for what is ahead. I run toward the goal, so that I
can win the prize of being called to heaven. This is the prize that God
offers because of what Christ Jesus has done.” We can’t quit and throw in the
towel because we make mistakes. Like the Scripture says, you
have to forget what’s behind you and move forward. So what if you didn’t finish
school. If you have that
desire, enroll in school and finish.
It’s never too late.
That business you want to start, begin to do research and make
plans. Picture yourself
cutting the ribbon. See the
customers coming. God gave us
creative ability to mentally build things. We can see the finish
product. See that thing and
go after it. Don’t allow anyone to tell you that you can’t do what’s in your
heart.
Golfers have 18 clubs they can
carry at one time in a bag.
Each club is selected depending on the hole they’re playing. Some clubs are specifically
designed for those times the golfers find themselves in trouble. Did you know that God has given us
31,103 spiritual clubs to help you navigate through life? That’s how many scriptures there
are in the Bible. Just like you wouldn’t use a driver when you only have a tap in,
you wouldn’t use a financial scripture when you need healing.
I want to encourage you to get
in the word and memorize scripture.
Become proficient in using the right spiritual clubs for the hole
of life you find yourself playing.
Remember I said that we have 31, 103 (scriptures) spiritual
clubs. That’s thirty-one
thousand one hundred and three.
How many have you used!
Joshua 1:8 (NKJV) says “This book of the Law shall not depart
from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may
observe to do according to all that is written therin. For then you will make your way
prosperous, and then you will have good success.” When you use the right tools God
has given you, you will have good success. So pull out those spiritual clubs and
begin using them.
A Lesson In Golf -- Living Life Under Par
Part III of
III
December
2009
Prayer: Father, I thank You for
preparing the hearts of the people who are reading this lesson. I thank You for providing not only
spiritually, but I thank You for moving on their behalf to open doors of
employment, relationships, and financial blessings. I also pray that in this season
where we celebrate the birth of Jesus, may they not get caught up in all
the commercialism, but I pray that they are aware of and thank You for the
most precious gift anyone could receive -- hat gift is the gift of eternal
life by receiving Jesus as Lord and all that comes with receiving
Him. In Jesus Name
– Amen.
* * *
*
Last month we discussed the
31,103 spiritual clubs that God has given us. This month I want to talk about
our Spiritual Caddie – none other than the Holy
Spirit.
As you navigate a golf course,
you don’t have to walk the golf course alone. There is a person called a Caddie
and he walks with you throughout the course to help you. He’s there to carry your bag and
assist you with your club selection.
The Caddie is your helper. .
.if you decide you don’t want his help. . .he will not force you. I’ve never seen a professional
golfer carrying his own bag – he utilizes the help he has. Why should he use up all his
energy carrying the bag himself when he has someone there to help! Jesus knew that life would be
heavy for us, so He gave us a Helper in the person of Holy Spirit. Just like a natural caddie is
there to give you advice on playing the game of golf, your Spiritual
Caddie is there to give you advice on the game of
life.
John
14:16 (Amplified Bible) says. . .”And
I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter (Counselor,
Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby), that He may
remain with you forever. . .”
If you are saved (and if
you’re not, go under the tab “eternal life” in my website and you can be
saved now), you have a spiritual Caddie, His name is Holy Spirit. Do you use Him to help you? Or do you walk through life
carrying heavy loads -- ignoring Him.
I’m going to give you an
example on how to play spiritual golf using your Caddie. Let’s pretend we’re playing the
Holiday Golf Course. It’s the
18th hole called Christmas. We’ve played it for years and we
always finish over par.
Why? We end up in the
hazard of debt. If you pull
out your stat sheet from last year it may say something like ”last year
when you were on this hole, you spent $500.00 on credit cards that you
didn’t have. It took you 5
months to pay it off. “
So now you’re faced with the
same hole this year. You
Spiritual Caddie is waiting for you to ask for his help. What are you going to do? Will you end up in the debt hazard
again this year! Or will you learn from the last time you played this
holiday hole. If you want to
grow up in the things of God, you’ll play this hole right this year. You’ll ask your Spiritual Caddie
what you should do and He always gives good advice.
He may tell you, give a card
and write on the inside “this entitles you to two free-babysitting nights
of your choice.” That won’t
cost you any money. Or He may
tell you to write a letter to those you love telling them how much they
mean to you. Or, He may
tell you to give them a $10.00 gift card to Hallmark (because everybody
buys at least two cards a year) using cash, instead of charging those
$30.00 leather gloves.
Whatever ever He tells you –
if you’re obedient, you’ll hit it right on. Then you can write in your stat
book, I did it, I played the Holiday Hole under par this year. I got
victory!
Make good choices for December and the momentum will
carry into the New Year.
From Gloria Pruett to you -- have a Blessed and Merry
Christmas and a glorious New Year!