WINNERS HAVE FAITH, LOSERS HAVE FEAR.

Life is full of surprises…and not all of them are “happy”

We never know what’s coming next. All of the horror, shock and terror in life isn’t confines to the scary movies at the theater. No matter how careful you are, no matter how hard you plan, you aren’t going to get through this life without going through rough times. 

And it scares you.
It overwhelms you. It’s a problem bigger than you, bigger than you’ve ever faced before. The enormity of the problem paralyzes you and that’s when fear grabs you.

• It might be you didn’t expect it, you weren’t prepared
• It might be something you never had to deal with before
• It’s usually in an area of your life where you are most vulnerable and defensive 
• It backs you into a corner and there’s no place else to go

Thank goodness for the God who loves you!
This the time to remind yourself there's no problem bigger than God. This is precisely the time to takes a deep breath and shift your focus from fear to faith in God. 

Jesus Himself is the one who gave that advice
We sure aren’t the only people in history who have had to deal with problems. In fact our ancestors probably are sitting back and laughing hysterically at us as we “suffer.” I’m sure they think we are all pathetically soft and have unbelievably pampered lives compared to what they dealt with. But when they were at the height of despair with situations in their lives they were overcome with fear just as we are today. 

Ecclesiastes says there's nothing new under the sun.
They had problems. We have problems. It’s not new, it’s called living and when Jesus was here he gave them the same advice he gives us… 

And he spake a parable unto them to the end that they ought always to pray, and not to faint. - Luke 18:1

Here is the point: Faith in Him is your answer.
You’ve tried handling things yourself and that isn’t working, so it’s time to bring in the Higher power, the heavy artillery. 

There's no problem that you faced that people haven't faced before. 

• It may be new to you, but it’s not new to God. 
• It may be overwhelming to you, but it’s not to God.

And so, you trust God …it’s the ONLY way to win
How else can you win? Who else can you trust? There are no more options and the sooner you realize and accept that the sooner you can relax and trust Him. No more being paralyzed by fear. No more being bullied by fear. Instead you find yourself energized you and releases you to get back on track. 

You now can win because you have gotten the loser, you, out of the way. 
Now God can go to work through you to do what he has planned all along for you to accomplish. These are the things that will give you the greatest possible joy, satisfaction and fulfillment. He knows what those things are better than you know, and you will realize that once it happens.

Until you trust Him he can’t take over the situation.
It’s like driving a car, there can only be one driver. He has given you free will, you have the choice…who will “drive your car?” Until you ask Him to take over there is nothing He can do to help you, no matter how much He loves you, without violating your free will. So He waits on us to decide. It’s up to us and it’s really unnecessary to wait until we are scared to death to do it. But for many, that’s what it takes.

Losers trust themselves and fail, Winners place their faith in the Lord and win…that’s exactly how it works!

Rest In Him

Our Father never does a thing suddenly.

He has always prepared long, long before. So there is nothing to murmur about, nothing to be proud of, in the calling of God. There is also no one of whom to be jealous, for other people's advantages have nothing to do with us.

'It is not of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God that hath mercy' (Romans 9:16). 

Our heritage, our birth, our natural equipment:

 These are things already determined by God. We may pick up other things in the way, for we are always learning; but the way is His way. When we look back over our life, we bow and acknowledge that all was prepared of God. To have such an attitude of heart, that is true rest. -W.N.

"He has created us through our union with Christ Jesus for doing good deeds which He beforehand planned for us to do" (Ephesians 2:10, Wms.).

The turning point in our Christian life comes when we begin to "let God be God," the day we throw all caution (fear) to the winds and look to Him to carry out His purpose for us in His own time and way.

Let us take care lest we get out of soul-rest in seeking further blessing. God cannot work while we are anxious, even about our spiritual advance. Let us take Him at His Word, and leave the fulfillment of it to Him.

"For it is God Himself whose power creates within you the desire to do His gracious will and also brings about the accomplishment of the desire" (Philippians 2:13, Weymouth).

By Miles Stanford, Author of The Green Letters: Principles of Spiritual Growth

JoePa Faces God

Ugly

The recent situation has been the drop of poison that ruined the soup of 60 years of great works and donations by Joe Paterno at Penn State. All of the fabulous efforts spent inspiring and challenging young people and excelling in coaching is now stained.

The situation is so bad that they have already taken his name off of the Big 10 championship trophy and there have been rumors about plans to remove the statue of him from outside Beaver Stadium. The shame is overwhelming—plus he realizes he did it to himself.

Ever create a nightmare of your own?

Although there’s little chance you’ve ever done something on this scale, it’s unusual that any of us go through life without creating some kind of excruciating, embarrassing nightmare scenario of our own. The kind of thing that once it’s done cannot be undone and cannot be denied.

So at the point that it’s too big of a mess for you to fix what do you do to get back on track and living a energized productive life?

What should Joe do?

First—admit it! You confess and accept blame. That’s the first thing God wants out of you.

Then you pray and ask His help, after all, it’s way past the point that Joe can do much about it. This has fallen to the level that only God can create a healing solution and bring peace.

Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. (John 14:27)

Joe did that. 

He said we need to pray for "those kids." He wanted those concerned to help him ask for God's intervention.

Sandusky? No praying there. No asking God's help, so he won't get any. He is more interested in protecting himself than helping those who were reported to be harmed and abused so he continues to live in denial.

Joe said “I should have done more. I regret it more than anything in my life.”

On the other hand, the alleged perpetrator, Sandusky, got on TV and denied it. Wrong Move. Nothing good is going to happen until you make the first step.

So what do you do after that?

When the first step in recovering from any self inflicted disaster is to repent, the next step is to ask God's help. Joe is doing that. 

No one is surprised because that has been the overwhelming pattern to his life. To accept responsibility. To take a stand for what’s right and encourage and insist that those around them do the same.

Cast your cares upon the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken. (Psalm 55:22)

Joe made mistakes, bad ones. But we are all capable of creating nightmares. Thank goodness when we do, we have someone to turn to who can bring peace.

Cast all your anxiety on Him because he cares for you. (I Peter 5:7)

Does Worrying Help?

You're only wasting time...

Worrying never solved a problem and accomplishes nothing. Why not use that energy to pray, to trust in God, to take action? Being anxious doesn't really do anything, except hurt you.

The physical effects of anxiety and worry are very well documented and can lead to dire consquences. In addition to changing your appetite, sleep patterns and making it hard to concentrate, over the long term it can supress your immune system, cause digestive problems and even heart attacks.

Of course, it's easy to say, "Don't worry, be happy," but it is much harder to live without worry. But remember, when you worry, you're not trusting God. It's just the opposite. Stop and ask yourself if you're worrying about something that you have any control over. Probably not.

"Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life." 

—Phillippians 4:6-7, The Message Bible