Becoming a Better Golfer

When I was a teenager and knew everything I played golf with a good friend. We would head down to Goddard Park in RI and play 18 holes. It was inexpensive to play a round back then; just a couple bucks each. We had fun and were literally teaching ourselves to play. We did pretty good for guys with no formal training.

Had golf become a passion, I would have had to seek professional training. I would have needed to learn the correct way to stand and how to address the ball. I would have needed to purchase better clubs and understand which to use when. My game was pretty much played with two woods, a nine iron, and a putter!

Once I learned what was right, I would have to remind myself all the time to practice it. It would be easy to fall back into wrong habits. And I would have to stay away from others who still played like I used to or it would be too easy to slip back into the old ways.

After a period of time and great improvement in my game, I would be able to play without thinking about right or wrong. The correct moves would come "naturally". At this mature place in my golf walk I would even be able to play with a few duffers and not lose my edge. As a matter of fact, they would learn new methods just by hanging around with me.

Doesn't this sound like our walk with Jesus? When I was younger and asked if I believed in God, the answer was "of course I do." I had been going to church since I was born and knew that Jesus was always with me. My God walk was all set. I went to church on Sundays and participated in the church in many ways. I gave in the offering and was a "good" person. I was doing my part.

John 14:26 NLT

But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.

Then our life was turned upside down. My wife, Dianne had been very sick suffering for years with an incurable disease called Crohn's. Her testimony is another story, but the end result was that she was miraculously healed and we each asked Jesus into our heart to become our Lord and Savior. Now we had the professional for training to become more like Him.

The Holy Spirit came to live in me and what a change that made in my life life. I now had someone to show me God's plan and His ways for my life. But I liked what I was doing and did not see anything wrong with most of those bad habits I had developed over the years. And the people I knew were the same.

I was trying to improve my game, but trying to apply the old rules and continuing to play with the duffers. The Holy Spirit was encouraging me to change relationships and break old habits. The more I listened to Him, the closer I became to Him and with others on the same God walk.

The more I walk with Jesus allowing the Holy Spirit to point out the direction in my life the more I find my thinking and my reactions changing to be more Christ like. I no longer have to make myself do the right thing all the time. I have changed because of my relationship with the professional instead of with the duffers.

Now I am not perfect by any means. But I am open to the Holy Spirit's direction ever changing my character to become Christ like. And when I spend time with the duffers in life, their habits do not tempt me back into that old life. Actually, my changes seem to have a positive effect on them!

If you want to learn to play the game well you need to line up with the professional. There is only one professional in the game of eternal life and that is Jesus. Accept Him as your Lord and Savior and He will send the Holy Spirit to be your guide and comforter, too.

Copycat

Romans 12:2 NLT
Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

I remember those early copy machines, the ones that came out on what looked like burned yellow paper. We had one at the bank where I worked as a teller. Then the Xerox machine came. And soon nobody said make a copy anymore. Instead they said Xerox it. It became a household word much like Google is today for finding stuff on the Internet.

We grow up in this fast paced world learning to copy those who have gone before us; to be copycats. Few are taught how to think for themselves but learn the behavior and customs of society as blueprints for the right way to live. They grew up hearing if it was good enough for your grandparents it is good enough for you. A new generation copying from a previous generation and on and on. Copycats.

When we become born again we get to start over. We become a new person in Christ Jesus. As we allow Holy Spirit in us to work in and through us we begin to change from the inside out. He changes the way we think transforming our mind into the mind of Christ.

It is time for us to stop being copycats of the world. Time to stop trying to copy others. Time to become who God made us to be before the universe was created.

Holy Spirit, the spirit of Christ is with us to teach us all things, all things good, pleasing, and perfect. I pray daily for the renewing of my mind. Take away all that is old, Lord. I give it all to you. Take away the thoughts and actions of that old man, that person I used to be. Make my nature be like your nature. Give me the mind of Christ. Thank you, Jesus.

Christ in Me

Galatians 2:20 NLT
My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Wow. Christ lives in each and every believer. That is so powerful and yet not really grasped by most of us. The creator of the universe, all that is, lives inside us. He is in us!

If we really had a grasp on that reality, would we be watching the kind of movies we watch? Would we be telling the jokes we tell? Would we be ingesting the foods and drink we find ourselves attracted to? Would we be the worldly person we seem to be most of the time?

I remember how my character seemed to change when I was young and would be around my grandparents and older aunts. I was that wonderful little boy they knew. Even when I was a teenager! Not that I was into anything real bad, but I did test out swearing and talking back at adults and a few other things.

That old man grew from boyhood into an adult and picked up more bad habits from those he hung around with in the early days. Then I became a believer and a follower of Jesus Christ. Oh what a change that made.

I did not have an earth shattering conversion like we hear from many. I just accepted Jesus into my heart and asked him to save me. He did and He sent Holy Spirit to confirm my conversion. The spirit of Christ was now living in me and my life began to change.

What I thought was fun and exciting shifted from those worldly things to do into godly things to do. And I was not forcing it upon myself with self discipline. The Lord was in it all the way. It did not happen suddenly. It has taken many years and He is still doing a work in me.

I thank Him everyday for what He has done in me and through me. As we allow Holy Spirit to show us the way daily, we grow a little more each day, and we become more and more Christ like, Thank you, Jesus.

Not Magic

Matthew 4:23 NLT
Jesus traveled throughout the region of Galilee, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness.

It is one thing to receive prayer for healing, but it is not magic. It requires us to do something too. When I hear from someone who I prayed for last week and they come and say that it didn't work I know they looked at it like a switch. For them I flipped it on and it switched off when they did not mix it with belief and perseverance. They doubted.

When Jesus heals, He heals not just for the moment. You are healed. The enemy is very quick to attempt to sneak back in and reverse it by giving us thoughts of doubt, by causing that pain or symptom to come back for a moment. As soon as we allow the enemy to stay, he takes over.

Why do we let the enemy come back in so easily? Why do we doubt? The healing has not gone away and yet we allow the enemy to come in and steal it from us. And he is a thief. He has no legal right to come into our house and take or leave anything. But we let him.

It is time we stood our ground. Time we kicked him out of our house. It is time we put our internal security system on and when the intrusion alarm goes off it is time to send the enemy packing.

MYOB

1 Thessalonians 4:11 NLT
Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before.

Everybody is so much into other people's lives today. It is like our lives are one big soap opera. Or perhaps using today's popular shows, one big reality show. A quiet life is hard to come by today. Even vacations end up being more work than quiet. We cram so much into that week off we need another week to recuperate.

The old empty nest thing seems to have shifted to parents being too involved in children's lives. Many a grandparent today seems to be raising their grandchildren. Sure, it enables the parents to work two jobs and get ahead faster. But does enablement produce healthy growth?

I am from the era where one parent worked and the other stayed home and raised the children. Everyone ate together at dinner time. And they spent time together instead of finding more and more ways to get out of the house. Family time was important and mom and dad could always be depended on to be there.

Then when they grew up and left the home they were on their own. They made their own mistakes and figured out what to do next. They did not depend on mom or dad to bail them out all the time, but they knew if things got real bad that their parents would be there. And that no matter what choices were made the parents would stand behind them and support their choice no matter how right or wrong that choice was.

Minding our own business is a hard thing to do, especially for a parent. Today parents are labeled helicopter parents because they seem to constantly hover over the children, even their grown up and married ones!

Lord help us to mind our own business in the workplace, with our friends, and with our children and their families. Enable us to be prayer warriors for them and give us the wisdom needed to answer their questions without jumping in to solve their problems. May we be good examples for them of how to trust in You, Lord. Let your light shine through us and may our mouths be filled with encouraging words. Thank you, Jesus!

His Nature

2 Peter 1:4 NLT
And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world's corruption caused by human desires.

We blame a lot on human nature. It seems to be used often as an excuse for bad behavior. Instead of taking responsibility for one's actions or reactions, we just accept our behavior as being part of our human nature.

True, we were all born into a human body. We all inherited the original sin of the first Adam. And we were all taught how to think for ourselves; how to make our own choices based on a "what is good for me" attitude.

Now that we are believers filled with the Holy Spirit, the spirit of Christ our new life is not all about us. We are in Christ and He is in us. He wants to be involved in all of our day to day life. He wants us to be in relationship with Him.

That is a big change in our lives, especially in the beginning of our walk with Jesus. Those of us who are married remember the change we had to go through running decisions that we used to make solo by our spouse so we could agree ahead of time. I mean we could no longer come home in a new vehicle our spouse knew nothing about and expect a warm reception.

As we remember to run all our decisions by Holy Spirit our day to day life becomes so easy. Our decisions bring forth fruit instead of frustration. And we begin to walk in His Glory.

Thank you Jesus for allowing such a blessing in my life. Thank you for taking up residence in me and helping me every day giving me comfort and guidance and teaching me more about you as You help me change to take on more of Your nature.

Change

We can put on a changed look, but we can't change who we are, but God can!