Turn your life around

The tongue is a rudder and a bit, according to James 3. Though a small member of the body, it sets the direction of your life. It defines reality. Worse than being bombarded by negative thoughts is giving “air time” to them on your tongue. It takes it up to a higher level. It makes mere thoughts

Like a bit, like a rudder, the tongue brings control.

materialize. Cutting yourself down in your own mind is bad but worse is cutting yourself down with your tongue. It’s legitimizes something that should be simply dismissed as rubbish.

This warning turns into a promise for blessing. Don’t brush off the power of your tongue to pronounce good for your life. Like a rudder that turns around a huge freighter, like a bit that turns around an unwieldy beast, the tongue can turn around your life. Prayer, then, is doubly good. Not only does it involve positive confession, it involves God! Discount God to your own demise!

Don’t pooh-pooh prayer; it unleashes incredible power. pic from Ben Rogers Blog

After comparing the tongue to a rudder and a bit, James 3 then compares it to a spark. One word can ignite a forest fire. That fire can be good or bad, depending on the word you utter. If we know that we can blow up our marriage just by saying one word (“divorce”), how much more can we cause blessings to break out with one word of prayer? Say that word today. What is that word? It is “Jesus.”

Pray with faith for finances, health, emotional well-being today. Pray for the advancing of Christ’s kingdom and love throughout the Earth.

He sees what can be

Coach Neos today with his wife, Bethany — that certain pair of eyes. He now pastors in Hesperia, California.

Twice the lowly Lighthouse was runner-up in eight man football in California championship. With a student population of 50, that’s spectacular.

With his typical one-day stubble, just out of GQ.

Those heady heights were owed to an extraordinary coach, George Neos, who served as principal of the high school for many years. Not only was Neos a Dartmouth football champion, he was well on his way to becoming a college coach. God interrupted his career launch and brought him to the Lighthouse Christian Academy of Santa Monica, California. Neos came to teach football and for a certain pair of brown eyes.

The hulking coach had a knack for seeing every milligram of potential in a player. He coached nuances to perfection so that kids produced stellar output. Neos never saw a kid as chubby, lazy, or out of shape. He saw what a kid could become, and he worked relentlessly towards that goal.

Tex Hagoski on this year’s team.

When God looks at you, he doesn’t see your flops and your flabbiness. He sees your future fabulousness. God sees a finished product. And He’s willing to work with all your failures and flailings to machine out the ideal Christian leader.

If you are a Christian leader, you can’t get stuck in the present. You’ve got to see ahead, what can become of the sheep God has brought under your care. Prayer is believing in the future and striving for it.