SHIFT - Week 2

Why is a trophy worth so much? Most trophies are made out of cheap plastic and could break at any moment!! So WHY is the trophy worth so much?

One of the most valuable trophies in sports history is the 1997 NBA championship. On June 11, the Chicago Bulls played the Utah Jazz in the fifth game of the playoffs. The Bulls were losing, and there were only 48 seconds left on the clock. To make matters worse, Michael Jordan was playing sick. He had a severe case of the flu, and he kept going to the sidelines to throw up. At each timeout, doctors filled Jordan intravenously with fluids.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4BswHnf0xM

In spite of the circumstances stacked against him, Jordan battled back, scoring 38 points and stealing the game from the Utah Jazz in the final seconds. The Bulls went on to win the championship in six games.

No athlete is competing for the cost of the trophy because it is not the trophy that gives the game value but it is the game that determines the value of the trophy. Trophies are only meaningful because they represent the high cost of sacrifice. The trophy represents the victory, hard work, excellence, creativity, blood, sweat, tears, and sacrifice. Without all that… the trophy is just a hunk of metal.

True love is born in sacrifice, grows in surrender, and matures in servanthood. Most people think love is “what can you do for me”… that is not love.. that is lust. Love isn’t love until it has cost you something. I John 3:16 “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives our brothers and sisters.”

The struggle, the fight, the sacrifice, to stay pure (heart, mind, & body) has a divine purpose. This is the reason you have a sex drive before you should have sex… so that you give your husband or wife something you had to fight to keep. The fight for your virginity is worth it! The trophy of giving your husband or wife your virginity on your wedding night is the ultimate prize! Even if you lost your virginity, you can begin today to fight… and your purity from this day forward is also the ultimate prize that you can give your future spouse.

2 Tim. 2:22 Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue (run swiftly, to press on – like one who is running a race to reach a goal, so seek after eagerly) righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

1 Tim. 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith.

This fight should be part of the vision for our lives. It’s vision that causes us to reorder our lives so that we can reach our goal, purpose, and destiny. There is NO middle ground on this issue of identity and vision. We either take responsibility to know who we are OR we surrender that responsibility to other people. If we surrender… we live in bondage. If we rise up, fight, pursue, take responsibility for our lives, get a vision… we become free to live out our lives and capture our vision!

Check out the full teaching and Billy & Jen's story at http://www.mylifepointe.com/audio-and-video-teachings-from-olathe-lifepointe-church-SURGE.aspx