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The Game of Life

Bible Reading: Isaiah 64:4-5


SUPPOSE YOU HAVE the opportunity to make up a game. You design your own playing board. You make playing pieces out of little trinkets you find around the house. You even write down the rules.
Then two of your friends come over. You spread the playing board on the floor. You carefully explain the rules of the game. Then you generously allow someone else to take the first turn.
Everything goes fine for a while. The game is even more fun than you thought. But then one of your friends makes an illegal move.
"You can't do that," you say. "Remember the rules?"
"I don't agree with your rules. I think the game will work better if I get to use my own rules."
"Hey," your other friend says, "if you get to make up rules, I should get to my up rules."
"But I already told what the rules are!" you say. But it's too late. Your friends aren't listening. They're playing by their own rules. And they're not even having fun. By the end of the afternoon, they've gotten into several fights. When they finally leave, they're not talking to each other or to you!
How would that make you feel? It would be a bummer, wouldn't it? Well, if you can imagine how that might feel, you can imagine how God feels. And all, he created the universe and everything in it. He placed people on this earth and gave them everything they need to live. He even told them the "rules of the game." But some people don't agree with His rules. They think they should be able to make up their own rules. Others try to convince themselves he never gave rules in the first place. And some just ignore his rules.
But not only are people wrong when they do that, they also cheat themselves. If they'd just play according to the rules, they'd be a lot better off-and they'd have a lot more fun, too. We all would!

Reflect

*How do you think God feels when people ignore his commands and try to make up their own "rules" for life?
*Do you think people would be better off (and have more fun) if they lived according to God's commands?
*Why or why not?

Through the Knothole

Bible Reading: Romans 8:28-30



NORMAN ROCKWELL WAS a famous twentieth-century American painter. Many of his paintings were orginally created for magazine covers, which made Rockwell one of the most famous artists of his time.
One of Rockwell's paintings depicted a little boy watching a baseball game through a knothole in the ballpark fence. He can't see anything to either side of the field, and he's blind to anything that happens close to the fence. The players and umpires on the field and the spectators in the stands can see the whole game. But the boy looking through the knothole can only see a small part of what's going on.
We are like the boy looking through the knothole. Our view of life is like his view of that baseball game. We don't know what bad things might happen if we make wrong choices. And sometimes it seems like a right choice might have unpleasant consequences, while a wrong choice seems to be the easiest and best way to handle a situation. But that's because we can't see everything that is going on.
God sees the whole "game." He can see everything that is happening and everything that's going to happen. He tells us we'll be better off in the long run if we make right choices and avoid wrong choices. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28 ).
So when the wrong choice looks like it's more fun than the right choice, remember that you're like the boy looking through the knothole. When the wrong choice seems so easy and the right choice seems hard, remember that you can't see the whole playing field. When the wrong choice has immediate benefits and the right choice doesn't, remember that God can see everything that is going on. He says you'll be better off in the long run if you make right choices.
So which view do you think you can trust: the view through the knothole or the view of the whole game inside the park?

Reflect:

*Do you ever think a wrong choice seems easy and the right choice seems hard?
*Does it sometimes seem like the wrong choice has immediate benefits and the right choice doesn't?
*If so, what do you usually do when that happens?
*Which view do you think you can trust: the view through the knothole (your view) or the view of the whole game (God's view)?
*If you trust God's view, which choice will you make?

Bible Reading: Ephesians 4:26-32

AN OLD CHINESE folktale tells the story of a young boy who had never seen a mirror before. One day while the boy was playing outside, his father brought home a mirror and hung it on the wall of the house. Sometime later, after his father had gone back out to the fields to work, the boy came home.
He saw the mirror on the wall but didn't understand what it was. He looked with fascination at the boy in the mirror. He thought his reflection was a boy who had come to play with him. He waved, and the boy in the mirror waved back. He smiled, and the boy in the mirror smiled back. He said, "Let's play!" and the boy in the mirror said, "Let's play!" at the same time.
When the boy walked over to the hut, he looked around for his new friend. But the boy in the mirror did not follow him outside. He waited and the boy in the mirror did not come. Finally, he began to get upset. He walked back into the house and saw the boy in the mirror, just where he had left him!"
"Why will you not come and play?" he said, and the boy in the mirror spoke the same words he did. Then he began to get really mad. He is mocking me! he thought. He is copying everything I say! He frowned in anger, and the boy in the mirror frowned back. He lifted his fist, and the boy in the mirror did the same. Finally, he could not control his anger any longer and threw his fist at the face of the boy in the mirror. Instead of hurting the other boy, though, his punch shattered the mirror and sliced his fist into a bloody mess.
The folktale teaches an important lesson. Our anger often hurts us more than the person at whom we're angry. Bitterness, rage, anger, and harsh words usually bring us more pain and hurt than the people we direct them toward. If you nurse a grudge against someone, you're the one whose happiness is most affected. If you hold bitterness in your heart toward someone, you're more likely to lose sleep or get an upset stomach than the other person.
That's one reason God wants us to learn self-control. It is so much better to control out anger instead of letting our anger control us. That doesn't mean that anger is always wrong (it's right to be angry at evil, for example). But it does mean that self-control is always right.

Reflect:

*Do you have trouble controlling your temper?
*Does your anger ever get out of control?
*Have you gotten rid of "all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of malicious behavior" (Ephesians4:31)?
*If not, are you ready to ask God to help you develop self-control in this area?

Horse Sense

Bible Reading: 1Peter 1:13-16


HAVE YOU EVER eaten so much you thought you were going to explode? Most of us have (eaten too much, not exploded!). But did you know that for some animals that is a real danger?
For example, horses love oats. If a horse eats his fill of oats, the dry oats tend to make him thirsty. Then, while his stomach is full of dry oats, the horse will start drinking water. The water causes the oats inside his stomach to expand, like a bowl of oatmeal expands when you add water. Before long the horse "founders," and becomes too sick to walk. He may even die if he doesn't get help.
Pretty gruesome, huh? Tell that to your mom the next time she tells you to eat all your oatmeal (just don't tell her you read it here!). Seriously, though, here's the point: An appetite that's out of control is a dangerous thing.
Of course, you'd never eat a whole barrel of oats and then drink yourself sick, would you? But you do have appetites that can hurt you if you don't control them.
"Like what?" you ask.
Well, like the desire to be accepted. Like your desire for approval. Like your desire to be loved. Like your desire to get your own way.
Those appetites and desires are not always bad things, but they sure can get you into a lot of trouble if you don't control them. God wants you to learn self-control because your appetites and desires can hurt you, even destroy you, without it.
Many kids steal things because they can't control their desires. Many kids get hooked on alcohol and drugs because they can't control their desires. A lot of kids get into trouble sexually because they can't control their desires.
So listen to what God says. "Be self-controlled" (1Peter 1:13). Practice saying no to your appetites and desires. Learn to control them-instead of letting them control you.

Reflect:

*Do you have trouble controlling any of these appetites or desires?

1. The desire to be accepted
2. The desire to get my own way
3. The desire to be loved
4. My physical appetite (for food)

*How can you practice saying no to those desires?
*Have you asked God to help you develop self-control in any of these areas?
*If not, why not?

Misty, you have a great ministry to this guild...That is so true...it's sad, though...I believe the reason why we are so scared is because we don't have faith...I know, sadly, many times in my life, I've doubted the power of God. I've seen Him do miraculous things, yet I still think that sometimes it's too much for him to handle. Like my dad's salvation...I've been praying for years...and I've seen no fruit, so I doubted him...and I stopped praying, and then I hurt for a long time, until I realized it was God telling me that I had to have faith. I'm scared for my dad, I'm scared for others...but I'm also scared of things of this world. But I have a growing relationship and a growing faith...and it's gotten me through so many things this year, and I praise the Lord.

Hey Misty, these devos are great and I have been doing them, but I'll start posting to tell you that I'm doing them! But keep it up, they are great and really get me thinking!

Self-control, a very difficult issue of life. Knowing when enough is enough. Sometimes its a hard thing to do. Yet you're correct, we as God's people need self-control, more than that of which the world has. We need to say enough, even if we want more, even if we think that its not enough, we need to trust the Lord and know that it is enough, for the Lord will always provide enough, and even more than.

Pete' Feats

Bible Reading 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

PETE WAS SEVEN years old when his dad sat him down for a talk.
"Pete," he said, "if you'll listen to me, if you'll let me teach you the game of basketball, you may be able to get a scholarship someday. If you get a scholarship, you'll be able to get an education. Not only that," his dad continued, "if you're good enough, if you'll listen to me and work and commit yourself to basketball, maybe you'll end up on the pro level. Maybe you could play in the NBA. And Pete, if you play in the NBA, they'll pay you to play basketball."
At that time-at age of seven-Pete had already been playing basketball for three years. But from that moment on, he became serious about the game. He played six to ten hours a day during the summertime. When everyone else was out playing or swimming with friends, Pete was in the gym, shooting baskets by himself. He would get up every morning and jog two miles into Clemson, South Carolina, dribbling a basketball beside him as he ran. At seven o'clock that evening, he'd dribblethe basketball at the way home. When he got his first bicycle, he learned how to dribble the ball beside the bike as he rode.
As a result of those years of self-control and dedication, "Pistol" Pete Maravich got a scholarship to college. He became the all-time leading scorer in the history of college basketball, setting sixty records in the NCCA. He also became one of the greatest pro basketball players of all time, a five-time NBA all-star who was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1987.
Now, not everyone can be a Pete Maravich. But you don't have to be Pete Maravich to discover that self-control has a lot of benefits. It can make you a better athlete. It can make you a better student. It can make you a better listener, a better painter, a better saxophone player. It can make you a better friend. It can make you a better person.
Self-control won't save you from sin; only Jesus can do that. It won't get you to heaven; only Jesus can do that. But learning to be self-controlled can help you to resist temptation. It can help you to make right choices. And that can win you a prize that will never fade away.

Reflect:

*In today' Bible reading, Paul mentions two kinds of prizes people might get when they exercise self-control.
*What are they?
*Is one bad and the other good?
*Or is one good and the other better?
*Have you enjoyed any benefits of self-control in your life?
*If so, what benefits have you received?