The Winning Team

By: Carolyn Johnson, Director Emeritus
The moment you submitted your life to Jesus and asked Him to be your Lord, you joined a winning team. At that moment God’s plan for your life was settled in heaven. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “‘For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you,’ says the Lord, ‘plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.’” (AMP)

Jonathan Evans who serves as the chaplain of the Dallas Cowboys says it this way, “That means, if you’re sitting in this room, He gave you a uniform with your name on it. He has an expectation for you to make big plays in the kingdom of God or you wouldn’t be here right now. You can get anything done with that uniform with your name on it, but you gotta do something for Me. It’s what He’s telling me and it’s what He’s telling every man in this room. You gotta stop whining, grumbling, groaning, and complaining and you gotta take the uniform that He’s given you because He watched your film beforehand, He knew exactly what position you would play in His kingdom, and He’s telling you, ‘I need you to maintain the integrity of the uniform that I’ve given you in order for you to experience the promises that I’m making.’” WOW! Think about it this way:

Before the very beginning of time God saw ahead to your life on earth. He watched the film of your life playing out in the heavenlies and He chose you to be on His team. (I’m praying that you have read the end of The Book and you know that He wins.) It is not an accident that you have been chosen for this team. You were hand-picked to be on the winning team.

Your divorce did not take Jesus by surprise. He didn’t wake up one morning and say, “Gee, I didn’t see that coming.” No, quite the contrary – He knew from the beginning about your marriage and has given you everything you need to have peace and well-being even in the midst of troubles. You have the very best equipment. If you were playing on the NFL you would have the best uniform with your name printed on the back and a number on it that corresponds to the position in which you are playing. Your helmet would be the very best to prevent concussions and is designed along with your shoes and pads to make you the fastest runner on the field. There is integrity that comes along with His team – your uniform is a symbol of this integrity. You wear His team colors.

I personally love college football. I am a born and bred Oklahoma Sooner even though I never attended the university. Because I was raised in Oklahoma I often say I bleed crimson and cream.  I am a Sooner fan win or lose; they are my team. I identify with total strangers and will talk with them if they are wearing an OU t-shirt. This is how we should react knowing that we are on God’s winning team. But just as Jonathan says above, “‘You gotta stop whining, grumbling, groaning, and complaining and you gotta take the uniform that He’s given you because He watched your film beforehand, He knew exactly what position you would play in His kingdom, and He’s telling you, ‘I need you to maintain the integrity of the uniform that I’ve given you in order for you to experience the promises that I’m making.’"

What do you need to do in order to maintain your team’s integrity so that you can experience His promises? Many of His promises talk about fear and how to remain in peace when the devil, the king of fear, is trying to break down your door.

Isaiah 41:10 “do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.” (NASB) There is noting the devil can bring your way that is so big that the Lord cannot uphold you with His victorious right hand.

Deuteronomy 31:8 "The LORD is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed." (NASB) In this verse the word fear means “to inspire reverence or godly fear or awe.

God has also promised that He will faithfully remain with us. However, please note that we are told to be strong and courageous (this is our assignment on the team).

Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Psalm 23:4 “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

God has promised that He will provide everything that we need. When you put on your Jesus jersey you do not have to pay for your provision. Over and over again the Word promises that He will provide land, food, shelter, comfort and hope.

2 Corinthians 9:8 “And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”

Psalm 34:10 “The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.”

Proverbs 3:4-5 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him and He will make your paths straight.”

Here a few mind-exploding promises that we have been given.

John 8:12 “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (ESV) We will have the light of life guiding us.

Isaiah 61:8-9 “For I the Lord love justice; I hate robbery and wrong; I will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. Their offspring shall be known among the nations, and their descendants in the midst of the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are an offspring the Lord has blessed. (ESV) We have a covenant with Jesus and we can trust Jesus with the lives of our children.

Matthew 28:20 “and then teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you; and be sure of this—that I am with you always, even to the end of the world.” (TLB) We are to teach other people what we have learned and He will always be with us.

God hears our prayers and when we pray according to His Word He will always answer us.
Jeremiah 29:12 “Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.”
Psalm 102:17 “He will respond to the prayer of the destitute; he will not despise their plea.”
Psalm 145:18 “The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.”

Israel wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. I personally don’t want to spend that much of my life whining, grumbling, groaning, and complaining as they did. I choose this day to serve Jesus so that I will wear my Jesus jersey, I will be on His team and I will act with integrity. Hard work is involved but the good news is even if we fumble the ball, His grace is sufficient for our mistakes. I want to inherit the promises He has so graciously given to my family. Never forget, you are on the team that will inherit the promises. Wear your team’s jersey with integrity.

CAROLYN JOHNSON:
Carolyn is a woman of faith who believes the Word of God is Truth and loves to teach others. She knows there is nothing impossible for the God she serves. Knowing the Lord as a “Heart Changer,” nothing brings her more joy than to encourage someone to trust in the Truth of the Word and to watch how God changes someone’s life. God performed miracles in her life, so she tells anyone who will listen how God changed her heart first, showing her how to be the woman that He created her to be. Then He showed her how to pray for her husband until he was drawn back to the Lord, who restored their broken marriage. Her true-life stories, told with great insight and humor, will encourage even the most brokenhearted to expect a miracle, no matter how bleak their circumstances.

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