One of the greatest disservices that we can give someone is to tell them:

“You can dream your dreams and be whoever you want to be”

“You have something in you that is unstoppable”

All of us need to hear the TRUTH.

My kids needed to hear this truth.

And I told them this truth from an early age:

You are NOT the center of the Universe … God is

You are NOT the most important person in our family … your mom is

You were born into sin … and without God, you have NO HOPE

For me, I needed to hear:

“You are selfish.  You are impatient.  You are sometimes very hard to get along with … But God loves you anyway.” … “In fact, He loves you so much that He chose to give His life that you might start again.”

Amen.

I need Jesus.

And I need Jesus because from the beginning of my conception I was rotten to the core.  Not just part of me, but ROTTEN TO THE CORE.

So this gospel for me today — TODAY — it is vital.  It isn’t just a small piece of who I am — it is literally my only hope.

And I might add to this that:  I am in no way capable, nor recommended, to be writing this blog.  I am inadequate.

But that’s just it.  That’s the whole point.  My inadequacy creates in me a need for the gospel that goes well beyond just a minor need.

It is oxygen to me.  It is the only way that I can survive.

So when I hear people disregard or disrespect or devalue it, I bow up.

And I am here to tell all who read this today:  Our society NEEDS this God, this Jesus, and His spirit.  We need His moral compass.  We need His hand.  And we sure as anything need His forgiveness.  We aren’t as great as we think we are and we have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WITHOUT JESUS.

Paul knew this.

And he knew this because on a road to Syria in his most hideous of moments, he encountered Jesus and found out that he was not only not doing right by God, He found out he was flat out fighting against Him.

And so he dropped everything and found his life, and he found his life by losing it.  

This is not an easy word today.

It is not a “rainbows and lollipops” message.

This is a challenge from a broken man.

FIGHT FOR OUR GOSPEL

And fight for it like it means something.  Because IT MEANS EVERYTHING.

Philippians 1 27 Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel

It is a simple message today.

And it is a simple message written from a man in prison.

IN PRISON!

When Paul found God, He found more peace being chained for Jesus than anything that the world could give him.

So what does Paul tell us?

Conduct yourself in a manner worthy of the gospel

Contend (of fight) as ONE man (or woman) to stand firm

Contend (or fight) for the faith

People are dying out there.  They are living as if there is no god and fighting for themselves.  They are utterly miserable because they are finding out that they aren’t nearly as great as they thought they were.

When I came to the realization that I was broken and got Jesus, it brought a freedom on me that I did not realize that I could have.  It brought truth to me.

And this TRUTH in Jesus is what will save me today.

So Fight today.  Fight to be in alignment with Him.

Fight to tell Him that you are utterly NOTHING without Him.

And, if you have to, FIGHT ALONE. 

Because He is worthy of your praise.  And He is your only hope.

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J