// DAY FIVE //
LIFE
Life is defined differently in the secular world and the eyes of God Almighty. As we enter the church, we understand that what science says, that life is an organic phenomenon, is partly wrong. Life is ultimately defined by the presence of the spirit – a phenomenon undetected by science. We receive the Holy Spirit and are birthed again when we trust in Jesus! We are created to have an abundant life in Jesus Christ. We are made in the image of God - so we are made for curiosity, made to explore, made to create, and made to love greatly in community – all for the glory of God. Yes, we have breath in our lungs, blood pulsating through our veins, a shine in our eyes, but more brilliantly, we have a completely brand-new heart and new life in Jesus Christ! We are a new creation, and we are made for intimacy with God. Scripture says that if we give our life up in this world for Jesus, then we gain it in the life to come. We are made to feel a deep, deep hope for closeness to our Father. Only in him next to him do we experience true life.
Scripture: “As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.” – Proverbs 27:19
Reading: You have to be in the moment and focused to connect with a baseball to send it over the wall – and when you hit a homerun, isn’t it a great feeling? It feels so good.
We so desire the rush and excitement the world can offer – and most of the world can’t get enough of it. We live for the moment, and that is life for the majority of the world. We tend to forget that we are battling a spirit of worldly, temporary freedom. You see it in drugs and alcohol. You see it in food. You see it in social media “likes”. You see it in everything. This world has been twisted in ways unthinkable to men in the past.
What if we disconnected from the world? No, not living as a hermit in the woods somewhere, but disconnected from this short-term satisfaction. What if we didn’t live like most people? What if we invested completely and totally in the life to come? What if we stopped building barns to store up pleasures for our own benefit? What if we let the life of Christ dwell in and through us straight to our own cross, and we never looked back or blinked? Why is it so hard?
The fact is, we need each other to accomplish this task in front of us and we are not perfect, but we are being perfected through sanctification. Satan is trying so hard to separate us to stop that. We are far too weak to do this on our own. We need the Lord, obviously and most importantly, but the world is just too enticing for us to walk alone! To live the life of Christ, we need the church. We need each other in Full Count Ministries to break into the damning mindset of most of the world without succumbing to it ourselves!
Abundant life is available in Christ, the head. But think a little deeper about an analogy you’ve probably heard a lot in your walk... that the body is the church. If you are a finger for the Lord, you will live much more abundantly with the other fingers and thumb next to you – but don’t forget you’re also attached to the hand! Then, you need the wrist and forearm as well. The list goes on. The picture of the body working together is such a beautiful thing – because it reflects the picture of abundant life so well when we work together. The kingdom can come to earth in our ministry, but we need each other!
When the other hand is weak, we use our side of the body to fill the gap. When the foot bruised, the hand applies the ice. Our ministry needs to get well as a church so that we can go and help the lost with zeal.
And then, when we come to the end of this life and God sees the timeline of our entire lives on earth, he will say, “You certainly reflected my heart with the story of your life. You gave it all for me and others. You lived in the moment for me, focused in on my gospel message, and connected. Well done!”
Zeal for the Lord is like a fire. We need the Lord to tend to it, but we need each other to burn brighter!
Prayer Prompts:
Thanks – Lord, thank you for placing me in this ministry. Thank you for abundant life in Christ through the community you have built around me. Thank you for my brothers that seek you and kindle the flame of the Holy Spirit in my soul. Although this life is hard, I wouldn’t give it up for anything because I believe in the gospel and what it could mean for lost souls in the baseball community. Thank you, Lord, that you came as a sacrifice for my sin. You paid the penalty of my sin and the sin of my brothers. When I sought worldly pleasure, someone shared the hope of the gospel with me! The flame, brought to the world through Jesus Christ, and sustained ultimately from the creation of the world, made it’s way through time through thousands of years into my very own soul. That is amazing. I can only be thankful in my spirit and how I live for you today!
Confession – I know that you didn’t come to condemn me, as the Bible tells me, but I feel that way sometimes and it causes me to be paralyzed. My zeal leaves me because of my indecision, confusion, weakness in my physical body, and in my daily circumstances. Then, I disconnect from community because in my pride I believe that I can do it all on my own and can recoup on my own. I often take the easy road and step away from the sharpening of my sword against the sword of my brothers in ministry. I allow the devil to spread out the campfire of our ministry and allow the wind and the rain to do its work on us.
Ask – Please, from the bottom of our hearts as a ministry, pull us together and fan the flames in our souls! Give us ZEAL. Give us PASSION. Give us a FERVANT SPIRIT for your glory! Until the work is done, let us only rest when it is appropriate. Let us remember every day that life is an opportunity for growth and for your kingdom to manifest on the earth. Zeal for you is our only option, and we reject passivity. GIVE US ZEAL!
Reflection Questions:
1) What thoughts do you have after going through this study?
2) What tangible ways can we as a ministry continue in zeal for the Lord through baseball?
3) When you think of abundant life in the Full Count community, what do you dream it could be like?
4) In what areas of your life do you need help to ignite that zeal. What’s holding you back? Are you willing to reach out for help?
5) What things can we pray for you today? Share it with a brother (or preferably, multiple brothers).