Day 3 of Basic Training...Give your Life to What is GREAT!

You were made to live a GREAT life. You came to the right place to live it.

Our great King has given us a great commission to make a great impact by multiplying MANLY or Christlike men. Anyone who so practices and teaches (shares) God's word to others, Jesus said, "will be called great in the kingdom of heaven" Mt.5:19. Jesus also said that a life of service makes a person "great" (Mark 10:43-45) and they will receive a "great reward" (Luke 6:35). Also God's word commends those who are a "great help" to newer believers (Acts 18:27). Thus, we wisely want to give our lives to what is great. 

Using a scoreboard is not a new idea, but it's a great idea to keep us pursuing what is truly great in God's kingdom. Today we want to talk more about our scoreboard and showing your score (your response to God's word) concerning the first letter of GREAT- God's word.

Our G.R.E.A.T. Scoreboard

Why keep score? Because when you keep score, you always play better. Because we like to see how we did. Because we can  spur and cheer each other on. Because we were built for challenges. Because it reveals where we may need to improve. Because it reminds us that there is something on  the line. Because God does. Well, our scoreboard is not so great. It wasn't working properly at first. And it doesn't work at all unless you work it. It's what we are tracking that is GREAT. As we devote our lives to GREAT things, our lives become great in his eyes and our progress shows up on our spreadsheet below. You'll notice a scripture reference on it in the upper left corner- 1 Tim.4:15. There it says, "Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress." As you take your spiritual training seriously, your growth and progress will be evident to others.  

Growing Strong in God's Word
If there was only one piece of advice that you could give to a new believer, what might it be? I know what I would share- to daily read God's word. Then the Lord can mentor him every day and on so many issues throughout the rest of his life. God's word is so transforming! You'll see that in the following psalm.

Let's read Psalm 19 now. It begins by describing how God speaks to us through nature. Then v.7-14 describe how God speaks to us through his perfect word with it's many benefits. 

Copy 1. & 2. below and paste them into the "Enter Your Comment" on the Home page where everyone else is sharing.

1.-Pick just one verse or phrase from Ps.19 and share what you like about it. 

2.-Now write that verse or phrase on your MP3 card. Then let us know that you wrote that on your MP3 card by writing "Did it." 

Of course a man could lie about doing this, but he would only be hurting himself and setting himself up to no longer be in M3. Just tell the truth. Just Do it. (Hmm, I wonder if we could somehow make that phrase popular -"Just do it!") 

I hope you're already finding your MP3 card to be a simple but powerful strategy to help you meditate on God's word day and night (Joshua 1:8). It also gives you treasure to share with others. I often share with my son during our school commutes. I hope you seek and find opportunities to share as well. God's army is advancing. Remember to give yourself credit for the individuals or people groups you shared with since you responded to yesterday's blog. 1 point per people group and 1 point for each individual. Put yesterday's activities on the scoreboard with today's date on it.

Write down the total number of times you shared your MP3 card with others since you blogged yesterday.

Give yourself credit on the scoreboard for today and the last couple days that you blogged. Remember, click the word "Resources" in the upper right corner and then click the link to take you to the Scoreboard. Get in the habit of doing this everyday.

Righting Wrongs

R? What's this about on the GREAT scoreboard? This is your opportunity to let us know that you sought to Right a Wrong. It takes guts to admit it if you or I have had to go back and apologize. It's so much easier to come up with excuses. But it's the manly, godly thing to do. So give yourself a point when you did s. You will be Respected for doing so, never downed. And if you were wronged and feel the need to lovingly seek to restore the relationship, give yourself credit for that as well. You''ll notice that this isn't something that guys score in daily. That's a good thing. And if this was about posting for the times in our thoughts we strayed, we all would be putting up numbers everyday. We aren't perfect, but we want to make progress. This helps us to do that. We'll even put points on the board for Repenting over profanity should it come out of our lips. We are striving to reflect and please our Savior. If you're struggling big time in an area in your life, talk to one of your coaches. We're here to help each other. You're on the winning team!

Prayer is vital. "Little prayer, little power. Much prayer, much power." That's why each of us has recruited a couple adult prayer warriors to pray for us often. If you have not yet recruited two to pray for you, then please email me their names and email addresses by the end of this week. Thanks. I send out a weekly prayer warriors update to them and to you as well. I just sent one out last evening, so you should see it in your email box. Read those and pray! We are at war and prayer is a vital weapon. Attack!