Defense & Offense
I do enjoy this time of year when High School Football is in full swing. On the weekends, I can find a multitude of College Football games and then there are the Professional Football games as well on Sunday and Monday. I remember hearing a phrase many years ago and I think it was said in the context of football. The phrase is this: “The best offense is a good defense”.
I know that if you play good defense, your offense has to score less points. I do like leaning to the offense side of the ball because they can make plays happen based on their play calling and their decisions.
I think as a believer, I should play offense more than defense. Sometimes there are situations when I’m put on the defensive, which my offense side can take over and lead out. Check this out…
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! 9 If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, 10 then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. 11 Jesus is “‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ 12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” 13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. 14 But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. (Acts 4:8-14 NIV)I love this story because the “Game Changer” here is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit empowered Peter & John in the first place and gave them the Power and courage to heal the crippled man and to speak before the big council of “religious leaders”. These men were simply following their calling from Jesus. They were boldly speaking about what they had seen and heard. The Holy Spirit of God in them was obvious to those who saw them.
Peter and John were teaching and preaching out of their relationship with Jesus. They were not pointing to their own abilities – they were pointing to Jesus. They were not talking about themselves – they were talking about Jesus. They were willing servants filled with the Holy Spirit of God and they became smarter and bolder with the Presence of the Holy Spirit in them. Peter & John could not keep quiet about what they had seen and heard. The church was built on leaders who had the Holy Spirit in them and they pointed everyone to Jesus. That is still a good plan for church leadership today!
Pressing On! Dwayne