Have you ever noticed that wise people look old? You’ve seen him, the guy at
the top of the mountain with a long, grey beard who knows the meaning of
life. Most of us don’t learn wisdom until we have lived a little. Take a
look back on your early years and see if there aren’t some things you are
wiser about now. Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Have you ever known someone who thinks they have an answer for
everything? They know all there is to know and if they don’t it’s not worth
knowing. You know the type, they are ready to tell you exactly what the
right answer is whether you ask or not. Is that Wisdom?
I am reminded of the movie Days of Thunder. Remember when the crew
chief, Harry Hogge, was trying to teach Cole Trickle, rookie driver, how to
conserve his tires for the end of the race? He let him drive so many laps
his way and then he had to drive the way Harry wanted him to. The point was
to learn how to finish with enough tire left to challenge for the win.
Anyone can go fast, but it takes a driver with wisdom to finish the race. I
think of guys like Mike Stefanik. He knows how to finish. No matter what he
has to race with, he knows how to get the most out of it and finish the
race. He is a wise driver.
Sometimes we think we know what is best. The fact is we don’t. It
is difficult to have all the information necessary to understand what is
best. There are many things that contribute to our inability to understand
things; lack of experience for one. We may not be able to see things for
what they are; we may be blinded by what we want to see. For whatever reason
we do not have the ability to fully understand things.
True wisdom is something we gain when we can put things in the
right perspective, God’s perspective. James explains it for us.
James 3:13-18,
Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life,
by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor
bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts,
do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such "wisdom" does not come down
from heaven but is earthly,
unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition,
there you find disorder and every evil practice.
But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then
peace-loving, considerate, submissive,
full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in
peace raise a harvest of righteousness.
Let’s unpack this a little. James
explains that the one who is wise will lead a good life, a life that honors
God. He lives with humility and helps others with a humble heart. These are
people for whom recognition is not as important as serving someone.
In contrast there are those people who need to be recognized. When
they enter the room everyone must stop and take notice of them. When they do
something the world has to know. These are not the type of people James
calls wise.
The wisdom of the world is very different than the wisdom of God.
James uses four words to describe worldly wisdom; envy, selfish, boast and
deny. These words ring true in my ears of what we experience when we deal
with worldly people. Think about those words. Envy means wanting something
someone else has. It means not being satisfied with what you have. Are we
satisfied with what God has provided us?
Selfish means to keep everything for yourself. That indicates a
lack of generosity and a desire to keep instead of share. Are we reluctant
to give to others and help those in need?
Boast means to let everyone know how good we think we are. To tell
everyone exactly what we did and expect to be honored for it, boasting is
the opposite of humility. Are we motivated to do things for others so that
someone would notice us? When they don’t, do we tell them anyway?
Deny means to lie. Denying something means not taking
responsibility for our actions. Many times we look for someone to blame
instead of stepping up to the plate and taking responsibility. Are we
looking for someone to blame? That pretty much sums up worldly wisdom; now
let’s look at God’s wisdom.
James uses the words pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive,
mercy, impartial and sincere to describe the wisdom that comes from God.
That’s a pretty big list. If you are like me I sometimes display a few of
those qualities but I am not sure I have displayed them all at once.
Pure means exactly that, nothing that would tarnish, no impurities.
Like metal that has been refined and the impurities burned away. Purity
comes from testing under fire. We are not born pure we have to work at it.
We develop purity, the absence of selfishness.
Peace-loving is another one we need to learn. Many times we feel we
have been taken advantage of or we haven’t been treated fairly. When we have
a peace-loving spirit it doesn’t matter. Think of Christ and the cross. He
didn’t deserve any of it but He endured it so that we could be at peace with
God through Him. Are we willing to do the same for others?
The list goes on; considerate; do we consider others or just
ourselves? Submissive, are we willing to follow someone or do we have to be
in control? Do we have mercy on others or do we demand that they be judged
and punished? Are we impartial or do we always want the advantage? Are we
sincere in our actions or do we just wear the face of sincerity?
When we stop and compare the two, which one is wise? Scripture
tells us that God’s ways are not our ways. I think this passage from James
shows us that. Sometimes we think a person is wise when they gain
financially or have a high paying job. When we look behind the curtain we
see the truth. We see the lives that were cast aside on the way to the top.
We see the damage that was done in the name of advancement. I think there
are many times in our lives when we think we made the wise choice but forget
to look back and see the damage we have done.
Take some time this week to reflect on what life has taught you. If
it resembles worldly wisdom spend some time with God and start to change
that. We need to have a Godly wisdom. That will reach out to others and help
them discover the blessings God has for them.
THOUGHTS
FROM THE ROAD
HOME
SWEET HOME - My favorite thing about being on the road is coming home.
Home is that special place where you can relax and unwind. We headed north a
little early with the hope of avoiding the freezing rain and snow, hugged
the coast and made it home Saturday evening just as the temp hit 32.
Although we drove from Georgia to Connecticut in the rain we didn’t face any
icy or slippery conditions and that was a blessing. We were a little
disappointed that the snow was still here and the temps were about 60
degrees cooler, but spring is coming!
GOD’S PROVISION - With so many races during Speedweeks and
so many tracks to travel to it is difficult to get to everything. As I
looked back I realized that there was a time that RWJM didn’t have the time
or resources to head to Florida for all the activity. This year we had no
short of seven folks on the ground in Florida to cover things. What is more
amazing is how they got there.
Steve Fowler drove from Montana to initiate the ministry to the WOO
Late Models and he brought a couple friends along. One of his friends didn’t
know God had plans for him. At Bubba Speedway Park the track invited and
provided pit passes to some homeless vets. As they talked with Steve and his
friend, a Vietnam Vet, Steve’s friend was able to speak their language,
understand their challenges and help them look at the future differently.
Those Vets are now in the process of being connected with some local
resources and their future looks a whole lot brighter.
Gary Dionne, our west coast coordinator, happened to make the drive
from LA to Atlanta for work and then had to head down to Miami for a
commercial shoot. God gave him a few days in central Florida and he was able
to cover the last three nights at New Smyrna Speedway.
Rev. Dan made it a quick trip for the Battle at the Beach and
joined me at Daytona on Monday and Tuesday. As many of you saw it was a
challenging event. Our hope is that if they choose to do this again it is
done at a proper venue and not a temporary layout.
Added to this Ed Harkins from Finish Line Chaplains was in town for
the entire time and lended a hand in addition to ministering to the Big
Block Modified Boys. Kyle Froman, Jim Foster and Bob Butcher from MRO were
also there to minister to their charges.
We had several opportunities to touch the lives of the racing
community and it was all because of God’s provision. Thank you for your
continued support, both in prayer and financially. We can only do these
things as God leads others to provide for us.
Please consider how you might partner with us. We have added an
automatic monthly giving option to our donation page on our website,
http://rwjm.com/donations/ check it out. Remember that the lives we
touch will never be the same again, for they have seen the love of Christ.
The best way to sum it up is an email we received from a member of
the racing community at Volusia;
Steve,
It was great meeting you tonight at the track. I am a big fan of
the work you do. As I said, I think your ministry might be one of the
toughest out there...but you ARE making a difference. Keep up the good work!
If you are ever in Ohio in the Summer, come by Limaland Motorsports
Park and say hi!
Until next time, be a witness for our Lord with the ministry decals
and apparel. See them at the Show Your Faith Apparel Store at
http://www.rwjm.com/store. Send us your prayer and counseling needs no matter
what part of our racing family you are in, or give us a call. Remember that
God loves you, we love you and
Jesus is Lord over Auto Racing. GOD BLESS.
 Mail reaches us at Racing with Jesus Ministries, PO Box 586,
Tolland, CT 06084.
Check our weekly printed pages in "Area Auto Racing
News",
the East Coast’s largest weekly racing paper.
See our on-line Apparel
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articles.
We invite you to input your thoughts as you sign our Guest Book.
Please remember, we can only do what we do because of your prayerful
financial support.
Numbers 6:24-26 "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord
make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face
toward you and give you peace."
May God always Bless you, everyday in everyway. Rev. Don
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SEND THEM TO:
RACING WITH JESUS MINISTRIES
PO Box 586
Tolland, CT, 06084
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