One of the most challenging things about life is keeping it in balance. It
is very easy to get things leaning one way or the other. Do you remember the
game we used to play in the 70-80’s called Tip It? Let’s take a look this
week at getting our lives back into balance. Greetings in the name of our
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Have you ever driven a car with the tires out of balance? You know it,
don’t you? The thing is bouncing down the road. The steering wheel is
vibrating in your hand. It feels like the whole car is going to fall apart
at the seams.
How fast can a racecar go if it isn’t balanced right? When we are setting
up a racecar we look for balance, keeping the car stable and drivable while
at the same time going fast. You can drive a car that is out of balance, but
not very fast. The team that achieves the best balance has the best
opportunity to win.
How do we get there? We practice, take measurements, make changes and try
them out. We then repeat the steps again until the desired balance is
achieved. Sometimes it is hard to attain so we build some adjustability into
the car so that it can be adjusted during the race to keep it as balanced as
possible.
If your racecar is not able to run very fast because it is out of balance
what do you think your life would be like if it was the same? You see many
of us live our lives out of balance. We try things that lead us to places
that are not beneficial for us. The circumstances and results of our actions
create difficulties for us. We struggle to make things right or we just
choose to live in the chaos we know as life. That is not the way God wants
it to be, He didn’t create us to live our lives out of balance. He provided
a way for us to put things right, to balance the things of life; Jesus
Christ.
Jesus and the question he asked His disciples, “Who do you say that I
am?” He challenged us to search Him out and find out who He truly is. We
need to recognize Him and understand what he has to offer to us.
Sometimes we recognize who Christ is but we think we’ll be alright
without him. We can make it on our own. We’ll try it and see how we do. The
only certainty is at some point in our life we will need Him. Will he be
there waiting for us?
During Easter we talked about Peter and his denial of knowing Christ. How
he claimed he would defend Christ even if it meant death, but when asked if
he was with him he said “NO”. He soon found himself broken; shattered,
knowing he had given up something he couldn’t live without, his relationship
with Christ. Why is it that this relationship is so critical to our lives?
Without a relationship with Jesus our lives are out of balance. No matter
how much we try. No matter what we do. No matter how successful we are. No
matter how much we own. Nothing matters if we sacrifice our relationship
with Jesus to get it.
One of the falsehoods of life is thinking that we can do enough good things
to get to heaven. That is not true. A relationship with Jesus is the only
way. Our life will never be right until we have that. When we recognize who
Jesus is and what He did on the cross for us it is time for us to reconcile
our life with Him.
Ephesians 2:8-10, For
it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from
yourselves,
it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are
God's workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for
us to do.
We need to go before him, acknowledge Him as God
and request forgiveness for the sins in our life. Then and only then will we
be in balance. That is the way God created us and that is the way God
intended it to be. No other way will work.
Peter thought he had it all figured out. He did until someone asked him
if he was really committed to follow Christ. That’s when he lost it. He
broke down and learned life’s most critical lesson, it is not within us to
save ourselves, it is Christ and Christ alone. He learned that the night he
went out fishing. After he denied Christ he went back to doing all he knew
how to do, fish. Guess what happened? He didn’t catch any fish. Surprised?
We shouldn’t be, when he agreed to follow Jesus, Jesus told him, “Follow me
and I will make you fishers of men.” Peter didn’t get it yet, but he would.
John’s Gospel tells it to us this way.
John 21; Afterward
Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias.
It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from
Cana in Galilee ,
the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. "I'm going out
to fish," Simon Peter told them,
and they said, "We'll go with you." So they went out and got into the boat,
but that night they caught nothing.
Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not
realize that it was Jesus.
He called out to them, "Friends, haven't you any fish?"
"No," they answered.
He said, "Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find
some."
When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large
number of fish.
Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish you have just caught."
Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large
fish, 153,
but even with so many the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, "Come and
have breakfast."
None of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you?" They knew it was the
Lord. Jesus came,
took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish.
This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was
raised from the dead.
After breakfast, Jesus restored Peter and forgave
him. Peter’s life was now in balance. His sins were paid for by the death
and resurrection of Christ. He would no longer be a fisherman, but a fisher
of men.
Let me ask this, is our life balanced? Are we justified by Christ’s death
and resurrection? Jesus came so we could have life and have it abundantly,
John 10:10, He is the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father
except through Him. John 14:6. Put your life into balance; reconcile your
life with the one payment that matters, the blood of Jesus Christ.
THOUGHTS FROM THE ROAD
WEATHER
RAINS AND SHINES - We saw both extremes of the weather this past
weekend, on Friday the damp weather moved the extra distance Late-Model race
at Stafford Motor Speedway to this week, Saturday night Waterford Speedbowl
dodged the Thunderstorms to get the show in and the Bullring Bash at Lee USA
Speedway went off under perfect skies on Sunday.
A large contingent of Modifieds was in the house at Lee for the first of
three open Mod shows. If you missed it, don’t miss the next two. Thirty-six
cars were on hand with drivers from all the major touring series for the 26
starting spots. In the end a familiar name graced Victory Lane , Matt
Hirschman. It will be interesting to see if anyone can unseat Matt as
champion in these open shows.
SPECIAL MOMENT AT WATERFORD - Ed Field thrashed to get the racecar
ready, this time it meant more than any other night. This time it wasn’t
even his car. Ed got the job done and honored his late brother Danny Field
who passed away last week at the age of 56 after a battle with cancer. Ed
led the Mini-Stock field in his brother’s #18 Red Three-Time Championship
winning Mini-Stock in memory of his older brother Danny. The entire Field
family from Deep River , CT was there to support each other and Danny’s wife
Tammy as they remembered the courage that Danny fought the battle with.
IOWA ON THE HORIZON - As Rev. Dan celebrates his daughter Amanda’s
college graduation this week, I am heading west. With the trip last week to
Eldora and this week to Iowa , I have spent some time on the road this
spring. I am looking forward to heading out there with the Grimm Gang; it is
always a good time! Watch out Iowa here we come.
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.
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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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