Practice For The Fourth Quarter - June 18, 2010

Daily Reading

Proverbs 27-29

Daily Verse

If a man pampers his servant from youth,

he will bring grief in the end.

Proverbs 29:21

Daily Thought

My Dad is a coach.

His teams look forward to each game. They love the battle, the competition, the scoring, the defense.

They also love the break. From practice.

For 90 minutes, Dad's practices push each player to the point of exhaustion. They are prepared to play three quarters.

The last 30 minutes prepare them for the fourth.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

--1Corinthians 9:24-27

To God's Glory

Dave Price

Daily Prayer

Dear God, it is often hard to consider it pure joy when I face trials. I don't like trials. It is not fun to suffer. But then I remember Your Son, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross. So, I look past the trial and see the maturity. That testing develops endurance, and the endurance takes me through the end to the prize.

God, you have told me to aim for perfection. I won't get there without your help, and not until the end when You complete Your work in me, but I commit to throw off everything that distracts or gets in the way.

Amen