“Is there anything to gain from losing?” After watching the three football teams I love lose this past weekend, that was the thought in my mind this morning. I was trying to formulate an article for NFLFemale.com as the Official Fan Reporter for the Jacksonville Jaguars and once again, I found myself grasping for something positive to say about the team’s latest embarrassing loss. “There must be something positive that comes from this type of adversity,” I thought. Fortunately, today was the day when I would read Romans 8 as part of my devotion time.

I still didn't come up with much positive to say about the Jags, but God opened my eyes and my heart to how losing can really be a sign of winning. Romans 8:17-18 (MSG) says, “We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with him! That’s why I don’t think there’s any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times.” The rough times of life--the times when we give our all, but circumstances do not seem to go our way--those times are going to happen. In those times, we may feel like losers. But, as joint heirs with Christ, we will go through suffering because this world is not our home. In times of suffering, we can still have peace in knowing that there are better times ahead. And, this is not about the temporal “good times” the earth has to offer; this is about eternal peace and prosperity.

If you are saved, no matter what trials you go through on this side of Heaven, NOTHING can separate you from the love of God (more Romans 8 wisdom). Every loss that you endure is worked out for your good by the God that you love (more Romans 8 wisdom). You just might lose “your life,” you know, the life you thought you would have by now. I know that I have lost mine. I thought I would be sending my youngest baby to pre-K this year, working as an entertainment attorney, and being a loving wife to my fabulous husband. That was the life I envisioned, and when I stack that life up against my current life, the world might call me a loser. But, I’ll take that loss in exchange for the peace in knowing that a mighty and powerful God holds my life in His hands and He always wins. And, because I am His child, when I surrender and lose myself in Him, I am a winner; not just now, but forever and ever.

So, yes, there is plenty to gain from losing, maybe not for my team, but certainly for the child of Christ. I am a LOSER! I am lost in the depths of God’s love and in the height of Jesus’ sacrifice and in the breadth of the Sprit’s wisdom. Losing! Ms. EV

I love football! I went to two games this weekend and managed to sneak in another during the commercial breaks of a Lifetime movie and once the movie was over. Friday night's game was arguably one of the most important regular season games for the football team of my alma mater where I also teach and have two nephews on the team. The first half was miserable. Our team looked like a completely different team than the one that had rolled over all, but one team in the preceding weeks. Then, just before halftime, the ball was thrown to my oldest nephew and he got a much-needed first down that led to a touchdown before the half.

After our team got within two points of the opposing team in the fourth quarter and blocked a field goal to give themselves a chance for the win, my nephew made two more spectacular catches to get the team within field goal range with 18 seconds on the clock. However, the kicker had missed two field goals that night, so the offense decided to go for the touchdown. The offensive line did their best blocking of the night, the quarterback dropped back, my nephew waited for the ball to go in for the winning score, but the QB threw the ball towards a receiver that wasn't expecting the ball and the defense intercepted it. They lost a district game, making the road to the playoffs more difficult, but not impossible.

Saturday night, I saw that my team was winning, so I watched my movie and then turned back to the game to watch the fourth quarter. The opposing team gave a slight scare, but once they were off of the field with little time remaining, I figrure the game was over and my team had won, so I turned the TV off and went to bed. I woke up the next morning to find out that they lost by one point. Yesterday, I went to an NFL game. My team seemed to be on the right track for the first half, but they got killed in the second half and suffered an embarassing loss. It was not a great football weekend for my teams.

Last year, while actor Charlie Sheen was doing some really odd and self-destructive acts, he was known to say the phrase, "Winning!" which was a contradiction to what he was actually doing. After seeing these games, I began to think today, is there any way that an apparent loss could be a win? Then, as I was reading this morning I saw several verses that assured me that losing down here is not what matters; what matters is what we gain when we lose.

Romans 8:8-9 (MSG) says, "Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing. And God isn’t pleased at being ignored. But if God himself has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him."  When we lose ourselves and focus on God, although the world might not see the powerful acts of God that are going on, our lives will be infinitely better. When we fully surrender and submit, giving complete control to God, that is a win! We can see life change for the better, whichis not to say that there will not be challenges, but in the end, we win!

Last year, our high school was defeated in the regular season by the same team they lost to on Friday, but when they got to the playoffs, they beat that same team to advance to the state final four. Life on earth is the regular season. We are going to take some losses. Some days, those losses are not our fault; they are caused by others not giving us the chances to win. Other losses are near misses because we were so close to the win, but we did not play through the end. Sometimes we lose because we just plain stink at life. But, this life on earth is the regular season and heaven is our championship. If we can make it through the tough times down here with our focus on God and His Spirit in our hearts, confessing Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour, we can turn losing into winning! Ms. EV

In tomorrow's blog, I will continue this subject with more wisdom from Romans 8

I watch way too much television. Once I get back to work and get busy, I am sure that will change. Anyway, on one show I was watching, a guy met a girl at the beginning of the show, and by the end of the show, they were kissing. Isn’t TV romance great? After all, it totally mirrors what happens in real life…NOT! I just recently stopped consistently watching soap operas (I say “consistently” because I do like to catch up on some of my grandmama’s stories every once in a while; soaps was a part of our bond). I started watching soap operas when I was about three years old. Although the relationships were rarely long-lasting, in the beginning they were always so romantic. Watching these shows gave me a very skewed idea of what romance should look like.

I wanted someone to come into my life, shower me with gifts, take me to exotic places and then, ask me to marry him by our third episode together because that is how it happens on television. Looking back I realize that my last two substantial relationships are the result of my fantasy relationship vision. My ex-husband did not take me to exotic places, but he did ask me to marry him on our third date. My last guy took me to elegant places and talked about marriage on our first date; he just never got around to asking. So, here I am still single and this television romance is still eluding me. Nonetheless, everyday of my life, I am involved in the greatest romance of all!

No, there are no luxurious gifts like jewelry, clothing, pricey electronic gadgets; instead, the lover of my soul gave the most expensive gift ever given: His life. And, I did nothing to deserve the gift. He just loved me so much that He sacrificed Himself in order to offer me the gist of salvation. I have been on trips to exotic places, but my best trips have been the journey that I have taken with Jesus. When I have veered off onto the wrong course, He has placed me back onto the correct path. The journey has been rough at times, but it has always been worth it. And, before I even started my relationship with Christ, He had already proposed. He asked for my heart and my hand; I just had to accept.

I am pretty sure that relationships like the ones we see on television are few and far between. And, if you watch as much television as I do, you know that they are not always as glamorous as they seem to be. They usually end fairly quickly or involve lots of infidelity and scheming. But, a real, true relationship with Jesus Christ is better than anything television and movie producers could put on screen. His love does not end at the end of the season or when the credits roll; it endures for all time. Ms. EV

Day 4 of Vacation Bible School focuses on God’s power over death and celebrating that Jesus is alive. The verse for the day says, “Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8 NLT). This lesson and verse make me think about the cost of substitution.

I am a pretty finicky eater. When I am at a restaurant, I try to get the menu as soon as possible because it takes me a very long time to order my food. There are so many factors that come into play when I am making food choices. I have to consider the price, the foods I enjoy, what I have already consumed that day or week, if there is a new item I am willing to try, and the list goes on and on. The things I know for certain are that there are a limited amount of green vegetables that I will eat, I do not eat eggs from a restaurant unless it is in an omelet, and I do not eat anything slimy, like oysters.

Because of my picky eating habits, when I get the menu, I have to see if there is a cost of substitution. Sometimes, I can just swap a green side item for a more appealing side item, but if I want a salad, I have to pay extra. Sometimes, the menu flat out say that there are no substitutions for certain dishes. Other times, I can make one substitution for free, but there is a charge for each additional one. The cost of substitution plays a huge factor in what I order to eat, but I am so glad that God did not get caught up in the cost of substitution when it came to my life.

In Romans 5, it explains that Adam’s sin brought sin and death to all who followed Him. Under the law, there had to be a sacrifice in order to achieve forgiveness. But, nothing on Earth was enough of a sacrifice to cover the sins of all mankind. So, God offered His only Son as a substitute for each and every one of us. Therefore, though one man’s sins brought death to many, by one Man’s act of righteousness, each of us has an opportunity to have a new life, an eternal life.

The cost of this substitution was insurmountable. Jesus Christ, who had never done anything wrong, was berated, beaten, broken, bruised, and buried in a borrowed tomb. Many of us have a very short list of people for whom we would lay down our lives. That list often includes family members (and sometimes only certain ones), very close friends (depending on the situation), those who are helpless to defend themselves, or perhaps, those who are “very good” people. But, God was willing to pay the ultimate cost of substitution. He was willing to send His Son from heaven, as an example of righteous living by a human being, to die for our sins, so that we could have the opportunity to accept the gifts of salvation and forgiveness. This substitution cost God everything and it costs us nothing to accept it.

Now, when I am in a restaurant and the item substitution is free, I am quick to accept the substitution, and I have no doubt that many others are as well. So, why is it that we cannot accept the free gift of salvation? Yes, being saved by faith through Christ Jesus means that we make some changes in our lives, but there is no actual cost to us. We could never ever repay God; however, we can obey God. And, we can show our appreciation for His amazing grace by praising Him. 

God did not wait until we were “good people” to offer His Son as a substitute for us. While we were still sinners, God gave us the opportunity for the free gift of salvation and eternal life. God, through the death, burial and resurrection Jesus Christ, paid the cost of substitution. So now, you must ask yourself, “Am I willing to accept Him as my Savior and Lord?” As satisfying as the substitutions I make for my meals can be, there is nothing more satisfying than Jesus, the Bread of Life and the Living Water. Ms. EV

It is Day 3 of Vacation Bible School and today’s lesson is: Amazing! God’s Power over Sin! The corresponding verse is, “Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God's gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master” (Romans 6:23 The Message). In the beginning, Adam and Eve were meant to live peacefully and eternally in the garden. God, being a loving God, gave Adam and Eve instructions and free will to carry out those instructions. The serpent tempted Eve to disobey God and she complied, as did Adam. That first sin created a rift in the relationship between God and man that has existed ever since. Nonetheless, God, in His infinite wisdom, gave all of us a chance to live the peaceful, eternal like in Heaven when He sent His Son to die for our sins. Our part is to change the status of our relationship.

If you are familiar with Facebook, you know that in the ‘About’ section, where one fills in information about his or her life, there is an option to post a relationship status. You can choose indicate to anyone who visits your page whether you are single, in a relationship, engaged, married, it’s complicated, widowed, separated, divorced, etc. Recently, I have had several friends update their relationship statuses to reflect positive changes in their lives. As a longtime singleton, it literally makes me giddy when I see my single girlfriends get to update their relationship status to “In a Relationship,” “Engaged,” and, especially, “Married.”

One very close friend recently updated her status to “In a Relationship,” and there was an outpouring of ‘Likes’ and encouraging comments. One comment in particular, really hit home, as one of her friends commented, “…With who? I know you already [have] a relationship with God.” The comment intrigued me because I thought of how awesome it was that people know my friend has a relationship with God, through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So, as I began to study for today’s lesson at VBS, I thought, “If I documented my relationship with God, what would my relationship status say?”

Well, in the beginning because I was born into sin, I was both ‘SINgle’ and ‘Separated.’ Until I accepted Christ in my life, sin was my master. And that relationship, just as it did with Adam and Eve, caused me to be separated from God. I would even venture to say that for a portion of my life, once I got comfortable with sin, I was ‘Married’ to it. However, when I started to not just know of God, but have a real relationship with Him, my relationship status with sin changed to ‘Divorced.’ Once, I divorced sin, I was free to be ‘In a Relationship’ with God through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who bridged the separation between God and me.

So, how is my relationship with sin? Well, think about your exes. Some you never speak to again; you cut them from your life and move forward. I wish this was my relationship status with sin. Some exes become lifelong friends once the healing begins, which is nice when we are dealing with other human beings, but when it comes to sin, we cannot serve two masters. Therefore, if we are still friendly with sin, (you know, we give it a call or text late in the midnight hour when the pangs of loneliness set in), it is displeasing to God because we are living lukewarm life. If I had to pick a relationship status with sin now, it would be ‘It’s Complicated.' I try to stay away, but just like Paul, I want to do right, and I don’t always do right because there is a constant war between my spirit and my sin that has existed since I was born.  This war intensified when I divorced sin and entered in to a relationship with God. As long I as live on this Earth, I know the battle for my attention will continue.

It is difficult to turn your back on sin. Some sins are so enticing to our insatiable flesh. Nevertheless, the verse warns us that the result of a prolonged relationship with sin is death, but God gave us the gift of life by salvation through Jesus Christ. So, if you ABC (Admit that your are sinner, repent and turn from sin; Believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who died and rose from the dead and that your sins are forgiven; Confess that Jesus is your Savior and Lord and live for Him), you will receive the gift of eternal life. And, according to the Bible, the appropriate relationship status would be, “Engaged’ because the Body of Christ, the Church, as the Bride, is waiting for the return of its Bridegroom, Jesus Christ, so we can get married and literally live happily ever after; not just fairy-tale happy, praising and pleasing God through inner joy and peace happy!

What is your relationship status with God? Do you know what it is or are you commitment-phobic? What is your relationship status with sin? Are you still friends or did you turn your back on sin? Perhaps, you are living a life like David, Paul, or even me, in which you do not want to sin because your heart belongs to God, but it’s complicated. God can and will show His power over the sin in our lives, if we will allow Him to make us whole. Forget wedding presents; if you want to receive the best gift of all time, choose salvation! Ms. EV has updated her Relationship Status to ‘Engaged.’ Ms. EV

If you want to update your relationship status, please talk to your pastor or minister, or if you do not have a church, find a Christian that you can talk to about salvation. Post your current relationship status in the Comments section of this blog and I will pray for you.

If you have already changed your relationship status, click over to the Comments section for this blog and share your status (i.e. In a Relationship, Engaged).

I was up to my eyeballs in chocolate over the last couple of days for a catering job that required a cake with chocolate frosting. I needed melted chocolate for the frosting recipe, so I read the directions. Melting chocolate, for anyone who does not know, is an art form. You have to have exactly the right temperature and you cannot leave the chocolate by itself to melt. It must be stirred at exactly the right time, but not too much or it won’t break down properly. Well, it was late at night and I did not want to be up until the wee hours of the morning, so I saw on the side of the package that you could microwave the chocolate to melt it. Perfect! I read the instructions, got the microwave-safe bowl, put the chocolate bars in, set the timer, and pushed the START button.

About half way into the cooking time, which was calculated correctly, I smelled something burning. I looked and saw smoke billowing in the microwave. Tears started to fill up in my eyes because, if this chocolate was ruined, money would have been wasted, not to mention I was going to have to go to the store late at night and get more chocolate. I took a deep breath and looked timidly in the bowl to find that one block of chocolate had burned to a crisp. There it sat black a charcoal, but it was right on the top, so I was able to scoop it out and use the beautifully melted chocolate beneath it. It only took about half the time the box had instructed for this chocolate to melt. So, I made the frosting, and taste-tested it, of course, and it was divine. As I was spreading the frosting though, I found a little chunk of the burned chocolate, so I pickup that up and tasted it, too. YUCK!!! It was bitter. I was glad to have found it because I did not want any of the guests to each it, as it would have ruined the whole cake, which was delicious.

So, why am I giving a thesis on chocolate? I love chocolate, especially dark chocolate, mainly because of all the antioxidants and health benefits. Yeah right! Chocolate tastes good and it makes me feel better when I am down, which is why I was shocked to discover how bitter it becomes when it is not handled properly. We are the same way. Each of us has our own set of instructions. God knows exactly the right temperature to let things heat up in our lives. He never leaves us alone when the heat is on us. He knows exactly when to stir things up in our lives, so that He can properly break down the parts of our lives that we need to be rid of and use us in our best form for His glory.

Instead, we want what we want when we want it. Well, at least I do. I do not like it when situations turn up the heat on my life, especially, if I have to endure the heat for too long, and I definitely am a creature of habit who does not like for things to be stirred up around me. So, what do I do, I (and probably you) look for shortcuts. How can I get the result that I want without going through as much trouble? We look for the path of least resistance. And, sometimes that path seems to work, giving us a false sense of security about who is really in control. Other times, we rush our lives and take a turn that God never wanted us to take, which may leave us feeling burned and useless.

We try to move forward from the hurt (sometimes caused by our own actions). But, when we try to clean up the mess, we can only remove what we can see on the surface. And sure, everything looks fine and is going well until we get spread a little too thin. Then, you can start to see the little chunks of mess that are left behind. If we don’t remove them, they will affect our whole entire being; our spiritual, mental and emotional health. Because these little leftover pieces of pain are bitter, and I don’t know if you have ever had something bitter, but it does not take much too ruin your pallet for whatever is coming next. So, rather than enjoy the assignment, relationship, or blessing God has for us, we are still reeling from when we tried to take a quicker route to what we desire. The bottom line is that we have to trust God. We have to live out His process because He knows so much more than we will ever know about our future. I don't know about you but I don't want any little chunks of chocolate bitterness in my life.

I kept thinking to myself that I followed the instructions and I made the right calculations, so I did not understand why it did not work out. All I can surmise from that it that there is a good way to do things and there is a right way to do things. A lot of people feel that if they are good they will be blessed and go to Heaven. And, while they may be respected and get what they want on this side of Heaven, there is more to salvation and living for God than just being good. The right way to live and be saved, the only way to Heaven is to admit you are a sinner, believe in the risen Savior, Jesus Christ and confess Him as your Lord. So, being good may get you the results you want temporarily, but being right with God, will get you those results and so much more eternally. Ms. EV