I am an American living in Japan, and this morning I took my 9-year-old son to a competition of students from schools in our area. It came down to just two girls competing against each other, and when one girl lost, she took it very hard and cried until we all left. I thought to myself, I wish my son took losing a competition that hard because that girl has the heart of a champion. It does not take a prophet to see many victories in that girl’s future, and a bright future at that. My son, being half American, is much taller than the other students, so he should have been faster to pick up the cards with his long arms. He also has a photographic memory from a special class we put him in when he was 1 year old. But my son gave up those advantages by looking around the room when the other students were studying and looking at the cards. Also, all the other students were leaning into the cards so they could pick them up fast, as my son stood straight up, looking around the room. As we say in the West, “keep your eyes on the ball as a batter watches the ball all the way to his bat.”
Now, in Japan, education is taken much more seriously than in America. For example, when my Japanese wife went to college in California, she had the same math and science there in college as she had in elementary school in Japan. Yup, Japan is doing R&D while California schools are teaching D.E.I., transgender, political correctness, wokeness, and having story time hour read by a drag queen. That’s what happens when you take prayer and God out of your schools and take your eyes off what is truly important.
What does the Bible say in Colossians 3:17? “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” America has forgotten the foundation and covenant our forefathers founded America on, and that is Christ Jesus. We need to get back to keeping our eyes on the prize, and the prize is Christ Jesus, who was perfect in all His ways. Jesus is the embodiment of perfection. It is written in Psalm 145:17, “The LORD is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does.”
We should, for one, keep our eyes on Jesus, secondly emulate Him and all He did here on earth, and thirdly be faithful in all we do. When you sin or make a mistake, as it is written in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” remember, only Jesus walked this earth without sin. You should be like that little Japanese girl and be upset that you missed the mark. You should always be striving for excellence and doing everything you do to the glory of God’s Name, the Name above all names. It should really bother you when you do not, and you should try harder the next time; then you will develop a heart of a champion like Jesus had and has.
And even more important than this is you need to seek God’s perfect will for your life and not His permissible will that America has been operating in. Salvation through Christ Jesus came at a price, a very costly price through the suffering of Christ for all of us. Therefore, there is nothing you or I can do to attain salvation but to accept Christ Jesus into our hearts and love and trust Him and His Father. But it is written in James 2:26, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” After you are saved, you must do your best to emulate Christ through His Word (Bible), and He was never idle in the 33 years He walked the earth. It is written in Luke 2:49, “And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” Jesus was always about His Father’s Business and what the Father wanted Him to do.
That is what you need to find out through reading God’s Word, prayer, praying in tongues, fasting, and seeking God’s Face. Then do what He tells you to do with all your might to the glory of His Name, the Name above all names. Yes, that includes your name and my name. Sorry Hollywood, you will never be God, so stop listening to the devil and his minions. Once you are in God’s Perfect Will, then as it says in 2 Corinthians 9:8, “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work,” God can and will bless you abundantly. As it is written in Psalms 90:17 NIV Version, “May the favor[a] of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us— yes, establish the work of our hands.”
Let’s look at the King James Version, Psalms 90:17, “And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, And establish the work of our hands for us; Yes, establish the work of our hands.” So one version says “Favor,” and the other version says “Beauty” of the Lord, so they are one in the same. When God looks upon you with His Beauty, that is His Favor, and you will accomplish all that God put in your heart to do all of it in great measure. Our prayer here at KRK Church is that God is always casting His Beauty upon you and establishing you in all you do. You will and shall develop a heart of a champion and the heart of a lion like the Lion of Judah had when He walked this earth.
God bless you, God loves you, and we love you, and may the Shalom of God be over you!
Shalom!
If you have a prayer request, please contact us so we can pray with and for you.