SPORTMOM E-votional

CONTINUE TO ABIDE

10/7/2020

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing."
John 15:5 NRSV

As we work our way through 2020, “abiding” has become very challenging. Here are three reminders to spur us along toward the peace we are seeking…

CONTINUE TO ABIDE - MAINTAIN YOUR HEART CONNECTION TO CHRIST
More than wanting any work of our hands, Christ wants our hearts. There is immense value in simply abiding with our Heavenly Father – connecting with Him over and over again each moment of every day.
   …for apart from Christ we can do nothing!
ASK YOURSELF: Is my heart connecting with His purposes?

CONTINUE TO ABIDE - PRACTICE TOGETHERNESS WITH CHRIST
Abiding in Christ is not what we do for Christ but what we do with Christ. Doing this we are more than conquerors with the One wo loves us most.

…for apart from Christ we can do nothing!
ASK YOURSELF:   Am I doing life together with Him?

CONTINUE TO ABIDE - OPERATE IN GRACE FROM CHRIST
Don't let the works-based systems of this world destroy your grace-based relationship with Jesus Christ. As we allow Him to overshadow our weaknesses He takes our “not enough” and with it He changes the world!

…for apart from Christ we can do nothing!
ASK YOURSELF: Am I accepting the grace for living that Christ offers?

  ABIDING IN CHRIST IS OUR PEACE!

©2020 E-VOTIONALS FOR LIVING | 1514 Segovia Circle – Vero Beach, FL 32966

GOD IS AT WORK - ABIDE!

9/2/2020

Little did I know what God had in store as 2020 arrived and along with it my Word for the Year – ABIDE. As He placed it in my heart, it seemed attractive and would certainly have many possibilities for these E-votionals, so I settled into discovering what it meant in my life.

As the year began to unfold, along with it came the ensuing pandemic overtaking, the accelerating Presidential race, arising racial justice challenges and the facing of personal family issues. Abide took on new meaning calling me to live with these uncharted obstacles…I had to “abide” these by “abiding in Christ”.

Watching the hand of God at work in ways that were unfamiliar and through challenges not easily understood were now a reality. As questions like “what is going on?” swirled through my thoughts and prayers, these directives have emerged.

Watch for the usually insignificant signs telling us that God is in this…He is quietly at work!

When he is at work in the north, I do not see him; when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him. Job 23:9 NIV

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work
within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.
Ephesians 3:20 NLT

Walk with Jesus each moment praying through each unfolding circumstance – He is always at work!

…God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken. What they did to Jesus, they do to us which makes Jesus’ life
all the more evident in us. 2 Corinthians 4:12 The Message

Wait on God for His time and His answers…He is already at work! Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Psalm 27:14 NIV

Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Psalm 27:14 NIV

PRAYER: I will watch for you, walk with you, and wait for you abiding in you for you are at work in my world and in me. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

TOTAL ABIDING

8/5/2020

Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5 NRSV

As Christians, our world today is pushing us toward totally abiding in Christ. Accepting what is going on around us rules out selective abiding and ushers in the reality of the last words of our scripture for 2020…separating ourselves from Jesus leaves us with nothing. We are called to abide in Christ.

TOTAL ABIDING is experienced when we…

STRIVE FOR PERFECT PLACEMENT - Put God at the center (not on the fringes) of our daily living asking Him into each thought and action. Then rest on the pillow of His care as we sleep. Try this: Upon waking up…thank Him. Each time something good comes your way today...thank Him. As your head hits the pillow…thank Him for the day He just gave you.

PURSUE PRAYER - Remain in continual communication with Him through each activity. As the moments and hours tick away allow His thoughts to be your thoughts. His powerful work is done as we walk with Him and talk with Him...a lot. We are constantly abiding.

ENJOY GOD'S PREVAILING PRESENCE – Allow Him to envelope your being. Focus your attention on His nearness and open your heart to receive all the love he has for you in each moment. He simply wants us to let Him love...for “apart from Him we can do nothing”.

STRIVE+PURSUE+ENJOY = TOTAL ABIDING

Will you join me in it today?

©2020 SPORTMOMS & MORE | 1514 Segovia Circle – Vero Beach, FL 32966

ABIDE AND ASK

7/1/2020

These first 6 months of 2020 I have been constantly reminding myself of what it means to ABIDE IN CHRIST. In living out this year’s word, one little phrase Jesus said from our scripture for 2020 has captured my attention...“If you abide in me...” (John 15:5). This fraught-ridden year has made it far more challenging than I could have ever imagined.

This year our ABIDE E-votionals have paved the way for this entry...here they are in a nutshell:

Purposefully allowing God to guide me - beyond my own thoughts and ideas
Prudently waiting well - “resting in” God’s plan
Persistently applying God’s Word when I am stuck in a situation of life
Perpetually practicing the 4 if’s by remaining humble before Him, listening to Him for guidance and admitting my need to understand, watching for His answers and turning away from the evil intents of this world.

Today we look at the rest of Jesus’ directive....
“...and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you.” John 15:5

Choosing to ‘abide in Christ’ is only the first step; the second is to live out this choice by “doing” the abiding. It is by following these steps that the ASK promise comes alive. Being aligned with the heart of God is a prerequisite to knowing what to ask for. If I am in agreement with Him then His desires will be central in my very being and “it shall be done”. Note: For me this often requires some re-alignment.

ABIDE AND ASK ... in that order!

What a serious challenge...I’m working on it. Will you join me?

The law of the Lord is perfect refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right giving joy to the heart. May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Psalm 19: 7, 8 & 14

©2020 SPORTMOMS & MORE | 1514 Segovia Circle – Vero Beach, FL 32966

THE "IF's" of ABIDING

6/3/2020

Our word for 2020 "Abide" is highlighted in our verse for this unusual year. In John 15:5 Jesus reminds us to "abide in me and I in you..." Is there a key to this abiding? Yes!

God’s Word lists 4 “IF’s” that bring us into full relationship with Him just it did for His chosen people, the Israelites...

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14

For those of us who are called by His name, these “IF’s” are true today...

#1 IF WE ARE HUMBLE BEFORE HIM - fully know that we don’t know
#2 IF WE REMAIN IN PRAYER WITH HIM - Listen first - Express needs last
#3 IF WE SEEK HIS ANSWERS - watch for His answers - they will come
#4 IF WE TURN FROM EVIL - steer clear of wrong and do what is right

As we ABIDE in these 4 “IF’s”, our mighty God promises us 3 things...

#1 HE WILL HEAR - we all want to be heard
#2 HE WILL FORGIVE - a clean heart is a happy heart
#3 HE WILL HEAL - a new spirit and purpose will be ours

PRAYER: Our Father in Heaven, I stand before you with bold resolve to do what you have asked of me. In humility before you, always in prayer with you, seeking only your answers and turning from the evil that surrounds me, I put my trust in you. Thank you for hearing, forgiving and healing me. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.
FOR STRENGTH...ABIDE IN THE 4 "IF’s".

©2020 SPORTMOMS & MORE | 1514 Segovia Circle – Vero Beach, FL 32966

A BIG SHOUT OUT!

5/13/2020

One year ago my sister was laying in ICU at UCLA Medical Center the victim of a horrific car crash. First Responders were convinced that she would not make it, the sheriff took her personal items with him thinking that he would be delivering them to the coroners office in the morning and the hospital could not reach her family through the night as they tended to her life threatening injuries...concussion, teeth knocked out, broken neck, broken ribs, crushed hip, broken pelvis, broken leg, crushed knee, and extremely severe internal injuries with all major organs pushed 4+ inches up into her lung. These were grave and heart-wrenching hours. Prayers went up for her literally around the world as the news spread.

God spared her life with her arms untouched, no lacerations to her face and her mind about her. With a weakened body she spent 2 months in ICU care followed by nursing home care. She since has been in the loving care of her family to slowly recover. With the pins in her knee finally removed and a complete hip replacement accomplished this past year was one of strength-building and learning to walk again...and she did! The internal injuries that required extensive surgery caused digestive and food intake issues which are now settling down.

How could this be? It is her constant dependence on and praises to our gracious God. Here are her recently written words...

A big shout out to the Doctors: This past year, I’ve seen the importance of Doctors up close and personal. They’ve made a profound difference in my life so I definitely pause and give them the honor due.

What happened: Eleven months ago, my awareness of a Doctor’s importance, sky rocketed. I was about ready to buckle up, start my car and drive away from the beach, when a drunk driver hit me, traveling at over 100 mph. It slammed into my car, ran it through a rod iron fence and over an embankment, totaling it. Upon impact I was knocked out. I woke the next day in the ICU, hanging on for life, Christians from all over the world praying for me.
A God given conglomerate of trained professionals were there for me at just the right time.

My faith in God: At a tender age of four, I received Jesus, kneeling in prayer before God with my Mom in our front room. Throughout my life, He continually calms any storm and this one, even though by far the biggest, has been no exception. I thank Him for every prayer and for His answers to those prayers. Not only was I covered in prayer but the Doctors also were covered in prayer. They are God’s special agents, ready and able, and I’m thankful for each one of my 7 or so specialists. For this and for prayers bringing me through, I give God the glory.
A BIG SHOUT OUT TO OUR GRACIOUS GOD!

And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory. For our present troubles ...(will) produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! 2 Corinthians 4:16-17

©2020 SPORTMOMS & MORE | 1514 Segovia Circle – Vero Beach, FL 32966

WHEN STUCK ABIDE!

5/6/2020

The first Wednesday of each month is focused on our word for 2020 - "ABIDE".

Sometimes it is ‘stuck in a rut’. Other times it is ‘stuck in the mud’. Or it can be ‘stuck with someone or something’. Then there is ‘getting stuck on what could or should have been’. We can also get stuck in something we do very well...but shouldn’t be doing it at all.

Growth is painful. Change is painful. But there is nothing as painful as staying stuck somewhere you don’t belong. Unknown

Consider the words of UCLA’s famously successful basketball coach, John Wooden, “Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.”

ABIDING in the ‘stuckness’ doesn’t mean standing still in it...rather we are called to use it as a springboard toward God’s purpose for our lives. Relief from being stuck is found in these powerful words from Christ himself...

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who abide in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

When stuck, abide in Christ. Attach yourself to the perfect, good, and powerful vine of our heavenly Father. Wake up each day, open your heart to Him, and experience the plan He has for you. Remember: Jesus was stuck on the cross...we are the fruit of it.

PRAYER: I want to abide in you, Lord, as I navigate through my ‘stuckness’. Help me to remember that apart from you I am nothing. Thank you for allowing me to be grafted into your vine bringing me strength and purpose. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.

LET YOUR STUCKNESS COUNT... ABIDE IN CHRIST!

©2020 SPORTMOMS & MORE | 1514 Segovia Circle – Vero Beach, FL 32966

AFTER THE STORM

4/29/2020

All storms are challenging and some are also very frightening. We get through them but it is often what it has left behind that becomes the longer-lasting and perhaps more difficult challenge.

Riding out the storm of losing a child nearly 28 years ago continues to impact our lives today. The changes that it brought about re-landscaped our entire future.

Jesus commanded of the storm on the Sea of Galilee to be still, but it was what He said to his frightened disciples that challenges me today...

"He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” Mark 4:39-40

The storm had passed but the challenge to faith-filled living was still on the table.

Consider this...Jesus reminds us to trust Him through the storm and challenges us to move ahead in faith AFTER THE STORM. He wants us to rest in Him knowing that we are safe even when we don’t think we are. He can calm the storm but, more importantly, He wants us to rest in His presence both during and after the storm.

The secret lies in the fact that it is not just Jesus’ ability to take away the storm but in the knowledge and understanding that He is in it. He is with us in the storm as we go through it and AFTER THE STORM as we pick up the pieces. His promise is to see us through it all.

PRAYER: Thank you for being with me through the storms and in all that comes after them even when I don’t see it. The sweet calm of your presence is what I need. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

 STUCK IN A STORM? TRUST JESUS AND MOVE FORWARD!

©2020 SPORTMOMS & MORE | 1514 Segovia Circle – Vero Beach, FL 32966

COULD HAVE...

4/22/2020

The ‘coulda-woulda-shoulda’ imprint is on my life quite regularly. When the result does not seem good, regret is inevitable. Living with regret, in turn, can become a handicap to abundant living...what a trap this can create.

So what do we do with these words of our Savior when regret knocks at our door?

"I came that they may have life, and have it more abundantly." John 10:10

While reminding us of His purpose for being here, He offered us His promise of rich, full, and satisfying lives even through our regrets. Knowing this we can look back at our past, see how it brought us to the present and move forward trusting His presence as He leads us through life. What we see as mistakes may be the very path that leads us to the abundant life He came to bring.

Pastor Rick Warren recently published these provoking thoughts...

“God could have kept Joseph out of jail, kept Daniel out of the lion’s den, kept Jeremiah from being tossed into a slimy pit, kept Paul from being shipwrecked three times, and kept the three Hebrew young men from being thrown into the blazing furnace — but he didn't. He let those problems happen, and every one of those persons was drawn closer to God as a result.”

These old song lyrics echo through my mind about Christ’s ultimate sacrifice - no coulda-woulda-shoulda here...

He could have called 10 thousand angels to destroy the world and set Him free - He could have called 10 thousand angels... but He died alone for you and me!

OUR GOD COULD HAVE... BUT HE ALWAYS HAS A GREATER PURPOSE!

©2020 SPORTMOMS & MORE | 1514 Segovia Circle – Vero Beach, FL 32966

LONELY-ITIS

4/15/2020

Loneliness is a plague all of its own. It can sneak up on us when we are surrounded by meaningful projects or even in a crowd. It can come through relationship dissolution or death of a loved one. It easily smothers our hope and dampens our spirit. It is “LONELY-ITIS”.

The good news is that there is a cure for this condition. It is found in a relationship with our Creator.

“Loneliness is being unaware of the One who is with us everywhere.” (unknown)

In Psalm 56 verse 13, we witness the resolve of one who has been lonely. Driven out of his country and into the caves to hide away all alone, God surrounded David in his loneliness...

“...Now I walk before God in the light of life!”

David was alone, but not lonely. Being alone doesn’t have to end in LONELY-ITIS. Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to be with us, to comfort us and fill our aloneness when he said...
“I will never leave you or forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5b NIV

PRAYER: I will walk close by you. Your presence is my comfort, my shield and my guide. Thank you for being in me, around me, before me and behind me...for filling my lonely moments with your word. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.

CONQUER LONELINESS...STROLL WITH GOD IN THE SUNLIT FIELDS OF HIS WORD!

©2020 SPORTMOMS & MORE | 1514 Segovia Circle – Vero Beach, FL 32966

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About the Author...
JANET BROWN

As a veteran coach's wife, Janet invites you to join her in "Changing the world for Christ...one athlete at a time".Through the language of sports and life experiences, Janet uniquely exposes the character of God and His desire for "sportmoms" to WIN BIG in life. Her behind-the-bench view invites us into a world of triumphant wins and tragic personal loss.

LIFE EXPERIENCE

From being a mother of 2 to a spiritual mom to many, the road of life for Janet includes these hallmarks:

- Gave her "heart to Jesus" at 6 years old
.
- Studied Education/ Psychology at a Christian College

- Enjoyed earning her wings and flying as a Flight Attendant

- Is the wife of Coach Dave Brown since 1967.

- Involved in ministry to women for 30+ years including: Retreat Facilitator and speaker, Bible Study leader, National Women's Ministry Leader

- Held an executive position in the corporate world for 35 years.

- Developed and taught Pre-married and Marriage classes with her husband for 12 years.

Currently is a writer, grandmother to 4 and a coach's wife.

CONTINUE TO ABIDE

GOD IS AT WORK - ABIDE!

TOTAL ABIDING

ABIDE AND ASK

THE "IF's" of ABIDING

A BIG SHOUT OUT!

WHEN STUCK ABIDE!

AFTER THE STORM

COULD HAVE...

LONELY-ITIS

About the Author...
JANET BROWN

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About the Author... JANET BROWN

Archives

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About the Author...
JANET BROWN