Monday, June 20, 2016

June 20, 2016 - My "DADDY" Can Whip Your "Daddy"

Well last night a lot of folks were surprised as the Cleveland Cavaliers did the unthinkable and became the first team in NBA Finals history to come back from a 3-1 deficit and win the series; and on top of that they accomplished by winning two of the games on the home court of the Golden State Warriors that had broken the all-time single season win total during the regular season. Many did not give the Cavs a chance before the series began; yet almost all gave them no chance once they feel down 3-1…

And let’s face it, beyond the talk of the teams was even more talk about LeBron James and Steph Curry (as though you have to say one is bad to proclaim the other is good… just for the record… both are really, really good!) But LeBron tends to be the most polarizing player in the NBA; people either love him or hate him, proclaim him as King James or Queen James. (All LeBron did was respond to the haters by leading the series [both teams] in points, assists, rebounds, blocks, and steals. I’ve heard of some say a player had his “fingerprints on a series”… I guess you could say LeBron “palmed the series” with leading 5 major statistical categories.)

The debate basically became “my MVP can beat your MVP!” It reminded me with Father’s Day being yesterday of little boys claiming “my daddy can beat your daddy!” Coach Jon admitted last night that as a kid he heard a kid mention his dad’s new four-wheel-drive truck, and Jon not wanting to be outdone proclaimed his dad had a “six-wheel-drive”… We love to one-up others.

Last night I opened up to 1 Kings 18 which is one of my favorite stories in the Bible. This one involved the prophet Elijah came out of hiding to confront King Ahab who had orders out to kill Elijah. When Elijah gets face to face with Ahab, Ahab ask him “is that you, O troubler of Israel?” (vs 17) Ahab was blaming the messenger…

Elijah responds in vs 18 that it is not he that troubled Israel but instead Abab and his “father’s house” because they had “forsaken the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals.” Elijah goes on to get the debate started by claiming that his God (Jehovah) can beat Ahab’s god (Baal), and challenges all the prophets of Baal and Asherah. It is a well-known story (if you haven’t read it then give it a look) where the prophets of Baal spend all day trying to get their god to answer with fire to burn a sacrifice… and Elijah spends the time mocking them and questioning their allegiance to a god that is apparently “sleeping.” (vs 27) Then Elijah calls on Jehovah and fire comes down from heaven to burn up the altar built to Him.

This week’s devotion is a simple question/statement made by Elijah before the challenge began: “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” (vs. 21)

“… He that is in you is greater than he who is in the world!” (1 John 4:4)

Sing with me…
“Our God is greater, our God is stronger, God you are higher than any other!
And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us? And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?” (Chris Tomlin)

If you believe this to be true then live accordingly… what if our lives truly celebrated God’s greatness?

1 Kings 18:39 “Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, ‘The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!’”

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