Monday, April 15, 2019

April 15, 2019 - Who's in Your Corner? (Whose Corner Are You In?)


This week’s devo is not what I had planned to write… but a very simple thing I was reminded of this morning… I will get to my other thoughts maybe next week…


This morning we were sitting together as a ministry team and one of our guys was sharing a devotion. (It was really good, not only because of content but also atmosphere, as we were looking out over the ocean.) We are on what we have called “The comPASSION Tour”… serving in multiple venues through music and message. One of the things that was brought up this morning was a reminder that we all need good people “in our corner.”


This jumped out at me also because last week I had re-watched the movie Rocky. There is a scene after Rocky gets offered the fight against Apollo Creed where Mickey (an old trainer/manager) goes to Rocky’s apartment to try to convince Rocky to let him train him. I don’t remember all the script but it basically has a frustrated Rocky stating he is going to train himself because Mickey didn’t believe in him in the past… Earlier in the movie it shows that Mickey had given up on Rocky, even though Rocky had wanted Mickey to work with him… so obviously Rocky is hurt. And now that the big fight is in the picture, Mickey is interested and reminding Rocky of the vast experience Mickey possesses…


To make this short, Rocky continues talking to himself about not needing Mickey and eventually comes full circle to realizing he absolutely does need a good cornerman… and a good cut-man… etc.


The reality of life is that we all need that; we need a cut-man for those times when we have been injured… and a good cornerman to give us encouragement and advice.


Who is in your corner? Do you have someone that has been there and knows the ropes… someone that is on your side… someone that wants to see you win? We need to surround ourselves with the right kind of people! Can you imagine a boxer coming back to his corner after a round and being told he has no hope… he is not good enough… etc.?


Are you in someone’s corner? Are you actively being an encourager to others?


A simple truth this week… show me who a man surrounds himself with and I will tell you what kind of man he is. If he has negative nay-sayers around him, he will be a defeated man!


Therefore comfort each other and edify one another… 1 Thessalonians 5:11a


I love this “cornerman” story…


Then Jonathon, Saul’s son, arose and went out to David in the woods and strengthened his hand in God. And said to him, “Don not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. (In your corner) Even my father Saul knows that. 1 Samuel 23:16-17

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