Faith in Action

We love football in our house! Thursdays and Sundays, the television is usually reserved for NFL football and we are big Fantasy players. A couple of weeks ago, Directv gifted us with NFL Sunday Ticket for being loyal customers and my husband looked happier than on our wedding day! This last Sunday, while watching the Sunday night highlights, I saw some real action! Which play do you mean, Ebony? Was it Dallas losing? Was it the crazy defensive performance of the Chicago Bears? Nope…while both of those exciting things happened, the real action was Coach Chuck Pagano’s speech to his players after their win Sunday afternoon. It was faith in action!

"I mentioned before the game that you guys were living in vision, and you weren't living in circumstances. Because you know where they had us in the beginning -- every last one of them. But you refused to live in circumstances, and you decided consciously, as a team and as a family, to live in a vision. And that's why you bring things home like you brought things home today. That's why you're already champions, and well on your way. I've got circumstances -- you guys understand it, and I understand it. It's already beat. And my vision that I'm living is to see two more daughters get married, dance at their weddings, and then hoist that Lombardi [Trophy] several times.” (Chuck Pagano, 11/4/12)

When I heard that, my spirit jumped a mile high! Every one of us can plug ourselves into that speech. We all have circumstances but we can choose to live by what God says and believe that we have won. Coach Pagano is facing leukemia but he stood up and basically told the devil that it doesn’t matter what he put in front of him, he was speaking life! How are you facing your circumstances today? A lot of people are facing difficult times right now…marriages are struggling, battles of the mind, sickness, incarceration, but you already have the victory! It’s now been reported that Coach Pagano’s leukemia is in remission! We serve a God that can do the impossible. It’s time to stop forecasting disaster and start speaking victory!

2 Corinthians chapter 4 is a powerful chapter and if I could quote the whole thing I would. I encourage you to read it for yourself, it will truly bless you. God brought me to verse 13 as I was thinking about Coach Pagano. “And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak. “ What are you speaking today? Paul was referring back to Psalm 116:10, where David was praising God for deliverance from death. Despite, struggling, he continued to believe. That’s what we have to do, folks!

It does not matter what you are facing today, the answer has already been provided. Are you sick in your body? Healing has already been provided (Is. 53:5)! Is your mind under attack? I’m here to let you know that you have a sound mind! (1Tim. 1:7) Are you stressed out? God will sustain you, if you cast your burdens on Him! (Ps. 55:22) “No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it.” (1 Cor. 10:13 MSG)

This journey is a faith walk. We are all facing or have faced things that we never expected but God is a great God and He is able to do “exceedingly and abundantly above all that we can ask or think...” (Eph. 3:20 NKJV) If you are in a challenging place in your life, I encourage you to speak the Word of God over yourself, which is life! Coach Pagano set a great example for us, he believes he’s healed and he declared it! It’s time to declare some things over your life! It’s time to see ourselves victorious and live in that victory and kill the power of those circumstances! In the words of Coach Pagano, “It’s already beat!”

AMEN!