I absolutely love hockey. In fact, many evenings during the winter and spring months, you can find me in front of the TV cheering on my favorite NHL team – the Edmonton Oilers! As a kid growing up in Canada, I had aspirations of NHL greatness and Stanley Cup victories. Imagine the disappointment, after giving it my best, when I realized the skill set required to continue my NHL dreams was not part of my reality. I didn’t quite have the “right stuff” to move forward.

At this point, I had two options: Dwell on thoughts of inadequacies and shortfalls that caused the defeat of my childhood dreams – or take the passion that surrounded these dreams and carry it into a journey of new interests, dreams, and goals.  As it’s said: The rest is history. The Lord helped me discover an interest in communications which has led to a fulfilling career in radio!

The world is inundated with messages telling us how we need to act, play and live in order to be successful. It is easy for us to get caught in traps. The enemy enjoys taking a small negative thought (such as inadequacy) and amplifying the emotion to such a degree it can render us ineffective to the work of Christ. He’s a master at taking shortcomings and mistakes from our past to attempt to cause defeat in our walk with Christ in the present and future.

Please remember, friends, as Paul reminds us in Romans 8:1, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Why is this? Paul continues in verse 2, “…because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free.”  (NIV)

Maybe this is where you find yourself today – feeling inadequate or coming up short. Maybe you feel like you have been watching from the bench. If you do feel this way, please know that God sees you in a completely different light and He wants you to get back out there on the ice! Your freedom from the enemy’s lies (condemnations) comes from Christ! You are enough!

The next time you get caught up in the enemy’s lies, know this is how God sees you:

You are Loved – John 3:16 (NLT) – For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

You are His – 1 John 3:1 (NLT) – See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him.

You are Worthy – Zephaniah 3:17 (ESV) – For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.

You have a Purpose – Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV) – For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

You have been Justified and Redeemed – Roman 3:23-24 (NLT) – For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

You are no longer a Slave to Sin – Romans 6:6 (NLT) – We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

You are a New Creation – 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT) – Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

You are CHOSEN – Ephesians 1:4 (NLT) – Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love.

Blessings,