Hello Family,
Those who follow major league baseball know the 2008 World Series was represented by The National League’s Philadelphia Phillies and The American League’s Tampa Bay Rays.
According to the previous year’s stats, Tampa Bay’s regular season record was 66 wins and 96 losses and they finished in last place. Their regular season record in 2008 was 97 wins and 65 losses, they finished in second place behind the Los Angeles Angels and they played in the World Series.
Also, the previous years the team’s name was abbreviated TBD and currently it is TBR. What happened to the D? The D represented Devil. Tampa Bay used to be called the Devil Rays but they decided to drop the Devil and go with Rays.
Since the team’s inception in 1998, the team has only finished out of last place twice. They stayed in the gutter just about every year.
In November 2007, majority owner Stuart Sternberg decided to make drastic changes and rename his team the “Tampa Bay Rays”, which he described as “A beacon that radiates throughout Tampa Bay and across the entire state of Florida.”
To me it sounds like a light shining in the darkness.
When are you going to drop the Devil out of your life?
1 Peter 5:8-9 says Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.
A lot of our problems come from the fact that we keep the devil in our lives. We claim to be doing the right thing but in reality, there is sin that’s holding us back.
We engage in lying, fear, hatred, despising correction, fornication, lust, being a false witness, envy, stealing, adultery, abortion, bitterness, astrology, abusing children, divorce, complaining, pride, speaking evil of others, and slothfulness all on a daily basis and we wonder why we aren’t winning. We wonder why we’re in last place all the time.
In order to win we need to resist the devil and be firmly fixed in the faith of Jesus. Our victory comes from removing the devil out of our lives and avoiding danger.
As a child of God you are a winner and losing is not an option so step up to the plate, get a good grip on the bat and hit a gland slam home run for Jesus!
Be Encouraged and Have a Great Day!