Christian Devotionals and Scripture Applied to Everyday Life

Anyone involved in business knows the importance of networking. You can hardly attend a continuing education class without discussing business networks of friends or associates and searching for opportunities to use it to further your goals. This supportive system for sharing information and services is best utilized when each party gives selflessly to the other. By working together, all those involved reap benefits.

"How many passes before a shot? "Four" "How many? "Four" These are the words of Norman Dale, a teacher and head basketball coach of a country high school in the fictional town of Hickory, Indiana. As is typical of midwestern small-town America, Hickory is passionate about basketball. Dale is brought in as head coach to try to revive the winning spirit. With only a few team members, he sets out to break down the "it's all about me" mentality. Much to the skepticism of the town leaders, he dismisses any players who do not take teamwork seriously. Last week Dad and I visited the gymnasium in Knightstown, Indiana, where this award-winning movie Hoosiers - the true story of the 1954 (set in 1952 in the movie) Indiana Boys High School Basketball State Champion Milan High School - was filmed. We went down into the locker room where the voice of Coach Dale still echoes in the claustrophobic, concrete room. During one scene, Coach sternly reprimanded the players for not following his direction. Even when it seemed like some of the individuals were able to sink hoops on their own, he demanded that they work as a team. He knew that the benefits of teamwork outweighed the benefit of one or two hotshots playing alone.

I felt the heat rising to my face as I listened to the voice on the other end of the phone line. It had started as a normal workday with pleasant conversations until this call rang in. While I tried to keep my voice steady the irate patron berated me for a perceived slight when all I had done was try to help. I couldn't help but feel like Emily did this past week when she received a call that a snowplow had smashed into her parked car in the Wright State University parking lot. She had driven to school, parked the car, and went to her first class only to be interrupted by a phone call informing her of the accident. Now I sat in my office chair feeling as if a snowplow had just run over me, too, and I was HOT!!!

No one likes to have their words taken out of context. This happens a lot today and especially when someone is interviewed by the media. Because they cannot possibly publish all of the words that were spoken, an interviewer will often pick and choose which quotes he wants to publish. This can lead to misunderstandings of what was actually said. We all laugh at the time when Luke, John-Keith, and Nathan were interviewed about their 4-H animals during our county fair. They were so excited about the possibility of having their picture in the local paper. The next day when they unrolled the daily publication, all three were thrilled to find their faces smiling from the page . . . until they saw the caption underneath. All of us, except John-Keith, broke into laughter when we saw it read, "Luke Sheridan, Nathan Sheridan, and their friend John." Where did the reporter get that? Somewhere in the interpretation, the journalist misheard the names and relationships (sorry, John-Keith). There was no harm done with this funny mistake, but it is a different matter when we take God's words out of context. Every one of God's words, as recorded in the Scripture, were written by men who were under the control of the Holy Spirit.  They did not write down their own thoughts and feelings, but only what God told them to record.

God's promises never fail! Even when faced with the impossible this is a God-Fact you can rely on. Recently, while attending a real estate continuing education course, I listened to a lecture on contracts. In our business, we deal with contracts all the time. There are listing contracts, purchase contracts, and auction contracts, to name a few. In order for these contracts to be valid, both parties to the contract must agree to the terms and sign their names showing that they intend to uphold their side of the deal. These are called bilateral contracts. A unilateral contract is different. In this case, one party (the offeror) makes an express promise to do something in exchange for a specific action by another party (the offeree.) Once the action is completed by the offeree, then there is only one promise that needs to be kept.  Abraham comes to mind as I consider the unilateral contract. In Genesis 12 God called Abraham to leave his country, his people, and his father's household to go to a land that He would show him. God then made a promise to him that 1) He would make him into a great nation; 2) He would make his name great; 3) He would bless those who blessed him and curse those who cursed him, and 4) that through him all the peoples of the earth would be blessed.

How can you ensure that your prayers are answered? This is something most of us would love to know.  In today's verse, Jesus explains the answer. When you spend a lot of time with someone you begin to think alike. Have you ever finished a good friend's sentence for them? Nowadays some people play a game where when they say the same words at once they each yell, "Jinx!"  It's a fun way of acknowledging that they had the same thoughts at a given moment. This is more likely to happen the better you know the person. Jesus was giving final instructions to his disciples the night before He was to go to the cross. These men had spent three years in Jesus' company learning from Him and getting to know Him. They were now on the verge of going into the world to spread the Gospel message of His death and resurrection that would bring life to all who would believe. The power to accomplish this task would come from the Holy Spirit and through prayer. It was essential that the disciples understand how to go about this.