Football

Siri, Alexa, My Phone, or God?

/ Mark Brady / Leave a comment

People have claimed that their phones are always listening to their conversations. They know this because after mentioning something, advertisements in their Facebook account start showing up for that item. Kinda creepy! Then there is the police department in California that wanted to subpoena the Alexa unit in a home where a murder had been committed. They know the device had to have heard the conversation before the person was killed. I believe, if I remember right, they were denied access to its records.

So, these devices and our phones are constantly monitoring what we say. So is God. He is always listening to us, whether it is a cry for help, to accept him, or if we are asking for an answer to a question. Also, God delights in blessing his children, being those who believe in him and have accepted his Son, Jesus.

The week before the writing of this post, I mentioned to April that I would like to go to an arena football game here in the city where we live. I enjoy football a lot. I think, since I was seven, I have only missed watching one Super Bowl. That was in 2019. At that time, I was living in the Philippines after marrying April. I looked online, and the cost of tickets wasn’t too bad for seats in the corner of one of the end zones. She agreed to go, but for some reason, I couldn’t pull the trigger to order the tickets. I was okay with that.

Then, at the beginning of this week of this post, April texted me a photo of an arena football game promotion. Free tickets, first come, first serve, to the very Saturday night game I was going to purchase tickets for. I was so excited as I went through the process of getting the tickets. I also felt so loved on by my heavenly Father. After I received my confirmation, I then knew and understood why I felt uneasy about buying tickets the week before. God wanted to provide and bless me.

I don’t have Siri or Alexa, and my phone didn’t have anything to do with me getting free tickets or learning about the promotion. But what I do have is a loving God who delights in blessing me with the desires of my heart from time to time.

4 Take delight in the Lord,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the Lord;
    trust in him and he will do this:
6 He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
    your vindication like the noonday sun. Ps. 37:4-6 (NIV)

Copyright © 2024 Mark Brady  All Rights Reserved

1st and Goal

/ Mark Brady / 2 Comments

Football is a game of inches. The playing field may be 100 yards long, but an inch can make the difference in a win or a loss. A couple of weeks ago, the Chicago Bears played the Washington Commanders. Time was running out. This was going to be the last play of the game. Justin Fields threw the ball to Darnell Mooney, who was stopped just inches from the goal line, and thus instead of winning the game, the Bears lost. And in the year 2000, the Tennesse Titans lost the biggest game of any professional football season, The Superbowl, by 1 yard to the then St. Louis Rams. 12 little inches.

Many great writers have made parallelisms between life and the game of football. Today is my turn. (Not that I consider myself one of those great writers.) You may be at this moment in the game of your life. You are fighting to win, be victorious, to be an overcomer. You might be considered the underdog, and if you read my blog post a couple of weeks ago, you know how I feel about underdogs. People may even be betting against you while telling you you’re going to make it. What God has called you to do may look like it will never happen. You may be thinking the game is over.

You might find yourself with time about to run out, but in your heart, you know there is still just enough time to reach the goal. Your enemy may be taunting. Telling you, “Stay down! It’s over!” And in the flesh, it may look true, but the truth is this; the game isn’t over, and you have a secret weapon. You have on your team the power of almighty God. Remember, you are not in the game of life alone. Jesus is right there and knows exactly what you are going through because he was in the game and won. He overcame even death, death on a cross.

“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. Heb. 13:5b (NIV)

And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! Phi. 2:8 (NIV)

So stay on the field. Stay in the game. You don’t have a backup player to come into the game and do what God has called you to do! You are anointed for the task at hand. You got this! You can do it. Look at where you are on the field. It’s 1st and goal.

Copyright © 2022 Mark Brady. All rights reserved.