Tag Archives: inspiration and motivation

S.A.N.S. Episode 333: I Surrender All

Posted on December 31, 2022 by expressyourself4him

As someone who struggled to stay awake in church as a teenager, I probably missed several messages that God wanted me to hear. Then again, as Jesus often said to his followers, “let them who have ears hear,” Mark 4:9. It’s one thing to hear what a teacher says in class. Yet, to apply this advice by putting it into practice takes a combination of conviction, inspiration and motivation. This is the spiritual place that Clay Crosse reached when writing I Surrender All.

Because if you acknowledge and confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart believe (adhere to, trust in, and rely on the truth) that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart a person believes (adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Christ) and so is justified (declared righteous, acceptable to God), and with the mouth he confesses (declares openly and speaks out freely his faith) and confirms [his] salvation. 11 The Scripture says, No man who believes in Him [who adheres to, relies on, and trusts in Him] will [ever] be put to shame or be disappointed, Romans 10:9-11.

My initial belief in God was based upon going to church and doing good deeds. This was reinforced within me during my confirmation in the Roman Catholic Church. Unfortunately, I wasn’t introduced to a personal relationship with God until high school through the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. When I accepted Jesus into my heart as my Savior in December of 1984, I was still in control. I had to wait until a retreat in college where the Lordship of Christ was emphasized. Like today’s song, this is when l I was finally willing to surrender everything in my life to Jesus. A new year, 2023, provides an opportunity to do likewise.

by Jay Mankus

Leave a comment

Posted in Truth and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

When You Don’t Have It

Posted on April 1, 2020 by expressyourself4him

Depending upon the day, energy level, focus, inspiration and motivation, results will vary, often drastically. Some days you wake up feeling great, get into a groove early on and finish with a great sense of accomplishment. Unfortunately, these productive days can come and go, disappearing quickly. Then, there are weeks where you just don’t have it. For one reason or another, your normal degree of success drops, far from your normal self.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path, Psalm 119:105.

If you have ever competed in a competition or sporting event, you understand the concept of days when you don’t have it. A series of factors can cause a skilled individual to look like a beginner from time to time. While I’ve spent most of my life playing golf at a high level, I am currently in one of my worst funks in over a decade. Although I have only played four times this year, three of the four rounds have been dreadful. Despite concentrating and focusing, I feel lost, forgetting to apply the core principles which led me to play professionally more than 2 decades ago.

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope, Romans 15:4.

This same mental struggle can affect Christians as well. Depending upon your daily Bible Study, prayer life and worship, it doesn’t take much to start slip sliding away from God. If your life is void of accountability or a mentor, this spiritual slippage may continue for months, a year or longer. According to the apostle Paul, hope can be regained by reading the Bible. I’ve had enough spiritual slides over the last 40 years that I know once your spiritual momentum is broken, it takes twice as long to regain. Yet, the good news is that Jesus came to seek to save that which was lost, Luke 19:10.

by Jay Mankus

Leave a comment

Posted in Truth and tagged , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.