LOVE and GOLF

It’s not too surprising that after almost a week of severe thunderstorms, ridiculously strong winds, flash flooding, softball size hail and a tornado or two, that the golf course would be extra crowded with today’s beautiful weather, complete with deep blue skies, a slight breeze and a temperature forecasted to reach into the lows 80’s!  And they were a boisterous and happy group with lots of joking, loud music playing from most golf carts and many hearty “Good Morning’s” as Fiver and I walked past them on our way to the neighborhood park and pond.

From what I’ve observed over the few years that we lived here, the early morning golfers are normally the ones who LOVE the game and come out in just about any weather.  Today’s perfect atmosphere just added to their pleasure!  For these guys (As the far majority of the early group are men.  The gals tend to come out in the afternoon!), the game of golf is an important part of their lives… you could say that golf holds an important place within their lifestyle.

In my last blog post* I posed the observation that, in general, “CHRISTIANS DON’T EXPECT ENOUGH FROM GOD.”  For you see… as I have studied the Bible over the years, I’ve come to realize that the truth of the GOODNESS of God and His desire to be the “exceeding, abundantly above all”** provider in every aspect of our lives, is a trend that flows throughout both the Old and New Testaments.

Now, the next logical question for most of us would be, “How do I get this to happen in my life?”  Well, looking back on my early morning golfer’s example, in order for this to become a regular event in our lives… you and I have to make it to become a part of our lifestyle! 

I am not a golfer myself, but from what I see in the folks out on our neighborhood course as well as the many avid golfers that I’ve known personally over the years, these folks think about golf and their golf game all the time!  When they are not physically on the course, they’re talking about it, watching it on TV, listening to discussions about golf on sports talk radio or reading about it in magazines!

From what little I know about playing the game, the foundation of a good golfer all has to do with their form each and every time they swing the club and touch the ball… and believe me… I hear a lot of laughing, joking, verbal digs and even some cursing when someone doesn’t follow all the way through their swing.  We’ve almost been hit a few times from golfers slicing the ball off the course and onto the walking path next door!  We even find errant balls on a fairly regular basis on our front and back lawns… which aren’t located anywhere near the path that the balls should being heading!

I’ve discovered in my greatest times of need… and especially when Piper was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s… that the foundation for every believer’s faith needs to be based on the form of understanding that we have concerning how much God loves each of us.  The Father’s revelation to me back in 2008, in which He graphically detailed the depth of intimacy in which He loved Piper and I, is what kept me strong, kept my EXPECTATIONS on His being faithful to the promises His Word high and helped me to get up each and every day with a smile on my face, during and after the 12 years that followed.

I noticed this morning how Romans 5:5 connects the dots between the importance of our EXPECTATIONS and the LOVE of God in our daily lives.  Paul wrote,

“And our EXPECTATION (in God and His Word) is not a disappointing fantasy, because (through it) we can now experience the endless LOVE of God cascading into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who lives in us!”  (TPT - personalized) 

You see, the more we KNOW and EXPERIENCE the LOVE of God in our lives, the more our EXPETATIONS of His “exceeding, abundantly above all”** grows… and the cycle of the “endless love of God cascading into our hearts” continues and becomes entrenched in the daily style of our lives!” 

And like most golfers, before you know it, you’ll be talking about the LOVE of God and of your EXPECTATIONS of His Word working in your lives… all the time!  You’ll find that you want to know more about it from His Word, you’ll want to practice it and rejoice when you see it become a regular event in your daily experiences!  After a while you’ll simply find yourself in LOVE with God in His Word to such a level that you’ll EXPECT HIS BEST… all the time!

Just the way that God EXPECTS it to be in each of our lives!

Have a terrific weekend as we celebrate all the Moms in our families… past, present and to come!  For me… I pray a special Happy Mother’s Day to Piper, the mother of our four children as well as to my Mom and Piper's mom… who are all rejoicing in heaven with their Moms!

 

*http://pjberruto.blogspot.com/2022/05/currently-trending.html

**Ephesians 3:20 - KJV