Football is here again. In any game of players, they have winners and losers. One team loses and the other one wins.

            Many game plans and strategies are employed to out maneuver the opponent. A lot of fundamentals, training and coaching have preceded the game. Daily exercises and scrimmages help to focus on the goal of winning. Why? To win is the point.

            Have you ever wondered what your game in life is all about? Your goals, purpose and destiny in life depends how you play the game. Our sojourn upon this earth is brief at best. One day our spirits will leave this temple and soar back to our Maker.

            We never have a victory without a struggle. The apostle Paul tells us in Philippians 3:14 to “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” He also tells us to “lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us” (Hebrew 12:1).

             The “Good News” is with Jesus, winning is inevitable. We win! These two little words say it all. We have abundant life because Jesus came “to give us life and to give it more abundantly” (John 10:10). Not only that, but an eternal life here after. The Creator of the universe is on our side and on that final day we win!

            So let’s be positive and upbeat. Yes, life does have difficulties and problems, but we are “more than conquerors through him that loved us. “For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37-39). Because of Jesus, we are winning, even in the hard times.

            I have seen a doctor’s diagnosis change as a result of prayer. I have read accounts of people who were in life threatening situations who came through adversities as a result of prayers.

I have the permission to tell you about a dear friend who can testify to the fact. In his mid eighties he has had a heart bypass and a slight stroke but in spite of these trials he keeps on going. He leads singing in rest homes and a church in Clovis. He builds houses, he has taught Sunday school, is a handyman to those who need repairs, and he’s ready to help anyone who needs help. His motto is, “If you quit working you die.” In all of these he is positive and upbeat because with Jesus, he wins! Yes, this life does have difficulties and problems but he is “more than a conqueror.”

            We are not moved by setbacks and circumstances. Our guide is God’s Word inside of us, the shield of faith is before us and the sword of the Spirit is in us.

            God even sends His angels to watch over us. “For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone” (Psalm (91:12).

            With Jesus we have life here and an eternal one in glory. What could be better than that?

            We may not win the football game preferred but we have a strategy that beats any team on this planet earth because their book of plays and rules will never win the “real game of life.”