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Face Like Flint

Last night the Miami Heat beat the Boston Celtics to tie the Eastern Conference Finals series...but this is not a sports blog. I mentioned that because I watched part of the game and I noticed something different about the small forward (sometimes called point guard) LeBron James. He never cracked a smile. Not even an upturned lip corner. Nothing. He was as stoic as they come because he was about the business. By himself, he put 45 points on the scoreboard for the Heat.



This morning as I remembered the stern, almost menacing visage, I thought of the words of Isaiah the prophet: "Therefore have I set my face like flint and I know I will not be put to shame." (Is. 50:7 NIV). LBJ's face was like flint last night. He was on a mission and nothing was going to throw him off his game. So the normally jovial guy who looks like he's having fun on the court became a serious player with nothing but victory in sight.

That is how we ought to be as Christians. There are times to be fun-loving and carefree.....oh, but there are times when we have to set our faces like flint. Just like the Miami Heat in this leg of the playoffs, we can sometimes get an early lead out in front of our adversary. What's worse is that since it seemed that we won those early battles so easily, we get a little lackadaisical. All of a sudden, our early victories are vastly overshadowed by a series of hard-fought defeats.

Now if it wasn't there before, this is the point when you get the fire in your belly. This is when you set your face like flint and stand on the Word of God and declare in no uncertain terms: "NO WEAPON FORMED AGAINST[ME] SHALL PROSPER!!" (Is. 54:17 KJV). And because the Lord God will help you, you will not be put to shame (see Is. 50:7).

Now you know, just because I wrote this and just because you are reading it, we will be challenged....soon. So let's make an inconvenient pact, you and me. Let us promise, with God Himself bearing witness, that we will stand on His word and set our faces like flint when next the enemy attacks. Then we'll just let the Lord handle the rest. Agreed?

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