WE HAVE MOVED

The STAND has moved. We now have a fully functioning website at http://thestand613.webs.com/ All of the previous posts from this blog have been moved over to the new site under the "Blog" tab. We also have a Discussion Board, a Calender and many other new features. Please check out our new site and let us know what you think. Feel free to sign the Guestbook or become a Member of the site. Everything is completely free. Thanks again for all of the continued support you have given us. It inspires us to keep going. God Bless.

Making The Adjustment

"Make the Adjustment." This is a phrase that is constantly used in the sports world. Sports is all about making adjustments. It is about learning how to handle the situations you are given and make the most of them. If an athlete is not willing to make an adjustment then he/she is not going to have a very successful career. If a batter has a weakness in his swing and is not willing to make the adjustment, through practice, to fix it then every pitcher will soon know about it and many strikeouts will be in that batters future. Adjustments are in every facet of every game there is in sports. In basketball, if your shot is slightly off then it is going to be a long night. You have to find ways to make a small adjustment and get back in your game. The players that want it bad enough always find ways to make the adjustment. They are never satisfied with where they are and are always looking to get better. Even if that means coming in early and staying late to work on one little thing. Who knows if that one little thing could turn them from a average player to a great player. Making adjustments are also found in our everyday lives off the field of play. They surround us all the time. Think briefly about how many things in last week didn't go as you had originally planned. Maybe you had a schedule planned out of how you wanted things to work and certain circumstances changed your plans. What did you have to do? You had to make an adjustment so that things would work out. The same goes for our spiritual lives. We are obviously going to fail at times, Romans 3:23, but we must be able to make the adjustments to keep from putting ourselves in that same situation again. We must rid ourselves of the things causing us to sin. Mark 9:43-48 says, “And if the hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.” Not everything will always go as we planned it out in our minds but we must always remember that God has an ultimate plan for us and we have to be able to adjust to anything that is thrown at us. We have to be able to hit the curve balls in life. The apostle Paul shows us a great example of making the adjustment. Here was a man who was persecuting Christians. Killing them left and right and thinking he was doing the right thing. Then, later in life, this same man was able to say, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." 2 Timothy 4:7-8. Paul made the ultimate adjustment. He was brought to realize the wrong in his previous life and changed his path. That's what making the adjustment is really all about, finding a way to change your path. If what your doing is not working then change it. If its not working now then its not going to start working tomorrow. Make the adjustment, start a new path, and get headed in the right direction. Just as in sports, life is full of adjustments that we must make in order to be successful. Are you willing to make the adjustment?

-Ben Stevenson