Author: Prayers Admin

I find that when athletes are struggling, the first thing they do is blame someone besides themselves for their problems. The second thing they do is reject coaches’ assignments that would help them end the struggle. Only when athletes can take instruction can they overcome their struggles and solve their problems.

We are a lot like these athletes when it comes to our struggles with God.

Our biggest struggle is the alienation from God caused by sin. Like the athletes who blame others, we blame God. Our sinful human nature insists that He is the One who has abandoned us. However, Scripture states that we abandoned God by following the road of rebellion, which led to separation from God.

How does God help us to remedy that struggle? He places the cross of Christ on that road, so we can see that through faith in Jesus we can receive peace and be reconciled to God (Colossians 1:20). Since our perspective has also been warped by sin, we reject Christ’s cross, demanding, instead, that God provide a solution more palatable to our human nature. However, God is not trying to placate our human nature; He is transforming our sinful nature through His Son. Once the righteousness of Christ is shed in our hearts through the Spirit we are no longer alienated from God.

God’s solution to our problem was to send His Son into the world to die on the cross and end the estrangement. Paul makes it plain that God “reconciled us to himself through Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:18). We no longer have to live alienated from God, because God has done all that is necessary to restore the world, and us, to Himself through Jesus Christ. Paul reiterates, “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:19).

Struggle over. Problem solved.
Photo by Nathan McBride

Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

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A few years ago, I heard the expression “even a flat pancake has two sides,” meaning that every story has two sides. That thought came to mind this morning during the Gospel reading from Mark 8.

In that passage, Jesus explains the suffering He was going to endure, and Peter scolds Jesus for speaking such. Jesus then admonishes Peter with these harsh words, “Get behind me, Satan” (33)! Then He tells him, “You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men” (Mark 8:33). In other words, Peter was looking at only one side of the pancake.

Maybe Peter’s rebuke of Jesus seems appropriate, since he did not want His friend talking about such horrible suffering and death. Peter might have witnessed criminals dying such brutal, grotesque and excruciating deaths at the hands of Rome. He couldn’t picture His Lord enduring such horror.

But even a rugged cross has two sides.

From the human view, Christ’s cross is that of a criminal. It is shameful, humiliating and agonizing. On the front of the cross is Jesus’ bleeding, dying, marred, disfigured body, writhing in pain. This picture was actually God at work redeeming the world through His Son.

However, behind the cross is the glorified Son in His resurrection body. Behind the cross is the reconciled world, the spotless church and the perfect Kingdom of God.

In front of the cross is Christ’s sacrifice for us; behind the cross is His glory and our eternal life.

Photo by Luke Pennystan

Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

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I learned that my cousin, after 30 years of service to a local hospital, will now have to relocate to keep her current position. Another friend has lost his job. My husband has been told there are work projects for him, but nothing crosses his desk. Jobs, careers, relationships, college degrees, happiness, love, and so on and so on; this world guarantees none of it. However, the world does lure us into long hours, stress, heartache and aggravation by promising things and then reneging on the promise.

In God, however, anything that He has promised has been fulfilled and kept through Jesus Christ. Since God has kept His promise of sending a Savior who “takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29) and the Savior has kept His promise and finished God’s work through His sacrifice on the cross and resurrection, then God’s guarantee of eternal life for all who believe is full proof.

To assure the faithful, Paul says God has “anointed us, set His seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come” (2 Corinthians 1:22). The Holy Spirit dwells in the hearts of believers assuring us and testifying to the truth that God’s accomplishments in Jesus Christ will bring us into everlasting life with Him.

We can continue to let the world’s broken promises and false hopes frustrate and exasperate us, or we can listen to the testimony of the Holy Spirit and know He is the deposit guaranteeing us eternal life.

Photo by Chris Liverani

Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

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Focus is essential to gymnastics training. When athletes fail to keep their focus their minds become undisciplined and the result is, as people say these days, “a hot mess.” A loss of focus leads to stumbles and falls, and the gymnast who loses focus will become preoccupied with making excuses and obsessing about fears. Suddenly consistency exits, and confidence wanes.

As Christians, we also have difficulty when we lose our focus on Christ’s cross. The author of Hebrews knew the importance of focus. He writes, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (12:2).

When we take our eyes off the cross, our minds become filled with the fears of this world. Suddenly our faith is shaken, and we begin to doubt God’s love in our lives. We wonder if He hears us when we pray or even cares about our lives. We are, in effect, a hot spiritual mess.

However, when we keep our eyes focused on Christ’s sacrifice, the love of God grows ever larger in our hearts and minds. When we focus on the cross, Christ’s enduring love for us becomes plain, and the grace and mercy of God becomes evident. Focused on the cross we see Jesus’ righteousness, which He imparts to us through the Holy Spirit. Through His righteousness, we can boldly go where sinners dared not go before: God’s throne room.

Photo Courtesy of NASA

Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

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Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

This morning as I was reading through John 14 the Lord grabbed my attention with these words “in my name” (14). After a quick word study, I inserted a different definition for the words in and name. The phrase then read “within my nature.”

This substitution changed my perspective. How many times in prayer do I make requests of God based on His nature? According to Scripture, God’s nature is “compassionate, and gracious . . . slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness . . . and forgiving” (Exodus 34:6-7; Jonah 4:2; Nehemiah 9:17 and Psalm 145:8). These attributes of God are worth praying for. When I ask God to pour His attributes into my corrupt nature, I am asking Him to transform my life into Christ’s likeness. To be formed in the image of God is to allow the Holy Spirit to shape Christ’s perfect qualities into my imperfect life and being. When I pray for others I should be asking God to make them in Christ’s likeness through the power of the Holy Spirit, what I pray Jesus will form in my life through the power of the Holy Spirit. These are the attributes of holy God that I should pray will fill the lives of those around me.

Imagine how dramatically lives will change if we are praying for people to be formed in the nature and likeness of God the Father, as demonstrated by God the Son through the power of God the Spirit? People who are unfaithful will be faithful. Those who have a quick temper will be slow to anger. Friends who are bitter and discontented will find forgiveness. Families will know how to love as Christ loves.

“You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it” (John 14:14). By praying in Christ’s name we are calling on the Holy Spirit to transform and regenerate the world one life at a time.

Photo by Jay Mantri

Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

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Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

During the gymnastics meet season, the coaching staff is focused on the needs of each athlete. This focus can encompass a wide range of concerns, from the coaches’ insisting on adequate nutrition, to practicing the necessary number of skill repetitions, to giving extra time on events for which gymnasts show a weakness, or to taking time off from training. Coaches address an athlete’s weaknesses and deficiencies and create a course of training that addresses these needs.

We humans are always assessing the needs in our life. We are usually focused on them to the point of obsession. But most of our needs are not needs at all. They are physical desires that we pursue in an attempt to overcome our spiritual deficiencies caused by sin. We are broken people using objects or experiences to try to ease our guilt and cover our shame before God. Sin has destroyed our lives and left us lacking the righteous essentials we need to reconcile with God.

On Sundays I visit my friend in a nursing home. We chat. She asks about her friends from church and if anyone is sick. She also wonders what must change so she can go home. She is comfortable and well taken care, but she wants to go back home. Of course, I can’t change her circumstances, but I remind her that there are agencies that could help her.

Driving home I realized that my situation is similar to my friend’s. I also want to return to my lost life in the kingdom of God. However, when Adam rebelled, God locked the door, and, like all sinners, I was banned from re-entry. “After He drove the man out, He placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life” (Genesis 3:24).

As a sinner, I can’t change my circumstances. However, someone came to give me a way home: God sent His agent of change into the world in the person of Jesus Christ. God sent His Son into the world to pay the penalty for all sin. By faith in Jesus’s work on the cross, I can one day return to the Garden. Lent is the time we remember that “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us” (2 Corinthians 5:21), so that through faith in Christ my circumstance would change and the ban on the life-to-come would be lifted.

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Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

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I attend a book study one morning a week at a local restaurant. This week, I arrived a little early and talked with the leader as he buttered a bagel. A few minutes later, several members of the group arrived, and one lady took a seat behind the leader. She settled into the chair. The leader kindly placed a strong hand on the slender shoulder of the woman and slid the bagel in front of her. It was from that simple touch, that gentle gesture that I was made aware that this woman was the man’s wife.

Touch is a powerful communicator. It expresses our deepest emotions when words cannot. A touch makes our thoughts tangible to another. How we touch and how we use touch reveals our character.

Consider the ministry of Jesus. He used touch. He raised a dead girl by taking her hand. He touched a man with leprosy and healed him. He touched Simon’s mother-in-law and cured her fever. And Luke records, “[The] people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying His hands on each one, He healed them” (4:40).

Jesus’s touch communicated the most powerful message in history: God was on earth. Each time Jesus touched a person and brought healing or restored life, His character was revealed. His divine nature, which was hidden in human skin, was manifest through His touch. His human frame testified to the truth of His humanity. His touch, and the signs He performed, testified to the truth that He was God.

Photo: Aaron Lee

Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

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Occasionally we coaches have our older gymnasts demonstrate a skill or drill for our younger athletes so they can get a visual understanding of the trick. We do so on everything from basic body shapes to high-level skills. Giving the younger gymnasts a picture of what has just been explained is very beneficial for them. Once they see the skill, they are in a better position to imitate the actions they’ve seen. A young gymnast can’t attempt a skill without first seeing it done and imitating what she sees. Young gymnasts, in essence, become imitators of their older teammates.

Paul writes in his letter to the Ephesians, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us” (5:1-2). How is it possible for human beings to imitate God? God made sure He sent us an example in Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ modeled a life of perfect obedience to God. He walked among us as an example to demonstrate the life God wants us to lead through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Without the picture of Christ’s perfect life, we can’t live a life pleasing to God, because our sinful life is rebellious to obedience. We need to see that it is possible to live in a manner pleasing to God. Among sinful humanity there was no one to demonstrate an obedient life. And, we couldn’t even attempt to obey God without first seeing it done. So Christ, the perfect man, walked among us, and then He sent the Holy Spirit to dwell within believers so we might live the obedient life to God.

Gian Cescon

Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

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Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2 

As children, many of us were, at one time or another, afraid of the dark. Our parents would remedy the situation with a night light. Though the wattage of these bulbs was low, it cast enough light into the room to chase away the monsters.

As adults we still sometimes find ourselves afraid of the dark in this world. Hostilities in the world, political uncertainty, marital problems, and family hardships can all cast shadows of darkness across our days. Trouble, anxiety, confusion and skepticism have us reaching to turn on the night light. We need something to chase away the uneasiness in our hearts.

Psalm 27:1 reminds us that God gives us His light: “The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?” The everlasting light of God shines in this world. When we look at God all the shadows, grays and darkness of this world are dispelled. Our worries about the day, our angst about life and even our dread of tomorrow are swallowed by the inextinguishable Light of God in Christ. light casts away the darkness of this world and opens our eyes to the reality of God’s glorious kingdom. There- fore, “Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you . . . Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light” (John 12:35, 36).

The Light of Christ shines in this world, so we do not have to be afraid of the dark.

Photo: Rohan Makhecha

Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

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Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

John 4:32 and 34 have intrigued me for a long time, and I am using one period of Lent to study and ask the Holy Spirit to show me what Jesus means in these verses. “I have food to eat that you know nothing about,” and, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work.”

Food is any nourishing substance that sustains life. Substance is the essential part or element of anything and it belongs intrinsically to a thing by its very nature. Jesus is saying that His substance sustains life. That is, His nature sustains life and His nature is divine. He is God. Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:25-26).

However, Jesus also has a human nature and experienced all that we do as humans. God incarnate felt the necessities of life as the Son of Man. Think about this, Jesus needed to eat to sur- vive, yet He is the Lord, the giver of Life. Jesus came to die for sinners, but He had no sin. Jesus died on the cross and was buried but He rose again from the dead. The immortal becomes mortal; God becomes man; and the Crucified becomes the

Risen. Within One Person, Jesus Christ, all the fullness of human nature and the fullness of divine nature exist.

God the Father gave the Son a human existence to accomplish what must be done on the cross so the world would be saved through Him.

Let Jesus, the Son of Man and the Son of God, be your Lenten focus.

Photo by Ahna Ziegler

Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

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Over the weekend, I had an opportunity to watch the sun rise over Chicago. Its rays shimmered across the icy waters of Lake Michigan and bounced off the windows of the high rises and towers reflecting columns of light across the frozen waters. While splashing light across the awakening city, the sun also painted soft hues of pink across the heavens.

I like watching the sun’s glory mingle with man’s magnificent buildings and structures. It reminds me that God and man belong together. Each daybreak is an opportunity to recall that God is exalted over all the earth. Man, as a creature, is to walk with God, the giver of Light, in a posture of humble adoration. As the sun continues to rise higher in the morning sky, God’s abundant light pours into the world, casting out the darkness.

God’s Son mingled on earth a man with men. He said, “While I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (John 9:5). While Jesus was in the world He sent the light of God into the shadows of sin and death, casting out the darkness. He shines brightest on the cross, where the piercing light of Holy God could not be vanquished by the charging forces of darkness. “Light has come into the world” (John 3:19) “and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5).

Brighter than any sun, Christ’s light still shines in the world through the power of the Holy Spirit, who brings the truth to mankind that God and man belong together.

Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

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Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD

Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

I spend a great many hours reminding gymnasts that they must expect to make their routines at a meet. This past weekend, I could tell easily by a gymnast’s body language and facial expressions whether she had expected to perform well at the competition. I could tell who hadn’t, too.

Gymnasts with an attitude of expectation exhibit certain traits at the meet that the others do not display. There is a confidence and calmness about them. I can sense that they trust their coaches and believe that the hours they have spent practicing in the gym have made them ready for the competition.

As Christians we should be living with an expectation: that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will return. Jesus said, “You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him” (Luke 12:40).

Like athletes who expect the expected, Christians should be prepared for the arrival of our Lord. We should also be training for His return. In this way, we will live as an example to the world that Christ will indeed come again. We must be diligent in prayer, asking for Christ to come. We should be invested in the study of Scripture and committed to attending worship.

When we are persistent in our training, our lives will be full of confidence in Christ’s promises, particularly His promise to come again. And we will have the calm assurance of knowing that His return will create a new world and we will be transformed in His likeness. “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2).

Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

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Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD

Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

There is a comfort in knowing what to expect each year. Every year I can predict my day at the Chicago-Style Gymnastic Meet, in Chicago, Illinois. This event is one of my favorite meets of the season. I look forward to it every year. I have an opportunity to see old friends and encounter new ones.

But this year the meet presented something unexpected. I got to experience something new, thanks to a very good friend who invited me to her favorite vegetarian restaurant in Chicago. I ordered a buffalo chicken wrap, made with meatless chicken. (Yes, I know that seems to be an oxymoron.) However, this vegan meatless chicken tasted very similar to chicken. After all these years of not tasting meat, my taste buds were shocked by the taste, and I began to question whether this might actually be meat. It was shocking to taste meat. It was also a delicious surprise.

See, I thought that today was going to be the same. I thought I knew what to expect. But today was very different and new and a blast.

Sometimes we think we know what to expect from God each day, but He very often surprises us. But we must be open to His surprises. He likes to bring the unexpected into our lives. We have to be open to receiving it.

God makes all things new in our lives.

Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

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Several years ago, I chose a vegetarian lifestyle that has helped me keep my body healthy. I supplemented my new lifestyle with additional rules to help me monitor and guard my health. Of course there are times when I break the rules, but my commitment to health is greater than my desire to break the rules.

Becoming a Christian means that we undergo a lifestyle change. We can no longer live according to our “old self with its practices” (Colossians 3:9b), but “have to put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator” (Colossians 3:10).

To help maintain the health of our “new self,” Paul gives us some practical rules to incorporate into our daily lives. In 2 Timothy 2:16 he writes, “Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.” He also wrote, “but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12). And he cautions Timothy to “watch your life and doctrine closely” (1Timothy 4:16). All these rules can be kept only through the power of the Holy Spirit, and we stay close to the Holy Spirit through diligent reading of the Scriptures.

These rules simply offer a means of monitoring the health of our “new self,” and when we keep the rules, we are testifying to our pledge to live in a manner pleasing to Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. Certainly, we will err; however, we should want our commitment to the Lord to be greater than our desire to break the rules.

Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

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Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD

Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

Going into fourth grade, I heard all sorts of horror stories about the teacher. The playground buzzed with upper-level students telling us lowly third graders about the terror of fourth grade and the tyrannical teacher.

I was not looking forward to fourth grade. On the first day, I entered the classroom with great fear and trepidation. My dreams had produced a picture of a Herculean-sized woman standing at the classroom door wielding a paddle in each hand smacking students about like ping pong balls.

As it turned out, the rumors were wrong, and my dreams were even further from the truth. She turned out to be the best teacher I have ever had. Some things you must find out for yourself.

We spend many hours listening to the world tell us about God. It yammers on about how frightful the Lord is. It points to the cross and tells us how unloving the Creator can be. It smears the name of Jesus and ridicules anyone foolish enough to believe in Him. There are many, many rumors about God, and sadly, we listen to them instead of the Holy Spirit.

The truth about God is found in Scripture, not the world. When it comes to finding out who God really is we must find out for ourselves through the help of the Holy Spirit.

“I am the Lord your God, Who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go” (Isaiah 48:17). Does this sound like a frightful tyrant?

Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

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Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

My gym clothes are comfortable and appropriate for work. It is clothing that is useful and functional for the job that I have as a gymnastics coach. I would guess that most of us have work, casual and dress clothes. The malls, lined with retail clothing stores, confirm that we have clothes in our closets for all occasions. We should wear clothing appropriate to specific functions. Depending upon the social engagement, certain types of clothing are expected. A person should not wear beach party attire to a funeral. Nor should anyone wear a muscle shirt and spandex to a wedding.

In Scripture, Jesus tells a parable about a man attending a king’s wedding. The king arrives, and as he greets his guests, he notices one guest has not worn wedding clothes. Without hesitation, the king removes him from the celebration.

God has a dress code. Our carnal human nature is not appropriate dress before the Almighty. Our sinful nature is an affront to God, so it is not welcome in His presence. God Himself sent His Son to die on the cross so that through Him our sinful wardrobe could be changed into a wardrobe of holiness. Through faith in Jesus Christ, we receive apparel fitting to wear in the presence of God.

Isaiah 61:10 says, “I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For He has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness.”

Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

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Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD

Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

People have many reasons for not attending church on Sunday or participating in spiritual activities during the week. In fact, excuses are abundant. For instance, I have heard people say, “I’d like to go to church, but I was up late.” And, “I really should join a Bible study, but I’m just so busy.” Or, “My children would like to attend youth group, but I just can’t add one more thing to my schedule.” These might all seem to be legiti- mate reasons for not observing the Sabbath, but they are, ultimately, excuses. People are not easily roused to action, but they are quick to defend why they don’t act.

These are just typical examples. However, our proficiency in making excuse spills over into other areas of our spiritual lives. Instead of facing and confessing our sin, we make excuses for the sin in our lives. Making an excuse for our sin does not remedy sin. We know the solution is faith in Jesus Christ, but we do not heed the call to come to Christ for salvation, through the power and conviction of the Holy Spirit. Instead, we let sin fester in our hearts, minds and souls. An excuse does not change the condition of sin.

Christ is the change agent. Christ did not come into the world to listen to our excuses for sin. Nor did He come to excuse our sin. Christ came into the world to endure our sin on the cross and take the punishment we deserved for our transgressions against God.

Jesus bled and died for our sin. His atoning sacrifice set us free from sin and its consequence, death. Therefore, we no longer have an excuse for our sin; the cross is God’s divine remedy for sin.

Jesus said, “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin” (John 15:22).

Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

Subscribe to Ordinary Days on iTunes!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ordinary-days/id1339262108

Check Out Denise’s Books!

Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD

Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

Gymnasts frequently struggle with Yurchenko vaults. This skill is very difficult to execute properly because the athlete must run as fast as she can toward the vault table, round off onto the vault board, do a back handspring onto the table, use her hands and shoulders to block (a very quick push) off the table, do a full twist in the air and land. In order for this skill to be powerful, the gymnast must focus on the approach to the table. If they run too slowly and do not get the round off turned over quickly they will have problems blocking off the vault. The approach determines the strength or weakness of the vault.

Likewise, if our prayer lives seem dull and weak, and we think God is not listening, perhaps we should consider our approach to Him. The Lord said to Moses, “Among those who approach me I will show myself holy” (Leviticus 10:3).

When we pray we are entering the presence of Holy God. Still, we tend to ignore the holiness and purity of His essence. We race into His throne room spouting requests, usually without even pausing to appreciate His wonder and majesty. We hasten from His presence without offering Him the respect and homage He deserves. Then we’re baffled when we don’t hear Him answer.

We need to demonstrate adoration of and admiration for God. Part of prayer is learning to sit in awe of God and wait for the Spirit to usher us into His presence. God is eager to grant us audience, but we must approach Him offering the honor due His name.

Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

Subscribe to Ordinary Days on iTunes!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ordinary-days/id1339262108

Check Out Denise’s Books!

Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD

Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

It’s strange for me to be tired. However, the schedule over the last few days has finally taken its toll, and both my mind and body are fatigued. I don’t appreciate the vulnerability that accompanies this state of weariness. I prefer the feelings of power and strength that energy produces. My energy level usu- ally runs on high, so this low is uncharacteristic. But I know that a little rest will recharge my system, and I will be full throttle again tomorrow.

As strange as this feeling is to me, I am reminded of how unusual it had to be to Jesus. In John 4:6, Jesus’ ministry schedule had caught up with Him. He had traveled between Judah and Galilee at least twice and on this day, the trip wore Him out. John says, “Jesus, tired as He was from the journey, sat down by the well.” How strange is it to think that the eternal Son of God sat down because He was tired?

How uncharacteristic for the everlasting God, the immortal, omnipotent God to feel fatigue. He who was infinite in power and might was tired from walking. Perhaps His feet were sore, His legs were weak and His body ached from walking. “Very God of very God” (Nicene Creed) was exhausted.

My own fatigue reminds me of just how much God sacrificed for me. Jesus chose to live the human life, within the limitations of a body. He labored, He tired and He died. God sat down so we could rise up.

Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

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Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD
Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASB
Life Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

As I write this, I’ve just watched Super Bowl XLIX. It will occupy our conversations for the next several weeks. We saw spectacular plays and a stunning conclusion. It was a Super Bowl like no other. And whether your team won or lost the last thing any of us could say was WOW!

The final 30 seconds changed the game. It looked as though Seattle would finish the game as the victors. But that never happened. And the victory went, once again, to the Patriots.

More than 2,000 years ago, history records six hours that changed the world. During those six hours, a Jewish man, Jesus Christ, hung on a Roman cross to die as a felon. It looked as though His death would put an end to His message, purpose and will. Crowds lined the streets to watch this man die. Once the last breath escaped from Christ, the spectators were certain that would be the end of this insurrectionist.

But His death changed everything. When Jesus died on the cross, sin and death appeared victorious. However, His death was the vehicle to His conquest and when the six hours passed, and three days went by, the game changed. Sin and death were conquered by the Savior and everlasting life was the prize of the victor.

For those of us who believe in the saving grace of Jesus Christ all we can say is WOW. Through His resurrection we to are raised to life. “Since then you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God” (Colossians 3:1).

Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

Subscribe to Ordinary Days on iTunes!
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ordinary-days/id1339262108

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Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD
Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASB
Life Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

After the meet this weekend, I realized that a gymnastic competition is just a trial and test to evaluate the training habits of the gymnasts. As I looked at this test, one thing became clear: gymnasts who had been impatient and worried during practice exhibited greater frustration, anxiety and disappoint- ment at the competition than those gymnasts who had submitted to coaches’ directions, assignments and corrections.

Every day we face many trials. The world accosts us with evil, sorrow comes our way, friends are burdened or we are suffering with heartache. If we respond to our trials with impatience and worry, that will lead to greater frustration, anxiety and suffering. Our hearts become heavy with burdens and restlessness. We have no peace; our minds fill with thoughts of hopelessness and our soul despairs. We crumble under the pressure of the trial.

However, if we respond to the trials with patience and prayer, God empowers us with His Holy Spirit to endure the trails we face. With the aid of the Spirit our minds calm and fill with the hope of Christ. As Christ dominates our thoughts our hearts find His peace, and our souls rest in the assurance that Jesus walks through our trials with us. Through our trial and testing, Jesus guides us, sustains us and strengthens our faith through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Christ will “strengthen and encourage you in your faith, so that no one would be unsettled by these trials” (1 Thessalonians 3:2-3).

Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

Subscribe to Ordinary Days on iTunes!
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ordinary-days/id1339262108

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Check Out Denise’s Books!
Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD
Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASB
Life Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

I have always loved the ocean. Walking on the beach fills my mind with wonder and my soul with joy. All that water sparks my imagination as I consider the wonders and mystery within that vast body of water. Ocean beaches captivate me. There is always something new to discover because the waters wash ashore remnants from the deep, or draw ripple patterns in the sand, or bring forth the sounds of the underwater caverns to the surface.

This wonder and fascination with the ocean makes me ap- preciate the Creator. In Isaiah 51:15, God says, “For I am the Lord your God, who churns up the sea so that its waves roar.”

The ocean reflects God’s nature: deep and mysterious. And, yet, He willingly sent His Son into the world to reveal those mysteries and draw us down into His depths. From the shore, He gives us a view of His greatness and invites us to swim deeper and deeper into life with Him. He does not remain a mystery, but through His Son brings us into more knowledge and understanding about who He is and what He has done on behalf of humankind.

God’s creation displays His glory and the glory of His Son. Walk the beach with God.

Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

Subscribe to Ordinary Days on iTunes!
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ordinary-days/id1339262108

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Check Out Denise’s Books!
Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD
Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASB
Life Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

The way things are going, writing my Evening Reflection and my For the Weekend devotionals are going to bump into each other in the night. I am numb from traveling from Columbus, Ohio, to Phoenix Arizona, to Houston, Texas, for gymnastic competitions.

My weariness reminds me of a spiritual dilemma I face. Some days, I don’t feel like a sinner. I can keep myself so busy during the day that I don’t think about it. I can keep my mind occupied with other things. This forgetting my sin is denial, but it doesn’t change the fact that I am a sinner.

Sometimes, I get into a state I call sin numb. This numbness means my heart is hard and calloused toward God. When I am in sin numb I am also Savior numb. “If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him (Christ) out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives” (1 John 1:10). If I deny my sin, I deny my need for the Savior who came into this world to take away my sin.

While my essential nature is sin, Jesus Christ’s essential na- ture is salvific. It is as natural for Christ to save as it is for me to sin. Just because I don’t feel like a sinner doesn’t change the fact that my nature is sinful. I know it because Scripture con- firms it, the Holy Spirit exposes it and Jesus Christ died to save me from it.

“I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature” (Romans 7:18).

Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

Subscribe to Ordinary Days on iTunes!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ordinary-days/id1339262108

Check Out Denise’s Books!

Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD

Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2

Recently I lined up our young gymnasts to give them instructions. They listened as I explained the drills and the order in which they were to be done. Most of the girls heard and fol- lowed the directions. However, one athlete moved randomly about doing her own thing. She failed to listen well. As a result, she was in the way of the others, causing a few of her team- mates to stumble, and she almost hurt herself. It took only a few moments to recognize that a bad listener destroys order.

Easy lesson here: God created a world of perfect order for Adam and before him set the instructions for maintaining it.

Unfortunately, Adam was a bad listener. He failed to follow God’s instructions, so God’s created order was destroyed.

Desiring to restore order, God sent Jesus Christ into the chaos of this fallen creation. He was a good listener. He was so attuned to God that He spoke only what He heard His Father say “I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me” (John 8:28). By listening to the Father, the Son was perfectly obedient to the Father. And through the Son’s obedience, He reconciled the world to the Father.

We have two choices. We, like Adam, can continue, to run through this world without listening to the Word of God. Or we can by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit listen to God and live as His obedient children.

Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.

Subscribe to Ordinary Days on iTunes!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ordinary-days/id1339262108

Check Out Denise’s Books!

Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD

Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASBLife Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2