There were some very special words spoken by quarterback Russell Wilson after his team’s emphatic win in Super Bowl XLVIII, and I believe we can apply them as a word from the Lord to each of us.

Wilson, known as a committed Christian, is not the most likely candidate to play as an NFL quarterback, standing only 5’11” tall. But he says that his father, who died in 2010, always said to him as a boy, “Why not you, Russell?”

It was a lesson Wilson took to heart, sharing what he learned from his father with his team, the Seattle Seahawks. As he explained in a post-game interview, from the very beginning of the season, he said to his teammates, “Why not us?” And now they are the Super Bowl champs.

Of course, there’s a powerful lesson to learn about the positive impact a father can have on his children, instilling confidence and godly values in them from an early age. (Conversely, a father can have a terribly destructive effect on his kids by constantly demeaning and devaluing them.)

And it was touching to see how the words of Wilson’s dad, spoken to his smallish son, now helped motivate an entire football team of tough men.

But there was something else that struck me after the game: Why not us? Why can’t God use you and me to shake this generation with the gospel?

On my Feb. 3 Monday radio show—in other words, one day after the Super Bowl—I plan to address the question, “Why not a Jesus revolution now?”

Of course, I know that much of the church in America is in terrible shape, and I’m quite aware that our nation as a whole is spiraling into moral and spiritual chaos. And it wouldn’t surprise me if there was an economic collapse—or even worse—lying in our not-too-distant future.

But what does that have to do with the promises of God and the power of God? What does that have to do with the authority of the name of Jesus?

Are all the forces of hell greater than the gospel? Doesn’t the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwell in you and me?

Why not us? Why not now?

If ever there was a time for a Jesus-centered, Spirit-empowered, moral and cultural revolution, it is now.

Since when does God need a multitude to accomplish His will? Since when is He limited by having only a remnant through which to work?

“The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength. The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue” (Ps. 33:16-17, ESV).

As Jonathan said to his armor bearer, “It may be that the Lord will work for us, for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few” (1 Sam. 14:6). Yes, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31).

John Paton, one of the greatest missionaries in church history, related how he received the calling to leave Scotland and serve in the South Sea islands: “The Lord kept saying within me, ‘Since none better-qualified can be got, rise and offer yourself.’ Almost overpowering was the impulse to answer aloud, ‘Here I am, send me.’”

Gladys Aylward was a British housemaid who was rejected for service by the board of the China Inland Mission because of a serious learning disability. Against all odds, she saved her meager funds and eventually made her way to China—completely alone, without formal support. Her courageous service in China, especially in the midst of terrible war, is the stuff of legend.

Yet she didn’t even believe she was God’s first choice for the job! “There was somebody else,” she later said. “I don’t know who it was—God’s first choice. It must have been a man—a wonderful man. A well-educated man. I don’t know what happened. Perhaps he died. Perhaps he wasn’t willing. … And God looked down … and saw Gladys Aylward.”

Today, God is looking down and seeing you and me—if we are willing to surrender our lives entirely to Him. If we are willing to turn our backs on the love of the world and take up our cross and follow Jesus. If we are willing to stop playing games with sin and live holy lives by the grace and power of God. If we are willing to seek Him in prayer and say, “Here I am, Lord. Make me fully usable. Use me to the full. Send me!”

Don’t worry about your lack of qualifications. The less qualified you are in the sight of man, the better qualified you are for God’s service, since “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God” (1 Cor 1:27-29). Our only boast is in the Lord!

The harvest is ripe and the stage is set. It’s time for a radical move of God that will shake this nation from coast to coast.

The Lord is simply looking for yielded laborers who will make themselves available today—wherever you are, whoever you are.

So why not us? Why not you?

(For practical steps you can take, read “The 10 Commitments of a Jesus Revolutionary.”)

Michael Brown is author of Hyper-Grace: Exposing the Dangers of the Modern Grace Message and host of the nationally syndicated talk radio show The Line of Fire on the Salem Radio Network. He is also president of FIRE School of Ministry and director of the Coalition of Conscience. Follow him at AskDrBrown on Facebook or at @drmichaellbrown on Twitter.

I hesitate to even bring it up, because I know you’re doing the best you can. You’ve got life so jam-packed that you have to schedule your meals. The kids need to get to practice; laundry needs to be done; someone has to cook the meals, and all the while your boss is micro-managing your new project. Who has time to take care of themselves?

You do. Look, you’re going to run yourself into the ground if you don’t stop and make your health a priority. You certainly won’t be much good to those around you if you’re always over-worked and ultra-stressed.

Recently, I realized that I was falling into the trap of being Supergirl. Fast food and caffeine fueled many sleep-deprived days, and I had this silly notion that I was actually being productive by skipping breakfast. It didn’t take long for me to smell the familiar embers of burnout. I needed to change. I examined my life and found a few things to be universally essential.

Sleep. If I hear one more person say, “I’ll sleep when I’m dead,” I will knock them out myself. This isn’t an option; we have to sleep! Sixteen hours of running the day-to-day operations of your life is exhausting. Your body needs to rest, so invest in a good mattress (pillow tops work wonders as well).

Step away from the fast-food counter. I am guiltier than anyone of this, which is why I can speak from experience. Fast food is convenient and quite satisfying, but a steady diet of this will have your blood sugar and bad cholesterol levels through the roof. This isn’t the kind of fuel your body requires. A diet of foods that can actually be found in nature will give you more energy and not add to your waistline.

Meditate on God’s Word. As long as I’ve been a Christian, I still have trouble getting on a regular schedule with reading my Bible. However, I need those mornings and evenings when I sit down with a readable translation (such as Contemporary English or The Message) and ponder what God is saying. I am at my calmest state when it’s just Him, His Word and me. It’s a quiet rest that He’s inviting all of us to.

Exercise. You know this is good for you. You feel that tug every time you drive past a jogger. You might just be envying how thin she looks, but what you don’t see is how she’s getting rid of stress and releasing those endorphins that make her feel good. Exercise is more than just a method to lose weight. You can lose that stress too.

Don’t Eat Lunch at Your Desk. The workday needs a natural intermission that includes a change of scenery. If you work in an office, take your breaks seriously and get out of your work area. Walk around the city or find a park. The fresh air and sunlight is rejuvenating and keeps you from suffering the dreaded afternoon crash.

Breathe. A massage therapist taught me this once. Imagine your body is an empty bottle and the air you breathe is like water. Breathe in through your nostrils until you fill all the way up inside. Then, through your mouth, exhale and pour it all out. Don’t you feel better? It’s a God-given, built-in de-stressing mechanism.

A lot of this is knowing yourself. For example, with sleep, my father has been surviving on five hours a night for as long as I can remember, and that works for him. Personally, I can’t function without seven. You have to know your body.

Also, these are things that help me, but maybe yours are different. You might need to learn how to say no or to delegate responsibilities. It could be helpful for you to work in your garden more often or schedule regular date nights with your spouse. Again, you can tailor your life to fit your physical, emotional and spiritual needs.

No matter what stage of life you’re in, you can find excuses to not do the right thing. It’s time to take relaxation seriously. Work with what you’ve got to be the best version of yourself.  

Jennifer E. Jones writes witty musings on spiritual life, health and pop culture. She has interviewed many musicians, authors and actors, yet still considers being nearly hit by a water bottle at a tobyMac concert as her closest brush with fame.

For the original article, visit cbnnews.com.

“God won’t give you more than you can handle.” We hear it all the time. And here are a couple reactions it provokes: “Yeah, I’m strong; I can get through this,” and, “I must be pretty awesome for God to give me harder stuff to deal with than other people.” Neither of these are what God is in the business of doing—puffing up our self-sufficient self-esteem.

God is in the business of helping us look to Him and depend on Him instead of ourselves. He actually will give us more than we can handle to get us to desperately depend on Him. He is glorified by us depending on Him since He is the all-sufficient great I AM, not us. His grace is sufficient, not ours.

And besides being utterly false and far from God’s plan for our life, it leads to thinking people who have hard things going on in life have more faith and can “handle more” than those who don’t. God doesn’t allow hard things to come into our lives to prove how strong we are but rather how sufficient He is. He allows hard things to refine us and reveal Himself as Comforter, Redeemer and a thousand other things.

Jesus told us hard times will come to those we perceive as strong and those we perceive as weak, but we can have courage because Jesus has overcome the world. He didn’t say hard things will come only to those who are extra strong. Nope, He was talking to all of us, all who feel strong and all who feel or seem weak. 

So where did this come from? First Corinthians 10:13 says, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”

This sure can seem like it’s saying God won’t give us more than us and our strong selves can handle, right? Well, let’s look at it.

“You are able” in Greek is the word dunamai and dunamis, which beautifully is the same word used when talking about the Holy Spirit living through us. It means “to show ability (and power); able (enabled by God), empowered; power to achieve by applying the Lord’s inherent abilities. Power through God’s ability.” Pretty awesome, huh? Basically, it is saying God will give us more than we can handle but not more than He can handle. After all, when we are weak, then He is strong!

One other interesting thought I’ll throw out is the word tempted is the Greek word pelrazo, which means “to test, trial, try and tempt.” Exodus 20:20 says, “Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.'” God does test us, and that testing can come as hard times, but Proverbs 27:21 says it can also come in the form of praise: “The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but man is tested by the praise he receives.”

When we are tempted, let’s turn to the Lord and yield to Him, letting the Holy Spirit enable us to endure. To endure means (Gr. hupopphero) “to bear by being under.” It’s the word picture of being carried away by an underwater current. As we yield our own self-sufficiency of being able to get through it by ourselves by being strong, the Holy Spirit will give us the strength the Lord provides, and we will be carried along with the strength and ability He provides.

This verse is all about the Lord being strong in our weakness, not about us being strong by the power of our own might. Let’s desperately depend on the Lord today!

Laura Krokos, the creator and host of Missional Women is married and has four kids, two of whom are adopted. Laura and her husband have been missionaries to college students for 11 years serving with Master Plan Ministries. Laura is the Staff Women’s Development Coordinator and has discipled over 150 girls, led over 30 Bible studies and speaks to college and women’s groups. Laura has authored 5 books, including an award winning 12 week Bible Study on First Samuel, Beholding Him, Becoming Missional, Reach; How to Use Your Social Media Influence for the Glory of God, and A Devotional Journey through Judges, a devotional to accompany the free online Bible study at TheBookofJudges.com. 

Hypocrisy, thy name is liberalism. What a difference a few years makes.

Remember when “progressive” media types chided President George W. Bush till they were blue in the face for “going it alone” on Iraq? Well, apparently “going it alone” is totally cool if you have a “D” after your name.

David Corn, Washington bureau chief over at the uber-liberal Mother Jones is disappointed that an increasingly imperialist Barack Obama wasn’t imperialist enough during his recent State of the Union Address. He’s furious that our already chestless Commander-in-Hearing-Himself-Talk showed off his bona fides in weakness and “let the Republicans off easy.”

Wrote Corn:

“Obama didn’t use this opportunity to focus on the reason he has to go it alone: Republicans hell-bent on disrupting the government and thwarting all the initiatives he deems necessary for the good of the nation. Even when he quasi-denounced the government shutdown, he did not name-check House Speaker John Boehner and his tea-party-driven comrades.”

What? “All the initiatives” Obama “deems necessary”? “Go it alone”? Yeah, Josef Stalin – affectionately nicknamed “Uncle Joe” by Obama’s hero, FDR – had a lot of initiatives he “deemed necessary,” too. And like Obama, he also preferred the “go it alone” approach.

Seriously, has Mr. Corn never heard of the separation of powers? The president doesn’t get to just unilaterally “deem” laws into effect. He’s the chief executive, not the chief lawmaker. Neither should he be the chief lawbreaker.

Yet here we are and so he is.

More than any other president in American history (yes, Nixon included), Obama has done both – make the “law” and break the law. Just consider, for instance, his unprecedented, arbitrary, capricious and completely illegal “do-whatever-I-want-to-do” shredding of his signature dark comedy: Obamacare.

Get used to it. During last Tuesday’s SOTU Obama announced his intention to keep at it. In fact, he plans to ramp-up the lawlessness.

And why shouldn’t he? A gutless GOP establishment has let him get away with it at every turn. Corn was partly right. He was justified in taking a jab at the speaker of the House. On this we agree: John Boehner needs to be “checked,” just not for the reasons Corn supposes.

Even some liberals are waking up to the fact that, for the first time, America is living under – as Sen. Ted Cruz calls it – “the imperial presidency.” In a posting originally titled “Obama: Efforts to rein him in not serious,” the off-the-rails-liberal CNN.com took Obama to task for his autocratic misbehavior (CNN later changed the article title to “President Obama says he’s not recalibrating ambitions.” Amazing what an angry phone call from this White House can do to the Obama-natical state-run media).

Noted CNN:

“Once, Barack Obama spoke of what he wanted for his presidency in terms of healing a nation divided. ‘This was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow, and our planet began to heal,’ he said.

“Today, Obama is talking about executive orders and executive actions – with a pen or phone – if a divided Congress won’t or can’t act on an agenda he laid out this week in his State of the Union Address. …

“Sen. Ted Cruz described the actions as ‘the imperial presidency,’” continued CNN, “and House Republicans have threatened to rein in the president’s use of executive actions.

“‘I don’t think that’s very serious,’ Obama said. …”

Right. Most despots don’t take “very serious” efforts to rein them in, particularly when their political opposition has shown neither the courage nor the inclination to do so.

David Corn disagrees. He thinks more despotism is just what the “progressive” doctor ordered. He ended his Mother Jones rant – all but calling the president a weenie:

“Obama barely called out Republicans in this speech; he did not exploit this high-profile moment to confront the obstructionist opposition,” he complained.

Au contraire, my corny little friend. Barack Hussein Obama has stored up no short supply of exploitations. Most especially, he has exploited the very people he is sworn to serve.

“We the people.” 

Matt Barber (@jmattbarber on Twitter) is an author, columnist, cultural analyst and an attorney concentrating in constitutional law. Having retired as an undefeated heavyweight professional boxer, Matt has taken his fight from the ring to the culture war.

It seems simple. Do you want to have a good relationship with Christ? Then read the Bible and pray. And be disciplined about it.

For some men this comes very naturally, for most men it takes work, and for a few it remains a stubborn source of shame and defeat.

We absolutely need to continue to encourage more men to read the Bible every day and to spend time in prayer with God. And it’s great if they have the discipline to do it at the same place and same time every day. But some men may also need to hear that they can stay connected to Christ and keep growing by using a variety of strategies to read God’s Word and pray.

It’s much more important that men do something that works than that they do things a certain way. How can a man know if what he is doing to stay connected with Christ is working? Here are a few questions to ask on a weekly basis:

• Do I think more highly of Christ now than I did before?
• Is there a sin that I have repented of?
• Have I learned, or had reinforced, something about the character of God?
• Have I connected with God through prayer, and have I listened for Him in His Word?

If the answers to these questions are yes, then you have an effective devotional life. Maybe it is listening to Scripture while you exercise or praying after parking the car at work or reading a short passage at lunch every day—there are more ways than ever to hear God’s Word and stay connected. Don’t give up working on the discipline to start every day with Christ—but don’t feel like a failure if something else is already working for you.

You probably know a man who needs some help in this area. Why not encourage him with the goal of spending time with God rather than the means of how he is supposed to do it?

David Delk is president of Man in the Mirror. He is the author or co-author of five books, including The Marriage Prayer, The Dad in the Mirror, and No Man Left Behind.

Bishop Bill Hamon, founder of Christian International, delivers a prophetic word for 2014. Find out what the Lord put on the prophetic pioneer’s heart for what many are calling the Year of the Open Door.

Bishop Hamon : 2014 Word of the Lord from CIMN-TV on Vimeo.

The best remedy for marriage conflict is marriage communication. Disagreements, fights, impasses, separations and divorce can be traced back to poor communication more than any other factor. Likewise, listening amounts to some of the best relationship medicine around.

Listening works best when we ask good questions. Good questions indicate bona fide concern. The man who asks good questions is already well on the way to communication excellence.

The best questions also serve as conversation starters. Remember, you are interested in her. But, once you start talking, she’s going to ask stuff too. The more you know each other on a deep level, the easier it is to fall in love all over again.

Here are 10 good questions you should ask your wife, at least every year:

1. What do you think is going right in our relationship? It’s been a while since you took the marriage vows. But it’s still true that positive affirmation leads to more productive change than negative evaluation. It’s helpful to identify our strengths. Once we know them we can play to them. Building each other up is always a win-win.

2. Where would you like our relationship to be this time next year? It doesn’t matter where we are, there’s always room to be better. She might say, “I’d like to see more spontaneous affection.” Or, “I want us to be moving forward together in our faith.” She could say, “I want our relationship to involve more fun!”

3. Will you please marry me, all over again? Say it with flowers. Say it like you mean it. Make sure your wife knows how much you cherish her.

4. I’d love to hear about your dreams for the future. A wise Hebrew writer once wrote, “Without a vision, the people perish.” Listen to your wife, imagine great things together, and then step into the possibilities.

5. Is there anywhere you’d like to visit this coming year? Indulge a little whimsy. Listen, laugh together, fantasize about fabulous vacations, and then tuck the information away somewhere, so you can possibly plan a trip. A good husband listens to his wife’s dreams. A great husband weaves them into their plans for the future.

6. Do you think we’re doing OK financially? This needs to be an ongoing conversation. However, like any small business (and a family is like a business in many ways), the directors need to have a comprehensive annual meeting to evaluate the finances and the plan for the coming year.

7. How are you doing health-wise? Encouraging one another involves accountability. Partners should never remain ignorant when it comes to health concerns. And it shouldn’t be only physical health. It’s also important to take inventory of each other’s emotional wellbeing.

8. If you could change one thing about our priorities as a family, what would it be? Notice this isn’t an invitation to criticize, but more an opportunity to grow together.

Possible answers might include:

• I’d like to see less TV time and more family time with one another at home.
• We’re not eating together enough. I’d like to see dinnertime valued a little more.
• We say can’t afford a family vacation, but then we eat out 2-3 times a week. Maybe we should shift that one around!

9. Is there anything I devote regular time to that you see as a possible threat to our family or our relationship? Patterns take time to emerge. When we look back—or from another person’s point of view—sometimes we can see more clearly. Ask your wife if there are any adjustments you can make (Consistently late for dinner? Too much golf? Too many evenings with “the boys”?) That would help her to feel more secure.

10. Are you happy? It’s a good question even if she says she’s happy already. “What can I do to make you more happy?” is a great discussion. Again, this is where good, active listening is very important. And your wife’s greatest happiness will always be found in God, so encourage her to grow in her faith.

All Pro Dad is Family First’s innovative and unique program for every father. Their aim is to interlock the hearts of the fathers with their children and, as a byproduct, the hearts of the children with their dads. At AllProDad.com, dads in any stage of fatherhood can find helpful resources to aid in their parenting. Resources include daily emails, blogs, Top 10 lists, articles, printable tools, videos and eBooks. From AllProDad.com, fathers can join the highly engaged All Pro Dad social media communities on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.

“The foolish said to the prudent, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out’” (Matt. 25:8, NASB).

We are in the last hour of the last days. I don’t think there’s a Christian (and a number of people who aren’t Christians) who doesn’t believe that.

Jesus told us that in order to get in the door at the wedding feast, you will need to be arrayed in white and have two things in your hands:

1. A lantern with a trimmed wick

2. Extra oil

Notice that in the parable of the 10 virgins, the five foolish virgins did have some oil. They had a little oil. They maintained a little relationship with God’s Holy Spirit.

Let’s look at the story as it’s written in the Bible in Matthew 25:1-13:

“Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps. Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep. But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the prudent, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the prudent answered, ‘No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut. Later the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open up for us.’ But he answered, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’ Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.”

Let me say this plainly. It is crucial to hear the voice of God now before Jesus comes, or we won’t hear Him when He comes. Again, it is critical that we hear the voice of God now before Jesus comes, or we won’t hear Him when He comes. Where do I get that? My friend, even the dead will be required to hear the voice of God:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live” (John 5:25).

We are told that the dead in Christ will rise first, and then we who are alive on the earth at the time of Christ’s return will be caught up next to meet the Lord in the air. If the dead are required to hear God, then what makes us think that God will just snatch us up out of here whether we’re walking with Him or not?

I am deeply concerned for Christians in this hour. Those foolish virgins had a lamp. They kept a Bible tucked under their arm. But they were low on oil. They maintained a Christian “status quo,” but that status quo Christianity just didn’t work when the bridegroom came. They were locked out—forever.

If you’ve read this far, then you’re hungry for God. You want the oil. You feel God’s Holy Spirit calling you right now to come to Him and buy His oil, to learn to hear His voice, to prepare now for the coming of Jesus. I hope that you are provoked to love and good works in these last days and that you yearn for the fire of God to touch all the consumable cares of this world that are trying to edge their way into your life this year.

Most of all, I hope that you are jealous for God and intentionally scheduling time to be still before Him on your 2014 calendar. Please, hear His voice now so you will hear His voice when the coming days grow dark and the world around us is shaking.

C. Hope Flinchbaugh is a novelist, editor and home-schooling mom from Pennsylvania. Her highest joys, achievements and assignments are found in the sweet hours of prayer at dawn. For more information, visit her blog at liftjesuscross.wordpress.com.

Perry Stone pioneered an understanding of the Hebraic roots of the book of Revelation, the key to the signs and the seasons we are living in. You must understand it, and Perry can help.