Football season is almost over and I am so bummed that I will have to wait till next fall to watch my favorite teams play in my favorite sport. As a Texan’s fan, it has been a bad year, REALLY bad. As a Longhorns fan it was pathetic. Getting back to the Texans, they had such high hopes this year and in the end they flopped. The Packers and Steelers will be playing in Super Bowl this Sunday. Do you know who will win? I have no idea; my guess is the Steelers (I hate those guys).

Everyone will be watching the BIG GAME; it has become quite the spectacle. Everyone comes together to watch two of the best NFL teams compete for the championship. When it comes to the Super Bowl, we don’t know who will win until the game is over, that is part of the fun and excitement. We all have opinions on who will win. Will the Steelers win in a blowout or will the Packers pull out a last second play to win the game? When it comes to football there is a lot of speculation, because we don’t know who will win. So who do you think will win?

Now for a spiritual thought. Let’s pretend that the Super Bowl is not about two teams playing each other, but rather it will be a contest between God and Satan. Is there any speculation on who you think will win? Absolutely not, God wins every time. That is the good news; when it comes to defeating Satan’s work in our lives God wins every time. There is no suspense, there is no worry of a fourth quarter comeback by Satan, he loses and God wins. Therefore we win, and we are defined by God’s victory.

NFL Predictions and HOPE

I'm so ready for football, It is right around the corner and I am already making my predictions. That is the fun thing about the preseason, there is so much hope, your favorite team that has been lousy for the last few years now has a chance to go all the way. As a Texans fan my hope is often diminished by week 3 or 4. But this year hope overcomes reason, that's right I again predict that the Texans will go deep into the playoffs. They will lose in the AFC championship game to the Jets. I hate the Jets, but I think they will go all the way to the big game and lose to the Cowboys. Thats right that is my prediction, the Cowboys win it all.


That all sounds crazy I know, but hope causes us to go against the grain, it us gives the ability overcome worldly expectations and dream beyond our ability and ranking. In Romans 5 the Apostle Paul shares with us the power of hope.

"1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." Romans 5:1-5 NIV

The hopeful predictions Paul gives in Romans 5 are founded in Jesus Christ. Jesus has never dissappointed us, He has never failed us, and He never will. There are those who expect us to fail, who look at the resources we have and they predict that we will fall on our face. Without Jesus we have failed, and will continue to fail if our hope is in ourselves. Predicting that the Texans win in the playoffs may seem farfetched, and it is; but what is real is that God's love guarentees us the victory. Whatever struggle you are facing today is actually a pathway to victory, because that struggle leads us to understand that we need God. May the God of grace and love give you strength and fill you with hope.