Musing – What is your “Game Plan for Life”?

 

Hebraic Musing – What is your “Game Plan for Life”?

Joe Gibbs, a very well-known football coach as-well-as owner of a highly successful race car team, shares his “Game Plan for Life”.  And his message appeals especially to our competitive nature as men!

He explains the typical man’s erroneous thinking by using many testimonies that men relate to; and then he provides fresh insights into overcoming uncertainties of life.  Powerful preaching messages make their point with the testimonies of notable people and many memorable lines; and these messages are from notable known people that men relate to.  He references the Bible with obtuse passages that men find to be messages that become real and believable and alive.

His book progresses through attributes that result in success in life, but it builds on the way our focus on God should be the ultimate goal for success.    His focus is on those of us who are living Life without a Playbook.   Each of these 15 chapters contains a message of its own –

- No Game Plan, No Victory – If it takes a Game Plan to win at football, might we also need one for our life?
- My own journey – Understand human nature.  What’s your testimony?  Are you serving God or yourself?
- The Ultimate Playbook – Obviously that’s the Bible.
- God as our coach – Are we willing to let Him be our coach?
- Creation /beginnings – How did life begin?  A choice between Science and God.
- Sin & addictions – How willing are we to cast off the works of the flesh?
- Salvation – When did you get on to God’s winning team?
- Relationships – Dealing with Marriage & sex, rules, reproduction, and oneness.
- Finances – The Bible talks about this over 2,000 times!  Know that God owns it all.
- Vocation – Who are we and why are we here?  Are you becoming what God wants you to be?
- True health – God’s plan for your health is Physical, Emotional, Mental, and Spiritually Relational.
- Purpose of life – How are we to get the most out of life?  Be aligned with God’s purpose.
- Heaven – Is heaven more than strumming on a harp?  Is your name on the list?
- Dealing with loss – Where is God in all this?  Is He still in control?
- The Battle is still on – We are all still a work in progress.  

Each one of those chapters is salted with testimonies and memorable, challenging preaching.  Might this outline help develop Your Personal Playbook for Success?

I confess that I could not put the book down; each chapter was a fresh testimony and topic that I could not help but relate to.  The book is delightfully testimonial and appealing to men and our God-given competitive nature and classic struggles in life.

Points to Ponder

I am still pondering points he made in each of the 15 chapters!

We men worry & fuss about many things, but only one matters – where will we spend eternity?

What is your Game Plan for Life?

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,  since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” Col. 3:23

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                         April 21, 2026            
Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith” 
“Biblical Marriage (by Yosef)”     Weekly “Hebraic Musings”

Note – Inspired by Joe Gibbs book “Game Plan for Life”  2021  Amazon $16.97
           Joe is a 3-time Super Bowl Champion coach and led a 5-time NASCAR Championship team.

Musing - What is the ultimate purpose of Life?

 Hebraic Musing - What is the ultimate purpose of Life?

Or, maybe the title should be “Donate your life” as suggested in Leviticus 16:8-10?!?!   We are all familiar with the ‘scapegoat’ story and typically consider the scapegoat to be the lucky one who is allowed to live.  As the one-armed Rabbi used to say, “On the other hand”.  Let’s look at Leviticus 16:8-10 from a different perspective.  “He is to cast lots for the two goats — one lot for the Lord and the other for the scapegoat.  Aaron shall bring the goat whose lot falls to the Lord and sacrifice it for a sin offering.  But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to be used for making atonement by sending it into the desert as a scapegoat.” NIV

This sacrificial process was central to the Yom Kippur service and message.  Drawing ‘lots’ determines the fate of two identical goats.  One of the two goats becomes an offering to the Lord.  The other would symbolically be given the sins of Israel and sent off into the wilderness where it would obviously die later.  Which one was the ‘lucky’ one?  What can we learn from this?  How is it relevant to us today?  Are there two different ways of living, and dying? 

We will all die at an unknown time someday.  In the meantime, we get to decide how we live.  The goat that is sacrificed to the Lord represents a life lived in service to God, full of purpose and meaning.  The ‘scape goat’ represents a person who wanders about aimlessly in this world without any clear sense of purpose, contribution or meaning.  Both goats die in the end, but only one lived a worthy life.  The first goat’s life is deemed worthy because his life was an offering to the Lord; and the second goat lived with sin all the while he wandered in the desert for the rest of his days.

God has given us life, and all the blessings associated with our ability to do things here on earth.  The first goat, the one offered to God, reminds us of our challenge as believers to die to ourselves and thus live our lives as a living sacrifice.  “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”  Rom. 12:1 NKJV   

In summary – We need to be giving our lives in service to God, dying to self, so that others may live.  Unsaved, unredeemed or selfish folks have selected the option to live their lives as the scapegoat – wandering around in a spiritual desert, still living in the sins of the world and finally dying without having served God.

What does the NT say about this topic?  “If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.”  Romans 14:8 NIV   And as Paul said in Philippians 1:21 “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

Points to ponder

How can we be a living sacrifice to God now?  

What is your purpose for living? 
                       Are we still living for ourselves?

Have we died to ourselves,
                                  so we can live for others?

L’Chaim (to Life)

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                               
Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith” 
“Biblical Marriage (by Yosef)”     Weekly “Hebraic Musings”

Note – Originally Self Published by Yosef Brusherd and Kurt S Johnson, September 2014 – p.52
“Musings – Volume 1, God’s Original Plan for A Victorious Life”

Musing – Are we Contributing Donations or making Sacrifices?

 Hebraic Musing – Are we Contributing Donations or making Sacrifices?

Just heard my Christian friend describing his thought process when a member of his church had a need.  He was willing to kick in $20, or maybe even moved to give $100, but he wasn’t sure if he’d be willing to give $500.  As we processed similar challenges we all have faced, we realized there are many cases where we are more than willing to give various amounts -- up to a “breakpoint” where we are no longer comfortable with giving that amount or more.  When we reach our “breakpoint” we get to thinking about the amount in our wallet, or the car payment that is due, or the groceries we need, or the family budget, or … etc., etc.

We are okay with “Contributing” or “Donating” or “Gifting” up to a certain “breakpoint” where we are no longer comfortable.

Let’s look at the decision the “Father of our Faith” had to make when asked to give.  “Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, ‘Abraham!’ ‘Here I am,’ he replied. Then God said, ‘Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you ‘love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.’” Genesis 22:1-2 NIV   BTW, this is the first mention of “sacrifice” in the Bible and first mentions are often defining situations.  What can we learn from the decision Abraham was confronted with?

Then we opened our Bibles to the Widow’s offering in the NT.  “As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury.  He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. “I tell you the truth,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others.  All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”  Luke 21?1-3 NIV

It might be hard to admit that much of our “giving” is from our wealth, easily affordable, done routinely or already planned.  What kind of “giving” was Jesus recognizing as true “giving” in the previous examples? 

Is there a difference between different kinds of “givings”?  What’s the difference between “Donations” and “Giftings” we tend to do routinely versus “Sacrificial Giving”?

Donations are the act or an instance of donating: such as the making of a Gift especially to a charity or public institution.  (And a Gift is simply sharing something we have that the recipient does not have.)

Sacrificial giving involves giving beyond what is convenient or expected, often requiring personal sacrifice of time, money, or resources, motivated by love for God and others.  It is not merely about the amount given, but the heart and attitude behind the gift, reflecting obedience, trust, and commitment.  In the Bible, sacrificial giving is exemplified by Abraham’s willingness to offer Isaac, demonstrating faith and trust in God’s provision.

There is a way to find out whether our donations (or gift or contribution or weekly offerings) are sacrificial.  We need to examine how we feel about incrementally increasing the amount we are comfortable giving until we reach the uncomfortable “Breakpoint” amount!

Points to Ponder

Might our gift or donation fall short of resolving the need? 

Was it the gifts from their wealth or the 2 mites from the widow that got Jesus’ attention?

How much do you love your neighbor or a friend in need?

Who do we trust for restoration if we give Sacrificially?

Was Jesus’ death on the cross a donation or a sacrifice?
Does our service to His Kingdom require Sacrifices?

“If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Matthew 19:21 NIV

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                         April 7, 2026            
Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith” 
“Biblical Marriage (by Yosef)”     Weekly “Hebraic Musings”