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Refined By Fire: How to allow GOD to refine you into who HE CREATED YOU TO BE

The other day, someone shared an interesting story with me about how forest rangers actually create fires on purpose.

They intentionally burn down old forests.

At first, that might sound destructive. But the purpose is to clear space — because the old growth has become inhabitable for many species of plants and animals.

Once the fire has done its job, new life begins. New trees, fresh vegetation, and new habitats spring up where the old ones once stood.

It reminded me of what happens in the weight room.

When we train hard, we feel the burn. Our muscles are literally breaking down.

But we know — that pain leads to new strength. The fire we feel is the path to becoming bigger, faster, and stronger.

As athletes and coaches, we face fires in our own lives, too.

You may go through the fire of getting injured.
You may lose your starting spot or struggle to meet performance goals.
You might feel burned by disappointment, pressure, or comparison.

As a coach, your fires may come from tough losses, difficult parents, or administration issues.
Or maybe you're losing players to off-the-field distractions or academic problems.

And beyond sports, the fires of life hit hard as well.

Maybe you've lost someone close to you.
Maybe you’ve lost a job, struggled in school, or feel uncertain about your direction.
Maybe you’re feeling the fire of not measuring up to your purpose or potential.

But here's the truth:

Every fire you walk through is refining you.

It’s burning off the old parts of you — the ones that no longer serve your growth.

On the other side of the fire is new life.

There is growth.
There is strength.
There is peace.
There is a higher, more complete version of who God made you to be.

So my encouragement to you is this:

Embrace the fire.
Walk through it with courage, tenacity, and a deep surrender to God.
Let Him do the refining work.

Because through the fire, you are becoming.

Athletes and coaches for Christ, I wish you well on your journey of enduring the fires in your life and experiencing the transformation of new life on the other side, and I send love, gratitude, peace, and blessings to you!

May GOD inspire YOU every step of your way,

Kyle

Bible Verses:

• Malachi 3:2-3
• 1 Peter 1:6-7
• Isaiah 43:2
• Romans 5:3-5
• James 1:2-4

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Strength, Power, and Endurance: The cornerstones of conditioning your faith

Three qualities that strength and conditioning coaches seek to develop in their athletes are:

• Strength
• Power
• Endurance

Strength is a measure of how much force you can produce. More strength means you can more easily push through an opponent.

Power is a measure of how fast you can produce that force. More power means you are faster, can jump higher, and can more swiftly move an opponent.

Endurance is a measure of how long you can exert force. More endurance means you have more capacity to do work and can outlast an opponent.

Conditioning Your Faith

Obviously, these three qualities are vital to your performance on the playing field ...

But they are also vital in your walk of faith!

Colossians 1:11 says:

"Being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience"

What I want to ask you is ...

How are your strength, power, and endurance in your faith?

How strong is your faith?

Are you able to take on challenges that might crush others around you?

How powerful is your faith?

When a challenge comes your way, how swift are you to lean on GOD so the two of you can move it?

How much endurance do you have in your faith?

When others around you are falling by the wayside, do you have the capacity to persevere to the other side?

Training for Your Faith

Of course, you develop physical strength, power, and endurance in the weight room.

Are you developing spiritual strength, power, and endurance in your spiritual weight room?

Are you spending time:

• In prayer
• In your Bible
• With other believers who can challenge and develop your strength, power, and endurance

Athletes and coaches for Christ, I wish you well on your journey of wielding strength, power, and endurance in your faith, and I send love, gratitude, peace, and blessings to you!

May GOD inspire YOU every step of your way,

Kyle

Bible Verses:

• Colossians 1:11
• Hebrews 12:1
• Isaiah 40:31
• Philippians 4:13

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Put More Time on the Clock: How to receive GOD's gift of more "time"

I'm sure you're all aware of it by now, but today is daylight savings time.

If you haven't done so already, may this be another friendly reminder to simply change your clocks to the appropriate time.

I remember when I was growing up as a kid and I was in sports, this was one of my favorite days of the year.

It gave me an extra hour to train.

So I would spend that extra hour in the gym, getting after it.

It always felt like such an amazing gift to me, because I felt like this extra hour was giving me an extra opportunity to reach my highest potential as a basketball player.

Especially since tryouts were always coming up within the next couple of weeks.

Many times in our lives, it feels like we get a gift of extra time to reach our highest potential as well.

We see this many times in sports when we make the playoffs.

It gives us an extra opportunity to continue to play and go for the championship.

We see this in our jobs or in our schooling too.

Whether it’s getting a scholarship so we can continue our education...

Or getting a promotion in our jobs so we can have a larger platform to impact people around us.

But most importantly, this also happens in our spiritual walks of faith.

We know that God always gives us second chances.

And we know that God can give us all the time in the world.

Because when we truly give our life to Christ, we know that all time goes away.

And we know that we will continue to endure for all of eternity.

So my encouragement for you today is this:

Whenever God gives you these gifts of extra time — whether it's in school, in sports, in life, in coaching — take advantage of it.

And when it comes to your faith, take advantage of it as well.

Experience that peace that transcends all understanding.

Give your hearts, your minds, and your lives to Christ.

And experience the unconditional love and beauty for all of eternity.

Athletes and coaches for Christ, I wish you well on your journey of having extra time to reach your highest potential, and I send love, gratitude, peace, and blessings to you!

May GOD inspire YOU every step of your way,

Kyle

Bible Verse:

• Ecclesiastes 3:1
• Psalms 90:12
• Galatians 6:9
• 2 Corinthians 6:2