Latest / Beliefs, Ballots, And BullDawgs / Monday 5/4/26
Transcript
- Greg: Hey, what's up guys? Welcome to everybody. It's Monday, May the 4th, 2026. For my Star Wars folks, I am familiar with the May the 4th be with you and all that stuff. So hopefully you guys are having a wonderful day. As always, we're just going to try to have a quick little Bible study and a couple of sports plays to talk about for what we do. This is your latest episode of Beliefs, Ballots and Bets, and I am your host, Greg Miller. Let's get into the day's scripture. Hey, what's up there guys? Welcome to the latest episode. Today is Monday, May the 4th. Yeah, May the 4th be with you. And this is Beliefs. The verse of the day is Matthew chapter six verses 19 through 21. This is probably one we have all heard before, but we're gonna try to approach it a little differently today. It says, not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moths and vermin destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moths and vermin do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. This is not a, this is not an overly complex version. This is not one that's very hard to understand. It's simply, it's, it's asking us to examine where, where we invest our resources, where do we invest our time, our money and our, our intentions and attention, ⁓ attentions and intentions. ⁓ because all of those things that like those, where we invest that time and money and wherever we prioritize those things, that's, that's what shapes our heart. building habits that structure prioritizing people and structure prioritizing character and lasting good and heavenly things over accumulating earthly and worldly status. There's some different ways we all wear this. We all have become so inundated with chasing the next thing and chasing the next stage in life or the next step in life financially. Can I get a bigger house? Can I get a new car? nicer car and we're always chasing and chasing and chasing and at the end of the day none of us are ever going to catch what we're really chasing because we're trying to fill a hole with material things that can only be filled with the Word of God and a loving relationship with Jesus Christ. Some things we can some kind of practical applications you know One of the things I like to do is to make a make a value budget, like list, list some relational or kingdom priorities. These are, these are big picture things that you really want to want to focus on things you want to work on. And if you put these things on your list, then, then that may mean allocating a certain portion of your income or your time or whatever it may be, ⁓ to try to accomplish these things. But think about some, you know, it's, it's, it's easy to create bucket list items for vacation destinations and I want to purchase this if this goes well. And we all like to reward ourselves. There's nothing wrong with enjoying our time here on earth. We just don't need to make that a priority. So think of some long-term kingdom-related things that you want to focus on. And if you're going to focus on them, make them a priority and attribute the things you need to them. Another thing I like to do is I kind of refer to it as kind of a treasure alarm. That's becoming aware of and trying to create a little mental alarm for anything that really consumes you. Anything that you spend more than a 30-minute chunk on or a 60-minute chunk on in some cases, if you spend that much time consuming something that's not the Word of God or is not your job, you should probably figure out what it is. What is consuming that amount of time? and ask yourself, that thing helping you grow in character? Is it growing you closer to Christ? Or is it a worldly pursuit that is ultimately not leading you to anything? Those worldly treasures are never going to fill that hole, and it's just going to compound into a feeling of emptiness. ⁓ know, another thing that I think we can do is, you know, sometimes if you're in a position where maybe, you know, you're going to get a tax refund or you're going to get a bonus at work or something like that, you know, Plan in advance for some things that you can do with that money. And again, if you decide you want to take a nice vacation, you want to treat your spouse or something, that's all well and good. Nobody's telling you not to. But those are also opportunities where you can commit to some things of a heavenly nature. You can commit to some more long-term community-type investments or things that will help improve your situation long-term or the situation of those around you. And then the other is kind of just a ⁓ general alignment check. We have talked about, you become what you surround yourself with and you become what you ingest and digest and what you take in every day. So look at the area you live in, look at the neighborhood around you, look at the friends you associate with. Are these things helping you become the person you want to be? Are these the types of... people, places, and relationships that you want to invest in and that you believe investing in them is bringing you closer to God. It's easy to chase the material things in this world, but for me, myself, I find the greatest sense of peace and happiness these days when I just slow down, take a deep breath, and walk outside for a minute. Sometimes the simple things, sometimes the things God has provided that we don't have to get from somewhere else in this world. Sometimes those are the best things that we can get for ourselves and spending more time focusing on the things that God has already provided and the things that you want to provide for in the future, in the long-term future, your heavenly future, not this world. Those are the things we need to focus on. All right, guys, let's get into our plays of the day. Three plays, we've got two baseball plays and a basketball play. We've been on a pretty good run. I think we're at three or four days in a row of going two and one. Would absolutely love to get a nice three and no sweep in there, but we're not going to ever complain about profitable days. First play of the day is the Cleveland Guardians at the Kansas City Royals. We're going under nine there. Second play is the Toronto Blue Jays at the Tampa Bay Rays. We're taking the Rays minus 125 and then the NBA tonight. We're going with the Philadelphia 76ers and the New York Knicks over the total of 213 and a half. So that's three plays. Let's let's try to get three and oh, it'd be a great start to the week. So let's get back a little bit to the scripture today and what Matthew is ultimately asking us. it's to focus our time, our attention, our resources, our efforts, focus everything we can on things that are going to store up long lasting heavenly and godly benefits. Those are the things that are gonna help you to apply and build character and build integrity in this world. And then those rewards in heaven will be far greater than anything we could ever imagine in this world. All right, guys, that's going to wrap it up today. Appreciate you guys getting here. If you're listening to this show, like, subscribe, turn on the alerts, the notifications, do whatever you got to do. Share it online, post it with somebody, give it to a friend. I don't care. Just see if anybody else wants to listen to this voice of mine and maybe get a little bit of word of God every day along with a couple of sports plays. Until then, God bless you guys. appreciate it. And as always, get in your Bibles, say your prayers, love each other, and tell the truth.