April 26 Bible Reading Plan

Get Up Kid!

-Rocky

I love that the Rocky franchise continued into the Creed Franchise!

While Creed was a fantastic movie, I thought Creed II was even better. It starts with Adonis Creed, coached by Rocky Balboa, winning the heavyweight title. But then he faces a challenge from both his and Rocky's past.

Ivan Drago's son challenges Creed to a fight.

Remember, Ivan Drago killed Apollo Creed in the ring. Now, his son was challenging Donnie. Adonis takes the fight and gets beaten to a pulp. It's bad. He spends weeks in the hospital. He is wounded, but even worse, his spirit is crushed.

Donnie continues with his life but never moves on from being laid out on the mat. He won't fight. He won't train. Eventually, Rocky gets through to him, and Donnie agrees to a rematch. After one of the most epic training montages in a Rocky movie (more on this in a later devotional), Adonis is ready and enters the ring for a rematch.

It goes well for him through the first few rounds, but the fight turns around round 9, and Donnie gets beat again.

Viktor Drago lands blow after blow against Donnie, and he eventually gives him the roundhouse that sends Donnie to the mat. Donnie is down, and he looks like he is out.

As he struggles to get back to his feet, he sees his wife and mom yelling for him to get up. He hears Rocky say, "Get up, kid." (1) He looks around, weak and unable to stand.

Then, we see something inside of him change. He punches his fist to the mat, then his other fist. He punches the mat over and over. At that moment, he gets mad! He gets tired of being knocked down. He gets angry at feeling weak and defeated. He punches the mat, and he stands to his feet.

He got back up. Drago looked at him in stunned disbelief that he had gotten back up after such a beating! Donnie went at Drago with every ounce of strength and determination he had, eventually knocking him down and winning the fight.

Donnie had to make a choice. Would he stay defeated and on the mat, or would he get back up and fight?

Guys, many of you are down on the mat. The enemy has knocked you down over and over. For some of you, it was a recent defeat; for others, you have been down and out for weeks, months, and even years. Like Adonis, you are beaten, bleeding spiritually, and you don't know what to do.

It is time for you to get angry…punch the mat, get mad at your current state, and find the resolve to fight. Get up off the mat!

Adonis looked around at his family for encouragement. They all said get up!

Guys, you have family and friends all around you who want to see you crawl out of bed and get back up. They want you to gain victory. They want you to get up.

You need to punch that mat and resolve to get up and fight.

In the movie, when Donnie gets up, the ref asks him his name, and he yells, "Creed!"

In your fight, the enemy will ask you who you think you are. Why do you think you can fight? Who do you think you are to get back up and face off again?

When he asks, you scream, "I am a child of GOD!"

You have everything you need to rise off your knees, wipe the blood off your chin and the sweat off your brow, and get back into the fight.

Are you ready to punch the mat and get back up?

The Bible tells us that the righteous man falls seven times, but he gets back up. (Proverbs 24:16)

Don't let yourself fall prey to the enemy's lies that you are hopeless and can never gain victory. He is a liar! John 8:44 says he is the father of lies. STOP BELIEVING HIM!

Grace, forgiveness, and victory await you from your Heavenly Father. He does not condemn you; He forgives. You may need to face consequences for your sins, but He will walk with you as you deal with them. He is your loving Father Who wants to see you gain victory.

You have been down for too long. Your sin knocked you down to the mat, and you stayed there too long. It seems impossible to get up and start again. You feel there is no point; you will just end up back where you are now. But it is time to get up!

Can you relate to this? Do you find yourself knocked back down because you fall back into an old sin or pattern?

Do you feel like you have no hope and no way back?

Is shame punching you over and over again?

If that is you, take this devotional seriously. Choose today to get angry with the sin.

Despise it.

Want nothing to do with it!

Punch the mattress, get back up out of the bed, and get back into action. This is a massive step towards becoming an Unbreakable man!

Bibliography:

1. Creed II. Directed by Steven Caple JR. , performances by Michael B. Jordan and Sylvester Stallone , Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer New Line Cinema, 2018.