{"id":1243,"date":"2017-06-15T14:43:19","date_gmt":"2017-06-15T14:43:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nathanaelzurbruegg.com\/2017\/06\/15\/change-the-game\/"},"modified":"2017-06-15T14:43:19","modified_gmt":"2017-06-15T14:43:19","slug":"change-the-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nathanaelzurbruegg.com\/de\/2017\/06\/15\/change-the-game\/","title":{"rendered":"Change the Game"},"content":{"rendered":"

Change <\/span>the<\/span> Game<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

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In 1993 when I was 4 years old, I had a stroke that put me in coma. For two weeks I was in a very critical condition and the doctors didn`t have any hope that I would survive! They told my parents that I would either die soon, or if I did survive, I would be disabled and possibly need 24-hour care for the rest of my life. The condition of my brain was so bad that it was just a grey patch!<\/p>\n

After two weeks, the doctors decided that there was nothing more they could do, so they called my parents to come to the hospital to say \u201cgood bye\u201d to me!<\/p>\n

Heavy hearted, my parents made their way to see me. When they arrived at the hospital, they met the doctors and nurses standing round my bed. The doctors then turned off all the life-support machines I was connected to. What happened next was miraculously incredible! Exactly at the same time the doctors turned off the machines, I woke up and started to talk again!<\/p>\n

For me personally I still know today how I woke up and started to talk to them. I literally said: \u201cMum I want to go to the playroom and play\u201d However, to place this exact memory that I had somewhere in my brain, it took me a few years to re-activate that memory and place it in the right timeframe of my life. It was about when I was a Teenager that I remembered everything and could place this memory in the correct timeframe.<\/p>\n

A couple of days later, after doing some tests, it turned out that I didn\u2019t have any remaining brain damage! This was another miracle itself!<\/p>\n

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Have you ever been in situation where you thought that nothing would change and it looked like things were getting worse instead of better? Maybe it`s a sickness that is destroying your body; or an addiction that you can`t get rid of it; or a relationship or marriage that is falling apart; or a job you`re about to lose; or it looks like your country is falling apart or maybe it`s a dream you had but now you feel like it`s more a nightmare than a dream.<\/p>\n

In this blog I want to encourage you, whatever it might be for you, God can still change the game in your life! As long as you breathe, life is basically a constant game in the unseen world between God and the enemy. All that the enemy wants with our life is to steal, kill or destroy it \u2013 he is anti-life. While on the other side, God wants to give life and bring restoration and forgiveness \u2013 He is pro-life!<\/p>\n

Just as God overcame the enemy 2000 years ago, He will always have the power and authority to change the game \u2013 no matter what it looks like, what the result is or what time it might be!<\/p>\n

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I love the powerful words in Ephesians 1:19-23 that Paul says when he is in prison:<\/p>\n

\u201cI also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God\u2019s power for us who believe him.<\/strong> This is the same mighty power<\/strong><\/em> \u00a0<\/sup>that raised Christ from the dead<\/em><\/strong> and seated him in the place of honour at God\u2019s right hand in the heavenly realms.\u00a0<\/sup>Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else<\/strong>\u2014not only in this world but also in the world to come.<\/em> God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.\u201c (NLT \u2013 emphasis my own)<\/em><\/p>\n

Being chronically ill, I`ve had many experiences where I have seen how God changed the game for my good. In two points I want to encourage you to take these steps when feeling like the game is over:<\/p>\n

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\u00a01. <\/strong><\/span>You<\/span> have<\/span> authority<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>As believers in Jesus, we have the authority that He has given us, through His resurrection power, to basically influence the game by speaking words and life into the game! In Luke 10:19 it says: \u201c<\/em>Look, I (Jesus) have given you authority over all the power of the enemy<\/strong>, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you.\u201c (NLT \u2013 emphasis my own)<\/em><\/p>\n

When I feel like the game is being lost, or there is no sight of change, I speak words of life with the authority that was given to me. I pray and worship in whatever ways I can and I`m capable of. We all are given the same amount of authority to change the game!<\/p>\n

Sometimes God doesn\u2019t turn the game around unless we learn to speak out with the authority He has given us, or unless we shout out some prayers! The game can be a great opportunity for us to learn how to speak life into a situation or to pray more with audacity. All God wants is to connect with us but sometimes we need to learn the hard way how to connect with Him (again).<\/p>\n

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2. <\/strong><\/span>Be<\/span> grateful<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

In 1 Thessalonians 5:18 it says: Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God\u2019s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.\u201c (NLT)<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Gratefulness is an amazing skill. It`s not something that we are born with rather it\u2019s something we can develop throughout life.<\/p>\n

In my life I\u2019ve learnt the hard way to be grateful no matter how the game is going. The game doesn\u2019t always change the way we expect but if you can be grateful in the middle of a game that seems to be lost, then you\u2019ve learnt a beautiful thing.<\/p>\n

Gratefulness can change many things. Being grateful in a losing game changes our perspective to the more positive aspects of the game. Often when being more grateful and being more positive (the latter follows the former) that play of the game doesn`t look as bad as we thought.<\/p>\n

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I hope, I have been helpful by giving you a simple encouragement to act purposefully when the game of life is particularly difficult.<\/p>\n

Here is the thing: as long as you breathe, God is not yet finished with you nor has He given up on the game!<\/p>\n

The greatest thing is, God has already won the game and we have the opportunity to score even more with Him! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

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Be blessed<\/p>\n

Nathanael<\/p>\n

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#Blog14<\/p>\n

#GameChange<\/p>\n

#ItsallaboutHim<\/p>\n

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Change the Game     In 1993 when I was 4 years old, I had a stroke that put me in coma. For two weeks I was in a very critical condition and the doctors didn`t have any hope that I would survive! They told my parents that I would either die soon, or if […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1245,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","post_format-post-format-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nathanaelzurbruegg.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nathanaelzurbruegg.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nathanaelzurbruegg.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nathanaelzurbruegg.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nathanaelzurbruegg.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1243"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nathanaelzurbruegg.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1243\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nathanaelzurbruegg.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nathanaelzurbruegg.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nathanaelzurbruegg.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nathanaelzurbruegg.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}