Tag: the race

Be Steadfast

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Be Steadfast

1 Corinthians 15:58

“58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”

Paul here is talking about the saved and the victory over death itself, not in the victory of what they have done, but the Christ’s victory we believers and followers have inherited. “O Death, where is your sting, O Hades, where is your victory.” 1 Cor. 15: 55. Our faith in Jesus is rewarded not so much in this life, but in that we have life, eternal life. Death is the final mystery, the finish line that while may be a scary thing to some, is much like the third brother in the Deathly Hallows story from harry potter. “And he met death like an old friend.” Those who are known by Christ, and know Christ should not fear death, but when our work here is finished, and we are called home, that we should embrace that time, and be ready to meet our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

The way is not an easy path. Jesus says this, 

Matthew 7:13-14 

13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Because the gate is so narrow, and Christ himself said the narrow gate of life is a difficult path, we must therefore be steadfast (FIRM), immovable (NOT TO BE MOVED FROM ITS PLACE, UNMOVED). We are told to wear the sandals of the gospel of peace. We are to look at the sandals like Roman Armor. Studded cleats that allowed the soldier to dig in, to push into the dirt to hold ground and never lose it. The way is one of difficulty and challenge, and one with many adversaries, and yet we are given the tools to prevail against difficult times. That no matter what comes your way, to hold your ground, and not give an inch to the enemy who seeks to destroy you. 

“This hill, though high, I covet to ascend; 

The difficulty will not me offend. 

For I perceive the way to life lies here. 

Come, pluck up, heart; let’s neither faint nor fear. 

Better, though difficult, the right way to go, 

Than wrong, though easy, where the end is woe.” 

― John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress

We all have work to do while here on Earth. This life is one of purpose, and while many seek the meaning of life, it’s actually quite simple, “Love God with all your heart, mind and soul.” In this love, and faith, works are a byproduct. In this faith, it produces works, and your purpose or rather your mission, if your purpose is to love God, then your mission is one of mystery. Everyone has a different mission, or specific mission. The grand mission is to fulfill the great commission. To go and make disciples. 

Matthew 28:18-20

18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

For each of this, this mission looks different. Some will be missionaries here at home, some will go overseas. Some will be pastors, some will be deacons, some will serve in the choir, or just be a good Christian at work and home. Everywhere we go, from home, to Wal-Mart, to the doctor’s office, is the mission field. The go is less relevant, than the do. Make is the action here, wherever you go, make disciples. The work of the Lord is given to every Christian, and the gifts and talents given to every person to help them fulfill this mission is important. Every gift comes from the Lord, and that includes the talents you have been given. Every person is beautifully, and wonderfully made. Crafted to be special, and unique. In my post, ‘Are you special’ I said this “We aren’t special because of the gifts we are given, simply because we are given those gifts to be used to bring glory to God, so before God the gifts he gave us aren’t what makes us special at all.” Our gifts are to be used to bring Glory to God and help us in our mission to share the good news, the hope and love of Jesus Christ. 

Are You Special?

We are special in that we are loved by Christ, but in our uniqueness, we are given gifts, talents to aid us in our quest. We all work in ministry of some way because as I said in ‘Find your ministry’

“Ministry is service to the Body of Christ. Every job, every works in the service to the Lord as according to your gifts is ministry.”

Find Your Ministry

We must never give up and grow wearing of doing these things. Let us recap: Be steadfast/firm, immovable from the path, the way of the truth, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Against the attacks of the enemy stand firm having been given the Armor of God, the sandals of the Gospel of Peace, to dig into the dirt when the enemy pushes you, attacks you. The work you do is important, and the works we do while not what saves us, are the byproduct of our faith. It is the faith that produces good works in the name of Christ. We want to serve in His name, not for our own pride, nor is it working towards salvation, but we work because we want to share the good news that’s been shared to us. We are not saved by works lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-10), for we are saved by grace, through faith. 

It is the path of a Christian that is difficult, and sometimes along the way we may feel discouraged. We may feel broken down. The path is not an easy one, and just like a hike up the side of the mountain, there may come a time when you are tired, worn out, discouraged and wanting to quit. This is what the last part of the verse means. “knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord”. When we are walking the narrow path, the hard path, the path of righteousness, we know that no matter what comes our way, no matter the attacks from Satan and his minions, or just the hardships of living in the sinful world, that we know what we do will never be in vein. The Lord will use our works, He will use our efforts for His own Glory. When we want to give up, we must remember that We do not walk this path alone. We do not serve God in a bubble but are joined with the Body of Christ, the other believers we are to surround ourselves with. We are told to bare one another’s burdens. We know that we work, we toil for the Lord, and those works will be used by God to multiply the Kingdom. We may feel useless, or worthless, helpless, or just tired of doing good, but Paul says this: 

Galatians 6:9

“And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”

God will bless our works if done in Righteousness (Right standing with God). IF, and only if, our works are done for the right reasons, with the right heart, God will bless us, and no matter if we see that blessing on earth in this life or the next, we will see the blessing, but know this, we do not work for the blessings, but to be in the absence of the Lords blessing, would not be Ideal. We have endless choices in our lives, and when we choose to do good, let us do good for the sake of God. Let us do what is right before God and not our own hearts. Let us pick up the Cross, and die to ourselves every day, so we may be more Christlike. Let us put aside the things we love about our sin, but rather put it away with all malice, and choose to do what is right. Let us have faith in God and our Heavenly Father, knowing His way is righteous, and ours is that of death. Find peace inside yourself, not that peace is found in us, but prayer that His perfect peace is placed upon us. We are given His peace, when he said “27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27.” 

One day the journey in this life will end and for me, I have only one hope in that day, the day I meet my Lord and Savior, I hope to hear these words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” 

Matthew 25:23 23 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’

I want to know that in my life, while I will undoubtedly let down my God, I will break his heart in my sinfulness, and I will stray from the path, in the end I will bring a smile to His face. I want to know that while my works would never be good enough to earn my way into Heaven, that I would serve in a pleasing way. I want to know that in the end, He is proud of me. We are strong because He gives us his strength. We are powerful because He gives us His power. We are mighty because he gives us his Might. We are warriors for the faith because He is the general over the legion of Angels. We are nothing without Christ, and we find our worth because he values us. Let us humble ourselves and rid ourselves of the sinful Pride. Let us know that power but be full of meekness. Let us never stop the good fight, so one day we can say, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race. 

Safe Journey

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Safe Journey

A close friend of my, my Pastor left on a trip to Europe, and this just after two terrorist attacks in Europe, the UK to be specific. This reminded me of the story so often played out in the Bible, the New Testament to be exact. Luke 4: 28-30 “All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.” Jesus knew when it was time to go, and time to stay. Jesus was well aware of his surroundings, and we could learn a thing or two.

No matter where we go, or what we’re doing we know that God is always with us, so the scripture says. If the journey is long and dangerous which it is, then it looks like Jesus is the muscle, our bodyguard, our protector. Matthew 6:25 “Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; not yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more then meat, and the than rainment? This verse goes on to say all things will be provided to the faithful, and worrying about the day or tomorrow doesn’t actually give you any more ability or power to change the outcome. You can worry about being taller all day long, but that doesn’t mean you will get taller. Psalm 23:4 The Valley of the Shadow Of Death, yet peace and comfort come.

I’ve traveled a lot of places in my 33 years on this world. I have had good and bad travels. The closest I ever came to death or at least as it appeared from where I was standing, or better put nearly falling, was returning to Camp Junction City in Ar-Ramadi from my R&R in Qatar. We were in a C-130 headed for Baghdad. There was a sandstorm while we were supposed to land so we circled for a while. At some point the decision was made to send us back to Qatar, but we needed something first, fuel. The mid air refuel wouldn’t take too long once the plane arrived with two F-16 escorts. The sandstorm was getting pretty bad from what we were told. Just after the fueling process was over we started to turn to make our way back to Qatar. When the F-16’s broke off to head back to where they came from apparently one of them suffered severe engine failure and began to crash. The pilot ejected and was later recovered unharmed. As for us we returned to the bright and sunny island where I’d spend another week before a second transport attempt. On the second trip to Baghdad we were carrying a slew of gym equipment. This time when we reached the City we circled because there was a good bit of firefights around the area we were supposed to land. We’d been circling for a bit when we decided to stand and walk around the plane. Without warning the plane banked hard to the starboard side. My feet went out from under me and I reached up to grab the piece of equipment that I was hopping was safely secured to the deck plate. One of the guys wasn’t so lucky and he hit the bench and the wall of the plane. He screamed he was all right though so not to worry. We leveled off and the pilot told us to get back to the seats and hold on tight. We started to nose dive and the pit of your stomach flew straight into your throat. We leveled out again and without any notice the landing gear dropped and seconds later we were back on Iraqi soil. Once we landed we received word the reason for the drastic and violent course changes was because we were taking fire. The pilot told us it was small arms fire but still following procedure, no one was seriously injured. Our trip came to an abrupt end, but it ended safely.

We realize that in our walk with Christ we aren’t always going to be safe. We realize that sometimes that safety is only an illusion, because in Christianity we may be called to go places where it’s not safe, where being a Christian is still punishable by death. We don’t have to worry about that here in the United States, however, what we have might be far worse for our walk with Christ. We have the world. The world as we know it is corrupt and evil. The world tries to get us, it tries to get us to sin in all different kinds of ways. The world wants us to fail, and the attack on our souls in the US might be worse than the attacks on our bodies in some of the other countries. We have our ways to protect ourselves but only if we carry it with us in our hearts, that’s the word and Holy Spirit of God. When we go out into the world to proclaim the name of Christ we need to keep our wits about us. We must be careful because the Devil slithers around seeking for his next target.

Each and every one of us in on our own journey, our own path, running our own race and at every step of that race there can be an obstacle for us to face. The race is not a sprint, but a marathon for us that will take endurance and patience. 2 Timothy 4:7 “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” How will you finish your journey, will it be strong, pushing yourself, or will you fall and give up on yourself? God won’t give up on you, so you shouldn’t. You’re stronger then you think you are, and if our God is for us, who then can be against us?

Carry Your Burdens to Find Light at the End of the Tunnel

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Carry Your Burdens to Find Light at the End of the Tunnel

Matthew 16:24-26 “24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life[a] will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?”

 Luke 9:23 “And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.”

 Mark 8:34 “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”

 What does it mean to pick up your cross and follow Christ? The walk with Jesus as our Lord and Savior is never an easy one. We are called to sacrifice our earthly desires, called to love Christ and let go of our sinful desires. Do we deny God; do we deny our Lord and Savior when pushed, when threatened with reprisals, or persecution? Do we have the fortitude to bare the burden of what it means to be a follower of Christ? Remember as the 11 Apostils followed Christ were brutally tortured and killed for it. Amongst strong opposition they never waivered in their faith, they saw Christ for what he was, they saw Him in the flesh. It was once said, “You have seen with your own eyes and yet you doubt, imagine those who will never see.” Colossians 1:11-12 “11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.” The cross is not a race; it’s a long marathon. The travel takes time. The travel takes fortitude.

When we are weak, we must look to God to help us. As Christians we must help our brother and sisters when they are in need. We all stumble on our journey. Even Christ fell on his trek to meet His destiny. Thus teaching us another lesion about humility, about pride. Galatians 6:2 “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” If Christ was willing to bare the sacrifice for all mankind’s Sins what are we willing to bare for Christ? Are we willing to take public ridicule, or even worse loosing people we care about? What is eternal salvation worth? The life we spend here on Earth is merely a short while, but the end result is perfection in Heaven. Our burdens will be great, John 15:18-21 18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. 19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. 20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. 21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.” It was foretold that the world would turn on Christians. It was foretold that the life of a Christian would be difficult and full of anger and hatred.

Entering Easter remember what it truly means to give it all, to give up life, and sacrifice ones self for something bigger then yourself. Are you truly giving up something to follow Christ? Are you truly in your heart following? What does following Christ mean to you? As Christians we face more opposition today then we ever have. Do we sit silent and watch as the world tries to snuff out any last resemblance of our right to choose what we believe in? There’s too much empirical evidence to prove Jesus Christ the man lived. Denying the truth is simply the same as denying the oceans are full of water. 11 men could not have held together some conspiracy. The fulfillment of scripture prior to the New Testament, the fulfillment of the crucifixion, that not one of Christ’s bones were broken, yet he underwent excruciating amounts of pain. Do not doubt, do not forget what’s at stake. Christ bore the burden of sin for us, what can we do to possibly measure up, nothing. All we are asked is to love one another, love Christ, love God, and obey the commandments. Do this and eternity may very well be yours.