Hebrews 12:1-2 " Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Do you ever look at our lives like a race? There are those hills that are much harder to go up, there is the heat that takes our breath away, and we all seem to go at different paces, we have beginners, those who have been running for awhile now, and those saints who have been running their whole lives, teaching us at what speed we need to move at and how to get across the terrain. While we are running, we have to stay focused, we have to keep our eyes on the prize, or we can stumble, lose our balance and go face first unto the ground. Its not really how fast we run, its the training for the run, and the endurance we have through the run, and its crossing that finish line that brings it home. It can be hard to see up the road a bit, but we don't have to see the future, what is ahead, for God is our author of our faith, and He is the finisher too. He sees all those holes we can slip into, and its those little holes that we don't see coming that can really trip us up. That is why it is so important to keep our eyes open, and keep a clear vision of our race with Christ on all sides of us. He wouldn't place us in a race if the finish line wasn't possible, for He makes all things possible. We cannot just start out running at full speed, we have to pace ourselves and learn to breathe as we trust Him to lead us, to give us strength, and many times, He is there to carry us across the finish line. I am so small, and He is so vast and big, He doesn't need me in the way to fix things, He is working to make us great runners who are running the race of life. We can achieve great things during our race, knowing that all we do, is really God moving in us, and all the praise goes to Him. When we begin to run, we must learn that we cannot run as well if we are carrying a big load, if we have a load on our back, it is going to slow us down, tire us, and if it is much too heavy it can break us. We need to let go of all we are carrying, and let God take that weight off us, He wants to lessen our load, He wants us to give Him all we have so He can care for all that is touching us. Jesus endured the cross, He endured mocking, lies, and pain, for what? For us, His blood covered our sins, once and for all. As He breathed His last, He said,"It is finished". At that moment He took care of the sin of the world, He gave His life so that we could have life. In those moments that we want to give up, we must turn our eyes to Him, and see what He did for us. He never gave up. Once we ask Him into our hearts, right then He has filled us with His spirit, He has filled us with all we need, we just have to open our eyes and believe. Our faith in Christ will set us free from our past, from our hurts, and from the bondage of our burdens that we are trying to carry around with us, and fix them ourselves. I have learned to stay out of God's way so He can work. I can be a willing vessel for Him, but it is He who is working. What hurdles are in your way today? Do you need the strength of Christ to move over them? Sometimes those hurdles can trip us up, that is why we train, that is why we stay in God's word and stay close to Him, keeping our eyes focused. He will teach us how to conquer those hurdles, and how to keep our pace going without losing sight of our finish line. When we get thirsty we know just where to go, to Jesus, He will quench our thirst, and if we are hungry along the way, He will feed us the bread of life to keep us nourished. There are those days we may have to rest, but He will be there for us and He will refresh our souls with all we need to keep running the race.
Monday, October 19, 2009
lay it aside
Hebrews 12:1-2 " Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Do you ever look at our lives like a race? There are those hills that are much harder to go up, there is the heat that takes our breath away, and we all seem to go at different paces, we have beginners, those who have been running for awhile now, and those saints who have been running their whole lives, teaching us at what speed we need to move at and how to get across the terrain. While we are running, we have to stay focused, we have to keep our eyes on the prize, or we can stumble, lose our balance and go face first unto the ground. Its not really how fast we run, its the training for the run, and the endurance we have through the run, and its crossing that finish line that brings it home. It can be hard to see up the road a bit, but we don't have to see the future, what is ahead, for God is our author of our faith, and He is the finisher too. He sees all those holes we can slip into, and its those little holes that we don't see coming that can really trip us up. That is why it is so important to keep our eyes open, and keep a clear vision of our race with Christ on all sides of us. He wouldn't place us in a race if the finish line wasn't possible, for He makes all things possible. We cannot just start out running at full speed, we have to pace ourselves and learn to breathe as we trust Him to lead us, to give us strength, and many times, He is there to carry us across the finish line. I am so small, and He is so vast and big, He doesn't need me in the way to fix things, He is working to make us great runners who are running the race of life. We can achieve great things during our race, knowing that all we do, is really God moving in us, and all the praise goes to Him. When we begin to run, we must learn that we cannot run as well if we are carrying a big load, if we have a load on our back, it is going to slow us down, tire us, and if it is much too heavy it can break us. We need to let go of all we are carrying, and let God take that weight off us, He wants to lessen our load, He wants us to give Him all we have so He can care for all that is touching us. Jesus endured the cross, He endured mocking, lies, and pain, for what? For us, His blood covered our sins, once and for all. As He breathed His last, He said,"It is finished". At that moment He took care of the sin of the world, He gave His life so that we could have life. In those moments that we want to give up, we must turn our eyes to Him, and see what He did for us. He never gave up. Once we ask Him into our hearts, right then He has filled us with His spirit, He has filled us with all we need, we just have to open our eyes and believe. Our faith in Christ will set us free from our past, from our hurts, and from the bondage of our burdens that we are trying to carry around with us, and fix them ourselves. I have learned to stay out of God's way so He can work. I can be a willing vessel for Him, but it is He who is working. What hurdles are in your way today? Do you need the strength of Christ to move over them? Sometimes those hurdles can trip us up, that is why we train, that is why we stay in God's word and stay close to Him, keeping our eyes focused. He will teach us how to conquer those hurdles, and how to keep our pace going without losing sight of our finish line. When we get thirsty we know just where to go, to Jesus, He will quench our thirst, and if we are hungry along the way, He will feed us the bread of life to keep us nourished. There are those days we may have to rest, but He will be there for us and He will refresh our souls with all we need to keep running the race.
