Post by Les on Mar 15, 2023 16:07:37 GMT -5
RUN THE RACE TO WIN!
When I was in high school my freshman year; I enjoyed Physical Education and one of the things I really enjoyed was track. I was a sprinter, I can’t recall any of my times, but I do remember enjoying running around the track. I was very competitive when I played different sports as well, but remember how exhilarating a race was, when we lived in the country for awhile, earlier in life I remember us racing our ponies from time to time and how exciting it was to win a race. Even as I got older I loved to run, I remember it was nothing to run from one end of Greenfield to the other end; from west fifth street to Riley Park on the eastside. It was good exercise but I always had a goal in mind as I ran. A place I wanted to get to, and a time I had set for myself to get there. Often that meant pacing myself. Although I don’t run today, I do walk and hike, when I do a hike I have an image in mind of the path I will take that day then I look at my watch and set a time I want to complete the hike.
There is one race I refuse to get caught up in though, it’s the rat race! Why? Because God didn’t call us to run with the rats, but to be an example of patience, endurance, and fortitude. I like how Apostle Paul’s unction from the Holy One is described in 1st Corinthians chapter 9. This is how the WNT translates it.
(23) And I do everything for the sake of the Good News, that I may share with my hearers in its benefits.
(24) Do you not know that in the foot-race the runners all run, but that only one gets the prize? You must run like him, in order to win with certainty.
(25) But every competitor in an athletic contest practices abstemiousness in all directions. They indeed do this for the sake of securing a perishable wreath, but we for the sake of securing one that will not perish.
(26) That is how I run, not being in any doubt as to my goal. I am a boxer who does not inflict blows on the air,
(27) but I hit hard and straight at my own body and lead it off into slavery, lest possibly, after I have been a herald to others, I should myself be rejected. 1st Corinthians 9:23-27 WNT
We are in a competition with the devil for the souls of men, when we practice the principles we will progress, and discipline our bodies to deprive it of the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life; this is also a part of practicing those principles. Our spiritual disciplines give us the empowerment of physical discipline. So that we become a beacon which the light of the gospel shines through; we do not lose our standing through indulging the body with its carnal appetites.
The thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come so that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10:10 MKJV
Abundant life is first and foremost the life of the Spirit, if one is not enjoying the bounty of spirituality, they’re destitute of any real life, because possessions are not the birthplace of any meaningful existence, but to the contrary can be used by the enemy of our souls to imprison us in materialism. It is one thing to have possessions and quite another for possessions to have us. Check this out; Satan will always come to us with a temptation that promises fulfillment but always ends in despair, depression, and ultimately destruction.
Brethren, we are the children of the Most High, we’ve been born of the Spirit and the Word. Our diet for success has to be steeped in the Word of God and applied to our daily lives. We function also by the unction of the Holy Spirit who will always lead and guide us into all truth. If we seek the face of God in Spirit and Truth the Holy Spirit will also show us things to come and prepare us for the battles of life which confront us, he will hone our spiritual senses, skills, and gifts to bring into captivity everything that exalts itself against us, and to bring our bodies into submission to his word, will, and ways.
One area of importance as a child of God and especially a minister is the taming of the tongue.
(5) In the same way the tongue is an insignificant part of the body, but it is immensely boastful. Remember how a mere spark may set a vast forest in flames.
(6) And the tongue is a fire. That world of iniquity, the tongue, is placed within us spotting and soiling our whole nature, and setting the whole round of our lives on fire, being itself set on fire by Gehenna.( hell) James 3:5-6 WNT
How our speech is seasoned is very important to winning the race, God has given us a new tongue, the old tongue which was full of vile, vicious, and vexing rhetoric has the power to speaks edification, exhortation, and alleviation. We allow our tongue to be utilized for Kingdom Building, and the destruction of the Kingdom of Darkness, our tongue has the ability to set fires for revival or set fires for our own destruction. But the tongue of a mature person will use the words of the gospel, words of wisdom, words of understanding, and words that are in season and out of season, but fitly spoken to the occasion to bring God’s desired results. Yes, this too is part of running the race to obtain the prize of the mark of the high calling of Christ Jesus!
Brethren, keep the faith today by predetermination not assumption, to run the course before you in the fullness of faith. Cast off every doubt, and every detouring element that would weigh you down or hinder your race. God has called you and put you on the path of righteousness, there will be times the terrain will seem overcoming, but remember greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. Whether you are in a valley, running an steep incline up a mountain, or on even ground, do not stop running this race of righteousness, so that you may obtain the crown of glorious life.( RUN THE RACE TO WIN) Selah!
When I was in high school my freshman year; I enjoyed Physical Education and one of the things I really enjoyed was track. I was a sprinter, I can’t recall any of my times, but I do remember enjoying running around the track. I was very competitive when I played different sports as well, but remember how exhilarating a race was, when we lived in the country for awhile, earlier in life I remember us racing our ponies from time to time and how exciting it was to win a race. Even as I got older I loved to run, I remember it was nothing to run from one end of Greenfield to the other end; from west fifth street to Riley Park on the eastside. It was good exercise but I always had a goal in mind as I ran. A place I wanted to get to, and a time I had set for myself to get there. Often that meant pacing myself. Although I don’t run today, I do walk and hike, when I do a hike I have an image in mind of the path I will take that day then I look at my watch and set a time I want to complete the hike.
There is one race I refuse to get caught up in though, it’s the rat race! Why? Because God didn’t call us to run with the rats, but to be an example of patience, endurance, and fortitude. I like how Apostle Paul’s unction from the Holy One is described in 1st Corinthians chapter 9. This is how the WNT translates it.
(23) And I do everything for the sake of the Good News, that I may share with my hearers in its benefits.
(24) Do you not know that in the foot-race the runners all run, but that only one gets the prize? You must run like him, in order to win with certainty.
(25) But every competitor in an athletic contest practices abstemiousness in all directions. They indeed do this for the sake of securing a perishable wreath, but we for the sake of securing one that will not perish.
(26) That is how I run, not being in any doubt as to my goal. I am a boxer who does not inflict blows on the air,
(27) but I hit hard and straight at my own body and lead it off into slavery, lest possibly, after I have been a herald to others, I should myself be rejected. 1st Corinthians 9:23-27 WNT
We are in a competition with the devil for the souls of men, when we practice the principles we will progress, and discipline our bodies to deprive it of the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life; this is also a part of practicing those principles. Our spiritual disciplines give us the empowerment of physical discipline. So that we become a beacon which the light of the gospel shines through; we do not lose our standing through indulging the body with its carnal appetites.
The thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come so that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10:10 MKJV
Abundant life is first and foremost the life of the Spirit, if one is not enjoying the bounty of spirituality, they’re destitute of any real life, because possessions are not the birthplace of any meaningful existence, but to the contrary can be used by the enemy of our souls to imprison us in materialism. It is one thing to have possessions and quite another for possessions to have us. Check this out; Satan will always come to us with a temptation that promises fulfillment but always ends in despair, depression, and ultimately destruction.
Brethren, we are the children of the Most High, we’ve been born of the Spirit and the Word. Our diet for success has to be steeped in the Word of God and applied to our daily lives. We function also by the unction of the Holy Spirit who will always lead and guide us into all truth. If we seek the face of God in Spirit and Truth the Holy Spirit will also show us things to come and prepare us for the battles of life which confront us, he will hone our spiritual senses, skills, and gifts to bring into captivity everything that exalts itself against us, and to bring our bodies into submission to his word, will, and ways.
One area of importance as a child of God and especially a minister is the taming of the tongue.
(5) In the same way the tongue is an insignificant part of the body, but it is immensely boastful. Remember how a mere spark may set a vast forest in flames.
(6) And the tongue is a fire. That world of iniquity, the tongue, is placed within us spotting and soiling our whole nature, and setting the whole round of our lives on fire, being itself set on fire by Gehenna.( hell) James 3:5-6 WNT
How our speech is seasoned is very important to winning the race, God has given us a new tongue, the old tongue which was full of vile, vicious, and vexing rhetoric has the power to speaks edification, exhortation, and alleviation. We allow our tongue to be utilized for Kingdom Building, and the destruction of the Kingdom of Darkness, our tongue has the ability to set fires for revival or set fires for our own destruction. But the tongue of a mature person will use the words of the gospel, words of wisdom, words of understanding, and words that are in season and out of season, but fitly spoken to the occasion to bring God’s desired results. Yes, this too is part of running the race to obtain the prize of the mark of the high calling of Christ Jesus!
Brethren, keep the faith today by predetermination not assumption, to run the course before you in the fullness of faith. Cast off every doubt, and every detouring element that would weigh you down or hinder your race. God has called you and put you on the path of righteousness, there will be times the terrain will seem overcoming, but remember greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. Whether you are in a valley, running an steep incline up a mountain, or on even ground, do not stop running this race of righteousness, so that you may obtain the crown of glorious life.( RUN THE RACE TO WIN) Selah!
