“Run!”
I've been telling friends that it feels like I'm drinking from a fire hydrant right now. So much is coming at me, I am tempted to say, "Hey, God, slow down, will ya." But I have been in seasons of life painfully devoid of momentum, so I am not about to ask God to slow down. But I have been asking Him to help me not "mis-step" in all of this. We are adding our third campus in South Bend which is a couple hours away. We are launching a capital campaign to raise 15 million dollars for the three campus'. But most exciting for me is that we are launching Heart to Heart, our small group women's ministry as a non-profit...with wonderful open doors being opened by God. I'm sure I'll be sharing some of those in blogs to come. I am sensing that the GO season is not only for me and the CLC family. I believe that we are all in a season of God's blessing and purpose. The challenge I want to leave with you is...are you going to run with it. Or are you going to excuse yourself from the race for personal reasons...like fear and selfishness. The choice of course is yours. God doesn't twist arms. He just opens doors and asks you to run...
“Run!”
Picture…a pair of broken-in running shoes.
Hear…the Lord say, “On your mark, get set, go…it’s time to RUN!”
Consider: It’s time to run the race that God has set before you, so put on your running shoes.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish. He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterward. Now he is seated in the place of highest honor beside God's throne in heaven. Heb 12:1-2 (NLT)
I’ve never been into racing; the only running that I ever do is on a treadmill. So I don’t know a lot about the sport, but I do know that if you are going to run a race, you will need to prepare yourself physically and mentally for the challenges ahead of you. Those preparations will depend upon what type of race you are running, a sprint or a marathon. With a sprint you are going to want to pull out all of the stops and run as fast as you can until you reach the finish line. Today God might be telling you to run a sprint, away from the enemy. If you have placed yourself in a tempting situation, you need to run from the situation hard and fast. God is warning you that you are in a dangerous place. Do not walk…run! You may think that you are strong enough to deal with this, but you are flirting with trouble. God doesn’t want you anywhere near the temptation. Run away from the enemy, and run straight into the arms of the Lord. God is telling to you, “I am your strength and I am your help; I will make all things clear to you. The enemy has put a film over your eyes clouding your vision and your reasoning. I will remove that film so that you can begin to see things clearly. Then you must run, run to me. Run with all that is within you. There is a prize set before you and it will be worth every sacrifice you must make. Run.”
God might be telling you to run a marathon. That means that you will need to put off every weight that might slow you down in the long haul. A marathon requires endurance, and even the smallest weight can mean the difference between winning the race and not even finishing it. There are things in your life that have the potential of holding you back, weighing you down. The Lord is asking you to forsake those attitudes and relationships that have hindered your walk with Him. For now that the pace is about to pick up, they can cause real damage. Many runners have injured themselves because they did not prepare themselves adequately for the race that was before them. If you aren’t sure if something is race worthy or not, ask your coach or spiritual mentor. They have the experience necessary to make sound judgment calls. You are not in this race alone. There are those who have run before you and are waiting at the finishing line, cheering you on. The Lord has great things in front of you, so run your race with patience until you hold the prize.
Pray: “Lord, I love it when you encourage me. I enjoy just resting in your presence. I can’t say that I really like it when you correct me, but I know that I need it from time to time. So thank you. I’m in this for the long haul. I want to run this race all the way to the end. Please show me any dangerous traps that the enemy has laid for me so that I can run as fast as I can away from them. Don’t ever allow me to get so self-righteous that I can’t see the truth that is right before me. Please alert me to any weights that I might have been carrying around with me. Clearly show me the attitudes, actions, habits, relationships and thought patterns that will slow me down and wear me out in the race that you have set before me. Show me through your written or whispered word to me. If you can’t get through, then please have someone ready to speak into my life. Help me to rely on my mentors, leaders, and life coaches that have more experience than I. I am excited to see where this race is going to take me and even more excited to receive the prize at the end. I love you…that is why I’m willing to run. I’m ready; I’m on my mark, let’s go! In Jesus Name, Amen.”
posted by pastorc @ 9:53 AM
1 Comments:
Thanks Pastor Chris! This post fired me up and encouraged me BIG TIME!! Keep putting these powerful messages out here; they are just right and sent at just the right time!!
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