PLOD ON... LIFE IS A MARATHRON NOT A SPRINT...
By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
MY DAD HAS PASTORED ALMOST 60 YEARS, I HAVE 33 YEARS IN THE FULL TIME MINISTRY...
OFTEN AS I LEAVE MY DAD HE SAYS: LOVE YOU SON! PLOD ON...
PLOD ON IS A OLD MOUNTAIN EXPRESSION...
DO YOU UNDERSTAND IT...
I. HAVE WE LEARNED IN LIFE TO SAVOR THE FLAVOR... ????
WE HAVE A BANQUET SET BEFORE US... COME AND DINE... THE SAVIOR CALLS...
A. WE HAVE A TERRIBLE ENEMY... Temptation comes in short term and long term goals...
THE SATANIC GOAL IS VERY CLEAR.... our enemy is a LIAR...
HE NEVER SHOWS THE BIGGER PICTURE...
John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life,
and that they might have it more abundantly.
Nehemiah 8:12 And all the people went their way to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great
mirth, because they had understood the words that were declared unto them.
B. We so live in a DAY OF FAST FOODS...
We eat in a hurry, we swallow our food whole...
Some say people would loose weight if they would take their time and chew each bite of food 21 times?
C. We seem to eat and run...
We eat while we are watching TV.
D. Ever make a foldy-over... slap the bologna on bread and fold it over... eat and run...
E. IN THE BOOK OF NEHEMIAH GOD'S PEOPLE RETURNED HOME TO REBUILD THE CHURCH AND
JERUSALEM...
EZRA READ THE BOOK OF THE LAW TO THEM...
THEY LISTENED AS THE MEN OF GOD READ THE BOOK FOR HOURS AND HOURS...
F. NEHEMIAH AND EZRA SPOKE THE WORD AND THE WORD BROUGHT CONVICTION ON THE PEOPLE.
THE PREACHERS SAID: WAIT A MINUTE... IT IS NOT TIME TO CRY....
Matthew 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Nehemiah 8:10 Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto
them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the
Lord is your strength.
G. THERE HAD BEEN A GREAT BANQUET OF THE WORD AND THE SPIRIT...
NOW ...
II. IN HISTORY OFTEN THE NEWS WAS CARRIED BY RUNNERS, NOT BY NEWSPAPERS, RADIO, TV
OR BY COMPUTERS... NEWS TRAVELED BY WORD OF MOUTH...
Matthew 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
A. THERE ARE 2 KINDS OF RACES:
1. SPRINT: short, fast, over quickly.
2. MARATHON: long, endurance, pace your self....
B. Most of spiritual battles are marathons...
C. We are in a Christian marathon --- there will be many seasons of testing, you giving will be tested,
are you selfish? genuine? DO YOU REALLY LOVE?
1 Corinthians 9:24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run,
that ye may obtain.
25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible
crown; but we an incorruptible.
26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to
others, I myself should be a castaway.
1. MAKE ONE STEP AT A TIME...
2. MAKE UP YOUR MIND TO FINISH THIS RACE...
3. MAKE PLANS: LONG TERM AND SHORT TERM....
4. DISCIPLINE YOURSELF...
5. TRAIN HARD, BE PREPARED... BE READY FOR ANYTHING...
6. KEEP RUNNING THROUGH PAIN, HURT AND INJURIES....
7. EXPECT PAIN AS PART OF THIS RACE...
8. STAY POSITIVE IN A NEGATIVE SITUATION
9. NEVER GIVE UP, NEVER GIVE IN....
D. Several years ago I was watching the Olymics, a lady was running...
she could see the finish line... she had a terrible fall, her kidneys released in front of the crowd...
her training... her legs keep pushing forward....
III. WE NEED A LONG TERM SUPPORT SYSTEM TO BUILD AND CREATE THE PROPER MOTIVATION
AND ENCOURAGEMENT... MAY WE FIND HONEY IN THE ROCK AND BE REFRESHED!
Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside
every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
2 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 is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in
your minds. 4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou
the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not
much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be
partakers of his holiness.
A. We will met difficult people that may be like sandpaper...
B. Jesus will use those people to build us better...
Polish the rough edges?
Hebrews 12:12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
13 And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.
14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you,
and thereby many be defiled;
16 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
IV. I SIT AT NIGHT AND THINK OF LOST AND DYING PEOPLE THAT PASS THROUGH MY LIFE.
I SEE THEIR NEEDS AND I FEEL A SERMON I COULD NEVER PREACH.
FIX MY EYES ON YOU, JESUS.
MAY MY VERY FOUNDATION AND PURPOSE
BE TO SHOW THE LOVE OF GOD TO ALL PEOPLE.
MAY I BEAR WATER TO THOSE LEFT FOR DEATH IN THE DESERT...
MAY I REACH DOWN TO THE SINNERS AND FAILURES AND DEMONSTRATE
TENDER MERCIES AND AMAZING GRACE...
MAY I SEE THROUGH YOUR EYES JESUS?
MAY I BE A FRIEND TO SINNERS... MAY I BE THE VERY HANDS OF JESUS
REACHING OUT TO THE OPPRESSED...
LET ME TOUCH JESUS, SO OTHERS MAY KNOW AND BE BLESSED...
CONCLUSION: WE ARE IN A MARATHON, PREPARE FOR THE LONG HAUL.
His servant, Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
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