Ever notice how even the most grounded individuals get drained on occasion? Yet God’s power and strength will never decrease. He can never be too tired or too occupied to even consider helping and listen to us. God’s strength is our wellspring of strength. At the point when we feel all of life pounding upon us and we feel that we cannot progress any further, we should put into remembrance that we can call upon the Lord to recharge our strength.
Jeremiah 31:25, “For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.”
Psalm 27:14, “Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.”
We, as a whole, need consistent times to pay attention and listen to God. Anticipating God’s guaranteed power should assist us with transcending life's interruptions and troubles. Paying attention to God encourages us to be inclined and ready for when He addresses us. We should pay attention to God when He assists us with being patient, especially when He tells us that we should stand by, and anticipate that He would satisfy the guarantees found in His Word (2 Corinthians 4:8-10).
2 Corinthians 4:16, “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.”
Hebrews 12:3, “For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”
We gain our strength from Him. And to do that, we need to take a moment to refresh ourselves and gain renewed spiritual energy. That is accomplished when we call upon the Lord for help in prayer. We do not struggle alone. We may think that we do, but we do not. Others have run the race, maybe not exactly like our race, but they have run the race. Their witness should encourage us to run also.
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.”
First Corinthians 9:24-27 forms a representation by looking at Paul’s prior opportunities to win individuals to faith in Christ, like a competitor preparing to win an award. Both deliberately surrender things to which they are gaining a reward. That requires selflessness and an extreme way to deal with one’s own sentiments. They do this for triumph. However, the competitor can win just a wreath that will rapidly die. Conversely, Paul means to win an award that will live for eternity. He additionally prepares himself in this manner to abstain from being precluded prior to crossing the end goal.
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,”
Hebrews 11:32-12:2 is one of Scripture's most mixing and moving entries. The subject of prior verses was the Old Testament legends who exuded faith, characterized as a forward-looking confidence in God. The accentuation of these models moved from general faith, to a faith in making tough decisions, to a faith that brings about triumph. The writer incorporates these here, in a fast fire rundown of the individuals who exhibited the strength of godly faith. As a letter conveyed to the abused Jewish Christians, these models are intended to be empowering and rousing, as well as convicting our hearts. God held back in conveying a definitive completion of His promises so that those of us who are alive now would have a chance to be saved. Considering that honor, Christians should endeavor to persevere, and to cling tightly while experiencing an equivalent genuine faith.
Winning a race requires purpose, discipline, prayer, Bible study, and worship.
1 Thessalonians 5:17, “Pray without ceasing.”
Philippians 4:6, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”
2 Timothy 2:15, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
John 4:24, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”
Psalms 95:6, “O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker.”
We are not to dwell on the past but grow in the knowledge of God and concentrate on our relationship with Him.
Philippians 3:13-14, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."
Luke 9:62, “And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
We should not allow anything to distract us from our focus on Jesus. We must count the cost and be willing to lay aside the earthly security.
Psalms 119:15, “I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.”
Psalms 119:32, “I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart.”
Running away is not necessarily cowardly. Mature Christians should know that removing themselves physically from temptation is often a more courageous action. In addition, we are warned to run from anything that will produce evil thoughts, just as Timothy was told to do.
1 Timothy 6:11, “But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.”
2 Timothy 2:22, “Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”
How does one become a spiritual runner and what is necessary for running spiritually? First, we must build a plan, which means that we need to get prepared to start on our journey. We must ask ourselves do we have what we need to run? Next, we must build our discipline, which means to practice. We all know that to get proficient at anything takes continual practice. Thirdly, we must build up our endurance, and to do that we must continually feed our body and our soul. That is accomplished by daily diving into God’s Word. Our fourth point is that we must build up our character by a steadfast routine. We need to get into a habit of doing and following God’s path. And finally, we need to build up our confidence, which means that we do not stop. As we progress daily in running for the Lord, each of these areas should be increasing our spiritual life with the Lord.
