Daily Bread_August 25, 2014

Title: Are You Running to Win?

Text:

Hebrews 12:1-2 (ESV)
¹ Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Observation:

What makes the difference between people who are winners and those that are losers? I believe the main thing is endurance. If you are properly prepared, you can go further with purpose and passion than you can with talent without purpose and passion.

In order to win the race, you have to finish the course. Quitters don't win, and winners don't give up. Winners have these three attributes:

1.       They stay calm.

2.       They stay confident.

3.       They stay committed.

In the race of life you will encounter obstacles along the way; you never know when trouble will knock at your door. The key is to look to Jesus; don't go around with your head bowed down, and discouraged because the way is hard.

Remember that our problems and our troubles are God's raw material for a miracle in your life. You are not the first, and won't be the last to face obstacles in this earthly journey from earth to glory. Consider what Jesus had to endure:

1.       Jesus endured the cross.

2.       Jesus despised the shame.

Now, look at His reward for enduring: He is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Here is what Paul wrote from his prison cell.

Philippians 3:12-14 (ESV)
¹² Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. ¹³ Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Prayer:

Father God, my dear Father, I am so grateful that I don't have to run the race of life alone; that I have a Savior who saves and sustains me all the way. Father, I thank you for being my redeemer, my rock, and my refuge. In the mighty name of Jesus I pray, Amen.

All the way my Savior leads me,
  Cheers each winding path I tread,
Gives me grace for every trial,
  Feeds me with the living bread.
Though my weary steps may falter,
  And my soul athirst may be,
Gushing from the Rock before me,
  Lo! a spring of joy I see,
Gushing from the Rock before me,
  Lo! a spring of joy I see.

Source: https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/701

--

Matthew 4:4 (HCSB)
⁴ But He answered, "It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."

Psalm 2:8 (HCSB)
⁸ Ask of Me, and I will make the nations Your inheritance and the ends of the earth Your possession.

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http://herbcotton.blogspot.com/