Running The Race

Do you do any kind of training? Maybe you are learning a new program at work. Maybe you are earning your degree. Maybe you are learning to cook a new dish or learn a new craft or hobby. Maybe you do physical training throughout the week. We can train in lots of ways for lots of things but there is one training that is most valuable for each and every one of us. The training that is most important and of the greatest value is the training we receive from God that shapes us into the children of God that He has created us to be. If we have accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, then Jesus lives in our inner being and God works in us and through us to do His will. (Philippians 2:13) God has blessed all people with the truth and His instruction in His Word. In the Word of God we are instructed how to live our lives to glorify God and in order to do so we must spend time reading and studying His Word. When people train for earthly tasks they may eventually receive the prize they are hoping for, if they trained as they should have, but the prize they are working for is not like the one we train for in God. The prize that we train for in God is a prize that lasts forever, for eternity, and if we are in fact His children, through faith in His Son Jesus, then we are looking forward to an eternal future in heaven with our Savior Jesus! As children of God we will receive the crown of life in Jesus, our Savior!

Once we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, then we become children of God and Jesus lives in our inner being! (John 1:12) In Jesus we have been set free from sin and death for all of eternity and we have been reconciled to God by the blood of His one and only Son! All of our past, present and future sins are forgiven for all of eternity in our Savior Jesus! Praise God for His perfect love and His perfect grace! If Jesus is living in our inner being, then we have the light of life living in us and His light always shines in us and through us for all to see. Jesus lives in us and we are trained by God Himself how to live our lives to glorify Him. It is God who works in us to do His will. (Philippians 2:13) As children of God, who believe in Jesus, we have the one and only living God of all creation living in our inner being and we are being taught by God himself how to live for Him. God is living in us and doing His will in us and through us! There is no greater teacher than the God of all creation who created us, who saved us, redeemed us and called us to eternal life in His Son! God is in control of all things and His will is always done! Praise God that He has rescued us from sin and death and blessed us with eternal forgiveness and eternal life in His Son! Praise God that He has reconciled us to Himself by the blood of His one and only Son and that He trains us to be the children of God that He has created us to be! Praise God that He created us to be His precious and dearly loved children! Since we have been blessed with this incredible calling in Jesus and since we have a perfect teacher and trainer, let us be faithful in living as those who are in fact being trained by God and let us live as those who will receive the crown of life in our Savior Jesus! When we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, then we do receive eternal life in Him and we are eternally forgiven for all of our past, present and future sins. We do not deserve any of these perfect blessings but God, who is rich in mercy, has blessed us with His perfect grace in our Savior Jesus who loves us and gave Himself for us to redeem us and reconcile us to God by the shedding of His blood! Jesus paid the full price for us! We have been blessed with eternal life in our Savior Jesus, even though we do not deserve it, and praise God for this perfect blessing! Now let us always be faithful in living to glorify the God who has called us to this perfect blessing in His Son! So let us be faithful in keeping God’s commands and let us walk humbly with our God who has called us to eternal life in His Son Jesus! As 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 says “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. (NIV)

As a child of God, who believes in Jesus, you have been blessed with eternal life in your Savior Jesus and now you have everything that you need to live a life that glorifies God with your Savior Jesus living in your inner being! You have everything that you need to run a good race! You have your Savior Jesus living in you and Jesus is your life! (Colossians 3:4) You no longer live but Christ lives in you, He loves you and He gave Himself for you! (Galatians 2:20) You will receive a crown that will last forever in your Savior Jesus, so run your race accordingly! Live as one who has been called to eternal life in Jesus! Be faithful in keeping God’s commands! As Hebrews 12:1-2 says “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. (NIV) Remember, God is in control of all things, His will is always done and He works all things out for the good of His Children! (Romans 8:28) God always knows exactly what you need in each moment of your life, even though you do not, and He will always bless you with exactly what you need in each moment of your life according to His will! You are perfectly blessed in your Savior Jesus! You have a life marked out for you by the God who created you, the God who saved you and redeemed you, and the God who has called you to eternal life in His Son! God has blessed you with a purpose, it is His purpose and He is always working in you to do His will! (Philippians 2:13) So enjoy this life that God has planned and marked out for you and live it as a faithful servant of the Lord who has appointed you to eternal life in His Son! As we read in Hebrews, run the race marked out for you with perseverance and fix your eyes on Jesus who is the author and perfecter of your faith! Live the life that God has blessed you with in Him, always being careful to keep His commands! Jesus has redeemed you from sin and death for all of eternity! Sin is no longer your master because you have been blessed with the grace of God in your Savior Jesus! (Romans 6:14) So do not let yourself be burdened again by sin and the guilt of sin. We are sinners and we do sin, but praise God that none of our sins will ever be counted against us in our Savior Jesus! Jesus lives in our inner being and He is our life! (Colossians 3:4) In Jesus we can freely go before the Lord our God knowing that all of our past, present and future sins are eternally forgiven in Him! When we do sin, let us humbly go before the Lord our God in prayer and confess our sins to Him, asking Him to forgive us our sins, praising Him for the eternal forgiveness we have in our Savior Jesus! Praise God, for we are already forgiven for each and every one of our sins in our Savior Jesus! So know that you are forgiven, praise God for it and let go of that guilt and shame! Give it to God and rest in Jesus your Savior who loves you and gave Himself for you to redeem you from all sin and death so that you can now have eternal life in Him! Throw off everything that hinders and run that race with perseverance in your Savior Jesus!

Live your life, run your race, in a manner that glorifies your God for He has appointed you to eternal life in His Son Jesus, your personal Lord and Savior! Live as one who is in fact a child of God who has Jesus living in their inner being! Let your light shine before all men for Jesus is the light of life (John 1:4) and He is always shining in you and through you for all to see! Keep in step with Jesus and avoid acting as those who live in darkness, for in Jesus you have escaped death and darkness for all of eternity! Leave sinful ways behind for you have been set free from sin to serve the one and only living God of all creation who has called you to eternal life! Let go of sin and guilt and do not focus on your sinful nature, focus yourself on Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith, who loves you and gave Himself for you! Run your race in a manner that lets everyone around you see that you are a child of God with the love of Christ in you! Live your life in a manner that glorifies your God and makes all those around you desire the peace and hope Jesus holds out to them through you! Let your peace and joy overflow to all those around you and remember that God is constantly working in peoples lives through you! Run the race God has blessed you with, praise Him for it and run with the strength that Jesus provides as you look forward to an eternal future in heaven with your Savior!