Run THE Race!
Two of my favorite scriptures are Isaiah 40:31 (but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint) and Philippians 3:13-14 (Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.)
I've often thought of these verses in the context of my race and making sure I'm living my life in a way so that when I reach the final finish line, I hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant."
However, it may not just be your race God is calling you to run... Who in your life needs help right now and may not be able to help themselves? Who is God asking you to lift up before him in prayer?
Luke 5:17-26 tells a story of a paralyzed man in need of healing but who couldn't get to Jesus on his own in order to be healed. So 4 men carried him to Jesus, and when there wasn't room to get through the door, they lowered him through the roof, right down in front of Jesus. Now watch this... Something that is easy to miss but is the key to the whole story... According to THEIR faith God forgave the sins of the paralyzed man AND healed his crippled body. God gave him more than he even asked for and not because of his own faith for he was not yet saved, but rather because of the faith of the 4 men who carried him!
So if that is you and you are carrying someone else before the Lord right now; don't give up!! Keep the faith!! Is anything too hard for our God? No! Keep praying. Keep believing. We serve a magnificent God who has already defeated the enemy and won THE race!!
He is able! He is Lord! He is ALIVE!!!
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