I just want to encourage you with something the Lord has been really using to challenge me/teach me over the past couple of weeks. Hebrews 12:1-2 - "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who, for the joy set before him, endured the cross, scorned its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." This chapter goes on to be a challenge about spiritual discipline, but I'll share on that maybe next week. I've been working on memorizing Hebrews 12, and it's really incredible how the Lord has used even these first few verses since I started memorizing them. What a challenge and encouragement...in order to run the race the Lord marked out for us, we must throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. I've been praying for Him to show me those areas that I don't even notice and to help me throw off those things.
How I long to really, really run with true perseverance the race He has marked out for me! Someone told me once that your relationship with the Lord shouldn't be a "walk" it should be a "run", and when you're running with the Lord and you look to your right and to your left, you'll see the "keepers" running along side you. Those are the people who are there for you to encourage you and lift you up as strive to persevere.
I sometimes find that perseverance is the hardest thing for me. It's really easy to get discouraged or to get bogged down by what Mark 4 calls thorns - the worries of this life, deceitfulness of wealth, and the desire for other things - but we are called to perseverance in Christ. And thankfully, we don't persevere alone. He is our help and our advocate as we run when we fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. Whenever I feel my feeble heart starting to wander, I pray that He would help me to fix my eyes on Jesus. When life is stressful, pray that He would help you fix your eyes on Jesus. When SAO business is driving you crazy, pray that He would help you fix your eyes on Jesus. After all, Jesus lived here on earth, too, and now sits as our advocate at the right hand of the Father. What a beautiful gift of grace in the person of Jesus!
In closing...just sharing the chorus to a hymn that has been on my heart along with the above words...
Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace
I pray for you, dear reader (I think there are only maybe 5 of you) that you would fix your eyes on Jesus and that He would give you the perseverance to run the race He marked out for you.
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