Our life is like a long distance run or race and we’re all participating in it.
Over the years, I’ve competed in distance races from between 400 yards and 50 miles. In the 50 mile event, I ran along the American River in California for most of the way. The first 30 miles or so were on an asphalt path. It was smooth and very, very gradual in it’s steepness. We were running up the river so there was a slight grade when we were on the path. Eventually, the route made its way off the asphalt and onto a dirt path. This narrow path was often rocky, crossed over many small spots of water and was uneven – very unlike the smooth asphalt. One could have easily stumbled and fallen. The race of our life is so much longer than than the longest ultra-marathon run. And it’s like the uneven path that I described above. There are many opportunities to become tripped up as we live in this world day to day.
Jesus and Your Faith
The writer of Hebrews reminds us that the best way to run this race of life is by keeping our eyes on Jesus. Jesus is the person on whom our faith depends from the very start of our race until the end. Our race on earth will end only when we die or when Jesus comes to take us away in the rapture, whichever comes first. It is only by keeping focused on him that we have any chance of living the kind of life that God calls each of us to live. Jesus tells us that he came into the world so that all people could have an abundant and full life. (John 10:10) Paul somewhat describes what a full life looks like when he lists the fruits of the spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. These “fruits” become evident when the Spirit of Jesus is manifested in our lives.
As we regularly reflect on what Jesus did on the cross so that our sins can be forgiven – which makes it possible for us to have a relationship with God – we are encouraged and don’t get as weary in our race. We also need to stay close to or abide in Jesus so that we can draw strength from him and so that his Spirit is reflected in our life. (John 15:5) I have identified this as an essential Spiritual Exercise for a healthier life.
Each step you take, every conversation you have, each glance you take – all of your actions and behaviors – is a part of your race here on earth. You can only run and finish your race well if you keep your eyes on Jesus.
Questions to Reflect On
How frequently are you reading the Bible as a way to keep connected with Jesus?
How evident are the fruits of the spirit in your life?
Are you regularly being “tripped” up by the same sin? If so, what will you do to get back on a ‘smoother path’ in the race of your life?
This week, the East coast of the states will be experiencing record high temperatures. Health experts will recommend that people living there should drink lots of water to replace what they lose trying to stay cool through perspiration. Yes, that is excellent advice for our physical health and well being. The human body is about 60% water in adult males and 55% in adult females. Lean muscle tissue contains about 75% water by weight. Blood contains almost 70% water, body fat contains 10% water and bone has about 22% water.
Many of the water products on the shelf are using the word “life” in their marketing of the water. Nestle suggests that their purified water is “Pure Life.” When I see this printed on a bottle of water, I’m reminded of the truth of the matter. The Bible tells us that there is one source that provides us true life – Jesus, the Living Water.
“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.” Revelation 22:1
“If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?”Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:10-14
After I have been working in the yard on a hot day, I’ll typically go to the refrigerator and grab a bottle of water to quench my physical thirst and to replace the water I’ve lost through sweating. Drinking pure water is probably the best way to satisfy the need to rehydrate physically. But what about satisfying spiritual needs?
Sometimes we try to meet our inner spiritual thirst through external means that do not satisfy like food, alcohol, drugs, gambling, or other forms of unhealthy or addictive behaviors. These earthly things will not truly satisfy the need that God has given each of us for a Savior. Only Jesus can satisfy this need.
“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.‘” Jesus in John 7:38
Questions to Reflect On
Do you have a deep inner thirst that has not yet been quenched?
Are you daily drawing on Jesus as your Source of Living Water?
This advertisement to the right has appeared in our local newspaper, The Charlotte Observer, several times in the last few weeks. Today it appeared in the Sports section. I imagine that the editors of the paper think that men will see the ad and show it to their wives and girlfriends so they might consider reshaping their image. Or, perhaps the women who browse through the section will see it and ponder how they might develop a better image – physically and emotionally.
The same ad appears in the current issue of Today’s Charlotte Woman magazine.
It’s so sad that this is par for the course in our society today. Women especially are bombarded with messages like this advertisement. Change your body and you’ll have a new self image. Looking like the women in ads like this will make you feel good about yourself and of your image as a woman. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Last night I had the privilege of leading a Bible study session for a group of 40 men involved in a transitional housing ministry that serves the poor and homeless. My message to them was that God wants them to base their personal identity on who they are in Christ and not on the messages that they might receive from the “world.”
My message to you women who happen to read this post is the same. God loves you. He sent his Son, Jesus, to die for your sins so that you might have a full life, now and for all eternity. If you have accepted Christ into your life, you now have right-standing with God. Once you were separated from him (because of the original sins of Adam and Eve), and now, through the death and resurrection of Jesus, you are reconnected with God and made right with him. Romans 5:12-17
In Romans 8:11-17, Paul reminds you that you are a child of God and in Ephesians 2:10 he tells you that you are his masterpiece, created to do good things that he has planned for you to do long ago.
I have a wife and a daughter who is a young adult. They are both as beautiful on the inside as they are on the outside. That’s the way God sees them and the way that I see them. I hate it that they, and all other women in our society, have to battle with the messages that the world sends them. It tears me up that women have to contend with these messages.
Women, you don’t have to have a perfect body to feel good about your self image as these ads suggest. If you’ll just believe that God loves you so much that he calls you his child and if you receive this love deep in your heart, your identity and your life can be changed forever. That’s what Romans 12:2 reminds us. You can be transformed by the renewing of your minds.
Women, I encourage you to place your heart and your soul in God’s hands and receive his great and powerful and transforming love through his Son, Jesus. Then, read and embrace the truths found in his guidebook for living – the Holy Bible.
You and I can experience true and long-lasting joy and an eternally full life because of Jesus’ suffering and death. Jesus tells us the type of joy and blessings we can experience in His Sermon on the Mount.
The above paragraph is an introduction to a post I made on this topic last year during Holy Week. In lieu of writing a new post, I thought it would be wise to point you to last year’s entry on this topic.
Have a wonderful day and be reminded that the One who loves you more than any person died so that you can experience joy and life – to the fullest and eternally.
This week you’re likely to see a purple draped cross displayed outside many churches and often in the sanctuary. Frequently seen during Lent and the weeks preceding Easter Sunday, the purple drape has significance.
The Color Purple
Along with blue, scarlet, and crimson, the color purple is used to describe hangings and fine materials. Long ago, the dye needed for this color was extracted from a particularly scarce family of shellfish which made it quite valuable. Purple, then, became a symbol of royalty and riches due to the scarcity of its dye.
The Carpenter’s Cloth
During Jesus’ time there was one way a carpenter let the contractor know a job was finished. A signature, so to speak.
Imagine a hot afternoon in Galilee. Jesus has completed the final pieces of a job he has worked on for several days. The hair of his strong forearms is matted with sawdust and sweat. His face is shiny with heat. He takes a final – and welcome – drink of cool water from a leather bag.
Then, standing to the side of his work, he pours water over his face and chest, splashing it over his arms to clean himself before his journey home. With a nearby towel, he pats his face and arms dry.
Finally, Jesus folds the towel neatly in half, and then folds it in half again. He sets it on the finished work and walks away. Later, whoever arrives to inspect the work will see the towel and understand its simple message. The work is finished.
Christ’s disciples, of course, knew this carpenter’s tradition. On a Sunday of sorrow, three years after Jesus had set aside his carpenter tools, Peter will crouch to look into an empty tomb and see only the linens that the risen Lord has left behind.
A smile will cross Peter’s face as his sorrow is replaced by hope, for he will see the wrap that had covered Jesus’ face. It has been folded in half, then folded in half again and left neatly on the floor of the tomb. Peter understands. The carpenter has left behind a simple message with this cloth. It is finished. (This section is an excerpt from the book, The Carpenter’s Cloth, Sigmund Brouwer.)
As you reflect on your faith this week and what Jesus did over 2000 years ago, be reminded that the reason you can be free of the chains of sin is because Jesus finished what he came to earth to do on the cross.
Related Scriptures
“After this, Jesus,knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to fulfill the Scripture, said, “I am thirsty.” A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth. Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.” John 19:28-20
“It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached, Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Joseph, saw where he was laid.“ Mark 15:42-47
“Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed.“ John 20:1-8
The 2010 Winter Olympics are over. Over the course of 17 days of this year’s competition, Team USA earned 37 medals — the most ever by one country in one Games, besting Germany’s mark of 36 set at Salt Lake. The feat was even more impressive considering it was the first time the U.S. earned the most medals in a Winter Olympics since 1932 at Lake Placid. Germany won 30 medals and Canada, the host country, won 26 total medals.
Medals Made of Recycled Material
And here’s a piece of trivia for you. This year’s 549 medals contained metal from recycled TVs, computers, and keyboards that might have otherwise ended up as e-waste. (More on this here.) I suspect that over a period of enough time, these medals will likely become tarnished.
Physical Conditioning and Discipline
To be good enough to win an Olympic medal, whether it be bronze, silver or gold, takes a tremendous amount of talent, skill and, for most of the events, a high degree of physical conditioning. Preparing for an Olympic competition requires discipline and perseverance. In the end the award that athletes receive is a medal, along with the distinction of being recognized as the world’s best athlete in their respective sport.
“All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.” 1 Corinthians 9:25
Running the Race of Life
Our life as a Christian is like an Olympic athlete training to win a medal. Whereas the prize for the athlete is a medal, our prizes are at least two-fold.
One prize is the abundant life that we are able to live because we are walking day to day with Jesus and by the power of the Holy Spirit. The more disciplined we are at incorporating spiritual exercises into our lives on a daily basis, the more rewarding and fulfilling our life can be. The more we live according to the guidebook that God gives us, the Bible, the sweeter our life can be. God has this “prize” for us on this side of heaven.
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that theymay have life, and have it abundantly.” John 10:10
Paul encourages the Corinthians to run the race of life with endurance and that the crown we will receive will last forever. He encourages us to press on, to persevere, to endure. As athletes require discipline in physical training and in what they eat to be competitive enough to win an Olympic medal, we must be disciplined in various forms of spiritual exercises to win the crown of a full and abundant life. ( Corinthians 9:24-25 )
The more disciplined and consistent we are in our spiritual exercises, the more abundance we will tend to receive this side of heaven. This is one reason Jesus died on the cross for you and for me.
The other “prize” that God makes available for us is the crown of eternal life that we’ll spend with Jesus after we leave this earth. It becomes available to us when we accept Jesus in our heart as our Savior. Isaiah 35:10 tells us that everlasting joy will crown the heads of those who walk with Jesus in a personal way. Unlike the tarnish that will probably occur with the metal of the Olympic medals, our crown of everlasting life and our joy will continue forever.
I encourage you to be disciplined in applying the principles of the Bible in such a way that you’re experiencing a full and rewarding life – the kind God desires for you. And I pray that you are confident that you’ll live eternally in the presence of God because of a choice you’ve made to invite Jesus into your heart.
A Few Questions to Consider
What disciplines in your life contribute most to your level of spiritual fitness?
Are you experiencing an abundant life in the way Jesus has made it available for you?
What spiritual exercises could you incorporate into your life to give you a more full life?
Perhaps I’ll begin to occasionally send along an inspirational song…… as a reminder of God’s love and to encourage you to stay close to him.
If you have any suggestions or favorites, I’d love to hear from you so that I can share them with others.
Have a terrific day!
“I pray that you … may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.” Paul in Ephesians 3:17-19
I really like watching the Olympics, whether it be the Summer Games or the Winter Games as are going on now. Watching this year’s events is extra special because I had the good fortune of visiting Whistler, British Columbia a few years ago to speak at a conference. It’s truly as beautiful as the television cameras make it seem. It is, as many people say, God’s country.
When I watch these events, I try to see the parallel between the athletes and their respective competitions and of my own life and personal challenges. The other day, I was made aware of such a comparison. The event was the Women’s Sprint Cross Country race. One of the competitors had taken a really bad spill earlier in the morning during a practice session. Petra Majdič of Slovenia actually went off course and landed on some rocks in a ravine 10 feet below. After some medical attention, she got back on her skies and continued skiing. A few hours later she had to compete in a total of four races – three qualifying races and the final. In the final, she finished 3rd and captured a bronze medal. At the end of the race, I watched her collapse to the snow in pain. Another trip to the hospital and a few xrays later showed that her ribs were broken. See a video of her efforts.
Imagine skiing four races with four broken ribs. That takes a lot of determination and mental toughness. Fortunately, her years of training and ability to withstand heartache and physical pain paid off as she was rewarded with a medal.
Sometimes our faith journey is difficult. It’s often accompanied with heartache, the unknown, dry seasons and trying times. God allows all your life circumstances to happen. He orchestrates many of the tough times so that your faith may grow. Sometimes he allows you to “fall into a ravine onto a rock” and gives you an opportunity to make a choice to turn to him to get you through the “races” of your life that follow.
When really difficult times and seemingly unbearable stressful situations occur in your life, how do you cope? What gets you through?
Perhaps you are going through a really difficult time in your life. It may be a health issue, a relationship issue or an employment or financial challenge. Whatever your life challenge, I encourage you to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, the perfecter of your faith. Remember what he endured on the cross so that, like him, you can withstand your trial – so that you will not lose heart and grow weary. Hebrews 12:2-3
POWERPOINT FOR PURCHASE
Preview this 85-slide package. Includes permission to administer a Spiritual Fitness Assessment & a 30-page booklet, Spiritual Exercises for a Healthier Life. Fully customizable.
Running and Life
This week, the East coast of the states will be experiencing record high temperatures. Health experts will recommend that people living there should drink lots of water to replace what they lose trying to stay cool through perspiration. Yes, that is excellent advice for our physical health and well being. The human body is about 60% water in adult males and 55% in adult females. Lean muscle tissue contains about 75% water by weight. Blood contains almost 70% water, body fat contains 10% water and bone has about 22% water.
After I have been working in the yard on a hot day, I’ll typically go to the refrigerator and grab a bottle of water to quench my physical thirst and to replace the water I’ve lost through sweating. Drinking pure water is probably the best way to satisfy the need to rehydrate physically. But what about satisfying spiritual needs?
God loves you so much that His son, Jesus, died so you can be whole and have life now and eternally.
You and I can experience true and long-lasting joy and an eternally full life because of Jesus’ suffering and death. Jesus tells us the type of joy and blessings we can experience in 
The 2010 Winter Olympics are over. Over the course of 17 days of this year’s competition, Team USA earned 37 medals — the most ever by one country in one Games, besting Germany’s mark of 36 set at Salt Lake. The feat was even more impressive considering it was the first time the U.S. earned the most medals in a Winter Olympics since 1932 at Lake Placid. Germany won 30 medals and Canada, the host country, won 26 total medals.
To be good enough to win an Olympic medal, whether it be bronze, silver or gold, takes a tremendous amount of talent, skill and, for most of the events, a high degree of physical conditioning. Preparing for an Olympic competition requires discipline and perseverance. In the end the award that athletes receive is a medal, along with the distinction of being recognized as the world’s best athlete in their respective sport.
Sometimes our faith journey is difficult. It’s often accompanied with heartache, the unknown, dry seasons and trying times. God allows all your life circumstances to happen. He orchestrates many of the tough times so that your faith may grow. Sometimes he allows you to “fall into a ravine onto a rock” and gives you an opportunity to make a choice to turn to him to get you through the “races” of your life that follow.
