Tag Archives: Race

2020

Posted on by under Bible, Christian, Christianity, Commitment, Covenant, Disciple, Discipleship, Excellence, Faithful, LifeGiving, Mandate, Mature, Maturing, Message, Mission, Movement, Revolution, Righteousness, School Of The Spirit, Teamwork, Training, Transformation

Radical spiritual revolutionaries,


Today’s blog is really a report on Donna’s and my devotional time for this year. 


20/20 is a term connected to vision. 20/20 vision is not necessarily the best vision, meaning just because you can read letters on a static chart while standing or sitting still does not mean you have the best vision.

For instance, 20/10 vision means your sight is twice as sharp as a person with 20/20 vision.


What kind of vision do you have when you are moving?


What kind of vision do you have when what you are seeing is moving?


The Bible says, “Where there is no [prophetic] vision, the people cast off constraint.” Meaning among other things, when we cannot see what is in the spirit realm we typically have no goals to reach, or we give up on our goals.


From April 1, 2019 through December 31, 2019 Donna and I studied at least one chapter of the New Testament every day. We typically would take communion, worship using a song or two that my spirit picked up walking the beach or some other time, and then we would read and dig into the text we were reading that day. This typically would take an hour to an hour and a half.


Several months ago I felt strongly we needed to add more Scripture reading and study to our daily devotional time. We still take communion and worship, but beginning January 1, 2020 we added a reading plan to our 1 chapter minimum from the NT. Now we are investing 2-3 hours a day with the Lord and His Word.


Our plan for 2020 is this:

  • Read through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation using the One Year Chronological Bible plan on our Bible App
    • Study words, phrases, verses that really stick out to us
  • Read and study a Psalm
    • We will keep reading 1 Psalm a day throughout 2020
  • Read and study a Proverb
    • We will read a Proverb corresponding with the day of the month throughout 2020
  • Read and study our NT Books [chapters] per where we are as a result of our plan from 2019
    • We are currently in 2 Peter 2

Psalms 119:105

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” 


As I thought about this verse I realized God’s word provides light for where I am [where my feet are] and where I am going [my path, my divine purpose in life, or the race that is set before me].


I want to challenge each of you to invest in God’s word this year more than you ever have before. Any investment will yield fruitfulness in your life. How much fruit would you produce if you allowed the Holy Spirit to really stretch you to read, study, meditate on, and memorize more of God’s Word in 2020.


2020 – what do you see and how clearly do you see what you see?

Dr. Kevin M. Drury, DMin
Revolution Movement Co-Founder
www.revolutionmovement.org
kdrury@revolutionmovement.org
912.577.4837

You say you want a revolution? Join our Movement and turn your world upside down so that God can turn the world right side up!

Called, Chosen and Our Choices

Posted on by under Bible, Christian, Disciple, Discipleship, Excellence, Faithful, Hard Work, LifeGiving, Mandate, Mature, Maturing, Message, Mission, Revolution, Righteousness, School Of The Spirit, Teammates, Teamwork, Training, Transformation

Many people do not realize that being called is just the first step in a long process of being chosen, and remaining in why they are called and have been chosen.

People settle into their calling because they discover their identity in it, but many fail to realize their identity is only partially in what they are called.

Our full identity is only found in the One who calls us and then chooses us in His calling us. Losing sight of Him reduces us down to someone who performs for Him to feel His love, instead of resting in our love relationship with Him. Adam and Eve discovered that early in their own walking down their path to purpose!

Any person who places their identity in what God calls them to do instead on God who chose them to do it runs a great risk of becoming a person they never dreamed they would digress into.

Jesus said, “Many are called but few are chosen.” That is an interesting statement that should lead enquirers to dig deeper and farther into what Jesus meant when He said that to the very ones He said it to.

The “them” Jesus was speaking to were the scribes and Pharisees who opposed the move of God and the Messiah who was the Facilitator of His movement.

In other words, they had no problem believing they could usurp God and His delegated authority figure.

Scribes were entrusted with the word of God and Pharisees were entrusted with maintaining purity within the community. Both failed miserably in their calling and and in their being chosen. Jesus said to His disciples, “If your righteousness does not exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees you will in no way enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Those are heavy words! They are not as heavy as these, “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it [Matthew 21:43].”

Let us all take note that being faithful to the end of what God has entrusted to us is more important than thinking we are so important we cannot disqualify ourselves from stewarding what He gifted us with in the beginning.

I want us to think about the original men Jesus called to be His disciples. There were more than the twelve that He ended up choosing to be His original, handpicked closest disciples.

In fact, out of those twelve there were three [Peter, James and John] who became even closer to Him than the other nine, but even Peter and James did not reach the level of intimacy that John attained.

John was so full of Jesus boiling oil couldn’t burn him and Patmos could not blind him! Now that is what I call a real revelation of Jesus, the Christ.

Choices! How far are you willing to go for a real relationship with Jesus based on intimacy with Him, not your working for Him?

At the end of His life Jesus had to say this to Philip, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip?” How long has Jesus been with you and yet you still have not moved close enough to really know Him?

Distance and disconnect from Jesus are detrimental to our mental state, and potentially to our eternal state!

I learned many years ago: Jesus chose twelve out of possibly a hundred or more disciples He called to follow Him, the “three” chose to get closer than the other nine and John the beloved got closer than James and Peter. So when Jesus calls and chooses us it is for the purpose of our discovering what choices we will make to make sure we have a close relationship to Him, not to what He calls and chooses us to do for Him.

We read, “12 It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God. 13 And when day came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also named as apostles: 14 Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; and James and John; and Philip and Bartholomew; 15 and Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot; 16 Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor [Luke 6].”

Many were called disciples but He chose twelve out of the many He originally called. We are not told why He chose only those twelve or why He chose those specific men, except that He spent all night fellowshipping with His Father and we know He only did what He saw His Father do and He only said what He heard His Father say. We can deduce the Father directed Him to the twelve He wanted chosen.

There is an interesting choice in the group of twelve. His name is Judas Iscariot who became a traitor.

How would you like to be known throughout eternity as _______ ________ who became a traitor? Yikes!

“Became a traitor” is an interesting phrase to me, especially in light of what John reveals in chapter six of His gospel.

“64 But there are some of you who do not believe. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him. 65 And He was saying, ‘For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.'”

Luke said Judas “became a traitor” and John said Jesus “knew who it was who would betray Him,”

Jesus knew the moment He selected Judas as one of the twelve it was he who would eventually betray Him.

We must remember all His disciples believed in Jesus when they followed Him. Apparently Judas chose not to believe Jesus. Do you really believe the Jesus you tell people you believe in? And in John chapter eight we learn Jesus told the “Jews who believed Him” they were His disciples if “they continued in His word.”

Continuing in and ending with believing Jesus is much more important that beginning a belief in and believing Jesus!

Think rope! Think pull up and out! Think hang down! Now think choices! Now think about all the crap Judas had inside of him that everyone got to see once his bowels blew out!

Jesus made choices and so did Judas, but their reasons for choosing were totally different.

My purpose in bringing it up in this blog is the context of being called and chosen does not guarantee we will end up where we thought we would when God calls and chooses us. Jesus knew where Judas would end up but Judas had no idea what his choices would do to his being called and chosen.

Jesus also said this about choices, “ 16 You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. 17 This I command you, that you love one another [John 15].”

When Jesus chooses us He expects good fruit to be produced. Many see that fruit as being what they do and not who they become. In other words, they place their future in their performace for Jesus instead on a real relationship with Jesus.

Is the fruit Jesus expects the supernatural manifestations of His presence? Not if they are done for the wrong reasons.

“21 Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles ?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness [Matthew 7].'”

First Jesus addressed those who overemphazied their relationship to Him, “Lord, Lord.” So much for all who say Jesus is Lord do so through the Holy Spirit. Now that is another matter to deal with at another time. Second, beginning in the kingdom does not guarantee ending in the kingdom. Just ask the scribes and Pharisees. We need to make sure we remain in the kingdom God is in. Third, these deceived people were eager to brag about THEIR exploits – TO JESUS. Fourth, they never realized knowing Jesus is no where near as important as Him knowing them.

Do you know Him? So do demons and people deceived enough to prostitute His name for their glory!

Paul said, “24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. 25 Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; 27 but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified. [1 Corinthians 9].”

God never disqualifies those He calls and chooses because His “gifts and calls are irrevocable.” Do we notice the word ‘anointing’ is not mentioned as irrevocable? How about the word ‘revelation?’ Are these intentional exclusions? I believe that they are intentional and a clue to the clueless.

For those who think that would never happen to them or any other New Testament minister read these words and weep, unless you are so enamored with yourself they cannot bring you to tears.

“4 ‘But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5 ‘Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent [Revelation 2].”

To have your lampstand removed means you are no longer getting revelation from the One who provided you with the illumination in the first place. Without His illumination there can be no Holy Spirit anointing becasue He is the One who gives illumination to us through the written Word of God.

Paul placed the responsibility of his remaining in his race squarely where it must be, on his shoulders.

Paul mentions running and prizes in his other epistles. The context of studying Paul and the race he ran is this: Paul never went where he was not sent. In other words, Paul had connections to a community of believers and those who led those believers. Paul was not a went one.  He was a sent one!

Secondly, Paul was never sent alone. When he began his ministry he was sent with another five fold minister and then he led a team of future five fold ministers and believers. Paul was a team player not a lone ranger! God does not have lone rangers representing Him. In His earthly ministry Jesus sent teams of at least two to represent Him and His mission.

That is another very important truth. No one has a kingdom ministry, message, mandate or mission apart from Jesus.

  • Philippians 3 – “12 Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. 13 Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you; 16 however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained.”
    • Paul said many things in this text but think about the following as you consider your calling and being chosen
      • He pressed on inspite of his imperfections!
      • He laid hold of that which Christ has laid hold of him.
      • He continuously pursued his purpose in life not settling in a status quo.
      • He looked ahead not behind!
      • He reiterated a core value of pressing onward toward a goal.
      • His goal and prize was Christ, and the upward call that is found only in Christ, the One who called and chose him.
      • He would not compromise what he learned, experienced and obtained and attained, in Christ.
  • Hebrews 12 – “1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
    • Look at the similar language in this text to the Philippians 3 text. This is why I believe Paul wrote Hebrews!
      • He knew he was connected to believers who had finished their race as well as to those he was running with and for in his own generation.
      • He recognized the necessity to not become entangled in life’s challenges and hell’s temptations.
      • He kept his eyes on the prize, Christ Jesus.
      • He knew Christ was heaven’s model and his [our] role model for all life and ministry.
      • He did not follow Jesus in His earthly ministry but Jesus had burned the Cross into his consciousness deep enough it was the central theme of his life and ministry.
      • He realized weariness and heart failure was a present tense potential problem if he took his eyes off of his Prize.
  • 2 Timothy 4 – “6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; 8 in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”
    • Once again Paul references a race and he ties it to expending his life as a sacrificial drink offering to God and for the people he ran with and for
      • His Prize was in full view!
      • He was confident in his effort and he would be rewarded for it.
      • He knew he had been in a fight but it was a good fight because he never got knocked out. Even when he was stoned to death he got up and went right back in the city among those who tried to take him out.
      • He finished the course [race that Jesus set before him]!
      • He kept THE faith which means he remained faithful to his mission, message and his mandate to preach where no man had preached before.

Listen dear reader, don’t get cocky because you have a call from God that you have answered. Don’t become arrogant because Jesus chose you and you responded to His choice.

Remember God chose Israel out of all the nations on earth to be His people, and He chose Judas, a Jewish man to be one of Jesus’ closest disciples.

According to Peter [Acts 2] “the whole house of Israel” was guilty of innocent blood, the “men of Israel” chose to betray God and His sent Son, and Judas was the key player in that conspiracy to crucify the “Man.” Luke records Peter’s words with this, “[Who was] delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God.”

God chose the very ones who would betray the Christ, and they chose to be the ones to betray Him. Being called, and being chosen is meaningless if we make wrong choices that end up placing us in opposition to God and His purposes in the earth.

The fact we believe we started for the right reasons is no guarantee we will end up in the right place. Our choices throughout our lives are just as important as God’s choice to call and choose us!

Receive and steward God’s Passion, Power, Presence, Priority, Process, Provision, Pruning, Purging, Purity, and Purpose!

Dr. Kevin M. Drury, DMin

A Spiritual Revolutionary

It’s Time To Act Up! Part 4 – Our Race

Posted on by under Bible, Christian, Excellence, LifeGiving, Righteousness, School Of The Spirit, Training

This is the fourth segment in the series It’s Time To Act Up! This series is designed to call Christian’s up [To Act UP] to their rightful place in God’s purposes in the earth.

Our race is our assignment on the planet!

 Luke 14:26,27,33

“If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.”

This is the same Jesus who when told His mother, sisters and brothers were wanting to see Him said, “Who is My mother, My sisters and My brothers?”

Jesus did not wait for the question to sink in nor did He wait to see what someone would answer. He immediately said, “I will tell you who My mother, sisters and brothers are. They are the ones who do the will of My Father.”

This is the same God who said, “Jacob I loved and Esau I hated.”

Jesus is saying that no relationship can come in between ours and His. When we place someone, anyone, in between ourselves and God we have replaced the Creator we worship and worship who He created.

Jesus is saying that we cannot love our life more than we love Him. He bought us! We are no longer our own!

“Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”

Jesus did not say we must carry His cross. Nor does He expect us to carry His cross. His cross was His unique purpose for why He was on the planet. It was His mission and the fulfillment of the essence of His message.

Our cross is our unique purpose for being on the planet. It is unique to us. No one else can carry it just like we cannot carry someone else’s cross. Now, there are times when God will send someone to help us carry our cross just like He provided two men to carry Jesus’. That was a very short, very important, but very short moment in time.

 “So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.”

Jesus said in another place, “A man’s life does not consist in the things he possesses.” God is not opposed to us having things. He is opposed to things possessing us. We must be free from believing we are owners of what we have. We and all we have are owned by God. If we choose not to relinquish control of our possessions we have replaced the Creator we worship with the worship of material things.

Our purpose is in Him, not our possessions.

Our identity is in Him, not in our stuff.

Jesus said, “Go and MAKE disciples …. teaching them to obey all that I commanded you.”

Disciple comes from the same root word as discipline. Even Jesus cannot discipline someone who is not a disciple!

Jesus did not say go and collect converts

He did not say, “Start a church to have a congregation!”  Or, “Start a ministry to have a platform so you can perform!

Conversion is the doorway into discipleship!

Salvation is free! Discipleship costs us everything!

The purpose of conversion is discipleship!

The purpose of discipleship is to reproduce and re-present the life and ministry of Jesus the Christ – on earth!

Every person who disciples people should be discipling converts to Jesus, not accumulating a crowd!

A convert’s main focus is getting to heaven.

“Get saved so you can go to heaven when you die” is the typical sales pitch used to convert sinners. “You don’t want to miss heaven” is another ploy used by those who don’t realize that those converts will miss a whole lot of heaven before they die.

A disciple’s main focus is getting heaven to earth!

A convert’s main focus is what can I get from you that will help me.

They are babes and babies are totally dependent on others for their survival

A disciple’s main focus is what can I give to you that will help you!

Our success is not measured in how many people we can attract, or how many people grow up!

Even Jesus could not get 100% participation! Even Jesus had close followers desert Him!

Our success is measured in – Did we follow Jesus where He led us? Have we been obedient?

 “Walk in a manner worthy of our calling” [Ephesians 4:1].

Our assignment carries specific and serious responsibilities!

Our assignment requires us to carry ourselves and those we are assigned to into a conflict with the conventional and contemporary culture of our day. Be they secular and or religious!

Jesus sent His disciples as sheep among wolves into the secular Roman world of fear and intimidation, and into the religious world of heathenism [you can do anything because anything goes, and Judaism [you can’t do much or you will get into trouble]!

Transformation [conversion to mature disciple] is not just for an individual to experience.

Personal transformation is to have an eternal affect on individuals, regions and the planet.

 Finishing our race means so much more than getting to the end of our life or our life’s work!

Completing our race means leaving something lasting [a significant legacy] that will have a righteous effect on the earth long after we depart, so that generations that follow can build on what we deposited, and expand what we started!

Discipleship is about pioneering, building and settling, not about squatting!

Pioneer

 Is a person who goes before others to see what is out there that is worth fighting for and mapping out a strategy to possess it. Pioneers expand our territory!

Builder

Is a person that sees what should be built to stabilize the area and to create an economy that will offer those who settle there an opportunity to be successful. Builders build on the territory pioneers find and expand!

Settler

Is a person who establishes healthy root systems to create a culture where the citizens can be creative and successfully pass on to future generations what they and others have worked to possess.  Settlers grow what has been possessed and build on the territory won in battle!

 Squatter

Is a person who just takes up space on what others have fought to obtain without improving it. Squatters are consumers, not producers!

Completing our race means we must complete our assignment!   Our race IS Our Assignment!

Ecclesiastes 9:10,11

 “10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going. 11 I returned and saw under the sun that – The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favor to men of skill; But time and chance happen to them all.”

In these two verses Solomon is revealing that there are certain strategies for success that may take creativity, thoughtfulness, a greater commitment to continue on, endurance and also a spirit of excellence.

Solomon is saying stop with the excuses such as, “I am not the fastest”, “I am not the strongest”, “I am not the wisest”, “I am not the most talented”.

Stop focusing on what you are not, and on what you don’t have, and on what you can’t do!

Solomon is saying everyone has time and opportunity so take full advantage of what you do have!

An excellent spirit enabled Joshua and Caleb to enter, experience, embrace, enjoy, expand and export the Promised Land, when their contemporaries compromised and were cut off.

Joshua and Caleb said, “God can, God will, so we can and we will.”

Solomon says we should find something to do and do it with all our might because we only have  a certain amount of time to accomplish it, and once we die our opportunity dies with us.

V10 – Might ~~ human strength – give it all you have to give

Root word ~~ to be firm

To be consistent and committed

Solomon is not insinuating we should do what we do alone [without God or without other people].

He is saying we should be totally committed to our purpose, and purposefully committed to God and all those who are affected by our purpose.

Spirit Led Decrees

  • I will give my all ALL the time!
  • I will not cheat myself, My God, nor the people God has put in my life!
  • I will not cheat the world around me of their opportunity to encounter the God who encountered Me, and gave my life purpose!

In verse 11 Solomon says,

“The race is not to the swift.”

“Nor the battle to the strong.”

“Nor bread to the wise.”

“Nor riches to the men of understanding.”

“Nor favor to men of skill.”

“But time and chance happen to them all.”

‘All’ being the swift and the not so swift, the strong and the not so strong, the wise and the not so wise, the understanding and those who do not understand, and the skillful and those who are not so skillful.

Solomon finishes verse 11 with words that can be misunderstood by those who do not take the time to dig down into the meat to find the structure [support].

V11 – Time ~~ to continue into the future; to move on, continue on and to advance. The Steve Miller Band sang a song called FLY LIKE AN EAGLE and it contained a lyric that said, “Time keeps on slippin, slippin, slippin. into the future.” Time moves on! Have we? Or are we stuck somewhere in our past?

24H x 60M = 1,440 minutes in a day OR 1,440 x 360 seconds = 518,400 seconds in a day

7D x 24H = 168 hours OR 7D x 1,440M = 10,800 minutes in a week OR 10,800 x 518,400 = 5.6 billion seconds in a week

52W x 168H = 8,736 hours OR 52W x 10,800M = 561,600 minutes in a year or 561,000 minutes x 5.6 billion seconds = A LOT

V11 – Chance ~~ to encounter, meet, and to reach the mark, or touch the boundary [goal].

Our English word ‘chance’ means something entirely different.

Among other things it denotes luck instead of focused hard work.

V11 – Happen ~~ to encounter, to meet, to meet without a prearrangement

Solomon is not saying don’t work hard, or try to improve because unless you are one of the lucky ones it will all be in vain!

Solomon is saying that everyone has an opportunity to move into their future, to reach the goal and finish their race – successfully!

The Bible, especially the apostle Paul, has much to say about our race.

Our race is not a sprint!

Our race is more than a marathon!

Our race is more of a cross country race that has elements associated with a decathlon and a steeplechase where we must traverse various types of terrains and obstacles that create various challenges.

The challenge produces character!

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

“24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. 25 And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. 26 Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. 27 But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”

Paul says every believer is running their race but not every believer will receive the prize. We must remember that God does not give prizes to every participant like we do in our modern worldly method of  doing everything possible to make everyone feel good about themselves.

In other words, God has not created a culture where no one can be disappointed or get their feelings hurt.

Paul describes for us what he did to ensure success when he got to the end of his race. He paid a huge price by developing disciplines that carried him forward along the path God laid out for him.

Then Paul makes a statement that potentially can offend our modern mindset. He said, “Lest . . . I myself should become disqualified.”

WHAT?

There is NO way God would disqualify anyone!

That is a very true statement!

God does not disqualify people!

People disqualify themselves!

Warning! Warning! Warning! Those are the words of the most effective disciple of Jesus the Christ. That is the theology of the most thought of, compelling, culture revolutionizing, committed Christian other than Jesus the first Christian.

 2 Timothy 4:7

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

Here this same revolutionary visionary said three very important things.

There is a fight and it is a “good fight”.

There is a race and it is “the race”.

There is a faith and it is “the faith”.

Paul said that he entered the good [worthwhile] fight and he fought it!

Paul said that he entered the race [his potential, God’s purpose, and God’s promise] and he finished it!

Paul said that he entered the faith [the faith Jesus the Christ authored and handed off to His disciples] and he kept it!

And all of this from a man who laid his life down for the world and the church, for local churches and for those who were a part of his apostolic team.

By the way, Paul suffered from the hands of Judaizers, unsaved Jews, hostile Gentiles and even those on his team. Paul saw members of his team desert him and there were times he “despaired of life.”

The behavior of others should not deter, our cause us to detour from our race.

Hebrews 12:1-3

“1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.”

Paul says that there are witnesses! Who are these witnesses? You can find them in Chapter 11. In chapter 11 we find witnesses that experienced great trials, breakthroughs, victories, answered prayers, deliverances, etc.

And then there were “the others”. At the end of chapter 11 we read about those who kept the faith to their death without experiencing breakthroughs, victories, answered prayers, deliverances, etc.

They all ran their race to win and they all won. Their outcomes may have differed but the one constant was they continued steadfast until the very end!

Paul says we must –

  • “Lay aside [get rid of] every weight” that weighs [slows] us down
    • Weights can be good things but don’t qualify as God things
    • They can be human relationships with friends, family, mates and even potential mates
    • They can be job opportunities like promotions or relocations
    • They can be ministry opportunities with ministries that come close to having your same core values but differ nonetheless in areas of personal experiences and revelation in God’s Word.
    • Weights can be relationships with people who are not contributing to our success
      • We must tread lightly here
      • We can grow when we are mistreated
      • People who mistreat us are not our enemy, for our warfare is not against flesh and blood
      • We are to bless those who curse us and do good to them who use us
      • This does NOT mean we have to remain in relationship with them
        • If the person is a family member such as a spouse we cannot cut them out of our life but we must realize they are not our Lord
        • If relating to them is dangerous then we can create boundaries, safe distances that will ensure we can be our true selves in God
        • We are ultimately responsible to obey God when man is wanting us to do things that are a violation of God’s will for our lives
        • Jesus is the only Person who publicly hung naked for us and He is the only one who called us in our respective holy calling as a Christian
        • We see this a lot when it comes to husbands and wives trying to show honor to their unbelieving, unspiritual or uninterested spouse
  • “Lay aside [get rid of] THE sin that so easily ensnares [entangles, trips us up, side tracks, derails, ship wrecks] us.”
    • We all have a “The sin” that so easily ensnares us

So that we can –

  • “Run with endurance” [steadfastness, consistency – in the NT endurance is the characteristic of a person who will not swerve from their deliberate purpose and loyalty to the faith by even the greatest trials and sufferings]
  • “The race” is our particular purpose for being on the planet

Paul then describes how to manage our life so that we will be successful. He says,

  • “Looking to Jesus” [Maintaining eye contact with Jesus which is a description of deep intimacy]

In human relationships the greatest intimacy, whether it is conversational or sexual intercourse, is experienced when we look into each other’s eyes.

Sex was first connected to intercourse in 1798 according Dictionary.com.

It is very difficult to have intimacy on any level with abusive people [people who abuse our kindness, our acceptance and our hospitality].

Jesus said, “If someone slaps you on the cheek offer them the other cheek.” But when He got slapped during His mock trial He did not offer the other cheek. He said, “If I have done nothing wrong why did you slap Me?”

Maybe what we thought Jesus meant is NOT what Jesus meant. Just saying!

Because Jesus IS [always present tense] –

  • “The author of our faith”
  • “Our” is in italics because it is not in the Greek

We have no other faith other than the faith Jesus authored.

  • “The finisher of our faith”

Jesus is not only the author, the One who scripted what faith is, but Jesus is the One who gives fulfillment to all that faith is and what faith does.

Our only role-model for life and ministry whose example is ~

  • Endurance

Steadfastness, consistency, unswerving from His deliberate purpose in life and loyalty to the faith, and the Father who sent Him to model for all mankind in the face of the greatest trials and sufferings.

  • He endured the Cross
  • He endured the shame
  • He was humiliated by being publicly identified as a criminal [sinner]

He WAS NAKED

  • He was stripped of all human dignity and modesty
  • He endured the hostility from sinners [all those who do not appreciate and do not accept what He did for them]

What is your race?

What is your assignment?

Where is your assignment?

Are the people you are relating to relating to your assignment?

Are they helping you grow in God?

What are you doing in preparation to run your race and stay in the race to the end?

Who or what have you allowed in your life that is impeding you running your race?

What weights are you carrying that are not assisting you in your race?

Are you willing to lay aside every weight that is keeping you from being you in God?

If not, why not?

Who is your daddy?

What does fatherhood look like to you?

Who called you?

Who affirms you?

Who holds you accountable?

Can you be held accountable?

Keep THE Faith! Keep THE Passion!

Our hunger and thirst FOR God escorts us into deep satisfaction IN God!

Dr. Kevin M. Drury, DMin
A Hisstorymaker!
Web: bethelbythesea.org / drkevinmdrury.wordpress.com
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