Earlier this week, I received an email from an organization I am a part of, Evangelical Christian Fellowship. So fitting for the World Race, I decided to pass along the words of wisdom here.
Enjoy! Xo
Lauren
Proverbs 4:20-26
“My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words.Don’t lose sight of them.Let them penetrate deep into your heart, for they bring life to those who find them,and healing to their whole body.
Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.
Avoid all perverse talk; stay away from corrupt speech.
Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path.” (NLT)
In the New Testament there is much reference to running, running for a prize, competing for a high calling, winning the crown of life. The scripture above underscores each of those metaphors in a marvelous way. As we face 2014 with all of its now hidden challenges, blindsides, tests and trials and exciting, invigorating, heady victories also now hidden, let us move as runners are trained to do.
Every coach will tell you when you are in the race, keep your head straight and look forward. Never turn your head. If you do, you will break your stride and it could cost you the race. Even a quick glance over the shoulder to look at other runners will cause you to stumble and lose concentration. Let’s determine today our course as Christians and ministers alike to follow that runner’s rule. We pledge to keep our eyes only on Jesus. We will not be distracted. We will not be deterred.
My (Our) response is to get down on my (our) knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I (we) ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.
God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.
Glory to God in the church!
Glory to God in the Messiah, in Jesus!
Glory down all the generations!
Glory through all millennia! Oh, yes!
Ephesians 3:14-21- The Message Bible
