What I've Been Training For

From the Word

Click and read >Hebrews 12:1-12

Key Verse:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. -Hebrews 12:1

Bright and early Saturday morning, I ran a 5K in the Famous Idaho Potato Race to help raise money for the YMCA. It was a special moment for me. The weather was absolutely perfect. The greenbelt was beautiful. And I was surprised by how easily I was able to run the three miles.

I have been training for this race for the last 10 weeks, following a plan called 'From Your Couch to a 5K" Ten weeks ago, I was only running for 60 second spurts followed by 90 seconds of walking for a total of about 15 minutes. Saturday, I ran 30 minutes straight without a need to stop and rest. My training paid off.

Friday night before the race, I went to pick up my number, timing chip and course map. While I was there I was so impressed by the people I considered the real runners, those who planned to run the 1/2 marathon and marathon races.

Marathon runners train for something called "Hitting the Wall." It is common to run out of glycogen stores in your muscles and liver somewhere around the 20 mile mark. They have to train to persevere through that crash of energy, when the race feels unbearable. I saw some runners this weekend that must have hit that point in their race when I passed them. One lady was sobbing, others looked in physical pain.

It made me think of the spiritual implications of running the marathon race of this life. Walking faithfully with Christ, remaining faithful to him through persecution, heartache, and overwhelming trials of this fallen world, is the ultimate endurance run. Thankfully, we do not have to rely on our own strength. When our "glycogen" stores run out, we rely on His strength and energy to keep us going, and we put our faith into practice. When burdens feel unbearable and our strength is gone, we must remind ourselves that "this is what I have been training for," this test of my faith will make me stronger. Press on! Don't quit! Run with perseverance that race marked out for you.

At the end of my race on Saturday, I hit a point where I wondered how far I had already run and how much farther I had to go. Then all of a sudden, on my left through the trees, and over the river, I caught glimpses of the finish line. There were hundreds of people celebrating with loud music, cheering on the runners as they came in. My speed picked up, my hope increased, and I ran faster than I knew I could just to get to that party! As I ran across the finish line I was huffing and puffing but I felt so much joy and victory. I did it! I was "home free."

I was surprised by how much it helped to know the end was near, to get those little glimpses of the finish line through the trees, and to know what was waiting for me. That's what the hope of Heaven is intended to do for us. As that day draws ever nearer, as we look up in anticipation, we can run faster toward the prize waiting for us. We can remember that our faith is strong enough to carry us home because we've been training for this. Don't lose hope! Just like the crowd was cheering for me during the race, I'm cheering for you, "Keep going! You are doing awesome! You're almost there!"

Personal Application:

Are there areas of your life where you can see your faith being tested? Have you "hit the wall" in the race of life? Pray for God to strengthen you to push on, to persevere, and to remember that you are almost there.

Father,

Thank you for training my faith, making it grow and increase. Thank you for equipping me with the strength I need to endure this marathon of life. Please keep reminding me of the prize that awaits. My very great reward on the other side of the finish line is You! During this time of trial and struggle, please give me your grace and help to persevere.

In Jesus' Name I pray,

Amen

More of God's Word:

1. Therefore, among God's churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring. 2 Thessalonians 1:4

2. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything -James 1:4

3. Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. -James 5:7

4. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 3:14

When We All Get to Heaven

Eliza E. Hewitt, 1898

Sing the wondrous love of Jesus,
Sing His mercy and His grace;
In the mansions bright and blessed
He’ll prepare for us a place.

Refrain:
When we all get to heaven,
What a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
We’ll sing and shout the victory!

While we walk the pilgrim pathway,
Clouds will overspread the sky;
But when trav’ling days are over,
Not a shadow, not a sigh.

Let us then be true and faithful,
Trusting, serving every day;
Just one glimpse of Him in glory
Will the toils of life repay.

Onward to the prize before us!
Soon His beauty we’ll behold;
Soon the pearly gates will open;
We shall tread the streets of gold.


Pressing on with you!

Princess School

From the Word

Click and Read Hebrews 10


Key Verse:

For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy.
-Hebrews 10:14 (NLT)

"I have to walk on my tiptoes," my daughter told me when I met her at the school bus stop. "I'm going to Princess School and this is how a princess is supposed to walk."

As we walked home, she explained that her new library book was called Princess School and she was officially training in all things princess. She's been very committed to this plan all week, insisting on wearing dresses and paying lots of attention to manners because "princesses are very polite."

As I've watched her practicing her princess skills, it reminded me that I too am a princess. Because of my faith in Jesus, I have become a child of God, the Daughter of the King of Kings, and the bride of Christ. Royalty.

How very un-royal I feel at times! It is easy for me to slip into condemnation mode and to wonder if I'm ever going to get things right. But the truth is, whether or not I pass Princess School or get an A+ in Royal Manners, I have already been made a princess. That can not be taken away from me.

The struggles I have to overcome sin in my life do not and can not take away from who I already am in Jesus. I had a counselor help me understand this with this analogy. He said:

When a prince or princess is born, they are immediately a part of the royal family. They already are a prince or princess. Then they spend the rest of their lives learning how to be royal.

That's how the sanctification process works for us. When we turn our lives over to Jesus in faith, at that moment we are positionally perfect. God sees us through the lens of justification. We are already made perfect, even as we are being made perfect or holy.

Throughout my lifetime, God will be making me into the image of his son. I will be learning how to be royal, but I can rest in the knowledge that that work is already completed. I am his. He promises to finish the work he began in me, so condemnation and discouragement has no place in my life. I need to lift my head up in confidence and start walking like the princess I am.

Personal Application:

Do you ever doubt your salvation? Do you find it difficult to believe that you are forgiven and free? Replace the lies with truth by confessing your false beliefs and replacing them with scripture that tells the truth.

This royal position does come with responsibility. There are warnings throughout the Bible to not treat this amazing grace cheaply. It is our responsibility as a princess to bring honor to our King. We should strive for holiness. We should try to win people to Him by our goodness and by our example that Biblical principles really do work. The difference is in our hearts. We are motivated by love and gratitude, not because we think we can earn our salvation or because we are afraid of His wrath.

After you are aware of this amazing gift, how terrible it would be to throw it all away. The end of Hebrews 10 can be scary and appear to contradict what the beginning of the chapter says. It does not! I think Matthew Henry did a great job of explaining it in his Concise Commentary, so I'll let him explain:

The exhortations against apostasy and to perseverance, are urged by many strong reasons. The sin here mentioned is a total and final falling away, when men, with a full and fixed will and resolution, despise and reject Christ, the only Saviour; despise and resist the Spirit, the only Sanctifier; and despise and renounce the gospel, the only way of salvation, and the words of eternal life. Of this destruction God gives some notorious sinners, while on earth, a fearful foreboding in their consciences, with despair of being able to endure or to escape it. But what punishment can be sorer than to die without mercy? We answer, to die by mercy, by the mercy and grace which they have despised. How dreadful is the case, when not only the justice of God, but his abused grace and mercy call for vengeance! All this does not in the least mean that any souls who sorrow for sin will be shut out from mercy, or that any will be refused the benefit of Christ's sacrifice, who are willing to accept these blessings. Him that cometh unto Christ, he will in no wise cast out.

This is a final throwing away of God's grace. We know from Jesus' story of the prodigal son that there is always hope that someone like this will come home and a grand reception of forgiveness and love will be waiting when they do.

Dear Father,

I'm overwhelmed by the beauty of this truth. From the time I was a little girl, I dreamt of being a princess. You have made me a princess. You forgave my sins, made me right before you, and are now molding me, shaping me, and training me for this royal position. Thank you for redeeming me and for forgiving me. Thank you for the hope of eternity with you. Thank you that I get to enjoy the benefits of your Kingdom even now. How good you are! How amazing your grace and love!

In Jesus' Name I pray,
Amen

More of God's Word:

1. Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. -Philippians 1:6 (NIV)

2. But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. -1 Peter 2:9 (NLT)

3. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. -John 1:12 (NIV)

Love,

Princess