Lift up over all the (covering) shield of saving faith, upon which you can quench all the flaming missiles of wicked [one]! Crossing the Finish Line! I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, and I have kept the faith. The [victors] crown of righteousness - for being right with GOD and doing right! As for you, be calm and cool and steady, accept and suffer unflinchingly every hardship, do the work of an evangelist; fully perform all the duties of your ministry. For I am already about to be sacrificed - my life is about to be poured out [as a drink offering]; the time of my [spirits] release [from the body] is at hand and I will soon go free. I have fought the good (worthy, honorable and noble) fight; I have finished the race; I have kept (firmly held) the faith. THE HEAVENLY CHURCH IN CHRIST JESUS! ENROLLED IN THE HEAVEN KINGDOM ON EARTH (Luke 11:2) (ROMANS 14:17) the good NEWS is the PRINCIPAL IS THE DOOR JOHN 10:7, 9, and HE gave the KEYS TO APOSTLES PETER (Matt. 10:1-24; Rev. 22:17; Acts 20:33-38; 1 COR. 11:1) he has OPENED THE DOOR (Acts 2:1-47) AND NO MAN CAN SHUT IT! (REV.3:8) and the Opening Text is from ((1 Tim 4:7: 2 Tim 4:5 - 10; Eph. 6:10-24; Isa. 52:7; Acts. 10:36; Rom.10:15)! For the Holy Spirit shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say. (Luke 12:8-12; John 14:22-26; 1 COR. 2:4-5). (JER. 20:1-18; PROVERBS 31): AMEN!! THE CHURCH is my COLLEGE (1 COR. 3:10-12) , HEAVEN is my UNIVERSITY (PS.90:1), JESUS is my PRINCIPAL (ISA. 9:6; 28:10-13), JESUS is my COUNSELOR (ISA. 9:6; 28:10-13; 40:13), THE HOLY SPIRIT is my TEACHER [LK. 12:12] , ANGELS are my CLASS MATES [LK. 12:8] , THE BIBLE is my STUDY BOOK [Luke 24:32] , TRIAL & TEMPTATION are my EXAMS [PS. 23:1-6] , WINNING SOULS are my ASSIGNMENTS [Matt. 5:16], PRAYER is my ATTENDANCE [PS. 55:17] , CROWN OF LIFE is my DEGREE [2 Tim. 4:6-8], AND PRAISE & WORSHIP is my MOTTO [PS. 34:1; 95:6] . To Enroll in the COLLEGE ye must be BORN AGAIN [John 3:3-21; Mark 3:31-35; Acts 1:14;10:34], you must be BAPTIZED in the NAME OF JESUS [Acts 2:38; Col.3:17], ye must receive the GIFT of the HOLY SPIRIT [Romans 8:8-11], if you have no GED, UNLEARN youre very welcome to Enroll [1 Cor. 1:21;John 7:15; Acts 4:13] today there is room for all and tuition is FREE!!(ACTS 8:20) We have a beginner class for people who [have] the Holy Spirit and not baptized in Jesus name [ACTS 8:14-16; 10:42-48] and those who want to receive the Holy Spirit and to baptize in Jesus name [Acts 19:1-7]! And people who dont really understand what they are reading? [Acts 8:26-39] Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, OF a truth I perceive that Jesus is no respecter of persons; but in every nation he that heareth Jesus, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with Jesus. (Acts 10:34-35)! (As to what remains) hencefforth there is laid up for me the [victors] crown of righteousness - for being right with GOD and doing right - which the LORD, the righteous Judge, will award to me and recompense me only but also to all those who have loved and yearned for and welcomed HIS appearing [HIS return]. Make every effort to come to me soon. For Demas has deserted me for love of the present world and has gone to Thessalonice; Cresecens [has gone] to Galatia, Titus to Dalmaatia. . THE MARATHON RUNE\ When entering into a Marathon, there is a goal that is set in the runners mind months prior to the actual race. Much preparation, exercise, and sacrifice has been paid for by the athlete. The next several hours of the race will be the payoff for all the training that was put in. The marathon runner has to note the proper diet, running shoes to wear, type of training, and the proper coaching to be a successful runner. The main goal for the marathon runner is “Crossing-the-finish-line.” IN THE KINGDOM OF JESUS: In conclusion, be strong in the LORD - be empowered through your union with HIM; draw your strength from HIM - that strength which HIS [boundless] might provides. Put on Jesuss whole armor - the armor of a heavy-armed solder, which Jesus supplies - that you may be able successfully to stand up against [all] the strategies and the deceits of the devil. As the day of the actual race is coming, the marathon runner is in full training, but has to actually slow down the amount of running in order to be healthy enough to run the race. He needs to make sure he is getting enough sleep, the right foods, and cut his running to approx. 50 percent the final week of the race. At this point, it is noted that in the mind of the runner “doubt” kicks in. “Did I train enough for the race”, “Am I going to finish the race”, or “Will I place well in the race.” FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT: I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, and I have kept the faith: The Apostle Paul compares Christians as a soldier, husbandman, sufferer, student, vessel, and a servant. I have fought a good fight: Every Christian is going to have to fight, our own spiritual battle. It may be their own fleshly desires, it may be a trial that God has to put them through, or it may be a trial that someone else puts you through. Regardless of the fight, you will come out victorious with your hands raised up in the air. I have finished my course: The Apostle Paul said to “Walk by faith and not by sight.” Finishing what has been started is the key to our spiritual success. It’s not time to throw in the towel, but to stand up and take another step for Jesus. I have kept the faith: Our faith is the one thing that no man can take away from us. It is tried on a daily basis, but faith has become embedded in our hearts and will carry us through every physical and spiritual battle SEED THOUGHT: Too many times loneliness, a feeling of being unloved or unwanted can consume our soul. We are not alone, Jesus is right there to lift us up. The Word of God is: A light unto our path...The gate to heaven...A guide for youth...Comfort for the aged...Food for the hunger...Water for the thirsty...Rest for the weary...Hope for the unbeliever. Salvation for the sinner...And Grace for the Christian...FINISHES HIS WORK: (John 4:34) Jesus saith unto them, my meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. My meat is to do the will of him: When the cyclists compete in a race, he is given a small cup of water to keep him going. That same cup of water can be compared to drink at the altar for the Holy Spirit. To finish his work: The work that is called is to spread the Gospel, be in prayer for others, and a servant unto the house of Jesus. Jesus has called each one of us to a specific duty to accomplish. Jesus places us and uses us the same way a chess player uses his pieces during a game of chess, strategically. The Five-fold use of the Word: Hold it= Hide it in your heart that we may not sin against Jesus... Study it= Minister to yourself through study of the word [AMEN!]...Apply it= Put it into action [AMEN!] Rightly divide it= don’t let false doctrines come our way...Preach it= Take the gospel to the streets, your work place, to our families [AMEN!] LAYING ASIDE EVERY WEIGHT: (Heb. 12:1) THEREFORE then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have home testimony of the TRUTH], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance - unnecessary weight - and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us. Only Jesus and we know what is weighing us down. It will take prayer to get even further down to diagnose the spiritual dryness or callousness that can be affecting our souls. Let us run with patience: The marathon runner has to pace himself to run the long distance. He has to be careful not to start too fast that he may tire too quickly. And he must not start off too slowly that he falls behind. (1 Cor. 9:24) Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but [only] one receives the prize? So run [your race] that you may lay hold [of the prize] and make it yours. The Apostle Paul is comparing the born again Christian to the marathon runner. The word rendered patience rather means, “perseverance.” We are to run the race without allowing ourselves to be “hindered” by any “obstructions,” and without giving out or fainting in the way. We are encouraged by the example of the multitudes that have run the same race before us. We are to persevere as they did to the end. (Rev 22:14) Blessed are they that do his commandments that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. The race that is set before us: When the marathon is about to begin. The course is laid out for the runners. The map is already in place. The same thing for the Apostolic Born Again runner Jesus has placed a spiritual map before us to follow. The marathon runner follows cones, pylons, and other signs to keep his direction. The Christian needs prayer, the word of Jesus, and an outpouring of the Holy Spirit to follow the path Jesus has laid before him. My ‘NO’ sales sign is up. Freely without pay you have received; freely without charge give. Why charge when you have received freely? A disciple is not above Jesus his teacher who cure the sick (cancer); raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, and drove out demons. The only time those commands were done was to serve as a reminder to let us know it can be done if people stop charge for the gospel. People that only can give a dollar or have not money to give should be considered. Jesus sends you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; and without falsity. Do not damage the truth; the truth should be accurate and not misleading. Libel occurs as a false and defamatory statement about an identified gospel that is Published to a third party; the people who are the third party, causing injury to the subject’s reputation. Falsely claimed charge is not according to the word of Jesus. Because it should be without charge for Jesus already paid it all! The Living Bible Translation: [Heb. 12:1] Since we have such a huge crowd of men of faith watching us from the grandstands, let us strip off anything that slows us down or holds us back, and especially those sins that wrap themselves so tightly around our feet and trip us up; and let us run with patience the particular race that Jesus has set before us. LOOKING UNTO JESUS: (Heb. 12:2) looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, WHO is the LEADER and the SOURCE of our faith giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also it’s FINISHER, [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before HIM, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of Jesus. [Ps. 110:1]. THE LORD (GOD) says to my LORD [the Messiah], SIT YOU at MY right hand, until I made YOU adversaries YOUR footstool, [Matt. 26:64; Acts 2:34; 1 Cor. 15:25; Col. 3:1; Heb. 12:2]. Looking unto Jesus: Those who ran were to keep their eyes fixed on the mark of the prize; they must keep the goal in view. That they should place all their hope and confidence in Christ, as their sole helper in this race of faith. That they should consider him their leader in this contest and imitate his example. That they should place all their hope and confidence in Christ, as their sole helper in this race of faith. That they should consider him their leader in this contest and imitate his example. Finisher of our faith: Signifies, a general, captain or leader. The reference is to judge in the games, one whose business it was to admit the contenders, and to give the prize to the conqueror. Jesus is here represented as this officer; every Christian is a contender in this race of life, and for eternal life. The heavenly course is begun under Jesus; and under HIM it is completed. HE is the finisher, by awarding the prize to them that are faithful unto death. HE is the finisher, awarding and giving the prize at the end of the race. Set down at the right hand: Exalted to the highest place of dignity and honor. Jesus endured the most severe sufferings to which the human frame can be subjected, and the form of death which is regarded as the most shameful. So during all the severe trials to which you are exposed on account of your belief, patiently endure all-for the glorious rewards, the happiness and the triumph of heaven, are before you. (1 Peter 1:3) Praised (honored, blessed be) the GOD and FATHER of our LORD JESUS CHRIST, the Messiah! BY HIS boundless mercy we have been born again to an ever living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (1 Peter 1:4) [Born anew] into an inheritance which is beyond the reach of change and, decay (imperishable), unsullied, and unfading, reserved in heaven for you. FORGETTING THOSE THINGS: (Phil 3:13) I do not consider, brethren, that I have captured and made it my own [yet]; but one thing I do - it is my one aspiration; forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead. This one thing I do follow the apostles: Paul had one great aim and purpose of life. He did not attempt to mingle the world and religion, and to gain both. A man will accomplish little who allows his mind to be distracted by a multiplicity of objects. A Christian will accomplish nothing that has not a single great aim and purpose of soul. (Phil 1:6) And I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that Jesus WHO began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ - right up to the time of HIS return - developing [that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you. Forgetting those things which are behind: When running to secure the prize, he would not stop to look behind him to see how much ground he had run over, or who of his competitors had fallen or lingered in the way. He would keep his eye steadily on the prize, and strain every nerve that he might obtain it. If his attention was diverted for a moment from that, it would hinder his flight, and might be the means of his losing the crown. So the apostle says it was with him. He looked onward to the prize. It was the single object in his view, and he did not allow his mind to be diverted from that by anything-not even by the contemplation of the past. He did not stop to think of the difficulties which he had overcome, or the troubles which he had met, but he thought of what was yet to be accomplished. (Romans 8:1) THEREFORE [there is] now no condemnation - no adjudging guilty of wrong - for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit. [John 3:18] He who believes on Jesus - who clings to, trusts in, relies on HIM - is not judged (he who trusts in HIM never comes up for judgment; for him there is no rejection, no condemnation; he incurs no damnation. But he who does not believe (not cleave to, rely on, trust in HIM) is judged already; (he has not believed on and trusted in the name of the only begotten SON OF GOD. - He is condemned for refusing to let his trust rest in Christs name. Reaching forth - stretching out after the things in front, with hand and foot, like a runner in a race the body bent forward. Christians are humbled by the contrast between what they are and what they desire to be. As Christians, we should always strive to reach to higher stage of holiness, deeper revelation of the word, stronger sensitivity of moving with the Spirit of God. (1 Peter 4:16) Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf .PRESSING TOWARDS THE MARK: (Phil 3:14) I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of GOD in Christ Jesus. I Press toward the mark: (Press= to pursue) as he who was running a race did. The mark means properly the object set up at a distance at which one looks or aims, and hence the goal, or post which was set up at the end of a race-course, and which was to be reached in order that the prize might be won. Here it means that which is at the end of the Christian race-in heaven. For the prize of the high calling: The prize we are running for is; Is the crown of rejoicing, the crown of righteousness, the crown that is incorruptible, the crown of glory, and the crown of life (1 Peter 5:4) And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. The power of GOD is free amen Acts 1:8-9)! Wont it be a time when we get over yonder? Wont it be a time when we get over yonder? Wont it be a time when we get over yonder Wont, wont it be a time we sing, shout and dances about when we get over yonder Wont, wont it be a time! Glory!!!Hallelujah!!! Thank you LORD Jesus!!! Stay Blessed Friends! You’re Friend in Christ Jesus!
Posted on: Sat, 26 Oct 2013 14:49:16 +0000
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