What Prize Are We Seeking?

What is my reward then? That when I preach the gospel, I may present the gospel of Christ without charge, that I may not abuse my authority in the gospel. For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; 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. 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. (I Corinthians 9:18,19;24,25 NKJV)

Sometimes people find themselves competing for something when they don't understand what the prize is. There are people seeking greatness and recognition, but not wiling to do great things. There are people seeking the starring role (in everything they do), yet they have no clue as what the role encompasses. And many others seek positions of authority when they have no respect for authority and then wonder why, they are not respected as an authority in any aspect.

Before anyone seeks the end reward, they should know what prize they are seeking--how much they will have to give of themselves in order to be considered--prizeworthy.

Paul understood this dilemma well. He knew his conversion from religion to relationship was worth the prize--a crown given by God at the end of his journey. He also knew the journey would not easy. In fact, while he was in religion, he was a person who had been given authority to persecute Christians--as an authority for the Pharisees. He was free to travel and do all the evil he wanted to do--in the name of religion. Now, as a convert--in relationship with God--he found himself a servant of the Most High, willing to sacrifice himself by preaching the Gospel so that all might have an opportunity to know Truth, knowing the risks involved. He understood what the prize was and how he would obtain and he was determined to accomplish his goal.

Are we as determined to accomplish our goals? Do we even understand what the prize is when we find ourselves competing (sometimes against ourselves)? Do we understand the rules of the competition before we begin or are we just concerned about winning recognition from others?

In the church and outside of the church, we have people who want to be in the spotlight, the star of the show, but they have no clue what it means to "earn" the position. People (men and women) claim God has called them into ministry and they want everyone to know--they have a word from The Lord, but when they open their mouths, those who know The Word, recognize the person speaking has not read The Word with understanding. And when these same people finish making a fool of themselves, expecting a standing ovation for their performance, they are disappointed when people sit on them and think there must be something wrong with the people.

At the same time, we have others who seek leadership roles without understanding and when they fall on their faces at every turn, refusing to seek guidance or scorn it when offered, they get angry because others are recognized for "doing good works" and not just talking about doing things.
If we do not have a servant's heart--a heart to please others--the prize we seek will always be just out of reach. In the pulpit--the prize should be a soul won or encouraged if all are saved.
Outside the church, the prize should be to make a difference in the lives of others, not in seeking greatness. God knows our heart and He knows who has a servant's heart and who is simply seeking recognition of people, rather than in pleasing Him.

Pleasing God means doing all things decently and in order--according to His Word. Of course, if we don't know His Word, it would be difficult to do things His way and achieve His results. With His results, we earn His prize--eternal life. In the world, if our goal is to stand in the spotlight--for all the world to see--we get the world's prize--temporary acknowledgement and when the spotlight falls upon others, we are soon forgotten.

Now think about it--will the prize sought be permanent or temporary? Eternal or temporal? From God or from people? I'm seeking the prize that only God holds--the crown of life and my goal--to promote the Gospel so as many who hear or read what I say, will be saved.

Kept By His Word!

"The LORD watches over you— the LORD is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore." (Psalm 121:5-8 NIV)

Thank You, Lord for watching over us
Waking us each morning, protecting us each night.
Walking with us, guiding our steps,
Keeping us from faltering along the way,
Creating a clear path, according to Your plan.

Thank You, Lord for keeping us shaded by Your hand,
Making sure no harm is done by moon or sun,
Healing diseased bodies, broken spirits,
Comforting saddened hearts, quickening weakened minds,
Providing us with wisdom to know when to move,
Knowing when to stand still and wait.

Igniting creativity, stirring up the gifts given,
Desiring to please You in all we do.
Thank You, for the angels You have assigned
Giving them rule to assume the roles
Needed to keep us from dangers seen and unseen.

Thank You, Lord for loving us enough
Sacrificing Self, Dying for our sins,
Rising from the Grave, Interceding for us.
Thank You, Lord for providing all we need,
On this planet to do Your Will and for
Arranging a place for our eternity, with You,
Forevermore, greeting us at Heaven's Gate.

Restoring Relationship!

"For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." (Romans 5:10 NKJV)

How did we become--enemies, separated from relationship with God in the first place? Sin--the disobedience of Adam (both the male and female were called Adam since they were "one" in God's sight). Before the fall--they were in position to converse with God on a daily basis and were not ashamed of their nakedness in the Garden of Eden. When they succumbed to Satan's influence and allowed their "lust" of their eyes to override their heart, they were exposed to themselves as "fallible human beings" and created a gap between them and the "infallible" God of Heaven.

Time after time, God made a way for people to be reconciled to Him, and time after time, people failed to obey--The Law and The Prophets. Loving His creation the way He did, He decided to come down and once and all, bridge the gap created by sin, so we would be saved from ourselves and our relationship with Him, restored.

Since Jesus--was God in the flesh--it was important that His life remain untainted until the end when He who knew no sin, became sin for all of us and was the ultimate sacrifice, offered for the remission of sin and reconciliation with The Father.

Unless we have a heart to know God, understanding how much He loves us by what He did will never make sense. But once we know, every time we think of His sacrifice, our hearts should be flooded with tears of gratitude and our minds made up to live to please Him. Just knowing that He hears me when I call upon Him, sees every effort I make to live right, and feels every pain that I feel, is enough for me--to praise Him, for the rest of my life. Hallelujah!

Truth That Endures Forever!

"The entirety of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever." (Psalm 119:160 NKJV)

God's Word--all of it--from beginning to end is the truth and the truth that must be understood is that each time God spoke to people, He had a specific reason for saying what He said--to those who He was talking, during the time, He was speaking to them.

His decrees, judgments--whatever someone wants to call them--have enduring power and since they do not change, they will be the same as from the beginning until the end.

Jesus--God in the flesh--came to fulfill The Law--of sacrifice for repentance of sin. He did not come to change what God has said and He said, that He could only say what the Father said. Now, we need to see this very clearly. If we believe that God came to earth in the "likeness of sinful flesh" then we would have to understand that since He established His Word, He would not change it--simply because of a change in appearance.

How does Jesus fulfill The Law--by becoming the ultimate sacrifice for the remission of sin. There is no longer any reason for "sacrifices of animals or grain" to be made. The only thing that He expects from us is to fulfill the commandments of Love--Loving Him with all our hearts, souls, and minds, and Loving one another as we love ourselves.

When we love Him--we will obey Him. When we love others--we will not cause them harm; especially if we know how to love ourselves. The love that is referenced in the Bible is not lust and we know that lust is the reason that people sin against God; their fleshly dictates overrule any desire to please God. For The Word has said, we cannot serve two masters--God of heaven and the god of the this world. Either we function in the spirit or in the flesh. We either do what God says or allow man to manipulate what we do. It is an "either" "or" proposition--submit to God or submit to man.

I choose to submit my ways and thoughts to God so I can receive the benefits and results that God has chosen.

When we learn to make a distinction between love and lust, affiliation with religion and relationship with God, we will hopefully see the need to have a relationship with God rather than affiliation with religion and then--only then--will we see a change in the environment with weather patterns, violence, and unrest, as we return to enjoying the "peace of God" on a daily basis. His peace, surpasses all understanding--is greater than all of man's wisdom. For if we claim to have wisdom and is not the wisdom of God, we actually have nothing.

This is a Truth--based upon God's Word--that will endure forever!

Being Fruitful!

"Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me." (John 15:4 NLT)

Sometimes, The Word--all by itself--convicts us to the very core of our being. This entire chapter tells us everything we need to know about how our relationship with God works.

It is not enough to come to the cross and allow the blood of Jesus to wash us cleaner than snow; we have to remain there, soaking it up, always remembering the sacrifice He made. When we remain--staying put--in the arc of safety He provides, then we will be able to produce good fruit--help develop other believers by what they hear us say.

Whenever we get off track--attempting to promote our own version of the Gospel--God then prunes us, cuts off the dead leaves and branches that are no longer productive, so that the healthy part of us can thrive and we can bring others into the glorious light of Jesus Christ.

This is why we must speak God's Truth and not our own.

This has never been made clearer to me than when I moved into a new house. There was a rose bush that had been tended by the previous owner, but it was being neglected. Since I am not overly fond of gardening, I simply cut back all the dead branches, thinking that would be the end of it. Within a few weeks, green growth sprouted and rosebuds appeared. Every time I cut off the old, spotted leaves, new ones grew. And even though, I keep thinking that bush is going to die, whenever it is pruned, it thrives.

I thank God for His constant pruning  in my life--cutting away all the dead stuff that does not work or bring Him glory--and keeping me from receiving new insight from Him, giving me more to share with others that they, too can walk in the light and receive His many blessings.

Whenever new people start following my blog, I give thanks. I don't always know why they are following me, but I do know that I will keep promoting The Gospel and sharing what God gives to me. So, the fruit that is being developed--is the act of someone deciding to follow me on social media and hopefully, they are developing a relationship with God and allowing Him to prune them, so they will also grow and be fruitful.

Lord Jesus, I thank You daily for speaking to my heart and allowing me to share what You give me. Bless all those who follow me as I follow You and create in them a heart to want to be pruned, so we may thrive to Your glory, producing more and more fruit!

Your Precious Thoughts!

"How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!" (Psalm 139:17,18 NLT)

How can I not know how much I mean to You?
How can I not show You how much You mean to me?
With every breath I take and every move I make,
I know  I am able to do so, because You never stop thinking about me
Or how much You love me!
You never stop showering me with love!
You never stop forgiving me when I mess up!
You never stop speaking to me, even when I disappoint You!
You never give up on me, always bringing me back into the safety of Your arms, if I stray!
How do I know all this? Because I am still here and You are still with me--each morning I wake!
You O Lord, are the reason I can hold my head high,
You O Lord are the reason I can see heaven beyond the sky,
You O Lord are everything I need and could ever desire,
You O Lord, give my life meaning and makes it worth while.
How do I know You love me? You gave Your life that I might live,
And I will live my life so all will know, just how much I love You!
Thank You, O Lord for Your Love, Your Life and my own,
And for being with me every step of this journey on earth,
Until You return to take me to be with You, forever--Amen!

No Way of Escape!

"For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries" (Hebrews 10:26,27 ESV).

Under the law--animal sacrifices were made to atone for sin--the shedding of blood on an altar had to be made for the people--once a year.

Under grace--the blood sacrifice of The Lamb of God to atone for the sin of mankind--has been made on the cross--once for all times for all who receive the sacrifice on the altars of their heart.

If we understand the sacrifice made, the blood shed on the cross, the love of God for us in willingly taking on the likeness of flesh so we might be saved from ourselves, we would not deliberately sin--do all or any of those things that God says is sin. For if we deliberately sin--there won't be another sacrifice made--only the assurance of a fearful fate of judgment by God.

If we have a relationship with God, we want to please Him and only do those things that are right in His sight, receiving His love and loving Him and others in return.

If we have a relationship with religion--rules and rituals created by man to control others in order to pacify men and justify doing anything they want to do (changing what God has said), we will not inherit the right to enter into heaven, but leave ourselves open to the judgment of Christ--with no escape.

If we have never acknowledged, or accepted the sacrifice Jesus made for us, we will be still be judged if God's truth has been revealed to us and we simply refused to accept it.

There is only one way to achieve entrance into heaven and to shore up our eternal resting place--accept God's Word--The Truth of the sacrifice made--and choose to live according to God's directions and instructions--and not by the dictates of our flesh.  If we choose to ignore God and all whom He has used to warn and teach us, we have no escape from our deeds, but certain judgment awaits us, for the wages (the payment) for sin is death.

Remember to Tell Others!

"After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel" (Judges 2:10 NIV).

I've often wondered (now that I know for myself) why people take the stance they do in opposition to God.  Then, when I read passages from the Old Testament, I am reminded that this current trend to oppose God is just history repeating itself.  When Joshua died and the generation after him died who had first-hand knowledge of what God had accomplished for the Children of Israel, the people (another generation) forgot to keep telling it to others and they chose to do what they wanted to do.

What happened to the generation who didn't know the Lord?  They served idols and did what the other nations did who did not know God.  Then, God became angry and allowed them to suffer at the hands of the other nations and when He made Himself known to this generation, they repented and once again knew the blessings of The Lord.  And as long as they remembered to tell those who came behind about the great things God had done and were obedient, He continued to bless them as a nation (until He relented to their constant grumblings about having a king, but that's another discussion).

For those of us who are concerned with this generation and their opposition to God, we need not worry. God is not a god of trends.  What He has done in the past, He will do again.  When people--as a nation--realize that He is not pleased with their trends (idol worship, doing things their way), and get tired of suffering, they will hear God's messengers, repent, and He will hear their cries and heal the land.  We must remember to tell others about all God has done--His love, mercy, and many benefits for all who receive what He has to give!

The ultimate sacrifice has been made--(Jesus on the cross) there is no other sacrifice needed to get God to smile upon us other than--obedience in being a witness--telling of His goodness!  Hallelujah!