KINGDOM LIFE IS A RACE
(First part)
Memory verse (Heb12:1): “ 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 ”
Life in Christ is a race. Life in Christ means christian life or kingdom life or spiritual life. There’s a physical race we all know in this world but life in the kingdom of God is similar to the worldly race. In the world, all people can run but not all can participate in the race. People who take part in the race or athletes, if we may call them, they develop this dream while still young, they begin to practice to run in races, they begin to exercise certain disciplines all athletes observe, they join certain groups or teams of athletes, they get a trainer who understand the profession better and they begin to build up their dream.
Beloved, you are in a race. You started the race the day you accepted Jesus as your Lord and saviour (Heb12:2). Don’t faint but run until you will fall into the hands of Jesus on that day when you will finish you race. Don’t get out the race, don’t let anything distract from seeing the finishing line, don’t get out the race but keep running. May the Holy Spirit strengthen you in your spirit with mighty so that you won’t run out of gas until you finish your race. Fix your eyes on Jesus and follow him day by day, step by step because he is the starter and the finisher of your spiritual race. Jesus is the starting point, he is the one we follow everyday and everyway and he is the finishing line of this race.
Sometime the course of our race involves valleys, mountains, straight stretches, bends and rough places but keep running with endurances. There are temptations, trials, hardship , warfare, etc but don’t allow what you are going through to stop you from continuing your race. The road may be rough but the prize is glorious. Focus on the prize not on the road. We have great witnesses that tell us , “ we won this race of life by faith, and you also will win it if you keep the faith ”. They are telling us, “ it is possible, God is faithful to help you ”. Abraham, Elijah, Enoch, Abel, etc are all cheering you up. They are enjoying seeing racing through life by faith. They are seeing you overcoming temptations, defeating the enemy etc. You are more than a conqueror in Christ.
Tomorrow’s subject: “ There is a crown for you ”
(Second part)
Memory verse (1Cor 9:24): " 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 ".
There is a prize for every winner in a race. So is the spiritual race, every winner has a crown awaiting him in heaven (2Tim 4:7-8, Rev 3:11). There is a heavenly prize waiting for everyone who finishes the race well. The scripture says our labour is not in vain (Gal 6:9). There are blessings we receive in this world as well as in heaven for those who run well this race of faith. The day we will stand before the judgment seat of Christ as church our works will be judged and everyone's work he did while still in the body will be examined and valued and each will be rewarded (1 Cor3:12-15).
I would like to encourage all those who are running well, to keep on running well, keep doing well, keep following the Lord, keep believing and walking by faith, keep practicing the word of God, keep praying , keep preaching the word of God, keep doing the work of your ministry, keep giving into the work of God, keep believing and praying for your children, keep praying for your husband. Keep on keeping on. There is a crown for you.
I would like to challenge those passive, indifferent, complacent, lazy and uncommitted believers: Beloved don’t allow the devil to fool you up. There is also a prize for you. Get up and begin to participate and run your race. God has a purpose for you in the kingdom. You are valuable in God’s eyes, He bought you with the matchless blood of his Son. Shake yourself up and begin to do what you’ve never done before. You can go to attend an overnight prayer for the first time, you can start to read your Bible every morning before you go to your businesses; You can start to do something for other people around you. Just stop crying about yourself, your needs, your problems, begin to cry for other peoples lives. I have a word to you weary warriors: you are worn out, burnout, fainthearted, you feel like giving up because the race has been so tough. Beloved, don’t ever give up. Your salvation is near. Endure until the end. We are about to see the king of kings . You are about to reach your finishing point. God will give you strength for finishing your race. He will not let you down. He is with you until the race is over.
Tomorrow’s subject: “ The race of faith ”
(Third part)
Memory verse (Heb11:6): " But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him ".
Life in the kingdom of God is by faith. The great cloud of witnesses, the men who run this race and they were victorious in this earth all had one common denominator: they lived by faith. The whole chapter 11 of Hebrews records the great exploits of these great spiritual athletes which they accomplished by faith. It goes on to say in (Heb11:6) that without faith it is impossible to please God. By faith they obeyed God and did his will. By faith they fought great warfare. By faith they gave great sacrifices. By faith they conquered kingdoms etc and by faith they won the race of life. They died as great heroes of faith in God.
Now it’s your turn, there is a race before you to run and complete. I know there are many challenges, battles, trials, warfare, hardship, but have faith in God. Mountains will be removed, impossibilities will become possibilities. HAVE faith in God , he will supply all your need. Don’t fear to start the ministry God is leading you to start. Don’t fear to obey God and do what he is telling you, he will meet all the needs. Don’t fear to go to the place where God’ is leading , God will protect you and he will be with you all the way through. Don’t fear the devil, Christ crushed his power and authority on the cross. Don’t fear to fail, you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. Yes, HE will strengthen you by his Spirit. It is not by your power or what you have or see, it is by God’s mighty Holy Spirit (Zech4:6). Satan has been using any means possible to discourage you, but I want to remind you that he is a liar. All those fears, lies, negative feelings are not true but lies from the pit of hell. Don’t believe them, believe the report of the Lord. Believe the word of God. Don’t believe in your ability, believe in God’s ability, integrity of God and his word. What he said he will do. God’s word can’t fail to deliver because he who promised is faithful and he can never lie or change. So my friend, move on. Your family will prosper, your children will be saved, your business will expand, your church is a great and a wonderful church, because it’s not about what you do, it is about what Christ has done. The work is already done, we only enter our inheritance by faith. Run with faith, you will win, you will get your crown in Jesus name.
Tomorrow’s subject: “ Fitness for the race
(Fourth part)
Memory verse (1Tim4:8) " For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come ".
Every race demands fitness. It takes great training and rigorous exercises to acquire the fitness that can enable the athlete to win the race. When you watch these top world class athletes, they exhibit a high level of fitness. They wake up early every day for their exercises. They do these tough exercises daily. All their life is exercises. They have to work on their body until they bring it to the winning shape. How you fair in the training determines how you fair in the championships. They train in secret but they compete in the public. What people see in the racing field shows them what the athlete was doing in the training place.
Spiritual race is won because of great spiritual exercises in your secret life. Before David killed Goliath, he had killed lions and bears in the secret. There must be spiritual exercises going on in our daily life to prepare us, train us, equip us strengthen us until we acquire a winning attitudes, shape and heart. We become champions in the secret place. It’s the secret place that develop heroes, mighty warriors, mighty ministers, victorious men and women. Do you have a training place? Where is your secret place that is developing a champion out of you; a place of prayer, a place of communion with God, a place of illumination in God’s word, a place where you worship God in secret, a place of spiritual battles where you kill spiritual bears and lions of lust, the flesh etc? How often do you visit your training place? How many hours do you spend there? How do you use your time while in your secret place? The way you appear in the public show who you are in your training grounds. There should be great spiritual activity in our secret place, dynamic living worship in spirit and truth, intense communion with God, groaning in prayers. This is a great place, this is where battles are won, where all what Satan planted are uprooted, where his trap are destroyed, where your day is made from, a place of warfare where arrows of Satan are broken, where his demons are scattered and his plans are frustrated. The quality of my day is always determined by the quality of my time in the secret place.
Tomorrow's subject: “ Carry no baggage ”
(Fifth part)
Memory verse (Heb12:1): " 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 "
You can never run with burdens. Athletes put on very light attire to enable them to be comfortable and light enough to win the race. In the spiritual race we are involved in, it is required that we put off the weights and the sins that easily ensnare us. This race needs freedom ie spiritual freedom, mental liberty and physical wholeness. The scripture interprets weights, burdens as anxieties, cares of life, worries, fears and life problems (Lk21:34-36, Matt13:22, Phil4:6-7). Jesus promised to give rest to all those who are heavy laden (Matt11:28). He is calling all who are weighed down by problems of Life, cares of life, and various burdens to come to him for rest. Peter put it this way, cast all your cares upon him for he cares for you.
The Lord who cares about you has the ability to carry your cares for you. In life we encounter many challenges, difficulties, pains, uncertainties, fears, lack, diseases, trials, etc. In all these issues of life we have a God who cares enough. He know all about our troubles. With man many things are impossible but with our God all things are possible. Paul teaches us the way we cast these cares to the Lord is through prayer, supplication and with thanksgiving (Phil4:6). May the Lord take away your heaviness and give you a garment of praise. These weights or burdens crush the heart, steal your joy and peace. These heavy burdens drain our emotional strength and try to weaken our faith. But you don’t have to carry those burdens anymore, Jesus carried your sins in his body on the tree, he carried your diseases in his body and by his stripes your were healed, he took away your poverty. In redemption plan, everything that went wrong because of the fall was rectified by the death of Christ on the cross. There is every solution through the cross for you. It is the power of God unto us who are saved (1 Cor1:18). It’s all provided by the grace of the Lord and you receive every answer by faith. Let us enter into the finished work of the Lord Jesus through the cross, let us inherit our victory, joy, peace, freedom, healing, prosperity etc. Don’t allow sin to have dominion on you. Walk in the liberty the Lord has given to you. And run the race to the finishing line.
Tomorrow’s Subject: “ Focus on the finishing line ”
(Sixth part)
Memory verse (Heb12:2): " 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 "
Every athlete has the finishing line in his mind. When he starts off he only has one thing in mind , ie the finishing line. He does not focus on himself, he does not focus on the fans, he does not run looking left and right or any other direction, his eyes are on the finishing line.
In our spiritual race, our starting point is Jesus and he is our finishing point. We have to focus on the finishing line. There is no point in starting when you are not determined to finish, because the important thing about the race is not starting but it is finishing. There are crowns for starters, there are crowns only for the finishers. The Bible has records of our fathers in faith who started and endured to the end and finished well in Hebrews chapter 11. The same Bible has records of men who started this race of life but they did not finish well. In fact some started well but faltered badly on the way. Adam started well, Samson started very well, Solomon started very well etc but these did not finish well and many more
Now that you met the Lord Jesus in your life as your Saviour, be rooted and grounded in him, be established in him by faith, focus on him , follow him everyday of your life, walk with him, obey him in all things, glorify him, walk in his power, his victory and his finished work of the cross. He died for you, now it’s your turn to live for him . He died your death, it’s time you live his life. Let him become the reason for your living. Paul said: for me to live is Christ and to die is a gain. This life on earth has so many distractions, things that seem to be attractive, the media portrays lots of false images of life on earth, the way the world systems run, it seem as if this world is our lasting home, many don’t see beyond the future ie 50, 60 or 70 years. But there is eternity beyond the future on this temporary earth. Moses prayed this prayer that God teach us to number our days that we may live with wisdom (Ps 90:10-12). True wisdom is: this world is not our eternal home, we are pilgrims. Focus beyond this physical life, focus on Jesus and one day you will see him face to face, Amen.
Enjoy your race! See you next Monday
