CLAY TRIP DAY 1

 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’” (Luke 17:10 ESV)
This was our challenge this evening after a great, hard day of work in the heat.  Our group worked with a great family and couple of men on a roof and a back porch/set of stairs.  We prayed and the rain stayed away.  We were able to accomplish much.  Great time of worship, and getting to know some other believers from across the country.  Great to see our church people doing so well!  We appreciate your prayers!

Not Running Aimlessly

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
Most of us do not physically run just for the sake of running.  I know I don't.  I need a reason, a purpose, a goal.  Such is the life of following Christ.  It is not just "running with the crowd."  It is not just something to do for fun.  It is purposeful, with a goal in view.  It is to become more like Him; to aim to please Him, to discover what His wonderful purpose for me it - to glorify Him.  May we not lose sight of the prize.

Consider HIM...

Hebrews 12:3-4 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 
We usually stop reading after verse 2.  We are running the race of faith, surrounded by faithful supporters, looking to the ONE who has gone on before.  What are we thinking as we run?   What will keep us moving toward the prize, the goal?  HIM, the one who shed His blood for us.  He keeps us going; He helps us not grow weary and give up.  Today, take some time to consider HIM.

Band of Brothers...

Mark 3:13-14 And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve whom he also named apostles so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach 
Jesus practiced what He preached.  He told (and continues to tell) us that we need one another.  Though He was doing this primarily for His apostles, so they would see and hear what they needed to know, He was also doing it as an example.  As we follow after Him as His disciples, we need to gather around us others, brothers and sisters in Christ, who will help us stay on course and who will encourage us in the race toward Him.  United we stand, and run. Divided we trip and fall.

A sure way to trip and fall...

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.(Philippians 3:12-14 ESV)

As we run the race of faith (Hebrews 12), we need to avoid anything that would trip us up and keep us from finishing well.  One of the ways good runners avoid this is not looking back.  If I look back, I lose my pace, and may give someone close an advantage.  If I look back and see I'm way ahead, I may try to coast, and again, be overcome.  As we look back in our lives, we can trip ourselves up in either direction: We can be so laden in guilt, which Christ has already handled, that we wallow in self-defeat.  Or, we can see where we were, and where we have come, and become over-confident and think we can cruise on in, only to be blind-sided by sin.  May we keep looking forward today, with our eyes fixed on Jesus, our Savior, Lord and hope.

Dealing with the Devil daily...

 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written,
 “‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
  but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
(Matthew 4:1-4 ESV))
We are all well-aware of how God shows us something new and fresh, even when we look at a passage for the twenty-seventh time.  Such it is here with me.  What sticks out today is that Jesus dealt with Satan in His time and way.  He made him wait for forty days while He got ready, being strengthened in His time with the Father, going over His memory verses.  We often fail to do that. We are not ready for the day, and the temptations it brings (and it will...).  We forget and we fail.  May we say today:  "Not today Satan! (or tomorrow for that matter.)  God is with me, and He's told me what to say."

Running Renewed...

 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
(Hebrews 12:1, 2 ESV)
The year is half over -it's flying by, and there is so much to do!  Will we ever catch up?  Not to worry.  We are not alone - we are surrounded by a crowd of encouragers, and we are not running in this life aimlessly.  We are looking to Jesus.  Besides that, we have the Holy Spirit within to renew our strength and courage.  So let's hurdle that hurriedness, sidestep that sin, and run the race renewed and joyful, looking to Him.