“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
2 Timothy 4:7
There’s a fight to be won and a race to complete. The Christian life is a life of victory and success. Oftentimes the Christian doesn’t realize that they are in a fight of faith. Whatever they face in life, they believe is God’s will for them. Without a deliberate focus on what the Lord’s will is for our lives, it’s very easy to tolerate things that could destroy our destiny. Often the path of least resistance is the path that people will encourage you to take but that path could very well take you on a different course. And you may not finish the race that God has set before you.
Finishing strong takes focus and it takes knowing God’s plan for your life. We discover God’s plan through His Word. The Bible is as relevant today as it was when it was first written. It speaks to us in our current condition for our everyday life. “Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God’s way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us” (2 Timothy 3:16, 17).
Only through God’s Word can we discover God’s way of doing things in our lives. It’s not a matter of “winning” in life as this world defines it. The world’s attitude is “to win at all cost.” But what is that cost? The cost of your marriage, your family, your health, your friends, your sanity, your peace, your joy? I love what Jesus said, “He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 10:39). God wants you to be full of His life where true peace and joy comes from. What really matters is that we have finished the race that God has set before us and let God declare us the winners.
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
I had a troubled past growing up without God in my life. In my early adulthood I encountered Jesus and wanted everything He had for me. I started reading the Bible and attending church faithfully. My life was changing rapidly, something my co-workers noticed. Eventually they would seek me out in private and ask me if I became a Christian. When I told them I did they said they could see the difference in me. But what puzzled me the most was they told me that they were “Christians” too. They weren’t fighting the good fight of faith or running the race that God had set before them because they were “partying” with me when I didn’t know God. I couldn’t tell the difference based upon their lifestyle. My heart went out to them and I prayed that they would encounter the love of God and discover true joy and peace and find fulfillment in Him. From that moment on I made it my mission to pray and share God’s love with them so they could be free from the pressures of this world. (Pastor Scott Tsuha)
TODAY’S DELCARATION
“The Word of God is a lamp unto my feet and a light to my path.”
TODAY’S BIBLE READING
- Old Testament: 2 Kings 20-21; Psalms 120
- New Testament: Luke 6:37-42; Philippians 4:1-7
