Lay aside every weight... and let us run with patience

The daily devotion (Grace for the Moment) quoted Hebrews 12:1 for today, so I ended up reading the whole chapter. It talks about the Christian race, and gives us guidance on how and why to run it.

It gives us the Method to beginning and being successful during the race

A. Set aside the sin that easily besets (1. To attack from all sides. 2. To trouble persistently)us
B. Run the race with patience


It gives us Motivation to keep running

A. Inspiration - Look to Jesus, who both created and finished the race.
- How can we be weary in the face of what he endured such contradiction of sinners against himself (v.3)
- for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame (v.2)
Joy and enduring in the same sentence. If he could find joy in His physically and spiritually demanding sacrifice, how easy should it be for us to face the small trials and temptations here that we face?
B. The goal - He endured, and it pleased God and He was set back to be in God's presence


It gives us the Means that God provides to teach us throughout the race

A. Discipline
- v. 11 - now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised [trained] thereby

- self-discipline guided by God's word is something I've found very difficult. There
are so many things I've grown to desire that the Bible tells us is wrong. There are so
many split second emotions that seem impossible to control, that the Bible reminds
us are not Christian reactions.

It is hard to have someone else tell us what is wrong and what we shouldn't do,
especially when we feel a strong desire, or a lack of control for whatever it may be. I
have found however, that when I give up or change those things because I feel
guided to, and not just because someone said so, there is a peace and a change in my
desire that eventually settles in.
Instead of giving up something, you've gained a sense of peace and accomplishment
for God's glory and growth toward Him.

Then I realize that is was God within me making the changes, and there is a sense of
peace and relief to realize I am not in control, and that He is present - and it makes
it a lot easier to hand it all over to Him when I realize He was in control in the first
place.

B. Repentance - Pastor Mike did a whole series on repentance, and it really gave me a lot to think about and to grow on spiritually. Being saved is not just about saying some words,
reading some verses, and claiming to be saved.

Repentance, defined (thanks to Wikipedia)

In Biblical Hebrew, the idea of repentance is represented by two verbs: שוב
shuv (to return) and נחם nicham (to feel sorrow).

In the New Testament, the word translated as 'repentance' is the Greek word
μετάνοια (metanoia), "after/behind one's mind", which is a compound word of
the preposition 'meta' (after, with), and the verb 'noeo' (to perceive, to think,
the result of perceiving or observing).
In this compound word the preposition combines the two meanings of time
and change, which may be denoted by 'after' and 'different'; so that the whole
compound means: 'to think differently after'.
Metanoia is therefore primarily an after-thought,
different from the former thought; a change of mind accompanied by regret
and change of conduct, "change of mind and heart", or, "change of
consciousness".

Repentance is a gift from God upon true salvation, and it results in a visible and real change
in a person. There were many times I cried for mercy from God, asked God to change me.
I believed I was saved since the age of 7 because I had read some verses with a
preacher when I raised my hand in response to "is there anyone here today who has never been saved?". I don't think that there was not a reason I raised my hand that day, and I do believe it had God in it - but I think that sometimes it is dangerous to have a hand raised when the mind doesn't fully comprehend, or when it is just in response of "I don't want to go to Hell".

Through life, I justified my actions by negating how important certain words were to our
times today, but it was a change from within that really showed me right and wrong.
It takes a desire from within to make it easy to change - changing the outside before the
inside just seems difficult and makes us defensive and apprehensive of church and all the
things of God - and works are nothing without meaning behind them.

I am thankful that Jesus was willing to be our mediator (v.24), and thankful for the Word that God gave us to show his example, and pray for the guidance to live by that example.

Time to hear...

A quote that stood out in God Came Near:

(Regarding the birth of Jesus, and how God sent angels to simple shepherds about such a magnificent ordeal)

God goes to those who have time to hear Him

"In what ways do you hear God? How often do you set aside time just to listen to Him? When does God have your ear?"


Luke 2:9-20
"Note the response of the shepherds"

1. They trusted and believed the message - "went together"
2. They obeyed the command to seek Him out - "with haste"
3. They stopped and admired him - "awe"
4. They left lifting up His name and sharing the news - "praising and glorifying God"

Why is it so hard for us to trust, obey, admire, and praise Him on blind faith? We say the words, but have such a hard time walking the path.

"Those who missed Jesus' birth were simply not looking, or were just too busy". It's so easy to be too busy...

Just a quote I like, from Dad

When we are at peace, we find the freedom to be most fully who we are, even in the worst of times…We empty ourselves so that God may more fully work within us.

-Joseph Cardinal Benardin

Every day is a choice...

I just recently borrowed a few books from my Aunt Shirley, and one of them is Grace for the Moment by Max Lucado. It is a collection of devotionals for each day of the year, and I started it today - and the introduction just really spoke to me. I'm going to copy it here at the bottom, because I want it to be something that everyone who knows me reads - I think I would like to have it posted on my wall near my bed so that I could read it and remember what it says every day before I face the world.

We always say that God is in everything, that He is in control, and that He provides everything we need. We say those things, but why do we have such a hard time behaving in such a way that shows we truly have faith in those things?

I do and think and talk about a lot of things I shouldn't be doing, and thinking, and talking about if I truly have faith in the fact that God is in control. It is so easy for us all to complain about every little thing in our lives. It's so easy to get angry at other people or other situations. It is so easy to become accustomed so accustomed to extras, that we begin to believe that what we want is what we need, and that what we need is unnecessary.

This past Sunday, I decided to make another attempt at quitting smoking. It is something I really want to do, for many reasons. I obviously do not like what it does to my body, I do not like smelling like that around other people, and I know that there are some people around me who worry about me a lot. Sunday, I finally got in my head the real reason that I should be quitting, which is also the real motivation that I should be using to guide me through the difficult process.

Sunday night on my way home from church, I did not stop by the store to purchase a supply for the next day. Instead I prayed, not just for help quitting smoking, but for specific things behind my sense of "need" for something I just wanted. I prayed for patience, and strength to ignore the withdrawal. I prayed to no longer be satisfied with, or to crave, that artificial sense of "ok", and to instead seek out a true sense of peace only He can give.

Instead of seeing quitting as a loss of something I enjoy, I'm trying to see that giving up something for God is more gain than any worldly loss we can endure.

Instead of focusing on that fear of not having my security blanket in a box for the next day, I'm trying to remind myself that I've been relying on a simple drug more than I've relied on God to get me through those times that strain my patience, nerves, and tears.

I am praying that He will strengthen my faith enough to rely only on Him, because it is such a peaceful feeling to depend on Him only.

I am praying that He will open my heart to see and believe that His hand is in everything, and to help me be thankful for even those things I do not understand and would otherwise complain about.

I am thanking Him for the horrible cold I have had this past week, because it hit me right at the hardest time of the first week of quitting. Why? Because even the times that failure might have crossed my mind - realizing that I already could not breathe was such a great addiction de-motivator.

Thank you Lord for even the things that we don't realize we should be thankful for. Thank you for guiding me and helping me through this week, and every day. Help me continue to see your hand in it all.

Here is the devotion that helped me today:

Each Day I Choose
By Max Lucado

It's quiet. It's early. My coffee is hot. The sky is still black. The world is still asleep. The day is coming. In a few moments, the day will arrive. It will roar down the track with the rising of the sun. The stillness of the dawn will be exchanged for the noise of the day. The calm of solitude will be replaced by the pounding of the human race. The refuge of the early morning will be invaded by decisions to be made and deadlines to be met. For the next twelve hours I will be exposed to the day's demands. It is now I must make a choice. Because of Calvary, I'm free to choose. And so I choose.

I CHOOSE LOVE…

No occasion justifies hatred;
no injustice warrants bitterness. I choose love.
Today I will love God and what God loves.

I CHOOSE JOY…

I will invite my God to be the God of circumstance.
I will refuse the temptation to be cynical…
the tool of the lazy thinker. I will refuse to see
people as anything less than human beings,
created by God. I will refuse to see any problem as
anything less than an opportunity to see God.

I CHOOSE PEACE…

I will live forgiven. I will forgive so that I may live.

I CHOOSE PATIENCE…

I will overlook the inconveniences of the world.
Instead of cursing the one who takes my place, I'll
invite him to do so. Rather than complain that the
wait is too long, I will thank God for a moment
to pray. Instead of clenching my fist at new
assignments, I will face them with joy and courage.

I CHOOSE KINDNESS…

I will be kind to the poor, for they are alone.
I will be kind to the rich, for they are afraid. And kind to
the unkind, for such is how God has treated me.

I CHOOSE GOODNESS…

I will go without a dollar
before I take a dishonest one. I will be overlooked
before I will boast. I will confess before I will
accuse. I choose goodness.

I CHOOSE FAITHFULNESS…

Today I will keep my promises.
My debtors will not regret their trust. My associates
will not question my word. My wife will not
question my love. And my children will never fear
that their father will not come home.

I CHOOSE GENTLENESS…

Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle.
If I raise my voice, may it be only in praise.
If I clench my fist, may it only be in prayer.
If I make a demand, may it only be of myself.

I CHOOSE SELF-CONTROL...

I am a spiritual being…
After this body is dead, my spirit will soar.
I refuse to let what will rot rule the eternal.
I choose self-control. I will be drunk only by joy.
I will be impassioned only by my faith.
I will be influenced only by God.
I will be taught only by Christ.
I choose self-control.

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
To these I commit my day.
If I succeed, I will give thanks.
If I fail, I will seek His grace.
And then, when this day is done,
I will place my head on my pillow
and rest.

Max Lucado quote is from his book When God Whispers Your Name