Do We Live In Vain?

“Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.”

– 1 Corinthians 9:26

                When I read this verse I immediately thought of a track where people continually run around, sometimes for hours, but they never actually get anywhere.  They are running and running, but they are not running to any destination.  I know for sure, within my own life, I have felt like I was running around in circles, just making myself dizzy and disappointing myself because I was not getting anywhere.  I also know that all of the moments in my life where I felt like this, I was also doing the second half of this verse, simply wasting my efforts beating the air.  I was fighting a fight that was not worth fighting, I was holding on to things I should have given to God and I was depending on my own strength.  This verse, though, begins with therefore. 

                This entire week we have been looking at how we, as Christians, are to run our race for Christ.  We are to run, not to gain anything of this world, but instead run for the glory of our creator.  We are to have self-control and discipline, training ourselves for the race.  Here Paul is concreting what he previously said, and so he is not only telling us how to run the race, but very specifically how not to run this race.  He is saying don’t run without a purpose, with no goal of any worth to work towards.  We are not just going for a jog through a field of flowers to kill some time, we are running for our eternity with our savior.  Where at any moments we could be disqualified, we need to not run aimlessly, but with God’s aim continually at the forefront of our minds.

                Paul also says that we are not to fight like a boxer beating the air.  When I read this the word that I continually thought of was pointless.  Seriously, how pointless is it to beat at the air, all one accomplishes in this is that they lose all their strength.  And yet, how convicting is this half of the verse and how often do we continually beat a dead horse, because we oddly think that might bring it life?  I know that is a cliché, but as Elijah said before, clichés all started with tons of truth behind them.  We fight so hard over things we have not control over, over things that don’t matter, non-salvific issues and things we want to be brought back to life.  But what good does that do us?  We are simply wasting the strength God gives us to for His glory, to feed our own pride.  Paul is saying, therefor throw off these ways of man.  God has told you how to run your race for His glory, now choose discipline, choose love, choose faith, choose passions and choose to run for Him.

DON’T USE GODS RIGHTEOUSNESS AS AN EXCUSE TO NOT BE RIGHTEOUS

“For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” – Matthew 5:20

Oh the Pharisees and teachers of the law.  Within churches today they get such a bad rap, they are the ones that people point to and say “never be like them.”  The funny thing is that Jesus was a teacher of the law, He was a rabbi.  I think that many times when people look at the leaders and teachers of the synagogue they can throw the baby out with the bath water.  Let me explain what I mean by that.  Unfortunately, no matter where we go in this world we will always find people who start drama, politics, and people hungry for power.  This is what was happening in the synagogue in New Testament time, which is why we see Jesus turning over tables in the temple and chasing people out with whips.  This was not all the leaders, but unfortunately, it is usually the bad side of the coin that tends to be facing up and drawing attention.  But, for a moment, let’s take away the negative and just look at their way of life.

The Pharisees and teachers of the law lived their lives with God being the focus of everything.  They had (and still have) prayers of thanks for everything, prayers for giving them life that day to prayers of thanks for the water that they wash their hands with.  They had massive amounts of scripture memorized, usually at least the entire Torah.  They lived their lives in accordance to the law, they held themselves to such a high standard.  Many times, they thought they could consider themselves faultless according to the law, because Jesus is the one who brought to light that the evil in our hearts and minds is also sin.  The Pharisees and teachers of the law, lived and breathed Judaism.  I think of Paul when he writes in Philippians chapter three verse four, “If someone else thinks that they have reason to put confidence in the flesh, I have more.”  He continues to explain his statement saying, “circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law faultless.”  Paul is telling the Philippians that he has reason to boast in his flesh, according to the Judaic law he was an extremely righteous man.  He had given his entire being over to what he believed in and he was willing to do anything for his God. But, then we see that Paul says, in verse seven, “But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.”  According to the world Paul was as righteous as a man can be, and yet Paul came to the realization, when He knew Christ, that his so called righteousness was dirt in the eyes of the Lord.   Paul, a Pharisee that I think actually had a genuine heart for the Lord, saw all of his righteousness as loss, as rubbish.

If a man, that the temple would consider fully righteous in the eyes of the law, cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven, then why do we think we would be able to enter the Kingdom of heaven by our works?  Paul had literally thrown his entire being into following God, and still his righteousness was rubbish.  I think that we can learn a lot from Paul’s life: do we throw ourselves completely into our Christian faith, are we going 110% for our God? And if so, why do we do what we do?  Do we think that going all out for God will make our righteousness shine before all man, do we think that we can prove ourselves good through our works?  Is that why we go all out for God?  In Psalm 37:5-6 it says, “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun.”  It is only through Jesus that we can enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, into the presence of God.  We are to simply commit our entire life over to Him, and He will wash us white as snow.

We Are Made For More

“Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training.  They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.” – 1 Corinthians 9:25

                Who do I run this race for?  For the glory of God, or the glory of man?  Ultimately, if I am striving after anything of this world I am running my race for the wrong reasons.  That doesn’t mean that I am going after things that are morally wrong, or that I am running after things that God might ultimately want for me.  But, am I running the race in my own power, to please those around me, or am I running the race completely in Him, letting Him be the strength to move my feet?  We can sometime (or a lot of times) work so hard to please those around us, we can live to make others happy.  We put all of our efforts in being what man wants us to be, or expects us to be.  We often times run for the very things of this world that will trip us up, and bring us away from our Savior, things that only last for a season.

                I love the analogy of the rope.  Picture for a moment a long rope, like a really long rope.  The rope is completely white, except for the very end where there is about an inch of red.  The rope represents our lives, to a certain extent.  The white is our life of eternity and the red is our life here on earth.  We put so much effort in getting the crown that will diminish, when we should be focused on the rest of the rope, our eternity with Christ.  It is like the golf ball analogy we saw in today’s video, we are so small and God is so big.  Our life here on earth is so small compared to the eternity we will spend with Christ, but every choice we make here on earth will affect the rest of the rope.  That doesn’t mean we will be perfect, far from it.  But, another thing that stands out to me about the rope analogy is that our lives here on earth are in red.  We will not be able to enter into the white, unless we are covered by the blood of Christ, and in that go through strict training to fight against our flesh and stay in the Lords will.

                We truly are made for more, and when we begin to train ourselves and listen to our coach (the Holy Spirit) God will be able to use us on this earth in ways we could never imagine.  So many times we think that God is looking for people that are marathon runners.  People that are strong, have endurance and who have the natural ability to win.  But, that is the farthest thing from the truth.  God is looking for people that aren’t running a race for man, instead they are empting themselves so that God can work through them in the race.  People that are willing to go through strict training so that they might bring glory to God.  

He has It

“And be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ – the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.” – Philippians 3:9

Faith, confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1).  That word confidence seems to keep finding its way back into my life, but in all different circumstances.  I think of George Muller, he was a man of amazing faith and confidence in his God.  He would thank God for a meal before there was even food, he had such a strong confidence in his God and he knew that God could do more than he could ever imagine.  This verse starts out with “And be found in Him,” which reminds of Moses, when God tells him to reach within himself and his hand comes out with leprosy.  Before that God told Moses to pick up a snake (his staff) by the tail.  Of course I cannot be positive, but since Moses was a Shepard for forty years I would assume that he knew that you never, ever, pick up a snake by its tail.  Only someone who wants to be bitten by a snake would pick it up by the tail, you always grab at its neck, right at the head.  But, Moses couldn’t have control, he had to let go and let God.

Moses had no confidence in himself, he told God that he couldn’t be his messenger, because he couldn’t even speak.  We see that God just reminds Moses of who it was who created his mouth, his lungs, and his voice box, everything that gave him the ability to speak.  Moses had to be found in Christ, he couldn’t reach in himself, because that would only produce leprosy; when your body just starts to die and rot.  Instead, he had to have confidence in the Lord and pick up his staff by the tail.  He had to let God take the lead, Moses put himself in Gods will.  One could follow all the commandments and still not be walking in the will of the Lord.  That is why our righteousness cannot come from the law, but must come from God on the foundation of faith.  We are only found in Him, when we continually abide in Him.  Moses had to have faith that God would not let the snake turn around and bite him, and have confidence that God would lead him on the right path.  It sometimes can be really hard to let go.  When we can’t be there for people, when we have no idea what is going on in the lives of those we love the most, it can hard to let go and put all of our faith in Christ.  Yet, we need to have confidence in God and His perfect will.  He can see the end from the beginning and He is in control.

When those around you are literally tearing apart their lives, when you can see them ultimately hurting themselves and their future it can be hard to wait on the Lord.  Yet, faith is confidence in what we hope for; knowing that our Lord listens to our prayers and is always working, even if we don’t see it.  Faith is also the assurance in what we don’t see.  I always thought that this verse was talking about Jesus, that we can have assurance that He is working, even when we cant’s see it.  But, I think it is also can relate to those who have been separated from their families and loved ones.  This happens all the time to persecuted Christians, and it becomes a daily choice of putting their faith in God.  Even when we can’t see or communicate with the ones we love, we have to joyfully put our complete faith in the Lord.  We can do nothing.  When we reach within ourselves we pull out leprosy, but when we can be found in our Heavenly Father and we are walking in His will, we can have confidence and assurance in His power.  For God only asks us to pray, there are times he calls us for more, but The Holy Spirit is the only one who can truly change ones heart. I can’t even count how many times I have heard things like this or read this verse and yet, God is continually reminding me to just love, read, pray and have faith.

Christ + Nothing = Everything

“What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.  I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ.”   - Philippians 3:8

                Many churches are now preaching the Prosperity Gospel.  They teach people that God will make them rich, happy, and wise.  Unfortunately, so many believe the lie that this is what the Gospel of Christ is all about. They don’t change their lifestyle, they don’t live to glorify Christ, but instead they put Him on a shelf like a genie.  How often do we do something similar as Christians?  We ask God for things or beg Him not to take away certain things or people from our lives.  When we don’t let go, many times God – because He loves us – has to take them away.  The Bible never says that God will give us a worldly prosperity, but God does tell us that He will be our provider.  What’s more, Paul is telling us the opposite, he tells us that he considers everything, which is not the gospel, garbage.  Do I look at things of the world in this light?

                The Holy Spirit convicts, comforts, teaches and leads.  Many times when the Holy Spirit leads us to do something, a fear can come over us.  I know that for me, the hard conversations I have to have with people I don’t know very well are easier, then the conversations I have to have with the people closest to me.  Why? That is an easy answer, because of fear.  The fear of losing what you most love or care about.  But, this fear also shows my doubt in God’s plan and His promise that He will work all things for the good of those who love Him.  This week’s theme is sacrifice, which is funny, because this past week God has really been showing me that I need to have faith in the leading of the Holy Spirit in my life.  This doesn’t always mean conversations that I need to have, or things that I need to say will be easy, but I can have peace knowing He is in control.  Ultimately, the more I think about it I remember everything that Christ has done for me.  I should be going to hell, I shouldn’t even be allowed in His house as a slave and yet He calls me His daughter.  How selfish of me to hold onto the things of this world, instead of giving myself fully to God, and how funny to think that it is a great sacrifice.  Those we love He asks us to give to Him, not shy away from His leading in fear of losing them.  I crack myself up when God reminds me that His will is perfect and that He knows what is best, so me not following it would actually cause harm, not good.  Christ + Nothing = Everything.  I don’t have a home here on earth, my home is in heaven, and I pray that Holy Spirit would constantly remind me of this.

Making Ourselves Slaves to the World

“Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.” – 1 Corinthians 9:19

                With many of the current social movements, one can see that people are strongly against feeling like they belong to someone.  Many women are no longer taking their husband’s name, because they want to be their own person, not having to take on a man’s last name.  Many people are not even getting married anymore, so that they will not have an attachment or obligation to their significant others.  Everyone wants to live for themselves, nobody wants to make a commitment.  If one so chooses to, it is extremely easy to cut oneself off from the world, to not be attached to anything or anyone.  In order for this to be possible one has to truly not care about the relationships they have with the people around them -  they have to be completely centered on self.  So many times within society we see people starting to feel attached to people or a person, and so they cut themselves off or hurt the person, to break the attachment.  We, as Christians, have that same freedom.  We could cut ourselves off from the world, we could segregate ourselves.  But, if we look at Christ’s example, I don’t think that is what God would will for our lives.

                To be a servant to all people opens a door to be hurt by many people.  That is why so many people find it is easier to live for self, because then no one can hurt them (except themselves).  But, if we walk into this world scared of how it can hurt us, how big have we made our God?  Do we really have confidence in His will for our lives, do we have confidence in His love for us?  Jesus said that the world would know us by our love for one another.  We can’t show love to people, if we refuse to “belong” to anyone.  Jesus was a servant for all men, He died on the cross even though He knew many of His children would just turn around and spit in His face.  Jesus was abandoned by those He had poured himself into for three years, He healed ten lepers and only one came back to thank Him, Jesus was a servant to all men not matter the consequences.  When we give our lives to Christ He gives us two commands: love the Lord your God and love your neighbor as yourself.  If we truly love our neighbors, why would we hide the One who has saved us from them?  We could be the one God wants to use in their life to bring them to a saving knowledge of Him.  Why would we watch them walk down the path to hell, instead of being a servant and letting God work through us?  Truly, this is using our liberty for the flesh instead of using our liberty for the glory of God.  Galatians 5:13, “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.”

Dying To Self

“Won’t he rather say, ‘prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink’? – Luke 17:8

                I can picture this scene happening in my mind.  The servant coming into the house after an extremely long day at work (all he wants to do is take a nap), yet as soon as he walks in the door his master is giving him another task.  As we saw in verse seven, pretty much no master will say to his servant “come sit, eat and drink with me,” or in other words “I know you’ve had a long day, sit down and eat, I want to say thank you.”  No, he says “get yourself ready.”  Just trying to imagine what it would be like plowing a field all day, the servant is most likely extremely dirty and sweaty.  So, his master says go clean yourself up, because you need to serve me my food and drink.  I wonder what goes through the servants head when he hears this.  Does he wonder if his master ever does anything for himself, if he has ever had to plow a field? Or, is he grateful for the fact that he is able to work? 

                I can think of so many moments in my own life where I just had an extremely long day and I am mentally and physically exhausted.  Yet, people continue to demand things from me and I sometimes can feel as if they don’t even give any thought to what my day was like.  I remember so many times where I thought I had the right to complain, and say I shouldn’t have to do this.   Sometime I would voice this opinion and other times I would just do things with a bad attitude.  There were definitely times that I went into it with a servant’s heart, but it was far from all the time.  I think that it can be easy to fall into the trap of feeling like you are doing people a favor and they should acknowledge that.  I can easily say that when I had bosses that were understanding and encouraging I wanted to work extra time for them and give them my best.  But, then you have the bosses that no matter how hard you work or how well you do, nothing (and I mean nothing) is ever good enough.  It is so hard to continually work with a servant’s heart, a heart of humility and joy, a heart that is working for the glory of God.  Yet, we as Christians are here to represent Christ, we need to die to ourselves daily.  Jesus was the perfect example of humility and servant hood and we need to follow that example.