Tri to Gain Glory...

Some of you have been following my efforts as I prepare for my triathlon. I've posted quite a bit on my blog. In my quiet times last night and today, I tried to focus on the analogy that Paul gives us of a race in Hebrews 12: 1-3:

1Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us (B)run with endurance the race that is set before us,
2fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has (G)sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

It got me to thinking about how often we....errrr...I...lose focus on divine things, on God, and struggle with the things of this world. One of the things I recognize is the importance of that focus, how critical it is to maintain at all times if we are to finish the race that is set before us. Our training, the things we consume, the way we prepare, the hardship and adversity we overcome..all of these things prepare us for the race toward glory.

Imagine, too, the glory of winning that race!!! If I were to win on Saturday, I would recieve a medal that would tarnish, rust, and eventually turn to dust. How much more vigilant and focused then, should our training and focus be as we race toward eternity?

Whodat?

"A young man whose father is a carpenter grows up working in his father's shop. He has no formal education. He owns no property of any kind. One day he puts down his tools and walks out of his father's shop. He starts preaching on street corners and in the nearby countryside. Walking from place to place preaching all the while even though he is in no way an ordained minister he never gets farther than an area perhaps 100 miles wide at the most. He does this for three years. Then he is arrested, tried and convicted. There is no court of appeal so he is executed at age 33 along with two common thieves. Those in charge of his execution roll dice to see who gets his clothing -- the only possessions he has. His family cannot afford a burial place so he is interred in a borrowed tomb. End of story? No, this uneducated, propertyless young man who preached on street corners for only three years who left no written word has for 2000 years had a greater effect on the entire world than all the rulers, kings and emperors, all the conquerors, the generals and admirals, all the scholars, scientists and philosophers who ever lived -- all put together. How do we explain that? ...Unless he really was what he said he was."

--Ronald Reagan

Man's Testimony About Man

In John 2:24-25, John notes that Jesus did not need man's testimony about man:

But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.

One of the most powerful things we can do as men is share our testimony with another man. I believe it is that life-on-life ministry that drives the power of Christ's church on this earth.

But I'll be honest too often my testimony is about man, not about Him and His Spirit. Also in today's reading:

The Spirit links Himself with us in our praying and pours His supplication into our own. We may master the technique of prayer and understand its philosophy; we may have unlimited confidence in the veracity and validity of the promises concerning prayer. We may plead them earnestly. But if we ignore the part played by the Holy Spirit, we have failed to use the master key.

--J. Oswald Sanders

Guilty as charged. Again. From now on my testimony will focus on Him and His Spirit, but mostly I will take time today to pray, and to make sure I'm not ignoring His Spirit:

The great people of the earth today are the people who pray. I do not mean those who talk about prayer; not those who can explain about prayer, but I mean those people who take time and pray. They have not the time. It must be taken from something else. This something else is important- very important and pressing, but still less important and less pressing than prayer.

--S.D. Gordon

Thank goodness He knows my weaknesses, my failures, my faults.. and most importantly my desire to follow Him.

A Little Levity...

A young boy had just gotten his driver's permit and enquired of his father, if they could discuss his use of the car. His father said, "I'll make a deal with you. You bring your grades up from a C to a B average, study your Bible a little, get your hair cut and we'll talk about the car."

Well, the boy thought about that for a moment, settled for the offer, and they agreed on it. After about six weeks they went in to the study, where his father said, "Son, I've been real proud. You've brought your grades up, and I've observed that you have been studying your Bible, and participating a lot more in the Bible study groups. But, I'm real disappointed, since you haven't gotten your hair cut."

The young man paused a moment, and then said, "You know, Dad, I've been thinking about that, and I've noticed in my studies of the Bible that Samson had long hair, John the Baptist had long hair, Moses had long hair and there's even a strong argument that Jesus had long hair also."

To this his father replied, "Did you also notice they all walked everywhere they went?"