Running Start 3-31-09

Good morning, Lord Jesus. I rise and follow You, as best as I can and all by Your grace. … "Do you not know that in a race all runners compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it" (1 Corinthians 9:24). In my race today, my competitors are not fellow runners. They are more like fallen angels. My race is not against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces of wickedness and the self-centered desires of my will apart from Your will that give them any room to trip me up or hold me back (Ephesians 6:12). In this race, I must "lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely" to "run with perseverance the race that is set before (me)" (Hebrews 12:1). Only then can I outrun and overcome the fast and fierce competitors, nipping at like angry dogs at my heels, trying to run me down and run me over -- anxiety, stress, worry, fear, doubt, unbelief, regret, shame, resentment, bitterness, anger, rage, discouragement, depression, confusion, deception, arrogance, pride, selfishness, self-pity, and the like. But I will not win this race looking back at them, but looking forward to You. "… and let us run … looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2). Like a runner who gets down into the starting blocks at the start of a new race, Your mercies are "new every morning" (Lamentations 3:23). In that sense, it doesn't matter how well or how poorly I ran the day before, this is a new day and a new race. And the way to get off to a running start is to first wait upon You here in the silence of surrender and the communion of prayer. It's taking time to stretch my spirit and open my heart until Your Holy Spirit is burning like fire in the muscles of my soul. "But those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint" (Isaiah 40:31). Then I will "not run aimlessly" (1 Corinthians 9:26). In the power of Your strength, I will run like the wind "for the goal of the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:14). That's my goal and You’re my prize in my race today and every day. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Subscribe by email to me at Messiah Ministries --MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 Order My Book, Morning by Morning, and our Ministry Resources or Contribute to our vision and calling: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org