The Fatal Race

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

“Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.  Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.” NKJV

We are all in the race of life. Our motivation and goals may be different. How we run the race may vary. Some may be low achievers and others work-a-holics, some gifted and others not so gifted. But, we are all in the race. The Apostle Paul brings out several key issues about the race we are running.

One of the key issues about the race is, “What are you racing for?” Are you racing for a perishable or an imperishable crown? What is the reward for which you are racing? Is it temporal or eternal? What will be your achievement, reward, and legacy of your life? Are all your time and effort being spent to have nicer things for you and your family, or to have more fun and enjoyment? I heard the story one time of a man who was witnessing to a friend. The friend retorted that Christianity is just a bunch of “pie in the sky,” to which the Christian responded, “Yes, it is pie in the sky, but it is also steak on your plate, while you wait. God wants us to enjoy life, but the reward God has for us is much greater than what the world has to offer.

The Apostle Paul also tells us that winning the prize depends on how we run the race. One of the guidelines to winning is to be “temperate in all things.” To be temperate is to be self-controlled and balanced in all that we do. We need to avoid accesses and habits that can ensnare us. We need to be on guard for the tyranny of the urgent that steals away our valuable time, resources, and energy, resulting in failure to achieve those important goals of life.

Paul says that to gain the prize, we cannot run with “uncertainty or as one who beats the air.” We need to stop, pray, think, and plan what we are doing. We need to be intentional in our thoughts, speech, and action. We need to weigh the consequences of what we are doing. Lastly, we need to run our race according to the guidelines of the Author of Life, or we may “become disqualified.” What a sad thing to spend your life running the race the best you know how, but at the end you find yourself “disqualified” because you didn’t run it according to the Book.

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:1-2)

Andy Clark

Staying Green

The abiding factor:

Ps 1:1-3

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.

Abiding is a place of focus. The psalmist exhorts us not to walk, stand or sit with ungodly, sinners and the scornful. This does not just refer to the physical aspect but to where we have our attention or focus. If we are not careful, in the world of the media, we can put too much attention on that which is not spiritually healthy, whether it is TV, DVDs, CDs, the internet, or radio. It may not even be something evil but may affect our spiritual life. Even a preoccupation with the news can affect your vision and perception. We begin to see things as the world does and not as God does.

Staying green means remaining firmly planted and focused on what is of God.  Jesus established three important facts about staying green in John 15:5-8.

1. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit;

2. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered.

3. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be     done for you.

In our changing and deteriorating world it is critical that we keep our focus on Christ and His Word.

The trust factor:

"Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord.  For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8

I believe God is calling us as His people to shift our focus and trust totally in Him. God through Christ has made a way for us to stay green no matter what the situation is around us. God is calling us to sink our roots deep into His unchanging character and nature. Then you “will not fear when heat comes, you will not be anxious in the year of drought, and you will not cease from yielding fruit.” He is our all-sufficiency. May you stay ever green as you abide and trust in Him.

Andy Clark

Surprise!

Luke 1:26-33

“Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her,"Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!.... Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."

I know the announcement above was a huge, off-the-chart surprise to Mary, an unwed virgin from an unknown family of an unexpected village called Nazareth. In fact, the saying of the time was, “What good thing could come out of Nazareth?” But we serve a God of surprises, a God of the unexpected, who loves to do the impossible. 1 Corinthians 1:27-29 says, “But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.”

The hall of faith in Hebrews chapter eleven is a chapter full of surprises. God creates a world out of nothing, has a carpenter build a huge boat on dry land for a flood that would cover the earth, and chose a barren woman to be the mother of a people that would be as numerous as the stars of the heaven and sand on the seashore and through whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed.

If your life is kind of boring and mundane with no surprises, then you are not walking with the creative God of the unexpected. There are a few basic key elements to walking with the God of surprises. 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 says, “But as it is written: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.”

These surprises are for those who love Him. This love is a commitment to God above all others and above all things. It means putting God first and trusting Him all the time, no matter what happens in our lives. Secondly, we have to be in tune to the Spirit because God reveals these surprises to us by His Spirit, and they are fulfilled as we walk in the Spirit and not according to the flesh. These surprises are birthed into our life by the Spirit and always fulfilled by the power of the Spirit. They are impossible for man to understand or to fulfill.

Are you ready for a surprise?

Andy Clark

Fellowship with the Father

1 John 1:3-4 “That which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.”

The call of the Gospels is a call to relationship. While every religion in the world is a call to works and performance, the Gospel is a call to God. It is a call for us to abandon ourselves in our pursuit of knowing Him in every dimension. It is a call to a life-long and eternal adventure of discovering the greatness of the One who sustains all things by His World. John says the reason he recorded all that he has seen and heard and passed it on to us is that together we might have this amazing fellowship with the Father and with the Son, so that our joy may be full.

John goes on to explain that the only way we can have this amazing relationship with the Father is “walking in the light, as He is in the light.” Relationship with the Father requires total transparency. John said, “If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in darkness, we live a lie and do not live by the truth.” God does not expose our sin to condemn us but to free us from our sin in order that we may walk in the fullness of all He has for us.

In John chapter 14, Jesus talks about His relationship with the Father as an example to us of our relationship with the Father and the manifestation of that relationship. Jesus’ life was wrapped up in the Father. He told the disciples, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father --- because I am in the Father and the Father is in me. The words that I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing the work.”

Jesus is calling us to abandon our identity, which is so often tied to our appearance, our performance, or the affirmation of others. Jesus is calling us into a place of freedom and joy, where our identity is totally in the Father. Jesus goes on to explain that through the Holy Spirit living in us we can have this same relationship with the Father. Through the Holy Spirit, you have become one with the Father as Jesus is one with the Father, so that the words that you say and the work that you do is not your own but the Father living through you.

For the past several weeks I have been talking about raising our expectations of God. But those expectations and the fulfillment of those expectations lies in our relationship with the Father and our desire to bring glory to His name. “Truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.” Allow the Holy Spirit to raise in you an awareness of the Father in your everyday life.

Andy Clark