Danger ahead

"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels." Matthew 25:41

I was several miles from my home, in the zone and deep in prayer,  when the peace and solitude of my long run was cut short. As the truck traveling in the opposite direction slowed down, the driver rolled down his window and said, "I just wanted to warn you. There's a big dog up ahead and he looks like he might give you trouble." Thanking the stranger for his kindness, I carried on-now alerted and aware of the danger that might be waiting for me.

It was very kind of this stranger to take the time to warn me don't you think? And while the threat of physical harm to someone else is certainly something we should concern ourselves with, there is a threat far worse than that with eternal consequences... a danger that many of us are failing to tell others about. I wonder why we are not warning unbelievers about the trouble that might be waiting for them? That Hell awaits each and every person that has not accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior? That after death there are no second chances? And that for those who don't believe or have rejected Christ the last words they hear will be, "Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire..."?

Why are we not doing this? Hell is a real place my friends, a place we should want no one to be condemned to. But if we are not warning others of the danger of dying unsaved, who will? This new year, let it be our number one resolution to boldly tell others, and yes even total strangers, about Jesus Christ that they might be saved from all this trouble and have eternal life.

Heavenly Father, thank you for your Word that clearly tells us that Hell is indeed a real place of eternal torment and separation from you. May we be able to envision just a glimpse of what a horrible place it is that we would feel an urgency to warn those who haven't accepted you as their Savior of the danger up ahead. It's in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen.

Happy Running!!!

www.team413.org

Casting Crowns - Until the whole world hears

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7qi2KlUffs

  

The crossroads

"This is what the LORD says: "Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls. But you reply, 'No, that's not the road we want!'" Jeremiah 6:16

While running down one of the remote county roads near my house yesterday, I decided to take a right turn down a side road I had always ignored. Looking forward to where it would take me, I found great pleasure in the new terrain with the rolling hills and open pastures. After several miles of this though, the road abruptly ended and I had a decision to make-go left, go right or turn around and go back the way I came. I surely had no clue which way to go so I did what I always do in these situations or these crossroads of life... I stopped and prayed, "Father lead me in the way I should go." 

At one point or another in our lives, we will all come to a crossroads or, as Google Dictionary defines it, a point at which a crucial decision must be made that will have far-reaching consequences. Jeremiah the prophet knew the Israelites were at this point because of their backsliding when he warned them to "Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way and walk in it." He was urging them to turn from the path of sin they were on and turn back to God's path where they would find rest. But they refused and chose their own way instead with disastrous consequences. 

The choice is no different today my friend nor the consequences of choosing to go our own way less harmful. The right path for living is ancient, unchanging and marked out by God and it is the only way that we will find peace and freedom in this life. The choice is yours...

Heavenly Father, thank you for clearly telling us in your Word that following you will lead us to peace and rest in this life and eternal life with you after this life has passed. Help those who are at a crossroads today turn to you and choose to be set free. It's in your precious name we pray, Jesus. Amen. 

Happy Running!!!

www.team413.org

Zach Williams - Chainbreaker

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGYjKR69M6U

A work in progress

"And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns." Philippians 1:6

I'm pretty sure that whoever coined the phrase, "All good things must come to an end" was talking about running shoes and the sadness we runners feel when our model is replaced. Although I had received a pair of my favorite Hokas for my birthday just last week, my husband asked me why I was buying another pair yesterday when I hadn't even worn the new ones yet. "You have a gift card," he said, "why don't you use the money to buy something you don't have." Because, I told him, when they're gone they're gone for good-like all running footwear, this model will be discontinued. 

Don't you hate it when something you love just goes away? Well thankfully God our Father will never go away or discontinue helping us. The Bible tells us so when it says that He who began the good work within you and me will never stop but, "will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns." In fact, Paul wrote that he was certain of it. And why this certainty? Because Paul knew that from the day he first believed, the Holy Spirit came to live in him enabling him to be more like Christ-helping him grow in grace and mature in faith, a task that would continue until Jesus returned and God would be finished with his work in him. 

And as believers you and I can be certain of that same thing. While things around us will change, shoes will come and go, one thing is certain... when God starts a project, he completes it. And you and I my friend will be a work in progress until the day our Lord returns. I guess all good things don't have to come to an end then, do they?  

Heavenly Father, thank you for the reminder that, no matter how much we feel that we may not be making progress in our walk with you, you are always there guiding, shaping and molding us and will continue doing us until the day of Christ's return. Help us to be patient with ourselves and others knowing that you are patient with us. It's in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen. 

Happy Running!!!

www.team413.org

Wait and see - Brandon Heath

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJb-9uwTE-0

and them some

"And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19

As the last Christmas present was opened yesterday morning, I looked around at the mound of empty boxes, bags and torn wrapping paper. And while I was most certainly grateful for the new and improved Garmin and cold-weather running gear I received, I realized that I really didn't need any of this 'stuff'. My old watch was fine and I could most certainly make it through another winter with what I had. Likewise, there was not one gift that my husband and I gave our children that they actually needed. And then I had to smile and offer up a prayer of thanks to a God who, I remembered, has always supplied all my needs (and then some). 

While in a Roman prison, Paul wrote a letter to the Christians at Philippi to thank them for the gifts they had sent to him and to remind them that this same God who took care of him would supply all of their needs too. He was encouraging them to remain faithful knowing that God, "from his glorious riches", had more than ample resources from which to provide for them. And, as such, there was never any need to worry. 

You know the same is true for believers today. God may not supply all we want but He will most certainly supply everything we need (and then some). What more could we possibly ask for?

Heavenly Father, thank you for always supplying the necessities to travel through this life. Help us to be content with what we have and to distinguish between those things we want and the things we actually need that our focus would not be on worldly things but looking to You. It's in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen.

Happy Running!!!

www.team413.org

God will take care of you - Plumb

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbeDjg1QBJ0

Its about the Cross

"And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." Philippians 2:8

Beginning with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Owen Delaney of London set out to create things that he felt represented Christmas using Strava, a social network that allows runners to track and share the routes of their workouts. Each run was carefully planned and drawn out beforehand by Delaney to take him down paths and around streets that would eventually form the objects he was trying to create-images that, when seen from above, look like the things he and others associate with Christmas like Santa Claus, a snowflake and an open sleigh. I think Owen forgot something though... the cross. It's all about the cross. 

You see the Bible tells us that our Savior left his home in Heaven to become flesh that He might one day save us from our sins. From the Christmas cradle to the cross, this was the Son's ambition and His greatest intention. In the words sung by Go Fish, "The beginning of the story is wonderful and great but it's the ending that can save you and that's why we celebrate. It's about the cross. It's about my sin. It's about how Jesus came to be born once so that we could be born again. It's about God's Son nailed to a tree. It's about every drop of blood that flowed from Him when it should have been me."

So you see Christmas is most certainly all about the cross and what it represents. It is the one thing many people leave out that reveals the true and absolute meaning of why Jesus was born on that blessed Christmas morning. Can I get an amen?

Heavenly Father, thank you for the greatest gift ever given and a season to celebrate. Thank you for your son, Jesus, who came to us in human form that he might be the Savior of the world. May we praise Him every day of the year for his great love for us and celebrate his birth above all else this Christmas. It's in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen.

Happy Running!!!

www.team413.org

It's about the Cross - Go Fish

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKmUQHhyYwE

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/12/22/506616618/dancer-prancer-runner-and-artist-holiday-cheer-courtesy-of-gps

A reason for joy

"But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people." Luke 2:10

Running late as usual yesterday morning, I dashed into our small-town grocery store intent on quickly grabbing the snacks my daughter needed for her Christmas party at school that day. Approaching the counter with the items in my hand, a Christmas carol in my head and a smile on my face, the cashier grinned widely and said, "My you're very joyful this morning." To which I replied, "What's not to be happy about? The sun is shining and it's going to be a great day." Oh but it's so much more than that I wanted to shout out loud. Christmas is coming! The day of our Savior's birth is nearly here!

Imagine this... nearly 2,000 years ago, shepherds in a field watching over their flocks at night were visited by an angel who gave them the good news they had been waiting their whole lives for, news they were told would "cause great joy for all the people." Notice that the angels didn't say that this news would create happiness for us but joy? That's because happiness can be temporary but joy is an everlasting feeling given from an everlasting source. And that everlasting source of our everlasting joy was revealed in the good news the angels brought to the shepherds-Jesus, the Savior of the world, had been born. 

So no matter what circumstances may surround you right now, this season is a time to celebrate why God sent his Son that first Christmas morning... to give great joy to us all today, tomorrow and for evermore. Now doesn't that make you want to shout?

Oh Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us such a reason to be joyous today and every day. Very soon we will be celebrating the greatest event of all time! May our hearts be filled with joy over this no matter what circumstances might be surrounding us. Oh joy to the world indeed!! It's in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen. 

Happy Running!!!

www.team413.org

Joy to the world - Pentatonix

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Xo64Q2ucQ8

You cannot please everyone

"Obviously, I'm not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ's servant." Galatians 1:10

Proving yet again that it is impossible to please everyone, the local weatherman delivered the Christmas weekend forecast... unseasonably high temperatures and absolutely zero chances of snow. Wow! For many happy runners praying for warmer weather, this prediction is a Christmas miracle but for the throngs of children praying for a white Christmas whose prayers will go unanswered, this is not pleasing news. The funny thing is, no matter what the weather is on any particular day, whether God sends the rain or a clear-blue sky, there is always someone who won't like it. 

And what's true about the forecast is true about life-you and I cannot please everyone. The weatherman can't do it, God can't do it and neither can we. Thankfully though, we don't have to. The Bible tells us that if that were our goal, we would not be serving Christ as we should. You see when Paul wrote these words to the Galatians, he was correcting them because they were in danger of following false teachings. He didn't apologize for the fact that not everyone was pleased with his message but boldly preached what he was called to as a servant of Christ. 

I wonder, are you looking to please everyone this Christmas season? If that answer is yes, I have one word for you... don't. There are and always will be people in our lives and even in our own families that we just can't please no matter how hard we try. Give those people to God and focus on pleasing the only One whose approval matters. It will make this season a whole lot more merry. 

Heavenly Father, thank you for your Word that reminds us that we cannot please everyone nor should we try. Help us to give up those people in prayer that we cannot make happy and work to serve You alone knowing that your approval is the only one that matters. It's in your precious name we pray, Jesus. Amen. 

Happy Running!!!

www.team413.org

Bring on the holidays - Toby Mac

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XXq-L1_R7E