The special advocates

"He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing." Deuteronomy 10:18

If there's one thing I love more than participating in a race, it's helping to organize one. Especially one that is unique and for a good cause, which is exactly what Friday night's event was. The FroGlow 5k glow run was not only special because it was a night race with fun glow sticks but because of the special reason for which the event was created. CASA of South Central Missouri provides advocacy for abused and neglected children in the Court System through Court Appointed Special Advocates, aka volunteers whose mission it is to speak up for those children adjusting to new foster homes and transitioning to new schools. 

Did you know that there are nearly 700,000 children who experience abuse or neglect each year and are placed into the foster care system? And instead of playing with other children and making happy memories are attending court hearings? And that's where these volunteers come in. They step up to defend "the cause of the fatherless" by speaking up for these children and advocating for their well being. And truthfully, aren't we all called to do that? Aren't we all called to protect those who can't protect themselves? Of course we are. 

And while not everyone is able to volunteer, we can all do something - like giving to and supporting CASA and other organizations like it. Most importantly though, you and I can pray each and every day that the needs of these children will be met and that they will come to know Jesus because of the love they are shown through these very special advocates. 

Heavenly Father, thank You for the reminder that there are so many children in need of caring volunteers who have their best interests in mind. Open up our eyes and ears for ways that each one of us can help do that, whether it's by volunteering our time or finding ways to fund this important mission. May we be those people who help defend the cause of the fatherless. It's in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen. 

Happy Running!!!

Orphans of God - Avalon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0ZzLeZMc0w

Want to know how you can help? Check out these links:

http://www.casaforchildren.org/site/c.mtJSJ7MPIsE/b.5301295/k.BE9A/Home.htm

https://www.casascmo.org/get-involved/

A few pictures from the night: 

True worship

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God--this is your true and proper worship." Romans 12:1 NIV

As the music played and I lifted my heart and hands up in adoration of the Father, my mind drifted forward a week. Here I was worshiping within four walls alongside my church family. But next week, at the very same time, I would be worshiping outside those four walls on the Bass Pro Marathon course surrounded by believers and non-believers alike. There would be no praise band, no lights, no offering plate, no sermon, and no pastor. But what there will be is one very grateful and joyful worshiper running with hands lifted high to pay honor to and exalt the Savior of her soul. 

And while there are numerous definitions of the word worship. One in particular expresses why, "in view of God's mercy," worship should be a lifestyle and not just a Sunday morning routine. Worship is to honor with extravagant love and extreme submission (Websters Dictionary, 1828). True worship then comes when God is first in our lives. It's an outpouring of the love in our heart for the Savior that cannot be stopped and is expressed by our passion to offer our "bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God."

So whether you're in your home, at work, on the missions field, or in a church on Sunday morning, make knowing and honoring God by the way you live your first priority. This is not only "pleasing to God" my friend, but has the power to lead others to the Cross. 

Heavenly Father, thank You for being such a merciful and compassionate God. We are all sinners deserving of death and yet You continue to pour out Your blessings upon us. You are the Creator of all things and yet You love us intimately. In light of that, may we worship You for who You are and offer our lives up each and every day as a living sacrifice. It's in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen. 

Happy Running!!!

You're worthy of my praise - Jeremy Camp

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dz0AdcM5s4

Be listening

"While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.'" Acts 13:2 NIV

Many months ago I wrote about how, by God's divine intervention, I met a young man while out on my morning run. After feeling led to slow down and make small talk, he opened up to me about some of his struggles. Prompted by the Holy Spirit, I was bold in the questions I then asked and gentle in telling him that Jesus was the answer. And having learned through our conversation that I knew his mother, I was prompted by the Spirit once again to make contact with her, vowing to join in praying for her son. And while Cody has been on my prayer list since that day, I was prompted yesterday to pray even harder and message his mother once again to check on him. Her immediate response? "You must have some extrasensory mechanism because he needs prayers." 

Oh how I love the way the Holy Spirit works! Just as He spoke to the worshipers at the church of Antioch all those years ago to instruct them to "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them," He speaks to us today in various ways to put us in the place to do the work He has called us to. And if a mechanism can be defined as the fundamental processes involved in or responsible for an action, reaction, or other natural phenomenon, everyone who has the Holy Spirit living inside of them and is listening is part of that mechanism and will hear instructions as well. 

So the question then is, when the Holy Spirit speaks will you be listening? And most importantly, will you obey? He can and will work through every one of us in amazing ways my friend if we simply say, "Yes Lord. Use me." Will you allow yourself to be used?

Heavenly Father, thank You for giving us the Holy Spirit who prompts us to pray for others. And not only does the Spirit prompt us to pray for others, but instructs us when to move into action. Help us to spend time in the Word each and every day that we might know You so well that we recognize your voice when You speak. It's in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen. 

Happy Running!!!

The one He speaks through - Mandisa

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siBfrVa4ozY

Original blog

https://thejoyfilledrunner.blogspot.com/2018/04/i-am-not-ashamed.html

Get wisdom

"The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding." Proverbs 4:7 NIV

It's common knowledge that smoking is bad for our health right? It causes cancer, heart disease, COPD and a host of other diseases. But in a new study published in the JAMA Network Open, a study that you and I would be wise to take note of, it was found that not exercising might be even worse on our health than smoking. Dr Wael Jaber, co-author of the study, said “Being unfit on a treadmill or in an exercise stress test has a worse prognosis, as far as death, than being hypertensive, being diabetic or being a current smoker. We’ve never seen something as pronounced as this and as objective as this.”

And you know, when it comes to making good decisions about our health, gaining wisdom or knowledge of the truth is the wisest thing you and I could ever do. And it's even more important to the health of our spiritual lives. Solomon completely understood this when he wrote "the beginning of wisdom", or the start of being intelligent or wise, was to "get wisdom" and then to "get understanding." And not to just pursue it leisurely, but to get it "though it cost all you have." You see, it's by wisdom we learn the Truth and by understanding that we apply it. 

So search the Scriptures daily and relentlessly my friend. Pray for wisdom and understanding so that, in a world full of conflicting information and messages, you will know the Truth and it will keep you on the right path. 

Heavenly Father, thank You for the reminder that wisdom is to be sought after at all costs. Help us to see how important the gaining of knowledge and understanding of your Word is to our physical and spiritual health and then give us a passion to pursue it. It's in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen. 

Happy Running!!!

Your Word - Third Day

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zaaiFp4RSM

The way out

"The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure." 1 Corinthians 10:13

Serdar Tuncali, 33, from Phoenix, Arizona, said he was a "skinny kid" until he got married and began packing on the pounds. "We started going out to restaurants and we stopped working out." Knowing that he had to make some changes, Tuncali said he fought the temptation to overeat by using distraction to manage his hunger. And he did this by identifying the thought patterns and habits that tempted him to slip and replacing them with new and healthy ones such as spending more time being active and less time watching TV. 

And while temptation, or the desire to do something wrong or unwise, can and will come in many forms, the Bible is clear that our temptations "are no different from what others experience." In other words, we will all experience common sinful urges. But, thankfully, you and I are assured that that "God is faithful" and "will not allow the temptation to be more than" we can stand or endure. That means God will always provide a distraction, or an escape, to turn our attention away from the pull of sin and back to Him.

So if you're having thoughts or inclinations of doing something that you clearly know is dishonorable, dishonest or immoral today, think twice my friend. While the devil will be looking for ways to entice you, you must be looking for the "way out" God has promised He will provide.

Heavenly Father, thank You for the reminder that every Christian will be tempted at one time or another and that we don't have to give in to that temptation. Help us to guard our hearts and minds that when temptation comes, we will immediately look to You for a way out. It's in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen. 

Happy Running!!!

Think twice - Petra

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awTtiMINk28

A real life example

"And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ." 1 Corinthians 11:1 NLT

While many children will be dressing up as their favorite fictional superheroes this Halloween, two little girls from Norman, Oklahoma, will be dressing up as their favorite real-life sports hero-Shalane Flanagan. One of the girls' mothers, Lisa Braden, says she remembers the special moment she and her daughter shared when they watched Flanagan on television. “When she crossed the finish line, we both jumped up and screamed and had a great time. It’s nice to give her a real-life example of somebody that embodies the characteristics that I would like to see in her as she gets older."

And when it comes to being a good role model, shouldn't every Christian be living a life worthy of following? A life that embodies the characteristics of honesty, integrity, steadfastness, faith and love? Of course. In fact, Paul knew it to be so true that he lived to obey Jesus in every area of his life so he could say, "And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ." You see, Paul was so confident that he was emulating Jesus in word and deed that he urged the church at Corinth to look to him as a real-life example of what a true follower of Jesus Christ should be and to follow it. 

So knowing that each one of us is called to be a real-life example to others of what it means to be a Christian as well, would you say you, like Paul, are living a life worthy of imitating today? I sure hope so my friend, because this world is in desperate need of good and godly role models.

Heavenly Father, thank You for the reminder that every Christian should be living an honest, faithful and upright life worthy for their children and others to follow. And if we're not Lord, please show us where we have strayed and lead us back to the right path that we might be the godly role model You have called us to be. It's in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen. 

Happy Running!!!

Live like that - Sidewalk Prophets
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r1lLYKdML

Not so fast

"Wait patiently for the LORD. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the LORD." Psalm 27:14 NLT

While the majority of serious runners are disciplined about getting in their workouts every day, most aren’t disciplined about what they put into their body, opting for drive-thru over meal-prep most days of the week. But runners aren't the only ones looking for a fast and easy solution to satisfy their hunger. A new study released by the CDC reports that more than 37 percent of adults eat fast food every day. That's about 85 million Americans consuming what they say are often high-cal, high-fat, high-sugar meals daily. The consensus of the study was, "We really do live in a fast food nation." 

But you know, fast food isn't the only fast thing we have grown accustomed to. We want fast news, fast commutes to work, fast internet, fast lines at the grocery store, fast delivery times and fast conversations. We have become a nation that likes everything fast. Which is perhaps why so many of us have a hard time waiting for the Lord. We pray and want immediate results. And when those fast results don’t come, we get discouraged and give up. But as the psalmist clearly understood, God doesn't work on our timetable but His. Which is why the psalmist reminded us of our need to "Wait patiently for the Lord" and to "be brave and courageous" while doing so. 

And while being patient goes against our very nature, learning to wait on the Lord is necessary to help us grow closer to Him. You see, it's during these times of waiting that we learn to trust His plan and His timing. So if you feel the process isn't happening fast enough, be patient my friend. God knows what He is doing. 

Heavenly Father, thank You for the reminder that Your timing is perfect and Your reasons for making us wait will only serve to draw us closer to You. Help us to be patient, brave and courageous while we are waiting to hear from You or waiting for You to act in our lives. It's in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen. 

Happy Running!!!

Waiting here for You

https://youtu.be/em8EAHrW9fY