The Top 10 Ways To Run The Race

INTRO: This last week we stayed at my friend Charlie’s house...

PLEASE STAND FOR THE READING OF GOD’S WORD

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.”

PRAY!!

10. Train To Win

a. Feed On His Word

2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,”

b. It Shows The Way

Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.”

c. Be Disciplined

1 Timothy 4:8 “For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.”

9. You Need A Good Start

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

DON'T Keep looking at your past.

The unsaved person is controlled by the past, but the Christian running the race looks toward the future.

Warren W. Wiersbe

Romans 6:4 “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

8. You Need A Strong Finish

Matthew 24:13 “But he who endures to the end shall be saved.”

Philippians 3:13–14 “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

7. Expect Obstacles

1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”

Acts 14:22 “strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.””

Ephesians 6:11 “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”

Romans 8:37 “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”

6. Accept Help During The Low Periods

Psalm 46:1 “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.”

Proverbs 3:5–6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.”

5. Avoid Burnout

Galatians 6:9 “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”

James 1:2–3 “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.”

Hebrews 12:2 “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

4. Take It One Step At A Time

Lamentations 3:22–23 “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.”

3. You Will Get A Second Wind

2 Corinthians 12:9 “And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”

2 Corinthians 4:16 “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.”

2. Hear The Crowd Cheering For You

Hebrews 12:1 “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,”

Think About The Glorious Prize That Awaits For You At The Finish line

2 Timothy 4:7–8 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.”

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In Closing:

PRAY!!!