Getting Ready to Run

35 Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: 36 And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: 37 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; 38 (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. 39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: 40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. 1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 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 is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. 4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

Hebrews 12:1–4 KJV 1900

1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 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 is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. 4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

Jeremiah 12:5 KJV 1900

5 If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?

Jeremiah 12:5 KJV 1900

There are two aspects to this scripture verse I’d like to talk about: the negative and the positive.

Rebuke

Christians asking “What’s the bare minimum I need to do and still make it to heaven?”

What’s the bare minimum Jesus Christ did for you?

Christians getting offended, and walking away from God, over a perceived slight, over the littlest things, while around the world, new converts are being asked to suffer greatly, even to lay down their lives, for their faith.

We get angry at the wrong things, and passively accept the wrong things.

Haggai 1:9 KJV 1900

9 Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; And when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the Lord of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, And ye run every man unto his own house.

We are committed, dedicated largely to our own plans and ambitions, not those of Jesus Christ.

Encouragement

We have a spiritual mandate from Jesus Christ to exercise spiritual authority over Eau Claire County!

Our church has been commissioned, positioned, and mandated to reach Eau Claire County for Jesus Christ

To do this, to fulfill the will of God for this church, it will require us to commit ourselves to it. To focus completely on it. To be willing to sacrifice everything for it.

This church was founded, as all churches are, on sacrifice, dedication to God and God’s word, setting aside personal ambition and rights to make themselves available for God’s purposes.

They were an example to us, and they are a ‘cloud of witnesses’ encouraging us to do as they did.

Conclusion

Let this year be the year we stop trying to be something…someONE we were never meant to me. Let this year be the year we assume the mantle God has already given us. God has an incredible plan for this church, and He means to see it realized. God’s plan for us is so impossibly big that it will take every single one of us, wholly submitted to God’s will, to accomplish it. Give yourself over to God’s plan for your life, no matter what it is. No matter the sacrifice. No matter the cost.

David meeting with his brethren, seeing Goliath cursing and mocking the armies of Israel.

A holy indignation rose up within him.

His brothers accused him of of slacking in his duties and being lazy.

His response:

1 Samuel 17:29 KJV 1900

29 And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause?

This year, the year 2020, where the enemy of our God is very bold to cry out blasphemies and cursings against our God, there is most certainly a cause!

Because this year, 2020 there is most certainly a cause

The cause:

The salvation of the lost

The perfection of the saints in Eau Claire County.

Give yourselves over to the will of God this year and see what He will do through you!