The Upward Call--A Strenuous, Godly Lifestyle

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(Excerpt from Cheryl Gnagey's Spiritual Healing:  The Surrender That Brings Victory, Chapter 11)

"Finally, I will share with you one more insight from the Greek definition for 'run.'  It compels me to run more diligently, and I hope you will find it equally compelling.  This word 'run' is used to compare, figuratively, the public races of Biblical times to a Christian's call to a strenuous, godly life.  This race, this course that has been set for us by God Himself, which allows for the weeding out of sin and encumbrances along the way, is to be the priority of our lives.  We are to become like Christ, and that will never happen if we leave our sin unattended and unchecked.  This race is not intended to be for fun and games, nor for a Christian life of ease.  It is for the prize, upward call of Christ Jesus!  [Those who ran in the Biblical games competed for one reason: to win.  They had no other motive.  They ran strenuously and with reckless abandon!  They removed every obstacle to gaining the prize, and ran, leaving all of themselves on the race track.]

But one thing I do; forgetting what lies behind [our sin] and reaching forward to what lies ahead [our holiness and the active knowledge of God's constant presence with us], I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.  (Philippians 3:13b-14).

You are nearing the end of this book [these particular blogs of excerpts from Spiritual Healing:  The Surrender That Brings Victory) , but the journey of the spiritual healing of your heart is just beginning.  Our hearts, tattered and ripped by our sin and our stumbling blocks, are also divided by them.  But we can still run with endurance the race of which every believer is a part:  the race of holiness and Christ-likeness as characterized by our surrender of the sin in our lives and by obedience to Christ, which replaces it.  By enduring the race in this way, our hearts will be sewn up, and we will begin to see God 'unite our hearts to fear His name.'  To have a united heart is the goal.  It is the prize.  Living the upward call is our spiritual healing!  And now it is time to tie on your running shoes!  Ready, set, GO!

INTROSPECTION

1. What are you practically doing to lay aside your 'encumbrances and sin'?  Are you surrendering those places in your heart daily to the Holy Spirit for transformation?
2. What is currently impeding your walk that is not specifically a sin?
3. What sin is satan using to attack you, seemingly from every direction, so that he can prevent you from finishing the race and being a positive influence on other believers?
4. What can you do to make a course correction and run the race well?
5. You have not yet endured like Jesus, to point of death.  But since He has, He is your example.  Are you willing to make 'enduring the journey' your life task?"

(My husband Nevin, the runner, chose this picture from many, because it portraits the struggle at hand, as well as the strength required to accomplish this run.  Wasn't it a great choice?)

Making A Course Correction

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(Excerpt from Cheryl Gnagey's Spiritual Healing:  The Surrender That Brings Victory, Chapter 11)

If we put together all of the words and phrases from Hebrews 12:1 that we have looked at in the Greek, we are able to write the verse with even greater clarity. 

"Putting all of those definitions together, we will see an 'amplified' version of what it is really telling us."  Let me show you.

Considering that God has designed for us a particular race to run, one in which we are to lay aside the things that trip us up on our journey to Him, we should set our minds on giving the race a strenuous effort so as never to surrender to our stumbling blocks and sin.  We should attack this race as our course on earth, one of mastery and victory over satan and sin.

If we do not live out this verse in our daily walk of obedience to God, our sins and our encumbrances will keep us from the kind of runner's race of faith that could influence others.  Have you considered what effect your sin and 'allowances' have had on those around you?  What impact could it have if you continue in your disobedience?  Do you remember the legacy left to us by the great cloud of witnesses?  What legacy do you really want to leave behind for others to follow?  Do you want your legacy to be that you tolerated your own disobedience to your Creator while He abhorred it, or that  your fought the good fight, that you ran a great race, that led you to the surrender the brought victory into your life?

Do you find that you now have a course correction to make?  The masterful author of Hebrews has the 'how to' in verse 2 of Hebrews 12.  He says to 'fix your eyes on Jesus' because He is the Author and Perfecter of faith.  Our faith began at our salvation, with Jesus and our belief in Him.  Though we are a character in the book He is writing of our faithful journey, He is the Author of it, not us!  He is also the One who is doing the perfecting in us.  We would never be capable of heart transformation on our own!

As a reminder, let's revisit the 'let us' phrases and what they are telling us to do:

• Lay aside what is holding us back.
• Run with endurance.

The 'laying aside' of our sin and heavy encumbrances is a call to Lordship in our lives.  As we begin to walk in the Spirit and lay aside our stumbling blocks, we are actually making Jesus the Lord of those particular areas of sin and barriers to holiness.  In surrendering them, we are giving Him His rightful seat in our hearts, which allows Him full control over the things that can entangle us and get us off course."

How Well Are You Enduring Your Race?

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(Excerpt from Cheryl Gnagey's Spiritual Healing:  The Surrender That Brings Victory, Chapter 11)

We have been taking a closer look at the two "Let us" phrases found in Hebrews 12: 1-4.  Let me refresh your minds in regard to those two phrases.

     1.  Let us lay aside every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles us.
     2.  Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.

I am making the second one the topic of today's blog.  I will continue to use a Greek dictionary to help us gain greater understanding into the phraseology of this verse.  Today, let's see what the Greek has to say about these 3 very important words:  run, endurance and race.

• Run -- to run or walk hastily having a course to run; specific to this verse, 'with strenuous effort.

Can you sense the urgency and intensity of this kind of running?  This kind of run will not be easy or leisurely.  The course referred to has already been set for us by God, and we will need endurance to finish His race.  [This definition begs an answer to this question:  Why do we, as believers, call our journey with God a 'walk'?  For me, to call it a walk infers that it is an easy-peasy trip!  And it isn't at all!  I think I may start labeling my 'walk' a 'run'.  That just might open a few doors to witnessing!]

• Endurance -- a patient continuing (waiting when necessary), bearing up under the strain with a tranquil mind, not surrendering to them (the sin and encumbrances).

Wow!  I had no idea that my endurance required a tranquil mind, set only on the hope of making it through!  I am not sure I have ever correctly endured!  But let me not just focus on the word 'tranquil'.  We must look at the other words in the definition in order to clearly understand what endurance is.  To endure will require something in me that says that I will keep going, no matter what.  I must stay the course with a constancy that patiently continues even when it is difficult, not just when it is easy.  This race is about learning to be obedient in all things.  When the Word speaks of not surrendering to those things that can entangle me, I must decide now to bear up when temptations, trials, and tests come, so that I can win the race by gaining victories over them.  And with that thought in mind, let move on to our third definition.

• The Race -- strife, contention, a struggle, a contest for victory or mastery, a contest against the enemies of man's salvation, much like the Greek games [Olympics].

Because satan wishes to thwart our efforts to gain victory or mastery over our sin ans stumbling blocks, our fight with him will require great effort.  Our enemy wants to keep us in our sin, maybe more than we want to be free of it.  Therefore, he will contend with us with every weapon in his arsenal.  We must learn to use our entire spiritual armor, and specifically the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, with even more effort and zeal than satan uses against us.

Do you see now shy it is so very important to understand God's Word in its original language [Greek and Hebrew]?  The Greek must be used to define the words of the New Testament; our English dictionaries just cannot fully get the job done!