"Finish the Race" RESCUE RADIO with Marjorie Cole

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Music.

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Rescue Radio, because there's a war for your soul.

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Yes, Father God, we are in the war, and the war has already been won. What a paradox.

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Lord God, encourage our hearts today, draw the people in to hear,

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give them eyes to see, ears to hear,

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and a heart to receive the revelation of your love and your encouragement to

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walk in the truth and not to be ashamed, to walk in the power of the truth and

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the power of your love, because you are faithful to complete the work that you have begun in us.

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And so I thank you, Father, that your will be done, O God, on earth,

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in and through us this day. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.

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And that you will give us gratitude, attitudes of gratitude for what you are

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doing in the midst of us, in the midst of our fiery trials,

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in the midst of all the confusion and all the ways that Satan has set up to

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look like you are the enemy and the bad guy.

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Lord Jesus, how can you be the bad guy when you laid down your life for us and

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bought and paid for our salvation with your precious blood.

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And not only that, but you gave us power and authority over all the power of the enemy.

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And you've asked us to help you to bring in the harvest, preach the gospel,

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heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead.

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What else is there to do that's of any value other than what you've asked us to do?

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Because thy kingdom come and everything is, there's high stakes in this war.

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So Lord, I pray that you give us today your encouragement.

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As we look at the race and how to follow you, and we bind the powers of darkness,

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the generational spirits, the familiar spirits, the tormenting spirits,

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those that have taken such liberty to attack us relentlessly in however ways they deem their desire,

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that they will be exposed, bound, and resisted, that you give the people eyes

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and mouths to shut the mouths of the devil,

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the enemy, and command him to leave.

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And I thank you, Lord, for the promise that no weapon formed against us will

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prosper, that no word said, deed, done, or action taken will be able to be used

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by the enemy to bring forth any shame, trouble, or reproach,

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that, Lord God, you are God, and ultimately and forever and always,

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your will be done. In Jesus' name, amen.

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Amen. Well, the Bible says that this Christian life,

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is a race. It's like a race. And so we're in the race, you know,

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a race, a regular race has a starting line, and then there's the race itself,

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and then there's the finishing line.

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A lot of pain and exhaustion in the midst of all that. Oh, yeah,

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a lot of training, you know, for runners.

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But you know what? The race is really about the simple thing that Jesus said,

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follow me. So the race is the race to follow Jesus, and we're not racing against

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competing with anyone else.

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We're just following Jesus in the course that he has set for our lives.

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And that's the thing to remember is that each of us have an individual course, an individual race.

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Sometimes we look at other people and say, well, what's this guy going to do?

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Yeah, we don't. And we compare ourselves with ourselves. Paul says if we compare

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ourselves with ourselves.

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We're not wise. We're not wise. But he does, yeah. It's foolish to do that.

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So, basically, we have a course to follow.

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And Jesus said— And it's in the context of everybody else running their race, too. Right.

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Bumping into each other. We have—we're—I can use that word. I use the word responsible.

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Okay, good. We are responsible to follow the course, the individual course,

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that individual race that he has for us. Yes, and in that individuality,

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there's also some general ideas and principles.

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For example, in Galatians 6, 9, he says, Do not grow weary, for let us not grow

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weary while doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not faint or lose heart.

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Therefore, having an opportunity, let us do good, especially to those who are

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of the household of faith.

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So he's saying, don't grow weary in well-doing, for in due season you will reap.

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Now, this is the race, as you said, has parts. The beginning,

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the middle. The middle is the hard part because that's where it can be endless

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and lots of waiting, lots of confusion, lots of I don't know why this is happening.

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We can grow weary very easily. And those people who grow weary,

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and that's kind of like the soil, the parable of the soil to the people that

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are the word that's sown in the thorny ground and the rocky ground.

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They don't have endurance. There isn't that commitment to endurance.

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But he says, in Proverbs he says, without a revelation, the people cast off

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restraint, without a prophetic vision, without the vision for your life,

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without knowing, you can't just run a race because there's a race.

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You got to have a reason for running the race, and without that revelation of

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God and the people cast off restraint.

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What is our, you know, to hold steady, to hold the line, to not give up,

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to not get distracted, to not give up and go away and get discouraged what.

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What do we need to know? Because actually this race is hard.

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It is not easy. Jesus didn't say, it's going to be an easy walk,

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a cakewalk. He said, follow me.

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And most of the people, if not all of them who follow Jesus,

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had great difficulties, suffering.

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Many died, you know, some, you know, at the hands of their enemies, martyred, whatnot.

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And so the race is not an easy race. So we need to have a for sure absolute

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anchoring in why we're doing this.

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Many have died for their faith. Many are dying for their faith right now.

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And what you hear from the people that are in great, severe persecution all

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around the world, they say, well, don't pray that we'll get out of this.

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Pray that we'll be faithful to the Lord through this. Well, they then obviously

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have some real strong ideas of why they're in this race.

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But the thing is, why do we join the race? What is your motive or reason for

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joining the race? because, you know, the Bible is, this is difficult.

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Now, so is it, are we doing this because it's the good thing and because we want to make God happy?

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Or is it because of a relationship with God? Are we doing it out of works and

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religion or out of relationship?

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And that really changes the whole perspective of why we're doing something.

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If you can, if you're a parent and it gets hard and the child is sick and there's

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difficulties in finance, And the reason you get up at night,

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the reason you, you know, do all the things you do for them is because of your

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love for them, because of the relationship.

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So this race is only to those who really want to know or have known or has seen

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the revelation of God's love for them.

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Yeah, and that's it. The revelation of God's love, John writes in 1 John,

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we love him because he first loved us.

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Well, and, you know, there's the call, too. You know, he says,

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for those he called, he predestined, he called.

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So the race is an answer to the call, the invitation.

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It's an individual, custom-made purpose for us.

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And Ephesians chapter 2, beginning of verses 8 through 10, it talks about,

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by grace are we saved through faith, and that not of ourselves, it is a gift of God.

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Not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are his workmanship,

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created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which he has before ordained that we should walk in them.

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Let's keep that in mind. There is a plan.

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It's just like, it's like an architect, right? They do the drawing for a building. First.

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First it is. And here's the plan. And everything we're going to do from excavation

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to the foundation to the construction.

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Everything that's done is going to be in fulfillment to make that plan a tangible reality.

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Well, you know, what does...

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Success in running this race? What does it require? It really requires submission

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and obedience, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith,

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who also ran a race, a very powerful race, a very difficult race, absolutely.

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And then it also requires emptying out yourself. It's not about you.

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Yeah, the race is hard. There are super, super complicated demonic resistances

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to the race, to your life.

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And these are obstacles. And we don't understand the chastening of the Lord.

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Why doesn't God help us? We don't understand the nature of the spiritual battle or the war.

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And, you know, we say, where was God, you know, when I was building the church,

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when I was the missionary in China, when I was trying to do God's will and raising

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my children, where was God when all these bad things happened?

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But you know what? I've been reading in the book of the Old Testament, the story of David.

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David was the king that God anointed, even when he was young, 17, 18, very young.

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And he had spent his time in the sheep pastures, protecting the sheep,

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learning how to take care of the sheep.

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And that's kind of what this is all about for a lot of us.

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But he had to fight the bear. He had to fight the lion. He worshiped God.

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He practiced his guitar a lot and he was really good at singing.

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And then he came, he was, you know, God looked upon all that and says, I'm going to call you.

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So God called him to a very difficult race because in the race that David was

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called to win or walk and run, there were giants, there were lions.

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There were bears, and there was Saul.

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And Saul was insane. He would, the demon would come upon him and he'd throw

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spears at David. He chased him around.

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David for many years, even after he was anointed king, ran like a fugitive in

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the wilderness, troubled, attacked, hunted, haunted, betrayed.

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People in the cities would tell Saul where he was, and then they'd send,

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go after him. And just for many, this was ongoing.

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And here he's the king. He is the king, but he's not being able to be permitted to be the king.

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And so, you know, that's his life. He's called to be a king.

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We're called to be kings and priests unto God, but it might look like right

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now that you're being haunted and tracked and harassed and, you know,

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the devil's trying to kill us, which he was trying.

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But David kept writing the Psalms. And if you want encouragement in your race,

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the best place to go for encouragement in that particular arena is the Psalms,

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because David is talking about being chased and tracked and trapped and hidden,

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and then God's faithful, God's good. Yeah, all around him.

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Enemies that were friends so he didn't give up enemies well he betrayed yeah

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so he he was you know really walking day by day moment by moment with God and

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so a part of the race is to be perfected you know.

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You know, chastened, if you will, and people don't understand that easily.

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But, you know, people who join the Navy SEALs, for example, there's a purposeful

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hardness to their course.

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There is a purposeful, the difficulties are, you know, on purpose,

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you know, to train them up, to strengthen them, to pull out their gift,

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to give them confidence that they can do this, that they've done this.

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They've, you know, they defeated the temptations to cave and they've They've

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won their race by proving, seeing that they were able, by the grace and strength

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of God, to do what they were called to do.

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You know, they're trained in expertise in various areas of warfare and persistence.

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Persistence and endurance is a key kind of thing.

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And some people that, you know, life is hard in so many ways.

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You know, it's harder and it's disastrous without Jesus, right?

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What happened in John chapter 6, Jesus is talking about him being the bread of life and so forth.

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And he's talking about, he said one place in John 6, 65 and 66,

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starting there, he says, Therefore I have said to you that no one could come

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to me unless it has been granted to him by my Father.

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From that time, many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him.

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And Jesus said to the 12, do you also want to go away? But Simon Peter answered,

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Lord, to whom shall we go?

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You have the words of eternal life. And we have come to believe Jesus.

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That you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And the verse referenced on that is John 6, 6, 6.

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Yeah, yeah, verse, yeah. Chapter 6. Right, that from that time many of the disciples

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went back and walked no more with him.

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So basically they're just thinking, well, I mean, this is too hard.

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Maybe I'm not really called to this. Or maybe I've done something wrong.

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A lot of times I think we're seeing our trials as a correction,

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as a punishment from God, rather than as a strengthening course.

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And some have really started out real well, real strong, and have faded out at the end.

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Some start out real weak and come through strong at the end.

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Solomon started out real strong.

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His heart was, he asked for wisdom. He had a heart after God so much, so tremendously.

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And God said, okay, I'm going to give you all this wealth. You're going to be

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the wealthiest person that ever lived.

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And then what happens at the end, And in the end, it says he loved many foreign women.

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He got involved. Seduced. He got seduced by these pagan women,

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700 wives and 300 concubines, and they had all had their foreign gods.

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And he starts building temples to these foreign gods.

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Yeah, he built a temple to God, and then he built a temple to the foreign gods.

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Many different high places.

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So people have that problem. They're trying to serve both gods.

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His heart departed from the Lord.

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So some people like that they start the race and their hearts depart from the

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Lord and they don't finish well.

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The important thing is that we finish well. Keep going and finish well.

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Well, Abraham also started the race.

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Now, this is important to look at what Abraham did in Romans 4.

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God came to Abraham. God called him up out of early Chaldees.

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Abraham was not a God follower.

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There was no such thing going on in those days, really. And in Romans 4, verse 13...

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And God made him a promise that he would be the heir of the world.

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It was not to Abraham to see it through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

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So God made a promise to Abraham, and Abraham believed God.

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He believed the promise. He grabbed a hold of the promise.

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And that grabbing hold, that faith, believing God was going to fulfill his promise,

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was actually accounted to Abraham for righteousness.

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It wasn't that he was good enough and kept the law because, by the way,

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they didn't even have the Ten Commandments at that point in time yet because

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Moses hadn't even showed up yet.

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So Abraham's righteousness was coming through his commitment to follow God and to believe God.

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And this is really where your race is too.

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What is the promise that God has made to us?

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He's faithful to complete the work he's begun in us. But for Abraham,

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it was specific things. He'd be the heir of the world. He'd have descendants. He'd have all this land.

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But really what God needed was one man who was faithful to follow him.

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He says in verse 19, for not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body already dead.

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So he was in this race. He'd been in a long time, 25 years, waiting for a child.

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And since he was 100 years old and the deadness of Sarah's womb,

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he did not waver, good word,

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at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God,

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being fully convinced, not by what he was seeing, but what God had said,

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being fully convinced that what he had promised, God had promised,

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he was also able to perform. And this really is the bottom line of the race.

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Are you believing that God is good, that God will keep his word?

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And that, it says, therefore, that was accounted to him for righteousness.

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Now, the thing is, you have men of everybody, anybody, look at them,

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Abraham, Moses, David, Joseph, Prince of Egypt, Paul, all of them,

00:16:28.189 --> 00:16:31.989
they have all been sifted as wheat.

00:16:31.989 --> 00:16:36.169
So is Peter. As a matter of fact, Jesus kind of exposed the secret behind a

00:16:36.169 --> 00:16:37.609
lot of this chasing and sifting.

00:16:37.869 --> 00:16:40.849
When he talked to Peter, he says, Satan has...

00:16:41.307 --> 00:16:44.127
Desire to have you. So Satan came up into the court of heaven,

00:16:44.247 --> 00:16:46.667
again, like he did with Job, and he did with Abram.

00:16:46.827 --> 00:16:50.387
So now he's coming up with, you know, Peter, desiring to sift you as weak.

00:16:50.587 --> 00:16:54.887
Satan is always the one challenging God's ability to keep us,

00:16:55.047 --> 00:16:59.247
challenging God's appointments, God's anointing, God's anointed.

00:16:59.687 --> 00:17:04.007
Satan is always wanting to sift us as wheat. And Jesus said to Peter,

00:17:04.367 --> 00:17:07.887
now Peter was at that point of being pretty confident in his walk right there.

00:17:08.627 --> 00:17:12.787
They'd been casting out demons and healing the sick and seeing the miracles.

00:17:13.127 --> 00:17:18.387
He was right there, Jesus' right hand. He was right there in that hot position.

00:17:19.007 --> 00:17:22.667
And then Jesus comes to him and says, this is right before the crucifixion.

00:17:22.787 --> 00:17:25.487
He says, Satan has showed up in heaven as he's asked for you.

00:17:25.567 --> 00:17:27.367
He's desired to sift you as wheat.

00:17:27.667 --> 00:17:33.947
But I have prayed for you. And when you are converted, strengthen your brethren.

00:17:34.167 --> 00:17:37.867
When you have been transformed. When you have passed from doing this in your

00:17:37.867 --> 00:17:40.227
own strength to doing this in the strength of the Spirit of God.

00:17:41.347 --> 00:17:45.247
Then go and preach to the gospel and heal and strengthen your brethren.

00:17:45.667 --> 00:17:51.287
So part of this race is a transformation, a conversion. It's like from the caterpillar to the butterfly.

00:17:51.487 --> 00:17:54.087
You have to go into the chrysalis. You have to die to live.

00:17:54.747 --> 00:18:00.507
And so Peter wasn't knowing what he was getting into, but God did.

00:18:00.607 --> 00:18:01.787
And you and I are the same thing.

00:18:02.567 --> 00:18:05.827
We're no different. You say, well, that was Peter. Well, that was David.

00:18:06.047 --> 00:18:09.127
No, you are David. You are Peter. You are God's called.

00:18:09.647 --> 00:18:13.347
God is no respecter of persons. It's just that we got to read their stories.

00:18:13.727 --> 00:18:17.707
And, you know, our stories are still yet being written, so they weren't enclosed

00:18:17.707 --> 00:18:20.547
and included in the word of Scripture.

00:18:20.987 --> 00:18:26.627
But it is, you know, then we have to understand that God is for us.

00:18:26.747 --> 00:18:27.687
We're answering the call.

00:18:27.887 --> 00:18:31.887
Here he says in In Romans, you know, Abraham answered the call.

00:18:33.787 --> 00:18:38.807
In Romans 9, it says, 29, for whom he, God, foreknew, he also predestined to

00:18:38.807 --> 00:18:40.287
be conformed to the image of his son.

00:18:40.327 --> 00:18:43.867
So that's the goal for God. That's God's goal for us. Yeah.

00:18:44.047 --> 00:18:47.067
Yeah, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. To be like Jesus.

00:18:47.187 --> 00:18:51.447
You're among the brethren that belong to the family of God, the kingdom of God,

00:18:51.547 --> 00:18:55.327
the assets of heaven, the sons and daughters of God. And it says,

00:18:55.507 --> 00:18:59.227
moreover, who he predestined, these he also called.

00:18:59.287 --> 00:19:04.167
So this is you and I answering the invitation to run the race, to follow Jesus.

00:19:04.807 --> 00:19:09.027
We're not coerced, we're not forced, but we're invited, and the Holy Spirit

00:19:09.027 --> 00:19:11.987
draws us into that place of saying yes.

00:19:12.107 --> 00:19:15.067
And our deal is to get through the...

00:19:15.939 --> 00:19:20.739
The distractions, the attacks, the things. Well, we just look at things,

00:19:20.779 --> 00:19:23.379
and it seemed like it was just very, very terrible.

00:19:23.759 --> 00:19:27.399
You know, here's the deal. Margie, you mentioned about the Psalms.

00:19:27.519 --> 00:19:30.239
David was always talking about, okay, my enemies are after me.

00:19:30.279 --> 00:19:31.839
They're hunting me. They're betraying me.

00:19:32.139 --> 00:19:37.159
And I'm just, I'm really down because of this. But then what he does, he catches himself.

00:19:37.359 --> 00:19:42.159
He ends up praising the Lord. Yeah, writing songs, worshiping. You are faithful.

00:19:42.199 --> 00:19:46.799
You're going to deliver me from my enemies. My enemies are going to be brought down.

00:19:46.999 --> 00:19:50.399
You're going to get me through this. Listen to the power of the words of his mouth.

00:19:50.499 --> 00:19:54.159
He's not murmuring, complaining, kicking himself. He starts out complaining

00:19:54.159 --> 00:19:56.439
a little bit about how hard things are.

00:19:56.579 --> 00:19:59.439
Well, rehearsing, I think. He's rehearsing it before God. And I think that's

00:19:59.439 --> 00:20:03.679
okay. But then the thing is he caught himself and he used his words not against

00:20:03.679 --> 00:20:06.819
himself with murmuring, complaining, and finding fault with God.

00:20:06.819 --> 00:20:10.359
But he turned himself into a praiser and a worshiper of God.

00:20:10.859 --> 00:20:14.859
Because the bottom line is God's ultimate goal for you and I in this race following

00:20:14.859 --> 00:20:19.179
Jesus is to be conformed to the image of Jesus, to make us one with him,

00:20:19.339 --> 00:20:21.439
partners with him, more like him.

00:20:21.639 --> 00:20:26.199
But a lot of times, you know, we'll say, but why me, God, and what's going on.

00:20:26.732 --> 00:20:30.512
And I think we need to understand, going back to this idea of the Navy SEALs

00:20:30.512 --> 00:20:34.752
and the chastening of the Lord, which is in chapter 12 of Hebrews,

00:20:34.932 --> 00:20:38.972
where Jesus endured suffering, learning obedience, actually.

00:20:39.152 --> 00:20:42.572
Jesus actually learned obedience through the things he suffered,

00:20:42.852 --> 00:20:49.432
which really, he wasn't disobedient, but he was proving his obedience by staying

00:20:49.432 --> 00:20:52.732
true to the Lord God. And I think that's in Hebrews chapter 5, verse 8.

00:20:52.992 --> 00:20:55.832
He himself was perfected through the things that he suffered.

00:20:56.732 --> 00:21:00.352
So there's a perfection, and that perfection is really more of a proving.

00:21:00.812 --> 00:21:04.712
It's more of a, you've had the opportunities now, you've passed the test,

00:21:04.952 --> 00:21:08.852
you've run the race, God has been faithful to keep you faithful.

00:21:08.952 --> 00:21:11.932
That's basically what's going on. But we also have a free will.

00:21:12.212 --> 00:21:16.092
So you and I can cave, we can crash, we can give up, we can get mad at God, we can turn from.

00:21:16.212 --> 00:21:19.712
And the problem is, Jerry, a lot of people don't understand spiritual warfare,

00:21:19.752 --> 00:21:23.872
and they don't understand the conniving of Satan to undermine our relationship

00:21:23.872 --> 00:21:27.572
with God and get us to turn against God and to twist this around to be like

00:21:27.572 --> 00:21:30.132
God is the one who's punishing us because he's mad at us,

00:21:30.212 --> 00:21:32.532
he's teaching us a lesson, we sinned.

00:21:32.672 --> 00:21:36.972
And so Satan is always trying to twist this around to get us to judge God.

00:21:37.172 --> 00:21:41.632
We say we want to be like Jesus, so then, okay, then we need to go through things

00:21:41.632 --> 00:21:43.332
similar to what Jesus went through.

00:21:43.892 --> 00:21:47.032
You know, I mean, you want to be like, oh, Jesus was betrayed,

00:21:47.192 --> 00:21:52.112
he was attacked, he was lied about, He was resisted by the religious leaders.

00:21:52.112 --> 00:21:56.232
He was betrayed by his own people.

00:21:56.532 --> 00:22:00.472
And so, but he kept going. He kept going. Well, he kept talking.

00:22:00.612 --> 00:22:02.432
He was in deep relationship with the Father.

00:22:02.632 --> 00:22:06.552
Deep relationship with the Father. He said in John 17, when he was praying there,

00:22:06.852 --> 00:22:11.612
just before he was going to the cross, he says, Lord, Father,

00:22:11.772 --> 00:22:15.812
I have finished the work you've called me to do. Kept the faith. He finished the work.

00:22:15.992 --> 00:22:18.732
And that was before he'd gone to the cross.

00:22:18.952 --> 00:22:24.012
But it was already done because the cross was completed actually before the

00:22:24.012 --> 00:22:25.152
foundation of the world.

00:22:25.232 --> 00:22:28.892
And he said on the cross, it is finished. It is completed.

00:22:29.172 --> 00:22:34.592
He ran the race. He ran it perfectly, and he finished perfectly.

00:22:34.812 --> 00:22:38.932
Well, in Hebrews 12, it talks about that kind of endurance. He says in verse

00:22:38.932 --> 00:22:44.272
1, Therefore we also, we also, like Jesus, since we are surrounded by so great

00:22:44.272 --> 00:22:47.472
a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight,

00:22:47.933 --> 00:22:52.233
and the sin which so easily ensnares us. I think the sin that so easily ensnares

00:22:52.233 --> 00:22:57.493
us is that temptation to doubt and to murmur and complain and give up.

00:22:57.593 --> 00:22:58.773
So, so easily ensnares us.

00:22:58.893 --> 00:23:04.233
And let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Endurance.

00:23:05.493 --> 00:23:09.413
Just like you said, it's a matter of just trusting God.

00:23:09.813 --> 00:23:12.693
A lot of times we freak out because we're looking way down the road,

00:23:13.053 --> 00:23:14.673
trying to cross a bridge we're not at.

00:23:14.753 --> 00:23:18.353
We never maybe will get there, but we're worried that the bridge is still in place.

00:23:18.513 --> 00:23:20.773
And so we're worried about the future. We're worried about, oh,

00:23:20.813 --> 00:23:23.793
no, what if, and how am I going to... But God gives us grace for today,

00:23:23.993 --> 00:23:26.913
to run the race today, to do great today, to do well today.

00:23:27.113 --> 00:23:31.013
He gives us the grace, as your days, so shall your strength be.

00:23:31.853 --> 00:23:36.173
So Jesus was enduring, using the grace that God had given him for that day.

00:23:36.533 --> 00:23:39.553
Looking unto Jesus, it said, the author and the finisher of our faith,

00:23:39.713 --> 00:23:44.853
who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame.

00:23:44.933 --> 00:23:49.273
In other words, he didn't give himself over to the molly grubbing and grumbling

00:23:49.273 --> 00:23:52.573
and murmuring that, oh, I did something wrong. It's my fault. God's mad at me.

00:23:52.733 --> 00:23:57.233
He didn't give place to that because he knew that the shame and the guilt and

00:23:57.233 --> 00:24:01.453
the condemnation was only the attack of the enemy who was trying to get him

00:24:01.453 --> 00:24:03.913
to give up and go away and do something different.

00:24:04.013 --> 00:24:07.393
That was the temptations that Satan gave him. If you will worship me,

00:24:07.513 --> 00:24:09.053
I'll give you all this stuff, you know.

00:24:09.213 --> 00:24:14.833
So he was tempted by the enemy as best as the devil could do to try to turn

00:24:14.833 --> 00:24:16.953
him away, Jesus, away from his race.

00:24:17.253 --> 00:24:21.433
And the enemy is constantly trying to distract us and get us out of the race,

00:24:21.573 --> 00:24:24.693
knock us out of the race, get us just to give up.

00:24:24.833 --> 00:24:30.713
And he fights not to even get us in the race, keep people from beginning to

00:24:30.713 --> 00:24:35.273
follow Jesus. And once we follow Jesus, then, you know, basically all hell breaks loose.

00:24:36.013 --> 00:24:39.633
It's not just hunky-dory and flowers and everything like that.

00:24:39.733 --> 00:24:42.633
It's a war, but it's a good fight. It's a hand-to-hand combat sometimes.

00:24:42.913 --> 00:24:46.333
It's a good, Paul told Timothy, fight the good fight of faith.

00:24:46.693 --> 00:24:51.073
It's a good fight. Lay hold of eternal life. And he says, Paul,

00:24:51.253 --> 00:24:53.313
at the end of his life, he started out terrible.

00:24:53.833 --> 00:24:59.933
I mean, he was basically a religious snob who became a murderer,

00:24:59.933 --> 00:25:03.213
for killing Christians, he was a terrorist.

00:25:03.593 --> 00:25:09.713
He was just a flat-out terrorist, and then, but it gets to the point where it

00:25:09.713 --> 00:25:11.493
comes to the end of his life.

00:25:12.729 --> 00:25:14.729
God knocked some sense into him.

00:25:17.329 --> 00:25:23.389
Yeah, well, and he says in verse 7 of chapter 4 of 2 Timothy,

00:25:23.669 --> 00:25:27.609
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race,

00:25:28.369 --> 00:25:32.109
I have kept the faith, finally there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness,

00:25:32.149 --> 00:25:36.469
which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day,

00:25:36.689 --> 00:25:44.049
and not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing.

00:25:44.629 --> 00:25:48.929
Yeah, praise God. That day is coming, by the way. That day is a promised day,

00:25:49.049 --> 00:25:50.009
just like the other days.

00:25:50.669 --> 00:25:54.829
All the days God has promised will happen. You know, the sun is going to be

00:25:54.829 --> 00:25:59.229
dark and the moon is not going to give its light and all the shaking of it.

00:25:59.289 --> 00:26:01.209
It's all going to happen.

00:26:01.429 --> 00:26:05.869
But now we're in the middle of this race and going back to this idea in Hebrews.

00:26:06.289 --> 00:26:09.909
The idea of chastening, a lot of times, you know, that's where we get tripped

00:26:09.909 --> 00:26:12.209
up because we don't really know two things.

00:26:12.329 --> 00:26:13.349
We don't really know that God

00:26:13.349 --> 00:26:16.109
is good all the time because it doesn't look like God's good all the time.

00:26:16.389 --> 00:26:19.629
You know, sometimes he's, in the Old Testament, he's having them,

00:26:19.729 --> 00:26:24.869
you know, wipe people out and, you know, the deluge and all these kinds of things.

00:26:25.069 --> 00:26:29.029
And he's, you know, so we say, well, what kind of a God is this?

00:26:29.269 --> 00:26:33.269
He is a good God all the time. But, you know, just like you may have a very

00:26:33.269 --> 00:26:37.809
good earthly father, there are times when he has to take some action.

00:26:38.209 --> 00:26:43.749
You know, call the shots, do some disciplining, whatever, to be a good father.

00:26:43.909 --> 00:26:49.149
And so, again, but whenever that happens, Satan is always there to make it look like God is mad at us.

00:26:49.249 --> 00:26:52.529
And we don't understand that in Hebrews, it talks about here,

00:26:52.689 --> 00:26:59.249
it says, Jesus enduring such hostility from sinners as against himself,

00:26:59.389 --> 00:27:02.889
lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls or in your own race.

00:27:03.169 --> 00:27:08.469
For you have not resisted unto blood, you know, we haven't, some have actually,

00:27:08.709 --> 00:27:10.249
but we maybe haven't yet.

00:27:10.609 --> 00:27:14.709
Do not despise, he says, do not despise the chastening of the Lord,

00:27:14.969 --> 00:27:19.269
nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by him or disciplined by him.

00:27:19.449 --> 00:27:23.209
For whom the Lord loves, he chastens and scourges every son whom he receives.

00:27:23.289 --> 00:27:27.949
Then he goes on to say, if you endure chasing, God is dealing with you as with his son.

00:27:28.109 --> 00:27:31.549
But what son is there whom a father does not correct or discipline?

00:27:31.789 --> 00:27:35.849
But if you are without chastening, if God doesn't pay any attention,

00:27:35.949 --> 00:27:39.489
if you just get by with everything of which you have become partakers,

00:27:39.609 --> 00:27:41.429
then you are illegitimate and not sons.

00:27:41.549 --> 00:27:47.149
So the people who are not being corrected and trained up and chastened are.

00:27:47.871 --> 00:27:50.631
Are illegitimate. They're not necessarily God's sons.

00:27:50.871 --> 00:27:56.251
And God's correction is for our instruction, not for our destruction. Right.

00:27:57.451 --> 00:28:05.691
So keep that in mind. Well, he says no chasing seems to be joyful at the moment, but grievous.

00:28:05.931 --> 00:28:09.431
Nevertheless, after, but here's why it's grievous, because the enemy is in your

00:28:09.431 --> 00:28:13.351
mind, in your heart, in your soul, trying to put a twist to the chasing.

00:28:13.771 --> 00:28:17.571
The good news is that God is disciplining, training you, qualifying you.

00:28:17.871 --> 00:28:21.171
You know, he wants you to do better, so he's sending you some more opportunities

00:28:21.171 --> 00:28:26.471
to build your spiritual muscles in him and follow him and submit and cry out

00:28:26.471 --> 00:28:29.951
and declare and cast out demons and all the things he wants us to do.

00:28:31.751 --> 00:28:34.991
But it doesn't seem to be fun at the present, but grievous.

00:28:35.351 --> 00:28:39.131
Nevertheless, afterwards, it yields the peaceful fruits of righteousness and

00:28:39.131 --> 00:28:39.951
those who are trained by it.

00:28:40.111 --> 00:28:44.811
But in a race, you don't run the whole race at once. You can't run,

00:28:44.951 --> 00:28:48.871
you can't start at the beginning, the gun goes off, you're running, and now you're done.

00:28:49.311 --> 00:28:55.411
You've got to do each mile, each inch, each, you know, whatever. One step at a time.

00:28:55.551 --> 00:29:00.191
Yeah, and so you can't run the whole race in one minute or one day.

00:29:00.491 --> 00:29:04.011
This is a race of endurance, is where you have to pace yourself.

00:29:04.091 --> 00:29:07.931
It's more of a marathon than a sprint. Yeah, well, it is. And it can also be a walk.

00:29:08.091 --> 00:29:11.951
You can follow Jesus. It doesn't have to be, you know, a full-on huffing and

00:29:11.951 --> 00:29:18.511
puffing and all that. It's really more recognizing what's really spiritually

00:29:18.511 --> 00:29:20.591
going on and what's really spiritually at stake.

00:29:21.011 --> 00:29:24.671
Yeah, keep walking. Keep your eyes on Jesus. Here's the deal.

00:29:25.131 --> 00:29:28.051
We're talking about correction. Well, how does God correct us?

00:29:28.791 --> 00:29:33.611
Let's look at his preferred method of correction for us, okay?

00:29:34.331 --> 00:29:37.511
2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17.

00:29:37.731 --> 00:29:41.791
All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine.

00:29:41.791 --> 00:29:45.491
That's right, teaching. for reproof right,

00:29:46.133 --> 00:29:51.353
Say, okay, you missed it here. For correction, for instruction in righteousness,

00:29:51.613 --> 00:29:56.633
that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. So correction.

00:29:56.953 --> 00:29:59.473
Let the word of God correct you.

00:29:59.853 --> 00:30:06.373
Why does there need to be all this correction and all of this correction, instruction?

00:30:06.833 --> 00:30:10.233
Why is God doing that?

00:30:10.633 --> 00:30:14.733
Because he loves us, he cares about us, and he's got a purpose for us to be

00:30:14.733 --> 00:30:15.913
fulfilled. Well, and the other

00:30:15.913 --> 00:30:19.233
side of that coin is because the enemy is trying to take you off course.

00:30:19.593 --> 00:30:23.673
He's trying to discourage you. He's trying to screw up your doctrine.

00:30:24.053 --> 00:30:28.113
He's trying to get the reproof and chastening of God to be twisted around that

00:30:28.113 --> 00:30:31.853
God's mad at me and I did something wrong and now the devil's going to be my

00:30:31.853 --> 00:30:33.293
friend and give me everything I want.

00:30:33.293 --> 00:30:37.813
So God is just keeping us through this chasing, through the correction,

00:30:38.113 --> 00:30:41.413
through the Word of God. He's keeping us on course.

00:30:41.653 --> 00:30:46.953
Now, if you run a race and they've laid out the race. The course. The course, yes.

00:30:47.273 --> 00:30:52.473
And if you go off the course and you do your own thing. You're disqualified.

00:30:52.593 --> 00:30:55.113
You're disqualified. So your race does not count.

00:30:55.273 --> 00:30:58.353
So we have to run the race that is set before us.

00:30:58.793 --> 00:31:02.893
And a lot of us do often. It's set before us. It's set before us.

00:31:03.893 --> 00:31:08.653
It's prepared before us. Yeah. Good works that we should walk in. All kinds of things.

00:31:08.793 --> 00:31:12.253
Your life is kind of laid out. And the question is, are you going to walk there?

00:31:12.353 --> 00:31:14.673
Are you going to do that? Are you going to believe God? Follow God?

00:31:14.993 --> 00:31:23.113
Here's the deal, too. And Paul writes toward the end of his life in Acts 20, verse 22.

00:31:23.353 --> 00:31:28.553
And see, now I go bound in the Spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there.

00:31:28.873 --> 00:31:31.713
We don't know a lot of things that are coming up in our lives.

00:31:32.973 --> 00:31:37.673
Except the Holy Spirit testifies in every city saying that chains and tribulations

00:31:37.673 --> 00:31:40.533
await me. I'm going to go to jail. I'm going to have trouble.

00:31:40.853 --> 00:31:43.953
It's like prophets are saying, okay, you've got trouble coming.

00:31:44.373 --> 00:31:49.393
And he doesn't say, oh, no, I mean, I don't know if I can do this.

00:31:49.673 --> 00:31:56.373
But he says in verse 24, but none of these things move me, nor do I count my

00:31:56.373 --> 00:32:01.113
life dear to myself so that I may finish my race with joy.

00:32:01.713 --> 00:32:06.453
And the ministry which I have received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the

00:32:06.453 --> 00:32:09.433
gospel of the grace of God. You know, many people have...

00:32:10.251 --> 00:32:17.771
Testify to the tragedies in their lives, the dark days, the terrifying encounters

00:32:17.771 --> 00:32:20.191
with death and grief and loss.

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And, you know, even watching other people run their race can be terrifying because

00:32:24.951 --> 00:32:29.671
we're just, you know, grieving for them, our children, our husbands, wives.

00:32:29.911 --> 00:32:34.611
And so, you know, it's not just your race. You're running your race in a way

00:32:34.611 --> 00:32:37.391
by supporting and praying and watching other people.

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We're here to help other people on their race. We want everybody to finish well,

00:32:42.891 --> 00:32:44.571
not to finish tragically.

00:32:44.791 --> 00:32:47.771
But we really got to know two things. You got to know God is good all the time,

00:32:47.891 --> 00:32:50.591
because otherwise you're going to be fooled by the devil who says,

00:32:50.791 --> 00:32:52.371
see, God's mad at you. See, you did it wrong.

00:32:52.531 --> 00:32:56.051
See? Because what the enemy is trying to do is pull us back into a religious.

00:32:56.691 --> 00:33:02.351
Ritualistic, religious walk with God rather than a loving relationship.

00:33:02.591 --> 00:33:06.571
And so the accuser comes and he accuses God's elect night and day,

00:33:06.691 --> 00:33:10.691
it says in Revelations, who accused them before the Father.

00:33:10.851 --> 00:33:14.891
The accuser, the spirit of the accuser, the condemner, the one who finds fault

00:33:14.891 --> 00:33:18.691
with you, the spirit, he has working with him, he has guilt and shame and condemnation,

00:33:19.031 --> 00:33:23.551
working with the accuser to bring us to the, submit to the lies and the story,

00:33:23.771 --> 00:33:27.071
the rendition of the story, the way he presents it, and which would present

00:33:27.071 --> 00:33:29.451
us as guilty and God is not faithful.

00:33:29.971 --> 00:33:34.991
And so the accuser pours out these lies and discourages and condemnations in our soul.

00:33:35.271 --> 00:33:40.351
And the spirit of religion takes what guilt and condemnation have told you and

00:33:40.351 --> 00:33:44.271
push it down to make it fit the counterfeit gospel.

00:33:44.271 --> 00:33:48.351
So people get in trouble, they sin, they feel bad, and then they're pulled back

00:33:48.351 --> 00:33:53.791
off the race of goodness and love and forgiveness and confession and repentance

00:33:53.791 --> 00:33:56.851
back into the works gospel of try harder,

00:33:57.071 --> 00:33:59.291
you know, be good.

00:33:59.471 --> 00:34:03.151
And so the enemy has a counterfeit gospel, and that's his course.

00:34:03.391 --> 00:34:08.411
He wants to bring us into that artificial, destructive world.

00:34:08.811 --> 00:34:13.711
Course where we think being good gets us saved. Being good gets us to heaven.

00:34:14.251 --> 00:34:19.531
And being a good church member gets us brownie points with God or something. It does not.

00:34:19.731 --> 00:34:23.171
And so what it really does is being trusting God.

00:34:23.331 --> 00:34:29.851
Here he says in Hebrews 12, 11, Now no chasing seems to be joyful for the present but grievous.

00:34:30.071 --> 00:34:33.731
Nevertheless, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruits of righteousness in those

00:34:33.731 --> 00:34:37.351
who have been trained by it. Therefore, strengthen then the hands are to hang down.

00:34:37.471 --> 00:34:39.811
The hands, when you're depressed, when you're down, you're exhausted,

00:34:39.971 --> 00:34:43.611
you're overwhelmed, burnt out, your hands hang down. You don't feel like doing anything.

00:34:43.731 --> 00:34:47.391
You don't feel like lifting your hands up. You don't feel like entering into your life with joy.

00:34:47.671 --> 00:34:49.971
And he says, and the feeble knees. So you don't want to walk anymore.

00:34:50.051 --> 00:34:52.631
You don't want to run anymore. You're tripped up, tired.

00:34:53.411 --> 00:34:58.091
Relationships are troublesome. What's the use? What's the hope? Give up. Poor me.

00:34:58.671 --> 00:35:02.471
And he says, don't do that. He says, but make straight paths for your feet.

00:35:02.471 --> 00:35:06.131
You know, make the relationships you have between yourself and others,

00:35:06.291 --> 00:35:08.251
yourself and yourself and yourself and God.

00:35:08.631 --> 00:35:11.671
Make straight paths for your feet so that what is lame or, you know,

00:35:11.871 --> 00:35:14.431
broken may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.

00:35:14.511 --> 00:35:17.771
So many of us are limping through our race where we've got, we've got broken,

00:35:17.971 --> 00:35:22.331
you know, we've got a broken leg, we've got a broken heart, we've got a broken head.

00:35:22.811 --> 00:35:27.791
We've been absolutely slammed and slain by the enemy. And we don't realize that

00:35:27.791 --> 00:35:30.331
it is the enemy that's doing this. We think it's God.

00:35:30.551 --> 00:35:33.951
And we then get confused as God bipolar? Can I trust him?

00:35:34.231 --> 00:35:37.031
Half the time he's, you know, scolding me and he's, you know,

00:35:37.491 --> 00:35:40.051
punishing me and chasing me and correcting me.

00:35:40.251 --> 00:35:45.651
And so we lose the focus on the thing is to make us more like Jesus.

00:35:45.811 --> 00:35:48.531
To make us like Jesus, we have to go through that heat and pressure.

00:35:48.911 --> 00:35:55.051
You know, there's the process of refining silver and making it into silver coins or gold.

00:35:55.391 --> 00:35:58.811
They have to do two things to that liquid silver.

00:35:59.111 --> 00:36:04.691
They have to heat it very hot and to pull off all the poisons and dust.

00:36:05.451 --> 00:36:11.431
And then they have to stamp, they pour it into a mold or made into the image of Jesus.

00:36:11.751 --> 00:36:14.891
They pour us into that mold and stamp the image of Jesus onto us.

00:36:14.951 --> 00:36:20.631
So it's heat and pressure that cause us to become more like Jesus or carry his image.

00:36:20.791 --> 00:36:24.091
And so when we're discouraged, when we're falling into the lies.

00:36:24.551 --> 00:36:27.871
He says, looking diligently, lest anyone fall short of the grace of God.

00:36:28.211 --> 00:36:32.371
God is giving you grace moment by moment, inch by inch, breath by breath,

00:36:32.511 --> 00:36:37.951
to win, to walk in the fullness of that victory, that obedience,

00:36:38.491 --> 00:36:42.091
lest any root of bitterness spring up and cause trouble by this many become devout.

00:36:42.291 --> 00:36:44.851
This is where chasing turns sour.

00:36:45.211 --> 00:36:48.931
We get bitter. We get mad at God. Why me, God? You know, I've done all this stuff for you, God.

00:36:49.031 --> 00:36:51.491
Where are you? Where have you been? Where were you when I was a missionary in

00:36:51.491 --> 00:36:55.071
China? Where were you when I was giving my, you know, my body to be burned?

00:36:55.211 --> 00:36:58.291
Where were you when I was doing all these good things? And now this,

00:36:58.431 --> 00:37:01.791
and so what we have there is we have bitterness against God,

00:37:01.871 --> 00:37:03.851
which is a temptation, of course, and...

00:37:04.859 --> 00:37:10.119
Undoes everything. To wrap this up for today, I just want to read this from

00:37:10.119 --> 00:37:13.879
Hebrews 12, verses 1 through 3. This is from the Amplified Bible.

00:37:14.379 --> 00:37:19.299
Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses who

00:37:19.299 --> 00:37:25.199
have borne testimony of the truth, let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance,

00:37:25.639 --> 00:37:30.639
every unnecessary weight, and that sin which so readily, deftly,

00:37:30.739 --> 00:37:34.419
and cleverly clings to and entangles us.

00:37:34.859 --> 00:37:41.479
And let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the

00:37:41.479 --> 00:37:48.239
appointed course of the race that is set before us, looking away from all that will distract to Jesus,

00:37:48.999 --> 00:37:53.759
who is the leader and source of our faith, giving the first incentive for our

00:37:53.759 --> 00:37:57.979
belief and is also its finisher, bringing it to maturity and perfection.

00:37:58.199 --> 00:38:03.079
He, for the joy of obtaining the prize that was set before him,

00:38:03.699 --> 00:38:05.859
And that prize is us, really, right?

00:38:06.959 --> 00:38:12.879
Jesus is the prize, too. He endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame,

00:38:13.019 --> 00:38:15.459
and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

00:38:15.679 --> 00:38:21.359
Just think of him who endured from sinners such grievous opposition and bitter

00:38:21.359 --> 00:38:23.019
hostility against himself.

00:38:23.519 --> 00:38:28.259
Reckon up and consider it all in comparison with your trials,

00:38:28.279 --> 00:38:32.239
so that you may not grow weary or exhausted.

00:38:32.839 --> 00:38:37.299
Losing heart and relaxing and fainting in your minds.

00:38:37.479 --> 00:38:42.259
And then Paul, he wraps up his life with, I have fought the good fight.

00:38:42.259 --> 00:38:46.119
I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.

00:38:46.319 --> 00:38:50.739
In other words, I've kept believing and knowing that God is faithful to do the work in me.

00:38:51.199 --> 00:38:54.399
Finally, there's laid up for me a crown of righteousness. This is true.

00:38:54.739 --> 00:38:57.539
This is a real deal. This is a real event that's going to happen,

00:38:57.659 --> 00:39:00.859
that laying out the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge,

00:39:00.859 --> 00:39:02.559
will give to me on that day.

00:39:02.759 --> 00:39:09.539
There is that day coming, and not to me only, but also to those who have loved His appearing.

00:39:09.979 --> 00:39:16.479
So, Father, we can endure only because You are faithful to complete the work You have begun in us.

00:39:16.619 --> 00:39:19.759
We can prevail. We can win the race because it's already been won.

00:39:19.959 --> 00:39:23.979
It's been won through Jesus Christ, and we are in Him, and He invites us to follow Him.

00:39:24.099 --> 00:39:27.579
So, cause us today to lay aside every weight, every murmuring,

00:39:27.699 --> 00:39:28.899
every complaint, every fear.

00:39:29.642 --> 00:39:35.682
Every lie that so easily besets us, anxiety, fear, terror, trauma,

00:39:36.182 --> 00:39:40.802
hopelessness, despair, sickness, disease, let us lay aside every weight and

00:39:40.802 --> 00:39:44.062
go back to knowing that you, Lord God, are for us.

00:39:44.242 --> 00:39:47.642
You are with us. We are your sons and daughters, and you love us.

00:39:47.782 --> 00:39:51.682
So encourage each one. I pray right now that you'd pour a spirit of revelation

00:39:51.682 --> 00:39:54.542
and encouragement into each one's life,

00:39:54.822 --> 00:40:01.222
that they will walk in a new place of being lifted up and strengthened and refreshed

00:40:01.222 --> 00:40:04.282
in your Word and in your truth, that you give them a hunger for your Word,

00:40:04.402 --> 00:40:06.182
and that they would be able to eat it up,

00:40:06.502 --> 00:40:12.922
read it, and consume it, and be strengthened by it, Father, in Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Amen.

00:40:13.602 --> 00:40:17.962
So, go to liferecovery.com. There's a whole bunch of resources there. Yeah.

00:40:18.302 --> 00:40:22.682
Books. By the way, we just set up, we just posted on YouTube a brand new video.

00:40:23.742 --> 00:40:26.462
I don't even know the name. It's something about deliverance.

00:40:26.862 --> 00:40:28.962
And we're calling it our Safari series.

00:40:29.122 --> 00:40:37.262
But it's a really powerful summary and discussion about deliverance,

00:40:37.362 --> 00:40:40.102
the deliverance about deliverance and warfare.

00:40:40.622 --> 00:40:43.982
And for those of you who haven't checked that out, just go to YouTube,

00:40:44.482 --> 00:40:47.662
Marjorie Cole. You can go to my website, liferecovery.com, and find it there.

00:40:48.182 --> 00:40:54.122
Also, check out the books, doing deliverance, spiritual warfare,

00:40:54.222 --> 00:40:55.762
and how deliverance can change your life.

00:40:56.042 --> 00:41:00.542
We have had a lot of people who are coming now for help because they are tormented

00:41:00.542 --> 00:41:03.562
by demons, and so we need to know how to help them.

00:41:03.682 --> 00:41:08.242
And so we bless you, and thank you for joining us today, and have a wonderful,

00:41:08.402 --> 00:41:11.562
powerful week filled with the joy of the Lord.

00:41:11.760 --> 00:41:40.652
Music.