Category: Run the Race

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Bible Study Run the Race

Run the Race: Finish the Race

In most races, there are 1, 2, and 3 places. Those are the only winners. The Bible says that being a Christian is like running in a race, and in a lot of ways, it is.  But there is one BIG difference. EVERYONE who completes the race wins!  God says that He will give a special crown to ALL who finish the race.  Can you imagine that? A special crown! (I would look fabulous in a crown, FYI)

The important thing is that we finish the race, so we can get our prize.  If we follow God’s commandments like we learned in Get Ready, Get Set, we will be ready and the race will be easier to run.

2 Timothy 4:7

7 I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have served the Lord faithfully.

Heaven is the finish line in God’s race. The bible says that in Heaven is where we will get our crowns for finishing the race. Do you know how to get to heaven?  The only way we can get to heaven is through Jesus Christ. Jesus is the son of God and He came to earth and died on the cross to pay for our sins. The bible says the wages or payment for sin is death. But because Jesus died for us, we can still go to heaven. To go to heaven you have to believe in God and that Jesus is the son of God, confess your sins and ask God to come live in your heart. This is as easy as ABC.

The ABC’s of being saved

A – Admit


 Admit honestly to God that you have sinned and disobeyed Him.

The Bible says:

  • Romans 3:23 “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
  • Romans 6:23 “The wages of sin is death (everlasting punishment).”

B – Believe


 Believe that Jesus died on the cross and rose again. His blood was shed to pay for your sins.

The Bible says:

  • 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.”
  • Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
  • John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

 Because Jesus loves you so much, He took the punishment for you so that you can be forgiven.

C – Choose


 Choose to trust Jesus alone for the forgiveness of your sins.

The Bible says:

  • Romans 10:13 “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
  • John 3:18 “He who believes in Him (Jesus) is not condemned.” 

When you trust in Jesus Christ alone to save you, God forgives you! You become His child, and He promises you a home in heaven forever! Put your trust in Jesus as your Savior from sin. Do it today, and begin following Him by obeying His Word, the Bible.

It’s that easy you simply do these things and pray to God and ask Him to save you.

I’ve watched some men and women whose lives were totally sold out to God walk off the track in the middle of the race. They gave up or they became focused on themselves and this world and lost sight of the finish line.

The possibility is real for all of us unless we allow our hearts to be completely gripped by God . The faithfulness of my walk with God in the next year and the next decades depends on my willingness to stay current with God. In a word-to stay in relationship with Him.

I never want to lose the grip of what God’s grace and love has done in my life and the amazing privilege it is to be in relationship with Him and to serve Him. My sister and I used to say that we wanted slide into Heaven, completely worn out and exhausted, having given everything we could for Christ. The last thing I want to do is to show up at the finish line a beat down, derailed Christian. I want to break that tape with arms high and my face to the sun and say with the apostle Paul, “I have finished the course; I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7).

So what can we do now to ensure that finish line victory? We can get back to basics: Honestly answer these seven questions:

Do I hunger after God?
Does God’s Word govern my life?
Do I grieve over sin?
How quickly do I repent when I see my wrong?
Am I sensitive to the Spirit’s prompting me?
Do I obey?
Is my faith growing?

Return to these questions regularly and ask God to help you every morning to run the race.

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Bible Study Run the Race

Run the Race: Train for the Race

We have all tried to do something and failed. Maybe you were trying to to make a wonderful dinner for your family and it burnt or tried to get a new job, but it never happened. Maybe you were trying a game on a tablet or phone and you couldn’t complete a level. Did you give up? Or did you try again harder?

Sometimes when we are running the Christian race, we are not going to do as well as we want or we may even fall down.  If we fall down, what should we do? Should we cry? NO! Should we quit? NO! Then what should we do? We should get UP and start all over again. Losing is not the falling down it is the staying down.

Runners and athletes train daily for the Olympics or a race as Christian we have to train too by pray, bible study and walking a christian walk.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. 27 No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

Jesus says that when we run the Christian race, things aren’t always going to go the way we want them to go. Sometimes we are going to have to do things we don’t want to do. Remember, Jesus said if we love Him, keep His commandments.

If we are angry and crying, can we do well running a race?  No! We would need to stop and blow our noses and wipe away our tears. While we are doing that, others will pass us up and we might miss an important turn and never finish the race!!! Let’s always try to keep the right attitude and show Jesus that we love Him when we run the Christian race.

Olympians train everyday to compete in the Olympics. As children of God, we need to train daily for the Christian race. We train by prayer, Bible study and doing what’s right.

We also go to Church so we can learn how to run God’s race, from our teachers and preachers. Coaches teach athletes how to be the best at their sport. That is what teachers and preachers do for us Christians.

Training can be hard sometimes. For athletes, it may be hard because of an injury or because they may not have the time they need to give to training. For Christians, training can be hard because Satan is always trying to keep us from training. So sometimes it can be hard to get up and come to church on Sunday or it may be hard to remember to pray every day. We have to try our hardest not to let these things happen. We have to remember that training will help us win and make the race easier.

I bet some of you already train for God’s race. You are all on your way to being champions.

Start your training now. Decide to designate time each day to train through prayer and Bible study and if you don’t have a coach, find a local church to help you find one.

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Bible Study Run the Race

Run the Race: Let your Light Shine as You Run

The Olympic races are always started with the torch bearer, who runs with the torch and lights the fire so all can see.

Jesus says we shouldn’t hide our light. If we hide our light, will others see? Will they want to be Christians too?

As Christians, we are to be torch bearers for Jesus. One of the things we must do when we run our race is carry our light. In Get Ready, Get Set, We talked about getting ready by knowing and following the rules. Jesus says that it isn’t just important to carry our lights. He says when we run, we are to let our lights shine so others can see.

By letting our lights shine, Jesus doesn’t mean we are to carry actual lamp. He means that we should do good things so other people will want to be Christians too.

A bad attitude can cause your world to be dark and you to lose sight of your goal.

A good attitude helps keep you light bright and can keep you going when times get rough.

We all try to teach our children to be positive and have a good attitude, but how many times do we live that lesson. I had a preacher once that would say, “Your attitude effects your altitude.” Not that your attitude will keep you out of Heaven, but it can effect your closeness to God.

How can you change your attitude to shine your light?

No complaining. In the Bible, God’s people, the Israelites were wondering in the wilderness. No matter how much God did for them, the children of Israel complained constantly. They were focused on what they wanted NOW and not on what they needed for the future. After all that God had done for them, they said they would rather be slaves again in Egypt!! ! Complaining caused them to lose sight of their goal: the Promised Land.

No blaming others. Adam and Eve were told by God to not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They chose to follow Satan and eat what God said not to eat. When God questioned them, Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the serpent. They refused to take responsibility for their own actions, and as a result, they lost their reward: living in the garden with God. Denying responsibility causes us to not fix what is wrong and can keep us from finishing our race and receiving our reward.

No shortcuts. Jehoiakim was one of the later kings of Israel. He tried to take a short cut. He cut part of God’s rules of the scrolls and burned them in the fire. Imagine his surprise when Jeremiah wrote God’s words again! We can’t just ignore the parts of God’s word that we don’t like.

No pouting. Jonah wanted to be the judge over Nineveh. When he disagreed with God’s call, he pouted over Nineveh’s repentance.

No excuses. Moses was a man of many excuses. He didn’t want to start the task God had given to him to do. What Moses was supposed to do? How did God respond to each of Moses’ excuses? He was told God would help him. Does God accept excuses today?

No quitting. Daniel prayed to God and served God everyday even though the king told him not to. He didn’t quit even when he was thrown in the lion’s den. Because he was faithful and did not give up, God was with him in the lion’s den and he wasn’t hurt.

Matthew 5:16

16. You should be a light for other people. Live so that they will see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven.

In the Bible, Jesus tells us something very important about ourselves.

Mark 4:21-23

21 Then Jesus said to them, “You don’t take a lamp and hide it under a bowl or a bed, do you? Of course not. You put it on a lamp stand. 22 Everything that is hidden will be made clear. Every secret thing will be made known. 23 You people who hear me, listen! This is God’s Word. He wrote it, so we know everything in it is true.

Stop hiding your light, God made you to shine!

Categories
Bible Study Run the Race

Run the Race: Get Ready, Get Set

The apostle Paul said that the Christian life is like running in a race. Through this study, we will learn what the Christian race is and who is to run in it. We will also discuss how to prepare, how to run, what happens if you fall down, and what happens when you win.

Every game has people who:

Set the rules

Compete in the game

Judge the competition

Give the prize

Who does these in the Christian race? [God does everything but compete and we compete]

You have to know what the rules are and how to play a game or run a race. If you don’t start, how can you win it? You must be prepared for when the race starts.

What would happen if you had a race and no one knew the rules? No one knew where to start or finish or which road to take. What would happen if the rules were in a different language and you did not understand the rules?

The Bible says in 2 Timothy 2:5 An athlete does not win unless he competes according to the rules.

Life is the race and God has set the rules for us to follow, and we find those rules in the Bible. Not knowing the rules is no excuse. We need to study God’s word to learn His rules for us. 2 Timothy 3:17 says Using the Scriptures, those who serve God will be prepared and will have everything they need to do every good work.

God’s rules are all through the bible. We can find a few in Matthew.

Matthew 22:36-40

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.

The first thing Jesus says is ‘Love the Lord your God.’ Love is interesting because the Greeks have six different words for love while we just have the one. Here Jesus uses agape. Agape is defined as God’s love for man and man’s love for God. This is a sacrificial love that expects nothing in return. This means we willingly and cheerfully sacrifice time, money, talents and anything else for God.

The next bit is even more “with all your heart.” The Greek word is Kardia. This is defined as the organ in the body, but also, the center of one’s physical and spiritual life. The center of our lives. So we are to turn over our loves, our desires, our hopes, our dreams and our passions to God. Woah! That is the whole shebang. Yes, it is.

“With all your soul.” Soul in Greek is Psuche. It means the breath of life or the vital force that animates our bodies. Your soul is the part of you that will live forever. FOREVER! This means that you love God with that piece if you that Jesus saved and will live forever. Loving God with all your soul requires you feed your soul regularly and think of the eternal benefits before the physical.

“With all your mind.” This is the last way that Jesus says to love God. Mind is Greek is Dianoia. This is the faculty of understanding, feeling and thinking. So read this way we need to start Loving God with a sacrificial love in every aspect of our life. We need to love him everywhere at all times with everything inside of us no matter what our situation is.

We are not done yet Jesus is still talking. ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ This one is pretty easy to understand, but hard to do. Love here is agape just as before sacrificial love. So we are to sacrificially love everyone as you love yourself. Agape love is not linked to any emotions. It is linked to actions.

Memory Verse

John 14:15

15.If you love me, you will do what I command.

Now we need to get ready for our race. What do you need to do to run in a race? You need to put on your running shoes and line up on the starting line to be ready for the “GO!” signal, don’t you?

Jesus told a story about ten women who were preparing for a special “race”. Each woman needed to have a lamp lit, when the groom showed up to go into the wedding party. They didn’t know when the groom would come.

We don’t know exactly when the “GO!” signal will be given, but we must be ready! In the story, 5 women brought extra oil for their lamp and 5 women did not. Jesus says that five of the women were wise, and five were foolish.

The women who ran out of oil for their lamps, could not turn on their lights. They had to go to the store to buy oil. While they were gone, the groom showed up and they were not there. They were not on the starting line! When they returned, the others had already started the party and the doors were shut. They were not allowed in. How sad they must have been to have waited all that time, but because they weren’t prepared, they didn’t get to go to the party!

For the Christian race, Jesus says we are to put Him on, much like we put our shoes on, to prepare to run. We need to be like the five wise women and be prepared to run Jesus’ special race! You put on Jesus by following his commandments and what He tells you to do.