Have you ever noticed that there is no prize for starting, the only reward is for the one that finishes the race (1Cor 9:24)? At the end of his life for Christ Paul could say: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2Tim 4:7; NKJV) and he eagerly looked forward to his heavenly reward.

Paul paints a picture for us of the heavenly hosts cheering us on. “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:1-2; NKJV).

As we look back at all the amazing men and women of God who have gone before us, we should be encouraged to focus on Jesus and put aside all the distractions and sins to serve Him on this earth. We need the same heavenly focus that Jesus had and need to know that we don’t run in our own strength but His (Phil 2:13; Phil 4:13). Paul exhorted us to press on, lay hold of all God has for us and be disciplined (Phil 3:12-14; 1Cor 9:25).

We are Gods salt and light in this World (Matt 5:13-14), He wants to work through us, to bless us in our earthly journey (Eph 3:20) and to bring us to that eternal reward in Heaven!!! Let's cooperate and press in; the rewards are great and the journey amazing!!! Pass this on!    

When you ever get to feel down and discouraged remember some of the things God says to you and about you in His Word:

As a Christian, if you have asked Christ in to your life as Lord and Savior, God says He has forgiven you (Col 1:14). He has given you a new spiritual heart in fellowship with Him (Jn 3:3, 5-6; Ez 36:26). You are a new creation in Christ Jesus, a species of being that never existed before (2 Cor 5:17)! You are a child of God (Jn 1:12-13), seated in heavenly places with Christ (Eph 2:6); a joint heir with Jesus (Ro 8:17).

This all means you are in Christ and all He is and has is yours, now and forever! Jesus dwells in you as the Holy Spirit (Jn 14:16-18) and God's word says that no evil force in this world is greater than the Holy Spirit that dwells in you (1 Jn 4:4). Jesus defeated satan and took all power and authority back from him (Col 2:15); you are victorious in Christ (1 Cor 15:57).

God loves you with a never failing love, no matter what you have done or who you are (Ro 8:38-39); He will never leave you or forsake you (Heb 13:5)! God says you are His workmanship, His work of art (Eph 2:10), designed for good works that He has for you (Eph 2:10).

Wow, that should rev your motor! Send this to a friend.

 “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” (Phil 3:10-11; NKJV)

These verses show Paul’s heart, his life motivation. Paul’s sole motivation was to know Christ; not to know about Him but to know Him! Paul desired to be like Christ in dying to self and sin and living to eternal life. He counted it gain to suffer for Christ as this reflected his complete identification with Jesus.

 In an earlier verse in Philippians Chapter 3 (V8), Paul looked back at his earlier life without Jesus and counted it as loss, rubbish, compared to knowing Christ in an intimate, dynamic and life changing relationship. The word rubbish can be translated dung, showing how emphatic Paul was in making his point! Paul went on to say that he didn’t look back but pressed on to follow the call of Jesus (v12-13) to come closer and higher in relationship with Him (Jesus) and to experience the power of Christ’s resurrection (v10).

 Paul had a heavenly or eternal perspective while he ministered powerfully and effectively on this earth in the anointing of God! Wow, that’s what I want! Let’s press in but remember not to get condemned as Paul said, when he wrote this epistle, that he had not arrived (v13)!  

“Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord” (Ps 124:7-8a; NKJV). “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (Heb 12:1-2).

As children of God we have been removed from the power of satan and conveyed into the kingdom of God (Col 1:13). We have escaped from the fowler’s snare or satans snares but satan still tries to ensnare us with sin (1 Pet 5:8). Matthew tells us that if we seek first God’s kingdom, all the blessings of God will be ours (Matt 6:33). 

How do we lay aside those sins that hold us back, how do we pant and thirst after God (Ps 42:1-2), seeking His kingdom? Well, John’s gospel tells us that God’s word (Jesus) is truth and the truth will make us free (John 8:32). Receiving the freedom and blessings we have in Christ is no more complicated than spending time in His word and believing the truth can work in our lives and bring freedom and blessings! "That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection" (Phil 3:10). 

So, rest in the Lord, in His word and wait patiently for Him today (Ps 37:7), cast your cares on Him (1 Pet 5:7) and allow Him to work in your life. 

Psalm 103:2-3 talks about God’s benefits and reminds us that He heals all of our diseases. God had a healing covenant with His people in the Old Testament as long as they obeyed the law (Ex 15:26), but praise God in the New Testament we are told that we are healed by the stripes of Jesus (1 Pet 2:24).

Jesus body was flogged, broken, striped with wounds so we could be whole. In Acts 10:38 it talks about Jesus: “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him”. He is still our healer today; we are told in Hebrews that He never changes (Heb 13:8).

So He can heal but will He heal me you may ask? Well God is no respecter of person (Mark 12:14) and He reassured the doubting leper: “then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, I am willing (to heal you); be cleansed. Immediately his leprosy was cleansed” (Matt 8:3). Alleluia! Healing is yours, believe God for it today. Agree with God and receive by faith.