We're Not Running for Nothing!

Hey again,

Well, I may or may not ever really figure this blog thing out. I think the next season of my life may lend itself to my being able to write more. I desire to teach and equip the saints for the works of ministry. We all need revelation from the Holy Spirit to know what God is speaking through His Word.

The past month has been an absolute blur. After spending a week in Wales from June 3-10, life has felt like a tornado. I have seemingly been all over the place, trying to bring some semblance of "normality." I'm in transition out of Solid Grounds, and into campus ministry with Chi Alpha and Living Light's college ministry, The Lighthouse.

Everything is changing. Now, change can be scary, but it can also be exciting. It has been both of these so far. I not only am heading out of this job, I also saw some very close friends move to Seattle to plant a church. As hard as it was to see them leave, I know that it is not the end, but I believe, the beginning! I am so excited to hear about what God is going to do in them and through them to bring transformation to the city of Seattle. As the Lord spoke to me yesterday for Winona, I believe it is true for Seattle as well, "I'm about to send showers of love." I long to see the love of Christ, which surpasses knowledge, be poured out on a hurting, unbelieving generation.

Here's something that God has really impressed upon my heart this past week, after the Seattle team left. Luke 9:61 says, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God." When Jesus says, "Let's go. Follow me," he is asking for immediate obedience. The cost of following Jesus is leaving EVERYTHING when he says, "Follow Me." He's not asking us to forget about our past, but he is asking us to keep our eyes on the Him, our Prize, as we run the race that is set before us.

Paul uses this great analogy in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, regarding running the race: "Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, (make it a slave) lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified."

Run in a such a way as to win the prize...We're not running for nothing! There is a prize at the end of the race, Christ Jesus. There are also rewards and crowns that will distributed at the judgment seat of Christ. These are icing on the cake, as we will cast our crowns at the feet of Jesus, the ultimate Prize!

In Philippians 3:13-14, Paul writes more about pressing on: "Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

Hebrews 12:1-2 says, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."

Let us throw off everything that so easily entangles, and RUN! Are you ready to RUN?? Are you ready to run without any weights?! Are you ready to run in the freedom that Christ died to bring you into?! As you wait upon the Lord, He will renew your strength. Then, you will run and not grow weary, and you will walk and not faint! Hallelujah! Are you ready to run and not grow weary?! There is a new way to run, a new way to dance, a new way to sing, and is this...FREEDOM! You are free to run and sing and dance and shout and BE exactly who Jesus created you to BE! So, wait on Him, and run, run, run, run, run...Don't stop. Don't look back. Just keep pressing on. Keep pressing into Him. Endure. Persevere. Until the end!

Bless you as you run the race that is set before you. Keep your eyes on the Prize, Jesus Christ, the Risen King!

His,
Eric