Its a race, Run It Boldly!

KEY TEXTS: Col 1: 13, 2Tim 1: 7, 2Cor. 5: 21, Rom. 8: 1- 2, Col. 2: 6, Hebs. 12: 1- 2; 1Thess. 2: 12, Hebs. 4: 11, 1Tim. 6: 12, Hebs. 10: 23; 38, Gal. 3: 11, 1Pet. 1: 7, Rom. 10: 14- 17, Habakkuk 2: 4, James 4: 17, Gal. 3: 25

The righteous is as bold as a lion. We don't have confidence in the flesh but in the spirit. We are running a race and we need to be confident to finish strong in God. He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and has brought us into the Kingdom of His dear Son, Christ Jesus. We are no longer under the law but under grace so we don't yield to the flesh or fleshly lusts, we yield to Christ.

The righteous is as bold as a lion. We don't have confidence in the flesh but in the spirit. We are running a race and we need to be confident to finish strong in God. He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and has brought us into the Kingdom of His dear Son, Christ Jesus. We are no longer under the law but under grace so we don't yield to the flesh or fleshly lusts, we yield to Christ. His Spirit is in us so we have the boldness to live above sin. We have a righteous nature, 2 Cor. 5: 17, if any man be in Christ, He's a new creature, old things have passed away, behold all things have become new. We no longer yield to sin or to the flesh. Our righteousness is of God and we enter boldly into His throne of grace, (Hebrews 4: 16) because we know who we are. It's time to walk in this realm. It may seem tough but you need to press on. 2 Tim. 2: 3-5 "thou therefore, endure hardness as a good soldier of Christ, no man that warreth entangleth himself again with the affairs of this life, that he may please Him who has chosen him to be a soldier, and if a man also strive for the masteries, yet is he not crowned unless he strive lawfully."

Brethren, walk with God faithfully. Apostle Paul said in Phil. 3: 14, "I press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus". If you want to walk with God, you need to learn to forget about the past and look ahead. An athlete when running looks ahead in the direction in which he is going with no weight attached to him. He avoids distractions and stays focused. If he's distracted or has a weight attached to him, the pace at which he runs will be reduced. Hence, as soldiers of Christ and as those who run a race with Christ, who has already won His own race, we need to be focused forgetting those things which are behind and looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. This is a true walk of faith. Take a walk with God, don't be far from Him, be devoted to Him.

As believers, salvation is just the starting point. The Christian walk is lived by faith and faith works by patience. If you really want to run the race, it takes faith. Heb. 11: 1 "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Faith is a conviction, an assurance, a persuasion. It takes faith, believing on God's Word to walk with Him. Without faith, you can't please God. The men of old like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Apostle Paul, all did, they ran the race with patience, looking unto Jesus. Faith is a creative force that calls forth the things that be not as though they were. It brings into existence things that seemed not to exist (Rom. 4: 17). Brethren walk in faith, live by faith, adhere to the Word and you'll be confident to run the race.