To Fight The Good Fight and Finish The Race

We are called to make disciples.

Acts 26:16-18 King James Version 16 But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; 17 Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, 18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

We cannot do that unless we know the Word of God. We are taught to hide His Word in our heart found in Psalm 119:11, I continued on to verse 16.

Psalm 119:11-16 King James Version
11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
12 Blessed art thou, O Lord: teach me thy statutes.
13 With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth.
14 I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches.
15 I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.
16 I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.

We are to keep His Word in our heart which is memorizing scripture so that we can recall it when we need it.  The Bible is filled with God’s instructions for us as Christians and if we do not study then how would we know what to do and what He expects from us?

We precede to meditate to stop and think about what we just read. Say a prayer before hand to see what the Lord wants to teach you, have you learn from it and how it applies to your life. Use Bible study tools to help dive deeper and get a better understanding of what the scripture is saying.

Then, to delight ourselves in the statutes which is the law and not forget thy word.

Psalm 1:1-6 King James Version
1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6 For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

For those following what God will have us do will not be moved but will prosper in all that we do. Those unsaved are easily moved for they are not rooted in the Word of God. They shall surely perish for they live for themselves and seek not the things above. Nor do they believe they are in need of saving.

All we can do is simply plant a seed. We can not force them to decide for they have free will.

Galatians 5:13 King James Version
13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.

By love is speaking of God’s love. He first loved us should we do no less to others?

Joshua 24:15 King James Version
15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

We are asked to choose today whom we will serve be it God, or be in the world and their gods and beliefs. You cannot serve two masters.

Mark 8:34 King James Version
34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

To take up the cross is to walk with God forsaking all others. To give your all to Him not just part of you but all of you. Means willing to go and serve where God leads you without looking back. Ready to drop everything at a moments notice should He ask it of you.

We seem to think that God wants us to give up things! God never tells us to give up things just for the sake of giving them up, but He tells us to give them up for the sake of the only thing worth having, namely, life with Himself. ~ Oswald Chambers ~

John 15:16 King James Version
16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

How wonderful is that to know God has chosen us. We did nothing to deserve it yet He chose us despite who we are and all that we have done. He paved a way through His Son for those that believe in Him.

Ordained means to be set apart for a particular purpose: to bear fruit. Inherent to their salvation is their mission. This is true for every believer (from The KJV Cross Bible Study Reference Study Bible).

We are to teach and preach to the ends of the earth the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Gospel is “Good News” and what is that good news. The good news is that God sent His son to earth to make a way for us to come to the Father. Without the sacrifice of His Son we would surely perish. The world needed saving from it’s own destruction of a sinful led world. He promised not to flood the earth again so He sent His son to become flesh, one of us so that we could know Him. He would be as one of us grow up and later go to the cross innocent was He but for the dying world and out of His love for us to the cross He went. Innocent life and blood was spilled that day for us to free from the bondage of sin. 

We did nothing to earn His love and His going to the cross to save us. We cannot repay that debt so freely giving. What we can do is share the wonderful news of our Savior with everyone we meet. To spread the wonderful news of a risen Savior who has come to save that which is lost.

In Second Timothy 4 we see Paul writes to Timothy a letter. Giving guidance to Timothy while he (Timothy) was in Ephesus having stayed there to lead the church and dealing sometimes with false teachers.

2 Timothy 4:7-8 King James Version
7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

Verse 7 takes us to Acts chapter 20 verse 24 and 1 Timothy chapter 6 verse 12.

Acts 20:24 King James Version 24 But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

1 Timothy 6:12 King James Version 12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

Verse 8 takes us to 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 4.

1 Peter 1:4 King James Version 4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,

To continue to fight the good fight and finish what he was called to do. The Lord directed Timothy there to lead the church and it wasn’t without a battle Paul was telling him to stay the course. Then proceeds in verse 17 where Paul reminds Timothy that he (Paul) wasn’t doing God’s work alone for Christ was with Him, standing beside him and giving him strength to endure, go on, and to finish the work God set before him.

2 Timothy 4:17 King James Version
17 Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.

So run and finish the race set before and remember you are not alone for God is with you.

Psalm 46:10 King James Version
10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

Find a quite place to be still and listen to His voice, meditate on His Word and all He has for you. For He has come to give you life more aboundant then you could ever dream of. If we will stop and listen to Him each day.

“The only way to have full understanding of the teachings of Jesus is through the light of the Spirit of God shining inside us. Only after the amazing delight and liberty of realizing what Jesus Christ does, comes the impenetrable “darkness” of realizing who He is.” ~ Oswald Chambers ~

God bless you and your loved ones.