August 3, 2013
FINISHING A FULL MARATHON
Jeremiah 12:5 The Lord Answers Jeremiah “If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, Then how can you contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, In which you trusted, they wearied you, Then how will you do in the floodplain of the Jordan”? In other words, my children , if you’re worn out in A 5k footrace with the forces of evil, as you go through the trials of this life each day, what makes you think you can handle a full MARATHON as we begin to enter into the last days of this life’s history.?
We are God’s Children and we are told that God’s sole desire is that we have a happy life, But Biblically, every command that Jesus gives us to get through this life to the next is not A easy PATH to follow. Love our enemies, Matthew 5:44 turn the other cheek. Matthew 5:39 Making choices between my family and God. Matt. 19:29 And Then the toughest command of them all “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. Luke 9:23-24
Yes to most of us unattainable mandate’s from God. But my friends it’s all about believing in A God who knows what’s best for us, In Isaiah 48:17 it says This is what the Lord says your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.“also in Matthew 19:26 “Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. Christ on the Mount of Olives as He was praying, he recognized the difficult road before him.
This is the humanity of Jesus, he knows that our Father, has called him to do the unattainable from a human standpoint. But He is our example He knows this event will be recorded from generation to generation to strengthen each of us through difficult times. So Remember this is humanity that recognizes the difficulty of this journey. This is humanity that dreads the suffering that He will in counter, humanity knew the path would seem impossible.
But because the power of the WORD and the power of his PRAYERS and the power of His FAITH He, like we, in following His example, stayed FOCUSED ON THE CROSS as He submitted His will to the will of His Father. And the word says. God gave Him Strength to finish the course, and He will do the same for us today. The path will be very difficult in Luke 22:44-46 it says And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow He asked. “Why are you sleeping?”.
“Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”. But remember this is the same Jesus that faced a raging storm on the Sea of Galilee, totally composed, and undisturbed. He has faced demonic hostility, temptation’s from Satan, at every step, and the cross examination, of Jerusalem’s religious Elect, with total restraint. But here in the Garden, Humanity took its toil at just the thought of failure.
But just as Christ agonized and prayed for strength, we must do the same as time moves toward Christ soon return when there will be trials that seem unbearable, as we begin to ask, where 
is God. But at that moment, we must look back on His promises. in Deuteronomy 31:8 it says And the LORD, He it is that doth go before thee; He will be with thee, He will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed. Also in Psalms 55:22 it says Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.
So my friends today, ask yourself are the comfort and pleasures of this world standing in the way of your relationship with God? as He tries to prepare you for something we are not quite ready for. Remember The mental pressure arising from our Lord’s struggle with temptation, sent forth great drops of blood.
This proves what a tremendous amount of weight, sin can have on and individual. Christ had never sinned, but just the thought of the plan of salvation failing and at the same time, carrying the weight of the entire world on His shoulders. He knew that there was no other way for mankind to be redeemed than through the innocent and SUBSTITUTIONARY SUFFERING of the path that He was about to encounter.
Jesus had said it before. He was the way, the truth, and the life. No man could come to the Father, except through His faith, and death on 
Calvary, in the sinner’s place. So lets ask ourselves what must I do for the master today. It want be an easy path in Matthew 7:13-14 it says “Enter through the narrow gate.
Going back again to the story of Jeremiah. like you, and I, he allowed life to wear him down as he become absorbed in self-pity, and doubt. He was ready to abandon it all. If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? Life is difficult, Jeremiah. Are you going to quit at the first wave of opposition? Are you going to retreat when you find that there is more to life than having plenty of food each day and a comfortable bed at night to sleep in?
God calls us to pursue righteousness, to sustain a drive toward excellence. God calls us to have a life of purpose far beyond what you think yourself capable of living, Because He will sustain. And provide us with the adequate amount of strength to fulfill His will in our life. If thou art not able to encounter lesser dangers, how wilt thou be able to overcome greater one’s in the time of trouble.
My friends, Christ tells us himself in Matt. 24 How dreadful it will be in those days For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now and never to be equaled again. My friends Gods word and my faith says to me “Consider it all joy, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4
So my friends today. Stay focused, remain faithful, love one another and endure till the end and never forget to STUDY&PRAY
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