Every Christian’s journey here on earth is a race – a race that must be finished in such a way that they receive a prize when their race is over.  God has a purpose and a plan for your life and you must guard against becoming distracted along your way.  Having the wrong people in your life can distract you, and trying to live like the world lives is another big distraction.  Our past can distract us because it keeps us from looking ahead to what God has planned for our future.

The Bible tells us to lay aside everything that will hinder us from running our race in a manner that is pleasing to our heavenly Father.  One thing that will please God is if His children are patient and wait on the Lord in all circumstances.  Another thing that will please God is our determination to finish our race for it is not how we begin but how we end our race that is important.  Many people will faint along the way.   They become discouraged when they are called upon to go through challenges and they just give up and quit.  But quitting is not an option.  Many have gone on before you.  The Bible describes it as that great cloud of witnesses and they are cheering you on; they want you to finish just as they did.

Purpose in your heart that you are going to finish your race in a manner that is pleasing to God and is an example to others who are watching you.  Your life is a testimony and when it is all said and done, you will hear the Lord say ‘well done thy good and faithful servant.’

If you were asked the question “what is love” you would probably have a ready made answer right at your finger tips, but how does your definition of love or better yet, how does the way you love, measure up to God’s type of love?  Agape love is the highest level of love we can possess.  Agape love is sacrificial; it is not boastful, nor is it selfish and it is unconditional.  Agape love bears all things, is patient and kind, and most of all it never fails.

If we were to compare the soulish love that we normally extend to each other, we would find that it falls short of the way God wants us to love each other.  God expects His children to love as He loves us – sacrificially and unconditionally.  The Bible tells us that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to us so that we might have eternal life.  Selfish love is given to the degree that we receive.  As long as we are getting something out of a relationship, we give our love, but the moment we stop receiving anything we withdraw our love.  One way the world is to know who Christians are is by the way they love each other, so God’s standard is much higher than the world’s measuring stick.  Christians are to always love and expect nothing in return.  Christians are not to ask ‘what is in this for me?’  Christians are to freely give because freely they have received from their heavenly Father.

What does love look like?  It is the love God has for His children.  Agape love is healing – it heals those who give it and those who receive it.  If you would like to experience God’s type of love, open your heart to Jesus Christ today and receive Him as your Lord and Savior.  You then will experience the greatest love of all.

The Psalmist said it so beautifully “I will lift up my eyes unto the hills from where comes my help, my help comes from the Lord.”  It is comforting to know that our Helper never slumbers or sleeps, and He has promised never to leave or forsake us.  It is our Helper who gives us strength from day to day.  Another promise of our Helper was “I the Lord your God, will hold your right hand and say to thee ‘fear not for I will help you.”

Often, people make God the last person they go to when they need help, but God should be the first person you go to in time of need.  God knows the beginning from the end; He even knows more about your problem than you do, so what better person to go to?  There is nothing impossible with God, and that should motivate you to lift up your eyes to the one who is waiting to help you at all times.

Individuals even make the mistake of worshipping the creature more than the Creator.  It is God who has blessed you with everything you have and He is due all the honor and praise.  God has told us to have no other gods before Him and you need to be certain that you have your priorities in the correct order.  Instead of putting your hope, and sometimes impossible demands on a family member or a friend, trust your heavenly Father to perfect those things that concern you.  Make sure that you know for a certain where your help comes from and then you will have no reason to fear.

Have you ever been in a situation where you knew that only God could get you out of it?  In times like these, the first thing you should do is seek the Lord, and be prepared to fast if you are desperate enough.  The Bible tells us that if we seek the Lord with our whole heart, we will find Him, and who else has the power to make a way for you when there appears to be no way?  God is all powerful and there is nothing too difficult for Him.

While you are waiting on the Lord for direction, delight yourself in the Lord by remembering what God has already done for you.  It was God that has brought you this far, and by His grace, He will lead you on.  Stand firm, hold your position and you will see the salvation of the Lord.  Worship Him and thank Him before you are delivered because the battle is not yours – it is His.  Seeking the Lord and worshipping Him is evidence that you trust God and you believe in your heart that He loves you and that He will perfect those things that concern you.

Pray about your problems or worry about them but do not do both.  Worry says you don’t believe that God cares or that He will help you; whereas prayer says that you are turning your problems over to the one person capable of handling whatever you put into His hands.  What will you choose to do today – pray or worry?