Hebrews 12:1

  • God of The Living

    “But in the account of the burning bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”
                                                                                      Luke 20:37-38 NIV

    god of the livingGod of the Living

    Today our church had the annual Comfort Service. Christmas seems to bring about strong emotions for those who have lost loved ones and our church wants to provide a place to help those grieving. As I read the words in this passage they gave me a great deal of comfort and hope to remember that our love ones are truly not “lost” as we say, but alive because we serve the God of The Living!

    I’m so grateful that I Thessalonians 4:13 is also true when it says, “we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.” This verse doesn’t say that we shouldn’t grieve. That would be heartless. This verse does say that we grieve differently. We grieve with a hope to see our loved ones again because we serve the God of The Living! Luke makes it clear that when people who have put their faith in God pass on from this world they are not dead as we think, but alive in Christ! They’re the active “cloud of witnesses” that Hebrews 12:1 talks about. They’re living with Christ, praying for us and cheering us on to run the race of life for God’s glory!

    My prayer is that this Christmas season is filled with joy for you! That you allow the God of The Living to fill you “with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13)

    Prayer

    Father…I’m so thankful that you are the God of The Living! It breaks my heart to think of those I love that have left this earth as dead. Help me to be freed of this wrong thinking and released to the hope of Your Word. My loved ones, and I are ALIVE in YOU! Help me to live in Your hope and bring You glory! May I run this race of life, fully ALIVE! In Jesus Name…Amen  

    http://www.fgtchurch.com Click on the link to my home church if you would like to see the Comfort Service.

    Dare To Share how someone in your ‘great cloud of witnesses’ has encouraged you to live ALIVE for the God of The Living?

     Post in the Comment Section below and bolster the faith of someone else!

    Soul H2OIf you liked the refreshing in this #SoulH2O devotion, you’ll love my latest Soul H2O Devotional book: 40 Thirst Quenching Devotions for Women.

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  • Run Your Race

    run your race“Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step” …“let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.”
                     1 Corinthians 9:24-26…Hebrews 12:1 NLT

    I love the movie Secretariat. In the movie Penny Tweety takes over managing the farm for her dad and remembers his words of advice to her as a child, “RUN YOUR RACE”. After her father’s death, Penny’s brother wanted to sell their horse Secretariat to pay off taxes. He was planning that things would go downhill for the horse and that would leave them…well, penniless in the financial sense! Penny was willing to take the risk in keeping Secretariat and believed the horse was more valuable to them if they allowed him to continue racing. My favorite part is when Penny says, “This is about life being ahead of you and you run at it because you never know how far you can go unless you run.”

    Living the Christian life is compared to running a race on a few occasions. Never are we told to saunter, or jog, but to run for the prize; run with purpose! Running can be a scary thing. Running is risky. Most everyone walks, but only the diligent run. Running for the prize takes confidence and determination. If you run hard in the wrong direction you get lost, but if you run hard in the right path you will win!

    God has a race for each of us to run. Penny had hers, Secretariat had his and I have mine. No one can run your race for you! Ask God what the race is He has set out for you and then RUN YOUR RACE! It won’t always be easy, but it will be rewarding!

    Prayer:

    Father…Help me to run the race you have set out for me. Help me to put on blinders so I don’t compare myself to the race others are running. May I keep my focus on You, because You are the prize! In Jesus Name…Amen.

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