Winning

I spent the morning with Sam one day last week and it happened to be a bible study day. He was thrilled to hang a while at my house and then equally tickled to be going to hang out at the nursery. We unloaded and headed for the play area, and after we had held hands through the parking lot, I let him loose on the sidewalk.  It was a cool morning and this was the first time he had on jeans paired with his little tennis shoes and orange polo shirt;  he is only two an a half and there he went running with that precious short stepped run and heading to his class.  But all of the sudden he hesitated a minute and looked back at me and with a warm little glint of a smile and an attitude that even a two year old can assimilate and said:  WINNING....with a huge grin and continued onto his class.  I have no idea where it learned that, maybe from big brother Blake or a friend a school, but he had it right, he was winning and he knew just where he was headed. I didn't realize that we were racing, and even if I had, I would have hung back just to have watched that little body in motion. 

All of us who are Christians are running a race for eternal life.  And it does not matter how fast we are,  how strong we are, how wise we are,  how much money we have or what status we have acclaimed, we are all of equal standing in God's eyes.  We, as believers in Jesus Christ have been created by God to win this Christian race, be winners in the Lord and to one day stand in eternity robed in righteousness, wearing a crown of glory and blessed with eternal honors and rewards. This Christian race has the similarities of marathons that many of you have run in, and others of us have watched. There will be hurdles, there will be a wall, there will be competitors, and there will be a start and finish line. 

We are winning when we are pleasing God;  when we are running the race in spite of circumstances and staying focused on Jesus and not the distractions.  We are winning when we are doing the best with what God has given us to work with. There are three main factors for winning the Christian race: 

1) Confidence 

2) Motivation

3) Focus. 

Regarding Confidence: Many of us have either lost our confidence or allowed it to be buried due to experiences or wordy advances that have pulled us down mentally, or physical handicaps that have impaired our ability to move as we see others moving. But the deal is we have to let our confidence be generated by who we know and truly believe we are in Christ, and not let our confidence be founded on our own efforts or self generated images that many times are diffused by lies and inept assessments of experiences gone haywire. We will never become a champion until we see ourselves as a champion. As Christians, we are champions and winners in the Lord.  We are worth a lot to God. (1 John 3:1 - see what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God, and that is what we are.)

Regarding Motivation: Probably one of the top responses would be we want to go to heaven.  And a good one that is, but the greatest built in motivation that we can have is the recognition of God's grace. Whatever we have or have not done has been under the watchful eyes of Christ. And without His terms of atonement (coming in to save us from the penalty of our sins) we would be doomed into the fires of Hell.  So it is through the grace of God that we are able to be strengthened, guided, forgiven, uplifted, taught lessons of 

faithfulness, and God's abiding love and His abundant provisions are poured into our lives.  His recognized grace is the very motivation that gives us perseverance to keep on running; in spite of circumstances and hurdles. (Romans 5:8 But God demonstrated his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us)

Regarding Focus: We have to learn to change our setbacks into comebacks.  God uses our trials and tribulations to grow us and mature us in our faith and our dependence in Him.  As long as we are focusing on Christ and not our circumstances we are winning. 

Setbacks come in a variety of differing venues, but never is there one that God cannot help us to overcome.  The sting of defeat, the loneliness of grief, the disappointment of outcomes, a broken relationship, a physical battle, or even a spiritual void, God has the power and authority to override any setback and turn it into a comeback.  For he wants us to come back to the place where he is sits on His throne of grace, and rest in His ultimate will for our lives. (James 1:4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete lacking nothing.)

I watched my little friend as he continued to run down the outdoor corridor of the church, and thought he is winning; in more ways than his little mind can comprehend. And so am I, and so are you when we do our best with what God has given us to serve Him and run the life race according to his willful guidance and in total recognition of His grace that has been poured upon us and within us.  We, who know Christ are winning the race that he has set forth for us to run. It is not how fast we run, or how experienced we are, but the success of our race lies in the hearts and minds of the runner; the confidence that we have in knowing who we are in Christ,  the motivation of His grace that we have built into our very being, and the ability to maintain our focus to be on Christ and not on our circumstances. We who know Christ and are giving our best to apply his standards to our lives, are WINNING! 

Dear Lord, Help us to stand on the truth that we are winners, when we choose not only to believe in you and the word that you have given us, but when we give our best effort to live, love and serve by what we have been taught as well. Winning is the reward of our everyday race, but ultimately when our race is finished, we know that you will reward us with the greatest trophy of all; eternal life. Thank you Lord. Amen 

Praise God wherever you are and whatever situation He has allowed you to be in . . . His glory will shine through!