Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
How do we persevere when thing seems to be falling apart? in the midst of real life pain? We fix our eyes on Jesus and walk in God's grace. The circumstance does not change but the challenges we face when brought before the eternal God has its rightful place in our lives. We see them for what they really are- light and momentary. As hard as it might seem presently, because we know the truth that this life is temporary; we can face trouble as light and momentary. The wonderful truth is that these momentary and light troubles are all in God's plan to produce for us an eternal glory.
Responding to the Transmission:We live in a fallen world where pain and troubles are a part of life, but let's remember together that they are momentary and light. Let's not lose our focus on the Lord instead let's pray that we will fix our eyes on the unseen, the eternal.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
These verses follow the Heroes of Faith in Hebrews 11as an encouragement and nudging for us to run God's race well. We're encouraged to throw off everything that hinders and the sins that so easily entangles. What are the things that hinder us? They might not necessarily be bad but it is whatever takes our eyes away from Jesus. If our eyes are not fixed on Jesus who pioneered and perfects our faith, it would be like a blind man running the 100meter dash. Runners have one thing in mind- to finish the race. They're fixing their eyes and throw off hindrances like crowd noise and camera flashes that might weigh them down or tripped them up.
Responding to the Transmission: Our desire is to run the race and to run it well. So let's come honestly before God and ask Him to reveal and help us throw off those things that weigh down or trip us up. Let's also continue to be very grateful because our Lord Jesus endured the cross so we could run God's race.
There is a needs-be for us to give ourselves for the life of the world. An easy, non-self-denying life will never be one of power. Fruit-bearing involves cross-bearing. There are not two Christs- an easy-going one for easy-going Christians, and a suffering, toiling one for exceptional believers. There is only one Christ. Are you willing to abide in Him, and thus bear much fruit?
- Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret, last excerpt, by Dr & Mrs Howard Taylor
Jesus gives a prophetic word about how He, himself, will build His Church. He said the "On this rock I will build my church, and the power of death will not be able to defeat it." (Matthew 16:18)
After the resurrection, Peter was able to look beyond the suffering and death that was ahead, but he saw that Jesus was "raised to life". After the resurrection, he wasn't afraid. He wasn't afraid of others, humiliation, suffering or even death. The fear was overshadowed by the amazing and glorious arrival of a new Kingdom, a new "ecclesia" that will be able to live according to the power that raised Christ from the dead! For Peter, for Hudson Taylor, it was clear that it was not death, to die. It was living for Christ, with eyes on the reward that was to await them when he comes back in his Father's glory with his angels (Matt 16:27)
May we live in light of this eternity that will come, and has already come to us, through His Spirit. Let's pray that our church communities will live more faithfully like the early church lived, after Jesus suffered, died and rose again.
Wake Up Lyrics (from Arcade Fire)
Somethin' filled up
my heart with nothin',
someone told me not to cry.
But now that I'm older,
my heart's colder,
and I can see that it's a lie.
Children wake up,
hold your mistake up,
before they turn the summer into dust.
I guess we'll just have to adjust…??
All of us, including our friends, co-workers, classmates and families are bombarded by songs, advice and ads that tell us how to adjust and cope with the way this depressing life is. Everyone's looking for better ways to ensure our present and future is as comfortable as possible. Does life just consist of caring for our own necessities? Sleeping ,eating, going to work, going to school, taking care of family...
The face of life seems ugly and depressing, and the best we can do is to put make up over it to make the best of this life.
Wake up sleeper!
Jesus is here!
Rise up, and let His light shine on you
But this is what God said through Isaiah, even before Jesus came to this earth:
1"Jerusalem, get up and shine, because your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord shines on you.
2 Darkness now covers the earth;
deep darkness covers her people.
But the Lord shines on you,
and people see his glory around you.
3 Nations will come to your light;
kings will come to the brightness of your sunrise.
Isaiah 60:1-3 (NCV)
Church, let's wake up and shine! Jesus has come shining bright, and has sent his Spirit on us. He has included us in his plans that he's masterminded since the beginning of creation. We don't have to live for our jobs or our families anymore. We don't have to trust in money to take care of us anymore. We can trust the Lord, the one who has come to bring us back to the Father, and the one who has come to make this world right.
Michael Phelps' Body
Michael Phelps' heart pumps 30 litres of blood each minute to his muscles, which is double the amount of the average adult male. He also produces only one third of the lactic acid that the average swimmer does, meaning that he does not suffer from muscle burn during intensive exercise like his competitors do. He says that after a race is lactic acid levels are the same as a person who is at rest.
Michael Phelps' Workouts and Training Routines
Phelps trains for six hours a day, six days a week, without fail. Even if Christmas day falls on a training day, he does a full day of training. Total dedication to his training program has made him a world champion.
He swims approximately 50 miles (80km) each week, which is over 8 miles per training day. He has two massages everyday and also takes icebaths to help his body to recover. See video for more.
Unless you are genetically built to swim like Michael Phelps, AND unless you are incredibly disciplined enough and totally dedicated, AND knew you were going to win medals, for ordinary people like us, it would be impossible for us to get motiviated to train hard enough, not to mention even to be qualified for the Olympics.
Even though Peter thought he was going to die for Jesus, it wasn't good enough to help him be part of what Jesus was trying to do. Peter's commitment to Jesus... was shown to be just filthy rags. What Peter needed was Jesus total commitment to his people, expressed in him dying for us; and not the other way around. This is what Peter failed to see, and failed to notice about himself. Peter couldn't do it. Nobody could. And this is why Jesus came-- so his church, his People, can rely not on their own level of commitment and devotion, but solely on the power of the Spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead. The ability to live as a Christian, begins when Jesus gave his life for us. Not our giving our life for God.
Ephesians 2:4 says, "It is only by God's grace that you have been saved!" In other words: we don't own this. God does. Let's thank God that we don't have to rely on our level of commitment to God, to earn this life of resurrection, but we can depend entirely on Jesus commitment to us. He died for us, and rose again! We don't own this life, but God owns this life.
Let's take time today to surrender the ownership of our lives, back to the Lord.
From "A New Heart" (Psalm 51)
Create in me a new heart
Renew a right spirit within me
Bring back the joy of your salvation
By your Spirit, sustain me
Open my lips and my mouth will declare
Your praise and your faithfulness
Open my lips and my tongue will sing for joy
That you are God of my salvation
What can you do when your heart is filthy, dry and depressed? What can you do when your lips and mouth can't declare anything good, anything joyful? What can you do when you're flooded with your own failure and disappointment?
Normally we turn to the tube, family, our hobbies to forget it all.. but God has given his Church a better way. In Psalm 51, David turns to the Lord and cries out to Him to re-create his heart. The yearning of this cry and prayer is for a brand-new heart. His prayer is for God to open his lips to declare who God is, because he can't say anything good on his own.
Is this true even today? Because Jesus died and rose again, this same Spirit who raised Christ from death, lives in his Church. Therefore he has given his community power to open their lips to declare the praise and faithfulness of God. He has given his church a new song to sing!
It is only by God's Spirit, that we can live. Today, let's not be afraid to bring before God our hearts that are in need to be re-created by the Creator. It was meant to be.
House of Cards (lyrics by Radiohead)
Forget about your house of cards
And I'll do mine
Forget about your house of cards
And I'll do mine
Fall off the table,
And get swept under
From the time we grew up, we were taught how to survive and make the best of this life. But when the Spirit of God enters into our lives, we enter into the new creation and new world that God has been forming since Jesus Christ. It's then, we're challenged to take hold of what God wants to build in our lives, and to "forget about the house of cards" that we've built up.
Let's forget about our house of cards, and let God do his! Matthew 16:18, Jesus says, "I will build my church, and the power of death will not overcome it." Let's renounce any other foundation, especially any of our efforts to sustain this life. Let's trust in the power of the resurrection to be what sustains our lives, our ministries and families.