Hebrews 12:1-3 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
Anyone that has run a marathon can attest to how difficult the race is. Well, at the 1968 Olympic Games which took place in Mexico City featured a true story of grit and determination.
Hours behind the runner in front of him, the last marathoner finally entered Olympic stadium. By that time, the drama of the day's event was almost over and most of the spectators had gone home. But the story of Tanzanian marathoner John Stephen Akwari was still being played out. Limping into the arena, Akwari grimaced with every step, his knee bleeding and bandaged from an earlier fall. His ragged appearance immediately caught the attention of the remaining crowd, who cheered him on to the finish line.
Why did he stay in the race? What made him endure his injuries to the end? When asked these questions later, he replied, "My country did not send me 7,000 miles away to start the race. They sent me 7,000 miles to finish it!'"
We may be exhausted, limping, or wounded right now from an earlier fall. We may feel like there's is no way we can go on to the end. But there are witnesses cheering us on...and God didn't send us this far just to begin -- He brought us here to run the whole race! So, let's get up! Brush off the dirt and keep going! He will give us the strength!
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My wife and I are celebrating our 20-year wedding anniversary tomorrow and it would seem that I know her pretty well. But every once in a while, she says or does something that surprises me -- and I think to myself "Wow, I guess I didn't know her as well as I thought!" The more time I spend with her, the more I get to know her -- her heart, her character -- the more we become intimate.
A careful reading through the life of the Apostle Paul will yield insight concerning those who surrounded him. In this brief devotion, I want to focus on two of Paul's friends -- Luke and Demas.
When Yeshua (Jesus) went into the synagogue in Nazareth and was handed the scroll of Isaiah to read [Luke 4:18], He opened it to the passage we know of as Isaiah 61, a powerful Messianic proclamation filled with hope and promise and fresh with the joyful good news of His arrival. After reading the passage He immediately declared that it was fulfilled in the hearing of those present. The first response was amazement and wonder that the carpenter's son was so gracious a communicator. But this did not last, as Yeshua immediately challenged his audience with a prophetic expectation...that they would reject Him, which they immediately did...nevertheless...
Have you ever heard about how the Inuit Tribes kill wolves? You're not gonna believe this one!
Most people have never heard of "Auntie Cooke", but I guarantee you that you'll get to know her in glory! She arrived in Chicago in 1868 as a perfect stranger, but she immediately became involved in D.L. Moody's church when he was just thirty-one years old. She described him years later, as a 'diamond in the rough', and someone who needed the divine unction and power.
Pregnancy in a woman involves the intimate, meticulous development of a human life in her womb. The Hebrew word for womb is "rechem". The verb, "rachem" (with the same root letters) means to love, to love deeply, to have mercy and to be compassionate. The connection in Hebrew between "womb" and "love" or "compassion" is literally visceral. A mother's love for her baby, so natural, deep, tender and compassionate, beautifully exemplifies our Father’s love for us. He is compassionate and merciful toward his human creatures.