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finishing the race
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Posted by: JG
You then said: " I am smoking and drinking pretty hard. "
You said: "I just don't know where to go anymore. ....I thought we were rooted in our church. For some reason we have been cut off from the church, by the church leadership. I just don't know what I keep doing that messes up every pastor that I have ever sat under. "
Pastors want someone who has the calling.
Pastors want someone who is dependable.
Pastors want someone who they can trust.
Pastors want someone who will not hurt the sheep.
Pastors want someone who will be there when it gets hard.
Pastors want someone who is loyal no matter how hard it gets.
Pastors want someone who will not be a bad example for the church.
You were working with the Youth....
Duuuhhhh: I think smoking and drinking had something to do with it.
The last time I checked you had stopped going to church on sundays because of work or???.
I think that had something to do with it.
My conversation with you in the Parking lot 4 years ago was: "you must learn to be a finisher not a starter" There are many who come and say they want to be with the Lord or used by the Lord but will they finish the race.
What do you think all the teenagers think of you that see you today.
What do you think of your committement.
What do you think of your word.
What do you think of your dependability.
Are not the kids you worked with saying...
Well if Pastor Chris can smoke why can't I
Well if Pastor Chris can drink why can't I
You called yourself pastor-in-training.
But when things got tough you got going in the wrong direction.
You said: " I am tired of giving my all and only getting heartache in return. I did what the Lord asked and I just don't understand why I can't find the Man of God that the Lord wants me to Learn from."
Did the Lord ask you to leave?
Did the Lord ask you to stop reading your bible?
Did the Lord ask you to stop praying?
Did the Lord ask you to stop going to church?
Did the Lord ask you to drink?
Did the Lord ask you to smoke?
Is running from God giving your all?
Your pastor did not run from you.
You ran from your pastor.
When you had to stay the course,
when you had to finish the race,
when you had to be there for your youth group,
where were you?
The one lesson I have learned all these years is Jesus is worth it.
Do I know things will get tough.
I have never seen them get easy.
But I have always thought it was worth it.
One of the things I know is that I can not live without the anointing.
Oh Lord please never take the anointing from me.
2TI 2:3 Thou therefore endure hardness[/B ], as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 2:4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of [this] life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. 2:5 And if a man also strive for masteries, [yet] is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.
Read these verses. You asked for a real man to give you real advice, so read.
JER 12:5 ¶ If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and [if] in the land of peace, [wherein] thou trustedst, [they wearied thee], then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?
PHI 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but [this] one thing [I do], forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
2TI 4:7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished [my] course, I have kept the faith:
HEB 12:1 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,
JAM 1:12 Blessed [is] the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
REV 3:11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
LUK 8:15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep [it], and bring forth fruit with patience.
1CO 9:24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. 9:25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they [do it] to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. 9:26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: 9:27 But I keep under my body, and bring [it] into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
REV 3:10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
"These little ones who believe to stumble..."
Mark 9:42-47
[42] “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea. [43] “If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire, [44] [where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.] [45] “If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell, [46] [where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.] [47] “If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell, [48] where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED. (NAS)
In this reading, Jesus lists four types of sin that are horrifying in consequence. One might even see them as the four paths to hell. In each case Jesus suggests that death or mutilation is a better alternative to continuing these sins. His purpose is to show his followers (these are not Pharisees he is speaking to) that this life is nothing compared to the next and that there are no pleasures in this life that are worth a moment’s joy in God’s embrace. The four paths are:
I like to think of it this way.
If your eye is watching something that is sinful it is better to destroy the tv than go to hell. I am just as guilty for a system of injustice from which I benefit as if I was personally stalking the vulnerable. For example, the man who views pornography is as guilty as the man who takes the photographs.
If your hand is doing evil it is better to destroy the drugs and stuff that helps you sin than go to hell
If your friends or neighbors cause you to sin it is better to move than go to hell.
The path of manipulation;
Here is the path of leading someone into sin by example or intent; but it is also the sin using someone who is vulnerable for personal pleasure or gain. This could be the sin of a father seeking his own pleasures over his family responsibilities or the exploitation of the powerless by the powerful.
If you lead a little one to sin, well let's just say God does not like it.
If you drug dealer sell stuff to people who get hurt.
If someone is raped or steals or does other durgs you are guility of all the sins of the drug dealer because you enable him to help others to sin.
1CO 8:9 But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak. 8:10 For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol's temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols; 8:11 And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? 8:12 But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ. 8:13 Wherefore, if meat (marijuana) make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh (I will smoke no weed) while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend. Do you see you can replace MEAT with anything. The point Paul is making, if you are doing something, even if it is not a sin to you but, it leads others to sin, STOP, least you suffer the same loss.
Here the bible is talking about a simple meal and the consequence of leading someone to sin. How much more careful should we be about drinking.