Monday's Musings

I would like to share an excerpt from the message that I shared yesterday at New River. I am truly convinced that God is calling us to focus on the development of our relationship with Christ as well as raise the level our commitment regarding our relationship. Each of us must be willing to do our part and participate with God in the development of this relationship. Our commitment to Christ is going to require tenacity, perseverance, endurance, faith, desire, passion, love (both God's love as well as our love for Him), and a heartfelt decision to declare that Jesus Christ is Lord of our lives.

Romans 12:9-12, “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor (to detest utterly, some translations us the word “hate) what is evil. Cling (keep company, to stick or be glued) to what is good. ¹⁰ Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another;¹¹ not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; ¹² rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer;” (NKJV) (Emphasis Added)

 I am intrigued about a story that I read about an unusual high school wrestler from Iowa. Listen to Kobey Pritchard's wrestling coach describe his protégé's motivation in the Iowa state wrestling tournament. "He's been very vocal about his goals: wrestling in a national championship, becoming an NCAA champ, not just a state champ."  What makes Pritchard different from his competitors? He wrestles without a left leg. Kobey was five years old when he was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma in his left femur. Doctors removed the leg when he was six. Now he's ranked number four in the state in his weight class. His drive and determination are inspiring his teammates and his fellow competitors. (Jim Denison shared this information)

These words were written from the pen of the Apostle Paul as he recognized the challenges that were facing the Christians at Rome. Should I dare ask this question this morning? Is there anyone here today facing challenges in your journey of life? I believe the Spirit through Paul is reminding us that victory will not come to the faint-hearted. Nor does it belong to those whose will to win is not strong. Victory will not arrive to those who have not made the decision to be committed to the daily journey of faith.  We must recognize the fact that the enemy has the strong resolve to overthrow our faith and we must possess an even greater resolve to resist, rebuke and defeat the enemy of our soul. It was said during the war in Vietnam that the “American government and the people lost the resolve and the will to win the war.” Only by facing the opponent head-on with undaunted valor can the battle be won.  Victory necessitates that we fight on with undying, inflexible persistence.

I believe that is very important for us to recognize the fact that God is calling us to draw nearer to Him and that we must not allow the enemy of our soul to place the plague of spiritual blindness in our lives!!!