Shine Your Light

Matthew 5:14-16

Ye are the light of the world.
A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.
Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel,
but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works,
and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

We often hear that Jesus is the Light of the world…and He is…but Jesus, himself said, “YE (you and me) are the light of the world."  He continues by giving an analogy… “a city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.” 

Have you ever been driving/riding down the road.  It’s nighttime and dark outside.  Yet, in the distance you see a brightly lit area, shining up into the night’s sky and you know that there is a town just ahead.  That city’s lights bring comfort knowing there’s a place not too far away where you can get something to eat or a place to find a hotel to rest at for the night.

When Jesus made this statement “a city that is set on a hill cannot be hid” He was talking to you and me….we are to be like that city set on a hill that cannot be hid and is shining our light in this dark world, showing others the way to Jesus.

Jesus went on to use the analogy of a candle placed on a candlestick.

In the time when Jesus walked the earth, there were no electric lights.  They couldn’t just flip a switch and light up a room.  They had to light a candle, and then another to illuminate the house. 

One candle placed on a candlestick can bring enough light into a room that a person can see well enough to maneuver around the room without tripping over objects. 

When I first moved to Louisiana, it had not snowed there in 10 years.  The year we moved there from Wisconsin (where the snow was up to our knees), God decided to send snow to Louisiana.  Unfortunately, when it snows in La, there is usually ice accompanying it.  

The ice formed on the trees which then caused limbs to snap and break which in turn led them to falling onto power lines which, as a domino effect would have it, we were left without power…for a full week.   Thankfully, we had a gas fireplace for heat, but we had to use candles in order to see to walk down the hall or go into the bathroom.  Thankfully, we still had running water and a gas stove that we could heat water on for bath times.  Those candles provided us light so we were not sitting or stumbling around in the darkness.

Going back to the analogy Jesus used in Matthew 5, He said a candle placed on a candlestick giveth light UNTO ALL that are in the house.

This world today is so messed up, stumbling around in darkness, unsure of which gender they are, calling evil good and good evil, legalizing drug use while trying to silence those who dare to say anything about the Bible.  If we don’t shine as a light and stand for Truth, how will they know the way?

You and I are the light of the world!  We MUST let our light shine!

Too often, we become intimidated and try to hide our light under a basket…at school, at work, out in public places.

Instead of shining for Jesus, we try to hide and blend in…. 

“I can’t wear skirts all the time – if I do, my friends might make fun of me”   Wear the skirt anyway and with pride. 

“I’d better laugh at that crude joke or they might snub me and think I’m odd”   Would Jesus approve and laugh at that joke if He was standing there?  Would He be okay with you or me laughing at those off color jokes?

“I can’t pray over my food in front of everyone.  No one else does it and they might think I’m weird and laugh at me.”   Pray anyway!  Jesus deserves our gratitude.

The world pushes their ungodliness without shame.  Why should we be embarrassed to take a stand for Jesus?

Are you embarrassed to stand for Jesus?

Peter, a former fisherman turned Disciple, followed Jesus everywhere.  He walked with Him. He talked with Him.  He witnessed miracle after miracle.  Peter was completely sold at and dedicated to Jesus…or so he thought.

Jesus gathered His disciples to eat the ‘Last Supper’ before He was led away to be crucified.  The disciples did not realize that was the very last supper they would eat with Him.  They were rejoicing and singing a hymn then followed Jesus into the mount of Olives where they were going to pray.  (Well, actually they all fell asleep while Jesus went to pray). (Ref: Mt 26:17-46)

But before Jesus went to pray, He warned them that they were all going to be offended that night because of Him.  Peter adamantly refuted that statement…

Mt 26:33

Though all me shall be offended because of Thee,
yet will I never be offended.

Basically, Peter was telling Jesus, “I’ll never be embarrassed to be called a Christian!” 

Later that night, when the soldiers came to arrest Jesus, Peter was the one who was bold and brave and step forward with a sword to cut off the ear of the servant of the High Priest while trying to defend Jesus.  It appeared he was holding true to his word.

It was easy to appear to be brave and unashamed when he could see Jesus and know He was right beside him.  The true test came a short time later when Jesus was not around.

They had led Jesus away and placed Him on trial.  Peter followed from a distance and sat with the servants outside the high priest’s palace around the fire with others who were waiting to see what would become of Jesus.  (Mt 26:58)

A young lady recognized Peter as one of the Disciples who had followed Jesus.  Peter, who was so bold and fearless earlier, now became a little fearful and denied that he had been with Jesus. 

He got up quickly and went out on to the porch.  There, he met another young lady who recognized him as one who had traveled with Jesus and mentioned it.  Again and more adamantly, he denied their accusation with an oath said, “I do not know the man!”

A short time later, some more people recognized him and mentioned that he was one who had been with Jesus.  A third time and this time more vehemently, Peter once again denied that he knew Jesus as he began to curse and swear, saying, “I know not the man!”

And immediately, the rooster crowed….just as Jesus had foretold.

Peter felt such conviction over his denial that he went out and wept bitterly. (Mt 26:69-75)

Peter had been ashamed to be associated with Jesus.  Peter denied knowing Him (he lied) and joined those who were using foul language with cursing and swearing so he would appear to fit in with them.  But he did not continue in that sin.  He felt conviction (God prodding his heart that he was doing wrong), listened to that conviction, and repented with bitter tears.

Peter was ashamed to be associated with Jesus out of fear for his life.  (although later he stood boldly, preaching the Gospel despite the threat of death for preaching the Name of Jesus)

We become ashamed and embarrassed to stand out as a Christian, and yet the only consequence we’re going to face is someone making fun of us or snubbing us.

There are people in other countries who are being brutally tortured and murdered for serving Jesus.  And yet we are afraid to look different or be different because someone might laugh at us and hurt our feelings.

We were not created to blend in – we were born again to stand out.  

We are to be a reflection of Jesus Christ.  We are to be a light!

So, shine your light! Don’t be ashamed to be different, to stand out. 

Mark 8:38
Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words
in this adulterous and sinful generation;
of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed…

If we’re ashamed to shine as a light in this adulterous and sinful world, Jesus said He’ll be ashamed of us.

The world is unashamed to promote ‘gay pride’…they have become emboldened and try to force us to believe that way.

The world blares their head banging rock/rap/country music that promotes all kinds of ungodliness and hatefulness.  The music is promoting murder, pride, rebellion, unfaithfulness in relationships and people are fine with it playing in stores and restaurants but then complain and have a problem when Christian songs are playing.  

Evil is accepted and Good is shunned!    

People in the world proudly walk around with t-shirts that promote ghosts, wizardry, and witchcraft. That boast and post about the latest movie that may be out which contains magic and so much content that is contrary to the Bible.  And yet, if a Christian tries to say anything about Jesus, they try to intimidate and silence us.

I became more respected at school and in work places by continuing to stand for Christian values.  It didn’t happen at first.  I was made fun of, teased, taunted, ridiculed, snubbed, shunned…all because I was Pentecostal.  But I kept standing for Jesus.  And over time, I found they began to respect me for it. 

But even if I never gained their acceptance or approval, the main One I’m seeking acceptance and approval from is Jesus Christ.

Don’t be ashamed or embarrassed to live for Jesus.  He bore the shame of the Cross for each of us.  How much more should we strive to live for Him?

As we go back to school, to work, or wherever we may go out in public (or even in our home)… 

LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE FOR JESUS!

Ye are the light of the world! So, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

You Are What You Eat

Have you ever heard the phrase, “you are what you eat”?  

Now, that doesn’t mean that if you eat a hamburger you become a cow.

Or if you eat some bacon you become a pig.

But there is a lot of truth in that saying.

Nutrients from the foods you eat provide the foundation of the structure, function, and integrity of every little cell in your body….from your skin and hair to your muscles. 

You may not feel it, but your body is constantly repairing, healing, and rebuilding your body.  That’s why we hear so much about how it’s so important to eat healthy foods. 

When your young, it’s easy to ignore that and think it doesn’t matter what you eat.  Who really wants an apple when that tantalizing piece of chocolate cake is calling your name?

But as we get older and our skin starts to get wrinkles and our hair starts to grey and we wake up feeling like we need a nap, we begin to think about it quite a bit more.

I’ll admit there were many times when I was younger that I’d choose to eat a poptart for breakfast instead of oatmeal or a bowl of wheat bran. I never really gave much thought to nutrition.  Just that it was fast and convenient.  

Sometimes, I’d come home from work and grab a bowl of salsa and tortilla chips for supper knowing that the salt intake was too high.  But that’s what I was craving and so that’s what I’d eat even though I knew it wasn’t good for me. 

As I’m getting older, I’ve become more conscientious concerning my food choices and starting taking extra supplements to help get the nutrients into my body that it needs to be more healthy. 

A lot of health issues we develop as we get older stem from eating unhealthy foods when we were younger….diabetes, heart issues, high blood pressure, etc.

Some of these issues arise from eating too many sweets or foods that are fatty and fried and so full of sodium it could make a salt shaker have a heart attack.

Let’s parallel this with our walk with God.
We are what we eat ‘spiritually’ as well.

Matthew 15:17-20

Do not ye yet understand, that whasoever entereth in at the mouth
goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?
But those things that proceed out of the mouth
come forth from the heart;
and they defile the man.
For out of the heart proceed
evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications,
thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
These are the things which defile a man….

Whatever we fill our minds and our hearts with is going to affect us spiritually. Meaning, what we allow our eyes to see and what we allow our ears to hear is going to affect us more than we realize. It will get into our heart and have an affect on what we think about. It WILL affect our walk and our closeness with God.

Oh, Be Careful Little Eyes What You See

Does anyone remember that old children’s song, “Oh be careful little eyes what you see”?

It goes like this: “Oh be careful little eyes what you see. Oh, be careful little eyes what you see.  For the Father up above is looking down with love.  So be careful little eyes what you see.”

Scientific studies have proven that what you see and hear will have an effect on what  you think about which in turn can affect your behavior.

Studies have shown that playing violent video games has had a negative effect on young people and can cause them to exhibit increased violent and aggressive thoughts and feelings.   They become withdrawn socially.  And it’s even had an affect on their grades in school.

I have to wonder if there’s a connection between these violent video games and school shootings.  I don’t recall ever hearing of school shootings before video games were invented.

Video games used to be cute and innocent.  You could tell it was merely a game but now they try to make the games as realistic as possible.  The people look real and then when the character is shot, they make the gamer feel empowered and excited because they’ve defeated another foe and it’s on to the next level.

Children have a hard time discerning between fantasy and reality as it is.  When they spend hour after hour after hour playing games in which the main goal is to kill others, it will have an affect on their thinking and emotions. 

They are filling their minds with violence and gore. And it will get into their heart.

TV and movies have progressed from innocent shows like “Leave it to Beaver”, “Andy Griffith”, and “Little House on the Prairie” to shows that now promote violence, adultery, homosexuality, and all sorts of ungodly, anti-biblical ways of living. 

Cuss words were never permitted before on these shows.  They were either left off or bleeped out.  But now, they say the foulest and crudest cuss words openly and without shame and the listener no longer flinches when they hear it. 

The goal of Hollywood is to desensitize people to the sinful actions and actually make them feel like it’s justified and ok.

**movies promote and support adultery
**Disney promotes children disrespecting their parents
**Homosexuality is being promoted and pushed – confusing children
**witchcraft and sorcery is glorified – Bewitched, Harry Potter, Wicked

The push is to cast doubt concerning the existence of God and mock any belief in Jesus.  The movies make Christians look like crazy cultish people all the while glorifying false gods such as Zeus and other Greek mythology.

And it’s working – because what you allow your eyes to see and your ears to hear will get into your mind and heart and eventually affect you spiritually.

Psalm 101:3
I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes:
I hate the work of them that turn aside;
it shall not cleave to me.

Be careful what you let your eyes see and look upon!
It will get into your heart and affect you spiritually.

Oh, Be Careful Little Ears What You Hear

What we listen to will affect us spiritually as well.
It will affect what you think about.

Cuss words can get into your mind and before you know it, it comes out of the mouth. And you think, “where did that come from?”

It comes from what your hearing…whether from movies or those around you.

Some have unsaved family members and can’t help what comes out of their mouth. In that case, pray, plead the Blood of Jesus and ask God to keep that from getting into your heart.

While we can’t help those situations, we can be careful what we allow our ears to hear through the movies/tv shows playing and the music we listen to.

Studies have shown music is powerful and can have an affect on how you feel or what you think about. 

Music can affect a person’s emotions.  Even without words, music can make a person feel happy or it can make them feel sad.  With words added to music, it can have an even greater affect.

Gangsters have reported that they turn up head banging rock music and pump it into their head to desensitize themselves before going to kill someone.

I’ve been in stores or restaurants and no matter how hard I try, the words to the songs end up penetrating my ears.  I have to rebuke and pray against it because these songs are usually promoting and glorifying every thing that goes against what the Bible instructs. …

• Rebellion.
• Murder
• Unfaithfulness (adultery)
• Fornication
• lust 
• and such like  

If you listen to something other than Christian music, stop to realize what that song is promoting.  

• Is it helping you become a better person?  
• Is it helping you to become more like Jesus? 
• Or is it promoting lust of the flesh?

Be careful what you allow your ears to hear…for it will get into your heart! 

2 Peter 2:4-8
For if God spared not the angels that sinned,
but cast them down to hell,
and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
and spared not the old world,
but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness,
bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes
condemned them with an overthrow,
making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;
and delivered just Lot,
VEXED WITH THE FILTHY CONVERSATION OF THE WICKED:
(For that righteous man dwelling among them,
IN SEEING AND HEARING,
VEXED HIS RIGHTEOUS SOUL
from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)

Our souls SHOULD be vexed when we see or hear something that the Bible speaks against and condemns as sin. There should be something in us that is grieved when we hear anything ungodly.

It will get into the heart and mind of the listener and affect them.  It will make a person spiritually unhealthy and lead to spiritual death.

That’s why we need to fill our minds with the things of God.

That’s why we often stress the need to have a daily prayer life and to read the Bible daily.

Listening to Christian music helps us to become God-focused rather than thinking about the flesh and things of this world.

Christian music focuses our thoughts upward in worship to God.
While worldly music gets us to focus on things of this earth, our own desires, our own wants, our own lusts, and thinking on carnal things.  

Which one is helping us draw closer to Jesus? Wordly music or Christian music?

We are what we eat – physically and spiritually.
We need to fill our minds and hearts with the things of God.
We need to fill our minds with the Word of God.

The Bible talks about the ‘washing of water by the Word.’

Eph 5:26-27
That He might sanctify and cleanse it with
the washing of water by the Word,
That He might present it to Himself
a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle,
and or any such thing;
but that it should be HOLY and WiTHOUT BLEMISH.

Our minds get bombarded with the filth of this world everyday.
Reading the Bible daily helps to wash that filth out of our minds.

We need to fill our minds with the things of God.

I recently posted a Bible study titled, “CRAVE the WORD.”   We need to crave the Word of God and the things of God more than the things of this world.  

Matthew 5:6

Blessed are they which do HUNGER and THIRST after righteousness:
for they shall be filled.

We need to HUNGER and THIRST after righteousness – eat what is spiritually healthy

Sometimes our appetites are not right….we crave the wrong things.

It takes discipline to change a bad habit.

You will have to tell your flesh ‘No!” to its wants and wordly desires.

You’ll be tempted and tried. But the more you…  (James 4:7)

(1)             Submit to God

(2)            Resist the devil (say No to sin and sinful ways)

(3)            The devil WILL flee from you

**While on the Daniel fast – I found the longer I ate healthy food, the less I wanted unhealthy food.

The more you ingest the Word of God, the more you will crave and desire the things of God.

Challenge:

Pay attention to what you are feeding your spiritual man

Discipline yourself to change any bad habits you may have.

God's Treasure

Exodus 19:5     “Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:”

GOD’S TREASURE

 Webster’s Dictionary defines “treasure” as accumulated wealth such as money or jewels or any person or thing considered valuable.

As a verb it means to value greatly.

   

Since the beginning of time, man has placed high value on gold, silver, and other precious metals and gems. These items were used to trade and barter for the goods or services of another.  They were and still are a sign of prestige and wealth.

    

Some desired wealth and riches so much that they would raid, plunder, steal or kill to obtain possession of these items.

Achan was such a man. (Joshua 6-7)

Joshua led the children of Israel in battle against the city of Jericho.  The city was huge with massive walls surrounding it.  It seemed unsurpassable but God has a way of making a way where there seems to be no way.

God instructed Joshua to have the Israelites march around the city only once on the first day.  He gave strict instructions to not make a sound.

The people of Jericho may have been standing on the wall watching and taunting the crazy Israelites as they marched around their city.  But God instructed them not to say a word – because the battle was God’s, NOT theirs.  Sometimes our words can do more damage than good so they were to hold their peace.

They did this for 6 days.  Finally, on the 7^th day, they marched 7 times around the city.  At the end of the 7^th time around, they began to blow trumpets and shout. 

Seemed like a crazy thing to do but because of their obedience, the walls of Jericho fell down and the Israelites were able to enter the city and overtake it.

They were to kill everyone inside (except Rahab and her family who were with her in her home…only because she had protected the Israelite spies who entered the city.  Joshua 6:17, 25). 

Everyone else was to be killed and everything within the city was to be burned.  It was a cursed city and everything in it was cursed. (Joshua 6:18) 

The only thing to be brought out was the silver, the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron.  Those items were to be added to the treasury of God’s House and not to be kept by any person. (Joshua 6:19, 24)

Everyone obeyed but a man named Achan.  He saw how nice some of the things were that were being destroyed.  Greed entered into his heart and so he took a few things for himself and hid them in his tent.

He thought no one knew but God knew!

He treasured the things of this world above obedience to God and it led to not only his death but the death of his entire family.  (Joshua 7:24)

Kings – for the love of treasure, would rise up against other kings and invade their kingdoms for the gold, silver, and jewels that were in their treasury.

Pirates – would attack unsuspecting vessels and plunder them for the riches aboard.

Claim-jumpers – would murder their neighbor to obtain their gold during the gold-rush in California.

The lust for treasure drove men to commit heinous crimes….all for a treasure that is temporal and which brings more heartache than happiness. 

But what makes these metals and gems hold such value?

Have you ever stopped to realize where gems come from and what they’ve gone through to become what they are?  They come from dark places…under the ground and deep down within caves. 

 Gems are formed in the earth through pressure and time.  Some gems take years to form – while others take only a short period of time depending on just the right combination of temperature, pressure, and saturation.  Some form so rapidly that you can actually see the crystals forming.  Sometimes the pressure forming these gems is so slight it appears to be almost non-existent yet it is there.

Some gems are formed from a rock that you might ordinarily kick out of your path as you walk across a field – at first glance you might consider it worthless. But if you open it up, you will discover a marvelously beautiful pattern of color and design.  Once cut, sanded, and polished it becomes a precious gem of beauty and worth.

    

Gold comes out of the ground alloyed to other metals and containing trace impurities.  It has to go through a refining process to remove these things.  Silver is recovered as a by-product of smelting various metals.  Smelting is the process of melting the metals in order to extract the pure metal.

Each of these gems are precious metals and rare.  They are not easy to find or obtain.  But once they are, they have to go through an extensive refining process.  This is why there is great value placed on them.

Yet the Bible states in…

Mat 6:19-21

19  Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and   rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

20  But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,…

21  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

     Man’s treasure has always been on earthly things.  Because of it, their heart has become lustful, greedy, and murderous.  But these things will someday pass away.  And when we die, we cannot take these things with us. 

I Corinthians 4:7 reads:

“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels….”

The only treasure we can keep is the Holy Ghost….it is through the Holy Ghost that we store up treasures in heaven.  Our heart needs to be on the things of God and not of this world.

   

We view the Holy Ghost as our treasure (and it is!) but God views us as His.  When we’re baptized in Jesus’ name and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost speaking in other tongues, we become a part of God’s treasure. 

   

 God’s treasure chest is filled with various gems and metals that He’s lovingly extracted from the muck and mire of this world.  He carefully cuts away the outer crust of sin that has formed like a rock over our hearts. 

The most important part after the cutting is the sanding process. This is where you make sure you get every scratch out.  The better you sand, the better polish you’ll get. 

 

When a stone is being sanded, it is important to have water dripping on it continuously while sanding.  In the same way, as we go through the sanding process in our spiritual walk with God, it is imperative that we constantly water and saturate our souls with the Word of God and prayer.

The last process is the Polishing:  it takes the shortest amount of time even for very hard minerals.  Polishing is briskly done but with a soft cloth so as to make the gem or metal shine and reflect the light.  We are to reflect the Light of Jesus Christ.

Some people will turn out to be diamonds….

Diamonds:

·        reflect light

·        hardest mineral known

·   Mostly used as industrial tools for cutting and grinding – help in the process of making other gems.

·        Rare and only found in a few places.

Some will become sapphires while others become rubies, gold, or some other gem of great worth.  Some will develop rapidly into the gem God designed them to be while others will transform over a process of time.

   

Each is different yet each is precious to God and valued for its intended purpose.  We should never look at others and say:  “I’m not as valuable as Sis Diamond or worth as much as Bro Gold.”

God placed each of where we are for a purpose that only we can fulfill.  Each of us is worth a great price to God – our worth to Him is so great that He was willing to suffer great agony and die a cruel death on the cross to purchase us.  No price was too high so He paid for us with His blood. 

When you look at your brothers and sisters, look at them for what they are:  a gem in God’s treasure chest.  And never ever look at yourself as anything less that what you are: a treasure of great price!

When you go through dark times and feel like everything is caving in on you…like you are being buried alive…just remember God is forming you into a beautiful gem.

Do you know how diamonds are formed?  They are formed through intense heat and pressure?  They are then brought to the surface by deep source volcanic eruptions (i.e. more fire, more heat, more pressure).

When you’re under pressure, Hold On!  It may be that God is trying to make a diamond out of you.

And always remind yourself: “I AM God’s treasure!”

Endurance

And ye shall be hated of all men for My Name’s sake:
but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
Matthew 10:22

What does it mean to endure?

Recently, Bro Gregory and I joked about having to ‘endure’ listening to a college choir.  It wasn’t that they were not talented, but it was more so the choices of songs they were singing…or rather, the noises they were putting to music.  But that’s not the type of “enduring” that this passage of Scripture is talking about.

Strong’s defines it as:
          to stay under (behind), i.e. remain
          figuratively, to undergo, i.e. bear (trials), have fortitude (meaning to have
                  courage in pain or adversity), persevere
          **also translated in the Bible as: abide, endure, (take) patiently, suffer

Google dictionary defined “endure” as meaning to:
          Suffer (something painful or difficult) patiently

From these definitions we can see that endurance is accompanied by suffering.

In our Christian walk, we ARE going to suffer! Therefore, we need to learn to endure.

Psalm 34:19 reads…

Many are the afflictions of the Righteous:
but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.

That word afflictions means: bad or evil, calamity, distresses, wickedness, wrong. The righteous are going to face people doing wicked and evil things to them.  The righteous are even going to be done wrong.
MANY are the afflictions (the evil, the bad, the wickedness, the wrong) that the righteous will have to put up with.
But the Lord WILL deliver (i.e. defend, preserve, rescue) him out of them ALL.

Building endurance is not easy.  It comes from suffering.

An athlete does not start out running a marathon or playing in the Big Leagues. That athlete has to work up to it.  They have to build up their endurance level.

The fastest man in the world is a Jamaican sprinter named Usain Bolt.  He’s won many gold medals while competing in the World Olympics. 

In the summer of 2012, he won the men’s 100-meter race when he ran it in 9.63 seconds, which was a new Olympic record, making him the first man in history to set 3 world records in Olympic competition. 

Usain Bolt did have speed that came naturally.  But that alone is not what brought him to the place of gaining the title as 11-time world champion.  

He didn’t get to that place overnight.  It took time and it took training.  He had to build up his endurance so he could run for long stretches at a time.

It wasn’t easy either.  He gained injuries along with his medals.  At one point he pulled a hamstring which took him out of the competitions for a while until it healed.  He didn’t let the injury keep him down. 

He took time to heal, but his desire to win the race drove him to do everything he could to get back in the race.  He had his eyes on the prize. Eventually, he was able to run another marathon, winning the race once again despite lightning striking just as he crossed the finish line.  He didn’t let anything stop him – not even lightning!

I am not a sports fan, I don’t follow sports figures, nor am I promoting it, but there are some things we can learn in our Christian walk from these athletes.   Even Apostle Paul compared our Christian race with that of an athlete…

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Know ye not that they which run in a race run all,
but one receiveth the prize?
So run, that ye may obtain.

And every man that striveth for the mastery
is temperate (has learned self restraint) in all things.
No they do it to obtain a corruptible crown,
but we an incorruptible.

I therefore so run, not as uncertainly:
so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:

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.

Paul realized the importance of endurance.
Paul knew what it meant to suffer.

2 Corinthians 11:23-28

Are they minister of Christ? (I speak as a fool)
I am more: in labours more abundant,
in stripes above measure,
in prisons more frequent,
in deaths oft,
Of the Jews five times received I 40 stripes save one,
(that’s 195 stripes he received in his life)
Thrice was I beaten with rods,
once was I stoned,
thrice I suffered shipwreck,
a night and a day I have been in the deep.
In journeyings often,
in perils of waters,
in perils of robbers,
in perils by mine own countrymen,
in perils by the heathen,
in perils in the city,
in perils in the wilderness,
in perils in the sea,
in perils among false brethren;
In weariness and painfulness,
in watchings often,
in hunger and thirst,
in fastings often,
in cold and nakedness.
Beside those things that are without,
that which cometh upon me daily,
the care of all the churches.

He had also written to the Corinthian church in a previous letter concerning his sufferings.

1 Corinthians 4:11-13

Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst,
and are naked, and are buffeted,
and have no certain dwelling place:
and labour, working with our hands:
being reviled, we bless’
being persecuted, we suffer it.
Being defamed, we intreat:
we are made as the filth of the world,
and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.

Sounds unbelievable that one person could go through all those things. Paul may have been questioned about the validity of his claims because he went on to let them know he wasn’t lying when he said he’s endured all these things (2 Cor 11:31).  

He knew what it was like to suffer!

But no matter what we go through, NOTHING can separate us from the love of Christ if we endure….

Romans 8:35-39

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
shall tribulation, or distress,
or persecution, or famine,
or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
As it is written, For Thy sake we are killed all the day long;
we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Nay, in all these things
WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS
through Him that loved us.
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers,
nor things present, nor things to come,
Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature,
shall be able to separate us from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

NOTHING can separate us from the love of Christ!
The only thing that can separate us from God is our willful sins (Isaiah 59:2) without shame or repentance.

Our sufferings can actually draw us closer to Jesus…if we allow it. If we keep our eyes on Him.  If we draw near to Him in our sufferings and endure.

Psalm 34:18
The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart;
and saveth such as be of a contrite (crushed) spirit.

That word ‘saveth’ means: to be safe, avenge, defend, deliver, get victory.

The Lord draws close to those whose hearts are broken just as a parent draws near to comfort a sobbing child. 

The Scripture continues to assure us that He is going to defend and avenge and bring victory for those whose spirit has been crushed by life’s blows.

But we have to endure.

Paul comforted himself and others with these words concerning suffering in 

Romans 8:18….

For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time
are not worthy to be compared
with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

The sufferings that we go through are working something in us and God will be glorified through us…if we keep our eyes on the prize and continue to endure.

In living for Jesus, you will suffer.

Remember our subject text – Mt 10:22, “You will be hated of ALL men for My name’s sake…”

We’re not suffering in the same way that those in China or the Middle East are suffering.  They are being brutally massacred for the Name of Jesus.

We are so blessed here in America to have the freedoms that we have, but those freedoms are slowly being eroded away. 

Our persecutions here in America come more so from family and friends.

Sometimes family can be our biggest persecutors, but keep living the life for Jesus no matter what they do or say.

They’re watching more than you realize.  And while they may oppose your life right now, the life you live will be a witness before them and could cause them to turn to Jesus. 

There was a man I knew many years ago.  He antagonized his wife about going to Church but he would take her anyway because she was handicapped.  He’d bring her TO church but he would never come inside.  She had a lady come teach Bible studies at her home.  He didn’t leave but he’d either fall asleep or pretend to be asleep every time. 

His wife eventually passed away but it can be said of her that she endured to the end. She never was able to see him step foot in the Church doors but he finally did one day.  And, praise God, I can report that he repented of his sins, was baptized in the name of Jesus, and received the Precious gift of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues!  Last time I saw him, he was still going to Church and living for Jesus.

Bro Gregory tells about a man in Kentucky (Bro Bill) who used to persecute and abuse his wife for going to church.  But eventually, he too came to Church and God saved him because his wife endured and lived a life that was a witness before him.

No one likes to suffer but suffering is what builds endurance.

Just as an athlete has to push past the ‘burn’ in the muscles and the weariness.  It is those things that help them to be able to endure long races.

When we keep pressing on, walking with Jesus, keeping our eyes on the prize more than the pain we’re going through, we’re building endurance.

When you’re suffering, know that God is trying to develop something in you and make you into a vessel of honor for His glory.

Have you ever stopped to realize where gems come from and what they’ve gone through to become what they are?  They come from dark places…under the ground and deep down within caves. 

When you go through dark times and feel like everything is caving in on you…like you are being buried alive…just remember God is forming you into a beautiful gem.

Do you know how diamonds are formed?  They are formed through intense heat and pressure?  They are then brought to the surface by deep source volcanic eruptions (i.e. more fire, more heat, more pressure).

When you’re under pressure, ENDURE!  Stand fast!  And Hold On! 

It may be that God is trying to make a diamond out of you.

There is a promise for those who endure and are partakers of sufferings…

2 Corinthians 1:7

And our hope of you is steadfast,
knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings,
so shall ye be also of the consolation.

Our consolation is that one day we’ll hear Jesus say, “well done, thou good and faithful servant…enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” (Mt 25:21)

Our goal is to make heaven our home but we have a made up mind to live for Jesus no matter what. 

It is he that endureth to the end that shall be saved.  (Matthew 10:22)