The roadmap to your future success is not a bed of roses. As a Christian, we should know that our life is a race; our life is a warfare. Therefore, if we must run, we must run with a purpose. Many today have surrendered to their situation; they have given up and are discouraged. You can hear them say, “Oh! God has not answered my prayers! Most of the attempts and efforts I make to achieve certain things do not usually receive breakthrough as I expected.” They begin to lose faith and courage and then conclude that, “it doesn’t work”.

Trouble, pain can stop the man without faith but for a man of faith, the more sensibly he feels the pain, the better improved he becomes in his relationship with God.

Hebrew 12:1 – “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.”

Ask the heroes of faith and they will tell you how much trouble, pain they endured before coming to a new level in life.

The Apostles of old were men of credibility; they paid the supreme price to bring the Gospel to us. Though they are no more, we are reading about their works in the Bible today. We must respect and honor those who came before us or we cannot move forward.

2 Corinthian 11:23 – 27 – Despite all his challenges, Paul moved on. He said in verse 26: “I have been constantly on the move.”

Challenges force us to look deeper inward, explore possibilities, pray and dream of other ways that we might have ignored.

Satan is our common enemy; he does not want us to run the straight race with God; it is his whole design to distract us from walking with God so that he can have access to our souls.

What can break our focus?

Looking at life and its adversaries from the human point of view is a trap of satan to derail us from our natural focus. Worrying about tomorrow destroys our sense of judgment. Anxiety about tomorrow is burdensome as much as it is sinful. When we are anxious, we will not be able to differentiate between God’s supplies and satan’s bait, in the face of certain trying situations. Fleshy desires and spiritual desires are two different opposing masters. A focus on materialism can divert our devotion from God Almighty to the god of wealth (Matthew 6:33). Our personal cares for the present, the future, cares for our family and others, are capable4 of changing our focus from running the straight race with God, especially when they arise from unbelief and distrust.

The battle we fight in our daily walk with the Lord is with our senses.

The victory starts within you. We overcome by keeping our purpose, our vision, in the forefront of our minds. Mind management is the first priority of the overcomer. To conquer the senses, your mind must be renewed be knowing the word and acting on it. We that are led by Christ’s spirit of hope for a better future, are not ruled by the senses. The recreated Sprit responds to the word of God, not to reason.

Look at Job‘s case, a great overcomer. The aim of satan in afflicting Job by destroying his wealth and health, was to destroy his relationship with God. That purpose was expressed through Job’s wife who the tempter use to tempt him. Job 2:9 Satan wants us to curse God while under pain; that is why he takes delight in inflicting pain on people.,

Remember the Master’s word in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” The Lord is not saying that we lack reason to be troubled; what He is really saying is that, there is a greater reason not to be troubled.

For everything there is a purpose as a Christian!

Are you sick? There is a greater reason not to be troubled. Ask the man at the pool of Bethesda and he will tell you how God can sometimes delay our miracle in order to strengthen our desire for Him.

Are you facing hard times? There is a greater reason not to be troubled. Ask Joseph and he will tell you how God sometimes delays in answering our prayer in order to prepare us for the challenges ahead.

Are you disappointed in life? There is a greater reason not to be troubled. Ask Peter and he will tell you how God sometimes allows us to experience some disappointment in order to preserve us for redemption.

They relied on God’s strength and became pearls of usefulness.

If we rely on the strength of our savior, He will not allow the enemy of our souls to give us more than we can bear.

Therefore exchange your strength with God’s strength through His word by His Spirit! God’s word refreshes our mind; God’s spirit renews our strength.

Be determined!

A resolve to do whatever proper thing it takes, separates the weak from the strong. The strong are determined to do whatever possible and proper thing it takes to get to their goal.

So when discouragement comes, don’t stop, dig deep and fight it through. We fight through our situation by maximizing our forward motion. To maximize means to speed up; that is to pray the more, fast the more and move closer to God the more.

 Stay in faith; the best is always yet to come. TBJ…SCOAN

Have a blessed week.

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