{"id":806,"date":"2019-07-04T13:55:07","date_gmt":"2019-07-04T13:55:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.glitterandgraceteens.com\/?p=806"},"modified":"2019-07-04T13:55:07","modified_gmt":"2019-07-04T13:55:07","slug":"race-to-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.empoweredjesusgirl.com\/?p=806","title":{"rendered":"race to win"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, the Bible says, \u201c24 <\/sup><\/em><\/strong>Do you not know that those who run in a\nrace all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such\na way that you may win.<\/em> 25 <\/sup><\/strong>Everyone who competes in the games\nexercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a\nperishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 <\/sup><\/strong>Therefore I run in such a way, as\nnot without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; 27 <\/sup><\/strong>but I discipline my body and\nmake it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not\nbe disqualified.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most days, I feel like I am\nrunning in a race from the moment I wake up to the moment I try to close my\neyes at night. There are some nights I feel as though I need an off button for\nmy brain because even when I close my eyes, my brain is still running in\ncircles processing every little unnecessary detail of life. Does anyone else\nhave this problem? It\u2019ll be 2am and I\u2019ll be wide awake making a to-do list in\nmy brain for the next 20 years. It\u2019s like we are so busy in life that we don\u2019t\neven know how to rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bible tells us in Psalm 46:10,\n\u201cBe still and know that I am God.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notice the first 2 words of that\nverse, \u201cbe still.\u201d There have been a few days, ok a lot of days, that my oldest\nson has woke up super early in the morning and crawled into my bed. As a mom, I\nlove when my boys want to spend time with me, cuddle, and just be my little\nboys for one more day. I know there will be a day that they will be \u201ctoo cool\u201d\nfor mom time, so for now, I\u2019m going to enjoy every moment of it. On the days that\nmy son crawls into bed with me, I want him to be a little cuddle bug and super\nsweet, but what I get is a gymnast that just drank a gallon of caffeine. He\nliterally cannot be still (or quiet) with or without caffeine. He never slows\ndown, even when he sleeps. In the hour or two before my alarm goes off, he\nprobably cuts 50 \u2013 100 flips, counts to 1,000, and tells 10 different stories.\nHis little mind is like a carousal that never stops spinning. I love him to\ndeath, but \u201cbeing still\u201d is not in his nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I talk about my little boys being\nwild, never slowing down, and running everywhere they go, but the truth is, adults\nare just the same. When I wake up, I make my coffee, take a shower, do my hair,\nget myself ready, run like a wild maniac to get the boys ready, call in search\nand rescue to find socks and shoes for both kids, chase at least one boy up the\nstairs trying to get them to eat their breakfast, throw on whatever I can,\nreheat my coffee because I forgot about it, rush out the door to take the boys\nto school and daycare, and somehow just somehow make it to the car on time or\npossibly a few minutes late. Either way, it\u2019s always hectic. It\u2019s like a race every\nmorning and that\u2019s only 1 hour of my day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

God wants you to be in a race daily.\nHe wants you to run like you have a purpose. He wants you to never stop running\ntowards Him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem with today\u2019s society is\nthat we are constantly running a race, but we aren\u2019t running on the right\ntrack. As Christians, we are told to make disciples, to serve God, and to love\nothers. How can we do that if we\u2019re too busy? Life is a constant rush, but it\u2019s\nimportant to remember what you should be rushing after. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To make it simple, in your daily\nlife, stay focused on Christ. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t let the busyness of the\nworld slow you down or distract you from racing after God. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Serve God with purpose. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Serve God with an urgency to lead\nothers to Christ. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Serve with the thought that today could\nbe your last day on earth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you died today, who would you\nleave behind that doesn\u2019t know Christ? Who were you too busy to slow down and\ntell about God?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 broken down\nmeans:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

24 <\/sup><\/em><\/strong>Do\nyou not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one\nreceives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

No\none enters a race to just go for a jog. When you are in a race, you run to win.\nAs a Christian, your race is focused on the Father. Make serving Him your goal,\nyour finish line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 25 <\/sup>Everyone who competes in the games\nexercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a\nperishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 <\/sup>Therefore I run in such a way, as not\nwithout aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the finish line of a Christian\u2019s race, is the\nglory of heaven above. Don\u2019t forget where you are headed, and don\u2019t leave\nanyone behind.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

27 <\/sup><\/em><\/strong>but I discipline my\nbody and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself\nwill not be disqualified.<\/em><\/strong>\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Serving\ntakes sacrifice and discipline. In the busyness of this world, there will be days\nthat are hard to slow down and focus on Christ. There will always be something else\nin your life trying to distract you from serving God. The devil doesn\u2019t want\nyou to have time to follow God\u2019s will for your life. He would much rather distract\nyou with so many other things. Athletes prepare for a race by exercising,\ntraining, and conditioning their bodies to adapt to whatever competition they may\ncome up against. As a Christian, prepare yourself for the battles that will\ncome ahead. Read your Bible, serve Him with others, encourage other believers,\nand serve with purpose. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are busy doing God\u2019s work, you won\u2019t have time to get\ndistracted by this world.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slow down. Stay focused. Serve Him. Never give up.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

May God bless you and show you His Grace every day!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, the Bible says, \u201c24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. 25 Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 Therefore I run in such a way, as … Continue reading race to win<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-weekly-devotions"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.empoweredjesusgirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.empoweredjesusgirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.empoweredjesusgirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.empoweredjesusgirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.empoweredjesusgirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=806"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.empoweredjesusgirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":809,"href":"https:\/\/www.empoweredjesusgirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806\/revisions\/809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.empoweredjesusgirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.empoweredjesusgirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.empoweredjesusgirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}