Running the Race of Life

Good Morning Everyone,

As we wake up each day, it is hard to
keep in perspective the big picture.
Each day is like a brick laid, it is part of
what makes up the building of our life.
We are constructing it one day at a time.
And the body of work when done will
be strong and resilient and wise,
or it will be poorly constructed and fall apart.

We must keep that in mind when each precious
new day unfolds. Make it purposeful. NO matter
what you are going through there is something you
can do for others to bless or encourage them.

We are in the human race, running this race together,
and it should be towards God, and His calling and will
upon our life. And it should reach out in blessing
and ministry to others.

Run it with pride in what you do, do it well,
run it with strength for the long endurance race,
run it with hope, keeping in mind the finish line
not the obstacles in the way.

Run this race with the word of God firmly planted
in your heart so it may map out your thinking
with a clear plan and resolute thinking that is
Godly and purposeful.

And do not allow bitterness or unforgiveness
or any form of bondage to come in and slow you
down in this race. Cast them off. You have a race
to run! No excess baggage.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete,
but only one receives the prize? So run your race
that you may lay hold of the prize and make it yours.
Now every athlete who goes into training conducts
himself temperately and restricts himself in all things.
They do it to win a wreath that will soon wither,
but we do it to receive a crown of eternal reward
that cannot wither.
Therefore I do not run uncertainly -- without a definite
aim. I do not box as one beating the air and striking it
without a adversary. But I buffet my body, handle
it roughly, discipline it by hardships -- and subdue it,
for fear that after proclaiming to others the Gospel and things
pertaining to it, I myself should become unfit -- not
stand the test and be unapproved -- and rejected
as a counterfeit.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27

I have fought the fight, I have finished the race;
I have kept and firmly held the faith.
2 Timothy 2:7

Can you say you have fought the best fight you
can to make your life Christlike? Have you disciplined
yourself? Bought into submission all those things
which are not pleasing God? Have you brought
every thought captive that is not of God?
Have you cleansed your soul and thrown away all profitless and
unnecessary baggage so you can run the race of
life well, submitted to God and His rules?

Ask Him today to show you what to do,
to be right before Him and what He wants you
to do with your life, for His glory. And receive
His peace, and His will upon your life and go
forth in His name and run the race well,
so when it is over you will be called good
and faithful servant. And when you look back
upon your life you can feel peace knowing you
have done all you could do to run the race well.

love
millie




RUN WITH INTENT

Buckminster Fuller once said, “The minute you choose to do what you really
want to do it's a different kind of life.” And it's not about what you're
getting Paid to do! If you want to live abundantly, decide what you really
want and figure out a way to do it. Be clear and live with intent.

You may have heard of Fred Lebow. Fred complained to his doctor that he
lacked energy. His doctor advised him to take up running in order to
increase his stamina. He fell in love with it! He was 39 years old when he
entered his first race -- and did horribly. He beat only one other
contestant...a 72-year-old man. But he loved it!

Fred decided what he really wanted to do -- and he did it in his spare
time. He joined the New York Road Runners Club and organized New York
City's first marathon race. But what Fred truly wanted to do, even more
than run, was to bring people together. And that is what he did. He
believed that anybody should be able to run -- people of all ages, any
background, professional or amateur, and of any country. Today, more than
28,000 people of all backgrounds and nationalities compete in the NYC
Marathon.

Not everyone in New York was excited about people running through their
neighborhoods. Fred was approached by a youth gang that warned him that
nobody had better run through their turf. “That's great,” Fred enthused.
“I need someone to protect the runners in your area, and you look like
just the fellows to do it.” He gave them each a hat, shirt and jacket and
that year, when the marathon went through their neighborhood, these young
men proudly guarded the runners along their way.

Fred decided what was truly important to him and he found a way to do it.
He lived with intent. That single decision made his life remarkably different.

In 1990, Fred Lebow found he had a brain tumor. In 1992 he ran his final
race. He crossed the finish line holding the hand of his friend and
Norwegian Olympic medallist, Grete Waitz. A bronze statue was created of
Fred in his running clothes, checking his watch. It is now placed at the
finish line of every race. Fred died in 1994. But as one sports writer
said, “Fate handed him a short race. With his gall, with his love of life,
Fred Lebow turned it into a marathon.”

Fred would say that it's not about how long you live, but how you run the
race of life. Do you run it with intent?

By Steve Goodier