You are never alone.
Let that sink in for a moment. Whatever situation you face, hardship you endure, trial you encounter, or celebration you experience—you never go through life alone.
Because Jesus gave up His life for you, you get to experience life with Him by your side … forever. Nothing can separate you from His love, and nothing you do will ever earn His approval. He loves you because He created you, and He has determined to remain faithful to you.
In Philippians 2, Paul reminds us that Jesus’ death on the cross leads to our salvation. Jesus is Lord. He has authority over our situations, our problems, our circumstances, our fears, our failures, and our successes. Jesus can cast out darkness, overcome addiction, reject temptation, heal the sick, set people free, and redeem our brokenness. And He has given us His Holy Spirit.
Because of the Holy Spirit, God lives in us, and He will work through us.
Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us that there is nothing we can do to earn our salvation, but Philippians 2 reminds us that just because our salvation is free, doesn’t mean we can take it for granted. God will help us display His love to others, but we need to actively choose to let God work in us. God wants us to partner with Him as He works through us to reach a broken world.
When you submit to God, He frees, transforms, and redeems you. He dreams with you, and for you. He formed you, and He will finish what He has started in you—if you let Him. Nothing is impossible for God.
So right now, ask God to show you how He is at work in your life. Allow Him to reveal where He has gifted, guided, and healed you. Take some time to thank Him for His faithfulness, and then brainstorm some ways to faithfully live out the plans He has for your life.
Finish Well
One of the most important parts of running a race is keeping your eyes on the finish line. If you happen to look at the other competitors, it can ruin your focus, causing you to slip up. Staying focused is crucial.
The writer of the letter of Hebrews uses this same idea when talking about our own spiritual lives. The writer encourages his readers to keep their eyes focused on Jesus while running the race of life.
When we keep our eyes on Jesus and our thoughts focused on Him, we are reminded of His great love and goodness. Keeping our eyes on Jesus helps us to not grow discouraged.
When we take our eyes off Jesus, we can lose focus on what really matters. We can become fixated on the priorities of the world around us rather than the mission of God. We can also lose our sense of value and worth if we lose sight of the love of God.
One of the reasons the author encourages his readers to focus their eyes on Jesus is because Jesus is the author and perfecter of our faith. He is the ...