“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2)
Dear Beloved of the Lord,
As we approach the Champions Conference we are reminded that a champion is, like Christ, one who has endured. If you endure, your an overcomer. That’s a good thing, because everyone can endure. Not everyone can get rid of their problems—some problems are God sent, some we attract, and some are given by the enemy because he sees the treasure within us. These are the difficulties and obstacles that we encounter on our path, or race.
Jesus lived in the joy of the Father. Jesus practiced living in fellowship with His Father. Each day, He came into the calm delight that the Father was with Him. Likewise, the shame wasn’t coming on Him. He was experiencing it, right then.
The tension of whatever your cross is, is happening right now. Wherever you are…you are already in the race. The race can be coupled to your cross. When you receive Jesus and begin your race, you will eventually run into a cross.
A cross is something to which you have to yield. You can not fix it, get rid of it, or remove it. It’s where we say, “I will walk with the Lord, through this, and with this, because this part of what He’s asking is more than I can bear, I don’t know how to handle it but I’m going to keep moving with Jesus.”
At one point in our journey, we will be walking with Jesus and He will ask you to “Seek Me for more than ‘a lunch’…I want you to seek me for eternal lunches.” How, you ask? His reply is, “Believe Me, follow Me, eat Me, drink My blood.”
Here, we begin to get into places with God that are difficult to process. We get to experience this in our daily life where we seek God’s answers. His answer will be…love, release from debt, bless them. This is our cross…Let’s continue to run the race that is set before us…
Upcoming Events
Monday, February 17, 7PM – 8:30PM: We continue our six Mondays of prayer, which started January 27th. Come be a part of pre-conference prayer gatherings to discern the heart of God for The Champions—Spring Conference, which will be held 3/12/14 to 3/15/14.
Tuesday, February 18, 7PM: Join our journey of the “Saved Your Seat” Discovery Group: Men and women will meet separately to discover truths in each chapter and discuss how to incorporate them into our lives.
Wednesday, February 19, 6PM: Discovery Service –Seeing the Unseen in your Seeing”
Wednesday, 7PM: Glory Service– “Living from the Place Jesus prepared for You”
Sunday, February 23, 9AM: Diana Anderson will share, “The Promise of Love.” “By which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” (2 Peter 1:4)
Sunday, 10:20AM: Prayer for the Nations. The rulers of the world plot while He who sits in heaven laughs—we are the voice of agreement with God on earth.
Sunday, 11AM: I will share “The Message You Don’t Want to Hear at Church.”
Grace and shalom,
Steve Dittmar
