"Running Successfully"

Are We Ready and Set to GO?

The latest race I watched was an Olympic BMX bike race and it was most interesting that the competitors in this race put so much emphasis on checking everything one last time just before they took off down the track. It was almost mechanical looking how they all were doing the exactly the same thing. They would check their helmet, check their safety padding, check their peddles, their shoes and probably a dozen things in between that I couldn't see! This was part of the race that was very important and determined their finishing the race successfully; just as important as the actual running of the race. You see, we must be prepared in order to complete and obtain the reward when we cross the finish line.

In life we are not rewarded for being the fastest or the strongest. In our passage today, we will look at how Paul explains to us how to successfully collect our reward. Everyone's life is different in many ways and there will be many different details that one person may have to deal with that would be totally unknown to another, but this one thing is always true, "Principles of life never change!" Whether we agree with a principle or not doesn't change the principle. For example, there is the principle of gravity. You may not agree with it and you may argue your case against it all of your life, but if you were to loose your balance on a ladder, you would certainly still fall and hit the ground.

Paul shares principles for running the race. He gives us the facts that he has found to be true based on the principles of life. Let's read,

Philipians 3:2 Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.
Php 3:3 For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.
Php 3:4 Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinks that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:

Here we find Paul warning the fellow believers of dogs, evil workers and concision. In life the dogs are the ones who wish to harm you and the reference to "dogs" is a way that they described those who believed that Jesus was the Messiah but that he only came to save Israel.
Maybe that's where the sign came from! "Beware of Dog!" Don't let those who seem like they are living right and are being blessed convince you to believe that you don't deserve the reward that is waiting for us all! There are many groups that teach that prosperity is a sign of your having a blessed relationship with Christ. Beware! Condition your mind for the race! If you let others influence you to believe anything opposite of the principles of God, you will cross a finish line at the end of this life but it isn't going to be rewarded by the invitation of God.

Then Paul warns us of evil workers. In the Greek the word "evil" translated means "worthless" and the word "worker" means "teacher". Hmm? I wonder why Paul tells people to watch out for this? Once again, this has to do with protecting our minds from deceit and misinterpretation of the principles of God. Then he warns them of concision. This was the cutting of their flesh to signify that they were believers in the act of circumcision and this was not necessary but there were teachers who still taught this! I believe that we have many people today that are living under the fear and condemnation of the laws that are laid down by the churches in America! It is the trick of satan to try to oppress the believer through the teachings of men in the church!
DO NOT BE DECEIVED! DO not let anyone tell you that YOU do not deserve Gods love and the reward of God!

Your minds must be on the things that are true if you want to live life successfully in Christ! It is the best way and the safest way to live our lives! It is what we must do to be prepared when we start our day! To be prepared and to run the race, Paul gives us three things here to do. In verse three he says first of all that we are those that worship God in spirit. The word "worship" in the Greek means "to serve", so how would we serve God in our spirit? Our spirit is our core and the beginning of our thought process where our attitudes develop. This means that we will have the desire and willingness it takes to serve God that starts in our spirit.

Secondly Paul says that we will rejoice in Jesus Christ! The word "rejoice" in the Greek translates to mean "boast". So how would we boast in Christ? I would say that it comes naturally with a built in principle of life! That would be that we boast when we are proud of someone or something. Have you ever had one of your children give you something they made for you and you carried it around with you for a while showing everyone else what they had done? For us older parents; has your child ever won an award and you just couldn't wait to tell someone else? I believe that this is the rejoicing in Christ that Paul speaks of here. We MUST be boasters in Christ to run the race of life successfully! Why?

Because the people who don't boast in what Christ has done in their lives will not experience the same kind of relationship with Christ. They'll leave Christ at home on the coffee table or in the glove compartment of the car while they boast in themselves and their accomplishments in life. It's a whole different ballgame when we choose to boast in the things that we do in the flesh. We actually slow down our growth in the excellent knowledge of our Christ our Lord.

Thirdly, Paul says that we should not have confidence in our flesh. The mistake is when we trust our flesh for just a short while and it gets off of the track and completely out of the race. It doesn't happen all at once either.

As I was watching the competitors racing against each other, I noticed something that the announcer never mentioned. There were about twenty groups that raced and every single time they raced, there was always two or three that crossed the finish line long after the others. All of the others were within a second or two of each other, but these riders were coming in long after that! I thought about what must have caused it and I began to notice that they would usually fall behind in the first part of the race. But they all had the same equipment and the same start time? What happened? I believe they were distracted and they were convinced in their minds that they couldn't win the race as they first began to lag behind. Their situation was allowed to control their spirit and their spirit controlled their actions. They pretty much gave up running the race the best that they could!

Let's keep our minds focused on the things that will get us successfully across that finish line one day and not on the things that others may be throwing our way or our circumstances. Hold true to the principles of God and you will see the results that you want in your life! Let the Spirit of God condition your mind for successful living!

Worship (serve) God in our spirits; rejoice (boast) in Christ; and don't trust your flesh to take you towards the finish line that you want to cross and receive the reward of life! Let your spirit guide you today.

Phillipians 1:27 Only let your conversation be as it becomes the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;

My heavenly Father, I ask you today for your blessings! Bless me indeed with all of your blessings as I go through my life serving you, boasting in you and trusting in you. Enlarge my area of influence that I may serve you more. Keep me from the evil of the flesh that I might not grieve you or others and protect me and my family from the harmful effects of life on earth with your all powerful hand. Amen.