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September 12, 2016 – I Timothy 6:11

itimothy6-11But you, Timothy, are a man of God; so run from all these evil things. Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. I Timothy 6:11When we run, we choose to run toward a goal we choose.  There really is only one goal that is beyond this world — choosing – committing to an eternal decision.  Timothy, a man of God, had chosen God – and yet he was cautioned to pursue the virtues listed here.  Righteousness and a godly life along with faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.  Perseverance is ‘getting your second wind’ and completing the race.Making good strides of faithfulness and love and thinking we have it made!  One small stumble with a bruised ego and knee, makes us want to quit.  Pursuing true faith, love and gentleness is not in our power. It is through the power of Jesus Christ in us, for us and with us.God chose us and called us to eternal life from the beginning.  He created us to be His.  When we realize deep in our heart the breadth and depth of his love, we will love him and worship Him.  We will fight and hold on to the promise of eternal life He calls us to.Declaring Jesus as our Savior is a beginning of the fight.  There is no turning back.  We have declared Him as our Savior is not a one time happening, we declare Jesus by our responses to life moment by moment until our last breath.Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.  We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.  Hebrews 12:1-2Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have declared so well before many witnesses. I Timothy 6:12