Rhapsody of Realities 25 April 2023: Run to Win
SCRIPTURE: Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain (1 Corinthians 9:24).
What we read in our theme verse lets us know that in Christianity, there’s godly competition; we run to win, to obtain the prize. We’re likened to sportsmen: “And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air” (1 Corinthians 9:25-26).
The Bible shows you what to do to be at the top of your game: become temperate in all things; exercise self- control. Like an athlete, there’re things you should do and there’re things you shouldn’t, just so you can keep in form. Those athletes do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we do ours for an incorruptible crown. Hallelujah.
Notice what He says in the 27th verse: “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway” (1 Corinthians 9:27). He instructs us to do everything to win, but according to the rules, so you’re not disqualified. Don’t run to miss the prize.
Read Yesterday’s Rhapsody of Realities Here
In Hebrews 12:1-2, the Bible says, “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith….”
As you run your race, as you fulfil your ministry in the Gospel, lay aside every weight. Don’t let sin be an encumbrance in your life. Refuse to allow anything to take your focus off the Master. Remain steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as you know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord (1 Corinthians 15:58).
CONFESSION: I’m a spiritual sportsman, disciplined to do the Word, and fully yielded to the leading of the Spirit. I run straight toward the goal in order to win the prize and fulfil God’s call and destiny for me. I remain steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. Hallelujah!
FURTHER STUDY
Philippians 3:12-14
12 Not that I have now attained [this ideal], or have already been made perfect, but I press on to lay hold of (grasp) and make my own, that for which Christ Jesus (the Messiah) has laid hold of me and made me His own.
13 I do not consider, brethren, that I have captured and made it my own [yet]; but one thing I do [it is my one aspiration]: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,
14 I press on toward the goal to win the [supreme and heavenly] prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward.
Hebrews 12:1-2 AMPC
Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to andentangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady andactive persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us,
2 Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
1-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN: Luke 21:5-38 & 1 Samuel 23-25
2-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN: Mark 5:14-20 & Leviticus 25
Thank you for studying today’s Rhapsody of Realities – We’ve Received the Kingdom – written by Pastor Chris Oyakhilome.
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