Finishing Strong

Hey everyone!!! I hope you all are doing well and having a great week. As you may or may not know Joey is on vacation in Texas this week so I get the privilege or writing this week’s blog. I came in this morning praying and wondering what I should write about and then it came to me. Memorial day is now behind us, which for students means summer is right around the corner!!!

There is nothing better then summer. It is so close you can all ready taste all the hotdogs and hamburgers and feel the sand between your toes.

The problem is there are still a few weeks of school left. If you attend an older school like I did in High School, your building may not have air conditioning, which makes it that much harder to finish out the school year strong. But I am writing to you to encourage you to do just that, FINISH STRONG!!!

In Philippians 3, Paul writes about how we need to finish the race to which we are running. For students we all need to stay focused and finish this school year out strong.

But this passage goes much deeper than finishing the school year out. Paul is encouraging us to continue to develop our relationship with Christ. It is very easy to stay where it is comfortable instead of maturing in our relationship with Christ.
There have been many times where I make excuses for not growing in my relationship. I say to myself that there is no way God wants to use someone like me because I have not been faithful in the past or that I have done too many bad things for God to use me now or in the future.

That can’t be any further from the truth. In Philippians 3 Paul encourages us to focus on what is ahead. He wants us to finish the race strong.

So my encouragement to you all is just that. Focus on maturing your relationship with Christ. If you have sin you need to confess and get right with God, do it and move on so you can finish the race strong. You never see athletes running a race with weight around their ankles so why should we do that with our relationship with God?

1) Read Philippians 3:12-14
2) Ask God to forgive you of past sin and to help you move forward
3) Write down goals on how you want to see yourself grow in your relationship with Christ. Then share then with someone (a leader, friend email them to me…)

My prayer for you all is to see you continue to develop and take seriously your relationship with Christ. You all rock!

Peace out! – Mike - (mwinger@rtbc.org)