Today's Passage - Hebrews 12:1

Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. We shall always honor those who bear witness in our lives.  Whenever I read this verse, I am filled with gratefulness.  Many have walked the same path of faith as we have.  The questions and difficulties that you and I encounter are not the ones that no one else has seen before.  David said in Psalm: "Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? " It was obvious that his heart was once depressed and irritable.  Elijah prayed under the broom tree: "I have had enough, LORD, ...Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors."  It was obvious that Elijah had lost confidence and had fallen into the darkness of despair.  Jesus in Gethsemane said in his prayer: "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death."  Generations of believers have run the same path.  They have experienced the same failure, frustration, and despair that you and I experienced, even times when there was no choice but to wait.  Whenever I thought about these, I took comfort. Otherwise, I would constantly ask: "Lord, why only me?"  I had mistaken that Christians would not be depressed.  Such misunderstanding allowed the enemy to frequently accuse us.  Indeed, there were many witnesses who have experienced all these before.  They bear testimony to how God helped them finish the good race, and fight the good fight.  The author of Hebrews spent forty verses in chapter 11 to list a series of heroes of faith.  Through the testimony of those people, the author encourages us to keep running in the path of Lord. In fact, those who God uses are no different from you and I.  They are all ordinary people.  When they are in difficult situations, they too will worry and flinch.  But after by faith they walked the path that God has asked them to go through, their lives start to be different.  They receive God's wisdom, God's words, and God's power.  Bible says: "Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit" This is the spirit that empowers people to have power of wisdom in the Old Testament.  It is also the spirit that performed miracles in early churches.  It is also the same spirit that resides in us.  Generations of witness all say the same thing to us: if they can live a victorious life through faith, then by the grace of God, we can certainly be victorious, because our Lord will never change, and He is the same yesterday, today, and forever! Prayer with Pastor Tong Liu Lord, we thank you because you are the same yesterday, today, and forever everlasting God.  Let us put our weakness in your hand through our faith.  We believe that you will open the way for us.  You will give us complete salvation in our life just like how you saved people in the past.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus Christ, Amen!     Shekinah Glory - ROLCC Building Expansion Project - Follow us on our Facebook page!