rec0224-112638<\/a><\/p>\n Introduction\u201d\u201d<\/em>Some of you know that I sometimes walk\/jog a couple of miles out on Burnt Mtn. Rd.\u00a0 Now, I haven\u201d\u2122t done that in a couple of weeks now, mind you.\u00a0 But tomorrow morning, I plan to get back at it and go 2 miles.<\/p>\n Yesterday, as we were moving a load of stuff from Betsy\u201d\u2122s old place, I saw a fella I\u201d\u2122ve watched from a distance for years.\u00a0 He was out jogging.\u00a0 He and his wife are former Marines and they are avid runners.\u00a0 Now\u201d\u00a6when I say \u201cavid runners\u201d, I\u201d\u2122m talking about marathon-type runners.\u00a0 In fact, this guy is over 50 and does \u201cultra-marathons\u201d\u201d\u201dwhich, for the uninitiated, means races that last more than one day and are not just 26 miles, but even 50 to 100 miles of running!\u00a0 He has done 2 that I know of in different countries.\u00a0 I have no idea as to WHY anyone would do that to their body.\u00a0 But more so, I have no idea HOW he can do it.\u00a0 But\u201d\u00a6<\/p>\n A KEY difference between this local ultra-marathon runner and me is this\u201d\u201dhe chooses to run almost every day\u201d\u00a6and he chooses to run \u201cawhile\u201d!<\/p>\n Spiritually, God is making ultra-marathon runners out of us all!\u00a0 God is our Trainer and He \u201cputs us through the paces\u201d day by day, whether we want to run today or not.<\/p>\n And we ALL ask WHY?\u00a0 I mean, I don\u201d\u2122t like to run that much.\u00a0 And it just hurts the farther I go.\u00a0 And so we ask God, \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n Jesus asked God \u201cwhy?\u201d\u00a0 too!\u00a0 It was in His darkest hour\u201d\u00a6as His life was ebbing away.\u00a0 Jesus knew God\u201d\u2122s will and what He was doing in His life perfectly\u201d\u201dHe spoke words of forgiveness toward those who crucified Him, but still on the Cross Jesus asked His Father, \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n So we\u201d\u2122re in good company when we ask \u201cwhy\u201d\u201d\u00a6so long as we really want to know God\u201d\u2122s answer, and so long as we are ready to surrender to what His design is in our training.<\/p>\n MacDonald<\/strong><\/p>\n You must have a reason for joy that is greater than whatever else you might be facing.<\/p>\n And there IS a reason\u201d\u201dwhich is what we\u201d\u2122re going to look at this morning.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n \u201cConstant Conditioning\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n James 1:2-8<\/p>\n *Our life as Christ-followers is one of constant conditioning to make us more like Jesus!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n James 1:2-8 (The Message)<\/strong><\/p>\n 2-4<\/sup><\/strong>Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.<\/p>\n 5-8<\/sup><\/strong>If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves. Don’t think you’re going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.<\/p>\n *Our life as Christ-followers is one of constant conditioning to make us more like Jesus!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n HOW<\/strong> can we keep that perspective day by day?<\/p>\n There are 3<\/span><\/em> keys<\/strong> to living every day \u201cin training\u201d with Jesus:<\/p>\n 1. You and I must realize GOD\u201d\u2122s GOAL for our lives.\u00a0 <\/strong>(4b)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cyou will be strong in character and ready for anything\u201d (NLT)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n God is committed to make us more like Jesus!<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWe must realize that God\u201d\u2122s purpose in redeeming us is not primarily to make us happy, or healthy, or free from trouble, but to make us holy, to make us like His Son\u201d (Grace Grows Best in Winter<\/em>, Margaret Clarkson, 66).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThe Undetected Sacredness of Circumstances\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cWe know that all things work together for good to those who love God . . . Rom. 8:28.\u00a0 The circumstances of a saint\u201d\u2122s life are ordained of God.\u00a0 In the life of a saint there is no such thing as chance\u201d\u00a6God brings you to places, among people, and into certain conditions to accomplish a definite purpose through the intercession of the Spirit in you\u201d\u00a6\u00a0 All your circumstances are in the hand of God, and therefore you don\u201d\u2122t ever have to think that they are unnatural or unique.\u201d (Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest<\/span>).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Romans 8:29\u201d\u201d\u201cFor God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son . . . .\u201d (NLT)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 2 Corinthians 3:18\u201d\u201d\u201cAnd all of us have had that veil removed so that we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord.\u00a0 And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more.\u201d (NLT)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If it\u201d\u2122s God\u201d\u2122s goal to make us more like Jesus, then we ought to consider what He was like.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What was the main focus of His heart<\/em>?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In Matthew 16, beginning in verse 21, Jesus tells His disciples \u201cplainly\u201d, the text says, that he must suffer and be crucified and then raised again on the third day.<\/p>\n \u201cBut Peter took him aside and corrected him.\u00a0 \u201d\u02dcHeaven forbid, Lord,\u201d\u2122 he said.\u00a0 \u201d\u02dcThis will never happen to you!\u201d\u2122.\u00a0 Jesus turned to Peter and said, \u201d\u02dcGet away from me, Satan!\u00a0 You are a dangerous trap to me.\u00a0 You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, and not from God\u201d\u2122s.\u201d\u2122\u00a0 Then Jesus said to the disciples, \u201d\u02dcIf any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me.\u00a0 If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it.\u00a0 But if you give up your life for me, you will find true life.\u00a0 And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul in the process?\u00a0 Is anything worth more than your soul?\u201d<\/p>\n (Matthew 16:22-26)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Peter\u201d\u2122s focus was the same perspective that you and I struggle against every day\u201d\u201dan ideal for our lives that is free of pain, full of happiness and prosperity and ease.\u00a0 We really think THAT is what life is all about\u201d\u201dand we measure our days by that standard!\u00a0 Jesus says that such thinking is a \u201ctrap\u201d!\u00a0 Jesus tells us that for His followers things are radically different!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jesus says that, IF we\u201d\u2122re going to follow Him, life is about carrying a cross and following Him<\/em>!\u00a0 And following Jesus means giving up our dreams of a life of ease and waking up every day to a life of \u201cconstant conditioning\u201d, daily cross-bearing!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jesus\u201d\u2122 Focus:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n At perhaps His most trying moment, Jesus prayed, \u201cMy Father!\u00a0 If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me.\u00a0 Yet I want your will, not mine<\/span><\/em>\u201d (Matthew 26:39, NLT).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jesus fully trusted His Father and obeyed Him no matter what!\u00a0 And THAT is the goal for every Christ-follower\u201d\u201dto be more like Jesus by trusting and obeying God!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n You and I must realize GOD\u201d\u2122s goal for our lives.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n MacDonald<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Our capacity to live to the fullest even in the middle of hardship is always connected to the vitality of our relationship with Jesus.<\/p>\n *Our life as Christ-followers is one of constant conditioning to make us more like Jesus!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n 2.\u00a0<\/strong>You and I must understand GOD\u201d\u2122S TRAINING PROGRAM in our lives.<\/strong> (3-4a)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYou know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way\u201d (The Message)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In God\u201d\u2122s training program, the key is enduring through<\/span> the tests<\/em>!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n And there will be many and many kinds\u201d\u201dmulti-colored trials will come!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n MacDonald<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n A trial is a painful circumstance allowed by God to change our conduct and our character. \u00a0God doesn\u201d\u2122t allow tests to cause us to fail but to give us the opportunity to succeed with His help.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cSo be truly glad!\u00a0 There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for awhile.\u00a0 These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure.\u00a0 It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold\u201d\u201dand your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold.\u00a0 So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world\u201d (1 Peter 1:6-7, NLT).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWe can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us\u201d\u201dthey help us learn to endure.\u00a0 And endurance develops strength of character in us, and character strengthens our confident expectation of salvation\u201d (Romans 5:3-4, NLT).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Kistemaker:\u00a0 \u201cGod stands behind every trial and test . . . The Christian ought to see the hand of God in all of life\u201d (32-33).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n You and I must learn to see trials as the next exercise in God\u201d\u2122s training program!<\/em><\/p>\n *Our life as Christ-followers is one of constant conditioning to make us more like Jesus!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Is God\u201d\u2122s goal for your life worth the pain of the training program to you?<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n If you answered \u201cyes\u201d, here comes the final key to allowing God to get, and keep, you in tip-top condition.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 3. You and I must embrace God\u201d\u2122s training as a gift.<\/strong> (2)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cConsider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides\u201d (The Message)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We must keep God\u201d\u2122s goal in our lives in mind\u201d\u201dthat though the trials\/tests will be unpleasant and endurance will be hard, in the end we will be more like Jesus, which is worth any cost!<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n MacDonald<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n God brings tests into your life because your faith in Him\u201d\u201dyour belief that He is in control and that He is good\u201d\u201dcan be proved only in times when life is hard.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n And you and I have to \u201cremain under\u201d the trial in order for it to do its work in our lives.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If we complain, or lash out, or bail, or flat out fold on our faith in the midst of a trial, we\u201d\u2122ll never learn what God desires for us.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jesus said, \u201cIf you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine.\u00a0 If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give it up for me, you will find it\u201d (Matthew 10:38-39).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Is this ever a struggle for you?\u00a0 Is it hard to keep this perspective day by day?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ask your Trainer for help<\/span><\/em><\/strong>!<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n James 1:5-8 (MSG)<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves. Don’t think you’re going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.<\/p>\n Of this idea of \u201cworrying your prayers\u201d\u201d\u00a6<\/p>\n <\/p>\n MacDonald <\/strong>says\u201d\u00a6<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201d\u00a6the tendency to harbor areas of our lives where we don\u201d\u2122t believe God can work.\u00a0 Our reservations reveal that we really don\u201d\u2122t believe that God knows best.\u00a0 If we go to God for help but insist on retaining control and having the last word, we shouldn\u201d\u2122t expect Him to answer.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Romans 5:3-5 (NLT)<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us\u201d\u201dthey help us learn to endure.\u00a0 And endurance develops strength of character in us, and character strengthens our confident expectation of salvation.\u00a0 And this expectation will not disappoint us.\u00a0 For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n James 1:12\u201d\u201d\u201cGod blesses the people who patiently endure testing.\u00a0 Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.\u201d (NLT)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n You and I must embrace God\u201d\u2122s training as a gift.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n MacDonald<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n One of the greatest moments between you and the Lord is when you come to a point of submission and He takes you into His arms, soothes your soul, binds your wounds, and fills your mind with wisdom for what\u201d\u2122s ahead.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Conclusion\u201d\u201d<\/em>\u201cA bar of steel worth $5, when made into ordinary horseshoes, is then worth $10.\u00a0 If this same $5 bar is manufactured into needles, the value rises to over $350.\u00a0 And yet if it\u201d\u2122s made into delicate springs for expensive watches, it is worth more than $250,000.\u00a0 The same bar of steel is made more valuable by being cut to its proper size, passed through one blast furnace after another, again and again, hammered and manipulated, beaten and pounded, finished and polished until it\u201d\u2122s ready for those delicate tasks\u201d (M.R. DeHaan, Swindoll, 585).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Trouble and trials in your life do NOT mean that you and I are out of line with God, or that God is withholding blessings from you.\u00a0 In fact, challenges and tests are a good sign that you are a Christ-follower and are right where God wants you\u201d\u201din training!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The key is to realize that and \u201cget with the program\u201d so that you and I can get the most out of each trial<\/em>!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n *Our life as Christ-followers is one of constant conditioning to make us more like Jesus!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Gabby Douglas<\/strong> has become America\u201d\u2122s Sweetheart at the Summer Olympics!\u00a0 They call her \u201cthe flying squirrel\u201d for obvious reasons.\u00a0 Her story is illustrates what we\u201d\u2122re talking about this morning.\u00a0 Gabby has lived for the last couple of years 3,000 miles from her mother, with a host family, in order to train with the nation\u201d\u2122s best ladies\u201d\u2122 gymnastics coach.\u00a0 She said that she needed to leave home to go train because she needed a higher level of difficulty. And train she has!\u00a0 And Olympic gold has been the result!<\/p>\n If a 14 year old girl can make that sacrifice to win the Olympics, can we not discipline ourselves to think about life like God does? Like Jesus did?\u00a0 And, rather than run from \u201ctraining\u201d, embrace it!?<\/p>\n James 1:12<\/strong>\u201d\u201d\u201cGod blesses the people who patiently endure testing. \u00a0Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.\u201d<\/p>\n *Our life as Christ-followers is one of constant conditioning to make us more like Jesus!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Celebration of Lord\u201d\u2122s Supper<\/strong><\/p>\n This table is a celebration of the forgiveness of our sins that comes to us through Jesus\u201d\u2122 body and blood given on the Cross, and through His resurrection from the dead.\u00a0 But it is also a celebration of the Cross-life that you and I are called to live\u201d\u201dthat life of constant conditioning where, through the crucifixion of our own wills, we grow to be more like the One who died for us!<\/p>\n Today as you come to the Table, embrace the Cross as your salvation and embrace the Cross as your path to real life<\/em>!<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Message by Chad Kelly rec0224-112638 Introduction\u201d\u201dSome of you know that I sometimes walk\/jog a couple of miles out on Burnt Mtn. Rd.\u00a0 Now, I haven\u201d\u2122t done that in a couple of weeks now, mind you.\u00a0 But tomorrow morning, I plan … Continue reading