May 10, 2018

May 10, 2018

Judy Hollaway

January 28
Running with Jesus 2015

Luke 6:21b  "Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh."

     Facing the crowd Jesus knew they were faced with all the pressures and afflictions of life. So are we! He was moved with compassion and understanding. God can and will turn our mourning into laughter! Another contradictory thought weeping and laughter! As we run through life we meet up with Jesus and we realize we are poor in Spirit we begin to mourn, we eat at His table and get filled with His Spirit and then our tears come and they will turn to joy. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace. When we are filled with His Spirit we start running and jumping pews! You might say, we can run and jump hurdles. We are relieved of the weight of sin that was holding us down and joy and laughter fills our souls. 
     Let's take some time out and think about the day your burdens were rolled away at Calvary. You could run freely for the first time. The time of weeping over our sins was turned to pure joy and laughter. You ran to tell somebody. Jesus has done so much for me I can't stop telling others. I know what it is like to sit in a dark room and weep for hours looking and longing for someone to love me. Thank God I cried out to Jesus and He came running to me and picked me up and washed my wounds and healed me. He brought joy to my soul and He is still running to people offering healing and help, the problem is they won’t stop running in circles long enough to listen to the blessed Jesus, who turns mourning into laughter. 
     There are two racing events going on in our world. Satan and his world system that leads to sorrow and death, then there is God's kingdom race that brings joy, laughter and peace to tired souls. Jesus race has a great destination, heaven for eternity but Satan will bring mourning, suffering, and death. Which race are you on? There is just a short time left to sign up! Bring your tears to Jesus, He can wipe them away and restore your life.

Father, thank You for helping us and wiping our tears away and delivering us from the deeds of darkness and bringing us into Your light. Help me tell someone! Give us boldness to speak up for You. 

In the morning when others hate us!

May 9, 2018

May 9, 2018

Judy Hollaway

January 27
Running with Jesus 2015

Luke 6:21A "Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. 

     Jesus was looking from a mountain down to a multitude. The world had brought them so much sorrow. Remember they were bringing sick, lame, diseased, and helpless people to Him. They were spiritually starved. Their religion was all external with rules that outcast many of them. People in America have eaten at the world's table so much they do not realize they are starving spiritually. We need to approach God's Word hungry and ready to eat the bread of life. Man does not live by physical bread alone but every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. God will bless those who come hungry and He says He will fill us. He filled us with His spirit when we invited Him in and wants to keep us full. For years I was starving and a malnourished Christian. Let's not starve go eat regularly at His table and we will be a blessed, happy runner with Jesus. To be a good runner we must be filled with the right nutrients to be able to go the distance! Have you eaten this morning? Come taste and see the Lord is good.
     If you are not filled with Jesus, you better check out and see if you are really in His race! We eat foods that never satisfy, like carbs in a few minutes you want more. Eating protein will satisfy your cravings. Jesus is like protein that runners eat for strength! You need Jesus to maintain your strength for the run through life, come ye who are weary. There is nothing in this world that can bring satisfaction to the soul, only Jesus! You will run like a chicken with his head cut off just flopping around with no direction, no satisfaction, and no contentment. Bring your hungry soul to Jesus, He will satisfy your need. 

Father, feed us and fill our cup this morning! You give true satisfaction! Oh how blessed we are when You feed us. Help us always show up at Your table.

Weeping? Come tomorrow and let Jesus console you!

May 8, 2018

May 8, 2018

Judy Hollaway

January 26
Running with Jesus 2015

Luke 6:20 "And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God."

     Jesus came down from the mountain from praying. He found His disciple and a multitude of all kinds of diseases and people with unclean spirits that needed healing. (Pausing here to interject a thought; no one talks about people with unclean spirits today. We have them all around us!) Jesus looking at the crowd began to teach them the first

Beatitude of how we start running with Jesus. "Blessed is the poor" seems to contradict itself. Blessed means happy, so how can a poor man be happy? From the spiritual side Christ was showing that a person poor in the Spirit would come to knowledge of salvation. Then He added for yours is the Kingdom of God! This is when we realize we cannot save ourselves and are aware of our sinfulness and need the Savior! It is the first step in the life of a Believer. God extends His hand down to help the helpless. Oh that is where man is in a spiritual state of Poverty. Have you realized you were poor in spirit and in need this morning? Are you helpless? Then you are in a place to be blessed. God is there reaching His hand out to you He is drawing you into His kingdom. He desires you to get in the race of life with Him. Believers don't live in this world and its system. We live in God's kingdom and His thoughts and ways are high above ours! Cry out to Him this morning He loves you and will not leave us alone. He is doing a new kingdom work. Sometimes it works through us to bring Him honor and glory!

Father, we are so needy. Thank You for coming to us and thank You for being a part of Your eternal kingdom. Help those who have not realized they are poor in Spirit come to understand that is where we find You! We love You and rely on Your strength for this new day as we keep running toward the prize!

Come let's get some food for our hunger, meet you in the morning.

May 7, 2018

May 7, 2018

Judy Hollaway

January 25
Running with Jesus 2015

Luke 6:1,8 "And it came to pass on the second sabbath after the first, that he went through the corn fields; and his disciples plucked the ears of corn, and did eat, rubbing them in their hands." But he knew their thoughts, and said to the man which had the withered hand, Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth.

     Well Jesus is in heap of trouble again with those religious leaders. He broke one of their laws. They had added so many laws to God's laws the people could not enjoy their day of rest and focus on God. They could not pull corn to eat, and Jesus couldn't heal a man!  When we have so many "church" rules we can't enjoy it we better sit back and do a “think”. When these men saw a man get healed they were not excited about the man's miracle! They had little regard for this man! 
     A new truth to think about: God didn't cease working on the Sabbath if He had ceased working would there not be total chaos down here?! The sun wouldn't shine, we would have no air to breathe and everything would explode! We would fly off the earth. But the truth is the Sabbath Day is a day for us to cease from labor so we won’t forget God and rest. They were so steeped in going to church they missed God! They missed a miracle. They missed Jesus. We are so busy doing life we don't cease and leave God out. 
     Now for us the Pharisee's will always be running by our sides but we are not to focus on them. You and I just have to keep our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our race. 
     So don't be bothered or side tracked, stay right with Jesus today! Stay in the race!

Thank you Father for the little taste of the water and nuggets of truth we find in Your Word for the run! They help us stay in the race. 

Keep going runners Jesus has more miracles to show us!!!

Tomorrow:  We will be taught the attitudes of a runner!

May 6, 2018

May 6, 2018

Judy Hollaway

January 24
Running with Jesus 2015

Luke 6:12 "And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God."
   

          All night in prayer, hum! Now let's hang out with this thought!  We have Lay Renewal at our church sometimes and I usually am over the prayer coordinator. We have a 24 hour prayer service I have stayed up all night praying alongside others who volunteer to come prayer for one hour. I have enjoyed being a part of this just to see people's faces when they come out. I have so much joy I didn't miss the sleep I lost. Most of the time you can call for a Prayer meeting and only a few show up. We are lacking in prayer in the body. Some other religions, who have no alive God, have a deep committed prayer life while we ignore our true, living, Holy God who has forgiven us. We are such halfhearted Christians. We are watered down. 
         Jesus ran up into a mountain to spend time with God all night. When He comes down He will find His disciples and a multitude of needy people surrounding Him needing a touch. Being moved with compassion He will begin to teach the people the great "Be Attitudes".
          Running with Jesus will call for us to give much time in prayer also. We need to find guidance, strength and help to stay in this race. Prayer is the key to learning to live life in the presence of God. We can go through anything as long as we know God is with us. It is those times when we feel abandoned we get fearful and begin to doubt. 
Time well spent in God's presence will develop endurance for you race.

Father, help us develop knowing Your presence and show us how to be in constant communication with You. Give us wisdom, knowledge and understanding. Help us stay committed to praying because Jesus is our Teacher if He needed a strong prayer life how much more do we need one?

Runners run to pray today. Set aside one hour, turn everything off and get into God's presence. 

Tomorrow:  Thinking about how long we pray!