Unencumbered Hebrews 12:1-3 Genesis 5:21-24 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Hebrews 10:35-39 Philippians 2:5-11 Hebrews 13:16 Matthew 8:20 Galatians 5:1 12.16.19

UNENCUMBERED

BREAD

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. ² Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.  Hebrews 12:1-3 (NIV)

²¹ When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. ²² And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. ²³ Altogether, Enoch lived 365 years. ²⁴ Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.  Genesis 5:21-24 (NIV)

²⁴ Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. ²⁵ Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. ²⁶ Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. ²⁷ No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (NIV)

 ³⁵ So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. ³⁶ You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. ³⁷ For in just a very little while, “He who is coming will come and will not delay. ³⁸ But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.”  ³⁹ But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.   Hebrews 10:35-39 (NIV)

⁵ Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: ⁶ Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, ⁷ but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross! ⁹ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  Philippians 2:5-11 (NIV)

¹⁶ And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.  Hebrews 13:16 (NIV)

²⁰ Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”  Matthew 8:20 (NIV)

¹ It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.  Galatians 5:1 (NIV)

BUTTER

“In Enoch’s case, the statement was not made—as it was with the other males in this genealogy—that he lived so many years and then died. Instead he walked with God.  ‘Walk’ is the biblical expression for fellowship and obedience that results in divine favor. Enoch’s walk lasted 300 years. No doubt his walk would have continued, but God took him away—he did not die. Such a walk was commanded of Israel and of the church.”   Bible Knowledge Commentary

“Anxiety is the natural result when our hopes are centered in anything short of God and His will for us.”  Billy Graham

“Be thoroughly acquainted with your temptations and the things that may corrupt you.”  Richard Baxter

“We can make idols out of  – our work, our family, our friends, our hobbies, our adoring audiences, our wealth, even our ‘perfect’ children or our wonderful meals or our clean and ordered houses.  We can make ‘Delilah’s’ out of anything.  Idols are whatever we have a tendency to hold on to with a grip that we will not let go.  None of these things are bad in and of themselves – it is the priority we place on them that’s askew.  If they become our ‘god’s’ it is wrong.  If anything or anybody takes Christ’s rightful position on the throne of our lives it is an idol and must be removed for the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.  Live your life with open hands.”  BHY 

“No one has ever lost out by excessive devotion to Christ.”   H. A. Ironside

“In a culture of busyness, most of us live in the tension of unresolved solutions for continual cycles of chronic tiredness. We know we need rest but struggle to find margins…The choice of rest is a kindness to your inner self that is desperate for conversation about calling…When you are tired, depleted, worn out, and weary, imagine Jesus asking, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’…When it comes to rest, Jesus wants you and me to tell Him with specificity what we want. Truth is not trite; it has texture and tenacity to it…Rest is ill-defined when we value time and our worth based on productivity.”   Shelly Miller

“The really idle man gets nowhere.  The perpetually busy man does not get much further.”   Sir Heneage Ogilvie

“One reason we are so harried and hurried is that we make yesterday and tomorrow our business, when all that legitimately concerns us is today. If we really have too much to do, there are some items on the agenda which God did not put there. Let us submit the list to Him and ask Him to indicate which items we must delete. There is always time to do the will of God. If we are too busy to do that, we are too busy.”  Elisabeth Elliot

“Enoch’s name means ‘a narrowing’ meaning, as he walked through life with God, God narrowed his life by cutting off the peripheral, the unnecessary so that the necessary could thrive – and thrive it did.  He just walked on to his heavenly home without dying.  Oh to live that close to God!”  BHY

“Glory is always yours to witness. Life is too short to not choose awe.  Busy is a choice. Stress is a choice. Giving yourself to joy is a choice.  Choose well.”   Ann Voskamp

“Even faithful people will go through the wilderness, even faithful people will have to surrender the most precious things.  Yet because of the Lord’s great love, we are not consumed. We are not consumed by our circumstances. We are not consumed by rejection. We are not consumed by cancer or divorce or infertility or trauma or abuse or anxiety or fear or even death. Because of His great love, we are not consumed.  We open our hands. We offer him the entire portion of Hard. Every last bit of it. Our anger, too? Yes, even our anger.  We say, ‘Here it is. All of it. It’s a horrible mess. I cannot do anything here that will make this better. So I’m opening up my hands and I’m giving you the whole tangle.’ And then we do it again. And again. And again.  A few times every hour, if needed. After all, His mercies are new, His compassions never fail. We choose to open our hands when what we’d rather do is clamp shut, protect, defend. We offer instead of hide.  This is the only way I know to make the journey.  You are held.  It is all held. You are not lost. You are not broken. You are not disqualified. You are not sidelined. You are not silenced. You are not swallowed whole. You are held. Benevolently. Faithfully. Held.  There is always a hand reaching toward you.  There is always grace available. And there is always a chance to begin again.”   Leeana Tankersley

HEART SAVOR

·         We are to fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith – ever seeking to walk as Jesus did.

·         Oftentimes, God replaces the good in our lives for better.  Pruning can be painful yet reaps glorious results.

·         Don’t be too overawed with the temporal – things that will never make it through the fire which will test the quality of each man’s work.  Rather seek to be hopeful and joyful in the eternal.