22
Feb '18
Striking Your Arrows: Part 3 (By Tim H.)
22
Feb '18
In my previous posts, I challenged us to prepare with persistence in evaluating our personal priorities and restoring broken relationships. I then discussed praying with persistence by developing a vibrant prayer life, praying in community with one another, and praying for direction in our lives and the life of the church.
In this post, I want to remind us about the third area we need to be striking our arrows against the ground and pursuing with persistence. This area reminds us we need to run with persistence. Philippians 3:14 says, “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” There are four arrows I would like to suggest we as believers strike against the ground, asking for God’s blessing.
- Run Towards Spiritual Growth – We need to go beyond the time we spend on the church campus learning about God. Realize if you rely only on that time, you are investing only 1.1% of your entire week on growing in your faith.
- Pursue a United Church – In today’s world, where Satan seems to continue to advance at an ever-increasing pace, we need to make our church a place where the believers are united in the mission of carrying out the Great Commission. We need to be fixated on removing any man-made hurdles that are in the way so non-believers can find and follow Jesus Christ.
- Run to the Need of Others – When God puts a need in front of us, we need to be willing to run to it and not away from it. The need may be physical, emotional, or even spiritual in nature, and we need to understand formal education is not needed to step in, step up, and trust God to come through. However, one warning: we should never attach strings to helping someone else out by expecting help when we are in need. We need to love and help other unconditionally.
- Run to Meaningful Relationships – Christ’s ministry years were full of meaningful and impactful relationships. He had opportunities with people who both loved and trusted Him, as well as those who laughed and scorned Him. We need to build healthy relationships not only with people inside the church, but outside the church, as well. We need to gain the trust of our unsaved friends, neighbors, co-workers, and family members so that when the opportunity is presented, we can present the hope we have in Christ.
In Deuteronomy 20:4, Moses tells the national of Israel and reminds us today: “For the Lord your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.” PHBC is God’s church, and it is His desire to see us victorious in seeing people come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior and grow in their faith. Will you consider the arrows you will strike the ground with, asking God for his blessing and victory?