2 Cor.13:5, Dt. 8:1-3,14-20 Have you run well?

2 Cor.13:5, Dt. 8:1-3,14-20 Have you run well?

  Today is the last Sunday, December 30th day.
How did you run in this year?
  Have you ever had a broken arm or leg? You need a cast or a crutch. Until the bone heals and sets, you need to have a cast and must wait until it is taken off. And even after the cast is removed, you can’t really move your arm or leg are quickly or easily as your desire. Your muscles and joints have stiffened (it will take time for them to rebuild agility, flexibility).
  That’s why we often need to exercise or even undergo physiotherapy. Only after exercise and physiotherapy will we be able to move freely without difficulty.  It is the same with our spiritual lives. You can say, “I can do it, I can do it,” all you want but if you have not done anything spiritual in a while, you cannot just decide one day to start.
  If you are not daily exercising spiritual disciplines and engaging daily in your faith and it is not a habit, you might think, “I can return to faithful habits and my spiritual growth whenever I want,” and you might want to return to your faith at one point, but you will not be able to. You can come to the point of deciding to turn your life around by yourself.
 2 Cor. 13:5, "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you -- unless, of course, you fail the test?"

  The spiritual life that only comes to church on Sundays will inevitably (like everyone else) encounter struggle and difficulty--when there is family difficulty, financial struggle--when a difficulty of any kind comes your way, you think, “I should seek God now,” but that morning prayer that you have never done, does not come so easily.
  It is also interesting how when these great moments of much difficulty happen in our lives, that is when we find it most difficult to come to God. We leave the church and we refuse to continue in our faith. This happens because power and strength have left our life.
  Our passage in Deuteronomy tells us of this struggle. Our provider God asks His people, “Do you know that it was I who lead you out of Egypt and in this desert?” God fed you in the desert with manna from heaven, your clothes and your sandals did not wear out for 40 years, and your feet did not swell or blister. Dt. 8:3-4,“During this most difficult time,  He (God) clothed you (Israel), fed you and guided you--do you not remember your God? God spoke with you and told you to live by His word. If you do not practice a devoted life, I fear that you will forget your God in your time of blessing.”

  How can we check(if we have left His grace)? There are three points. It is a very simple and easy way to check and I encourage you to reflect on these points in your own lives.

 1, Are you close to God's Word now?

  Some people boast that they have be faithful for several decades. They boast that it is “womb” faith (their mom was a believer while they were in her womb). They boast that they have, long ago, read the entire 10 times over. There are even people who boast that they have read the Bible 100 times over! What I am asking you today is this--in the past few days, have you fed your spiritual soul with the word of God?
  We must take in our spiritual food every day, we cannot stop eating, we must continually feed out souls, and you will find that only when you are spiritually fed, you will be (spiritually) strong and have strength to be victorious. 
  If you do not feed yourself, you will have no strength to fight spiritual battles, you will have no power. When we are victorious in this life, it is not because we are strong. We are victorious in Christ alone.

Is it not the case, then, that we can only find the strength that leads to victory when we feed ourselves continuously with spiritual sustenance from the source of the strength to keep ourselves strong and (spiritually) healthy?
When people are successful, they are too busy and forget the Bible. When we forget the Bible, we start to deviate from God’s will, we make unwise/bad decisions, and in the end, we are met with frequent catastrophic and extremely difficult troubles.
  Whether you do not read the Bible for a week or a month, there is a miracle of God that happens. Though you do not realize that you are spiritually emaciated and scrawny, somehow, you still walk around proud and with your chin up high.
  Even though you have eaten thousands of meals over 10 years of your life, try starving for 3 days and see what happens... you have to eat everyday in order to be healthy. This is where we must begin (our spiritual health).
*The hand of the Word

2. Do you pray every day?
  If you truly want to know God’s will in your life on this earth, you must pray. Like breathing, you cannot take a break from praying--we are told to pray without ceasing(1 Thes. 5:17) .
  We must pray like David. God, should I do this? Shall I refrain? Will this delight You? Is this not pleasing to You? In these moment, the Word reminds us and helps us realize the right choice. The greatest gift and effective method of communication that God gives to us is his Word and prayer.
  * The Hand of Prayer

3. do you come regularly to worship? (living worship)
  I have already said this, however let me say it again, if you come to church only once a week for one worship service, your faith will fade. You will not even be able to consistently maintain your faith. Your heart will dry up. You will be like the frog that continue to stay in lukewarm water.
Such a person will find it all too easy to leave God. Such a person’s heart and mind is already ready to leave God. It is enough for that person to just come to church once a week. It is evidence that your faith has already faltered and has become that weak. That is why I am constantly urging you.
I want to emphatically share with you God’s unsatisfied heart. I am speaking to all of you who just come to church once a weak and believe that it is enough. You must not continue in your faith in this way.
  You cannot just come to church once a week. You have the opportunity to come out to Thursday’s mid-week service, to join with your cell group service, to worship every morning with the early morning prayer service--there ought to be (and is) every opportunity to meet with fellow believers throughout the week.

You must eat food. You must spiritually breath in order to live. If your mind is in a stupor, and you are unaware of who or what, how can you prevent and defend against it (someone stealing your faith)? Meeting once a week for corporate worship is simply not enough.
  How did you live your spiritual life for the last year? Take a look at your own spiritual life and reflect. Do we not always settle/wrap things up as the year ends? We settle things in our house, we wrap things up at church, businesses wrap up the fiscal year -- we all settle our past year and evaluate what has come to pass. Because there are markers (knots) in time, we know that time has passed, and we know that there is a beginning and an end. (Even though it is cold), it is a blessing that we have four seasons. Because of these time markers, because we are able to discern beginnings and ends, we are able to reflect on life and we are able to be productive and effective with the time that we have.  So how do people in the tropics live? They do not have seasonal markers to indicate the passing of time.

 My saints, this is the last Sunday of the year. It's almost the last day. How did you come to life? Do not you have to run to the end now? Check yourself every day. Are you doing well in the race of right faith in Jesus?  1) Do you approach God's Word every day? 2) Do you pray to God every day?  3) Do you worship God daily?

The next year, even more than last year, let us read the Bible everyday, let us pray more fervently, let us worship and fellowship together more often. And in the midst of this, may God bless you abundantly, may He fill you with His grace, and may He give you the strength and power to overcome this world!