Finish Well

Finish Well

 

Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

 

I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

Philippians 3:14

 

God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

James 1:12

 

…those who endure to the end will be saved.

Matthew 24:13

 

The Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.

1 Timothy 4:1-2

 

I say this because you know that we live in an important time. Yes, it is now time for you to wake up from your sleep. Our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is almost finished. The day is almost here. So we should stop doing whatever belongs to darkness. 13 We should prepare ourselves to fight evil with the weapons that belong to the light. We should live in a right way, like people who belong to the day. We should not have wild parties or be drunk. We should not be involved in sexual sin or any kind of immoral behavior. We should not cause arguments and trouble or be jealous. 14 But be like the Lord Jesus Christ, so that when people see what you do, they will see Christ. Don’t think about how to satisfy the desires of your sinful self.

Romans 13:11-14

 

And since you don’t know when that time will come, be on guard! Stay alert. 34 It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. 35 Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning. 36 lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. 37 And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.

Mark 13:33-37

 

But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with self-indulgence and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. 35 For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.

Luke 21:34-36

 

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

2 Corinthians 5:10

 

I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away.

John 16:1

 

σκανδαλίζω
skandalizo
:to cause to stumble, to doubt the truth, to fall away from the truth and to follow another path, or to be offended.

 

And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another.

Matthew 24:10

 

And Jesus said to His disciples, “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.”

Mark 14:27

 

29 Peter said to him, “Even though they all fall away, I will not.” 30 And Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.”

Mark 14:29

 

Jesus found His disciples sleeping, and He said, Are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? 38 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak.

Mark 14:37-38

 

And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.  We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. 3 Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up.

Hebrews 12:1

 

Jesus says, “God is Spirit, and his worshipers must worship him in the Spirit and in truth.”

John 4:24

 

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.

Romans 12:1

 

WORSHIP
Old English word: WORTH-SHIP
:to give something worth or to ascribe the highest worth.

WORTHY = SEEING WORTH
SHIP = QUALITY OR STATE OF BEING

 

When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. Abel also brought a gift—the best portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift, but he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected. “Why are you so angry?” the Lord asked Cain. “Why do you look so dejected? You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! “Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master”.

Genesis 4:3-7

 

Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.

Genesis 4:10

 

And to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

Hebrews 12:24

 

Our life is but a vapor. Here today and gone tomorrow.

James 4:14

 

Abel in Hebrew = Hevel
הבל — meaning breath or vapor

Cain in Hebrew = Qayin
קין — meaning spear

 

What sorrow awaits them! For they follow in the footsteps of Cain, who killed his brother. Like Balaam, they deceive people for money. And like Korah, they perish in their rebellion.

Jude 1:11

 

We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing what was evil, and his brother had been doing what was righteous.

1 John 3:12

 

It was by faith that Abel brought a more acceptable offering to God than Cain did. Abel’s offering gave evidence that he was a righteous man, and God showed his approval of his gifts. Although Abel is long dead, he still speaks to us by his example of faith.

Hebrews 11:14

 

Shachah — shaw-hawk
שָׁחָה
“to bow down” or “worship”
It can also mean to prostrate oneself, pay homage, or humbly make supplication, to show respect or to honor.

 

You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you — These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 9 Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.

Matthew 15:7-9

 

When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”

Exodus 32:1

 

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.

2 Timothy 4:7

 

But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus – the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.

Acts 20:24

 

When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”

Exodus 32:1