Let us run with endurance for the finish line is at hand!
Paul wrote by The Holy Spirit in Hebrews chapter 12:
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
2 looking to Jesus, the Founder and Perfecter of our faith, Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the Right Hand of the Throne of God.
In the past, I ran half-marathons (13.1 miles). At about the six-mile marker, my body would tell me that it is exhausted but I knew that if I pressed on, I would experience the second wind. This is also true of our spiritual walk.
Paul wrote by The Holy Spirit in Ephesians chapter 6:
13 Therefore, put on the complete armor of God, so that you will be able to [successfully] resist and stand your ground in the evil day [of danger], and having done everything [that the crisis demands], to stand firm [in your place, fully prepared, immovable, victorious].
14 So stand firm and hold your ground, HAVING TIGHTENED THE WIDE BAND OF TRUTH (personal integrity, moral courage) AROUND YOUR WAIST and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS (an upright heart), AMP
FATHER empowers us to withstand the evil before us. Though our soul and body are relentlessly attacked from all sides, we are to stand firm in Truth and righteousness.
Jesus refers to the challenges we will experience as believers in Matthew chapter 13:
18 “Hear then the parable of the sower:
19 When anyone hears the Word of the Kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.
20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the Word and immediately receives It with joy,
21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the Word, immediately he falls away.
22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the Word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the Word, and it proves unfruitful.
The fundamental issues are: lack of understanding, tribulation and persecution on account of our trust in Jesus Christ, and finally, worries and distraction coupled with the deceitful of riches. These are major issues that we must protect ourselves from the subtlety of their influence.
23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the Word and understands It. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”
Hearing and understanding are vital to our defense against the evil one. We must read, hear, dwell, and understand The Word so that we do not fall prey to the adversary.
Paul also wrote by The Holy Spirit in 2nd Corinthians chapter 4:
16 So no wonder we don’t give up. For even though our outer person gradually wears out, our inner being is renewed every single day.
17 We view our slight, short-lived troubles in the light of Eternity. We see our difficulties as the substance that produces for us an Eternal, weighty glory far beyond all comparison,
18 because we don’t focus our attention on what is seen but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but the unseen realm is Eternal.
Paul urges us in Ephesians chapter 4:
17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.
18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the Life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.
19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.
20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!-
21 assuming that you have heard about Him and were taught in Him, as the Truth is in Jesus,
22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,
23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,
24 and to put on the new self, created after the Likeness of God in true righteousness and Holiness.
You and I have a responsibility to guard our minds on a daily basis so let us not grow weary in doing so.