{"id":12834,"date":"2013-07-02T00:00:35","date_gmt":"2013-07-02T04:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=12834"},"modified":"2013-07-04T21:27:20","modified_gmt":"2013-07-05T01:27:20","slug":"i-am-free-to-run-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2013\/07\/02\/i-am-free-to-run-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"I AM Free to Run … (Part 1 of 3)"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been involved in a fast against media in my life: Television, Computer Games, Kindle Games, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and unneccessary<\/span> texting<\/span>. \u00a0It’s the first time I’ve taken on such a huge challenge all at once! \u00a0This fast is to last for 30 days. \u00a0I’ve learned a lot about myself, to say the least! \u00a0Over the next few days, I’d like to share some of what I have learned with you.<\/p>\n

In the first week of this fast, I was ready to give up! \u00a0I was having a very difficult time staying focused, and staying away from the temptations of all of these areas of “excess” in my life. \u00a0I call them excess because the fast I am doing includes removing anything in my life that has taken time away from God, and my relationship with Him. \u00a0I had to really think about this when I was making my list of things that I was going to fast.<\/p>\n

First of all, I had to really look at my life with a microscope. \u00a0I had to be honest about the things in my life where some days I would spend hours upon hours doing. \u00a0Facebook, as an example, is a huge area of excess in my life! \u00a0Why? \u00a0Mainly because of what I do for Girlfriends Coffee Hour, but also because I was spending HOURS a day just wasting time on “stuff” with Facebook because I was bored, or even lonely, at times!<\/p>\n

So in my quest in looking for things that were taking time away from my relationship with God, and with my family, I had to get serious, and real with myself. \u00a0When I did that, I was really sad to see how much time media “STUFF”\u00a0was taking up in my life, away from the things that needed me. \u00a0When I began the fast, I prayed “Lord, I am really going to need Your help with this because I know how drawn to Facebook I am!”<\/p>\n

The first week…I FAILED MISERABLY!!! \u00a0The fast began on Monday, and by Saturday night I was ready to call it quits, I had failed to temptation so many times. \u00a0I prayed, “Lord, I am just not cut out for this! \u00a0I believe I have taken on way too much at one time! \u00a0I keep falling into the same temptations over and over again! \u00a0I’m just not any good at this. \u00a0I think I need to quit, Lord!”<\/p>\n

The next day, I went to church. \u00a0My Pastor’s message was about keeping our eyes focused on the race, and on Jesus. \u00a0I just KNEW God had heard my prayer the night before, because this message was so “right on”, and just what I needed to hear! \u00a0I’d like to share some of it with you…<\/p>\n

The whole point of this fast\u00a0is\u00a0to rid my life\u00a0of\u00a0the things that are taking time away from reading the Word, listening to God, praying, and building that relationship with Him.\u00a0 It\u2019s also about ridding the excess in my life\u00a0to allow for more time with my family and other relationships.<\/em><\/p>\n

My Pastor\u2019s\u00a0sermon\u00a0was about running the good race, reaching the ultimate prize, running\u00a0so\u00a0others\u00a0would see Jesus through this journey.\u00a0 It was like this man had been reading each one of my daily blogs; which I doubt he truly is!! \u00a0 But God gave him this message for today, and God knew that I needed to hear that message!<\/p>\n

The message was titled \u201cFree\u00a0to\u00a0Run<\/strong><\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n

To start with, Pastor’s son had just finished a 100-mile run!\u00a0 Yes, ONE HUNDRED miles!!! Can you only imagine!!\u00a0 Never in a million years could I\u00a0ever see\u00a0myself running 10 miles, let alone 100 miles!\u00a0 Right!?!<\/p>\n

At one point in this 100 mile run, a friend of our\u00a0Pastor\u2019s son\u00a0hit the 53 mile marker and he was just exhausted, thinking he could not go on. He was hurting so bad!\u00a0 His wife kept encouraging him, and then\u00a0she\u00a0pulled\u00a0a letter out from their daughter that encouraged him so very much!\u00a0 \u201cCome on, Dad. I know you can do it. I love\u00a0you,\u00a0Dad.\u00a0 I believe in you!\u201d and so\u00a0on.\u00a0 It was awesome!!\u00a0 It was then that he stood up and continued to\u00a0the\u00a0finish line…running a total of 100 miles!\u00a0 It just goes to show what we can accomplish when we have a team of encouragers motivating us to continue on! I loved that part of the sermon!<\/p>\n

The overall story of his\u00a0sermon\u00a0today was that whenever we are doing something, anything—that includes\u00a0reaching\u00a0others for Christ<\/em>, or showing Christ in our circumstances—<\/em>we must not\u00a0give\u00a0up<\/strong>!\u00a0 We must continue on\u00a0toward\u00a0the ultimate prize<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

What is the Ultimate Prize in my fast?\u00a0 To show what can be\u00a0accomplished when we put our trust in Christ, and allow His strength and power\u00a0to\u00a0fill us up when we are weak; to be able to run and not grow weary; to walk\u00a0and\u00a0not faint; to shine the light of Christ through our struggles.\u00a0 We should run with determination, and not\u00a0toil\u00a0along the way.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Have you never heard?\u00a0 Have\u00a0you\u00a0never understood?\u00a0 The\u00a0Lord\u00a0is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth.\u00a0 He never grows\u00a0weak\u00a0or weary.\u00a0 No one can measure the\u00a0depths\u00a0of his understanding.\u00a0\u00a0He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.\u00a0\u00a0Even youths will become weak\u00a0and tired,\u00a0and young men will fall in exhaustion.\u00a0\u00a0But those who trust in the\u00a0Lord\u00a0will find new strength.\u00a0 They will soar high on wings like eagles.\u00a0 They will run and not grow weary. They will\u00a0walk and not faint.\u00a0 Isaiah 40:28-31<\/strong> (NLT)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

He will give new\u00a0strength\u00a0to those who trust in Him.\u00a0 We\u00a0will\u00a0soar like eagles; run and not grow weary, walk and not faint!\u00a0 I really needed to be reminded of that\u00a0Scripture.\u00a0 The race I have been running\u00a0with my media fast has been difficult.\u00a0 I\u2019ve caved into my fleshly desires many times.\u00a0 My focus has not been on God…it has been on my\u00a0own\u00a0wants and desires.\u00a0 I was choosing what\u00a0is\u00a0EASY, and not allowing God\u2019s grace to take me over the edge to the other\u00a0side\u00a0of this journey, which is running the race WITH Him<\/strong> and not just in my\u00a0own\u00a0power.<\/p>\n

I needed to hear\u00a0again\u00a0that my flesh is no longer the one I serve.\u00a0 I have only one Master, and His name is Jesus!\u00a0 I am not here to serve myself.\u00a0 I am here to serve the One who\u00a0loves\u00a0me, encourages me, motivates me to keep going on!\u00a0 Pleasing\u00a0myself\u00a0produces nothing for Jesus;\u00a0and\u00a0offers nothing towards eternal life—the Ultimate Prize!<\/em><\/p>\n

When we run any\u00a0race, or face any serious trials in our life, we need to always keep our focus\u00a0on\u00a0Christ.\u00a0 It\u2019s in Him that we are able\u00a0to\u00a0do all things, and in Him that we will be able to serve others.\u00a0 It\u2019s by that focus that we will bring others\u00a0to\u00a0Christ.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong> They will see that God is\u00a0truly\u00a0the only reason we are able to complete the race, or face the situation\u00a0like\u00a0we do!\u00a0 That truly should be\u00a0our\u00a0ultimate\u00a0goal anyway: to show Christ in all that we do!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I had not been\u00a0doing\u00a0that in this media fast.\u00a0 I had only been showing\u00a0others\u00a0what Christi<\/strong> was able to do\u00a0in\u00a0her own power; which turned out to be nothing! \u00a0The Lord is my power, my strength, my grace,\u00a0my\u00a0hope, and my prize in the end.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

At the end of\u00a0this\u00a0fast, I want to hear God say \u201cWell done,\u00a0thine good and faithful servant!\u201d\u00a0 I want to hear others say that they saw Jesus\u00a0through\u00a0me.\u00a0 That they were encouraged\u00a0through\u00a0my own struggles.\u00a0 That they saw the true message: with God nothing is impossible!\u00a0 That quitting is NOT an option!!<\/p>\n

When it’s all said and done, there is really only ONE thing that matters: \u00a0<\/b>Did I live my life for Him?<\/b><\/p>\n

In His Love,<\/strong><\/p>\n

Christi<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been involved in a fast against media in my life: Television, Computer Games, Kindle Games, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and unneccessary texting. \u00a0It’s the first time I’ve taken on such a huge challenge all at once! \u00a0This fast is to last for 30 days. \u00a0I’ve learned a lot about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12835,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[2818,209,2821,338,2820,2056,2814,425,2819,2816,554,2811,700,2815,2817,2812,2813],"class_list":["post-12834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-womens","tag-100-mile-run","tag-christi-wilson","tag-did-i-live-my-life-for-him","tag-encouragement","tag-faithful-servant","tag-fasting","tag-focused-on-jesus","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-in-christ-we-can-do-all-things","tag-isaiah-40-28-31","tag-jesus","tag-media-fast","tag-motivation","tag-running-and-not-growing-weary","tag-running-for-the-prize","tag-running-the-race","tag-ultimate-goal","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/The-Lord-Is.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39pHp-3l0","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12834"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12834\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12971,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12834\/revisions\/12971"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}