|
February 4, 2008
Hello Friends,
Lately, God has been teaching me the art of the “Marathon Principle”. What is the Marathon Principle? It is real simple; “Don’t Stop…Be Steady…Keep trusting God”. As the runner starts the race, there is so much ground to cover, so many things to do; stopping for water breaks and getting frequently pumped with electrolytes and small shots of energy drinks along the way. The Marathon is a process, therefore we have the “Marathon Principle” that applies to the spiritual life of all Christians.
King Asa was a man who practiced the “Marathon Principle”…for most of his life. You may be thinking, how does a marathon relate to the spiritual life? Good question. King Asa had been following the Marathon Principle and doing what God had called him to do. He was being righteous before the people and there was peace in the land. “Therefore he (King Asa) said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and make walls around them, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is yet before us, because we have sought the LORD our God; we have sought Him, and He has given us rest on every side.” So they built and prospered.”
It wasn’t long before King Asa was faced with a crisis. The Ethiopian army was coming against his kingdom; even worse, Asa’s army consisted of 580,000 men from Judah and Benjamin. The Ethiopian army led by Zerah consisted of over 1,000,000 men. So “Asa cried out to the Lord God and said, “Lord, it is nothing for You to help, whether with many or with those who have no power; help us, O Lord our God, for we rest on You, and in Your name we go against this multitude. O Lord, You are our God, do not let man prevail against You!” (II Chron.14:11) Note to reader: “HE WAS TRUSTING THE HAND OF GOD FOR EVERYTHING HE NEEDED! I.E. He was practicing the “Marathon Principle”; “Don’t Stop…Be Steady…Keep trusting God”.
Because of his faith in the living God, King Asa destroyed the Ethiopians with victory given to him by God. After this, the spirit of God came upon the prophet Azariah. In response he came to Asa, King of Judah and said, “If you seek Him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.”(II Chron. 15:2) WOW! Sounds simple right?
Sometime throughout the marathon of his life, King Asa decided to veer off course. He decided for whatever reason people usually have to make terrible decisions, to rely on his own strength rather than on God’s power. The result was total chaos for King Asa. God was going to give Syria into his hands just like He did the Ethiopians. But Asa feared the Syrians rather than trusting in God. Militarily, Asa made a deal with Syria that displeased the Lord. God send the prophet Hanani to speak to Asa.
(II Chron. 16:7-9) And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him: “Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the LORD your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand. 8 Were the Ethiopians and the Lubim not a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on the LORD, He delivered them into your hand. 9 For the eyes
of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.”
I wonder how many would say they have suffering in their lives because they stopped trusting in the Lord and began to manipulate their life situations like Asa did. At any point in your life, you can choose to stop practicing the “Marathon Principle”, but know this; YOU WILL NOT FINISH THE RACE!
MINISTRY UPDATE
 So many great and exciting events will be happening this year. We saw 12 decisions for salvation in January and over 50 decisions of other kinds. What an exciting time in our ministry! I just got back from Wilmer, Alabama a suburb of Mobile, where we had a D-Now weekend. More than 40 people responded to the invitations and 5 young men surrendered to the call to preach the gospel. Pastor Terry Glasscock has been serving in that community for over 20 years and we look forward to the possibility of future ministry involvement. Please keep this in your prayers.
We will be traveling to Thomaston, Georgia in April to preach in five different churches in a one week period. Pastor Wesley Hunt who is the president of the ministerial association in Thomaston, Georgia is planning with us to use this meeting as a springboard for a community-wide event that could involve as many as 50 or more churches. Pastor Wendell Smith is working on organizing a community-wide revival meeting in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. It looks like this outreach will be happening in June of this year. We are projecting around 10 churches to be involved in this event. Please pray with us that God will open doors for this to come to pass. Many lives will be changed for God’s glory.
PRAYER NEEDS
1. We covet your prayers for every decision we make in ministry. We believe in the power of prayer and as we travel around as ambassadors for Christ, your prayers pave the way.
2. For those of you who are already partnering with us, we say THANK YOU! Please pray that we will continue to raise the monthly support needed to hire more staff.
3. Pray for other meetings coming up in Florida, West Virginia, and North Carolina.
Please remember, you can now support us online safely and securely. It’s so easy to create an account. Please pray about supporting us online monthly by logging on to www.themessageoflife.com .
Or send your Donations to:
P.O. Box 10
W. Paducah, KY 42086
Yours for souls,
Tre’ Faulkner
Making Jesus Famous!
John 3:30
|
New Post
