Fight the Good Fight

I want to share with you a devotional I received from my friend, Stephen Ofori, Director of the Christian Leadership Training Institute, located in Accra Ghana. This mission serves western Africa by providing leadership training by extension, publishing leadership material and video production for evangelism, discipleship and leadership training. Stephen obtained a diploma from Ghana Christian College and a B.A. from Maranatha Bible College. Stephen is a product of the extension training program and a founding staff member of the Institute.  Stephen also serves as Overseer of the Fellowship of Christian Churches in Ghana.

Fight the Good Fight

By Stephen Ofori

The Lord has been merciful to us throughout the whole year. We encountered all kinds of hardship, but after counting the successes and achievements, we have seen that we have The Living God. God has promised that “we can do all things through Christ who strengthen us”.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day–and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
2 Timothy 4:7-8

The bottom line of our Christian journey is not about what we have only achieved but our total final accountability. Our salvation is based on the faith we have in Jesus Christ, not by our works. It is about the attitude we portray before the Lord and man. We may be rewarded by our works, but we may not be saved by our works. Salvation and rewards will both be given through faith which enables us to do good works.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:8-10

My prayer is that, at the end of our lives here on earth, we may stand before the Lord and say that we have fought the good fight.

In his letter to the Philippians, Paul said: Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:12-14

The apostle Paul listed some of his privileges and sufferings–credentials in his second letter to the Corinthians.

Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham’s descendants? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, and I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying. In Damascus the governor under King Aretas had the city of the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me. But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hand.
2 Corinthians 11:22-33

If you consider the achievements of Paul and his credentials, who on earth now can boast of what he or she has done in the Ministry of God? Yet, he considered himself not to have taken hold of it. When Paul finally saw that death was awaiting him, he boldly declared that, he has fought the good fight.

We live in the world in which sin often seems to be considered good. Christians are gradually accepting and embracing the worldly principles, turning from the natural to the unnatural. Christians are faced with many challenges. We should follow the example of Daniel, who resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. (Daniel 1:8) We must determine not to defile ourselves with worldly principles and sin, but make every effort to do right. Within the ministry of God there are some wolves in sheep’s clothing, sinning and approving evil as good, but they shall be seen by their fruits.

There have been many false prophesies about the coming of Christ. Whether Christ comes today or we face any difficulty or meet our Lord, let us live a life which allows us to boldly say that we have fought the good fight. It is all about our faith in Christ, our attitude, holiness and righteousness coupled with our endeavors, using our spiritual gifts to fight forward. We may fail, but as John Maxwell said, let us “fail forward”.

Life is just like an old tree. Every old tree has encountered all kinds of storms and harsh weather conditions. Every year a tree has to endure the four seasons. Sometimes a tree loses its limbs, but with endurance, it recovers and continues to live.

The late president of Ivory Coast, President Houphoet Boiny said “We have to go slow because we are in a hurry”. This means that ministry is not to be rushed. We have to take the necessary time to do things well and bring about maturity.

If we fight the good fight, we can be with one accord with Paul and say:

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day–and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing”.

FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT

Reblogged from Pastor Mike Says:

I Know Where My Dad Went Today

Today is Memorial Day, so I know where my dad went this morning. He went to the Memorial Day Service at Asbury Cemetery in Morristown, Indiana. How do I know this? The last one he missed was over 40 years ago. As a World War II veteran, he has shown a strong commitment to honor those who sacrificed their lives for our country and freedom.

Dad and Mom had a great impact and influence on my life:

• I remember as a young child they dressed my brothers and me for the Memorial Day Service. It was an annual event to visit the cemetery on Memorial Day. Mom would go to special efforts to put flowers on family members’ graves. Volunteers placed small flags on all the veterans’ graves. I knew there was something special about remembering those who died for our country.
• When I was little boy, I would sneak into our attic. There in a drawer were my Dad’s air wings and second lieutenant bars from World War II. I would look at and play with them often. I knew they were special.
• As a preteen, my parents took us to visit Arlington Cemetery in Washington D.C. We saw the changing of the guard. We all stood straight and tall during this solemn ceremony. I knew this was a special place.
• As a teenager, I would go to church with my Dad. If my father went there, I knew it was a special place.

I learned from my father many things but a few of them are citizenship, service, patriotism, commitment, loyalty and dedication. His example played a major part in me being who I am today.

It was easy for me to remember Christ died for our sins as I partook of the Lord’s Supper. My father taught me to remember our fallen veterans. Because men would die for their country, it was easy for me to accept that Christ would die for humanity.

On this Memorial Day let’s remember that our fallen veterans sacrificed their lives for our country and that Christ sacrificed his life for all mankind. Both are worth remembering

“The patriot’s blood is the seed of Freedom’s tree.” Thomas Campbell, preacher of the Restoration Movement

Ready to Go

I was ready to go:

Twenty years ago this month I returned home from Desert Storm. I was ready to go home! After spending seven months in the desert, away from my family, I was ready to go home. I liked where I was and what I was doing, but I was ready to see my family. Being with my Army buddies was great. We shared some fun experiences, plus saw and experienced some things we did not enjoy. Some of my buddies willingly left their blood in the sand and some even gave their lives.

I wanted to go home immediately after the war but it was not our time. The Army had to plan and coordinate our redeployment to Fort Hood, Texas. My unit (Tiger Brigade) was one of the last combat units to redeploy. After spending a month in Kuwait, we moved to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia and stayed in Khobar Towers for a week. As the Army arranged for our redeployment, we prepared to leave. Our preparation included inspecting, repairing and cleaning our vehicles and equipment. In addition, we had to prepare our personal equipment. Finally, we were all ready to go home.

It was a great celebration when we arrived at Fort Hood. The flight home was tremendous, which I will describe another time. We took busses from Gray Army Airfield to Fort Hood. People holding signs welcoming us home lined the route. Once we arrived at a gym on post, we finally got to see our families. Even though we were standing at attention, everyone was trying to locate his or her family. After the order to fall out, I received a big welcome from my wife, Susan and children, Lanny and Sarah. After turning in our weapons, they released us to spend a few days with our families. Susan had decorated our car and home for my arrival. A week later or so we continued to celebrate with parades and award ceremonies. Our coming home was a great celebration.

I am ready to go:

Even though I received a great welcome home upon returning from Desert Storm, I am looking forward to spending eternity in my final home, heaven.

Just like the Army prepared for our return, God prepared the way for us to spend eternity with him. He did this by sacrificing His Son, Jesus, who shed his blood and died on the cross for our sins. Jesus is the way (John 14.6).

I too, must prepare myself for heaven. By faith, I believe in Jesus and accept him as my Lord and Savior. I believe he died on the cross for my sins, try to follow his teachings and be a good steward of his resources. I accept his grace as the means for me to get to heaven. (John 3:16-18, Ephesians 2:8)

I look forward to the great celebration when I get to heaven. Jesus has prepared the way and by his grace, I am ready to go when it is time. (Philippians 1:21-23)

Lying on My Cot

This morning I watched a video of the Oak Ridge Boys on YouTube. Not only was it a great song, The Baptism of Jesse Taylor, but it reminded me of some special times during Desert Shield / Storm.

During the war I had a radio and cassette tape player. Both required batteries. I used the radio to listen to the news on BBC so I could follow what was going on in the world and war. I would also listen to Bagdad Betty. Listening to the cassette tape player was a nightly event while lying on my cot. I only listened to two cassette tapes, one by the Oak Ridge Boys and the other by Alabama.

I tried to take very good care of the cassette tape player. It was a challenge considering the environment. At that time I was living in a tent in the middle of the desert in Saudi Arabia.  For the player to continue to work I needed batteries and to keep the sand out of it. Keeping sand out of it was a great challenge, since there was sand all around us. I would clean the tape player as often as I would my weapon. Batteries weren’t readily available. We had military batteries but they were for the military equipment. I depended upon getting batteries in the care packages we received or from my family. The cassette player gave me many hours of enjoyment in a place that offered few enjoyments.

The batteries gave life to my player and the sand would take it away. The cassette player gave me enjoyment as long as it worked. This is sort of like God. Jesus gives us life (John 6:33) but sin can take it away (Luke 8:12).

Jesus is our battery and sin is like sand. We need to keep Jesus in our lives and keep sin out.