{"id":3095,"date":"2024-02-20T03:02:59","date_gmt":"2024-02-20T03:02:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/?p=3095"},"modified":"2024-02-19T02:12:22","modified_gmt":"2024-02-19T02:12:22","slug":"run-the-race-fix-your-eyes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/run-the-race-fix-your-eyes\/","title":{"rendered":"Run The Race: Fix Your Eyes \u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><strong>Tuesday, February 20<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Run The Race: Fix Your Eyes \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. <\/em><strong>Hebrews 12:1<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Imagine a young athlete named Samantha who loved running. She had a passion for the sport and dreamed of winning the championship one day. However, as she trained for the big race, she faced many hurdles\u2014fatigue, self-doubt, and even injuries. Despite these challenges, Samantha refused to give up. She knew that with determination and faith, she could overcome anything.<\/p>\n<p>As Samantha ran her race, she encountered moments of doubt and temptation to quit. But she remembered the words of Hebrews 12:1-2 and fixed her eyes on Jesus. With each step, she drew strength from His example of endurance, remembering how He endured the cross for the joy set before Him.<\/p>\n<p>Like Samantha \u2018Let us fix our eyes on Jesus\u2019 \u2013 Hebrews 12:2. Let\u2019s look to him. Let\u2019s see everything in our lives through the lens of who He is, the one who founded our faith. Our eyes must be fixed on Jesus. He\u2019s the prize and the reward. But our eyes must be fixed on Him for the whole of the race \u2013 from beginning to end, if we\u2019re to finish the race well and win the prize. The athlete in the arena receives a prize in the form of a garland of flowers that won\u2019t last long. The prize in the heavenly race is a crown that will last forever (2 Corinthians 9:25).<\/p>\n<p>Let us cast aside anything that hinders us\u2014fear, worry, and sin\u2014and fix our eyes on Jesus, who leads us onward to victory. As we run, let us pray for the strength to endure, knowing that the finish line is not the end but the beginning of eternal joy in His presence.<\/p>\n<p>In our own lives, may we follow Samantha&#8217;s example and run our race with perseverance fixing our eyes on God; the author and finisher of our faith.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Prayer for today<\/strong>: \u00a0<em>Loving Father, thank You for the race set before us, for the journey of faith that strengthens and refines us. Give us the endurance to run with perseverance, casting aside every hindrance and fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author, and perfecter of our faith. Help us to draw strength from His example and the great cloud of witnesses who cheer us on. May we press forward with unwavering faith, knowing that You are with us every step of the way. In Jesus&#8217; name, we pray, Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tuesday, February 20 Run The Race: Fix Your Eyes \u00a0 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2123,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3095"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3095\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3101,"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3095\/revisions\/3101"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}