100 Year Dash: Week 1 Notes
100 Year Dash: Week 1 Notes
What is this life that we live? Are we just puppets that God controls or do our decisions matter?
The world says it doesn't matter, but we know it does! The world thinks we just die and go into nothing, but we know better!
We have purpose, but it's deeper than most people believe or even understand.
We have something bigger to live for and eternal life to look forward to, but do we realize how short our time here really is?
Paul describes it like this:
Hebrews 12:1-2 "Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith."
We aren't running our race to gain salvation- we receive that by grace, through faith.
Ephesians 2:8 NLT God saved you by grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so w can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
Although we are saved by grace, there is a judgment of rewards and there are crowns.
Here's a look at the finish line:
2 Corinthians 5:10: "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad."
1 Corinthians 3:13-15: our works will be "tried" by fire. Gold, silver, and precious stones remain. Wood, hay, and stubble burn. "If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire."
Revelation 4:10-11: the elders "cast their crowns before the throne." Our crowns aren't trophies for us. They are gifts we lay at Jesus's feet. That is the deepest reason to run: to have something to give back to Him.
You can be saved and still show up empty-handed.
I read a book called One Month to Live. The whole premiss was, how differently would you live if you knew you only had one month to live. Would you waste time on things that didn't matter? Would you restore a relationship that needed it? So many things take our time and we don't realize, we can't get it back.
**PIC OF TOMBSTONE**
I'm sure you've been to a cemetery. Every stone has a name, a birth date, and a death date (or a place for one). Between those two dates is a small dash line. That little line holds a whole life: every birthday, every job, every choice, every prayer, every person they loved. It's small compared to the tombstone and the numbers listed and the letters that spell out a quote or scripture, but the dash is the most important part. It's what people talk about when they remember you.
It's the part that matters!
You can't change the first date, and you don't get to pick the second. The only part you control is the dash, and you are standing in it right now. Let that sink in!
And another sobering thought- How short the dash is according the scripture:
James 4:14: "For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." -Like steam over a boiling pot of water.
Psalm 90:10, 12: our days are "threescore years and ten"... "So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom."
Kick yourself in gear later and do this math equation- 36,500 - A = T. A is your age in days. T is how many days you have left to live, if you live until 100, which is unlikely.
The average lifespan of an American is 81 for females and 76 for males (just use your imagination as to why they're different.)
If your stone were carved today, what would your dash say? Would you change some things? Would you spend less time on things that don't matter?
And now that you've realized that this life is short, and it's more of a sprint than a jog, let's look at what the Word says:
“I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings. Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.”
1 Corinthians 9:23-27 NLT
Paul's advice is to run like you want to win. But we aren't racing each other, we are actually racing WITH each other.
My wife is a marathon runner...she's not built different. She just has a goal that she pursues with purpose. An Athlete trains when they'd rather be resting. They eat to live, not live to eat. They plan for everything- they don't allow unnecessary things to get in the way of their goal(s).
Let me share what I've learned (I do not like running much:).
1. Run Light: lay aside what slows you down (Hebrews 12:1-2) Weights are not always sinful. They are things that slow you down: busyness, screens, hobbies that crowd out God, grudges, worry, the opinions of people...In one word- DISTRACTIONS.
Sin that easily besets is the one that keeps tripping you. Everyone has one. Name it and lay it down.
2. Train to Win: there is a prize worth training for (1 Corinthians 9:24-27; Philippians 3:13-14). Discipline yourself. Eat right. Winners do consistently what others do occasionally.
3. Run to the Finish: finish your course with joy (Acts 20:24; Isaiah 40:31) 2 Timothy 4:7-8. "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness."
We all want to hear, "well done". But are you positioning yourself to hear that phrase from The Lord?
What is this life that we live? Are we just puppets that God controls or do our decisions matter?
The world says it doesn't matter, but we know it does! The world thinks we just die and go into nothing, but we know better!
We have purpose, but it's deeper than most people believe or even understand.
We have something bigger to live for and eternal life to look forward to, but do we realize how short our time here really is?
Paul describes it like this:
Hebrews 12:1-2 "Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith."
We aren't running our race to gain salvation- we receive that by grace, through faith.
Ephesians 2:8 NLT God saved you by grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so w can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
Although we are saved by grace, there is a judgment of rewards and there are crowns.
Here's a look at the finish line:
2 Corinthians 5:10: "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad."
1 Corinthians 3:13-15: our works will be "tried" by fire. Gold, silver, and precious stones remain. Wood, hay, and stubble burn. "If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire."
Revelation 4:10-11: the elders "cast their crowns before the throne." Our crowns aren't trophies for us. They are gifts we lay at Jesus's feet. That is the deepest reason to run: to have something to give back to Him.
You can be saved and still show up empty-handed.
I read a book called One Month to Live. The whole premiss was, how differently would you live if you knew you only had one month to live. Would you waste time on things that didn't matter? Would you restore a relationship that needed it? So many things take our time and we don't realize, we can't get it back.
**PIC OF TOMBSTONE**
I'm sure you've been to a cemetery. Every stone has a name, a birth date, and a death date (or a place for one). Between those two dates is a small dash line. That little line holds a whole life: every birthday, every job, every choice, every prayer, every person they loved. It's small compared to the tombstone and the numbers listed and the letters that spell out a quote or scripture, but the dash is the most important part. It's what people talk about when they remember you.
It's the part that matters!
You can't change the first date, and you don't get to pick the second. The only part you control is the dash, and you are standing in it right now. Let that sink in!
And another sobering thought- How short the dash is according the scripture:
James 4:14: "For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." -Like steam over a boiling pot of water.
Psalm 90:10, 12: our days are "threescore years and ten"... "So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom."
Kick yourself in gear later and do this math equation- 36,500 - A = T. A is your age in days. T is how many days you have left to live, if you live until 100, which is unlikely.
The average lifespan of an American is 81 for females and 76 for males (just use your imagination as to why they're different.)
If your stone were carved today, what would your dash say? Would you change some things? Would you spend less time on things that don't matter?
And now that you've realized that this life is short, and it's more of a sprint than a jog, let's look at what the Word says:
“I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings. Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.”
1 Corinthians 9:23-27 NLT
Paul's advice is to run like you want to win. But we aren't racing each other, we are actually racing WITH each other.
My wife is a marathon runner...she's not built different. She just has a goal that she pursues with purpose. An Athlete trains when they'd rather be resting. They eat to live, not live to eat. They plan for everything- they don't allow unnecessary things to get in the way of their goal(s).
Let me share what I've learned (I do not like running much:).
1. Run Light: lay aside what slows you down (Hebrews 12:1-2) Weights are not always sinful. They are things that slow you down: busyness, screens, hobbies that crowd out God, grudges, worry, the opinions of people...In one word- DISTRACTIONS.
Sin that easily besets is the one that keeps tripping you. Everyone has one. Name it and lay it down.
2. Train to Win: there is a prize worth training for (1 Corinthians 9:24-27; Philippians 3:13-14). Discipline yourself. Eat right. Winners do consistently what others do occasionally.
3. Run to the Finish: finish your course with joy (Acts 20:24; Isaiah 40:31) 2 Timothy 4:7-8. "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness."
We all want to hear, "well done". But are you positioning yourself to hear that phrase from The Lord?
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