Marathon To Heaven

Join Esther Maldonado in this episode as she invites you to lace up your spiritual running shoes and explore life as a "Marathon to Heaven." Drawing inspiration from 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, we uncover how our Christian journey is akin to a long-distance race, meticulously funded by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. As we navigate through the challenges of this marathon, from temptation to trials that life throws our way, discover how perseverance and resilience, with encouragement from our divine coach, lead us toward the incorruptible crown of heaven.

Together, we reflect on the significant metaphors of running and endurance, recognizing that our journey is not just about crossing the finish line but about the relationship we nurture with the Father along the way. We share insights on the transformative power of maintaining faith amidst life's toughest conditions, just as a marathon runner pushes through rain, fatigue, and even physical pain. Engaging analogies and heartfelt discussion underscore the assurance that God knows our capabilities and has chosen us for this race with great purpose. Come along as we find motivation in the promise of eternal life and the immeasurable joy of being in God's presence, urging each other to keep running with hope and unwavering faith.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:08

Welcome to Joy in this Journey podcast by Faithline. Join us as we bring you weekly episodes on Bible devotionals to empower you to live in faith. By faith, through God's grace, Find joy in your journey today.

Speaker 2: 0:25

God bless you all and welcome back to another episode of Join this Journey by Faithline. Today we'll be focusing on the Marathon to Heaven and how to continue moving forward. The verses we will be reading and be focusing on is found in 1 Corinthians 9, verse 24 to the first part of 27, and we read his holy word in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit amen, know ye not that they which run in a race run all but one receives the prize. So run that ye may obtain, and every man that strives for the mastery is tempered in all things. Now they do it to obtain incorruptible ground, but we are incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainty. So fight I, not as one that beateth the air, but I keep under my body and bring it unto rejection, amen. So what does this verse mean and how do we apply it to our life? Well, we start from verse 24. We read that us, as Christians, when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, we enter into this marathon to heaven in order to obtain a crown, an incorruptible crown found in heaven, given by our father in heaven, for being able to overcome this world, and the only way we can overcome is through his holy spirit.

Speaker 2: 1:57

If you ever heard of a marathon, you know that a marathon is a race that you're either running to fund something, running for a cause or any other like theme or fundraiser. You're running and it's not just a simple race, but it is a race that you continue for miles and miles until you obtain the goal of where you want to reach. And for us, when we apply this to our life, we find that Jesus is the one who paid for us to be able to run here, and he funded this marathon for us to be able to run without any excuse. In a way, he made the way for us to run. What does this mean? As runners, we must focus on the end, and Jesus paid for us to run. In this marathon, even more, we have to make sure that we run and we make it to the end, and sometimes that seems so difficult because, as runners, there's so many obstacles, so many things are coming away, whether it be from our body, or hunger, or thirst, or even the weather. Like people will still run a marathon, even if it's pouring, raining or snowing or like really hard winds. And, as Christians, for us that's running through difficult moments, running through temptation, running through different obstacles that can bring up as we run this race.

Speaker 2: 3:38

But the whole reason of this marathon is to make it to heaven, not to give up in the middle of the way, not to just stand in the middle of the way, not to just stand there and contemplate if you should continue running or not. But this marathon is for us to keep going forward, for us to focus on the one true king who fought the way for us to be part of this marathon, and he chose us to run. He didn't make a mistake because he knew we were capable. He's our coach. He knows what we're capable of and how far we can make, and he believes and he trusts in us that we can make it to the end. He sees it in us. He already sees us already with that crown, uncorruptible crown, a crown that's everlasting and it's not. We don't just and we're not desiring to go to heaven just for a crown, but the crown is the prize that we gain. It signifies that we made it. There's going to be peace and joy and happiness and we're going to be in the feet of the Father. We're going to be in His presence eternally, praising His holy name and in order to get there we have to go through a lot.

Speaker 2: 4:54

There's a lot of struggles runners go through. I've seen people who have to change their shoes, or some people that they don't change their shoes at all and their toes get burned out or they come out. A lot of them end up in the hospital because of how intense this race is, and for us as Christians, we definitely know that it's not easy. But what makes us continue pushing forward is knowing that at the end we're going to receive an uncomfortable crown, a crown that's uncomparable to anything this world can offer, but it's a crown that signifies that we've made it and the only way we can make it.

Speaker 2: 5:33

We can't make it on our own strength. We can't make it on our own knowledge and our own form. The only way we can make it is through the help and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The only way we can make it is through the help and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Jesus has sent his Spirit to our lives to strengthen us, to comfort us, to guide us, to be our refuge and strength to continue going forward. And His Holy Spirit when we follow Him every time we feel like we're incapable of going. His Holy Spirit strengthens us to be able to make it to the end, and this is the privilege, as Christians, we have running this marathon People who run the marathon.

Speaker 2: 6:11

In real life they don't have that person to say, okay, I'll cover you, I'll strengthen you, I'll give you you need. And some people have, like a friend that will stay in at some point of the marathon to give them water or new shoes or something that they need. But the the privilege we have with the holy spirit is that he knows exactly what we need and we don't have to fudge around figuring out. He knows exactly what we need. He knows how much strength we need. He knows how difficult it is because he lives inside of us and he sees how we feel. He knows how we are. You know feeling as we're going through whatever we're going through, and we have to trust in his holy spirit. We have to come to him and that's something I've been learning to just lean on Holy Spirit, lean on the Father, lean on Jesus, to continue moving forward whenever we open our Bibles to James, chapter 1, verse 12.

Speaker 2: 7:06

It says less is the man that adores temptation, for when he is tried he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him", meaning that we cannot withstand anything, but through His Holy Spirit we can endure temptation, we can endure difficult times, we can endure whatever is in front of us.

Speaker 2: 7:32

We can confront it through His Holy Spirit, not with our own strength, not with our own capability. Only through His Holy Spirit, us. We can confront it through his holy spirit. Now with our own strength, now with our own capability, only through his holy spirit. And so we have to focus on making sure that we're certain that we want to continue forward, and we have to continue with that certainty that our goal, our final aim, is to receive a crown of glory, because Jesus fought for us to be able to run in this marathon, and if we were chosen to run is because he knows we're more than capable and through his Holy Spirit we can make it to the end. That's all for today. I hope you enjoyed this episode and have received another word of strength from the Holy Spirit of God, and this is your sister, esther. God bless you.

Speaker 1: 8:30

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