<%@LANGUAGE="JAVASCRIPT" CODEPAGE="1252"%> Untitled Document • Keep Your Eye On The Goal
• Pay attention to where you are going and where you are heading and learn how you will get there.

• Hebrews 12:1-2
• “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

• Introduction
• Our goal is heaven.
• This passage offers several points that we should consider.
• We all know how easy it is to lose sight of our goals.
• We all know the consequences of not watching where we are going.

• The Example Of Those Before Us
• Hebrews 11 speaks of many people of great faith.
• They all had one thing in common.
• Hebrews 11: 39-40 “And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they should not be made perfect”.

• Lay Aside Every Weight
• Encumbrance, weight, obstacle, problem, etc.
• Anything that gets in our way of reaching heaven.
• Anything that gets us off course through this life.
• Jesus said that if your hand offends you, to cut it off, or your eye to pluck it out (Matthew 5:30).

• Easily Entangled
• Sin ties us up, holds us down, gets in our way, hits us hard, will keep us out of heaven.
• The point is that it is so easy to sin. Not hard at all. Really takes no effort on our part.
• It is a trap that we willingly place ourselves in.
• Jesus spoke of these entanglements.
• Matthew 13:22”And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful”.

• Run With Endurance
• The same works for physical running.
• How far we can go is determined by our condition.
• Our strength, stamina, training, pacing all factor into our endurance.
• All of us can run less now than before because of several factors.
• Hebrews 10:36 “ For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised”.

• The Race Before Us
• Likened to a running race as we see in track and field events.
• We all know how they need to be prepared and conditioned to run a race so as to win it.
• We also need spiritual conditioning to win the race of life as we travel towards the end.
• Of course, we must run according to the rules (2 Timothy 2:5).

• Fixing Our Eyes (Gaze)
• The focus upon what we are trying to achieve.
• A farmer plowing a furrow sets his eye on a fixed point and does not look to the side or back, otherwise the furrow will not be straight.
• And all other furrows based upon a crooked furrow will be crooked also.
• If you follow the wrong example, you will also not be straight as you should be.

• Upon Jesus
• Jesus is the standard of what our focus needs to be upon.
• Trying to be like Jesus is the most noble cause we can have.
• Using Jesus as a benchmark is a grand goal we all need to try to accomplish.
• Trying to follow anyone else or some human philosophy will not get us the desired result.

• The Author
• We can rightfully say that Jesus wrote our rule book.
• Jesus delegated His authority to His apostles and the Holy Spirit to record in the Bible everything we need concerning life and immortality.
• Following some mans rule book will not work towards getting us to heaven.

• And The Perfecter
• Since Jesus was perfect in nature and character, His is a complete example.
• Peter mentions Jesus being our PERFECT EXAMPLE.
• 1 Peter 2:21 “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps”.
• Perfecter also means the completer or finisher.

• Of Our Faith
• Jesus wrote the rules and completed the rules by making them perfect (no need for improvement or change).
• Our faith needs to be according to His example, and will ultimately receive our final reward of heaven forever.
• Faith is necessary and essential to our salvation (Hebrews 11:6).

• With Joy Endured The Cross
• Now that does not compute for us humans.
• Being tortured and nailed to a cross to be killed should not be a joyful thing.
• But Jesus knew what He was doing was for a purpose, and that purpose is to allow us to go to heaven.
• He also did it because it was the Father’s will.
• True joy can only come by doing the Father’s will.

• Despised The Shame
• For most, a death on a cross was a shameful thing.
• Most crucifixions lasted many days.
• Imagine being tied naked to a pole and everybody came by thought you had done something really bad.
• After some exposure to the elements and through lack of food and water, you eventually die.
• But Jesus laughed in the face of shame, because for Him there was no shame involved.

• Sat Down At The Right Hand Of God
• Where He belonged.
• Jesus became the source of eternal salvation to all those who obey Him (Hebrews 5:9).
• Jesus has all authority until the end of the world (Matthew 28:18).
• Stephen looked and gazed into heaven to see Jesus at the right hand of God (Acts 7:56).

• Conclusion
• We have a race to run.
• We have examples of those who lived by faith.
• We must lay aside anything that gets in the way.
• The best way to do that is to keep our focus upon Jesus.
• Are you focused on Jesus?

By Carey Scott

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