Bible Talk with Sister Deb: Enduring Life's Toughest Races Through Faith and Spiritual Strength

Ever wondered how your faith can sustain you through life's toughest challenges? Join Sister Deb Osborne as she shares her personal story of overcoming obstacles, including her journey of letting go of marijuana to fully commit to following Christ. By reflecting on Hebrews 12:1 and her own childhood experiences with physical races, Sister Deb provides a heartfelt exploration of perseverance and spiritual endurance. You'll gain insight into the necessity of shedding spiritual weights and sins that hinder your progress and find encouragement to maintain your faith through prayer, ministry, and steadfastness, even when the path gets tough.

Prepare to be inspired as we highlight the trials and tribulations that may come our way, along with the strength and guidance God provides through the Bible. Drawing from the story of the Apostle Peter walking on water and Bob Weiland's extraordinary marathon accomplishment, we emphasize the power of faith and perseverance. This episode serves as a powerful reminder that running your spiritual race with your eyes fixed on Jesus is a lifelong journey, not a sprint. Stay spiritually fit, finish strong, and receive the heavenly prize that awaits. Tune in for an uplifting message about dedication, resilience, and the ultimate goal set before us by God.

Chapters

• 0:07 Endure and Run Your Race
• 14:11 Run the Race With Endurance

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:07

Hey, you're listening to Bible Talk with Sister Deb Osborne. You can listen to the show on WUIC 88.1 Christian Radio Station every Sunday at 5 pm. You can also hear her show and much more on the 421 show. You can listen to that show on Google, apple, spotify or all your major platforms. For contact information, you can email Sister Deb at OsborneDevorK at gmailcom. All shows are recorded live. They'll post edited, recorded at the 421 studio. For contact information for all your studio needs, you can email at hor 421 ministries at gmailcom or you can phone at 239-849-1502. If you'd like to support the show. You can support it through paypal slash hor 421 or you can go through directly through the website at hor421showbuzzsproutcom. Now your host, sister Deb.

Speaker 2: 1:10

Thank you very much. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. So my reading for today is in Hebrews 12, chapter 1. I mean Hebrews 12, verse 1, sorry, wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sand which doeth so easily beset us and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. So I was thinking when I was preparing for this message. I got to thinking about all the things going on around me in the world today and I got to thinking about how easy it would be just to slow down and, you know, take a break, and even easier just to stop.

Speaker 2: 1:55

But you know, I've never been that much of a runner. Even as a young kid I never could run very fast. Growing up, my sisters and brothers, my cousins, they would always just run off and leave me. I was always the last one bringing up the rear. They would always run off and leave me behind. I didn't mind the run, I just couldn't do it very fast. Even riding bikes, and we'd play cups and robbers or whatever on our bikes. I was the first one to always get caught because I just could not paddle, I couldn't get out of the way enough. So, like I said, I didn't mind the race, I just couldn't do it very fast.

Speaker 2: 2:33

But Hebrews 12, verse 1, it says let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doeth easily beset us and let us run the race that is set before us. See, as we run this race, people, this race of faith, each of us has obstacles that we have to face. You know, we're not the first ones to run this race. Of course, others have gone on before us and run their race. Hebrews 11 tells us about the Old Testament heroes who endured sufferings and they overcome obstacles. But Hebrews 12 is talking about running the race with endurance, not to let anything weigh you down or hinder. You See, a lot of Christians today, they want to just try to run the Christian race, all loaded down with things, especially and it says, the sin which easily besets us and entangles us.

Speaker 2: 3:24

See, friends, we need to ask ourselves and we need to ask the Lord. Actually, is there anything in my life, in our lives, that is weighing us down spiritually and keeping me from being the follower that God wants me to be? It could be a sinful habit, maybe bitterness over how you were treated by someone, or even the love of something in the world that you know that keeps you from following Christ with all your heart. See, I did that before I gave my life to the Lord. You know, I tried to hold on to marijuana. I just thought it was OK. It was my thoughts on it. Where it was an herb, it's grown in a garden. You can put it in the ground like you do a garden and grow it. And it was okay. But now, see, the Lord showed me different. See, jesus said that we can't serve two masters. He said we can't run the Christian race and the world's race at the same time, because they are going in two different directions.

Speaker 2: 4:24

The Christian race is a race which we must run it with endurance, and endurance means to sustain an activity any difficult, unpleasant, painful, a painful one, whatever for a long period of time. Many people, they set out to follow Christ at first and they hit the road just running. They hit it right, get on the road and they just take right off, but then after some time they slow down or that great zeal that they had at first just quickly withers away. But see, people, it's not how fast you go at first, it's that you keep going. Run with endurance, keep it up for the long haul. You know we don't have to sprint out of the starting gate. Christ wants us to stick it out for the long run. Christ wants us to stay the course. Keep following him until we finish the race that he gave us. You know, jesus didn't sprint out of the starting gate. He didn't even begin his ministry until he was 30 years old. But see, jesus ran the race that his Father set before him to the very end and, of course, we know his race led him to the cross.

Speaker 2: 5:38

But see, we need to run our race with endurance, and that means you have to pray. You have to have prayer time every day, even when you don't feel like it. Run with endurance means you keep the faith to the ministry that God gave you, even when you feel like it's not going anywhere. Run with endurance means you follow the Lord even when people hurt you, when they hurt your feelings, they neglect you or they even oppose you. See, we're not the only Christians that this has happened to. We need to run with endurance. It means that you follow the Lord even though you may be going through some difficult times right now. You know yourself.

Speaker 2: 6:15

But, friends, now is not the time to let anything stop us or get in our way. You know, we have to keep on keeping on. You've heard that. Keep on keeping on thing. We have to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Remember, we have a Savior who's already into tomorrow. He's already dealing with tomorrow. We know that Satan's here and he's wanting to kill, steal and destroy. But we have a Savior who said he goes before us in the presence of our enemies. So he's already in tomorrow, working too. See, we just keep going, even when you don't feel like it, especially when you don't feel like it.

Speaker 2: 6:49

Run the race with endurance. Run the race that God set before you. You know, it may seem like we're all running for the same race, but just because we're following God. But, see, and the reality is, we can only run the race that God set before us. We can only run our race. We can't run anybody else's race. We can only run our own race. We each have a different one. We each have our own particular race that God has called us to run. See, check this out.

Speaker 2: 7:23

I'm going to use a little bit of history here and see if I can explain it a little better. In 1776, general George Washington made his famous crossing of the Delaware River. You know, you see all these pictures out there of him and his little buddies in this little old dinghy boat and they've got the flag up and anyway, they're going across the Delaware River to surprise attack the German troops that the British had hired to fight the colonies. Well, what some people don't know is that Washington actually split his army up into different groups, each group taking a different pathway to attack the enemy. See, one group went with him to cross the Delaware while two other groups went, you know, around the south to attack from that end. So the reason I bring this up and I tell it like this is because, you see, they were all a part of the same army. They just had different paths.

Speaker 2: 8:16

And see, that's how it is with God. We are His army and he's our general, and he sets us on the path that we need to go, that he needs us to go, according to His master plan. So the race that God has set before us, it may not be the same race as he set before someone else. There may be times that you may want to maybe turn around and run a different race than the one you're in now. Maybe even while you're in your race, maybe you want to teach, or maybe you want to preach the word, or maybe you want to sing. I would love to sing. I sometimes can picture myself being a worship leader. I would love to sing. Now, can I sing? I put on some pretty good concerts in my truck and in my living room, but that's between me and the Lord, but anyway.

Speaker 2: 9:04

But see, what I'm trying to get is we have to worry about the race that God put in front of us, not the ones that he didn't put in front of us. We all have a different race. We will only be judged by that race that he set before us. We're only going to be judged by that race. So people run that race with endurance. You know, jesus said to follow Him. He said just follow me. Don't worry about anybody else's race. Keep your eyes on Jesus. Don't look at the other runners, which could be the church, your family, your friends. Don't look at the other people, because others will disappoint you. You need to keep your eyes on Jesus. He will not disappoint you. He'll never leave you. He'll never forsake you. He loved you so much, that he died on the cross for your sins and he rose again to be our living Savior. He will take your hand and if you will look to him, he'll help you run your race. You see, friends living for God in a lost and dying world.

Speaker 2: 10:10

It's hard, I'm telling you. You can look all through the Bible and you can look for metaphors comparing the Christian race to something easy like a picnic or a walk around the park or a stroll through the woods. And you're not going to find it. But I'm going to tell you what you will find. You will find in the book of Hebrews that it compares the Christian life to running a race. And the reason a Christian life isn't compared to a picnic is because the Christian life is hard, just like a race. And it's just like in a race. You're going to have troubles, you're going to face obstacles, you're going to get tired.

Speaker 2: 10:48

You know we must run in a way, such a way that we're going to win. You know there's no point in running our race if we're running for second or third People. We have to go for the gold, and we know what that is. We need to go for the gold. You know we're our opponents. You know, the opponents in this race is not our fellow Christians. I'm not running my race of life to beat anybody, you or anybody else. I'm running this race to get ahead of our opponents, people that is, the world, the sin, the flesh, the devil, and friends. Sometimes we even make poor choices. In the people that we hang around and our friends that we hang around with, you know they tend to get us off the road and off of our track.

Speaker 2: 11:37

But the Bible says in Galatians 5 and 7, you did well, you did run well. Who did hinder you that you should not obey the truth? See, my brothers and sisters, we need to forget about the past and look forward to what lies ahead of us. We need to press on to reach the end of our race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ, is calling. Isaiah 43 and 18 says and Philippians 3 and 14 says Press for the mark. Press means calling of God in Christ Jesus. Press for the mark. Press means to run, means to strive to go forward. The mark means like the goalpost out there. You're pressing for that goalpost and the prize is the high calling, is our heavenly home People, the very moment that you gave your heart to Christ and believed your race began. And you know, some of you Christ and believed your race began. And you know, some of you maybe have just started your race, maybe some has been running for quite a while.

Speaker 2: 12:45

But sometimes we do get sidestepped. I know I just recently got sidestepped. Not too long ago I recently lost a very important person in my life, my Uncle Donnie, and I know he's already finished his race and I know he's enjoying his heavenly home. But you know, it was a tragic loss for me and he not only helped raise me, he was like a father to me, but he was also my spiritual father and he and I talked every day, sometimes three or four times a day, and most of our conversations was about the Lord. But see, I think about my race and I keep thinking, man, I've got to run my race just a little bit harder Because, see, I want to see my Uncle Donnie and I know I'll see him.

Speaker 2: 13:32

And we should all embrace our own particular race, not the race that your best friend is running, or the course that maybe God set your sister on, or it isn't the one that your husband or your wife's on. They're running either. It's your race. It's your spiritual journey and Jesus wants us to keep our eyes on him as we run our race. If we turn our focus on to the right or the left, trying to check out somebody else's race, we're just going to trip and fall. I don't know about you, but it's hard for me to walk a straight line without tripping and falling, let alone looking to the right or the left.

Speaker 2: 14:11

See, people, you need to run your race. Fix your eyes on Jesus and run your race. Is there going to be times you're going to be lonely? Yes, there is. Is there going to be trials and tribulations? There, surely will.

Speaker 2: 14:25

But see, you keep your eyes on Jesus, run your race, keep your eyes on the prize and keep your focus on God. And see, I tell you what God didn't put us in this race without equipment to help us. You know, you don't put a team on the field without giving them some bats and some gloves and some balls. You don't put a football team on the field without giving them pads. Well, you know God, he gave us a manual to teach us about this race. We're running the Bible, and it teaches us about the way to win the race, how to run the race. It teaches us all the rewards that we're going to get when we finish our race. All you have to do is read it. All you have to do is read his words and see.

Speaker 2: 15:10

We need to fix our eyes on Jesus. We need to lock our eyes firmly on him. You remember when the Apostle Peter walked on the water with Jesus? As long as he focused on Jesus he was fine. But as soon as he looked away, what? He began to sink and of course, jesus got him out of the water and people. He'll do the same for us when we fall during our race.

Speaker 2: 15:37

So run your race with your eyes focused not on your scars, not on your limbs, not on your limp, but fixed on Jesus, on his mercy, on his love, his righteousness. When you fix your eyes on Jesus, you'll see that his love, that very love that endured the cross, it's not going anywhere. His love for you is totally unshaken by your scarred legs. See, and you'll find your eternal life when you finish your race. One day you'll be in his presence forever. You know, hebrews 12 is telling us here run the race that's set before you and keep on running. When you think you can't run anymore, call on Jesus and he'll lead you and guide you all along the way.

Speaker 2: 16:24

You may run into mountains, but don't fear. Some people run into a mountain and say, man, wow, that's a big one. But you look at the mountain and you say move, because that is the power that God has given you. That's the power he's given you. You see, friends, this is no ordinary race. It has been marked out especially for you. God has marked out your own race and this might be adventurous to us. But of course, this race is like a marathon. It has no timeouts, no breaks and no halftimes. We have to keep running. And you want to be a spiritual champion? Keep running your race. You want to be a spiritual champion? Look towards the finish line, look for the goal line. You know, get up off our couches and get off the pews and run our race. You know, now we're not in competition, we're on the same team. I'm not trying to outrun nobody, just like I said earlier, anybody. I said I couldn't if I wanted to. I'm running with Jesus. He is my running partner, the race that's set before me. He's running that race with me.

Speaker 2: 17:33

People, we all need to get ourselves in spiritual shape. I'm talking about me too. We need to stay the course, finish strong at the end, don't worry about what's ahead of us, don't worry about what's behind us, and receive our heavenly price. And you know I'm not in physical shape to run in a marathon, Wouldn't even try it. But you know what I'm in physical, I'm in spiritual shape enough what it takes to run a Christian race. And I'm running my race because I've got Jesus Christ beside me.

Speaker 2: 18:01

And we all need to stay in shape and stay in our race. We need to get rid of everything that's hindering us and that's trying to stop our ability to run our race. People, if it don't build you up in the Lord, it's a hindrance. Get rid of it. You need to get rid of all the stuff, all the sin, that's holding you down, that's tripping you up, and you know, and Satan knows, where your weakest point is. And there's some sins out there that may not even bother you at all. But then there's those others, and he knows those. That's going to be a big temptation to you. See, apostle Paul says in Romans 6.12, not to let the sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desire. See, this race is not a short one. It's not just a one-time race. It's a really long race that will only finish after we breathe our last breath here on earth. And a lot of Christians today are getting tired of running this race. I know and many are already planning to quit. I know some people that's quit.

Speaker 2: 19:06

Let me tell you a story. It's a short one. In 1986, in the New York City Marathon, almost 20,000 runners entered that race. Now, what was so memorable about that race race? It wasn't who won the race, but it was who finished last. And this man's name that finished last was Bob Weiland. Now he finished the marathon in 19,413th place, dead up last, 413th place, dead up last. Now it took him. He completed that in four days, two hours, 47 minutes and 17 seconds. It was the longest marathon in history ever marked, ever, ever ran.

Speaker 2: 19:54

And so what made Bob Weiland's marathon so special? No-transcript, with his arms His arms, you see. 17 years earlier, while in Vietnam, bob's legs were blown off in battle both of them. And so what? He decided he was going to run a marathon. I'm sure people probably thought he was crazy, but he decided he was going to run a marathon. And you know what he did? He got him a 15-pound saddle, he covered his fists with pads and he used his arms to catapult himself forward one arm length at a time. So he ran a mile in an hour.

Speaker 2: 20:38

People, can we say endurance? No, can we say endurance in the face of adversity? So, people, let's commit ourselves to finishing the race that we began, not forgetting that life's race is not a quick sprint, it's a long-distance run, people. So run your race well, put your faith in God and run your race well. And I'm going to close with this.

Speaker 2: 21:06

Friends, we need to pray and we need to ask God if there's anybody, anything holding you down. Is there anything hindering you from being the spiritual warrior that God wants you to be? Or maybe you're thinking about dropping out of the race. My brothers and sisters, god's saying don't stop. He's saying keep your head up and keep running to Him. He's right beside you. Or maybe you're listening out there now and you need to stop and just step into the Christian race by giving your heart to Jesus and asking Him to be your Lord and Savior for the very first time. My friends, just reach out to Him, because he's there, he's listening. Won't you let Him lighten your load? Won't you let Him lead you all the way to the finish line?

Speaker 2: 22:01

Because at that finish line, there's going to be a great gathering of those people who's gone on and ran their own race before us, and they're going to be right there eagerly waiting to welcome us home, cheering us on every step of the way, and that should encourage us, each and every one, to run our race and finish strong, looking to Jesus. Let us pray, our Father, as we run this race that you have set before us. Let us pray, give us the strength to get up and get back into the race that you've set before us. Help us, O Lord, to keep the finish line in our sights, where we'll be able to say at last, in the last words of Paul, we'll be able to say I have fought the good fight, I've finished the race and I have kept the faith.

Speaker 2: 23:03

Lord, please, please, let this message go out there to the ears that need to hear it. We ask you, lord, to these people that need to hear this about running the race, about running with endurance, about keeping up their pace. All they got to do, lord, let them understand and let them feel that all they got to do is reach out. And you're there, you're sprinting right along with them every step of the way, and we ask you, lord, the ones that need you, to help them step into the race for the first time. We ask you to help these people, help them to realize, help them to open their eyes.

Speaker 2: 23:39

Lord, let this message go to the ears that need to hear it. Father, we ask these in all things. In Jesus' holy name, we pray Amen and amen. I hope and pray this message today. People has blessed you as much as it has me to bring it to you Everybody. Have a blessed week and be sure to listen here next week on Bible Talk with me, sister Deb, and feel free to contact me on my email at osborne-debrakaya at gmailcom, or please phone me at 606-909-0256. If you just need a prayer, if you need to drop a name, you need a prayer request, a question, anything, any comments, anything you want to say, just give me a call.

Speaker 1: 24:40

Thank you very much and God bless each and everybody. Every Sunday at 5 pm you can also hear the show and much, much more on 421 Show. You can listen to that show on Google, apple, spotify, all your major platforms, wherever you listen to your podcast at. For contact information with Sister Deb, you can email her at osbraindevork at gmailcom. That's O-S-B-O-R-N-E-D-E-B-R-A-K at gmailcom. All shows are recorded live no post editing recorded at the 421 studio. For contact information for all your studio needs, you can email at hor421ministries at gmailcom or you can phone at 239-849-1502. If you'd like to support the show, you can support it through PayPal at slash HOR421. Or you can go through the website at HOR421showbuzzsproutcom to support the show and we thank you again for listening to Sister Deb.