“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

~ Romans‬ ‭8:35-39‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Welcome to Day 3 of the Encourage Marathon! (If you want to read yesterday’s post, click here.)

Today, someone out there feels like their fighting a losing battle. (It might even be you.)

The human mind is a powerful instrument. It has the ability to aid in triumph or loss. People have lived through unexpected events for no other apparent reason than “the will to live” (and, of course, because God allowed them to).

When we become a Christian, we enter a fierce race. Satan wants to trip us up, knock us down, and shove us out. If we go into the race thinking we’ll never win, then we do not have faith in the promises of God. The Lord promised that those who were His and endured to the end would have eternal life.

Do you believe that?

I do.

Satan can do all he dares to trip me up, but he cannot take me out of the race because I am more than a runner—I am a victor, a conqueror. Is it because I am strong? Nope. It is the love of God gives me the ability to make it to the finish line. He equips me with strength.

The only one who can disqualify me from the race is myself.

Are you getting tired? Feel like you’re gonna lose? Get your mind fixed on two things:

1. The goal
2. The guarantee

The goal is eternal life.

That’s where we are headed. The race is the means by which we get there. If you look down at the ground, you’ll soon become part of it and quit. If you keep thinking about your aching feet and sore muscles, you’ll slow to a stop. Fix your eyes on the finish line and keep moving!

The guarantee is victory.

If we are in Christ and we stay beside Him, He’ll get us to the finish line. As the above passage says, we are more than conquerors through Him. If you know that you can make it, you’ll keep going in spite of all the pain, frustration, and weariness. Again, the victory is only guaranteed if we keep going.

You can win through Christ! Keep your eyes fixed on the goal and the guarantee.

---

I hope you’ll join me on Facebook, Twitter and here at Elihu’s Corner for this marathon. Share this verse on your Twitter feed or Facebook page (#encourage). Take time today to copy down this verse for yourself. Send an email or text to someone you know who would benefit from this encouragement.

Here is a picture of the verse I copied down yesterday for my own benefit:

[If you click on the link in the above passage, it will take you to BibleGateway.com. From here, you can click a share link which allows you to share directly to Twitter, Facebook or send an email.]

If you missed the original post listing all 26 passages, click here to download the PDF list.