6. I Run to Win

The page titled “I Am One Spirit with the Lord,” covering the second portion of Chapter 6, was already written. This topic then covers from 7:1 to 11:1. 11:1 should be part of Chapter 10. Thus it is four chapters, of which the unfortunate Chapter 7 contributes little. Chapter 7 is one of the most badly interpreted and misused passages in history. Here is our response to Chapter 7. – I am led of the Spirit; I know only Christ in all.

The fact that we are one spirit with the Lord Jesus, however, must direct our thoughts in seeking God’s meaning through all four chapters. Let’s start with the overall word of Christ.

The Word of Christ. I am led of the Spirit; I know only Christ in all. I run to win. I gladly ignore what is not important. I give all to Victory. I receive the prize, the knowledge of Christ. I win a crown that never decays. God is always with me inside of every circumstance; He is always my way out of difficulty. I flee from idolatry, from trusting in anything besides God-with-me. I partake of all things with thanksgiving. I do all into the glory of God.

I come out from God through Jesus; I return into God through Jesus. I build up God’s House through love. My zeal for God’s House consumes me. I love my brothers and sisters. I watch always in anxious care over them, that they would know God in strength. I cover closely and bear under all for the sake of the gospel of Christ, that each might know Jesus inside themselves. I preach the gospel; I live out from the gospel.

I become a servant to all that I might win each to Christ. I become all things to all that I might win some. I do all through the gospel that I might share in it with others. I bless the cup of Christ; I participate in the fellowship of His Blood. I break the bread with Jesus; I participate in the fellowship of His body. I partake of one loaf with all my fellow believers.

Our Questions. There are two large questions here. First – What do we win? Or what is the prize? And second – How do we win? Or what is the run? Our thinking once was that the prize is a ticket by which we go to heaven someday. Even in the move fellowship, where we saw being a manifest son of God as the prize, it was still a ticket for something someday. We thought this way because we were eating from the wrong tree. And the actual result was always trying, lying, and crying.

Thus our center two boxes must be “The Prize” and “The Run.” Because we eat only of Life, of the Lord Jesus sharing all with us, our view of these things is entirely wondrous.

Uncountable Treasures. Our prize is actually four things, each unique and different, each vast beyond measure, each filled with uncountable treasures. We might even say five things. To put it simply, our first prize is all the riches of Christ Jesus now as ourselves, our second is all the fulness of God inside of us. Our third prize is one another in a shared life forever, and our fourth is all creation as our inheritance. The fifth is a brand-new body, spirit and physic together. We have said that this is a relatively “small” change, but it is a prize most precious to us.

What is there in the passing fantasies of this present world that could possibly interest us?

VALUE. Here is how C.S. Lewis put it. – “We are… like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.”

Because we speak Christ, the VALUE of sharing God with Himself even as He shares us with us, grows ever greater and more real to us. God belongs to me. All that He is, He freely gives me to enjoy together with Him. And all that I am, He loves to share with me. Wealth unimaginable. Treasures beyond count. – REAL.

Riches and Wealth. We put the riches of Christ first because Jesus is our connection with everything else. Jesus connects me with God, with you, with creation, and even with myself. Yet this Jesus who connects me with all is also my personal Friend, my Savior and Lord. Jesus is utterly with me. More than that, He receives all that I am as part of Himself and gives me all that He is as part of myself.

Then, the wealth of God coming through, all the fulness of God, all power, all Love, all Life, all Joy, all knowledge, all perception, all design, all creativity, all wealth, all All, is given to me without measure or restraint. This prize is so big it is beyond comprehension or utterance.

An Inheritance Incorruptible. What other people are as themselves, now in fellowship with us, is a wealth few ever consider. It took me years in community life before the value of my brother and sister, in what they were of themselves, opened to my understanding. We will know glory when the fellowship we share together is equal in our estimation to being filled with all of God.

Every rock and hill, every leaf and branch, every planet and galaxy, an inheritance beyond measurement or knowing, to care for, to shepherd, to guide, to create, to enlarge. Wow. And our own bodies brand-new, with abilities to express ourselves in harmonious ways of which we have had no idea. An inheritance incorruptible and filled with all value.

The Prize. My goal is only to be like the Lord Jesus as God intends. The, with all the riches of Christ, everything Jesus is has become essential parts of me and me of Him. Inside of Jesus, I possess all the fulness of God, all knowledge and wisdom, all power and wealth, all love and life. Turning with Jesus, my prize then includes the fellowship I enjoy with my fellow believers forever, each one a treasure of Christ given to me. Then, with them, my prize is all creation, every branch and stone, every planet and galaxy. Last, but not least, my prize is a brand-new immortal body, spirit and physic together.

The Job. Is God telling us the truth? How could we be anything less than given, driven, excited, focused, intense? How would we not cast off anything temporal, anything vaporous, anything of no real value, in order to possess what God has explicitly promised to us? More than that, the run is entirely out from faith, and not of ourselves at all.

The task is to put the Lord Jesus upon all that we are – to BELIEVE that He is! The job is to share heart with God! To care as He cares through us. To give as He gives through us. Even God Himself is the Way of the run. He causes us to celebrate Victory already completed.

Incredibly Useless Distractions. So what would slow us down? What would distract us? What is attractive enough to us to persuade us to settle for mud pies? Or, as many choose, for the off-scouring of cesspools?

We’re getting right at the core of what it is to be human. It’s all about control, and that in the face of other people. For the majority, “What will they think about me,” is far greater than everything of God promised to us. For a minority, “How can I manipulate them to please myself,” is the only thought that enters. Others call themselves by their body parts and blindly follow wherever one or another body part leads them, imagining themselves to be “in control.”

Let Us Run. What is the run? The run is to know the Father through knowing Jesus Sent, as Word and as Spirit, into us. The run is to live turned around, Father with me in all for the sake of others.

The run is to spend time in the presence of Jesus with us, all night long, receiving His transfer of substance to us through faith in His Word, and becoming just like Him in all acceptance and through all loss. The run is to stand firm in the middle of death as the Ark of God’s Covenant until the last little one who belongs to Jesus has crossed into all the life of Christ.

Let us run as we have never run before. Let us run to win!

The Run. My run is not to be distracted by temporal demands, feelings, and pursuits of useless “value.” With God, I enjoy all good things freely given to me. Apart from God, I fail, and am lost back into the darkness of a false story. It is always Jesus who saves me. It is always God our Father who Himself is my way through difficulty. I acknowledge Jesus always with me, inside of me; I share every moment of my life with God. I flee from idolatry, from the worship of fakery. I focus my run, for I run to win.

WITH Jesus. The center, the key, the essence of our run is “with Jesus.” Now, here is the JSV translation of a key verse. – God is now faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted or tried beyond what you are able, but will do Himself with you also the way out of the temptation, the ability by which it is carried away (10:13). There is one way only to pass through everything in this run, and that is WITH Jesus, WITH God.

A moment ago, I was in deep distress. I felt as if my mind-emotions-nerves were about to be overthrown. I cried out, “I need a Savior.” Immediately Jesus arose in me as peace and all my distress vanished as if it never was.

Our Only Way. These words of the Jesus Secret which we are speaking are the Lord Jesus inside of us. We never separate anything from Him, personally with us. And so, on a regular basis, we hear Him speaking these words to us, personal and real.

At every moment, in every circumstance, it is never “up to us” to accomplish anything. All that we need in this run to win, Jesus speaks gently as us. Make Jesus real to yourself as you hear Him speak inside of you. Acknowledge Him always. Jesus is our only Way, our connection with everything.

The Jesus Secret. My Dear One, I am your exceedingly great reward. I am the prize you seek; I am the crown you wear. Through Me, all things are yours. I am the One who connects you with everything, with God our Father and with your fellow believers inside of Me. I connect you with all created things, and even with yourself. I asked God to keep you inside of Me in your run for the prize. God always answers Me. Keep your eyes on Me, keep your heart purely Mine, and you cannot fail. I am the One who carries you through all.

This Is Me. This is who I am. This is what I do.

Jesus is always with me; I run to win!

This is me!