I hope you see the importance of this. To become the person God wants you to be, not only must we know of God’s work for us, we must also understand God’s work in us. The Holy Spirit is working to make us holy, and that enables us to be happy –regardless of the happenings. Then we can “Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;( Phil. 2:14-15) –HDS

Notice that there is no mention of winning in our text. Whether we win or not doesn’t depend on what anybody else does–we’re not in competition with others. Success is determined by how well we run the “race that is set before us“. To win we must run fervently and faithfully to the finish.–HDS

Sometimes we have great blessings that we’re not even aware of,or blessings not known by certain others. I think of this every year on “Father’s Day”. On this day we are reminded of our obligation to honor fathers, and that is fine. It is a good thing to give dads what they deserve. For many of us Father’s Day is a time for reminiscing as we recall the delightful days with our dad. What we seem to forget is that for many people there are no such delightful days, no precious memories. They never had the privilege of having a good father.

Some poor kids were raised in a single parent home by their mother, or a grand-parent. Some do not even know who their biological father is. Others were raised in broken homes under the authority of wicked vile step-fathers who either neglected or abused them. And even among those who were or are being raised by their biological parents, a rare thing today now-days, life isn’t always good. Many fathers are unloving and unconcerned, yet the children are forced to live under their authority. For people like these Father’s Day is more than meaningless. It is more like a cruel joke that makes them sick to their stomach.

As much as I wish it wasn’t so, that’s the way it is, and we are powerless to change it. All we can do is pray for these children and try to encourage them any way we can. That’s the purpose of this article. I want them to know that they are not forgotten. I want them to understand that, although they never had a loving father, they are loved. There are others who do care about them. Most of all, God loves them and desires to be their heavenly Father.

I also want to remind those who had or have a godly father that they are greatly blessed and should be deeply grateful. To have a good father is an awesome gift—be thankful for him. Do everything in your power to let him know how much he is appreciated. You have a treasure that is unknown to most kids today. Please honor your father in every way possible and take time to thank God for him. You have a blessing not known by others. Think about it! –HDS

People can be cruel and it doesn’t bother them a bit to cause you grief. Some make it their mission in life to make you miserable. They do it because they lack love, which is a reflection of their attitude toward God. And as painful as it is for you, their problem is even more serious. Don’t allow their failure to cause your fall. It isn’t wise, healthy, or necessary for you to give up your happiness. You aren’t helping anyone by caving in to their desire. The best way for you to have the best chance to see them change is to be the person God wants you to be. That’s not always easy but for a Christian it is truly possible. God can enable you to overcome the difficulties of life and demonstrate what great things He can do. That’s a goal worthy of your full attention. If you haven’t been doing that, that’s something you can change! And that can make a difference. As someone said, ” I can change no other person by my direct actions, but I can change myself and when I change others tend to change in reaction to me”.– HDS

Now I know there is a morbid introspection that isn’t healthy, but that doesn’t mean we should never examine ourselves. The mirror of God’s Word is absolutely essential to our spiritual well-being. Our spiritual growth depends on it (2 Cor. 3:18; Jam. 1:22-25). But, if we look into God’s Word without taking action we deceive ourselves (Ja. 1:22). However, if we obey what we observe it will transform us into the likeness of Christ. Sp, rather than spending time looking at others, we ought to be looking at ourselves, with the intent of correcting what’s wrong. Look at you–what do you see? —HDS