The Bottom Line, Ministries Christian News, Articles, & Poetry 
We are all running this race. Well, some are running. Others seem to be on a leisure cruise. Are we running to the battle to gain an “incorruptible” crown or are we satisfied with a “corruptible” one? Who are the righteous? They are the ones running to receive the prize. They are those that hunger to obtain it.
When so many are dying in their sin, when the name of Christ is being so perverted and prostituted, when so many Christians are being persecuted for proclaiming the name of Christ, when millions of babies never get to experience a life full of grace, when nation after nation is falling to evil, when our own nation is succumbing to this evil and so many of its people are lost without any hope–I have an all-consuming conviction to get off my leisure cruise of a Christian life and “run to the battle.”
Do not we all run this race called life? Are we running for a corruptible or an incorruptible crown? We strive for “the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him” (James 1:12). We receive this crown by enduring temptation. When we are tried, we shall receive our crown. Paul said, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith …” (2 Tim. 4), and thereby laid up for himself “a crown of righteousness.”
Paul told his followers, “But watch you in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of your ministry. He said by doing this, “I have kept the faith.”
Shall we lay our crown of righteousness at Jesus’ feet or have we cast our crown into the dust preferring an easier Christian life (Isa. 65:20)? The crown of life is for those that are, “found in the way of righteousness” (Prov. 16:31).
What is the way of righteousness? John Piper states: “God has put eternity in our hearts and we have an inconsolable longing for God.” We will hunger and thirst for God’s righteousness.
C. S. Lewis said: “We are half hearted creatures, fooling around with drink and sex and ambition, when infinite joy is offered us, 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, we are far too easily pleased.”
The race we run is a battle with sin, in ourselves and in others. Are we running to the battle with our Master or is our goal to leisurely cruise through life enjoying the Christian life given us?
Many are hungry for God. Is it enough to merely be hungry for God? The Prodigal Son is a good example. It is when we are starving for Him that we will run to Him seeking what He will feed us.
Are you starving to know God?
A Haven Of Good
God brought me to this desired haven
The haven once called great and once good
With great rejoicing I arrived at my destination
Not by my own skill was I brought safely to this place
I owe it only to God’s secret guidance and divine providence
What will become of this haven…Will it be a haven of good
This place of great beauty…Great wonder…Great trouble
Its people had seen many waves and good times of calm
By the will of God…A great storm was brought to their trouble
With hearts melting they feared this great beauty might sink
God lifted up the sea and brought upon them a mighty wave
This fair haven…It will not pass without difficulty
Have we made our home in a barren wilderness in which to dwell
Shall we be like the barren woman wishing to have a child
Or will it be a quiet home where the Sparrow sings amongst the branches
I am in great distress fearing my home it will become like death
My soul is troubled…Not by the storm…But by its potential ruin
I looked for much in my new home…And I have found it
The leaves are lovely and the fruit of the tree is abundant here
I kneel and I pray thanking God for my bounty…His grace
Will we continue to look for much or when brought home will it turn out to be little
Will all of us run to our house and watch the ruin of it all come to pass
Will we hide there paralyzed…Tormented…And afraid of the ruin to come
Or will we run to the One who is “perfect in beauty” and has “infinite grace”
Will we rest by His still waters…Finding then it to be “A Haven of Good”
Vasquez Savage
