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The Last Hour: Are You Running or Coasting? · In the Stillness Podcast

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  Good morning y'all, it's friendly.
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  Thanks so much for joining me on In the Stillness today.
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  Happy Tuesday. Lately I have been so struck by
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  how dense scripture really is. Like I have been sitting with
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  just a few verses in First John and the Lord has been revealing
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  so much, and so today we're just taking a few lines again, really
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  letting them speak to us. I'm going to be reading from
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  First John chapter 2, verses 18 through 20.
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  Dear children, the end of this age is near.
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  You have heard that the Antichrist is arising, and in
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  fact, many enemies of Christ have already appeared.
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  This is how we know that we are living in the closing hour of
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  this age. For even though they were once a
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  part of us, they withdrew from us because they were never truly
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  of us. For if they had been of us, they
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  would have remained with us. But by leaving, they made it
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  obvious that they were not really of us.
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  But the Holy One has anointed you, and you all know the truth.
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  OK, I kept coming back to the phrase the end of this age, and
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  in another translation it says the last hour.
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  Because if I'm being honest, I used to hear things like that
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  and kind of feel disconnected. People have been saying the end
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  of the age for generations, the end times.
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  And I would ask myself, how is it still the last hour?
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  But what John is pointing to is the entire stretch of time
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  between Jesus's first coming and his return.
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  So from Pentecost on. So yes, it has been over 2000
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  years, but spiritually speaking, we are in the final stretch of
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  the story. And Scripture is also clear that
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  1000 years to us could be like a day to God.
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  And the picture that the Lord gave me today was from running
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  track actually. So I used to run the 800 meter.
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  And let me just say that final lap is brutal.
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  You are exhausted, Your legs feel like they're giving out and
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  your breathing is heavy. Everything in you wants to slow
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  down. But here's the thing about that
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  last lap, you honestly don't feel how close you truly are in
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  the moment. It still feels really long.
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  It feels stretching. But then when you finish and you
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  look back, it was so much shorter than it felt.
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  It's like 2 minutes of your life.
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  And I just kept thinking, what if we are closer than we
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  realize? What if this really is the last
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  lap and we're living like we have endless time because no one
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  runs the final lap casually? If they truly understand what is
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  at stake and what's ahead Spiritually, though, I think it
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  can be easy to drift into apathy, into distraction, or
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  just going through motions. And Scripture calls us higher.
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  In First Corinthians 9 verse 24, Paul says to run in such a way
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  as to get the prize. And then in Second Timothy 2, I
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  was actually reading this last night, Paul is painting this
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  picture that an athlete has to train with discipline to
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  compete. A farmer who works hard before
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  seeing the harvest. A soldier who stays focused and
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  doesn't just get entangled in the distractions.
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  See, The thing is, none of them drift into faithfulness.
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  It's actually intentional, it's costly, it's daily, and that is
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  the invite for us right now. This is not the time to be
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  passive. It's a time to be alert, to be
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  trained and to be rooted because y'all, the enemy, he loves to
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  come in when you're tired or when you're in that last lap
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  moment and everything in you wants to ease up.
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  And Galatians 69 reminds us, do not grow weary in doing good
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  because you will reap a harvest if you do not give up.
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  So there has to be a determination not just in our
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  minds but in our hearts that says I am not going to slow
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  down. I'm not going back to apathy or
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  laziness. I am not wasting this final
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  stretch. We have to determine to fix our
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  eyes on the finish line for the joy set before us, just like
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  Jesus did, and to run. And then John brings in
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  something that adds even more urgency.
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  He talks about Antichrist, and not just one, but many people
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  who oppose the truth. Sometimes it can be in obvious
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  ways, but by softening it, compromising, or maybe making it
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  seem like the truth is not that serious.
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  But what's sobering is they were not strangers.
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  The way that John writes this, we see they were once among the
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  believers in the church, which means that being around truth is
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  not the same as being anchored in it.
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  So I think this leads us to a real heart check.
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  Why do I follow Jesus? Why do you call yourself a
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  Christian if you say you are? Is it authentic or is it just
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  familiar? Is it just words?
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  Because Colossians 3, verse 17 and verse 23, they remind us
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  that everything we do is meant to be for the Lord.
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  And this also presses into our relationships because if we're
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  in the last slap, you need to ask yourself, who am I running
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  with? Are they pushing me toward
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  Jesus? Are they calling me higher?
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  Are they helping me stay awake spiritually?
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  Or are people around you? Are they pulling you toward
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  comfort, distraction, maybe compromise?
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  And yes, this is a touchy subject.
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  Sometimes people leaving your life is painful, but viewing it
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  from an outside lens and maybe looking more into God's
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  perspective, it can also be protection because not everyone
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  is going to support you going all in for Christ.
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  And if someone isn't helping you stay devoted in your race, it's
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  OK to acknowledge that and to entrust that to the Lord.
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  So this is where staying in the Word consistently becomes so, so
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  crucial. Because deception is not loud a
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  lot of the times it's subtle. And if you're not grounded in
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  the truth every day, it's going to be so much harder to
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  recognize when something is off. But the Holy Spirit, he
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  illuminates the word for us, bringing understanding,
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  sharpening our discernment. He helps us to see clearly and
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  the more reps that you get in Scripture, the more time you
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  spend reading it, the more sensitive you're going to become
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  to the truth and to anything or anyone that tries to distort it
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  or change it. The Word of God does not just
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  educate us more on the Lord and our mission.
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  It doesn't just inform us. It's our protection because it's
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  keeping us centered around Jesus and anchored in the truth so
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  that you're not easily swayed when you're tired or discouraged
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  or even vulnerable. Not only that, but we have a
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  responsibility with the Word because we are called to pass it
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  on, to speak the truth, to share what God is revealing to you in
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  order that you may help others, especially those who may be
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  newer in their faith or feeling weak so that they're not swept
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  away by deception. When you don't know truth, you
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  are far more vulnerable to believing a lie.
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  So this isn't just for us to stay rooted, it's also about
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  helping others stay rooted as well.
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  I just want to leave y'all with this as I've been sitting with
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  it. If this really is the last hour,
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  if this really is the final stretch, the last lap, how are
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  you running? Are you awake?
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  Are you being intentional with the time that you have?
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  Are you training your life around knowing Christ and making
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  him known? Or have you gotten comfortable
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  in a race that actually requires your everything, your all out
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  effort? So here's a few reflection
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  questions for you. Have I been running hard after
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  Christ or coasting spiritually? Am I consistently rooted in
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  God's Word or am I relying on surface level truth?
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  And who around me today might need encouragement or truth so
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  that they don't grow weak or deceived?
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  Let's go ahead and pray. Dear Jesus, thank you for your
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  word and the way that it grounds us.
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  I pray that you would just wake us up in any places that we have
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  grown apathetic, lazy, distracted.
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  I pray that you would give us discipline to stay rooted in
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  Scripture, to be sensitive to your Spirit so that we can
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  discern what is true. May we dwell on what is true and
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  noble, right and pure, excellent and praiseworthy, lovely and
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  admirable. I pray that you would strengthen
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  us to keep running even when we feel tired.
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  Give us perseverance. Help us not to lose sight of
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  what is really at stake and why we are here.
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  God, I ask for a greater boldness, a deeper compassion to
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  want to share truth with others. Would you use us to build up
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  your people and to help them stay anchored in you too?
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  We fix our eyes on you today, Jesus, and we love you so much.
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  And your name, Amen. OK guys, well that's today's
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  episode. Happy Tuesday.
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  Hope you all have a wonderful rest of your day and I will see
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  y'all on the next pod.