Weekly Devotional

May 5th, 2024

WELCOME Subscriber First Name,
to our Finishing Well devotionals!

Wanna Finish Well?

(then you gotta have FRIENDS)

Welcome back to our devotional teaching on Hebrews 12:1-3. Our title and tag lines are true….if we want to finish well, we’ve got to have a crowd of spiritual friends reminding us to follow the Lord wholeheartedly! Here’s our passage again. (Keep memorizing!)

”Therefore, since we’re surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (NIV)

Last week we asked the question, “Who’s your Heavenly Crowd?” We talked about the division of a heavenly and an earthly crowd, which I only do by illustrating we have a group of “those who have gone before us” and a group of “those who are help us side by side” here in the flesh during this lifetime. They are spiritual friends, companions, heroes, mentors, encouragers and the list of synonyms goes on and on.

I’ve been so fortunate to grow up with godly parents and a grandmother who lived with us who had the spiritual passion of Timothy’s, grandmother, Eunice. I had a slightly older sister, Kathy who paved the way to Bible College for me. I also had a loving “small church family in a small town”. And if I wrote a song like John Mellencamp about life in a “small town” in would be similar, but quite different than his song, with all due respect. Mine would mention church camp & VBS. Let me honor my sister & parents…they are certainly worthy of any spiritual accolade I could offer! So grateful to the Lord for them.

The “Cloud of Witnesses” the Bible talks about in this passage, as I mentioned has 2 components, in my opinion. The Bible heroes we looked at last week are one, but also to be thanked are the godly people God graciously put in your life here and now. I bet we could come up with an extensive list of “spiritual influencers” who modeled the life of Jesus to us. We wouldn’t be where we are today without them. They faithfully “prayed us up and cheered us on” even when we weren’t running the race God put before us. And at our age (my 55+ Christ-like friends) we’ve had ample opportunity to cheer some others on as well.

One of the main “non-family mentors” in my early life was a guy named Lynn Laughlin. He preached at a small church in our area on weekends and was a New Testament Professor and Basketball Coach at Lincoln Christian College. I saw him every summer for a week at church camp and every 1st Saturday night of the month as our area churches had gatherings called “youth rallies”. I’ve known him since I was 10 years old. He was the “12 year older” person so many like me “wanted to be like when we grew UP”. And over the years he became the person I “wanted to be like when I grew OLD”.

I learned a ton from “Coach” about the Lord, the Church, the Bible, life, ministry and even a little about basketball (although his first love was football). But he was a coach in every sense of the word.

Was he a highly sought after author of a best-seller? Not to my knowledge. Was he a celebrity pastor of a mega-church? No, but his father was back in the day and Coach could’ve been. But did he remember most every name he’d ever heard to simply encourage the students he’d met? He sure did in an amazing way! And did he shape countless (likely thousands) of us who would someday become pastors, youth ministers, and church leaders? Like none other!

I was just one of the many lives he touched who wanted to serve God in some similar fashion that Lynn did. With joy, reverence, relational accessibility and an unmistakable laugh that drew a crowd anywhere he was at. So it was a sad, but yet joyful day when Coach was promoted last July to heaven. He went from the “crowd to the cloud”. And I wasn’t going to miss that celebration. What’s a 5 hour drive for a mentor who changed your life and believed in you from an early age?

I’ve been so blessed to have so many other godly examples, mentors and friends through my life, but he was the one God used to tip the scales for me. I needed to see what “wholehearted devotion” to the Lord looked like. Someone in addition to my family. Because everyone knows after Jr High, they don’t count anymore. You know. The day you tell them to “just let me off here” and I’ll walk the rest of the way when they take you to school or an event.

So think with me….who’s in your crowd that you couldn’t have made it this far spiritually without? God graciously put them in your path. Now my point is not to just give them a shout out, but to BE THAT PERSON for someone else! You probably already are being that person.

Maybe for us “Finishing Well folks”, the ones in our path and on our heart are our grandkids. Sue Linn and I have 5. 3 nearby and 2 a way’s away. Some of you in the younger part of our crowd are still waiting, lighting candles and saying prayers God will bless you with them. Others of you are in over your heads in double digits or in the 20’s going for the record! And God is giving us this moment… this season…. this opportunity to impact our grandkids with His love, Word, and values.

They’re watching us, even if it seems like they’re not paying attention. They have their own life and Lord knows they’ll have their own I-Phone. If they don’t yet, it’s just a matter of time. But when they grow up, they’ll know if we tried. Even if we don’t have as much access to them as we hope for, we can still “speak Jesus” over them. That’s a great song isn’t it!

Mark Mittelberg says in his book, “Contagious Christianity”, that there is a formula for spiritual influence. He says it simply is…..

High Potency + Close Proximity = Maximum Impact

In other words, if our lives are filled with the Spirit of God and the Word of God (high potency)….and we do our best to be approachable and nearby (close proximity)….then we’ll have a much better chance at having a long-lasting spiritual influence on those we’re close to (maximum impact). The God who refines our “good, bad and ugly” for His purposes will use us as only He can for our good and theirs!

We’ll be in their “crowd”. Just like Coach, my family and so many others were in mine. Cheering them on and praying them up. Because one day we’ll move from the “crowd to the cloud”. And I want to make the most of my time while I’m in their “crowd”, don’t you? And that’s why we’re trying to help each other “finish well” together.

Love you guys,

george