In Touch Ministries

Dr. Charles Stanley: If we're going to live our life to the fullest, we must deal with those things we have to struggle with. It is those kind of things that cause us to begin to look out yonder instead of keeping our eye on the goal.

And one of the things that is so vital to living life to the fullest is fulfilling the will of God for our life and being conformed to His likeness, and that is fulfilling the purpose for which God created us. And until a person does that, until they're in the process of doing it, they'll never be in a real fulfillment in life.

Guest (Male): Most of us check expiration dates on things we buy at the store, but did you know that the world has one too? The gospels tell us that even heaven and earth will pass away, but that's no reason to despair.

Today on In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley, you'll be encouraged to persevere. Believers can and should live life to the fullest. Let's listen in to Dr. Stanley's message.

Dr. Charles Stanley: If you had to describe your life, how would you describe it? Would you say it is a mere existence? It is an unending rat race. That's what my life is. A continuous battle, a school room, a time of training, a time of real discouragement. Somehow you are going through some period of suffering in your life and it seems to be endless.

Or would you say that your life is one absolutely fascinating, exciting journey? That it is a challenging time in your life. All of us go through different seasons in our life and so sometimes if the season lasts too long, we just have the idea that that's what life's all about. Just one big heavy burden. But that's not really true because all of us go through those seasons. Sometimes there are more clouds than there is sunshine. And we're often prone to think, well, is this what life is all about?

No, that's not what life is all about. Life really is all about something very, very exciting. And that's what I want to talk about in this message today, no matter where you are and what you're feeling and how down you may be or how up you are. The issue is what is life really and truly all about?

And so the title of this message is Living Life to the Fullest. And I want you to turn if you will to Hebrews chapter 12. And there are two verses here that I want us to look at primarily. Because I believe in these two verses, God gives us not necessarily some formula, but He gives us an insight, an understanding of what life is all about and why we can live it to the very fullest, no matter what's going on.

So beginning with verse one of chapter 12, he says, "Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and protector of faith, who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Now following one of the most familiar chapters in the New Testament, which is chapter 11, which relates to faith, and we know that as the chapter of faith. The writer of Hebrews begins this 12th chapter by saying, "Therefore", which means based on everything that I have said heretofore, he says I'm going to do the following things. But there are a couple of verses in the 10th chapter I want you to refer back to if you will.

The 35th and the 36th verses of the 10th chapter, and here he's been talking about the suffering and the hardship these people have been through. And he says in verse 35, "Therefore, do not throw away your confidence. Don't lose heart, which has a great reward, that is your confidence does. For you have need of endurance so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised."

And so what's happening in this passage here is that the writer of Hebrews is likening the Christian life to a race. Now with many other people, their viewpoint is it's a struggle and it's a battle and often times more failures than successes. But I want us to look at this passage in the light of this whole idea of living life to the fullest because you see it isn't God's plan and purpose that you and I just hurt all the time. There are those times and seasons in life, but God does want us to be joyful. He does want us to experience peace. He does want us to succeed at whatever He's called us to do, no matter what that is.

And so when we think about living life to the fullest, first of all, according to this passage, it involves the encouragement of others. It's very significant how the writer begins this chapter. Look what he says, "Therefore." And what he's just referring to are all this list of people that he's mentioned in the 11th chapter, whose faith was tested and proven. And he goes through this long list.

Then he says, "Therefore, on the basis of what happened in their lives. Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also and then he begins." Now, what he's doing here is this. He's comparing the Christian life to a race. Now things really don't change much. We think, well, you know, as the years go by things change. Well not really, because did you know that one of the focal points of attention in the ancient world was sports. And they had their arenas, they had their stadiums, just like we do. And it's amazing how many people they would hold sometimes.

And they had their tiered seats up the sides and whether it was in Rome, the Coliseum, or in Athens, or wherever it might have been, or in Ephesus and all those cities, big Coliseums, stadiums where they would run and have all kinds of sports events. Well, what the writer of Hebrews is doing here is comparing what was so familiar to those people and that is the foot races, that is people who race. Then he said, "The Christian life is sort of like the runner." And what he does in this passage, he talks about, for example, the clothing, though he doesn't mention it here. And how they must dress in order to run well.

And so he says, part of that is the encouragement that people receive. So look at this passage. He says, "Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses, then let us run this race." If you'll notice in the latter part of the first verse, he says, "The race that is set before us." What he's doing here is comparing the Christian life to this race. Now think about it for a moment.

When you and I trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal savior, it's like God set us on the starting line of the race of life. And so when we were saved, he said, "This is the direction I want you to live your life. This is where you're headed. This is the goal." And our race in the Christian life is not to outrun someone else. It is not a competitive issue in the Christian life, but rather it is a race that we're to run.

He says, "In this race", and he puts it in those terms, "In this race, he says, we have encouragers." And one of the things that is so vital to living life to the fullest is fulfilling the will of God for our life. And being conformed to His likeness, that is fulfilling the purpose for which God created us. And until a person does that, until they're in the process of doing it, they'll never be in a real fulfillment in life. You can have all the money you want, all the prominence and prestige and relationships in life you want. You'll never be able to fill up that vacuum with anything else in life than walking in the will of God.

And so he says, "One of the things involved in living life to the fullest is the encouragers we have." Now, all of us who are believers, I certainly hope you do at least, have at least one or more people who are your encouragers in life. That is people who will encourage you and say, "You are just doing fantastic." Or, "You know, I see some real improvement in your life." Or, "You know, I notice God's really beginning to use you." And, "I notice how you teach your class." Or, "I notice the last time you sang." Or, all these things. And, "I noticed that you're more free in your witness." And all kinds of encouragement.

These are the kind of people who are there to pray for us when we stumble and fall on the track. And these are the people who are there to cheer us on when we're doing well. Everybody in the Christian life needs an encourager. And so if you're one of those persons who says, "Well, you know, I don't know that I have an encourager." Well, find yourself some. You say, "How in the world do you find an encourager?" Make a friend. When you make a friend who's a true Godly friend, you're going to find somebody who will encourage you in your walk, in your Christian race.

And so he says, "This great cloud of witnesses." Now, when he's referring to these witnesses, let me say this, you may have someone in the Christian life, as you're moving along and you're growing, who's not necessarily all that excited about your spiritual growth. They may be going through some difficult and hardship in their life and things don't seem to be going so well for them. And so when they see you progressing and moving along, they may sort of gloat over that a little bit, be a little bit jealous. But don't worry about those folks. You've got people who will encourage you, lift you up, pray for you when you falter and cheer you on when you are excited about what's happening in your life.

Now, when he talks about this cloud of witnesses, what he's referring to primarily are those Old Testament saints who've gone on before. And he says, "We have this great cloud of witnesses," not that they're up there pulling for us, but that they have been a tremendous, awesome example to us. And what he's referring to is the life that they've lived, the difficulty they've gone through, the hardships, the troubles and the trials. Look at them, look how they responded, and look what God did in their lives.

So as I think personally in my own life, one of the most inspiring things that has happened to me, I began when I was a kid looking back and reading in the Old Testament and reading the lives of people like Abraham and Joseph and David and Moses and Daniel, men whose lives that I could at least relate to something. Often times my weaknesses or my failures, or my successes, or whatever it might be. But seeing how God worked in their life and thinking to myself, "Well, God, if you'll work in their life that way, how will you work in my life?" My situation is slightly similar, not nearly as important in my eyes, or anybody else's eyes, but at least something similar is going on.

Because you see, as you look at the principles of how God worked, the principles never change. If he'd work in Moses' life one way, he'll work in your life the same. David's life in your life the same. And so it goes. And looking and reading and searching. And what happens is, the more you and I understand how God worked in the lives of these people, the more of an encouragement they are. Those are this cloud of witnesses that you and I have, looking back to inspire us and motivate us to say, "God, if you worked in their life when they were on the race, if you worked in their life that way, surely you'll do the same in mine."

For example, when I think about it in my own life and I think, "Lord, sometimes this race looks a little unfair to me, or it seems to be unfair." Then I recall about Joseph, how he was falsely accused and thrown in prison. And how he must have said, "God, where are you at times?" And yet, in spite of that, he was faithful to God and look what God did to him. He came from zero as a prisoner, all the way to be the Prime Minister of all of Egypt.

And so when I think about how unfair things can look sometimes, I remember and recall about Joseph. When I think on the race of life and traveling along that sometimes it gets a little lonely. I think about David. How many times he spent days and weeks and months running from one cave to the other, hiding out all alone from Saul who was doing his very best to kill him.

Then I think about what happens on the race and how it may affect me at particular times. I think about the shortcuts I would like to take. Then I think about Moses. That's exactly what he tried to do. Killing an Egyptian, he spent 40 years on the backside of the desert as a result of wanting to take a shortcut in the will of God for his life at that time and for his plan for the nation of Israel. When sometimes I stumble on the trail, as we all do, and I certainly have my stumbles and my failures. I think about Peter and I think, "Lord, here he was, proud, egotistical, he was going to walk on the water. The next thing he's sinking." How often I feel at times like him.

And here he is denying that he even knows the Lord Jesus Christ there by the fire before a teenage girl in his doubts. When I think, for example, sometimes I'll maybe have the slight tendency to get prideful about something, I think about Saul and recognize, no, it never works. It never works. God has given us these Old Testament characters, and there are many of them. Not all difficult things, but sometimes so inspiring because each one of these whom I've mentioned in something about his life that wasn't so good, there's so much about their lives that is so good. What makes them this awesome example and motivation to us is that they were human, they were weak, they were frail, they trusted God. He picked them up, they succeeded at the work that God called them to do.

They're examples of those who fail and those who succeeded. Those who had failures in life that went with them all the rest of their life, but those whom God brought them right out and accomplished his purpose in their life. So, one of the very important things in fulfilling life and living a fulfilling life is that you and I have good encouragers. And so I want you to think for just a moment in your life, who is the person when you think about them, you just feel good on the inside, just thinking about them.

You say, "Well, I don't have anybody like that." Then you're missing something in life. There ought to be some folks that when you think about them, you want to smile on the inside. When you think about them, you feel good. When you think about them, no matter where you are in your race, discouraged, downhearted, disheartened, whatever it may be, somehow when you think about that person, you know that if you could talk to them, if you could see their face, if you could hear their laughter, if you could see their smile, if you could hear their voice, something would happen on the inside of you.

Every one of God's children need encouragers like that. That's part of living life to the fullest because it's not going to be easy often times. But if I have encouragers, those who are here encouraging me, that whole vast witness up there in heaven, which I can read about in the word of God, I am certainly going to understand and begin to live life to the fullest with all those people who are cheering me on and cheering you on. Wishing the best for you, wanting the best for you. And the greatest cheerer of all is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

Well, there's a second thing involved, I think, in living life to the fullest. And I think it's found in this passage. Notice what he says now. "Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance." Now, he says, involved in reaching life's fullest and being able to enjoy it the best and the most. He says, it is not only a matter of having these encouragers, who are surrounding us. Now, I have the word of God here and our encouragers in heaven, our encouragers around us here. He says, "But laying aside every encumbrance."

Now this is where the racing becomes more personal. For example, if a man is going to run track, or run in the race, he is going to dress down as light as he possibly can. He says, now, you and I are running a race, the Christian life. And it's not a matter of speed here, it is a matter of being able to last. We're not talking about how fast we're going to move through life, but we're talking about being able to run the full length. And that is to be able to be sustained and endure throughout the whole race.

When he mentions the word here of encumbrances, of course those people knew how encumbered they could be. For example, those men wore robes. Well imagine getting on the starting line of a race with a robe hanging all around your feet. And so he says, "You must lay aside every encumbrance." And so they dressed down for the races. In the Christian life, we also have those encumbrances, those things that impede, those things that hinder us on our walk.

Because as we are moving in the will of God, anything that hinders our keeping the pace with God and His will and His timing, which is so very important. Anything that distracts my attention, gets me off course, gets me off on some detour, is an encumbrance. And so those things he says, we have to deal with. Now, that can be some habit in your life, or it can be some hobby in your life. It can be some sport, or it can be watching television. If you have an overemphasis of that in your life, an overemphasis on anything, an overemphasis, for example, on money, or whatever it may be.

And you see, it's not easy for us to indicate in somebody else's life what their encumbrance is, because we may not even know what it is. We don't know what they're thinking. It just may be the way they think about things in life, the way they think about God is so negative and and so limited that it is a tremendous encumbrance to their moving ahead in their Christian life. It may be doubt, it may be fear.

Or as we said, it may be some action, attitude, relationship, or whatever it might be. Anything that hinders, impedes, slows us down, gets us off track, gets us out of the will of God. He says, these things are encumbrances in our life and they need to be removed. Now, what may be an encumbrance to you, may not affect anybody else at all. For example, let's say that you have a scuba diver, and so he wants to go down about 50 feet or 100 feet or whatever it may be. More than likely, he may put lead weights on the belt around him.

And those lead weights will enable him to sink more swiftly, and he uses those weights for his benefit. But a runner at the starting line waiting for the gun to go off, having about 25 or 30 pounds of lead weight around him, that would be a terrible impediment to his racing. So, you and I can't look at someone else's life and say, "That's an encumbrance in your life." Well, "This is an encumbrance in your life." Some things may be very evident, but that's not our job to be looking for other people's encumbrances. Our job is to be looking at our own, examining our own life and saying, "What is it in my thinking? What is it in my lifestyle that hinders my keeping my focus upon the Lord, walking in Him, doing His will, following Him, allowing Him to work His will and His way in our life?" And so all of us have to examine those things.

Sometimes they're subtle. They're not always easy to identify. It may be that we have sort of thought that way so long, we think, well, that's the way you think. But that is not the way you think. Or we may have habits in our life that have been there for years and years and years, and we think, well, you know, that's just the way I am. Well, just the way I am may be a real encumbrance to my spiritual walk.

And as we said before, often times doubt, just a little doubt that lingers in our life about God's purpose and does He really care, or does He really have a plan for my life, or often times making decisions, our whole way of looking at life. We make decisions and ask God to bless us, or do we seek the mind of God before we make that decision? And so there are many, many areas in which we can be encumbered, and that is we can be hindered in our walk and our race with the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so he says, "We are to lay these things aside." Now how do we lay them aside? Well, the first thing I have to do is to be honest enough to examine myself to see what is there that is hindering me. And secondly, I must make a decision to deal with it. And I would have to ask the Lord or say to Him, "Father, I thank you for showing me this and I want to deal with it. I want to confess that this does not need to be in my life." It may not even be a sin. We're not talking about deliberate, known, willful sins, but those things that crop up into our lives or sort of we sort of drift toward, and as we said, thinking or actions or whatever.

And we have to identify them and to say, "Lord, I do believe this is something that is hindering my walk." And so I just want to lay this aside. It may not be as easy to lay aside as we think it would be. So it's something we have to depend upon the Holy Spirit to enable us to turn away from that, walk away from it, whatever it might be. From holding on to something that's keeping me from walking in the will of God. He says, "Lay it aside, put it aside, deal with it, turn away from it, and make it right between you and God."

Guest (Male): Today on In Touch, we were reminded that believers can't justify saying no to God. If the Lord has identified something that's become an encumbrance to you, deal with it and find your fellowship with Jesus refreshed. Want to listen to this message again? Just click on Today on Radio at intouch.org and take some time to look around our website for Bible-based encouragement. And if you go to the bookstore page, you can order a copy of Dr. Stanley's complete message entitled Living Life to the Fullest. Again, you'll find these resources at intouch.org or call or text us, the number simply is 1-800-INTOUCH. To write to us, address your letter to In Touch, Post Office Box 7900, Atlanta, Georgia, 30357. And that number again is 1-800-INTOUCH.

All earthly things will wither away, but your intimacy with Christ can continue to thrive. Today's moment with Charles Stanley is coming up.

Dr. Charles Stanley: Let your time and your schedule and everything about you revolve around this. That you and I are to develop and continue to develop this ongoing, intimate, wonderful, exciting, satisfying, indescribable, wonderful, incomparable relationship with the personal God.

Guest (Female): Dr. Stanley devoted his entire life to helping us get closer to Jesus, as we all want to do.

Guest (Male): You can learn how at charlesstanleyinstitute.org. In Touch Plus is streaming on Local Now. Featuring all the best of Dr. Charles Stanley.

Dr. Charles Stanley: We're to have strong convictions based on the Word of God. He's working out things that you and I would never know about in our future.

Guest (Male): In Touch Plus, your streaming network for quality Christian programming 24/7.

Dr. Charles Stanley: Now watch this.

Guest (Male): In Touch Plus, streaming free on Local Now. You're listening to In Touch. Are you withdrawing from God or are you nurturing your relationship with Him? Here's a moment with Charles Stanley.

Dr. Charles Stanley: We have to ask yourself the question, does God withdraw from us? I don't think God withdraws from his children. I think we withdraw from Him. Then we condemn ourselves, we know we're not doing the right thing and we feel distant from God. And that feeling of distance is very real. And when I think about it and I think this is the way God would have us to think. The last thing I want to happen in my life is to get in a place where I feel distant from God. For the simple reason, when you feel distant from God, your security, your sense of confidence, everything around you begins to unravel when you don't feel that sense of oneness and presence and closeness to God. And I think you can come to the place in your Christian life where you can honestly say, "Above everything else, I must not allow anything to cause me to feel this distance between us." Because it's like you live your husband or your wife. And when there's a sense of real genuine and oneness, it's awesome. When it's not, nothing's right. Your feelings are not right. Nothing goes right. The same thing is true with God. He desires this awesome sense of oneness with Him. And that's our joy, and it's our peace, and that's our contentment. When I think about living in this awesome relationship with Him, why I want to do anything that in any way endangers that.

Guest (Male): And a relationship with Christ begins when you trust Him to forgive your debt of sin. Ask for His forgiveness today. You can learn more at intouch.org. And if you have a story about what you've learned through this program, please share it with us. We'd love that. When In Touch returns, we'll hear three additional guidelines for living life to the fullest. Be back for more on In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. This program is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia, and remains on the station through the grace of God and your faithful prayers and gifts.