Tag: Obedience

Keep Moving Forward

Today’s a new day! God has wonderful plan for each of our lives. Unfortunately, we sometimes allow fear to hold us back from our God given purpose in life. God wants us to confidently walk forward and trust him.

As we walk out God’s purpose for our lives, we have an enemy that wants to steal, kill and destroy that plan. As we are walking out God’s plan, the enemy will try to creep inside and put doubt and fear in our hearts. The enemy wants to stop us in our tracks. To stop our momentum.

The enemy loves to use doubt and fear, to prevent us from pursuing our dreams and purpose in live. He wants us to be paralyzed by our current situation. All it takes is us focusing on the negatives instead of keeping our focus on God’s plan.

It’s too hard. What if I fail? Could this possibly be God’s plan for my life? I can’t do this. Sound familiar?

During our journey, we will all face these moments. Times we have to push through all the questions, doubts and challenges. To move forward in spite of our fears. If we wait for that gnawing fear to disappear, we will allow ourselves to become overwhelmed by the moment. We will stop moving forward. During those fear induced moments, we must keep moving forward. Do not let the enemy get the victory.

During the uncertain seasons of life, we need to trust God. Sometimes that happens one step at a time. God can use the trials of life to help us overcome our fears and experience victory and freedom through him. No backing down. No retreat. Keep moving forward. ~OC

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19th Mile Moments

Today’s a new day! During my marathon running days, mile 19 was when I hit the wall. When I just felt like giving up. Thankfully, God always gave me extra strength to push through and finish the race. So as I have walked this 20+ health journey, I often refer to the tough moments as my 19th mile.

During this crazy beautiful health journey, God continually reminds me that His love and grace are sufficient. Throughout my health journey, God has taught me several important 19 mile lessons. I have learned to trust in God’s plan for my life despite how I feel on any particular day. To turn to Him for strength, peace and wisdom during my darkest moments. God has also taught me to humble myself and ask for help when needed (not always easy for me) and most importantly, that all my hope is in Jesus alone.

I long for the day to see Jesus face to face, to receive my glorified body, and walk the streets of Heaven without pain or disease. Totally healed! Until then, I will walk by faith and keep leaning into the beautiful promises of God.

I pray this post brings you some encouragement as you walk your own crazy beautiful journey. Keep running the race and never let mile 19 break you. Stay Focused. Finish Strong. ~OC

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Healing

Today’s a new day! As I was praying early this morning, I felt God saying this was going to be a week of healing. If you or a loved one needs healing, I encourage you to keep leaning into God. Blessings. ~OC

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Radical Obedience

Today’s a new day! Radical obedience to Jesus does not seek to conform to the standards set by the world. No, radical obedience to Jesus is completely laying everything at his feet. Radical obedience is pursuing Jesus at all cost. Radical obedience is saying yes to Jesus when he says “Sell it all and go serve me.” Are you walking in radical obedience to Jesus?

I pray every Christian will pray this prayer each morning:

Dear Jesus, fill me with your radical faith that does not waver in hard times.

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Wake Up Church

Today’s a new day. If you truly want to find out what a church believes, you do not even need to attend the church. Just check out the social media pages of some pastors and their spouses. As I have scrolled through my social media pages, I have been saddened to see so many pastors and their spouses more concerned about politics than the gospel. So concerned about their political views, they are willing to attack other believers who do not think like/act like/speak like they do. Evangelicals need a wake up call, need to become more compassionate and humble, focused on the gospel. Believers and churches need to stop getting caught up in out right lies and conspiracy theories. Faith community, you can fill every public office with a conservative right-wing candidate and this nation will still be a mess, because the only hope is Jesus. It’s about a heart change, not a Republican, Democrat or Independent change. Wake Up Church. Jesus is love, grace and forgiveness. ~OC

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A Gift

As we walk through our faith journey, we are instructed to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Why? Because it’s the very essence of who we are in Him. Every breath we breathe comes from God. Think about that for a moment. All that we are is God’s. Every breath is a gift from our Lord. He has given life to our bodies. Not only that, but we have also been bought with a price. A heavy price paid on the Cross. At one point in our lives, we were filled with fear, confusion and ultimately death. In one moment God changed our eternity. Today, we are free from our past. Living in the freedom and victory of God. Each day is a beautiful opportunity to live out God’s purpose for our lives. If our identity is entirely in God, it will be reflected in the way we choose to live our lives. How we love. How we serve. How we forgive. How we respond to the needs around us. How will you use your breath of life…your gift. ~OC

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United

In a divisive age, it’s easy to get caught up in our many differences. From denominational differences, political beliefs, even our favorite sports teams. We tend to argue a lot. With drama flooding our every interaction on social media to the real world, we can feel stressed. angry and alone. But are we really as different as we think?

There’s no escaping our many differences. They’re broadcast to us daily across social media, news outlets,work places and even our places of worship. We are hearing voices of disagreements from people of all walks of life. Sometimes, it feels like nobody is even trying to listen. These are trying times.

It’s tough to admit, but we tend to turn a small disagreement into WWIII. When truth be told, we have much in common with our brothers and sisters in Christ. For example, we are all sinners. We all need forgiveness. We all need grace. We all need love. We all need Jesus.

As brothers and sisters in Christ, we should all be united in the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Some of us attend different demonstrations. Those denominations have different ways of doing things. But at the end of the day, if we believe Jesus died on the cross for our sins, was buried, rose three days later and is coming back for His children, we should rejoice together and lay our differences at the foot of the Cross. We should stand United. ~OC

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Blessed Obedience

On Wednesday November 3,2021, I celebrated the 2nd anniversary of my amazing miracle. Sometimes I am still overwhelmed that with just weeks to live in 2019, Jesus used an old-fashioned tent meeting to do a miracle. What a beautiful ride the last two years have been.

To celebrate my 2nd anniversary, I attended a night of worship with Elevation Worship and Steven Furtick. Funny thing is, I did not plan on attending this incredible event. I have been so busy promoting our documentary Dead Man Running The Todd Shoemaker Story, I really did not have the time and frankly the energy to attend. But Jesus had other plans. Around 4:30pm the day of the concert, Jesus put it on my heart to attend. Really Jesus? The concert starts at 7pm. The concert is over an hour away. Are there any tickets left? So I jumped on my computer to look for a ticket. Jesus, I really do not want to be in the nose bleed seats. Also, I really do not want to spend a lot of money on the ticket. Unfortunately Laura could not attend, so I only needed one ticket. As I searched the concert site, I found one floor ticket in my price range. Praise Jesus. Okay Jesus, I have my ticket in hand. Why in the last minute, did you put it on my heart to attend this night of worship?

As I entered the arena, I felt the Holy Spirit moving throughout the building. I started getting excited. I found my seat and started to pray. A little later a young lady took her seat next to me. Then the music started. The praises went up and the presence of the Holy Spirit got stronger. As I was praising with the rest of the crowd, I had an overwhelming feeling the young lady next to me was walking through a major battle. I began to silently pray for her. Then something amazing happened. Pastor Steven Furtick encouraged the audience to ask the person next to them what they needed prayer for. So I turned to this young lady and asked how could I pray for you? She shared she had been dealing with cancer for a number of years and needed prayer. Sick for a number of years and needing a miracle. I could relate to that. So I prayed over this young lady that Jesus would completely heal her. She thanked me and we sat down. But things did not end there. After the concert, I was able to connect this young lady with a wonderful Christian Cancer Support Group. We exchanged numbers so she could reach me if she needed some encouragement. What a blessed encounter.

So Jesus, that’s why you wanted me to attend this concert. To have a beautiful encounter with someone who needs a miracle, just like I did back on November 3, 2019. Did that young lady get her miracle that night? I don’t know. Will she experience a miracle in the future. I don’t know. Only Jesus knows that. But I know she left that arena walking in her miracle. I was obedient to the calling Jesus put on my heart to attend that concert. I was obedient to pray for that young lady sitting next to me. The lesson is to be available and obedient when Jesus calls us to go. Even when he calls you to attend a concert. By the way, Elevation Worship and Steven Furtick were amazing. A beautiful blessed night of obedience. Thank you Jesus! ~OC

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Walk in the Holy Spirit

Today’s a new day! When we walk in the power of the Holy Spirit, we walk in a more victorious, fruitful life as a follower of Jesus. As we walk in the full power of the Holy Spirit, we will be more aware of the needs around us and how to respond to those needs. So by faith, I pray each of us receive and embrace a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit.

As I continue to learn more about the Holy Spirit, here are some things Jesus has brought to my heart and mind. I pray they will encourage you. Remember, we are all clumps of clay being molded daily by our loving Savior. Sometimes we will miss the mark. Don’t give up! Keep walking out the beautiful journey Jesus has for each of us. ~OC

1). Each day we have to make the choice to live a life of obedience to Jesus. Don’t beat yourself when you lack obedience. It’s a marathon; not a sprint.

2). Throughout the day, remember to ask Jesus to continuously fill you up with the Holy Spirit. Just like we need to fuel our bodies with food, we need to actively fuel our hearts and minds with the Holy Spirit.

3). Keep your eyes on Revival. As we continue to be filled with the Holy Spirit, revival will come.

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What Is Your Calling?

If someone were to asked you what was your calling in life, would you be able to answer that question? Would you even know what the person was talking about? Answering the question of what is your calling in life is a pretty big deal. Nothing to take lightly. So what is a Calling? 

According to the dictionary, a Calling is a vocation, profession, or trade; a call or summons; a strong impulse or inclination. A pretty simple definition, but a life changing decision we all make at some point in our lives.

As a Christian, I believe God has called each of us to live a life of serving Him and others. Of course that is going to look different for each of us. Some will be called into full-time ministry. Others will be called to serve in their given profession. I believe God has a specific role for each of us that will use our unique gifts, talents, experiences and connections.

As most of you know, I am a former long-distance runner. I ran cross country in high school, a little running in college, but had not run in years when I felt God calling me to start running again in 2003. Oh, did I mention that God shared that calling with me while I was having open-heart surgery to remove a nasty tumor from my chest? It would have been very easy for me to dismiss this calling as way too much anesthesia. I mean really, who has a vision of running marathons while having life-threatening surgery? But several days after surgery, I still felt that calling on my life. I could not escape it. So five months after major surgery, I went on my first run in years. Answering that call changed my life in so many ways. Let me share just a few.

When I heard God calling me to start running marathons, I also heard him share that I was not going to be running just to run. No, I would be running to share God’s story in my life. How He was walking me through this crazy beautiful journey. Of course back in 2004 when I started running again, I had no clue this health journey would last this long. I am thankful for that. As I started running marathons, I felt God calling me to run for those who could not run themselves. My wife Laura started making shirts with the names of people I was running for. It became a topic of discussion at my races. People asked me questions about the shirts and why I was running. During those discussions, I was able to share not only about the names on the shirts, but I was able to share my faith.

During my running career, I was diagnosed with Young-Onset Parkinson’s. All the sudden, I was the cancer survivor and Parkinson’s patient running marathons. Then God woke me up on New Year’s Day in 2008 and called me to run a 1,000 miles in one year. Crazy I know. But with that calling came request for interviews and speaking engagements. More opportunities to share my faith with a larger audience. That was an amazing season of life.

The call to running saved my life. Really OC? How could running save your life? I am glad you asked. When my body started shutting down in March 2009, the prognosis was not great. Some medical staff were not sure if I would make it through the night. But of course I did. Then I made it through the month. Then I made it through the year. And ten years later I am still here. Almost all of my medical team shared I survived because I was in such great physical shape from running. That running had also made me mentally tough.

I often think back to 2003, when I felt God calling me to run marathons. What if I would have decided to ignore that calling? How different would my life be today? Even though I am no longer able to physically run, I still love running. I love talking about it, reading books on running, talking with other runners and coaching runners. Ten years after having to give up running, I still have the mentality of a runner. I believe my faith and my running mentality have kept me alive and thriving.

So how can you find your calling in life? Here are a few ways I found helpful.

Prayer. Being in prayer helps us discern God’s calling on our lives. If you are confused about the calling on your life, spend more time in prayer. God will make things clear. Never stop praying.

Obedience. Are you willing to follow through with the calling on your life, even when it forces you out of your comfort zone?

Trust. You may not understand the calling on your life at first. Others may tell you it’s crazy. I got some weird looks and responses when I told people God had called me to run marathons. Do not listen to the doubters. Keep your eyes on God and trust Him for guidance and direction.

What is God calling you to today? I pray that God will guide your steps as you seek His calling in your life. ~OC

 

 

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