{"id":688,"date":"2015-04-19T12:01:39","date_gmt":"2015-04-19T12:01:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/parkwood.dreamhosters.com\/blog\/?p=688"},"modified":"2015-04-23T14:25:44","modified_gmt":"2015-04-23T14:25:44","slug":"surrounded","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/parkwood.dreamhosters.com\/blog\/surrounded\/","title":{"rendered":"Surrounded!"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses…”<\/em><\/p>\n

There are two types of “surrounded”. \u00a0 There is “come out with your hands up. \u00a0We’ve got you surrounded<\/strong>“. \u00a0You might as well give up because there is no way out.\u00a0\u00a0Then there is, “When I was going through a rough time I was surrounded<\/strong> by friends and family and it made all the difference.” \u00a0This is the surrounded that we love to experience. \u00a0 The support and warmth of those we love.<\/p>\n

As we said before, this Scripture comes after a lengthy list of the heroes of faith that have gone before. \u00a0We are surrounded in a way that has several implications for us on our spiritual journey.<\/p>\n

First, it does have a little bit of the first meaning that I mentioned. \u00a0We cannot get away from the fact that we are surrounded by a faith heritage that has come before us, is going on around us and will follow us in the lives of others to come. \u00a0What? \u00a0“Maybe I don’t want to be a part of this. \u00a0I just want to be by myself and give it my best shot on my own.” \u00a0Sorry…I got news for you…you are surrounded…come out with your hands up. \u00a0This is the surrender to the life that Jesus has called you to. \u00a0Whether you like it or not, you are connected to the past and have a part in the future. \u00a0It’s God’s design<\/p>\n

It also carries the second meaning I referred to. \u00a0We are not alone in this world\u00a0and we are not alone in\u00a0our walk with the Lord. \u00a0Many have gone before you and their testimony can serve as encouragement and strength for you. \u00a0Be strong and courageous! \u00a0You are not the first to encounter challenges in your walk of faith and you won’t be the last. \u00a0 You are surrounded by the testimonies of the past and the support of those who are walking with you right now. \u00a0In fact, our lives will give encouragement to those who come later as well. \u00a0So, be encouraged…you are surrounded.<\/p>\n

There is a third meaning that I think is here as well that I will offer you. \u00a0This Scripture is a mandate for us to continue the faith and not break the chain that has been forged from the beginning. \u00a0In other words, we are being passed the baton of the Gospel to carry for those who have run before us and, therefore, we have the responsibility to pass it on to those who will follow us. \u00a0Yes, this can be overwhelming, but that is the beauty of the following verses…”throw off…lay aside…fix your eyes on Jesus”.<\/p>\n

I want to inform you today…You are surrounded<\/strong>!\u00a0 There is no way around it so give up to God’s plan for your life.\u00a0 You are surrounded<\/strong> and therefore not alone in this race set before us.\u00a0 You are surrounded<\/strong> and have received the baton from those who have run before and you must pass it on to the next runner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses…” There are two types of “surrounded”. \u00a0 There is “come out with your hands up. \u00a0We’ve got you surrounded“. \u00a0You might as well give up because there is … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all_posts","category-daily-devotions-2015"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/parkwood.dreamhosters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/parkwood.dreamhosters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/parkwood.dreamhosters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/parkwood.dreamhosters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/parkwood.dreamhosters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=688"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/parkwood.dreamhosters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/688\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":703,"href":"http:\/\/parkwood.dreamhosters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/688\/revisions\/703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/parkwood.dreamhosters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/parkwood.dreamhosters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/parkwood.dreamhosters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}