PHOENIX RACEWAY CHAPEL

November 6, 2021

“Forbearance In A Championship Battle”

Bob Butcher

MRO Pastor/Chaplain to NASCAR’s ARCA Menards Series West

7085 Battle Creek Road SE, Salem, OR 97317

Email: BobNKathy.MRO@gmail.com   Cell: 503-910-9310

I already know that this one will NOT be a popular message. Having been in your shoes I completely understand and it’s been years down the road of life.  But, the bottom line truth is simply “Who are you living for; the Lord Jesus Christ, or yourself”?

Before you answer that; let’s first look at definitions.  Forbearance is an old term.  Scripture today uses Long Suffering most often today in Bible translations.  Other common words used are: Patience, Self-control, Restraint, Tolerance, Mercy, Leniency.  Those are some pretty stout terms are they not?

Let’s look at Galatians 5: 13-26 and see what God says about what ones’ life looks like IF they have the Spirit of God working in their life.  ^“You, my brothers and sisters, were called to live a life of  freedom. But do not use your freedom to indulge your flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. ¹⁴ For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” ¹⁵ If you bite and devour each other over some issue, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other in the end like wild beasts.

¹⁶ So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of your flesh. ¹⁷ For your flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to your flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. ¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Old Testament Law of Moses.

¹⁹ The acts of our flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and offensive behavior or debauchery; ²⁰  chasing after things of idolatry and witchcraft; hatred of those who get in your way, senseless arguments, jealousy, fits of tantrums and uncontrolled rage, selfish ambition, angry opinions if they don’t fit your own view,  ²¹ and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will NOT inherit the kingdom of God.

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the rebellious flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. (GBB)

Amongst all this going on in the life of the believer in Jesus and God are those two words …Forbearance and Self-control.  The definition of Forbearance is the refrain from the enforcement of something due against someone.  It involves self-control, mercy, patients, and a whole lot of other actions that your flesh wants you to take against another person for some action that in your viewpoint was purposely done to hurt you.

I could carry on developing this deeper however I believe you get my point.  This message by my close friends Bruce and Jason is exceptional and I urge you to watch it to get the insightful, life changing, help we all need at times.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0h4ojJzYEo&t=192s

I did not know that they were going to speak this message just before our four NASCAR Championships in Phoenix this November 5^th through 7th weekend.  But God did; and …here it is for your benefit if you are dealing with a past race incident that you figure it’s the perfect “pay-back” time that will pack the biggest punch and ruin their year.

Believe me when I say once again that I have been in your shoes and while it has been years ago, I still remember to the point that race drivers never forget.  However, now I clearly understand the destructive ramifications for acting upon those feelings back then.  If you are a follower of Jesus the self-control this weekend may be hard to contain but I promise you that it IS the right choice and you will be blessed for making it.

First and foremost, it Honors God and His ways along with bringing Him glory and that will bring crowns for you in eternity. Those will far outweigh the pleasure you would have gotten by the pay-back!

And IF you are NOT a Christian or Jesus follower today, it will still pay off big time as He will still bless you in some way, but mainly with the peace in your heart and mind that maybe you really didn’t know the whole story and it wasn’t like you saw it or heard it to be from your team or others.

Blessings to you from Kathy and myself for just reading and considering the other side of possibilities this weekend and may your race be a joy and pure fun like it should be.

Bob & Kathy Butcher, MRO Pastors / Chaplains