The Joy of Reconciliation

 

As I sat to reflect and pray, the phone buzzed signaling a text message.  I picked it up thinking it was a notification from a repair tech scheduled to visit the church.  My eyes took in words that instantly made my heart sing. A person from whom I had been separated by misunderstanding reached out and asked to restore our relationship.

We are often advised to just ‘move on,’  dropping people with whom we have had difference from our lives. Some may think that possible, but I am convinced that unresolved conflicts create a kind of soul wound that never really goes away.  It was my deep joy to return the text, to ask for forgiveness for my part, and to anticipate a time when full restoration of our relationship in Christ is complete!

Do you know the joy of forgiving and being forgiven?
Are you prepared to seek and to give this gift of grace?

Jesus tells us that answered prayer is connected to keeping whole relationships, where it is possible. He said “When you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.” (Mark 11:25, NLT)  In another passage He says that hanging onto old resentment is antithetical to living as a forgiven child of God. We are forgiven by God.  How could we decide to refuse forgiveness?

In Matthew 18 we read the story of His answer to Peter’s question about forgiveness. Peter suggests that an offending person should be forgiven seven times, thinking that a generous response. Jesus tells him he has it wrong! “No!” Jesus replied, “seventy times seven!” (Matthew 18:22, NLT)   

He told a teaching story about a man who owed the king a huge debt, who came and pled his case before being tossed into debtor’s prison. The king mercifully released the man who promptly left the court and found a man who owed him a little money. He grabbed the man and threatened him with destruction if he did not pay up.

The injustice was too much for those who witnessed this and they reported it to the king who then said, “Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ Then the angry king sent the man to prison until he had paid every penny.” (Matthew 18:32-34, NLT)  Jesus concluded by telling His disciples that this was a model for their forgiveness.

God saved us from eternal destruction, released us at His expense from the penalty of our sinfulness. Now, He desires that we are merciful. Our world desperately needs people of grace and mercy today.  Our nation is tore up by strife. We are ready to ‘cancel’ those whose words offend. We hurl insults at those with whom we disagree. My friend, this ought not be true of Christians. We must pray for tender hearts, asking the Spirit of God to make our first impulse one of mercy.   

I do not mean to imply that forgiveness is a simple thing or that the impulse of grace erases all justice.  Forgiveness, in a godly sense, is never just ‘forgive and forget,’ as if that was even possible. Forgiveness is a process of releasing the offense to God, of processing our emotions in prayer, of asking for His perspective on our pain. It is sometimes very hard! But, it is always possible for us to forgive in a way that leaves the ‘debt’ in the hands of God.  Forgiveness is our personal choice. Reconciliation, the next step, requires two and thus, may sometimes not happen regardless of our own desire.

We must not be too quick to conclude that one prayer will heal us, that one conversation can clear up the fog of misunderstanding and/or offense. Healing of a relationship is similar to healing a physical wound. We must cleanse and care for that cut on our skin as the body heals. We cover the wound, taking care not to further harm it. I love this word:  “Continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.” (1 Peter 4:8, NLT)  

Wounds of the heart also need time and active care for healing to take place.  The Gospel is sometimes presented in a way that makes it seem that one quick prayer magically wipes out years of pain or regret. It is true that the Cross of Christ is completely sufficient. We are made right with God – completely – by faith.  We gain an unshakeable assurance of eternal life, a gift that is provided fully by His death and resurrection. Our healing, however, is a process.

The value and power of forgiveness cannot be overstated. Jesus taught us to pray “Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. ” (Luke 11:4, NIV)  He reminds us that our own reconciliation to God requires our willingness to forgive others. Even on the Cross, He showed the way when He cried, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”   

Do old wounds still hurt?
Is the way you live today too often shaped by pain from yesterday?

There is healing in forgiving and being forgiven.  The scars may persist but the pain can be erased. When I was 9, I crashed through a glass door, slicing my wrist deeply, creating a bloody wound. 55 years later I can look still on the marks in my skin that remind me of that frightening blood-soaked experience, but the pain is long gone. 

Ah, Christian, have you received God’s forgiveness and healed? Are you forgiving others and seeking forgiveness where needed?  These are keys to a whole heart.

Here is a word from the Word. “Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed. Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.” (Hebrews 12:12-15, NIV)
_________________

This Is Amazing Grace (sing with Phil Wickman)

Who breaks the power of sin and darkness
Whose love is mighty and so much stronger
The King of Glory the King above all kings
Who shakes the whole earth with holy thunder
And leaves us breathless in awe and wonder
The King of Glory the King above all kings

(Yeah) (Oh) This is amazing grace
This is unfailing love
That You would take my place
That You would bear my cross
ou laid down Your life
That I would be set free
Oh Jesus I sing for all that You’ve done for me

Who brings our chaos back into order
Who makes the orphan a son and daughter
The King of Glory the King of Glory
Who rules the nations with truth and justice
Shines like the sun in all of its brilliance
The King of Glory the King above all kings

Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
Worthy is the King who conquered the grave
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
Worthy is the King who conquered the grave
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
Worthy is the King who conquered the grave
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
Worthy worthy worthy

Phil Wickham © 2012 Phil Wickham Music (Admin. by BMG Rights Management [c/o Music Services, Inc.])

Seems Like Music (Admin. by BMG Rights Management [c/o Music Services, Inc.]) CCLI License # 810055

Trying to fix it?

 

I really dislike life’s 'loose ends.'  I like to finish the job. I try to resolve problems, fix what’s broken, clean up the mess. Even as I write these words, in the back of my mind, I am thinking about getting the latest snow removed from my driveway.  One of the trying things for the recent 11 months is that the pandemic drags on, new wrinkles complicating life just when we hope for better. When will we be able to enjoy company, travel to see family, and gather in church without concern?  When will the sad news of another death from this ‘thing’ stop coming? 

The fact about life is that problems never really go away, they just change names and places. We are tempted, at least most of the people I know are, to wonder if God is working when difficulty resists our efforts at a solution. “Where are You, Lord?” we ask. It’s not wrong to wonder but if we begin to accuse Him of not caring, if we conclude that He is untrustworthy, an even bigger problem is created.  We take things into our own hands, working at controlling people and situations.  And what happens?  We alienate our friends and family. We tend to lose hope and get bitter. We grow more isolated, cutting ourselves off from the very resources we need. 

In a little book of Scripture written by a man with a strange name, Habakkuk, we meet a preacher who was frustrated. He saw the godless Assyrian military machine coming at his nation, the people of the Living God.  It made no sense that God would let a terrible, cruel empire overrun Jerusalem, but that was about to happen. “Fix it, Lord, please!” he cried, but the threat only become worse. 

Habakkuk gives voice to what we all think at some point:  God is not working.  But, he know the Lord and went to prayer. The answer he received was a call to steady patience, to long-term vision. "Write my answer in large, clear letters on a tablet, so that a runner can read it and tell everyone else. But these things I plan won’t happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed. “Look at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked; but the righteous will live by their faith." (Habakkuk 2:2-4, NLT)

Faith, we remember, is ‘the evidence of things unseen.”  (Hebrews 11.1)  We live, indeed we thrive, when we anchor our hope in God’s purposes over our own, when we submit to His will, even when the future is murky.

Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, teaches patient faith from his own experience. Under house arrest in Rome he cannot continue his missions work.  Even some of his colleagues came to the conclusion that Paul must be doing something wrong causing the Lord to remove his blessings. Paul, with great vision born of faith, sees that the Spirit of God has put him in a place of witness inaccessible by normal means. He was guarded by young men of the palace guard, elite men from all over the Empire. 

Day by day they heard the Gospel. Paul says "everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News. For everyone here, including all the soldiers in the palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ. And because of my imprisonment, many of the Christians here have gained confidence and become more bold in telling others about Christ." (Philippians 1:12-14, NLT)  Some of those guards came to faith in Christ Jesus and took the Message home with them.  Was it costly to Paul? No question about that! But, God let him see from a higher place, to find purpose in the problems!

Are you wondering when God is going to ‘fix it?’  

 Pray for vision asking the Holy Spirit to steady you until you're able to grasp the 'what, why, and when' of His purposes. That's not an easy assignment. Those without faith will likely mock you for avoiding ‘reality’ or condemn you for being ‘too passive.’  A few may even adopt the hostility of Job's wife who saw his terrible suffering and told him to "Curse God and die!" (Job 2.9)  Don’t give up. Like Job, be silent before the Lord even as you hold onto your trust in Him.  God sees your tears and weeps along with you. 

Don’t allow yourself to doubt His love or His ability to accomplish His purposes!  
Take this promise with you today. 
Meditate on this word from the Word and it will strengthen your faithful resolve to serve the Lord.

"So will the words that come out of my mouth not come back empty-handed. They’ll do the work I sent them to do, they’ll complete the assignment I gave them.

“So you’ll go out in joy, you’ll be led into a whole and complete life.
The mountains and hills will lead the parade, bursting with song.
All the trees of the forest will join the procession, exuberant with applause."
(Isaiah 55:11-12, The Message)

____________

Thrive

(Casting Crowns reminds us that God is at work!)

 

Here in this worn and weary land

Where many a dream has died

Like a tree planted by the water

We will never run dry

 

So living water flowing through

God we thirst for more of You

Fill our hearts and flood our souls

With one desire

 

Just to know You and to make You known

We lift Your name on high

Shine like the sun make darkness run and hide

We know we were made for so much more

Than ordinary lives

It's time for us to more than just survive

We were made to thrive

 

Into Your Word we're digging deep

To know our Father's heart

Into the world we're reaching out

To show them who You are

 

Joy unspeakable

Faith unsinkable

Love unstoppable

Anything is possible

We were made to thrive

 

Mark Hall | Matthew West

© 2014 Atlas Holdings (Admin. by Atlas Music Publishing)

Highly Combustible Music (Admin. by Atlas Music Publishing)

House of Story Music Publishing (Admin. by Atlas Music Publishing)

CCLI License # 810055

Insurance or Investment?

 

There is a document in my files, an agreement with a company that I hope I never have to use. My homeowner’s policy  would pay for reconstruction in the event of fire or flood. It would protect me in the event of a suit for another’s injury on my property. It is an important thing to have but something bought and forgotten for the most part. The various insurance policies that are in place to mitigate the impact of disaster on my life actually cost me several hundreds of dollars each month! But, to go without homeowner’s, health, auto, and life insurance would be a shortsighted choice- pennywise and dollar foolish.  A person who financially astute person buys insurance, enough but not excessive. It would be folly for me to buy a $1,000,000 policy on my home which is worth much less. Insurance is an expense.  

I send money off to another firm each month, too. Those funds are an investment!  I anticipate receiving this money back, plus accrued interest, at a point in the future.  I retain an active interest in those dollars, checking rates of return periodically, shifting ratios of investment to take advantage of opportunities as the economic climate changes.

So what’s my point today? 
How do you regard your Christianity? 
Is your practice a kind of ‘fire insurance,’ a  minimal expense of time and money spent to in the hope of avoiding eternal destruction,
or is your faith an investment that anticipates a rich return, both in this life and the one to come?   

A company seeking investment discloses its financial state and the anticipated rates of return to potential investors.  God gave us a promise of a rich return on investment in the work of His Kingdom. When we pour ourselves, our time, our resources into His work - worshipping, serving, giving - with joy, we can rightly expect that He will keep safe our treasure; with a reward of true wealth for our lives - present and future.  

 Jesus gives this investment advice- "Don’t store up treasures on earth! Moths and rust can destroy them, and thieves can break in and steal them. Instead, store up your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy them, and thieves cannot break in and steal them." (Matthew 6:19-20, CEV)   In the middle of a talk about  generosity of heart that reaches beyond money, Jesus promised this - "Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full— pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back." (Luke 6:38, NLT)

I hope you do not read that as ‘I put into $1 and He returns $100!’  The rewards of a life invested Christ’s enterprise are deeper and richer than a bigger bank account balance! In a passage that is too often set in the context of taking a collection at church, Paul speaks of the way a Believer invests his life.   

The law of sowing and reaping is foundational to the thought. "Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written: “He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.” Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God." (2 Corinthians 9:6-11, NIV)

 Are you generous in love, in forgiveness, in service? Which is your first thought: to preserve your own life, or to give yourself away for the purposes to which God calls? Note that phrase, “God is able to make ALL GRACE abound to you.” He is our Source of every good gift of life. As we give, He returns grace, “pouring on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you’re ready for anything and everything, more than just ready to do what needs to be done.” (The Message)

If we are invested in Heaven’s treasure, we will live in peace, our minds and hearts resting on the One who is now managing our life treasure. Paul penned words of assurance, words that reflect the investment of his life in Heaven’s secure bank.  He was about to die as a martyr in Rome.  Is he bitter, wondering how a life given to God could end this way?  Is he full of regret wishing he had remained an obscure tentmaker? No, he is looking forward to a reward!  "I am not ashamed, (embarrassed by my present circumstances) because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day. (the Day of Judgment)" (2 Timothy 1:12, NIV)  "Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing." (2 Timothy 4:8, NIV)

Summing up today, I ask - 

How do you think of your Christianity, as insurance - minimal outlay to secure present wealth the in event of catastrophe;

or as an investment - maximum participation with assured return in Eternity? 

Your answer will shape every decision, every part of your life.

The word from the Word for the day.  “As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.”  (1 Timothy 6:17-19, ESV)

______________________

Build My Life

(A great song that points us to real faith in the Builder)

 

Worthy of ev’ry song we could ever sing

Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring

Worthy of ev’ry breath we could ever breathe

We live for You

 

Jesus the name above ev’ry other name

Jesus the only one who could ever save

Worthy of ev’ry breath we could ever breathe

We live for You

We live for You

 

Holy there is no one like You

There is none besides You

Open up my eyes in wonder and show me who You are

And fill me with Your heart

And lead me in Your love to those around me

 

I will build my life upon Your love

It is a firm foundation

I will put my trust in You alone

And I will not be shaken

 

Brett Younker | Karl Martin | Kirby Elizabeth Kaple | Matt Redman | Pat Barrett

© 2016 Martin, Karl Andrew (Admin. by Arkyard Music Services Limited)

Kaple Music (Admin. by Bethel Music Publishing)

Bethel Music Publishing

CCLI License # 810055

Yes! Amen!

 

Words are a wonderful gift, aren’t they?  Words can soothe, excite, inform, comfort, motivate …  and more.  Tragically, in our time, words are cheap, multiplied and amplified. Today a trial will start in the United States Senate that is mostly about how words were used by our former President. Some insist he was trying to incite a  crowd to violence and insurrection. Others say he was giving a political speech to his supporters.  Whatever the outcome of that bit of political theater, without any doubt I believe that ‘free speech’ is in peril in our nation.  We must carefully choose our words, avoiding those that ‘trigger’ others.  If we have thoughts or ideas that are anathema to those with authority, we know the best choice presently is to keep those ideas to ourselves, lest we lose our job, get banned from social media, or risk an outpouring of shame.

Certainly we ought to use the gift of words wisely. Slanderous words, untruthful words, judgmental words have no place in the Christian’s life.  Basic to our Christianity is the concept that we say what we mean and mean what we say. Jesus told us "Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one." (Matthew 5:37, NIV)  There should be no reason for anyone to question our sincerity, to wonder if we are using words to deceive, to mislead, or to manipulate. When we are secure in His love, when evil’s darkness is overcome by His pure light, Jesus says that our words will reveal that fact.  What we say is, He says, the overflow of what and Who is at the core of our being.

Anxiety will lead to fearful words. Insecurity will lead to critical words. Envy will lead to demeaning words. Peace will produce words of comfort. Hope will produce words that edify. Love, at the center, will produce words that heal and bring life. James, the apostle who practically challenges us to holy lives, speaks directly to our use of words. "With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?" (James 3:9-11, NIV)  

Who are you at the center of your being? Does the tone and content of your communication reveal at heart at peace with God, that you are being filled with the Spirit’s life- evidenced in “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control”? (Galatians 5:22-23, NIV)  If our words are foul, hateful, or cruel the remedy is not a better filter at our lips but a transformation of our heart! My prayer – “Lord, change my heart! Fill me with Your grace.” Can you say an Amen?

My friend, know this: God’s Words are secure, true, and worthy of our trust!  The enemy of your soul and all that is good uses the same tactic on us of which we read in the story of Eden. His goal is to drive a wedge between us and God Himself.  The devil prods around the edge of our mind asking ‘Did God really say?’  ‘Can He be trusted to do good?’ ‘What of those things in your life that are so hard, so painful?’  There are experiences that defy our understanding, in which the ways of God are beyond our comprehension. However, we are secure in His promises. 

Paul reminds us that God’s “YES” means that. We need not doubt His love or our salvation. "Jesus Christ, the Son of God, never wavers between yes and no. He is the one whom Timothy, Silas, and I preached to you, and he is the divine Yes—God’s affirmation. For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in him. That is why we say “Amen” when we give glory to God through Christ. It is God who gives us, along with you, the ability to stand firm for Christ. He has commissioned us, and he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment of everything he will give us." (2 Corinthians 1:19-22, NLT)

What kind of heart are your words revealing this day? Let’s go back to His Word, anchor our lives in His Promise, and become people who speak words of life.

Here is a word from the Word. It is a prayer excerpted from the 119^th Psalm, a song of the power of the Word of God. Let’s make it our prayer today.

"Remember your promise to me, for it is my only hope.
Your promise revives me; it comforts me in all my troubles.
The proud hold me in utter contempt,
but I do not turn away from your law.
I meditate on your age-old laws; O Lord, they comfort me.

I am furious with the wicked, those who reject your law.
Your principles have been the music of my life
throughout the years of my pilgrimage.
I reflect at night on who you are, O Lord,
and I obey your law because of this.
This is my happy way of life:
obeying your commandments." (Psalm 119:49-56, NLT)

____________

All Your Promises

(An old praise song about His faithful word)

 Oh Lord our Lord

How majestic is Your name

Your words are true

Your mercy does not change

All Your promises are precious

Reviving our faith

Ev'ry one of them

Will be fulfilled one day oh

 

All Your promises

Are yes and amen Jesus

Your promises are true

All Your promises

Are yes and amen Lord Jesus

We'll keep running after You

 

We will run

We'll run and not grow weary

We will rise upon the eagle's wings

In the presence of the Lord

Our spirits will soar

Till we one day gaze upon our King oh

 

My foot had almost slipped

Oh Lord you know I'd almost lost my way

‘Till I entered the house of the Lord

And heard Your sweet Spirit say oh

 

All Your promises

Are yes and amen Jesus

Your promises are true

All Your promises

Are yes and amen Lord Jesus

We'll keep running after You

 

Andrew Smith © 1995 Mercy / Vineyard Publishing (Admin. by Vineyard Music USA)

Vineyard Songs Canada (Admin. by Vineyard Music USA)

CCLI License # 810055

Hold the line

 All of us have moments when we think, “I cannot do this even one more day!”  Last night, as I prayed about the day, for some reason I remembered an awful evening in December, 2015, just a couple of weeks before Bev died, when exhaustion – emotional, spiritual, and physical – caught up with me.  Her long struggle with cancer was obviously coming to an end, she was unable to care for herself, weak and mentally confused. After helping her get ready for bed, which at that point was much like caring for an infant, seeing her deathly pallor, I collapsed in tears. Frustrated, sad, angry, confused, worn down – it seemed like despite my intense love for her that I could not do it all even one more day.  

 But, I did. That evening, God sent two friends who saw my need. They urged me to get some rest, told me that they would take over for a while. I found a place alone, where I wept, prayed incoherently for the sustaining grace of God, and put the pieces of life back together.

That is a hard memory and I only share it because I want you to know that you can keep going!  When you think the well is dry, you can dig deeper and find a way. You are stronger than you think and God has resources for you, if only you will ask. Oh yes, we pray for fairy tale ending, don’t we? I wanted Him to heal Bev. I dreamed about having a whole and loving wife back again, but that was not His plan. That pit was deep and the months that followed her death the pit got even deeper. 

But, now with 5 years of perspective, I use Paul’s words to describe His faithfulness: "We were crushed and completely overwhelmed, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we learned not to rely on ourselves, but on God who can raise the dead. And he did deliver us from mortal danger. And we are confident that he will continue to deliver us." (2 Corinthians 1:8-10, NLT)

In those awful years I re-discovered a plain, perhaps too obvious truth. Christian, God needs people who are willing to be steady plodders. Consistency must not be overlooked or under-rated.  We often find ourselves admiring those who are attractive, who look like they are untouched by the trials of the ordinary mortals. Have you ever wondered, “Why can’t my job be as fulfilling as his?”  “Why isn’t my marriage as loving as theirs?”  “Why is my faith so tested and theirs comes so easily?”  The fact is much of the time we are deceived by appearance, unable to see the struggle beneath the surface.  If we let ourselves become captives of envy, we who are ordinary mortals may well decide that we do not have ‘what it takes’ to compete in the race, to bring glory to God. One of the Devil’s most successful lies is this – “You don’t measure up so give up, retreat, surrender.”  In that choice the Kingdom loses a faithful servant of Christ.

While watching the SuperBowl last night, I heard a lot of talk about Tom Brady, who is undoubtably an outstanding leader and quarterback. Those men who stand on the offensive line in front of him, men seldom named, who almost never win the Most Valuable Player award, make it possible for Brady to do what he does! They get slammed, play after play, to keep him from being touched so he can throw those passes or make the hand-off. Stars may get the attention, but the faithful plodders carry the heaviest part of the load in life.

On this Monday morning are you wondering how you can make it to Friday?
Does the thought that you just cannot do it another day play through your mind?  You can!

Pause, even for a moment, and look up.  
Pray! Eloquence is not needed. “O God, I need You” is enough.
Then, receive the strength, the provision, He gives. 

The Spirit of God is with us, right here, right now. He gives strength to the faithful who seek Him. God, the Spirit, asks us to keep walking in His strength.  Plodders needed who, in those moments, choose to put one foot in front of the other. Paul reminds us: "I am willing to endure anything if it will bring salvation and eternal glory in Christ Jesus to those God has chosen. This is a trustworthy saying: If we die with him, we will also live with him. If we endure hardship, we will reign with him." (2 Timothy 2:10-12, NLT)  Keep walking!

Take the wisdom of God's Word to heart. Our word from the Word says "Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. ... So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised." (Hebrews 10:23-24, 35-36, NLT)  Then, you will be able to look back and say - "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing." (2 Timothy 4:7-8, NKJV)

Ah, disciple, I want to finish well and hear His commendation, don't you?

______________

Who You Say I Am

Who am I that the highest King

Would welcome me

I was lost but He brought me in

Oh His love for me

Oh His love for me

 

Who the Son sets free

Oh is free indeed

I'm a child of God

Yes I am

 

Free at last

He has ransomed me

His grace runs deep

While I was a slave to sin

Jesus died for me

Yes He died for me

 

In my Father's house

There's a place for me

I'm a child of God

Yes I am

 

I am chosen not forsaken

I am who You say I am

You are for me not against me

I am who You say I am

 

(Oh) (Yes) I am who You say I am

 

Ben Fielding | Reuben Morgan

© 2017 Hillsong Music Publishing Australia (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

CCLI License # 810055