“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.” Colossians 2:6-7
How deep are your roots? When the winds of this world blow upon you, are you steadfast or easily moved? Do you dig into yourself or into His Word? Are you shocked into stupor or do you step out in faith?
The Lord has been strengthening my walk over the past few months. There have been several significant challenges that have come before our family. In each situation, we have decided to trust Him rather than turning into ourselves in despair. We’ve experienced a job loss, a failed adoption, a kitchen flood (necessitating a kitchen renovation and flooring replacement of the entire downstairs of our home) and a parting of fellowship within the body of Christ.
In each situation, we have clung to His Word – to the assurances of Who He Is and to the assurances of who we are in Christ Jesus. From the world’s perspective, any one of these situations would be devastating, much less all of them over the course of just a few months. But we continue to keep our eyes on our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
From our Christian viewpoint, God has a higher purpose – an eternal purpose. Read More »
Just the other night, my husband and I were meeting friends for dinner and needed directions to the restaurant. We got into our vehicle, my husband driving and I in the passenger seat. I activated the navigation system, selected the location and started the route guidance. Soon the pleasant automated voice began instructing us to turn here and there and we were on our way.
The closer we got to our destination, the more my husband began to question the route guidance. “What? Why are we turning here? Shouldn’t we be going the other way? I don’t see that street. Oh, there it is! Honey, what do you think…?” The ‘honey’ (me!) was fuming in the seat next to him. For the past 20 minutes I had tried to calmly acknowledge his comments without loosing my cool. We were about to join friends for dinner after all! It would not be good to have a disagreement and then paste the ‘happy smile’ on our faces. Why couldn’t he just follow the directions? Why did he have to question every twist and turn?
We did make it successfully to the restaurant – which is not always the case with navigation systems. And when we arrived, we had a good laugh. I commented to my husband that following the navigation system was a lot like following the Lord. The closer we get to His destination, the more we try to question Him and take over the route guidance!
The Pilgrim’s Progress
This summer I have been re-reading The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan, which was first published in 1678. As the Lord would have it, He was giving me 21st century application for His Word as illustrated in Bunyan’s timeless allegory. Just days before our dinner date, I had been reading about the pilgrims’ encounter with Giant Despair.
The pilgrims, Christian and Hopeful, are on their way to the Celestial City and traveling on the Way. At this point in their journey, the Way follows along the bank of “the river of the water of life.” (Revelation 22:1) After a time, the Way and the river part and the path becomes rough. The pilgrims’ feet grow tired and they become impatient. They wish for a better way. Read More »
I can’t take credit for this title – our pastor’s wife, Bonnie, often encourages us to jump off our personal “cliffs” and into a life of faith, a life of trusting God more than we trust ourselves. You’ve probably heard the cliche to take things “one step at a time. ” In my experience, that really is the way the LORD develops our faith, our trust, in Him. He asks us to live a life of faith one step at a time.
The Old Testament is replete with account after account of the LORD developing relationships of faithfulness to Him. And the Bible also records His covenant promises to the faithful. We must remember that God cannot deny Himself and His faithfulness does not depend upon ours!
“If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.” 2 Timothy 2:13
Having said that, God does require us to participate in our faith journey. He does ask us to take initiative, to take the first step. And before our foot has hit the ground, He has taken action. A great example of the LORD’s faithfulness is recorded in Joshua 3. Read More »
