“For those who feel their lives are a grave disappointment to God, it requires enormous trust and reckless, raging confidence to accept that the love of Jesus Christ knows no shadow of alteration or change. When Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy burdened," He assumed we would grow weary, discouraged, and disheartened along the way. These words are a touching testimony to the genuine humanness of Jesus. He had no romantic notion of the cost of discipleship. He knew that following Him was as unsentimental as duty, as demanding as love.”
― Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out
39The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord; he is their stronghold in time of trouble.PSALM 36-37
ACTS 23:1-11
6Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, descended from Pharisees. I stand on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead.” 7When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 8(The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees believe all these things.)9There was a great uproar, and some of the teachers of the law who were Pharisees stood up and argued vigorously. “We find nothing wrong with this man,” they said. “What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?” 10The dispute became so violent that the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them. He ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force and bring him into the barracks.11The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”
JOURNAL
Paul continues to be single-minded and strong as he is being questioned. His brilliance is due in part to his upbringing which serves him well in speaking to the Sanhedrin, but obviously, he is being guided by the spirit.
God then comforts him and lets him know that he has future days ahead and that he will survive to also be heard in Rome. The amazing thing about this is that Paul is absolutely resolute in knowing that his life is completely in the hands of God. He also knows that by putting his life in God's hands he has put his life at risk. To me, Paul is a clear example of the meaning and sacrifice of following Christ.
So in this day and time, what's my great challenge? Where is my great battle? It is easy to believe that most days don't really matter, that most moments are of little consequence. It is easy to see our lives as pursuits of selfishness rather than a mission authored and inspired by God. However, based on scripture, no moment is wasted with God. No matter how trivial or unimportant a day may seem, it is filled with moments that God has authored and of which I play a part. As long as I wake up on this earth I have a job, a role an opportunity. I will have an opportunity to love in the face of selfishness and hate. I will have an opportunity to trust God in the difficult tasks instead of taking an easy way out. I will have an opportunity to reach out to someone who needs encouragement rather than spiraling inward. Those opportunities exist no matter my circumstance, no matter the day, time or hour. All of these days and these moments lead to habits and those habits form my character and my legacy. They also prepare me for challenges ahead.
In the end, I am promised God's love, I am promised his joy during difficulty. I am promised that my life will have purpose and meaning. I must trust that following God in obedience will ultimately be greater than a life of selfishness...no matter the outcome. Living a life of love and obedience to God is the greatest thing I can ever do on this earth. In doing so my life becomes an outpost of God's Kingdom...
God then comforts him and lets him know that he has future days ahead and that he will survive to also be heard in Rome. The amazing thing about this is that Paul is absolutely resolute in knowing that his life is completely in the hands of God. He also knows that by putting his life in God's hands he has put his life at risk. To me, Paul is a clear example of the meaning and sacrifice of following Christ.
So in this day and time, what's my great challenge? Where is my great battle? It is easy to believe that most days don't really matter, that most moments are of little consequence. It is easy to see our lives as pursuits of selfishness rather than a mission authored and inspired by God. However, based on scripture, no moment is wasted with God. No matter how trivial or unimportant a day may seem, it is filled with moments that God has authored and of which I play a part. As long as I wake up on this earth I have a job, a role an opportunity. I will have an opportunity to love in the face of selfishness and hate. I will have an opportunity to trust God in the difficult tasks instead of taking an easy way out. I will have an opportunity to reach out to someone who needs encouragement rather than spiraling inward. Those opportunities exist no matter my circumstance, no matter the day, time or hour. All of these days and these moments lead to habits and those habits form my character and my legacy. They also prepare me for challenges ahead.
In the end, I am promised God's love, I am promised his joy during difficulty. I am promised that my life will have purpose and meaning. I must trust that following God in obedience will ultimately be greater than a life of selfishness...no matter the outcome. Living a life of love and obedience to God is the greatest thing I can ever do on this earth. In doing so my life becomes an outpost of God's Kingdom...
37They were put to death by stoning;e they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.
39These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
HEBREWS 11:37-40
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