Welcome to Day 24 of The Challenge.
Be diligent. There is only 1 day left!
~
Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive
the reward of the inheritance:
for ye serve the Lord Christ.
~
Change.
It has become a byword among us. We have so much of it we don’t know what to do. All this change! The confusion! The not-knowing, the questions! In the middle of it, we find ourselves crying out those questions to Jesus. Really big questions.
The decisions that must be made, the choices that must be chosen, the avenues that must be explored, the forks that must be taken.
I’ve found, as I have approached those difficult forks, that it is so easy for me to turn and rely on myself and begin to take those reigns back from God. I have the habit of saying “O.K., thanks God; You got me this far, now I’ll take it from here.”
And I end up humbled. Crouching like a coward in a corner.
“Oh, ye, of little faith.”
So many times the Lord has spoken those words to me.
I look back on those times with sadness and humility. Who am I to question the purpose, the plan, the ways of our Savior? He knows so much better than I.
I want to tell you about my Savior.
My God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He was, He is, and He will be.
He is the God of putting money into my grasp when there should have been nothing.
He is the God of searching for lost reflectors for six months and finally, when I had done all I could, I broke down, gave that silly reflector to Him, and found it the next morning.
He is th
e God of stepping out on faith into a rushing river and letting Him catch you.
He is the God of every new year that we encounter.
He is the God of Christmas presents that should not logically exist.
He is the God of jobs.
He is the God of the house that you do or do not have.
He is the God that David cried to in Psalm 22: “Why have You forsaken me? I cry by day but You do not answer. Yet You are holy, O You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel. In you our fathers trusted; They trusted and You delivered them.”
He is the God that David wept to for relief: “The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want. He restores my soul. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil. You are with me.”
And I have faith in Him.
I read Hebrews 11 this morning.
If you have read through that chapter, you know the feeling of awe that comes over you.
The inspirational stories of the children of Israel play over again and again in my mind!
Gideon, Rahab, Barak, Samson, Isaac, Jacob, Noah Joseph, Moses, Abraham – I never really compared myself to Abraham before, you know? I mean, he’s pretty old, right? Probably older than I’ll ever be. Yet, I identified with him in this passage here, in verses 8-10:
“By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where we was going. By faith, he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.”
He went out as an alien.
He didn’t know where he was going.
He lived in little tents with his family.
He chose the life of an exile, having his hope fixed in God. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Heb. 11:1-2.
I identify with Abraham. He was an old man, without friends, only his family to rely on, in exile, waiting on the Lord to direct him. “Where next, Lord? I can’t see my own way. I’m depending on You, alone. I have nothing left. I cannot manage by myself. God, I need You. In You I place my trust. In You, I place my Faith.”
I am small. I have done nothing to deserve any blessing I have ever received. I am nothing.
And He is everything.
I don’t know you.
I don’t know what you are struggling with.
I don’t know what your needs are. I don’t know about your cousin that has cancer, your grandmother who passed away, your father with diabetes, your sibling with down syndrome, your friend’s accident.
But I do know this.
My God is enough.
Your God is enough.
He is the same today as He was yesterday, and tomorrow He will yet be the same again.
And…
He never fails.
Ever.
~ Anna Kraft
6 Comments »
Memorizing scripture is not an easy discipline to maintain, and completing 25 verses in 25 days can certainly be a formidable challenge! For this reason, we are proud to recognize the following 80 individuals (excluding parents and Journey leaders) who have successfully met The Challenge and memorized the entire chapter of Colossians 3 in just three and half weeks.
