My morning run in Richmond before heading home included a stretch along the James river. The water was raging, the rapids fast. I would have loved to be brave and dare to kayak that alone, but it would have been foolish. So instead, I watched the waters rush in torrents over the rocks, and pretended I was brave.
There are many things going on these days in our country which challenge what Christians hold to be true. I suspect a day is coming soon when to profess any Biblical stance will be outlawed. It is hard to know if those of us who claim Christ will be brave when the time arrives that we must choose Him, or the punishment the world will mete out. It is hard to stand firm in faith when the waters of adversity are raging against us. I hope I will be brave when the time comes. I
pray I will be.
************
Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the
renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will
of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so
that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you
are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side
for the faith of the gospel,
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in
him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do
nothing.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that
whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God
did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order
that the world might be saved through him.
“For I the
Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.
Amen
ReplyDelete