Glance back; but don't stare

"I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." ( Philippians 1:6 CSB ) 

This morning in my "God Time" I was reminded that in spite of what I may feel about my seemingly slow, bumbling growth in the sanctification process, God is in deed working and will complete the good work he began in me. God is not a quitter. He will complete the work he commands of us. 

I've learned not to stress too much over that paradox and my intellectual anxiety, but to rest my head and heart in the soft feather bed of God's greatness, grace and mystery. He began the work, so he'll finish it. But I believe all throughout the New Testament we are taught to live as if we could lose it at any moment. Is that how precious our salvation is to us? Are we guarding our hearts with that kind of tenacity? Do we take it that serious? 

I think this may offer us a test: 

Sometimes through the struggle in our good fight of faith, (1 Timothy 6:12 ) because it is a battle, we may fail to see how much we really are growing. Here's some encouraging words in my devotional from the great preacher Charles Spurgeon: 

"The Lord knows how to educate you up to such a point that you can endure in years to come what you could not endure today; just as today He may make you to stand firm under such a burden, which ten years ago, would have crushed you into the dust." 

I find this helpful, but also humbling. I cringe at words I wrote as short as five years ago, things I thought and said and did. Even a year ago. 

I've experienced this humility and come to understand that it is a part of the growth process; if we are consistently being humbled with these growing pains, we are actually on the right track - Scripture refers to it as "the path of life." ( Psalm 16:11, Matthew 7:13-14 ) 

The good news is that we can see the fruit of our growth not only in our deeper understanding of the Bible and devotion to Jesus, but in our ability to handle with more poise, strength, and wisdom the increasing intensity of the fiery trials that come our way. ( 1 Peter 4:12-19 ) 

So be encouraged today. Yes, we may look back and shudder, but we all start out as infants after we are born again. We drink milk and fall a lot before we are able to stand and eat meat. 

This knowledge should motivate us and reassure us at the same time, and also increase our grace for one another. 

Happy Thursday. 💜

Happy 57th birthday, Kathy - It's hard to believe almost twenty years have passed. I'm running the best I can. I still miss you terribly and look forward to the day we worship at the throne together. 💕

Aslan looks out over his kingdom