God's Encouragement

For every two people in my life who was encouraging and uplifting, I probably had four lined up who were critical and discouraging.  The problem was for me is that the voices of those who were critical had the stronger voice for many years in my life.  A lot of those times it was my own voice playing inside of my head, because I believed the lie.

I am sorry to say I have regrets for those days I believed the lie more than I believed the Truth - or fell for the lie than lay hold of the Truth.  I'm sure we all have pages in the book of our life that are the same.

But the good news of the Gospel is that no man's opinion whether good or bad is what makes a life - gives life - or sustains a life.  Hallelujah God does not work from the opinion poll.

Instead, God has given His Son - the justifier of all who have faith in Him and His blood.

My life is only going to be shaped by the Truth of God, nothing else.  I praise Him that He forgives all our sins - this is so good - for there are many sins committed since the cross of Jesus Christ that are removed solely by His blood!  The cross was and is for the past, present, and the future.

I believe, with all my heart, the way of God is that He starts with Grace through Faith and that the whole life is based on Grace through Faith.  If it is not through faith we receive from God all the glorious graces of His Son, then as Paul said in Galatians, Christ died in vain.

Faith is the continuance of believing God and His Words - not man's and certainly not opinions of man.

God called us to be sons and daughters.  God's gifts and calling are without repentance.  God created us in His Christ Jesus as His workmanship and for works He prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.  He says we have access to the Father with boldness through faith in His Son.

Sometimes it is a good thing to rehearse the basics of God's great salvation.  For in them is the very foundation for not only the church, but as an individual member of His body.  WE are built up in Him, rooted, grounded, edified, and growing in His Spirit.

In the Spirit is faith and love.  Faith works by God's love.

We all know there is a narrow door one must enter to be saved - the narrow door is Jesus Christ alone being the only Way, Truth, and Life to the Father and Life Eternal.

But after that narrow door sometimes there is a fork in the road - the fork of continuing in grace through faith in the Son of God or taking another "road" to what God has prescribed.  Paul warned us about listening to "another gospel," "another Jesus, another spirit.

Just like here on the earth, highways have service roads.  We've all been on those service roads - sometimes they dead end.  Then you have to turn back around and get back on the main highway.

Stay on the main highway of simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ who is our Savior, our Life, our all and all - the One who says He makes us what we ought to be through the blood of the everlasting covenant.  Hebrews 13.  The way to lay hold of God's truth is this:  Lay hold!

Let us continue then on in the great grace of God by trusting Him and Him alone.  He will not fail.

Sue Gaither