Firm Foundations - Continuing the Journey (Daily Devotional)

Greetings and welcome to Living Supernaturally. Thank you so much once again for giving us this opportunity to minister God’s word and spend a few moments in prayer. We are wrapping us this week on firm foundations and today, we will be talking on continuing the journey. 1 Timothy chapter 4, verses 7 through 8, ‘I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.’ Once we have committed our life to Christ, there should be no turning back. If we think about it, there is nothing really to turn back to. Despite of this truth, there is an epidemic of believers who drop out of the race during failures. Many begin well but finish poorly. It can be a gradual erosion through a series of small compromises or a sudden departure. But a number of things can divert us from the course on which we have been called to run. The Lord lovingly uses trials and adversity in a variety of creative ways in our lives and part of that is to enable us to run to Him and get our dependance from Him. As God’s children, our pain causes us to ask, seek, knock and in His time, God responds by revealing more of Himself to us. This personal knowledge increases our faith and our capacity to trust in His character and promises. Only as we experientially realize that we cannot survive without God, we will be willing to submit to His purposes in the midst of affliction. A growing faith involves trusting God through tough times and the times we don’t understand His purposes and His ways. Tribulation plays a significant role in clarifying hope because it can force us to see the bigger picture. When we view God’s character in the light of our circumstances, we come to see that God is never different to us and that He uses our suffering for our good so that we will be closer and more united to Christ. Those who finish well maintain an ongoing, learning posture through their seasons of life. A smug, self-satisfied attitude causes people to decline on the learning curve. Humility and obedience are the key to maintaining a teachable spirit. If any of us could be transported to heaven for a 5-minute visit, we would never be the same after we returned to earth. For the first time, we would have had a true perspective on the frailty and brevity of life on earth and the absurdity of giving our hearts to things that doesn’t even last. A secret of those who finish well is to focus more on Jesus than on focusing on avoiding sin. The more we love Jesus, the more we will learn to put our confidence in Him.

Let us pray, Father, we thank you for your word that is so clear, that we are to live not for the things of this world. So, even as we continue on in this journey as believers, just as Paul said, ‘I have finished the race, I have kept the faith,’ Lord, enable us to see the bigger picture. Enable and empower us to run this race with confidence and boldness knowing that you are there with us. We thank you for this entire week and everything you have taught us, we commit ourselves into your hands, in Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

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