by RobertCummins | Mar 25, 2014 | 12. Seeing God and Being Seen
And Jesus was saying to them, “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.”
Six days later, Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John, and brought them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; and His garments became radiant and exceedingly white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them. Elijah appeared to them along with Moses; and they were talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three tabernacles, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” For he did not know what to answer; for they became terrified. Then a cloud formed, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is My beloved Son, listen to Him!” All at once they looked around and saw no one with them anymore, except Jesus alone. As they were coming down from the mountain, He gave them orders not to relate to anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man rose from the dead. They seized upon that statement, discussing with one another what rising from the dead meant.
What were the three disciples actually invited to see high up on this mountain? Was this scene with Jesus, a prophet and a patriarch a vision of the future? A dream of the past? Had heaven come down to earth? These were likely not the questions the terrified disciples were asking in the moment. They were probably just wondering if they would survive this encounter. Upon reflection, they undoubtedly assumed they must have been among those who indeed were standing there with Jesus who were told that they would not taste death before they saw the kingdom of God after it had come with power.
I had always believed the kingdom came with power at Pentecost. After further thought I now believe that the kingdom came in Christ and had been present since He began His ministry.
I believe the disciples had been witnessing and experiencing the kingdom in their day to day lives with Jesus. As far as this encounter goes, it is fair to say that whatever the time or the realm into which James, Peter and John saw, they would never be the same because they now knew there was more going on than that which had previously met their eyes.
It was crystal clear that this Jesus, whom they thought they knew, has an existing majestic identity beyond their wildest dreams. He is the Lord of glory and power and apparently lives in more than one dimension. Having seen Elijah and Moses, they also had to assume that the dead are in fact raised. Perhaps most importantly though, they learned that “This Jesus is God’s beloved Son and that they must listen to Him!“
What is it today, as we listen, that we hear Jesus saying? Do you hear Him saying, “Don’t get left behind. Just hold on a bit longer; My second coming is drawing near. Then you will have new bodies and you will then enter in to the kingdom.” Judging by book sales, this is what most of the family is hearing. You might find it interesting; The Left Behind series has more than doubled both the profits and staff of Tyndale House Publishers. More than 75 million copies have been sold.
It is an attractive idea isn’t it to be beamed up and out of this fallen sin infested earth where we are hamstrung by Adam’s nature and destined to be eventually overcome by the swelling tide of evil. Because of what I have tasted of Christ’s reign in my life over the past 38 years and how I read the scripture I have not embraced Left Behind theology. I don’t believe the patriarchs or the prophets would either.
Can you imagine what King David would say about this Rapture/Retreat theology. If he were seen talking to Jesus wouldn’t he be saying about this world system something in this spirit; “For who are these uncircumcised Philistines, that they should taunt the armies of the living God?”
If we could listen in on the demonic I could easily imagine we would overhear plans to neutralize the armies of God. The grand overarching deception being strategized would be to convey that the kingdom of God has not yet come with power. From there it would be a simple matter to infect the armies of God with the fatalistic notion that evil is going to triumph in the earth but that a great evacuation plan will be launched from heaven before anarchy prevails. This will forestall any real resistance from God’s army. Since no real victory is possible it would breed passivity and a preoccupation with the temporal world. A world of doctrinal lies could be sown successfully in this soil. The strategy would include a full scale assault on the identity of God’s people. Every effort would be made to promote the debilitating half-truth that a christian’s identity is that of being just a sinner saved by grace. This way, the army would be introspecting about their fallen sinful natures as opposed to strapping on their armor by embracing their identity in Christ and the kingdom that has already come.
We often presume that it was David’s musical, worshipful heart but perhaps it was something more that God loved about David. Perhaps He liked the fact that David presumed that He was with him and would therefore not be intimidates by any giants.
Have you ever considered that Jesus is also saying to us, “Truly I say to you, there are some of you who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power?” It is feint but at times I think I hear stirring within our camps that indicates this is being heard. The spirit of of what I hear reminds me of the declaration/prayer? made by George C. Scott in his portrayal of General Patton,
“I’ve always felt that I was destined for some great achievement, what I don’t know. ….The last great opportunity of a lifetime – an entire world at war, and I’m left out of it? God will not permit this to happen! I will be allowed to fulfill my destiny! His will be done.”
This company of recruits I am hearing is not pining for an airlift. They believe they have already been dropped in at the front lines. They believe that light is greater than darkness and that Truth shall triumph over the satanic lies that blind and entangle us. They see themselves as new creations in Christ not just poor sinners saved by grace. Their confidence is born of the reality that Christ lives in them and that the Kingdom of God has already come in power. There is the sense that it was for this destiny they were created – to see every knew bow and tongue confess that truly Jesus Christ is Lord.
Father, Help us to see that we too have an existing majestic identity beyond our wildest dreams. As your disciples, open our eyes as well to see that in Christ we too have been raised from the dead. Permit us to grasp that we are citizens of the kingdom of God and that even now we are heirs of the powers of the Age to Come. Help us to see Jesus as He is, the king of glory, our elder brother, our example of kingdom life and Your beloved Son to whom we must listen. So be it.
by RobertCummins | Mar 23, 2014 | 12. Seeing God and Being Seen
The disciples have just witnessed another stupendous miracle. The feeding of the 4,000 was born out of Christ’s compassion and was driven by practical necessity. The Pharisees grieved Jesus to the core of His being by asking for an encore performance of some miraculous sign. He sighed deeply and said, “Why does this generation seek for a sign? Truly I say to you, no sign will be given to them.”
Friday, I shared this thought, “I believe the greater part of discipleship happens in our everyday, ordinary lives—our sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around lives as we discover how radically differently God thinks than we do.” This day in the disciples’ lives would exemplify my point. In the normal course of their affairs Jesus tees up on this most recent encounter with the religionists and says, “Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” Neither has it gone unnoticed to Jesus that the disciples are once again low on groceries and that they are troubled by this most recent apparently impossible circumstance.
I have to assume that the leaven Jesus is referring to is that hard and unbelieving heart that demands proof before believing. Jesus is saying, “Don’t go down that road; that condition, like leaven, will just cause circumstances to grow seemingly more impossible in your imaginations.” Jesus was nurturing the tender and growing faith in these men’s lives and he did not want the religiously correct and their thought processes to serve as a toxic reference point. He had to confront this situation for their faith’s sake. He will once again have to show them how radically differently He and The Father thinks than they do….
Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet see or understand? Do you have a hardened heart? Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember……
What is that Jesus is trying to get across to us? What is it that draws the deep sighs from His heart? Isn’t it this; that in simple childlike faith we can trust that our daily needs will be met by Him? If we are tempted toward unbelief can we not remember one occasion after another where God has supplied our needs (and then some)? I believe what Jesus is saying is simply, “Do not discuss in your own minds (or especially with others) the fact that you have no bread (or whatever you perceive to be lacking); instead remember and discuss the fact that you have Me.”
Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. 2 Peter 1:3-4 MSG
God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you’re ready for anything and everything, more than just ready to do what needs to be done. As one psalmist puts it, He throws caution to the winds giving to the needy in reckless abandon. His right-living, right-giving ways never run out, never wear out. 2 Corinthians 9:8-9 MSG
Father, Help us to each see our curriculum right in front of us in the school of Christ we are each enrolled in as Your children and disciples. May we progressively enjoy that deep rest in Christ where we realize that not only are You near to us but that our lives are beautifully interwoven with Your own, in Christ. Give us this day our daily bread and lead us away from all forms of unbelief. Amen.
by RobertCummins | Mar 22, 2014 | 12. Seeing God and Being Seen
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Here is bible reading tip that most have heard before but it so relvant here I will risk repeating it; “When you see a “therefore” see what it’s there for. What we are studying is there because of Hebrews chapter 11; the great discourse on faith. Let’s review a few principles without listing the dozens of people who ultimately become a part of the great crowd of witnesses we learn are are now surrounding us, cheering us on.
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen…..By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible……And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him…..All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own.
I don’t know many people who have suffered through worst nightmare circumstances such as those chronicled in Hebrews 11. But these folks are among us nevertheless. I am aware of a sweet young couple who had to say goodbye to their 2 year old son yesterday. Loosing a child is any parent’s ultimate nightmare. As I read The CaringBridge entry by the mother of this boy I wanted to amend Hebrews 11 to include her and her husband. Whether this mother, who is a relatively new believer, knows our passage or not I do not know. But I do know they personify it. The mother’s story can be read at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/kaislockers. It is called Love Wins.
Please pray for this precious young family that they would know something of their son’s joy who has now met his Father in heaven and is seeing God and being seen by him without the obstruction of his failed earthly body. He has joined the great throng of saints who have finished their race who are now looking down and cheering us on in ours.
by RobertCummins | Mar 21, 2014 | 12. Seeing God and Being Seen
Walking down the street, Jesus saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked, “Rabbi, who sinned: this man or his parents, causing him to be born blind?” Jesus said, “You’re asking the wrong question. You’re looking for someone to blame. There is no such cause-effect here. Look instead for what God can do. We need to be energetically at work for the One who sent me here, working while the sun shines. When night falls, the workday is over. For as long as I am in the world, there is plenty of light. I am the world’s Light. (John 9:1-5)
I believe the greater part of discipleship happens in our everyday, ordinary life—our sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around lives as we discover how radically differently God thinks than us. I believe our passage today illustrates these ideas.
As Jesus and His disciples were doing their everyday-walking around thing they encountered an impossible situation; a man who had been blind from birth. Here is how discipleship played out in this unscheduled seemingly random encounter….
In the course of their conversation the cause and effect of this man’s circumstance comes up. The disciples, to a man, trace this poor beggar’s curse of blindness to his sins or that of his parents. Jesus chided them and said they were all on the wrong track. He informed them that illness was not a sin problem and that there were no humans to blame. Jesus implied their wrong thinking would lead them to wrong decisions. [If you want to explore this story in greater depth, you can go to the archives of MwM and check out; Listening To God (Saturday) – 2 Chronicles 7:11-22.]
Jesus had brought them to a fork in the road. One sign pointed to the left; it said, “Blame It on Man’s Fallen Nature”. The sign that pointed to the right said, “What God Can Do”. This intersection was further complicated because there was another fork whose signage read “Somebody Else’s Problem”.
We may not always be conscious of it, but I believe, in light of God’s intimate awareness and involvement in our lives, discipleship is always underway; or at lest it can be if we have ears to hear. Again, whether we are conscious of it or not, I believe we each are having a conversation with God. I believe that He sees to it that we will always be encountering impossible situations and that in each one of them, we will be asked to make a decision. So let’s review 4 principles of discipleship our passage has flushed out;
1) Become aware of God’s intimate involvement in our lives.
2) Learn to join into the conversation (requires better listening on our part usually).
3) Realizing God will give us our Missions Impossible.
4) Realizing that we will end up at a crossroads where we will make a decision.
There is another important word from our passage that should greatly impact the choices we make. It is the word “we“.
We need to be energetically at work for the One who sent me here, working while the sun shines. When night falls, the workday is over. For as long as I am in the world, there is plenty of light. I am the world’s Light.
Jesus’ use of “we” effectively rules out the “Somebody Else’s Problem” trail. He was trying to say that blindness and human suffering are our problems; that dealing with them is the work of God and his disciples. I think it would be fair to say that Jesus’ life was our illustration of what it looks like when “Thy will is being done on earth as it is in heaven”. In other words healing is a work of God that we need to be energetically pursuing while the sun is still shining. Jesus is telling us that He and His disciples (in which we can be included) are living within a window of opportunity….
….while the sun shines. When night falls, the workday is over. For as long as I am in the world, there is plenty of light. I am the world’s Light.
I have many (friends and family included) who have taken trails in their journey with Christ that limit the Holy Spirit’s contribution in the earth today to being primarily the Interpreter of scripture. They have taken trails that focus on the application of scriptural principles to the fallen nature of man as the primary business of God on the earth today. While I have the deepest respect for this part of the family, I didn’t follow the same trails because I am convinced that Jesus said that it would be expedient that He send us a Helper. When He orignally said this, there was no bible, so His helping (in the context of His speaking) must have been in the doing of all the works that Jesus had been demonstrating – not just an Interpreter.
Is it possible that providence is hidden in the seemingly random circumstances of our lives? Is it possible that where evil impossible circumstances seem to abound that grace and redemption are actually present in the impossibility all the more?
When will our night fall? Will it be as we draw our last earthly breath or when we are snatched up in to the air in a rapture? We don’t know the answer but Jesus’ point is that as long as we are drawing breath, our window of opportunity to do the works of God is still open. The Holy Spirit who is remaining in the world is the thing that is providing plenty of light for the remaining works we have been called to engage in. He is the world’s light and He resides in us. Let the work continue.
Father, help us to see our destinies as Your Kingdom agents called to reconcile this world to Your rule. Help us to expose the bullying administrators of darkness who press their lie that all things are impossible with You instead of possible. Help us to see the lies beneath futility, bad theology and all hopeless circumstances. Help us to be those who energetically work the works of God who sent Jesus and left us the Spirit to work in and through us while the sun is still shining. Amen.
by RobertCummins | Mar 20, 2014 | 12. Seeing God and Being Seen
Job answered God: “I’m convinced: You can do anything and everything. Nothing and no one can upset your plans. You asked, ‘Who is this muddying the water, ignorantly confusing the issue, second-guessing my purposes?’ I admit it. I was the one. I babbled on about things far beyond me, made small talk about wonders way over my head. You told me, ‘Listen, and let me do the talking. Let me ask the questions. You give the answers.’ I admit I once lived by rumors of you; now I have it all firsthand—from my own eyes and ears! I’m sorry—forgive me. I’ll never do that again, I promise! I’ll never again live on crusts of hearsay, crumbs of rumor.”
Job no longer had to say things in theory about God because he now had experience with God. Instead of having a sermon, Job had a testimony. While the sermon may be the weapon of the preacher. The testimony is the weapon of the foot soldier. Foot soldiers are always being strategically positioned for the kingdom’s expansion. All they need is armament.
No one is located better than you and I are within our relational networks. But, if when we meet people, all we have to say is, “Pastor says this or the Bible says that. Would you like to go to church with me?“, we are shooting with plastic bows and arrows. Our world is filled with Christian materials that the faithful regularly gorge themselves on but the world wants to know what all this knowledge has done for you and I. “Is your God real. Please show me.”
In the midst of a message I was sharing a few years ago a light came on; I had the keen awareness that I was an accomplice to a great crime. I had had a rich time in preparation. I had gained real nourishment from it. But, here I was, momma bird regurgitating what I had digested to many who should have been kicked out of the nest a long time ago – having learned to feed themselves. To be fair, some were self-feeders. But many had been conditioned by the year-after-year, week-to-week servings from pastor. Pastor would have better equipped these baby birds to not grow up dependent on him. The true equipper would make sure the babies learn to feed themselves. He would personally demonstrate how babies grow up to have their own first hand stories of God’s involvement in their lives. He would teach them how to think and dream and live in the light of Truth – enabling them to bend a bow of bronze and enter into the battle in their own strategic theater of operations with their own strategic God-given resources.
The church I was a part of called itself a sheep-shed. GIven the importance of identity, I think that was unfortunate. I believe status quo cultures and routines condition us would-be warriors to remain as sheep. If we are an army someone is going to have to impart a greater identity to us than dumb witless creatures who are dependent on another to feed us and tell us what to do. Granted there are some who will remain babes and may always need bottle fed but for most of us, our passivity and lethargy are due to the second-hand food we consume. (And we complain, we are not being fed well?) Its not that the food may not have been excellent fare when the pastor chewed on it; but he got the lion-share of benefit – not the flock.
When I see what transpired in Job’s life to silence the babbler and encourage the listener I tremble. How many of us would sign up for personal testimony class if we had to pay the tuition Job did? It might be a very small class since much of our spiritual diet has been laced with cheap grace. We have been preached a gospel in the west that says salvation is a free gift and it will cost you nothing. The bible portrays the gospel of the kingdom which is free yet, mysteriously, will cost us everything.
Not only are sheep conditioned by preachers but preachers are conditioned by sheep. If sheep hear a regular barrage of Jesus’ hard sayings they will begin to complain of the diet. Giving and attendance may even fall off. When the amen’s die out most pastors can project where this will lead and steer back to the words that are more pleasing to the ear which indirectly stabilize the cash flow.
Once in an adult Sunday school class where I was teaching on Job, a sincere believer suggested that the book of Job should not be taken seriously because it did not fit well with the theology of the rest of scripture. He said, After all, its only one book! He could make this statement because his personal reflection had been flavored with pastor’s words which focused on blessings, power and intimacy. The possibility of suffering and any redemptive purpose in it had been surgically removed from the gospel in this setting.
Father….I admit I once lived by rumors of you; now I have firsthand knowledge – from my own eyes and ears. I’m sorry – forgive me. By your grace, I’ll never do that again, I promise. I’ll never again live on the crusts of hearsay, crumbs of rumor. Deliver me from trivializing Your majesty and mystery with my speculative babbling. Continue to teach me to let you do the talking and ask the questions. Help me to simply listen. Amen
by RobertCummins | Mar 19, 2014 | 12. Seeing God and Being Seen
For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.
We are not of the kingdom of Judah nor are we Asa their king but their God has become our Father. The things in the old testament were written for our benefit. My ambition is to derive some of that benefit for myself and others. While the covenants are different through which we relate to God, there is a common theme to both. He wants all our hearts. This morning I want to explore all-ness. Let’s get some backstory first….
In Asa’s early reign he did not act foolishly. Listen to his heart, “O Lord, You are our God; let not man prevail against You.” The consequence; there was peace in the Land because the dread of the Lord had fallen on their enemies. As a reminder of God’s ways …..
the Spirit of God came on Azariah the son of Oded, and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: the Lord is with you when you are with Him. And if you seek Him, then He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, then He will forsake you.
There are those old covenant if’s and then’s again. (For more on those check out last Saturday’s post from 2 Chronicles 7:11-22) Listen to this….
They entered into the covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and soul; and whoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman. 2 Chronicles 15:12-13
There was a significant cost for non-compliance with God’s all-ness commands. Where men failed to give themselves to God there was always trouble and death, for God troubled them with every kind of distress. Yet when they sought him in the midst of trials the outcome was radically different….
the Lord is with you when you are with Him. And if you seek Him, then He will let you find Him; but (again) if you forsake Him, then He will forsake you…. But you, be strong and do not lose courage, for there is reward for your work.”
In our passage, Asa the king of Judah has displeased God because he had relied on the king of Aram and not on the Lord his God. This gets us back to all-ness. All-ness is all about reliance and trust in God over our other options. However, I believe the concept of all-ness and abandonment need revised to fit our context. What are these concepts to look like to us who live under the new covenant?
Many saved-and-going-to-heaven evangelical christians immediately start backing up when they hear superlatives like all and everything. “Sell all.” “Forsake everything.” They know (or believe) that this condition cannot be met in their fallen nature so they retreat, not wanting to get any where near an alter call or commitment to all-ness. They may think, “Why set myself up for failure? All-ness is simply not possible.” And they are correct if it refers to a completed condition of the heart. But, what if all-ness is more about a child-like orientation to Father and a process and not a perfected work? I would like to share how I stumbled into what I am calling “all-ness”.
When I came to Christ (or probably more accurately, when he drew me to himself), I did not hear the classic gospel message. In fact, I did not feel any specific convictions of sin. I didn’t invite Jesus into my heart to just save me from my sins or to escape hell. My deepest conviction at that time was that I was utterly alone, lost, and that darkness had a vice-grip on me. The folks standing around me at the alter just wanted me repeat a prayer but I essentially just told Jesus from my heart that He could have my life and do anything He wanted with it. I was wrecking it. To my best understanding I had entered into a new covenant with God on that day and my understanding of it has been unfolding through the years. Today I think of this covenant simply as a relationship but not a contractual one held together by if’s and then’s. It was initiated by and is sustained by Christ alone.
In that moment had I really succeeded in giving God my whole heart? How is that even possible? Can a fallen nature bent on having its own way really abandon itself to another? I believe we can because I did. I was absolutely thunderstruck at the changes Christ made in my life in a very brief span of time. It truly was amazing! Projecting forward with this supernatural trend in mind, I envisioned Christ and I walking hand in hand on a gradually upward grade until that day the trumpet souns from the East and all my tears would be wiped away. Silly boy.
It was not too long into my walk with Christ that I realized that this world still had a downward pull on me. The battle was on. What had happened to my surrender?! My temptations made me feel like a traitor to Christ. My sin made me feel like a mutineer. I was not yet married so I thought maybe I need to become a monk. But wait, I am not a Catholic. OK, I’ll just become monk-ish. I will wage a battle of discipline over my flesh and I will prevail. I must! I had surrendered to Him. I had made vows to God that only a fool who did not fear Him would break. Consequently, the broad and secure place of salvation quickly became a narrow path. In fact it would progress into something more akin to a tight-rope -a religious one to be precise.
In my struggle with sin had I broken trust with God? Yes, a thousand times and then some. But here is where we discover the nature of all-ness and see God’s if’s and then’s in the context of grace instead of the Law…..
……….If we are faithless, then He remains faithful. 2 Timothy 2:13……If we confess our sins, then He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
The battles I fight with sin do not negate my original and complete abandonment to God. My sin never has separated me from Him. It was always a matter of who was holding the title to my life. I had handed that to God and I have never asked for it back. Why would I want it? Where else was I going to go? When I encountered temptations, when I sinned, when I found deep parts of me dull and unresponsive, I returned to the simple idea that I am His and He is mine.
When I first came to God He had accepted my all as my honest consideration into our covenant. That my all consisted of less than nothing is what facilitated my stumbling into all-ness. I had inadvertantly placed my entire reliance upon Jesus Christ. When we stumble (or find our way) into all-ness we inevitably meet Christ as Lord. And… when we add to Lordship, His sovereignty, His omniscience and His power, we enter into discipleship. When it dawns upon us that His throne is actually in our hearts and that it is our hearts where we are working out our salvation, we have discovered the kingdom of God. His initial and ongoing work is to secure our reliance and trust for our own benefit. The Father is always inviting us into that place of rest where we truly abide in Christ and bear much fruit for Him.
We don’t have to be perfect to give ourselves totally to God. How many people are failing to know Christ as Lord because they have been intimidated by Christ’s command to take up their cross and follow Him or to love Him with all their beings. Giving ourselves to God is both a one time and all-time ongoing affair. Abiding is abandoning myself to His faithful keeping. It sounds like a grueling uphill trek when in reality it is just learning how to rest in His tender ongoing mercies. He is faithful to show us where we are behaving contrary to abandonment and He is also faithful to recall and honor our tender honest surrenders. He loves this childlike trust that introduces us to the kingdom of God. Just remember being completely His is a work that He has initiated and that He will sustain as we rest in Him. That is why Paul can say….
For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6
Father, help us to become aware and comfortable that we are never hidden from your sight and that it is with you with whom we have to do. Help us to be strong and to not lose courage. For those of us who have never abandoned ourselves to you, would you give us eyes to see that our surrendered status is actually the safest place in the universe to be. Help us each to discover that You yourself are our reward. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
