We need to be grateful for the hopes, aspirations, and desires that God has planted within our hearts — and we need to be willing for those desires to be fulfilled on His terms. If not, we’re on a path that leads to disappointment in the end.
Any time God is involved, “it ain’t over till it’s over,” and many more good things may turn up than we, or anyone else, could have produced or predicted. The race may look like it’s lost, but still be won — despite our lack of swiftness.
At all times, God is certainly with us — supporting and helping us to do what is right, whether or not it feels that way to us emotionally. And so, in darkness, doubt, and difficulty, we need to hang on to our faith and simply refuse to turn back.
When what we are frustrates us, we shouldn’t give up on ourselves. One day, we will be glorious creatures, but we’re not there yet. For now, the most that can be said is that we’re becoming the persons we were created to be. But that is saying a lot!
As we live and wait for the Lord’s return, the passage of time will seem much shorter if we live out our sojourn in hope. It may, in fact, be many days until we see Him, but if our heart is where it needs to be, it will only seem to be a few days.
We can’t claim to be working hard on the “house” of our godliness if our timelog doesn’t show that we’ve spent much time on it. Under normal circumstances, a lack of activity indicates a degree of laziness. And laziness leads to leaky houses, always.
When we summon the courage and love for God to do the small thing that is within our reach, the devil is discouraged! So whatever else may happen today, let’s do some small thing out of love for God. If we did even that much, that would be progress.
Today, if there’s some unpleasant little duty that could easily be procrastinated, do it just because you don’t want to. Put the flesh in its place! Teach and train your body to take orders from your spirit. Someday, you’ll be mighty glad you did.
Holiness is a higher priority than happiness. It should rank higher in our scale of values than happiness, and maintaining its presence in our lives should be a matter of more pressing concern. The pursuit of holiness should be what we’re known for.
Through the gospel of Christ, we can have all that the word “life” was ever meant to convey. And the amazing thing is, the life that is available to us right now in Christ is, at its very best, only a foretaste of the fuller life that awaits us.
