What Is Your Spiritual Self-Image? 6/11/00

II Corinthians 5:17

Jesus Christ has a perfect will for your life. Regardless of how distorted His original plan for your life He is able to do reconstructive work on you. He is that kind of a loving God. He has an image in mind for your life because He loves you.

If He had a refrigerator you picture would be on its door.

If He had a wallet your photo would be in it.

He sends you sunshine every day and flowers each spring.

Whenever you want to talk He is willing to listen.

He can live anywhere He wants and has chosen to live in your heart.

Don’t forget that wonderful Christmas gift or that surprise gift on the Sunday after His hardest Friday.

He is crazy about you. What do you think about Him?

Presently what is your self-image? We all have one. Much is written about our self-image. Public education today is framed around the issue. Some have an inflated self-image. They are about to burn out their tires on their ego trip. Others go to the other extreme and devalue themselves to the point they have a poor self-image. Most of us fall in between those extremes.

Starting in infancy many things work together to shape our self-image. We grow up playing mental games that impact our self-image.

Do you remember when you use to play: YOU ARE?

It usually starts with parents saying such things as, “You are a good little boy (or girl). Or, the opposite, “You are a bad girl (or boy)! We are programmed with “You are” comments. You are: smart, dumb, pretty, ugly, rude, polite or other tags. Hearing the same thing over and over we grow to accept and believe it. Next, we start playing: I WISH.

I played this a lot as an adolescent. “I wish I were as fast as Reggie, as smart as Sam, as rich as Carl, as popular as Pete. I wish…”

That is a cruel game to play with yourself. You never have a sense of worth.

Some people play these two games all their lives. It is a liberating day when you start to play:

I AM!

This is when we begin to accept reality and resolve to become all we have the capacity to be. We unconsciously inventory our capacity and assets and conclude: I AM.

Enough about your self-image from a psychological or physical stand point. What is your spiritual self-image?

A poor self-image may prevent a person from achieving all they have the potential for in life. The same thing is true in the spiritual realm. If you are a Christian God has dramatically changed who you are in Christ. He has given you an incredible untapped spiritual potential. However, unless our spiritual self-perception changes we will not experience our full potential.

Many Christians have the spiritual perception based on a popular bumper sticker that shapes their self-image. Your have seen it: “CHRISTIANS AREN’T PERFECT, JUST FORGIVEN.”

Thank God for the last part of that. It is a demand that non-Christians understand our imperfections and accept that we are forgiven. With this in mind some Christian drivers go out to prove they aren’t perfect and respond as though it is OK to show off their imperfections. It is as though some blow-off their imperfections and appear casual about their forgiveness. If that is your spiritual self-image you have a very poor self-image.

Because of a failure to realize who we are and what spiritual assets we have at our disposal we often live spiritually defeated lives. This has led a Boston College professor to state there is “a state of spiritual impoverishment: in our country leading to a “shrunken aspiration.”

That is, many people think are spiritually bankrupt without an awareness they have at their disposal richest untold.

At the moment of salvation a radical change occurs. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.”

Some get so enamored with the things that pass away they fail to comprehend the superior worth of all that is new. Fluffy and Legs illustrate this for us. They are two caterpillars crawling along in conversation. Legs says, “You know Fluffy, I feel a compulsion to build a cocoon and crawl in it.” “Yeah,” says Fluffy, “me too, but I don’t want to do
it.” They reason for a while as to why not and reach this conclusion: “You know, when we come out things will be different. We won’t be able to crawl around in the dirt like this. We’ll have wings like those butterflies over there.”

“Right,” says Fluffy, “and we won’t be able to eat weeds and leaves. We’ll have to flit around flowers and eat that sweet nectar. Gee, I’m gonna miss the weeds and dirt.”

Which is the higher form of life, the caterpillar or the butterfly. The freedom and beauty of the butterfly is to be preserved.

When a person repentantly comes to Christ they spiritually give up the weeds and dirt for the freedom and flowers. The new creature in Christ is to be preferred. Don’t give going back to weeds and dirt a second thought. You have a new nature.

This new nature results in a renewed mind-set and outlook on life. We develop a Biblical world view as we see life through the mind of Christ.

“Be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you might prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God for you” (Romans 12:2).

The Scripture appeals to us to “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…” (Colossians 2:5). When you look at an issue and consider it look at it in the way you believe Christ would look at it were He in your position. The more and better you know Scripture the fuller comprehension you have of how Christ looked at life. Recall, repentance means to change our mind.

With this new mind set you develop a Biblical self-image. Some aspects of it are:

I. I AM A CHILD OF GOD
“To as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the children of God” (John 1:12).

Here is cause for dignity. The same God who created the universe has adopted you as His child. If your dad were the most virtuous, important, powerful and rich man in the world would that change you in any way? Sure it would. Well, as a child of God He is your Heavenly Father and has all those qualities. Do you ever think of yourself as a child of God? Do!

II. I AM A FORGIVEN SAINT
“God made you alive in Christ. He forgave us all our sins…” (Colossians 2:13).

God no longer sees you as a sinner. The righteousness of Christ is applied to the believer at the moment of salvation.

The modern image of a saint is a person whose oil portrait has a halo above the head. Not so. A young child visited a large cathedral with stained glass windows with human images in each made brilliant by the sun shining outside. When she asked who those people were she was told they were saints.

On another occasion in Sunday School the teacher asked who knew what a saint was. That little girl held up her hand and when asked said, “A saint is a person the light shines through.”

In reality saints are people who make it easier to believe in Christ. They are persons who are committed to Christ’s: PERSON, PRIORITIES, PURPOSE, AND PRINCIPLES.

There was a godly servant of our Lord who came to be known as Saint Nicholas of Flue. We would do well to pray the prayer he offered often. “My God and my Lord, take me away from my own self, and let me belong completely to thee. My God and my Lord, take away from me everything that keeps me apart from you. My God and my Lord, grant me everything that draws me closer to you.”

If you were convinced that every wrong you ever did were forgiven and that you have been given a new nature that abhors evil, how would that change how you see yourself?

From antiquity comes the story of Damon and Pythias. Dyonisius of Syracuse was a cruel despot of a ruler. He condemned Pythias to death. When Pythias begged leave to visit his aged parents before being crucified, his friend Damon offered to be held as a hostage to be executed if Pythias did not return. For some reason, the hard heart of Dyonisius was touched, and he consented to the arrangement. After delays resulting along his long and arduous overseas journey Pythias returned at the last moment to spare his friend Damon, his substitute. The hard heart of Dyonisius was so moved by this devotion he said, “Let me become a party to this friendship, and I will free both of you.”

Our Lord Jesus came to earth to take our place as a hostage to sin and face the cross for us. When we come to Him our Heavenly Father becomes a partner to this friendship.

III. I AM A CITIZEN OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD
“Our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20).

What does this do for your self-image? You have been given all the rights and privileges that belong to citizens of Christ’s eternal kingdom. The kingdom of darkness no longer has any rights over you. Furthermore, Jesus has named you as His ambassador of His invincible kingdom to planet earth.

God wants you to live a supernatural life that reflects your new identity in Christ. That only happens if you develop a correct spiritual self-image and begin seeing yourself as Christ sees you.

IV. I AM AN AMBASSADOR OF THE KING
As a child of the King I am under divine appointment to serve Him as an ambassador.

“Now then we are ambassadors for Christ…” (II Cor. 5:20).

The initial recipients of this letter knew more about ambassadors than we generally do.
There were two types of Roman provinces. Senatorial provinces were those where there was peace. Imperial provinces were those where there was still hostility and soldiers were on duty. When the Roman senate decided a country should become a province they sent ten of their members to the region to establish the terms of the peace, mark the boundaries, and establish the oversight.

Ambassadors lived in alien lands where a different language was spoken, the people had a different life-style and world-view. While there the honor of his own country were his responsibility. Others could look at an ambassador and thing; “So this is how people from your country think, look, dress, speak, and act!” People look at us in that same manner.

Living in an alien society we are to help people understand how citizens of the kingdom are taught by our King to think:

ABOUT SOCIAL ISSUES LIKE DRUG ABUSE, CHILD ABUSE, SEXUALITY, PORNOGRAPHY, THE SANCTITY OF LIFE.

Ambassadors were those who brought people into the family of the Roman Empire. As Christ’s ambassadors that is our role. We are to bring people into the family of God.

REVIEW: YOU ARE A CHILD OF GOD, CITIZEN OF THE KINGDOM, A SAINT, AND AMBASSADOR.

As an ambassador you can help people come into the family of the King of Kings. The book of Acts gives insight into the process.

In the Book of Acts when persons heard the gospel and the urge to make a change more dynamic than that which occurs in a cocoon came over them they asked, “What shall we do?”

In other words how do we become a child of God, a citizen of the kingdom, a saint?

Peter gave them the same instruction persons need to respond to today. He said:

“Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).

Let’s take this verse in a series of slow progressive steps. First, repent.

“Repent” comes from the Greek word (METANOEO) which means to change ones mind after comprehending a mind-changing truth is understood. If you have never received Christ as Savior it means to change your mind regarding Him and yield your will to His.

Following in the text is a big rock in the road to truth over which many stumble. The text says, “and be baptized in the name of Christ for the remissions of sins…”

A superficial reading has led some to believe baptism is essential to salvation. Not so! The Greek word EIS translated “for” can and should be translated “because of.” In other words, repent and because of the remission of your sins be baptized.

It is Christ who saves us the moment our faith results in repentance. When we change our mind regarding Him He changes our lives and gives us a new self-image. Then we are baptized not in order to be saved, but because we have been saved.

Our new nature prompts us to want to please Christ by obeying Him. He instructed us to be baptized (Matthew 28: 19, 20) after having repented.

Triumph Out of Tragedy

Tribulation can result in triumph.

George Washington, the patient statesman, learned from the snows of Valley Forge.

Lincoln, the liberator, learned from his poverty.

Theodore Roosevelt, the disciplinarian, from his asthma.

Edison, the inventor, from his deafness.

Walter Chrysler, the creative genius, from the grease pits of a train roundhouse.

Sir Walter Scott, from his lameness.

Robert Louis Stevenson, the poet of pathos, from tuberculosis.

Helen Keller, our classic inspiring example, from her blindness.

Without suffering these would not stand out on history’s horizon like Mount Vesuvius on a lily pond, and we would be robbed of their greatness.

Are you perhaps complaining about things designed to help you become your best? 

A muscle must be tested to gain strength. Likewise our character is forged in the fires of adversity.

Remember, “He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.” Isaiah 40:29

Temptation or Test

There is a difference in temptation and a trial.

Temptation comes from the devil. Trial is designed by our Lord. 

Don Moore, chief test pilot for Lockheed, explained what this means to test a plane. He said it is not like in the old movies where you strap on a leather helmet, throw a silk scarf over your shoulder, and take the plane up to see what it takes to crash it. He said you take it to its known capacity and let it prove itself. Then you push the envelop, and let it prove its ability. With each progressive step the object is to let it prove itself.  That is what God is doing when He allows us to have trials. He is giving us an opportunity to prove ourselves. 

A temptation is to destroy.

A trial is to develop.

A temptation is intended to lead to failure.

A trial is designed to reveal faithfulness.

A temptation is an appeal to use a good God given thing in the wrong way. 

Chris Craft, former head of our space program said, “The best time to make a decision is before you have to.”

Anticipate your response to a certain temptation. When it comes, what will you do?

A lovely young high school senior who had numerous awards sat in my study and while weeping said of her pregnancy, “I don’t know why I did it.” 

I replied, “I know why.” With a flash of anger she replies, “Why?”

I said, “Because a long time before you did it you decided you would do it by the social media you viewed, the movies you attended, the books you read, and the music to which you listened.”

She dropped her head and said, “You are right.” 

Picture your response to temptations you are likely to face and decide your response and the result of your response.  Will your response reveal who you really are? 

Ask, am I willing to live with the consequence of my action if caught? Be realistic and consider the worst case scenario if exposed. Don’t fool yourself into believing you won’t be caught. Every action has a consequence.

Win your victories in advance. Make your decision in advance.

If you sow to the wind you will reap the whirl wind. Hosea 8: 7

The Millennial Reign of Christ-Part 1 1/30/00

Revelation 20:1-4

Jesus Christ ascended into heaven. Two angelic messengers in human form addressed the enthralled observers and said: “…why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11).

As He literally ascended He will likewise literally descend to reign on earth for one thousand years. The period is known as the millennium. Preceding this He will have come in the air for His saints who will be raptured, taken up to be with Him.

Immediately following this will be a period known as the Tribulation. Daniel, the prophet, identifies this as a seven year period during which the anti-Christ will conduct a reign of terror on earth. To end this prolonged holocaust Christ will descend to the earth with His saints to reign for 1000 years.

First, He comes in the air for His saints.
Then, He comes to the earth with His saints.
Satan will be bound and cast from earth.
This thousand years will feature His actual rule on earth.

After seven years of manipulative rule the charismatic anti-christ will maneuver the nations of the world to come against Israel in a grand final battle known as the Battle of Armageddon (Revelation 16:16).

He gathers them together in a vast valley at a place called in Hebrew har megiddo, “the valley of Megiddo,” which is also known as Esdraelon. Here Barak and Deborah fought Sisera. Gideon battled the Midianites. Jehu clashed with and defeated Ahaziah. Saul was slain here by the Philistines. Pharaoh Necho killed the good young King Josiah. The Druids, Turks, Mamolukes, Persians, Babylonians, and Medes waged war here. The battles fought in this lovely valley by armies of the Pharaohs, Caesars, Napoleon, and the British are but a harbinger of the great day of the battle of God Almighty.

The Revelation depicts a rendezvous of the armies of the world poised to strike Israel. Just one of the several armies arrayed to strike has 200,000,000 men (Revelation 9:16). Parenthetically, it is estimated the Chinese army currently has that many men in arms. It appears the destruction of the Third Temple is at hand and the people cry out, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” At that moment Jesus intervenes. “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all” (Jude 1:14, 15).

The battle that ensues is ghastly. The field of conflict is 200 miles long and blood let is as deep as a horses bridle (Revelation 14:20). When it appears all is lost to the dominant forces under the command of the anti-christ the sky burst open:
“Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white
horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and
True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war.
His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head
were many crowns. He had a name written that no one
knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe
dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of
God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine
linen, white and clean, followed Him on white
horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword,
that with it He should strike the nations. And He
Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He
Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and
wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on
His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF
LORDS” (Revelation 19:11-16).

The battle ends swiftly:
“Then the beast was captured, and with him the
false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by
which he deceived those who received the mark of the
beast and those who worshiped his image. These two
were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with
brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword
which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the
horse. And all the birds were filled with their
flesh. Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven,
having the key to the bottomless pit and a great
chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that
serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and
bound him for a thousand years;” (Revelation 19:20-20:2).

Thus ends the era know as the Great Tribulation. It ushers in a 1,000 year reign on earth by Jesus Christ known as the Millennium. He will return as the Conquering King. He will create a world environment as it should be.

A review of the 1991 film “Grand Canyon” an immigration attorney breaks out of a traffic jam and tries to bypass it by taking another route. His new route takes him along a route that seems progressively more deserted and darker. Then the predictable nightmare. The driver’s shiny sports car stalls in an alarming inner-city neighborhood whose streets are controlled by an armed teenage gang. He uses his cell phone to call for a tow truck. Before the tow truck arrives the lawyer’s car us surrounded by five menacing street thugs who threaten him. Just in time the tow truck shows up. Its driver, Simon, begins to hook up to the sports car. The young thugs begin to complain to Simon that he is interrupting their payday. Simon takes the gang leader aside and tries to introduce him to morality.

“Man,” Simon says, the world ain’t suppose to work like this. Maybe you don’t know that, but this ain’t the way it suppose to be. I’m suppose to be able to do my job without asking you if I can. And that dude is suppose to be able to wait with his car without you ripping him off. Everything’s suppose to be different than what it is here.”

Revelation 20, reveals a time when Christ will come on earth and things will be as they are suppose to be.

Imagine! Have you ever wanted to visit the Bible Land. In that day people can go to the Bible land and worship Christ in person. The King will have come. Unparalleled peace and prosperity will reign. Joy and praise are the prevalent moods. Messiah will reign and Satan is bound.

Isaac Watts was inspired by reading Psalm 98 when he wrote of the atmosphere of that hour. We sing his famous hymn at Christmas, but he wrote it with the millennial reign of Christ in mind:
“Joy to the world! The Lord is come;
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And heaven and nature sing,
No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow,
Far as the curse is found.
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love.”

There is more written in God’s Word about this future golden age than almost any subject. In the first seven verses of Revelation the thousand-year reign of Christ is mentioned six times. Let’s explore what the Millennial Kingdom will be like. It involves many startling aspects and one above the others at which most are sure to be amazed. In it we will see the reason for the various Biblical ages such as: the age of nationalism, the church age, the rapture, the tribulation, as well as the Millennium.

– Consider the environment in general. The curse placed on nature at the time of the fall of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:17-19) will be removed. The earth will be abundantly productive and the animal kingdom will be harmonious. The lamb and the lion will lay down together.

“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, The
leopard shall lie down with the young goat, The calf
and the young lion and the fatling together; And a
little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear
shall graze; Their young ones shall lie down
together; And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole,
And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all
My holy mountain, For the earth shall be full of the
knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:6-9).

– The Millennium Kingdom will be the answer of the prayers of God’s people through the ages: “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” It will be a time when His is “the kingdom, the power, and the glory” on earth (Isaiah 4:2).

“In that day the Branch of the LORD shall be
beautiful and glorious; And the fruit of the earth
shall be excellent and appealing …” (Isaiah 4:2).

– Those subject to the King will have fuller knowledge than at any time in history. The Holy Spirit will have an even greater teaching ministry in that era.
“There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of
Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The
Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, The Spirit
of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel
and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear
of the LORD” (Isaiah 11:1, 2).

There will be no sickness or deformity and a
supernatural means of preserving life during this
time. (Isaiah 3:24;29:17-19).

An often asked question is who will be the people living in the Millennium. Only believers will enter the Millennium. To end the Tribulation the beast and false prophet who have deceived the masses during the Tribulation, “These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.” Then observe: “And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the
horse” (Revelation 19: 20c, 21).

Only persons saved during the Tribulation will survive on earth and move into the Millennium. They will be joined by two other groups who will return to earth with Christ. These three groups will provide the population that ushers in the Millennium.

No unsaved will enter the Millennium. However, those saved during the Tribulation that are alive at Christ’s coming will enter the era with Him. This is group one: the Tribulation saints. These are they who refused to worship the beast.

The Old Testament believers will participate in immortal bodies (Jeremiah 30: 9). This is the second group.

The third group will be Church Age saints (Rev. 20:4-6). All will be given places of service and responsibilities.

– Remember there will be people to survive the Tribulation and live into the Millennium. These Israelite and Gentile survivors will have children during the Millennium. These “kids of the kingdom” will be born in a perfect environment. That environment will be similar to that of the Garden of Eden. However, even they will need to be born again.

As sons and daughters of Adam they too will need a new nature and will have a free will by which to obtain it.

These generations of “kingdom kids” will grow up without knowing fear, experiencing pain, witnessing hatred, taking dope, or seeing a jail.

This is the primary reason for reinstituting the sacrificial system during the Millennium. It will be a reminder of the necessity of the new birth. It will serve as a reminder of the costly price of salvation and an example of the awfulness of sin.

One of the primary reasons for the Millennium is to illustrate the extreme of the depravity of human kind. Millions who will have been reared in this perfect environment will finally rebel against the Christ who loved them and died for their sins (Revelation 20:7 – 10).

The fact Satan will have been bound and cast out and they still rebel indicates the strength of the old sin nature. It is their nature not Satan who entices them to rebel. It is not their environment, it is perfect, it their very own nature. The importance of one’s personal will is underscored. Of the three enticements to sin two will not be present. The two absent are Satan and the corrupt environment. Only ones very own nature remains as the reason for their rebellion. The same is true of many today. Satan and the world are often blamed for what is ones own rebellious nature.

During the seven periods of Biblical history God will have exhausted every possible means to reach people with His love and bring them to salvation. Even today some say, “If only Christ were here on earth and we could see Him everyone would want to be saved.” The Millennial Kingdom proves this is not true. There are no excuses for rejecting Christ.

“For since the creation of the world His
invisible attributes are clearly seen, being
understood by the things that are made, even His
eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without
excuse” (Romans 1:20).

In the Millennium the promise of the angel to Mary will be fulfilled:
“He will be great, and will be called the Son
of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the
throne of His father David. And He will reign over
the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there
will be no end” (Luke 1:33).

Jesus said: “Blessed are the meek for they
shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5).

In the Millennium they will receive their inheritance. There will be no U.N. to try to solve problems among nations. This will be a period of Christocracy. He will judge.

“He shall judge between the nations, And rebuke
many people; They shall beat their swords into
plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
Neither shall they learn war anymore” (Isaiah 2:4).

Of this era Isaac Watts also wrote:
Jesus shall reign wher-e’er the sun
Does his successive journey run;
His kingdom spread from shore to shore,
Till moons shall wax and wane no more.

From north to south the princes meet
To pay their homage at His feet;
While western empires own their Lord,
And savage tribes attend His word.

To Him shall endless prayer be made,
And endless praises crown His head;
His name like sweet perfume shall rise
With every morning sacrifice.

Will you be there in that day? I rejoice to know I will. Someone commented, “I have a one way ticket to heaven.” I rejoice to know I have a round trip ticket and will be coming back with our Lord.

Grit and Grace

Do you ever need a good old fashioned exhortation regarding determination? You know, something that inspires you to show dogged determination in pursuit of purpose, a short course in stick-to-it-ness. The following is such. The Christians in Corinth were subjected to constant difficulty, deprivation, and even death. I have found inspiring insight from this depiction of their situation.

“We know sorrow, Yet our joy is inextinguishable.

We are handicapped on all sides: but we are never frustrated;

We are puzzled, but never in despair.

We are persecuted, but we never have to stand alone.

We are knocked down, but we are never knocked out!”

This is II Corinthians 6:10; 4:8, in the Phillips Translation 

Do each of those original couplets read like your autobiography? What is even more important is do each of those second couplets read like your responses?

To be a productive achiever grit and grace are a needed combo. Pray, God I will provide the grit and you provide the grace. The dictionary defines grit as “courage and resolve; strength of character.” Synonyms: Courage, bravery, backbone, spirit, strength of will, moral fiber, fortitude, toughness, hardiness, determination, tenacity, perseverance, endurance.

It is through God’s grace, we can have grit, and the more grit we show the more grace He provides. His grace always outworks our grit.

During your journey to greater success, you will encounter roadblocks, hardships, and challenges. Inevitably along the way we experience failure. Remember failure is not final. Pray to always fail forward.

You might get knocked down, but not out.

Serve the Lord and keep your eyes on the eternal prize. Rely on the Spirit, read Scripture daily for encouragement, and get alone with God and pray daily. You’re not alone.

“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Galatians 6:9

“For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope. May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had.” Romans 15:4-5