The Lord is Faithful

2 Thess. {3:1} Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the
Lord may have [free] course, and be glorified, even as [it is]
with you: {3:2} And that we may be delivered from
unreasonable and wicked men: for all [men] have not faith.
{3:3} But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and
keep [you] from evil. {3:4} And we have confidence in the
Lord touching you, that ye both do and will do the things
which we command you. {3:5} And the Lord direct your
hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for
Christ.


*******

Pray for us- that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified.


Pray- that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men. For all men have not faith.


The Lord is faithful.


The Lord- will stablish you and keep you from evil.


We have confidence in the Lord touching you. That ye both do and will do the things which we command you.


And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God.


And into the patient waiting for Christ.

*******


Such a prayer, such a entreaty. We need to believe that the word of the Lord will have free course and be glorified. We need to believe that we will be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men, knowing that not all have faith in Jesus. The Lord will keep us from evil, we just need to follow His ways, we need to do and continue to do the things the Lord has commanded we do. The Lord will direct our hearts into the love of God. We have to be patient.


People call out and say they've had a miracle conversion, they've been born again and it's miraculous and yet the same people a year from then will have returned to their old ways, the conversion forgotten. How do we keep our conversion real? How do we determine to live for Christ? The world with all its evil presses down upon us telling us we can't follow God, we are evil, too evil. Our own thoughts condemn us and we yield to them rather than to God. Self.


It all comes down to self.


We have the power of choice and that choice is us or God. I should probably say Satan or God, and yet when we follow ourselves we are under the delusions of Satan and most of us don't even realize it and guess what? That's how he likes it.


Self or God.


We have to determine to follow God, we have to choose to follow God, we have to relinquish the part of us that wants to be in control, the part that says we know best, or that God doesn't understand our particular situation, that if God knew what He was asking, He would take pity on us and spare us having to ever commit to anything that would bring us undue hardship.


I don't know about you, but I think of having to give up any of my family and I just can't imagine doing so. I can only hope and pray that if and when the time comes that I have to choose between God and any of those I love that it's such a clear cut choice that there is no room for doubting what is being asked of me.


God's path isn't the worldly path of self-indulgence. Time and again we are given example after example of how difficult a road it is to follow Christ and yet for some reason we believe that it shouldn't have to be that hard for us. We should be able to just live our lives to the best of our ability with our creature comforts met and follow God as well. I'm not saying that's impossible, but I'm truly thinking that when we are given the Word of God which makes it clear the path truly is very narrow and few are going to find it we can't delude ourselves into believing that for some reason we are allowed to traverse the broad path and still be headed in the right direction.


Self-denial. How many of us know what that is? How many of us shun self-denial? How many of us believe self-denial is punishment?


Matthew {10:37} He that loveth father or mother more
than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or
daughter more than me is not worthy of me. {10:38} And
he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not
worthy of me. {10:39} He that findeth his life shall lose it:
and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.


Apart from God we are mere shells of what we can be. If only we'd realize this and make it reality to ourselves. We aren't to seek self-awareness, self-understanding, self-contentment, we are to take our eyes off ourselves and that is the hardest thing we will ever learn to do in our entire lives and it is only possible through the love of Jesus Christ. Loving Jesus and following Him to the exclusion of all else is our calling. God's will be done.


While we live in this world we are not to be of this world.


We are to be God's children.


May God help us to choose Him over ourselves and all that entails.


By the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ our Savior, all power and glory to Him now and forever!


Amen.