Posts Tagged "faithfulness"

Have you ever felt like your spiritual life was under water? For some, this is their sad reality.  Drowning in the depths of despair and fear, pain and confusion, there is no clarity or strength in their belief.  There is no substance to their faith, no hope in their heart...

In 2 Chronicles 24, Jehoida the priest serves God faithfully, lives 130 years, and is buried with the great honor in the royal cemetery, “among the kings.” Joash the king, by contrast, starts strong but finishes poorly, abandoning his once-faithful worship of Yahweh to worship pagan gods instead. The result?  He is assassinated by his own officials and buried in Jerusalem, “but not in the royal cemetery”. Don’t just start strong.  Finish well, for the ones God rewards the greatest are those who were the most faithful to Him.

Here is what is said… This is Love – not that we chose God, but that He chose us, not because of our accomplishments or our virtue, not because of how hard we tried or how good we looked in our efforts, not because of our worthiness or suitability, but because of His grace. This is Love – that He chose us in the midst of our failure; that He chose me in the middle of my sin, in the depths of my helplessness, in the darkest hour of my falling and failing, and chose that as what and who He wanted to redeem. This is Love – that no matter how I sin, fail, cause pain to myself and others, and no matter how I succeed, triumph, or live rightly to try and make God proud of or pleased with me, His love remains the same. Now here is the question… Do I really...

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning, great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23 Two days ago I returned home from an incredible and inspiring summit of leaders in children’s ministry from around the world. For me, coming back from great gatherings of amazing people is always a mixed bag of emotions. On the one hand, it’s always nice to come home; familiar faces, consistency, routine, but on the other hand it can be such a letdown. After days spent stirring up vision and passion and motivation, of meeting people with whom you share so much in common, to come back “down to earth” is often a difficult thing. It’s all just so… normal. BUT,...