1 CORINTHIANS 1:4-9 – “I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
THEME OF THE DAY: YES, WE WILL MAKE IT. Be honest. Are there times in our walks with the Lord when the road is rocky, the path difficult, the way ahead narrow, the trials exhausting, the circumstances overwhelming, the weariness of doing good draining, the fight against sin intense, and we feel a little doubt swelling up inside whispering, “I don’t think I am going to make it. My faith is struggling, and I wonder if I will finish this Christian race?”
In the difficulties of living for the Lord to include the intense forces of evil we face in the daily spiritual conflict of the Christian life, doubt is a real issue we must confront. And every Christian feels the fiery darts of doubt from the evil. Charles Spurgeon once said, “Doubt the one who never doubts.” Let’s face it. We don’t live on a constant plane of assurance, and when facing the challenges of the Christian life, and we fall short, doubt is alive and well. We may question if we are “going to hang on till the end. Well, the answer is a resounding “Yes” and that not because of us. In today’s scripture, we are given two assurances of finishing well the Christian life.
First, the Lord Jesus will sustain us to the end. His hold on us is assured as is the hold of our Father – “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one” (John 10:28-30). Remember, it is His hold on us that keeps us, not ours, and it is a double hold of the Father and Son.
The other assurance we will make it is the work God began in us, will be the work God finishes in us – “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” His faithfulness will become more precious to us when we apply it to a familiar text in the first chapter of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Philippians – “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).
Tried and doubting Christian, hang in there. We are going to make it through our difficult journey to heaven. And it is all because of God’s saving, keeping, preserving, and finishing grace!
PRAYER: “Father, thank You that my perseverance is assured because You persevere for me.”
QUOTE: “When feeling we are at the end of our rope, remember who holds the rope. All is well.”