Jesus is the only one who completed his faith journey to the very end and returned to tell us about it. Consider this verse in Acts 1:3, "After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God." What did he say? Whatever it was, when the Holy Spirit came on them they were full of joy and lived lives of devotion to Jesus and to one another. The opening chapters of Acts show people with tremendous attitudes in the face of suffering and uncertainty.
I met with a young adult recently who was feeling unwanted, ineffective in ministry, and just bad about themselves in general. As we talked I shared from my journey about a time when I went though some very similar feelings. I talked about some encouragement I received at that time and some good insight into how to view my situation differently. I was later told that just knowing I had been through some of the same experiences was a tremendous help. Those of us who have been on this faith journey for a number of years really need to share our lives with those who have not been on it as long. Our stories of success and failure can help a new generation to find hope and courage to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Of course, we all need to keep our eyes on Jesus; and his word to us will surely be, "Don't quit, when you get to the other side you will see it's worth whatever you may have had to go through here." And when things don't go our way here . . . . "Attituuuuuuude Check!"
2 comments:
"I FEEL GOOD! OH, I FEEL SO GOOD! UGH!"
Your talk about climbing the sumit reminded me of two things.
1. Army Cadence, running over 4 miles always was a challenge for me. Normally there were always complaints. But once the "higher ups" began calling cadence, the complaints went away. It's an amazing part of God's creation plan, the way we lift each other up, motivate, and sometimes carry- how all this works out so well for us humans. As if we were always intended to help one another out.
2. How much I miss the mountains of Virginia! Your story reminded me of trips taken with my old man up the Appalachian Mountains. Be it Peaks of Otter, Dragons Tooth, or even Roanoke Mt, or what have you, we pushed each other forward and once we got to the top, the view made it all worth the pain. We were like ants on a hill looking out at God's handiwork. It was a very humbling experience!
Thanks for the great sermon B-ryon, looking forward to what you got cooked up next!
Post a Comment