Oh, how much responsibility and trust Jesus places on us! Oh, how much He and all of heaven are counting on us to get it right and do it right. Oh, how much has been invested in us by the Lord and our Father by his holy Spirit!
May we look beyond this world to remember that our call is bigger than anything earthly- good or bad. Oh so, so, much bigger! No earthly award, 'thank you', pain, adversity or loss can compare to His 'THANK YOU' or his ''Well done, good and faithful servant!'' and the reward of his everlasting presence. We might have tasted some of His rewards of 'well done' and His presence here on earth but oh what Glory awaits us when our mortality is swallowed up by life!
As Apostle Paul reminded the believers in 2 Corinthians 4:17-18,
''For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.''
This is how the Apostles and Disciples saw and therefore lived and served; with eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith - on the higher call.
I pray that we might see as they saw and therefore aim higher for our lives and for the lives of those we are privileged to come across or have been given access to. No soul is ever met by chance. No life is a mistake .We are the life-givers and God is counting on us to give this higher life.
''Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” John 7:38
We are surrounded.
We are surrounded by those who have passed through this way before us. They have faced everything we face and more and won.
''who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.'' Hebrews 11: 33 -38 NIV
All these people and those who have passed on to heaven even in our recent history are willing us forward and cheer us on. They watch us win in this last lap. Those are our examples.
''We have all these great people around us as examples. Their lives tell us what faith means. So we, too, should run the race that is before us and never quit. We should remove from our lives anything that would slow us down and the sin that so often makes us fall.'' Hebrews 12:1 ERV
This is an encouragement from the Lord to give not just good things but the life Jesus died to give all men. Be aware that the time is short but we have all we need to accomplish all that is expected of us. All these are in Christ i.e. the anointing/presence of the Holy Spirit in us.
''and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.'' Colossians 2:10 NIV
''And ye are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power,'' Colossians 2:10 KJV
We have no other call but to the higher life. It is to this life we are called and we call all humans. And towards this, we press forward!
Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 3:13-14
He (Jesus) is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. Colossians 1:28
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