“My purpose in writing is to encourage you and assure you that what you are experiencing is truly part of God’s grace for you. Stand firm in this grace. “1 Peter 5:12 NLT
Stand firm in God’s grace for you! Since nothing can separate us from the love of God except ourselves, our own choices, then let’s choose not to forfeit the grace God freely offers us.
Living our lives believing in God the Father, that Jesus was His perfect Son sent to be the ultimate sacrifice to pay for our sins, is a choice. Once we make this choice to believe and follow our Good Shepherd, let’s not turn back or turn away from it. Let’s decide to stand firm in the grace God offers us through steadfast faith, no matter what comes.
Through 60 years of life on this earth, I can attest to the truth that staying close to the Father, in a relationship with Him, is the best way to live a life.
My parents started out on this good path but fell away from the church when I was five years old. Perhaps there were other factors I didn’t see at such a young age, but from my perspective, our family’s falling away seemed largely due to a disagreement about worship music. Hard to believe that the fallout from such a seemingly minor issue would lead to years and years of suffering and pain for all our family members. Looking back, it seems that once we stopped going to church, the enemy started tearing apart the fabric of our family. My parents slipped into unhealthy behaviours that resulted in horrific episodes of violence and all types of emotional turmoil, which emotionally scarred me for life.
I’m not trying to scare anyone into staying connected to your church and your faith; I’m just telling you what my experience has been. I often wonder how different my childhood would have been had we stayed in the church. I was blessed to find my way back to Jesus in my early 20s. Since then, my life has been a fairly consistent walk of faith. Of course, like everyone, I’ve had struggles, challenges, hardships, disappointments, and losses. However, blows from these difficult times somehow soften when you walk through them with the Father at your side. At least, that’s been my experience.
Do I struggle with doubt? Yes, I do at times. When I look back at my life, there is a stark difference between those I “walked out” in faith and those “walked out without faith in the Lord. Apart from God, there was turmoil, chaos, and fear. With God, there was comfort, hope, and peace. I choose to anchor my life in Jesus. Although my life is rocked at times, and the waves crash into my boat, my boat remains steady, and my anchor holds.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for rescuing me from a life of faithlessness. Thank you for coming back to find me after the enemy had torn me away from Your embrace. Help me stay connected to You and thwart every plan of the enemy to steal me away again. In Jesus’ precious name, I pray. Amen!
