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"From the Pastors Study"
Dear Friends,
We can do it!
We can respond well even when we don’t like what
is going on in our lives. Sometimes we are tempted to respond with
anger and bitterness. We have a tendency to want to blame someone,
even if it is God, for things we don’t like. Sometimes we are
tempted to apathy and a disconnected martyr attitude. We have a
hard time accepting what is taking place. But, is there a way to
respond well? Is it possible for us to respond to things we don’t
like without anger, discouragement, depression or apathy? Is there
a way to accept what God has allowed in our lives without being
bitter and resentful toward someone? Yes! But how? We don’t always
feel like we can respond in any other way than we are right now.
We need some help. Praise God, our God is the God of help.
Our God has provided grace and peace through an
intimate knowledge of Jesus Christ. He has given to us everything
we need to live in absolute devotion to Him. We can do it!
He has given us great promises as children of
God. These promises provide things that allow us to act like
Jesus, to even take on some of his qualities. They spare us from
the intense desires that drive the world to its corruption. Our
God has promised us things like abundant life and freedom from
sin. He has promised to never stop working in us until the day
Jesus Christ comes back to get us. He has promised to make us like
Jesus. He has promised us forgiveness when we blow it and eternal
acceptance through Jesus. He has promised us a helper to help us
live, the Holy Spirit. In a nutshell, He has promised us power to
live the way he expects us to live. Hallelujah! We can do it!
We can trust these promises; the God who cannot
lie gave them to us. This same God instructs us to add to our
faith certain qualities so that we can function like He has
designed. We are to work with diligence to add to our faith:
virtue, knowledge, self-control, patience, godliness, brotherly
kindness and love. If we will trust the promises of God and act
according to the instruction of God, we can respond the way God
intended us to. And that is worthy of all our energy. It is worth
it because of the fruitfulness and confidence we can have now and
it will be worth it to us when we step triumphantly into heaven to
be with Jesus.
We can do it! II Peter 1:1-11 tells us we can.
Let’s do it together.
Pastor Bruce Seivers
Valley Chapel Community Church
Fairfield, OH
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