1 Corintians 4:16

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day ~ 1 Corinthians 4:16


Inwardly, I do not feel older, yet I know that day by day, and year by year I do age. So, though I do not feel the time fly by, and it does, I know that the day will come when this body of mine will wear out. There will come the day when I join those who have gone before me into the Lord’s heavenly home. As Paul says though, we do not, I do not, lose hope. For our hope is found in Jesus Christ and his promise that through his conquering all that death may hold, its pain and sorrow, so I as his follower and disciple, will also conquer death. I will live with him forever and ever. There is also another change going on in me, for though my body begins to fade from youth, my heart becomes ever newer in the growing love of my Lord. I grow into more his likeness as he challenges me to leave behind my shortcomings, as he challenges me to move outside my own comfort zone into what he knows I can do for him. Believe me, I have been moved! When I began studying and knowing the Lord was leading me into ministry, I was going to be the silent worker at the back of the room. I had it all figured out, for one of my spiritual gifts is helping, so that made sense to me. The second year of seminary changed all that, when a mentor pastor told me I was being called to be a preacher. No way! But I sought the Lord, and he showed me that yes, that was what he was calling me toward. I have grown and changed inwardly so much since that day seventeen years ago! I pray my heart and soul are more like Jesus every day. I follow him with all I have within me. He is my Lord, my Saviour. My hope is always in him! This world holds nothing for me but his love each day. Tomorrow holds my eternity in him!

Pastor Julia

image by pixabay

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you for your comments

Popular posts from this blog

Proverbs 18:2

Image
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in sharing their own opinions ~ Proverbs 18:2 If we are going to understand something, we must fully digest it so that when we speak, we speak with wisdom. When we have only half truths in our mind, our words become empty and senseless. We then puff out air rather than understanding when we speak. A wise person will want to improve their mind through learning in various ways from the world around them. A person who delights in spiritual understanding will find peace and enjoyment in reading the Word of God on a daily basis, and in participating with God’s people in a learning and praising environment – the church! We come together in corporate worship with the understanding that not one of us knows all things, but we bend our mind and heart to learn what God has to show and say to us. A foolish person makes a show of what they “know” to please their friends or to save face in front of them. More often a wise person will hold t
Read more

Romans 8:26

Image
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans ~ Romans 8:26 Many days, many times, I have the words for prayer. It comes forth and flows fairly naturally as I converse with my Lord God. I hope in the God I worship to hear me, and to receive my words, as I pray in the name of Jesus and believe in Him, my intercessor. He is my Living Saviour, my High Priest, standing at the right hand of God the Father. But there are times when my pain has been so deep that my words will not come. There are times when my agony is so piercing that what words I may speak would not be enough. And so, in my deep, black moments, I come before my God and let my darkest emotions erupt in sounds that only He can understand. The Holy Spirit within me cries out in my stead, and He becomes my second intercessor. It is not that He is not there with me in all my prayers, but there are times wh
Read more

Isaiah 43:19

Image
Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert ~ Isaiah 43:19 When we meet a challenge, we are often found discouraged, lost, even hopeless. Nothing is working, everything seems to be against us. We do not know how to move forward, so we remain curled up in a ball. Then, a glimmer of light shines through! Hope is regained and movement is stirred within. Don’t we become excited when we begin to feel it? God moves like that. We cannot see our way around it, but He can and does. And He makes a way for us out of the calamity of our fears. It is the feeling of springtime after a long winter, or the smell of fresh cut grass. Life stirs within and we move and we see what God saw all the time – the answer to our dilemma. Our desert place becomes an oasis, and we can do what we are called to do. Something totally unexpected happens, something unheard of, but it begins in our life, and we feel the
Read more