“Salvation by feelings is no more possible than salvation by works.” Charles Spurgeon

Jesus had just given His disciples their marching orders/purpose. Matthew then ends his book with Jesus’ words, “I am with you always.”

These words apply to us today. No matter where we go or what we do, Jesus is with us. Let that sink in.

Experiencing another “growth” day? He is right there with you. He already knows the trials, temptations and failures you’ll face in living out “the good work” the Father created you to do through Him.

Those same hands that were pierced so all your sins/failures are covered, are the same hands that will lift you up when you fail. Why? He never leaves you!

This is not a license to do what we want to do. Falling on our face is never pain free. Our physical scars should remind of us of this truth.

Yes, Jesus might not be pleased with our decision making. But, His love for us is far greater than our ability to not follow Him in the moment.

So, get rid of the abandonment thought, “I’m not good enough!” True, you are not! But Jesus, who stands right next to you, gives you His goodness to continue to follow Him in the present.

Stand in the truth that He will always be there with you. He never left or will ever leave!

We have a God encounter every time we rejoice when life is not going well.

One person said, “There have been some heavy, heavy years. But I have learned that pain is not suffering but actually a call for me to look to my strength.”

Another put it this way, “There are days when a praise comes out easy. Days when it takes all the strength I got.”

There are times we don’t feel capable of praising God. There are days when we don’t feel worthy enough to even talk with Him, let alone rejoice in Him.

Yet, this is where faith enters. We don’t feel like it, but we ask the Spirit’s strength to keep rejoicing anyways. This is where God, at least in mind, feels our praise even more. He knows what we’ve done. He knows how we feel. And yet we are still praising Him for who He is, what He has done and He can do.

This is the meaning of Phil. 4:4-7. We are to rejoice in Him always. And don’t forget. Keep rejoicing. Why? He is with us. Now that our head is focused in the right direction – His – by faith, we are to drop our various concerns into His lap. This way we can experience His peace and strength to keep going in ways we never thought possible. As we do, our faith in Him increases!

Faith based rejoicing changes our focus from the challenge itself, causing even more pain/struggle, to the One who can get us through that challenge victoriously – God. This faith step not only increases our rejoicing, but our faith as well.

Remember, when life gets hard, rejoice even more, which may require a faith step on your part.

“Faith is taking the first steps even when you can’t see the whole staircase.” Martin Luther King Jr.

There is a beautiful scene in the movie, American Underdog, the story of Jesus follower and NFL Hall of Famer Kurt Warner.

The movie takes you through Warner’s life starting as a child wanting to be an NFL quarterback, to college, where he didn’t play until the final two games of his final season, to working at a local grocery store, to playing in the Arena League, to the NFL Europe (absent in the movie), to finally being on the St. Louis Rams’ NFL roster.

Yet, when the starting quarterback had a season ending injury, all the talking media heads didn’t believe he was ready. They thought the Rams should trade for another quarterback.

Now comes the scene. The Rams’ offensive coordinator calls Warner into his office and asks, “Why should I hand over a multi-million-dollar franchise to you?” His answer? “Coach, I wasn’t ready before. But now I am.” He was 28 years old at this point, an old man by NFL standards!

Abraham wasn’t ready for God’s orders to sacrifice Isaac until he had taken various faith steps. David wasn’t ready to become Israel’s king until he also took various faith steps. And, Warner wasn’t ready for an NFL Hall of Fame career until he took the faith steps Jesus had for him.

Life transformation takes a “walk by faith until it becomes sight” mentality. Scripture lays out the life-change process. We are to practice the truths He gives us by faith until the Spirit finally “transforms us” through a “renewed mind”.

Keep taking the faith steps the Spirit asks you to take, even when you can’t see where the stairs are taking you. He knows where – Jesus. And, a bright future is definitely ahead, one that others will see.

You can’t hear until you’re ready to listen.

You’ve heard me say, “We only know what we know when we know it.” The “you” part of you accesses what’s stored in your brain to make daily decisions. Question, how do you know what you know is true?

This is one of the many roles the Holy Spirit has in our lives. As the Spirit of Truth (Jn. 14:7), He will expose lies with truth that leads to a transformed life.

Sometimes He does this Himself. Other times, He’ll use the Word of Truth – Scripture. At others He’ll use His people as they speak truth. And sometimes, He uses all three.

Recently, He used all three when a sister in Christ spoke the truth that not only confirmed, but also clarified what He told me. The Spirit was making sure I got the message. He was in the process of getting me ready for the next phase of life.

The life transformation process involves others! Yet, American Christianity often fights this. “No one needs to know my business.” Really?

If that were true, why did the Spirit put us into the body of Christ, the church (other people moving toward Jesus together), the moment we placed our faith in Jesus (1 Cor. 12:13)? Why did the Spirit pen, “Work out your (plural – it’s a team walk) salvation (transformed from broken to whole) with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12; James 5:16)?

Hey, as one who pastors (we don’t need others right?), I praise God for my wife and my brothers and sisters in Christ whom the Spirit continues to use to speak truth into my life.

Who are you allowing the Spirit to speak truth into your life?

If you have questions about, fight or doubt the above, email me and let’s talk. Remember, iron sharpens iron (Prov. 27:17).

There is purpose in pain and hope for continuing to be faithful.

Where do you want to be in life? Who do you want to become? Big questions. Simple answers. Yet lots of struggle arriving at them.

Being with Jesus requires letting go of you…struggle. Becoming like Jesus requires allowing the Spirit to enlarge your faith to make the tough choices to follow when you’d rather not…struggle. Remember this, though, Everything in life has struggles, everything.

In the Hall of Fame chapter (Hebrews11), everyone who made the list had their fair share of struggles. Here is their epitaph: “They all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.” (11:13)

Strangers and exiles don’t fit in. They didn’t go along with the crowd. They take a different path, like salmon swimming upstream, the hard one.

Sound like good news? It is if you are struggling at the moment to follow Jesus and let the Spirit transform your life.

Struggles tell you that you are on the right path. So, be encouraged. You’re in good company. And just like the heroes of old, continue to struggle successfully.

One day you will be completely like Him. Until then, just keep focusing on the truth the Spirit gives you and take it one faith choice at a time.