Some people live in retirement communities for greater convenience so they have the time and energy to do things other than cooking, cleaning, or maintenance. Some of us live in these communities because they provide everything we need, besides incidentals, to live a comfortable life. Some people come to Christ because it’s one aspect of life that they feel they need to live a blessed life. Others come to him because he is all they need to live in this world. The latter is the way God brings us to faith in Christ—it is the faith in which we have all we require for all life—here and beyond. The world hurls ideas, philosophies, and stuff at us, but these won’t stick or distract us if we belong to Jesus, our Provider and Captain of our souls. Streaming services, cellphone offers, lotions for ageless beauty, quick medical fixes, new tools, and even low-cost online education don’t hold the weight that will carry us through a blessed life. We can take or leave whatever is available without believing that it will change our course or bring ultimate personal fulfillment. God provides the gospel, keeping us in his love and power, raising us in the resurrection, and securely tethering us to Christ eternally. We have nothing to fear or feel desperate about in this life or the spiritual realms. Nothing that attempts to disconnect us from God will succeed. Christ’s gospel keeps us eternally through God’s power. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? …No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35, 37–39).
Walking Through Life With Strength
I walk a lot with my dog, and Spurgeon’s devotion on July 14 made an impact on me, especially as it applies to the gospel’s power. “Usually, if we are walking, we go from strength to weakness; we start fresh and in good order for our journey, but by-and-by the road is rough, and the sun is hot, we sit down by the wayside, and then again painfully pursue our weary way. But the Christian pilgrim having obtained fresh supplies of grace, is as vigorous after years of toilsome travel and struggle as when he first set out. ‘They go from strength to strength.’ (Psalm 84:7) He may not be quite so elated and buoyant, nor perhaps quite so hot and hasty in his zeal as he once was, but he is much stronger in all that constitutes real power, and travels, if more slowly, far more surely. Some gray-haired veterans have been as firm in their grasp of truth, and as zealous in diffusing it, as they were in their younger days.” (1) The gospel keeps us in God’s love and power, securely tethering us to Christ and strengthening our faith as we walk with him. Rather than grow weaker as the years add up, we grow more robust and certain in our Christian faith. “Paul lists three possible causes of separation from God’s love in Romans 8, but then he dismisses them all. First, there is sin. An honest Christian knows that although he is justified by God he is still a sinner and sins daily in thought, word, and deed…[But] the Christian has been acquitted before the bench of the highest court of all, and no one is authorized to reopen his case…Paul [also] speaks of physical suffering…Sometimes it is the physical oppression of those harassed for their faith. At other times the pressure is mental, resulting from ridicule or from the tensions of our fast-paced society…The third potential cause of separation from Christ’s love is the existence of supernatural powers. Can we be separated from God’s love through things present or things to come? Not by these things either.” (2)
Supernatural Help in Temptation
“If you are a Christian, you have also committed unto God your faith that he is able to see you through temptation. Can God keep that? Yes, that too. For we read, ‘No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it’ (1 Cor. 10:13).” (3) “It is not only that we are secure both for this life and the future but that we partake so richly of God’s present blessings. There is a partaking of his love. There is joy. There is the peace that passes understanding. There are a thousand other blessings besides…We are to be encouraged by the reality of these things in our lives. I once read the story of a little boy who went into a bank with just one penny to open an account. He went up to the teller and said, ‘Please, sir, I would like to deposit a penny in your bank.’ With a serious expression the teller took the penny and wrote out a bank book in the boy’s name. Then he handed it to the boy and the boy went off. A little while later the boy came back and stood there looking up at the teller’…Please, sir, I would just like to see if my penny is still in your bank.’ The teller held up a penny where the boy could see it. The boy smiled and went away satisfied. It is our privilege to do that with God. He is not made weary with our childish questions. So, if the time comes (as it does to many Christians) when we begin to doubt the reality of spiritual things and our security,…If we ask him, God will provide the assurance… ‘Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus’ (Phil. 4:6–7).” (4)
God’s Keeping Power
We don’t have to fear anything in this life or in the spiritual realms that might divide or disconnect us from God. “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:37–40) “The keeping power of God…[is] sometimes been referred to as the perseverance of the saints. But it is much better to speak of it as the keeping power of God, since it is God who perseveres with us far more than we with him. Simply put, this doctrine means that God never begins a work that he does not intend to finish and that, therefore, no one whom he has called to faith in Jesus Christ as Savior will ever be lost. It is important that we understand this great truth, for, one way or another, our knowledge of it (or lack of knowledge of it) will affect our lives. If we do understand it, we will have a plank upon which we can stand, a foundation that is sure and upon which we can build…So, whoever you are and however you may have come, if you have come to Jesus as your Lord and Savior, this truth is for you…He will keep you. You can know that you will be in heaven one day as certainly as you can know that the Lord Jesus Christ himself will be there…He will be as real to you in old age as he has ever been. In death he will be even closer.” (5)
“It must be confessed [that]…the love of many [for God] waxes cold and iniquity abounds, but this is their own sin and not the fault of the promise which still holds good: ‘The youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint.’ [Isaiah 41:31] Fretful spirits sit down and trouble themselves about the future. ‘Alas!’ say they, ‘we go from affliction to affliction.’ Very true, O thou of little faith, but then thou goest from strength to strength also. Thou shalt never find a bundle of affliction which has not bound up in the midst of it sufficient grace.” (6) “The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.” (Proverbs 4:18) “He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.” (Isaiah 40:29)
Related Scripture: Psalm 34:7; 44:22; 91;11-13; Isaiah 25:8; 26:19; Isaiah 40:29, 31; Hosea 13:14; Matthew 18:14; John 4:34; 11:25-26; 18:9; 1 Corinthians 6:14; 1 Corinthians 15:51-58; 2 Corinthians 4:7-11, 18.
Notes:
1. Spurgeon, Charles, Morning and Evening Devotions, Morning July 14, Barbour Books, 2018.
2. Boice, James, Boice Expositional Commentary Series, John 6:38–39, Baker Books, Software version, 1998.
3. Boice, Ibid.
4. Boice, Ibid.
5. Boice, Ibid.
6. Spurgeon, Ibid.
July 25, 2024
Divine Wisdom for Daily Living by Joanne Colvin 