God is our future.  We don't need to worry about our maps, our timetables, our plans, because if we are on the spiritual journey, we have already reached our goal---to live and be in Christ.

 

God's Word has been preserved, not merely as a collection of historical documents and geographical studies, but as a trustworthy resource--a place we turn to for assistance in living our lives in ways that honor Christ.

In the pages of Scripture, God has given us models--people, believe it or not, who are just like you and me, who, despite the odds, lived lives pleasing to Him.  By faith.  In obedience.  With courage.

 

The Lord is not confined to the pages of Holy Writ.  He is not to be found only in our solemn sanctuaries.  He is not restricted to liturgy or creed.

He is everywhere at work in our weary old world.  He is to be met in a thousand disguises.  His touch is to be found at every turn of the trail.

 

Jesus reflects the perfect balance between knowing the truth and living from the heart.  Jesus had neither a sterile, academic approach to life, nor an undue emphasis on emotionalism. He brings together our heads and our hearts to make us soulish persons who reflect the harmony of grace and truth, just as He did when He was on this earth.  He gives us the will to walk according to His way.

 

We should all sleep like babies every night knowing we are children of the Lord, yet we look to stock portfolios, popularity, jobs, social standing, and other things to give us the security only God can give.  We continually construct little emotional bomb shelters, ignoring the more profound gift God offers us, the deep sense that things are all right within us, that in Him we are safe at home.

 

Just as there was one door that led into God's presence in Eden and one door that led into the safety of the ark and one door that led into the inner sanctuary of the temple, a personal relationship with God is only accessed through one door--Jesus Himself.

 

When God made Sabbath holy, He made a statement of our utter dependency on Him.  Sabbath is an assault on our mistaken notion that our striving, our haggling (either with man or God), our constant fervid expenditure of self-effort, is what we need to make our way in the world.  Taking time off from the world and watching it still survive, tells us that the Lord is God, and we are not.

 

Many times we make the mistake of thinking that Christ's help is needed only for sickrooms or in times of overwhelming sorrow and suffering.  This is not true.  Jesus wishes to enter into every mood and every moment of our lives.  He went to the wedding at Cana as well as to the home of Mary and Martha when Lazarus died.  He wept with those who wept and rejoiced with those who rejoiced.

 

Do you think God's silence in your life means He has forgotten you?  Oh no!  God says He has engraved your name on the palms of His hands. . . .You are in God's heart and on His mind every moment.  He is fully informed of your circumstances and will bring about change when He knows the time is right.