22/11: It Will Be Worth It All
Category: In His Grip
Posted by: Luann
This morning my husband and I took a stroll around the neighborhood. The chill in the air was invigorating!
The last two mornings I have been getting up at 2 and 2:30! What is wrong with me????? I have spent 2-3 hours in those predawn moments reading. Reading His Word, reading My Utmost, reading bible studies, reading the newspaper.
Can I just tell you, that His Word wins, hands down! Wendy Pope has lit a fire under me as well as 800 other women about getting into the Word in a serious way. I have had the Chronological bible for several years and pick it up occasionally, but I admit, I tend to drift back to the comfortable NIV Study Bible.
However, I have decided (just like everything else in life...we decide what we do each day) to commit to reading through this chronological version. If you haven't seen it, you need to visit the Proverbs 31 home page and see what God has done! Everyday my mind gets blown away by how God keeps stretching this little band of ladies.
So in the Word, John tells us this:
1 John 3:2
Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
Has that hit anyone else like it has me? If this verse doesn't give you hope, you haven't let it penetrate your heart! Look at that line! "Now we are children of God" - yep, got it - I comprehend this part.
Right after that it says, "and what we WILL BE has not yet been made known." WOO HOO! If that doesn't make you sit up and say Howdy, you are just in a coma! Wake up! Take a look at that promise!
Are you frustrated with where you are and what has happened in your life? Do you wonder what on earth is going on? I remember thinking that the year I turned 45 was the absolute worst year of my life. Not because of the age, but because of the absolute turmoil my life was in.
I had been a sold-out believer for several years at this point. And honestly some dastardly things had happened to me in my youth, so how could I say that this was such a horrible year?
Because I had misconceptions of what the Christian life was going to be. I thought that since I was doing all the right things; reading my bible, leading studies, speaking at events, in church - everything should 'feel' right on track.
WRONG!
Oh man did satan love that thinking! He played havoc with my family and ripped at my very heart with those I love most on this side of heaven.
That is when I started doing it. The first time I did it my youngest daughter looked at me with a slightly puzzled gaze, but then joined me.
In mid quarrel between my husband and teenage son I broke into song. A specific song, at the top of my lungs. "It will be worth it all, when we see Jesus. Life's trials will seem so small, when we see Christ. One glimpse of His dear face, all sorrow will erase. So bravely run the race, til we see Christ."
I thought that verse in 1 John was only talking about when Jesus comes back for us, but I have discovered something fabulous! We can see him as he is EVERYDAY! Yes, we can! Right in His Word he gives us a full description! "But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is."
At those moments when I was 45 and crying at the end of every day, "it had not been made known what I would be" - God was molding and making me into a child who would reflect Him. Up until that point I was just trying to follow the rules.
He whispered to my heart, "Abandon what you 'think' you need to do and follow hard after me!"
Get into His Word and see him as he is - and be transformed; not someday but EACH day!
The last two mornings I have been getting up at 2 and 2:30! What is wrong with me????? I have spent 2-3 hours in those predawn moments reading. Reading His Word, reading My Utmost, reading bible studies, reading the newspaper.
Can I just tell you, that His Word wins, hands down! Wendy Pope has lit a fire under me as well as 800 other women about getting into the Word in a serious way. I have had the Chronological bible for several years and pick it up occasionally, but I admit, I tend to drift back to the comfortable NIV Study Bible.
However, I have decided (just like everything else in life...we decide what we do each day) to commit to reading through this chronological version. If you haven't seen it, you need to visit the Proverbs 31 home page and see what God has done! Everyday my mind gets blown away by how God keeps stretching this little band of ladies.
So in the Word, John tells us this:
1 John 3:2
Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
Has that hit anyone else like it has me? If this verse doesn't give you hope, you haven't let it penetrate your heart! Look at that line! "Now we are children of God" - yep, got it - I comprehend this part.
Right after that it says, "and what we WILL BE has not yet been made known." WOO HOO! If that doesn't make you sit up and say Howdy, you are just in a coma! Wake up! Take a look at that promise!
Are you frustrated with where you are and what has happened in your life? Do you wonder what on earth is going on? I remember thinking that the year I turned 45 was the absolute worst year of my life. Not because of the age, but because of the absolute turmoil my life was in.
I had been a sold-out believer for several years at this point. And honestly some dastardly things had happened to me in my youth, so how could I say that this was such a horrible year?
Because I had misconceptions of what the Christian life was going to be. I thought that since I was doing all the right things; reading my bible, leading studies, speaking at events, in church - everything should 'feel' right on track.
WRONG!
Oh man did satan love that thinking! He played havoc with my family and ripped at my very heart with those I love most on this side of heaven.
That is when I started doing it. The first time I did it my youngest daughter looked at me with a slightly puzzled gaze, but then joined me.
In mid quarrel between my husband and teenage son I broke into song. A specific song, at the top of my lungs. "It will be worth it all, when we see Jesus. Life's trials will seem so small, when we see Christ. One glimpse of His dear face, all sorrow will erase. So bravely run the race, til we see Christ."
I thought that verse in 1 John was only talking about when Jesus comes back for us, but I have discovered something fabulous! We can see him as he is EVERYDAY! Yes, we can! Right in His Word he gives us a full description! "But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is."
At those moments when I was 45 and crying at the end of every day, "it had not been made known what I would be" - God was molding and making me into a child who would reflect Him. Up until that point I was just trying to follow the rules.
He whispered to my heart, "Abandon what you 'think' you need to do and follow hard after me!"
Get into His Word and see him as he is - and be transformed; not someday but EACH day!
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Christie Todd wrote: