Firm Footing

Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ.  He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.        2 Corinthians 1:21-22

A person with firm footing is not easily moved, physically or metaphorically.  The placing of one’s feet, or heart, in a stable position is an intentional or deliberate act.  God generously gives us the resources to be strong in our convictions.  However, it is by faith that we set our priorities and make choices to stand firm in Christ.  Firm footing equips us to withstand the struggles and temptations of our earthly existence.  Firm footing allows us to focus clearly on the victory we have in Jesus Christ.

God helps us stand firm in three ways:  First, He chose us as His heirs.  His anointing is evident through the giving of His Son.  Before we knew how to love, He loved.  Though undeserved, he gave.  Next, He set His seal of ownership on us.  We reflect His glory and live with the assurance that He cares.  Lastly, God gives us His Spirit as a deposit or a pledge.  This gift serves as a down payment for the great riches in store for us in heaven.

The Holy Spirit supplies confidence to overcome uncertainties, peace to replace anxieties, and hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure (Hebrews 6:19).

Never allow doubts to cause you to question God’s sincere affection for you.  Never permit temptations to bring about change in your faithful priorities.  Never let the burden of struggles permit you to give up on God’s promises.  Stand firm in Christ.

Dear Father, please give me strength to stand firm in Christ.  I truly appreciate Your love and protection and encouragement.  I look forward to the Day my hope is fulfilled and Your promises are revealed.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

Carl Smith
Stephenville, TX

Got a Real Friend?

As Jesus faced the anguish of going to the cross, he chose to face it with his closest friends. He asked Peter, James, and John to keep watch with him and pray. He said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” Of course, the disciples let him down by going t

o sleep, of all things.  But it’s touching to me that in His dark hour of agony, Jesus’ very human need was for the watchfulness and prayers and nearby presence of His community of friends.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 clearly confirms the blessing of good friends:

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work;

If one falls down, his friend can help him up.

But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!

Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.

But how can one keep warm alone?

Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.

A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”

“A good return for their work” is right. The very best investment we will make in life will not be a financial one, but rather the investment made in relationships. We will get the best return on that investment over other investments we might make. The late millionaire, Malcolm Forbes is supposed to have said, “He who dies with the most toys wins.” However, since he has died, I suppose he knows that is not true.

“Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.”  In Bible times almost all combat was hand to hand combat. Soldiers went into battle with a partner, someone who could be trusted completely. The soldiers stood back to back of one another and fought whatever enemy came from any side. Friends stand with you and guard your back.

A friend helps you when you’re down, “but pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!” Proverbs 17:17 says “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.”

God often uses our friendships with one another to demonstrate His love. He can work through us to be His hands holding the hands of an anxious friend. He can use our mouths to offer comfort to a broken heart.

I’m blessed to have friends who fit the descriptions above. One friend in particular, is the reason I’ve chosen this subject today. Lately, because of my mother’s Alzheimer’s and some issues regarding her care, I’ve felt overpowered by sadness, indecisiveness, guilt, fear, and more emotions than I can put into words. My friend has taken it upon herself to walk me through the rest of this journey (and to drive me to and from Dallas, and to help me to make hard decisions, and when it is time she’ll help me to move her.) She says it’s nothing – I know it is.

Friendships like this take grace and determination and, most of all, Time. And I don’t make it easy either. You pretty much have to use your imagination – or your heart and God’s Spirit – to know my needs, because I mostly keep to myself when I’m anxious or sad.

Another friend sensed my need last week; she prayed with me and gave me great comfort, even though I Told her I was Fine!  She felt my burden. She reminded me about Galatians 6:2, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”  Sharing good conversation with someone you can trust is healing.

In The Message, Proverbs 28:24 says “Friends come and friends go, but a true friend sticks by you like family”

Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens - Psalms 68:19 (NIV)

Father, Thank you for perceptive and loving friends. Give me the wisdom to know when I need help to carry my burden, and the willingness to ask for help. Make me a better friend. May I be sensitive to the needs of others, and encourage them as I have been encouraged.
Through Jesus, who gave His life for His friends.

Lynn Anne Hughes
Stephenville, TX

Commitment

I disappointed myself this week because I intended to make brownies for the college students; Didn’t happen.  I had made a personal commitment that I failed to keep.  (I do hope someone else made an extra pan of brownies to make up for my failure.)  

At my office, an accounting firm, the majority of our “team-members” (the term we use for employees), are fully committed to the firm. We work very hard to meet the needs of our clients.  We are a bit over-taxed at this point in time and everyone is doing the most they can to help prepare income tax returns. It is important to us that as many of our clients as possible may rest more easily with their knowledge of the exact amount of tax due for 2011. “Team-members” are made to feel part of this group effort thus encouraging them to push harder to achieve this goal. Those employees who don’t feel part of the team generally quit within a short period of time.

Our attitudes influence our level of commitment. The dictionary lists commitment as a noun meaning “a pledge to do” or “the state of being bound emotionally or intellectually to a course of action, or to a person or persons”.  There is a long list of synonyms; some seem positive – agreement, deal, contract, pledge, promise, settlement, an understanding. Other synonyms for commitment seem very negative – burden, concern, obligation, liability, onus, millstone, weight, deficit. The origin of the word in Latin was “committere”, to send, give over, come together.

Success in business, and personally, depends upon commitment which incites action.  Commitment is a pledge to a purpose or line of conduct. Demonstrating commitment is hard work. Building a reputation for commitment is achieved through determination and perseverance. There must be a sound basis for the vision, values, principles, and beliefs we are committed to. God has given us such a basis upon which to make a commitment.  

John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

Families are generally committed to other members of the same family.  The Church is the family of God and works well when based upon God’s principles.  The Church should embody the positive aspects of commitment rather than the negative connotations. Church members must be understanding and pledge themselves, commit themselves, to one another and to God. Church members need to avoid clinging to burdens, concerns, deficits and millstones as their commitments.

I will strive to be committed to God, adopt the “team-effort” and pledge that is described as the Church.  My soul is entrusted to God.

Dear  God, Please be with me daily. Help me to demonstrate to others the value, principles and blessings that result from commitment to you and your Church.

Sherilyn Svien

Stephenville,TX

Jesus—Our Passover Lamb

Every year on Easter weekend, Hillcrest Church of Christ in Abilene goes to the H.E.B. encampment for a church retreat weekend.  We have just returned from our weekend for 2012.  This past weekend, the theme for our retreat was Passover.  The highlight for the weekend was on Saturday evening when we all participated in the Passover meal.  As twilight began, we entered the meeting room where red paint had been dabbed on the doors to the entrance.  We were seated in family groups.  Before us, all the elements of the Passover meal were waiting for each family group.

We ate the unleavened bread, the bitter herbs, lamb, and a mixture of items representing the bricks made in Egypt, and we drank four cups of wine (grape juice).  The blessings that accompanied the meal were spoken and the Psalms (113-118) were read.  All the elements of the meal were explained as we participated together in this most ancient, ceremonial meal together.

We were urged to think in two ways as we participated together in this Passover meal.  First, we were urged to remember Israel in Egypt at their very first Passover.  We were asked to think about how Israel had experienced nine plagues alongside the Egyptians.  And now, on this night, an angel was going to pass through the land of Egypt and every firstborn child in the land was subject to death.  Secondly, we were asked to think about the subsequent Passovers—how this became an educational process for Israel in all future generations.  As we ate together and reflected, the power of this meal for Israel was obvious.

Our experience was heightened because our Passover event was also viewed from a Christian perspective.  As we looked back to Egypt and Israel to the early Passovers, we reflected upon the way in which Jesus used the Passover meal to institute for us today a new remembrance.  Jesus Himself has become the Passover Lamb for us.  He has rescued us from bondage—freeing all of us from the slavery to sin.  When we eat the Unleavened bread (as Israel did), we remember His sacrificial act that rescued us from sin.  When we drink from the cup the fruit of the vine, we remember the precious blood that Jesus shed for us.

I hope you can experience the Passover meal at some point.  Maybe your church can do this together.  Or, maybe your family can have this experience together privately.  If you would like the information that was shared by our church family, contact me at hillcrestonline.com.

Prayer:  Father, we thank You for providing for us Your Son, Jesus—our Passover Lamb.      

Terry Brown

Abilene, Texas