“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
Three Spiritual Stepping Stones: Faith, Hope and Love are daily, and sometimes moment-by-moment, choices we make to deepen our relationship with our Lord. In walking these out, we fight the good fight of faith regardless of our feelings, placing all our hope in the Lord because apart from Him we can do nothing. Apart from Christ, we don’t have the ability to love — and we don’t have the faith or the hope we need to do what He has called us to do. So we were encouraged to cry out, in total honesty, asking Him to help us truly believe His love for us and not only His ability to provide these gifts to us, but His willingness and His desire to do so. He requires much of us as we are “Going up the Mountain” — but He also is the provider of the things He requires of us.
The following tools help us along this walk:
• KNOWING Jesus and His Word
• BELIEVING Jesus and His Word
• FOLLOWING Jesus and His Word
• LIVING Jesus and His Word
Through putting these tools to use in our lives, we come to focus on Him and Him alone, and our desire moves from knowing about Him to knowing Him.
We should remember the great works God has done in each of our lives. So in closing, I thought I would share a few with you. In doing this, I am glorifying the Lord because they are His works. I also hope that, like me, if you are unable to come up with your own, these might be used as a springboard to help you recall (if you are having difficulty in doing so) the great victories and mighty works He has done on your behalf.
• 2002 – 2003 He called this “Prodigal” away from the WORLD and into relationship with Him
• 2004 He broke the bondage that “Substance Abuse” had on my life
• 2007 He revealed His LOVE for me in a way that only God can do (He claimed my heart as His)
• 2008 He restored my financial savings that had been stolen from my bank account and spoke to my heart that He would always provide for me
• 2009 He helped me break a 45-year addiction to nicotine (x-ray of my lungs show me as a person who never smoked)
• 2011 He began restoration of seemingly-lost relationships in my life
He continues to love me, to sanctify me, and to “keep [me] from falling” (Jude 24, NIV).
These are just a few of the great and mighty works He has done on my behalf. In walking through the storms leading to these “marked” events, KNOW-ing, BELIEVE-ing, FOLLOW-ing and LIVE-ing Jesus and His Word when my world seemed to be falling apart — and seeing Him in them — was as meaningful as the final outcome. So as Psalm 29:2 says, I “Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name”! May you, if you’ve not already done so, begin a list of your own Reminders.
May we all discover more and more that God is God, and we are not. No one can be touched unless He allows it. His is God and He is good all the time. Hallelujah!
* “Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer, saying ‘Thus far the Lord has helped us'” (1 Sam. 7:12).
Written by: Dottie Ryan
