|
Original Christian illustration by Jim Sutton: Cartoon image of
a bat hanging by one foot.
Not every day for the Christian believer is a
day of great advances and glorious progress. Sometimes we
do well to simply hold on right where we are, without being
pushed back. Some are days when we simply need to hang on
to what we have. God gives us the victory in Christ Jesus,
even when we may feel defeated or let down, and even when we
seem to be all alone in our struggles or hopes.
We have promises from God that are worth more
than gold and silver, and much more than all the emotions in the
world. God does not lie. The Lord never turns His
back on those who are hoping in Him. Jesus will never
leave us or forsake us, even when we really feel forsaken.
And even when we believe that we have somehow let God down.
God's own promises are the power behind our
salvation. Jesus is the Champion of our faith. The
truth of God is not broken or twisted or rerouted or hindered in
any way when the enemy seems to come in like a flood. It
is true that the forces of this age have their day, their time
to do whatever they will do and to say whatever they will say.
But God's Day and Sovereignty over all things never ends, and it
cannot be suspended by the wishes of evil things that work
always to overcome light with darkness. God is my
salvation. He is your salvation.
Scripture tells us over and over that God's
faithfulness will see us through to the very end. God is
faithful. For example, the Bible says:
I give thanks to God always for you because
of the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him with all speech and
all knowledge — even as the testimony to Christ was confirmed
among you — so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift,
as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ; who will
sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus
Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the
fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (1
Corinthians 1:4-9, RSV)
God is faithful. For our part, the Lord
tells us to stand. We take our stand with Jesus Christ,
with the Holy Bible, and we stand firm, no matter what.
What God has said will always prove true. So when we stand
with Jesus Christ, and with the words of our God, we cannot go
wrong. Let the whole earth and the heavens be shaken until
they crumble, but God's Word will never be broken.
As God is faithful to keep us and to do all
that He has promised for us, let us be true to Him, and stand
when the difficulties come our way. Even when we cannot
make any progress, we can stand, because God enables us to
stand.
In Ephesians, chapter 6, the apostle Paul
writes these words:
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord,
and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of
God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the
devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but
against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of
the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high
places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God,
that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having
done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins
girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of
righteousness... (Ephesians 6:10-14, KJV).
We are able to stand when we make use of
God's gifts and provision. God provides us with all that
we need, "that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and
having done all, to stand." Stand therefore.
Jim Sutton
The above graphic may be used by Christian believers in various kinds of
personal witness, for church programs, and other Christian
activities. There is no charge for this use, so long as
the copyright/credit info is included with the image or a link
back to this site is provided.
To use the graphics on this site,
right click the image (Mac users hover the mouse cursor over the
image) and select the "Save As" or "Save Image As" and save the
file on your computer's hard drive. Images not saved to
your computer will not work properly (especially animated GIF
files), or will likely suffer broken links in a short time.
|
