God’s destination, our journey (Part 7)

The most essential ingredient of our journey:  Love

Love is another essential quality in the journey that God has laid out for us.  When the Apostle Paul was writing to the Corinthian church in his first letter, he reminded that that out of these three, faith, hope and love, love is the most important quality we can have in the Christian life. (v. 13:13)

One day faith and hope will be no more.  One day we will see God and experience His promises for resurrection, eternal life and heaven.  But love, love will go on for eternity, because love has to do with relationships.  One day in heaven, when the things of this world become a faint memory, we will continue to love God and love one another.

We discover the quality of love as we abide in the True Vine Jesus.  Jesus invites us to “abide” in Him that we may bear much fruit.  And the primary fruit that God desires to produce in us in this journey called life is our “love for one another.”  (John 15).  So let us “abide in His love” that we may discover the fullness of His joy in us.  This is what makes the journey meaningful and the destination glorious.

 

God’s destination, our journey (Part 6)

Another essential ingredient in the journey:  hope

Hope is another essential quality in our journey.  Paul when writing to the Roman church reminded us that when we enter into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, we can “rejoice in our sufferings knowing that suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character and character produces hope and hope will not disappoint us.”  (Romans 5:3-4)

Sufferings and difficulties in the journey have a way of reminding us of what is really important and what will really last.  They have a way of weaning us off of the false idols of hope that people have in the world like money, relationships, jobs and hobbies.  Real hope is founded in the promises of God that tell us that one day we will have resurrection and heaven.  Godly hope invites us to look beyond this life to the next.

When we have that kind of hope we cannot help but share it with those around us.  What God produces within us will ultimately impact that which is outside of us.  Hope and our personal transformation will ultimately bring glory to God as our lives reflect what is true, what is good, what is excellent, what is worthy of praise–the  fragrance of Jesus to a lost world.

God’s destination, our journey (Part 5)

Faith, the one essential quality in the journey

Perhaps one of the most essential qualities in our journey is that of faith.  “Without faith,” the Hebrew’s writer tells us, “it is impossible to please God, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him.”  (Hebrews 12:6)     Faith is that quality that trusts God, no matter what is thrown at us on the journey.   God is good and the destination is good and it is by faith that we can walk with our eyes on Him during the bumps, bruises and cuts we get along the way.

While faith is reasonable, it is not based on reason alone.  Faith goes beyond reason to the unspoken language of the Spirit, who lives in us and directs and guides and speaks to our hearts.     There are obstacles to our faith, like the pursuit of worldly pleasure or becoming bitter with pain.  But the way we can overcome these obstacles is to keep our eyes on the author of our faith, who is Jesus.  It is through Him and His power that we learn that everything on the journey is good because we follow a good God who is directing our paths towards a great destination.

So let us hold on to our faith and trust Him with our lives.  When we do that we will be truly blessed!   Let us set our eyes above and  ”consider Jesus who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that we may not grow weary or fainthearted.”  (Hebrews 12:3)