August 19, 2022

continued from yesterday…

Let them return to you, but you must not return to them. Jeremiah 15:19b

Beloved, you can be confident that your decision to follow Jesus is positively the best decision you can make. Your life has taken a new direction, one that is heavenward. And once you make that decision, it leads to another and another—from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18)—as you willingly cooperate with His refining and sanctifying work in your life.

Our crafty foe directs much more of his efforts toward professed followers of Christ than the rest of the world. He will exert his negative influences through the very ones with whom you once rebelled against God. One of the Bible terms for those who succumb to their old ways and habits is “backslider.”

Return, you backsliding children, And I will heal your backslidings. Jeremiah 3:22

Almighty God exercises the power of divine restraint when it comes to the freedom of choice He has given to each soul. He will not come after us to drag us back into His camp when we wander off, but in tender love His Spirit will whisper of His power to heal as soon as the wayward heart recognizes the need for healing.

Jesus used a powerfully descriptive phrase for the one who comes to Him: “he . . . has passed from death into life.” (John 5:24) Real life is about getting to know Him who made everything. Growing in the knowledge of the character of Jesus is something we are to be diligent to pursue. We are entering into the most perilous period of human history, such as has not been since the beginning of the world, according to Jesus (Matthew 24:21, see also Daniel 12:1). Our enemy will be doing his most intense work of spiritual wickedness in high places (Ephesians 6:12). There is no time for backsliding. Your personal steadfastness—love and loyalty to the Savior—is  the best gift you can give to Him, yourself, and those around you. Your unwavering walk with Him becomes grace-filled leadership for the growth and glory of the eternal kingdom.

You, therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and forever. Amen. 2 Peter 3:17-18