Grace For The Journey

  When was the last time you felt alone . . . really felt all alone? Well, the next time you’re experiencing one of those “dark nights of the soul,” let me encourage you to hold tight to this promise from God:

The Bible says in Psalm 23:4, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”

I have shared these profound words of comfort with many men and women who were preparing to pass from this life to the next; as well as with families who have had loved ones depart this life.

Sweet are the sounds of absolute assurance

That our Lord Jesus Christ will be our companion

As we pass through the valley of the shadow of death.

But sweet, too, are the sounds

Of absolute assurance that our Lord Jesus Christ

Will be our companion through the common circumstances of life!

If He is with us in our death, make no mistake, He is with us in our life too.  Remember, as servants of the Most High God, we, like the great apostle Paul, “face death every day” (1 Corinthians 15:31), and we find great comfort in knowing we do not face it alone. You’ll recall Paul’s glorious assurance in Romans 8:38-39 . . . “I am persuaded that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Think back to some of the difficult times you have endured in this life.  Perhaps you were struggling mightily in a personal relationship.  Did Jesus not get you through it? Maybe you can remember a particularly perilous storm wind that blew through your professional life.  Did Jesus not get you to the other side safely?

Dear Christian, there was never a time

When you were you without Christ, your companion.

Never were you alone in anything you ever faced.

And never will you be alone in this life or in the next.

He has promised – and it is impossible for God to lie – “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:8).

I’m sure you can remember a time when the Great Shepherd of your soul used His rod and His staff to comfort you.  We all have a tendency, due to our sinful nature, to wander away from the Truth and into trouble.  And yet our great Shepherd-Savior will do everything He must to make sure we get through the trouble and back to green pastures and still waters.

Do you remember when the disciples were fearful for their lives in the boat that was buffeted by the storm winds . . . yet their Lord lay sound asleep on a cushion?  The terrified disciples woke Him, crying, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” (Mark 4:38). They totally missed the point!

Storms do not shake our Savior . . .

And neither should they shake us,

Because He is with us always.

So . . . how does this truth speak to you today?  Who do you know in your life who would benefit from hearing this truth from you right now?  The Lord Jesus Christ is a companion to all who are His, by grace through faith, and He sticks closer than any other companion we have.

He will never leave us;

He will never forsake us.

He is our eternal Friend

Who sticks closer than a brother.

The One who created you

Also sustains you and

He will continue to sustain you,

Whether you are down in a dark, stormy valley

Or basking in the sunlight atop a mountain peak.

Christ is our companion always and that, beloved, should encourage, empower, and equip you to walk by faith, not by sight, all the way into glory!

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”