05/27/17 KEEP YOURSELF FOR HE IS ABLE TO KEEP YOU

05/27/17 KEEP YOURSELF FOR HE IS ABLE TO KEEP YOU

My family and friends know that when one of us is leaving on a trip that I try to see them and wave goodbye until we are out of each other's sight. At that point I am already missing them and I am also aware that in this world, life is fragile and there is no promise for tomorrow. I wave farewell, trying to burn the memory of them into my heart, not knowing when we will be able to get together again. Of course, I always have a hope for a happy return in the near future.

However, as I watch loved ones move further and further from God, and as I call out to them in love, and as I wave them back to the safe harbor of salvation, I don't have the same joy or hope or warm feelings. I watch and wave but the distance grows greater and the broken communication intensifies. As they begin to disappear I realize that they are in charge of their own decisions, and there will come a time when God HImself will not even strive with their inner man.

People sometimes allow the storms of adversity to drive them away from God and sometimes it is the currents of life that pull them away, and sometimes it is the hope of a better life and brighter future, or a desire for the unclean. Satan uses whatever he can to get us off course. Sometimes he even uses good things to lead us astray.

It is not our resolve to do the good thing that keeps us safe.
It is not our resolve to refrain from the bad thing that keeps us safe.
It is our faith, hope and love in Christ that keeps us on course.

Jude 1:20-21
(20) But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,
(21) Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

Jude 1:24
(24) Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,