“But
in your life day by day, if you focus on your real future, that’s where victory
is; that’s where your joy is, where your life is.
“II
Thessalonians 2:16-17: [16] Now our Lord Jesus
Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given
us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace.
“Paul
says, ‘I do everything I do so you can have that full assurance of
understanding.' He writes in Colossians 2: ‘[2]
That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all
riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the
mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ;
[3] In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.’
[3] In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.’
“Revelation
10:7 says the mystery of God is what the prophets are accomplishing: [7] But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he
shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath
declared to his servants the prophets.
“The
mystery of Christ is what the Body of Christ is in Ephesians 3: [3] How that by revelation he made known unto me the
mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,
[4] Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)
[4] Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)
“When
you see how those things fit together, as Ephesians 2:7 says, [7] That in the ages to come he might shew the
exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
“God
wants you to see the wealth, the riches of the glory of this mystery. What is
it? Christ in you. The hope and the expectation; the confident anchor of glory.
The only place you’ll get that is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
*****
“When
you let the fact that God the Father has loved you . . . When you get to where
you’re consumed with the realization…we sing that song, ‘Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.’
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.’
“When
you realize how much God loves you, all the way to Calvary, and knows
everything about you that you wouldn’t want anybody else to know, He says, ‘I
still love you.’ When you relax and just let God love you, you quit trying to
perform and show that you deserve it, because you don’t.
“That’s
the driving thing behind religion: ‘I got to perform, I got to prove I’m worthy
and that I have merit.’ That’s what drives sin! It’s that quest for validation,
approval, for acceptance—to prove your worth loving.
“Romans
5:8 says, ‘But God commendeth his love toward us, in
that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.’ That’s love!
“John
says, ‘We love Him because He first loved us.’ Paul says, ‘For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus
judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead.’
“I
think like God thinks so then His love begins to constrain me. You realize He’s
given you an everlasting consolation and good hope through grace.
“I
don’t care how good you’ve got it or how bad you’ve got it now, you know what
your ace in the hole is? In the end it’s just glory.
"And one of the wonderful
things about that is that it gets bigger and bigger every day. The verse says, ‘That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches
of his grace.’
“One
age goes and you say, ‘Woo, it couldn’t be better,’ and then He says, ‘Wait ’til
the next one. It’s going to exceed the one before it.’
“You
know, you’re never going to be able to get to the end of God’s grace and love
but boy, it’s going to be a good ride.
*****
“One
of Job’s friends asked him, ‘Are the consolations of God too small for you?’
How about you? Is the will of God too small for you; you’ve got to do it
yourself?
“And
He ‘gave you a good hope.’ Better than winning the lottery. One time I had a
guy say to me, ‘You know, I don’t worry about eternity; I got to get through
the day. What am I worried about where I go when I die?’
“I
thought, ‘That’s the dumbest thing you could ever say. If you won the lottery
today, would that change your attitude about tomorrow? You got all that money,
you don’t have any problems, your financial future is absolutely secure. Would
that change today a little bit for you? And tomorrow?
“When
you know there’s glory out there and the future’s secure, and there’s a good
hope through grace, you see what that does? It puts internal fortitude into
your life and establishes you in every good word and work.
"Verse 17 says, ‘Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word
and work.' That's our hope; that's the glory God has for us.
“Harry
Ironside wrote a little poem that I just love: ‘What a prospect child of glory does the future hold
By the wildest
flights of fancy thou couldst never ask for more.
Heir of god, joint
heir forever with His own beloved Son,
God to you could not
have promised more bliss than He has done.’ ”
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