Meanwhile

Happy Sunday!

"Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!"(Hebrews 12:1-3 Message).

The phrase, "go over that story again", stuck out to me in the passage above!  I had the privilege of seeing some family members this weekend that I haven't seen in years.  We talked about the past and laughed about things we've been through!  Of course, when we were living through those hard times we didn't laugh!  Thank God for bringing us through!  It made me think of the song, "Through It All" by Andrae Crouch.

I also thought of comic books!  I know what you are thinking!  Comic books?  Right!  Haven't you seen a text bubble in a comic book that says, "Meanwhile"?  To let you know that while your hero was busy saving one group or city something else was going on in the background!  The Bible does that too!  There are scriptures that let us know that things are going on behind the scenes!  This physical world is not all there is!  There is a spiritual world!  The Apostle Paul wrote, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this [present] darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) places."(Ephesians 6:12 Amplified).

Don't miss this!  While the saints of old and the Bible characters we read about in Sunday School are in Heaven cheering us on, the enemy and his crew are doing all they can to steal, kill, and destroy us!(John 10:10).  Thankfully, we have the Holy Spirit, the Bible, and great preachers and teachers to remind us and encourage us to stay on the straight and narrow path!  Jesus said, “Heaven can be entered only through the narrow gate! The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide enough for all the multitudes who choose its easy way."(Matthew 7:14 Living Bible).

Love and prayers, Cynthia