Last Friday and the walk of faith

By: Steve Huston

“And it holds, my anchor holds:
Blow your wildest, then, O gale,
On my bark so small and frail;
By His grace I shall not fail,
For my anchor holds, my anchor holds.”

Personal note:

Last Friday morning at this time – my family – my brother and sisters and each of my children and their mates stood with me at the viewing and funeral of Cassie my fifteen month old baby granddaughter.

It doesn’t get much tougher. Yet, by the grace of God and by faith we are carried. We were carried through it then. We have been carried, and we will be carried.

And many of you were instruments of God’s grace: beautiful flowers, email notes,cards, tears, love and prayer support!!

I have stated to a couple of close friends lately this thought. I say it sort of this way. “I don’t mean to be speaking arrogantly. But you know this thing about the fruit of the Spirit is really true. Perseverance, endurance, love, joy, peace ….

Though I have a long, long way to go, I have stood amazed to see that the Spirit of God after many years of trials, tribulations, falterings, failings, obstacles IS more and more having His way in my life. It’s very strengthening to see even through this that God’s Word is Truth and it is working in the lives of those who little by little – through heartache and heartbreak – take Him at His Word.

And it isn’t just me. I see this fruit of the Spirit powerfully in my wife and my daughter Jenny and her husband Chris and others as we take His hand and trust Him though there is so much we don’t understand.”

Oswald Chambers speaks about this in today’s devotional from the “Utmost for His Highest.” With a longer weekend before you, I hope you can find rest and peace and thank God for this marvelous gift of faith. We are all going to need our faith in Jesus, the cross, His resurrection, the hope beyond the grave – for there are and will be many, many trials and tribulations ahead. Life is more than just this down here. This world is not our home. We’re just passing through. He is building this faith here that we will stand boldly, unashamedly and faithfully here and now for fruitfulness, to enjoy Him and bring Glory and Honor to His Name.

Oswald Chambers:

Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?” John 11:40

Every time you venture out in the life of faith, you will find something in your common-sense circumstances that flatly contradicts your faith. Common sense is not faith, and faith is not common sense; they stand in the relation of the natural and the spiritual.

Can you trust Jesus Christ where your common sense cannot trust Him? Can you venture heroically on Jesus Christ’s statements when the facts of your common-sense life shout – “It’s a lie?” On the mount it is easy to say – ‘Oh, yes, I believe God can do it’; but you have to come down into the demon-possessed valley and meet with facts that laugh ironically at the whole of your mount-of-transfiguration belief. Every time my programme of belief is clear to my own mind, I come across something that contradicts it. Let me say I believe God will supply all my need, and then let me run dry, with no outlook, and see whether I will go through the trial of faith, or whether I will sink back to something lower.

Faith must be tested, because it can be turned into a personal possession only through conflict. What is your faith up against just now? The test will either prove that your faith is right, or it will kill it. “Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in Me.” The final thing is confidence in Jesus. Believe steadfastly on Him and all you come up against will develop your faith. There is continual testing in the life of faith, and the last great test is death. May God keep us in fighting trim! Faith is unutterable trust in God, trust which never dreams that He will not stand by us.

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The opening congregational song at Cassie’s funeral last Friday at 11:00 am the “My Anchor Holds.” It does.

“My Anchor Holds”

Though the angry surges roll
On my tempest-driven soul,
I am peaceful, for I know,
Wildly though the winds may blow,
I’ve an anchor safe and sure,
That can evermore endure.

Refrain:
And it holds, my anchor holds:
Blow your wildest, then, O gale,
On my bark so small and frail;
By His grace I shall not fail,
For my anchor holds, my anchor holds.

Mighty tides about me sweep,
Perils lurk within the deep,
Angry clouds o’ershade the sky,
And the tempest rises high;
Still I stand the tempest’s shock,
For my anchor grips the rock.

I can feel the anchor fast
As I meet each sudden blast,
And the cable, though unseen,
Bears the heavy strain between;
Through the storm I safely ride,
Till the turning of the tide.

Troubles almost ’whelm the soul;
Griefs like billows o’er me roll;
Tempters seek to lure astray;
Storms obscure the light of day:
But in Christ I can be bold,
I’ve an anchor that shall hold.

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American Decency Association
Bill Johnson, President
P.O. Box 202
Fremont, MI 49412
ph: 231-924-4050
www.americandecency.org

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