Journey to Glory: Embracing Certainties Amid Life’s Hardships

“Did I not tell you that IF you believed, you would see
The glory of God?” Jesus (John 11:40)

Everyone is walking on a road in this world that has baptized us into a life of hardship. By looking at synonyms, we can gain a greater understanding of words. Here are a few synonyms for the word hardship: difficulty, mishap, discomfort, adversity, affliction, handicap, embarrassment, shackle, deterrent, manacle, chain….

Fortunately, for mankind God’s goodness never ceases to flow throughout this world in which we live. Though hardship is a certainty, God also blesses us with certainties – opportunities, advantages, breaks – which are of course more than words when experienced, but they also happen to be the antonyms used for hardship.

Let’s take a moment to delve a little deeper to gain additional understanding: (1) Opportunity – chance, opening, occasion, way…(2) Advantage – better, privilege, benefit, ascendancy, foothold, command, transcendence,  windfall, godsend, manna, blessing….(3) Break – disrupt, disintegrate, shiver, powder. Implode, explode….

During our lifetime God has given us time and opportunity and advantages we may yet remain unaware of so His glory would not only break over us but explode within our soul. For God sent His Word, Christ Jesus, to become flesh, to make His dwelling among us. Within the Word, dwells the glory of the One and Only, Who came from the Father, full of Grace and Truth (John 1:14).

Like those two disciples we spoke of, Holy Spirit invites us to join Him on the road to Emmaus, which means “A Warm Spring,” so we can drink deeply from the Rock where living water flows. Yes, this world baptizes us with hardship; but God, He baptizes us with Faith and Hope and Love.

God the Father baptizes us with Faith so we can grow and be strengthened and empowered by His Word, when the best decision a person could ever make – REPENT – so Jesus can join us as we prepare a table to partake with Him not fear or hatred or bitterness… He is waiting for the multitudes who are facing hardship alone to partake with Him, God’s Word.

_____Insert your name_____, “How often I have longed to gather you to Me as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you are not wiling. Blessed are those who come in the name of the Lord,” Matthew 23:37-39.

I tell my grandchildren mistakes will certainly be made. However, mistakes give proof of our need for Grace and Truth. When we invite Jesus into our life, God baptizes us in Jesus, the Source of truth. He gives us the privilege to approach the throne of Grace confidently so we can receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need (Hebrew 4:16).

But God, He doesn’t stop there. He baptizes us with Holy Spirit! When the choice is made to repent for our mistaken judgments and behavior, God sends Jesus – filled with grace and truth – into our heart as Savior. Because we have made the choice to seek God’s wisdom to help us, He sends Holy Spirit to enlighten and empower and strengthen us through His Word so we can learn and train and humble ourselves until Jesus truly does become Lord, not an ever-demanding heart.

No matter where you are in your life’s journey, you may yet remain a visitor to the Eternal Life God bestows or you may believe Eternal Life is in Jesus (John 1:4). But, I can assure you with God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – your life’s journey shall be an eternal one, for the children of God will continually be blessed to enter new depths of knowledge and understanding of the One true God, and of Him Who the Father sent, Christ Jesus our Savior, our Lord and our Messiah (John 17:3)!

The Lord is the true God!
He is the living God, the eternal King!
Jeremiah 10:10

The whole world is under the control of the evil one. However, the Children of God know the Son of God has come and has given us Understanding, so that we may know Him who is true. And we are in Him who is true — even in His Son Jesus Christ.

He is the true God and eternal Life.
1 John 5:19-20