Glimpsing the winner...

Amid all the talent and family displayed at yesterday's worship service, I desperately needed to remind myself I have not been cheated somehow. The Lord knows my heart and I'm so glad He does. He knows how close I felt to defeat yesterday in spite of the fact it was a glorious Easter remembrance. He needed to have a personal word with me about not feeling deprived and seeking to rejoice. I've got a lot to be joyful about even though I sometimes focus on what I have not rather than on what I have.


He's still the King and He's still calling people to find their life in Him. His kingdom is not of this world so it makes sense we won't find it completely unveiled here. We will only catch glimpses of it through what we know of Him and those He has chosen by His grace.


He's still the hope of those who seek Him.  He rose again from from the dead and  in so doing, He defeated the power and sting of death. He reconciled generations of lost and blinded children with their Father who created them and loves them as His own.


He's still the help of those who find. Those who have found Him and have been found by Him recognize what a treasure they have inherited in being known. The sense of rightness which accompanies being known is incomparable in part because it affords a person security in a world which changes from moment to moment.  "The saying is sure: If we have died with Him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him;" (2 Tim. 2:11-12a). He will give me what I need to stay strong and continue on in Him. He will allow me to participate in regular memorials so that I don't turn aside from the gift He is giving and applying to my heart.

None other is so loving, so good, and kind.  I can truly testify to God's love, kindness, goodness, and generosity as I remember where He has brought me from and exactly how faithful He is. I don't deserve anything I have been given, but He has dealt with me in grace and has been rejected and forsaken so that I would be abandoned not.


Not cheated...
Not deprived...
Not duped...
and only really momentarily disappointed...


Thine is the glory, risen, conquering Son...endless is the victory You over death have won...