Yesterday our church finished a two year (!!!) verse by verse study of the book of Matthew. For the final sermon on the book our pastor walked us through where we had been over the last two years and how we had grown together in our understanding of who Christ is. He took a survey – who was here when he preached the very first sermon of the series? (I was.) Who had found their way to CPC during this series? Who had accepted Christ during the series? It was incredible to see the hands raise – to see how the Lord had evolved our church body over the course of studying this life changing gospel.
Last night as I was reviewing my notes from the morning’s sermon, and pouring back through the many journal entries from the last two years I began to see the many ways the Lord has grown me and changed my heart through his word during this time. One example – a year ago, a sermon about the Great Commission would have had me pondering whether I should give more money to global missions or if I needed to share my faith more with people at work. But last weekend when Pastor Mark asked us to open our Bibles to Matthew 28 I literally let out an audible, “YES!” and could barely contain my excitement or write fast enough to capture everything he preached about the final command from Jesus that I'll be living in a new way this year.
As I was praising the Lord for how He has changed my heart I was absolutely overcome with how FAITHFUL He has been in my life through this series! Each message… each week… each verse of the Gospel of Matthew has shaped me and stretched me and molded me into someone becoming (slowly but surely) more like Christ. The Lord has shown up, He has answered prayer, He has revealed Himself more and He has changed me in ways I didn’t even know to ask for!
If He is this faithful when I don’t even ask for it, how could I ever doubt He would not fully provide for me in the World Race? I'll admit – this whole support raising business is trying. It's surely growing my faith in new ways. And yesterday was just the reminder I needed that God will show up. He always has – for all of creation – and He always will. My squad and I are waiting on suport funds. What are you waiting on? Whatever it is, take heart – and take HIS word for it – He is faithful!
Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands. Deu 7:9
The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy. Psalm 111:7
