“He will keep you
strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of
our Lord Jesus
Christ. God, who has called you
into fellowship with
His Son Jesus
Christ our Lord, is faithful.” 1
Corinthians1:8-9
These verses sum-up God’s
faithfulness to me this year. It hasn’t been easy on a number of fronts, but
God remains unchanging, constant, and encouragement to me as I rely on the
promises of His Word. I
anticipated a revision to my right ankle that was replaced in 2008. A new ankle prosthetic was supposed to
be approved and ready a year ago in December 2014. Since FDA didn’t approve it, the surgery was rescheduled for
March and then May 2015, and now it is off the calendar until 2016. Thankfully, the ankle pain has only
increased recently that I began to take anti-inflammatory medication in
October.
Recently I have been experiencing
pain behind my left knee. It’s a
result of how I’ve been walking.
At times the pain has almost been unbearable. The deep, dull pain in my leg reminds me of Christ’s
sufferings and what He endured on the cross for your and my sins. Second
Corinthians 1:5 comes to mind, “For just as the sufferings of Christ flow
over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.”
At church we experienced a major
transition of people moving on.
Some have left the church due job relocation, retirement, and others
have left because of personal issues.
This has been hard as I have known these people for many years. I will miss them including two dear
brothers, Dave, our former associate pastor who took a senior pastor
position in Wisconsin, and Byron, a lay elder who will move with his
sweet wife to AZ.
I have been battling some
discouragement/depression. A lot
of this is a result of how I view the circumstances around me. I’ve been looking in, a self-focus,
rather than looking out to love God and love others. The Lord teaches and reminds me that my ultimate joy
doesn’t come in what I have or how things are going, but who I am in Christ. “Praise be to the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living
hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3).
So as I think about 2015 I see
the Lord keeping me strong and He will do it until I see him face-to-face in
heaven. Through the righteousness
I have through Christ the Lord will also keep me blameless. Praising and thankful to my Heavenly
Father that He is faithful!
