Leaving Beyond – Grounded In Scripture

Written by: April J. Buchanan

Precious saint, you who grow weary, often more than you yourself can discern, yet are upheld by that gracious work of God which never fails to attend to your every need:

There are times in which you know this grace well, and your heart recalls its benefits while you find its supply abundant and sufficient. Yet even in those times, you long for the day when you shall know it perfectly and behold Him to whom you owe all things, the One who chose you, redeemed you, bore the righteous wrath of God in your place, and has clothed you in His own perfect righteousness. Think much on that. Let your heart delight in it. What a precious gift, and what a glorious Savior this is.

Let this truth not remain merely external and objective, but let it be wrought deeply within the heart and continually meditated upon in the mind, being ever precious, ever delightful, and ever conforming those who are purchased by it, sustained by it, and brought to know it, even as they are known by God. Let the riches of scripture continue to testify to the beauty and power of God, the grace and kindness of God, the sovereignty of God and His providence worked out. Seek Him in scripture and let its beauty and truth have its sanctifying effect on your heart, your mind, and soul.

There is an objective truth that stands and calls all men, yet many profess to know it while they do not truly know it. They hear and do not hear. There are also dear saints who truly know it, and yet they grieve when they see how little their hearts have delighted in its beauty, its power, and its gracious work within them. When they proclaim its riches to others, they are often made aware of how little they themselves have delighted in what is most worthy. This sorrow is not without purpose. Fellow pilgrim, it is a means by which the Lord humbles us, refines us, and draws His people again to Himself.

These truths are not mere facts, but living realities that are powerful to shape and sanctify. Take heart, for your Lord is working in you even when you do not feel it. Neglect not His gracious means by which He graciously works in you, sanctifying you.

Dear saint, fellowship is not merely the sharing of common life in worldly matters, but the mutual encouragement of believers, stirring one another up to love and good deeds as the Scriptures command.

Even sickness is not without purpose for every dear saint, reminding us that our time here is brief and that our strength is not our own, while both are gifts to be spent for the glory of God. It bears witness to the fall, and yet it also testifies to the greater reality that even the frailest saint is being sustained by a grace that secures an imperishable inheritance.

Therefore, remember the goodness and kindness of the Lord and set your mind upon Him and upon that which is true, for such meditation is a means God uses to sanctify the heart.

If our obedience becomes merely mechanical, we do harm to our own souls, since men may hear the truth from our lips while not seeing its beauty, its power, or its worth in our lives.

Attend carefully to your soul even as you abound in good works, and do not neglect the inward life while laboring in the outward.

Delight yourself in the Lord, and may it be that men not only hear the truth from those who belong to Christ, but also behold its beauty reflected in them.