Leaving Beyond – Grounded In Scripture

Written by: April J. Buchanan

How then do you walk, dear saint? Do you walk as one who trusts the Lord, believing that He who declares you righteous by His own righteousness imputed to you has spoken truly in every promise? Is He who began a good work in you powerless to complete it? Is He who is sovereign over all things surprised or dismayed as you are? Where do you turn your eyes, your ears, your heart, your mind?

Oh downcast saint, troubled traveler, fellow pilgrim, if you are His, you may well find in your travels hardships that assault your hope, and as you settle in a place, find yourself comfortable and compromising in your convictions, your soul assaulted by your sins. Dear saint, if you are His, you will err in the way, but He is faithful. He who began a good work in you will see it to completion.

You may find in yourself cause for boasting and then find in yourself cause for despair, but in both you shall be shown that there is nothing in yourself worthy of either. Your mind shall again be informed by truth, and your heart humbled before the One who is faithful. In the day of boasting, set your eyes upon Him. In the day of despair, whether by circumstances without or battles within, set your eyes upon Him. Look to Christ. Remember Him.

For who can ever make it to that Celestial City apart from Him? The greatest threats are not outside but within. For the mind of man, with its many thoughts, and the heart of man, prone to wander, find within themselves troubles, pangs, and loves enough to destroy him in a day were it not for the grace of God. That grace upholds him in the day of adversity without and, much more, in his daily battle within.

Any man who professes Christ and has no struggle within himself against his sin has lost sight of Christ and His Word. Let the man who loves Christ set his eyes upon Him and find that gracious work within effectual and powerful against every foe, without and within.

Let him be careful when assimilation with the culture is no longer good and pleasing to God but instead leads his heart after their idols, their love of self, their hatred toward authority, and their claims to love God while showing themselves His enemy. Dear saint, guard your heart.

For many live as those of whom the Psalmist spoke when the kings of the earth conspired against God and His Anointed. Citizens and aliens alike, having assimilated themselves, devote undivided loyalty to their kings and kingdoms, defending even those “rights” that are contrary to God. They show their allegiance to their own happiness, comforts, prosperity, and protection at any cost.

The child of God in this world, whether alien or citizen, must first show himself a child of God and then, where God has placed him, honor Him there as a good citizen. The alien assimilating himself. The citizen obeying governing authorities as unto the Lord. Yet never so as to disobey God. For then he must stand where God stands and show his allegiance to Him, doing so as one who bears His name and represents Him before men.

Dear fellow pilgrim, your feet may travel far, but your heart and mind are prone to wander much farther. Is your hope anchored in Christ? Is your faith in Him alone? Wherever you are rooted, and wherever your feet may travel, be careful of your heart. If it is in allegiance to Christ, then you will honor Him there.

No matter how much difficulty there is in the world, we find within ourselves our greatest threat and battle. Resist the temptation to wander. Resist the temptation of the world to seek that which promises all your heart desires at the cost of compromising where your feet must firmly be planted.

And there, dear saint, stand firm.