My First Blog

I have finally done it! I've taken the plunge! After years of wondering how it was done I've discovered how extraordinarily easy it is to become a BLOGGER!

My venture into blogging is essentially a discipline - or an attempt to be disciplined - and an accountability. As a Christian with a particularly Wesleyan bent I would like to invite you to trek with me as I explore the Way of Holiness and journey each day with Jesus. So here goes ...

You might like to reflect on this devotional, which I have entitled "Tested". I pray that God will use it to strengthen and encourage you on your journey, just as He strengthened and encouraged me when He gave me these thoughts during an especially low point in my life.

Tested
Australia’s elder statesman of art, John Olsen, stated, “You cannot paint true beauty, true happiness, unless you also understand the depths of despair and sorrow.”

The Christian life, even the walk of holiness, is much like that.

The Psalmist spoke of the “valley of the shadow of death”. He also cried, “out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord”. And life cannot get much lower than that. But the Psalmist spoke with confidence of a God who would not only accompany him on that journey through the valley, but also lead him out, sustaining and protecting him along the way.

The climb out of the valleys builds us up, strengthens us and equips us for the next test of our endurance.

Other metaphors used in the Bible - “testing by fire”, “as gold refined” etc – also remind us that sometimes it is the depths of despair and sorrow that enable the refining process to occur in the lives of God’s people. And when you stop to think about it, there were not many people of Biblical fame who managed to get through life without some degree of pain or suffering! But, through the lessons that they learned we have models of endurance and faith which encourage us to keep on going even when the going gets tough!

The beauty of holiness is often radiated most profoundly in the lives of those people who have emerged from the fiery trials and testings, their lives transformed and their zeal renewed.

So, whether you are traversing the valley, or enduring the testing of your faith through fiery trials, be assured that “all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). Believe it or not, those tough times will not last forever and they do have a purpose - the strengthening of your faith so that you “may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing” (James 1:2-4). That is holiness!

Read: Psalm 130 and 1 Peter 4: 12-19

Sing: “Purify my heart, let me be as gold, pure gold,
Purify my heart, let me be as gold, pure gold
Refiner’s fire, my heart’s one desire is to be holy,
set apart for you, my Master;
I choose to be holy, ready to do your will”

Reflect: How much do I want to glorify God? How much am I willing to endure so that his glory may be revealed?

Respond: “I choose to be holy, set apart for you, my Master, ready to do your will”

Pray: Lord Jesus, I trust you to lead me in places that will strengthen my faith and equip me for your service. I want to follow wherever you lead, because I know it is for my good and for your glory. Amen

Sing: FOLLOW ON by William O. Cushing
Follow! follow! I will follow Jesus!
Anywhere, everywhere, I will follow on!
Follow! follow! I will follow Jesus!
Everywhere He leads me, I will follow on.

Down in the valley with my Saviour I would go,
Where the flowers are blooming and the sweet waters flow;
Everywhere he leads me I would follow, follow on,
Walking in His Footsteps till the crown be won.

Down in the valley with my Saviour I would go,
Where the storms are sweeping and the dark waters flow;
With His hand to lead me I will never, never fear,
Danger cannot fright me if my Lord is near.

Down in the valley or upon the mountain steep,
Close beside my Saviour would my soul ever keep;
He will lead me safely in the path that he has trod,
Up to where they gather on the hills of God.