3 Insights to Stay the Course

by Sandra Allen Lovelace @SandraALovelace

What keeps you putting one foot in front of the other?
Especially on days that are less than joyous?

Maybe the highs in your life provide sufficient exhilaration to transport you from one spiritual mountaintop to the next.
Or the lows force you close to the Savior where He empowers your every move.

But if your life is a mix of highs and lows reflected in the energy and enthusiasm you find in your days, let me offer you my new and improved three-layer energy bar. It may not be a source of protein, but it will deliver a daily boost to lace up your faith shoes and head out.

1) Mercy as Motivation
Ponder the evidence of God’s mercy in your life—atonement, faith, forgiveness, provision, . . . —all delivered by the Potter to the vessel He formed and called to Himself in love.

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, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by Gods power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time (1 Peter 1:3).*

2) Worship in Response
Open your heart to express your gratitude for the abundant life Jesus secured. Raise His name and His works on high as the only One worthy of such honor and exaltation.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations (Psalm 100:4-5).

3) Grace by provision
Wrap yourself in the Truth of where you reside, engulfed by the sovereign righteousness of Him whose compassion is boundless. Whose desire is to pour blessings over those who rest in 1 and 2. It’s almost as if we move into a snowglobe of His presence.

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work (2 Corinthians 9:8).

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16).

Soaking ourselves in God’s Truth and presence at least once a day refreshes us by His greatness.

I’m using this image to remind myself to take multiple dips to energize my feet in His direction. Feel free to make a copy for yourself.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual [reasonable, sensible] act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will (Romans 12:1-3). [emphasis mine]

What motivates you to persevere?

Asking God to draw you close,
Sandra

*always NIV1984, unless otherwise noted