From The Crucible (by Pastor Linda Pugsley)

© Bill McCown | www.myghcf.com

Don’t get me wrong, now. Yesterday's posting about exhilaration in a life in Christ was not meant that you wouldn't have any problems. It's not an amusement park existence you enter into...no, no, buddy. Rather, it's an adventure you go on with Jesus. Every single thing, whether you are pushing a broom or praying for mercy; in Jesus, it is the most exciting adventure you will ever undertake. Don't be afraid of any "rules", it's more of a love language He speaks to you. Doing His will is not a chore, it's a choice you make– a choice based on a love of God, not some legal contract. This is a God willing to love you even when you don't love Him; so you can come just as you are. In Him and Him alone, you can venture where you could not go before...love, forgiveness, kindness, patience, generosity, wisdom...it all becomes not necessarily just what you do but who you are. "I can't", becomes "I can", and failures of the past turn into successes in the present, which produce an ability to move you onto the next mountain to climb. The journey and the fellow travelers you meet all bond together into your greatest adventure. Come on, get off your lonely "road to nowhere". Let Jesus guide you on a more treasured trail; tough, fraught with danger, failures, challenges...but, heck, isn't that what a real adventure is all about? Endure the fire...it's producing pure gold!

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