From The Crucible (by Pastor Linda Pugsley)

Ever notice how in life, ambitions change as you grow? And that’s a good thing because many young children want to be the “garbage man” when they grow up, but we surely need some neurosurgeons in there too!

But, in the Lord, it’s different. Right at the outset of your walk with Christ, you know the goal–the Kingdom of God! You start your life in Christ and you end it in Christ. Because you already know the destination, your goal then, as a Christian, is to do the will of God. He takes it from there. You will go through many different growing “seasons” with God, but the goal is always the same–obedience. With that obedience, the end-point is a guarantee!

Jesus went through all His earthly “seasons” in obedience to God, even to His death on the cross. He was willing to obey God, even to that drastic extent. And He could do that because He knew and trusted God to have the utmost wisdom in His plans. The restoration of humankind was accomplished in that obedience, and we thank You Lord.

We most likely will never suffer a physical crucifixion as Jesus did; our crucifixion comes in the form of daily dying to self…and that hurts! But when you do, you rise up as a new creature and it’s out with the old and in with the new. He guarantees you will really like the “new you”. By the way, so will everybody else! Endure the fire—it’s producing pure gold!

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