The progressive aspect of our Salvation . . . God's not through with me!

 I was blessed by the Desiring God post today entitled The Journey of Sanctification  in which they quote Martin Luther thoughts on the process of sanctification:           

This life therefore is not righteousness but growth in righteousness;
not health but healing;
not being but becoming;
not rest but exercise.
We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it.
The process is not finished, but it is going on.
This is not the end, but it is the road.
All does not yet gleam in glory, but all is being purified.

A Testimony of God's Faithfulness

Has God been faithful to you? I would love to hear your stories of God’s faithfulness.  I encourage you to follow the Psalmist’s example and not conceal, but declare and sing of God’s faithfulness as the following verses challenge us:

Ps 40:10, “I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation.”

Ps 88:11, “Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction?”

Ps 89:1, “I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.”

I would like to tell you some of the highlights of God’s faithfulness to me:

1.      God was faithful to pursue me in grace when I tried to push Him out of my life from age 16 to 18 by putting my faith in an evolutionary explanation of the origin of life instead of recognizing Him as the Creator.

2.      God was faithful to grant me a heart of repentance when I yielded to His love expressed in the Gospel of Christ (Romans 1-11) and received Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior on the third Sunday of August, 1978.  

3.      God was faithful to make me a new creature in Christ; He began changing my desires from the moment I surrendered and truly believed and trusted in Him with my whole heart.

4.      God was faithful in leading me to Churches that taught and preached the Bible—where, although the pastors and congregations were not perfect, they for the most part had a heart for God and encouraged me to be faithful to our faithful God:

First Conservative Baptist Church, Roseburg, Oregon – Pastor Roy Campbell
Westside Baptist Church, Eugene, Oregon – Pastor Greg Kaminski
Emmanuel Baptist Church, Roseburg, Oregon – Pastor Dale Johnsen
Mount Calvary Baptist Church, Greenville, SC – Pastor Jessie Boyd & Mark Minnick
Temple Baptist Church, Richland, WA. – Pastor Michael Gilchrist
Jordan Valley Baptist Church, West Jordan, Utah – Pastor Harley Johnson
New Israel Baptist Church, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil – Pastor Sergio

5.      God was faithful to always give me direction as I waited upon Him in prayer for guidance and wisdom to make the big decisions of life: where he wanted me to go to college, who He wanted me to marry, where and how He wanted me to serve Him.

6.      God has been faithful to forgive me when I confess my sin (1 John 1:9-10).

7.      God was faithful to help me be a better dad when I was struggling.  His Word gave me wisdom beyond myself – Click hear to read the Bible study that changed my parenting.

8.      God was faithful to give me the perfect help meet in my wife, Tammie, who is submissive yet not a doormat, supportive yet not flattering of my sinful ego, and sharpening yet not critical.  God was faithful to restore my wife’s health when she became so ill while we served in Brazil.

9.      God has been faithful to provide for all of our needs in 25 years of marriage and ministry. When we were about out of food, He provided in miraculous ways.  When our mode of transportation broke down, He provided means and funds for it to be fixed.  When we needed wisdom for family and ministry relationships, He gave wisdom for the asking like He promised.  When we needed a place to rest our heads, He always put on the hearts of His people to take us in with loving assistance, which also gave us the opportunity to be a blessing in return.

10.  When the burdens of life and ministry were too hard to bear ourselves, God was faithful to give us sustaining grace.

11.  God was faithful to give me six challenging and good years as Pastor of First Baptist Church where it was a joy to see His word take root in the hearts of those who had ears to hear.

12.  God has always been faithful to slow me down when I need slowed down and to speed me up when I needed speeded up. 

As we wait on the Lord for future direction, we have no doubt that we can trust in our faithful God.  I am reminded of something I wrote to Tammie Rich before she became Tammie Worden:

We can praise God for His providential hand of leading in the past;
We can look forward in faith to what He will do in the future;
but we must concentrate on keeping His commandments consistently today!

What was true for our lives over 25 years ago is true for our lives today; however, I would add another thought: We can only do it by the faithful enabling grace of God.  The grace of God is what I preached on this past month while doing some pulpit supply at Grace Bible Church:  You can listen to the message by clicking on the sermon title: Grace at Grace.  Down load the message: Mp3
I praise God for His faithfulness!  Will you?    
With prayer, Mark R. Worden