Staying Grounded

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: Standing firm in a shaking world. Scripture tells us, “Continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting, not moving away from the hope of the gospel.” (Col. 1:23 paraphrase)

So when we close in a few moments, we’re going to leave here. We’re going home. We’re going back to the same family, the same church, the same job, the same people, the same problems, the same challenges. And while we’ve been here, the world has not stopped shaking. It’s still shaking.

So the question I have for us is: How can we stay grounded? Not just while we’re here singing and our hearts full and our eyes weeping, and just hearing magnificent treatment of the Word of God, but how can we stay grounded back where we normally live?

I want to ask you to open your Bibles or scroll on your phone to the book of 2 Peter—2 Peter, chapter 1. We’re going to park in this chapter for the remaining moments we have together.

The first eleven verses of this chapter is a foundational passage. The principles in this passage will help you stay grounded. It will help you grow after you leave here in your Christian life.

In fact, I want to encourage you to take these eleven verses and read them, maybe every day for the rest of this month, maybe even memorize at least a portion of this passage. But I want you to soak in it. I’m hoping to just whet your appetite, and that you will spend concentrated time in this passage in the weeks to come.

Simeon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith equal to ours through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. (v. 1)

Now, let me just pause there and repeat what Peter just said, but maybe paraphrase it in my own words. Peter is saying that the faith that we have received by God’s divine grace is equal to that of the apostles.

You may feel very weak in faith, very poor in faith, very limited in faith. Like, “Oh, those apostles, they were great men of faith . . . and then there’s us.” No. Peter says, “You have received a faith equal to ours.”

There are not different classes of believers. I don’t have anything as it relates to faith that you don’t have. I have not received more grace or more goodness of God or more righteousness of Christ or more faith than you have. If you are in Christ, you have received a faith equal to that of every other believer.

And so Peter says, “May grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.”

Now, that word knowledge is a key word in the book of 2 Peter. If you were to read through the whole book, you’d find it in various forms—know and knowledge and knowing—sixteen times, I believe.

Do you want more grace and peace in your life? He says, “Grace and peace be multiplied to you.” Do you want multiplied grace? Do you want multiplied peace?

What’s the key? Knowing God. The greater, the deeper your knowledge of Him, the more grace and peace you will have.

If you fail to know God, you will not have grace and peace. In fact, I believe that the failure to know God, really know God, is at the heart of every problem we have—in our lives, in our families, in our churches, and in our culture. And, conversely, knowing God is the key to every blessing of God in our lives.

So what does it mean to know God? It has to do with having an intimate, experiential, firsthand knowledge of God. To know Him by experience. Not just knowing about Him, but knowing Him personally.

The word used here is not a casual, surface knowledge like you might have of a distant relative or a distant acquaintance. But it’s oneness and union with the one you’re knowing, the object of your knowledge.

In fact, this word is used in the Scripture to refer to sexual intercourse. That’s why marriage is intended to reflect and represent the oneness and the union that we can have in Christ. To know God, to know Christ is to live in union with Him. And that is the source of grace and peace being multiplied in our lives.

Now, if I were you, and I heard that verse, I’m wanting more grace, I’m wanting more peace, I would say, “Self, you better get to know God.” And I hope when you leave here today that you will have a passionate longing to know God. I want more of a longing to know God.

Now, as we move into verse 3 and following, Peter is going to exhort these believers about their responsibilities in the Christian life, but he doesn’t start with their responsibilities. He doesn’t start with what we’re supposed to do to stay grounded. He starts by encouraging us before he exhorts us.

How does he encourage us? He encourages us with what God has already done for us before he exhorts us about what we’re supposed to do.

So, verses 3 and 4, we have resources that God has provided for every believer. This is God’s part. And the key phrase in these verses is, “He has given to us.” Just underline that phrase when you see it as I read these verses.

His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him [there’s that word again!] who called us by his own glory and goodness, by these he has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire. (vv. 3–4)

So before Peter tells us we’re supposed to do anything, before he outlines our responsibilities, he reminds us of what God has done for us, what God has given to us.

• Grace and peace multiplied to us. That’s a gift from God. (v. 2)
• His divine power is ours. (v. 3)
• He has given us everything required for life and godliness. (v. 3)
• He has called us by His own glory and excellence. (v. 3)
• He has given us very great and precious promises that enable us to share in His divine nature. (v. 4)
• He has caused us to escape from corruption that is in the world caused by evil desires. (v. 4)

What a treasure have we been given in Christ! What resources are ours!

So when we go on in the rest of this passage, and we see what we’re supposed to do, what our part is, our responsibility in staying grounded, remember the context. Remember the backdrop. Before you go out of here and say, “I’m going to be a growing, good, flourishing Christian. I’m going to be like that tree if it kills me,” listen, if you try to do it without the resources God has given you, it may kill you because you can’t live the Christian life. Nor can I. Nor could Peter.

So we start with the ground of the cross, the work of Christ on our behalf, and the promises and the grace He has given us. His power and His promises have given us everything we need for our spiritual well-being.

But there are some things that God is not going to do for us. Spiritual vitality and growth rest on our shoulders as well. We do have a responsibility in becoming mature, true women of God. And verses 5 to 7 talk about our responsibility.

Verses 3 and 4, God’s resources that He has given us. Verses 5 through 7, here’s our responsibility, what we are to do as a result of what God has done for us. This is our part. And the key phrase in this section is, “Make every effort.”

Now, I’ve just told us God has done all this stuff for you. And you say, “Whew! What a relief! I don’t have to do anything.” No! Now he says, “Make every effort.”

Some of your translations say, “be diligent.” There’s work involved. There’s work ahead. So he says in verse 5: 

For this very reason [because of all that God has done for you, all He has poured into, all He has given to you, for this very reason], make every effort to supplement your faith.

Some translations say to add to your faith. Now, we’ll look in a moment what we’re to add, but he says, “Be diligent.” That word means “to make haste, to be eager, to exert oneself.” This is not a lackadaisical attempt to drift into being a godly, old lady. It’s not going to happen. It’s an intense effort on our part.

I remember when I was a kid I’d look at these older Christians, and I’d think, “Boy, I can’t wait to be old because then the Christian life will be so easy.” What made me think that!? I don’t know what made me think about it, but it’s not true.

Because now I am that old—older—woman, I’ve realized: There’s still temptation. There’s still pressure. There’s still squeezing. There’s still challenges. It still takes effort. Not effort on my own, but effort enabled by the Spirit and the grace of God that lives within me.

Spiritual growth does not happen by accident. It is a lifelong pursuit that requires careful planning and intentional effort. You don’t get to eighty-one like Susan Hunt and be filled with the Scripture, filled with grace, a woman that people want to sit at her feet and listen to what she says. That doesn’t happen by just carrying your Bible around. It’s years of faithfully soaking and meditating and living in God’s Word. Effort. We have to cooperate with Him. We have to be diligent in dependence on the life, the divine life, that He has placed within us.

It’s not enough just to have this faith of equal standing with the apostles. 

• We need to grow. 
• We need to add to that faith. 
• We need to increase. 
• We need to safeguard that faith. 
• We need to not drift.

“Make every effort to supplement your faith.”

Most of us take some kind of supplements or vitamins to maintain our physical health. And what I love about supplements and vitamins now is that you can get them all in gummies. So you can live by gummies.

Now, I know there are all kinds of things in those you shouldn’t have, but supplements. And now with all the pandemic, people are talking about that you need vitamin D. You need vitamin C. Ummm, I forget what else . . . Zinc, thank you—A to Z. So we take our supplements

But 2 Peter 1 gives us seven supplements, “supplement your faith,” that will help you stay grounded and maintain spiritual health. So you want to know what those are? If I were to tell you, “I’ve got seven things if you take them you will always be physical healthy,” we could sell a lot of that here.

But I’m going to give you from God’s Word right here seven spiritual vitamins, seven spiritual supplements.

Verse 5: “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith”—to add to your faith. What are those supplements?

1. Goodness, (or some of your translations: Virtue).
2. Then supplement goodness with knowledge.
3.  Knowledge with self-control.
4.  Self-control with endurance.
5.  Endurance with godliness.
6.  Godliness with brotherly affection.
7.  Brotherly affection with love. (see vv. 5–7)

So Peter is saying, in light of all God has done for you, be intentional about spiritual growth. Add these seven qualities and graces to your faith.

Now, you’ve got to start with faith—faith in Christ, faith in the gospel. This is foundational. This undergirds the whole structure of your Christian life. It’s the starting place. You can’t go on and add these supplements if you haven’t started with the foundational faith.

But faith in Christ, faith in the gospel is only the starting place. It’s the foundation. You don’t ever leave it, but you’ve got to build on it. You have to go on and build the house and the structure on that foundation.

“Add to your faith.” “Make every effort.” So each of these seven qualities is built on the other. That’s why it says, “add to your faith (supplement your faith) with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control,” etc. They’re like floors of a building. You can’t build the top floor if you haven’t built the lower floors. And you don’t want to try and build the lower floors if you don’t have that foundation of faith.

So let’s take the remaining moments we have to explore these seven graces that the apostle Peter tells us to add to our faith.

So what’s the first one? “Add to your faith (supplement your faith) with goodness (or virtue, depending on your translation).”

This is moral excellence and moral energy. Now, goodness (or virtue). Virtue, what an old-fashioned word. To some it may sound boring. Like, “Yes, I know that. Yes, whatever.” But in Scripture, this word goodness, virtue, describes something that is strong. It is dynamic. It is full of energy. It’s like spiritual muscle. It’s the energy or the strength to live a life that is pleasing to God.

In verse 3 we read that God had called us by His own glory and goodness. He has goodness. And now He urges us to put on goodness, virtue, to reflect His excellent character, to add His moral excellence to the faith that He has given us.

So a few kinds of questions we could ask ourselves:

• Do you have a heart and an appetite for things that are excellent, good, and pure?
• Do you have an energetic, vigorous faith? Or are you relying on other people’s spiritual muscles to carry you?
• Is your faith active and alive and growing?
• Are you fulfilling your creative purpose?
• How well does your life reflect the goodness, the character, the virtue, the nature of God?

Then he says, “Add to goodness (supplement that) with knowledge.” Moral discernment, the ability to discern right from wrong. In order to stay grounded, we need wisdom to know how to live out our faith in real-life-every-day circumstances. This comes from the diligent study of God’s Word.

I hope you never leave a Revive Our Hearts podcast or episode or blog post or conference or session without being challenged to get into this Book and get this Book into you. That’s where this knowledge comes from.

But it’s not just knowing it academically. It’s letting God’s Word show us how to act in a wise and godly way in each circumstance and situation of life.

Adding knowledge to our faith will give us the ability to use His Word to minister to our own needs, our own problems, and to the needs of others.

• Are you growing in your knowledge of God’s Word?
• Do you actively apply the Word of God to your life circumstances?
• Do you find yourself using the Word to minister to others?

Add to your faith goodness (supplement it with goodness). Add to goodness, knowledge, and then add to knowledge—what’s the next one? Self-control. Mastery over self. He’s saying instead of living excessively or intemperately, letting your emotions control you or your passions control you, he’s saying, “Remain under the Spirit’s control in every area of your life.” He will empower us to say “no” to our flesh and, “Yes, Lord. Si, Señor.”

We’re not talking here self-control about sheer human effort or will power, but about drawing on the supernatural power of the Spirit to control our natural passions and drives and desires.

So let me ask you:

• Is there any area of your life where you habitually give in to sinful or fleshly desires and passions?
• Do you exercise self-control with your tongue?
• Do you exercise self-control with your moods?
• Do you exercise self-control with your emotions?
• Do you exercise self-control with your time?
• Do you exercise self-control with your spending?
• Do you exercise self-control with your sexuality? 

Have you been mastered in each of these areas? Are you being mastered in each of these areas by Christ?

Add to self-control—here’s another supplement—endurance. Or some translations say steadfastness. This means staying power, perseverance. The steadfast person doesn’t crater under stressful circumstances, doesn’t give up when faced with trials. The steadfast person cannot be strayed from confidence and hope in God.

’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to take Him at His Word;
Just to lean upon His promise;
Just to know, “Thus says the Lord.”

That’s steadfastness. That’s endurance.

Now, one of the ways we develop endurance is by going through trials. Steadfastness is not just passively surviving our difficulties but actively overcoming them, by responding to them with faith, gratitude, and joy. How do we do that? By keeping our eyes on Jesus who steadfastly persevered, endured the cross for us.

What trials are you experiencing at this time? Are you enduring them steadfastly? We’ve seen some beautiful examples of that this weekend.

Or have you grown weary and fainthearted?

Do you keep trusting, loving, and obeying God even when His choices for your life are not what you would choose?

Okay, number five, add to your endurance godliness. Godliness is a God-centered life, an attitude of reverence, devotion towards God, a desire to please Him in every area of our lives to orient our whole life around Him.

Paul says in 1 Timothy chapter 4, “Train yourself in godliness [work out in the godliness gym], for the training of the body has limited benefit” (vv. 7–8). My dad used to tell us, “It doesn’t say it has no benefit. It has some benefit.” “But godliness is beneficial in every way since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come” (v. 8).

Godliness has a price. Training, working out, sweating . . . it’s hard. But it doesn’t just have a price. It also has a promise. It’s valuable both in this life and in the life to come.

Now, godliness doesn’t just happen magically or by some mystical experience. You pay money, you come to a conference like this and think, I’m going to go home, and I’m going to be godly.

Listen, if you don’t exercise physically, if you don’t develop physical muscles, you’ll become weak and flabby. Some of us could give testimony to that. But we’re going to be spiritually flabby if we don’t develop spiritual muscles through consistent, purposeful training in godliness.

So, here’s some questions:

• Is your heart inclined toward God and toward what He loves?
• Is the essential inclination and orientation of your life God-ward or self-ward, self-centered?
• And what are you doing to train for godliness?

Many of you if I were to ask you, “What are you doing to train physically?” you could tell me how many reps you do of this or that. You go to the gym; you take this class, that class, you stretch. Whatever you can do at your age. You’re saying, “I’m doing something.”

What are you doing to train for godliness?

Number six: Add to godliness brotherly affection—devotion to our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Listen, godliness is not an end in itself. “Oh, now I’m godly. I’ve arrived.” He’s saying, “Supplement godliness with brotherly affection.” Godliness is to be lived out in our relationships with God and others. Brotherly affection—to be fond of our brethren, genuinely care about other believers. As we experience the love of God, we are to become those who express His love to those around us.

This kind of friendship Peter’s talking about here creates a climate in the Body of Christ where people feel safe enough to get honest with each other about their spiritual needs, struggles, and failures.

I really believe if there were more true friendships, brotherly/sisterly affection between believers, there would also be more victory over sin. We need each other. But don’t wait for others to show you brotherly affection. Give that kind of concern and friendship to others. And as you do, you will see that God uses them in your life.

So a few questions here:

• Do you genuinely care for the people of God?
• Are you cultivating warm, healthy friendships with other believers?
• Are you kind to and considerate of your fellow believers?
• Do you assume the best of them?
• Do you look for ways to encourage and bless them?
• Do you look for opportunities to minister to their needs?
• Or is your focus on getting people to help you, to bless you, to benefit you?

Now, we all need help. But as we enrich others, we’ll be enriched.

And then, what are we to add to this house we’re building on the foundation of faith? What are we to add to brotherly affection? Love. Love—self-less, sacrificial concern for God and others.

This kind of others-centered love, God’s love, is the fruit of diligently adding all these other qualities to your faith. Your growth in the Christian life isn’t so that you can be an amazing Christian. It’s so you can become more loving, more like Jesus.

• Is your life characterized with genuine love?
• Do you seek the interests of God and others above your own?

Let me just say a little parenthesis here: It’s one thing to love the woman who’s sitting next to you when we’re singing these wonderful songs. You say, “Oh, I love these women!” The real test is in the four walls of your home. It’s with the hardest person in your family. It’s with that child for whom no textbook was written. It’s with that hard, contentious person in your workplace. It’s with that neighbor who is a big pain. Do you love? Are you filled with the love of God?

“Make every effort to supplement (to add to) your faith.” Peter goes on to say in verse 8 of chapter 1: “For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure . . .” Some of your translations say, “If these qualities are abounding in you.”

These qualities—which qualities? All these seven qualities that you’re to add to your faith. v, increasing measure, growing in grace, super-abounding, overflowing. Listen, you can’t just stand still and tread water spiritually.

Are you making progress in these qualities? Are you growing in them? Are you progressing in them? Are you abounding in them? Listen, the joy of the Christian life is that you never stand still. You never get bored. You never arrive until we see Jesus face to face.

So in verses 8 through 11, Peter talks about the motivation. Why should we be intentional about spiritual growth? Peter tells us the blessings and the benefits that we will experience if we are progressing in these qualities. He also warns us about some consequences that we will experience if we are not growing in these qualities.

Verse 8: “For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

If you are growing in these qualities, adding to your faith, making every effort based on what God has done for you, you will be spiritually fruitful.

You may be in a nursing home—think of Corrie ten Boom. She had a stroke, and for the last five years of her life, she could not say a word. But God used that woman to be fruitful in the last five silent years of her life.

You can be fruitful in every season if you are progressing spiritually, if you are growing, if you are diligently adding to your faith, your life will be useful and fruitful. But if you aren’t, you will become ineffective and unfruitful. You will idle out spiritually. So if you possess these qualities and you’re growing in them, you will be spiritually fruitful.

Number two: You will have clear spiritual vision. Verse 9: “The person who lacks these things is blind and shortsighted.” (Some of your translations say nearsighted.)

If you lack these qualities, you will have a great close-up view of what is earthly and temporal, but you’ll barely be able to see things that are heavenly and eternal. You’ll be shortsighted. But if you cultivate these graces, and you keep cultivating them, you will be able to see the things that matter most in time and eternity. You’ll have clear spiritual vision.

Number three: You will have assurance of your salvation. Verse 9: “The person who lacks these things is blind and shortsighted and has forgotten the cleansing from his past sins.”

This person is spiritually nearsighted. He’s blind. He forgets that he was cleansed from his former sins. This was one of the biggest reasons people doubt their salvation. Now, there are multiple reasons.

Sometimes people doubt their salvation because they don’t have salvation. They never placed their trust in Christ. They’ve never repented and turned to Him and been planted in Christ.

But sometimes people are actually in Christ but they aren’t growing. They aren’t being intentional about growing in their faith. They lack these qualities. They forget the cleansing from their past sins.

That doesn’t mean you haven’t been cleansed from your past sins. But if you lack these qualities, you will have doubts about God’s forgiveness. If you are progressing in these graces, you can be assured that you are, in fact, a child of God.

Verse 10: “Therefore, brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election, because if you do these things, you will never stumble.” Some of your translations say, “You will never fall.” So here’s the fourth benefit: You will never fall.

The first one: You will be spiritually fruitful.

Number two: You will have clear spiritual vision.

Number three: You will have assurance of your salvation.

And number four: You will never fall. What an amazing promise this is!

Every time someone falls into doctrinal error or sin as a pattern of life, you can be sure it’s because they have not been diligently cultivating their faith, pursuing spiritual growth, actively, all the time. You’re never on vacation spiritually. Pursuing spiritual growth protects you from wrong doctrine and wrong living.

That doesn’t mean you will never sin, but it does mean you will persevere to the end, held and sustained by His grace. It doesn’t mean you’ll never trip. It doesn’t mean you’ll never be tempted. But you won’t go down and out. You’ll never fall.

Verse 11: “For in this way [one more benefit] entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you.”

One translation says, “You will receive a rich welcome.” Welcome where? Welcome into the presence of Christ. At the end of your life, whether you’re young or old, however it comes that you move from this life into the next, you will receive a rich welcome in heaven.

Now this verse, as with some others, suggests that some may have a more lavish entrance into heaven than others. Scripture indicates that there are degrees of rewards for believers in heaven. There’s a lot of mystery to that. I can’t tell you much more than that. But the Scripture challenges us to live each day here on earth in the light of eternity rather than for the immediate moment. During our days here on earth, however many or few they may be, we’re not just marking days, weeks, years off the calendar. We are making decisions that will affect us forever.

How serious are you about becoming a grounded woman of God? Let me assure you that you will never drift into spiritual maturity. Coming to conferences like this may be a way to jump start the process. It may encourage you in the process. But it’s not going to do it for you.

Each one of these speakers, myself included, has spent hours and hours and hours soaking in the Word, letting it speak to us, trying to mine its depths. We’re the ones who are the richest as a result of that exercise, that labor. It’s a labor of love.

Paul said in Colossians, “We struggle for you.” And we’ve done that. But I’m calling you to roll up your sleeves and struggle—in a good sense—to do the hard work, the labor, the birthing of the growing relationship with Christ. It won’t just happen. You have to be diligent.

Turn to chapter 3 of 2 Peter, verse 17. Here’s the warning: “Therefore, dear friends, be on your guard.” Paul had this same phrase in Colossians: “Be on your guard; be aware; beware.” Be on your guard about what? “So that you are not led away with the error of lawless people and fall from your own stable position.”

Now, Peter just said you won’t ever fall if you’re growing in these qualities. But now he says “Beware lest you fall.” That’s a warning. “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Listen, if you’re not growing, you will be carried away with error. You will lose your spiritual footing. You will fall. And not only will your life be damaged, but the lives of others around you will be impacted because they saw you claiming to be a Christian, claiming to love Jesus, and then they see you living in a way that is not obedient to God’s Word.

The wreckage, the carnage is horrific. That’s why we look to Christ. We lean into His grace. We say, “Lord, give me grace, and by the power of Your Holy Spirit, may I labor, work, be earnest, make every effort to add to my faith.”

We have to keep growing in the knowledge and grace of Christ. We never let down our guard. For how long? Until you’re eighty? No. Until you’re with Jesus, fully sanctified.

Rick Hansen was a paraplegic athlete in Canada. In 1985 he left Vancouver, British Columbia on a two-year, 25,000-mile trip around the world on his wheelchair to raise funds for spinal cord research. It was a grueling trip. He went through thirty-four countries on four continents. He faced all kinds of extreme weather—heat, rain, blizzards, windstorms. He made his way through deserts, forests, and mountains. Mile after mile after mile. Incredible weariness. Indescribable wear and tear on his body.

Finally, on May 23 1987, he returned to Vancouver. While he was still miles outside the city, people gathered along both sides of the highway to welcome him. As he got closer to the city, the crowd grew until there were thousands and thousands of people. They were cheering. They were applauding. They were throwing flowers.

And then Rick wheeled his chair up one final steep hill and headed towards the stadium where his two-year journey, 25,000-mile journey in a wheelchair to the stadium, where that journey would end.

Mark Buchanan describes the scene in his book called, Things Unseen. He says, 

A capacity crowd of 60,000 people, national and international dignitaries, rock stars, movie stars, television crews, family, friends, those lucky enough to get tickets waited inside, delirious with anticipation.

As Rick got nearer the stadium, the streets grew impossibly dense with people. Helicopters hovered overhead. Police in cars and on motorcycles flanked his side. Other wheelchair athletes joined him, coming up behind like a legion of charioteers.

As Rick came over the Candy Street Bridge, he could hear even above the din of the crowd around him, the roar of voices coming from inside the stadium. But not even that prepared him for what happened next.

Rick Hansen entered the stadium. He swooped through the wide lower gates and glided out onto the stadium floor, and 60,000 people went bezerk, leeping, dancing, blowing horns, exploding with applause, shouts of welcome and triumph, a roar to deafen, open the ears of the deaf, to raise the dead. And every time it seemed about to taper off, a fresh wind caught it and carried it higher, louder, brighter, fuller. Such a great cloud of witnesses.

We’re on a long, hard journey. We live in a world that is shaking. So I want to call to you, appeal to you: Be diligent. Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And as our theme verse says, Colossians 1:23, “Continue in the faith, stable and steadfast (grounded) not shifting from the hope of the gospel.”

For in this way, [Peter says] entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you. (v. 11)

Oh, Lord, how we long for that rich welcome into the presence of Jesus. He is the cornerstone of our lives. Our faith, our hope is in Him. We bear His righteousness alone. And it’s through Your grace and the power of Your Holy Spirit that we leave from this place to press on, to stay grounded in the hope that has been so richly given to us that one day we may hear the cheers and join that throng, that is not praising us, but praising and worshipping the One seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, to whom be all glory and praise, dominion and power forever and ever, amen.