What's Coming is Better Than What's Been.

Be Encouraged, you're growing. Growing Up Involves Growing Pains! Are you striving to become more like Jesus, but some days it feels like two steps forward and three back?  Think about it: You don’t notice yourself growing older PHYSICALLY until you look at an earlier photo, and then it hits you! You wonder “when did all of those changes take place?” And it’s the same with SPIRITUAL growth; it’s hard to gauge how far you’ve come until you look back and see where you were BEFORE Jesus saved you and turned your life around!  

You look back and remember when you didn’t know a Scripture by heart, when you didn’t know what to say in prayer, when you thought you’d die of starvation from the first time you fasted, or when you use to skip over the names and places in the Old Testament because they were too hard to pronounce (ok…so some of us, no names mentioned, are still doing just a tad bit of skipping…lol) However, you can now at least quote Psalm 23; you can now pray longer than 60 seconds; you don’t faint at the thought of fasting, and you may at least sound out a word or two more from the Old Testament! I’m sure that made you smile, but seriously, you are growing and you are maturing! It simply takes time and truth is, you are further along today than you were yesterday! So learn how to enjoy small, daily victories!

Growing Up Involves Growing Pains! Likewise, you still have some more bumpy roads ahead of you. And certainly you will fall quite a few times, and quite a few floors, but where you are right now, remind yourself, “So Far, So Good!” Never forget that you’re on a spiritual journey, you’re making progress, and that the devil will always look for ways to remind you how far you still have to go! DON’T LISTEN TO HIM! Simply Remember the Words of Jesus: “…He has always been a murderer and a LIAR. THERE IS NOTHING TRUTHFUL ABOUT HIM…EVERYTHING HE SAYS IS A LIE. NOT ONLY IS HE A LIAR HIMSELF, BUT HE IS ALSO THE FATHER OF ALL LIES” (John 8:44 CEV).

Always Remember: If you get discouraged and give up, SATAN WINS! AND SURELY YOU DON’T WANT THAT!  Spiritually speaking, you’re probably not as far up the road as you’d like to be – HOWEVER, THANK GOD YOU’RE STILL ON THE ROAD!

Blessings

J.P. Olson