With fervor, the young lady scrubbed the dirty dinner pot. She was growing frustrated with the seemingly enormous stack of dishes that awaited her attention, for she wanted to finish a sewing project after kitchen duties were completed. Her siblings had vanished after the meal was over, leaving her alone to clean up. Sharon inwardly grumbled in self-pity, when her thoughts were shocked to silence when her mom walked in the kitchen with a sober face. Her announcement was startling.

​While I am grateful for this opportunity to praise the Lord for saving me, I am pondering how to fit a collection of thoughts, feelings, and lessons into one tiny article! The more I grow in Him, the more obvious His mercy becomes to me, and I am eternally thankful for His love and mercy. Every day the Lord grows and teaches me. Salvation is only the beginning of our journey with Him!

​“But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the
work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”
—I Corinthians 15:57–58
 
“Change and decay in all around I see. O, Thou Who changest not, abide with me.”

I love that line of the precious hymn, “Abide with Me,” because it reminds me that in the midst of disastrous compromise and heart-wrenching sin in the world—or even in the lives of fellow believers who have strayed from the Lord—my God does not change! He is from everlasting to everlasting, the same yesterday, today, and forever!

Have you ever noticed disheartening compromise in a fellow believer? The direction of the world is enough to discourage anyone, but what is especially grieving is to watch Christians—formerly strong Christians—cave under pressure. We are to be set apart—called out—for God’s work. We have a strong arm to lean on, and rebellion to the Lord’s ways should not occur in our lives. Our family has been heart-broken in observing others collapse under pressure from the world. Recently, the Lord revealed Scriptures and thoughts that I wanted to share in hopes that it will be an encouragement as you endeavor to live strong in the Lord all your days. After all, glorifying Him is our life-long purpose as Christians!