Perseverance, Character, Hope
So many people in the world are without hope. We often go through life just living day-to-day, looking for our next fix just to get through the day, week, year, etc. While we simply try to survive, we do not get anywhere in life. This routine does have one advantage, it is relatively easy, but it is extremely dissatisfying. One thing everyone needs to survive is hope; the way we get hope is through trials.
1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
– Romans 5:1-5 NKJV
Paul starts this section by reminding us of the assurance of our salvation through our faith in Jesus Christ. With that in mind, when trials come our way, we rejoice know that God is allowing it to happen to work in us perseverance, character, and hope. The pinnacle of this progression is hope.
We have the assurance that this life is not all there is; something much better awaits us who are in Christ. One day will be in heaven and behold Jesus face-to-face for all eternity. Paul assures us we will not be disappointed. One way to tell how spiritually mature a Christian is, is to see how much hope they have. The more hope we have, the less likely we are to allow the things of this world bring us down.
Raising Up Leaders
God is continuing to raise up leaders in the ministry. Last month, we had a close friend move to the San Angelo area from Arizona and a couple men were sent out here from California. There are also some other men praying about coming out here to serve alongside us as well. God is not done with us yet; we believe that He is going to continue grow and use our ministry to raise up even more men to serve the Body of Christ. We hold to the conviction that all men are called to be leaders, whether it is in the church, in the community, or in their own homes. Please continue to watch and pray with us as we wait to see what the Lord is going to do with the ministry of U-Turn For Christ Texas!
Tractor Restoration
A few years ago, we were given an old International 424 tractor to use around the ranch. For several months, we have been trying to trace down all the issues it has and keep it running. A few weeks ago, we discovered that it has a major oil leak and needed to be rebuilt. Once we tore it all down, we learned that the block itself is damaged due to overheating. Fortunately, we were able to find and order a new block online that was a perfect match for what we needed. In the coming weeks, we will be replacing the block and rebuilding the engine.
The world tries to tell us that we are not that bad off, or that people are basically good and society is what make us bad. So, when many people come to God, they expect Him to change a few things, perform a few repairs, and let them keep living their lives. But, that is not how it works. Our hearts apart from Christ are completely sinful and wicked. There is no hope of saving any remnants of our past lives if we really want God to have his way in us.
That is why when we come to Christ, He gives us a new heart and a new nature. We are new creations, Paul declares! Our old nature dies, and He gives us a completely new nature. What a blessing it is to know that our past sins no longer have any power over us.
Once we replace the tractor block and build the new engine, prayerfully, we will not have to worry about any of the issues we had in the past. We look forward to being able to use the tractor to help maintain our ranch and bless those in our community who need larger fields mowed down.