Well, good morning. It’s good to be with you.

We’ll be in Philippians chapter 2.

Philippians chapter 2, verses 12 through 18, this morning.

Philippians 2, 12 through 18.

And here’s what Paul writes to the Philippians. He says,

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence, but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you. Both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent. Children of God, without blemish, in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world. Holding fast to the word of life. So in the day of Christ, I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice, or as an official offering of your faith, I’m glad. And I rejoice with you all. Likewise, you also should be glad and rejoice with me. Sometimes kids say the funniest things. Sometimes they don’t say the funniest things. But sometimes they do say the funniest things. And Darcy and Dawson, we were in the car yesterday. And Darcy looks up and she says, Did they walk everywhere if they had cars? And I said, Well, no. Before we had cars, people would ride horses. And she said, Well, were there streetlights? And I said, Well, no. I guess not always. Did they run into each other? I said, Well, there were policemen, I guess. Well, do they have horses? Well, yeah, I guess they have horses too. And so she’s asking all these really funny questions. Things that I just take for granted. We do drive in cars and we do have electricity. And it’s a reminder that the way we live our lives. So I’ll tell you. Listen, it’s shaped by the things that people do. It’s shaped by inventions. It’s shaped by technologies. And we just kind of accept those as how we live. I don’t think about how a car works. I don’t know how a car works. I’m glad they work. But I just hit the pedal and it goes. But you think about Henry Ford and the automobile. You think about Tom Edison. You think about even Bill Gates. You know, Apple computers. You think about these ways that our lives have been very much so changed because of inventions. And technologies. And people who have changed the way that we live our life in a temporal material sense. But Paul is writing the Philippians because here’s what he believes. He believes that the church is responsible for being an agent of change. Not in a temporal physical material sense. He believes that the church should be an agent of spiritual change. Not in how we live our life but in who we are. That’s Paul’s concern. Paul is very much so a spiritual father writing to spiritual children. And He wants to remind them, you are to be agents of change in a very drastic sense. The church is not to exist and do little things. It’s not to be invisible. The church is to be a very real force for heaven. And we are to drastically change the world for, to use Matthew’s language, as we’ve been in Matthew’s gospel for the kingdom of heaven, to use John’s language last week in John’s epistle, for the truth, the truth. So that’s why Paul’s writing. How do we, in the world in which we live, bring the drastic change we’re supposed to bring as followers of Jesus and as the church? So he says, Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence, but much more in my absence. So Paul’s writing and he says, Therefore. So whenever there’s a therefore, you always have to ask, what’s it there for? Something has happened previously. And because something has happened previously, it means this thing can now happen. And here’s what Paul’s been saying in Philippians. He’s been saying, consider Christ. Consider His humility. Consider how though He was in the form of God, He became a servant. He died. So this Christ, He accomplished salvation for you. Therefore, because He accomplished this salvation for you, my beloved, those whom I cherish, those whom I love, I’m calling you to obey. And not obey and grow up in this Christ as I saw you do it when I could be around. Paul says, here’s what’s really important for you. What’s important for you is that you progress in this faith. You grow up in Jesus in my absence. Paul says, much more, that’s what matters. And that’s just a fact and reality of life. We can’t always have… We can’t always have our parents around to watch us, to tell us what to do. At some point, we’ve got to grow up. Darcy and I have this deal that she’s going to live upstairs forever and never get married and be a little girl. I don’t expect her to uphold that deal, but I like to pretend that it’s going to be that way forever. But sometimes she’s going to grow up. And she’s going to have to go out in the world and make the decision, I’m going to reflect the upbringing of my parents or I’m not. And maybe you’ve got good parents. You didn’t have good parents. You’ve got to make that decision when you grow up. I’m going to look like her. I’m not going to look like the… I’m not going to look like the values that my parents instilled in me. But again, Paul’s talking on a spiritual level. He’s talking to his spiritual children. He’s saying, you have been wonderful children. You have grown up in the faith. I’ve watched you and I love you. But here’s what you’re going to have to do. And I can’t do it for you. Maybe Paul wants to do it for them. Maybe they want Paul to do it for them in a big way. But Paul says, here’s what you’ve got to do. You’ve got to take ownership and you have to work out your own salvation with fear. And trembling. It’s something you’re going to have to work to bring about. Paul absolutely could not do it for them. So it’s a big deal. So Paul’s telling them, hey, here’s how you’re going to be a change maker in the world. The first thing Paul’s writing to say is you’re going to have to live with a great fear. You’re going to have to live with a great fear. And I want to clarify what the Scriptures mean when they talk about fear. Paul’s saying work out your salvation that you’ve been given in Christ with fear and trembling. He’s not saying… You should be very afraid and you should be a coward and you should roam around with this weakness and anxiety and make God’s out to get you and He’s going to harm you and He’s going to destroy you. That’s not the kind of fear here. The fear here is much more akin to the fear that the psalmist talks about of recognizing God positionally. So God is positionally in authority over the heavens, over the earth. He is the grand majesty. He is the king. He’s before authority. He’s after all things. He’s after all things. He is now reigning and He will forever be. So there’s a very, very deep reverence in all to recognize God’s place as the authority over every living thing. But secondly, in this fear and trembling, you have to attach to it an understanding of what God is capable of. And this Greek word fear is the very same word that is used in Acts chapter 5. And in Acts chapter 5, Ananias and Sapphira, they come to the apostle Peter. And they’re giving the proceeds from all their land that they sold. Here’s all the proceeds, our land. We’re going to give it to the church. Yet it wasn’t. They held some of the money back. And they thought Peter didn’t know. So when they come to give all these proceeds, the Spirit of God strikes them dead for lying about how much they were giving to the church. And it says a great fear came on the people.

So a knowledge of God then in fear and trembling is a knowledge of His power and His might. And how ready. How ready God stands to act against those who don’t take His holiness and His righteousness serious. So it’s not a light thing. And Paul wants to make sure, unless anybody would think it, just because you’ve received this salvation in Christ, that’s not a license to take God’s holiness and righteousness lightly. In fact, having received this salvation is every reason for us to have a heightened sense of this God before whom we should fear and tremble. Because having come to Christ, we know, hold on, this is the God over all. This is the God to whom every living thing will give an account. This is the God who acts against those who take His righteousness and His holiness lightly. So when we come to God as saved people, as those who have received salvation, we fear and we tremble because our salvation reminds us of this, friends. God gave us a very precious possession. God gave us His Son. God gave us the most valuable thing He could have given to us. So God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, they don’t need you and me. They’re sufficient. They’re in harmony among themselves. Yet, God did this incredible thing. He sent His perfect, beloved Son to die on a cross, not for those who deserved it, not for the friends of God, but for, for all in humanity, for those who don’t deserve to know God in love, who deserve to know the fear of God in a way that is as a threat of an enemy. Yet, God has not done this. God has been gracious to execute wrath, not on the guilty party, but He poured out judgment on His Son. And not any son. The Father’s one and only Son. So it’s with fear and trembling that I’m receiving this salvation that’s been accomplished for me. God, you would give this thing to me? I would deeply adore it. There’s no other God that would do that. I would walk lightly before Him, realizing I have no business being around Him. I have no business knowing that the blood of His Son was spilled for me. This God, this Jesus is precious. This God, this Jesus is dear for saving me. But in receiving that salvation, here’s what God expects of us. That we work it out. In other words, we grow up in it. We progress in it. God demands holiness from our lives. So being a savior, being a saved person doesn’t mean I squander or I think lightly of it. It means I live in light of that salvation if I’ve received it. And this is why the Hebrew writer says, strive to enter that rest. Strive to enter that rest. So I think usually a telltale sign that someone doesn’t fully understand the gospel, you don’t really understand grace, is you think salvation is some license, it’s some fireproof wall from you ever seeing consequences for what you do wrong. Like, well, you know, I’m saved. And so the way that I talk and the way that I act and the things that I do, hey, Jesus died for me on the cross. It’s not a big deal. Jesus is not your license to sin. Jesus is your realization of judgment coming on those who do sin. And it’s going to move you to, if you’ve received that salvation, to desire to walk in holiness. It’s the word sanctification. And it’s a process. It doesn’t happen in one moment’s time. It’s a process by which I labor and I strive with all that I am to obey this holy word. To obey this holy, righteous God as He works in me, the person of Christ, more and more. Elizabeth Elliot, the late missionary, she says this, and I think there’s so much wisdom in what she’s saying. She says, One does not surrender a life in an instant. That which is lifelong can only be surrendered in a lifetime. One does not surrender a life in an instant. That which is lifelong can only be surrendered in a lifetime. Time. So being a saved, person, it’s not something I think about here or there. It’s not something I work on here or there. It’s an all or nothing thing. Lord, I’m committed to the long haul. Long term. You’ve put me in your Son, Jesus. Now I want to live out that life. I want to please you. I want to bring you pleasure by how holy my life is. I want to live for your glory. I want to be consecrated. I want to be set apart. You say, well, that’s like a daunting task. Who can do that? Nobody can do that. And Paul knows that nobody can do that. So he says this amazing thing right after. He says, For it is God who works in you, both to will and work for His good pleasure. So in no part in Paul telling us you’ve got to work out your salvation, would he make the argument you have to merit it. Rather, he is saying, be so sure that God is the one who started it and completed it, but be also sure He’s the one who’s going to work within you to enable you to live a holy, righteous life. It’s like his readers would have known, I can’t take responsibility for this. There’s no way I could do this. And God’s not calling us to merit it. God’s calling us in the power He’s already given us in the Spirit to live out the life He’s called us to live in the power of His Spirit to look like, to grow up in His Son, Jesus. So in the end, it is only God who gets the glory, not you and not me. And I take Saul, King Saul from the Old Testament, to very much so be an antithesis of what we’re talking about here. 1 Samuel chapter 15 it says this, Saul said to Samuel, I’ve sinned, for I’ve transgressed the commandment of the Lord in your words because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me that I may bow before the Lord. But Samuel would not return with him and as he goes away, Saul reaches out to grab Samuel and he rips the hem of his robe and Samuel says, as you’ve torn my robe so Israel will be torn from you. And you say, well, why couldn’t he have repented and why wasn’t it okay? Because Saul wasn’t repenting. Saul was playing the game. He was trying to do PR. He was keeping up his look to the people because just soon after this, you know what Saul does? Sin against God. He time and time and time again breaks God’s commandments. He lives a wicked life. Saul’s repentance was not genuine because obedience was not a fruit of his life. And Samuel knows that and God cannot be fooled. God sees the heart. So I think the question for you now this morning is this, is there a zeal for obedience and holiness? I think that’s how we could say what it means to fear and tremble before God. I have a zeal to obey this God and be holy as He is holy. And I think part of being a good preacher is being a broken record. And so I’m going to have to keep saying it, friends. We have got to be people of the Word. We’ve got to be, as I’ve been saying it, Word-saturated. Because if I don’t know God in the Word, I’m not growing in my knowledge of who this God is, which means I don’t know what it looks like to obey Him, and I’m not sure what the Spirit’s supposed to be doing in me. But I look here and I say, this is what I’m supposed to look like. This Jesus, this holiness, this commandment. I’ve got to be hungry and I’ve got to be thirsty for this so I can fear. And tremble this God and grow up in my salvation. I’ve got to do that.

And I think on the flip side of this, and I always feel like I have to put up this, like, hey, I promise I’m not a legalist. Like, I promise I’m not a legalist. But I think we’ve got to be honest with the times in which we live. We live in an entertainment culture. And it is so easy, literally, it is in your pocket right now to pull out your smartphone and listen to whoever, watch whatever, and culture’s dark and culture’s sinful. And what people sing about and movies that are made and things that people talk about on social media, they’re not helping you fear and tremble before God. So I would say to you, do you with a fine tooth comb sift everything that you let in your soul? Because it’s going to have a bearing upon how you do or you don’t live in fear and tremble before your God, whom you will give account to. So I’m not trying to preach immoralism and life is black and white. It’s not black and white. I understand that. But I believe fear and trembling means you are careful about what you put into your eyes and your ears and what and who you allow to influence you. We are to be an other world people. So friends, we cannot go about life as though we have not been shown this great God of holiness and righteousness. We are to look like Him.

How do I drastically change the world? Paul says you’ve got to live with a great fear of God. Secondly, he says you’ve got to live with great trust. Look at verse 14 in chapter 2.

Paul says, do all things without grumbling or disputing that you may be blameless and innocent children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation among whom you shine as lights in the world holding fast to the word of life so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. So Paul using this word grumble is significant for him as a Jew and it’s significant for any Jewish hearers he has because it’s reminiscent of a painful episode in the Old Testament. If you want to look at it with me in Numbers 14 in Numbers chapter 14 verse 26 it says, And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron saying, How long shall this wicked congregation there it is, grumble against me? I’ve heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me. Say to them as I live declares the Lord what you have said in my hearing I will do to you. Your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness and of all your numbered listen to census from 20 years old and upward who have grumbled against me, not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. But your little ones who you said would become prey, I will bring in and they shall know the land that you have rejected. But as for you your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness and your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. Those are serious words. Those are painful words. Those were irrevocable words. God said I’m not changing my mind on this. God up to this point had shown himself to be so faithful to be so trustworthy by the power of his hand he did all the plagues, he split the red sea, he dropped bread from heaven down, water from a rock what else could God have done to say to these people no matter your circumstance, no matter how grim it is, whatever I’m asking you to walk through, I am going to be, not like kind of assortive or maybe, but I’m going to be your provision and it is going to be ample. God has made that so plain to these people. Yet they said no we don’t take you to be trustworthy. We don’t take you to be a God of provision. And so God’s anger rightly so it burned against these Israelites white hot. He was ready to mightily use them. He was ready to show them his glory. He was ready to pour out blessing. He was ready to draw them in closer just as Jesus said in Matthew’s gospel, I wanted to draw you in as hens under my wing, but Israel you constantly reject to me. So they didn’t have great trust they had great doubt and see what it is that they said that led God to say what he did earlier in Numbers in chapter 14 verse 2 it says, and all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, would that we had died in the land of Egypt. Or would that we had died in this wilderness. Why has the Lord bring us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones would become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt? And they said to one another, let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt. How much more could you spit in God’s face? And God was going to annihilate them. He said, alright Moses, I’m wiping them out. I’m starting over with you. And not only because Moses, pleaded with God, did he not do it. God didn’t disown them, but God was done with them. Not because God isn’t kind or merciful or forgiving, but because they didn’t want God’s mercy and kindness and forgiveness. They didn’t want God. They demanded he leave them alone. So God did what they wanted. God left them alone. Though he would have been as a father to them. And friends, here’s what we have to understand. The lives that God calls us to lead can only be lived out with great trust. And those are painful words. Oftentimes, oftentimes, what God asks of us, it’s going to seem irrational. It’s going to seem unfair. It’s going to seem unreasonable. It’s going to be painful. Other people are going to go, I don’t know about that. That doesn’t make a whole lot of sense what you’re doing there. But if it is God’s way, is it not the right way? And if it is God’s way, will he not provide for us in the way he calls us to go? So complete and full obedience to God, it requires great trust. And here’s what I can know about myself when I’m unwilling to obey God or I’m only willing to give God partial obedience. I don’t trust God anymore. And when I don’t trust God anymore, it means that I’m living like all the other people on the face of the earth. I’m living by my own hand, trusting my own way. I’m living like Saul as a children of man, not as a child of God. Because Paul says great trust in God, it will render your life pure and innocent and blameless. You look different. You’re going to look different from everyone else around you. And though the steps you take may feel like hell, Paul says, no, it’s always leading you to heaven. It’s leading you towards the great day of Christ. The Christian life that demands to have understanding is no Christian life at all. Friends, we must trust our God that He is a faithful provider. Trust Him in all things that He’s doing a mighty work. We cannot always see for His glory and to draw us closer into who He is. I don’t need to understand what God’s doing. Here’s why. I trust God’s character and I trust God’s heart. And I’ve seen God’s character and I’ve seen God’s heart and how He would send His son Jesus to bleed and die for me. And that is enough to trust the Lord for whatever He would call me to walk through.

In the midst of a corrupt, decaying, fallen world, we shine as lights of God’s truth and God’s righteousness when we obey because we look different. Paul says, what you’re doing is this. You’re holding fast to, like you’re not going to let go this Word of Life. And holding on to this Word of Life who is Christ leading in the way of righteousness, so you’re going to shine. You’re going to look like heaven on earth. And Paul says, I’m going to be so proud of you on the day of Christ to know that I didn’t labor in vain because there you were and you trusted God through thick and thin.

There’s some stories that get told a lot, maybe overtold, but that’s because they’re good stories. And I think about Elizabeth Elliot who I just quoted her story. I think it’s hard not to tell her story when you’re talking about trust because it’s such an incredible story. And if you don’t know her story, she and her husband Jim and a couple other friends, they were missionaries to a hostile Indian territory group and they go and Jim and a couple other guys were murdered by these people. And so what do you do when you’re on the mission field with your children and your husband’s just been martyred by the people you go to reach? I can see myself saying to her, you should come home. You’re going to be able to go around churches and tell your story and get love offerings and you’re going to have a really great life and people want you to speak everywhere. And like, I’m giving this common sense advice to Elizabeth Elliot in my head. I would do this. But she moves in with these people, with her children.

That’s an incredible amount of trust that Lord, you have called me not to find comfort in this life. You’ve called me to obey in this life. And many, many of those Indians came to saving faith in Jesus. So, it’s a testimony. It’s a testament to what it means to walk and trust in the Lord when it’s difficult. And surely it will always be difficult.

And I would say as well, it’s not about how bad it’s going to be. It’s a question of, will you believe God’s faith in whatever it is? Because like, well, I don’t know that the Lord’s ever going to call me to let go. My spouse is going to die. I’m going to have my kids. It doesn’t matter what’s going to happen to you. Your life’s going to happen to you. Will you believe that God is not going to change no matter what God brings you through? That’s the question. And I think we’ve talked about this a little bit before, but I can’t decide in the moment whether or not I’m going to trust God. I’m committed now, like Elizabeth said, it’s lifelong. So, Lord, whatever you bring, whatever you’re doing, I’m going to trust you. It’s going to be hard, and I’m going to want to give up, and I’m going to quit. But God, I know that you’re the God of these scriptures, and I know you’re good, and I’m going to believe, and I’m going to keep walking. That’s how you shine. That’s how you look different. Friends, do we look different?

God has never failed us. God has never failed His people, and He’s not going to start any time soon. Believe that. Believe that.

Verse 17, one more thing Paul says.

He says, even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad, and I rejoice with you all. Likewise, you also should be glad and rejoice with me.

So Paul’s saying, I’m a drink offering, and that’s fine. And the thing about a drink offering is this, you can never just give a drink offering to God. A drink offering always accompanied a grain offering. And you would pour the drink offering out to signify the main thing that you were giving to God. It’s been fully consecrated and offered and sacrificed to the Lord. So you see what Paul’s saying. Paul’s saying, this isn’t about me. This isn’t about me having my name in lights. This isn’t about me having a holiday to myself. This is about me being poured out. If it wouldn’t mean this, you complete the race. You finish the faith. Paul says, my joy is in this. You ran the race. I ran the race. I sacrificed. You sacrificed. And all the while, we were looking towards that great day of Christ when we were there together. Paul doesn’t want to be missionary Paul and Paul who is awesome. He’s not looking for that. Paul says, I just want to be a drink offering. If I’m poured out and it means the completion of your faith, then amen.

And friends, it does press us to ask that question, are we always looking to have rest and peace in this life? And don’t get me wrong. I know we get busy and life’s hard. You have kids and you get tired. But at some point, we’ve got to tune our hearts and our minds with the Spirit and say, this life is to be lived. As what Paul said in Romans, as a living sacrifice. I’m not here to increase my security. I’m not here to have fun and have a good time. Yes, I want to enjoy God’s creation when it’s available. And yes, I want to know God now and enjoy life as much as I can. But this isn’t my permanent home. I am called to be with the church a living sacrifice. So there’s joy for the Christian in this. I’m getting to be used for the gospel. And that’s where we start. I’m getting to be used. I was given this salvation. And God’s saying, I’m letting you let go of what you have that cannot satisfy. And I’m letting you take hold of what will bring you an infinite amount of joy. So I must have joy now in losing. Because in losing, we, like Paul says, we win. We gain everything. And that great joy, it marks, it speaks of an unbreakable hope that we have for the future reality. So a Christian, here’s what I’ve always got to do as a Christian. I’ve got to live in the moment. But I’ve got to look to the future. You know what’s that saying? He’s so heavenly minded, he’s no earthly good. I think that’s ridiculous. I think you’re only as earthly good as you are heavenly minded. So if I’m focused on heaven, I’m going to live in the moment and spirit because my motives, my desires, and my priorities are what they should be. It’s when I live in the moment and look to the moment, what I can get here, how I can be secure here, how I can be comfortable, how I can find the path of least resistance. Paul says it’s the opposite. Paul says I’m content in any situation and Paul’s situations were bad. Real bad.

Stoned to death. Maybe he was actually stoned to death and brought back to life. That’s a different conversation. But he was stoned almost to death. He was starved. He was in prison. He was shipwrecked. He says this is great, isn’t it? I’ve got joy in me because it’s taking me home. It’s taking me home. You know, the very pastoral heart, Paul says, my joy is complete when you get home.

I wonder if we have that kind of joy when we look at one another. Like, man, if I could just be used to help you get home. You know? And we could help one another get home and our joy in this Jesus, it would be complete.

What Paul is telling the Philippians is this. The way that you drastically change the world is by being drastically different from it. You live in fear of a holy, righteous God obeying His ways. You trust this God in every single situation. You don’t trust yourself. And you have joy when you have no good earthly reason to have joy.

And those things, yes, they’re impossible. But here’s what we do as Christians. We look to Jesus because Jesus, He lived in the fear of His Father and Jesus was always holy and righteous. And Jesus, though He’s suffered and though Jesus walked through the most pain any person’s ever walked through in bearing your cross and my cross, Jesus trusted His Father and Jesus for the joy that was set before Him endured that cross, despising its shame. And so Jesus was raised up to be our Lord, our Savior. Jesus, who is the light of the world, calls us in the power of His Spirit to go out and shine that light and make a difference and point everyone else home. Paul says Philippians, don’t stop being those people. Own it. It’s who you are. It’s who you’ve been called to be. Friends, we’re called to drastically change the world by being drastically different from it, from being like imitating, enjoying, loving Jesus. Do we love our Jesus this way? That’s Paul’s encouragement. And that’s my encouragement to us. Let’s not slow down. Let’s look to Jesus and live for Him now. And there’s joy, infinite joy now. And there will be infinite joy beyond what we could know on the day of Christ when Jesus comes back for us.

Let’s pray.

Father, we just bless Your name.

We bless Your name even as we call You Father through Jesus. Lord, let us be reminded that Lord, we have no right to call You Father. That we only know You and we’re loved by You because of the grace and mercy that’s been shown us in Your Son. And that You, Jesus, would, with the same heart and the same love of the Father, come and live and die and be raised up to life so that our sins could be taken away. So that we could be brought back to God. That we could be new creations in You, Lord Jesus.

Help us live in just the truth and reality of that. Father, we must confess that so often we get distracted. So often we find different things to idolize and put on the thrones of our hearts. So often we stop fearing and we stop trusting and we stop suffering for You.

Lord, Lord, in the power of Your Spirit, would You just

give us a holy ambition to live for the name of Jesus.

And just as the old song says, Lord, pray that this world would grow strangely dim.

Lord, Jesus, as we draw close to You and as we become more like You, Lord, we would shine for You. We’d be useful to Your kingdom.

Lord, Lord, Jesus, we need You.

We love You and we don’t love You enough, but we want to love You more. So we just pray You’d be patient with us and bear with us and abide with us and never leave us.

All we can do is just come back to Your feet.

And just plead Your grace, plead Your mercy, plead the blood of Your cross and trust that You are good. And trust that You love us and Your love is never failing and

we can know that You’re both the author and the perfecter of our faith. But, Lord Jesus, You’re with us in the power of the Spirit now, seeing us whole. So, help us to hold on to that truth and to believe in it, Lord.

So, we just bless Your name and we just worship You again in this moment. Amen.