Dear Friends,

"Able to keep you from falling." — Jude 24

In some sense the path to heaven is very safe, but in other respects there is no road so dangerous. It is beset with difficulties. One false step (and how easy it is to take that if grace was absent), and down we go. What a slippery path onto which some of us have to tread! If we were strong, sure-footed mountaineers, this would be a simple journey; but in ourselves, how weak we are! Even on the best roads we can soon falter, even on the smoothest paths we quickly stumble. These feeble knees of ours can scarcely support our weight. A straw may throw us, and a pebble can wound usw. As a grandparent I am again reminded of the steps as a child as they learn to walk. Like my granddaughter we are taking our first steps in the walk of faith, our heavenly Father holds us by the arms or we would fall. Even a mature believer finds themselves dependent on the upholding of their arms by a loving Father. If we are kept from falling, how blessed we are by the patient power which watches over us day by day! Think, how prone we are to sin, how easy we choose danger, how strong our tendency to look down on ourselves, and these reflections will make us think more sweetly than we have ever done about His love and mercy. We have many foes who try to push us down. The road is rough and we are weak, but in addition to this, enemies lurk in ambush, who rush out when we least expect them, and labor to trip us up, or hurl us down the nearest cliff. Only an Almighty arm can preserve us from these unseen foes, who are seeking to destroy us. Such an arm is engaged for our defense. He is faithful that hath promised, and He is able to keep us from falling, so that with a deep sense of our utter weakness, we may cherish a firm belief in our perfect safety, and say, with joyful confidence: "The Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one."

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Anchored in Hope,

Pastor Phil Johnson
971-400-7078