HOLD ON!--The Victory Is Just Outta Sight!       DFO1650  9/83

         1. THERE ARE SOME THINGS THE LORD JUST CAN'T REVEAL TO YOU IN ADVANCE BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT READY FOR IT & you just can't comprehend it, you just couldn't cope with it, you just couldn't understand. He has to break you the news little by little.
         2. IF THEY ONLY KNEW, IF THEY COULD JUST STAND THIS TEST! I must look at them the way the Lord looks at us. If they only knew what the future holds for them, if they only knew the job we're considering them for! But I don't dare tell them, because that would ruin the test, it would give them too much hope, they'd be willing then to do anything & endure anything if they knew what the reward was going to be, but we don't dare tell them--otherwise it wouldn't be a valid, credible test.
         3. BUT THEY'VE GOT TO GO THROUGH THESE TRIALS & TRIBULATIONS & TESTINGS & BREAKINGS & HUMBLINGS WITHOUT EVEN KNOWING what the future holds, not even knowing they're under consideration for something very much more important than they've ever done, without knowing that it's a step upward, a promotion. This humbling is to see if they can take it, to see how good their loyalty is, how strong they are, how faithful they are, if they will be willing to do anything & just be a general flunkie, whatever the Lord asks them to be, in spite of former glory & glorification!
         4. IT'S WONDERFUL, IT'S JUST THRILLING TO SEE THEM PASS THE TEST! It must be the way the Lord feels when He watches us go through trials, you know? He loves to watch us make it in spite of all the tests & trials. He loves to watch us win the race, endure the affliction & the battle & fight through & win! But you can't tell'm the answers!--That's cheating! You've just got to hand them the paper with the questions & they have to struggle through, & then, when they think they're flunking, they find out they graduated!
         5. THEY THINK THEY'VE FLUNKED BUT ACTUALLY THEY'VE WON! Like in Rudyard Kipling's poem, "If": If you win or lose, you can treat both these two impostors, success & failure the same. That little poem has had a great influence on my life, I've often thought of that when I failed or felt I'd failed or wasn't a success.
         6. WHEN I SEE THOSE PRECIOUS FAMILY MEMBERS ON VIDEO, I HAVE THAT FEELING, "OH BOY!--JUST HOLD ON A LITTLE LONGER!" You just really pray that the Lord will help them make it, that they'll stand the test, so that He can use them for something greater than they've ever done before, much more important. It may not seem greater but it has greater potentiality & it has greater responsibility than anything else they've ever done.--To be working real close to the Lord & the centre of His will where He knows you fit best & what He wants you to do & what He knows will work best & the particular job He really has for you.
         7. BUT THE ATTITUDE OF THE WORLD & A LOT OF INDEPENDENT CHRISTIANS IS, THEY WANT TO DO IT THEIR WAY!--Like Frank Sinatra's song, "I did it my way!" They'd rather be out, independent & alone & doing their own thing than working together as a team in some more seemingly humble capacity.
         8. SOMETIMES THEY DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THE GOAL IS & YOU DON'T DARE TELL THEM because you don't dare rescue them until they've really stood the test & shown that they were willing to give their lives to reach some goal, even though they don't know what the goal is--just give their lives to the Lord, to the principle & to the Lord & to His Work, whatever it may be, not even knowing.--Like Abraham, you don't have to understand, all you have to do is obey!
         9. GOD HELP THEM TO STAND THE TEST, LORD!--To fight a good fight, to finish the course & keep the faith, so they'll inherit the crown & receive the reward that You have in store for them, the high calling which is in Christ Jesus, the highest they could possibly have, Lord! (2Tim.4:7-8) They already have a high one, but You've got an even higher one in store for them, not just something good but something better, the best! Help us not to fall short of Your best, Lord. Help us not to trade the best for something that was just simply good. Help us to not settle for anything less than Your best! In Jesus' name, amen. Praise the Lord!--Hold on a little longer!--The best is just around the corner!--And worth it!--Amen?


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