Friends,
You have been my joy and you have been a great blessing the Father has bestowed on my life. To spend precious times of fellowship and laughter, to suffer through trials and endure through the work of the Gospel has been, to share this fleeting life of service to the King has been a privilege. I pray that God has used me to encourage and equip you as much as our gracious God has used you to mold my own heart. To God be the glory.
I still hope and pray to continue on with you, to share the burden of laboring for Christ and the joys of life with Him. But I wanted to take an opportunity to remind you of the most important things.
Commune with God. Spend time with your Father. Rejoice in your Creator. We don’t worship the god of a book, or the god of philosophy, but the God that created you and I for perfect relationship. Every part of your heart will be pulled away from this very thing. The enemy will pull out every stop to distract and destroy. Cling to the Lord, and walk in His Spirit.
Consume the Word. It is your spiritual food and fuel. A transforming work happens when we study it’s pages and submit our lives to it’s truth. A desire for His Will, for purity, for love, for humility, and for God Himself can only come into a life that experiences their Father through His revealed Word. Keep it close to your heart and fervently teach it to others, because the enemy loves to pervert the truth at it’s source. The one who delights in the Law of the Lord is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields it’s fruit in season.
Commit to each other. God wants to work through His people as body, not just you individually. It starts with your family and grows outward into the Body of believers. Steward every relationship that the Lord puts in your life, and capitalize on every opportunity to lift your brother up in works of love, words of encouragement and rebuke, and daily prayer. Always put your brothers ahead of you, because by God’s grace and because of His goodness they will be that very support to you.
Care for the needy. Jesus came and healed lepers, and you know many a spiritual leper. Deeply wounded and downcast, separated from their purpose as sons of the Father. You and I have the honor of being a part of the Fathers work, by imitating His ways and loving the poor and helpless in body but most importantly in spirit.
I warn you solemnly against the love of pleasure, the love of security and earthly success. God has created us to enjoy these things, and we ought to do so as the Lord grants them to us. But the moment our life’s goal becomes the endless growing of wealth and seeking out security here, we have lost the fire for what truly satisfies; a walk with our Creator towards our heavenly and eternal home.
We are young, and we will experience these pitfalls. Remember God’s grace, but never forget His burning desire for us to walk with Him. God disciplines us like a Father, not wanting us to perish. Strive to live a life that will make your Heavenly Father proud by the power of His transforming Spirit. He is our Rock and Redeemer, and He loved you first.
Benjamin Russell