DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT - MONDAY - HOW TO KEEP GOING FORWARDS WHEN EVERYONE ELSE IS GOING BACKWARDS! Part 1.

Tenacity is a pretty fair substitute for bravery, and the best form of tenacity I know is expressed in a Danish fur trapper's principle: "The next mile is the only one a person really has to make." - Eric Sevareid.

I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ. Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. - Colossians 2:4-8. ESV

The older I get, the more numerous the stories become. One after another, someone who had stood firm on the fundamental truths, the authority of Scripture, and the separation from apostasy has made the switch. They have "rethought" the old paths, renounced the idea of a perfect Bible, and have associated with compromisers and apostates. Churches fall, Bible Colleges fall, Pastors and Leaders fall. Even those close to us can fall, having been persuaded somehow to become open-minded and deprived of the truth.

My friends, if all of these people can be persuaded to forsake the old paths, please, let us not be so proud as to think that we are above the influence of the ungodly. Locally, we have Church who week after week are denying the perfect Word of God, and there are many who agree with them. They are preaching heresy, and Christians go to their services, out of curiosity of course.

Today, we are looking over the shoulders of the church at Colosse, having a glance at the letter that they have received from the great missionary, the apostle Paul. He is concerned for the believers at Colosse and he is burdened for them, even though they believe correctly now, they will remain faithful throughout the years. In these few verses, the apostle gives some sound advice to these fundamental believers. Follow these principles and then we, too, will be able to keep going forwards when everyone else is going backwards.

Cable television mogul Ted Turner criticized fundamentalist Christianity and said Jesus probably would "be sick at his stomach" over the way his ideas have been "twisted," the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Turner made his remarks Friday evening at a banquet in Orlando, Fla., where he was given an award by the American Humanist Association for his work on behalf of the environment and world peace.

Turner said he had a strict Christian upbringing and at one time considered becoming a missionary. "I was saved seven or eight times," the newspaper quoted him as saying. But he said he became disenchanted with Christianity after his sister died, despite his prayers. Turner said the more he strayed from his faith, "the better I felt." - Spokesman-Review, May 1, 1990.

Don't Stop Now!
We are on the right track… since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing--as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, - Col 1:4-6.

• Keep the Faith in Christ
• Keep the Love for the saints
• Keep the Hope of Heaven
• Keep the Fruit that remains

In his book, Pastoral Grit: the Strength to Stand and to Stay, Craig Brian Larson writes: "In 1972, NASA launched the exploratory space probe Pioneer 10. According to Leon Jaroff in Time, the satellite’s primary mission was to reach Jupiter, photograph the planet and its moons, and beam data to earth about Jupiter’s magnetic field, radiation belts, and atmosphere. Scientists regarded this as a bold plan, for at that time no earth satellite had ever gone beyond Mars, and they feared the asteroid belt would destroy the satellite before it could reach its target.

“But Pioneer 10 accomplished its mission and much, much more. Swinging past the giant planet in November 1973, Jupiter’s immense gravity hurled Pioneer 10 at a higher rate of speed toward the edge of the solar system. At one billion miles from the sun, Pioneer 10 passed Saturn. At some two billion miles, it hurtled past Uranus; Neptune at nearly three billion miles; Pluto at almost four billion miles. By 1997, twenty-five years after its launch, Pioneer 10 was more than six billion miles from the sun.

“And despite that immense distance, Pioneer 10 continued to beam back radio signals to scientists on Earth. ‘Perhaps most remarkable,’ writes Jaroff, ‘those signals emanate from an 8-watt transmitter, which radiates about as much power as a bedroom night light, and takes more than nine hours to reach Earth.’

“The Little Satellite That Could was not qualified to do what it did. Engineers designed Pioneer 10 with a useful life of just three years. But it kept going and going. By simple longevity, its tiny 8-watt transmitter radio accomplished more than anyone thought possible.

“So it is when we offer ourselves to serve the Lord. God can work even through someone with 8-watt abilities. God cannot work, however, through someone who quits.”

Let us not become deluded… I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. – Col 2:4. Deluded = to deceive by false reasoning. Plausible arguments = persuading words that tease you. How many are ruined by the false disguises and fair appearances of evil principles and wicked practices! Be aware and afraid of those who would entice us to any evil; for they aim to spoil us

You can fool some of the people all the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time. – A. Lincoln.

Our progress is evident… For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ. – 1 Col 2:5. We do not need confusion in our lives; it needs to be in good order, and standing firm in Christ!

The soul prospers when we have clear knowledge of the truth, as it is in Jesus. When we not only believe with the heart, but are ready, when called, to make confession with the mouth. Knowledge and faith make a soul rich. The stronger our faith, and the warmer our love, the more will our comfort be. – Matthew Henry.

Let us not stop now, for we are on the right track, keep going forward, avoiding the deceitfulness of man’s doctrines! let us not be tossed around by every wind of doctrine, but keep on progressing in Christ Jesus!

Loving Father, I thank you for the Holy Spirit who guides me into all truth. Help me Lord not to become tossed around by man’s doctrines, but to hold unswervingly to your word and its fundamental principles. Help me Lord to stay on course and to keep on going in Christ, for His glory and in whose name I pray! Amen!