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Standing Fast

We must by our walk of life let it be clearly seen that now already we are citizens of the coming kingdom of heaven. But our life as children of God must also be characterized by standing still. Having called us to press on for the prize and to walk correctly by following him as lively citizens of that kingdom, Paul correctly and wisely tells us to stand still, unmoved and unshaken. In Philippians 4:1 he wrote these words: "Therefore, my dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved."

What Paul means is that we must not leave the sphere of love toward God. We must not budge an inch to leave the truth that Christ is our Savior, and that He will change our vile bodies and make them like His glorious body, when He returns to this earth, so that in a full, perfect sense we are citizens in His kingdom with body and soul and have the beauty of that kingdom and its spiritual perfection.

In the measure that our hearts and minds are firmly fixed on the truth of God's Word, we will be able to run and follow those who press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God.

When sickness and pain, losses, and even persecutions, become our lot, we must stand fast in the Lord. In Him alone is there comfort and assurance that all things work together for our good, and that nothing, including persecution and death, can separate us from the love of God.

"Stand fast," then, means that we let nothing turn us away from Christ as our Lord and Savior. Yes, it means that we stand fast upon the truth that He is THE Lord, Who has all things completely under His control, so that He can work all things for our good, and is unceasingly doing that.

Stand fast, then, in the Lord, and you will stand everlastingly, when He returns, in the everlasting glory and joy of His kingdom.

Read: Revelation 22

Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism

Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:

Jeremiah 49:23-39 ; Jeremiah 50:1-46 
Titus 1:1-16 
Psalm 97 ; Psalm 98:1-9 
Proverbs 26:13-16 
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Quote for Reflection:

…Severe censors discover their own virulence, which they suddenly vomit forth against their brethren whatever curses they can imagine, after having in sweet strains offered praises to God. Were any one to object and say, that the image of God in human nature has been blotted out by the sin of Adam; we must, indeed, confess that it has been miserably deformed, but in such a way that some of its lineaments still appear. Righteousness and rectitude, and the freedom of choosing what is good, have been lost; but many excellent endowments, by which we excel the brutes, still remain. He, then, who truly worships and honors God, will be afraid to speak slanderously of man.      

- John Calvin

Last modified on 26 October 2018

Additional Info

  • Date: 26-October