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LIFE SUPPORT CALL TO PRAYER

Group Hike

"From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it."   Matthew 11:12

Strength for the Journey

By Deborah Hollifield,
PPL Executive Director

The Jews have given the world many gifts, the most important of which is our savior, Jesus. But another gift that we sometimes overlook is the gift of linear time. The ancient Greeks believed that time was a circle and that events on earth repeated themselves endlessly. The journey of life was futile; it cycled till one’s end, and when life was over, one moved off the world stage and another moved onto it, to repeat the cycle again. 

The Jews, however, viewed time differently, as a linear sequence with the beginning and end.  Events don’t just happen in a vacuum but are moving in a definite direction. The Jews observed the cycle of repeated events like wars, natural, disasters, and plagues, but considered such cycles evil (Galatians 1:4). They taught that amid the recurring trials and crises of life, God was nevertheless at work within time, moving events forward and redeeming our bad choices and the consequences of evil, in a relentless progression toward the establishment of the kingdom of the family of God on earth. 

Even though the events of the day have taken on a downward aspect, believers should look up and not despair, because our confidence is in God’s goodness and his sovereignty over time. As we journey toward its end, we can rest assured that our prayers will be answered, justice will prevail, God’s people will be vindicated, and the cosmos will be set back right.

"He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church, he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross."  Col. 1:17-20
 

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