Congratulations, you have officially made it to the last day of After Salvation! I want to thank you so much for trusting me with your valuable time. Please know that I have prayed for you in advance that God will grow and mold you more into His image daily. Today, I wanted to share some personal takeaways from my journey that I hope will be helpful as you continue on your journey with God. Commitment to God is not an easy road, and scripture reminds us just how hard it is to follow God.

Matthew 7:13-14  “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

You made it to Day 25, which alone should speak to your level of commitment to God–I think that is amazing. As you might have heard me say a few times throughout our journey together, no shortcuts exist to becoming spiritually mature. Growth takes effort. Following God is not easy because the world and our flesh are constantly trying to fight for our attention and interest. That is why I desire to share a few more things as we wrap up our study on commitment.

Life happens! You’ll have good times and bad times, as we all do. Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, "There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens." This is speaking about life, basically saying that things will happen, so don't be surprised when they do. Be careful and don't allow the difficulty of those life events to sway or push you away from God. The Lord is our anchor and in Hebrews 6:19 it says, "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure." Jesus never promises a life without difficult times. He tells us there will be trouble, but there is good news in even knowing this. In John 16:33, it says, "I have told you these things, so that in me, you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
 
I think an important aspect to realize as humans is we cannot control all events and circumstances. What we can control is this, staying connected and committed to God and relying on the Spirit of God for help and strength. I've been through a very difficult season in life, so I can attest to it. These moments affect us in one of two ways:  either it pushes us to greater levels of faith in God or drives us away from God. Mentally, we have to be prepared for anything while not putting so much thought into "what could happen" that it leads us to anxiety. God wants you to know that no matter what you face, even death itself, He has overcome it all, so take heart, our hope is not in this world but in our eternal destiny.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:19, it says, "Do not quench the Spirit." This is probably one of the hardest things to be sensitive to as a committed Christian. How do we know if we are quenching the Spirit of God in our lives?  The tension comes when the believers become out of balance within their spiritual life. To quench the Holy Spirit means we stop listening to the correction and guidance of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The question is if the Holy Spirit is not leading, who is?

That means our flesh is leading us, and the danger is that this will drive us further away from God, inevitably. In return, this will directly affect us walking in our purpose and understanding  His will for our lives. This goes back to Day 24 where we discuss how spiritual awareness helps to bring about spiritual maturity in our lives. Be faithful and aware of the leading of the Holy Spirit and don't drown out the voice of God in your life; the Holy Spirit is your advocate, your helper!

Other times we can put too much emphasis on one area of our spiritual life and neglect the Holy Spirit. For example, the background I was raised in created an environment where the Word of God was elevated to a place where it seemed to take precedence over the Holy Spirit. We hardly spoke of the Holy Spirit within our services. Please don't hear me incorrectly, there is a tremendous value in knowing the Word of God, and it is what forms and shapes us as believers. Hopefully, over the last 25 days, you have gotten a good introduction to scripture, but there is something to be said about being obedient to how the Holy Spirit is leading you in your life as well. In John 4, it describes this balance well and Jesus uses the language of "Spirit" and in "truth".
 
John 4:23-24  "23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth."

So, we worship God in both the Spirit (Holy Spirit) and in truth (Bible/God's Word). These both are required for the believer to have spiritual success and growth. I would encourage you to learn how to hear God through His Word and His Spirit. Remember, the Holy Spirit is actually part of the Trinity, so pay special attention to this part of your spiritual life. When Jesus even says it would be better for Him to leave, so the Father could send the helper, the Holy Spirit, we should pay special attention to that (John 14:25-27)!

Lastly, we all struggle with emotions. Some show it more than others, but we all do. Specifically, when times get tough or things are not going our way, we all seem to get emotionally frustrated. We must learn how to separate our emotions. What I mean by that is, that just because you're having a rough day, it doesn't mean God is mad at you. Also, just because you might not be in the job or role that you want to be in, it doesn't mean God is trying to hold out on you because you must not have great faith. In Hebrews 13:8 it says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." This is important to recognize because how we feel doesn't mean that is how God feels about us.

I have talked to people who say they missed one day of reading their Bible and their day is going terribly, so "God must be mad at me.” A lot of times that is the failure of our inward expectations expressed by a non-connecting outward circumstance. God is not mad at us if we don't read our Bible every day. What did the disciples do before the Gutenberg Press, which was created in the 1400s? They didn't have pocket Bibles everywhere they went. They relied on the Holy Spirit, and they did get into the Word as much as they could through temple gatherings and when they gathered together in homes. Furthermore, they shared the disciples’ letters to the churches, which we now call the New Testament.

If we do feel that way in our lives, what we’re experiencing is an inward guilt that convinces us that we need to perform for God's love and favor, which simply is an incorrect way of viewing God. Should we read our Bibles?

Absolutely! But, be careful that you don't become subject to what I call the "good and bad scale.” It's this idea that if you do enough good for God, He will love you more and if you don't do enough religious activities for God that day He will be mad or disappointed in you.

That is not how God operates. He operates out of grace and consistency. He is a just God, and He knows our heart's attention. It says in Deuteronomy 32:4, "He is the Rock, His works are perfect, and all His ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is He." Then in Psalm 139:2-3 it says, "You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways." God's love for you doesn’t change based on your emotional state. God is the most consistent aspect of our life–He does not change. Your current emotional state does not affect God’s love for you or your salvation. You are secure in Christ!