Because God sustains the universe and everything in it moment-by-moment, it means he upholds you. And just like everything else in the universe, he upholds you so that you might be to the praise of his glory.
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Joni’s Story: Discovering Hope that Endures – When Joni was paralyzed in a diving accident at the age of seventeen, she quickly understood her life would never be the same. But what she didn’t know was how God would use her story to affect the lives of millions of people from across the globe. This little book is full of biblical truths and important lessons Joni has learned along the way. No matter your situation, you’ll be encouraged as you discover Jesus’ faithfulness in the midst of life’s challenges. As Joni learned, sometimes God permits what he hates to accomplish what he loves—and in that, there is hope enough to last a lifetime.Use the coupon code:
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SHAUNA: Hi, I’m Shauna on Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope.
JONI: You know, much can be said about our friendship with Jesus. Just as Abraham was called a friend of God, we who are disciples are also friends of God. And Jesus says in John 15:13, “Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” Jesus went to the cross for you, his friend. And then, a couple of verses later in John 15, Jesus says to his disciples, “…No longer do I call you servants… I now call you friends.” Oh, to be a close friend to our Savior, right? But occasionally, in a friendship, we can forget the awesome importance and status of the individual we call a friend. For although Jesus is our friend, when he was on earth there were things, you wouldn’t believe happen behind his smile. Behind his beard and rough cloak, behind his simple conversations with neighbors, behind the humble circumstances surrounding his life, powerful things were going on. Things of universal importance. You see, even as Jesus plodded the dirt paths of Judea—preaching, debating, healing, and listening—the entire universe was leaning on the divinity of our friend.
What do I mean by that? Hebrews 1:3 explains that Jesus upholds everything by the power of his word. Let that sink in. Because everything is upheld, everything in the world, in the universe; it’s all sustained, minute by minute, second by second by the power of the Word of Jesus. When Jesus speaks, it happens. I mean, just think: Even as our friend walked the hills of Galilee, the North American brown bear took his creator’s cue to begin hibernation. As Jesus told his disciples to leave their nets and follow him, the Arctic tern awaited the Lord’s signal to leave its breeding grounds eight degrees south of the North Pole and go winter in Antarctica. While Jesus took time to bless little children and listen to the chatter of Jewish mothers, a female water spider listened to his echoes in her brain tell her how to house her eggs in silk at the pond’s bottom. When Jesus woke up early to go to the mountains to pray, the nocturnal owls listened for his command to leave their hunting and return to their nests. Even when Jesus looked up at the stars, he was not only enjoying their splendor—the splendor he created—he was sustaining all their celestial orbits by his powerful word.
Pretty amazing, wouldn’t you think? And here’s my point: If Jesus could hold together, by his silent command, the muscles and tendons of the soldiers who whipped him; if Jesus could breathe into these men the very energy required to flail him; if he could give them the physical strength required to lift up the big, wooden cross on which they impaled him, if Jesus could bless his accusers in this way—and he did—then, oh, think of the energy our precious friend, the Lord Jesus, can give you to bless the people around you. What a powerful Savior, what a friend we have in Jesus! Because he sustains the universe and everything in it moment-by-moment by his mighty word—and it means he upholds you. And just like everything else in the universe, he upholds us so that we might glorify him. Friend, you live, move, and have your very being in him so that you might be to the praise of his glory. Oh, may what I have shared today cause lively, spontaneous worship in your heart. Take time to exalt our friend, Jesus, because truly he is greatly to be praised!
© Joni and Friends