Dear Friend:
The gates have opened. 2022 is now under way.
If you’re anything like me, prone to carry a sense of urgency and driven by the thrill of accomplishment, you probably find it tempting to approach the New Year like a race—like you’re a sprinting horse with dirt and dust flying about your beating hooves and the finish line just around the bend.
But achieving true success this new year requires more from us than renewed energy sparked by a bursting start. This year . . . like all years . . . like all of life . . . will require endurance. The steady resolve, the unwavering commitment, the settled determination to keep moving down the right path. Now please don’t hear me belittling goal-setting. I love goals! Mine are right here, near me.
Our yearly goals, however, must not drown out this quiet truth that whispers through every page of God’s Word:
Following Jesus requires a long, enduring obedience in the same direction.
The perfect example of this truth comes from Insight for Living Ministries’ new broadcast series we’ve begun airing this month titled Walking with Integrity in Times of Adversity.
Living in a depraved culture saturated with the dark evils of violence, manipulation, and godlessness, Noah’s life shined like a bright lighthouse. “Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God” (Genesis 6:9).
God called on faithful Noah to build an ark so that all humanity and other created life might be preserved once God sent His flood waters of judgment. Just imagine the ridicule Noah received. Yet, decade after decade after decade he constructed the ark. Through it all, “Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him” (Genesis 6:22).
Enduring obedience walks at God’s pace and holds tightly to God’s Word.
Noah’s long-term faithfulness greatly encourages me as I start the New Year. His example of integrity in the midst of adversity reminds me that days of maintenance far exceed the days of magnificence, that the praise of God matters far
more than the praise of others.
We’re in constant need of such biblical reminders, aren’t we? That’s why Insight for Living Ministries broadcasts God’s truth day after day after day. We herald His Word to spur others on to Jesus, the Light of the World, so they can walk in close fellowship with Him—in enduring obedience.
We need you to spur others on to Jesus with us by sending IFLM a generous financial gift this month.
There simply isn’t any truth like God’s truth.
Furthermore, now would be a good time for you to renew your own devotion to the Great Commission. If so, please pray about joining IFLM this year as a Monthly Companion to help us expand across the world. We appreciate and depend upon all our financial supporters, and we are especially grateful for those who walk beside us month after month after month through their consistent prayers and generous donations. Your financial support of IFLM directly influences the level of spiritual impact God creates through the ministry.
I hope 2022 will be a year of faith and faithfulness for you as you follow Jesus with enduring obedience.
Walking with you in faith, step by step,
Pastor Charles R. Swindoll