This morning I was reading a pair of letters from one of our leaders. It was startling, and it was sumptuous. Here are a couple of examples of what I mean…

The end of the second letter says, “Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.” WHAT!? The Lord be with us!? …My dog can be with me, my phone can be with me, my friends and family members can be with me …but the Lord!?!? I’ve read the historical reports about how the Lord was with people back-in-the-day, manifesting Himself as a giant pillar of fire by night and smoke by day. And I’ve also read the reports about how God became a human being and lived on planet earth circa 2,000 years ago. But NOW?!?! That’s what the letter says! It says that the Lord is with us NOW! And it says that He Himself will give us PEACE at ALL times and in EVERY way! This is an unparalleled promise! I recently talked with an At&t sales rep, and I asked him for this kind of guarantee; I said, “Promise me cell phone coverage at all times and in every way!” The At&t rep was reluctant. For all the sundry boastings of our smartphones, this kind of ALL and EVERY coverage is found in only one place …the Lord!

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The end of the first letter says, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it.” WHAT!? Completely sanctified!? And blameless in the sight of God!?! That seems impossible! But that’s what it says! We’re incredulous and insecure about this complete sanctification and blamelessness business because we are self-absorbed. But the thing to be enthralled with is not ourselves, it’s the fact that God is committed to authoring and perfecting us, and He will surely do it!

Selah.