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My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. --John 10:29 The Christian life isn’t just a matter of you and me holding on and hoping for the best. No, the Christian life is actually about God holding you and me in his grip, and us trusting him to not let go. You see, as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, you and I are still going to stumble and fall. God understands our humanity. And he knows our possibilities for greatness as well as our possibilities for failure.   Think about the apostle Peter and Jesus at the time just before the crucifixion. Peter told Jesus there was no way that he would ever deny him. And yet, he did just as Jesus said he would. Jesus knew in advance about the shame, regret, and the complete sense of failure that Peter would experience. He knew all about it! Yet God was holding onto Peter every step of the way, and restored him in a mighty and extraordinary way to build his church. A personal failure is a painful thing and it can send you reeling on a detour from the path that God has for you. It’s easy to feel so lost that you wonder if God even knows where you are. But I assure you that the Lord knows exactly where you are and he knows exactly what’s going on in your life.   So live your life with the great joy that comes with knowing Christ and the power of his redemption. When you fall, get back up and embrace his grace and forgiveness. And remember that he has you in his grip and nothing can take you out of his hand. THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS ABOUT GOD HOLDING YOU IN HIS GRIP AND YOU TRUSTING HIM TO NOT LET GO. “Newness of Life” Friday, August 16, 2019 by Dr. Paul Chappell “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” Romans 6:4–6 When Paul wrote about the new life that comes after salvation, he was not speaking theoretically. His life story was a dramatic illustration of this truth. Paul went from leading in the persecution of Christians and attempting to stamp out Christianity in its infancy, to being one of the most powerful and effective voices of the gospel. Everything changed for Paul when he had his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. From that day forward, nothing was ever the same for him again. God saves us as we are, but He does not mean for us to stay that way. Peter wrote, “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen” (2 Peter 3:18). The day will never come in this life when we have reached perfection. There is always more to learn about God and more to do to be like His Son. The old life must be left behind if this is to take place. We cannot be looking over our shoulders and longing for the old things if we are to truly experience the new life. “And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned” (Hebrews 11:15). Today's Growth Principle:  Rather than living in the past, we are to look to Jesus and follow Him.