I'm feeling really encouraged! And it's a great blessing!

I absolutely love these three verses from Colossians 3:2-4 (NKJV): "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory." I guess that the "For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." is the part that is especially encouraging to me....I went to Skid Row for the first time last night. What had prevented me from going in the past was fear. But thinking about that portion of the verse really encouraged me as I went/prepared to go yesterday night. As believers, like the verse says, we have died and our lives are "hidden with Christ in God." We are here for His purposes. We aren't alive to entertain ourselves with worthless things or to preoccuppy ourselves with ourselves. We are here for His purposes. We are here to be a witness of Him to the unbelieving world and to worship Him. That means that as believers we should place our trust in Him and stand boldly for Him. We shouldn't be scared or intimidated by this fallen world. We should realize that only by God's grace are we His children. That should spur us to spread our testimony of Christ to the world which is so desperately in need of Him. When I was walking on the sidewalk at Skid Row on Friday night I was thinking about how all sin will come to look like Skid Row one day. Those who are wealthy, smart, popular--all of that stuff will come to an end and without Christ their lives will end in ruin. The same type of ruin and dismay that the setting of Skid Row offers. It's really sad if you think about it. Only the Lord can bring salvation but he will most definitely use us as instruments to accomplish this purpose if we truly desire to honor Him. Let's remember that we'll only be on this earth for a short time. Let's use that short time to accomplish His purposes for our life by His leading. That's all that matters. That's all that will last. Persevere and stand strong for the cause of Christ. Be faithful to Him and He will use you in whatever way He sees fit. What a trmendous blessing to know that our life is ''hidden" with Him. With that we can rest assured :) Have a good night. In Christ, Josh Gilbert