Lasting Life In A Passing World
When the clutter quiets, what endures comes into view
Devotional Credit, Open Windows by T. Austin-Sparks
Photo Credit, Unsplash
The world and its desires pass away. John says it plainly. T. Austin-Sparks takes that truth and aims it at our hearts with a tender question, what are we leaning on that cannot last. He points out how the Lord sometimes allows outward supports to be stripped away, not to harm us, but to reveal how much of our confidence rests in earthly order, even good religious order, instead of in Jesus Himself. Thank you, T. Austin-Sparks, for calling us back to what was from the beginning.
The thread is simple. What begins in Jesus will endure. What drifts into something else will not. Sparks invites us to test where our center truly is. If our life is anchored in the Heavenly Man, then loss can become gain, because what is shakable gives way to what is unshakable. If our life is anchored in systems, routines, or reputations, then even small disruptions rattle us to the core.
This is not a call to retreat from ordinary life. It is a call to live ordinary life from a different source. Christ has transferred everything to heaven, and He shares that life with us by His Spirit. The Father forms a people in union with His Son. He is not content to leave us propped up by Christian things. He draws us to Jesus. Not things, but Christ. Not Christianity, but Christ. Not Christian work, but Christ.
In corporate terms, this is our family story. Together we are His body, joined and supplied by the Head who is at the right hand of the Father. Our union is with a Person, and our endurance flows from Him. When the hour feels like the last hour, we are not exposed as orphans. We are revealed as those who belong to the One who abides forever.
Journal Entry – Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture
I turn your heart toward My Son who abides forever. I set your mind on things above where He sits at My right hand. Your life is hidden with Him in Me. I have blessed you with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, and I hold your inheritance secure. I call you to remain in Him, and as you remain, His life bears fruit through you without strain.
I persuade you to lay aside confidence in what is passing. The world and its desires fade, but the one who does My will lives forever. I renew your mind so you reckon yourself dead to sin and alive to Me in Jesus. As you present yourself to Me, I express the life of Jesus in your mortal body. I conform you to the image of My Son, from glory to glory, by My own presence in you.
I have raised you together with Christ and seated you with Him. You are members of His body, joined and knit together, supplied by the Head. I complete the work I begin. I establish you in faith, rooted in Jesus, built up together in love. Fix your gaze on Him. Do not lose heart. What is seen is temporary. What is unseen is eternal. As you look to My Son, I make the fragrance of His knowledge evident through you in every place.
Real-Life Analogy
Think of your phone on silent focus mode. Notifications keep buzzing, banners stack up, and your attention fragments. When focus mode activates, the noise stops, and what matters comes forward. In a similar way, the indwelling Holy Spirit centers you on Jesus when lesser signals clamor for attention. You are not muscling your way into calm. You are yielding to the One who already lives within, and He brings what is eternal to the front.
A simple practice, when pressures pile up at work or at home, turn inward to the Lord who is present in you and say, Lord, I entrust this hour to You, live Your steadiness and truth through me as I respond to this email and this conversation. Then act on the next ordinary step. He supplies what you cannot produce, and your actions begin to carry the weight of heaven even in small tasks.
Prayer of Confidence
Father, thank You that in Jesus I already share a life that lasts. Thank You for placing me in Your Son and placing Your Spirit in me. You have given me every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. You have joined me to the body of Christ, supplied by our Head. Today I gladly reckon myself alive to You in Jesus. I step into my minutes trusting Your Spirit to express His life through my words, my choices, and my service. I rest in what endures and release what is passing, honoring the Name of Jesus in the ordinary moments You set before me.
Scripture References for the Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture Section
1 John 2:15-17, 1 John 2:18, Colossians 3:1-4, Ephesians 1:3, 2 Peter 1:3-4, Romans 6:11-13, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, 2 Corinthians 3:18, Philippians 1:6, Romans 8:29-30, John 15:4-5, Ephesians 2:6, Ephesians 4:15-16, Colossians 2:6-7, 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, Romans 12:4-5, John 17:21-23, Hebrews 12:27-28