‘Psalm 46:1 – God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.’
Erika Kirk posted this, and hours later, her husband, Charlie, was shot in the neck. He later succumbed to his injury.
I woke up this morning to the news, by way of a friend of mine. We chatted about how he was living in an where his beliefs were of a minority, and where he was being persecuted for being a Christian. I expressed respect for his resilience and encouraged him to stay humble, vigilant, and faithful. I told him that I was praying for him and all that concerns him.
I reached out to my brothers a little later, and they expressed the same emotions that came at me as I heard the news. Sadness. Anger. Humility. A seeking, of sorts – And yes, I’ll be honest, it was more of a seeking than it was a certainty; I surmise that this is because I’ve been seeing more darkness than light, more death than life, more hopelessness than progression in the past days and even weeks.
And I can certainly wallow in that – but praise God. Praise the Son, Praise the Spirit, Three-In-One. For while our sister Erika had those words to share before things happened as they did, we’re reminded, here and now, to come back to our testimony, if only to be ready to share:
1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.2 Timothy 4:1-5
I have reason to believe Charlie Kirk took these words to heart, and brought them into this wretched reality up until his final breath.
In the words of my brother Kip, ‘(it’s) a big blow but he’s rejoicing with our King in paradise right now‘
After all the emotions, and now that I’m under the influence of some damn good coffee, I’ve come to the realization, the motivation and inspiration to come back to my own testimony. My own words to live by, words I believe have been and stay impressed upon me by the finished work of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit.
This is me reminding myself of what I believe, in this day and time, in this season.
We once thought and taught ourselves and others to live as if this day was our last day.
I still subscribe to the consideration that we should also live as if this day was our first day.
Once, I thought one couldn’t work with the other. Now, I think both apply.
We live as if Christ was coming back tomorrow. But we also live as if Christ rose again yesterday.
To be precise, we live as if the culmination of Christ’s finished work (His birth, death, resurrection and ascension) was as fresh as yesterday.
We live, more than existing, making our priorities based on the fact and Truth that we have eternal life here and now – giving less priority to the fleeting things of this reality, and more attention to relationships and experiences, the things that go beyond time and space.
We give less attention to our possessions and belongings, and we would even dare to give less attention to our ‘legacy’ in so far as our impact on this reality – because in the first place, this ‘legacy’ is as temporal as this reality.
We’re less concerned about our own bodies, and more about the health and welfare of our friends and family. We give less preference to giving things, and prefer to give experiences, memories and impressions to others.
We live, now, acknowledging the past, being present in the present, and fully facing the future.
We live, here, fully aware of what we have and what we don’t have, where we are, where we aren’t, who we have, and who we don’t have.
We live, here and now, with complete confidence that while we are within this finite reality, this existence bound by time and space, we are in absolute right-standing with the infinite and eternal Creator of time and space.
Because of the amazing grace and awesome glory of our Father, through the finished work of Jesus Christ, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we Die Fully. We Live Forever.
It’s not about having omnipotence, omniscience, and/or omnipresence.
We’ve heard the serpent in Eden, questioning the Truth, and telling the lie: We can be like God.
Truth is, we as creation simply could not contain the Creator, much less being Him. Through Christ, we have been presented with the greatest solution – Salvation. Reconciliation with the Creator. Not being able to do everything, not knowing all things, but, again, being in absolute right-standing with God, much so that we call Him our Father.
Christ, after all, is Emmanuel. Through Him, God is with us. He never leaves us. He never forsakes us.
He is always with us. He is always thinking about us.
And I’m just taking it a notch further – He thinks with us. He feels with us. He moves with us… Just as we think with Him. We feel with Him. We move with Him.
Because of the amazing grace and awesome glory of our Father, through the finished work of Jesus Christ, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we Flow. Trust God. Thank God.
…all to the glory of God. To the maximum glory of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in and all things, now and forever.
Ave Christus Rex!
Christus victor, Christus salvator; Christus est, ergo sum.
Novus ordo Aeternum, ad maiorem Dei gloriam
See you on the other side, Charlie.
Thank you for everything.
May our Lord continue to bless and keep us.
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