God Follows Through
Upon this rock, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18)
There’s probably no experience more thrilling for a parent than to experience the birth of a child. To see them come into the world, to watch them grow up and mature is certainly one of the joys of every parent’s life. Even as I reflect on the birth of my own children, I recall the various stages of their growth and development, their evolving sense of character and personality. It’s a blessing that parents get to witness and watch something they have created grow from infancy to adulthood.
That must have been how God felt as He observed the birth and growth of His creation, the Church, that is recorded in the beginning chapters of the book of Acts. The birth of the Church was no small matter. After Jerod tried to stop it, the Pharisees tried to discredit it, Judas tried to betray it, Pilate tried to crucify it, and the devil tried to bury it, God, through the Holy Spirit, still gave birth to the Church.
It was something God decreed and declared in Matthew 16:18 when He said to Peter, “Upon this rock, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” And after many failed attempts to stop and thwart what God had planned, prepared, and promised, here it finally comes to pass.
This suggests that if God decrees it, you’ll see it. If God says it, He’ll perform it. He always follows through. For after years of struggle, sweat, and the pain of delivery, the Church was finally born in Jerusalem over two thousand years ago.
My prayer is that you will take this account of the birth of the Church as a reminder that whatever God has ordained will come to pass. His purpose will not be thwarted. His plans will not be discarded. Whatever He has in store for you will come to pass in His way and in His timing. You can trust Him on that.
There’s probably no experience more thrilling for a parent than to experience the birth of a child. To see them come into the world, to watch them grow up and mature is certainly one of the joys of every parent’s life. Even as I reflect on the birth of my own children, I recall the various stages of their growth and development, their evolving sense of character and personality. It’s a blessing that parents get to witness and watch something they have created grow from infancy to adulthood.
That must have been how God felt as He observed the birth and growth of His creation, the Church, that is recorded in the beginning chapters of the book of Acts. The birth of the Church was no small matter. After Jerod tried to stop it, the Pharisees tried to discredit it, Judas tried to betray it, Pilate tried to crucify it, and the devil tried to bury it, God, through the Holy Spirit, still gave birth to the Church.
It was something God decreed and declared in Matthew 16:18 when He said to Peter, “Upon this rock, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” And after many failed attempts to stop and thwart what God had planned, prepared, and promised, here it finally comes to pass.
This suggests that if God decrees it, you’ll see it. If God says it, He’ll perform it. He always follows through. For after years of struggle, sweat, and the pain of delivery, the Church was finally born in Jerusalem over two thousand years ago.
My prayer is that you will take this account of the birth of the Church as a reminder that whatever God has ordained will come to pass. His purpose will not be thwarted. His plans will not be discarded. Whatever He has in store for you will come to pass in His way and in His timing. You can trust Him on that.
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2026
January
When God Feels Silent but is Still at WorkHow to Rebound After a Crushing LetdownWhen Your World Falls Apart After You Did Everything RightGod Is Still Building Roads in the DesertThe Chapter That Comes After TraumaWhen Hope Feels GoneWhen Your Words Start Working Against YouGod’s Resume Is Bigger Than Your SituationWaiting on God is Not Doing NothingBefore Circumstances ChangeGetting In Your Bag When Life Feels UnfairWinning With a Bad HandOverlooked, Insulted, and Still ChosenPrepared in the Field Before the Giant AppearsYou Were Trained for This MomentTaking Off Armor That Does Not FitFormed in the Field, Not on the StageWhen the Battle Is Not Actually YoursWhen You Feel the Urge to Go Through God’s PhoneFaith After Disappointment Still CountsKeep Showing Up Even When You Are ConfusedLocked Doors Do Not Stop JesusWhen You Need an Encounter for YourselfDoubt as a DoorwaySaying What Hurts When God Is in the RoomWhere Faith and Fear CollideShutdown Does Not Mean FinishedWhen Opposition Shows Up Mid-ProgressBuilding Without Responding to the MockeryA Mind to Work in the Middle of WearinessThe Wall Rose Because the People Did Not Quit
February
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2025
January
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February
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