He stayed with them to the end

After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun. Romans 8:30 MSG

He stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what He had begun. He stays with us to the end.  We are reminded of that truth in Joshua 1:9

Have not I commanded you? Be strong, vigorous and very courageous. Be not afraid, neither be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.  Joshua 1:9 AMP

The question is then, not, is God with us, but rather are we with God? Are we willing to make a stand and declare we have made a choice and are followers of God, as Joshua did.

Now therefore, [reverently] fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and in truth; put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the [Euphrates] River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:14-15 AMP

And are we willing to declare that not only are we followers of God, but lovers of Jesus? How would we answer the question posed by Paul in Romans 8: 35?

Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ's love for us? 

Would we answer this question the same way Paul answered it?

There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture: They kill us in cold blood because they hate you. We're sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one. None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I'm absolutely convinced that nothing - nothing living or dead, angelic or demomic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable - absolutely nothing can get between us and God's love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us. Romans 8:35-39 AMP

With Christians throughout the world being killed in cold blood, this can be a very challenging scripture to us who are not facing that circumstance. 

Questions for today, how would you react if you were in their shoes? Would you stand firm for Jesus, convinced of His unconditional love for you, and knowing the truth that God will stay with you until the end, and gloriously complete what he had begun? 

Maybe the circumstances you are facing aren't as 'life-threatening' as our brothers and sisters in Christ elsewhere in the world, but given your own set of circumstances, are you able to declare as Paul did, that you will press on and hold firm to your Jesus convictions?

Not that I have not attained [this ideal], or have already been made perfect, but I press on to lay hold of (grasp) and make my own, that for which Christ Jesus (the Messiah) has laid hold of me and made me His own. I do not consider, brethren, that I have captured and made it my own [yet]; but one thing I do [it is my one aspiration]; forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the [supreme and heavenly] prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward. So let those [of us] who are spiritually mature and full-grown have this mind and hold these convictions; and if in any respect you have a different attitude of mind, God will make that clear to you also. Only let us hold true to what we have already attained and walk and order our lives by that. Philippians 3:12 -16 AMP