This is an excerpt from the third chapter of By Water and the Word: God’s Gift of Baptism for You by Brian Thomas (1517 Publishing, 2026), pgs 52-60.
Even when the bitter places sink down deep into our bones, the Restorer never relinquishes his grip on you.
To Live Well is therefore not a general advice book, but a message suffused with the gospel.

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Even when the bitter places sink down deep into our bones, the Restorer never relinquishes his grip on you.
What Israel’s story makes painfully obvious is that following the Lord is a lifelong lesson in “I believe, but help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24).
The reasoning was always the same. The gods were angry. The gods were hungry. The gods required payment.
God wasn’t finished with Israel just yet. The wilderness wasn’t their home.
Salvation is not merely to be put in “safety” but to be put into Christ.
His provision always flows downward, furnishing and filling us with his grace and truth right where we are.
The unity of God’s people is grounded not in lineage nor land but in the promise of the coming Christ.
It is by his perfect surrender that our true Exodus was accomplished.
Nothing good happens when you get ahead of God and take matters into your own hands.
We need redemption, and we receive it in our church community through God’s Word.
“The Church exists to tell anyone and everyone who knocks on her door wondering what’s inside: Come and see” (pg. 58). Such reminders make The Church a worthwhile read.
This is an excerpt from Remembering Your Baptism: A Sinner Saint Devotional (1517 Publishing, 2025) by Kathy Morales, pgs 6-9.