All tagged salvation
I am thinking back to the moment I professed Jesus to be my savior, and the events that brought me to that decision. I am considering the strength of the gospel that I heard and comparing it to all the preaching I have heard since then. What made the message strike home with me that day? What have I heard since?
Are we working hard for the kingdom? Are our efforts encouraging others in their faith? And do we merely work in a physical sense and neglect the spiritual? These are the questions I encourage each of us to consider this morningas we prepare for the second coming of Jesus Christ. The coming of our Lord is imminent, but are we preparing ourselves, and those around us, for that moment?
God’s will and working out our own salvation; this is our contemplation today. What is our role in our redemption and salvation, and has God been working within us willfully to do His good pleasure? Have we conformed ourselves to His will?
God is indescribably great, and we are so utterly lost without His love and grace, but Jesus has an overpowering presence as well, and although we describe Him as humble, and meek, He is also glorious. We realize our faults and shortcomings, and rarely do we compare ourselves with the magnificence of God's glory, or the perfection of Jesus. We don't like to compare ourselves to the perfection that is Jesus nor to the absolute and awesome presence and power of God the Father because that would be presumptuous of us and so farfetched; some would consider it heretical. John fell to the ground as if dead at just the sight of the transfigured Christ, and it was only by the hand of Jesus that he was awakened. When we meet Jesus and stand before God will we be overcome by the mere sight of Him?
Are there situations and places where we don't feel at home with God? This is my morning thought. Our goal in faith should be to remain comfortably in the presence of God wherever we are and in whatever circumstance we find ourselves in... So how do we get there? It is easy to walk with Him when all is going well in our lives of faith and we are not experiencing spiritual challenges, but what about those times when we are facing storms and temptations?
Salvation... We question ourselves by asking how we can achieve this and live our lives as God expects... obeying Him is just too hard and it can be difficult to believe that anyone could possibly accomplish such a thing. Satan whispers to us “You can never be saved!”, but that is a lie.
Judgement… does the uncertainty of our success in obeying or pleasing God challenge us? Does the complexity and mystery of God cause us to wonder if we will be judged worthy? Well, if we trust in His Word and the gospel of Jesus, believe in Jesus, and ask forgiveness for those things we feel we have failed at, then we can rest assured that we are indeed worthy.
And finally there is Fear… This is what we feel when we face Satan’s lie concerning our salvation, and the doubt that confronts us regarding our own worthiness. Fear causes so many of us to run away from the challenges we face in life and the greatest of these is believing and having faith in God and Jesus Christ. Until we overcome fear, as scripture tells us repeatedly to do by saying “Fear Not”, then we can never truly rest in the Lord, experience His peace, and walk eternally in His presence.
Let’s study these things.
In what do we rejoice? Are we taking personal satisfaction in the number of souls we bring to God? Are we celebrating God's victories or the power He has given us? Would it surprise you that Jesus said don't do these things?
This morning I am considering the abandonment of things and people associated with our old life when we are reborn and accept Jesus as our savior. Is it a requirement of salvation, and if not, why do we abandon these things at all? Let's look at those old life things we give up along the way of faith and why we are asked to do so.
This morning I am contemplating my salvation and how sometimes God's most lavish blessings can become an impediment to me. My thoughts have produced some observations that might help you as well. So, let's begin by laying the ground rules of salvation... What does it take to be saved and when does that salvation occur? Salvation is not some elusive goal, but attainable, and hinges on God’s desire for us… it is a gift of grace that comes through our belief in Jesus Christ.
Being reborn into the kingdom of God through Jesus Christ is more than a moment's occurrence. Like our own physical birth's it takes time; being born again involves conception, nurturing from the church's body, and then following a struggle of labor comes the glory of entering the light for our very first glimpse of salvation and heaven.
I was reading Lamentations 3 today, and there was one verse, Lamentations 3:22, that captured me; it reads: "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail." This verse made me take pause, and to think about God’s great love for each of us and how, despite our unworthiness, He found it worthwhile to send His Son Jesus to die for us. I thought of all the sinners I pass each day and how their worthiness of forgiveness, prayer, and salvation is no different than mine was when I too was lost in sin, and walked each day in their shoes.
Even before God gave His only begotten Son to redeem us, He created the mold that He would use to save us, and showed us just how much He would be willing to pay to accomplish this. We can read about it in Isaiah 43, and see that He gave not only Egypt to redeem the people of Israel, but he gave Ethiopia and Seba as well. Isn’t it incredible that our God valued Israel this much, and that today He considers us even more precious, and of greater value? Today we stand testament to God’s love for us. We have been redeemed by something far more valuable… we are saved by the life and blood of God’s own Son Jesus Christ.
The divine anointing to preach is once again the subject of our devotional message this morning. I find affirmation in the words of E.M. Bounds' when he says. "Growth, fullness of thought, and simplicity of preaching are the fruits of this anointing." Jesus could debate the scripture in the synagogue... and yet his message remained simple. Jesus could be tempted by Satan and not be deceived, yet his approach to overcoming sin was a simple one. Love thy God... Love they neighbor... Believe in me... Obey my commandments... these are all such simple concepts. He most certainly contained the boundless intellect of God, but our salvation depends upon very simple guidelines. These things are the message of anointed preachers.
Are we working hard to do all of those things that Jesus spoke of during His Sermon on the Mount? If so, how is that working out for us? Are we going at it alone, or are we leaning on Jesus for our success, and salvation? Sometimes we get tripped up by His simplest sounding instruction, and most certainly we fail if we continue to struggle along by ourselves. But, in Him we are able to succeed, for in God all things are possible.
How many little things of faith have you left unaddressed? I dare say the major items are either solved or you are working with God on them, but have you overlooked the small and seemingly less important nuances to your walk with Jesus?