He Has Done Gloriously

God is My Salvation

Isaiah 12:1-2 ESV

“You will say in that day:

‘I will give thanks to you, O Lord,

    for though you were angry with me,

your anger turned away,

    that you might comfort me.

“’Behold, God is my salvation;

    I will trust, and will not be afraid;

for the Lord God is my strength and my song,

    and he has become my salvation.’”

Before we believe in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives, we are separate from God, dead in sin, headed to hell, and unable in and of ourselves to be acceptable to God, no matter how hard we might try, and no matter how many good deeds we might do (Rom 3:23).

For, not one of us can ever be good enough, of ourselves, to enter into God’s heaven. We can do nothing to earn or to deserve our own salvation. It is only by God’s grace, via Jesus’ blood sacrifice for our sins, through God-given faith in Jesus Christ that any of us can be saved and have eternal life.

But… and this is critical that we get this… we are not saved from our sins just so we can escape hell and so we can go to heaven when we die. We are delivered from our slavery (addiction) to sin so that we can now become slaves of God and of his righteousness, living holy lives, pleasing to him.

For, Jesus Christ died on that cross that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, that we might no longer live for ourselves but for him who gave his life up for us, and so that we might now be God’s possession and that we might honor God with our lives.

So, when we come to Christ in genuine God-persuaded faith in him, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin, and we are raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him. The old has gone. The new has come. Now we walk (in conduct, in practice) according to (in agreement with) the Spirit of God, and no longer according to our flesh to please our flesh.

So, all the praise, and all the glory, and all the thanks for our salvation from sin, and for our walks of obedient faith, belong to God and not to ourselves.

Make Known His Deeds

Isaiah 12:3-6 ESV

“With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. And you will say in that day:

“’Give thanks to the Lord,

    call upon his name,

make known his deeds among the peoples,

    proclaim that his name is exalted.

“’Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously;

    let this be made known in all the earth.

Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,

    for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.’”

If you are excited about something going on in your life, don’t you want to share it with other people? I mean, for those who are on social media, that is largely what that is about, sharing with friends and neighbors and former friends what is going on in our lives, and what is important to us.

So, if we are excited that Jesus Christ set us free from our bondage to sin, and that he has given us new lives in him, free from the control of sin and Satan, and empowered by God’s Spirit to live holy lives, pleasing to God, shouldn’t we want to share that good news with others? Yes, we should!

We should be telling people far and wide about our faith in Jesus Christ, and about what he did for us, and regarding what a difference that is making in our lives. We should be telling others about his love and grace, and how he delivers us from our bondage to sin so that we are no longer enslaved to sin.

We should be proclaiming his grace and his goodness, that is to us all, to anyone who will listen, and wherever there is opportunity to share the gospel of our salvation. We should tell them of how he gives purpose to our lives, and how he has a plan for our lives for our good and for his glory.

And we ought to be sharing the “whole counsel of God” and not a half-truth gospel which tickles itching ears because it consoles people in their sins and gives them comfort that they can keep on living in deliberate and habitual sin against God without guilt and without punishment.

For, Jesus set us free so that we can leave our lives of sin behind us to follow him in obedience to his will and to his ways, and so we can live holy lives, pleasing to him, and so we can fulfill his purpose for us via our obedience and our surrender of our lives to him. 

For this is why we were created, to do the will of God. So, there is much peace and joy in knowing that we are in the center of God’s will doing what he has purposed that we should do. There is much satisfaction in knowing that we, as his servants, are making a difference in this world, too.

But the glory goes to God, for it is only by his purpose and grace that we are even saved from our sins and have new lives in him. And we are only able to obey him in the power of God’s Spirit and in the strength and guidance of the Lord. For, it is our Lord who has done gloriously in changing our hearts.

More Precious Than Silver  

Lynn DeShazo

Lord, You are more precious than silver.

Lord, You are more costly than gold.

Lord, You are more beautiful than diamonds,

And nothing I desire compares to You.

Lord, Your Love is higher than mountains.

Lord, Your Love is deeper than seas.

Lord, Your Love encompasses the nations,

And yet, You live right here inside of me!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKmlrlzTHXY