In the Power of God

Ephesians 1:15-23 ESV

 

“For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”

 

Our Faith

 

What is the faith that Paul is referring to here? It is faith in Jesus Christ, for sure, but what kind of faith? Is it just believing Jesus to forgive us our sins so that when we die we can go to heaven to be with him? Or is there more to it than that? It is surely the faith that comes from God, which is perfected by Jesus Christ, and that is not of ourselves, lest we should boast.

 

So, what does that kind of faith look like? It involves faithfulness, for Paul addressed this writing to the saints who were faithful in Christ Jesus. It also involves holiness, which means to be set apart (unlike, different) from the world so that we can become like Jesus, for Paul said the saints were chosen by God to be holy and blameless before him.

 

We were predestined according to the purpose of God who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so we might be for the praise of God’s glory. And his purpose for us is clearly that we are to die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, and that we are to no longer walk in sin (Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; Gal 5:16-21; 1 Jn 2:3-6).

 

And this faith also involves us loving God and loving our neighbors as ourselves and loving our fellow Christians (saints of God). And this love prefers what God prefers which is what is holy, righteous, morally pure, honest, faithful, and committed to walks of obedience to our Lord. So, we will not continue in deliberate and habitual sin against God and others.

 

The Spirit of Wisdom

 

Our faith is also not a one-time experience we go through in our lives where we decide to believe in Jesus to save us from our sins. We don’t “get saved” so that when we die we can go to heaven. Jesus saves us from our sins so that we will no longer live in sin, according to the flesh, but so we will now walk in holiness and righteousness, according to and empowered by God’s Spirit (Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Pet 2:24).

 

So our salvation from sin is to be lived out in our daily lives. We are to grow in our faith and in our understanding of God’s word and in our walks of obedience to the Lord. And we need the wisdom of God in our lives in order to walk in that faith, and in order to continue in obedience to our Lord. And we get that wisdom from God’s word and via putting that word into practice.

 

And to have our eyes enlightened we need to be listening to the Lord and doing what he says to do, for we aren’t going to be discerning of things if we are giving way to the flesh and if we are not making obedience to our Lord our practice. But in this day and age, we definitely need to have our eyes enlightened to what is going on all around us, for deception abounds!

 

And knowing the hope to which he has called us can only come through seeking his face and his counsel and through prayer and through the study of the word of God, and also through obedience. The more we listen, and the more we obey, the more our eyes will be enlightened, and the greater our understanding will be regarding all that God has for us.

 

So, what is this hope? It isn’t just eternal life with God. It isn’t just getting to go to heaven when we die. We aren’t saved just so we can go to heaven. We are saved so that we live our lives to the glory of God and for his will and purposes while we still live on this earth. So, our hope is so much more than just heaven as our eternal destiny.

 

Our hope is salvation from sin, but it is deliverance from our slavery to sin so we can become slaves of God and of his righteousness. And our hope is that we have a Savior and Lord (master) who now lives within us who is directing our lives, and who is empowering us to live godly and holy lives, and that he has a purpose for our lives for his praise and glory.

 

The Greatness of His Power

 

We can’t live the Christian life absent of the power of God in our lives. We can’t say “no” to sin daily and walk in holiness daily absent of the power of God. The power of God is what gives us the strength, the power, the wisdom, the courage, and the direction for how to live for the Lord day by day, and the knowledge of what God’s will and purpose is for our lives.

 

The power of God is what delivered us from our slavery to sin and what gave us new lives in Christ Jesus, our Lord, to be lived for his glory. For, it is the power of God which raised Jesus from the dead, and which returned him to heaven, and which gives him all rule and authority and power and dominion over everything.

 

So, in that same power we can live free from the control of sin over our lives, free from addiction to sin, and we can walk in obedience to our Lord, doing what he has called us to do. In his power we can resist Satan, and we can fight off his evil attacks against us, and we can endure great suffering that comes upon us because of our walks of faith.

 

In the power of God we can be his servants and witness, too, sharing the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ with the people of this world and with worldly people who claim to be Christians, too. For, if we are indeed sharing the whole gospel message, and not the half-truth gospel that is so popular today, we are going to face strong opposition and lots of rejection.

 

So, listen to the voice of the Lord. Spend lots of time in God’s word reading it in context, praying for wisdom and understanding and for the Lord to direct you to his truth and to show you his will for your life. Then, in his power and strength, be who he created you to be, and take his gospel to the ends of the earth, for time is short, and many need to know Jesus.

 

Days Of Elijah

 

Artist: Robin Mark

Songwriter: Francis Robert Mark

 

These are the days of Elijah

Declaring the Word of the Lord

And these are the days

Of Your servant Moses

Righteousness being restored

And though these are days

Of great trials

Of famine and darkness and sword

Still we are the voice

In the desert crying

Prepare ye the way of the Lord

 

Behold He comes

Riding on the clouds

Shining like the sun

At the trumpet call

So lift your voice

It's the year of Jubilee

And out of Zion's hill

Salvation comes

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ca9LnzJnpjQ

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According to the Purpose of His Will

Ephesians 1:11-14 ESV

 

“In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”

 

Our Faith in Jesus Christ

 

Our faith in Jesus Christ has a purpose, and it isn’t just so we can be forgiven of our sins, escape hell, and so we can go to heaven when we die. God had a plan for our lives even before he laid the foundations of the earth that we should be holy, set apart (unlike, different) from the world so that we may be conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ (Eph 1:3-5).

 

We were predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, and his will for us is that we should die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, not just once, but daily until the day we die physically, or until the day that he returns for us, his bride, and he takes us to be with him forever (Lu 9:23-26; Eph 4:17-24).

 

And we are to be for the praise of his glory (his honor, value, worth). So, this means that we are to walk (in practice, in conduct) according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh. Daily we are to die with Christ to sin and live to Christ and to his righteousness. We are to no longer live to please ourselves, but to please God with our lives (Rom 8:1-17; 1 Pet 2:24).

 

So, when this states here that when we believed in Jesus that we were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance, it is not teaching that if we merely profess faith in Christ that we have this guarantee, or if we confess him as Lord, but he never becomes our Lord (owner-master), that we have this guarantee (Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8).

 

We can’t just read vv 13-14 and assume that all people who make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ are now guaranteed eternal life with God no matter how they live their lives from that moment forward. We have to always interpret all Scripture verses within their context. And this book was addressed to the saints of God who are faithful in Christ Jesus.

 

Chosen to Be Holy

 

We were chosen to be holy, not just as a status, but that we should be holy in all our conduct, and in our attitudes, in our thinking, and in our speaking, too. We are to no longer live the way in which we lived before we believed in Jesus Christ, but we are now to live for the praise and glory of God in holiness and purity of devotion to our Lord, with him as master of our lives.

 

We have forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace. And his grace instructs us to say “No!” to ungodliness and fleshly lusts and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return. For, Jesus gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works (Titus 2:11-14; Eph 2:10).

 

His grace to us also delivers us from our slavery to sin so that we would not continue living in slavery to sin and so that we would walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus, our Lord, no longer addicted to sin but now presenting ourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and our members to God as instruments for righteousness. For, sin shall no longer have dominion over us (Rom 6:1-23; Eph 4:17-24).

 

Description of True Believers

 

For, what should describe our lives as believers in Jesus Christ? Read Ephesians 2:1-3 and 4:17-24. We once lived in (walked in) sin. We once followed the course of this evil world. We once followed Satan who is now at work in the sons of disobedience. We once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and we were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind.

 

We once lived just like the people of this world who are still in the darkness, in the futility of our minds. We once were darkened in our understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance in us due to the hardness of our hearts and/or our sin natures. We once gave ourselves up to sin and perhaps to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.

 

But that is not the way we should have learned Christ. We should not have learned that God saves us from our sins so that we no longer have to feel guilty when we sin, but so that we can go on living in sin guilt free and without punishment for sin but with a guarantee of eternal life with God, regardless of how often or how much we continue in sin.

 

We should have learned the truth that is in Christ Jesus, “to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (see Eph 4:17-24).

 

Study the Word in Context

 

So, don’t just read a few verses and then decide your theology or your doctrine based on just a few verses. These books were originally letters which must be read in entirety to get the whole big picture. Interpreting Scriptures out of their context is dangerous, and many false doctrines come from such a practice.

 

For, if we walk in sin, we will die in sin, no matter what we profess or think we believe or what we feel we have been guaranteed. If sin is what we practice, and righteousness is not what we practice, we do not have eternal life with God. And if we walk in disobedience, and not in obedience, then we don’t know God and he doesn’t know us (1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10).

 

So, just know that all of us are going to stand before God one day and we are all going to be judged by our works, by what we did with Jesus Christ, and by what we did with our lives. If we sow to please the flesh, from the flesh we will reap destruction, but if we sow to please the Spirit, from the Spirit you will reap eternal life (Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; 2 Co 5:10).

 

The Narrow Road

 

But I am not going to sell you “a bill of goods.” The Christian life is not an easy life. It is hard. It is a life of suffering, of daily saying “no” to the flesh and “yes” to God. And if we are walking in purity of devotion to the Lord, and if we are doing what pleases him, and if we are obeying his word by putting it into practice in our lives, we are going to be rejected.

 

We are going to have people, even other “believers” in Jesus, and even members of our own family who will turn against us, and who will not support us in what we are doing, and who may even be critical of our walks of faith for how we are walking. For, even though we are walking in conduct according to the word of God, the way we are walking is not socially acceptable in today’s culture, even in much of the church.

 

So, just know that faith in Jesus Christ, if it is God-given faith, and if it is not of ourselves, not only will it submit to the Lord and obey him, but it will face much rejection and even some persecution. But we always have the Lord with us, so no matter what storms we may go through, we are not alone. He is with us every step of the way to guide us and to help us to make it through it all.

 

You’ll Never Walk Alone 

 

By Oscar Hammerstein II / Richard Rodgers

 

When you walk through a storm

Hold your head up high

And don't be afraid of the dark

At the end of a storm

There's a golden sky

And the sweet silver song of a lark

 

Walk on through the wind

Walk on through the rain

Though your dreams be tossed and blown

Walk on, walk on

With hope in your heart

And you'll never walk alone

You'll never walk alone

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tdr0OvivnwQ

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Becoming Like Him in His Death

Philippians 3:8-11 ESV

 

“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”

 

Jesus told us that if anyone would come after him, to be one of his disciples, he (or she) must deny self and take up his cross daily (daily die with Christ to sin and to self) and follow him in obedience. And the Apostle Paul taught us that faith in Jesus Christ involves us daily dying with Christ to sin and us living to Christ and to his righteousness (Lu 9:23-26; Rom 8:1-17).

 

So, when we count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord, this means we surrender our lives to Jesus Christ. We are crucified with Christ in death to sin so that we will no longer live in slavery to sin but so we would now be slaves of righteousness. It is not just forsaking self-righteousness, which is trying to earn our salvation by our own good works, but it is forsaking our flesh and its sinful passions, too.

 

So, this righteousness that comes from faith is not absent of works, it is just that they are the works of God which he prepared in advance that we should walk in them. For, Jesus gave himself up for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works (Eph 2:10; Tit 2:14; cf. Php 2:12-13).

 

So, not being under the law does not mean we are to be lawless. It just means that we don’t have to obey all those liturgical, ceremonial, and sacrificial and purification laws that the Jews had to follow under the Old Covenant. We still are required to obey God’s commandments, but the ones taught to us in the New Testament (1 Jn 2:3-6).

 

And yes we are made righteous by faith in Jesus Christ but it is those who practice righteousness who are righteous, not those who merely make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ but who then continue living in their sins deliberately and habitually. We are what we practice, not what we profess. If we practice lying, we are liars, and if adultery, we are adulterers, etc.

 

So, we can’t just claim Jesus’ righteousness over our lives and then continue living in sinful practices. We must walk according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh, and we must by the Spirit be putting to death the deeds of the flesh if we want to have salvation from sin and eternal life with God (Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Gal 5:16-21).

 

Philippians 3:12-16 ESV

 

“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.”

 

Just because Jesus saved us from our sins and he delivered us from our slavery to sin, it doesn’t mean we have all of a sudden reached perfection, as though we never ever sin again. BUT this truth is never to be used as an excuse for continued habitual and deliberate sin against God, for if we walk in sin we will not have eternal life with God (Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6).

 

So, although we have not yet reached absolute perfection, we also are not free to continue in habitual and deliberate sin. We are to be walking now according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh. Daily we should be dying with Christ to sin and to self and daily we should be putting on Christ and his righteousness in the power of God (Eph 4:17-24).

 

The Christian life is a work in process, but it needs to be a work in process and not just a show of righteousness. We are saved (past), we are being saved (present), and we will be saved (future) when Jesus Christ returns and our salvation is then complete. This is an ongoing process in our lives of dying daily to sin and living daily to the Lord and his righteousness.

 

I hear a lot of people say, “We all sin, and one sin is not bigger than another.” And what they generally mean by this is that the person who commits a singular sin is in the same category as those who are living in sin, who are making sin their practice, and who are defiantly, willfully, deliberately, and premeditatively sinning against God and others.

 

The Scriptures do not teach that. The Scriptures teach that we are either living for righteousness or in sin. We are either slaves to sin or slaves to God and to his righteousness via obedience. And if we are habitually and deliberately choosing to ignore God’s commandments, and in his face we are continuing to rebel against him by sinning against him, then we do not have the hope of eternal life with God unless we repent (forsake our sins).

 

So, there is a distinct difference between a believer who may or may not sin occasionally and those who profess faith in Jesus Christ yet continue to live in sin in defiance against the Lord’s commands, deliberately choosing their flesh over God and his commands habitually. So, lack of perfection doesn’t equate to freedom to keep on in deliberate sin against God.

 

But we press on in our faith, and we grow in the Lord and in his righteousness, and if we should sin, we repent (forsake the sin) and we continue to follow the Lord in obedience. But please note here that if you are making sin your practice, just because you may occasionally confess sin and own up to it, if you go back and continue in it, that is not repentance.

 

Also, forgetting what is behind does not mean that we can keep on sinning against the Lord and then just keep dismissing the sin as though it is past when it isn’t. Forgetting means that the sin is no longer a part of our lives. We don’t continue in it. But if we continue lying, we are still a liar, and if we continue committing adultery, we are still an adulterer until we change.

 

So, we cannot press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus if we are answering a downward call of Satan and if we are continuing in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord. We have to be daily dying to sin and to self and daily walking in obedience to the Lord and to his commands if we are going to make progress in a forward direction.

 

So, holding true to what we have attained is holding true to the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ which teaches us that we must die daily to sin and to self and we must walk in obedience to the Lord and to his commands. And the Lord will be with us, and he will help us to resist the devil and to flee temptation and to walk in holiness and righteousness in his power.

 

Breath Of Heaven (Mary's Song)

 

Songwriters: Amy Lee Grant / Chris Eaton

 

I have traveled many moonless nights

Cold and weary with a babe inside

And I wonder what I've done

Holy father you have come

And chosen me now to carry your son

 

I am waiting in a silent prayer

I am frightened by the load I bear

In a world as cold as stone

Must I walk this path alone?

Be with me now

Be with me now

 

Breath of heaven

Hold me together

Be forever near me

Breath of heaven

Breath of heaven

Lighten my darkness

Pour over me your holiness

For you are holy

Breath of heaven

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6VGVXjGLBQ

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At the Proper Time

1 Peter 5:1-5 ESV

 

“So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’”

 

When I was a child (1950-1967), we moved around a lot. I can remember every place we lived all the way back to when I was age two. It was eleven residences in all. One day I told all my memories of the places we had lived to my older brother (not my oldest brother) and he was able to give me addresses or at least street names and general locations for all of those places. So, in essence, he validated my memories.

 

A few years ago my husband and I were back in our hometown and we were able to find all those places but one, which was probably because the house had been removed and other buildings had been put in its place. Two of the houses had been physically removed, the last two I had lived in with my parents. But, again, my memories were being validated.

 

I just recently talked with a friend I knew when I was in Jr and Sr High School, and we are still friends, and she validated another memory of mine, only this one was not a very good one. This one was about the abuses of my father. And what I remember there goes all the way back to when I was 5 or 6 years old. That is when my dad began to take advantage of me sexually.

 

Now, my parents both claimed to be Christians. We went to the institutional church every time the doors were open – Sunday morning, Sunday evening, Wednesday evenings, and for all special meetings. But at home my dad was Satan to me, basically. He was a big bully who tried to prove that he was the smartest, the fastest, the most talented, and the strongest, etc.

 

He beat us all, especially my mom. And he sexually abused at least me and my two younger sisters. And our mom, although she took care of us physically, was emotionally neglectful. I was never hugged or told that I was loved. I cried a lot, and I cried my pain and my suffering out to Jesus who was my Savior from the time I was around the age of seven.

 

Then one day my dad had my mom out on the front lawn strangling her and beating her head up against a tree. I wasn’t at home. I was at my aunt’s house, but my youngest sister was at home and she called my aunt and told her, and I presumed that my aunt then made an appointment for me and my sister next to me in age with the pastor, for next we were in his office.

 

I told the pastor about the abuses of my dad towards our mom, for that is why we were there. But his response was that he could do nothing about it unless she pressed charges. So, he was going to just leave our situation as it was, and he was going to do nothing. And so I told him about the sexual abuse, and how long it had been going on, and his response was, “But did he force you?” Of course he forced us!

 

I sensed no compassion from this man at all. He was our pastor, but he wasn’t shepherding us. He was going to leave us in an abusive environment, and when told about the sexual abuse, his thought was in just making sure we didn’t volunteer to be abused by our dad at very early ages, a dad who was already known in the family for being a wife abuser.

 

Then, the next thing I knew was that my dad was being committed to a mental hospital voluntarily. So, what if he hadn’t have volunteered? What if he had denied the charges? Would we have been left in that environment? Well, a year and a half later they sent him back home. No one talked to us kids that whole year and a half about what had happened, and now this.

 

So, he was allowed to come back into the home and resume his abuses. When he attempted it with me again, this time I told my mom, and he never tried it with me again, but the mental and verbal abuse only got worse. And he continued his abuses at least with my youngest sister for maybe another 10 years, which her daughters have shared publicly (she is now deceased).

 

The church leaders gave us no support, no help, no counsel. They knew what my dad had done and was still doing because we told them, but they just let him continue, and he continued abusing my mom mentally, verbally, and emotionally until her death at age 86. So, if you are a pastor of a church congregation, don’t abandon your flock. Nurture them in the Lord.

 

1 Peter 5:6-11 ESV

 

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

 

My story may have been the exception to the rule when I was a child, but maybe not, but with the cheap grace gospel giving people permission to continue in their sinful practices, and with the easy access to pornography and other types of sexual material now on smart phones, via the internet, the number of Christian men involved in viewing porn is astounding!

 

And what is even more astounding is the high percentage of pastors who are engaging in sexual deviancy and pornography and other types of sinful sexual behavior. So, the number of abused children today has to be high in numbers, too. And the church is largely doing nothing to stop it, for their cheap grace is giving these people permission to keep on in their sins.

 

But, for all the horrible things I went through as a child, some of which continued into my adult years via other sources, God allowed this in my life or it could not have happened. He didn’t approve of it, but he didn’t try to stop it. He allows his children to suffer, and he even says that suffering is what we should experience if we are his true children.

 

Now, as soon as I sat down to write my devotions this morning the Lord reminded me of what I went through as a child, and this is for a reason. When it says here to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, I can give testimony to the fact that those words are true.

 

Seventeen years ago the Lord Jesus called me to this present ministry of writing out what he teaches me from his word each day and of placing these writings on the internet for him to take them wherever he wants them to go. All I do is sit down with the Scriptures and let him lead me in what to write, and then I post them on the internet, and he gets them to people.

 

Now, life didn’t get easier for me, but that is another whole story I won’t go into now. Suffice it to say that I continued to have a life of suffering, but God has used it all in my life to make me who I am so that he could use me in the way he designed for me from even before he created the world. This was always to be my calling. I just didn’t know it until 2004.

 

So, if you are going through difficult circumstances, or if you are being abused in some way, take it to the Lord in prayer. Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares for you. Let him guide you in what to do and in what to say and in how to say it. And know that God didn’t promise us a life free from suffering or a life free from attacks from our enemy Satan.

 

Don’t let Satan get the best of you. Don’t yield to your difficult circumstances to where you let them overcome you. Be an overcomer in the strength of the Lord! Resist the devil, firm in your faith, knowing that you are not alone in your suffering, but that others have walked and may still be walking in your shoes.

 

And commit your way to the Lord. Trust him to work it all out for good in your life. Let him lead. Follow in his footsteps. Let him show you how he can use your suffering for his glory. Be who he created you to be, even if it means more suffering. For, if we are following Jesus, we are going to be rejected and persecuted, even by family members.

 

So, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can fight off Satan’s evil schemes against you. And walk in the Spirit and do not give the devil a foothold in your life. And let God lead you every step of the way and let him open the doors he has for you, for if he called you, he has something he wants you to do.

 

Breath Of Heaven (Mary's Song)

 

Songwriters: Amy Lee Grant / Chris Eaton

 

I have traveled many moonless nights

Cold and weary with a babe inside

And I wonder what I've done

Holy father you have come

And chosen me now to carry your son

 

I am waiting in a silent prayer

I am frightened by the load I bear

In a world as cold as stone

Must I walk this path alone?

Be with me now

Be with me now

 

Breath of heaven

Hold me together

Be forever near me

Breath of heaven

Breath of heaven

Lighten my darkness

Pour over me your holiness

For you are holy

Breath of heaven..

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6VGVXjGLBQ

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We Can't Make Up our Own Salvation

Ephesians 2:8-10 ESV

 

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

 

The Big Lie

 

Many people today are building a false doctrine of salvation based off verses 8-9 of Ephesians 2 and they are giving many people the wrong impression of what God’s grace and his salvation are all about. They are misrepresenting what these verses are teaching because they are not teaching these verses in their context. Thus, they are also misrepresenting Jesus Christ.

 

They are giving people the false impression that “faith” is just acknowledging who Jesus is and what he did for us on that cross and then it is accepting his free gift of salvation from sin and forgiveness of sins and eternal life with God. And they take “not of ourselves” as to mean that we do not participate in this at all, and that nothing is required of us other than to “believe.”

 

But what they are teaching is not true faith, but a false faith. What they are teaching is not true grace, but a false grace. And what they are teaching is not the true gospel, but a false gospel based off a lie and a false teaching and a false hope which suppresses the working of the Holy Spirit, and which is based off the passions of our sinful flesh, instead.

 

For, they are telling people that they can believe in Jesus, have their sins forgiven, be on their way to heaven, but that nothing is required of them – no submission to Christ as Lord, no walks of surrender and obedience to the Lord, and no putting sin to death in our lives on a daily basis. For, they call this “works-based” salvation which must be discarded, in their eyes.

 

So, what they do is that they leave people still dead in their sins and still living for sinful pleasures while promising them salvation from sin and eternal life with God guaranteed. For they reduce God’s grace to mere forgiveness of sins (unconditionally) without any teachings on repentance, obedience, and submission to Christ as Lord.

 

Even if they teach on repentance, it is usually reduced to a mere confession of sin but not actually meaning that we forsake our sinful lifestyles in order to follow Jesus Christ in obedience to his will and to his ways.

 

The Truth

 

So, let’s look at these verses in their context. Go back to the beginning of chapter 2 of Ephesians. It talks there about how we as Christians were (past tense) dead in our sins, and then it goes on to explain what that means.

 

It means we once (not presently, but in the past) walked in (practiced, conducted our lives in) sin, following the course of this world (the ways, values, thinking of this sinful world). This is not to be a present reality in our lives. In doing so, we were following Satan, not God, and at that time we were children of disobedience (in opposition to obedience to the Lord).

 

We once (past tense, not presently) lived (in lifestyle) in the passions of our flesh (our sin nature), carrying out the desires of the body and the mind. We did what our sinful nature wanted to do and we engaged in all sorts of sinful practices. And because of this, we were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

 

Then it goes on to talk about God’s mercy and his great love and grace to us and how he saved us when we were dead in our sins. So, we have to see the following verses (vv 8-9) in the light of the preceding verses (vv 1-7) which tell us what it looks like when we are not saved and which then explains what we should look like once we are saved.

 

Saved means we no longer follow Satan, we no longer walk in sin, and sin is no longer what we practice. We aren’t just delivered from the penalty of sin, but we are delivered from our slavery to sin. We no longer follow the ways of this sinful world, but we are holy, separate (unlike) this sinful world because we are being conformed to the likeness of Christ.

 

We are no longer living in disobedience to our Lord, but we are walking in obedience to him and to his commands. We are no longer living according to the passions of our sinful flesh, doing what our flesh desires, but now we are living according to godly passions and desires, wanting to please our Lord and not our flesh.

 

For, if we remain in our sins, doing what our sinful hearts desire, making sin our practice, and righteousness is not what we practice, then we are by nature still children of wrath like the rest of mankind. We are not children of God. And it is critical that we realize this, for many are claiming faith in Jesus Christ who are still walking in sin. And one day they are going to hear God say, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of iniquity.”

 

What it Means

 

So, when it says in verse 8 that by grace through faith we are saved, and that this is not our own doing, but it is the gift of God, it is not teaching that works are not involved in our salvation. The works of the flesh are not involved, but if you look at verse 10 you realize that we are saved to do the good works which God prepared in advance that we should walk in them.

 

Not of our own doing means we don’t make up our own salvation, either. We can’t generate it ourselves from our own flesh and we can’t create our own plan of salvation to please our sinful flesh, either, which is what many people are doing in how they are teaching these verses falsely in order to not put sin to death but to let it reign supremely.

 

The faith to believe in Jesus doesn’t come from ourselves, but it comes from God. Jesus is the originator and the perfecter of our faith, and we can’t even come to faith in Jesus Christ unless God the Father draws us to Christ, i.e. unless he persuades us to believe in Jesus, which means that this “belief” is going to align with God’s will and purposes for our lives.

 

This faith is going to align with the rest of the Scriptures and what they teach about that faith. And if you read into Ephesians 4 you realize that our faith there is described in terms of us forsaking our former lives of living for sin and for self to now follow Jesus Christ in obedience to his will and to his ways for our lives (see Ephesians 4:17-24).

 

If this faith comes from God and is not of ourselves, then we can’t make it up ourselves. Our faith is going to submit to Christ as Lord, and forsake our sins, and follow Jesus in obedience, just like it talks about in the beginning of chapter 2 and again in chapter 4. We can’t take Scriptures out of their context to make them say what we want them to say.

 

So, the conclusion here is that our faith comes from God, therefore it submits to God and to his will for our lives. We are divinely persuaded by God, therefore we will forsake our sins and follow Jesus in obedience. For, we are now God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus FOR GOOD WORKS, which GOD prepared beforehand, that we should WALK IN THEM.

 

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer

 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

 

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

 

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

 

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

 

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

 

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg

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We are Not All the Same

Romans 12:1-2 ESV

 

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

 

The Lord put within my mind a song called “Breath of Heaven” (Mary’s Song), which is a song about Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the emotions that she might have gone through and the prayers she might have prayed to God the Father when she was chosen of God to carry the Son of God in her womb. So, let’s think about that here for a moment.

 

She was called of God to give birth to the Son of God who was conceived within her of the Holy Spirit. So she became pregnant out of wedlock, which was punishable by death in those days, I believe. Her betrothed Joseph could have put her away, but the Lord sent an angel to him to tell him that Mary was pregnant of the Holy Spirit and he believed the angel.

 

So, I am most certain she was shunned, falsely accused, rejected, made fun of, criticized, etc., because people did not understand that the child she was carrying was God’s Son, the Savior of the world. So, Mary must have felt all alone, at times, and she might have wondered, at times, why God chose her to carry His Son. And she probably faced fears and loneliness.

 

And I am most certain that she relied on the Lord for her strength and encouragement and for her help and counsel, and that she must have cried tears when people mistreated her out of ignorance, not understanding God’s calling upon her life. But she remained steadfast in faith and she persevered in the strength of the Lord, and she gave birth to the Savior of the world.

 

So, Mary is an example for us of someone who loved God with her whole being and who literally gave her body to the Lord as a living sacrifice for him, holy and acceptable to him. She was not conformed to the ways of this sinful world because God had set her apart for his service. And I am most certain she was not well accepted because of it.

 

Now, as followers of Jesus Christ we have also all been given the Savior of the world to carry in our bodies, not in a physical sense, but in a spiritual sense. And when we do, and when we give our lives to God as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, not conformed to the world, we, too, will be criticized, falsely accused, misunderstood, rejected, and cast aside.

 

Romans 12:3-8 ESV

 

“For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.”

 

When we carry the life of Jesus Christ within us, we are indwelt with the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit gives each of us spiritual gifts to be used for the glory of God in sharing the gospel and in ministering his grace to the body of Christ. And God assigns each one of us a specific role within the body which he planned for us to fill even before the creation of the world (1 Co 12).

 

No one else was called of God to give birth to the Son of God but Mary. And God has specific assignments for each of us which are ours alone to fulfill. But the problem with that today is that so much of the church just wants us all to be minions. We are all to get in a line, single filed, and follow the leader wherever he leads us, and that is just not biblical.

 

Each of us has been gifted of God with specific gifts and assignments from God and every part of the body is to be at work for the proper building up of the body of Christ to maturity in Christ (Eph 4; 1 Co 12). We aren’t all going to be the same. We aren’t all going to have the same function. But we are all necessary! And we need to make room for each part of the body to work.

 

Now, if someone is obviously speaking blasphemy against the Scriptures and they are obviously teaching what is not according to the Word of God, then we do not have to entertain that. But we should not reject other believers in Christ just because their body part is not like ours. Just because we don’t understand their calling does not mean their calling is not of God.

 

God didn’t call us to all get in a single file and to follow some human leader and then call that harmony. Harmony is when we have many parts that work together to make one beautiful piece of music. We shouldn’t have just one preacher or only hear the Scriptures taught from one man. We shouldn’t have just one music leader who picks all the music, either.

 

The Scriptures teach that we are to speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, so not all songs in church gatherings should be “praise and worship” songs, either, for we are supposed to be speaking these as messages of encouragement to one another, and “encouragement” is not just “feel good” messages, but it can be exhortations and urgings.

 

Some of us God may have called to be modern day Jeremiahs in sharing God’s messages from his Word in practical ways applicable to our lives and our world today. And these aren’t all “happy, happy” messages. But they are necessary in the times in which we now live because of the spiritual condition of today’s church which has become so much like the world.

 

So, if this is someone’s calling of God, this does not make this person a “negative” person who is to be ostracized and rejected because he or she is not saying what makes people feel good inside. We don’t put those people aside because they don’t fit in with today’s modern way of doing church, either, or exclude them because they won’t accept false teaching.

 

So, don’t shut out members of the body of Christ who bear the Son of God in their bodies just because they aren’t like us, or just because they don’t fit in with the modern way of “doing church,” or just because the message they are sharing sounds negative, even though it is biblical, or just because what they are saying doesn’t agree with the modern diluted gospel.

 

God didn’t make us all the same, and he didn’t gift us all the same, and he didn’t assign us all the same parts, either. We are different on purpose because we each have something to offer and to add to the whole body. So, don’t get hung up on modern philosophies about how church should operate or about business models or about this whole idea that everything that is from God needs to sound pleasing to our ears.

 

Let God be God, and make room for all his body parts unless, of course, what they are saying or doing is obviously contrary to God and to the word of God. We are not to be minions. We are to be the individuals that God made us to be, uniquely designed by God for his purposes. We each have something to contribute. And we’re not all going to be the same.

 

And guard against false gospels which come dressed up as something attractive and sweet sounding. Many are teaching a gospel which is not the true gospel but which is a lie, and it is corrupt, and it is not of God for it does not submit to God nor teach that we must forsake our sins and follow Jesus in obedience in order to have salvation from sin and eternal life with God (Lu 9). Test everything you hear against the Scriptures (in context), and know what the Scriptures as a whole teach, so you are not led astray.

 

Breath Of Heaven (Mary's Song)

 

Songwriters: Amy Lee Grant / Chris Eaton

 

I have traveled many moonless nights

Cold and weary with a babe inside

And I wonder what I've done

Holy father you have come

And chosen me now to carry your son

 

I am waiting in a silent prayer

I am frightened by the load I bear

In a world as cold as stone

Must I walk this path alone?

Be with me now

Be with me now

 

Breath of heaven

Hold me together

Be forever near me

Breath of heaven

Breath of heaven

Lighten my darkness

Pour over me your holiness

For you are holy

Breath of heaven

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6VGVXjGLBQ

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Disciples of Christ

Luke 9:23-26 NIV

 

“Then he said to them all: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.’”

 

Whoever

 

If we want to become one of Jesus’ disciples, then we must live as he described here in these verses in Luke chapter nine, by his grace, in his strength, power, and wisdom. But these are not the only words of Jesus in the Scriptures defining what it means to be one of his disciples. And please understand here that “disciple” is not optional for a true believer in Jesus.

 

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34-35 NIV).

 

And this is not a mushy gushy kind of love like they show you in the movies or on TV. This is a love which comes from God and it prefers what God prefers. And God prefers what is holy, righteous, morally pure, honest, trustworthy, kind, and obedient to him. For the believer in Jesus, it means to live through Christ, to choose his choices, and to obey his commands.

 

“Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” “Jesus replied, ‘Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them’” (John 14:21,23 NIV).

 

Jesus stressed over and again the importance of obedience to him and to his teachings, to his commands (New Covenant). If we love him, we will obey him. We will do what he says. And we will be loved by God the Father and by Jesus, and Jesus will reveal himself to us, and God the Father and Jesus Christ will make their home with us (cf. Jn 15:10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10).

 

Deny and Die

 

If we want to be a disciple (a believer, a follower) of Christ we must deny self. We must refuse, disallow, and forbid self, and say “no” to self, i.e. we must say “no” to the self-life, the life that is all about us and what we want and about our selfish desires. And we must say “yes” to Jesus and to what he wants for our lives, and to what he wants to do with us.

 

So, if he wants us to get up in the middle of the night, for example, to pray, or to read the Scriptures, or to write something, then we must get up and do what he says. We must not resist him. If he leads us to write something or to say something we know is going to get us hated and rejected, then we must do what he says, even knowing it may not go well for us.

 

And we must take up our cross daily. When Jesus took up his cross it meant his death. And he died to take away the sins of the world. He died so that we could die with him to sin and live with him to his righteousness. And when we believe in Jesus our old self life is crucified with him in order that we might no longer be slaves to sin but slaves to righteousness.

 

So, to take up our cross daily means that daily we forgo the self-life, and we choose to follow Jesus Christ wherever he leads us. Daily by the Spirit we are to be putting to death the deeds of our flesh, saying “no” to sin and “yes” to God and to his righteousness. We now walk (in conduct) by the Spirit, and we no longer walk (in practice) according to the flesh.

 

And we follow Jesus in obedience to his teachings and to his commands under the New Covenant, many of which are repeated from the teachings in the Old Testament. We don’t have to obey the Old Covenant liturgical and ceremonial laws, but we do have to obey God’s moral laws and the instructions given to us believers in the New Testament.

 

Saving and Losing

 

If we hold on to our old lives of living for sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. We will not have eternal life with God no matter what we have confessed with our lips or are convinced that we have believed in our hearts. For, Jesus said that not everyone who says “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of God the Father.

 

And here is that subject of obedience again. We must walk in obedience to the Lord and to his teachings and to his commands if we want to be saved from our sins and to have eternal life with God. And we must forsake our sinful practices and make righteousness our practice in the power, strength, and wisdom of God (Matt 7:21-23; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Gal 5:16-21).

 

And holding on to (saving) our old lives of living for sin and for self means we choose our flesh over God. We choose to obey our flesh over obedience to our Lord. We choose to go our own way instead of God’s ways. We make up our own plans for our lives and we follow them instead of following God’s plans for our lives. It is saying “No” to God and “Yes” to our flesh.

 

So, instead, we are to lose our lives for Jesus, which means forfeiting the self-life in order to follow Jesus in obedience to his will and to his ways. It is this dying daily to sin and to self and walking in the ways of God. And it will result in eternal life with God. But it may also result in much suffering and rejection and persecution, too.

 

But if you are ashamed of the Lord Jesus and his words, which is evident by a refusal to obey what he says, either because you want to continue in your sinful practices, or because it is more important to you to be liked by other humans than to be approved by God, then Jesus will be ashamed of you when he comes for his bride, and you will not be included.

 

So, follow Jesus in obedience. Do what he commands. Go with him wherever he sends you and say what he gives you to say even if it means people will not like you, or they will reject you, or they may even do evil against you or turn others against you, too. Forsake self and let Jesus be Lord (master) of your lives. And one day he will take you home to be with him forever.

 

When I Go Home

 

By G. M. Eldridge

 

“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes…” Revelation 21:4

 

In the moment He appears

And the light from heaven shines,

I’ll forget ev’ry fear,

Ev’ry pain I’ll leave behind.

Then I’ll see Him as He is

And I’ll know Him as I’m known.

Ev’ry tear wiped away when I go home.

 

Ever present is the tho’t

That a moment waits for me

When unworthy as I am,

His glory I will see.

I will empty all my praise

Before my Father’s throne.

Ev’ry tear wiped away when I go home.

 

If the trial I endure,

And your presence I can’t find,

Be near me, Lord, I pray,

Bring back unto my mind

That your promises are firm

And I’m never on my own.

Ev’ry tear wiped away when I go home.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z98Zvr1CyXg

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*Full lyrics used by permission

The Grace of God Trains Us

Titus 2:11-14 ESV

 

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.”

 

God’s Grace

 

What is God’s grace to us? Basically we come into this world as sinners, and we all come up short of attaining God’s divine approval in and of ourselves. Not one of us can be righteous or acceptable to God in our own merit, according to our own good works done in the flesh. Our own good works will never outweigh our bad deeds.

 

So, God the Father sent Jesus Christ (God the Son) to the earth to be born as a baby to a human mother but conceived of the Holy Spirit. He grew to manhood and at age 30 he began his earthly ministry. While he lived on the earth he was both fully God and fully man. He healed the sick and afflicted, he raised the dead, delivered people from demons, and he fed the hungry.

 

He also preached repentance for the forgiveness of sins and for eternal life with God. He said that if anyone would come after him he must deny self and daily take up his cross (daily die to sin and to self) and follow (obey) Him. For, if we hold on to our old lives, we will lose them for eternity. But if we lose our lives (die to sin) for Jesus’ name, we have eternal life.

 

At around the age of 33 Jesus’ enemies, who were the rulers in the temple of God, had him crucified on a cross, although he had done no wrong, because they hated him. They hated the things that he did and that he said and the fact that he claimed to be God. But they were also jealous of him and his temporary popularity among the people.

 

But this was all in God’s plan for our redemption. Jesus’ blood was shed for us on that cross to buy us back for God so we would now honor God with our bodies (with our lives). He died that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness. And he died that we might no longer live for ourselves, but for him who gave his life up for us.

 

So, by faith in Jesus Christ we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and we are raised with Christ to newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Our old self was put to death with Christ so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin and under its control, but now we would be slaves to God and to his righteousness.

 

So, now we are to walk no longer according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. We are to find out what pleases our Lord and do it. We are not to be hearers only of the word but doers. For, if we walk according to the flesh, and we make sin our practice, and righteousness is not what we practice, then we don’t have eternal life with God, no matter what we profess.

 

[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:9-10, 19-20; 2 Co 5:10, 15; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:22-25; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Matt 7:21-23; Heb 10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10]

 

Our Salvation

 

What is our salvation? It is the things discussed in the section above. It is deliverance from our slavery (bondage, addiction) to sin and it is being born spiritually of the Spirit of God into the family of God. And it is empowerment of God to live godly and holy lives pleasing to God, and for the praise and glory of God. And it is forgiveness of sins and the hope of eternal life.

 

It is not just forgiveness of sins and the promise of heaven as our eternal destiny with no requirements of us to turn from our sins to follow our Lord Jesus in obedience to his ways. For, Jesus died on that cross to transform us and to conform us to his likeness, and to make us holy vessels, set apart for God and from the world, to be used of God for his purposes and glory.

 

Jesus taught that following him meant forsaking our former lives and going with him wherever he leads us. He made it clear that if we did not leave all to follow him that we were not worthy of him. We can’t look back. We can’t go back to where we were before. We are on a new journey with Jesus Christ in the new lives he has given to us, for his praise.

 

Also, our salvation from sin is not a one-time event which takes place in our lives which secures us heaven regardless of how we live our lives on this earth. Our salvation will not be complete until Jesus returns and he takes us to be with him for eternity. In the meanwhile, we must surrender our lives to him and walk in obedience to his commands and remain in him forever.

 

So, if after we receive the knowledge of the truth and we make a confession of Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives, we return to a life of sin, making sin our practice, we will not have eternal life with God but we will die in our sins. You can read all about it in the verses referenced in the section above. So, our salvation is conditional upon our walks of obedience to our Lord.

 

For, God’s grace to us is not carte blanche (free license) to continue living in sin, engaging ourselves in sinful practices deliberately and habitually. His grace, which brings us salvation, trains us to say “NO!” to ungodliness and worldly (fleshly) passions (lusts). By God’s grace, and in his strength and power, we can say “No!” to sin. This is what his grace is all about!

 

And by God’s grace, and in his strength and power, you can live a self-controlled, upright, and godly life while you await our Lord’s soon return. It is possible. It isn’t something to wait for in the future. You can do it now! You just have to surrender your life to Jesus Christ and obey him and his commands (New Covenant) and stop resisting the Lord.

 

For, Jesus Christ gave himself up for us on that cross to redeem us from all lawlessness (sin) and to purify for himself a people for his own possession (he is our master) who are zealous for “good works,” which are the works of God which he prepared in advance that we should walk in them. We are saved to do the works God prepared for us to do (Eph 2:10; Php 2:12-13).

 

Only Hope

 

By Jonathan Foreman

 

I give you my destiny

I'm giving you all of me

I want your symphony

Singing in all that I am

At the top of my lungs

I'm giving it my all

 

So, I lay my head back down

And I lift my hands and pray

To be only yours I pray

To be only yours I pray

To be only yours

I know now you're my only hope