Tag: salvation

Living in Reverent Awe of Our Redeemer

Philippians 2:12-13
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

When Paul wrote to the Philippians, he knew that they were struggling with sin in their lives just as we all are. He knew that they found it easier “to behave” when they were in his presence, just as we are more on guard in the presence of others. He exhorted them to be constant in their battle against sin whether He was there or not.

He was not telling them that they were working to earn their salvation. He was telling them how to overcome the ongoing attacks of the flesh which would try to lead them back to the sin that had been washed away forever by their Savior. He was reminding them that their victory had already been set aside by the One who had died for their sins and dwells within them. He was emphasizing that they must live in reverent awe of their Savior and not be lead by the whims of their flesh.

So it is with us. We do not work to earn our salvation. If we have received Jesus as Our Savior, we have been redeemed and washed clean of all of our sin. The work of salvation that Paul speaks of is really the work of sanctification. It is the process that we go through as we learn to lean on Jesus and not our own strength to overcome the work of the enemy in our lives.

Let us ask the Holy Spirit to inspect us and to reveal to us the sin that we are holding on to. Let us surrender to the purifying work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Let us rejoice in pleasing the Lord as He strengthens us to walk the path of sanctification.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we proclaim our sin before You and ask for Your forgiveness. We thank You that this issue has been settled on our behalf for all eternity. We pray that we may be continually washed by the blood of Your Son and strengthened daily by His presence in our lives. We ask to live in reverent awe of who You are so that we will come under the purifying conviction of the Holy Spirit. We ask all these things in the name of the Tower of Salvation, Jesus Christ.

He Accepted Death that We May Have Life

Philippians 2:8
Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

The fact that Jesus left His divine state to become a man illustrates an act of humility that surpasses anything that any human could imagine. Accepting the lowliness of man, it would have been reasonable by any human standard that He would a least appear as a king. Not so for this divine man, He took not a royal station but accepted a position in a lowly manger. His state within humankind never advanced to any level above the lowest elements of society. He worked His entire ministry in the streets and hillsides among the common people.

Aside from His transfiguration before Peter, James and John, His splendor was never to be seen by man until He ascended to His seat beside His Father in Heaven. In the meantime, He endured a life of poverty and suffering which ended in an exposition of public hatred, ridicule and scorn. Then, having no place for personal pride, He accepted death so that we may have life.

Let us lie at the foot of His Cross each day and learn from Our Savior King. Let us take note of His complete obedience to the Father under all circumstances. Let us allow our personal pride to dissolve in the face of knowing why He made these choices – to save us from our sinful and prideful nature. Let us be inspired by His faithfulness and His promises. Let us humble ourselves to the point of putting the old man in our lives to death so that our new man in Christ may live.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we humbly bow before Your throne, asking Your forgiveness for our sins. We thank You for providing the way for us to overcome our sinful nature. May we cling to the Cross of Our Savior. May we learn to set aside our pride and serve those around us in the manner that You call us. May we ignore the scorn of the world as we are obedient to Your calling on our lives. We ask all these things in the name of The Captain of Our Salvation, Jesus Christ.

A Covenant of Grace and Salvation for All

Revelation 1:18
I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.

When Jesus Christ proclaimed that He is the first and the last, He confirmed His role in our time based world. He brought our world into existence and He will usher it out when He brings in His eternal kingdom. When He proclaimed that He holds the keys to Death and Hades, He confirmed His proper deity and His covenant of grace and salvation for all.

When we have a relationship with Jesus Christ, who created the universe and still controls every minute detail of its existence, how could we lack the confidence that He will overcome any person or evil in the universe that comes to harm us. It just does not make sense to question His power and sovereign rule.

Fear not! He is the head of His own house by Whom and for Whom all things were created. He will keep His house in perfect order according to His will and perfect plans.

Let us rest in the hands of the One who promises us His love, His joy and His peace through His victory on the Cross. Let us trust in the One who closes the portals of hell and opens the gateways of heaven. Let us bless His name as we rejoice in His power over our lives.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we fall at Your feet in utter awe of who You are. We proclaim Your Name above all other names. We praise You and we surrender to Your power in our lives. We exalt the name of Jesus. May He lay His hand upon us in love and not in wrath or anger. We pray that You will show us Your power in the struggles that we are currently experiencing. May we find joy in our circumstances knowing that You have already settled the matters for our good for all eternity. We ask all these things in the name Our Blessed Hope and Assurance, Jesus Christ.

Accessing the Power that Christ has Set Aside for Us

John 17:24
Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

This passage is part of the prayer that Jesus prayed to the Father on behalf of His disciples prior to His eminent death and resurrection. Jesus was confirming with the Father that His disciples and all of the new believers in the good news of the salvation story who followed Him in discipleship would join Him in glory for all eternity.

Jesus prayed that all that choose to follow Him would see the fullness of His grace and beauty. He prayed that all His followers would see His standing with the Father on the grandest scale in heaven without the obstructive hindrances of the flesh. He prayed that His disciples would experience the full capacity and infinite power of His glory. He prayed that all of His disciples would join Him at the right hand of the Father for all eternity.

Jesus’ prayer to the Father in heaven provides us with the strength that we need to endure all that comes against us in life because we know there will be the ultimate victory in the end. To paraphrase 2 Cor 4:8-9, we may be afflicted in every way, but not crushed; we may be perplexed, but not driven to despair; we may be persecuted, but not forsaken; we may be struck down, but not destroyed because we are one with Jesus Christ. Our place in heaven has been secured.

Let us seek the fullness of Jesus Christ in our lives. Let us experience being one with the Son so that we may access the power and the victory that He has set aside for us.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we come to You exalt the name of Jesus Christ, Our Lord, Our Master and Our King. We thank You Father that we may be one with Jesus as He is one with You. We praise You as we receive in faith all of the promises that come with being a disciple of Your Son. We pray that the Holy Spirit will keep us steadfast in all aspects of our discipleship. We ask all these things in the name of the Son of the Most High God, Jesus Christ.

The Doors of Heaven are Being Held Open for Us

Luke 24:51
While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven.

In the old testament, each person needed a priest to represent him or her before the throne of God. Through their high priest and the accompanying sacrifices, each person’s sins were atoned for. Without the intercession of the high priest, the individual person had no hope for salvation nor for their prayers to be answered.

Jesus changed it all when He ascended into heaven after His death on the Cross. He was welcomed by His Father, by all the glorified saints and holy angels. He was seated at the Father’s right hand. He remains there forever as Our Mediator in restitution for all of our sins.

He rules eternally from His seat next to the Father so that our fears may be silenced, our sorrows may be sweetened and our hopes may be kept up. He holds open the doors of heaven so that we can go directly to the throne of God with our praise, our worship, our prayers and our solicitations. More importantly, He holds a place for us because we are His redeemed lambs.

Let us go to the throne of grace. Let us call on the promises of Our Risen King. Let us set our affections on the high things above. Let us expect Our Savior to complete His good work in us.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You that you allowed Your Son to ascend into heaven to sit at Your right side and stand in intercession for all of us that call Him Lord. We thank You that You allowed Your Son to return to earth after His resurrection to confirm to the world the victory over sin and death that we, who have received Him as Our Savior, partake in. We ask that we will receive the fullness of His blessings as Our High Priest. We pray that we may share those blessings with those people who You place around us. We ask all these things in the name of our Risen Savior and King, Jesus Christ.

The Lord Provides Every Good Thing

Psalm 34:10
The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.

We can find great comfort in the Psalms as we discover David’s prayers that he used to silence his fears. Through his faith David often looked to the Lord in prayer. He was wonderfully revived and comforted time after time.

Be assured that God owns everything. If we seek Him, we can expect the fullness of His provisions in our lives. He does expect a little from us. He expects us to put Him first in our finances, first in our interests, first in our relationships, first in our schedule and even first in our troubles. If we do these things, we will lack no good thing.

Let us follow the good model shown to us by David. Let us not turn to the world where we will find trouble. Let us not trust in ourselves, thinking that our own efforts will be sufficient.

Let us seek God’s provision in all things. Let us look at His promises instead of focusing on our problems. Let us be persistent in our prayers until we receive what we cannot see now but hope for with the same faith as David.

Let us be positive and let God develop our potential. Let us rejoice in seeing Him provide more than we can imagine. Let us marvel as He surrounds us with people who are filled with His precious love.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing us with every good thing that we need. We praise the name of Jesus who has provided us with our greatest need – to be washed clean by His shed blood. We pray, Lord, that Your Holy Spirit will teach us how to taste and see Your goodness as we learn to put our total trust in You. May Your grace be sufficient to transform us from living lives in the flesh to living lives in the spirit. We ask all these things in the name of the One who brings salvation to all people, Jesus Christ.

Judged and Forgiven in Advance by Our Savior

1 Peter 4:17
For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

For each of us that have been washed clean of our sins by the blood of Jesus Christ, the keys to the kingdom of God will be given. Our sins will have been judged and forgiven in advance by Our Savior. Our sins will no longer stain us in the eyes of Almighty God. We will appear in the likeness of Jesus Christ before Our Father in heaven. We will be worthy to become heirs to the kingdom of Almighty God for all eternity.

Yet Our Just and Holy Father requires that all sin must be punished. So those of us that have received the grace of salvation will experience rebuking for our sins in this lifetime. The Holy Spirit will reveal to us the past and current sins in our lives. We will be required to ask forgiveness for our sins and turn away from them. Until we completely surrender to Jesus, we will suffer trials and tribulations in accordance with our iniquities. Our suffering will serve as both the measured punishment required for our sins and the enlightenment needed to facilitate our reliance on Our Savior. Our suffering will continue until every element of our self reliance is slain at the Cross.

For every man and every woman that does not accept the offer of salvation, their time of judgement will also come. It will be at the Throne of God. Sadly, they will have no defense for their sins. They will be deemed unacceptable to enter in to the eternal home of Almighty God. There will be no comfort for those that come before the Lord on their final day still covered in the filth of their sins. They will face endless torment.

Let us rejoice in the knowledge that our salvation separates us from our sins and their required eternal damnation. Let us completely surrender ourselves to the sanctification process that the Lord has set aside for us on this earth. Let us prepare ourselves to hear the sweet words “well done good and faithful servant” when we stand before Our Heavenly Father at His Throne.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your loving kindness, Your mercy and Your grace in our lives. We thank You for opening our eyes so that we may see the sin in our lives that separates us from You. We thank You for preparing our hearts so that we could receive Your Son, Jesus, as Our Savior. We pray that You mold our hearts, Lord, so that we fully surrender to Your Son each and every day of our lives. Prepare us, Lord, to stand before You in the image of Your Son. We ask all these things in the name of the precious Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.

The Grace of Salvation is Available to All

Titus 2:11
For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all the people.

Every one of us on this earth is burdened by a sin debt that we cannot pay. It is a debt the carries the most severe of all debt penalties – eternal damnation. Our Divine Creator through His perfect love and forgiveness offers each of us a payment plan that allows us to remove the onerous debt. He is a most merciful creditor.

The debt clearing offer of Our Heavenly Father is not based on our good deeds, nor on the basis of our performance of any type. The redeeming offer that He makes to us is made to us as a free gift. It is called His grace. It is revealed to us by the inspiration of His Holy Spirit. All we have to do is accept it in the name of His Son Jesus.

To add to the sweetness of His offer, He extends His grace to us by providing His Holy Spirit to in-dwell in us to guide, counsel and comfort us as we go through the debt period of our lives. Let us remember that we have not earned, nor do we deserve the grace of salvation. We are most unworthy, sin-burdened servants. It is by God’s grace and the shed blood of His Son that our salvation is possible.

Let us now live righteous and godly lives that correspond to the glorious debt free condition that we will hold when we stand before the Lord. Let us humbly recognize that we cannot do it on our own, but we can through the grace of Almighty God and the indwelling of His Holy Spirit.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the riches of Your grace that are extended to us through Your Son, Jesus Christ. Let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. We pray that through Your grace we will lead sober, righteous and godly lives. May those who You have placed in our lives be drawn to accept Your salvation offer that is available to all of them through Your precious grace. We ask all these things in the name of the One who is the fount of all of Your grace, Jesus Christ.

Developing an Intimate Relationship with Almighty God

John 14:9
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip?” He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, “Show us the Father”?

Philip had seen Jesus with His eyes, but he had not fully discovered Him with his heart. We must be aware of the importance of truly seeking a relationship with Almighty God. He is our loving Father. He is eager for us to approach Him as Our Father in heaven. While He is pleased when we study His Word and we sit at the feet of His teachers to learn about Him, He desires for us to have so much more. He longs for us to seek intimacy with Him and He provides the way for us to do so through His salvation plan.

The greatest treasure of all time is ours. The treasure of knowing Almighty God will satisfy our hearts forever. It is ours for the taking. Magnificent gifts of grace and anointing are awaiting us. All we have to do is step beyond being satisfied with head knowledge about our treasure and into the world of a discovery of the heart.

Our Heavenly Father reserved a place in heaven for all who believe in His Son and surrender to Him to rule and reign in their lives, but that was not all that He did. Almighty God also opened up access to His throne when His Son died on the Cross. He gave us access to His Kingdom even while we are on earth.

Let us seek the Holy Spirit to inspire us to be driven by our hunger for a deep personal relationship with Almighty God through His beloved Son. Let us strive to go past head knowledge of the Father and His eternal promises. Let us enter into an intimate relationship with Him and His Son as we walk our paths of sanctification here on this earth.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing Your Son as the gateway to Your kingdom. Open our eyes, Lord, that we may not only seek our salvation through Your Son, but that we may also seek the fullness of His presence in our lives. We pray that the Holy Spirit take us beyond the knowledge of Your Son to the high places where we experience an intimate relationship with Him daily. Help us, Father, deepen our relationship withYour Son so that we may know You according to the fullness of heart that You have set aside for us. We ask all these things in the name of Your Living Testimony, Jesus Christ.

The Danger of Bending God’s Holy Word to Make it More Pleasing

1 Corinthians 3:11
For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

When laying tile, one of the first things that is done is snapping a chalk line to establish a true 90 degree angle to the two walls. If the chalk line is one degree off, it is not true. There is no tolerance for this measure. The line is either a true 90 degrees or it is not true. A mistake in setting a true line will doom the project.

The world would like to teach us that there are many ways to heaven besides accepting Jesus Christ as Savior. It is sad to say that Satan has done a remarkable job selling this line of thinking, putting a large portion of mankind in danger of missing the way, the truth and the life that is only found in Jesus.

We Christians must be extremely careful not to bend the Word of God to fit today’s culture. The Word of God is the truth. God’s Word is the same today as it was yesterday and as it will be tomorrow. Jesus Christ alone is the firm, abiding and immovable Rock of Ages. In every way, He is able to bear all the weight of the sins of mankind that has been placed upon Him. He alone can bear this load. He alone is the trustworthy foundation. Anyone who aligns their lives with anyone or anything other than Jesus Christ will find eternal doom in their future.

Making God’s Word more pleasing to others is not being tolerant. It is abandoning what is true. More importantly, massaging God’s Word to make it more acceptable to the world endangers the eternal lives of those that we may be trying to appease.

Let us stand firm on the Word of God. Let us make the way, the truth and the life, Jesus Christ, our foundation. Let us boldly proclaim the promises that only He can deliver.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You that Your Word is true and that Your promises are certain. May You open our hearts to receive the fullness and truth in the precepts that You reveal to us through Your Holy Word. May You embolden us to speak the truth about Your Son as the world around us rejects Him. May You strengthen us to stand firmly on the foundation that only He provides. We ask all these things in the name of the way, the truth and the life, Jesus Christ.