THOUGHT – Something that stood out to me in the BSF Study of the Book of John, Lesson 19. “Jesus taught that love for God motivates obedience, not that obedience is the method of salvation. A believer’s obedience does not contribute to his or her salvation but proves it.” Question – Why does obedience prove one’s salvation? (p.p. 269)
If you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you will be saved (salvation). Acts 16:30-31
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (salvation). John 3:16
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved (salvation). Romans 10:9-10
If you do not have the Spirit of Christ, He cannot live in you, and you do not belong to Him (no salvation). If you receive Christ is your Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit lives in you. If the Spirit lives in you, He is your advocate, comforter, counselor, and teacher (salvation).
When we receive Christ, He enters our being in the form of the Holy Spirit who begins to change our lives. We move away from carnal desires and habits and exchange them for Jesus’ commands. Our new life reflects Christ’s command to Love God and obey His commands (salvation). (Romans 8)
For by grace, you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works (salvation). Ephesians 2:8
When we receive Christ, we are motivated, not by works, but through faith to obey the Word of God. Our behavior changes as we demonstrate the love of God. This demonstration drives our desire to obey the Lord’s commands and live them out in our daily lives.
God motivates our obedience. Our obedience proves our salvation.
As we celebrate the birth of Christ and the light He brought to the world, we must also think of the way in which he treated people and how his love covered us in the worst and best of times. Our world is currently clouded in hate, the evil one is working through the hands of men to devastate the world, but we cannot be overcome by the darkness they launch into the world. As Christians, we must continue to project the love of Christ and not fall into darkness. We must see the good of humankind in the darkest of days. Most of the people in our world are not evil. They want nothing more than to live their lives in peace.
John 8:12 NIV so clearly reports Jesus’ words, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of
As Christians, we have been given the gift of light. It is time that as Christians, we pray, and act in the light. We cannot become laxed, feeling the weight of the world. We are the light bears that Christ authorized us to be.
John 1:5 NIV, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
In the 18th and early 19th centuries men were hired to light gas streetlamps. Today we represent the street lighters, lighting and wrapping the world in the love of Christ.
When we pray and meditate, we must envision the world covered in light. The light represents love and love will always outweigh the darkness. Our prayers are important and collectively they can change the world.
Ephesians 5:8 EVS, chronicles our responsibility so well, “For at the time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.”
As children of light, we must exude the light in our daily walk and envision the world wrapped in light (love).
We are the designated warriors, Ephesians 6:12-18 NIV, spells it out thusly, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand. Stand therefore having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one period and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God; Praying always in all prayer and supplication in the spirit, being watchful to the end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.”
In closing, I listed scriptures that focus on the light. Keep them close to your heart, and in the darkest of moments, personal and universal, never stop seeing the light of Christ as the victor in the moments of darkness. Remember, God’s perspective of time is different than ours, therefore what may seem like an eternity to us is “but do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” (2 Peter 3:8 ESV) This scripture should encourage all of us to continue to walk in the light, spread the Good New and wrap the world in love when we pray.
Psalm 18:28, “You come a Lord, keep my light burning; my God turns my darkness into light.”
Psalm 27:1, “The Lord is my light and my salvation dash whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life dash of whom shall I be afraid?”
James 1:7, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”
Isaiah 5:20, “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; That put darkness for light, and light for darkness..!”
The trumpet has blown, the war between darkness and light, good and evil is present, as the Lord’s warriors, we are to gird up and enter the battle, praying endlessly, presenting the light of Christ in our walk and living as God has empowered to live, regardless of what we see or read.
As we come upon another year’s recognition of our Savior’s resurrection, let us pray for peace, love, and security for all. Jesus’ resurrection saved us from eternal hell. Let us vow to uphold peace, kindness, patience, gentleness, self-control, and goodness. Pray God’s Spirit prevails in our lives and the world. Our desire should be eternal life and not eternal damnation, the path of evil. We have been set free.
The world is oblivious to God’s power and love for us. The traits of the world are working desperately to create a world of idol worship, placing things in our path that draw us away from Christ. Embrace Christ’s Resurrection Day to the fullest throughout the year. This is not a one day event, we should celebrate Him and what He accomplished for us everyday.
“His death was a gift of eternal peace. We all have sinned and fell short of God’s perfection, holiness, and glory…He was prosecuted for the sins of humanity…He triumphed over death and redeemed us from sin, which is the core of our belief and foundation of our faith that stems from Christ’s resurrection.” (6 Reasons Why Easter is Celebrated. Bibilium.com.)
Supporting Scriptures:
2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV, He him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.
Galatians 5:1 ESV, for freedom Christ has set us free; standing firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery (sin, idolatry).
Psalm 40:8 ESV, I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your law is within my heart.
Galatians 5:16-1 I say, walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. The desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, sexual immortality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, ethnicity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and all things like these. I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God…The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, against such things there is no law, and those who belong to Jesus Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit let us also keep step in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, or envying one another.
John 15:10 ESV, If you keep my Commandments, you will abide in My love; justice, I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
The Resurrection of Christ means I have eternal life. He bore my sin so I could live.
In the story of Elijah, Book of 1 Kings 19, we learn that running on empty and making decisions does not bode well. When you are tried, frustrated, hungry, and angry thinking through your options is a distorted and confusing process. The outcome is often disastrous. ~ Lisa Blair
In lesson 5, Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) course entitled, The People of the Promise, Divided Kingdom, God’s prophet, Elijah, had just experienced Gods work. He experienced God’s miracles over and over again in his life. However, when he heard that King Ahab wanted to kill him, instead of thinking back and relying on God to save him as he did earlier, he became crippled with fear and ran for his life. How often do we see God’s hand in our lives only to fall the next moment? One of Charles Stanley’s life lessons encourages us to halt, take a minute, rest, and pray for direction.
“Whenever you are Hungry, Angry,Lonely, or, Tired, HALT, be very careful because you are especially vulnerable to sin and disheartenment. Before giving up or taking a rash course of action, stop and seek God. He will refresh you and give you the strength to continue (1 Kings 19:8).”
Resource – The Charles Stanley Life Principle Bible. Pp.551.
As humans, we always look to ourselves for the answers. But in our limited capacity, we only see what could be at the end of the trajectory within our limited scope. God created a plan and a way for us. Let him take the lead. ~ Lisa Blair
@aussiedave
I believe this scripture is saying we all commit sin and transgressions, but if we are to be like Christ, we must look at the situation(s) we are in and give it to God. We must show mercy to others and ourselves, as He who is sinless did for us. We are quick to blame, point our fingers, and choose our own method of attacking the transgression.
If we allow Him, God works out the consequences of our actions. I am not expressing there will be no consequences because we will have consequences until Christ returns. We live in a fallen world. However, because He loves us, He will always offer a way of escape (1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV). We must stay faithful as we process through the dark moments, knowing God is with us, taking the lead. We are not alone.
Referring back to the Old Testament, it is not God’s nature to retain His anger forever. Jeremiah 3:12 reads, “I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger forever,” and nor should we.
If we take it all into our own hands without His guidance, the outcome may be a temporary resolve; however, if we put it in His hands and repent for our portion of whatever is going on, He will work it out in His Will and His way.
None of us is blameless. And, once we understand this and repent, we are redeemed. God took our sins and laid them on Christ, who died and freed us of the burden of eternal damnation. We will feel God when we repent; we have warmth and light and know He is working on our behalf. He will not leave us in the shadows. This is one of life’s great lessons.
So again, go before God with all of your concerns and transgressions. Let God take the lead and guide you through the consequences, leading you to an outcome you would have never imagined.
1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind (us all). And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” (Bible.com)
I attended church service today and the Pastor shared a story that speaks to God’s love and how we should share His love with others.
A friend of the pastor’s visited the countryside in Ghana where he was on assignment at a government hospital. He noticed from his office window that daily the sick passed the government hospital to travel on foot to the missionary hospital which was many miles away.
He watched people take the trek to the missionary hospital for a week and finally asked his friend why they chose the missionary hospital instead of the government hospital that was better equipped.
His friend replied that the medicine is the same. The people chose the missionary hospital because the hands were different.
In effect, they felt the hands of God upon them in every nook and cranny throughout the missionary hospital. They knew they were well cared for because God was present. The government hospital was medically far superior, but the atmosphere in the hospital was sterile and loveless.
My question is – are your hands different? How do people see you as a Christian? Do they feel the love of God emanating from you? Are you warm and welcoming, or cold and remote? Do you reflect God in your actions? Do you love as God loves you? Do you reflect Christ’s love, compassion, and strength in your convictions, or do you represent the emptiness of a sterile government hospital?
Scriptures and scripture images (Biblestudytools.com)
Lisa’s Daily Inspirations 