Humans are not steadfast. Our character ebbs and flows. Our sin nature does not allow us to be steadfast, we always falter, some more than others, until Jesus returns we are locked into the the fate of sin. The only constant in our life is that God’s character and standards never change.
This means the God who spoke in the Old Testament is speaking to us today. He spoke to His people through the disciples, prophets, and most importantly Jesus. The story always remains the same. Adam and Eve sinned and were thrown out of Eden. We entered eternal sin as the result of their disobedience. The Messiah will come and save us from eternal sin. Jesus will be crucified and return to heaven. He will return again to redeem His people, and we will live as one people in peace through eternity.
We all need stability. God’s character is our stabilizing force. Why? No matter what happens on earth, His plan is consistent, it does not waiver or deviate. The world today is not much different that the world of old. There are still false prophets and leaders who fail to surrender to the Will of God. Leaders still take bribes, or are rewarded by lobbyists. Many priests and religious leaders are bought by large contributions to their church, and fall pray to idols (money, fame, and fortune). Families still struggle to maintain the nucleus to hold the unit together. Economies and social justice are still at odds. And, the Word of God is still lost to many who only hear the noise of chaos.
This seems like desperate times, and in some respect it is. However, this world will operate in phases until the end. Our loving Father will love us, warn us of our wrong doing, judge us and restore us, each time hoping that we will turn back to Him.
The only thing we can rely on is His unfailing love and character that is ever-present, even when it seems He is not with us.
Our Lord never forsakes us or leaves us. He does not turn a blind eye to this world. He sees all, and remembers everything. He is always with us, holding us up when we cannot walk or take another breath. He provides for us when we cannot provide for ourselves.
He is here with us in the light and darkest moments. HE IS FAITHFUL throughout time. Rest assured, the sun will rise and set everyday as part of His creation and plan for our salvation. He is our loving Father who cannot fail. He is all truth and His character is unwavering.
I love Colossians 3. It reiterates Galatians 5. God is emphasizing who we are in Christ and how we should govern our lives. That’s right, the does and don’ts of life. Paul was inspired by God to write both Books, one to the Galatians and one to the Colossians, same message. It’s the same message to us today, these millennial years beyond the days of the Bible. It doesn’t matter who we were before Christ entered our lives. When you received Him, you were given new life and freed from your past. You can become the ‘you’ God created you to be, that person who was laying dormant in the recesses of your mind. Shed the past, it does not own you, nor you it. Today is a new day!
Accept this fact, Christ died for you. You have morphed into a child of God. Now is the time to recognize the new you and work towards manifesting that person who was formally lost in darkness.
If you rid yourself of the old behaviors and exchange them for the new behaviors delineated in both Books, your new self will see the light of day. Psychologist’s say it takes six months to eliminate bad habits/behaviors. It is a process. So, this too, you will succeed, fail, retry, give up, BUT never give in to the difficulties the evil one uses to keep you from changing. You may loose friends and loved ones. In exchange you will gain new friends and loved ones who are children of God. The most important of these new loved one’s is our Lord and Savior. Our Lord walks with you. The Holy Spirit will nudge you and direct you. You are not alone.
“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
NOTE – I added orange text to add emphasis. Scripture: Colossians 3:1-17 NIV. Bible.com. Images: amazing facts.org;knowing-Jesus.com; woman’sday.com
Our Lord sacrificed his life to free us from sin. The crucifixion can be considered an emergency rescue.
~ Lisa blaIr
rnli.org
This can be the day of your emergency rescue. Emergency, as defined by the online dictionary, has two meanings, both of which apply here. The first definition is a sudden, urgent, usually unexpected occurrence or occasion requiring immediate action; the second is a state, especially of need for help or relief, created by some unexpected event. There is a time in life when we were comfortable in our sin and then something unexpected happened and we were seeking a way out. We were looking for relief that was often created by an unexpected event that compounded the sin and caused excruciating pain.
When we feel lost one of the first things we do is cry out to God, please help me, save me from those things that are attempting to destroy me. We are asking for an emergency rescue. One that the Lord through his grace and mercy will provide because we have received him as our Lord and Savior.
Why an emergency rescue may ask? When Adam and Eve ate the apple and were evicted from the Garden of Eden that was the onset of sin. We became, at that very point, sinners doomed to a life of eternal sin. God’s love for us was greater than sin and thus the birth of Christ, who would become our rescuer through his death.
I would venture to say, all rescues are the result of unknown human calamities. The loss of our health, loss of a job, the loss of a home, the loss of a family member, the loss of your wallet, loss in general. The calamity may be an accident, it may be an animal, such as a cat, stuck in a tree. The calamity is defined by its action that is not a norm. These are temporary life events however, when Christ was crucified, the rescue was not of a life event, but rather an eternal event. Christ rescued us from eternal sin to that of eternal life.
At some point in the life of each Christian, when we received Christ as our Lord and Savior, we were crying out, ‘rescue me Father from a life of eternal sin to that of eternal life in your presence’.
Crying out for rescue is no small thing. It is a cry that separates you from death to eternal life. Our God is an awesome, gracious God. Receiving Christ as your Lord and Savior is the beginning of the most loving relationship you’ll ever experience. If you have not received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you can recite the scripture below and He will receive you this very day.
“If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. (https://bible.com/bible/116/rom.10.9-10.NLT)
Surrendering is not an act of attrition, it is a deliberate act of contrition.
~ Lisa Blair
‘Looks like’ is a common idiom of our time. What does surrendering look like, you ask?
Surrendering is not a one-time event. It requires constant attention. “Until Jesus returns and takes His rightful place as the final authority and ruler overall, we have to make the decision over and over to surrender our minds, wills, and actions to Him (Romans 8:20–22; 12:1–2). Our first stage of surrender is the surrender of our lives to God when we are saved. www.compellingtruth.org/surrender-to-God.html
My thought for the day. There are many quotes of what people in the Bible have said when they surrendered their will to God’s will for their lives. The two that stand out to me today are:
The angel came to Mary to inform her that God was pleased with her and chose her to give birth to His son. Mary, a young girl of marrying age, was betrothed to Joseph. Wouldn’t you imagine her first thinking, I cannot become pregnant until I marry, what will people think of me in particular and Joseph if I carry a child before the ceremony ends. However, Mary responded to the angel saying, “I am the Lord’s servant,” “May your word to me be fulfilled.” ~ Luke 1:38 NIV
Jesus, the, was in deep prayer about the circumstances that would result in his death, He prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; this is the human condition, to ask God to remove the situation so we do not feel the pain. However, the second part of the prayer is one of submission – Jesus then prayed, “yet not my will, but yours be done.” ~ Luke 22:42 NIV
So, what does surrendering look like? Surrendering looks like the person who moves out of the way to submit to another’s wishes. In this case surrendering is looking to God for direction and following His path for our lives rather than forging ahead blindly satisfying our own urges and direction for our lives. If Mary had not accepted God’s will over her own, Jesus may not have been born to her and the story of Abraham may not have been written as we know it. Our decisions not only affect us but many others in our immediate and future sphere of influence. Our decisions affect our descendants. *
If Jesus, the man, chose to run from his purpose, again, the story would have differed, and the Son of God, Immanuel-the God with us, would have led to a different story. Thinking back, how many times has God instructed, or better said, invited you to do something His way, to follow Him, not turn to the left or the right, and you did just what you were instructed not to do, waiver to the left or right and not stay on the path He designed for us, how did that turn out for you? Ask yourself, what happened when you listened and surrendered to God? I am certain the latter set you on a path you couldn’t imagine you could ever attain.
Surrendering looks like victory. It feels like love. Surrendering lifts the burdens of life off of your shoulders and places it on Christs’ shoulders. In Jeremiah 38:17-18, the scripture reads, Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: If you will surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then your life shall be spared, and this city shall not be burned with fire, and you and your house shall live. 18 But if you do not surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and you shall not escape from their hand.” (Je 38.17-18)
Surrendering looks like victory. The writing is on the wall. God does not promise it will look like success, sometimes the direction is pain staking, but looking deeper we reflect that it was part of the path we must take to become more like Christ, when he said, but your will be done. Surrendering looks like, choosing the path of righteousness over the path of selfishness. Surrendering to God looks like and feels like love, a connection greater than anything this life could afford you.
Surrendering is the establishment of your lineage to God the Father, Christ the Son-our Savior, and the Holy Spirit. Surrendering is the act of no longer resisting God’s love and is the state of acceptance and no longer defiance. It looks like victory when we spread our arms over our head and jump up and down in joy, no longer relying on our own focus for our lives but rather God’s plan for our lives that is often unseen and unexpected. Surrendering is the act of faith. Surrendering looks like and feels like – Victory over our carnal state of being. It is the act of intentionally becoming part of God’s family.
* The Book of Matthew begins with the genealogy of Christ. It is a look at the descendants of Jesus. In the Jewish faith and many others, the lineage is important, it defines who you belong to, it expresses your values and character.
Just between us.org
Resources: Bible.com; the scripturesays.org; compellingtruth.org
In Greek, the word ‘believe’ used as a verb is translated as, ‘believe’, but as a noun, ‘believe’ is translated as ‘faith’.
Grace School of Theology
The Need to Believe, Devotional, day 4, The Glorious Grace of God. YouVersion. Bible.com
Salvation is a free gift received by placing our faith in Jesus Christ alone. John wrote that Jesus declared to Nicodemus, “whoever believes in [God’s one and only Son] shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Today, some people have trouble accepting that belief is all it takes for someone to be saved.
The main issue is the meaning of the word “believe.” When the Greek word is used as a verb, it is translated “believe.” When it is used as a noun, it is translated “faith.” The Gospel of John demonstrates the importance of this word with its repeated use of “believe” as a verb. It is used 98 times as a condition for salvation. The other Gospels and New Testament books use “believe” as a verb 150 times altogether. The consistent result of believing is eternal life. When one believes, one can then know that he or she has eternal life as a present possession—right now (John 5:24; 9:38).
John is careful to use figures of speech or word pictures that are passive, such as receive, drink, and eat. None of these pictures portrays or communicates the idea of merit, work, or achievement. There are no qualifying words used with believe such as, “really believe,” “truly believe,” or “genuinely believe.” There is only one kind of belief. There are no other conditions mentioned in John, such as repentance, surrender, commitment, confession, or obedience. Nor does the word “believe” intrinsically or inherently contain these concepts. All that is required to be saved is to believe—to place one’s faith in Jesus. Salvation—eternal life—is a gracious gift of God (John 1:12).
This is what a person must do to receive eternal life: Believe that Jesus, the Son of God, died for your sin, rose from the grave to defeat the power of sin and death and can give you eternal life freely, as a gift.
Resource – The Glorious Grace of God. YouVersion. Bible.com. Contributor – Grace School of Theology.
Daily Inspiration - Lisa's Thoughts 