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Showing posts from May, 2021

SECURE BECAUSE OF GOD'S WILL

 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.  John 6:37-39  I am so thankful that it isn't up to me to keep myself saved, to keep myself in the circle of God's family. If that were the case, I would no doubt have lost my salvation long ago. I am all too aware that, in spite of my desire to please God, I have failed Him miserably so many times. I am also thankful that praise the Lord, I didn't have to clean my life up or promise to keep it clean. Instead, all I had to do was simply go to Jesus. Because I did so, and because He saved me, He is now responsible for keeping me.  It would be blessing enough if our security were solely in Jesus promise never to cast us out of the family of God. But Jesus

SECURE BECAUSE OF JESUS

 This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, we shall also live Him. If we endure, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.  2 Timothy 2:11-13 Salvation does not come with merely an intellectual acceptance of historical facts. Neither does salvation mean just declaring what we believe. Instead, salvation comes when we see ourselves as sinners under judgement; believe that Jesus paid with His death on the cross the penalty God established for our sin and then rose from the dead; and call upon Jesus to save us. At that moment a divine, spiritual transaction takes place. We are actually identified with Jesus death, His burial, and His resurrection. In addition, the water baptism of a new believer offers a picture of the spiritual reality that has taken place. Then comes the promise: since we died with Jesus, we will also live with Him. Paul went on to tell us that one proof of truly being

SECURE BECAUSE OF GOD'S LOVE

 I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor power, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 8:38-39 Paul suffered almost every adversity, pain, and form of persecution we can imagine. His experiences definitely qualified him to speak about security. Second Corinthians tells about the astounding trails Paul endured. This mighty man of God was severely beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, attacked by Jews and by Gentiles, falsely accused, and betrayed by people who claimed to be Christ followers. Paul also suffered hunger, sleeplessness, freezing temperatures without enough clothing, and chronic physical pain. Despite all this, Paul made the amazing declaration, that he was persuaded that nothing in this life or in death, no angel or demonic spirits, nothing in heaven or hell, absolutely nothing because God created everyt

SECURE BECAUSE OF HIS STRONG HANDS

 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand.  John 10:27-29 Sheep just may be the most helpless animals in the world. They can't run fast. They don't have claws or sharp teeth. They can't defend themselves. They are totally dependent upon the shepherd. Their security is based solely on how capable, caring, and strong their shepherd is.  Interestingly, the Bible uses the metaphor of sheep to refer to followers of Jesus. Thankfully, we have have a perfect and totally powerful Shepherd. He not only gives us our daily bread, but He gives us eternal life with Him. And notice that eternal life a gift, but it is a gift we possess now. Does that sound like a big responsibility, holding onto eternal life? How can we be sure that we won't

SECURE BECAUSE OF THE RESURRECTION

 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.  1 Peter 1:3-5 Peter made several statements in these verses that provide absolute proof that our security is in Jesus and not in ourselves.  First, Peter wrote that we have "a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." Today, around the world, people give their lives for a cause in which they believe. Jesus said that He was dying for a cause. In doing so, this cause provided us "a living hope." In the Bible, hope means "confident assurance." Jesus claimed He was going to die so that we might have hope, the confident assurance of eternal life. Whe

THERE IS MORE

 We are children; and it has not yet been revealed what shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.  1 John 3:2-3 The reality of Christianity is to be experienced on the earth and at this very moment. Believers aren't waiting until heaven to know Jesus genuinely and to love Him as Lord and Savior. We're not waiting to receive the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and we're not waiting to experience the incredible blessings of being in God's family. A Christian is a child of God and a member of His family now.  But as true and as certain as that fact is, there is still more a Christian will ultimately experience. We do not know all that we will be in the future, but we do not know there is life beyond this life. The Bible teaches that at moment of death, a Christian is immediately with the Lord Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:8). In the next life, there

IN THE FATHER'S FAMILY

 Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!" Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.  Galatians 4:6-7 The apostle Paul wrote emphatically that Christians are sons and daughters of God, and, therefore, Jesus is the Christian's brother. Did you hear that? It's truly remarkable! And this position of son and daughter is not just on paper; you enjoy this position everyday. If you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, something supernatural occurred. At the moment of your salvation, the Lord Jesus released His Holy Spirit into your heart, and your spirit came alive. You were born again! As a result of your new birth, the Holy Spirit is constantly at work bringing you into a fuller, richer relationship with the Lord Jesus and the Father. One of the Spirit's most wonderful works is to give you the unqualified assurance that God is your Father. A