From Beginning to No Ending

From Beginning to No Ending

Surrendering all of yourself to Jesus Christ is the beginning of a new life!  With Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you are now reconciled to Father God (the price has been paid for every single one of your sins – past, present and future).  What a blessing to know that God loves you; not just now, but forever!!  The Bible teaches us so much about our relationship with God and our blessings and responsibilities as His children.  This devotion focuses on two essential aspects of salvation.

Beginning – The Immediate Result of Salvation

God identifies you as His child by sending His Holy Spirit to live in you!

• In the scriptures below, ‘sealed’ means to stamp, mark, or attest.  God is lovingly claiming you as His own.  This claim is permanent.  It cannot be surrendered or taken away!

No Ending – The Ultimate Reality of Salvation

God pledges that you will be spending eternity in heaven with Him!

• In the scriptures below, ‘guarantee’ means to make a down payment.  God is legally committing to His relationship with you.  This commitment is eternal.  It cannot be ended or undone!

In His Word, God reiterates the importance of these truths by weaving them into fundamental teachings about our walk of faith.

Our Salvation

The moment we trust in Jesus!

• Ephesians 1:13-14 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
• When we believe in Jesus, we receive the Holy Spirit.  There is nothing more we must do for the Spirit of God to come live in us.  The presence of the Holy Spirit is an essential part of our daily walk with Jesus.

Our Stability

God steadies and commissions us!

• 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, 22 who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
• As we learn and grow, God helps us stand strong in Christ (establishes us).  He also sets us apart from the rest of the world (anoints us) to do His work.  The Holy Spirit gives us the power and ability to obey God and live for His glory.

Our Submission

Obeying the promptings of God’s Holy Spirit!

• Ephesians 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
• Not only does the Holy Spirit empower and enable us, He teaches us the truths of God’s Word.  He also leads and guides us according to God’s purposes and plans.  We should not reject or resist the moving of the Spirit in our lives.  We must trust and obey Him.

Our Security

Looking beyond death to God’s eternal promises!

• 2 Corinthians 5:4-5 For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
• It’s not that Christians want to die, but we are weighed down by the sin, sadness and sickness in the world.  We long for the fulfilled promise of eternal life in heaven.  However, we want it according to His plans and in His time.  There is still so much work for us to do here.  His Spirit is with us every step of the way.

What a beautiful tapestry of truth and assurance.  Praise God for His everlasting love for us.  Thank God for all He has done to guarantee the eternal destination of all who love Him.  Share the truth about Him with those who don’t know or don’t believe.  Never forget, His promises and His Spirit are always with us.

Prayer

Thank You Father for loving us so very much!  Not only have you made a way for us to be with you through Your Son, Jesus, but You have claimed us as Your own and guaranteed our eternal life in heaven.  I pray dear Lord that these truths will comfort and strengthen the hearts of Your children.  Please bring many who don’t know You to saving faith through the truth of Your Word and the unending trustworthiness of Your promises.  I humbly and confidently ask these things in the name of my Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Ready, Willing and Able

Ready, Willing and Able

Many people have a misperception about God; they view Him as angry and vindictive. Now, God will certainly judge the sin of the world. But that is because He is just. And the Bible teaches us that every single person is sinful and subject to the judgement of God. Once you realize that your sins (falling short of God’s standards and requirements) are grounds for judgment, the last thing you want is justice. What you need is mercy!

When you see God for who He really is (loving, kind, patient, merciful…), and start to understand who you really are apart from His forgiveness (wicked, depraved, selfish, rebellious…), your perspective about everything will begin to change. God derives no pleasure in destroying the wicked.  Quite the opposite, He desires that all people turn to Him for reconciliation.

• Ezekiel 18:23 Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?” says the Lord God, “and not that he should turn from his ways and live?

Unlike the false hope found in counterfeit ‘gods’ created by man, the God of the Bible is ready, willing and able to forgive!

Ready

Recognize your sin and cry out to Him for mercy!

• Psalm 86:5 For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You.

Willing

Realize that God is patient and desires everyone to turn to Him for forgiveness!

• 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

Able

Receive the good news that you can come to God through faith in Jesus Christ!

• Hebrews 7:25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

The Word of God given through the Apostle John:

• John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:
• John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
• John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

The Word of God given through the Apostle Paul:

• 1 Corinthians 15:1-5 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.
• Romans 10:9-11 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”

Jesus, God in the flesh, paid your sin debt by living a sinless life and then dying on a cross as the sacrifice for you sin! Ask God to reveal this truth to you through His Holy Spirit. Ask God to forgive your sin. Surrender your life to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Faithfully follow and obey Jesus. Live forever reconciled to God!!

Prayer

Father God, only you can reveal these truths to the heart of man. Please, merciful Father, open the eyes of the blind to the truth about Jesus. May the good news about Jesus save many lost souls. In the name of Christ I pray. Amen.