Tag: Salvation

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Daily Devotion June 25th

THURSDAY 25th

Romans 8:31-39

Yesterday I left this portion out of our devotion because I wanted to share it for today, v 37 says ‘No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.’ We are more than conquerors! But what are the ‘all these things?’ they are all the things that seek to separate us from the love of Christ. (v35) Paul lists tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger or sword. It is a comprehensive list, a list that very clearly identifies so much of what was coming against the believers in the early Church.

Paul was well enough qualified to not only ask the question ‘Who shall separate us . . .’ but also to answer it. He had been through so much – and remember what he went through was already predetermined by God even before he had been converted. In Acts 9 after the Damascus road experience, God speaking about Paul (Saul) to Ananias said ‘Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.’  Did you get it? ‘how much he must suffer for the sake of my name’. Can I remind us in this devotion that if anyone preaches or teaches that true believers only suffer (including sickness) because of a lack of faith or because they have sinned in some way are teaching and preaching a lie. The Scripture is clear that in the life and ministry of Paul, he was going to suffer and not because he will have sinned, nor because he lacked faith but because it was the predetermined will of God! ‘I will show him how much he must suffer . . .’ And it happened, read the list that Paul gives us in 2 Corinthians 11:22-29 and 2 Corinthians 4:7-8 and then in 1 Corinthians 4:10-13 he says ‘We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honour, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labour, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.’ And in it and through it his faith was not weak or tottery it was strong, when he was shipwrecked in Acts 27 he was confident that God was going to not only save him and bring him safely to the shore, but everyone else who was sailing in the ship as well,(v31, 34) his faith was so strong that he could say with confidence in Romans 8 that ‘. . . in all these things we are more than conquerors . . . neither death nor life . . . will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.’

I must of course put on record that yes sin does cause suffering, and bring on sickness, we only have to look at the addict or alcoholic, but if I am suffering as a firm believer in the Lord Jesus Christ it doesn’t mean it is because I am sinning, nor does it mean I lack faith, but what it most definitely means is that God is allowing something and I must learn to respond in the same way that Paul did, it should bring me closer to the heart of God, it should bring me into a deeper relationship with him, it should cause my faith to be strengthened because God is faithful and his Word says, ‘No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.’ (1 Corinthians 10:13)

Yesterday our subject was victorious and Paul in Romans 8:31-39 reminds us that positioned in Christ, in and through every circumstance in life we can be victorious because there is absolutely nothing that can separate us from the love of God. What about death, will this separate us from God? Absolutely not for death for the believer is the moment in which we will enter God’s eternal presence. Again, to quote Paul, he was so confident in his faith and trust in the gospel that he said, ‘For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.’ Philippians 1:21

We have been looking at the word Saviour, it is such an amazing word because it describes who Jesus is because of what he has done at Calvary. He is the Saviour, the only Saviour, because he has saved us and as Saviour he keeps us so that whatever or whomsoever would seek to comes against us, his saving grace is sufficient to keep me from falling and to bring me into his eternal presence.

I am trusting thee, Lord Jesus,

Trusting only thee;

Trusting thee for full salvation,

Great and free.

I am trusting thee for pardon;

At thy feet I bow;

For thy grace and tender mercy,

Trusting now.

I am trusting thee for cleansing

In the crimson flood;

Trusting thee to make me holy

By thy blood.

I am trusting thee to guide me;

Thou alone shalt lead;

Every day and hour supplying

All my need.

I am trusting thee for power,

Thine can never fail;

Words which thou thyself shalt give me

Must prevail.

I am trusting thee, Lord Jesus;

Never let me fall;

I am trusting thee forever,

And for all.

Francis R Havergal CCLI788682

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Daily Devotion June 25th

WEDNESDAY 24th

Colossians 2:6-15

We continue with the word Victorious today and use it in relation to us who have been born again by the Spirit of God. Yesterday we saw Jesus as victorious and the good news is because of his victory we can know victory as well.

In Colossians 2 we have the following verses ‘And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by cancelling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.  He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.’ (vv13-15) These verses remind us of Christs victory, but notice what is embedded in this statement concerning us:

‘having forgiven us all our trespasses’

‘cancelling the record of debt that stood against us’

Christ has given us victory as well! The sin that dragged us down and condemned us has been forgiven, the record that was written against us has been destroyed! This means that we should be living victoriously in the victory that Christ has accomplished for us.

As I am preparing this I am listening to some music and the song being sung is ‘There is a fountain filled with blood’ We have been plunged beneath the flood and all our guilty stains have been removed. Just as the dying thief rejoiced to see the fountain in his day, so we though vile as he can come by faith to the stream and know it washing away all our stain, cancelling the record of debt against us.

Now, I am going to mention here that although we share in Christs victory it does not mean that we are going to sail through life without any storms etc. You will know already where I come from in these matters from our previous devotions. We will still know trials, sickness and of course should the Lord tarry death, but he helps us to live victoriously in the circumstances. Rather than going over the same ground again I will share the Word of God.

Philippians 4:13 ‘I can do all things through him who strengthens me.’

2 Corinthians 12:9-11 ‘But he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.’

1 John 5:4-5 ‘For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?’

2 Corinthians 4:7-18 ‘But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you. Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, I believed, and so I spoke, we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.’

Yes, we are victorious in Christ Jesus and one day, and what a day it will be we will know the completeness of that victory when we know the experience of 1 Corinthians 15, the future resurrection unto eternal life. Then will come to pass the saying that is written ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’ (vv54-57)

‘Therefore, my beloved brothers (and sisters), be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labour is not in vain.’ (v58)

O what a SAVIOUR!

In Jesus I’ve found a sweet rest

From sorrow, from toil, and from care;

In Him I am happy and blest,

For He all my burdens doth bear.

Oh, how happy am I,

With my Saviour so nigh!

I have found sweet rest

On Jesus’ dear breast.

I came to the Lord for release,

When burdened with guilt and with sin;

He cleansed me, and gave me His peace,

The Spirit to witness within.

Though many the troubles I meet,

He’ll keep me, and help me along;

I’ll sit at His glorified feet,

For He is my joy and my song.

All glory and praise to Thy name

For what Thou didst suffer for me;

For saving my soul when I came

And gave myself up unto Thee.

L S Riggs CCLI788682

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Daily Devotion June 22nd

MONDAY 22nd

Acts 4:8-12

Our next letter in SAVIOUR for us to consider is U and Unique.

This will be considered in two ways, first Jesus is UNIQUE as Saviour, and secondly because of God’s concern for each one of us we are individually unique.

In the Scripture above, Peter and John are defending their involvement in the healing of the lame man and they make an important statement (Acts 4:11-12) ‘This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.’

This is an affirmation of what Jesus had said while talking to his disciples in John 14:6 ‘. . . I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’

The gospel that we have believed and accepted is the only gospel, the only good news. The Lord Jesus Christ whom we have come to believe on and accept is the only Saviour. There is no other way, there is no other name, there is no other Saviour. He is unique, the gospel is unique, any other effort or endeavour to seek to placate God and reconcile mankind into his presence is to no avail.

In John 10 in which we read of Jesus as being the good Shepherd, we also read that he says that he is the door or the gate. The hymn writer puts it like this, ‘There was no other good enough to pay the price of sin, he only could unlock the gate of heaven and let us in’. Jesus not only unlocked the gate of heaven with his atoning work but he himself is the gate. ‘One door and only one, yet its sides are two, I’m on the inside, which side are you?’

Jesus is unique in that he is the only Son of the true and living God, who through his obedience in coming to earth and going to Calvary became the unique Saviour.

In regard to our own personal uniqueness, when God created man in his own image, the first thing we need to understand, God was not creating a man that would be cloned in every person that would be born, like a mass production of robots from an assembly line, yes, every person would be recognisable as a person, but not one of us is exactly the same, we have our own personality, our own consciousness, our own preferences, we are physically different but even more important we all have our own individual soul, spirit. We are individuals made in the image of God, with our own uniqueness stamped upon us. This should help us to understand that each one of us is special, we are all unique in our own way. But there is something special about our uniqueness in the unique Saviour. We have a new identity, we have a new name and its written down in glory. I am who I am and what I am by the grace of God, and you have become who you are by the grace of God. God looks at us en-masse, and sees us as the Church, the body of Christ and the bride to be of Christ, yet at the same time he looks at us as unique individuals, he sees each one of us separately as his workmanship in Christ, he sees us uniquely as new creations, he sees us as individual sons and daughters who have been adopted into his family.

Today if you are struggling with who you are, with identity, remember that God has called you and saved you, he sees you as unique and special, he sent his Son to redeem you and to save you, he has a plan and a purpose for your life which only you can fulfil.

This thought leads us to the next letter in Saviour O – Ordered

This is a simple thought and it is this. God has a plan for each one of us, in redeeming us he has firstly brought order into our lives, one song says that ‘my life was full of so much confusion, my life was full of sin and shame, but Jesus came along and he touched me, I have never been the same.’ And the reason why we have never been the same is because Jesus the Saviour has tidied up our sin filled lives, he has thrown out the rubbish and brought order in the place of confusion, chaos and mess. And as he works in our lives, he causes us to live ordered lives, lives that are lived fulfilling his plan and his purpose. He has prepared good works for us so that we can walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)

Psalm 37:23 ‘The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in his way . . .’

Proverbs 3:5-6 ‘Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.’

If anyone is reading this and you are finding that things seem to be in a mess at this moment, your life is all confused and you don’t know which way you are heading, turn to the Saviour, refocus your attention towards him, centre your desires and your will around what he desires and wills and allow him to bring order and direction back into your life. Allow the one who says we are his workmanship to do the work that he needs to do to keep us in that place, which is the safest place, the centre of his will.

I’m special because God has loved me

For He gave the best thing that He had to save me

His own Son Jesus, crucified to take the blame

For all the bad things I have done

Thank You Jesus, thank You Lord

For loving me so much

I know I don’t deserve anything

Help me feel Your love right now

To know deep in my heart

That I’m Your special friend

Graham Kendrick CCLI788682

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Daily Devotion June 20th

SATURDAY 20th

Romans 5:1-11

Today we will look at the word Reconciled.

Reconciliation is an important aspect of salvation, for on the cross Jesus was not only taking our place, taking our sin and the punishment for the sin, he also as we learned yesterday bore on himself the wrath of God toward that sin on our behalf bringing us forgiveness, appeasement and the hope of eternal life. At the same time, he was at work to bring about reconciliation, the act of reconciling us back to God.

You will have to forgive me if I am repeating anything that I have shared in previous devotions, but at the end of the day the whole wonder of our salvation is worth repeating time and time again. Sometimes we need to get back to the basics of grasping again a fuller and hopefully richer understanding of all that God has done for us in Christ Jesus.

Back in the garden of Eden, man was banished from the presence of God because of a tree (Genesis 3:8, 22-24) the banishment meant becoming alienated from God, remember that Scripture says that before the fall, God would come down in the cool of the evening (Genesis 3:8) and spend time in fellowship with Adam and Eve, but after the fall they became lost in the big wide open world.

But there was another tree, at a place called Calvary, a tree which welcomes us back into the presence of God, no longer banished or alienated but reconciled.

Aside from the cross, the story of the prodigal or lost son in Luke 15 portrays a picture of reconciliation. We know it well the son was estranged from the family because of his own selfish ambition and desire. He looked out and thought the grass was greener. He left the safety of the homestead and the loving atmosphere of the home to do his own thing. He squandered not just his possessions but his very life until he came to his senses and was wanting to return as a slave, but the father welcomed him as a son again. He expected to be in the servant’s quarters but was reconciled back into sonship and into the homestead. Reconciliation led to restoration in position and relationship.

Although Ephesians chapter 2 does not use the words reconciled, reconciliation or reconcile it covers the theme. Ephesians 2:12-13 ‘. . . remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.  But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility . . .’

We also have 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 ‘From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.’

We who were exiled, alienated from God, cut off because of our sin and iniquity, in Christ have been reconciled and welcomed into the family of God and we can call him our Father. We are no longer slaves to sin, but we have become sons and daughters of the living God. This takes us to our third and fourth words which are accepted and included which we will look at tomorrow.

Reconciled, I’m reconciled

I’m reconciled to God for ever

Know he took away my sin

I know his love will leave me never

Reconciled, I am his child

I know it was on me he smiled

I’m reconciled, I’m reconciled to God

Justified, I’m justified

It’s just as if I’d never sinned

And once I knew such guilty fear

But now I know his peace within me

Justified, I’m justified

It’s all because my Jesus died

I’m justified, I’m justified by God

Magnify, I’ll magnify

I’ll magnify his name for ever

Wear the robe of righteousness

And bless the name of Jesus, Saviour

Magnify the one who died

The one who reigns for me on high

I’ll magnify, I’ll magnify my God

CCLI788682

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Daily Devotion May 4th

MONDAY 4th – Luke 15:11-32

We return to the chapter from yesterday and continue into the third story that Jesus told to the listening crowd. The story of the lost son, or the prodigal son.

Like the two previous parables this is also well-known and ends up with a celebration, except this time we are told much more about the celebration in the farming family than we read about with the shepherd and the woman.

In this story, the younger of the two sons chose to leave the safety and security of the family farm to go and to do his own thing. We know the story, he wanted the future (his inheritance) in the present, he thought he was adult enough to look after himself, he thought the grass was greener on the other side, and so he got what he wanted, he went where he wanted, he did what he wanted and he ended up in a bit of a mess.

Obviously we see here the picture of the prodigal, or backslider, but at this point in the devotion, I want to suggest that we can often be like this son, we are living in the safety of our heavenly Father’s care, he has bountiful provision for us, not only an eternal inheritance but provision for the present day. And yet, we want more than he wants us to have, we forget to ask for or to get his advice and we try to make our own decisions and often we feel the grass is greener on the other side. He has a plan for our lives and yet we want to do our own thing. Looking at this parable should teach us that it is far better to stay in the safety and security of our Father’s homestead than to go off seeking to do our own thing. This is often how backsliding begins, putting our own self and personal ambition before the will of God.

To come back to the parable, we see the son, at his lowest point, feeding pigs, this would be an insult to a Jewish family and he was so hungry, he could have ate the pigs food, and no one gave him anything. Then we get to verse 17, ‘But when he came to himself’ or ‘to his senses.’ He began to look at his present situation, he remembered the past (what he had been) and began to think again of the future. (what he could be) He remembered the comfort of the family and farmstead and he longed for home. So much so that he knew that even if he only went back as a servant, he would be better off than in his present situation. So, speech prepared off he went, to use a modern phrase, probably with his tail between his legs, thinking, ‘I’m going to have to eat some humble pie.’

But the story has an incredible ending. He did not even make it home, his father was waiting for him, and threw his arms around him, kissing him, and he called for a party. (vv22-23) And why not, listen to what dad said, ‘Let us eat and celebrate. For this MY SON was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and his found. And they began to celebrate’ – there were new shoes, a new coat, a ring on the finger and dinner with the best beef. He got a lot more than he could have ever hoped and dreamt for while sitting amongst the pigs in squalor, for such was his father’s love for him. He welcomed the prodigal back into the family and home, not as a servant but as a son, able again to enjoy the privileges of living at home with mum and dad.

The remaining verses tell us of the older son, he was not a happy bunny, he was angry, he was jealous, he was anything but what he should have been. Whereas the younger son had said I want, the older brother was also all about ‘me’, I have done this, I have done that, I didn’t do what he has done etc. and he complained about the party, the celebration. A warning for us in the family of God to make sure our hearts are right in our attitude towards those who have wandered, not to become proud or haughty, thinking we are better, but to remain humble and prayerful that our lost brothers and sisters will come home. I want there to be parties in heaven yet again not just over sheep and coins being found but rejoicing over prodigal’s returning.

Thank God our Heavenly Fathers’ arms are always held wide open to receive the wandering sinner, but the same arms are also held wide open to receive back the prodigal, the backslider, ready to reinstate their rights as the sons and daughters of the household of God.

Two points for us to finish with today.

First, maybe someone is reading this today that thinks a little like the younger son, I want to do my own thing, I want to go, the grass is greener the other side. Think over this story and learn the lesson the easy way rather than the hard way as the son had to. The grass is not greener, things are not rosier, for eventually by going your own way and doing your own thing you will end up with the pigs and more so with the ‘pig’ himself! Stay in the safety of our heavenly Father’s home, with his family, in a place of safety and security that is not only for now but also for eternity. Our heavenly Father has an eternal inheritance ready for each one of us, do not squander yours by doing your own thing and going your own way.

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it;

Prone to leave the God I love:

Take my heart, oh, take and seal it

With Thy Spirit from above.

Rescued thus from sin and danger,

Purchased by the Savior’s blood,

May I walk on earth a stranger,

As a son and heir of God.

Secondly. We all know those who we would say are backslidden, there is hope as this story tells us and many have already come to their senses, don’t give up, keep praying that the wayward prodigals, the son’s and daughter’s will return back to Father and home.

Part 3 (Continued from yesterday)

Further on outside the town,

A farmer lived with lots of ground,

Two sons he had who worked quite hard,

In fields and in the farming yard.

The youngest of them said one day,

I really want to run away,

I’ll ask my dad for what I’m owed,

And wander off along the road.

His dad his portion to him gave,

And watched him go as he did wave,

With tears that fell-down, both his cheeks,

Too sad to argue or to speak.

The lad he travelled off quite far,

And spent his time in all the bars,

And soon he found his money gone,

What would he do from now there on?

He found a job feeding some pigs,

It also meant he had some digs,

But hunger always made him ill,

He ended eating the pig swill.

One day all dirty and forlorn,

He thought of home and then did mourn,

‘If only dad would take me back,

As servant then I would not lack.’

So off he trotted back to home,

No more to squander or to roam,

But will they want to welcome me,

Of that there is no guarantee.

As near the farmyard he did get,

His heart was filled with deep regret,

He saw a figure running fast,

And shouting ‘Son it’s you at last.’

Before he even said a word,

His father hugged him undeterred,

‘Son my heart is full of joy,

To see you back my dearest boy.’

The father called to servants near,

‘Rejoice with me my son is here,

Get fatted calf and choicest wine,

Let’s have a party, come let’s dine.’

The older brother in the field,

His anger struggled to conceal,

‘A party for your wreck-less son,

But not for me with all I’ve done.’

The father spoke out loud and clear,

‘My son was lost or dead I’d feared,

But look he’s here and still alive,

Rejoice with me home he’s arrived.’