Hearing too much or listening not enough?

Looking back on decades of faith in Christ, I recall often skipping through the gospel message with the vain thought that I already knew that. Only lately I realized how important the biblical good news is for daily life.

How many years did I beat myself up for every mistake, forgetting that all was put on Christ and He gave me His righteousness? How many times have I patted myself on the back for whatever I did instead of glorifying the enabling power of my Savior? How often have I grumbled and complained instead of being thankful for the wonder of life with Christ and how He takes care of all needs? Or how often have I wasted time and energy because my heart was bent on my way instead of His?

The gospel tells me that I am a new creation, reconciled to God and have peace to be enjoyed and a job to do, not wasting anything following my own ideas.

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. (2 Corinthians 5:17–19)

My sins are forgiven. No need to beat up myself:

(Jesus) entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. (Hebrews 9:12–14)

All the foolish things I’ve ever done, even the foolish thoughts that pull me away from glorifying God and being thankful, have been forgiven. Christ took all of my sin on Himself and died that I could be set free from its penalty and power.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:1–2)

Pity the churches where the gospel is rarely told. We who believe need to hear it every day, listen to it with a raptured heart and fully realize what it means to the real or false guilt that we experience. The gospel fills me with joy. My heart dances to know that my salvation is a done-deal. God has prepared a lifetime of things for me to do and because of Jesus, I can and will do them.

PRAY: Jesus, You are the reason for all good things. Not only that, I am so thankful that Your Word says You will restore the years the locust has eaten. In the end, You wipe away all tears and all will melt into forgetfulness. Thank You for the joys of this day and the assurance of forever.

Holy Spirit is my Guarantee . . .

 

In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:13–14)

Years ago, my friend Pat bought me a wax stick-candle and a metal stamp with my initial on it. I could use it on envelopes or documents like a legal seal, normally used to mark a legal document or guarantee the document's authenticity. Each one is unique to the government agency, corporation or notary that uses it to show that the document is validly executed, acknowledged or witnessed.

In ancient times, kings and other nobles sealed documents and other items to guarantee them. Breaking a seal would be like a slap in the face of whoever it represented. Daniel 6:17 tells how a stone was laid on the mouth of the lion’s den, and the king sealed it with his signet and the signet of his leaders to seal Daniel’s fate. In the same way, those who crucified Jesus sealed His tomb with a stone in an attempt to guarantee He stayed in there. Neither seal was effective!

When I was saved, God sealed me to guarantee my fate also, not with a stone but with the Holy Spirit. In another legal term, He is the down payment or first installment on my inheritance. Because of this Seal, God brings salvation, conviction, guidance, strength and can equip me to serve God.

He also provides assurance of my salvation and His ministry to me includes letting my emotions know when I’ve disobeyed God: “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30) because He lives in me and when He grieves, I feel it!

The positive work of the Spirit is to guarantee that my salvation is sacred and secure; I am an authentic member of God’s Kingdom and family. His possession was purchased with the blood of Christ and is God’s guarantee that He will keep all the promises He has made. The Spirit is also the source of faith, for in Him I just ‘know’ that God is real, true, and with me at all times.

Lord, again I praise You for the Spirit who assures me of all that You are and do and who enables faith and obedience. I also rejoice in the imagery of a seal. You have guaranteed your promises to me with this wonderful down payment. May I not grieve or quench You with selfishness but be filled with the Spirit and walk in Your will each day.

HAVE A LOOK at the story of Esther noting what role the signet ring played in what happened to Haman in chapter 3 and to Mordecai in chapter 8.

 

Hope is a Person . . .

 

 

I’ve been reading a fiction series in which the main character is often in danger and hopes her influential father will come to her rescue. As soon as she sees him, her trust is rewarded because his mere presence assures her that she is safe.

This isn’t quite how the Bible defines HOPE but close. It is like the smell of fresh-baked bread as you walk into the house — you cannot see or eat it, but you know it is there waiting to be tasted.

This is like biblical hope. I know the reality of Jesus Christ and although I cannot see Him, I know that He exists and is a real part of my life, both now and in the future. It is in Him I put my hope. In the NT, hope sometimes means wishing or desiring but mostly it is about this firm conviction and faith in Jesus Christ meaning hope is much like faith. He is not visible yet I know He is with me and one day I will see Him.

Hebrews 11:1. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

1 Peter 1:13. “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Hope is not so much a wish as a person because it is based on who God is and what He is doing, His power and promises. It is “through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

He is the “God of hope” who fills me with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit I can abound in hope. That is, this biblical hope is a joyful expectation rather than an anxious emotion based on an “I want” — for which I have no assurance.

Romans 5:5 says, “And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” By His power and grace, believers simply know for certain that our future is secure, not because of how we feel about it but because of our God who says so!

This hope includes several things besides the promise of seeing Jesus and having eternal life. Romans 8:20–21 says, “In hope, the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God” and Galatians 5:5 tells me that “through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.” Yet the greatest is the One who is my hope:

Colossians 1:27. “ . . . Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

Titus 2:13. I am “waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.”

GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. My hope is strengthened by Scripture that tells me what God has done and is doing, and by the gracious assurance of the Holy Spirit. Like a helmet, this hope protects my mind and gives joy to my heart. It also causes others to wonder about my reasons for this hope and gives me opportunity to share it with those who have no hope and are yet without God. I want them to also know the One who grants this amazing gift.

Romans 15:4. “Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

With gratitude for hope, I am compelled “In my heart, to honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks for a reason for the hope that is in me; yet do it with gentleness and respect” — “remembering that I was once separated from Christ, alienated . . . . and a stranger to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” (Ephesians 2:12 and 1 Peter 3:15)

Praise You Jesus, You are my living hope.