Saturday, 28 September 2024

The Believing Kind.

 

 

What kind of believing does God expect?

            bible reading: Romans 10:5–13

key bible verse: If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9)

Believing is a confession from the heart. Have you ever been asked, “How do I become a Christian?” These verses give you the beautiful answer—salvation is as close as your own mouth and heart. People think it must be a complicated process, but it is not. If we believe in our heart and say with our mouth that Christ is the risen Lord, we will be saved.

          Believing includes action. Moses was reviewing the law with the new generation of people. When we decide to believe in God, we must also decide to follow his ways. What we do shows what we really believe. Can people tell that you are a member of God’s family?[1]

 



[1] Neil S. Wilson, The Handbook of Bible Application.

 

Friday, 27 September 2024

Suffering, Salvation and Sufficency

 

Psalm 37:39But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord.

Salvation is a vast term and describes the whole life of true believers—their whole experience, from their first consciousness of the ruin of their sin to their entrance into heaven. Daily they feel their need to be saved from self, sin nature, Satan and the world.

We are trusting God for our preservation and peace.

The wealthy sinner is on another course and comes to another conclusion: he disowns all need for salvation and considers his success to be all his own doing.

But, according to other scriptures, “The ungrateful sinner shall be destroyed and the end of the wicked shall be destruction.” God is not with the unrighteous; they have neither safety, strength, nor salvation in their time of trouble.

 

The salvation of the sinner/saint is of the Lord, the Father, Son and Holy Ghost in—

         The planning.

         The progression.

         The completion.

 The sinner/saints recognize their need for the whole of it.

 Our inner conflicts tell us that God alone must work for salvation.  We are inherently inferior and innately too weak to save ourselves.

Our trials and temptations drive us to the same conclusion.

        The world’s hostility drives us away.  But God is greater than a warring world.

 Only God’s grace can be all-sufficient

      

We may leave humanity’s worst cases in the Saviour’s hand.  He can save utterly.

 

I thank the late Pastor  C H Spurgeon for the  initial basis of this post

      

Bird Song

 

 

I’m only a little sparrow,

A bird of low degree;

My life is of little value,

But the dear Lord cares for me.




 

Wednesday, 25 September 2024

Facing the Big Questions

Timothy Keller wrote, ...free from absorption in the whirl of daily life to ask the big questions of the ages:

Am I living for things that really matter? Will I have what it takes to face this new stage of life? Do I have a real relationship with God?
Cited from his book, On Death.

[Whispering, How,then,will I live?]

The True Eternal 'AI'-- the Lord with the Holy Ones.

 

 

Psalm 91:11—For he shall give his angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.

The Lord Himself is wholly concerned for You-- He shall give his angels charge over you. He will command those holy beings to watch over You and I. These Mysterious ones protect us as though they are our nurses who carry us like little children. Angels acting as servants to men and women, boys and girls! All focused on the saints for both visible and invisible threats. His Command is to protect the saints. Each one is personally watched over. That watchfulness is forever.

       

See why-- we humans--- cheerfully should watch and pray over others! How vigorously should we pray whenever it is in our power? His people, His church

We should join in with such holy beings as watchers! Great privileges involve heavy responsibilities. He will watch, guide and protect you.The Lord loves, the Lord guides, the Lord never leaves our side.

 

Sunday, 22 September 2024

Be Eager or Ashamed ?

 

 

Timothy Keller’s: ‘Being eager or ashamed.

 

There are two ways to feel about sharing the gospel: eager (Romans 1:v 15), or ashamed (Romans 1: v 16). In these two verses, Paul will help us to be “not ashamed of the gospel.”

Before you read on … Why is the gospel shameful or offensive to people?

Here are four reasons. The Gospel says:

   salvation is undeserved; it offends moral people who think their goodness means they don’t need saving.

   we are all sinners; it offends the popular belief in the innate goodness of humanity.

   only Jesus can save; it offends those who think that all spiritual paths lead to the same place.

   the road to glory is one of suffering and sacrifice; it offends those who want following Jesus to be easy and comfortable.

Read Romans 1 v 16–17

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=romans%201%3A16&version=NIV

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=romans%201%3A17&version=NIV

.

I Am Not Ashamed

Why is Paul not ashamed of the gospel (v 16)?

What does it do (v 16)? Who for?

This power goes to work in anyone and everyone who “believes.” Here we have the first explicit statement in Romans that the only way to receive the gospel and its saving power is through faith. Notice that the gospel does not come with power; it is power. It is the power of God in verbal form, and it has the power to change, transform, and give life to people. It does what no other power on earth can do; it saves us.[1]

Apply

Do you ever doubt or forget the power of the gospel? What causes this?

What difference would it make to you if you had a real grasp on how powerful the gospel is?

What the Gospel Is

What is “revealed” in the gospel (v 17)?

This is a positional word; it means to be in right standing with someone, to not owe them anything. It means to be completely acceptable to someone. So verse 17 is saying that right standing from God can be received from God (chapter 3 will show us how this is possible).

So why is this gospel about far more than simply “being forgiven”?

The gospel is a complete reversal of both the natural tendency of the human heart and the universal thrust of other religions. Everyone else thinks of salvation as being about providing our own righteousness to offer to God. The gospel says salvation is all about receiving a righteousness from God.

 Pray  & Thank

Thank God for this wonderful gospel. Ask God to make you so excited about what the gospel is, and does, that you are eager about living for it and sharing it.

 



[1] Timothy Keller, “Romans,” in 90 Days in John 14–17, Romans, James, pages 100–101.


 

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