(Part 1 of 3)

These things are true of you if you trust in Jesus alone for salvation.

I am accepted…

• I am God’s child – John 1:12.

• As a disciple, I am a friend of Jesus Christ – John 15:15.

• I have been justified – Romans 5:1.

• I am united with the Lord, and I am one with Him in spirit – 1 Corinthians 6:17.

• I have been bought with a price and I belong to God – 1 Corinthians 6:19,20.

• I am a member of Christ’s body – 1 Corinthians 12:27.

• I have been chosen by God and adopted as His child – Ephesians 1:3-8.

• I have been redeemed and forgiven of all my sins – Colossians 1:13-14.

• I am complete in Christ – Colossians 2:9-10.

• I have direct access to the throne of grace through Jesus Christ – Hebrews 4:14-16.

(To be continued…!)

• He knows you by name.

Isaiah 43:1

•He will fight for you.

Exodus 14:14

•He thinks about you

Psalms 139:17

•He has plans for you

Jeremiah 29:11

•He is your refuge

Psalms 62:6-8

•He is always with you

Mathew 28:20

“The Word of God is alive and powerful…” Hebrews 4:12

Upset – John 14

Weak – Psalm 18:1-29

Lonely – Psalm 23

Sinned – Psalm 51

Worried – Matthew 8:18-31

Anxious – Philippians 4:4-9

Unhappy – Colossians 3:12-17

In danger – Psalm 91

Depressed – Psalm 27

Lack of Faith – Exodus 14

Need Courage – Joshua 1

Need Direction – Psalm 73:21-26

“For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body.”

‭‭Colossians‬ ‭2:9‬

“For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭4:6‬

Why did God create the universe? And why is he governing it the way he is? What is God achieving?

The meaning of the universe is the manifest glory of God!

That manifestation is His very Son Jesus Christ – the supreme revelation of God! He is God in human form. This is what God is achieving. Indeed, the heavens, and the history of the world, are “telling the glory of God.” But Jesus Christ was sent to accomplish something that needed doing. He came to remedy the fall. He came to rescue sinners from inevitable destruction because of their sin. These rescued ones will see and savor and display the glory of God with everlasting joy.

It would not be possible to see and savor and celebrate the glory of God apart from the saving work of Christ. As he died for sinners, Christ revealed the love and righteousness of the Father supremely. This was the apex of the revelation of the glory of God — the glory of his grace.

Without his work, that end — to reveal the fullness of the glory of God for the enjoyment of God’s people — would not have happened.

The one who forever and ever will be the focus of our worship as we spend eternity seeing and savoring more and more of what he revealed of God – became a curse for us.

Jesus is the end for which the universe was made, and the means that makes that end possible to enjoy by justified sinners.

~ Taken from a text by John Piper

“We are made right with God by putting our faith in Jesus Christ. That happens to all who believe… Everyone has sinned. No one measures up to God’s glory. But the free gift of God’s grace makes all of us right with him. Christ Jesus paid the price to set us free. God gave him as a sacrifice to pay for sins. So he forgives the sins of those who have faith in his blood…”

Romans 3:22-25

Propitiation is a word rarely found in newer translations of the Bible. It’s out of fashion, even in Christian circles. Propitiation carries the idea of appeasement or satisfaction – in this case, Christ’s violent death satisfied the offended holiness and wrath of God against those for whom Christ died. In pagan religions it is the worshiper, not the god, who is responsible to appease the wrath of the offended deity. But in reality, a person is incapable of satisfying God’s justice apart from Christ, except by spending eternity in hell. In Christianity it is God (not the worshiper) who takes the responsibility of satisfying his own wrath.

Herein lies the amazing love of God – the Father’s wrath was appeased through the willing sacrifice of the Son. This is what makes the Good News so GREAT! God has no more anger left for us – only mercy, pardon, forgiveness, compassion and grace upon grace.

~ Joni Eareckson Tada

“No one will take your joy from you” because your joy comes from being with Jesus, and the resurrection of Jesus means that you will never die; you will never be cut off from him.

So two things have to be true if your joy is never to be taken from you. One is that the Source of your joy lasts forever and the other is that you last forever. If either you or the source of your joy is mortal, your joy will be taken from you.

And oh, how many people have settled for just that! Eat, drink, and be merry they say, for tomorrow we die, and that’s that (Luke 12:19). Food doesn’t last forever, and I don’t last forever. So let’s make the most of it while we can. What a tragedy!

If you are tempted to think that way, please consider as seriously as you possibly can that if your joy comes from being with Jesus, “No one will take your joy from you” — not in this life, nor in the life to come.

Not life or death, or angels or principalities, or things present or things to come, or powers or height or depth, or anything else in all creation will be able to take our joy from us in Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 8:38–39).

Joy in being with Jesus is an unbroken line from now to eternity. It will not be cut off — not by his death or ours.

“You have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.” (John 16:22)

~ John Piper

Why do you spend your time doing what you do? Why do you say yes to doing some things and no to doing other things? Are you saying yes and no to the right things?

Most of us would like to believe we say yes and no to our time commitments based on objective, logical assessments of what appears most important. But a lot of times that is not the case. Very often we make these decisions based on what we believe OTHER PEOPLE will think of us if we do or don’t do them.

How other people perceive us — or how we think they’ll perceive us — has an extraordinary influence on how we choose to use our time. Coming to terms with ways we seek people’s approval or fear their disapproval will force us to face humbling truths about ourselves and may require repentance and uncomfortable change.

Think about how brief our lives are, and how limited our energy and other resources are! The apostle Paul said:

“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” Ephesians 5:15-17.

Let’s examine our use of time and energy by inviting the Holy Spirit to search our hearts and see if we really are influenced to say yes or no out of a fear of others.

At a recent conference I attended, ministry leaders on a panel were asked how they remained focused on their calling while deluged with demands. One of the questions was: Who are you willing to disappoint?”

At first this might seem like a negative and perhaps unloving way to decide what we should or shouldn’t do. But it really isn’t. It’s actually a clarifying question. It IS NOT asking us who are the people we will choose not to love. It IS asking us what we are really pursuing in our time commitments. Whose approval are we seeking? God’s? Other people’s? Of those, whose?

We Serve Those We’re Unwilling to Disappoint

And that’s the question for us too: who are we willing to disappoint? Or, who are we unwilling to disappoint?

We all choose to serve those we’re unwilling to disappoint. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing, though it certainly can be. God actually designed us to be motivated by what we love, and we will always fear to disappoint the one(s) we love.

Now, I know John said, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:8). But he was addressing a different kind of fear, the fear of “punishment” or condemnation. John meant that God’s children no longer need to live in terror of God’s wrath.

But perfect love does indeed produce a certain kind of fear:

“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.” (Deuteronomy 10:12).

This is the kind of fear that “serves the Lord with gladness” (Psalm 100:2). The fear that comes from the thought of disappointing the One we treasure most. We fear to lose the treasure.

“Life is too short, and God too precious, to give our years and our strength to the fear of man.”

Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to search our hearts and try our thoughts (Psalm 139:2). We should ask ourselves the hard question: who are we willing to disappoint? Or who are we unwilling to disappoint? Are we unwilling to disappoint God? Are we unwilling to disappoint others? Are we unwilling to disappoint our own selfish preferences? These questions can help us see our true motivations. Joshua said, “Choose this day whom you will serve” (Joshua 24:15). Let’s respond with him, “We will serve the Lord” with all our heart and soul in the gladness of love-inspired fear! (Deuteronomy 10:12; Psalm 100:2).

~ Jon Bloom, desiringgod.com

“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” (Luke 23:42)

One of the greatest hope-killers is that you have tried for so long to change, and have not succeeded.

You look back and think: What’s the use? Even if I could experience a breakthrough, there would be so little time left to live in my new way that it wouldn’t make much difference compared to so many years of failure.

The former robber (the thief on the cross next to Jesus) lived for another hour or so after his conversion. Then he died. He was changed. He lived on the cross as a new man with new attitudes and actions (no more reviling). But 99.99% of his life was wasted. Did the last couple hours of newness matter?

They mattered infinitely. This former robber, like all of us, will stand before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account of his life. “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Corinthians 5:10). How will his life testify in that day to his new birth and his union with Christ? How will his life confirm his newness in Christ?

The last hours will tell the story. This man was new. His faith was real. He is truly united to Christ. Christ’s righteousness is his. His sins are forgiven.

That’s what the final hours will proclaim at the last judgment. He is changed! And his change mattered. It was, and it will be, a beautiful testimony to the power of God’s grace and the reality of his faith and his union with Christ.

Now back to our struggle with change. I am not saying that struggling believers are unsaved like the robber was. I am simply saying that the last years and the last hours of life matter.

If in the last 1% of our lives, we can get a victory over some long-standing sinful habit or hurtful defect in our personality, it will be a beautiful testimony now to the power of grace; and it will be an added witness (not the only one) at the last judgment to our faith in Christ and our union with him.

Take heart, struggler. Keep asking, seeking, knocking. Keep looking to Christ. If God gets glory by saving robbers in the eleventh hour, he surely has his purposes why he has waited till now to give you the breakthrough you have sought for years.

~ John Piper

Moses was on a detour for forty years as God developed him for his destiny. He knew what God wanted him to do. God wanted him to deliver his people from slavery. Yet it took forty years in the wilderness to develop Moses into the humble and trusting servant that he needed to be in order to have the mindset, faith and abilities to carry out the plan. 

Abraham was on a twenty-five-year detour. At one point God had told him His plan for him – that He would bless nations through Abraham and make his name great. The vision and the proclamation from God to Abraham were real and vivid. It would have been odd for Abraham to believe at that point that it would be nearly three decades before he would witness the literal birth of it. But it was.

The greatest apostle in the New Testament, Paul, went on a three-year detour to a desert where God removed him from the front page of culture and life in order to strengthen him, teach him, and develop him for his calling. 

Detours are often a regular part of God’s plan in guiding us to His purpose and plan for our lives. He uses these periods to develop us so that we can effectively carry out our purpose when it is the appointed time.

God will often give us a glimpse of our destiny long before we are prepared to actualize it, as He did when He told Abraham that there would be a 400-year detour in Egypt before they would reach their promised destination (Genesis 15:12-16).

Friend, don’t become so discouraged in the delays that you give up on the pursuit of your purpose. Trust the process. God is developing you for the plan He has created you to live out!

Every day pray: “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done – on earth as it is in heaven.”

God WILL work His plan, with or without me or you. Make sure you get in on it! We are so blessed and fortunate to be a part of it!

“My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding— indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.”

Proverbs 2:1-6

This entire chapter of Proverbs 2 is a gold mine that invites you to grab a pick and come digging. Wisdom, it says, is to be searched for like silver or gold, discernment is to be dug for like precious stones.

Why would the Bible make such a big deal about something that in a way is already ours? Why would it send us off searching for God and his wisdom when we’ve already found God? Hasn’t He already made Himself known to us through Jesus Christ? Hasn’t God already given us all things that pertain to life and godliness (“His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.”

2 Peter 1:3)? He has put wonderful deposits, great resources within our reach. The Holy Spirit dwelling within us shows that God has placed a hidden treasure in us.

Face it: you and I have within our grasp, even inside us, a gold mine. But it is a gold mine of POSSIBILITIES! God asks us to roll up our sleeves and dig for all those riches he’s given us. We have to prospect for the gold of his wisdom, the precious gems of understanding and discernment.

But the rewards are heavenly deposits that are greater than we can ever imagine, and more than worth all our efforts to find them!

~ Joni Eareckson Tada