Passage of the Day: Romans 5: 1 – 5 … 1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
My Journal for Today: Now that I’ve been looking at the first few verses of Romans 5 in the past few days of devotionals, one can’t help but note how deep with meaning, power, and truth is there for the believer to KNOW that salvation is available for all who believe and receive Christ’s hope of glory. And Romans 8: 29 – 30 [see below] also tells us that this hope WAS seared into eternity by God in His redemptive plan before time, as we know it, began. And that plan is that all who believe in Christ WILL BE glorified eternally just as Christ is NOW, even as He intercedes for believers in Heaven with the Father. Hence, our hope of glory is PAST, PRESENT, and FUTURE.
SCRIPTURE: Romans 8: 29 – 30 … 29 For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.
Do you see it! God’s redemptive plan for believers is eternal (and that’s you and me if we’re born again!); and having been secured by the peace Christ made with His Father on the cross, anyone who has faith in that finished work can have the hope of glory NOW, … a hope that can never be taken away. … Stay with me here! There is nothing more important in the consciousness of the believer. You have just read the lynchpin of our salvation; and once it is driven into eternity by our faith in Christ, God’s promise assures it will be there forever. If that is not the case, then the term (below), “ETERNAL,” in probably the most quoted verse in the New Testament [John 3: 16], is meaningless.
SCRIPTURE: John 3: 16 … For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have ETERNAL life.
If we can lose our salvation after receiving it, then that salvation is not ETERNAL, is it? It would be TEMPORAL; and John 3: 16 becomes a lie; and no one could ever have the hope of salvation at any point in time because of the reality of Rom. 3: 23 … that we are all sinners and fall short of the glory of God. It also makes Jesus a liar from the cross when He declared “It is finished!” Because if any believer could lose his salvation at any point after gaining it, Christ’s work on the cross was not finished and therefore His death and resurrection were trivial and incomplete.
Dear one … Jesus’ work on the cross sealed my salvation (and yours, if Jesus is your Lord and Savior) for ETERNITY!. It’s a done deal. I have been saved yesterday … I am saved today … and I am saved for eternity to come.
And all I can say to that is … HALLELUJAH!!!
Beloved, can you see it? Because if you do, you are going to KNOW that you know that you know that you are saved! And I pray that all who are reading this, as the one who is writing it, … that we all have secured that hope of glory which Christ has for all who have believed and received Him.
And I pray that we all walk confidently in that hope and assurance. Stayed tuned, fellow Christian, there’s more to come!
My Prayer Today: You are my hope of glory, Lord! Amen
Showing posts with label hope. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hope. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 05, 2011
Monday, April 25, 2011
April 25, 2011 … Resurrection – So What?
Passage of the Day: 1st Corinthian 15: 19a … If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
My Journal for Today: In his devotional for this date in Strength for Today, John MacArthur teaches about the hope we have in Christ’s death and resurrection to secure our faith by using a word picture from a Greek concept of the “archegos.” According to MacArthur, the “archegos” was the strongest swimmer on any Greek fishing boat, who was charged with the responsibility to swim to shore, carrying a line, if the boat was in trouble, which the “archegos” would then affix the line to a solid rock or tree, securing the boat’s safety. MacArthur says that Jesus is the Christian’s “archegos,” securing our boat of hope by going ahead, through the resurrection, to tie our rope of faith to the rock of His saving grace, … or better yet, to the tree where He died that we might live.
I’m very taken by MacArthur’s word picture; because without Christ going ahead of us from His grave (perhaps as depicted in Deut. 31: 8 and the prophesy of Psalm 22), this exercise of mine this morning to journal my way in God’s word or even to have any faith in Jesus Christ at all would be meaningless and a total waste of time. All the Bible study in the world or listening to sermons or giving our tithe to the church or witnessing my faith to others … all of it would be purposeless without Christ’s resurrection.
However, because Christ now is risen and His tomb lies empty in that rock somewhere near Jerusalem, I will live forever (see John 14: 19). And because He was raised and ever lives, my sins are justified (see Romans 4: 24 – 25); and my anchor of faith is tethered to the rock of my salvation forever, … my “Archegos.”
My Prayer Today: Again, Lord, I cry deep from within … “HALLELUJAH! Amen
My Journal for Today: In his devotional for this date in Strength for Today, John MacArthur teaches about the hope we have in Christ’s death and resurrection to secure our faith by using a word picture from a Greek concept of the “archegos.” According to MacArthur, the “archegos” was the strongest swimmer on any Greek fishing boat, who was charged with the responsibility to swim to shore, carrying a line, if the boat was in trouble, which the “archegos” would then affix the line to a solid rock or tree, securing the boat’s safety. MacArthur says that Jesus is the Christian’s “archegos,” securing our boat of hope by going ahead, through the resurrection, to tie our rope of faith to the rock of His saving grace, … or better yet, to the tree where He died that we might live.
I’m very taken by MacArthur’s word picture; because without Christ going ahead of us from His grave (perhaps as depicted in Deut. 31: 8 and the prophesy of Psalm 22), this exercise of mine this morning to journal my way in God’s word or even to have any faith in Jesus Christ at all would be meaningless and a total waste of time. All the Bible study in the world or listening to sermons or giving our tithe to the church or witnessing my faith to others … all of it would be purposeless without Christ’s resurrection.
However, because Christ now is risen and His tomb lies empty in that rock somewhere near Jerusalem, I will live forever (see John 14: 19). And because He was raised and ever lives, my sins are justified (see Romans 4: 24 – 25); and my anchor of faith is tethered to the rock of my salvation forever, … my “Archegos.”
My Prayer Today: Again, Lord, I cry deep from within … “HALLELUJAH! Amen
Friday, December 24, 2010
2010 – December 24 – Hope As an Anchor
Study from God’s Word… Hebrews 6: 13 – 10: 18 … Passage for Reflection: Hebrews 6: 17, 19a [underlined in context] … NIV 17 Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. 18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20 where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.
My Journal for Today: To what do you attach your anchor of faith and hope? In the 19th century, shipping was the primary method of distribution and commerce of the day; and a ship could not drop anchor unless the Captain knew that his anchor chain was solid … and when used, was attached to a solid rock on the ocean floor, especially when his ship encountered rough seas or heavy storms. In the 19th century, Priscilla Owen wrote a hymn, which has become a standard, entitled, We Have An Anchor; and the first verse and chorus go like this …
Will your anchor hold in the storms of life,
When the clouds unfold their wings of strife?
When the strong tides lift and the cables strain,
Will your anchor drift, or firm remain?
Refrain:
We have an anchor that keeps the soul
Steadfast and sure while the billows roll,
Fastened to the Rock which cannot move,
Grounded firm and deep in the Savior’s love.
And in this hymn, we have the essence of the hope we have that the anchor of our faith/hope is eternally affixed to the solid Rock, Who is Christ. And our Lord and Savior has given us the promise of His New Covenant, upon which we can attach our anchor of faith. God has sworn to us, by the shedding of His own blood and He demonstrated His truth by His resurrection, … so that we can be saved by eternally affixing our anchor of hope to Him. And when we do, He will bring our ship into eternal relationship with Himself in heaven. That is the promise … the Rock-solid promise of the New Covenant.
My friend, to whom – or should I say, “to Whom” – do you affix your anchor of hope? Is it the promises of man; or are you banking your eternity on the promises the world can offer? I doubt the latter; because no matter how good or strong another person or worldly institution in your life might be, that entity is fallible; and we could never put down our anchor of life, let alone the anchor to eternal life, and know, beyond doubt, that it would hold by depending on the promises of mankind. But when our anchor of faith is affixed to Jesus and His sacrifice as the Lamb of God, shedding His blood for the remission of our sin, we know that our anchor will hold eternally.
God’s word is solid; and His promises are His rock; and I don’t know about you, but my anchor line of faith is affixed to the Rock, and He will hold my ship through any storm, keeping me always and eternally anchored to Himself. I don’t have to depend upon the promises of man; because I only depend upon the promises of God through His word. And my anchor will always hold.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, my anchor of faith is affixed to You. You are my Rock. Amen
My Journal for Today: To what do you attach your anchor of faith and hope? In the 19th century, shipping was the primary method of distribution and commerce of the day; and a ship could not drop anchor unless the Captain knew that his anchor chain was solid … and when used, was attached to a solid rock on the ocean floor, especially when his ship encountered rough seas or heavy storms. In the 19th century, Priscilla Owen wrote a hymn, which has become a standard, entitled, We Have An Anchor; and the first verse and chorus go like this …
Will your anchor hold in the storms of life,
When the clouds unfold their wings of strife?
When the strong tides lift and the cables strain,
Will your anchor drift, or firm remain?
Refrain:
We have an anchor that keeps the soul
Steadfast and sure while the billows roll,
Fastened to the Rock which cannot move,
Grounded firm and deep in the Savior’s love.
And in this hymn, we have the essence of the hope we have that the anchor of our faith/hope is eternally affixed to the solid Rock, Who is Christ. And our Lord and Savior has given us the promise of His New Covenant, upon which we can attach our anchor of faith. God has sworn to us, by the shedding of His own blood and He demonstrated His truth by His resurrection, … so that we can be saved by eternally affixing our anchor of hope to Him. And when we do, He will bring our ship into eternal relationship with Himself in heaven. That is the promise … the Rock-solid promise of the New Covenant.
My friend, to whom – or should I say, “to Whom” – do you affix your anchor of hope? Is it the promises of man; or are you banking your eternity on the promises the world can offer? I doubt the latter; because no matter how good or strong another person or worldly institution in your life might be, that entity is fallible; and we could never put down our anchor of life, let alone the anchor to eternal life, and know, beyond doubt, that it would hold by depending on the promises of mankind. But when our anchor of faith is affixed to Jesus and His sacrifice as the Lamb of God, shedding His blood for the remission of our sin, we know that our anchor will hold eternally.
God’s word is solid; and His promises are His rock; and I don’t know about you, but my anchor line of faith is affixed to the Rock, and He will hold my ship through any storm, keeping me always and eternally anchored to Himself. I don’t have to depend upon the promises of man; because I only depend upon the promises of God through His word. And my anchor will always hold.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, my anchor of faith is affixed to You. You are my Rock. Amen
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