Wheat field Banner

Gleanings From The Word

Category: Gospel

  • Safe in the arms of God.

    Safe in the arms of God.

    Baseball umpire indicating "safe"

    Safe!

    Safe! What a wonderful call for any baseball base runner to hear an umpire call. It’s also good for the rest of us to know we are safe in a tumultuous world that seems to have lost its mind. Christians are safe in the arms of God.

    Don’t misunderstand. We are not exempt from trials, tribulations, illness, crime, poor choices, physical harm, economic downturns, or natural disasters. We’re not safe from persecution, or temptation, or relational ills. All of those are part and parcel of living in a fallen, son-filled world.

    What are we safe from? In the words of the hymn “Before the Throne of God Above” …

    Before the throne of God above. I have a strong and perfect plea. A great High Priest whose name is love, who ever lives and pleads for me. My name is graven on his hands, my name is written on his heart. I know that while in Heav’n he stands no tongue can bid me thence depart.

    Every element of our salvation is our God. He calls us and gives us the faith and courage to receive Him. He dies to pay the cost of our sin, and He dwells within us to make us more like him.

    Once we are His, we are His forever. Safe in the arms of God. We can’t mess up so badly that we fall completely from Grace. We may face consequences and discipline, but never rejection. Nothing can tear us away from him, or as the song says, “none can bid me hence depart”.

    I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. John 10:28 ESV

    For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39 ESV

    Some will say that gives us freedom to sin. Paul clearly tells us that isn’t the case.

     For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means Romans 6:14-15 ESV

    We need to understand that we are secure in Christ. That knowledge should help us understand how deep His love and mercy for us is. That understanding leads us to love Him more and to desire to please Him. That desire makes it harder for us to sin and easier to repent. 

    My friends, as believers, you are safe in the arms of God. Now live in that wonderful news.

    Be blessed

    Kevin

    You might also like

    We are all displaced

    Scrub Jays

    The gospel, the best news ever

    Step out of the boat faith

    Safe in the arms of God

  • The call of the gospel

    a castle built of clouds

    We’re almost a whole week into January, which means, statistically, 23%  of people have already given up on their New Year’s resolution. By the end of the month, it will be 43%, and at year’s end, 92%. How are you doing on yours?

    Some of those resolutions are reasonable; others are no more than castles carved in clouds or hopes strung across the clouds. They might have been pretty and well-intentioned, but in the end, they were unattainable dreams.

    Most of us desire to be better people in some way, yet few have the discipline and drive to accomplish it. That’s why I’m glad Jesus understands our weakness.

    He doesn’t expect us to get ourselves all cleaned up and find him. He doesn’t expect us to overcome all our sins and undo the damage under our own will and strength. Every other religion/faith is dependent on people doing all the work to get it together and find God.

    I love how one writer describes the call of the gospel: “We are saved because God seeks and saves the lost. The Holy Spirit used the Gospel, shared by parents, friends, and loved ones with us, read in the pages of the Bible, and preached to us…”

    He looks for us.

    He accepts us where we are.

    Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28 ESV

    The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18 ESV

    He does the cleaning.

    For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. Romans 8:29 ESV

    That doesn’t let us off the hook; we participate in the process. Yet, it does mean that our issues aren’t handled under our own strength. 

    Our salvation and sanctification are in the hands of a loving God, not the fumbling hands of weak, desperate sinners. For that, we can rejoice.

    Be blessed, 

    Kevin

    You might also like

    The gospel the best knew ever

    Resolve to be more Christlike

    What is the gospel?

    Why does everyone know the truth