What counts and what doesn't

Because the sinless savior died,
My sinful soul is counted free.
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me.

Wouldn't be much of a stretch to suggest that these three days, the Friday of Christ's
death on the cross to Easter Sunday with the most important event in the history of mankind, the resurrection, are so very important.

So with that in mind, what is important and what not in the whole justification and
salvation of those belonging to Christ Jesus? As hard as it is for some to grasp and
understand, Christ, not we, achieved atonement for us; it IS by grace alone and through
faith in Jesus that we may, one day, stand before a Holy God and be invited in as a
son or daughter. We didn't do anything deserving, we didn't accomplish anything that
would merit being saved, we haven't done or said anything that warrants the greatest
gift ever given.

So what doesn't count? (in no particular order)....  the size of your bank account, the
latest credit rating, number of college degrees, notches on your belt, friends. the square
footage of your home, number and quality of automobiles you own, organizations to
which you belong, annual salary, number of hits on twitter, Facebook, etc. Size of
your plasma TV, amount you tithe, how you dress for church, where you sit in church,
favorite sports team and its success, your I.Q., amount of giving to charity, places you
have vacationed, body fitness, health status, good deeds you have done, kindness
you have shown, how you are perceived by others, books that you have read....

Obviously I could go on and on. the key, here, is that there simply isn't anything that
we can "bring to the table" when it comes to our own justification. 

So what does count? I'll start with something related to the above. We simply
have to recognize our own personal need for a savior. Nothing gets done until we
take to our knees and understand that we can't really control anything related to
God's willingness to accept us. We are unclean and sinful! Without Christ our future
is dim. We need to love God and others, the crux of Jesus statement about the
most important commands. We need to do this without expectation of any
related rewards, solely in appreciation and gratitude for what has been given us.
We need to forgive others because, yep, we have been forgiven! We need to be
ever aware of the darkness of Satan and his desire to heighten our pride and head
us in the horrible direction of rejecting God. 

It is a happy and blessed Easter because Christ has risen, defeating death, the devil
and granting to those who he tends, the gift of everlasting life in the presence of a
glorious sovereign God!

Happy Easter, everyone!!!

Not even a cameo appearance

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.    Ephesians 2: 8-10

So many questions, aren't there! It's difficult to understand why it is that there are issues
and questions that, quite likely, will not be answered in this lifetime. Once saved, always
saved? Predestination? Sola Fide? Works? Apostasy? While a lot of these and other
issues are different, there seems to be an overlap.

I am going to take a blogger's stand on the importance or relevance of our own part
in the processes of being transformed once we establish Jesus Christ as our personal savior
and Lord. First, I believe that this very act of choosing to follow Christ is done To us, not
By us. I'm not buying that we even have a choice once God reaches out and "plucks" us
into His hands. So our very justification, assumed righteousness (0f Christ) and
salvation are, in my eyes, totally passive. We aren't involved in these life altering
changes; GOD is!

So taking the stand that we have been changed out of the very grace of God, I also
do not feel that we are "actors" in the saga of our sanctification. The very process of
being sanctified, has as its goal, the removal of all sin. It is a process that ends after our
death; a process that is on-going through the work of the Holy Spirit who is challenged
by our corporal sin abiding flesh... we simply aren't up to the task of doing the process
ourselves. To believe that we can change ourselves from within, is, as I see it, prideful
and mistaken.

Will we strive to live lives more closely resembling the Jesus we love? Yes, I believe
we will do so through our appreciation and God's support. Will others see a change
in us and surmise that we have changed?Yes, I believe we will look and live
differently: I believe we will have no choice because that will also be done To us.

Are we really weak and in need of a wonderful savior to make the changes necessary
to reach everlasting life with God? Well, that's exactly what the gospel message
shouts at us!

We are human. That's okay. We need God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit to do their
saving, graceful, miraculous transition to our lives. 

Praise our Holy God!

Limitless

All space and time unfolds before the face of God.

We all, I believe, try to increase our understanding of who God is and what He is like.
It's a part of our respect, admiration and love for the blessings He has graciously given
to us, His children. 

He certainly does not hide His identity! His word, the Holy Bible, reflects His being
as does His creation. The sheer awesomeness of God keeps us grasping for the best
understanding we can possibly have, given the fact that we are people and He is
God. 

The one word that might sum up our Heavenly father is the word...limitless!
We live a life full of limitations. Physical laws such as gravity limit our ability to
move about, physical limitations on our senses limit our ability to see, hear... etc.
We have as limited ability to think and understand. We are limited by life span;
we are born and at a time known only by God and will pass on from this earthly existence.
Even our imaginations, our dreams and our expectations have limits.

But not God! He is eternal. He is omniscient. He is omnipresent. He is Holy. He
is truth. He is love. He is the alpha and the omega, He is sovereign. He is faultless.
This is just the tip of the iceberg, but the point is clear and important. He is without
limitation. This, thankfully, on a practical level, means that He is very much capable
of constantly being aware of each of us...each hair on our head.. each tear that falls.
He knows what we need even before we ask Him. He has reached out to us,
through His loving-kindness and offered His son as propitiation for our sinfulness.

How amazing is our God! How blessed are we to be His adopted children!

Lost sheep without a shepherd

 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." John 10-9

¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  Matthew 28: 18-21

Evangelism. It's a tough topic; yet, it is clear that this is supposed to be something we do
actively as part of a Christian life. I would rate myself "poor" at best in this aspect! There
are a couple of folks that I care very deeply about that I have been clumsily working on
in a rather subtle way. I'm sure that the Spirit is working within me to help but it is
slow going, at best.

There are many lost sheep out there that need to be find their shepherd. I believe that God
seeks all people, taps them on the shoulder, makes His glory openly clear to them and then
waits for their response or lack thereof. So it is God, certainly, that reaches out to these lost
souls. Our job is to be willing, when we are placed in situations where we can communicate
our own knowledge of the gospel and our love of Jesus Christ, to share ourselves and our
love of Christ Jesus.

The responses to my own efforts have been weird and, probably, common. "I have a lot on my plate right now, do not have time for this!" I have gotten the "humorous" responses
given to deflect any serious discussion of Jesus. Sometimes that humor can be blasphemous
and that is very scary! I haven't really run into any especially rude situations, but I tend to
limit myself to "safe" situations. Ravi Zacharius I am not! 

I tend to convince myself that I don't know enough, yet, to carry on a successful conversation, to answer questions clearly and correctly...the fact is that it is the Spirit 
speaking within us that allows for the "right things" to say. "Preach the gospel at all
times, when necessary, speak," is a rough approximation of a quote by St. Francis of
Assisi that really captures a means of sharing God and Jesus. 

We need to relax and approach the need to share with confidence that God is within us
and working to gather His sheep. What a blessing it is to be placed in situations where we
can praise Him and share His life-saving gospel of salvation through the sacrifice of His
son upon the cross. Thank you, Father God!