Pastor Stephen Dedman

Category: Trust

Hidden With Christ

Encouragement, Faith, Salvation, Trust

Hidden With Christ

For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
‭‭Colossians‬ ‭3:3‬ ‭

New Life

Before we were saved by the grace of God, we lived for ourselves.  It was self-merit and self-righteousness that brought us what we thought was justifiable.  As long as we were good people and as long as we did good things, we were ok.  But that was not the truth.

When our eyes were spiritually opened to the things of God, we were changed. As Scripture says, “For you have died.”  When we come to Christ we die to our old ways and to our old self.  No longer do we live for ourselves but we live for Christ.  He is our Lord and Master and we submit to Him in all of our ways.  Our actions and words reflect who we belong to.  You may be thinking… “But sometimes I say and do things that are not aligned with Christ-likeness.”  Just because we are Christians does not mean that we will never sin again.  We all sin and come short of God’s glory.

The difference is in the next part of the verse… “and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”  What this means is we are justified by the blood of Christ.  When we come to Jesus through faith, we die to ourselves.  We take up our cross and follow Him. We are born again.  We are reborn into the likeness of Christ.  When God looks at us He sees the righteousness of Christ and not the righteousness of ourselves.  When we believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior we take on a new life and new characteristics.  The Holy Spirit comes to our rescue and gives us power to live as Christ would have us to live.  In other words we require the Holy Spirit to live holy and acceptable to God.  Romans 12:1-2 gives us great insight of how we should live everyday.  As we live holy lives we no longer live according to the world but according to the Word of God.

Prayer

Lord, I submit to you and live today for You.  Show me what You want me to do for You today.

 

My Hand

Trust

My Hand

And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
‭‭John‬ ‭10:28‬ ‭

Forever Secure

Eternal life in Jesus Christ is because of God’s grace and compassion. It is not earned but freely given. It is not based on works because we could never be good enough or do enough good that we could gain eternal life. It is all because of the perfect life of Jesus.

If God loves you He can never stop loving you. When you become a child of God there is nothing that can separate you from the love of God. He forever has you in His protective hand. You are secure and safe. His love is so great that nothing can come between us and Him. This concept gives every believer confidence and comfort. It also proves His love for His children.

When you begin to feel like you are not worth being saved or have doubts that God is saving you from sin, remember this verse. God has you in His hand and there you is nothing more powerful that can snatch you away. He forever has you in a special place. The hand of God is a great place to be.

There are so many promises that God has given to His children but to be eternally secure is one of the best. Once you are part of the family of God you are always part of the family. Once you are in Christ you are always in Christ. You are a new creature and you begin to live a new life in Christ.

Prayer

Thank you Jesus for saving my soul and giving me eternal life. I seek to live my life pleasing You only.

What Does The Lord Require Of You

Salvation, Trust

What Does The Lord Require Of You

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
‭‭Micah‬ ‭6:8‬

It’s More Than Being Good

Some people think all you have to do is live a good and moral life and you will go to Heaven.  That is far from the truth of God’s Word.  That is a lie that Satan wants people to believe.  There will be a lot of good people die and go to Hell because they believed this lie.  Faith and belief in Jesus Christ is how you receive eternal life in Heaven. We live good and moral lives to glorify God for sending us His Son.

The prophet Micah gives us three ways to glorify God in our daily life. First, do justice.  This means we should be fair to all people and don’t judge them.  God is the judge so we must not judge others lest we be judged.  Second, love kindness.  We are not only to be kind to others but we are to love kindness.  We are to show mercy to others even if they have wronged us.  Third, walk humbly.  As Believer’s we are to put others first.  Just as Christ was a humble servant, so we are to be Christ-like.

But are these the only requirements?

When asked what was the greatest commandment of the law, Jesus replied, “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:35-39)  We will never fully satisfy the requirements of God but we can be justified through the works of Jesus Christ who did fulfill all His requirements.

Prayer

Thank God for His mercy and grace and then show others how thankful you are.