Pastor Stephen Dedman

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The Lord Appointed

Trust

The Lord Appointed

And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
‭‭Jonah‬ ‭1:17‬

Obedience Brings Blessings

Jonah was appointed by God to go to Ninevah to share the love of God. Instead of obeying and doing as the Lord instructed, Jonah chose to go the opposite way and do what he thought was best. So God also appointed a great fish to save him. Jonah was a man of God but had a few things wrong.

First, he had a problem with forgiveness. He didnt want God to forgive the Ninevites. Some scholars believe Jonah’s family was victimized by the Ninevites. Nevertheless, Jonah didn’t want God showing mercy on them.

Second, Jonah had a problem with obedience. When God told him to go to Ninevah he went down to Tarshish. He went where he wanted to go. He thought he could run away from God. After God got his attention he ended doing what God told him to do.

Third, Jonah had a problem with repentance. Through this entire story we never read that Jonah repented of his sin. He went and had a pity party and never made things right with God. One day we will know the whole story when we get to Heaven.

Let’s learn from Jonah’s bad experience and do what God tells us to do and go where God tells us to go. Sometimes our obedience to God will save our life and save the lives of others. We should learn trust God because He knows what is best.

Prayer

Pray and seek God’s guidance through the Holy Spirit. Ask God if there is anything He desires for you to do or anywhere for you to go.

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.