Sometimes Salvation

For our sake He made to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him we might become the righteousness of God.  2 Corinthians 5:21

I still consider myself a ‘work in progress’ as it pertains to my walk of faith.   The enemy will stop at nothing to undermine our joy by constantly reminding us that we don’t measure up to God’s standard.  As believers in the body of faith,  we too must boldly declare that we are new creations in Christ and continue to press on in our Spiritual journey.

I have been in a rut lately, Spiritually speaking, and the sermon I heard Stephen DeFur deliver at Cokesbury West HVA this past Sunday, reminded me there is nothing that we can possibly do to make God love us any more or any less than He already does.  

We simply cannot be defined by our past.  To add to that thought, we also need to understand that we cannot earn God’s grace or His love; He already loves us now and always will.

God understands that our growing and learning is a process and He wants us to enjoy ourselves on the way to reaching our goals as believers! 

Dirty Work

How great is the goodness you have stored up for those who fear you. You lavish it on those who come to you for protection, blessing them before the watching world. Psalm 31: 19-20

A good friend recently approached me about playing bass guitar in a new band he was/is trying to form.  As much as I enjoy playing bass (more like playing 'at' the bass) and would have loved to have been a part of a band, I had to decline due to my schedule being so full. 

The more I think about it, I always seem to be ‘busy’, but busy doing what?  If you were raised like me at all, you were probably taught that if you want something, you can achieve or earn it through hard work.  While this may hold true in our professional careers, this could not be further away from how God intends us to live out our Christian faith.

Take for instance the above passage from Psalms…”how great is the goodness you have stored up for those who fear you?”  There is not one singular mention of all that we as Believers need to do to earn more of God’s goodness.  The passage simply continues with “You lavish it(goodness) on those who come to you for protection, blessing them before the watching world.”

I may be way off here, but I honestly believe that God wants us to love and focus our hearts and minds on Him.  Regardless, we continue to fill our schedules with all kinds of activities, meetings, appointments, and items with the hopes of being more successful and getting our slice of the pie.  Keep in mind that all good things and blessings flow from our loving Father and there is nothing we can possibly do or work harder to achieve any more or any less from Him.  He loves us all the same, no matter where we are in our walk of faith.

Thanks be to God!!!