Verse of the day: 2 Timothy 1:9 Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus
before time began,
If we stop and truly think about how amazing God’s
grace is toward us, it is absolutely mind-boggling. Today, we are reminded of
how good God is, in that He has saved us (for those of us who have called upon
Him by faith to receive eternal life) by no merit of our own. There was nothing
that we did, or anything that we could do, that entitled us to salvation.
Although He had a plan in place to save us, even before time began (Eph 1:4; 1
Pt 1:20), as He looked ahead, not one of us had anything to offer in exchange
for such a magnificent gift. We had no special talent or ability that God
looked forward to, that would grant us some special status with Him in being
saved. All that we have, our talents, abilities, and gifts, are all bestowed
upon us, by Him, and by His grace; and not only does He give us the talents,
abilities, and gifts, but He also provides the power to use them (1 Pt 4:10-11).
He has done this because He has separated us, or set us apart, for His holy
purpose. Our salvation comes to us by the grace of God, according to God’s plan
and purpose, and therefore we must not be ashamed to both serve Him, and suffer
for the cause of Christ and the Gospel. Titus 3:5 tells us that our salvation came,
“not by works of
righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us,
through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,”. Knowing
this, we must do all that we can to seek out God’s plan and purpose for our
lives; the first being that we glorify Him in all that we do. We must go
forward, boldly proclaiming the Gospel message, knowing that God has not given
us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind (v. 7); the power to
face whatever He allows us to face (knowing that He is always with us; Heb
13:5-6), love that can only come from God because only in Christ can we truly
love God and others, and a mind that is well-balanced in how we carry out our
faith in everyday life (by the guidance of the Holy Spirit and God’s Word). The
bottom line is that we need to serve God wholeheartedly, because we have been
given a wonderful gift that a lost and dying world needs to know about, and God
has chosen us, by His grace, to carry that message to every creature (Mk
16:15); because His ultimate desire is that none should perish, but that all
should come to repentance, and accept eternal life, by faith, as provided by
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Pt 3:9).
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