From Sin To Salvation

A blocked opportunity or “closed door” can be a useful tool for teaching. God wants to mold us into His image, and He can use anything—including something we desire—to do so.

While you might hear references to closed doors, the real message here is that God opens doors for us, and they lead us in the best possible direction. His path is perfect, and if we stay on it, we will live a life of service, satisfaction, and glory for God.

Solomon’s wisdom is that we must not let pride get the better of us by allowing ourselves to reject correction from a person we know has experience in a difficulty we are going through (Ecclesiastes 7:5-6).

If we fail to humble ourselves in such a case, we will likely later regret passing off the correction as nothing more than arrogant interference. That can be a major misjudgment, as Proverbs 11:2 bluntly reminds us, “When pride comes, then comes shame; but with the humble is wisdom.”

Our witness does not have to bring about the conversion of others to be effective, because conversion is in God’s hands anyway. However, it still has to be right, and being right in this requires personal sacrifices.

Being right—in addition to keeping God’s commands—means being humble, modest, kindhearted, concerned, sympathetic and more. One must do all of these things, while knowing full well that there is a line of separation across which we cannot allow ourselves to wander in our relationships with those as yet uncalled.

This is quite a plateful, but these are qualities that make God’s way engaging and an attractive witness. God’s involvement in our lives should give us freedom, as well as security against our fears of living and being this way. When combined with the keeping of God’s commandments, it will produce quite a witness and go a long way toward keeping us clean—because we will be using God’s Word as He intends.

One day Christ will return and make everything right, and until that time believers are called to be His ambassadors of peace. But salvation doesn’t automatically change us into people of kindness and unity. At times we may be quick-tempered and impatient, struggling to live in harmony with others. What’s more, letting go of ingrained attitudes or habits can be difficult, even when clinging to such things causes hurt.

Thankfully, God knows this about us. That’s why He has sent His Holy Spirit to help us understand and apply Scripture, say no to temptation, and replace our priorities with Christ’s. Only He can produce spiritual fruit in us, which includes love, joy, and peace Gal. 5:22-23. And with His help, we become peacemakers who work to bring about reconciliation between God and others 2 Corinthians 5:18-19. When our hearts are ruled by His peace, our relationships reflect His spirit of oneness Col. 3:15

The world may hope to find peace through man-made solutions, but you and I know the only source of lasting unity is Jesus Christ. Let’s pray that believers and nonbelievers alike witness the power of God that reconciles marriages, families, and churches.

All of us at one time or another need direction in our life for maintaining our relationship with Jesus, as well as getting to know Him more. I hope the following verses will aid you in your quest to know Jesus who is the light of the world and our Lord and Savior.

Avoiding sin in our race for life:
Hebrews 12:1,2 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, • fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Denying yourself to follow Jesus:
Luke 9:23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.

Ridding ourselves of worldly attachments:
Luke 14:33 “So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.

Protection from sin:
Romans 13:12 The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

Exercising self-control in life:
1 Corinthians 9:25,27 Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. • but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

Not living in the past but pressing forward toward Jesus:
Philippians 3:13,14 Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, • I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Remaining diligent in our quest to know the Lord:
Hosea 6:3 “So let us know, let us press on to know the LORD. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; And He will come to us like the rain, Like the spring rain watering the earth.”

When Adam and Eve listened to Satan in the garden of Eden, the world was invaded by sin, and we’ve been battling it ever since. Over time, our world has become morally and spiritually contaminated.

We’re born physically alive but spiritually dead and in rebellion against the Lord (Eph. 2:1-2). Yet by trusting Jesus as our Savior, we receive a new nature and the gift of the Holy Spirit. This means believers have the power to say no to wrongdoing and yes to godliness (2 Peter 1:3).

With our new identity as children of God, we no longer share the same nature or purpose of unbelievers. Followers of Jesus are called to serve as His ambassadors, spreading knowledge of the Savior and yearning for righteousness. We exchange our own desires for His, admit when we’ve sinned, and ask for His forgiveness. But these values often make little sense to those who don’t know Christ.

Maintaining a godly focus in the world is difficult, but we can find support and encouragement from others who have received Jesus Christ as their Savior. Intimate friends and trusted advisors will help us stay pointed toward the Son.

(Article reprint courtesy of In Touch | Charles Stanley | © 2020)

Satan replied to the LORD, “Yes, but Job has good reason to fear God. You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property. You have made him prosper in everything he does. Look how rich he is!”— Job 1:9-10

Satan attacked Job’s motives, saying that Job was blameless and had integrity only because he had no reason to turn against God. Satan wanted to prove that Job worshiped God not out of love but because God had given him so much. Satan accurately analyzed why many people trust God. They are fair-weather believers, following God only when everything is going well or for what they can get.

Adversity destroys this kind of superficial faith. But adversity strengthens “real faith” by causing believers to dig their roots deeper into God in order to withstand storms.

How deep does your faith go? Put the roots of your faith down deep into God so that you can withstand any storm you may face.

As we have gone through and experienced trials in our life, most of us at one time or another have wondered whether God has been fair in the way we’ve been treated. Our Creator, in His infinite wisdom, has designed experiences to help us understand and grow so we might consider as many ramifications and outcomes of those experiences as possible. We usually glean most of our information and understanding from the disasters and tragedies that occur in our life.

What we often lack in these trials are His perspective and truth. As He gives these through the revelation of Himself, we begin to perceive and understand His loving grace, abundant generosity, infinite patience, ready forgiveness, stable oversight, and unswerving commitment to concluding His wonderful purpose successfully.

The next time you think God is coming down hard on you, which you see as unfair, remember that He only has your best interests in mind. He sees your future, your ultimate success and is always there for you.

The world around us is always changing, but that isn’t the case with its Creator. Consider God’s love: It’s not simply a trait He possesses but an attribute, an essential aspect of who He is. Everything He says and does flows from the truth that “God is love” (1 John 4:8).

Since God is unchanging, we can rest in His promises. But that doesn’t mean we can expect life to always be easy. Though we’re sure of being redeemed and, ultimately, raised from the dead, Jesus did say life will involve tribulation. If the cost of following Him seems overwhelming, take comfort in this: You’ll never be alone. When you suffer, He’ll suffer with you.

God is always with us, within us. Even when we think He is absent, He’s right there and always been—it’s just that for some reason, our feelings don’t match the truth. So instead of asking if God is present to us, the better question is, Are we being present to Him?

Having a great weekend means something different to everyone. No matter what your choice of activity might be, remember to relax and give your body a chance to rest from your week’s labors.

The best thing you can do to ensure you have an enjoyable weekend is to praise the Lord for His love, mercy and grace. And, even more importantly, for giving you life.

Have fun and be safe!