After checking in on Tara Barthel's blog, Considerable Grace, I am ashamed of not being more faithful and diligent here. Thanks, Tara, the the inspiration!
Yesterday I spent a couple of hours writing to an inmate about his desire to be baptized. The question he had was whether or not baptism is necessary for salvation. It is a great question that led me to write more than the usual one-page letter.* As Scripture came to mind, I was reminded of what an amazing God we serve. There is nothing we, as faulted humans, can do to merit God's favor.
Titus says this, "But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life." Titus 3:4-7
While reading the Psalms, I became aware of the disparity between what God does and what He calls us to do. So, even in the passage from Titus, I have started to mark my Bible differentiating what God does and what He has called me to do. Surprisingly, there is very little for me to contribute. To rewrite the above passage with that emphasis would look like this:
"But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life."
In that passage, there is nothing we contribute. Our calling, then, is to humble ourselves and push our own agenda aside in light of God's grace. F.B. Meyer said it this way, "We must remember to maintain within our hearts the spirit of Sabbath calm and peace, not fussy, not anxious, nor fretful nor impetuous; refraining our feet from own paths, our hand from our own devices, refusing to make our own joy and do our own works. It is only when we are fully resolved to act thus, allowing God to originate His own plans and to work in us for their accomplishment that we enter into rest."
David Roper adds to this, "What keeps us from entering into God's rest? Unbelief. Underlying all our worry and compulsive self-effort is the thought that God cannot or will not come through." (Seeing God, p.111)
Even if it's not Sunday, are you enjoying the Sabbath rest God promises His people? Are you resting in God's work in and through you? Or are you striving to work for Him, to accomplish self-imposed demands and goals? May God bless you with complete, full days as He extends Himself through you to your immediate family, to His Body, and those who are lost, watching and waiting.
*If you have a burden for inmates who desire to know God, investigate Crossroads Bible Institute and how to become an instructor.
Yesterday I spent a couple of hours writing to an inmate about his desire to be baptized. The question he had was whether or not baptism is necessary for salvation. It is a great question that led me to write more than the usual one-page letter.* As Scripture came to mind, I was reminded of what an amazing God we serve. There is nothing we, as faulted humans, can do to merit God's favor.
Titus says this, "But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life." Titus 3:4-7
While reading the Psalms, I became aware of the disparity between what God does and what He calls us to do. So, even in the passage from Titus, I have started to mark my Bible differentiating what God does and what He has called me to do. Surprisingly, there is very little for me to contribute. To rewrite the above passage with that emphasis would look like this:
"But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life."
In that passage, there is nothing we contribute. Our calling, then, is to humble ourselves and push our own agenda aside in light of God's grace. F.B. Meyer said it this way, "We must remember to maintain within our hearts the spirit of Sabbath calm and peace, not fussy, not anxious, nor fretful nor impetuous; refraining our feet from own paths, our hand from our own devices, refusing to make our own joy and do our own works. It is only when we are fully resolved to act thus, allowing God to originate His own plans and to work in us for their accomplishment that we enter into rest."
David Roper adds to this, "What keeps us from entering into God's rest? Unbelief. Underlying all our worry and compulsive self-effort is the thought that God cannot or will not come through." (Seeing God, p.111)
Even if it's not Sunday, are you enjoying the Sabbath rest God promises His people? Are you resting in God's work in and through you? Or are you striving to work for Him, to accomplish self-imposed demands and goals? May God bless you with complete, full days as He extends Himself through you to your immediate family, to His Body, and those who are lost, watching and waiting.
*If you have a burden for inmates who desire to know God, investigate Crossroads Bible Institute and how to become an instructor.
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