Salvation is a God thing

Here is a devotional thought from the late Dr. Adrian Rogers.

Sidlow Baxter once said, “Your emotions are the shallowest part of your nature. Salvation is the deepest work of God. And He is not going to do His deepest work in the shallowest part.” You may think you know me because you hear my voice or read my words, but you cannot look deep down into my spirit. From the time I gave my heart to Jesus Christ, there has been a stamp of authenticity upon my heart saying, Adrian, you belong to Me. It is not an emotional feeling, because emotions have nothing to do with my salvation. It is also not an intellectual thing because salvation cannot be rationalized. Salvation is a God thing.

Amen, Dr. Rogers.

A Living Sacrifice

"Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God." (Romans 12:1-2)

But how do we present ourselves as living sacrifices. Paul sets out for us in the remaining chapters of Romans how to do exactly that and also shows us how that, as we do present ourselves as living sacrifices, it will change our relations with other Christians, our relations with those in authority and with society in general, and our relations with the lost.

His first point may be the most important. We are not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought. Humility is so critical for our relations with others. Think about it, no one cares for someone who tends to set themselves up on a pedestal or who is more concerned about themselves than they are of others. That one point will dramatically impact all our relationships. For more on humility and brokenness, please see posts in this blog on brokenness and steps to brokenness.

Verses 9-21 are a textbook on how we should live as Christians. Live with pure love. Detest evil. Show family affection. Show honor to others. Serve the Lord diligently. Rejoice. Be agreeable with others. Quit fussing and fighting. Do what is honorable. Conquer evil with good. We could take these verses and build an entire book on how to live the Christian life as a living sacrifice.

Chapter 13 shows us how we are to be living sacrifices in regards to our dealing with authorities. We are to submit to them, because God, who is all powerful, has seen fit to put them in authority. Rejecting authority is rejecting God! In this day of speaking our minds about our governmental leaders, we should be careful to hold them in regard as being the instruments of God.

Chapter 14 talks to us about the law of liberty and the law of love. While we have great liberty because those who have been set free are free indeed, we are not to live in such a way that it will cause another to stumble in their faith. And we are to love. We are to love and not criticize. We are to do what promotes peace and builds another up. How can I be up if you are always tearing me down; but also, how can I be down if you are always building me up?

Chapter 15 teaches us to live in such a way that we please others and not ourselves. If we please our neighbor in such a way as to do him good, it will build him up. Building others up brings us up instead of dividing us. By coming together, we can glorify God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. We need to be about bringing glory to God.

Redeemed, How I Love to Proclaim It

"Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it. Redeemed by the blood of the lamb. Redeemed through His infinite mercy. His child and forever I am." Ah, the words of that great hymn of the faith. In Romans, from late in the third chapter through the eighth chapter, Paul paints a beautiful picture of the three phases of redemption--justification, sanctification, and glorification.

God gives us a righteous standing before Him based totally on the work of Christ. That is justification. Sin separated us from our Father, but Christ's sacrifice restored us. He made us just-as-if-I-had-never-sinned. As a result, righteousness, which we could never earn, comes to us only as we accept the gift of God in Jesus Christ. Christ's righteousness is imputed to us. Sadly, most Christians seem to stop right here.

But there is more, so much more. The second phase of redemption is sanctification. In chapter five, Paul shows us God's plan to deliver our souls (our mind, our emotions, and our wills) into His will, which is to be holy even as He is holy. When we were born, we were born into the Adamic nature of sin. We were prone to sin. That is who we were. But, praise Jesus, when He went to the cross, He took us with Him. We were crucified with Christ. The Adamic nature was beaten, defeated, died. Now as we accept the work of Jesus at the cross, we are given a new nature, the nature of Christ! We become dedicated and set apart for God. That is what sanctification is. We are free from the reign of sin in our lives. But we must take up our cross daily and keep our focus on the work Christ has already accomplished. For as a man thinketh, so is he.

As Paul continues through chapter eight, he shows us the third aspect of redemption--glorification. One day, when we stand before our Lord, our bodies will be raised in perfection. At that time, we will be perfect in body, soul, and spirit before Him. Oh, happy day! What glory that will be! We will see Jesus face-to-face.

Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it!

Journey Into Brokenness

Chapter Six of DeMoss Brokenness lists four points for our journey into brokenness. They are:

1. Get a fresh vision of God

When I was stationed in San Diego, my pastor was Hollis Burge at Balboa Park Baptist Church. Dr. Burge sat me down one night and talked to me about the need to have a sermon ready to preach anytime I got a chance to speak on short notice. He suggested one like we find in Isaiah that was mentioned by DeMoss. That passage has always meant a lot to me. He talked to me about the four points he would use--the upward look, the inward look, the outward look, and the onward look. First things first. We won't do any good if we skip the first step. We need to get true vision of God before any of the other looks will fall into place. Once we see God, we can then see our needs clearly, we can see the needs of others clearly, and we can see the goal clearly and it keeps us on our steady course. God, help me to see You more clearly, to follow You more nearly, to love You more dearly, day by day!

2. Don't wait for God to break you--choose to be broken

We need to seek brokenness and transparency, although sometimes that is a scary proposition. Somehow, we see brokenness as being brought to ruin and that God is going to get us. We need to remember the great love that He has for us and that His purpose is to make us useable for His Kingdom growth. Whatever the cost, draw me nearer, Lord, to thee.

3. Acknowledge spiritual need to God and to others

It is a little easier to admit our need to God. After all, He already knows all about us. But humbling ourselves before others is a difficult task. But as leaders, we have to be transparent before men. As Jesus set the example for us, we need to set the example of brokenness for others. God, give me the grace to be open and humble before You and before those with whom You bring me in contact.

4. Do whatever you know God wants you to do

Be strong and of good courage. Don't be afraid, for the Lord our God is with us wherever we go and whatever we do. Lord, keep my focus on You and help me to be strong and of good courage as You show me the things You want me to do. And help me to be full of discipline in keeping my hand to the plow.

Brokenness

We have been studying Nancy Leigh DeMoss' book, Brokenness, in our class on spiritual growth. The following is a response to one of our discussion questions. We have to be broken, before anything can happen in our spiritual life.

The most meaningful part of Chapter Five to me was DeMoss' discussion of revival, and the Hebrides revival. One of my seminars last fall at the Olford School was on evangelism and revival and we discussed many of the revivals. It holds great interest to me because I believe we are set for a great revival in America beginning here in New England. I was impressed that the Hebrides revival began by spiritual leaders praying for the youth of the islands who had no interest in spiritual things and scorned the things of God. We see that same situation here in New Hampshire. Yet, God did not send revival until the leaders themselves became broken. I sense that when we preach on "If my people, who are called by My Name shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I..." we focus on prayer and seeking God and turning from our wicked ways, yet we do not emphasize the first command. We don't really preach on humbling ourselves, yet that is the first and most critical command here. God would not have put it first if that was not first in His list of priorities for us to access His action. Oh how we need to humble ourselves, to be broken to the point where we totally empty ourselves. Oh how I need to humble myself, to be broken, and to totally empty myself. I can do nothing of myself, Lord, only You can work through me to effect brokenness. Only You can show me where I have built walls and held on to areas of my life. Only You can break me. Break me, Lord. Make me transparent before you and transparent before men. Send a great revival, Lord, and let it begin in me.

The Power of the Cross

"Therefore, my brothers, you also were put to death in relation to the law through the crucified body of the Messiah, so that you may belong to another--to Him who was raised from the dead--that we may bear fruit for God. For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions operated through the law in every part of us and bore fruit for death. But now we have been released from the law, since we have died to what held us, so that we may serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old letter of the law."

What an awesome thing, this power of the cross! Where once we were bound to operate in the sinful passions of the flesh, we have been set free from that bondage. We are no longer bound to sin. Because we were crucified with Christ, we are set free, no longer in bondage. Jesus knew what He was saying when commanded us to take up our cross and follow him. Paul understood when he taught us to die daily. It becomes a mindset (as a man thinketh, so is he) that we are free from the bondage of sin and now we are alive unto the holiness of God.

We longer have to sin; we do so because of our own choice. Praise Jesus, when we do, we have an Advocate to represent us before our Holy Father.

Lord Jesus, help us to understand all the power of the cross and what our being crucified with you really means to us. Help us to develop the mindset and the heartset that are no longer bound to sin because You have set us free, and what You have set free is free indeed."

Integrity and Righteousness

"The Lord came down in a cloud, stood with him (Moses) there, and proclaimed His name, 'Yahweh.' Then the Lord passed in front of him and proclaimed: 'Yahweh--Yahwah is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in faithful love and truth, maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving wrongdoing, rebellion, and sin. But He will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers' wrongdoing on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation.'" (Exodus 34:5-7, emphasis mine)

Although grace is free and faith, which is also a free gift from the Father, guarantees salvation and forgiveness as pointed out in the first sentence of the Lord's proclamation above, the emphasized section also clearly shows that even for those whose sins are forgiven, there will be repercussion for those who continue in sin.

Notice the difference in Proverbs 20:7. "The one who lives with integrity is righteous; his children who come after him will be happy." Living with integrity is the quality of possessing and steadfastly adhering to high moral principles, or living according to the Word.

Will our children be happy or will they be facing the consequences? Or, maybe more tellingly, what are their present circumstances telling about our lives?

Fear--Danger

I remember when I was young and it would be a dark, windy night. My dad would be working late. We would head off to bed and shortly, after the house quieted down and others went off to sleep, I would hear tree limbs scratching the roof and the side of the house. It's amazing what a young mind can read into those sounds. Sometimes, I would be paralized with fear thinking that someone or some creature was there and coming to get us.

And then I met Jesus and began to realize what a relationship with God meant to me. I did not have to be afraid of the dark, windy nights anymore, because my Dad was there and protecting me. We can cry, "Abba! Father!" He is always ready to hold us and protect us.

"The fear of the Lord leads to life;
one will sleep at night without danger."
Proverbs 19:23

Laughter

There is something special about hearing someone laugh. It's contagious. It lifts the spirit. It makes everyone feel better. Laughter and life simply fit together. Go ahead and laugh. Make someone's day brighter.

Research has clearly shown us of the benefits to our own well-being. It releases the good endorphins into our system. It erases those down moods. It has been shown to help overcome diseases. It increases our energy. But did you know that it does the same for those around us?

"A merry heart does good like medicine..." (Proverbs 17:22)