Tag Archives: Salvation

2012 Day 220 – Romans 14

07 Tuesday Aug 2012

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Sometimes we as Christians like to base our moral beliefs on our opinions or cultural bias rather than God’s word. When each of us stands before God, we won’t have our friends, family, or neighbors there with us. We will be accountable for our own lives and not that of anyone else’s. Verses 10-12 makes it clear, You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. It is written: “ ‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.’ ” So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God. In the end, we will all stand before God and our eternity will be based on our own merit and the saving grace of Jesus Christ.

2012 Day 217 – Romans 11

04 Saturday Aug 2012

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Never once has God ever been caught off guard when I needed to receive His grace. Verse 32 states this as being part of His perfect plan, For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all. God owes us nothing, yet He has given us everything we need. Verse 35 hits me right between the eyes, “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?” God’s grace is not owed to me, but it is a gift I do not deserve and receive gladly. His love is always so amazing to me!

2012 Day 212 – Romans 6

30 Monday Jul 2012

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In our modern world we don’t often think of the implications of slavery anymore. We mostly see it as our past and the lessons we can learn from our history. But when Paul talks about slavery in this chapter, he is speaking from a first hand perspective. Slavery was common in his day and when he talks about sin being you master in verse 14, he is also talking about being set free from sin because we are under grace, For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. Since we are no longer under the law, grace has set us free from focusing only on controlling the individual sins in our lives and allows us to focus on the big picture of concentrating on having a relationship with God. Verse 16 goes on to talk about what we should be slaves to, Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey–whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? In the end, it is much better to focus on being a slave to righteousness, not because it is a requirement of salvation, but because God wants what is best for us which is why He sacrificed His Son for us in the first place.

2012 Day 207 – Romans 1

25 Wednesday Jul 2012

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Today we start one of the most powerful books of the Bible; Romans! This book was written by Paul before he ever even visited the Romans. It was written as Paul prepares for his visit to Jerusalem and approximately 57 years after Christ’s sacrifice. He writes this letter as a presentation of his faith to the Roman people, which does not give it the typical form of a letter except for brief greetings at the beginning of the book and more detailed greetings at end. His intention in writing this is to introduce himself to the Roman church which is mostly Jewish, but also has a considerable number of Gentiles.

Within the first few verses Paul gets to the point very quickly and delivers the premise of his message. Verse 16 says, I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. Paul does not mince words in expressing his belief and faith in the gospel of Christ. He was definitely not ashamed and he proved it over and over with each form of persecution and near death experience. Where we live in Franklin, TN it is not difficult to carry the flag of my belief in the gospel. My boldness and desire to serve God must go beyond the comfort of where I live. I pray that I am never ashamed to share what I believe no matter where I am or what I’m doing because the gospel is truly the power of God shown through salvation which is available to everyone, no matter where they live or what they have done.

2012 Day 197 – 2 Corinthians 8

15 Sunday Jul 2012

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Verse 9 is an amazing reminder, For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. We must never forget that Christ made all the sacrifice for us, not the other way around. Imagine giving everything you have for the salvation of others. It is easier said than done, but our Lord and Savior did it because of His love for us. Great reminder!

2012 Day 183 – 1 Corinthians 15

01 Sunday Jul 2012

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55 “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Living an imperfect life is misery to me. The impact sin has on me and the people around me is never pleasant to think about. But ultimately Jesus has victory over our sin. This doesn’t mean that sin in my life just goes away, though I wish it would, but it does mean sin does not have victory over us in eternity. The pain and suffering we experience is temporary and in this life only. It is nothing but a blink until we are in God’s presence.

2012 Day 160 – 1 Thessalonians 2

08 Friday Jun 2012

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In verses 11-12 it’s says, For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory. Paul encouraged the Thessalonians to live lives that were worthy of God. This is a great example of how we should be an encouragement to those around us. We should be people who motivate and not tear down or destroy. We all have sin in our lives and we all come very, very short of where God wants us to be. We should constantly be reminded that God’s mercy and Christ’s sacrifice is what set us free and not the notion that we are any better than anyone else. The only thing that makes us different is our belief and acceptance of Christ’s sacrifice and nothing else.

2012 Day 157 – Acts 17

05 Tuesday Jun 2012

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In today’s passages I found it interesting how Paul changed his approach to different locations and cultures. When he saw the inscription on the altar in Athens that said AN UNKNOWN GOD, he was quick to recognize this as a perfect point of entry to introducing the one true God. We should be quick to recognizing our point of entry into a conversation about Christ is not meant to be combative or offensive to someone else, but to be positive and applicable to them. We are to reflect Christ, including His example of how to approach people who need Him. This means meeting people where they are ready to be introduced to Christ.

2012 Day 155 – Psalm 126, 128

03 Sunday Jun 2012

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God has the ability to restore anything, whether it’s a burned down forest, broken bones, or even broken hearts and relationships. He loves all things He has created. Psalm 126:5-6 says it best, 5 Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. 6 He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him. We may go out weeping for the pain we are in, but God never leaves us and always brings us healing. Even when my dad died of cancer a few years ago, God restored him to healing in eternity. I have to believe His promises to me. It is what keeps me moving forward.

2012 Day 152 – Psalm 98, 103

31 Thursday May 2012

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I love Psalm 103:11-12, as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; God can remove our sins from us to a point where it does not even exist anymore. We must fear and respect Him, but He want to cleanse us from all our transgressions if we just trust in Him.