Father, This topic of Salvation is both pivotal and challenging. The scriptures leave us no “wiggle room”. We are either in Your Holy hand, being cared for, for eternity, or we remain what we may have considered a safe distance. Father, we know You would rather have us hot than cold in our Spiritual life and that you detest a lukewarm response.
The correct position…to hunger and thirst for the Word
Father, this pivotal event makes us able to come to You in the righteousness of Christ. Your word teaches us that our righteousness is as filthy rags. We are able to approach you as a friend of Jesus, our Advocate, as disciples seeking to serve. Oh that our eyes would fail because we spent so much time in Your word.
Sealed by the Holy Spirit… How do you know?
Paul teaches us that those who love You and obey You are “sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise”. Father, for this degree of certainty, we are grateful.
Revenge is sweet…or does it diminish me?
Help us this day not to act as though we are responsible for judging the affairs of evil people. We pray for their salvation. Seeing the lamp of an evil person put out is to see them suffering in darkness forever.
If you know you are guilty of sin, what hope do you have?
Father, You have sent Jesus and our response to his offer of salvation makes him our Advocate. What a perfect scenario. We are on trial and the one with the power to convict steps up and says “not guilty”. It will be the encapsulating righteousness of the Messiah that will allow us to stand in Your Holy, perfect, eternally blissful presence.
Will we be able to say to Jesus, “I didn’t know”?
We thank You Father for sending the Holy Spirit to encourage us and strengthen our resolve to do the right thing. That fact, along with the forgiveness of all confessed sin, due to the redemptive power of Jesus, means we will be without excuse if we say “but I did not know”.
Does God guarantee our salvation?
Our inheritance is guaranteed. It was purchased by the blood of Jesus, whose redemptive act guarantees our standing before You. Help us, this day, to fully grasp what has happened, what was foreknown to You before it ever happened and that which was clearly declared by Your prophets, hundred of years before it happened. Prophecy fulfilled; adding certainty where doubt could arise.
Of course I am saved. My Dad was a pastor!
Father, You continually teach us that we each bear our own responsibilities in relation to You. Our relationship is personal. It is not a relationship we are able to inherit or claim as a member of an organization or as a member of a Christian family. We come to You as individuals, seeking to do Your will, knowing that it pleases You immensely when we do so.
Why is pride such a problem? Is there a solution?
Father, the contrast between pride and humility is always before us. We have such an inclination to allow our ego to overcome us. Help us, today, to know that it is You we seek to please and that even when we do please You, it is due to the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, not our fleshly spirit.
Goodness over evil, love over hate, joy over depression…
Father, You have told us that you have reserved a place for us in heaven. We do not know a lot about heaven, but this we know. It will be a place of perfection, in You, reserved for us because of Your grace and mercy and the enabling atonement of Jesus.