Category: Romans

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Followers, Friends, Family

I wish you could sit with me in the mornings and hear the words that the Lord drops into my heart. Although they can’t be heard audibly, they thunder in my soul.

“‘Wash yourselves clean! I hate your filthy deeds. Stop doing wrong 17 and learn to live right.
See that justice is done. Defend widows and orphans and help the oppressed.’

An Invitation from the Lord

18 I, the Lord, invite you to come and talk it over. Your sins are scarlet red, but they will be whiter than snow or wool. 19 If you willingly obey me, the best crops in the land will be yours.” Isaiah 1:16-19 CEV

When the Israelites were delivered from Egypt they had God’s promise, “I will be your God and you will be my people”. (Exodus 6:7, Leviticus 26:12)

But they forgot to serve God and went their own way and served other gods and also their own selfish ambitions. However, God did not forget them. He invited them to come, sit with Him, talk things over and He would forgive their sins and make them clean again. They were followers.

Jesus also had a group of people who were faithful followers and before He died Jesus elevated their relationship to one of friendship.

“14 And you are my friends, if you obey me. 15 Servants don’t know what their master is doing, and so I don’t speak to you as my servants. I speak to you as my friends, and I have told you everything my Father has told me.

16 You did not choose me. I chose you and sent you out to produce fruit, the kind of fruit that will last. Then my Father will give you whatever you ask for in my name. 17 So I command you to love each other.” John 15:14-17 CEV

For three years they had followed Jesus. They had their up’s and down’s; Jesus taught them how to honor the Father. They had seen many miracles. Their time on earth together was coming to an end. Jesus reminded them that they had been chosen, we too have been chosen. He also reminded them that the Father would be attentive to their prayers.

Followers become friends. Friends become family.

“Only those people who are led by God’s Spirit are his children. 15  God’s Spirit doesn’t make us slaves who are afraid of him. Instead, we become his children and call him our Father. 16 God’s Spirit makes us sure that we are his children. 17 His Spirit lets us know that together with Christ we will be given what God has promised. We will also share in the glory of Christ, because we have suffered with him.” Romans 8:14-17 CEV

Family.

We have been invited to become family. Our heavenly Father is just, kind, and good. He is faithful, all-knowing, all-powerful, unconditionally loving. Nothing can separate us from His love. (Romans 8:35)

Christ suffered persecution and rejection. His words were misunderstood, and He was ridiculed for saying that God was His Father. We will experience some of the same because we are His family.

Since we will share some of the same challenges and hardships, we have His promise of help.

“ Jesus understands every weakness of ours, because he was tempted in every way that we are. But he did not sin! 16 So whenever we are in need, we should come bravely before the throne of our merciful God. There we will be treated with undeserved grace, and we will find help.” Hebrews 4:15-16 CEV

We are family and God, our Father, is always there for us.

Followers, friends, family. I was a follower who became a friend but then I was adopted and now I’m family. Family is the best!

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Steadfast & Immovable

I’m sure you’ve had those moments when something pops into your mind and you say to yourself, “Gosh, I haven’t thought about that in a long time”. This morning is one of those moments for me.

I was praying over friends and family this morning and I began to pray these words. “Lord, let them be steadfast and immovable. A solid representation of Your love. Not moved by the world’s opinions but standing firm on Your infallible word”.

It was then a flood of Scriptures came rolling in. Verses I had committed to my heart years ago, verses that have been my life-line both physically, emotionally, and spiritually for many years.

Today, I liked to share them with you. Verses of victory and strength.

“But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.” I Corinthians 15:57-58 NLT

Steadfast and immovable. Steadfast: resolutely or dutifully firm and unwavering

“If you live to satisfy your sinful self, the harvest you will get from that will be eternal death. But if you live to please the Spirit, your harvest from the Spirit will be eternal life. 9 We must not get tired of doing good. We will receive our harvest of eternal life at the right time. We must not give up. 10 When we have the opportunity to do good to anyone, we should do it…”Galatians 6:8-10 ERV

Don’t grow weary in well doing.

“ To end my letter I tell you, be strong in the Lord and in his great power. 11 Wear the full armor of God. Wear God’s armor so that you can fight against the devil’s clever tricks. 12 Our fight is not against people on earth. We are fighting against the rulers and authorities and the powers of this world’s darkness. We are fighting against the spiritual powers of evil in the heavenly places. 13 That is why you need to get God’s full armor. Then on the day of evil, you will be able to stand strong. And when you have finished the whole fight, you will still be standing.” Ephesians 6:10-13 ERV

When you’ve done all to stand, STAND.

“ Can anything separate us from Christ’s love? Can trouble or problems or persecution separate us from his love? If we have no food or clothes or face danger or even death, will that separate us from his love? 36 As the Scriptures say,

‘For you we are in danger of death all the time. People think we are worth no more than sheep to be killed.’

37 But in all these troubles we have complete victory through God, who has shown his love for us. 38-39 Yes, I am sure that nothing can separate us from God’s love—not death, life, angels, or ruling spirits. I am sure that nothing now, nothing in the future, no powers, nothing above us or nothing below us—nothing in the whole created world—will ever be able to separate us from the love God has shown us in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:35-39 ERV

Complete victory: more than a conqueror.

“We show our love for God by obeying his commandments, and they are not hard to follow.4 Every child of God can defeat the world, and our faith is what gives us this victory. 5 No one can defeat the world without having faith in Jesus as the Son of God.” I John 5:3-5 CEV

Overcome the world.

My dear friend, your struggle is not too great for God. His word is the solid rock foundation to build our lives on. Built on His word we can be and will be steadfast and immovable in the storms and we will stand!

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Cleansed

The definition I found of this word is simple and succinct.

“make (something, especially the skin) thoroughly clean”

Thoroughly clean. What an amazing thought!

“So now anyone who is in Christ Jesus is not judged guilty. 2 That is because in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit that brings life made you free. It made you free from the law that brings sin and death. 3 The law was without power because it was made weak by our sinful selves. But God did what the law could not do: He sent his own Son to earth with the same human life that everyone else uses for sin. God sent him to be an offering to pay for sin. So God used a human life to destroy sin. 4 He did this so that we could be right just as the law said we must be. Now we don’t live following our sinful selves. We live following the Spirit.

5 People who live following their sinful selves think only about what they want. But those who live following the Spirit are thinking about what the Spirit wants them to do. 6 If your thinking is controlled by your sinful self, there is spiritual death. But if your thinking is controlled by the Spirit, there is life and peace.” Romans 8:1-6 ERV

When we were in Greece last year, we spent a lot of time walking on the beach. The waves would roll in and when they receded our footprints had been completely removed. The seashore was once again cleansed of our trespass.

That’s what God’s love and provision of salvation does for our lives. It cleanses us from all unrighteousness. (I John 1:9)

“ But if we confess our sins, God will forgive us. We can trust God to do this. He always does what is right. He will make us clean from all the wrong things we have done.” I John 1:9 ERV

“ He died to make the church holy. He used the telling of the Good News to make the church clean by washing it with water. 27 Christ died so that he could give the church to himself like a bride in all her beauty. He died so that the church could be holy and without fault, with no evil or sin or any other thing wrong in it.” Ephesians 5:26-27 ERV

When we come to the Father, confessing our sin, He cleanses us. Washes us clean. His word says that He not only forgives our sin but He forgets it as well. God will never remind us of our past transgression. He removes it from us.

“I, the Lord, am the one speaking to you. Come, let’s discuss this. Even if your sins are as dark as red dye, that stain can be removed and you will be as pure as wool that is as white as snow.” Isaiah 1:18 ERV

God forgives and forgets however; we often dwell on the things we’ve done wrong. We need to have our guilty conscience cleansed so that we can live in the freedom Christ died to bring us.

“Jesus Christ did the things God wanted him to do. And because of that, we are made holy through the sacrifice of Christ’s body. Christ made that sacrifice one time—enough for all time...22 Sprinkled with the blood of Christ, our hearts have been made free from a guilty conscience, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. So come near to God with a sincere heart, full of confidence because of our faith in Christ.” Hebrews 10:10 & 22 ERV

Because of Christ we can have a clear conscience and confidence in our relationship with God.

“And when our hearts make us feel guilty, we can still have peace before God, because God is greater than our hearts. He knows everything.” I John 3:20 ERV

My dear friend this is the good news of the gospel – we are not condemned. We are cleansed – made thoroughly clean!

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Time for an “I” Exam

Just last week Dave went to the optometrist. He was able to pick up his new glasses on Friday. It’s interesting how just a little adjustment can make such a big difference in clearer vision.

Jesus is still teaching on the mountain and in today’s verses He’s called us all in for an “I” exam.

“ Don’t condemn others, and God won’t condemn you. 2  God will be as hard on you as you are on others! He will treat you exactly as you treat them.

3 You can see the speck in your friend’s eye, but you don’t notice the log in your own eye. 4 How can you say, “My friend, let me take the speck out of your eye,” when you don’t see the log in your own eye? 5 You’re nothing but show-offs! First, take the log out of your own eye; then you can see how to take the speck out of your friend’s eye.” Matthew 7:1-5 CEV

We have to remember that all of these verses from the last few days flow together from one teaching. Although little segments can be pulled out for study, they must stay in context with the whole message.

Jesus has already taught us on having a proper attitude, not being a showoff and being light and salt in a world that has spent so much time in darkness. He’s emphasized that we are to love as the Father loves. It only follows that He would instruct more thoroughly on how to treat and deal with others.

Don’t judge unless we would like to be judged. (I didn’t say it, Jesus did.)

Yikes, that one hits pretty close to home. I think we all can fall into that dangerous ditch of judging. That’s why we need to have our eyes examined. It’s easy to see the faults in others; sometimes we even magnify them, and then we overlook our own faults.

But Christ saw that we all need a Saviour.

“Christ had no sin, but God made him become sin so that in Christ we could be right with God.” II Corinthians 5:21 ERV

“Honor God by accepting each other, as Christ has accepted you.” Romans 15:7 CEV

” But I am giving you a new command. You must love each other, just as I have loved you. 35 If you love each other, everyone will know that you are my disciples.” John 13:34-35 CEV

“ If you think you are better than others, when you really aren’t, you are wrong. 4 Do your own work well, and then you will have something to be proud of. But don’t compare yourself with others.” Galatians 6:3-4 CEV

“God treats everyone alike. He accepts people only because they have faith in Jesus Christ. 23 All of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. 24 But God treats us much better than we deserve, and because of Christ Jesus, he freely accepts us and sets us free from our sins.” Romans 3:22-24 CEV

Now, don’t choke on your coffee when you read “He treats everyone alike”. God’s grace and mercy is extended to all of us. “God loved the WORLD, so He gave his only Son”.

We don’t have to agree with what everyone says or does. God forbid, because then we would be agreeing with sin and that’s what God has delivered us from.

But, we do need to see through His eyes and love the sinner as He did for us without judging and condemning them. In God’s eyes, sin is sin. No big, no little – just sin that stops us all from having a personal relationship with Him. All sin is forgivable and once forgiven gives us a relationship with the Father.

Let’s have the Father give us an “I” exam and fit us with proper lens so that we see the world through His eyes!

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Not Easily Broken

Those are the words I was given for today. However, the context they were applied to is a new concept for me.

“A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.” Ecclesiastes 4:12 NLT

Most of the time this verse is taught on the message conveyed is one of friendship or marriage. Friend helping friend or husband, wife, and God forming a three-fold cord. I agree with both those teachings.

But this morning my thoughts went to I Corinthians 13.

” Love will never end. But all those gifts will come to an end—even the gift of prophecy, the gift of speaking in different kinds of languages, and the gift of knowledge. 9 These will all end because this knowledge and these prophecies we have are not complete. 10 But when perfection comes, the things that are not complete will end.

11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, and I made plans like a child. When I became a man, I stopped those childish ways. 12 It is the same with us. Now we see God as if we are looking at a reflection in a mirror. But then, in the future, we will see him right before our eyes. Now I know only a part, but at that time I will know fully, as God has known me. 13 So these three things continue: faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love.” I Corinthians 13:8-13 ERV

The spiritual gifts we have been given will come to end one day. Their purpose will be complete. When we stand face to face with the Father there will no longer be any need for them because we will be complete in His presence.

Until then we need to continue to experience and share the gifts He has given us. These gifts aid us as we grow in our walk with Him from childhood to maturity. The more we learn of God the clearer we see Him and His wonderful love for us.

Three things should continually guide us in our walk; faith, hope and love.

In Christ we have hope, hope for a future and hope makes not ashamed. Then our faith gives life to what we hope for; faith gives hope substance. But without love faith doesn’t work.

“Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.” Hebrews 11:1 NLT

“ And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.” Hebrews 11:6 NLT

“Hope never makes us ashamed because the love of God has come into our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who was given to us.” Romans 5:5 NLV

” I say this because our hope of being right with God comes through faith. And the Spirit helps us feel sure as we wait for that hope. 6 When someone belongs to Christ Jesus, it is not important if they are circumcised or not. The important thing is faith—the kind of faith that works through love.” Galatians 5:5-6 ERV

Father, I desire to see your love working in me today as I grow in you and to see your love working through me today so that others may see you more clearly. In Jesus name.

The strength we have for today can be found in the three-fold cord of faith, hope and love. The greatest of these is love!

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Be Brave

Yesterday we saw how we can pray confidently when we are praying God’s word, relying completely on His promises.

That’s where bravery comes from. It’s a confidence in God’s word and His presence. Bravery isn’t the lack of fear. No, not at all. Bravery is trusting God in every situation. It’s what the Apostle Paul taught the Christians in Rome.

“ What can we say about all this? If God is on our side, can anyone be against us? 32 God did not keep back his own Son, but he gave him for us. If God did this, won’t he freely give us everything else? 33 If God says his chosen ones are acceptable to him, can anyone bring charges against them?” Romans 8:31-33 CEV

Many of our fears come from the “what if’s” in life. What if I’m not strong enough, not articulate enough, not accepted by the right people, not wise enough. When we trust in God and His love for us, knowing that He is on our side we can and will dispel each and every fear.

“Trust the Lord! Be brave and strong and trust the Lord.” Psalm 27:14 CEV

What do you face that is unnerving causing you to be anxious and even fearful? Take these Scriptures to heart. The Bible is a powerful weapon against fear.

“God’s word is alive and powerful! It is sharper than any double-edged sword. His word can cut through our spirits and souls and through our joints and marrow, until it discovers the desires and thoughts of our hearts.” Hebrews 4:12 CEV

The Book of Joshua is a lesson in bravery. In fact, I have a book in my library, “Victorious Christian Living” written by Alan Redpath in 1955 that is such an amazing study in courage and trust.

Joshua was tasked with leading the Israelites, all million plus of them, into the Promised Land. They had physical armies to defeat, hostile land to work and weariness of mind to conquer. This is God’s command to Joshua.

“Always remember what is written in that book of law. Speak about that book and study it day and night. Then you can be sure to obey what is written there. If you do this, you will be wise and successful in everything you do. 9 Remember, I commanded you to be strong and brave. Don’t be afraid, because the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:8-9 ERV

The key to bravery and overcoming fear is remembering God’s promises, (He cannot lie), and trusting Him in every situation.

“The officials were amazed to see how brave Peter and John were, and they knew that these two apostles were only ordinary men and not well educated. The officials were certain these men had been with Jesus.” Acts 4:13 CEV

Peter and John were ordinary men, just like you and I, not well educated but they were brave when they faced the ruling officials, arrested and commanded not to speak the name of Jesus. Their faith was in God; faith grew and fear was abolished.

“So whenever we are in need, we should come bravely before the throne of our merciful God. There we will be treated with undeserved grace, and we will find help.” Hebrews 4:16 CEV

We are living in a time where bravery and courage are needed. As we trust the Lord we will be strong, brave and very courageous!

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Too Much Hurry

Did you experience any divine interruptions yesterday? Were you able to experience them with a heart of gratitude?

Often times those interruptions leave us feeling that we now need to work longer and harder. That is not God’s intention at all. He is showing us a better way, a way to trust and rest in Him. He wants us to surrender our load and cares over to Him.

There was a time that I felt there just weren’t enough hours in the day. I honestly prayed, “Lord, I would really like to have a couple extra hours in each day”. His answer was loud and clear, “No, if I gave you more hours you would just fill them with more work, you need to rest and trust Me”.

Even good things can be done with the wrong motive. We think that we have to be “doing” things for God so that He will be pleased with us. And that mindset is more destructive to us than the physical labor that we put in.

“Christ died for us when we were unable to help ourselves. We were living against God, but at just the right time Christ died for us…8 But Christ died for us while we were still sinners, and by this God showed how much he loves us.” Romans 5:6-8 ERV

Before we could do or even had a desire to do anything for God, Christ died for us. His unconditional love made provision for us when we were unable to do anything to save ourselves. And His love is still unconditional toward us once we accept Him as our Saviour.

If we are living a life of “doing” things for God to earn His favor, we don’t understand grace. There is nothing we can do to get God to love us more and there is nothing we can do that would cause God to love us less. His love comes to us by GRACE! Does that mean we just go out and do whatever we want because we know that God will always love us? To coin a phrase from the Apostle Paul, God forbid!

Our lives should reflect the gratitude and love we feel for the great sacrifice that Jesus made on our behalf, but it shouldn’t be done trying to earn it. There is nothing that we can do to earn God’s love.

“But God is rich in mercy, and he loved us very much. 5 We were spiritually dead because of all we had done against him. But he gave us new life together with Christ. (You have been saved by God’s grace.) 6 Yes, it is because we are a part of Christ Jesus that God raised us from death and seated us together with him in the heavenly places. 7 God did this so that his kindness to us who belong to Christ Jesus would clearly show for all time to come the amazing richness of his grace.” Ephesians 2:4-7 ERV

Take a break today…stop hurrying through life, stop working to be good enough for God. Our efforts will never accomplish that. Instead take time to rest and enjoy God’s grace and let love flow from your heart to His!

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Divine Interruption

This morning, I woke up with these words on my heart, “but with God”. I’m not certain but I think God may be setting me up for a divine interruption.

Time for a brief English lesson. The word “but” is a conjunction and is defined liked this: “used to introduce a phrase or clause contrasting with what has already been mentioned: ‘he stumbled but didn’t fall'”.

But is used to join two contrasting ideas. I had my day planned but God…

I wrote in my journal “We seem to have it all planned, but God, Your plan is better. Thank You for interrupting my life”.

The Bible is filled with but God moments. That’s how it all starts.

“The earth was barren, with no form of life; it was under a roaring ocean covered with darkness. But the Spirit of God was moving over the water.” Genesis 1:2 CEV

And we all know what happened after that. A world with no form of life is a stark contrast to the Spirit of God who is the giver of life. From His interruption life thrived and covered the earth.

God had made a promise to Abraham and Sarah that they would have a son. Years passed with no heir so Sarah decided to take matters into her own hands and sent her maid to Abraham and a son was conceived. Man’s plan followed by God’s interruption.

“But God answered: No! You and Sarah will have a son. His name will be Isaac, and I will make an everlasting promise to him and his descendants.” Genesis 17:19 CEV

Young Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers. He was falsely accused of molesting his master’s wife and then sent to prison. It seemed as if that would be the end for Joseph but God interrupted and used Joseph to save the lives of all his family.

“You tried to harm me, but God made it turn out for the best, so that he could save all these people, as he is now doing.” Genesis 50:20 CEV

The brothers had a plan to get rid of Joseph but God had an interruption. Joseph went from slave to second in command in Egypt.

A young Jewish girl had a plan of marrying the man of her dreams. She would have a wonderful life as a carpenter’s wife. It was all planned. We don’t have the words “but God” but this was definitely a divine interruption.

“and you will have a son. His name will be Jesus… 34 Mary asked the angel, “How can this happen? I am not even married!”… 37  Nothing is impossible for God!” Luke 1:31-37 CEV

When God makes the plan, nothing is impossible.

I have one final “but God” moment that involves each of us personally.

“No one is really willing to die for an honest person, though someone might be willing to die for a truly good person. 8 But God showed how much he loved us by having Christ die for us, even though we were sinful. 9 But there is more! Now that God has accepted us because Christ sacrificed his life’s blood, we will also be kept safe from God’s anger.” Romans 5:7-9 CEV

Realizing the love that God has for each of us should be our “but God” moment. He reaches out to us. Our sinful lives are contrasted with His amazing love and forgiveness. When we recognize that God isn’t angry with us, that His plans for us are for our good, an abundant life, we can welcome His interruptions and confidently trust that He will work everything out for our good.

Welcome divine interruptions.

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Balance Sheet

Today marks the 7th anniversary of Kristi’s Morning Devotional. Before that I was making daily postings on Facebook but a friend of mine, Tom Slater, told me I needed a blog and he developed it for me.

It has been a joy to share God’s word with you on this avenue. I am so humbled and blessed that it has touched so many lives.

This is that first posting. Somehow it seems very appropriate for today too. ‘”Yesterday I spent a good portion of the day working on bookkeeping. Evaluating some things and determining if they were financially profitable based on the time expended.

Have you ever put together a profit and loss statement? Listing your assests and liabilities can certainly be worthwhile in determining how you should spend your time and your money.

So let’s get down to the bottom line. What do you owe? That’s the question the Apostle Paul was addressing this morning as I read Romans 13.

‘8 You should owe nothing to anyone, except that you will always owe love to each other. The person who loves others has done all that the law commands. 9 The law says, “You must not commit adultery, you must not murder anyone, you must not steal, you must not want what belongs to someone else.” All these commands and all other commands are really only one rule: “Love your neighbor the same as you love yourself.” 10 Love doesn’t hurt others. So loving is the same as obeying all the law.

11 I say this because you know that we live in an important time. Yes, it is now time for you to wake up from your sleep. Our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is almost finished. The day is almost here. So we should stop doing whatever belongs to darkness. We should prepare ourselves to fight evil with the weapons that belong to the light. 13 We should live in a right way, like people who belong to the day. We should not have wild parties or be drunk. We should not be involved in sexual sin or any kind of immoral behavior. We should not cause arguments and trouble or be jealous. 14 But be like the Lord Jesus Christ, so that when people see what you do, they will see Christ. Don’t think about how to satisfy the desires of your sinful self.” Romans 13:8-14 ERV

Owe no one anything…nothing except love!

The desire to live debt free is admirable and is one worth pursuing. An even greater goal is to live a life of loving people, not with a human selfish love but with the same love that Jesus shows us.

Let’s look at that bottom line again, the P&L Statement.

” For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Mark 8:36 KJV

Let love be your daily ambition and let your only debt be that of love.”

Thank you all for reading each day and thank you for loving those in your world the way Jesus has commanded us too.

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Not A Chunk of Coal

Have you heard the expression “Diamonds are just a chunk of coal under extreme pressure”? Well, the adage has been around for years, but it isn’t true.

Another adage that I take exception to is one used often in Christian circles. “I’m not but an old sinner saved by grace”. Were we sinners? Yes. Were we saved by grace? Yes.

But to continue in that thinking goes against all that God has created us to be. He has called us to be new creatures in Christ. The past is gone; our present and our future are in Him and He has redeemed us, made us new; we are called saints, a chosen people, a royal priesthood.

God’s opinion of us is so much greater than our opinion of ourselves. He saw that we were valuable, priceless and worth the ultimate sacrifice.

He loved us enough to send His Son to die for us so that we could live in Him!

Now that alone should drive out any feelings of low self-esteem or worthlessness!

” Brothers and sisters, God chose you to be his. Think about that! Not many of you were wise in the way the world judges wisdom. Not many of you had great influence, and not many of you came from important families. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. He chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 And God chose what the world thinks is not important—what the world hates and thinks is nothing. He chose these to destroy what the world thinks is important. 29 God did this so that no one can stand before him and boast about anything. 30 It is God who has made you part of Christ Jesus. And Christ has become for us wisdom from God. He is the reason we are right with God and pure enough to be in his presence. Christ is the one who set us free from sin. 31 So, as the Scriptures say, “Whoever boasts should boast only about the Lord.” I Corinthians 1:26-31 ERV

That’s the way He feels about all of us who have received Christ as our Savior.

“Then the Lord All-Powerful said: You people are precious to me, and when I come to bring justice, I will protect you, just as parents protect an obedient child.” Malachi 3:17 CEV

He sees us as a loving father sees his children. We are not unworthy. We are dearly loved and accepted. We are welcome in His presence.

He has called us, redeemed us and made us His own. We’ve been chosen!

“We know that God is always at work for the good of everyone who loves him. They are the ones God has chosen for his purpose, 29 and he has always known who his chosen ones would be. He had decided to let them become like his own Son, so his Son would be the first of many children. 30 God then accepted the people he had already decided to choose, and he has shared his glory with them.

31 What can we say about all this? If God is on our side, can anyone be against us? 32 God did not keep back his own Son, but he gave him for us. If God did this, won’t he freely give us everything else? 33 If God says his chosen ones are acceptable to him, can anyone bring charges against them?” Romans 8:28-33 CEV

Not an old chunk of coal, not an old sinner; we are the redeemed of the Lord!

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