God wants our relationships with Him to be very personal. This daily devotional looks at God personally offering each of us salvation.
I am friends with a lot of my family on Facebook. I like that because I can give one update, and it goes to everyone. Problem is, it isn’t very personal that way.
God has His New Testament church. In the Old Testament, God had the nation of Israel.
God wants us to be part of a community. He also wants our relationships with Him to be very personal.
When a Friend Dies
"Lazarus, come forth" (Jn. 11: 43 KJV)
Remember the story where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead? If you haven’t heard it before or it’s been a while, let me tell you about it.
When Jesus was told his friend Lazarus was sick, He stayed where He was for a couple of days. Then Jesus went to see Lazarus’ sisters, Mary and Martha. Talking to Martha, He said, “… I am the resurrection and the life” (Lk. 11: 25 NIV).
Then Jesus went to the cemetery and raised Lazarus from the dead. But notice, Jesus called him by name. “Lazarus, come forth” (Jn. 11: 43 KJV).
If he hadn’t called him by name, everyone in the cemetery would have come back to life. He had the power to do just that.
But He went specifically, purposefully for Lazarus. He may have wanted to raise everyone else from the dead, but He concentrated on Lazarus.
The Call to Salvation
It is the same way with salvation.
- Salvation is the gift of life through the deliverance from condemnation and sin to acceptance and holiness and changes us from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive.
- Sins are actions by humans that disobey God and break one of His reasonable, holy, and righteous laws and commandments, goes against a purpose He has for us, or follows Satan’s promptings.
- Holiness is the transcendent excellence of His nature that includes elements of purity, dedication, and commitment that lead to being set apart. Purity means possessing God’s moral character, having eliminated the stain of sin.
- Spiritual death is the spiritual separation from God that occurred as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s original sin. The spiritually alive are those who have ABCDed, so they are no longer separated from God.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
Glossary
God could have spoken the word, and everyone would have been saved. Satan would have been conquered, and there would have been no need for hell.
But then there would have been no need for Heaven. We would need no reward because the choice would no longer be ours to accept or reject.
Instead, God comes to each of us – specifically, purposefully.
He doesn’t put an ad in the paper and see who applies. He doesn’t only pick the “best,” the most worthy people for salvation.
We are all marked in His sight.
God gives us free will. Free will is the ability within us to make decisions, which determine actions that produce character. God allows us to choose for or against Him.
God chooses each of us for specific kingdom work, our own jobs in His grand plan.
God loves us enough to get personal with us. There are no blanket statements from Him.
But that’s scary, too, isn’t it? If He gets personal, shouldn’t we get personal? We are programmed these days not to get personal – with our co-workers, friends, even family. Let them live their lives, make their own decisions, don’t ask any probing questions they may not want to answer.
Better yet – don’t ask them any questions. That way they can tell you exactly what they want you to know. We don’t get involved in them, they won’t get involved in us. Most of all, don’t question any decisions they have made, especially if they can construe that we are hypocrites.
Then here comes God saying, I want to be involved. I want to know you, and I want you to know Me.
Do we even know how to get involved anymore? We can. All we have to do is let God lead. He will guide our relationship to a deeper plane if we let Him. Isn’t he the one who started it, anyway?
God wants to have a personal relationship with us. He personally offers each of us salvation. He has a specific, personal plan for each of our lives.
He wants to be involved in each of our lives. All we have to do is say, “I’m coming, God.”
Loving, bountiful Heavenly Father. You call us – not because of anything we do, but because You love us. We are humbled that You think so much of us that You will come to each of us – specifically, purposefully – to ensure we hear of Your love. Help us to grow deeper in our relationship with You. Because of our deepening love for You and our growing more like You, let us share our experiences with our co-workers, friends, even family. Let them know through us that You will come to them individually. But that is also scary for us. We see ourselves so inadequate as a recipient of Your love, especially a contributor to Your kingdom work. Help us to see ourselves as You see us. Help us to specifically, purposefully witness to those around us. Not because of us, but because of You. Amen.
What do you think? What do you value about a personal relationship with God? What is the scariest aspect? Leave me a comment below or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
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