Salvation Message

It is important that you understand your salvation. It is a gift.  It is a gift from God that cost God His Son, Jesus.  Jesus freely gave His life so that you could have life, victorious life here on earth, and a glorious eternal life.  In a simplistic analogy, when a person is born it is a wonderful day; however, if 5 months or 5 years later that person still looks, thinks, and acts as they did at birth – – – something is not right, there is a problem.  Your spiritual growth is similar.  If a baby does not sleep and eat as needed, if the baby is not diapered and encouraged, the baby will not thrive, and will become weak and sickly. So is it with a person’s spiritual growth and development. Growing is not automatic.  A Christian’s relationship with God is the most important relationship. It is one that must be cared for, fed, and nurtured.

To grow spiritually, after someone accepts Jesus Christ as Savior, all aspects of their life is to be viewed from the standpoint of Jesus as their Lord, as master of their life, for their entire life.  The Bible, God’s word, is a love letter to the Christian.  It is the instruction book of all instruction books.  Our thoughts, choice of entertainment, actions taken, words spoken, etc., are to be brought under submission to our Savior.   This submission is out of love, it is not because we owe it to Him or because “he’ll get us” if we don’t obey, it is simply, because we love Him.  We are to love the Lord with our all, with our entire being – – our heart, our mind, our body, and our strength.  This is a daily, lifelong challenge.  It is wonderful that the Lord’s mercies are new every morning [Lamentations 3:22-23], because as Paul says in Romans 7:19-25, there is a struggle, even as Christians, with making right choices 100% of the time.  However, as we yield ourselves to His will, we grow in our trust of Him which is then manifested through our obedience to Him, to His Word.  John 14:15 (NASB) – If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

If you lived in a home with someone but never sat down to spend time talking with them, what kind of relationship is that? Not good!  The same is true with our heavenly Father.  After salvation, it is necessary to learn about prayer – how to have a dialogue with your heavenly Father, and to grow your prayer life. Remember, you start to resemble those with whom you spend the most time. Therefore, when you spend time in prayer, talking, listening, and repenting, and studying His word, God cleanses and renews your mind, and you become more Christlike. Decide today to make prayer and Bible study a priority in your life, and you will grow!   John 16:24 (NASB) – Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.

Suffering and trials come to the Christian as well as the non-believer.  However, the Christian grows in the likeness of Christ through trials, as their understanding of the ministry of suffering expands.  A maturing Christian increases in their ability to recognize benefits of the trial for their good and for the glory of God. Have you ever heard about the Biosphere 2 project? Basically, it was a perfect environment made for plants to accelerate their growth. The temperature was perfect, the moisture provided was perfect, the sunlight given was perfect. The plants thrived, at first, and then they began to die…. The reason was, there was no wind. Yes, it was the wind. The wind would stress the plant just enough to grow its roots deeper, its trunks stronger, and the “trial” would help to strengthen the plants and help them thrive. Trials are necessary for us as well. Jesus says to count it all joy for the trials bring about perseverance and perseverance brings about the perfect result – that we may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. When trials come, embrace them knowing that great growth is on its way, when you depend on the Lord to get you through each and every one.

James 1:2-4 (NASB) – Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.  And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

The evil one does not want you to be confident in your relationship with the Lord. Know that the Lord wants you to be sure; He is not desiring that you “hope” about the future, or “think so” about your eternal destiny, but that you have confidence of it! Gain an assurance of your salvation. Read and memorize, 1 John 5:13 asking God to strengthen your belief in this truth.  These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. NASB

Today’s Challenge:
Inspect what you believe. How is your trust in the Lord? Your life is evidence of what you actually believe. Of course, you don’t have to live life alone; the Holy Spirit is right there to help you, to encourage you, to comfort you, to guide you, and to grow and strengthen you from where you are to where God has called you to be.

Today’s Prayer:
Father God, thank You for salvation. Thank You for the promise of eternity with You. Help me to love You with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength so that others may see You in me, for Your glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

We encourage you to seek a deeper relationship with the Lord by spending time with Him in prayer and in His word.  We are praying for you!

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Digging deeper blogs augment lessons from My Leadership Compass: A Christ-Centered High School Curriculum. © 2021