ROMANS 8:30-31 – And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? .
THEME OF THE DAY: REMEMBER OUR IDENTITY. Today’s scripture. You know this truth. I know this truth. We know this truth. God is for us! And when life is easy and our walks with the Lord steady, we shout this truth with praise and thanksgiving. But what about when we sin and hear the voices of condemnation raining down upon us from the accuser of our souls, the devil, and guilty conscience? Not so easy, is it? In fact, it is war; spiritual warfare, and one of the most significant areas of warfare we encounter. We still sin. We still fall short. When confronted with our many falls to the temptations from the devil, the world, and our flesh, we might feel the sickening feeling that God isn’t for us. We mistakenly think God treats us according to our conduct, not our unchanging position as His forever child in His forever family. And this is the key lesson not only for today, but for all the Christian life – remember our identity in Christ always before we evaluate our conduct for Christ. It is our being that leads to doing. Keep the order right, and we will grow in Christ and walk in the joy from Christ. Get the order wrong or forget who we are, and we will find ourselves evaluating our growth in Christ and enjoyment of Christ based on how well we are “doing” the Christian life. Get into that miserable place, and that is exactly what will become of our Christian life – miserable, no joy, peace, or rest of heart, mind and soul.
So, it is all about identity, our position in Christ before God. Stay our minds on this truth if we want to know the abundant life Jesus came to give (John 10:10). And a great place to put some “mental muscle” into practice and renew our minds with this truth is in the third chapter of the Apostle John’s first letter. He wrote, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure” (1 John 3:1-3). Notice “when” John declares we are God’s children – now. And not based on how good of a child of God we are or how bad we might be. We are God’s children now based exclusively on sovereign electing love! We don’t earn our adoption, nor may we forfeit our adoption. We are in His forever family now and forever.
As we go through our days and we find ourselves stumbling in our walks with the Lord, remember our identity – children of the living God, and there will never be a time He “kicks out” a child of His family for misconduct!
PRAYER: “Father, I praise You for reconciling me to You and that for today, tomorrow, and forever.”
QUOTE: “God is for us, not based on any merit of ourselves but through the work of His Son the Lord Jesus.”
Because of Him,
Pastor Jim