Called...Loved....Kept

Called...Loved....Kept

Isn’t that a perfect three word description for us as followers of Christ? That is how Jude addresses the readers to his short epistle. Jude, the brother of Jesus and James (even though he refers to himself as the servant of Jesus Christ), wrote this short letter urging his fellow believers to “contend for the faith” because of the coming opposition and false teachers. But I have been meditating on those three words, “To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ...” all day and what a blessing they have been.

Called—Ephesians 1:4 tells us “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” Ephesians 1:11 goes on to say, “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.” He called us, he chose us. It was all God from the start. I have no merit on my own that made Him choose me, it was a decision God made before the creation of the world. I like that, because since I didn’t have anything to do with being called, I don’t have to worry about doing anything to be “uncalled.”

Loved—Again back to Ephesians, “In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will” (1:5) and “because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved.” (2:4-5) He loved us so much, He gave His one and only son for us. (John 3:16) Feeling unloved? Look at the cross, what a picture of love.

Kept—Think about this long and hard, He called you, He loved you, and He keeps you. It’s all Him! Ephesians 1:13-14 says “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory.” If you are a follower of Christ, you have a mark, a guarantee, the Holy Spirit of God. It’s a guarantee that you’re the real deal and once you’ve got that guarantee, the guarantee is never voided. Praise God for that!

Called—Loved—Kept—now that’s something we all need to let marinate our minds and hearts.

A Tribute to My Mom

A Tribute to My Mom




Today is my mom’s birthday. She would be 73 years old today. She went home to be with her Lord the day after Easter, April 24, 2000. Shortly after my mom passed away, I began reflecting on how thankful I was for her and her influence on me. I came up with several things I was especially thankful and grateful for.

1. She was always there for us. I cannot remember a single day that she was not home when I got home from school. I looked forward to telling her all the details of my day and I believed she was genuinely interested. She also made it a priority to attend our games, marching band performances, and concerts. If we were there, she was there.
   
   
2. "But for the Grace of God, it could be me.” This was something I heard her say many times. She knew what she was capable of; what we are all capable of. Our successes are a result of His blessing and grace, without Him, who knows where we would be. That attitude kept her from being judgmental when others stumbled and fell. I’ve remembered it often, knowing that without Him in my life, there’s no knowing where I would be.
   
   
3. Love for music. She instilled in me a great love for music, especially the traditional hymns of the church. Since she served as the church organist for most of my life, she spent many hours practicing in our home. She would sit at the organ or piano and play and sing one song after another for hours at a time. Most of the hymns we used to sing, I know by memory because of her.
   
   
4. “You can never out-give the Lord.” This was another one of her favorite sayings. But it was more than just a saying, she truly believed it and as a result, lived it. She gave of herself to her Lord with her time, talent, and money. This is why she could say in her final hours, “Don’t grieve for me. This is what I have been waiting for. I am ready to meet my Lord.”
   
   
5. Love for God’s Word. This is the most important thing I learned from my mom. When I think of the saying “Children learn more by what is caught, than taught” I think of my mom. She never told us what we ‘should’ do, she just did it. The first thing she did in the morning and the last thing she did at night was to read God’s Word. When it would come up in conversation, she would tell me that the consistent study of God’s Word had made all the difference in her life. When I cleaned out her home after her death, I found several notebooks of whole books of the New Testament she had memorized. I also found journals of her thoughts and notes she recorded as she studied. There were numerous Bible Study Books of studies she had led and participated in. She genuinely loved God’s Word. It ‘s interesting that I carry one of her Bibles, and every once in a while I come across one of her notes, it’s as if she’s still speaking to me.

Thank you, Lord, for a mom that had such a godly influence on my life. My prayer is that I will have that same godly influence on the lives of my children and all those I come in contact with.

Need a Little HOPE Today?

Need a little HOPE today?

Hook yourself up to the IV of God’s Word. Let His Word infuse through your veins and give you the hope you need for today and all of your tomorrows. Romans 15:4: “For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” His Word is our life line to Him. He speaks to us through His Word and today, He’s offering hope. Hope that is more than just a wish, but hope that can be based on confident expectation that He is a faithful God who will do all that He says He will do. Let the truths of His Word flow through you so they become more than just words on a page, but your very life and breath.

Remember there was a time when you were separate from Christ...without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. (Ephesians 2:12-12) How good is that? There was a time when we were totally, helplessly lost, deader than dead, but He chose us and redeemed us and now through the cross, we have been made heirs of God, His very children. That is hope, hope for today and tomorrow. Trust in Him and in his Word, there you will find hope.

Romans 15:13: Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Hebrews 10:32: Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful;

I Peter 1:3: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

I Peter 3:15: but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;

Psalm 130:5: I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, And in His word do I hope

Lamentations 3:21-25: Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him;

Reflections on our Responsibility

Reflections on our Responsibility


I went to bed Tuesday before I knew the official outcome of the election, but in my heart, I knew that Senator McCain had been unsuccessful in his attempt to become president. As soon as I awoke on Wednesday, I heard the official news that Mr. Obama had won and my immediate reaction was “Lord, this is your plan, and now we know it.” The thoughts that flooded my mind were from an old hymn based on Lamentations 3:21-26, I’m sure it has comforted you in similar situations.

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee.
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

Refrain:
Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy Faithfulness, Lord unto me.

Summer and winter and spring-time and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Refrain

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide,
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Refrain

Yes, Our God is a faithful God and when we face times of uncertainty, His faithfulness is a constant that we can put our hope and trust in. As I went through the day I realized that I really wasn’t depressed like I thought I would be and I was reminded of the story of King David in 2 Samuel 12. The chapter begins with Nathan’s rebuke of David over his sin with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah. David admits to his sin but Nathan tells him that his son is going to die.

2 Samuel 12:15-23: After Nathan had gone home, the Lord struck the child that Uriah's wife had borne to David, and he became ill. David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and went into his house and spent the nights lying on the ground. The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, and he would not eat any food with them. On the seventh day the child died. David's servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they thought, "While the child was still living, we spoke to David but he would not listen to us. How can we tell him the child is dead? He may do something desperate." David noticed that his servants were whispering among themselves and he realized the child was dead. "Is the child dead?" he asked. "Yes," they replied, "he is dead." Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate. His servants asked him, "Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!" He answered, "While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, 'Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.' But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me."

David fasted and prayed until God took his son, hoping that God would show mercy and not take his son. Once his son died, he accepted God’s plan and continued on accepting it as God’s will for his life.


While the election process was going on, it was our responsibility to be informed and support the candidate that we felt most closely aligned themselves to the morals and values we embrace as believers—life, marriage, important family issues, our freedom of worship, etc. Up until the results were in, we did not know God’s plan for this nation and many of us even prayed that God would show mercy and postpone His judgment. Once the results came in, we knew His plan and that changes the way we approach it. Now we know, beyond any shadow of doubt, that President elect Obama is part of God’s plan for us now. Now we can pray for Mr. Obama, yes, I think we should pray for change—the ultimate change to occur in his heart. We should also pray that he makes wise choices as he chooses his cabinet and other critical members of his leadership team. We can pray for wisdom and discernment as he meets with the various world leaders—friend and foe. But we can also rest knowing that our hope is not in a man, but in a faithful, merciful, compassionate God and even though judgment may be coming, we know He wins—truth triumphs and justice will reign.

A Call to Repentance

A Call to Repentance

We as a nation may be facing God’s much deserved judgment. Yes, MUCH deserved....We started by kicking Him out of our schools when we abolished school prayer. We then taught our children that we were the products of evolution, the survival of the fittest, rather than a creation made in the Imago Dei. That led to a further devaluation of life with Roe vs Wade. We have lost our true identities and have nearly come to the point of total disregard for life. We have become a land of bloodshed and we call good, evil and evil, good. Yes, we deserve His judgment.

How can a good God judge? He has to, by the very virtue that He is good. His perfect character of justice demands that evil be judged. How can a good God take an easy or casual view of sin? He absolutely can not. It would make Him evil, not good; it would be a violation of His very character. So yes, we as a nation deserve the judgment of a good and just God.

But He’s also a God of mercy, compassion and love. He desires that His people repent, change from their wicked ways, and return to Him. These were the very characteristics of God that Jonah didn’t want God to extend to the Ninevites. It’s a short book to read and I would recommend reading it, because here we see just how much God is willing to forgive and even postpone His just judgments when there is true repentance. I want to draw your attention to chapter 3 of Jonah:

Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: "Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you." Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very important city--a visit required three days. On the first day, Jonah started into the city. He proclaimed: "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned." The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh: "By the decree of the king and his nobles: But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish." When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.

There’s still time for us to repent, and not just as a nation. We who claim to be followers of Christ must lead the way in our repentance. We must give up the secret sins in our lives and plead for forgiveness. We must repent, change our ways, change direction and begin to live lives that are marked by strict obedience, love driven obedience not a pharisaical, law based obedience, to God and His Word. Then and only then will the possibility exist that God may relent and postpone the judgment we deserve.