Skip to main content

Saved


Jesus came to save us from sin and death and so much more.  William of Saint Thierry wrote:  For us to serve you is nothing else but to be saved by you.  When I read it, I realized how true this statement is in my life.  My salvation is not fully experienced here on earth unless I am loving and serving God.  When I serve Him, I am being saved from my own inclinations.  Serving God saves me in a deeper way.
This definitely happens on every mission trip I have ever experienced.  The divine economy is always played out.  I come with my affluence and knowledge of Scripture to poor souls who need what I bring.  It is only in bringing what I think I have that I realize that it is nothing compared to what they have to give to me.  And they don’t stop giving.  When I put it in proportion to my capabilities, it is sobering.
God saves me from wasted time when I am caught up in obsessive thoughts that produce anger, worry or selfishness.  He does this by exposing how I am only hurting myself and inviting me to trust in Him and receive a peace that passes understanding about all the subjects that beset me. 
He is my very present help in times of trouble, just as He promises.  But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble (Psalm 59:16.)  I love Him for this, and He saves me from feeling hopeless despair in times of trouble.  I walk through trouble with strength from His love.  I have a refuge in Him through my troubles.
My relationships are saved as I obey His word.  Often the directions He gives about solving relationship problems go against my core desires to be right, to be respected, to be honored.  He asks me to do everything I do in love, especially for my enemies.  I may set boundaries, but I set them in love with Christ as my example. 
If I did not at least half-way attempt to serve God each day, my life would be a total wreck.  Obeying God is my salvation from a meaningless waste of my life. 
God is the giver of life.  He has given me full charge over only one life—that is my life.  I am not responsible for my children’s choices in life, or my husband’s or the lives of those I disciple.  I am not responsible for your life.  I am only responsible for my life and how I obey God.  It is the same for you. 
I not only need to be saved for eternity, I need to be saved for my lifetime.  I am saved from sin during my years on earth by following God.  I hope you know your own salvation in this same way.  I hope that you are able to look to all the ways God saves you each day.  You can begin today.  Look for the ways God saves you from wasting your life.
Copyright © 2017.  Deborah R Newman  teatimeforyoursoul.com  All Rights Reserved.
I prepared a journal for the New Year that is available on Amazon.com
This journal is a tool for your use in recording your spiritual progress during 2017. Included is a "Rule of Life" so to speak, implementing a pattern of discipleship found in Matthew 28:18-20. You are encouraged to make spiritual goals for yourself. Each month contains a calendar, Daily and Monthly Examen, A Psalm worksheet and blank pages.




Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Pilgrimage that Started with Tears

                Who would think I would shed tears deciding to set out on a wonderful journey that I have longed to take for many years?   Before I was ready to fully accept God’s invitation for a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, I had to journey to a place of agreement between what my soul wanted and what the Lord wanted for me.   For years I have been declining opportunities to travel to Israel—not because I didn’t want to go but because I wanted to go with my husband by my side.   I know that God could have arranged that for me, but instead He asked me to accept that He wanted me to be willing to go and leave everything behind.   When I was asked to make a decision about going on a Pilgrimage to Jerusalem, God gave me this verse in answer to my prayer -- Debi, observe therefore all the commands I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and take over the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess (Deuteronomy 11:8).   I decided through tears that I would go on
2 comments
Read more

Day Nine - Journey's End

    I didn't think I could write today, but do to bad weather we now have extra time at the airport. Today we looked over the model city and I can't believe all I have learned. Some of the excavations since the model was completed reveal differences in what they built in the model. What amazed me was that I could see what wasn't where I expected based on what I experienced. Here is a wide view of the Model City which is 1:5 scale.  It was created by a Jewish man who wanted his son to understand what Jerusalem was once like.  Someone said that if you didn't see Jerusalem during the time of Herod the Great, you have never seen a beautiful city.  Do you understand what I mean about how grand this Temple was?            Next we saw the Dead Sea Scrolls.  I learned a lot about the Essenes.  They lived like monks today.  Like Jesus, they were not happy with the way the Temple was being run and they came to the desert to offer truly holy sacrifices, untainted by the mismanage
2 comments
Read more

Not Treating Others as Their Sins Deserve

            Turning the other cheek has become a Christian cliché.   These beautiful and penetrating words of Jesus are minimized when we humans try to apply them without God.   The best we can do to achieve Jesus’ description in our power is repress our anger about the way someone sins against us.   This only serves to make us look stupid to the world, creates ulcers, or causes an unplanned, embarrassing, public explosion of anger.   Jesus spoke these words and many others like them to invoke the spiritual understanding that it is impossible to live out His directions for our lives without Him.   He has no intention of our trying to take His work on in our flesh.             It happens all the time in marriages and other relationships where one person who thinks they need to be a certain way to please God centers his or her relationships around keeping peace.   I don’t believe that kind of turning the other cheek is very pleasing to God.               No, God is inviting us
2 comments
Read more