Word for Today, Fri, 16 Jul 2005: God's Promise: A Certain Hope
Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>
Dear friends,
Thank you once again for being a part of this ministry, a place
where we can stretch ourselves beyond what is comfortable to a
place where we will ultimately find real lasting peace - and
ultimately, comfort as well.
For some time now, we have been looking at the promises of God.
Today, let's look at another promise, the promise of the certain
hope that we have in Christ.
I pray that you not only have that certain hope, but if you are
not certain that there is a home reserved for you in heaven, that
you consider these facts:
God is real, God is powerful, God is great, and God is good. God
wants the very best for His people. Though He desires us to be
good, He knows what we are made of and He knows that every one of
us makes mistakes, sometimes very big mistakes. When we ignore
the instruction of God and go our own way, whether it is
deliberate and calculated or whether it is simply an act of
ignorance, that is called sin.
The fact is this: sin is harmful. We sin because we do what
feels good and right to us at the time. God knows this, and
because He loves us, He leads us, just as a Good Shepherd leads
his sheep. In fact, Good Shepherd is one of the figurative names
given to Jesus Christ.
We need to be forgiven, and we cannot earn that forgiveness on
our own. There is nothing whatsoever that we can do to wash away
our unfaithfulness. Then what in the world are we to do? Is
there any hope at all? Of course there is, there is a certain
hope. That hope is the promise of God Himself. HE said,
"Believe in me, and I will never leave you or forsake you".
How can God be righteous and overlook sin? God did not overlook
sin, the price of sin is steep, that price is death. Who paid
that price? Jesus Christ, the Righteous One! Because of them,
the Bible tells us, "There is now no condemnation for those who
are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1).
With that backdrop, let's now read a message from Our Daily
Bread.
Be sure to read your Bibles each day and pray as you read!
Yours in Christ,
Brian
___________________________
July 14, 2005
>From Sunset To Sunrise
Read: Hebrews 9:24-28
As it is appointed for men to die once, ... so Christ was offered
once to bear the sins of many. --Hebrews 9:27-28
Bible In One Year: Isaiah 22-24
Kariel was riding home from a children's program at church with
her neighbor friends. Admiring the sunset, she said to Gini, the
driver, "That sunset is so beautiful it looks like heaven!" So
Gini asked her, "Do you know how to get to heaven?" Kariel, who
was only 5, answered confidently, "You have to have Jesus as your
Savior -- and I do!" Then she began to ask her friends in the van
if they knew Jesus too.
That same evening, Kariel's 13-year-old sister Chantel was at
another church, where someone asked her if she knew Jesus as her
Savior. She told the person she did.
Early the next morning, fire swept through Kariel and Chantel's
home, and tragically, they both died. They were in heaven with
Jesus at sunrise.
No one has the promise of tomorrow. The crucial question is: Have
we admitted our need for God's forgiveness of our sin and trusted
Jesus as our Savior? (Romans 3:23; John 1:12). Our sin separates
us from God and requires judgment, but Jesus gave His life in our
place (Hebrews 9:27-28).
Make sure you have the same confidence that Chantel and Kariel
had. Then, when your time comes to die, you'll be in heaven with
Jesus at the next sunrise. --Anne Cetas
When I shall come to the end of my way, When I shall rest at the
close of life's day, When "Welcome home" I shall hear Jesus say,
O that will be sunrise for me! --Poole © Renewal 1952, The
Rodeheaver Co.
Sunset in one land is sunrise in another.
http://www.rbc.org/odb/odb-07-14-05.shtml
--
Brian Masinick, mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: http://www.geocities.com/masinick/
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