1 Corinthians 1:2-9
To: The Christians in Corinth, invited by God to be his people and made acceptable to him by Christ Jesus. And to: All Christians everywhere—whoever calls upon the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and theirs.
May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you all of his blessings, and great peace of heart and mind.
I can never stop thanking God for all the wonderful gifts he has given you, now that you are Christ’s: he has enriched your whole life. He has helped you speak out for him and has given you a full understanding of the truth; what I told you Christ could do for you has happened! Now you have every grace and blessing; every spiritual gift and power for doing his will are yours during this time of waiting for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. And he guarantees right up to the end that you will be counted free from all sin and guilt on that day when he returns. God will surely do this for you, for he always does just what he says, and he is the one who invited you into this wonderful friendship with his Son, even Christ our Lord.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
For months, our 4-year-old nephew, Nathan, has been talking about a toy he wanted for Christmas…a Batbot. This remote-controlled toy transforms from a robot into an “armored” tank. Nathan never wavered. This was what he wanted…and he was certain that it was waiting for him under the Christmas tree. Every box that even remotely looked like it could be the right size, he would say, “That’s probably a Batbot!” Christmas Eve, as his mother helped him open a box of assorted colors of Play-doh®, he asked her, “Is that my Batbot?”
Nathan DID get the Batbot on Christmas morning…and I am sure he has spent countless happy hours playing with it since then. Now, can you imagine if his parents told him that he had to give it back to them? I cannot even think about what would happen if they told him that he had to take his prized toy back to the store. He would be devastated…and his entire vision of Christmas and the hope and excitement that surround this season would probably be destroyed. Thankfully, I don’t know anyone who rescinds their child’s Christmas gifts…or any other gifts for that matter.
I cannot imagine living with the idea that Jesus could revoke my salvation at any moment…that my “friendship” with Him teetered so precariously and could vanish in a heartbeat. One of the great joys of Christian faith is living with the childlike hope and confidence that Jesus truly will deliver the grace, blessings, gifts and power that He promised…and we get to keep them forever!
While I don’t have to consciously think about this night and day, I also cannot grow complacent or take Jesus’ gifts for granted. If you stop and think about it, we tell our children that they have to…“be good, or Santa won’t come and bring you what you asked for.” Jesus does NOT operate like Santa Claus...efforts on our part to “be good” do not have a direct correlation to His gift of Salvation and Eternal Life.
But we should want to do everything we can to honor Jesus’ gifts and blessings - precisely because we cannot earn them. We are offered Salvation and all of the benefits of a life in Christ – forever and ever – in spite of our ugly, egotistical, sinful selves. Jesus knows that we are undeserving…but He loves us and generously lavishes these gifts upon us anyway. There is no “naughty or nice list”…at least not in the way we envision with Santa Claus. And aren’t we glad?!
I thank God every day for Jesus…for the grace, blessings, gifts, and power that are mine because HE is my Redeemer. I thank God that many people I know and love share in these same blessings and gifts…though NONE of us deserves them or can ever “earn” them. Because I know that Salvation and the abundance of a life in Christ are available to any and all who will accept His invitation, I am doing all I can to lead as many people into this relationship as I possibly can…and I hope you are with me!
If you have not accepted Jesus’ invitation, please do so today. If you are living in His abundance and blessings already, what are you doing to show your gratitude and respect – and give others a reason to accept this invitation for themselves? Will this be the day that you begin to answer this question?
©2016 Debbie Robus
To: The Christians in Corinth, invited by God to be his people and made acceptable to him by Christ Jesus. And to: All Christians everywhere—whoever calls upon the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and theirs.
May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you all of his blessings, and great peace of heart and mind.
I can never stop thanking God for all the wonderful gifts he has given you, now that you are Christ’s: he has enriched your whole life. He has helped you speak out for him and has given you a full understanding of the truth; what I told you Christ could do for you has happened! Now you have every grace and blessing; every spiritual gift and power for doing his will are yours during this time of waiting for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. And he guarantees right up to the end that you will be counted free from all sin and guilt on that day when he returns. God will surely do this for you, for he always does just what he says, and he is the one who invited you into this wonderful friendship with his Son, even Christ our Lord.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
For months, our 4-year-old nephew, Nathan, has been talking about a toy he wanted for Christmas…a Batbot. This remote-controlled toy transforms from a robot into an “armored” tank. Nathan never wavered. This was what he wanted…and he was certain that it was waiting for him under the Christmas tree. Every box that even remotely looked like it could be the right size, he would say, “That’s probably a Batbot!” Christmas Eve, as his mother helped him open a box of assorted colors of Play-doh®, he asked her, “Is that my Batbot?”
Nathan DID get the Batbot on Christmas morning…and I am sure he has spent countless happy hours playing with it since then. Now, can you imagine if his parents told him that he had to give it back to them? I cannot even think about what would happen if they told him that he had to take his prized toy back to the store. He would be devastated…and his entire vision of Christmas and the hope and excitement that surround this season would probably be destroyed. Thankfully, I don’t know anyone who rescinds their child’s Christmas gifts…or any other gifts for that matter.
I cannot imagine living with the idea that Jesus could revoke my salvation at any moment…that my “friendship” with Him teetered so precariously and could vanish in a heartbeat. One of the great joys of Christian faith is living with the childlike hope and confidence that Jesus truly will deliver the grace, blessings, gifts and power that He promised…and we get to keep them forever!
While I don’t have to consciously think about this night and day, I also cannot grow complacent or take Jesus’ gifts for granted. If you stop and think about it, we tell our children that they have to…“be good, or Santa won’t come and bring you what you asked for.” Jesus does NOT operate like Santa Claus...efforts on our part to “be good” do not have a direct correlation to His gift of Salvation and Eternal Life.
But we should want to do everything we can to honor Jesus’ gifts and blessings - precisely because we cannot earn them. We are offered Salvation and all of the benefits of a life in Christ – forever and ever – in spite of our ugly, egotistical, sinful selves. Jesus knows that we are undeserving…but He loves us and generously lavishes these gifts upon us anyway. There is no “naughty or nice list”…at least not in the way we envision with Santa Claus. And aren’t we glad?!
I thank God every day for Jesus…for the grace, blessings, gifts, and power that are mine because HE is my Redeemer. I thank God that many people I know and love share in these same blessings and gifts…though NONE of us deserves them or can ever “earn” them. Because I know that Salvation and the abundance of a life in Christ are available to any and all who will accept His invitation, I am doing all I can to lead as many people into this relationship as I possibly can…and I hope you are with me!
If you have not accepted Jesus’ invitation, please do so today. If you are living in His abundance and blessings already, what are you doing to show your gratitude and respect – and give others a reason to accept this invitation for themselves? Will this be the day that you begin to answer this question?
©2016 Debbie Robus
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