John 5:24
“It’s urgent that you listen
carefully to this: Anyone here who believes what I am saying right now
and aligns himself with the Father, who has in fact put me in charge,
has at this very moment the real, lasting life and is no longer
condemned to be an outsider. This person has taken a giant step from the
world of the dead to the world of the living."
Scripture
quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002
by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs,
CO. All rights reserved.
Have you ever signed onto a
new website, and you were asked to register, supply a login, and create a
password? Sometimes, you are “in” right away. Other sites respond
with a message that further instructions have been delivered to your
e-mail account, and if you follow the links, you can set up your account
and visit the website.
I know that these are “security
measures.” I understand that this is for our protection. But in a
world where things are often so complicated, isn’t it great to know that
obtaining salvation and forgiveness of our sins – and the guarantee of
Eternal Life in the presence of Jesus – are simple and instantaneous?
Aren’t we glad that when we say, “Lord Jesus, forgive me for my sins and
come into my heart,” the response is not a list of steps we must take
to complete the process? Even better... isn’t it great that this
guarantee is “fully secure?”
What if we gave our hearts to
Jesus and heard, “Okay, now you have to memorize XYZ scriptures, give a
certain amount to this charity or that one, stand on a street corner in
rags and confess your sinfulness, and attend church every time the doors
are open…and THEN you will be assured of a seat at My Heavenly Table.”
How many people would sign on for this?
We want to make our
relationship with Jesus so difficult…and Jesus wants to make it
ever-so-simple. Confess your sins…accept Jesus’ offer of complete
salvation and redemption…and go in peace. Serve Him with a faithful,
glad, and confident heart…because you want to – not because you have
to! It really is that simple to be “in” with God for all Eternity. So
why are we trying to make it so hard?
©2016 Debbie Robus
Showing posts with label simplicity of salvation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label simplicity of salvation. Show all posts
Daily Devotional for September 13, 2013
September 13 ~ Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
Everything you were taught can be put into a few words:
Respect and obey God! This is what life is all about. God will judge everything we do, even what is done in secret, whether good or bad.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
My late cousin Carla Lou came from Ohio for a visit one year near the end of November. As I decorated our house for Christmas, she sat on the couch and read recipes aloud to me from some of my cookbooks. We would discuss whether the dish sounded tasty or not and exactly how we would prepare it. She came to a recipe for peanut butter cookies… and it only had 3 ingredients – 1 egg, 1 cup of peanut butter, and 1 cup of sugar. “That can’t be right!” we agreed… but we both said we were going to try it and see what happened!
That peanut butter cookie recipe has become one of my staples…a family favorite that is quick and easy – and oh, so delicious! No one can believe that there isn’t more to the recipe. How can something so simple be so perfect? Doesn’t it need flour, salt, baking powder… SOMETHING else? The answer is a solid, “NO!”
Do you realize that this is how we often are in our relationship with God? We want to add unnecessary things to the mix… rituals, rules that He never established, ideas and expectations that don’t belong. In short, we want to take something that is sheer perfection and ruin it with added ingredients. What we need to do is to study this scripture passage and take it to heart… “Respect and obey God! This is what life is all about.”
In everything we do, we need ask only one question… “Does this respect and obey God?” Getting ready to judge someone else or say something hateful or unkind? Does this respect and obey God? Want to cheat… anyone or on anything? Will God be respected and obeyed? Feel like doing as you please, regardless of who gets hurt or what responsibilities are shirked? Do your actions represent respect and obedience to God’s will? Choose to take a little time off from serving God to serve yourself? How do you think God will judge this?
In every word and action of our lives… every choice… every breath… if we would only ask this question, the end result might be far more beautiful…more perfect… more pleasing, and even more peaceful. If only we would consider how God will judge what we are about to say or do, we might choose otherwise. Instead, we often choose to add our own interpretation to the mix… to “play with the recipe” – often with horrible results.
Today, let’s stop and ask this simple question… “Will this choice reflect respect and obedience to God?” Let’s let this question guide how we decide… what we choose. We know His “recipe” is perfect… so why do we insist on tinkering with it? If you are swayed to decide in favor of God’s judgment, I’m betting the outcome will be far better. It’s worth a shot… isn’t it?
©2013 Debbie Robus
Everything you were taught can be put into a few words:
Respect and obey God! This is what life is all about. God will judge everything we do, even what is done in secret, whether good or bad.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
My late cousin Carla Lou came from Ohio for a visit one year near the end of November. As I decorated our house for Christmas, she sat on the couch and read recipes aloud to me from some of my cookbooks. We would discuss whether the dish sounded tasty or not and exactly how we would prepare it. She came to a recipe for peanut butter cookies… and it only had 3 ingredients – 1 egg, 1 cup of peanut butter, and 1 cup of sugar. “That can’t be right!” we agreed… but we both said we were going to try it and see what happened!
That peanut butter cookie recipe has become one of my staples…a family favorite that is quick and easy – and oh, so delicious! No one can believe that there isn’t more to the recipe. How can something so simple be so perfect? Doesn’t it need flour, salt, baking powder… SOMETHING else? The answer is a solid, “NO!”
Do you realize that this is how we often are in our relationship with God? We want to add unnecessary things to the mix… rituals, rules that He never established, ideas and expectations that don’t belong. In short, we want to take something that is sheer perfection and ruin it with added ingredients. What we need to do is to study this scripture passage and take it to heart… “Respect and obey God! This is what life is all about.”
In everything we do, we need ask only one question… “Does this respect and obey God?” Getting ready to judge someone else or say something hateful or unkind? Does this respect and obey God? Want to cheat… anyone or on anything? Will God be respected and obeyed? Feel like doing as you please, regardless of who gets hurt or what responsibilities are shirked? Do your actions represent respect and obedience to God’s will? Choose to take a little time off from serving God to serve yourself? How do you think God will judge this?
In every word and action of our lives… every choice… every breath… if we would only ask this question, the end result might be far more beautiful…more perfect… more pleasing, and even more peaceful. If only we would consider how God will judge what we are about to say or do, we might choose otherwise. Instead, we often choose to add our own interpretation to the mix… to “play with the recipe” – often with horrible results.
Today, let’s stop and ask this simple question… “Will this choice reflect respect and obedience to God?” Let’s let this question guide how we decide… what we choose. We know His “recipe” is perfect… so why do we insist on tinkering with it? If you are swayed to decide in favor of God’s judgment, I’m betting the outcome will be far better. It’s worth a shot… isn’t it?
©2013 Debbie Robus
Daily Devotional for June 28, 2013
June 28 ~ Hebrews 12:4-11
None of you have yet been hurt in your battle against sin. But you have forgotten that the Scriptures say to God’s children,
“When the Lord punishes you, don’t make light of it, and when he corrects you, don’t be discouraged. The Lord corrects the people he loves and disciplines those he calls his own.”
Be patient when you are being corrected! This is how God treats his children. Don’t all parents correct their children? God corrects all of his children, and if he doesn’t correct you, then you don’t really belong to him. Our earthly fathers correct us, and we still respect them. Isn’t it even better to be given true life by letting our spiritual Father correct us?
Our human fathers correct us for a short time, and they do it as they think best. But God corrects us for our own good, because he wants us to be holy, as he is. It is never fun to be corrected. In fact, at the time it is always painful. But if we learn to obey by being corrected, we will do right and live at peace.
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
As I tucked Timothy into bed one recent night, he said, “Tell me a story.” So I told him the story of “The Three Little Bears.” Then he said, “Tell me another story. I asked, “What story would you like to hear?” He replied… “Tell me the story of how we have to listen to GOD… and how those people ate the fruit of the tree and got into trouble.” So I gave him my best “four-year-old version” of the story of Adam and Eve and their sin in the Garden of Eden. When I finished, Timothy whispered dramatically… “God was SO disappointed.” I agreed and reminded him that yes, God is disappointed when we don’t listen to Him… that we must obey Him and do what He says.
I also pointed out that God wants us to listen to our parents, our aunts and uncles… and to be nice to our brothers, sisters, and friends. Timothy said, “We don’t want to disappoint God!” I agreed again. Then I asked him, “Did you know you can talk to God? We call it praying… we say our prayers and talk to God – and He talks to us!” We discussed some prayer books I have bought him in the past… Timothy calls them his “God books”… and how our prayers are the time we thank God for everything He has given us – and we ask Him to help us be good listeners. I offered… “Would you like for me to talk to God for you now?” Timothy nodded yes.
So I prayed a simple prayer. I thanked God for Timothy…his sister Zola, who was sleeping in another bed nearby…his brother Nathan…his mom and dad… and all of the people who love him. I thanked God for giving us grass and trees and fruit and everything we have… and I asked Him to help us – especially Timothy – be good listeners. When I finished, Timothy said, “I don’t want to disappoint God!” I told him that God is not disappointed with him… that God loves him. “And as long as you listen to God and do what He says,” I continued, “God will be very happy.” I also told him that sometimes we all fail to listen to God… and when that happens, we should tell God we are sorry.
Timothy asked, “Would you say that talk to God again?” I clarified, “You want me to talk to God again for you?” He replied, “Yes… tell Him I’m sorry when I disappoint Him.” Trying to hold it together, I prayed once again and thanked God for all of His good gifts… and I told Him that Timothy really wants to listen, but sometimes he forgets… and he is sorry.” Then I reminded Timothy how very much God loves him. “God is not disappointed with you,” I assured him as we snuggled. You make Him very happy… and as long as you do your best to listen to Him and are really sorry when you forget, He will not be disappointed. God will ALWAYS love you.
This amazing little four-year-old boy looked up at me, grinned, and said, “Okay… GOOD NIGHT!” And he rolled over and drifted off to sleep. If you knew our “history,” you would know that this is a child who didn’t go to sleep many nights of his first three years without a major battle… and then he was plagued with “night terrors” – almost nightly disruptions in his sleep that left him screaming for sometimes as much as an hour before he could settle back into a restful pattern. To see him drift off to sleep with such peace gives me a relief I cannot verbalize. To know that he went to sleep with peace in his heart about his relationship to God – and such a depth of wisdom and understanding – gives me a joy beyond description.
It seems like the older we get, the more we lose our “child-like wonder and understanding” of God’s love for us and what He requires in return… and we also lose much of our peace. While the “hows and whys” of our relationship and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sins are incredibly complicated…the basic tenets are fairly simple. Listen to God…deeply desire to please Him…accept that there will be times when we fall short… be ready to apologize and ask for forgiveness… and above all, remember that God loves us and calls us His own.
I encourage you to take some time to meditate on these principles…to talk with God and discover where you have overcomplicated and cluttered your relationship with things that truly are not of significance – or benefit. Have you created much of your own inner turmoil and anxiety by making your Christian faith far more difficult and complex than God ever intended? Isn’t it time you came back to the purity and simplicity of a four-year-old who doesn’t want to disappoint God? Will this be the night you sleep in peace and assurance that God loves you and has forgiven you for “not listening?” Isn’t it your turn to have a bedtime talk with God?
©2013 Debbie Robus
None of you have yet been hurt in your battle against sin. But you have forgotten that the Scriptures say to God’s children,
“When the Lord punishes you, don’t make light of it, and when he corrects you, don’t be discouraged. The Lord corrects the people he loves and disciplines those he calls his own.”
Be patient when you are being corrected! This is how God treats his children. Don’t all parents correct their children? God corrects all of his children, and if he doesn’t correct you, then you don’t really belong to him. Our earthly fathers correct us, and we still respect them. Isn’t it even better to be given true life by letting our spiritual Father correct us?
Our human fathers correct us for a short time, and they do it as they think best. But God corrects us for our own good, because he wants us to be holy, as he is. It is never fun to be corrected. In fact, at the time it is always painful. But if we learn to obey by being corrected, we will do right and live at peace.
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
As I tucked Timothy into bed one recent night, he said, “Tell me a story.” So I told him the story of “The Three Little Bears.” Then he said, “Tell me another story. I asked, “What story would you like to hear?” He replied… “Tell me the story of how we have to listen to GOD… and how those people ate the fruit of the tree and got into trouble.” So I gave him my best “four-year-old version” of the story of Adam and Eve and their sin in the Garden of Eden. When I finished, Timothy whispered dramatically… “God was SO disappointed.” I agreed and reminded him that yes, God is disappointed when we don’t listen to Him… that we must obey Him and do what He says.
I also pointed out that God wants us to listen to our parents, our aunts and uncles… and to be nice to our brothers, sisters, and friends. Timothy said, “We don’t want to disappoint God!” I agreed again. Then I asked him, “Did you know you can talk to God? We call it praying… we say our prayers and talk to God – and He talks to us!” We discussed some prayer books I have bought him in the past… Timothy calls them his “God books”… and how our prayers are the time we thank God for everything He has given us – and we ask Him to help us be good listeners. I offered… “Would you like for me to talk to God for you now?” Timothy nodded yes.
So I prayed a simple prayer. I thanked God for Timothy…his sister Zola, who was sleeping in another bed nearby…his brother Nathan…his mom and dad… and all of the people who love him. I thanked God for giving us grass and trees and fruit and everything we have… and I asked Him to help us – especially Timothy – be good listeners. When I finished, Timothy said, “I don’t want to disappoint God!” I told him that God is not disappointed with him… that God loves him. “And as long as you listen to God and do what He says,” I continued, “God will be very happy.” I also told him that sometimes we all fail to listen to God… and when that happens, we should tell God we are sorry.
Timothy asked, “Would you say that talk to God again?” I clarified, “You want me to talk to God again for you?” He replied, “Yes… tell Him I’m sorry when I disappoint Him.” Trying to hold it together, I prayed once again and thanked God for all of His good gifts… and I told Him that Timothy really wants to listen, but sometimes he forgets… and he is sorry.” Then I reminded Timothy how very much God loves him. “God is not disappointed with you,” I assured him as we snuggled. You make Him very happy… and as long as you do your best to listen to Him and are really sorry when you forget, He will not be disappointed. God will ALWAYS love you.
This amazing little four-year-old boy looked up at me, grinned, and said, “Okay… GOOD NIGHT!” And he rolled over and drifted off to sleep. If you knew our “history,” you would know that this is a child who didn’t go to sleep many nights of his first three years without a major battle… and then he was plagued with “night terrors” – almost nightly disruptions in his sleep that left him screaming for sometimes as much as an hour before he could settle back into a restful pattern. To see him drift off to sleep with such peace gives me a relief I cannot verbalize. To know that he went to sleep with peace in his heart about his relationship to God – and such a depth of wisdom and understanding – gives me a joy beyond description.
It seems like the older we get, the more we lose our “child-like wonder and understanding” of God’s love for us and what He requires in return… and we also lose much of our peace. While the “hows and whys” of our relationship and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sins are incredibly complicated…the basic tenets are fairly simple. Listen to God…deeply desire to please Him…accept that there will be times when we fall short… be ready to apologize and ask for forgiveness… and above all, remember that God loves us and calls us His own.
I encourage you to take some time to meditate on these principles…to talk with God and discover where you have overcomplicated and cluttered your relationship with things that truly are not of significance – or benefit. Have you created much of your own inner turmoil and anxiety by making your Christian faith far more difficult and complex than God ever intended? Isn’t it time you came back to the purity and simplicity of a four-year-old who doesn’t want to disappoint God? Will this be the night you sleep in peace and assurance that God loves you and has forgiven you for “not listening?” Isn’t it your turn to have a bedtime talk with God?
©2013 Debbie Robus
Daily Devotional for June 21, 2013
Colossians 1:19-20
God himself was pleased to live fully in his Son. And God was pleased for him to make peace by sacrificing his blood on the cross,
so that all beings in heaven and on earth would be brought back to God.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
I would not have made a good “Old Testament” woman! I cannot imagine living every day with the knowledge that I would have to make this sacrifice or another to atone for my sins…that a priest would talk to God for me and decide how I should live and what I should do to show my loyalty and honor to Him. I can barely remember to take my grocery list to the store, so how on earth would I remember all of the rules about what was unclean – and when…which days to do what…how to clean and dress this animal or that and what we could and could not eat! I have to imagine that for most, life in Old Testament days was anything but peaceful.
We don’t fully comprehend how blessed we are because of Jesus. Few of us really understand how peaceful He made life for us because of His sacrifices on the cross. We take for granted the privilege of talking directly to God… and most of us certainly lack ample appreciation for our salvation and all that it implies. In a nutshell, the incredibly horrific, selfless and complicated sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross gave our lives amazing simplicity, by comparison. Because of Jesus, all who believe in Him and call on His name are saved – forever. Because of Jesus…we can talk to God anytime we want or need, and His Holy Spirit can dwell in our heart to guide us every second of the day. Because of Jesus, we don’t have to worry about sacrificing animals or which meat is clean or unclean… we don’t have to pay attention to rites, rituals and burnt offerings. We don’t need anyone else to tell us how to worship, what to believe, or what the Bible says… we can read God’s word for ourselves and personally discover His teachings.
The beauty of finding God’s peace lies in the simplicity of a relationship with Him. We don’t have to jump through hoops. We don’t need bells and whistles… we just need Jesus. My cousin JD is preaching a tent revival in Fairview, Alabama. He and two other evangelists have held worship every night for three weeks now. A local newspaper interviewed the evangelists about the services and the hundreds of people who are coming every night to hear God’s word and find His peace and healing.
I read the interview online, along with several dozen comments submitted by other readers. Sadly, most were negative. How could these men believe that drug addicts would immediately lose their addiction at the altar? Who in their right mind would think people could really be healed by God in an instant and lay down a cane or a walker and stroll away without pain? Many said this was like many other “business ventures”… when the money (or in this case, the people) dried up and stopped coming in… the evangelists will “close shop.”
Sadly, too many people do not see the simplicity and peace that Jesus can bring. There is nothing fancy about an open-air tent on a hot June night in Alabama. There is no big choir or even a Praise and Worship Team. One man from a local congregation plays a keyboard and leads congregational praise and worship singing. People are coming for a hefty dose of one thing… Jesus… and they are getting all they asked for, and more. But many of us are skeptical. We are like the Old Testament people. We think we surely must jump through some hoops, butcher a goat, or SOMETHING! It surely can’t be as simple as trusting in Jesus… can it?
The time has come to start truly seeking Jesus...and trusting Him to give us peace. We need to un-complicate our lives and stop looking for blaring horns, fireworks and bright lights… and focus on the One who can change things forever. The answer to 99% of our stresses can be found in Jesus. Through His own chaos, turmoil and suffering, He bought and paid for perpetual peace for each of us. So why aren’t we operating in it?
When was the last time you called on Jesus… for anything? Isn’t it time to turn back to Him? God is waiting… what’s keeping you from Him – and from operating in His peace?
©2013 Debbie Robus
God himself was pleased to live fully in his Son. And God was pleased for him to make peace by sacrificing his blood on the cross,
so that all beings in heaven and on earth would be brought back to God.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
I would not have made a good “Old Testament” woman! I cannot imagine living every day with the knowledge that I would have to make this sacrifice or another to atone for my sins…that a priest would talk to God for me and decide how I should live and what I should do to show my loyalty and honor to Him. I can barely remember to take my grocery list to the store, so how on earth would I remember all of the rules about what was unclean – and when…which days to do what…how to clean and dress this animal or that and what we could and could not eat! I have to imagine that for most, life in Old Testament days was anything but peaceful.
We don’t fully comprehend how blessed we are because of Jesus. Few of us really understand how peaceful He made life for us because of His sacrifices on the cross. We take for granted the privilege of talking directly to God… and most of us certainly lack ample appreciation for our salvation and all that it implies. In a nutshell, the incredibly horrific, selfless and complicated sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross gave our lives amazing simplicity, by comparison. Because of Jesus, all who believe in Him and call on His name are saved – forever. Because of Jesus…we can talk to God anytime we want or need, and His Holy Spirit can dwell in our heart to guide us every second of the day. Because of Jesus, we don’t have to worry about sacrificing animals or which meat is clean or unclean… we don’t have to pay attention to rites, rituals and burnt offerings. We don’t need anyone else to tell us how to worship, what to believe, or what the Bible says… we can read God’s word for ourselves and personally discover His teachings.
The beauty of finding God’s peace lies in the simplicity of a relationship with Him. We don’t have to jump through hoops. We don’t need bells and whistles… we just need Jesus. My cousin JD is preaching a tent revival in Fairview, Alabama. He and two other evangelists have held worship every night for three weeks now. A local newspaper interviewed the evangelists about the services and the hundreds of people who are coming every night to hear God’s word and find His peace and healing.
I read the interview online, along with several dozen comments submitted by other readers. Sadly, most were negative. How could these men believe that drug addicts would immediately lose their addiction at the altar? Who in their right mind would think people could really be healed by God in an instant and lay down a cane or a walker and stroll away without pain? Many said this was like many other “business ventures”… when the money (or in this case, the people) dried up and stopped coming in… the evangelists will “close shop.”
Sadly, too many people do not see the simplicity and peace that Jesus can bring. There is nothing fancy about an open-air tent on a hot June night in Alabama. There is no big choir or even a Praise and Worship Team. One man from a local congregation plays a keyboard and leads congregational praise and worship singing. People are coming for a hefty dose of one thing… Jesus… and they are getting all they asked for, and more. But many of us are skeptical. We are like the Old Testament people. We think we surely must jump through some hoops, butcher a goat, or SOMETHING! It surely can’t be as simple as trusting in Jesus… can it?
The time has come to start truly seeking Jesus...and trusting Him to give us peace. We need to un-complicate our lives and stop looking for blaring horns, fireworks and bright lights… and focus on the One who can change things forever. The answer to 99% of our stresses can be found in Jesus. Through His own chaos, turmoil and suffering, He bought and paid for perpetual peace for each of us. So why aren’t we operating in it?
When was the last time you called on Jesus… for anything? Isn’t it time to turn back to Him? God is waiting… what’s keeping you from Him – and from operating in His peace?
©2013 Debbie Robus
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