Only A Moment

It only took a moment.

I stepped out on my porch this morning to feel the sunshine.
It only took a moment.
I heard the birds chirping.
I felt the warm sun on my face.
The sky was gleaming; the trees were budding.
It only took a moment to see that it was a glorious day out my front door.

That one moment made me think of other moments. We have many moments in life and we get a chance to decide how we spend them and what we will make of them. Have moments passed you by? Have you made a big mess in a moment? Have you triumphed in a moment? How many times have we said, wait...just a moment.

Moments. They come. They go.
There is so much that a moment can represent.
Our whole life can be changed in a moment.
It only takes a moment to say "I do" and you are married.
It only takes a moment to say "I'm sorry" and healing can begin.
It only takes a moment to smile. To laugh. To encourage someone.
It only takes a moment to knock someone down. To hurt. To rip apart.

Moments. What will you do with your moments today?
Walking outside a moment was a good choice today.
Yelling at my children was a bad moment.

One more moment of your time? If you knew that in just a moment you would breathe your last breath, where would your next moment be spent? In Heaven?
It takes only a moment to say, "Jesus, I accept your love, believing you are the son of God and trusting you to be my Savior." He will be yours in that moment!
Accepting the love of Christ is worth every moment!
If you have not accepting the love of Christ, please, take a moment!
Jodie

"It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed." 1 Corinthians 15:52

Jesus. In. My. Place.

Have you ever worked for a temp agency? You know where you go in and do the job of someone that is “missing”, even if only for a short time. I did and it resulted in the only (knock on something) migraine that I have ever had. I got to thinking about taking the place of another and then I began to think about who I would be willing to “fill in” for. Which led to me thinking about what other “requirements” I would have before I agreed to “take his/her place”. And then it hit me, if I have that many requirements for filling in for someone, then do others? Did Jesus?

During Old Testament times, the high priest would offer a yearly sacrifice on
Yom Kippur. They would enter the Holy of Holies(the place in the Jewish temple where God's presence would be, behind the veil) and sprinkle the blood of a clean animal sacrifice upon the ark of the covenant in order to propitiate or satisfy (literally...absorb the wrath) the anger of God against the sins of the people. But in order to enter into God's presence the high priest had an intense process to complete so that he would not be struck down(it involved some seclusion, a bunch of showers, and frequent clothing changes). The high priest would be the fill in for all the people so that they could be forgiven of their sins. Let's look at

“Now Joshua, the high priest, was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him He said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.” Zechariah 3: 3-4

In Scripture, a person's garments often speak of a person's character or condition. Soiled and filthy garments speak of sin, white garments speak of being cleansed and made sinless. Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, but these were removed and replaced with festal robes. Festal robes were the priests' equivalent of their "Sunday best.” Notice that God had done the work of cleansing, not Joshua. Before God, he was filthy in sin. It was the Lord who removed his iniquity and made him clean. Jesus does that for us. Jesus. In. My. Place.

What's mine is yours and what's yours is mine. This is a common saying among married couples – well at least in my marriage it is. When I said “I do”, I took all of Justin to be mine and he took all of me to be his. He worked at first and I was in school, but that did not mean that he kept all the money and I couldn't eat. And then we switched places, he was in school and I worked...either way it did not make a difference. When we accept Jesus, all that is ours becomes His and all that is His becomes ours...man I think He got the short end of that stick...but the best news is that He thinks the same thing! You see Jesus is all we need. He did not hesitate to take our place. He took it...no questions asked. He is our High Priest. He was the sacrifice laid before God to take care of our sin. We need nothing else. Jesus. In. My. Place. J.D Greear says:

“Jesus + Nothing = Assurance”

Romans 4:5 says this....“But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.”

You see, it says that the person who realizes that there is nothing they could ever DO to earn eternal life and BELIEVES that God did the work necessary to save him/her, will be righteous. Jesus. In. YOUR. Place. Aren't you glad that Jesus did the work for you? I am!

~ Donna

Are You Sure?

I feel certain that we have all asked or been asked this question at some point in our lives. I can think of a few times. Like during the ultrasound when you are pregnant - It's a girl! Are you sure? Or when eating some new food with Justin – is it hot? No, not really...Are you sure? Or “sitting” behind a boat on skies. Ready? Yep! Are you sure?

 

I would also venture to say that in life we have had times when we are SURE that one thing was going to happen, but then something else happens which shakes our assurance and makes us doubt. But the question we pose this week is does God really want us to have assurance of our salvation? And if He does, then what proof does He give us in His word? You see, when we ask the question “Are you sure?” we have some uncertainty about whatever it may be and possibly even some fear. But God changes us and molds us; not by fear, but through love - secure love. J.D Greer says in his book Stop Asking Jesus into Your Heart that “your spiritual life will not really ever take off until you have the assurance of salvation. Until you KNOW that you are His and He is yours, your obedience will be limited.” We need to KNOW of the God whom we are leaving this world for. We need to KNOW of the resurrection in order to take up our cross. Oh and I love this - “It is the JOY of KNOWING beyond doubt that you belong to God that makes all of these things possible.” JOY!!!!!!

So how do we know? We must be convinced that the something we are risking it all for actually exists. If we are going to jump off a cliff with only a rope to hold us we have to make sure that the rope exists.

“Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.” 1 Corinthians 8:6

“For His invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” Romans 1:20

You cannot be assured of your salvation until you are confident that “Jesus will support the full weight of your soul”. You cannot say “no” to sin until you realize that God has said “yes” through Jesus. You cannot suffer persecution in this world until you are certain where you stand with God. Make this verse yours as a believer in Christ:

“For I KNOW whom I have believed that is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day” 2 Timothy 1:12

You must believe and know that God made a radical commitment to you. You must do good works for God, not so that God will approve of you, but because you “deeply and truly love the One that is commanding you.”

“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may KNOW that you have eternal life.   This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.   And if we KNOW that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of Him.” 1 John 5:13-18

So, how can we apply assurance to unity? Religion commands us to change our behavior, but it cannot change our hearts. Only the gospel, the one TRUE gospel (There is one body and one Spirit just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism,  one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. Ephesians 4:4-6 - remember?) and the assurance it yields goes deep enough to actually change the warped nature of our hearts. We are only transformed into glory when we are overwhelmed at the glory of Christ's sacrifice for us. Do you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior today? Are you confident that He completed the work on the cross? Do you daily try to live for Him? Then KNOW that you are saved! Are you sure? Absolutely! Donna

References: the Bible and Stop Asking Jesus into Your Heart by J.D. Greer