To Jesus Belongs All

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.   Ephesians 1:7 NASB

As I look back on my life before I was a Christian, I realize that the weeds of the world were choking out the saving grace of Jesus Christ.  I loved the things of the world. God's word was unknown to me and any chance of listening to people share the Gospel had fallen onto deaf ears. But the seeds planted by Holy Spirit in the ground of my heart began to grow and eventually the worries and concerns of this world were outweighed by the importance of God and His kingdom. God didn't leave me in the dark; He rescued me. 

Jesus Christ offers His strong outstretched hand to all who seek His rescue. 

When I chose to reach for Jesus’ hand He completely replaced my heart with a new one.  Since that day my heart has responded so differently to His word.  The first year into my new life in Christ I was blessed with insight from Holy Spirit. I was rescued to be part of God’s rescue plan.  It's clear and simple. I, a sinner, was failing and falling. God caught me, He rescued me from the storms to rescue others. To share, teach and speak His word to any and all who stand still long enough to hear.   

Brothers and sisters, we are saved to be vessels for God, His light carrying sons and daughters. He does not turn us into spiritual agents but into spiritual messengers, and the message must be a part of us.  As His disciples, our lives must be a holy example of the reality of His message. Even the natural heart of the unsaved will serve if called upon to do so, but it takes a heart broken by conviction of sin, baptized by Holy Spirit, and crushed into joyful surrender to God’s purpose to make a person’s life a holy example of God’s message.

Revelation 3:20 NASB Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.

Let’s seek and allow God to have complete liberty in our lives  when we speak. Before God’s message can liberate other people, His liberation must first be real in each of us. We don’t deserve salvation, healing, redemption, blessings, and all the other wonderful gifts that come from God. However, we serve a gracious and loving God!   Our past does not define us. It will shape us, determine consequences, and potentially cause some future obstacles because we are human, but it will never trump God’s vision of who we are and where we are going. 

Fight any stronghold of shame or condemnation an incident or circumstance  may have over you and embrace the new creation God has fashioned with His mighty hands. The mercy of God is literally new every morning!

The Lord’s purpose moving forward from this point requires us to accept God’s grace and walk in the freedom He has given us from the chains that were holding us down. 

That’s what Jesus does with our lives. He takes a tattered, broken, marked person and makes us better than ever before. When Holy Spirit goes to work on us we become unrecognizable to the people who knew us before. Whenever I share my story of how I use to be in bondage to fear, people who didn’t know me then but do now can’t believe I use to be filled with it. Every time I tell them I am free, it’s only because of God’s handiwork and grace in me! 

1 Peter 5:10-11 NET And, after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace who called you to His eternal glory in Christ will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To Him belongs the power forever.

And God’s definition of rescue doesn’t just mean putting us back together, but it also means to go above and beyond redemption and restoration in making us better than before. We’re always in far better shape after Jesus has gone to work in us than before. It doesn't mean we won’t suffer or feel the growing pains because we will.   

We will suffer for a bit but God will restore us. That’s not a “maybe” or “if He feels like it.” It’s a promise that God will restore His people to a better place.