Reflecting God - Embrace Holy Living - WordAction - The Nazarene Publishing House [The foundry Publishing House] in Kansas City Missouri, United States - The Global Church of the Nazarene for Friday, 21 July 2017 - "Mercy—Richly Forgiven" by Cynthia Stiverson - Ephesians 1:1 From: Sha’ul, by God’s will an emissary of the Messiah Yeshua
To: God’s people living in Ephesus, that is, those who are trusting in the Messiah Yeshua:
2 Grace to you and shalom from God our Father and the Lord Yeshua the Messiah.
3 Praised be Adonai, Father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, who in the Messiah has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heaven. 4 In the Messiah he chose us in love before the creation of the universe to be holy and without defect in his presence. 5 He determined in advance that through Yeshua the Messiah we would be his sons — in keeping with his pleasure and purpose — 6 so that we would bring him praise commensurate with the glory of the grace he gave us through the Beloved One.
7 In union with him, through the shedding of his blood, we are set free — our sins are forgiven; this accords with the wealth of the grace 8 he has lavished on us. In all his wisdom and insight 9 he has made known to us his secret plan, which by his own will he designed beforehand in connection with the Messiah 10 and will put into effect when the time is ripe — his plan to place everything in heaven and on earth under the Messiah’s headship.
-------To be loved is to be richly forgiven. To be richly forgiven is redemption, a gift beyond comprehension. It’s like accepting an immense undeserved gift only to discover another gift inside, and another, and another. God loves us so much that He not only forgives, but lavishes us with gifts and blessings. Redemption denotes freedom, as in the payment of a slave’s ransom. Christ exchanges our guilt, sin, shame for His forgiveness and righteousness for all eternity. That, my friend, is freedom!
Forgiveness is a gift that can be difficult to receive. We feel unworthy, unable to forgive ourselves for what we’ve done. Even harder is to forgive others for what they have done to us. It may seem easier to remain a slave to our past and our pain than to embrace forgiveness.
Consider the cost of redemption. God sacrificed His son to adopt us into His family. The cost was the cross of Christ. His immense pain was for our immeasurable gain. We are chosen, mad holy and blameless, empowered, and showered with grace upon grace. How can we refuse this lavish gift? All who ask and believe are richly forgiven.
"Hallelujah, I Am Free" by A.A. Jameson copyright 1925, Renewed 1953 by Lillenas Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
1. I am redeemed - all glory to the Lamb!
Saved from all sin and purified I am,
Bought by the blood that flowed from Calvary,
For the Lord has made me free!
Refrain:
Hallelujah, I am free!
O what glorious liberty,
Since the blessed Lord has cleansed and made me whole!
I am redeemed - all glory to His name!
He abides within my soul.
2. I am redeemed; my ransom has been paid.
All of my guilt on Jesus has been laid.
From all my sins I now have liberty.
Hallelujah, I am free!
Refrain:
Hallelujah, I am free!
O what glorious liberty,
Since the blessed Lord has cleansed and made me whole!
I am redeemed - all glory to His name!
He abides within my soul.
3. I am redeemed; my bondage now is past.
I was a slave, but I am free at last.
Once I was blind, but now the light I see.
Hallelujah, I am free!
Refrain:
Hallelujah, I am free!
O what glorious liberty,
Since the blessed Lord has cleansed and made me whole!
I am redeemed - all glory to His name!
He abides within my soul.
4. “I am redeemed,” my song shall ever be,
Both while on earth and for eternity.
Praise be to God for all He is to me!
Hallelujah, I am free!
Refrain:
Hallelujah, I am free!
O what glorious liberty,
Since the blessed Lord has cleansed and made me whole!
I am redeemed - all glory to His name!
He abides within my soul.
Thought for Today:
In your love, you led the people you redeemed;
in your strength, you guided them to your holy abode.(Exodus 15:13).
Please pray:
For the development of Christian leaders in Niger.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now-------
No comments:
Post a Comment