How I was saved, and how you were, too!

This post was inspired by this salvation story on natashametzler.com.  Reading Natasha's post and responding to it got me thinking about my own salvation story!

The story of my salvation doesn't start with me.  It starts with God.  God, who created heaven and earth and everything in them.  God, who from the beginning of the world had a plan to conquer sin and death (Genesis 3:15).  God, who sent His Son to earth to become a human baby, who would grow into a sinless human man, who would die for the sins of the whole world (John 3:16).

Image Credit:  bela_kiefer via www.freedigitalphotos.net

My salvation starts with the incredible love of God.  It's because God loves us--all people--so much that He has a plan for all of us to spend eternity with Him.

He gives us faith.  We become His children.  We believe in His Son, Jesus Christ, and the fact that Jesus' death paid the price for all the wrong we ever do.  We live a brief life on earth, obeying God and loving Him according to His Word and in response for the gifts He constantly gives us (in addition to the gift of faith in Him!  Wow!).  Then, when our sinful, earthly bodies die, our sinless souls are united with God in heaven, and spend eternity joyfully with Him in paradise.

This is what God did for me.  He made me his child just four weeks after I was born into this world.  In my baptism, the Holy Spirit came into my heart by the power of God's Word, and gave me faith.  It wasn't necessary for me to understand what that meant, because my saving isn't about me.  It's not anything I do.  God saves us, God makes us His children.  It's kind of like how we become our parents' children.  We don't have any choice to become their children.  And they don't love us because of anything we do.  They love us simply because they are our parents.  God loves us because He is our Father.

So I became God's child through the miracle of baptism.  As I grew, my parents taught me, using God's Word, how much God loves me, and what Jesus did for me.  And I knew for sure that I was God's child.  I knew that whenever I died, I would be in heaven with Jesus.  I knew that I was sinful, and did bad things, but I also knew that God forgave those sins when I asked Him to, just as my parents told me they forgave me when I disobeyed them.

Now that I'm an adult, I'm still constantly learning what it means to be God's child.  How does that play out in my everyday life?  God reminds me daily to trust Him in everything.  He has to keep teaching me how to accept His forgiveness, because I struggle with remembering that.  Satan is constantly working to try to pull me away from God, but I know that because the Holy Spirit lives in my heart, Satan can't hurt me.  Jesus has already defeated him and his power, and I have nothing to fear.

So my salvation story doesn't end with me, either.  It ends with the ultimate gift from God--eternal life in heaven.  It will end when my sinful body dies, and my eternal, holy, sinless soul is taken to heaven by Jesus, where I will live with Him forever.  There no one will be sad or in pain.  There will be no death, no grief, no discomfort.  There will be joy, peace, love, and light, and it will be more wonderful than we can ever imagine, until we actually get there.

God wants everyone to be in heaven with Him.  He has created you just like He did me, and He loves you, too, more than you will ever understand.  I hope you know my Jesus, too, and know that He is your Lord and Savior--and how much He loves you.  You can spend eternity in heaven, too, because Jesus paid the price for your sins as well as mine.  Try saying this to God, your Father--you have nothing to lose, and everything to gain:

"Dear God, I know you love me.  I know you sent your Son, Jesus, to pay the price for my sins.  I acknowledge Jesus as my Lord and Savior.  Thank you for giving me faith in you and in what Jesus has done for me.  Now, as your child, I give my whole life to you."

Linking up today: A Holy Experience, Upward Not Inward, Deep Roots at Home, Raising Homemakers, We are THAT Family

Strength Renewed

It's getting toward the end of the summer.  Many students and families are starting a new school year.  Joshua and I have less than two weeks until school begins again for us.

I'm ready for a new schedule, a change of pace, a different routine.  This summer has been wonderful, don't get me wrong--but I'm ready for some changes.

At the same time, I'm a little apprehensive.  With the new school year will come new challenges: juggling being a wife and homemaker with being a full-time student and working part-time and trying to spend some time with friends, too.  It's a bit overwhelming!  (If you're feeling like you have a lot on your plate--you are not alone!)

A verse from Isaiah came to mind this morning.  God said to Isaiah,

"I said, 'You are my servant'; I have chosen you and have not rejected you.  So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." -Isaiah 41:9b-10

God has chosen me to serve him.  He is always with me; he gives me strength and help.  I have nothing to fear or worry about.  And neither do you, no matter what your life looks like right now!

In the previous chapter of Isaiah, God spoke more comforting words:

"Do you not know?  Have you not heard?  The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.  He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.  He gives strength to the weary, and increases the power of the weak.  Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall.  But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."  -Isaiah 41:28-31

Our strength does not come from ourselves.  Even youth (like me!) grow tired and weary.  But God never does.  Our God is everlasting--Creator of all that exists.  It is when we put our hope in him, not in our own "strength," that we become strong.  It is God who lifts us up.

I won't get through this coming school year on my own power.  It will be with the strength of God, by his grace and his will, that I will live each day to his glory.  I won't do that perfectly... but I can trust that God has forgiven me.  And he chose me to be his servant knowing that I'm imperfect, so I know he can and will use me for his will despite my imperfections.

I can't wait to see where his strength will take me this year... to what new heights I'll soar.  I wonder...where will God take you?

Linking up with these lovely ladies:
 Growing Home; Thankful Homemaker; Time-Warp Wife; Cornerstone Confessions; Lessons from Ivy

 

The Lavish Grace of God

One of the Scripture readings in church on Sunday was Ephesians 1:3-14.  A professor from our university (which is right across the street from church) had the message.  Pastor Groth is one of Joshua's and my favorite professors, and this sermon was almost like a class session...I was even taking notes!

This passage in Ephesians is one I have read before, but I gained so much insight into it on Sunday, and it connected with other things God has been teaching me (see this post on God's purpose, this post on faith, and this post on God's promises that I've written in the last week).

This is the first part of the Ephesians passage:

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.  In love he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.  In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us..." (Ephesians 1:3-8)

There is SO much in this passage!

1) God "has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places."  EVERY spiritual blessing!  God's grace is abundant.

2) Nothing that God does happens except in and through Christ.  God has blessed us in Christ.  He has chosen us in Christ.  He predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ.  He has blessed us with "his glorious grace" in "the Beloved," Jesus.  In Jesus we have redemption.  God set forth his purpose in Christ (that's in verse 9, not quoted above).  In Christ "we have obtained an inheritance," that is, eternal life.

3) We did not choose God.  He chose us!  How can a child choose to be born?  God chose us before the foundation of the world.  That's thousands of years before we were born--or even thought of by our parents!  God knew us from that time on, and he chose us to be his.

4) Faith is pure gift.  We didn't ask for it.  God chose us to know him--we didn't ask to know him.  He chose us to be redeemed and forgiven.  It's all by "the riches of his grace," not by our own doing, or by anything we deserve.

5) The reason we are God's children is to serve him.  He chose us "according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace."  God has done millions of amazing things.  He deserves for his glory and grace to be praised!  That's what our lives are all about.

6) Our relationship with God is not up to us.  We can stop worrying about our relationship with God, Pastor Groth said, because it doesn't depend on us.  God has what it takes to keep us believing in him.  He has us in his hands now, and he's not going to let us go.  Also, we should stop trying to take credit for anything in our spiritual lives.  If it wasn't for God, we wouldn't be able to do anything that pleases him.  As it is, all we can do is thank him for the faith he has placed in our hearts, and thank him for helping us live a life that pleases him.

The rest of the passage from Sunday includes so many more wonderful things.  It also includes tricky things like predestination, which I'm not going to try to explain today because I know not all of my readers share my Missouri Synod Lutheran theology (and that's absolutely fine!!).  Also, once I actually complete my theology and English degrees, I'll be much better equipped to write about such things. :)  For now, just read the Scripture passage yourself!

I do hope you take this from what I have been learning:  God blesses us lavishly.  He does everything through his Son Jesus Christ.  God chose us,  we did not choose him, and he did it before the creation of the world.  Our faith is not dependent upon us.  God has called us as his children to serve, praise and glorify him.  And finally, we don't need to worry about our faith:  it's in God's hands.

Linking up today:
New Life Steward; The Fontenot Four; Raising Homemakers; A Wise Woman Builds Her Home; Deep Roots at Home; Women Living Well; Live Called