Rest in being a child

I want to just write down what the Lord has been speaking to me about.

Recently, a friend of mine handed me a book called "Justification and Regeneration". It explains what happened when we placed our trust in Christ and what it means to be justified and made a new creature. The truths taught in this book have been life changing.

A few years ago I did a in depth study in the bible on the topic of "eternal security". I had always thought that once you were saved you still had the choice to "divorce God", as I would say, and lose your salvation. I got stuck on the passage in Hebrews 6:4-6 for a while as I studied the original Greek words. I tried talking to a couple leaders in my life about it but no one seemed to help my thought process.

As two years went by, God took the time to walk me through this patiently, one step at a time. I didn't know it at the time but in thinking that I could lose my salvation, I lacked peace about who God was to me and who I was in Him. I had an underlining feeling that it was up to me to keep my relationship with God. My understanding of justification was very shallow. I thought "Ya He sees me as "just if I'd never sinned" but I'm still a sinner." I never really thought about that statement being a contradiction. Justification doesn't just mean that on the day of conversion, God declares you innocent until you sin again. It means that He declares you to be innocent once and for all time. Not only that but He creates a whole new person out of you. He changes you from someone who loved being a criminal, so to speak, to someone who loves to obey. He give you a new nature.

One huge piece of this that is changing my whole perspective is that salvation is His work. He wooed me, broke me, killed me, buried me, created a whole new me, and now keeps me until the very end. What choice did I have in this? It was all Him. And since it was all Him, it will continue to be all Him. I can just cease. Cease striving and know that He is GOD. Nothing is up to me. Nothing! I can now change my prayer from, "Lord what can I do today?" to "Father You are doing a work today, I just want to be with You.".

I really feel like the pressure is off. Jesus' yoke is easy and His burden is light.

"Now to Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen." Jude 24, 25

Sat. street witnessing

Pre-Game Story. Before I even headed out to meet you guys, I ran into my neighbor who saw my Jesus shirt which prompted him to ask about Jesus. I didn't share what Jesus did for him. Man, can you imagine an easier witnessing encounter? The guy meantions Jesus, asked what religion I am, and I still didn't share the gospel with him. I went in the house and Bre asked me if I shared my faith with him. I said "He caught me off guard.". She said "Ryan you have gospel tracts in your pocket.". I laughed and replied, "Well I mean i didn't get to pray and spend time in the word.". She said "You mean like we just did this morning?". What I realized is that I was showing partiality.

You see I've worried in the past about this guy being a sexual preditor towards my wife and kids. My desire for this guy's salvation was small. If only I had the heart of God and saw him as He saw Saul as he preyed on His children. As I walked to meet you, I opened up "Way of the Master Minute". The first one opened to in the middle of the book said, "Caught off guard.".

Game time. I loved the preparation time. We huddled in and turned to Jesus as we prepared to tell people about Him. I was glad we split up. I could sense right off the bat that the first girl felt mobbed. As we walked in our group of three, It still wasn't what I was used to. All other witnessing I had ever done, had been alone. I also never really used tracts before so the first thing I was worried about was what to say as I handed one out. I decided that "Have you seen these?" was my best bet for now. People usually responded with, "What is it?". Then I would say, "It is a gospel tract.". If they seemed willing to talk I would ask them, "Ever think about what happens after you die?" I found that people did not like the "ticket to heaven or ticket to hell" tract when I handed it to them "ticket to hell" side up. Imagine that...... Someone being offended at your desire for their eternal damnation. I think I'll pay attention to which side is up next time since it is heaven I wish for them hoping they will not choose the alternative.

I was sweating as we walked down the unshaded side of sixth street. After I had been rejected by an older couple, I looked up and saw a couple of young girls walking away from Dave ripping up a tract and saying "Oh it's about God, then... (rip)! I guess I'm going to hell!" I thought, "This is going to be interesting." I did not get discouraged though. I remembered Jesus' promise that the world will hate you because they first hated Him. The first good one to one was with some highschoolers. My favorite. One of which was a girl named Sarah who used to go to our church. As one kid claimed Christ, Dave, used the law right away to make sure he understood what he was claiming. I talked to Sarah a little and felt it was an appointment made by God to encourage the faith that she did have. I also had a moment when I felt almost as if I was open air preaching to the four of them for about one minute. I don't recall the names of the three boys. We got them thinking and the seed was planted.

Another one to one was with another few highschool boys. Yippee. Their names were Billy, Jr. and another kid who sat on the ground tearing up our tract. This one went ok. I started with the "Good card". We talked to Billy the most. He had a lot of questions. Jr. was also sceptical. About ten minutes into the conversation Billy said, "Actually I don't believe in God". He also claimed that his soul was of no importance to him. I reasoned with him on that one and he admitted that deep down, he really does care about his soul. I gave Billy and Jr. extra Lee Stroble tracts and a bible. He said would not read it but we instisted that he as least take it home.

Jay and Keith were brothers. I handed Keith a "ticket to heaven or ticket to hell" tract. He said "Sir, why have you just given me a ticket to Hell?" I said "oh it actually explains the gospel on both sides. See?" Keith was confident that he would go to heaven after he died. Jay stayed silent. After Dave engaged Keith, I swung around to talk to Jay. Jay listened very intently. It seemed to make sense to him. He knew he needed to repent and trust Jesus.

Luke 13:1-9

I will be meditating on this passage this week

Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.
And Jesus said to them, "Do you suppose that these Galileans were {greater} sinners than all {other} Galileans because they suffered this {fate?}
"I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
"Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were {worse} culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem?
"I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."
And He {began} telling this parable: "A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any.
"And he said to the vineyard-keeper, 'Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?'
"And he answered and said to him, 'Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer;
and if it bears fruit next year, {fine;} but if not, cut it down.' "

Job 26 :7-14

"He stretches out the north over empty space And hangs the earth on nothing.
"He wraps up the waters in His clouds, And the cloud does not burst under them.
"He obscures the face of the full moon And spreads His cloud over it.
"He has inscribed a circle on the surface of the waters At the boundary of light and darkness.
"The pillars of heaven tremble And are amazed at His rebuke.
"He quieted the sea with His power, And by His understanding He shattered Rahab.
"By His breath the heavens are cleared; His hand has pierced the fleeing serpent.
"Behold, these are the fringes of His ways; And how faint a word we hear of Him! But His mighty thunder, who can understand."

This is who I worship. This is my Father.

This the one whom I surrender my life.

This is my Maker. This is my Savior.

This is He who knew my name before the beginning of time.

Why I doubt, how I mocked, of that I can not tell.

The source of light and all that is good, He does all things well.

I tremble, I'm amazed, I can't help but cry.

That I can know this Creator through the blood of Christ.

He hung the earth on nothing, He spoke it all with a word.

But still He hung on the tree to pay a debt I couldn't afford.

I tremble, I'm amazed, I can not help but bow.

That this God chose to live in me, and make my heart His house

Job 12:12-25

12 Older people are wise,
and long life brings understanding.
13 “But only God has wisdom and power,
good advice and understanding.
14 What he tears down cannot be rebuilt;
anyone he puts in prison cannot be let out.
15 If God holds back the waters, there is no rain;
if he lets the waters go, they flood the land.
16 He is strong and victorious;
both the one who fools others and the one who is fooled belong to him.
17 God leads the wise away as captives
and turns judges into fools.
18 He takes off chains that kings put on
and puts a garment on their bodies.
19 He leads priests away naked
and destroys the powerful.
20 He makes trusted people be silent
and takes away the wisdom of elders.
21 He brings disgrace on important people
and takes away the weapons of the strong.
22 He uncovers the deep things of darkness
and brings dark shadows into the light.
23 He makes nations great and then destroys them;
he makes nations large and then scatters them.
24 He takes understanding away from the leaders of the earth
and makes them wander through a pathless desert.
25 They feel around in darkness with no light;
he makes them stumble like drunks.

This morning I am thankful that God is for me, not against me. I'm glad I am on His side. That He knows me and I know Him. He is such an awesome God. I also wander if God is ready to destroy our nation. For surely He has made the U.S.A great. Is He ready to scatter us? Has he taken away the understanding of our leaders? I believe this is in the works since our nation has turned it's back on God. I wander about our next president and if he will lead us into the desert, scattered.

Knowing all this about God and the people around me, I am sobering up. I am awakened to the fact that the whole world is under the sway of the wicked one. Jesus is coming back real soon. Am I going to love His appearing or be ashamed? I need to warn people about this powerful God. I need to warn them that the wrath of God abides on them and that Jesus took their sin upon Himself so they can be saved.

Today I thank the Father for His son. I thank Him that I can be called a child and not an enemy who would be crushed under His feet. I thank Him that He granted me the ability to place my faith in Him and be placed under His mile wide wing as apposed to under His mile wide fist.

Job 10:8-13

'Your hands fashioned and made me altogether, And would You destroy me?
'Remember now, that You have made me as clay; And would You turn me into dust again?
'Did You not pour me out like milk And curdle me like cheese;
Clothe me with skin and flesh, And knit me together with bones and sinews?
'You have granted me life and lovingkindness; And Your care has preserved my spirit.
'Yet these things You have concealed in Your heart; I know that this is within You:

At first when I read this, I thought "oh look, Job is praising God again" but then I realized that this is a complaint. What's interesting about this complaint is that Job is still far from cursing God as He questions Him. He confesses that God formed him like clay. How often do I think about that?
Another thing that I think about is that God is probably teaching Job something here that I need constant reminders about. That is that He created us for holines, not hapiness. It is God's goal to make us more like Him so that the world may see Him and glorify Him. Not to keep us happy and healthy. So why do I expect God to keep me healthy? Why do I constantly pray for God keep me feeling good and hardly ever ask Him to mold me into His image?

"Were He to pass by me, I would not see Him; Were He to move past {me,} I would not perceive Him.
"Were He to snatch away, who could restrain Him? Who could say to Him, 'What are You doing?'
"God will not turn back His anger; Beneath Him crouch the helpers of Rahab.

This develops in me a reverent fear of God because the Spirit of God lives within me. Others are just stuck on "What are You doing God?". Although Job was obviously wondering what God was doing, he was giving Him glory in the midst of his confusion and pain.

I love the thought that my God is so powerful that no one can stop or even hinder Him from what He wants to do. If He wants to, He can take away anything that I posses. My kids. My job. My health. But I can always know that He is just. I can always know that there isn't an evil thought in Him. I also know that everything works for the good of me because I am His child.