The Lord is Savior - - First Sunday in December

 

THE SHIPPING LABEL

TO: The World

FROM: GOD

WEIGHT OF PACKAGE: Everything

John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on Him, should not perish but have everlasting life. 

There's more to this life than just living it. We have been given the opportunity to live it (1) Eternally with God and His Christ; (2) Abundantly in Christ; (3) Fully in The Spirit of God. 

Though death tarnishes life with its shadow, we need to remember that that is all  death is to the believer: a shadow. Shadows have no power, they are merely a whisper of passage through which the Son shines. David wrote in Psalm 23, "Yes, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me." He knew that The LORD was with him at all times throughout his days because he made the decision to TRUST GOD. 

We have been given a glorious gift (John 1:14) and it is our decision whether or not we open it and receive it or just leave it under the tree, the cross. For everyone will eventually make their way to the cross of Christ; some will see and believe, some will glance and walk away, some will mock the cross and what it stands for. It is the few who believe The Word of God and receive The Christ of God that will forever be changed by The Power of God. 

There is no RTS (return to sender) on this package. The Word tells us that God's Word does not return void (Isaiah 55:11): His Word accomplishes Its mission. This may seem like a hard thing to hear but its just as hard to write: not all seed will root. But The Word has gone forth and it is still in accomplish-mode. There is still time to come back to the cross and really see what God allowed His Son to go through. You woke up this morning and you managed to crawl out of bed. God gave you another day. Thank Him for that. 

Thank You, Lord, for this new day which You have given me. Thank You for the opportunity to glorify You and bless You. Help me to accomplish Your purpose in me. Have Your Way in my life today. For I have given You my heart and my mind and my life. You are my everything and without You I know that I am nothing. As the song says, In You I live and move and have my being. 

Thank You, Lord, for saving me. When I was lost and undone, You found me at just the right time. I was that lost sheep You went looking for and I'm so glad You picked me up and carried me back to where You knew I needed to be. Thank You for writing Your Word on my heart and filling me today with a new infusion of Your Holy Spirit. For without these I accomplish nothing on my own. I'm just a lump of clay waiting for the potter's hand to transform me. 

I praise You. My soul blesses You. In You I live and love. Make me a blessing to You and for You today. 

In Jesus' Name, Amen.

IN HIM WE LIVE AND MOVE

The Name of The Lord

     SALVATION IS IN THE NAME OF THE LORD

    Joel 2:32

And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on The Name of The LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as The LORD has said, and in the remnant whom The LORD shall call.

    Romans 10:13

For whosoever shall call upon The Name of The Lord shall be saved.

    Acts 2:21

And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on The Name of The Lord shall be saved.

    THE NAME OF THE LORD IS 

SAVIOR

     Isaiah 45:17

But Israel will be saved by The LORD with an everlasting salvation; you will not be put to shame or humiliated, to ages everlasting.

    

DELIVERER

    Romans 11:26

And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob.

     

REDEEMER

    Isaiah 59:20

"The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression," declares the LORD.

    Titus 2:14

Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. 

NO OTHER NAME

    Acts 4:11-12

This Jesus is ‘The Stone you builders rejected, which has become The Chief Cornerstone.’ Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

IN THENAME OF THE LORD IS 

FORGIVENESS

    Acts 2:38

Then Peter said to them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in The Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of The Holy Ghost.

WHOLENESS

    Acts 3:6-7

Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.

UNITY

    1 Corinthians 1:10

 Now I plead with you, brethren, by The Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

STRUCTURE

    Colossians 3:17

And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in The Name of The Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

POWER

    John 20:31

But these are written, that you might believe that Jesus is The Christ, The Son of God; and that believing you might have life through His Name.

    Acts 10:43

"All the prophets testify about Him that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His Name.”

JESUS LOVER OF MY SOUL (IT'S ALL ABOUT YOU) - Stuart Townsend

AT THE CROSS (LOVE RAN RED) - Chris Tomlin

YOU ARE HOLY - Andrew Hopkins

THERE IS NONE LIKE YOU - Lenny LeBlanc

    Why does anyone ever run from the only Name that can save us? For we do, indeed, need saving. Our souls are in grave danger on a daily basis. It is the soul - how we think, how we emote, how we act- that is eternal. Whether that eternity is death eternal or life eternal, the soul will live beyond this life. 

    We are only fooling ourselves when we turn our backs on God. God sees us. God knows us. He waits for us to turn to Him; He is not forceful yet, nor is He pushy. God is gentle and patient (longsuffering) and merciful. He waits for you to come home. The welcome mat is always out...for now. There will come a time, a day, when it will be too late to make a commitment to trust in God, to believe in God, to follow Jesus Christ. Don't let your souls see that day come to you. 

    My Mother prayed for you as she lay dying. She prayed for the salvation of her family: her children and grandchildren and great grandchildren; her sister and brother and their children and grandchildren; her husband's siblings and their families throughout their generations. Salvation is the only thing she prayed for. We prayed together. It is the first and the last time my Mother and I ever prayed together. We prayed for you. 

    Now, it's up to you to make a decision. Do you choose Christ Jesus, The Only Begotten Son of God, The Lamb of God? The only God Who died for you and rose from the dead? or do you choose to follow dead gods who died and never came back from the grave?  

    In The Name of The LORD JESUS CHRIST is LOVE. He is The LOVE OF GOD personified. He is The Glory of God personified. He is The POWER OF GOD personified. IN THE NAME OF THE LORD IS THE NAME OF THE LORD. 

ROOFTOPS - Jesus Culture

    

    

The Lord Is A Mighty Warrior

 

Exodus 15:3

The LORD is a Warrior, the LORD is His Name. 

Revelation 19:11

Then I saw heaven standing open, and there before me was a white horse. And its rider is called Faithful and True. With righteousness He judges and wages war.

Exodus 14:14

The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still."

Psalm 50:3

Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about Him.

YOU DELIVER ME - Selah

    In Exodus 15:3 Miriam is singing to The Lord because she has seen firsthand how God delivers His people. Are we singing to The Lord with such abandonment and joy? Perhaps we have forgotten who we are in Christ and Who CHRIST IS in us. 

    Who am I in Christ? I can say, speaking only in reference to myself, that I am His songwriter and His singer. I am His student and His friend. I am His adopted sister and His bride. I am a voice in the wilderness crying out, as John the Baptist did, "Prepare you the way of The Lord!" No matter what or who I am in Christ, the point is: I AM IN CHRIST AND I AM HIS.

    Christ in me is: Redeemer, Savior, King, Friend, Deliverer, Anchor, Hope, Peace, Strength and so much, much more. 

    I tell you now, as the voice in the wilderness, and beg you in all earnestness, today just might be your day of salvation. From one moment to the next we are sure of nothing other than: JESUS CHRIST IS LORD OF LORDS AND KING OF KINGS. And He died on the cross for you and I, taking the punishment each of us should have had. But He didn't stay in the grave. He rose from the dead and walked out of the grave...changed, changed to a new life which is what He promises each person who believes Him and receives Him into their hearts and their lives. We call this salvation and the next person who gets saved could be you.

    The next time Christ arrives on this planet Earth will be when God sends Him to fetch His bride and bring her to the place He has prepared for her. 

    Then, after a period of time, Christ will return to set up His thousand-year reign, more commonly referred to as the millennial kingdom. 

    Not until after those thousand years have passed will Christ return as The Rider on the White Horse. Then, the people who are left who still refuse to believe that Jesus Christ is LORD will perish in their foolishness and wickedness. For it is wicked to not believe God and God's Faithful and True Word. 

REDEEMER SAVIOR FRIEND 

Thanks Be To God - - Sing His Praise For His Salvation & Deliverance

 

Psalm 106:47

Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks unto Your holy name, and to triumph in Your praise.

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 3467

Save: yasha (pronounced yaw-shah') means (in this context): deliver (this word occurs 206 times in the Old Testament Scriptures); is sometimes rendered: help, defend, liberate

*Strong's Ex. Conc. 3034

Thanks: yadah (pronounced yaw-daw') means:  to confess, to glorify, to give praise while throwing one's hands or arms up. (occurs 114 times in Scripture)

*Strong's Ex. Conc. 7623

Triumph:  shabach (pronounced shaw-bakh') means: laud, praise God (occurs 11 times in, 8 of which refer to God or God's power Scripture)

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 8416

Praise: tehillah (pronounced teh-hil-law') means: 'song of praise', adoration, thanksgiving, laud, hymn (occurs 57 times in Scripture)

Only The LORD God can save/liberate/help a person stuck in sin. 

We can be relatively good people our whole lives and not be saved. We can go to church/temple and not be saved. Whether we sing contemporary worship songs or traditional hymns, just singing these songs of praise will not save us. We can grow up in loving homes surrounded by the Word of God being shared in our homes and our churches, yet, still not be saved from the consequences and punishment of our sins. 

We will never be 'good enough' to get to heaven on our own merits. God says our self-righteousness is comparable to filthy rags:

Isaiah 64:5, 6 "You welcome those who gladly do right, who remember Your ways. Surely You were angry, for we sinned. How can we be saved if we remain in our sins? Each of us has become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind."

When we do our own thing and not the LORD's thing, that's sin. 

Isaiah 53:6

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Not just some of us, either, but ALL of US.

Romans 3:23

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.

How can we Triumph in His praise when we have nothing to be triumphant about when we continue to live a life that is displeasing to God? We can't. All those praise and worship songs coming out of our mouths are just noise. God can't hear your worship because you're not His people. 

God's people are saved by God's grace. Did you hear me? GOD's People are SAVED by GOD's GRACE. This salvation is our Inner Garment, a Righteous Robe that covers our soul (Romans 13:14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh); a Crown of Life (James 1:12); a Crown of Righteousness  (2 Timothy 4:8); a Crown of Glory (1 Peter 5:4);   a Crown of Glory & Honor (Psalm 8:5 and  Hebrews 2:7). We are, according to 1 Peter 2:9 "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that you should show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvellous light."

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 703

Praises: arete (pronounced ar-et'-ay), which means: moral excellences, goodness, uprightness, virtue which is displayed to enrich life

Dear God,

You are God and there is no other god before You. You are holy. You are faithful. You keep Your promises. You are the God who saves and delivers. You have saved me out of all my transgressions, my iniquities and my sins. Sin still tries to drag me down, but, You, O God, have saved me from the miryness of sin's clutches. 

Your grace is my covering. Your love is my adornment. Your salvation is my armor. Your wisdom resides in my heart. Your Word is my Light, my Song, my Hope, my Everything. 

Thank You, Father, for saving a wretch like me. For sending Your Son to die in my place and for raising Him from the grave, the First of us to do that. Thank You, Father, for all Your many mercies and blessings on me, Your child, Your servant, Your friend. You call me friend. And I am content. 

And, now, I thank You, God, for what You are doing in the hearts and lives of my families and friends. For though we are born into one family, we gain many more along the way on this journey. Thank You for saving and delivering my many families, my friends, the strangers whom I encounter, they who declare themselves my enemies. 

Thank You for pouring out Your Holy Spirit into our hearts and lives that we may live empowered lives which draw people to You and cause us to be bold, loving witnesses of Your grace.

To You be all glory, honor and praise.

In Jesus' Priceless Name, I pray,
Amen