A Perfect Morning

A perfect morning

Golden dawn

Crystal bright air

Strange stillness

Eternity ancient grandeur

Resonate through creation

The divine majesty

Dances in exuberant triumph

Overflowing exhilarated glory.

Death’s cold chill

Forever cancelled

Baptized in a crimson cascade

Endless fullness

Mercy opened the gates of grace

Unimaginable joy

Breathtaking release

With a passionate kiss

Christ embraces victories miracle.

The silver thread

Glorious resurrection

The whisper of heaven

Eternal redemption

Divine love in grace’s prism

Unspeakable hope

Reassuring trust

In a lavish feast

Favor’s discovered banquet

Christ is risen

God has raised his son

Everlasting glory

Victory is won!

Good Friday

The sky moaned

Darkness shadow fell

 Light turned away

All was shaken

Soldiers feared

As angels chanted

Their songs of anguish

All was forsaken

Blood sprayed

From torn veins

Across rough wood

All was immersed

The nails of hate

Iron needles of terror

And with the stink of death

All was finished.

Mercy kissed judgement

Forgiveness birthed in horror

Hope from loves agony

All was fulfilled.

From A Park Bench - We Have Died to our Old Sinful Nature.

For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God – Colossians 3 v 3

Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. – Romans 6:7

We were once separated from God; the source of this separation was sin.  At the cross Christ dealt with sin and reconciled us back to God. His sacrifice was a once and for all time act that dealt with all past, present and future sin. After the cross sin does not separate man from God, Man’s unbelief is now the source of the separation.

Christ died for me at the cross and died ‘as’ me at the cross. When I believed Christ for my salvation, my old sinful nature died and a new united spirit was created inside. I died to my old man and I was raised into new life. All the old fears, insecurities, bad habits, doubts were nailed to the cross and were crucified with Christ. I no longer look at the past, my achievements, my intellect, my heritage for my identity. My identity is ‘In’ Christ.

The world tries to get us to fix our attention on race, sexuality, doctrine and fit Christian’s into boxes, ‘camps’. The father of lies tries to divide Christians with doctrinal differences, are you Calvinist or Arminianist?   Grace or Hyper-grace?

Christians have only one identity and that is IN CHRIST. All Christians are united with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and have God dwelling inside, whether they feel it or not.

We have died to the world and all our old nature and we are alive in Christ. Don’t let the father of lies draw you into the things you have been redeemed from.

Love's Philosophy by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Love's Philosophy

The fountains mingle with the river,

And the rivers with the ocean;

The winds of heaven mix forever

With a sweet emotion;

Nothing in the world is single;

All things by a law divine

In another's being mingle--

Why not I with thine?

See, the mountains kiss high heaven,

And the waves clasp one another;

No sister flower could be forgiven

If it disdained its brother;

And the sunlight clasps the earth,

And the moonbeams kiss the sea;--

What are all these kissings worth,

If thou kiss not me? 

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Ten Truths from John Crowder

The finished work of the cross is such an offense, because it invalidates every other human attempt at spirituality.

Grace does not beat the church awake. Grace woos her with the extravagant love of Christ poured out on the cross. Entices her with the fragrant myrrh of His sufferings for her on the cross. It allures her with the promise of divine pleasures that supersede the lesser comforts of this world. Invites her to drink and to be drunk on love

I’m not pressing in anymore. I've been pressed into.
I’m not contending anymore. I've been contended for.
I’m not a God chaser anymore. I've been chased down, roped and hogtied. Bagged and tagged!
So many fast; they pray; they push; they pull. They attempt to get what they're already got. But their own efforts have alienated them from grace.
I’m not hungry anymore. I am fully satisfied.
Hunger is the state of the prodigal in the pig slop. Sonship is satisfied on Christ – the Father’s the Fatted Calf.

The New Covenant is a finding covenant. An arrival. An enjoyment of the Promise Land that we have already entered.

By adoption in Christ, every believer shares in this divine love of complacency. It is the love enjoyed by Jacob, but not by Esau. This love is reserved for the redeemed in whom God delights — not because there is anything inherently lovely or delightful in us — but we are so united to Christ, the Father’s Beloved, that the love the Father has for the Son spills over onto us. God’s love for us is pleasing and sweet to Himself — and to us. ...

Grace does not merely “cut you slack” while leaving you with indwelling sinfulness. Grace fully nailed that “indwelling sinfulness” to the tree – your entire old corrupt nature was abolished as a free gift

Those in Christ truly lack nothing. We have been plugged into an eternal wellspring of grace.

True faith is simply an effortless realization of the facts. Christ is the Fact. Faith doesn't save you, the Fact did. You are not saved by faith. You are saved by free-gift grace. Faith is the simple recognition of the free gift that’s already been given to you.

You are a source of endless possibilities. Your identity is in Him, and your actions are an outflow of that.

Your entire life is now a response to God, because you've been “replaced” and woven into the very life of Christ! There is no more Jesus plus me. It is Jesus, therefore all of me! We are one.

Grace Notes - John 5 v 16

John 5:16, "And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him because he had done these things on the Sabbath day."

Through Christ’s finished work on the cross, the Sabbath is a New Testament reality. It is not a day, a specific time but it is entering into a relationship with Christ and living in all that grace has provided.

The New Covenant is a seventh day covenant. It is a Sabbath covenant. It is a rest covenant. The New covenant is a finding covenant. An arrival. An enjoyment of the Promised Land that we have already entreted.

Christ has found me, I am united with him and I enter into the rest his sacrifice has provided. Resting in his finished work and resting from my own efforts.

Andrew Wommack explains how the Sabbath is God’s provision, a picture in the Old Covenant of all that God’s grace gives us in the New Covenant:-

The Sabbath was first mentioned in Scripture in Exodus 16, when the Lord started miraculously providing the children of Israel with manna in the wilderness. The Israelites were commanded to gather twice as much manna on the sixth day because God would not provide any on the seventh day. Shortly after this, the Lord commanded the observance of the Sabbath day in the Ten Commandments that were communicated to Moses on Mt. Sinai on the two tablets of stone (Ex. 20:8-11). In this command, God connected this Sabbath day with the rest that He took on the seventh day of creation.

As revealed in Colossians 2:16-17, the Sabbath was symbolic. According to Exodus 23:12, one of the purposes of the Sabbath was to give man and his animals one day of physical rest each week. Today's medical science has proven that our bodies need at least one day of rest each week to function at our peak. Deuteronomy 5:15, also clearly states that the Sabbath was to serve as a reminder to the Jews that they had been slaves in Egypt and were delivered from bondage, not by their own efforts, but by the supernatural power of God. However, in the New Testament, there is an even clearer purpose of the Sabbath stated. In Colossians 2:16-17, Paul reveals that the Sabbath was only a shadow of things to come and is now fulfilled in Christ. Hebrews 4:1-11, talks about a Sabbath rest that is available to, but not necessarily functional in, all New Testament believers. This New Testament Sabbath rest is simply a relationship with God in which we have ceased from doing things by our own efforts and are letting God work through us (Gal. 2:20; Heb. 4:10).

The Sabbath is not a day, but rather a relationship with God through Jesus. Rest in His love and let Him use you today.

Connexions - Faith is.....

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. – Hebrews 11:1

No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us. – John 1:18

 For we live by believing and not by seeing. – 2 Corinthians 5:7

So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.- 2 Corinthians 4:18

Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me. – John 20:29

Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. – John 14:19

The god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. – 2 Corinthians 4:4

For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. – 2 Corinthians 4:6

Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!” The Lord opened the young man’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire. – 2 Kings 6:17

It was by faith that Moses left the land of Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger. He kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible. – Hebrews 11:27

You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. – 1 Peter 1:8

I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. – Romans 15:13

Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. – 1 Corinthians 13:12

Consider.....

Consider the fathomless, immeasurable, independent, uncreated God, because of his great love, became man and swallowed our evil.,

Consider that all righteousness, life and goodness are found in Him.

Consider that union with Christ is our design, and we are perfect when we are perfectly united with Christ.

Consider that it is Christ who animates your heart.

Consider every heart beat within your chest, and Christ who is giving it life.

Consider that Christ didn't just pay for my sin. He became my sinfulness.

Consider the bread and wine our daily union with Christ.

Consider the blood that flows through your veins, the breath in your lungs, your living union with Christ.

From a Park Bench - Hebrews 10 v 22

“Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” – Hebrews 10 v 22.

We have been made clean, our old evil conscious has been washed with the pure water of God and we are holy before God. This cleansing is eternal; an everlasting stream of holy water that has made us anew.

We can draw near to God because his righteousness is now our righteousness and if and when we sin we still remain clothed in the righteousness of God.

To continue to sin and not to enjoy the wonderful lavish grace of God is silly. Sin does have consequences in our lives; it dulls us to the whisper of God, hardens our hearts so we find it difficult to hear from God, opens a door to the Devil’s lies and makes us more sensitive to sin than to our new creation spirit.

I can be lead away by temptation, but temptation‘s comes in when I let the door of my thinking open to the wrong influences. What I mediate on and fill my mind with is what I treasure.  I am eternal accepted, forgiven and holy in Christ, nothing can alter God’s acceptance of me, but I can dull myself with listening to worldly wisdom, negative news, carnal ideas, all theses cause in me worry and fear.

The truth is found in the spirit that awakens inside of me and the word of God that is God’s love letter of truth to guide me.

The glorious triune God dances and reigns inside every believer and his goodness and grace are fountains of eternal water that overflow towards me. I am the joy and delight of my eternal father.

Wednesday's Wit - Human Nature

Human nature

Ask yourself whether you are happy, and you cease to be – John Stuart Mill

There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy – Robert Louis Stevenson

It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances – Oscar Wilde

Economy is going without something you do want in case you should, some day, want something you probably won’t want – Anthony Hope

Two men look out through the same bars: One sees the mud, the other sees the stars. – Fredrick Langbridge

Happiness is a mystery like religion, and should never be rationalized. – G.K.Chesterton

When people do not respect us we are sharply offended; yet deep down in his heart no man much respects himself – Mark Twain

Many things – such as loving, going to sleep or behaving unaffectedly - are done worst when we try hardest to do them – C.S. Lewis

Lies and Truth

Lies hide in the small things

The whisper that assails the soul

Inclinations of a degraded heart

Memories of a father’s rejection

A doctors comforting wisdom

Haunting steps of a unknown stranger

The fatalistic doom of the news reporter

Hidden in the shame of our failures.

Truth resides in the heart of love

The shout that thunders from eternity

Awakened in a beautiful new spirit

Claimed by the love of my Father

A glorious embrace of heavens acceptance

Welcomed in the joyous divine dance

The thrilling adventure of participation

Sharing in the wonder of God’s life.

ConneXions - The Ransom of His life

The ransom of his life is costly

And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? – Matthew 16:26

Yet they cannot redeem themselves from death  by paying a ransom to God. Redemption does not come so easily, for no one can ever pay enough to live forever and never see the grave. – Psalm 49:7-9

And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment – Hebrews 9:27

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many. – Mark 10:45

For there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time. 1 Timothy 2:5-6

What we do see is Jesus, who was given a position “a little lower than the angels”; and because he suffered death for us, he is now “crowned with glory and honor.” Yes, by God’s grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone. – Hebrews 2:9

 For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. God chose him as your ransom long before the world began – 1 Peter 1:18-20

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 6:23

Erased.....

Erased all my sins and the guilt that came with the sin.

Erased the separation that causes sin.

Erased my darkness swallowed in the uncreated light of Christ.

Erased the searching for God, I have found Him in Christ.

Erased the pursuit of holiness, for I am now eternally connected to him who is my holiness.

Erased my orphan heart and adopted me as his son.

Erased my inward striving and showed me what I already had.

Erased the veil of sinfulness so I could clearly see God in the person of Christ.

Erased the fear of failing, replaced by the joy of bearing.

From A Park Bench - Galatians 1 v 4

Galatians 1 v 4

Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live.

One of the best places to sit and enjoy the world is a park bench.  Every weekend when the weather is nice and the sun is shining I can be found at the park with my daughter, sitting with other parents as she happily plays.

As I sit there, in my own little world I sometimes connect with the life of the triune God that lives within in. It amazes me that Christ should desire and come and dwell within me. But that is exactly how God planned it, before time was created God planned that Christ would die in my place, as me and that I would be adopted into God’s family. All I had to do was to believe in him and trust him for my righteousness and not my own efforts.

Amazingly, when I believed I received a new nature and my old sinful nature was killed.

So as I sit with the other parents, I am totally different, I am seated in heavenly places although I am also seated on the park bench. 

John Crowder explains how we live in a different reality: -

The problem is not that you have a sinful nature. The problem is that you don’t realize you are new. This is why it imperative to renew the mind with the truth of the gospel. The good news is that you died, and now you are 100 percent new. Not just a new version of the old you. You are completely new in kind and quality. A supernatural child of God, fused into a whole new world – a whole new paradigm. You may be sitting next to a sinner on a park bench – and although it seems like you are both in the same place, you are actually in a whole different parallel dimension from him called heaven on earth. You are now seated in heavenly places. You are the righteousness of God. You are a citizen of Heaven. In Song of Solomon 4:7 he says of you, “All beautiful you are, my darling; there is no flaw in you.”

I have been rescued from the evil world, I live in a different realm, and my citizenship is in heaven. Christ in me is the hope of glory.

Wednesday's Wit - Growing Old

Growing Old

At a church social, a little boy came up and asked me how old I was, I said, “I’m 76.” “And you’re still alive?” he said. – Jack Wilson

I’m so old I daren’t buy green bananas – Bruce Forsyth

I’m at an age when I drop a fiver in the collection plate, it’s not a donation, it’s an investment – Ralph Layton

How do you know when you are old? When you double your current age and realize you’re not going to live that long – Micheal Leyden.

I’m 59 and people call me middle aged. How many 118-year-old men do you know? – Barry Cryer

Old age is like underwear. It creeps up on you – Lois L. Kaufman

A person is always startled when he hears himself called an old man for the first time – Oliver Wendell Holmes.

Tuesday's Track - At The Cross by Hillsong

Let the cross be the only thing that mesmerizes you. – John Crowder.

We need nothing more than the Cross, Christ’s sacrifice was good enough.

My works, effort are nothing, I cannot repay God, my heart is an overflowing fountain of his grace, freely given.

Through the Cross I am reconciled to God and his glory has now come and dwells inside me.

It is all by and though his grace, given in abundance at the Cross.

Oh Lord You've searched me
You know my way
Even when I fail You
I know You love me

Your holy presence
Surrounding me
In every season
I know You love me
I know You love me

At the cross I bow my knee
Where Your blood was she'd for me
There's no greater love than this
You have overcome the grave
Your glory fills the highest place
What can separate me now

You go before me
You shield my way
Your hand upholds me
I know You love me

You tore the veil
You made a way
When You said that it is done

And when the earth fades
Falls from my eyes
And You stand before me
I know You love me
I know You love me

Mothers Day Poem from Dani

Mothers Day Poem from Dani

It was Mothers Day yesterday and our 9 year old daughter gave her mother a lovely hand crafted and decorated card, with her own poem.

It was so beautiful I thought it deserved a special place:-

Hundreds of kisses for a lovely mummy

Hundreds of butterflies flying by

Hundreds of flowers for a mum

Hundreds of paintings drawn for you can you see

Hundreds of happy memories floating by

Hundreds of snowflakes to say “hi”

The word mother is so special to me.

XXXX

Bought with a price

Bought

“You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants  of men”. – 1 Corinthians 7:23

The sacrifice of Christ at Calvary was a once and for all time eternal sacrifice. Christ will not have to come to the earth again to offer himself in our place for our sins. His death was the predestined way that God provided eternal redemption is everyone who believes.

When we come into a living union with God through Christ it is through the blood of Christ. The price of that free gift is his death and we become His righteousness when we die to our own self-righteousness. We die to our own performance, our own methods, our own ambitions and we become alive in Christ. To go back to try to please God through adding anything to Christ’s finished work is becoming the bondservant of man.  Using human effort to try to make ourselves acceptable to God.

Christ + nothing = Everything.

In Christ we are eternally righteous, holy, united, a son, loved, accepted and given all the blessings of heaven. We receive all these as a free gift and we enjoy unbroken joy with the God who lives inside.

This does not mean we live without considering our actions, because Christ purchased us for a purpose. That purpose is that we could live in permanent union with him and he could live and work through us as we are made anew to reflect his glory.

This wonderful union with Christ is the motivation of our hearts, not the law, not our performance, not our right doing and as nothing to do with our self-righteous effort.  All our sin was forgiven at the cross and Christ’s accomplished act gives us confidence to live a righteous filled life by and through God’s free and lavish grace.

Start Expecting....

Stop trying to please God

Stop trying to access all his promises

Stop trying to live right

Stop trying to be a better person

Stop trying to be the perfect example

Stop trying to please others

Rest in who I am in Christ

Rest in His goodness

Rest in His provision

Rest in my union with Him

Rest in His grace

Rest in His finished work

Start expecting to see God moving in and through me

Start expecting to impart the love of God to others.

Start expecting the life of Jesus to flow through me

Start expecting the peace of Jesus to control my heart and emotions

Start expecting boldness and power to work in my life

Start expecting me to see more than enough

Start expecting to see God over all I could ask or think

Effortlessly.

From A Park Bench - 2 Corinthians 8 v 9

2 Corinthians 8 v 9

You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich.

We have been made rich through Christ. The amazing, scandalous exchange of the cross is that Jesus took all the punishment I deserved and I received all the glory and riches he deserved.

The Christian life is not a changed life, but an exchanged life. It is not where God comes in and now you have the ability to live for him. It is His life flowing and emanating out of you, effortlessly.  

Many Christian’s are trying to live right, trying to do the right thing, trying to be the perfect saint, trying to be a good example in their work, leisure and to the people they meet. Unfortunately, they are trying to somebody that they already are. You cannot add to your righteousness and your holiness, by the free gift of God you are rich

.

Instead of trying we should start expecting.

Rest in who you now are and start expecting God to work through you to touch the world. Expect to impart the love of God to others. Expect to have the life of Jesus flow through you. Expect the peace of Jesus to control your heart and emotions.

We have the life of Christ in us, we need to rest in his finished work and enjoy the riches of his grace. End the trying to be the perfect Christian example and start relaxing and expect the joy and love of God to flow out of us, effortlessly.

Wednesday Wit - Exercise

Exercise

I exercise every morning without fail. Up, down! Up, down! And then the other eyelid. – Phyllis Diller.

I swim a lot. It’s either that or buy a new golf ball – Bob Hope.

I keep fit. Every morning, I do 100 laps of an Olympic – sized swimming pool – in a small motor launch. – Peter Cook.

The doctor asked me if I ever got breathless after exercise. I said, no, never, because I never exercise. – John Mortimer.

Whenever I got the urge to exercise, I lie down until the feeling passes away – Robert M. Hutchins.

At past 50, I solemnly and painfully learned to ride the bicycle – Henry Adams

Now I’m over 50 my doctor says I should go out and get more fresh air and exercise. I said, “All right. I’ll drive the car with the window open.” – Angus Walker.

Tuesday's Track - God is Able by Hillsong

I love this song, full of truth, hope and grace

The amazing revelation that the God who will never fail me, the almighty God, who has done great things, lives and works inside me.

He defeated the grave, so I could be raised into new life.

He was raised into new life, so I could rule and reign with him, everyday.

He overcame, so I could live in victory

He is able so I can expect him to do exceedingly beyond all I could ask or think

He will never fail so I have the eternal power of God flowing through me

He will never leave me so I am eternally secure

He is just magnificent and overflowing in grace and love towards me.

God is able
He will never fail
He is almighty God
Greater than all we seek
Greater than all we ask
He has done great things


Lifted up
He defeated the grave
Raised to life
Our God is able
In His name
We overcome
For the Lord
Our God is able


God is with us
God is on our side
He will make a way
Far above all we know
Far above all we hope
He has done great things


Lifted up
He defeated the grave
Raised to life
Our God is able
In His name
We overcome
For the Lord
Our God is able


God is with us
He will go before
He will never leave us
He will never leave us
God is for us
He has open arms
He will never fail us
He will never fail us


Lifted up
He defeated the grave
Raised to life
Our God is able
In His name
We overcome
For the Lord
Our God is able

For the Lord
Our God is able
For the Lord
Our God is able

Grace Notes - Isaiah 53 v 11

Isaiah 53:11 -  “After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied.”

Christ’s sacrifice was sufficient. At the cross all sin was dealt with and forgiven. The wrath and anger of God was utterly satisfied in that one ultimate act.

Everyone that is alive and breathing today, at this very moment, has had their sin dealt with and forgiven at the cross, two thousand years ago. That is all past sin, all present sin and any sin that they will commit in the future. Sin does not separate us from God.

We have the light of God inside us guiding and illuminating our life.  Continuing in sin once we are in union with Christ is not very clever. Sins effect dulls our senses to God’s whispers, gives the devil a foothold to bring back the lies of guilt and condemnation and causes us to focus on the sin and not on who we are in Christ.

We have been made righteous, we are holy, we are sons of God, and we are the delight of heaven. Sin cannot separate us from God, because we have been eternally and totally forgiven.

Drowning in the ocean of God’s grace is the ultimate adventure as we dance with the glorious triune God inside our spirit.

Lucas Miles explains about the love and grace of Jesus: -

This passage is saying that through the suffering of Christ, the wrath of God was completely satisfied once and for all. God isn’t angry any more. He doesn’t desire our penance, or us trying to earn his love.

Did you know that in some parts of the Philippines, extremist Christians; actually have themselves crucified during Easter celebrations as a means of obtaining God’s favor? Obviously most would agree that this behavior is excessive, but how many of us have attempted to utilize fasting, hours of intense prayer, or various other works to try to earn God’s favor?

Oh, how we need a revelation of the good news of the love and grace of Jesus Christ. This is the message we preach to the world. As 1^st John 2:2 puts it, “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”

ConneXions - Blessed is he whose sin is covered

Blessed is he whose sin is covered

The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.  He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever.  He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far from us  as the east is from the west.The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. – Psalm 103:8-12

Once again you will have compassion on us.  You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean! – Micah 7:19

I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again. – Isaiah 43:25

Yes, this anguish was good for me, for you have rescued me from death and forgiven all my sins. – Isaiah 38:17

“Come now, let’s settle this,”  says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.” – Isaiah 1:18

Adoption is the Heart of Predestination.

Adoption is the heart of predestination.

“He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will” – Ephesians 1 v 5

Adoption is the heart of predestination. For many, many Christians the whole idea of God pre-choosing some people to be saved and rejecting others is just too overwhelming.

But predestination is not really about individual salvation but about how we connect to God.  Predestination is about relating to God through His righteousness and not our own self-righteousness.  God predestined everyone to be justified by Jesus’ sacrifice at the cross.  There is only one way to God and that is through Jesus and that plan was predestined to bring us into a relationship with God where we would be adopted as His joint-heirs receiving all the riches of heaven.

Everyone has had their sins forgiven at the cross; everyone can enter into the predestination God has provided, all we have to do is to accept the call of Christ through his death and trust him instead of ourselves for salvation.

As we believe he justifies us and he glorifies us, through our union with him. The living God enters into our mortal bodies and we become one with him, adopted into the family of God.

As Andrew Womack explains adoption is a severing of our old life and the start of a new life: -

“Adoption" was a term used only by the apostle Paul in scripture. It found its roots in Roman culture rather than of the Jews. Through adoption old ties were severed and the new father now became full owner of the child with all legal rights. In Rome a slave could have the full rights of that of a Roman citizen through adoption. Through adoption the believer now has had all ties severed from his old master and has now become the property of His heavenly Father as an heir and joint-heir with Jesus Christ. “

The cry of our heart through adoption is ‘Father!’.  A deep emotional response to the overwhelming love and grace we receive through Christ. We know God and God dwells is us.

His eternal plan was to bring into his royal family through the death of his Son and we now receive all the blessings of heaven predestined for us in Christ.

Visitors by William Newton

We are, all of us

Just on a visit to Planet Earth.

For some of us it will be a short stay.

Some will try to prolong their visit.

Some will outstay their welcome.

Others may have their visits curtailed

By accident.

And may have to say their farewells

On the road or in the air.

Some visits will be horribly terminated

By shooting, hanging or electrocution.

The visitors I feel really sorry for

Are the little ones who are refused admission

At the door.

For life is a great show

And not one to be missed.

By William Newton