Whoever Enters
GOD’S gift of forgiveness must be appropriated; that is, it must be accepted on an individual basis. Although it is a universal offer, it has no effect on the sin debt of a man or a woman who has not personally put trust in Christ. It is like a paycheck that is never picked up; it is like a gift certificate that is not redeemed; it is like a lifeline that is ignored by a drowning person.
Christ creatively communicated the concept of appropriation. Through the use of word pictures and parables, he drove home his point to “trust in God; trust also in me” (John 14:1). He told the woman at the well to ask for “living water” (John 4:10). He instructed the Jews to come to him to receive “life” (John 5:40). He told one group they would have to “eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood: (John 6:53). To the leaders of the Jews, he said, “If anyone keeps my word, he will never see death” (John 8:51). He presented himself to the Pharisees in this way: “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture” (John 10:9). He used every conceivable illustration to show his audience that they needed to personally and individually appropriate God’s gift of eternal life for themselves.
AUTHOR: Charles Stanley. Taken from FORGIVENESS by Charles Stanley. Copyright 1987 by Charles Stanley. Thomas Nelson Publishers. Extracted from Men’s Devotional Bible New International Version Page 1179. Copyright 1993 by Zondervan Publishing House.
Forgiveness is available in a series below or individually at Amazon.com
Resolve
I’m part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have the Holy Spirit power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made – I’m a disciple of his. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure. I’m finished and done with low living, sight walking, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, worldly talking, cheap giving and dwarfed goals.
I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits or popularity. I don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean in his presence, walk by patience, am uplifted by prayer, and I labor with power.
- A young pastor in Zimbabwe, Africa, later martyred for his faith in Christ.
Give Us the Light
ALL of us who have been baptized in Christ and have “put on Christ” as a new identity are bound to be holy as he is holy. We are bound to live worthy lives, and our actions should bear witness to our union with him. He should manifest his presence in us and through us …
We are supposed to be the light of the world. We are supposed to be a light to ourselves and to others. That may well be what accounts for the fact that the world is in darkness!
What then is meant by the light of Christ in our lives? What is “holiness”? What is divine son-ship? Are we really seriously supposed to be saints? Can a man even desire such a thing without making a complete fool of himself in the eyes of everyone else? Is it not presumptuous? Is such a thing even possible at all? To tell the truth, many laypeople and even a good many religious do not believe, in practice, that sanctity is possible for them. Is this just plain common sense? Is it perhaps humility? Or is it defection, defeatism and despair?
If we are are called by God to holiness of life and if holiness is beyond our natural power to achieve (which it certainly is) then it follows that God himself must give us the light, the strength and the courage to fulfill the task he requires of us.
He will certainly give us the grace we need. If we do not become saints it is because we so not avail ourselves of his gift.
AUTHOR: Thomas Merton from LIFE AND HOLINESS. Copyright 1963 by the Abbey of Gethsemani, Inc.. Taken from Men’s Devotional Bible New International Version Page 1014. Copyright 1993 by Zondervan Publishing House.
Thirsty for Righteousness
“IF ANYONE is thirsty,” Jesus once said, “let him come to me and drink” [John 7:37 NIV].
Admission of thirst doesn’t come easy for us. False fountains pacify our cravings with sugary swallows of pleasure. But there come a time when pleasure doesn’t satisfy. There comes a dark hour in every life when the world caves in and we are left trapped in the rubble of reality, parched and dying.
Some would rather die than admit it. Others admit it and escape death.
“God, I need help.”
So the thirsty come. A ragged lot we are, bound together by broken dreams and collapsed promises. Fortunes that were never made. Families that were never built. Promises that were never kept …
And we are very thirsty.
Not thirsty for fame, possessions, passion or romance. We’ve drunk from those pools. They are salt water in the desert. They don’t quench – they kill. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness …”
Righteousness. That’s it. That’s what we are thirsty for. We’re thirsty for a clean conscience. We crave a clean slate. We yearn for a fresh start. We pray for a hand which will enter the dark cavern of our world and do for us the one thing we can’t do for ourselves – make us right again.
AUTHOR: Max Lucado from THE APPLAUSE OF HEAVEN. Copyright 1990 by Max Lucado. Word, Inc., Dallas, Texas. Taken from Men’s Devotional Bible New International Version Page 1138. Copyright 1993 by Zondervan Publishing House.
Get the book “The Applause of Heaven” right here:
The Hourglass of Life
JESUS never closes a mind; he opens it. Jesus is never threatened by a question; he welcomes it, He knows all questions will ultimately end up with him, so fire away!
Jesus is the answer, and when he walks through a question, he always leaves the door open so anyone can get to it from either side. Modern Christians keep wanting to shut the door (once they’ve passed through, of course).
For many Christians, the experience of truth has been a narrowing experience, and in one sense this is right. All those questions – religions, sins, frustrations, explorations – finally ended up with Jesus. Like following the inside of a cone, all experiences funneled to a point, and at that point was Jesus on the cross for my sin.
The error, however, is when we stop here and move no further. For our experience of truth to grow, we must move through the cross back out into the same reality – the same questions, the same world – with a different perspective.
It’s like an hourglass with the cross at the center. All my preconversion experiences narrowed me toward a personal encounter with Christ; but once through, he leads me back out into the world I came from where the lines now, instead of converging, open up into an ever-widening reality. The sands of truth always move this way – in toward the center and out again.
Yes, Jesus is the answer, and it’s precisely because he is the answer that we can venture out. Because he is Lord of all, we can walk into all and find him Lord. This is not only a privilege, it’s a mandate. It’s what Christians are called to do in the world.
AUTHOR: John Fischer from TRUE BELIEVERS DON’T ASK WHY. Copyright 1989 by John Fischer. Bethany House Publishers. Taken from Men’s Devotional Bible New International Version Page 1288. Copyright 1993 by Zondervan Publishing House.
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