God does the rest of the work of salvation!

Isaiah 1:18.
'Come now, let us reason together,' says the Lord. 'Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.'

Its amazing to me that this was written MANY years before this truth was revealed to us in Jesus Christ. Written in a time that salvation to many was a repertoire of legalistic requirements and ceremonies. And here in this verse, the Lord says, "let us reason" yet it is reason and logic that often brings about legalism.

I love this verse because it's quite simple. The Lord tells us that even though in our own right we are dirty, nasty and unclean, HE will make us clean; no conditions. This is a clear picture of God's grace and when that is put into context, we can surely reason with one another. We can reason past non essential doctrine that so entangles us in endless unfruitful debates.

If we see the greatness of this verse, we can reason past all the senseless legalism that continues to condemn saved Christians into thinking they can mess up and loose their salvation. People do all kinds of things "in the name of Jesus" thinking they secure their salvation or gain God's favor.

So let's reason with one another and come to the conclusion that we are saved because of his grace through a very simple act of faith which is believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord and he died to pay for your penalty for your sins.

God does the rest of the work of salvation!

Pray for Obama?

1 Timothy 2:1-2.
I urge, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone - for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.

This is a message to all of you that are not quite happy with our President. Brought to you by God!

Its interesting that this message was written by St Paul during a time that was ruled by a very oppressive ruler in Rome. Nero made Hitler look like a pansy!

Yet Paul urged the people to pray for him? How many of us pray for President Obama? Is that such a tough pill to swallow? What's the alternative? To harbor anger because you don't agree with his policies?

What about a boss you don't care for? You have three choices, retaliate, leave or pray.

To pray, as this verse does yields a promise at the end of this verse. Note that is says "so that we may live peaceful and quiet lives..."

I like that, I want to have peace and quiet. Every time I try to fight authority I'm on the wrong end of the stick. I don't believe this is telling us to give up submit to be abused by authority. It is a call to prayer, that in earnest we ask God to guide those people over us.

But those who founded our country, in faith and in prayer were called by God to resist those in authority and create this great nation. The created this nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all.

So let's pray for Obama to be willing and open to God's word as he faces challenges. In the same token, let's pray for God to give of the wisdom needed to sift through politics and identify the works of the enemy which are hell bent on destroying liberty in this great nation.

God is in control, if you want him to be.

Ephesians 1:9-10.
He made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment - to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.

The Father knows the begining through the end. He created his plan outside the bounds of what we know as time and this verse says he did all this according to his "good pleasure."

In addition, this verse tells us that there will be a time when His plan will be fulfilled. When heaven and earth are reconciled under "one head."

It goes right along with how Jesus taught us to pray "your Kingdom come, your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven."

To me that means that he is working every day, every moment to bring this world under his authority, "one head." But then I think to myself, that means there are aspects of this world that are under someone else's authority, the enemy.

So while it is nice to think "God is in control" perhaps he is not always in control? It's obvious that in his plan he allows us to go astray and perhaps be under the enemy's control only to ultimately bring us closer to him.

I think that is a sobering thought that sparks all kinds of other thoughts. I think of words like "your name is a strong tower" and the imagery that in order to have safety in the strong tower you must consiously run inside. So currently in this world, God is in control of the people who willingly seek him. But those who consiously walk away from him can find themselves in the belly of a whale.

So God is in control, if you want him to be.