The Culture of Hope Founded on Faith
Tag Archives: Salvation
At the church in which I grew up, a wide wooden plaque hangs above the platform in front of the sanctuary. It is an illuminated text patiently crafted by one of the founding members of the church in 1949 and big enough to be read from the back of the room. “That in all things He might have the preeminence. Col 1:18.” As a child I assumed it was the entire thought of the Bible passage and a stand-alone verse……
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Exodus 25-31 describes the instructions God gave Moses about the building, accessories, and maintenance of the Tabernacle. Moses was told to request willing sacrifices of the people with which to make a dwelling place for God among them: “And this is the offering which you shall take of them: gold, silver, and brass; blue, purple, scarlet, and fine linen; goats’ hair, rams’ skins dyed red, and badgers’ skins; shittim wood; oil for the light, spices for anointing oil and for sweet incense;…..
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Christianity in the Long Run
Acts 6:31 tells us “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.” At that point of belief through which we enter into Salvation, we are redeemed, adopted, and sanctified. Our lives don’t freeze in that moment. Except in the case of eleventh-hour deathbed conversions, we generally aren’t carried to Heaven in that moment. We continue to live on this earth as spiritual newborns in Christ growing in the knowledge of God.
Scripture…..
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Forever
When I was ten years old, my fifth grade teacher asked the class what we thought we would be like or be doing at the turn of the century. The purpose of the exercise was her philosophy that, having lived a full decade, we should know what we wanted to do as adults and focus on that for the rest of our academic careers. When I thought about the year 2000, all I could imagine was my age. I…..
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Come
Isaiah is a book of prophecy that primarily targets the people of Israel. But chapters fifty-three through sixty-one diverge into the prophetic advent of salvation free to all who believe in the redemptive sacrifice of Christ on the cross. One part of that prophecy uses the imperative voice of command as God calls everyone to Come (Isa. 55:1), Listen Diligently (vs. 2b), Hear (vs.3), and Seek Him (vs. 6).
In Isaiah 55:1, God gives an invitation to the needy,…..
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Old and New Testament Parallels
Jeremiah 29:11-13 was a message to the Children of Israel, but it carries over to us, as well, to the New Testament Church: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall you call upon me, and you shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And you shall seek me and…..
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Trust and Obey
“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusts in thee. Trust in the Lord forever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength” (Is. 26:3-4).
These verses state a reverse continuum that is the very basis of our salvation in Jesus Christ. It starts with God’s everlasting strength, more than enough reason to believe and trust God for the salvation offered through our Lord Jesus Christ. In its…..
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Doing It God’s Way
Isaiah 55:6-9 records a prophetic call to repentance and return to God: “Seek ye the LORD while He may be found. Call ye upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake His way and the unrighteous man His thoughts. And let him return unto the LORD and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. ‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways my ways,…..
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God’s Personal Involvement, Continued
My husband’s father lost two teenaged sisters during the flu pandemic of 1918, aunts that my husband never got to meet. Right now we are living through another pandemic and find ourselves in circumstances that can sometimes seem to be a worst case scenario. When bad things happen to us or to loved ones, we find ourselves wondering why.
Many times we hear Romans 8:28 recited as proof against discouragement: “And we know that for those…..
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Thanksgiving, Part 2
The holiday we call Thanksgiving was proclaimed a national holiday by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. It is said to have begun in 1621 when the Pilgrims enjoyed a harvest of vegetables after a drought left them in doubt of food for the winter. They had fasted and prayed for rain during the summer and God granted their request. The harvest was celebrated by a feast which included the Indians who had taught the Pilgrims to grow…..