SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/6/2024 9:13 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-3 “Obedience”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
28:19-20a
Message of the verses: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you;”
One of the things that I have written about in my
past SD’s is the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
This is one of the things that John MacArthur talks and writes about
frequently, and it took me a while to understand this. Let me just say from my past that when I
became a believer that there were many things that I did not understand, but
because of the patience of God I learned many of the fundamental things of the
faith, and one of them is that Jesus Christ is not only my Savior, but He is
also my Lord. Yes this took me a while
to learn this truth, but now that I know it this had made a difference in my
life as it caused me to grow in the Lord.
Now I will quote from MacArthur’s commentary on this important subject.
“Scripture knows nothing of receiving Christ as Savior
but not as Lord, as if a person could take God piecemeal as it suits Him. Every convert to Christ is a disciple of
Christ, and no one who is not a disciple of Christ, no matter what his
profession of faith might be, is a convert of Christ.”
He goes on “The very point of Jesus’ encounter with the
rich young ruler was of Jesus—refused to give up everything for Christ and
submit to Him as Lord. He sincerely
wanted eternal life and had the wisdom to come to the source of that life. But he was unwilling to give up his own life
and possessions and obey Jesus’ command to ‘come, follow Me’ (Luke
18:18-23). He was willing to have Jesus
as Savior but not as Lord, and Christ would not receive him on those
terms. Because he refused to be Christ’s
disciple when the cost was made clear (like those in John 6:66), he could have
no part of Christ or of the eternal life that He gives.”
I have heard that when a true born-again believer gets to
heaven that he will have three surprises.
First who is there, second who is not there, and third that he is
there. That statement teaches me first
of all that there may be some missing because of what is called easy believism.
Those who only accept Jesus
as Savior are a part of that easy believism.
As stated one does not always understand that Jesus Christ is Lord right
away, but if you are a true believer God will make that clear to you. Salvation is a gift of God, and we can do
nothing to earn it otherwise there would be people in heaven who have something
to brag about and that would not bring glory to the Lord who deserves all
glory.
I want to say something about our election which took
place yesterday. I am very happy that
God extended grace to our country, a country that was on the brink of being
destroyed from within. This shows me
that God is not done with our country. I
have mentioned that there are three prayers in the post exile part of Israel,
one from Ezra, Nehemiah, and Daniel.
What they all have in common is the truth that Israel had sinned, and
all three writers say “we have sinned.”
That is how I prayed to the Lord concerning our election that we have
sinned and are in need of God’s mercy which I believe He gave to us. Donald Trump is not perfect but I know for
sure that he loves our country so much that even after being nearly killed he
did not stop loving our country. My
prayer is that God will use this man to bring glory to the Lord. I will pray for him daily as I pray for all
of our Presidents even though I have not agreed with many of them, the
Scripture tells us to pray for those who are in charge over you.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Continue to
trust the Lord to give the US mercy even though none of us do not deserve it,
for mercy is given to those who don’t deserve it as that is what mercy is all
about.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust
the Lord to work in my heart so that I can serve Him each and every day to
bring glory to Him.
11/6/2024 9:39 AM