SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/9/2017
10:44 AM
My Worship Time Focus: “PT-3
Because they were given to Him from the Father”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: John 17:9-10
Message
of the verses: “9 "I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on
behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours;
10 and all things that are Mine are
Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them.”
Today we begin by looking at the
fact that the disciples, all of them with the exception of Judas were changed
from rebellious lovers of the world to become sanctified worshipers and also
those who would glory the Lord. Think
for just a moment of who these men were when Jesus called them, and I have to
say that I don’t know a lot about their back grounds with the exception of what
is found in different places of the Bible.
One was a zealot and wanted to be involved in destroying the Romans,
while one was a tax collector who made his living from the Romans, wonder how
they got along in the beginning. Peter,
James, and John were fishermen which was a rough life, and probably could be
called sinful as Peter asked Jesus to leave because he was a sinful man. I think we get the picture. This did take a while as John MacArthur writes
“Though regeneration takes place at a moment in time, it is a miracle that was
planned in eternity past and that has unending implications for eternity
future. All believers (including the
eleven disciples) were chosen and claimed by the Father before the world began
and promised to the Son as a tangible expression of His infinite love. That is the divine side of salvation. The human side is persevering faith and
obedience, by which the disciples had demonstrated that they truly belonged to
God.” Now as we believers read this
statement it can give us courage, along with great thankfulness to be a part of
the love gift that the Father is giving to His Son. I realize that we fumble the ball so to
speak, but when we look at the disciples who walked with Jesus for three years
we also saw that they too fumbled the ball, and during those times we could
also see the graciousness of our Lord in the way He handled those situations.
You know that there be times in your
life as a believer that you wonder if you truly are saved, and these times can
come after you fumbled the ball many times and you think “am I truly a child of
God,” and there are verses written in the Word of God that do ask you to test
yourself to see if indeed you are a child of God. There are also many verses in the Word of God
to show you that you truly are a believer.
MacArthur adds “Subjectively, that confidence stems from the fruit of
enduring faith and continuing obedience in a person’s life no matter what the
temptation or test. Here the powerful
words of Peter:
‘3 Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great
mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable
and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are
protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be
revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now
for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, 7
so that the proof of your
faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by
fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of
Jesus Christ; 8 and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and
though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy
inexpressible and full of glory, 9 obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.’
(1 Peter 1:3-9; cf. John 10:27; 15:10, 14; 1 John 3:21-24; 4:20; 5:4; cf. Rev.
14:12).”
As a believer I can look back at the
almost 27 years of not being a believer and especially in my early teen years I
would read the Bible and get absolutely nothing from it, but now I can have an
understanding of what the Word of God is saying to me through the power of the
Holy Spirit. My behavior has changed and
the Word of God has much to say about it.
I know that as I look back on the day that the Lord saved me that I had
become a different person, for He had regenerated me through His Spirit “He
saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but
according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy
Spirit (Titus 3:5).” Let us now look at
1 John 2:3-6:
“3
By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.
4 The one who says, "I have come to
know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is
not in him; 5 but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been
perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: 6 the one who says he abides in
Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.”
Let us finish the section by once
again quoting the ending from John MacArthur:
“Ensuring
the preservation of the disciples’ faith is a divine work that the Lord does by
His power (cf. John 6:37-40). Nothing can
separate His own from His love (Rom. 8:31-39) and He is willing and ‘able also
to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives
to make intercession for them’ (Heb. 7:27).
“In the
face of His absence in sin-bearing, though only for a few hours, Jesus
proceeded to ask the Father to take up the protection of those whom He had
given to Him. Yet, in making that
request, Jesus expressed absolute certainty that the Father would do what He
asked. His confidence was not in the disciples’ steadfastness or
ingenuity, but in
the love and power of His Father (cf. John 10:27-30). ‘27 "My sheep hear My voice, and I know
them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish;
and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29 "My Father, who has given
them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the
Father’s hand. 30 “I and
the Father are one." He knew
that what the Father had promised in eternity past He would certainly
accomplish and ensure in the present.”
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: My
confidence for the salvation that was given to me is in the Lord, along with my
growing in Him.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust that
the Lord will keep me faithful in doing my Spiritual Diaries and to teach me
from them so that others will also learn from what the Lord is teaching me.
Answer
to yesterday’s Bible question: “Ester.”
Today’s
Bible question: “What happened to a man
who was being buried in Elisha’s sepulcher?”
Answer
in our next SD.
3/9/2017
11:25 AM
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