“Masterpieces” by God

March 7, 2020April 16, 2020 nofearlindaLeave a comment

I love today’s verses in Ephesians 2:8-10. They bring renewed hope, purpose and clarification from God showing His great love, generosity, planning and sovereignty. I particularly like the New Living Translation as it brings added clarity to the passage. “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. ⁹Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. ¹⁰For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”

What hope we have because we believe in Jesus! We are assured that we don’t have to try and ‘earn’ our way into heaven. God promises us that there is nothing we can do now or in the future to earn our salvation. It is purely a gift from our gracious God. God loves us and we are important to Him. We are His masterpieces. He loves us and has prepared good works for us to do in His name. There are many scriptures that confirm these facts:

John 1:16 “For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” His grace is perfectly complete, giving us all we need.

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Salvation is a free gift, not earned.

Psalm 139:14 “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.” God specifically created each of us.

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” God’s plans are complete and for my good, I can place my hope in them.

James 2:14 “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? As a believer, genuine faith will cause me to seek to do good works for Jesus.

We can cling to these verses from our loving and gracious God knowing we are here with a purpose by His design. We can trust His sovereignty in all things. 2 Chronicles 20:6 ““O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you.”

Have a blessed day as you prayerfully consider: God’s grace towards you, His sovereignty over your life and the good works He has lovingly prepared for you.

Linda

Lenten Sunday #1

March 1, 2020 nofearlindaLeave a comment

As you reflect today and prepare for another week, here are some truths we’ve uncovered so far in Ephesians. Because Christ died on the cross and rose from the dead:

I can be His saint and faithfully, walk in His grace and experiencing His peace. Ephesians 1:1-2

I have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places. Ephesians 1:3

I can be encouraged by God’s love, the redemption plan made perfect in Christ and the hope I now have in Him. Ephesians 1:4-6, 7-10

I now have His Holy Spirit living within me through faith affirming, testifying and guaranteeing my inheritance in Him. Ephesians 1:13-14

Praise God for His grace and goodness today knowing you are loved and that God Almighty has a plan for you that is perfected in Christ and guaranteed by His Holy Spirit.

Psalm 103 1 5 BlessTheLord Let Psalm 103:1-5 be on your lips today!

Bless the Lord, O my soul,
    and all that is within me,
    bless his holy name!
²Bless the Lord, O my soul,
    and forget not all his benefits,
³who forgives all your iniquity,
    who heals all your diseases,
⁴who redeems your life from the pit,
    who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
⁵who satisfies you with good
    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Linda

#9 Practicing Devotion to God- by relying upon His Grace

February 24, 2020 nofearlindaLeave a comment

What is Grace? It is defined as God’s unmerited favor towards us. We did nothing and can do nothing to deserve His favor. It is something that God gives us freely by faith in Jesus from the depth of His love for us. Scripture teaches us that God’s grace is always sufficient and because God is omnipotent He will never run out of grace. 2 Corinthians 12:9 is one of my go to verses for power, strength and assurance about God’s grace. Paul recalls the words of Christ to him, “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” God graciously gives us what we need in our weakness and brings glory to Himself by showing His power in our lives. I cling to the sufficiency of His grace.

Ephesians 2:8-10 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹not a result of works, so that no one may boast. ¹⁰For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” We are saved by His grace, certainly not by anything we have done or will do. We cannot be good enough, clean enough or pure enough on our own. Salvation is a gracious gift of God given to us through our faith in Jesus. He saves us by grace and graciously uses us to do His good works. He could do everything himself, but He graciously allows us to participate for our good and His glory.

Hebrews 4:16 adds one other dimension to His grace towards us. “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Because of our faith in Jesus, our high priest, and His work on the cross, we have access to God and can approach Him in prayer. When we do, we are assured that we will find grace and mercy in our times of need. There is never a time that God is not with me and I can always know that He will meet my needs with grace and mercy. What a blessed hope!

May you grow to trust in His grace, lean into and depend upon His grace and let His grace give you Hope as you draw near to Him with a heart of love and devotion.

Linda

I pray you have been blessed as much as I have by going through these 9 practical ways to show our loyalty and devotion to God. We can practice devotion to God by: recalling His attributes, remembering His good works towards us, relating to Him in prayer, reading and meditating on His Word, resting in our identity in Christ, repenting regularly, responding to the world biblically, remembering our Savior and relying upon His grace. May you remember to incorporate these into your life on a daily basis and receive His blessings!

2020 A New Year, A New Decade- How will you survive?

January 1, 2020January 2, 2020 nofearlindaLeave a comment

Yesterday I was in the look back mode, but today January 1, 2020 I am looking forward. Each year I have a habit of choosing a word to guide my year. Last year God gave me the word Trust and Wow! did I see that word week after week. I learned to lean upon God and trust Him in new, painful, scary and exciting situations. It was amazing how Trust kept coming up again and again, reminding me of who I am and where my Trust needs to be placed.

This year God has given me the word Hope. I have always loved writing and talking about the hope I have in Christ, but I feel His Hope will reach into all corners of my life. So I thought it wise to spend a few weeks looking into HOPE and seeing how hope is described in God’s Word. The verse I found to start with is Psalm 71:14 as it seemed to capture the hope I feel right now as I begin this new year. “But I will hope continually
and will praise you yet more and more.” Psalm 71 was written by King David in his old age. He reflects upon God, his dependence upon Him and God’s continuing faithfulness. David resolves to continue praising God just as he has done since his youth. “For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth.” Psalm 71:5

May my accusers be put to shame and consumed;
    with scorn and disgrace may they be covered
    who seek my hurt.
¹⁴But I will hope continually
    and will praise you yet more and more.
¹⁵My mouth will tell of your righteous acts,
    of your deeds of salvation all the day,
    for their number is past my knowledge. Psalm 71:13-15

David knows the ‘world’ will come against him, yet he knows God will deal with them. He has his hope placed in God and will praise Him. No matter what as he knows God is sovereign and in control of all things, people, and places. He vows to continue to proclaim what God has done for him.

This is a challenge as we face a New Year. We know for certain that things will come against us-as they always do. What we know, like David, is that God is faithful and will stand with us. We need to trust in His sovereignty and mercy and cling to Him in HOPE. That is my answer to, How will I survive in 2020? I will cling to Him in HOPE knowing with absolute faith that God is faithful, loving and merciful. He will be gracious to me as I place my HOPE in Him.