You can listen to this devotion on You Tube: God Loves Me Just the Way I Am.
God accepts us into His Kingdom just the way we are. But He expects us to change.
That's why the Bible explains that salvation is an unearned gift, but sanctification is a process that requires diligence, obedience, and commitment (Philippians 3:7-21; 2 Peter 1:10-11).
God's love is not fragile...we need not worry about losing it whenever we sin. But neither should we think God's love comes without expectations.
God expects us to:
1. Give up our plans and our ways for His plans and His ways (Matthew 16:24-27, James 2:14-26).
2. Obey His commands (1 John 2:3; 1 John 5:3).
3. Keep growing in Christ (Philippians 2:12-13).
We don't like denying ourselves and doing the hard things. But this is what we "signed up for" when we became Christians (Luke 25:14-33).
We agreed not to accept ourselves "just the way we are," and so we press on to become the person God designed us to be.
Why? Because Jesus loves us and we love Him!
💙💙💙
You can listen to this devotion on YouTube HERE.
I, too, feel very burdened about the false beliefs that people are latching onto. Thank you so much for stepping forth with TRUTH. May God bless you! My prayers are with you. I am enjoy this very much!!! Cindy
ReplyDeleteAmen, We really need to die to self daily. The flesh is so prone to being fretful. Thank God for His Truth which sanctifies us. His Word IS Truth
ReplyDeleteGod bless!
Some one once told me that God loves me just the way I am, but He loves me too much to let me stay that way. Thank God for SANCTIFICATION!
ReplyDeleteGail, thanks for stopping by my blog earlier! I'm loving this blog of yours! Its great to have a quick little pick me up from God!
ReplyDeleteJenna @ rainonatinroof.com
These posts are wonderful, I came to them through growing home link up. Tara.
ReplyDeleteI was so very pleased to read your blog this morning. It is so up lifting to read the truth. We are human but God has made us perfect through the blood of Christ. However, we are expected to cast off our old ways and try to live a Christ like life. I hope this makes sense and thank you for you love notes.
ReplyDeleteI am agnostic. I want to be sensitive to every body's beliefs and I hope to be respected in the same way
ReplyDeleteGod loves us. He knew we could never follow the law so he did something I could never do HE gove is only son as a sacrifice to pay my sin debt so I can be in heaven after I die. There is no way to keep yourself saved. Thats like trying to payoff your house that doesn't have a mortgage. Through daily prayer and building a your relationship with God builds you up in your spiritual health. I honestly dont understand you saying sanctification comes through working at it.. You are sanctified via Jesus and accepting that he paid your sin debt in full End of story. Once you accept Jesus the Holy Spirit moves in and makes sinful things very distasteful and undesirable.. Santification is a free gift you dont have to work for it... My good works "are as filthy rags "when offered up to God for santification
ReplyDelete/salvation. Love you guys being a Christian is not hard work its all about my relationship with the creator and Jesus giving me access to him.
Dear Unknown,
DeleteWe are saved by grace alone. But we work out our salvation after we are saved. That's what this devotion says, and it says it very clearly.
If don't believe that is true, your problem is with Scripture, not with this devotion:
Philippians 2: 12-13: Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
Ephesians 2:10: For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Matthew 7:21: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
James 2:14: What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?
Titus 3:8: This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.
I could give you many more verses that talk about our need to do good works after we are saved. It's not like paying off a house that doesn't have a mortgage. It part of loving our Lord and seeking to please Him (Ephesians 5). There are some saved people who believe God has no expectations. They put in their minimum effort and God describes the results in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15.
Telling someone that sanctification involves no work is telling them that Christ isn't worth their best efforts. It's misleading and unscriptural.
Additional clarification: Working out our salvation is not the same as working for our salvation.
DeleteSalvation is a free gift, but it's the beginning of a new lifestyle, a lifestyle in which Paul tells us to "work out our salvation."
It's easier if we make a distinction between salvation and sanctification, but Scripture uses the word salvation to describe both.
That was made explicitly clear in this devotion.