spiritualsnippets.com

Seeing life's events in the light of God's Word.

Admission Granted

 

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Psalm 139: 13-16 “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

 

I walk up to the door of the school office. Before I can enter and sign in at the front desk, I must enter my security passcode and look up at a computer camera which verifies my identity, using facial recognition.

Fingerprints.   DNA.  Voice.  Security questions.  Birthdate and social security number.  These—Or a combination thereof—are also used worldwide to help us make sure who we are admitting into our space.

God doesn’t need any of this because He created us.

He knew us even before we were formed in our mothers’ wombs.

He planned everything about us, so how we look and the essence of who we are is no surprise to Him.

He even knows our thoughts—even the bad stuff–and thankfully, He still loves us.

Still forgives us.

And, if we accept His free gift of salvation, He will grant us admission—not based on facial recognition, but because He sees our soul, cleansed by the blood of His one and only Son.

 

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In All Circumstances

 

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1 Thessalonians 5:18- Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Look close.

Just what does this verse say God’s will is for us?

His will is that we give thanks in the midst of life’s circumstances.

Give thanks that we are saved by His grace.

Give thanks that He loves us and we will be in heaven with Him one day.

Give thanks for our many blessings.

When we face difficult circumstances, we may not feel thankful, but He knows our future and He knows where today and its circumstances will take us.

God wants us to be able to rejoice in His grace—even when we aren’t feeling well.

He wants us to pray for others, even when we have needs, ourselves.

He wants us to be thankful for our many blessings.

God knows what is best for us because He alone knows the future.

In the midst of it all, He is with us. He will not leave us or forsake us.

He will see us through.

And, because of all of that, we can be thankful in all circumstances.

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The Master of “Fake” News

 

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“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).

Every time I turn on the television, I am bombarded with what we have come to call “fake news”: The President did this or that, a famous person died, someone was secretly married, and so on. Often, we find out the story was totally fabricated.

Some of the lies are fairly easy to spot, but others are more difficult to discern.

Satan is the master of lies, the Bible tells us. And, the lies he wants us to believe are those that affect our eternal lives.

Here are just two examples of his lies that mean the difference between life and death:

The first lie is that there are many ways to get to Heaven.

Oh, it sounds good to some people who want to believe that no one religion or group has all the answers. It may sound plausible to them that as long as we are sincere and do our best, it will turn out well for us in the end.

But, the Bible says that Jesus is the only way to salvation.

Secondly, Satan wants you to think that as long as you believe in something, it’s okay. 

But, God’s word says in Acts 4:12- “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” And, in 1 Timothy 2:5. it says “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”

The Bible is not fake news, a scam or a lie.

THERE IS ONLY ONE GOD AND ONE WAY TO GET TO HIM. It is THROUGH JESUS CHRIST ALONE. 

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GRATEFUL HEARTS GIVE PRAISE

 

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Hebrews 13:15- Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.”

 

Recent accounts of terrorist attacks tell of people who stepped into the line of fire to save loved ones.

Parents often sacrifice things they want in order to clothe and feed their families.

In the Old Testament, people sacrificed animals to cover their sins.

Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son, Isaac, on an altar on Mt. Moriah.

God sacrificed his son as atonement for our sins.

Sacrifice: “An act of giving up something valued for the sake of something else regarded as more important or worthy.”

Many give of their time and resources to further the gospel.

Some believers may even lose their lives in defense of it.

For most of us, this won’t happen, of course.

But, we can offer a “sacrifice of praise” from truly grateful hearts.—ones that openly profess his name.

 

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