GOD'S INITIATIVE

[Wordsmith]

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April 2, 2004 Thought for the Day

God's Initiative

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but
to save the world through him. (NIV) John 3:17

. . . Continued from yesterday

The cross was an act undertaken by God. The Father was not a passive
spectator, but an active participant in the plan of redemption. Christ
died on the cross because it was God's will to reconcile mankind to
Himself.
God was in Christ, and therefore, involved Himself in man's redemption. God
made Christ sin on our behalf (2 Corinthians 5:21) and then victoriously
raised Jesus from the dead in the resurrection (Acts 2:32, 3:15, 3:26,
4:10,
5:30, 10:40, 13:30, 13:33-34).

The Father's Love:
** For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to
save the world through him. (John 3:17)
** The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead-- whom you had killed
by
hanging him on a tree. (Acts 5:30)
** And we have beheld and bear witness that the Father has sent the Son {to
be}
the Savior of the world. (I John 4:14)

The Son's Love:
** He said, "Surely they are my people, sons who will not be false to me";
and
so he became their Savior. In all their distress he too was distressed, and
the
angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them;
he
lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. (Isaiah 63:8-9)
** She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,
because
he will save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21)
** For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." (Luke 19:10)
** Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under
heaven
given to men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12)

The Spirit's Love
** Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of
God
unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but
the
Spirit gives birth to spirit. (John 3:5)
** The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have
spoken
to you are spirit and they are life. (John 6:63)
**. . . because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with
power,
with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among
you
for your sake. (1 Thessalonians 1:5)
** But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us,
not
because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved
us
through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he
poured out
on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, (Titus 3:4-6)

It was God's initiative, God's plan, that saved mankind from the clutches
of death.

Written by Marji "Mike" Kruger

 

[Wordsmith]

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Daily Wisdom http://www.dailywisdom.com
A service of Gospel Communications International
http://gci.gospelcom.net/

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Ask, and It Shall Be Given You -

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it
shall
be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh
findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. (Matt.7:7-8)

This is one of the most amazing promises in the entire Bible. It almost
seems unbelievable, except we know that Jesus Christ is trustworthy, and
if he said it, (and he did), then it has to be true. But he must have
known that we would find it hard to believe, because as soon as he had
said it in the first sentence, he immediately said it over again in the
second, just to assure us that this fantastic promise means exactly what
it says, and is not to be brushed aside as a mistake. It's no mistake!

Try it, and you will see for yourself. Prayer really does work, and we
really ought to use it more often than we do, because, as someone said,
"More things are wrought by the power of prayer than this world can even
imagine."

A good many years ago, when I was a fairly new Christian, I experienced a
simple little miracle, if there is such a thing, which has always been
very important to me, because it illustrates so graphically that this
wonderful promise is indeed true.

I had stayed up late one night working
on a business proposal, and my wife had long since gone to bed. I finally
finished my work, and went out to the kitchen to get a glass of milk.
There was a light on over the stove, but the switch to turn it off was
broken, so I reached up to unscrew the light bulb, which usually went out
with one twist.

This time, however, it didn't, so I immediately gave it a
second turn, without thinking to give my fingers a moment to cool off
first. That was a bad mistake, because I burned my thumb very badly.

First I tried putting butter on the burn; then I tried ice; but no matter
what I did, the throbbing did not abate. Finally, as a last resort, it
occurred to me to pray. As I was about to do this, I thought, do I really
believe that God can and will heal this burn? and I had to admit that
honestly, I could not say that I did.

Well, somehow it didn't seem right
to ask him to heal it, if I didn't even think that he could; and besides,
I had read that Jesus often said such things as "According to your faith,
be it unto you," and "Your faith has made you whole." And so I started to
try and work up enough faith so that I could say yes, that I believed he
could and would heal my thumb.

It took about half an hour, with my throbbing thumb spurring me on to
ever greater efforts to believe, and finally I could honestly say that I
believed the Lord could and would heal me.

"Lord, please heal this burn,"I said out loud; and AMAZINGLY, the pain ceased INSTANTANEOUSLY and completely.

I was awestruck. Nothing that has ever happened to me has ever left me so dumbfounded. I just sat there without knowing whether to laugh or cry, and I did some of both.

It was a most glorious couple of minutes, until another surprising thing
happened. I suddenly had the thought, "I wonder if the pain will come
back, and IMMEDIATELY the throbbing pain returned. "Oh, no," I said. "I
was healed, and I know I was healed; and no one is going to take that
healing away from me. I believe it, and I claim it, in Jesus name, so be
it!" As quickly as before, the pain was gone, and this time for good.
That was a bad burn, and there should have been a blister on my thumb the
next morning, or at least a mark, but there was nothing.

God heard my prayer, and he answered it in a dramatic way, I think in
order to teach me something, and to encourage me in my walk with him. I
have since learned that he answers in different ways.

Sometimes, he waits
for HIS time instead of right now; sometimes he gives us what we need,
instead of what we want; sometimes he gives us something much better than
that which we asked for; and some times he says "No," just like any
loving father sometimes does. But of one thing I am absolutely sure: God
loves me; God blesses me; and God always hears and answers me, whenever I
speak to him.

==
Contributed by Stephen B. Elmer
(buzz@c4.net)
Comments/Feedback are welcome.

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