Secure In Him

Good morning. It is Monday, March 30, 2015. Seven days until Opening Day!

It is also Monday of Holy Week, as we count down to Easter Sunday.

Today’s Word of the Day is paradiddle. I actually know this one. It is a drummming rudiment. “One of the basic patterns (rudiments) of drumming, consisting of four even strokes played in the order ‘left right left left’ or ‘right left right right’.” It has also been known to be used figuratively, as in, “My heart just did a paradiddle.”

Today is Take A Walk In the Park Day. Sure seems like yesterday would have been a better day for that. Of course, I would much rather take a walk in the park than go to work.

We had a very nice visit with everyone, yesterday. We called in an order to The Mesquite Pit, and Christi and Mama went to pick it up. We had a nice time, eating around their table, at lunch, along with some great conversation. We had a some fantastic strawberry cake that Christi made yesterday morning, singing “Happy Birthday” to Rachel and Mama beforehand. After we left their house, we stopped by the McDonald’s in town to meet the guy that Stephanie likes, who happens to live in Mineral Wells. It was the first time we had met him in person (their “relationship” is pretty much strictly online), and he seems like a nice young man.

Today, it’s back to the grind, but, hopefully with a different attitude, as I try to allow the Gospel to color everything I do.

TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL

Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
Psalm 25:8

(From Solid Joys)

Today’s reading is “He Will Keep Us Safe.”

[Our Lord Jesus Christ], who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
1 Corinthians 1:8-9

“What are you depending on that your faith will last until Jesus comes?”

This is a valid question, that we should ask ourselves on a regular basis. I believe in eternal security, but the question is, “How are we kept secure?” Does my perseverance rest on my own resolve? (Heaven forbid!!) Or does it, rather, rest on God’s ability to keep me trusting?

“It is a great and wonderful truth of Scripture that God is faithful, and will keep forever those whom he has called.” My confidence that I am eternally secure is not confidence in my ability to be obedient, but confidence on God’s ability to keep me.

Here are some passages that speak to the certainty that God is able and will keep us secure.

1. [Our Lord Jesus Christ], who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:8-9)
2. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24)
3. Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. (Jude 1:1-2)

God, who is faithful, will keep us secure in Christ.

Father, I praise you for this truth, a great truth to begin the week with! As I head to work, this morning, looking back to my miserable failure on Friday, I pray that this truth will ring loudly in my ears, that you have kept me secure in you. Let my confidence be in you, as I work today, and I pray that the Gospel, which is enough for every circumstance in my life, will color everything that I do, think, and say, today. If I begin to slip into sour attitudes, as last Friday, I pray that your Spirit will immediately transform my thinking toward the Gospel, reminding me who I am and whose I am. May we also remember that these promise that you are keeping us secure in you are not promises for health, prosperity, and even physical safety. They are promises that we are secure, spiritually, in you, for all eternity.

I pray for this day, that our passage to work and back will be safe and smooth. May our work day resonate with the truth of your calling on our lives. May the Gospel enable us to handle any circumstance that comes our way. I pray for Stephanie, that your love will be evident to her, and that your presence will be known by her. May you give my parents peace, today, and continue my mother’s wonderful recovery and healing. I also pray for healing and muscle restoration for my father. Give Rachel and Justin peace, today, as well, and may you help them find your plan for their future.

Your grace is sufficient, and the Gospel is enough.

Our God is able, and is faithful, to keep us secure in him, for all eternity. This I believe with all my heart.

Grace and peace, friends.