The Blessings of Salvation
Kids, there is much that could be said about this life, its challenges and its woes. In fact, at times it gets overwhelming. There are days when, deep within the echelons of my soul, I would just want to curl up, to relent, to surrender to the chaos around me. The thing, however, about growing up without parents, as I did, is that you develop strong self-reliance — but far more, you develop a strong reliance on God. When you are alone, you tend to really want to hear from God. And so you pursue Him. And in that pursuit, He starts to speak. And here is our first real, major blessing — "hearing God speak to you."
Jer 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Jer 29:12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. Jer 29:13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
Nothing encouraged me in my life as a boy, and as an adult, more than hearing God speak. It's a blessing that goes down deep. Our salvation doesn't just grant us eternal life — it grants us the opportunity to communicate effectively with God (via the Holy Spirit), but also the blessing of having God speak back to us through His Word, through situations, through people, and through opportunity. Getting ahold of God, so that you can speak to Him and He can speak to you, is, in my estimation, a prize far worth any gold.
Frozen Christians
There are many sitting in church today, laden by their religion, bearing the burden of conformance and performance. There are many Christians sitting in churches today, barren on the inside — a dry desert of deep doctrines they have memorized, doctrines that have shaped their thoughts but produce nothing for God. There are many sitting in churches who don't know how to GET GOD — how to hear from Him. If there is anything I can encourage you to do, it's to pursue Him, but also to passionately desire to hear from Him. God is a still, small voice amidst the storm of life.
Hearing from God is not just some emotional encounter, divine coincidence, or surprise gift. It's deeper than that. To truly hear from God is to be seeking aid, seeking an answer, desperate for wisdom and His instruction. It is on this hallowed ground of emptiness, of dependency on Him, where we come with nothing — we offer nothing — that His voice starts to be heard. And when He speaks, it is the delight of the soul. It is at that point that God becomes more real. Far more than real — God starts to feel close, personal, and a friend. This has been your Dad's personal anchor through the toughest of storms. It is to KNOW GOD, intimately.
Endless Blessings
There are many spiritual blessings. Before writing this article I was prepared to cover the plenitude of them sprawled across our Bibles. In fact, I was angling in on Romans 8 — it's a goldmine. In verse 1, we see the battle of sin, but the unshackling from its judgment: "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." In verse 15, we see that we have received not a spirit of fear — a life burdened by religion, by doing, by being more — but instant adoption into the family of God, given an identity not of our own, but one that comes from Him. God becomes our Father. Then there's verse 26, where we see God has given us the Holy Spirit, to equip us to talk to Him effectively when our own souls are broken, when our words stumble, and when our hearts crumble. Then there is the blessing of our predestination (v. 30) — that God, through Jesus Christ, before the foundation of the world, made a way for unsaved, unwilling, unrighteous sinners to be saved through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And whosoever called upon the name of the Lord could be saved. AMEN! Not only has God offered us the cure, He has also removed our sin as far as the EAST is from the WEST, and given us the promise that one day we too will be with Him in glory.
The endless blessings highlighted above in Romans take flight, form, and transform into the strongest of realities when you learn to hear from God.
My children, learn how to hear God in your own life. Stop and listen.
Jhn 8:47 He that is of God heareth God's words.
