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11-19-14 Spiritual Blessings

11/19/2014

To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Ephesians 1:6

As Thanksgiving draws near, how important it is for me to review the spiritual blessings which God has given.

The Scriptures are written in order that each individual might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that, in believing, he might have life through His name. When I come to God in repentance and personal faith in the shed blood of Christ, God clothes me in the garment of salvation and wraps me in the robe of Christ’s righteousness (Acts 20:21, Isaiah 61:10). He places His Spirit within me and gives me eternal life. In His infinite mercy, He regenerates me unto a living hope by the resurrection of Christ from the dead. From that moment forward, for the endless ages of a timeless eternity, I am accepted in the Beloved Son, with Whom God is well pleased. What a miracle of grace!

The spiritual blessings which God gives to His blood-bought children, in addition to the gift of eternal life, are many more that can ever be addressed in a few short paragraphs. However, I think of three basic ones:

   1.   In His Word, by His Spirit, He has given all things that pertain to life and godliness. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing comes by the Word of God (Romans 10:1). In this life, He gives me His counsel, and when this earth-life is finished, He receives me into His glory (Psalm 73:24). His Word is His will, and His will is His Word; they are one in the same. As I delight in His Word, I receive His direction for every aspect of my life.

   2.   Through the privilege of prayerful communion with God, He freely gives His divine wisdom to me. It is available as I search His Word with all my heart in a desire to understand His heart, mind, will and purpose.

   3.   In my progressive conformity to Christ, when I sin, Jesus Christ, the Righteous One, is my Advocate with the Father. He is my mediator with the Father in salvation and my intercessor with the Father in progressive sanctification.

May God help me today to be grateful for the spiritual blessings which God has given.

                                            (C) 1992, 2014 N.A.Collins
                    Limited copy permission given for one personal file copy

11-12-14 How to TRUST the Lord

11/12/2014

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in God is the biblical alternative to fear. I trust God when we take the gift of salvation freely offered and rejoice in Jesus alone. I further demonstrate and evidence ongoing trust as I unleash my life to His sovereign care and settle back into a life of obedience to God’s Word and service to others for God’s glory. As I continue to respond to God’s Word on a daily basis by becoming more and more like the Lord Jesus Christ, I will wait patiently on His working out all the details of our lives for His eternal glory and our eternal good.

This issue of TRUST is one that, though desired, is oftentimes difficult to actually explain how to do it. In the
43 years of the ministry to which God has called me, I believe it has been one of the most difficult for me, and others, to articulate in the specific "how-to-do" application. The progressive and cumulative action words found in Psalm 36:3-5,7 have given me a step-step-handle I just HOW I may trust the Lord. It is as follows:

We can spell the word TRUST in an acrostic format to show the action word describing it as seen in Psalm 37:

   (trust)      T   Take the free gift of salvation        Psalm 37:3        CONVERSION

   (delight)   R   Rejoice wholly in Jesus alone       Psalm 37:4        MEDITATION

   (commit)   U   Unleash my life to the perfect        Psalm 37:5       SUBMISSION         plan of the Sovereign God

   (rest)        S   Sacrificial submission to God        Psalm 37:7        APPLICATION       and sacrificial service to man

   (wait)        T   Total responsibility on God for     Psalm 37:7        CONFIDENCE         the results of my obedience

Trust in God involves an abandonment of my own thoughts and ways, in deference to the higher perfect thoughts and ways of the sovereign Lord. As I live in obedience to His Word, and thereby give clear acknowledgment to Him in all of my ways, I can trust His unfailing promise of divine care and provision of all of my needs. He takes full authority to give me the direction in my life that is so needed by each of His blood-bought children who have received the Lord Jesus Christ by grace, through faith.

I encourage you to write this out on a 3x5 card for purposes of meditation and application, to be used for the rest of your life, as I do on a daily basis. May God bless you as you trust in Him.

                                (C) 1986, 2014 N.A. Collins
                    Limited copy permission for one personal file copy

11-5-14 Purity

11/5/2014

And every man that hath this hope in him  purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
1 John 3:3

I was just thinking about the issue of purity in the life of a blood- bought believer.

Having received Jesus Christ as my personal Savior, as a new creation in Him, I am to begin to order my life in accordance with His Word. As He is pure, I am to purify my thoughts, actions and words to line up with that which would magnify Him to those who are watching.

In Ephesians, Paul gives the reminder that the former sin patterns of my life ought to never be named among a follower of Jesus. On the contrary, I am to to put them to death, in that I cease to continue their practice on the one hand; on the other hand, I am to replace them with thoughts and actions of righteousness. As I walk in the Spirit, I will no longer fulfill the lusts of the flesh.

Living pure life involves my thinking patterns. The Scripture teaches that as a man thinks, so is he (Proverbs 23:7). It reminds me that it is out of my heart that all the issues of life flow forth (Proverbs 4:23). It assures us that it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45). When my mind is stayed on Christ, i will know His perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3). Only then will the world see an accurate reflection of Him and hear an accurate report of His glorious gospel. If my gospel is hidden behind the sinful old nature habit patterns of the past, it is hidden to them that are lost.

God has entrusted me with the message of reconciliation, and if I am to shine forth as a clear light in the darkness and perversity of this present world system, I must bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, then think and meditate upon His Word.

May God help me today to think the pure thoughts of His Word and live accordingly.

(C) 1986, 2014 N.A. Collins
Limited copy permission for one personal file copy

11-19-14 Spiritual Blessings

11-12-14 How to TRUST the Lord

11-5-14 Purity

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