Serving God -John 12:25-26

I haven't been as good posting lately, (I'm blaming that for a lot of school and being on vacation), but I thought I'd get something in tonight.

"He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor."

The Gift of Eternal Life -Romans 6:20-23

"For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Trust in the LORD -Psalms 21:1-7

This is a longer passage, but I thought it was important to share the last verse I picked out, as it gives perspective to all the other verses. The reason the king receives all of these promises is because He trusts in God.

Reading these promises is a great encouragement for us to do the same!

"The king shall have joy in Your strength, O LORD; And in Your salvation how greatly shall he rejoice! You have given him his hearts' desire, And have not withheld the request of his lips. For You meet him with the blessings of goodness; You set a crown of pure gold upon his head. He asked life from You, and You gave it to him - Length of days forever and ever. His glory is great in Your salvation; Honor and majesty You have placed upon him. For You have made him most blessed forever; You have made him exceedingly glad with Your presence. For the king trusts in the LORD, And through the mercy of the Most High he shall not be moved."

I also wanted to point out that I do not believe that these promises will necessarily be experienced in their entirety here on earth. Some of these promises find their fulfillment once we reach heaven.

And that just gives us something to look forward to.

Reserved in Heaven for You -1 Peter 1:3-5

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."

This is a powerful passage.

That God through His mercy has given us new life, a new hope through Christ's Resurrection.


What is this hope?

An inheritance that will never get old or get corrupted, waiting for us in heaven.

Not Receiving the Promise -Hebrews 11:39-40

Now, that has got to be the weirdest title to a blog post in a blog that is supposed to be a blog full of promises...how could even this be a promise?

Hebrews 11 is a chapter that is full of examples of past "hero's of the faith". We hear of Noah, and Abraham, and Moses, to name a few. And in these accounts, we see how they followed God in faith...believing God's promises to be true.

And then in verse 39 we read this:

"And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise,"

Wait a minute. What? They didn't get the reward that was promised to them?


Verse 40 clears it up when it says,

"God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us."

These "Hero's of the Faith" may not have gained their reward here on earth, but they certainly will...when God has gathered His bride (all Christians) in Him, then God will be faithful to fulfill His promise to all believers.

God doesn't lie.

Lifting Christ Up -John 12:32

"And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself."

God's Love Manifested -1 John 4:9

"In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him."

 We see God's love through Him sending His only Son to die on the cross for us!

he Who Believes -John 7:38

"He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."

The Bible lays it out pretty clearly...salvation comes through faith. But before we go any further I do need to clarify that this faith comes from God, and certainly not from anything we do.


The one thought I wanted to leave you with is this: Does our faith extend beyond what we say, and into how we live? Do we live out a life of faith wherever we are?

He Has Not Given us What We Deserve -Psalms 103:10

As we continue going through Psalms 103, we come to an amazing promise...and I find it very encouraging.

"He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities."

We sin so much. God offers us forgiveness and eternal life, and it's like we slap God in the face every time we sin.

And yet God hasn't given us what we deserved, He hasn't punished us like our crimes called for. Thanks to Jesus' death on the cross, He can now offer us mercy and grace...wow. We serve an amazing God.


Praise God!