Salvation in the USA
While a pandemic is making its way around the globe, many are struggling to find hope. They may ask, “Where is God in all of this death and demoralizing fear among the nations?” My belief is that God is right where He has always been with Jesus to His right on the throne (Romans 8:31-39 NKJV). Perhaps now is the time for us to search our own hearts in the midst of uncertainty and see where the journey leads us. Is God calling us to step up and live out our faith in a society faced with a biological battle? For we know He is the one true God, the (1) Jehovah Rapha, who can save us from the pit of despair. He is our Creator, and He is also our Healer (Jeremiah 33:6 NKJV).
What shall we say then? Is there injustice with God? Absolutely not! For he says to Moses: ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’ So then, it does not depend on human desire or exertion, but on God who shows mercy. For the scripture says to Pharaoh: ‘For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may demonstrate my power in you, and that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.’ So then, God has mercy on whom he chooses to have mercy, and he hardens whom he chooses to harden.
You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who has ever resisted his will?” But who indeed are you—a mere human being—to talk back to God? (3) Does what is molded say to the molder, “Why have you made me like this?” Has the potter no right to make from the same lump of clay one vessel for special use and another for ordinary use? But what if God, willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the objects of wrath prepared for destruction? And what if he is willing to make known the wealth of his glory on the objects of mercy that he has prepared beforehand for glory—even us, whom he has called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? (Romans 9:14-24 NET)
I cannot begin to convey the timeless and profound message Paul writes in his (2) Epistle to the Romans. What I can proclaim is that God is the potter, and we are His clay. But our transformation only begins when we put our faith in the life, death, and resurrection of His Son—Jesus Christ. True change comes when we love the Lord our God with all of our heart and seek His kingdom first (Matthew 6:33 ESV).
3/22/2020
Dear Lord,
You have shown us through your son Jesus how to pray. We are all familiar with the Lord’s Prayer outlining how we are to approach your throne with awe and reverence. ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.’ (Matthew 6:9-13 ESV) These words of the Messiah, who lowered himself and became a servant-leader to model life for his followers, hold more power than we can obtain or imagine. We offer them to you now in a global effort to rebuke the enemy Satan and his forces of evil, death, and destruction. ‘The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.’ (John 10:10 NKJV). Help our nation see your deliverance during our worldwide crisis and become a people of mercy, love, and forgiveness. We look to you for guidance. May we seek you with child-like wonder as we walk in your ways and share your Gospel, the Word of Life. Although we feel we are in the valley of the shadow of death, we will not fear but pray that eternal life will pursue us now and all of our days (Psalm 23 NRSV).
Love,
Kristin
I challenge you to look inward. What do you ask in your conversations with Jesus? Are you soulfully praying for it with all your mind and strength? The spiritual practices of all of us are being called into play (front and center) at this very hour. Are you ready? Set? Go!
God Pleads with Israel
He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8 NKJV)
The God who heals.
a letter
Photo from Shutterstock by Stephen Bures: Historic Salvation Mountain in Niland, California on July 12, 2009. Salvation Mountain was proclaimed a National Treasure by Congress on May 15, 2002.