Friday Morning Prayer:). May 28, 2015
May 28, 2015 - 7 minutes readBlessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.[1]
“…Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.”[2]
Faithful In Christ,
What will we do with Jesus? Once you’ve genuinely experienced our Lord, you know about supernatural change. In Christ, we can’t help but proclaim “…what a foretaste of glory divine!” Forbid my tarry when Jesus is pleading… “Why should we linger and heed not His mercies, Mercies for you and for me? Come home, come home, You who are weary, come home; Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling, Calling, O sinner, come home!” [3]
John the Baptist prepared the way for a Spirit-fire baptism from Jesus that purifies and refines us well beyond initial repentance. In fact, through supernatural regeneration, hence “Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood” we are gathered as His righteous! Moreover, our abiding indwelling God sustains us through ongoing transformation by the renewing of our mind. Yes! This is my story, this is my song! Praising my Savior all the day long!
In light of His mercy, we long to praise Him all day long! Furthermore, we pray that many, family members, neighbors, co-workers, young, old, mature, immature, etc., would surrender to the Heir of salvation and faithfully sing, “Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!”
Our Lord Jesus, baptized by His cousin John and recognized by God the Father:[4] the fulfillment of the Davidic Messiah, very Son of God, representative of the people, and Suffering Servant.[5] After 400 “silent” years, God revealing, “…This is my Son, whom I love, with him I am well pleased.”[6] Our Lord was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. “He was so absorbed in prayer that it was only after his six weeks meditation that he felt the need of food.”[7] He resisted, utilized, and obeyed the living Word of God.
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have on who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”[8]
Our Lord proclaimed “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near.”[9] Indeed! “…the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”[10]
Even today, our Lord is calling disciples. “Come, follow me…and I will make you fishers of men.”[11] God sovereignly calls us to Himself, to the cross, washed in His blood! We hear and obediently follow. We enter into training…on the job training! God empowers us, gives us confidence, a supernatural abiding, a co-participation, infilling, indwelling, so we can be fishers of all people, spiritually dead folks “living in the land of the shadow of death[!]”
Our call unto salvation and ongoing sanctification is of first priority, especially for the genuinely regenerated. This priority is not a “must do” in a fearful punitive sense, but a “can’t help” longing to overflow supernatural sense!
Jesus can heal a sin broken heart. We pray for many to embrace the “good news of the kingdom” and be healed. We faithfully teach the blessings of God, and are blessed when we are rejected, insulted, and falsely accused of evil. In fact, we rejoice and are glad, for great is our reward for persevering through pain, suffering, conflict, testing, temptations… in His strength, as the many before us did.
Be encouraged! My brother/sister, In Christ, “you are the salt of the earth.” A disciple who pursues kingdom norms: preserving love, mercy, compassion, kindness, integrity, etc., a moral disinfectant in a morally bankrupt world. Moreover, “You are the light of the world.” We derive our new light from being In Christ! He is the True Light, our gracious “Suffering Servant” forever shining bright! Others must see this light! May our merciful God constantly use YOU and ME to illuminate a sin darkened world and call many to foretaste glory divine.
Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels, descending, bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.
Perfect submission, all is at rest,
I in my Savior am happy and blest,
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.
Sisters are meeting to pray! First Baptist Church. 1912 Arnold Way, Alpine. 0900. You are invited to encourage, be encouraged, and experience the love of Jesus together. Check it out! :).
Brothers are meeting too! Grace Fellowship. 2301 South Grade, Alpine. 0730. Join us to intentionally pray for one another, our churches, leadership, communities… ask, seek, knock continuously for mercy and abundant grace that many would experience our great salvation! Surrender all to Jesus!
LoVe Others! MUCH!
Your brother,
Randall:).
[1] http://library.timelesstruths.org/music/Blessed_Assurance/
[2] Revelation 19:6b-7.
[3] http://library.timelesstruths.org/music/Softly_and_Tenderly/
[4] Matthew 3:17
[5] D.A Carson. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary 1984.
[6] Matthew 3:17
[7] http://biblehub.com/commentaries/pulpit/matthew/4.htm
[8] Hebrews 4:15-16
[9] Matthew 4:17
[10] Matthew 4:16; Isa 9:1-2
[11] Matthew 4:19
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