In step

[RiverOL]

What is God Like?

Dear Friend,

This lesson is about God. We all need to know about God because we all need Him. The most important thing in the world is to know God. The Lord Jesus said,

"This is life eternal, that they might know You the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent" (John 17:3).

What is God like?

God is so great and so wonderful that we can never know all there is to know about Him in the Bible.

From the Bible we learn that there is only one God, yet He is in three persons—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God.

God the Father is in Heaven. God the Son is the Lord Jesus Christ, who came into this world to be our Savior. God the Holy Spirit dwells in the hearts of all who have received the Lord Jesus as their Savior.

The Bible tells us many other things that are true about God. We are going to consider ten of them in this lesson.

Have you ever wondered how the earth, the sun, the moon, and the stars came into being? God created them! This universe did not come into being by itself. God created it! The very first verse in the Bible says, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1).

We know that there is a God because we see what He has done. We see the wonderful things which He has created. The Bible says, "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork" (Psalm 19:1).

God created us too! We are very special creatures because we were created in the image of God. The Bible says, "…God created man in His own image…" (Genesis1:27).

Of all the great and wonderful things which God created, do you know what God loves most?

God Loves PEOPLE! And He is so great that He knows each one of us. He knows you and He loves you! You are worth more to Him than the whole world!

This means that God had no beginning and He will have no end. Everything else in the universe had a beginning, but there never was a time when God did not exist. The Bible says, "…from everlasting to everlasting, You are God" (Psalm 90:2).

This means that God is present in every place in His universe. God is very, very great! "Do not I fill heaven and earth? says the Lord" (Jeremiah 23:24).

No matter where we are or where we may go, God is there. Perhaps you are wondering, "If God is everywhere why can't we see Him?"

The reason we cannot see God is because God is a spirit. We cannot see a spirit. You have a body which we can see. But you also have a spirit which we cannot see. We can see your body, but no one can see your spirit.

God is all spirit. He does not have a body, so we cannot see Him. But He sees us, and He hears us, and He loves us.

Because God is God and because He is spirit, He can be everywhere at the same time. He is always with us wherever we are.

This means that God can do anything. There is no limit to His power. He is "the Almighty God." He has all power in Heaven and in the earth. Even the most powerful men of this world are as nothing compared to God. The Bible says,

"…He does according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What have You done?" (Daniel 4:35)

This means that God knows all things. He knows everything that has happened, and He knows everything that is going to happen.

God knows how many stars are in the sky. He calls them by name. He even knows the number of hairs on your head! Jesus said, "Even the very hairs of your head are all numbered…"(Luke 12:7).

God knows all that we have said and done. He even knows what we think! He knows every secret. And He sees us at all times. The Bible says, "You God see me…" (Genesis 16:13).

This means that God is without any sin. God is all light and glory. Because God is holy, He hates sin and loves righteousness. In the Bible darkness stands for sin. The Bible says of God, "…God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5).

God once spoke to the prophet Isaiah in a vision. A vision is something like a dream. In that vision, Isaiah saw God upon His throne. Around the throne of God, angels were praising God. They were saying, "…Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory" (Isaiah 6:3).

When Isaiah saw the vision, he was afraid. The vision showed him that God is holy, and he knew that he was sinful. He fell on his face and cried, "Woe is me! For I am undone..." (Isaiah 6:5).

We, too, are sinful, yet God wants us to come to Him. And He has made a way so that we can come into His presence. When we take the Lord Jesus as our Savior, God sees us "in Christ." God says that we are clean and pure in His sight because we are "in Christ."

This means that God always does what is right. Because He is holy and righteous, God must punish sin. We are sinners and God cannot overlook our sins or pretend that He does not know about them.

The good news is that when we turn to God and take the Lord Jesus as our Savior, God forgives us of all our sins. He does this because Jesus paid for all our sins by his death on the cross. The Bible says, "…your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake" (1 John 2:12).

This means that God loves us and wants only what is best for us. God showed His great love for us in sending His Son, the Lord Jesus, to die on the cross for our sins. The Bible says,

"God commends [shows] His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

Because God loves us so much, He wants us to love Him and to trust Him. Sometimes people say, "If God loves me, why does He let me be sick? Why does He let troubles come to me?" Even though we may not know why things happen to us, God wants us to trust Him. Even when we are sick, or when troubles come, we must believe that God loves us and that He does what is best for us.

This means that God always keeps His word. He always does what He says He will do. Do you ever make promises? Do you always keep your promises? I am afraid that we would have to say that we do not always keep our promises. Sometimes we forget. And sometimes we make promises that we cannot keep. But God never forgets! And God always keeps His promises. The Bible says, "…He is faithful that promised" (Hebrews 10:23).

This means that God is always the same in His holy nature and character. God is always holy. He is always righteous. He is always just. He is always loving. God said of Himself, "I am the LORD, I change not…" (Malachi 3:6).

Now we come to an amazing truth:

Did you know that God once became a man? Yes, this is true. The Son of God once came into this world as a tiny baby. The Bible says, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given…and His name shall be called… The mighty God…" (Isaiah 9:6).

You may ask, "Is Jesus Christ really God?" Yes, He most certainly is! He came into this world as a tiny baby, born in a stable; yet He is "The mighty God." The Lord Jesus is a man; yet He is God. The Bible says, "…great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest [seen] in the flesh…" (1 Timothy 3:16).

Now we come to a very important question:

Why did the Lord Jesus come into the world?

He came because we needed a Savior! We are sinners. We have said wrong things. We have done wrong things. Because God is holy and just, He must punish sin. Because He is love, He gave His Son to die in our place.

The most precious truth in all the Bible is that the Son of God loved us so much that He left Heaven and became a man so that He could die for our sins. Now, because the Lord Jesus has died on the cross, God forgives the sins of all those who take Christ as their Savior.

God does not overlook our sins, but He forgives them because He sees the blood of His Son which was shed for them. The Bible says, "…we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins" (Colossians 1:14).

Have you trusted the Lord Jesus as your Savior? If you have, then all your sins are forgiven. You are a child of God. God is your heavenly Father, and you can depend on Him for all your needs. What a wonderful thing this is!

After reading about how great God is and how much He loves us, what does it make you want to do? It makes you want to worship Him and praise Him, doesn't it? And do you know, that is exactly what God wants you to do!

Right now, why not find a quiet place where you can talk to God in prayer. Tell Him how great and wonderful you think He is. If there is some sin in your life, confess that sin to God. Thank Him for sending the Lord Jesus to die for your sins. Thank Him for saving you. Praise Him for His greatness and for His goodness. The Bible says, "Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised…" (Psalm 145:3).

Saving faith comes from careful attention to God's exact statements in His Word. It is also important to understand that we are not saved by what we do for God, but by what God has done for us in the person of His Son.

 

[RiverOL]

The Way of Victory

Dear Friend,

From the very moment you took the Lord Jesus as your Savior, you have been on the narrow road that leads to Heaven. Along the way, you and I will meet other Christians who are also on the road to Heaven. It is wonderful to be a Christian, but we must realize that the road to Heaven will not be easy. Why? Because we have many enemies.

The Bible tells us about three great enemies of the Christian—(1) "the world," (2) "the flesh," and (3) the devil.

What do these enemies do? They try to get us to sin. But God has made a way for us to have victory over them. In this lesson we are going to see how we can overcome these three enemies.

The Bible uses the word "world" in several different ways. Sometimes, it refers to this earth which God created. Sometimes it refers to the people in the world as in John 3:16 where the Bible says, "For God so loved the world…."

A third meaning is found in 1 John 2:15 where the Bible says, "Love not the world…." What is the meaning of "the world" here? It means the attractive things of the world which Satan uses to draw us away from God.

God wants me to love Him with all my heart. Satan does not want me to love God, so he uses the attractive things of the world to draw me away from loving God and wanting to do His will. What are some of the things Satan uses to draw me away from God? Satan may use T.V. or the movies, or a certain kind of music, or something else that I love.

Some of these things may not be sinful in themselves, but if they begin to take first place in my life, that is when they become sinful for me. If they cause me to spend less time in prayer and reading God's Word or keep me away from church on the Lord's Day, they are sinful for me. The Bible says, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (1 John 2:15).

The Bible says that Christ "gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world." God wants us to overcome the world and its sinful attractions.

How can I overcome "the world"?
I overcome the world by loving the Lord Jesus with all my heart. The world has many attractive things and sinful pleasures, but they do not really satisfy my heart. Only Christ can do this.

If Jesus Christ is your Savior, remember that He lives in you. He is always with you. Wherever you go, you take Him with you. Whatever you listen to, Jesus listens to it with you. If you really love Him, you will not want to do things that hurt His heart.

The second great enemy of the Christian is "the flesh." What is "the flesh"? The flesh is our sinful human nature. Another name for "the flesh" is SELF. It is what we are inside.

Before I was saved, I lived for myself. I did what I wanted to do. I lived to please myself. SELF was on the throne of my heart. Let us see what SELF is like.

SELF is very proud. In fact, SELF thinks that he is the most important person in the world. SELF wants everyone to look up to him.

SELF is completely selfish. He lives to please himself. SELF always wants to have his own way—he hates to have to obey somebody else.

SELF never likes to admit that he is wrong. He always tries to blame someone else.

SELF is easily offended or "hurt." SELF does not like to forgive others. SELF holds grudges.

SELF always wants to have its own way. SELF says, "I will do what I want to do, no matter what others say."

SELF hates God and will not obey Him. Self says, "I don't care what God says, I will do it my way!"

Where does this spirit of rebellion come from? It comes from Satan! Satan was the first one to rebel against God. The spirit of rebellion comes from him.

When I was saved, another Person came to live in my heart—the Lord Jesus Christ. I was so happy! But I soon discovered that I had a problem—SELF did not move out. Not only is SELF still there, but SELF wants to continue to rule in my heart.

If I allow SELF to continue to rule in my life, I will be an unhappy Christian. This is why so many of God's children are not really happy. They have allowed SELF to continue ruling in their lives.

What is the secret of victory over SELF? The secret is to make Christ the King of my life. I must take SELF off the throne and put Christ there. The Lord Jesus really has the right to be King in my life. Why? Because I belong to Him. The Bible says, "…you are not your own… for you are bought with a price…" (1 Corinthians 6:19,20).

What was the price the Lord Jesus paid for us? The price was His own blood. He gave His life to redeem us. To whom do we belong now? We belong to Christ. He has the right to be King in our heart. But even though Christ has the right to be our King, He waits for us to tell Him that we want Him to rule as King in our life.

When Christ is on the throne in our heart, we will have His love, His joy, and His peace in our heart. We will not commit the sins of SELF.

You must choose between SELF and Christ. You must decide who is going to be on the throne of your heart. If you choose to make Christ the King of your life, it means that you must obey Him.

You do want Christ to be your King, don't you? Will you stop right now and tell Him that you really want Him to be your King? Here is a prayer that you may pray:

"Lord Jesus, I thank You for loving me so much and for dying for me. I belong to You now and I want You to be on the throne in my heart and be King in my life. I want to obey You and do Your will."
Remember, if Christ is your King, you must live to please Him and not SELF.

The greatest enemy of the Christian is the devil. He is also called Satan. The Bible says that this world is under the control of Satan. He is called "the god [ruler] of this world"(2 Corinthians 4:4).

Satan's object is to destroy people, and he wants to destroy you. The Bible says of him, "…your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour [destroy]" (1 Peter 5:8).

Satan uses the attractive things of the world to deceive and destroy people. Young people are one of Satan's main targets. He deceives them into using drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. Satan uses filthy music, dirty TV shows, and sexy movies to put wrong thoughts into their minds and get them involved in sex. He loves to see children and teenagers rebelling against their parents.

How does Satan destroy people? He destroys them by deceiving them. Satan deceives people by causing them to believe a lie. Jesus said of Satan, "He was a murderer from the beginning… because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it" (John 8:44b).

What is Satan's "Big Lie"? Satan's "Big Lie" is this: Sin will make you happy and there are no bad consequences. In movies and television, you see people doing all kinds of sinful things; yet they all seem to be happy, and no one suffers the consequences of his sins.

This is a lie! There are always bad consequences for sin. The Bible says, "Do not be deceived; God is not mocked: for whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap" (Galatians 6:7).

Satan is a terrible enemy! We cannot defeat him by ourselves. But the good news is that Christ has already defeated Satan for us. When Christ died on the cross, Satan thought that he had won a great victory, but he was never more mistaken! Christ rose from the grave as the mighty Victor over Satan and all the powers of darkness.

The Christian who is trusting and obeying the Lord Jesus does not have to be afraid of Satan. Christ, who lives in us, is greater and stronger than Satan, who is in the world. The Bible says, "…greater is He that is in you, than he [Satan] that is in the world" (1 John 4:4).

The secret of victory over Satan is obeying the Lord Jesus, and trusting Him to give us victory. A little girl had learned this secret. She said,

"When Satan knocks at the door of my heart to get me to do wrong things, I just say, 'Lord Jesus, will You please open the door?' When Satan sees the Lord Jesus, he bows low and says, 'I'm sorry, but I have come to the wrong place,' and he leaves."

What was this little girl's secret? It was this—she recognized that Christ was living in her heart and she trusted Him to give her victory over Satan's temptations. This is what we must do also.

Satan may tempt us, but he cannot make us sin. We can say "No!" to Satan. The Bible says, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4:7).

What if we sin?
What happens when we sin? Does God have a plan to take care of His saved children when they sin? Yes, He does. The Bible says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).

What does this verse say? It says that, if we confess our sins to God, He will forgive us and cleanse us. What should we do when we sin? We should (1) confess that sin to God, and (2) believe that God has forgiven us.

To confess a sin means to call it by its right name and not make excuses. If we lied, we need to confess to God that we lied. If we got angry and lost our temper, we need to confess this to God. We should also make things right with other people. When we have done this, we should believe that God has forgiven us.

God wants us to have victory in our lives. The more we learn to trust and obey the Lord Jesus who lives in us, the more we will be able to say "No!" to the world, the flesh, and the devil.

God gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says, "Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 15:57).

After we are saved, God wants us to win others to Christ.

The Bible says that "he that wins souls is wise" (Proverbs 11:30).

Would you like to know how to lead someone to Christ? Here is a reminder from Lesson 1 of the five essential steps. Start at the bottom and read them. You can lead others to Christ by showing and explaining these steps to them.

"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).

This verse tells us that we have all sinned. Before a person can be saved he must realize that he is a sinner. The Bible says, "The wages of sin is death." This means separation from God, in hell, forever. How terrible! Because we are sinners and condemned to death, we need a Savior.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

This means that God loves us and that He gave His Son to us to be our Savior. Aren't you glad!

"…God commends [He shows] His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

This verse tells us that Christ died for our sins. But Christ didn't stay dead. He rose from the grave. He is a living Savior!

"As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become sons of God…" (John 1:12).

To become a child of God, we must come as a sinner to the Lord Jesus and receive Him as our Savior. Ask your friend if he would like to receive Christ as his Savior. Here is a prayer he can pray to receive Christ:

"Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner. I thank You for loving me and for dying on the cross for my sins. Please come into my heart and forgive me of my sins. I take You as my Savior right now."

"He who believes on the Son has everlasting life…" (John 3:36).

When I believe that Jesus died for my sins and I receive Him as my Savior, I have everlasting life. I know this is true because God says so!

God said it!
I believe it!
That settles it!

 

[RiverOL]

Dear Friend,

In our first lessons we learned many things. We learned how to become a child of God by receiving Jesus Christ as our Savior. We learned many things about God and we learned about the enemies of the Christian and how to have victory over them.

How did we learn these things? We learned them from God's book—the Bible.

In this lesson we will find the answers to some very important questions about the Bible: What is the Bible? How did we get the Bible? What is the Bible about? How can I understand the Bible?

What is the Bible?
The Bible is God's holy Word. It is the most important book in all the world because it is God's written message to us. There are two main parts of the Bible. The first part is called the Old Testament, and it was written before Christ came to the earth. The second part of the Bible is called the New Testament and it was written after Christ came to earth and went back to Heaven.

The Bible has 66 books—thirty-nine in the Old Testament and twenty-seven in the New Testament.

How did we get the Bible?
Perhaps you are wondering, "Who wrote the Bible and how did we get it?" God Himself is the true Author of the Bible, though He used many men to write it. God told these men what to write, and even the words to use. The Bible says, "…holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:21).

Long, long ago, God told a man named Jeremiah to write a part of the Bible. God said to Jeremiah, "Write all the words that I have spoken to you in a book" (Jeremiah 30:2).

Jeremiah obeyed God and wrote the Book of Jeremiah. God's Holy Spirit told Jeremiah exactly what to write, and he wrote the words down. This is what we mean when we say that the Bible is "inspired of God." Every book in the Bible was written in this way. The Bible says, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God…" (2 Timothy 3:16).

This is how the Bible was written, and it has been passed down to us from one generation to another. "Was any other book written in this way?" No, the Bible is the only book which is inspired by God. When the last book in the Bible, the book of Revelation, was written, the Bible was complete. The Bible warns against adding to it or taking away from it. (See Revelation 22:18,19.)

What is the Bible about?
The Bible tells us how man sinned and turned away from God and how God gave His Son to die for our sins. It tells us that God loves us and that He wants us to become His children by taking Jesus Christ as our Savior.

The Bible is the most important book in the world because it tells us how to be saved. The Apostle Paul wrote to young Timothy, "… from a child you have known the holy scriptures, which are able to make you wise unto salvation…" (2 Timothy 3:15).

God gave us this wonderful book that we might know the truth about ourselves, about sin, about Satan, about salvation, and about God.
How can we understand the Bible?
There are many things in the Bible that are hard for us to understand. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we had a teacher who knew all about God and His Word?

Well, there is someone like that! He is the Holy Spirit. God has given the Holy Spirit to us to teach us the Bible. The moment we take Christ as our Savior, the Holy Spirit comes to live in us. He lives in every believer. The Holy Spirit teaches us the things of God. The Lord Jesus said, "… the Comforter [the Holy Spirit]…whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things…" (John 14:26).

Without the Holy Spirit, we could not understand God's Word. How thankful we should be that God has given the Holy Spirit to us! Each time we read the Bible, we should depend on the Holy Spirit to teach us. This is what David meant when he prayed, "Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Your law" (Psalm 119:18).

What does God want us to do with the Bible?
Here are four things God wants us to do:

(1) Read the Bible each day,
(2) Believe the Bible,
(3) Memorize verses from the Bible, and
(4) Obey the Bible.
Let us think about each of these.

Why should we read the Bible daily? We should read the Bible each day because this is the way God speaks to us and tells us what He wants us to know and what He wants us to do. Reading the Bible is as important to our spiritual life as eating food is to our physical life. The most important reason for studying the Bible is to get to know the Lord Jesus Christ better and to become more like Him.

We cannot please God unless we have faith. The Bible says, "Without faith it is impossible to please Him…" (Hebrews 11:6).

What is faith?
Faith is taking God at His Word. Faith is believing the Bible. Others may doubt the Bible, but settle it in your mind that the Bible is God's holy Word. The Bible says, "For ever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven" (Psalm 119:89).

Once a great preacher named D.L. Moody wanted to have more faith. He prayed and prayed for God to give him great faith, but he did not seem to have more faith. Then one day, he read this verse in his Bible: "… faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God" (Romans 10:17).

Mr. Moody saw the truth! He saw that faith comes from careful attention to God's exact statements of fact in His Word. As Moody studied and believed God's exact statements in the Bible, his faith grew and grew.

Would you like to have more faith? Then read God's Word carefully, believe it, and act on it.

The Bible is "the sword of the Spirit." This means that it is our weapon to use against Satan. When the Lord Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, Jesus used the Word of God. Jesus knew the scriptures, and He used them to defeat Satan. Each time Satan tempted Him, Jesus said, "It is written," and He quoted a scripture verse. Satan was defeated!

If we want to have victory over Satan's temptations, we must memorize God's Word. This is "hiding God's Word in our heart." The Bible says, "Your Word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against You" (Psalm 119:11).

Memorizing God's Word will also help you to be a good witness for Christ. If you use your own words in talking to others, they may say, "That's just your opinion," or "Who are you to tell me what I ought to do?" But, if you quote the Bible, your words will have power because they are God's words.

The Bible contains facts to be believed, promises to be claimed, and commands to be obeyed. The Lord wants us to obey Him. Jesus said,

"Not every one that says unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of My Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 7:21).

When God tells you in His Word that you should do something, then do it. God blesses those who obey His Word. The Lord Jesus said, "Blessed are they that hear the Word of God, and keep it [obey it]" (Luke 11:28).

Begin Now!
Begin now to read God's Word each day. Get a Bible with good print — one that you can read easily. Set a time each day to read your Bible and pray. Most Christians find that the best time to do this is the first thing in the morning.

Begin with the Gospel of John.

As you read it, watch for the words "believe" and "believes," and underline them in your Bible. The Gospel of John was written to help us believe on Jesus Christ as the Son of God and as our Lord and Savior. John wrote, "These are written, that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you might have life through His name" (John 20:31).

After you have read the Gospel of John several times, you will want to read the entire New Testament and then the whole Bible.

When you come across a verse you especially like, memorize it. God promises special blessings to those who love His Word and think about it day and night. When you learn a wonderful truth from God's Word, share it with a friend. Remember, the most important reason for studying the Bible is to get to know the Lord Jesus Christ better and to become more like Him.

You can know that you are saved.
Before we close this lesson, let us look at three wonderful verses from God's Word. Here are the first two:

"This is the record, that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that has the Son has life; and he that has not the Son of God has not life" (1 John 5:11, 12).

What do these verses tell us? They tell us that the Bible is "the record" of what God has said. In the Bible, God tells us that He has given us eternal life and that this life is in His Son. If you have Christ as your Savior, you have eternal life; if you do not have Him, you do not have eternal life.

Our third verse tells us something God wants believers to know. Here is the verse:

"These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that you may know that you have eternal life…" (1 John 5:13).

What does God want you to know?
He wants you to know that you have eternal life. A true believer does not have to say, "I hope I am saved, " or "I think I am saved." He can say, "I KNOW that I am saved because God says so in His Word." How thankful we should be for the Word of God!

BIBLE READING: Fellowship with God

Here are some ideas that will help you to have fellowship with God as you read His Word.

Why read the Bible?
We read the Bible first of all in order to have fellowship with God. The Bible is God's Word to us. He does not speak out loud to us but He speaks to us in our hearts by His written Word. If we want to hear what God has to say to our hearts, we must read the Bible.

The most important reason for reading and studying the Bible is to get to know the Lord Jesus better and to become more like Him.

How to read the Bible

Read it aloud. It will help to keep your mind on what you are reading.

Think! Don't be in a hurry. Take time to think about what you are reading.

Talk to God. Talk to Him about what you are reading. If you don't understand something, tell Him so. Ask Him to help you understand. When you read something helpful, tell Him so and thank Him for it. When you read something wonderful about God, tell Him right then how wonderful you think He is.

Wait on God. This means to be quiet before God with your mind on Him and His Word that you have just read. Ask Him to make it real in your life.

What to do about it
When God speaks something special to you, underline those words in your Bible. That is God's word to you personally. A colored pencil is best for this. (Do not use a ballpoint or ink pen. These will "bleed" through the paper of most Bibles.) You may want to keep a notebook of the special things God shows to you.

Do what God tells you to do. Sometimes He shows us a sin that we need to confess to Him. Sometimes He shows us something that needs to be made right with another person. Be quick to obey.

Share with others the blessings that God gives you as you read His Word. It will help others and it will help you, too

Remember it. All through the day, let your mind go back to the word that God spoke to you. Talk to Him about it in your heart. This is fellowship with God.

 

[RiverOL]

Dear Friend,

In our last lesson, we discovered many wonderful things about the Bible. One amazing thing about the Bible is that it tells us about the future. God knows the future, and in His Word He has told us many things that are going to happen.

Perhaps one thing you have been wondering about is this: "Will the Lord Jesus ever come to this earth again?" The answer is, "Yes, He will!" The Lord Jesus said, "I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I WILL COME AGAIN…" (John 14:2,3).

In this lesson we are going to see what will happen when Jesus comes again. But, first, let us think briefly about what happened when He was here the first time.

The Lord Jesus did many wonderful things while He was on earth, but the main reason He came was to die for us.

The Lord Jesus was crucified about nine o'clock in the morning. He died about three o'clock that afternoon.

A man named Joseph of Arimathaea asked for the body of Jesus. He and a friend named Nicodemus tenderly prepared the body of Jesus for burial. They wrapped His body in linen cloth. Then they placed Jesus' body in Joseph's new tomb which was carved out of rock. A large stone was rolled across the entrance.

Jesus was dead. The disciples were very sad. Even though the Lord Jesus had told them that He would rise from the dead on the third day, they really did not believe it at that time.

Early in the morning of the third day, three women came to put spices on His body. When they arrived at the tomb, they found that the stone had been rolled away. An angel spoke to them and said: "Fear not… for I know that you seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay" (Matthew 28:5,6).

The women saw that the body of Jesus was no longer in the tomb. They were puzzled and frightened. They ran to tell the disciples. When Mary Magdalene met Peter and John, she told them what had happened. Peter and John ran to the tomb. They, too, found the tomb empty except for the grave clothes.

Later, Mary returned to the tomb. As she was standing outside the tomb weeping, the Lord Jesus appeared and spoke to her. She thought He was the gardener. She said to Him, "Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him." Jesus said, "Mary." When she turned and recognized Him, she exclaimed, "Master!"

That night, ten of the disciples met in a closed room. They were talking about the strange things that had happened that day. Thomas was not with them.

Suddenly, Jesus appeared in their midst, and He said, "Peace be unto you." The disciples were frightened. They thought that perhaps they were seeing a spirit. But the Lord Jesus said,

"Why are you troubled? And why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself: handle Me, and see; for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see Me have" (Luke 24:38,39).

The Lord Jesus had risen from the grave in His resurrection body of flesh and bones! How did the disciples know that He had a body? They saw Him, they touched Him, they talked with Him, and they ate with Him.

Jesus was alive! They could hardly wait to tell Thomas the wonderful news! But when they told Thomas, he did not believe them. Thomas said:

"Unless I shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into His side, I will not believe" (John 20:25).

Eight days later, the disciples were again in the same room. This time Thomas was with them. Again the Lord Jesus appeared to them and said: "Peace be unto you." Then the Lord Jesus said to Thomas, "Reach your finger here, and behold My hands; and reach your hand here, and thrust it into My side; and be not faithless, but believing" (John 20:27).

Thomas did not doubt any longer. He worshipped Jesus saying, "My Lord and my God!"

The Lord Jesus said, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed."

The Lord Jesus appeared on earth for forty days after His resurrection. He was seen by many people. On one occasion, He appeared to over 500 believers. Before the Lord Jesus went back to Heaven, He said to His disciples, "All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth" (Matthew 28:18).

Then, one day, when the disciples were with Him, the Lord Jesus went up, up, up into the sky. The disciples watched Him until He disappeared in a cloud. Jesus had gone back to Heaven.

While they stood looking up toward the sky, two men in white clothing stood by them and said: "You men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you have seen Him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11).

What does this verse say? It says that the Lord Jesus will come again in the very same way in which He went back to Heaven. The disciples saw Jesus go back to Heaven, and the believers who are living when Jesus comes again will see Him at that time.

The Lord Jesus is preparing beautiful homes in Heaven for us, and one day He is coming back to take us to be with Him. He said, "I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I WILL COME AGAIN, and receive you unto Myself…" (John 14:2,3).

The Lord Jesus is coming again! We know He is coming because He said, "I will come again."

For those of us who have received Christ as our Savior, His coming will be a time of great joy. Why? Because He is coming to take us to be with Him. Here is what the Bible tells us about that glorious day:

"For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump [trumpet] of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord" (1 Thessalonians 4:16,17).

When Jesus comes again, all the children of God will be taken up to meet Him in the clouds, both

• "the dead in Christ"—that is, those believers who have died before He comes again, and
• "we which are alive and remain"—that is, the believers who are still living on the earth when He comes again.

The believers who have died and the believers who are living on the earth when Jesus comes will be taken up together to meet Him in the clouds. What a happy time that will be! Of course, our bodies will be changed and will be made like His glorious resurrection body.

What about those who have never taken Christ as their Savior?

They will be left behind to face the Great Tribulation. This will last seven years, and it will be the most horrible time the world has ever seen. Jesus said, "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world…" (Matthew 24:21).

After these events, the Lord Jesus will return to the earth with His believers. All those who have been with Him in Heaven will return with Him to reign with Him. First, He comes FOR us; and then He returns WITH us. What a great time this will be! You may ask, "When is Jesus coming? Does anyone know?" No, no man knows exactly when the Lord Jesus will come again. Jesus said: "But of that day and hour no man knows, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only" (Matthew 24:36).

Jesus may come at any time. Since this is true, we should be ready to meet Him at any time. How can we be ready for the coming of the Lord Jesus? We can be ready for His coming by:

(1) loving Him,
(2) obeying Him,
(3) serving Him, and
(4) looking for His return.
If we do these things, we will not be ashamed before Him when He comes. The Bible says,

"And now, little children, abide in Him; that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence [boldness and joy], and not be ashamed before Him at His coming" (1 John 2:28).

If we truly love the Lord Jesus, we will want Him to come soon. May our prayer each day be: "Even so, come, Lord Jesus" (Revelation 22:20).

Memorize these Verses:
"In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there you may be also." John 14:2, 3
"For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump [trumpet] of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17
What happens when a Christian dies?
The Bible tells us that our body is the "house" in which we live. Our body is not really us; it is just the house in which we live. We can understand this because we live in a house. The house is not us; it is just the place where we live.

What happens when a Christian dies? His soul simply moves out of the "house" in which it has lived and goes to be with the Lord. The apostle Paul said, "For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain." Why did he say that it was "gain" to die? Because to die is to be with Christ, and this is far better than being here.

When a Christian loved one dies, we are sorrowful because we miss them. This is natural; but we must remember that they are with Jesus, which is far better than being here. If we could see how beautiful it is in Heaven, we would never want to bring them back here.

We do not have to fear death. For a Christian, the Bible calls death simply "falling asleep in Jesus." The Lord Jesus said, "I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live" (John 11:25).

When Jesus comes again, He will raise the bodies of those who belong to Him; and He will give them new, resurrection bodies, which can never die. The Bible says,

"For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle [our body] were dissolved [were to die], we have a building of God [a new resurrection body], an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" (2 Corinthians 5:1).

What will we be like then? We shall be like Jesus! The Bible says, "…when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is" (1 John 3:2).

 

[RiverOL]

Dear Friend,

We have been friends for some time now and we have learned many wonderful things from our study of God's Word. This lesson is about salvation and rewards. We want to understand clearly what God's Word says about how we are saved. We will also learn about the wonderful rewards which we can earn after we are saved. But first, may I ask you a personal question? It is the most important question in the world. It is so personal that only you can answer it.

What is the question? It is this:

How are things between YOU and GOD?

Let me ask it another way. If you were to die tonight and stand before God and He were to ask you, "Why should I let you into My Heaven?", what would you say? Perhaps you would say, "I haven't been so bad. I've been as good as most other people." Or you might say, "I always went to church." Again, you might say, "I did a lot of good things for other people."

What would you say?
If you think you would say anything like the above answers, you could be making a terrible mistake.

"But why?" you ask. "Aren't these things good?" Yes, they are, but the Bible says that no one will ever get to Heaven by doing good works. No matter how hard we try, we can never be good enough to be saved.

• Having Christian parents will not save you.
• Going to church and giving money to the church will not save you.
• Doing good deeds will not save you.
• Trying to keep the Ten Commandments will not save you.
• Being baptized and joining the church will not save you.

These things are good, but the Bible says, "a man is not justified by the works of the law…" (Galatians 2:16).

How are we saved? We are saved by God's grace and not by our own good works. The Bible says,

"For by GRACE are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God; Not of works, lest any man should boast…" (Ephesians 2:8, 9).
What is grace? Grace is something God does for us because He loves us. Because God loves us and wants us to be saved, He has provided a wonderful salvation for us. Now in the next few seconds you are going to read one of the most amazing statements you have ever read.

What is it? It is this:
Eternal life is a free gift!
That's right—it is a free gift. Eternal life in Heaven is the most wonderful thing any person could have. Yet, according to God's Word, it is a free gift. The Bible says, "The wages of sin is death; but THE GIFT OF GOD is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23).

How long does it take you to receive a gift? Just a moment of time. When someone gives you a gift, you reach out and take it and it is yours. You do not have to work for a gift, and you do not have to pay for a gift. All you have to do is receive it and it is yours. You ask, "But how can I receive the gift of eternal life?"

You receive the gift of eternal life when you take the Lord Jesus as your Savior. Eternal life is in a Person—the Lord Jesus Christ. When you receive Him, you receive eternal life.

The Bible says, "…God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that has the Son has life [eternal life]…" (1 John 5:11,12).

But you say, "Is it really possible for me to know for sure that I will go to Heaven when I die?" Yes, it certainly is! If you have Christ, you have eternal life. You know that you have eternal life because God says so in His Word. The Bible says, "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that you may know that you have eternal life…" (1 John 5:13).

If God were to ask you, "Why should I let you into My Heaven?" you could reply, "Because Jesus Christ is my Savior. He died for my sins. Your Word says that I have eternal life." Remember, salvation is a gift. You receive eternal life as a gift when you take the Lord Jesus as your Savior. Now, let us think about rewards.

What about rewards?
Rewards are earned. Did you ever receive a reward for doing something well? God gives rewards to His children for the good things that they do. God does not give rewards to unsaved people, but only to His saved children. It will help us to understand salvation and rewards if we see that there are two great differences between them:

1. Salvation is free, but rewards are earned.
2. We have salvation now, but rewards will be given to us when we get to Heaven.

Remember, salvation is a gift, and you have it now. Rewards must be earned, and they will be given to us when we get to Heaven.

How do we earn rewards?
We earn rewards by faithfully serving Christ. Those who have been saved may earn wonderful rewards by the work they do for the Lord.

The Bible speaks of some very special rewards for those who faithfully serve the Lord Jesus. They are called "crowns." Crowns speak of glory—reigning with the Lord Jesus. There are five beautiful crowns which will be given to believers as rewards:

What happens if we do not live for the Lord?
If we live for ourselves and do not serve the Lord Jesus, we will not receive any rewards at all. Instead, we will be ashamed when we stand before the Lord. Perhaps you are saying to yourself, "I want to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord, but how can I know whether or not I should do a certain thing?"

We should see what God says about it in the Bible. For example, God tells us that we should not curse or lie or steal or have unforgiveness in our heart toward someone. So we know that we should not do these things. What about those things that are not mentioned in the Bible? In this case we should ask ourselves, "Would Jesus like to see me do this?" If you think that He would not like for you to do it, then don't do it.

What will happen to the child of God who continues to do things that are not pleasing to God? God will chasten (spank!) him. A good father chastens or corrects his child when he does wrong. Does he chasten his child because he hates him or because he loves him? He does it because he loves him.

Our Heavenly Father is a good Father. He loves us too much to let us go on in disobedience, ruining our lives and bringing shame to His name. God will speak to our hearts when we do wrong, but if we do not listen to Him and turn from our disobedience, He will chasten us.

How does God chasten us? He chastens us by letting trouble come into our life. When our Heavenly Father chastens us, let us remember that He does this because He loves us. The Bible says, "… whom the Lord loves He chastens…" (Hebrews 12:6).

Christians will be judged!
By now I am sure that you have realized that it is very important how you live your life as a Christian.

The Bible says that, one day, we must stand before the Lord Jesus to be judged. Every believer will be judged for the things he did after he was saved, whether good or bad.

This judgment is called "the Judgment Seat of Christ." The Bible says, "For we [believers] must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body…" (2 Corinthians 5:10).

This judgment is not to see whether or not we will go to Heaven. Every believer will go to Heaven. This judgment is for rewards.

If we have faithfully served the Lord Jesus, this will be a time of great rejoicing for us because we will receive rewards from the Lord Jesus.

If we have lived for the "good times" of this world instead of living for the Lord Jesus, we will be ashamed. Perhaps some of us will wish that we could live our lives over again, but that will not be possible. The time to live for the Lord Jesus is now.

"Only one life, it will soon be past,
Only what's done for Christ will last."
You can be a Soul-winner!

Do you know some people who do not know Christ as their Savior? Would you like to win them to Him? Then start praying for them. Tell them about the Savior.

If you win them to Christ, you will be rewarded in Heaven. You will receive the Soul-Winner's Crown, and you will shine as the stars for ever and ever. The Bible says, "…they that turn many to righteousness [shall shine] as the stars for ever and ever" (Daniel 12:3).

Memorize these Verses:
"The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:23)
"For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)
"For whom the Lord loves He chastens…" (Hebrews 12:6)
"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he has done, whether it be good or bad." (2 Corinthians 5:10)
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[RiverOL]

Dear Friend,

When you trusted Christ as your Savior, all of your sins were forgiven. Every sin you have ever committed was paid for by Christ's death on the cross. The Bible says, "…your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake" (I John 2:12).

This is wonderful, but you must remember that you have a terrible enemy, Satan. You have taken a step that has made him very angry. You have left him and joined those who belong to the Lord Jesus. Anyone who tries to live for Christ will soon be attacked by Satan.

Satan cannot take you out of God's family, but he will do all he can to discourage you. He will try to make you doubt your salvation. He will tell you that you will never be able to overcome temptation. He will try to get you to doubt God's love for you.

But God has begun a good work in you, and you can be sure that He will continue that good work. The Bible says, "…He which has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6).

In this lesson we are going to tell you four things God wants you to know. We will give you verses for each one. We want to show you how you can use these verses to answer Satan's temptations. Be sure to memorize each verse.

1. God Wants You to Know that You are Saved
"This is the record, that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that has the Son has life; and he that has not the Son of God has not life." (1 John 5:11, 12)
One of the first things Satan will do after you are saved is to try to make you doubt your salvation. Perhaps he will put questions like these into your mind:

"You don't really think you are saved just by believing on Jesus, do you? That's too easy. Besides you are still the same person you were before. And how can anybody know for sure that he is saved?"

When Satan puts these thoughts into your mind, what will your answer be? You cannot say, "I know that I am saved because I have such a good feeling." You may not have a good feeling tomorrow.

The way we know that we are saved is by the Word of God and not by our feelings. Our feelings change every day, but God's Word is always the same.

What does God say in His Word? He says that if you have Christ as your Savior, you have everlasting life. You can say, "I know that I am saved because God says so in His Word!"

The Lord Jesus not only saves us, but He also keeps us. He calls us His "sheep" and He says that we will never perish. Jesus said, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish…" (John 10:27, 28).

The word "perish" means to be lost. Jesus says that we will never be lost. Jesus tells us that we are in the hands of His Father. No one can ever take us out of the mighty hands of God. Jesus said, "My Father… is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand" (John 10:29).

2. God wants you to know that you can overcome temptation
"There has no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer [allow] you to be tempted above that you are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it." (1 Corinthians 10:13)
Here is another way the devil may attack you. He may put thoughts like these into your mind:

"All right, so you're a child of God, but you are a defeated Christian and you always will be. You have certain sins in your life which you will never be able to overcome. You have failed before and you will keep on failing."

Here again, our weapon to defeat Satan is the Word of God. Let us look at this verse and see what it says. It is a long verse, so let us think about it in four parts:

"There has no temptation taken you but such as is common to man…"

This means that other people are tempted with the same things that tempt you.

"God is faithful"

This means that God always does what He says He will do. You can count on the fact that God is faithful.

"Who will not suffer [allow] you to be tempted above that you are able."

God promises that He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.

"But will with the temptation also make a way of escape, that you may be able to bear it."

This means that God will always make a way to escape for you so that you do not have to sin.

Be sure to memorize this verse. It is a long verse and it may take you awhile to learn it perfectly, but work at it until you know it by heart. Then use it in times of temptation.

Sometimes Satan tries to make us think that we have sinned because we have been tempted to do some terrible thing. But temptation is not sin. We sin only when we give in to temptation. The Lord Jesus was tempted many times as we are but He never sinned.

As long as you are in this world, you will be tempted. But, with God's help, you can overcome temptation. God does not want you to be afraid of Satan and his temptations. The Bible says, "God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7).

God will give you power to overcome temptation so that you do not have to sin.

3. God wants you to know that He will forgive you when you sin
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)
It is true that we do not have to sin. It is also true that we still have a sinful nature, and we often fail. The Bible says, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8).

What happens when we sin? Immediately Satan comes to condemn us:

"Now you've done it! You are supposed to be a Christian and look what you have done. Christians aren't supposed to do such things. Now God is displeased with you and He will not forgive you."

When we think about our sins, we have to admit that they are wrong and that they are displeasing to God. But what does God say in His Word? He says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful, and just to forgive us our sins."

No matter how many times we fail, God promises to forgive us when we confess our sins to Him. God does not like our sins, but He loves us. His love for us never changes. God says in His Word, "I have loved you with an everlasting love…" (Jeremiah 31:3).

God loves all people, but He has a special love for His own children. You may wonder how God can love us when we are so weak and sinful. The reason God loves us so much is that we belong to Christ. When God looks at us, He sees us "in Christ." God loves us as He loves His only Son. This is hard for us to believe, but it is true. The Lord Jesus said, "The Father Himself loves you because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came out from God" (John 16:27).

4. God wants you to know that He hears and answers prayers
[Jesus said] "Until now you have asked nothing in My name: ask, and you shall receive, that your joy may be full." (John 16:24)
Becoming a Christian does not mean that we will not have any more problems. In His Word, the Lord Jesus tells us that we will have many troubles and many problems in this world.

When you have a great problem, what does Satan do? He tries to make you doubt God's love and His faithfulness. Satan may put thoughts like these into your mind:

"God doesn't really care about you. If He did, He wouldn't let this happen to you." Or he may say something like this, "God is far away and He is concerned with more important things. He is too busy to care about you and your problems."

But what does the Bible say?
The Bible says that God is our heavenly Father and that He hears and answers the prayers of His children. God loves us and He wants us to come to Him with all our problems. The Bible says, "Casting all your care upon Him; for He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7).

What should we do about our needs? We should pray to the Father in Jesus' name. Jesus taught us that God really is our heavenly Father. We are to come to Him and ask Him for what we need. Jesus said, "…ask, and you shall receive, that your joy may be full" (John 16:24).

God does not hear our prayers when we have some sin in our life that we are not willing to give up. But, if we obey Him and do the things that are pleasing to Him, God will give us what we ask for. The Bible says, "Whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight" (1 John 3:22).

Remember these four things.
We have learned four wonderful things in this lesson. Let us go over them:

God wants you to know that you are saved. 1 John 5:11-12

God wants you to know that you can overcome temptation. 1 Corinthians 10:13

God wants you to know that He will forgive you when you sin. 1 John 1:9

God wants you to know that He hears and answers prayer. John 16:24


After thinking about all the wonderful things the Lord has done for you, what does it make you want to do? It makes you want to love the Lord, doesn't it? That is just what the Lord wants you to do!

The Lord Jesus who lives in you is a Person. He loves you and He wants you to love Him with all your heart. The Bible says, "We love Him, because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19).

To love the Lord Jesus with all your heart means to give Him first place in your life. You bring joy to His heart when you love Him with all your heart and do those things that please Him. God wants me to know that I am saved and that He will always take care of me.

How to Please God
One of the ways we know that we are truly saved is that we want to please God. Would you like to know how you can please Him? Here are some ways:

• We please God when we love Him. Above all else, God wants us to love Him with all our heart. On one occasion a man asked Jesus what was the greatest of all commandments. Jesus replied, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind" (Matthew 22:37).
• We please God when we love His Son. God loves every person, but He has a special love for those who love His Son. Jesus said, "For the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came out from God" (John 16:27).
• We please God when we obey Him. The Bible says, "This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments" (1 John 5:3).
• 
• We please God when we trust Him. The Bible says that God takes pleasure in those who trust Him—those who expect Him to be loving and kind. "The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, In those who hope in His mercy." (Psalms 147:11)
• We please God when we thank Him. The Bible says, "In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you" (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
• We please God when we study His Word and pray to Him. God speaks to us through His Word. He is pleased when we take time to read His Word and pray to Him. "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you." (John 15:7)
• We please God when we let Christ live His life in us. Jesus died for us to put away all our sins. Now He lives in us so we can live in a way that is pleasing to God. The apostle Paul said, "For to me to live is Christ [His life in me], and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21).

Christ lives in every believer. Every believer can say, "Christ lives in me!" Say it to yourself right now, "Christ lives in Me!"

I have a new privilege—to let Christ live out His life through me. This is what the Lord Jesus wants to do in every believer. Paul wrote,

"I have been crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith [the faithfulness] of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20).

I have a new purpose in life. My purpose now is to please the Lord Jesus Christ. He is God and He lives in me. My goal in life is to please Him in all that I do. Paul's prayer for believers was this: "That you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God" (Colossians 1:10).

 

[RiverOL]

Dear Friend,

All believers know that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died on the cross for their sins and rose again the third day. But not all believers know what happened when God's Son went back to Heaven. First, let us see how Jesus was received when He was here on earth, and then we will see what happened when He went back to Heaven.

Jesus was rejected in the world.

Hundreds of years before the promised Savior Jesus was born, the Bible clearly foretold that He would be rejected. We read in God's Word,

"The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against His anointed [the promised Savior], saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us" (Psalm 2:2,3).

The prophet Isaiah foretold Christ's rejection. He said,

"He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not" (Isaiah 53:3).

What happened when God's Son came into the world? He was rejected. Even His own people, the Jews, rejected Him. The Bible says, "He came unto His own [people], and His own received Him not" (John 1:11).

Jesus told His disciples that He would be rejected by the religious leaders. The Bible says,

"And He [Jesus] began to teach them, that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again" (Mark 8:31).

Christ rose from the grave.

Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, just as He had said. But He rose again on the third day in a real body of flesh and bones. His resurrection proved that He was indeed the Son of God. The Bible says that Jesus Christ was "declared to be the Son of God with power…by the resurrection from the dead" (Romans 1:4).

Jesus Himself had raised three people from the dead, but these people were simply restored to life in their human bodies. In time, they had to die like everyone else. But Jesus rose from the grave in a glorious, new resurrection body, different from anything seen before. Jesus said, "I am He that lives, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore… " (Revelation 1:18).

One day Jesus will come back to take His believers to be with Him forever. When He comes for us, the Lord Jesus will give us glorious, new resurrection bodies like His. The apostle Paul said,

"For our conversation [citizenship] is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself" (Philippians 3:20, 21).

Christ returned to Heaven in triumph.
The ancient Roman generals used to return from their victorious conquests to a hero's welcome in Rome. The whole city would turn out in a giant celebration in their honor. The victorious general would ride into the city with his defeated enemies chained to his chariot.

When Christ returned to Heaven, He returned as the mighty Victor over sin, death, Satan, and all the powers of darkness. He made a display of His defeated enemies. The Bible says, "Having spoiled [defeated] principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it" (Colossians 2:15).

Christ was exalted to the throne of Heaven.
The Father welcomed His beloved Son home to glory and gave Him the place of greatest honor and power.

Throughout His life on earth, Jesus had glorified His Father. Just before He went to the cross, Jesus prayed, "I have glorified You on the earth … now, O Father, glorify Me…" (John 17:4-5).

The Father answered this prayer by giving Jesus the highest place in the universe. The Man, Jesus Christ, is now seated at the right hand of God the Father. The Bible says,

"…He [God] raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that [world] which is to come" (Ephesians 1:20b, 21).

The position given to Jesus Christ is far above that of any person, any angel, or spiritual power in the universe. The Bible says that God has put "all things under His feet." This means that everything in the universe is under the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The coming of the Holy Spirit
Before He was crucified, Jesus taught His disciples that He would be rejected by men, suffer many things, and be crucified. He would rise from the grave on the third day and, when He went back to Heaven, He would be glorified.

He spoke of a wonderful event that would take place when He was glorified: the Holy Spirit would be given to His believers. Jesus said,

"He that believes on Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his belly [his innermost being] shall flow rivers of living water. But this spoke He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive: for the Holy Spirit was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified" (John 7:38, 39).

Jesus told His disciples that, when He was glorified and exalted in Heaven, the Holy Spirit would be given to them. Pointing to that day, Jesus said, "At that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you" (John 14:20).

Fifty days after Christ rose from the grave, on the feast day of Pentecost, 120 of Jesus' disciples were in an upper room in Jerusalem. Suddenly there came a sound from Heaven, like a mighty wind, and it filled the house where they were sitting.

The Bible says, "There appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit… " (Acts 2:3, 4).

The Holy Spirit had come! What did this prove to the disciples? It proved to them that the Man Jesus Christ was now glorified and exalted in Heaven.

Soon a great multitude of people gathered. There were Jews from every nation. They spoke many different languages, but they were amazed because every man heard the disciples in his own language. Peter stood up and said to the multitude, "This Jesus has God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has shed forth this, which you now see and hear" (Acts 2:32, 33).

When we think of Pentecost, we often think of the miracles that took place that day, but the real meaning of Pentecost is that the Man Jesus Christ has been exalted to the throne of the universe. The Holy Spirit came down from the glorified Christ. Peter said, "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God has made that same Jesus, whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36).

We have learned a great secret that the world knows nothing about. What is this great secret? It is this: Jesus Christ has been rejected in this world, but He has been exalted to the highest place in Heaven.

If we could be lifted out of this world and taken to Heaven, the thing that would impress us most is that Jesus Christ has the place of greatest honor and power in Heaven. He has the highest place in God's universe.

What does this mean to me?
As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, what does this mean to me? It means four things:

I have a Savior in glory.
A young man was very anxious about his soul. He said, "I will pray to Jesus on the cross." A Christian lady said, "But He is not there now."

When this young man realized that he had a Savior at the right hand of God, it made a great change in his life. And it will make a great change in our life as well.

It is a great blessing to be able to see God's wonders in the spiritual realm connected with the glorified Christ. The unsaved people of the world do not know who Jesus is, nor do they know of His great power and glory. To them He is just a man who taught some beautiful things and died for what He believed. But we know that Jesus Christ is now in Heaven at the right hand of God, crowned with glory and honor. The Bible says,

"But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor…" (Hebrews 2:9).

My Savior loves me.

Jesus Christ loves His believers! He has always loved us. He will always love us. He proved His love for us by laying down His life for us.

You may say, "Yes, but I have failed my Savior so many times, and I fail Him now." That may be true, but it does not affect Jesus' love for you. Jesus said to His disciples, "As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you: continue in My love" (John 15:9).

These disciples had been with Jesus for three years. They had seen Him do mighty works. They knew that He loved them and they loved Him. Yet, when He was betrayed by Judas and arrested, all of His disciples abandoned Him. The Bible says, "They all forsook Him, and fled" (Mark 14:50).

Did Jesus stop loving His disciples? No, He did not. The Bible says, "…having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end" (John 13:1b).

The Lord Jesus knows all about me. He knows all about my failures, but that does not stop Him from loving me. It was a wonderful moment for me when I learned that Jesus loves me with all His heart.

My Savior is for me.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, laid aside His glory and came into this world for us. Jesus said, "The Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister [serve], and to give His life a ransom for many [His believers]" (Mark 10:45).

Jesus Christ suffered and died for us. We were the ones who had broken God's holy laws. We were the ones who were under the sentence of death. But Jesus took our place and died for us. The Bible says, "For Christ also has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God…" (1 Peter 3:18).

Jesus Christ was raised from the dead for us. The Bible says that He was "delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification" (Romans 4:25).

Jesus Christ is now in Heaven, at the right hand of God. He is there as a glorified Man, and He is for us—His believers. The Bible says, "For Christ…[has entered] into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us" (Hebrews 9:24).

What does this mean? It means that the Man, Jesus Christ, is now on the throne of Heaven, and He is for His believers here on earth.

The Holy Spirit connects me with my Savior in Heaven.
Our great Savior is in Heaven, but the Holy Spirit is here on earth. He dwells in every believer, and He is here to do three things for us:

• The Holy Spirit is here to comfort us. The Holy Spirit is our connection with our glorified, exalted Savior. He is here to comfort us while we are separated from Him. Christ said, "I will pray [to] the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever" (John 14:16).
• The Holy Spirit is here to teach us. In all the universe there is only one Person who can reveal spiritual truth to us, and that Person is the Holy Spirit. Christ said, "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things…" (John 14:26).
• The Holy Spirit is here to tell us about Christ and His glory. The Holy Spirit does not speak of Himself, nor exalt Himself. He is here to testify of Christ and to exalt Him. He testifies of the glory of Christ at the right hand of God. Christ said, "But when the Comforter is come…He shall testify of Me" (John 15:26).

"He shall glorify Me: for He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you" (John 16:14).

It is a great and wonderful thing to know that my Savior is glorified and exalted in Heaven and that He is for me. And it is a wonderful thing to know that the Holy Spirit now lives in me. He is my connection and my link with the glorified Christ.

 

[RiverOL]

Dear Friend,

The key to understanding the Bible is seeing that God deals with the human race on the basis of two men—Adam and Christ. In the Bible Adam is called "the first man" and Christ is called "the second Man."

Sin and death came into the world because Adam, God's first man, disobeyed God. Salvation comes to us through Jesus Christ, God's second Man. In this lesson we will learn about these two men.

God's First Man

Adam is called God's "first man" because he was the first man—the head of the human family. Man did not come up from lower forms of life. He was created by God. And he was created in the image of God. The Bible says, "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them" (Genesis 1:27).

God did not create millions of people to fill the earth. He created only one man, Adam, and He created a wife for Adam. Her name was Eve. From Adam and Eve came the whole human race.

Why did God create man? He created man for His glory and for His pleasure. God wanted a whole race of people in His own image. He wanted a race of people who would glorify Him. He wanted a race of people in whom He could find pleasure. The Bible says, "You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for You have created all things, and for Your pleasure [by your will] they are and were created" (Revelation 4:11).

Man was God's special creation, created in His image, and created with a spirit so that God's Spirit could dwell in him and give life to his human spirit.

Adam brought sin and death into the world.

Adam and Eve were placed in the beautiful garden of Eden and given everything they needed to make them happy. God put only one restriction on them—they were not to eat of "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." God said that, if they disobeyed Him, they would surely die.

Eve was deceived by Satan and she took the fruit and ate it. Adam was not deceived. He chose to disobey God. He, too, took the forbidden fruit and ate it.

When Adam disobeyed God, he sinned. When he sinned, he died. He did not die physically, but he died spiritually. Instead of having God in his heart, Adam now had sin in his heart.

Sin and death came into the world through Adam's disobedience. Because Adam was the head of the human race, he brought sin and death to the whole human family. The Bible says, "Wherefore, as by one man [Adam] sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men…" (Romans 5:12).

Adam produced a race of sinners.

When Adam rebelled against God, he took sides with Satan. He came into Satan's kingdom of darkness.

Because Adam was the head of the human family, he brought the whole human family into Satan's kingdom of darkness and under the power of sin.

Something else happened. There was a change in Adam's nature. He now had a sinful nature. Instead of loving God and wanting to do God's will, Adam now had a sinful nature.

Since Adam was the head of the human family, he passed his sinful nature on to his children and to the whole human race. The Bible says,

"For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners…" (Romans 5:19).

Adam's family brought no pleasure to God.
As Adam's family increased, people became very wicked. They were doing all kinds of terrible things. The Bible says, "God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Genesis 6:5).

Every person born into this world is born into Adam's sinful family. Every person born into this world has a sinful nature. We want to go our own way and not God's way. The Bible says, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way…" (Isaiah 53:6).

God had wanted a race of people who would honor and glorify Him, but God's first man, Adam, produced a race of sinners. Could a race of sinners glorify God and bring pleasure to His heart? No, it could not.

Christ is God's second Man.
The condition of the human race was hopeless. We were cut off from the life of God. We were in Satan's kingdom of darkness. We were sinners by nature.

But God loved us and sent His Son into the world to be our Savior that we might have a new life through Him. He is called "the second Man." The Bible says, "The first man [Adam] is of the earth, earthy… the second Man is the Lord from heaven" (1 Corinthians 15:47).

Who is God's "second Man"? He is "the Lord from heaven." He is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Jesus, the Son of God, is God's second Man.

God's second Man always pleased His Father.

God's first man, Adam, disobeyed God and brought sin and death into the world. But Jesus Christ, God's second Man, always obeyed His Father. He never sinned, even once. He always did the things that pleased His Father. Jesus said, "He that sent Me is with Me… for I do always those things that please Him" (John 8:29).

On two occasions, God the Father spoke from Heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased…" (Matthew 17:5).

God's second Man is "Lord of all."
Jesus Christ came to put away our sins and to give us a new life. In order to do this, He took our place. All our sins were laid on Him. That is why the sinless Son of God died such a terrible death.

Jesus died on the cross and was buried, but He rose again on the third day. After His resurrection He appeared to His believers many times over a period of forty days. Then He returned to Heaven.

God now has His second Man, Jesus Christ, before Him as the One in whom He finds all His pleasure and delight. God is so pleased with His Son that He has placed Him in charge of everything. God has made His Son "Lord of all." This means that God has made Jesus Christ Lord over the entire universe. The Bible says, "The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand" (John 3:35).

Jesus Christ is the Head of God's new family.

God has not only made His Son Jesus to be "Lord of all," but He has also made Him to be the Head of a new family called "the children of God."

When we were born, we were born into Adam's sinful family. By physical birth every person is in Adam's family. This family is under God's judgment. The Bible says, "…the soul that sins, it shall die" (Ezekiel 18:4).

How can we get out of Adam's sinful family and into God's new family? There is only one way—we must be "born again." Jesus said, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God " (John 3:3).

Every person needs to be born again. Why? Because he has been born into Adam's sinful family, which is under the judgment of God.

No matter who you are, if you want to go to Heaven, you must be born again. Jesus said, "You must be born again."

How are we born again? By believing on God's Son and receiving Him as our Savior. The Bible says, "As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name" (John 1:12).

I have a new family.
The moment I took the Lord Jesus as my Savior, everything changed! All my sins were forgiven. I was born into the family of God. I am no longer in Satan's kingdom of darkness. Instead, I am in the kingdom of God 's dear Son. The Holy Spirit has come to live in me.

I know God's love.
The death of God's Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross is the great, eternal proof of God's love for us. God showed His great love for us by giving His beloved Son to die in our place. The Bible says, "God commends [shows] His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

To those who would doubt His love, God points to His Son on the cross and says, "I have loved you with an everlasting love. I proved My love for you by giving you the most precious possession I had. I gave My beloved Son to die in your place. When you look at the cross and see My Son suffering and dying for your sins, how can you doubt My love for you?"

God receives us with joy.
Jesus used parables to teach spiritual truths. A parable is "an earthly story with a heavenly meaning." In Luke, chapter 15, Jesus gave us the wonderful parable of the prodigal son. The prodigal son represents us, and the father represents God.

In this parable, a certain man had two sons. The younger son wanted to leave home and do what he wanted to do. He asked his father to give him his part of the family wealth. We can imagine that the father begged his son to stay, but the son was determined to go his own way.

The father gave the son his portion of his wealth. The son took that which his father had given him and went into a far country. There he wasted his inheritance in sinful living.

When the son had spent all that he had, a great famine arose in the land. The son now found himself in a terrible condition. He was dirty and in rags. He was so hungry that he wanted to eat the husks that he was feeding to the hogs.

One day the son began to think about his father's house and all the good things there. He said, "How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before you, and am no more worthy to be called your son: make me as one of your hired servants.'"

He got up and started back to his father. This is what the Bible calls "repentance." Repentance is a turn-around. When you see that you have been going the wrong way, and you turn around and go to God, that is repentance.

On his long way back, the son no doubt wondered how his father would receive him. Would he be angry with him? Would he tell him that he could not come back after what he had done?

How did the father receive him? Here are the words of Jesus: "When he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him."

This is the only place in the Bible that pictures God as being in a hurry. He "runs" to meet the repenting sinner who comes to Him, trusting Christ as his Savior.

Perhaps you have never been saved. You know that you are a sinner. The devil says, "Don't think that someone like you will get anything from God." But Satan is a liar. What does God say? He says, "Come now, let us reason together… though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow…" (Isaiah 1:18).

Perhaps you trusted Christ as your Savior some time ago, but you turned away from Him and went your own way. You have been away from God for some time, but now you are sick of your life in "the far country." You want to come back to God but you wonder how God will receive you. This parable shows you how God will receive you.

Don't wait any longer. Come to Him now. Come just as you are. You will discover that God is far more kind and gracious than you could ever have imagined. He will welcome you with rejoicing.

 

[RiverOL]

Dear Friend,

In our last lesson we learned that God deals with the human race on the basis of two men—Adam and Christ. Adam is God's first man; Christ is God's second Man.

God's first man, Adam, disobeyed God and brought sin and death into the world. Because Adam was the head of the human race, what he did affected the whole human race, and it affected you and me.

What did God see?

When God looked at me in my sinful condition, what did He see? He saw three things:

• God saw my many sins.
• God saw a sinner.
• God saw me in Satan's kingdom of darkness.

My condition seemed hopeless. I had done many wrong things; I was a wrong person, a sinner; and I was in the wrong place—Satan's kingdom of darkness.

In seeking to get right with God, we usually begin at the wrong end. We begin with ourselves and try to work our way to God, but this is the wrong way.

God is a Savior-God, and we begin the right way when we begin with God and what He has done for us in the Person of His Son. Let us see how God has delivered us from everything that stood between Himself and us.

How did God deliver me from my sins?

God dealt with my sins by laying them on His Son on the cross. The Bible says that Christ "bore our sins in His own body" on the cross. The blood of Jesus Christ takes away all my sins. God does not overlook my sins, but He forgives them because He sees the blood of His Son which was shed for them.

How did God deal with me, the sinner?

Because the Lord Jesus died for my sins, God has forgiven me of all my sins forever. The Bible says, "…the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses me from all sin" (1 John 1:7b).

But I have a deeper problem: I am a sinner. I am the one who commits the sins, and the Bible says, "The soul that sins, it shall die" (Ezekiel 18:4).

Where do my sins come from? They come from my heart. They come from my sinful nature. All kinds of sins come from within—out of my heart. The Lord Jesus said,

"For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil [lustful] eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man" (Mark 7:21-23).

What good would it do if God forgave me of all my sins and left me here as a sinner in Satan's kingdom of darkness? God must deal with my deeper problem, what I am.

How did God deal with me? God dealt with me by putting me in Christ on the cross. When Christ was crucified, I was crucified with Him. My old sinful self, which the Bible calls "the old man," was crucified with Christ.

God's Word says, "Knowing this, that our old man [my old sinful self] was crucified with Him [Christ]…" (Romans 6:6).

You may be thinking, "But Christ was crucified 2,000 years ago. How could I be crucified with Christ?"

To help us to understand this, let us take a piece of paper and cut out a little man. Now take the little man and place him in a book. Where is the little man now? He is in the book and he will stay in the book.

Suppose we put the book on the floor. Where is the little man now? He is in the book on the floor.

Suppose we place the book on the table. Where is the little man now? He is in the book on the table.

Suppose we wrap the book with the little man in it and send it to another city. Where is the little man now? He is in the book in the other city.

Suppose I take the book with the little man in it and hold it under water. What happens to the little man? He is still in the book, under the water.

In this illustration the book represents Christ and the little man represents me. Just as we put the little man in the book, so God put me in Christ.

Once the little man was put in the book, whatever happened to the book also happened to the little man because he was in the book. The same is true of me also. God put me in Christ on the cross and whatever happened to Him also happened to me because I was in Christ.

When Christ was crucified, I was crucified with Him. When He died, I died with Him. When He was buried, I was buried with Him. And when He rose again, I rose again with Him. Whatever happened to Him happened also to me.

In myself I have not died, but these things are true of me in Christ. Remember the little man in the book. God put me in Christ on the cross. When He was crucified, I was crucified with Him. When He died, I died with Him.

When Christ was buried, I was buried with Him. In God's sight that was the end of my old life. When Christ was raised from the dead, I was raised with Him as a new person.

God created me as a new person in Christ! I still have the same body, but I am a new person inside. The Bible says, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation [a new person]: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17).

I am a new person in a new place!
I am no longer in Satan's kingdom of darkness. I am a new person in a new place! I am now in the kingdom of God's dear Son. The Bible says,

"Giving thanks unto the Father… Who has delivered us from the power [kingdom] of darkness, and has translated [transferred] us into the kingdom of His dear Son" (Colossians 1:12a, 13).

Christ has delivered me from everything that was against me.
It was a happy day when I learned what Christ has done for me. He has removed everything that stood between God and me.

What about my sins? My sins were laid on Jesus. He shed His precious blood for my sins. God has forgiven me of my sins for Jesus' sake. The Bible says, "I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake" (1 John 2:12).

What about my old sinful life? My old life ended with my death with Christ. The apostle Paul said, "I have been crucified with Christ." I can say this too, because Christ is my Savior. I am not the person I once was. I am a new person in Christ.

What about Satan's kingdom of darkness? I am no longer in Satan's kingdom of darkness. God has transferred me out of Satan's kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of His dear Son.

God sees me in Christ.
When I was born, I was born into Adam's sinful family. God saw me as being in Adam. God sees every unsaved person as being in Adam.

When I trusted Christ as my Savior, God put me in Christ on the cross. I was crucified with Him. That was the end of my old life in Adam.

God created me as a new person in Christ. I am no longer in Adam; I am now in Christ. I am no longer identified with Adam; I am now identified with Christ. God no longer sees me in Adam. He now sees me in Christ. That is the way He will always see me—in Christ.

I am to "reckon" (count on the fact) that I am a new person in Christ. I can say "No" to the sins and habits of my old sinful self. The Bible says, "Likewise you also reckon yourselves [count on the fact that you are] dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:11).

The prodigal son
In the story of the prodigal son, Jesus shows us how the Father receives us when we come to Him, trusting Jesus as our Savior. He forgives us fully and freely. He loves to forgive us!

When the prodigal son returned, his father saw him while he was yet a great distance away. He ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. It was not just a little kiss on the cheek. In the original language, the Bible says that the father "covered him with his kisses."

In that moment the prodigal son knew two things. First, he knew that he was fully and freely forgiven.

Second, he knew how his father felt toward him. He knew his father's heart attitude toward him. By his actions, his father was saying, "I love you! I love you! I love you!"

This is a beautiful picture of how God receives me when I come to Him in repentance and faith. He "covers me with His kisses." I am fully and freely forgiven of all my sins. Every believer can say, "God has forgiven all my sins because of Christ." There is no question about it.

Not only am I forgiven, but I know how God feels toward me—He loves me with all His heart! God's forgiveness is the flowing out of His boundless love toward me in Christ.

It is God folding me to His heart, even as the father put his arms about the poor prodigal son and folded him to his heart. It is God saying to me, "I love you! I love you! I love you! I am so happy that you came back to Me."

God so wants me to know His love and how He feels toward me that He gives me the Holy Spirit to dwell in me. The very first thing the Holy Spirit does is to fill my heart with God's love. The Bible says, "…the love of God is shed abroad [poured out] in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given to us" (Romans 5:5).

The secret of the parable
The surprising thing about the parable of the prodigal son is that we are not told the secret. The secret is the death of Christ on the cross.

How can God receive a sinner like me? How can He "fold me to His heart and cover me with kisses" when I am still in "my dirt and rags"?

God receives me and accepts me on the basis of what Christ has done for me. The death of Christ on the cross was great enough and precious enough to God to put away all my sins forever.

In the Old Testament, God told His people to offer animals, usually lambs, as sacrifices for their sins. Lambs were sacrificed every day, day after day, because they were imperfect sacrifices, and they could never take away sins.

When Jesus came, John the Baptist, cried out, "Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).

Jesus is "the Lamb of God"—the sacrifice which God Himself provided for our sins. Because God's Son died for our sins, there need never be another sacrifice for sins.

Some of God's children live their entire lives never being quite sure that all their sins are forgiven. But we can know that we have been forgiven. The thing that gives me real peace concerning my sins is realizing that God is perfectly satisfied with the sacrifice which He Himself has provided.

What does God want me to do? He wants me to love and appreciate Jesus Christ—the One who died for me.

God's great salvation
God's great salvation is the mighty power of God doing for me what I could never do for myself. God has removed everything that was against me. He has taken me out of Adam's sinful family and put me in Christ's family.

All my sins are gone. My old life ended with my death with Christ. God has made me a new person in Christ. Best of all, I know God's heart-attitude toward me. I know how He feels about me—He loves me with His boundless love.

What to do about our cares
Becoming a Christian does not mean that you will have an easy life. Christians, as well as unsaved people, have problems, burdens, and cares. God's Word tells us what to do about our cares.

• "Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say Rejoice" (Philippians 4:4).

This is a command from the Lord. We are to rejoice always. We are not commanded to rejoice in our circumstances but to rejoice in the Lord.

• "Let your moderation [gentleness] be known to all men. The Lord is at hand" (Philippians 4:5).

We have abundant cause for gladness at all times. Why? Because of the presence of the Lord. He lives in us, so He is with us at all times.

• "Be anxious for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God" (Philippians 4:6).

Cares come to us every day—little cares, middle-size cares, and big cares. We get anxious and distressed, and this robs us of our joy.

What am I to do with my cares? The Lord tells me to pass them on to Him. "Casting all your care upon Him; for He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7).

"In every thing"—little things as well as big things, I am to go to God in prayer and let my requests be made known to Him. The great importance of prayer is that I bring God into my situation.

Does God promise that I will get everything I ask for? No, He does not promise this, but He promises something better—"the peace of God." The Bible says,

• "And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:7).

When I am troubled about anything, the first question is: Have I been to the Lord about it? I am to go to Him "in everything." I am to put the matter into His hands and say, "Lord, please settle this in the way that pleases You."

I show my love for God and my perfect confidence in His goodness when I lay my situation before Him and leave it up to Him to do what pleases Him. I do not tell Him what to do.

When I have prayed, has the situation changed? Perhaps not. But a wonderful change has taken place in me. I have been to my Father about my cares and my needs, and I am changed. Before I talked with Him, I was worried and anxious, but not now. A wonderful change has taken place, not in my circumstances, but in me! I have "the peace of God" in my heart.

 

[RiverOL]

Dear Friend,

We were created to glorify God and to enjoy fellowship with Him. God's purpose in saving us is to bring us into a right relationship with Him and to make us suitable to Himself so that He can enjoy us and we can enjoy Him.

God is the great Ruler of the universe. He is all light and glory. He is perfect in purity and holiness, and He cannot be approached by sinful creatures.

The prophet Isaiah once had a vision in which he saw the great and holy God upon His throne. Immediately Isaiah fell on his face and cried out, "Woe is me! for I am undone" (Isaiah 6:5).

What caused Isaiah to cry out, "Woe is me"? It was his sense of sinfulness. Isaiah knew that he was sinful. He knew that he did not have the righteousness that he needed to be in the presence of such a glorious and holy God.

To enjoy fellowship with God, I must not only be forgiven of all my sins, but I must have a righteousness that is acceptable to Him. Forgiveness is like taking a bath to get rid of dirt; righteousness is like putting on suitable clothes that I may be properly dressed.

If I were going to appear before a great king, I would want to wear suitable clothes.

When I think about coming into the presence of the holy God to enjoy fellowship with Him, I recognize that I must be "clothed" in a special way. I must be clothed with a righteousness that is acceptable to God.

What kind of righteousness does God accept? The only kind of righteousness which God accepts is a perfect righteousness. I cannot make myself perfectly righteous. God must provide this perfect righteousness for me.

How does God make me perfectly righteous in His sight?
God has done three wonderful things to make me perfectly righteous in His sight: (1) He has ended my old life, (2) He has given me a new life in Christ, and (3) He has given Christ to me as my righteousness.

To put it simply, God gets rid of all that I am and gives me Christ as my righteousness. Let us see how God does this.

God has ended my old life.
There are two great facts which are true of every believer: Christ died for me, and I "died" with Christ.

How do I know that Christ died for me? I know because God's Word says so. The Bible says, "…Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

How do I know that I "died" with Christ? I know because God's Word says so. My old sinful self, which was the source of all my sins, was crucified with Christ. The Bible says, "Knowing this, that our old man [our sinful self] was crucified with Him [Christ]…" (Romans 6:6).

God has given me a new life.
I "died" with Christ. I was buried with Him. In God's sight that was the end of my old life. Now God says to me, "I have created you as a new person in Christ." The Bible says, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10).

God has given Christ to me as my righteousness.

In myself I am not righteous, but God has made me perfectly righteous in His sight. How did God do this? He put me in Christ. I am made "the righteousness of God in Him."

The Bible says, "For He [God] has made Him [Christ] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21).

This verse says that I am "made the righteousness of God in Him," that is, in Christ. Just as God looks at Christ and sees Him perfectly righteous, so He looks at me and sees me perfectly righteous in Christ.

If Gabriel, the mighty angel who stands in the very presence of God, were to appear before me in all his beauty and purity, my thought would likely be, "He is righteous and holy, but I am not." But this would be entirely wrong! God has given Christ to me as my righteousness. I am made "the righteousness of God in Him."

The prodigal son was made suitable to his father.

When the prodigal son returned to his father, he had no idea how well he would be received by his father. The father ran to meet him and "covered him with his kisses." At that moment the son knew how his father felt toward him. He knew that he was loved and accepted.

But even though he knew that he was forgiven and accepted by his father, we may be sure that the prodigal was not completely happy. He was not happy because of his condition. He was still in his dirt and rags.

The prodigal might have said to his father, "It is wonderful that you love me so much and that you can receive me as you do, but I do not enjoy it because I am not fit for you."

What did the father do? He told his servants, "Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him." We may be sure that this new robe was not put over the prodigal son's dirt and rags. He was given a bath, and his old clothes were taken away.

Then the servants put "the best robe" on him. It is called "the best robe" because there could be no better.

What is the son's situation now? He has been washed from his dirt; he has clean clothes; and he is wearing the best robe. He knows that he is now fit to be in his father's presence. He can now enjoy being with his father because his father has made him suitable to himself.

The son did not say, "I just don't feel that I can accept this robe because I am so unworthy." He honored his father by joyfully receiving what his father provided for him. The "best robe" not only made the son suitable to his father, but it made him conscious of his suitability.

"The best robe" is Christ.
This story has a deep, heavenly meaning. The Lord Jesus told us this story because He wants us to know what the Father has done to make us suitable to Himself.

God has not only cleansed me from all my sins, but He has made me a new person in Christ. And He has provided a perfect righteousness for me by giving me His "best robe."

What is God's "best robe"? God's "best robe" is Christ! In fact, God has no other robe to make us suitable to Himself. No one can come to God except by Christ.

God has given Christ to me as my righteousness. Because Christ is my righteousness, I have a perfect righteousness before God. God has made me suitable to Himself, and He wants me to be conscious of my suitability.

It is the glorious, risen Christ Himself who is my righteousness before God. One of the names for the Lord Jesus in the Old Testament is "The Lord our righteousness." The Bible says of Christ, "And this is His name whereby He shall be called, The Lord Our Righteousness" (Jeremiah 23:6b).

I am "accepted in the Beloved."
Through my death and resurrection with Christ, I am on "new ground" with God. I am no longer in Adam: I am now in Christ. I am accepted by God because I am in Christ. The Bible says, "To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He has made us accepted in the Beloved [Christ]" (Ephesians 1:6).

The righteousness and acceptance which I have in Christ is perfect and complete. I did not earn it. God gave it to me the moment I took Christ as my Savior. I cannot improve my acceptance with God, and I cannot lose my acceptance with God. I am always "accepted in the Beloved."

Does this mean that we will not sin any more if we are Christians? No, it does not. In Paul's letter to the believers in Corinth , we find some things that seem hard to understand. Paul calls these believers "saints [holy ones]."

Yet, in the same letter, Paul speaks of some terrible sins in their lives. Some were proud, some fought among themselves, and some were guilty of immoral acts.

What is the explanation of this? How could Paul say that they were "saints" while, at the same time, they were not living as believers should? To answer these questions, we must understand the difference between our "position" and our "walk".

What is my "position"?
My "position" is the way God sees me in Christ. Is my position perfect? Yes, it is. Is my position always perfect? Yes, it is. Why? Because it is the way God sees me in Christ. Christ Himself is perfect, and God always sees me perfect in Christ.

What is my "walk"?
My "walk" is my conduct—the way I live, day by day. Is my walk perfect? No, it is not. Is it ever perfect? No, it is not. Why? Because it depends on me—what I say and do, and I am not perfect.

It will help us if we remember that our position is the way God sees us in Christ, and our walk is the way we live here on the earth.

God accepts me according to my position.

God always accepts me according to my position in Christ, and not according to my walk—the way I live here on this earth. The Bible says, "To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He has made us accepted in the Beloved [Christ]" (Ephesians 1:6).

My righteousness before God is Christ Himself. He is my "best robe," and God never takes back His "best robe." My failures do not affect Christ's perfection. Nothing can be added to His perfection, nor can anything be taken from it. Regardless of how many times I may fail, Christ is always my righteousness before God, and He is always perfect.

Can I lose my "position"?
My "position" is the way God sees me in Christ. It is not based on what I am, but on what Christ is.

Can I lose my position in Christ? No, I can never lose my position. But I can lose the enjoyment of my position. If I continue to do things which are displeasing to God, I will lose my joy.

Losing my joy is like the warning light that comes on in a car. It means that there is a serious problem which needs to be corrected immediately. How do we correct our problem with God? We correct it by confessing our sin to Him and forsaking it.

God is a holy God. He wants His people to be holy in their everyday living. The Bible says, "But as He which has called you is holy, you also be holy in all manner of conversation [daily living]" (1 Peter 1:15).

How to Please God

In His Word God has told me how I can live a life that is pleasing to Him. I please God when I "walk by faith." Paul said, "For we walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7).

"Walking by faith" means that I am living by God's truth, counting on what I am in Christ. "Walking by sight" means that I am living by my feelings and circumstances.

The battle for a Christian each day is, "Am I going to live by my feelings and my circumstances or by God's truth?"

God wants me to live by His truth, knowing that I am in Christ and that Christ is my righteousness. Say to yourself over and over, "I am in Christ. Christ is my righteousness! I am accepted in Him."

No truth in the Bible is more important for us as Christians than knowing that we are in Christ and that He is our righteousness. This is something God did for you when you took Christ as your Savior. If you are not sure of this, read this lesson over and over. Ask God to show you that you are indeed in Christ and that Christ Himself is your righteousness before God.

 

[RiverOL]

Dear Friend,

In Old Testament times, God gave men the Ten Commandments, He gave them prophets and teachers, and He gave them some godly kings. But in every situation man failed to glorify God.

Now God has His Son, the Man Christ Jesus, at His right side. This Man glorified God in all that He did. Now God has glorified Him and God is working through Christ to bless us. Everything in God's great salvation comes to us through the glorified Christ.

There are two aspects of this great salvation which can be expressed in two simple statements:
(1) I am in Christ, and (2) Christ is in me.

It is wonderful to know that God loves me with all His heart and that He has accepted me because I am in Christ. But my problem is this: How can I live the Christian life here?

The answer is: In myself I cannot live the Christian life. There is only one Person who can live the Christian life and that is Christ Himself.

The Lord Jesus says to us, "I know that you love Me and you want to please Me. I know, too, that you cannot live the Christian life, so I will come and live it in you."

Becoming a Christian is not a matter of being religious or trying to behave like a Christian. Becoming a Christian is receiving a Person—the most wonderful Person in the universe. A Christian is a person in whom Christ lives.

Christ promised to come back to His disciples.
When Jesus told His disciples that He would be leaving them, they were very sorrowful. But Jesus said,

"I will pray [to] the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it sees Him not, neither knows Him: but you know Him; for He dwells with you, and shall be in you" (John 14:16, 17).

The coming of the Holy Spirit would mean that Jesus Himself was coming to live in them. Jesus said, "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you." Referring to the Day of Pentecost, Jesus said, "At that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you" (John 14:20).

In the forty days after His resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples ten or more times. On many occasions, He appeared to them, talked with them, and then disappeared.

What was the Lord doing? He was getting His believers used to the fact that He was in another form. He was the same Jesus whom they knew and loved, but now He was the glorified Christ, with a glorious, new, spiritual body.

Then Jesus went back to Heaven. Ten days later, on the Day of Pentecost, the disciples were in the upper room, waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit.

Suddenly the Holy Spirit came from the glorified Christ and filled the room where they were sitting. The disciples were all filled with the Holy Spirit.

The disciples knew two things had happened: (1) They knew that Jesus Christ, the One whom they knew and loved, was glorified and exalted in Heaven, and (2) they knew that Christ had come back to live in them by His Spirit. They were in Christ and Christ was in them.

Christ lives in us by His Spirit.
Christ told His disciples that it was really better for them that He go away so that He could send the Holy Spirit to them. Why is this better? It is better because the coming of the Holy Spirit meant that the Lord Jesus Himself was coming back to dwell in them. It was not the earthly Christ coming to be with them, but the glorified Christ coming to live in them.

When Jesus Christ came into this world as a man, He laid aside His glory and privileges as God. But when He went back to Heaven, He resumed all His privileges as God. He is now the glorified Man at the right hand of the Father, with all power in Heaven and in the earth.

Jesus Christ is "the God-Man." As a glorified Man, He is in Heaven in a real body of flesh and bones, seated at the right hand of God the Father. As God, He can be everywhere. In His earthly form, Christ could not be with all His believers at the same time. Now He can not only be with us, but He can live in us.

Christ lives in every believer. This means that every believer can have Christ all to himself! He is with me at all times as my ever-present, all sufficient Friend. I can tell Him about all my problems and my burdens.

Why did Christ come to live in me?
There are a number of reasons why Christ came to live in His believers. Let us consider some of them.

Christ came to live in me so I could be the person God wants me to be. In myself, I can never live the Christian life, but Christ says, "I will come and live it in you."

Christ came to live in me to bring glory to Himself. Christ demonstrates His love and power through us. We are here to glorify Him and to demonstrate to others His ability to change lives.

Christ came to live in me to carry on His work here. When Satan stirred up wicked men to kill Christ, he thought that he had put an end to Christ's work here on earth. But he was never more mistaken.

God raised Christ up from the dead and exalted Him to the highest place in Heaven. Then Christ came back in the Spirit to live in the hearts of all those who believe in Him.

Now every believer is a person in whom Christ lives. Instead of having to deal with just one Christ on earth, Satan now has to deal with millions of believers in whom Christ lives.

God meets all our needs by giving us Christ.
If I were asked to make a list of all that I need to live a life pleasing to God here on earth, my list might look something like this:

• I need wisdom.
• I need love.
• I need peace.
• I need joy.
• I need strength.
• I need patience.
• I need satisfaction.
• I need power.

Actually my list would contain many more things. I do not even know all that I might need. But God knows all my needs, even those I don't think of.

How does God meet all my spiritual needs? He meets all my spiritual needs by giving Christ to me, to live in me. We get everything from God but we get it in another Person. We get it in Christ. The Bible says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3).

We need to see that we have everything in Christ, seated at the right hand of God. In giving us Christ, God has given us everything we will ever need. The Bible says, "For in Him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And you are complete in Him…" (Colossians 2:9, 10).

Christ is my wisdom.

When I need wisdom I should turn to Him. He knows exactly what I should do, and He lives in me. The Bible says, "In whom [in Christ] are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Colossians 2:3).

Christ is my strength.
David said, "The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" The One who lives in me is God. He has all power in Heaven and earth. The apostle Paul said, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13).

Christ is my love.
Love is a Person—Jesus Christ! Christ is the One who loves all people. He lives in me now and He is my love. Christ's love is beyond anything that we could ever have. We have a description of what Christ's love is like in 1 Corinthians, chapter 13. Read this chapter, putting the word "Christ" in every place where it says "charity" or "love."

Christ is my peace.
The Bible says, "For He [Christ] is our peace." Before He left this world, Christ told His disciples, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" (John 14:27).

Christ is my joy.
The Bible says, "Rejoice in the Lord always; and again I say, Rejoice." We may not always be able to rejoice in our circumstances, but we can always rejoice in the Lord—in Christ, who He is and what He has done for us.

Christ is my patience.
In myself I don't have much patience with other people, but Christ has come to live in me and He is my patience. The Bible says, "Strengthened with all might according to His [Christ's] glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness" (Colossians 1:11).

Christ is my satisfaction.

Christ said, "I am the living bread which came down from heaven." Bread represents that which satisfies us and sustains us. Christ is our "living bread"—the One who perfectly satisfies and sustains us.

Christ is my power.
The Bible says that Christ is "the power of God." Think of Christ at the right hand of God, with all the power of God. We are connected to that power by the Holy Spirit. We draw from Christ all the supply of power we need to take us through the sufferings and difficulties that we experience here.

Everything is in Christ.
Everything I need in the Christian life is in Christ. The question is: How do I get these things down here?

The answer is: I get them by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is "the Spirit of Christ." The very same Spirit that is in Christ Himself is in me!

Everything I need is in Christ, and Christ is living in me by His Spirit. Christ is the Source, the Joy and the Strength of my new life. I live by faith in Him. The apostle Paul said,

"I have been crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20).

In myself I am weak, and I am living in a sinful world where there are many things against me. But I have two great things which are for me:

• In my spirit I am united to Christ where He is.

Where is He? He is at the right hand of God and He has all power in Heaven and earth. When I need help I have only to look to Him. He is always there to help me.

• By the Holy Spirit I have the power of Christ here where I am.

Christ says, "I will give you everything you need, but you must depend on Me for it." I can be an overcomer by depending on Christ for all my needs. That is what the apostle Paul did. He said, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13).

How do I apply these wonderful truths in my life?
There are three simple steps that will transform your life: 1) Know the truth, 2) claim the truth, and 3) live the truth. Let us consider these.

Jesus said, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32).

The truth is that the Man Jesus Christ has been exalted to the throne of the universe, and He lives in me by His Spirit. I have in Him everything I need to live for Him here. The Bible says, "For in Him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And you are complete in Him…" (Colossians 2:9, 10).

Jesus Christ, my Savior, is now glorified and exalted at the right hand of God. He is not only my great Savior, but He is my Friend, the Source, the Joy, and the Strength of my new life.

I must not only know the truth, but I must claim it for myself by making it personal. It is not just, "Christ lives in the hearts of His believers," but "Christ lives in Me!"

It is not just "Christ loves His believers," but "Christ loves Me!" The apostle Paul made it personal. He said, "The Son of God loved Me and gave Himself for Me."

Christ living in me means that I have the privilege of living moment-by-moment in a warm, personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. He is my Friend, and He is seated at the right hand of God. I am not concerned about what others may think of me. Christ loves me, and I love Him. Knowing Him is better than anything that this world has to offer.

This simply means that I depend on Christ in me. He is God. He is the One who created the universe. Christ in me is sufficient for anything!

Satan says, "You won't make it. You can't live the Christian life!"

I say, "Lord Jesus, You are God and You live in me. You are sufficient for anything that happens to me today. I am trusting You to live Your life through me."

One of the great secrets of a life of victory is spending time alone with the Lord each day, in the study of His Word and in prayer. This is called a "Quiet Time." It is also called "waiting on the Lord." The Bible says, "Let none that wait on You be ashamed…" (Psalm 25:3)

Quiet Time with God
To establish a Quiet Time, three things are necessary—a definite place, a definite time, and a definite plan.

1. Find a place where you can be alone with the Lord. You need a place with a good light and a table where you can lay your books and write notes.

2. Decide on a definite time. For most people the best time is the first thing in the morning. Great musicians always tune their instruments before a concert—not after it. It is much better for us to meet with the Lord the first thing in the morning and let Him tune our hearts with Him than to come to Him at the end of the day with a long list of failures to confess.

The importance of spending the first hour of each day with the Lord cannot be overemphasized. The Bible says of the Lord Jesus, "And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, He went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed" (Mark 1:35).

If the sinless Lord Jesus found it necessary to spend time alone with His Father each day, how much more should we!

3. Have a definite plan. Begin your Quiet Time with a short prayer to the Lord asking Him to speak to your heart through His Word. Then open the Bible and begin reading. Don't hurry; take time to think about what you are reading. Talk to God about what you are reading. Often a particular verse will be especially meaningful to you. Write it on a card and memorize it.

"How much time should I spend?"
This is up to you. A half hour is minimum; an hour is much better. There are 24 hours in each day, and every serious-minded Christian should be able to set aside one half of one of these hours for God.

Spend the first part of your time reading the Bible; then turn to the Lord in prayer. Confess your sins to Him. Praise Him for all that He is to you. Thank Him for His blessings. Pray for those whom He brings to your mind. Ask for His guidance throughout the day. Tell Him that you love Him.

Stick to it!
Once you have established your place, time, and plan, STICK TO IT! If you allow everything that comes along to disrupt your Quiet Time, soon you will have no Quiet Time. We must put first things first. Jesus said, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matthew 6:33).

Every Christian is called to serve God. Are you willing to prepare yourself to serve Him? If so, begin now having a daily Quiet Time with Him. If you choose the morning time, get a good alarm clock and use it. Decide when you need to get up and then get up! This is one practical way in which you can show the Lord how much you love Him.

Do you want to know the key to success for a Christian? It is simply this: Put God first. God says, "...Them that honor Me I will honor, and they that despise Me shall be lightly esteemed" (1 Samuel 2:30).

Warning: Be prepared for all kinds of opposition to your establishing a Quiet Time. Satan knows what a daily Quiet Time does in bringing power into the life of a child of God, and he will do all he can to prevent your establishing this habit in your life.

 

[RiverOL]

Dear Friend,

A tiny baby is not a very important person in himself; everything depends on the family into which he is born.

The first son born into the family of a great king is called "the crown prince." He becomes at once the heir of all the riches and glory of the king himself. As a tiny baby he has no idea of all the wealth and position that belong to him. Nevertheless, it all belongs to him, and one day he will inherit all that the king has.

So it is with the believer. The moment he trusted Christ as his Savior, he was born into the family of God. As a tiny baby in Christ, he has no idea of all the wealth and position that belong to him. Nevertheless, it all belongs to him, and one day he will inherit it. Believers are sons and daughters of the living God, and God's Word says, "All things are yours…" (1 Corinthians 3:21).

God's great salvation
We are not saved by what we do for God but by what God has done for us in the Person of His Son. Let us see the wonderful things He has done for us.

All my sins are forgiven.
The One who took all our sins upon Himself is now seated at the right hand of God. Since this is true, where are my sins? They are gone—gone forever.

I am a new person in a new kingdom.
Not only has Christ removed my sins, but He has removed "the old me"—the one who did the sinning. My old life ended with my death with Christ. I was buried with Him and I rose with Him as a new person in a new kingdom—"the kingdom of God's dear Son."

I am seated with Christ in heavenly places.
Once God put me in Christ, everything that happened to Him also happened to me because I am in Christ. When He died, I died with Him, when He was buried, I was buried with Him, and when He rose from the grave, I rose with Him as a new person in Christ.

But that is not all. When Christ ascended back into Heaven, I ascended into Heaven with Him. When He was seated at the right hand of God, I was seated with Him. This is my new spiritual position. This is the way God sees me.

Why does God do all these wonderful things for us? He does them because He loves us! The Bible says,

"But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loves us, even when we were dead in sins, has quickened us [made us alive] together with Christ, (by grace you are saved); And has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:4-6).

I am perfectly righteous in God's sight.
The prodigal son did not earn "the best robe," nor did he pay for it. That robe was given to him by his father.

God gives me a perfect righteousness the moment I take Christ as my Savior. I can never lose this righteousness because it is not a "thing"—it is a Person! God gives me Christ as my perfect righteousness, and I can never be separated from Him.

Christ lives in me.
Because I am in Christ, I am accepted by God in Heaven. Because Christ lives in me, I have the power to live for Christ here on earth. It is a wonderful day when you can say, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me."

The gift of sonship
God's great purpose is that we shall be holy and without blame before Him as His sons and daughters. God is doing this, not just for our happiness, but for His own pleasure and satisfaction.

It would be a great honor to be with God as His servant. We might be satisfied and happy to be God's servants forever, but this would not satisfy God's great heart of love for us. He wants us before Him as His sons and daughters! The Bible says,

"When the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption [position] of sons" (Galatians 4:4, 5).

The prodigal son
We have seen how the father of the prodigal provided "the best robe" for his son. This made the son conscious of the fact that he was now suitable to his father and fit to be in his presence.

But the father provided two more things for his son—the ring and sandals. He said to his servants, "Put a ring on his finger and shoes [sandals] on his feet." Let us see what these mean.

"The ring"

The ring in the Bible signifies honor and authority. When a king gave his ring to someone, he was saying, "I am honoring you by allowing you to represent me."

God has chosen us to be Christ's representatives in this world. Think of the great honor that God has bestowed on us—being chosen by God to represent Christ here! The Bible says, "Now then we are ambassadors for Christ…" (2 Corinthians 5:20).

"The sandals"

What is the meaning of "the sandals"? The sandals speak of sonship. Servants did not wear sandals in the house; they were barefooted. Only sons wore sandals in the house.

What was the father saying to his son? He was saying, "You are to be with me, not as a servant, but as my son. I want you to always remember that you are my son and that I delight in you."

The robe, the ring and the sandals made the son conscious that his father loved him and delighted in him.

If you had asked him, "What kind of terms are you on with your father since you came back?" he would have said, "I am on the very best of terms with my father. My father delights in me and I delight in him. I never knew that he loved me so much."

The father of the prodigal delighted in his son. He did all these wonderful things, not just for his son's happiness, but for his own pleasure and satisfaction.

What is God saying to us here? He is saying, "You are to be with Me as My son. I want you to remember always that you are My son, that I love you, and I delight in you."

God has reconciled us to Himself.
To be "reconciled to God" means that we have been made entirely suitable to God. Through the work of Christ, God has made us fit to be in His presence.

Why is God so gracious to us? Why does He give us "the best robe" and "the ring" and "the sandals"? He does it because of Christ. The Bible says that "when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son" (Romans 5:10).

Dear friend, have you realized that, because you are in Christ, you have been reconciled to God? God has made you suitable to Himself. Do you know that God delights in you now as His son?

It takes us a long time to get hold of the fact that God is doing all these wonderful things for us, not just for our happiness, but for His own pleasure. It is God's pleasure to have us before Him as His sons. Nothing would satisfy God's great heart of love but that we should have the place of sons before Him. The Bible says, "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God…" (1 John 3:1).

Do you know what it is to be a son of God? It is to be the object of God's love and delight.

I may feel, "I am just a poor, weak person. I don't feel like I am a son of God."

Yes, I may feel that way at times, but feelings are not facts. What is the fact about my place before God? The fact is that I am a son of God, the object of God's love and delight. The Bible says,

"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He [Christ] shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is" (1 John 3:2).

We are the sons of God—now! We do not know exactly what glory will be ours in the world to come, but the Bible says, "Beloved, NOW are we the sons of God."

What I am in the presence of God is my true spiritual position and dignity. When I lose sight of this, I am grieving the Holy Spirit.

God gives us the Spirit of Christ so we can live like His sons.

If a great king were to give me the title of nobility and give me a large estate to go with my title, what would it profit me if I did not have the finances needed to keep up the large estate?

God is saying to me, "I have made you My son, and I am determined that you shall have the power to live like a son of God. I am giving you the Spirit of My Son to live in you so that you can be set free from the sins and habits that would drag you down." The Bible says, "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death" (Romans 8:2).

We are here to represent Christ.

As sons of God we are to represent the Lord Jesus Christ here on earth where He is rejected. Our main business on the earth is to show the beauties of the heavenly Christ. The Bible says,

"You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar [special] people; that you should show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light" (1 Peter 2:9).

Think of the honor and dignity of being a son of God! If we realize who we are, we would never want to do anything mean, or little, or unworthy of God. The Bible says,

"Do all things without murmurings [grumbling] and disputings [arguing]: That you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom you shine as lights in the world" (Philippians 2:14, 15).

In everything we do, we have an opportunity to glorify God. The Bible says, "Whether therefore you eat, or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31).

How should we live?

This world is not our home; we are just passing through. At any moment, the Lord Jesus could come in great power and glory to take us to be with Him. Right now we are to faithfully represent the Lord Jesus here on earth until the day comes when He takes us to be with Him in Heaven forever.

The Bible tells how we are to live while we are waiting for the return of the Lord Jesus. God's Word says,

"For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:11-13).

The grace of God not only "brings salvation," but it also teaches us how we are to live in this world.

We are to deny "ungodliness and worldly lusts."
The world, with its pride, wealth, lusts, and glittering attractions, has a powerful hold on unsaved people, but the believer turns his back on all this. Worldly attractions lose their power over the man who is continually looking for his Savior to come and take him in a moment to the glories of Heaven.

"The world is the golden cage in which Satan transports his victims to the lake of fire." (C.A. Coates)
We are to live "soberly."
To live "soberly" means to live humbly and thoughtfully. Pride is at the root of many problems in this world. God hates pride. Peter said, "…All of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility; for God resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble" (1 Peter 5:5).

We are to live righteously.
To live "righteously" means being right with God and being right with other people. The unsaved people of the world do not read the Bible; they "read" us Christians. They do not think much of a Christian who does not pay his debts or try to make things right for any wrong he has done.

We are the only Bible the careless world will read.
We are the sinner's gospel; we are the scoffer's creed,
We are the Lord's last message given in word and deed,
What if the type is crooked?
What if the print is blurred?
We are to live looking for the return of Christ.
The Lord Jesus is coming for His believers and He is coming soon! When will He come? No one knows the exact time when Christ will return, but we are to be ready at all times for His coming. The Bible says, "Watch therefore: for you know not what hour your Lord does come" (Matthew 24:42).

 

[RiverOL]

Dear Friend,

As God's children, our past has been taken care of and we have a glorious future. We are on the way to our heavenly home. But what about the present? Is it possible for us to have victory over our circumstances in this life? Yes, it is. The apostle Paul said, "Thanks be unto God, who always causes us to triumph in Christ…" (2 Corinthians 2:14).

What we must know
The way in which we meet the trials of life depends on the way we inwardly see and believe things to be. If we see things from a purely human point of view, we will be discouraged and defeated. Victory comes from seeing them from God's point of view.

To see things from God's point of view, there are some things we must know.

We must know what to expect in this life.
Trouble is a part of this life. The Bible says, "Man is born unto trouble." Sometimes Christians expect God to keep them from problems and hardship and suffering, but God has not promised to do this. Christians, as well as unsaved people, experience trials, troubles and suffering.

There is a false teaching circulating in the world which says, "Become a follower of Jesus Christ and all your troubles will be over."

Sometimes God's people are told, "God will keep you from sickness and make you successful if you just believe the right things and claim them." But God does not promise this anywhere in the Bible. Jesus said, "In the world you shall have tribulation [trouble]: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).

Christians should not be surprised when trials and suffering come. We are part of a fallen race that is under the judgment of God. We live in a world that has rejected God's Son and thus rejected God. The Bible says that we must "through much tribulation [trouble] enter into the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22).

Often we suffer and are in difficult circumstances because of our own self-will and disobedience. God is "chastening" us; He is correcting us in love. "For whom the Lord loves He chastens" (Hebrews 12:6).

We need to see the hand of God and the love of God in our chastening. When we are being corrected by God in love, the very best thing we can do is to agree with God and tell Him that He is right in chastening us. This is what David did when he was being chastened by God. He said, "I know, O Lord, that Your judgments are right, and that You in faithfulness have afflicted me" (Psalm 119:75).

We must know that God loves us and desires only what is best for us.

The Bible says that God loves us as He loves His own Son. The great proof of this is that He gave His Son to die for us. There can be no greater love than this. The Bible says,

"He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:32).

Because He loves us as He does, God always wants what is best for us. He always seeks our highest good, even when we would gladly settle for less. God is thinking of our eternal rewards, not just things in this life.

We must know God's goal for us in this present time.

God's goal for us is not to make us happy and successful in this life. His goal for us is to make us like Jesus. The Bible says, "For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren" (Romans 8:29).

How does God "conform us to the image of His Son"? He does it through difficult circumstances and the discipline of the Holy Spirit. There is no other way. This involves trials, troubles, and suffering. Therefore we must expect these things since they are a necessary part of God's dealings with us to make us like Christ.

Steps to victory
To enjoy our Christian life and to enter into all that God has for us, there are some definite steps that we must take:

Step 1: Believe that God is sovereign.

When we say that God is sovereign, we mean that God rules over everything in this world and in the universe.

He has all power in Heaven and in earth. There is nothing that can hinder or prevent God from doing what He purposes to do.

The Bible says, "He does according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What are You doing?" (Daniel 4:35).

God is the Creator of the universe. He has the right, the wisdom and the power to do whatever pleases Him. The Bible says, "Our God is in the heavens; He has done whatever He has pleased" (Psalm 115:3).

God causes all things to serve Him and accomplish His purposes. David said, "All are Your servants" (Psalm 119:91b).

David realized this great truth: All things are God's servants and must therefore do His will. Even the fierce and cruel things of nature—storms, earthquakes, famines—serve God and fulfill His purposes. This is true, not only of the things of nature, but also of men, kings, and nations. All are under God's control. The Bible says, "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord… He turns it wherever He will" (Proverbs 21:1).

Even Satan and those who serve him are used by God to accomplish His will. It was Satan who stirred up wicked men to crucify God's Son; yet Satan and his wicked followers were used by God as His "servants" to do His perfect will for the salvation of men. The Bible says,

"The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against His Christ … and the people of Israel were gathered together, to do whatever Your hand and Your counsel determined before to be done" (Acts 4:26-28).

Everything that happens in the universe is under God's watchful eye and His careful supervision. Does God know about our circumstances? Yes, He does. Jesus said that even the hairs of our head are numbered.

Step 2: Believe that God's way is perfect.
There are many mysteries in life that we cannot explain. Christians suffer the same tragedies and sorrows as other people. In times of great distress, we need to hear God saying, "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10a).

God's will comes to us in two forms—His direct will and His permissive will. God's direct will is what He wills to happen. God's permissive will is what He permits to happen. Absolutely nothing can come to a child of God apart from God's will—either His direct will or His permissive will.

Many things are hard for us to understand because we are seeing things from our earthly viewpoint and not from God's viewpoint. But God makes no mistakes. No matter how things may look in this world, all of God's acts are perfect. His way cannot be improved upon. The Bible says, "As for God, His way is perfect…" (Psalm 18:30).

The story is told of a man who made a clock and showed it to a friend of his who had never before seen one.

The maker of the clock opened the back of it and asked the man what he thought of its maker.

The man saw some larger wheels, and other smaller ones, some going one way and others another way, some wheels slow and other wheels fast. Seeing this seeming confusion, he answered, "I think the man who made that is crazy."

Then the maker took his friend to the front side of the clock and asked what he now thought of its maker. The man looked at the two hands of the clock moving smoothly and regularly, each one in its appointed circle, and both of them telling perfectly the time of day, and replied, "I think the man who made that is the wisest person who ever lived."

This story helps us understand a great truth concerning life. We are here on earth, and we see only the "earthly side" of God's working, and thus we fail to see His perfect design and plan. The "wheels" are going every which way, and they sometimes seem to have no purpose or design.

But, one day, we will see the "heavenly side" of God's actions. We will see His perfect design and plan for our life, and we will say, "Lord, I praise You and thank You. Your way is indeed perfect."

Step 3: Believe that God is good.
When trials and difficulties come to us, Satan likes to put wrong thoughts into our mind. He may suggest something like this: "Either God is not good or He doesn't love you. How could a good God let this happen to you?"

If we accept Satan's wrong thoughts, they will lead us into self-pity and depression. The truth is that God loves us and He is good, no matter what our circumstances are. The Bible says, "Praise ye the Lord. O give thanks unto the Lord: for He is good: for His mercy endures forever" (Psalm 106:1).

Step 4: Surrender your will to God.
There is something within us which decides everything and controls everything. What is it? It is our will.

What does it mean to surrender our will to God? It means to will what God wills, in all things and at all times. This allows God to work out His perfect plan in our life. A great saint said, "Our wills are ours to make them Yours."

Step 5: Believe that all things work together for good to those who love God.
Nothing that comes into the life of a child of God is accidental. All that comes to us is either ordered by God or permitted by Him. If we truly love God, all things that come to us work together for our eternal good. The Bible says, "We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28).

We may not see how all things are working together for our good, but we can know it because God says so.

The reason why all things work together for good to them that love God is that God is sovereign. All things are His servants, and He causes them to work together for good to His children who love Him.

Take Joseph, for example. He was next to the youngest of Jacob's twelve sons. He was a godly young man and especially loved by his father. But his older brothers were jealous of him and they hated him. They sold him into slavery in Egypt and told their father that no doubt a wild animal had killed him.

While he was a slave in Egypt, Joseph suffered terribly. He was falsely accused by his master's wife and spent two years in chains in prison for something he did not do.

Had God forgotten Joseph? No, not at all. In time Joseph was honored by Pharaoh and put in charge of everything in Egypt. Later, when a great famine came, Joseph was in the position to save his brothers and their families from dying of starvation. He brought them to Egypt and cared for them.

Whatever God permits to come to me will be for my good by the time it reaches me. Few things could be worse than what Joseph's brothers did. Hating him and selling him into slavery were terrible sins. They meant evil to him, but God permitted it, and by the time it reached Joseph, it was God's will for him.

Though Joseph could not see it then, it turned out to be the greatest blessing in his whole life. In time Joseph saw God's hand in the whole matter. He freely forgave his brothers and said to them, "You thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good…" (Genesis 50:20).

The Christian's secret of a joyful life
When Jesus lived here as a Man, He endured hardship, trials and suffering; yet He was the most joyful person who ever lived. What was His secret? It was twofold: He trusted His Father and He thankfully accepted His circumstances as His Father's will for Him. I, too, can know joy and rest by doing these two things:

Trusting my Father

Trusting God means looking beyond my circumstances and seeing God. Nothing happens apart from Him. He is absolutely supreme. There are no second causes in the life of a child of God.

I deal directly with God, and not with my work, people or things. Everything comes to me through my Father. I believe His Word—God is working all things together for good to them that love Him.

The testimony of Jesus in the gospels is that He had a heavenly Father who was always with Him. On one occasion Jesus and His disciples were in a small boat when a violent storm came up. The disciples feared for their lives, but Jesus was peacefully sleeping in the boat. He had a Father in Heaven and He trusted His Father. I, too, have a Father in Heaven and I can trust Him in the "storms of life."

Thankfully accepting my circumstances as my Father's will for me
The Lord Jesus was doubted by John the Baptist; He was rejected by His own people; He was blasphemed by the religious leaders. But He did not fret nor become angry. He said, "I thank You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth."

How was our Lord able to thank the Father in such difficult circumstances? He saw all these circumstances as His Father's will for Him. He said, "Even so, Father; for so it seemed good in Your sight" (Matthew 11:26).

Even when facing death on the cross, the Lord Jesus did not look at the evil men who hated Him and plotted to kill Him. He did not even look at Satan who was behind it all. Instead He said, "The cup which My Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?" (John 18:11b).

If I want to know joy and rest, I must not murmur and complain, but say to my Father, "Father, I thank You, for all that You have permitted to come to me is Your will, and Your will is good."

A Quiet Time—in the Book of John
"If you would be much like Christ, you must be much with Christ."

A Quiet Time is time set aside to be alone with Christ and learn from Him. Develop the habit of meeting with Him every day!

1. You will need your Bible, a pen, and paper.
2. Before you read each day's Scripture portion, thank the Lord that He has promised to be with you at all times. Ask Him to teach you.
3. Read the Scripture portion at least three times.
4. Observations: What does it say? What does it mean? What does this passage teach me about Christ my Lord?
5. Ask, "How can I apply this to my life?"
6. Pray, using the ACTS outline:

A… Adore and worship God.
C… Confess sin.
T… Thank the Lord for all He is and all He has done for you.
S… Supplication…Ask the Father in Jesus' name for your needs. (See John 16:24)

 

[RiverOL]

Dear Friend,

We need to see the greatness of God's love and the greatness of His purpose for us. His purpose is to have us before Him as sons in the place where He is. Jesus called Heaven "My Father's house." That is where God wants us. He wants us with Him as His sons in "the Father's house."

"The Father's house" is our home for eternity.
Our Lord Jesus Christ suffered and died on the cross, not just to save us from hell, but to bring us to God. The Bible says, "For Christ also has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God…" (1 Peter 3:18).

We see this in the account of the Lord's crucifixion. Two thieves were crucified with Him. One of these thieves believed on Jesus. He said, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom." Jesus turned to that man and said, "Today you shall be with Me in paradise." Jesus not only saved this man, but He took him with Him to "the Father's house" in Heaven.

This man went from the lowest, deepest, darkest place of misery and suffering into the brightest, holiest, most blessed place of everlasting happiness and joy with Christ. This is the salvation which Christ has obtained for every believer by His death.

"The Father's house" is our home now.
From God's Word we know that, when a Christian dies, he goes immediately to be with Christ. (See Philippians 1:21-23.) But we may not know this wonderful truth: By Christ's death we are entitled to live in "the Father's house" now! The Bible says, "…[Christ] died for us, that, whether we wake [live] or sleep [die], we should live together with Him." (1 Thessalonians 5:10).

Christ died for us, that, whether we live or die, we should "live together with Him." How this touches our heart!

Where is the Lord Jesus living now? He is living in "the Father's house." The Lord Jesus is saying to us, "There is a place in the Father's house which is yours. It belongs to you. I purchased it for you with My own blood. It is the Father's will that you live together with Me in the Father's house, not just when you die, but right now!"

What is "the Father's house" for me now? It is living together with Jesus in the presence of the Father, enjoying His love. Some day I will actually be in Heaven, but I have the right and the ability to enjoy "the Father's house" now!

The "upstairs" and the "downstairs"
A Christian is a person who lives in two worlds. In his body he lives in this world, but in his spirit he is united to Christ in Heaven. The Bible says that he has died with Christ, been raised with Christ, and seated with Christ in heavenly places.

There is an "upstairs" and a "downstairs" in the Christian life. The "upstairs" is the Father's house where I have all spiritual blessings.

The "downstairs" is here on earth, where I am living now. What do I have here? I have the Holy Spirit, the fellowship of God's people, and God's earthly mercies. I also have many trials and troubles.

What does the Lord Jesus want me to do? He wants me to live "upstairs" with Him in my spirit so that I may serve Him down here. We should be like the believer who had his residence and his business in the same building. He put this sign on his door:

Do we love the Lord Jesus enough to turn our back on the sinful pleasures of this world that we might live "upstairs" with Him? The story is told of a shoe repairman who truly lived "upstairs" with the Lord. His wife said of him, "He lives in Heaven and only comes down here to mend shoes!"

How do I enjoy "the Father's house" now?
The Holy Spirit is the One who "takes me by the hand" and leads me "upstairs" to the joys of the "Father's house." He has come down from Heaven to bring me into the enjoyment of everything Christ has accomplished for me. He is here to glorify Christ and make Him real to me.

As I spend time alone with the Lord in the study of His Word, the Holy Spirit magnifies Christ and makes Him everything to me. My part is to believe. The Bible says,

"Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Spirit" (Romans 15:13).

The Father is delighted when we enjoy His house now.
It is a wonderful day for us when we see God's side of salvation. God makes us His sons and daughters and brings us into His house, not just for our joy and happiness, but for the satisfaction of His own great heart of love. I can never be completely happy unless I am where the Father wants me to be, and He wants me to be with Him in His house.

The story of the prodigal son shows us what a great salvation we have in Christ. God has given us the place of sons, and the son's place is in the Father's house! We belong there! God wants us to enjoy His house, His presence and His feast.

When we come to the end of the story of the prodigal son, what do we find? We find the prodigal, received and accepted as a son, made suitable to his father in every way, sitting at his father's table, enjoying his father. The Bible says, "They began to make merry."

This is a picture of our spiritual portion and place as sons of God! God is doing all this to satisfy His great heart of love for us. It is His delight to have us in His presence, enjoying Him and all that He has provided for us. I have not satisfied my Father's heart until I am in His house, enjoying Him.

Steps to enjoying God
There are a number of practical things you can do to help you enjoy God.

• Think rightly about yourself.
God is pleased when we take up our true spiritual position as having died with Christ and being raised as a new person in Christ, having ascended with Him, and being seated with Him at the right hand of God. This is foolishness to the unsaved, worldly man, but it is God's truth to His spirit-taught children.

The prodigal's father was pleased when his son accepted the best robe, the ring and the sandals. He was pleased when his son sat at his table and enjoyed all that his love had provided for him. God is likewise pleased when we enjoy all that He has provided for us.

• Settle all controversies with God.

Is there something in your life which God keeps bringing before you? It may be a wrong relationship or some point where you are saying "No" to God. If you have no rest or joy, you must be holding on to something that God wants you to give up.

You might as well face the fact that you will not enjoy God or make any progress in your Christian life until you say "Yes" to God in this matter. Why not do so right now?

If you are not honestly willing to do what God is telling you to do, at least you can say to Him, "Lord, I am not willing to do this, but I am willing for You to make me willing." If you are sincere, God will begin working to change your heart.

• Deal with sin and guilt.
We cannot enjoy God if we are holding onto some sin in our life. God loves us, but He hates sin in the life of a child of His. Whatever that sin is, that wretched thing that is so displeasing to God, give it up! If you do not, it will rob you of your joy.

If you have sinned against God, confess that sin to Him and count on Him to do what He says He will do. God's Word says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).

To enjoy God, you must not only be right with God, but you must be right with other people. The apostle Paul said, "Herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offense toward God, and toward men" (Acts 24:16).

If you have wronged someone, go to that person and make things right. Do not make excuses or say, "I know I was wrong, but you were wrong too."

Confess your part fully. Say something like this, "God has shown me that I was wrong in _____________ (name the sin). Will you forgive me for this?" If they say "Yes," you might ask, "Do I need to say any more about this?" Deal with the matter thoroughly. Bring it to a close.

If you have stolen something or caused someone to suffer loss, you should try to pay them for it. Make things right, and then go on. Don't "whip yourself" by going over and over your failures.

• Forgive others.
An unforgiving spirit is a grievous sin in God's sight, especially in the life of a Christian. (See Matthew 18:21-35.) God has in love forgiven us, and He sometimes gives us the privilege of forgiving others as He has forgiven us.

• Declare your faith at the start of each day.
One of the happiest Christians I have ever known gave me his secret. He said that he began each day by saying to the Lord words to this effect:

"Lord Jesus, You died for me, and in Your death I died. I died to sin, to Satan, and to the world. I was buried with You, and I rose again with You as a new person in Christ. I ascended with You, and I am seated with You in heavenly places. You sent Your Holy Spirit to live in me, and the life that is in me today is Your resurrection life. By Your grace, I purpose to live a life, dead to sin, and alive to You."
I begin each day with the confidence that Christ lives in me and that He is sufficient for anything that happens to me today.

• Faithfully attend and support a Christ-honoring church.

It is God's will that believers assemble regularly with other believers for the preaching and teaching of the Word, for fellowship and for prayer. Nothing can take the place of this. The Bible says, "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering … Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is…" (Hebrews 10:23, 25).

Do not be ashamed of Christ. Confess your faith in Him by your words and by your actions. If you have not confessed Him by water baptism, do so at once.

• Obey the Lord.
Determine that you will obey the Lord, whatever the cost. Begin now! Do the next thing you know you should do. Believers are obeyers. The Lord Jesus manifests Himself to those who love and obey Him. (See John 14:21.)

• Set your affections on things above.

If we want to have joy, we must know where to look for it. For us, real joy cannot be found in this world. Our joy is where our Savior is—on the other side of death. Our life, our joy, our future and our riches are all in Christ glorified and exalted at the right hand of God. The Bible says, "Whom having not seen, you love; in whom, though now you see Him not, yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory" (1 Peter 1:8).

The new life which God gives us is resurrection life. If we want to enjoy this life, we must set our love and our affections on the things of Christ. The Bible says, "If you then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God. Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth" (Colossians 3:1, 2).

• Love Christ supremely.

Jesus Christ is the center and glory of Heaven. Every creature in Heaven loves, adores, and praises Christ. One of the proofs that we have been born into the family of God is that we love and appreciate Christ.

God wants to make Christ everything to us. When our spiritual eyes are opened to see the greatness of Christ and we begin to love Him with all our heart, we bring pleasure to God's heart. Jesus said, "The Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came out from God" (John 16:27).

If we really love Christ, it will be proved by our wanting to know everything that is possible for us to know about Him. Believers do not love Christ very much if they neglect their Bibles, if they do not spend time alone with Christ in the study of His Word and prayer, or if they neglect meeting together with the Lord's people. These things are the tests of our love for Christ.

• Set aside time for God each day.
A daily Quiet Time with God is not something that you can take or leave. It is absolutely essential if you want to enjoy God and have your life count for Him. An honored servant of God wrote:

"A life of victory hinges on three things: an initial act, a fixed purpose, and a daily habit.
"The initial act is that of surrender to the Lord Jesus as Master. The fixed purpose is that of doing that which will please Him, and only that, at every turn, in every matter, regardless of the consequences. The daily habit is that of spending a Quiet Time in prayer, alone with the Lord over His Word.
"After the initial act of surrender, the secret of a strong, winsome [attractive] Christian life is in spending time daily alone with God over His Word in prayer." (S.D. Gordon)
Begin to enjoy God and His love now! God loves you and accepts you because you belong to Christ. There is nothing you can do to make God love you more than He loves you right now. He loves you as He loves His own Son. (See John 17:23.)

 

[RiverOL]

I have a Great Savior!
Dear Friend,

We all like to receive nice gifts. God has the best gifts of all and He wants to give them to us. They all come to us through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

There are four steps by which we receive the wonderful things God has for us: 1) the work of Christ, 2) the Word of God, 3) our belief, and 4) the work of the Holy Spirit. Let us consider these.

The work of Christ

The Lord Jesus died on the cross for our sins and He rose again to be our great Savior. His work is perfect and complete.

The Word of God

In the Bible, God tells us what Christ has done for us.

Our belief

This is my part—to believe what God says in His Word.

The work of the Holy Spirit

When I believe God's Word, the Holy Spirit makes real in me what Christ has done for me. This is the way we receive things from God.

How did I become a child of God? First, there was Christ's work. He died on the cross for my sins. Then, there was the Word of God. In His Word, God told me what Christ had done for me.

I believed what God said in His Word, and through the work of the Holy Spirit, I became a child of God.

This is the way we receive things from God—by believing Him. God has many wonderful gifts that He wants to give us. They all come to us through the Lord Jesus Christ. That is why it is so important that we learn all we can about Him—who He is and what He has done for us.

Jesus Christ is the great Creator.

The universe did not come into being by chance, nor by some giant explosion of matter in space billions of years ago. The Bible tells us that it was created by God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Speaking of Jesus, the Bible says,

"All things were made by Him [God the Son]; and without Him was not any thing made that was made." John 1:3

This verse tells us that the Lord Jesus created all things, including the universe. How large is the universe? No one but God knows.

The universe is filled with stars. Our sun is actually a large star, but there are many other stars that are much larger than our sun.

Some stars are so large that they make our sun look like a speck of dust in comparison to them.

To get an idea of how many stars there are in the universe, we might go to a beach with miles and miles of sand. Suppose we filled a bucket with sand. How many grains of sand would be in that bucket? Probably millions!

How many grains of sand would there be in that whole beach? Trillions and trillions!

How many stars are there? Scientists have estimated that the number of stars in the universe is more than ALL the grains of sand on ALL the beaches of the world!

How many stars would that be? No man can ever know, but the Lord Jesus knows. He is the One who created the universe. He knows the exact number of the stars and He has a name for each of them! The Bible says,

"He tells the number of the stars; He calls them all by their names." Psalm 147:4

Not only did God's Son, Jesus Christ, create all things, but He holds together and controls the universe which He created. So exact is the clockwork of the heavens that we can know the exact position of any given star at any moment of time. The Bible tells us that the universe is held together and caused to operate perfectly by God's Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. God's Word says,

"For by Him [Jesus Christ] were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible … all things were created by Him, and for Him:

"And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist [hold together]." Colossians 1:16,17

Jesus Christ is the great Savior.
Here is a most amazing fact: The great Creator, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, once came into this world as a tiny baby!

God's Son has been here on this earth! God's Son, who made everything, became a man. The Bible says,

"In the beginning was the Word [the Lord Jesus], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…

"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelled among us, and we beheld His glory…." John 1:1,14

Why did the Lord Jesus come into the world? He came to save us from our sins. He came to be our Savior. The most precious story in all the Bible is the story of how God's Son loved us so much that He left His home in Heaven to come into the world to die for our sins.

God showed His perfect satisfaction with Christ's death on the cross for our sins by raising His Son from the dead. Jesus was in the tomb for three days, but on the third day, He rose from the grave with a glorious, new resurrection body—a body that can never die. Jesus Christ is the mighty Victor over sin, death, and Satan.

When Christ returned to Heaven, He returned as the mighty Victor over Satan and all the powers of darkness. The Bible says, "Having spoiled [defeated] principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it." Colossians 2:15

Jesus Christ has the highest place in Heaven.
When the Lord Jesus returned to Heaven in His glorious, resurrection body, God the Father gave Him the place of highest honor.

Where is this? It is at the Father's right hand. The glorified Man, the Lord Jesus, is seated at the right hand of God. It is His rightful place. No other place is suited to His greatness. The Bible says,

"…He [God the Father] raised Him [the Lord Jesus] from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places,

"Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come." Ephesians 1:20-21

The position which God has given to His Son is far above that of anyone or any power in the whole universe. The Bible says that God has put all things "under His feet." This means that every person and every creature in Heaven and earth is under His authority.

God has declared that the name "Jesus Christ" is to be honored above any name in the universe.

God has declared that one day every intelligent creature shall bow before His Son and honor His name. The Bible says,

"Wherefore God also has highly exalted Him [Jesus], and given Him a name which is above every name:

"That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

"And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:9-11

Christians are in on a secret that the unsaved people in the world know nothing about. What is the secret? It is this: Jesus Christ has been exalted to the highest place in the universe. He is "King of Kings, and Lord of Lords" (Revelation 19:16).

If we could be lifted out of this world and taken up to Heaven, the thing that would impress us most is how Jesus is honored there. Jesus has the highest place of honor in the whole universe! He is in Heaven today, crowned with glory. The Bible says,

"We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor…." Hebrews 2:9

I have a Savior in Heaven! Right now, at this moment, the Lord Jesus Christ is sitting at the right hand of God the Father. Jesus has all power in Heaven and earth. He is my Savior and my Friend, and He is for me!

Be an "overcomer" for Christ.

A group of young people decide that they will go mountain climbing. By the time they reach the foot of the mountain, some decide that they are too tired. They turn back.

The others start climbing. The path is rough and steep. There are bushes and briars in the way. Halfway up, some decide that it is just too hard. They turn back.

But some will not turn back. Up, up, and up they climb, until they reach the very top. They are "overcomers"!

The Christian life is like this. It is a long journey and, at times, the way is hard. Jesus never said that it would be easy, but He knows the way and He has promised to be with us. He said, "…In the world you shall have tribulation [trouble]: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).

The Lord Jesus was an "overcomer." He came to do the will of God. He would not turn back. He did what God wanted Him to do.

You and I can be "overcomers" by doing what God wants us to do. Jesus is for us. He has promised to be with us every step of the way. He said, "…I will never leave you, nor forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5).

Will you be an overcomer? Will you say, "I have decided to follow Jesus; no turning back, no turning back"? Jesus said, "To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne." Revelation 3:21

NOTE: At the end of each lesson we will have two sections for "overcomers." One will be "God's Truth"—what we have learned in the lesson. The other will be "I Believe." Read both sections carefully. If the prayer expresses what is in your heart, pray it softly to the Lord.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is my great Savior. He has all power in Heaven and on earth, and He is my Friend. He loves me, He is for me, and He will always be with me.

"Lord Jesus, I believe that You are now sitting at the right hand of God. You are my great Savior and my Friend. I want to be an overcomer. Please help me to be all that You want me to be."

 

[RiverOL]

I have a New Family!
Dear Friend,

There are two very special men in the Bible that we need to know about. These two men are Adam and Christ. Adam is called God's "first man," and the Lord Jesus Christ is called God's "second Man."

God's first man was Adam.
Adam is called God's "first man" because he was the first man, the head of the human race.

Man did not come up from lower forms of life. He was created by God! Man is the highest of all God's creatures because he was created "in the image of God." The Bible says,

"So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them." Genesis 1:27

Why did God create man? He created man for His glory and to bring pleasure to Himself. God said, "I have created him for My glory" (Isaiah 43:7). God wanted a race of people who would glorify Him and bring pleasure to Him. The Bible says,

"You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for You have created all things, and for Your pleasure they are and were created." Revelation 4:11

God did not create millions of people to fill the earth. He created only one man—Adam. He created a wife for Adam. Her name was Eve. From Adam and Eve came the whole human race.

God's first man, Adam, disobeyed God.
Man was created to have fellowship with God so that he could enjoy God and God could enjoy him. In the beginning Adam and Eve had wonderful fellowship with God in the garden of Eden. They walked and talked with God in the cool of the evening as a son and daughter might talk to their loving father.

But something happened which changed all this. God's enemy, Satan, deceived Eve. She believed Satan's lie and disobeyed God.

Was Adam deceived? No, he was not. Adam chose to disobey God. He took sides with Satan.

The moment Adam disobeyed God, he died spiritually. He did not die physically, but he died spiritually. This means that he was separated from God. Sin had come between Adam and God.

God's first man, Adam, produced a race of sinners.

Adam now had a sinful nature, and he passed his sinful nature on to his children and to the whole human race. Adam produced a race of sinners! The Bible says, "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners...." (Romans 5:19)

The whole human race had been stolen from God by Satan and put into Satan's kingdom of darkness. Satan put his spirit of rebellion and disobedience into every person. The Bible speaks of "the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience." That spirit is the spirit of Satan! People became very wicked. The Bible says,

"God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." Genesis 6:5

God's second Man is Jesus Christ.
God wanted a race of people who would be pleasing to Him and glorify Him. But God's first man, Adam, produced a race of sinners. Could a race of sinners bring pleasure to God's heart? No, it could not. Could a race of sinners glorify God? No, it could not.

Now that men were sinners, did God hate them? No, He did not. God loves man. God has always loved man. The Bible says, "He loved the people" (Deuteronomy 33:3).

What did God do? God gave us a "second Man." Who is God's "second Man"? He is God's Son, the Lord Jesus Himself. The Bible says,

"The first man [Adam] is of the earth, earthy [made of dust]: the second Man is the Lord from heaven [the Lord Jesus Christ]." 1 Corinthians 15:47

It is as if God were saying, "My first man, Adam, disobeyed Me and produced a race of sinners. But I am giving the human race a second Man, My Son, the Lord Jesus Himself. He will obey Me perfectly and bring pleasure to My heart. He will become the Head of My new family—the children of God."

God's second Man, Jesus Christ, always pleased His Father.
At the beginning of His public ministry, the Lord Jesus was baptized in the Jordan river and something very wonderful happened. The Bible says,

"And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him:

"And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Matthew 3:16-17

God now had a Man on earth in whom He could find His perfect pleasure and delight. Everything Jesus said and did was pleasing to His Father. He said, "…I do always those things that please Him" (John 8:29).

Jesus never sinned one time. There was not a single thing that He ever said or did that was not pleasing to His Father. At the end of His public ministry, three of His disciples were with Him on the top of a high mountain. There His glory as the Son of God shined out from Him. The Bible says that His face "did shine as the sun." Again God spoke from Heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear Him." (Matthew 17:5)

God's second Man, Jesus Christ, is Lord over the entire universe.
Satan had stolen us from God, but the Lord Jesus came to redeem us—"to buy us back"—so that we could once again belong to God. The Bible says,

"You know that you were not redeemed [bought back] with corruptible things, as silver and gold … but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." 1 Peter 1:18, 19

Jesus died on the cross and was buried, but He rose again on the third day. After His resurrection He appeared to His believers many times over a period of forty days. Then He returned to Heaven.

God now has His second Man, Jesus Christ, before Him as the One in whom He finds all His pleasure and delight. God is so pleased with His Son that He has placed Him in charge of everything. God has made His Son "Lord of all." This means Jesus Christ is Lord over the entire universe. The Bible says of the Lord Jesus,

"Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto Him." 1 Peter 3:22

God's second Man, Jesus Christ, is the Head of God's new family.
God has not only made His Son Lord of all, but He has made Him the Head of His new family called "the children of God." All who believe on the Lord Jesus and receive Him as their Savior are born into God's new family.

There are now two families in the world. The head of one family is Adam. Adam's family is a sinful family.

The Head of the other family is God's second Man, the Lord Jesus Christ. His family is called "the children of God." Every person belongs to one or the other of these two families. All of us, when we were born, were born into Adam's sinful family. Every person in Adam's family is separated from God and lost. The Lord Jesus said, "…Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3b).

We cannot be born again physically, but we can be "born again" spiritually into God's family. No matter who you are, if you want to be in God's new family and go to Heaven, you must be born again. Jesus said, "Marvel not that I said unto you, You must be born again." (John 3:7)

How are we "born again" into God's new family? We are born again by believing on the Lord Jesus and receiving Him as our Savior. The Bible says,

"As many as received Him [the Lord Jesus], to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name." John 1:12

Dear friend, if you are not sure that you have been born again into God's new family, why not make sure right now. Find a quiet place where you can be alone with the Lord and tell Him,

"Lord Jesus, I truly believe that You are the Son of God and that You died on the cross for my sins. Right now, I take You as my Savior. Please come into my heart and make me a child of God forever."
I am in God's new family.
The moment I take the Lord Jesus as my Savior, I am born into God's new family. God takes me out of Adam's sinful family and puts me into His new family. I am now a child of God forever! All who take the Lord Jesus as their Savior are children of God. The Bible says,

"For you are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." Galatians 3:26

God is now my heavenly Father. I can talk to Him at any time. I can pray to Him at any time. He wants me to love Him and to trust Him. He wants me to enjoy being His child. The Bible says,

"Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons [the children] of God…." 1 John 3:1

God's first man, Adam, disobeyed Him and brought sin and death into the world. Adam produced a race of sinners. But God loved us and He gave us a "second Man." God's second Man is His Son, the Lord Jesus. Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose again to become the Head of God's new family—"the children of God." By taking the Lord Jesus as my Savior, I am born again spiritually into God's new family.

"Lord Jesus, I truly believe that You are God's second Man, and I take You as my Savior. Since I have taken you as my Savior, I am now in God's new family."

 

[RiverOL]

I am Forgiven and Loved!
Dear Friend,

God wants us to love Him and to enjoy Him. In order for me to enjoy God, I must know two things:

I must know that all my sins are forgiven.

I must know how God feels toward me right now.

Let us think about a father who has a little son whom he loves very much. The father has a valuable clock and he tells his son, "Don't play with my clock. You might break it."

The father goes away. The son looks at his father's clock and decides that he will play with it anyway. And, sure enough, he breaks the clock.

When the father returns, he finds that his clock is broken. The son admits that he did it. The father says, "You have disobeyed me. You will have to go to your room and stay there until the clock is fixed."

The son is not happy at all. He knows that he was wrong in disobeying his father. Meanwhile, the father is not very happy either. He loves his son and cannot bear being separated from him. But the son's disobedience must be taken care of.

What does the father do? He says, "I will fix the clock myself." He fixes the clock perfectly. Then he goes to his son. When the son sees his father, he bursts into tears and says, "Daddy, I'm sorry I broke your clock. I don't know how to fix it."

The father takes his son into his arms, hugs and kisses him, and says, "I forgive you, son. I fixed the clock myself."

The son can now enjoy his father. He knows two things: he knows that he is forgiven, and he knows how his father feels toward him. He says, "I didn't know that my father loved me so much."

Even though we have disobeyed God many times, He loves us with all His heart. He cannot bear having us separated from Him, but our sins must be taken care of.

God gave Jesus to us to be our "Lamb."
In the Old Testament, God told His people to bring an animal, usually a lamb, as a sacrifice for their sins. A man would bring the lamb to the priest. He would lay his hand on the head of the lamb and say something like this, "I have sinned, but God has allowed this lamb to die for my sins." Then the lamb was killed. The lamb's blood was poured out.

What was God teaching His people? He was teaching them that sin is such a terrible thing that something had to die for their sins. The Bible says, "Without shedding of blood is no remission [no forgiveness of sins]" (Hebrews 9:22).

When a lamb died for a person's sins it was a "picture" of how Jesus would one day die for our sins. When Jesus came, John the Baptist said, "Behold [look at] the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29).

What do we mean when we say that Jesus is "the Lamb of God"? We mean that Jesus is the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all people who have ever lived or ever will live.

It is as though God were saying, "For thousands of years you have been bringing your lambs to Me. Now I will provide My Lamb for you. I am giving My Son to you to be your 'Lamb.'"

The Lord Jesus came to be the perfect sacrifice for all the sins of all people. Did He finish the work He came to do? Yes, He finished it perfectly. Just before He died, He cried out, "It is finished!" He had finished the work He came to do.

God forgives us of all our sins.
God forgives us of our sins, not because of what we do for Him, but because of what Christ has done for us. God says to us, "If you trust My Son as your 'Lamb,' I will forgive all of your sins forever!" Speaking of the Lord Jesus, the Bible says,

"To Him [Jesus] give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever believes in Him shall receive remission of sins." Acts 10:43

"Remission of sins" means that God forgives all of my sins forever! The forgiveness which God gives to me when I receive the Lord Jesus as my Savior is an eternal forgiveness. It is forgiveness of all my sins—past, present, and future.

You may be thinking, "I can see how God can forgive my past sins and my present sins, but how can God forgive me of future sins—sins which I have not yet done?"

God knows everything—past, present, and future. He sees my whole life, from beginning to end. God gave His Son to die for all my sins. At the time when Christ died, how many of my sins were in the future? All of them were in the future then. But God saw them all and Christ died for all of them.

God has forgiven me of all my sins. God does not hold a single thing against His children. All our sins are completely gone from His sight. He says that He will not even remember them. God says, "Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more." (Hebrews 10:17)

What happens when I sin after I'm saved?
The moment I took the Lord Jesus as my Savior, God gave me eternal forgiveness. That is, He forgave me of all my sins—past, present, and future. God is my heavenly Father and I am His child forever.

When I sin now, I do not lose my relationship with my heavenly Father; I am still God's child. When the little boy broke his father's clock, he was still his father's child. But he lost his fellowship with his father, and he was unhappy.

Sin breaks my fellowship with my heavenly Father; I lose my joy. When this happens, I need another kind of forgiveness which we will call fellowship forgiveness.

My heavenly Father has told me what I need to do to make things right with Him again. I need to confess my sin to Him. The Bible says,

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." I John 1:9

If I sinned against someone else, I must also confess this to them and ask them to forgive me. If I lost my temper and said mean things to someone, I must ask them to forgive me. Then I come to God in prayer and say something like this:

"Father, I lost my temper and said wrong things to __________. I have asked them to forgive me. Now I am confessing this sin to you, and I am asking You, in Jesus' name, to forgive me."

When should I confess my sin to God? I should confess my sin as soon as I know that I have sinned. I should not put it off until some later time. I should go to my Father in prayer at once and confess my sin to Him. When I do, He forgives me immediately.

God has great joy in forgiving us.
The Lord Jesus came to tell us and to show us that God loves us with all His heart. Jesus used stories called "parables" to help us understand God's truth.

In Luke, chapter 15, Jesus told the story of "the prodigal son." The word "prodigal" means disobedient and wasteful. In this story, the father represents God the Father, and the prodigal son represents you and me.

In this parable, a certain man had two sons. The younger son wanted to leave home and do what he wanted to do. He asked his father to give him his share of the family wealth. No doubt the father begged his son to stay, but the son was determined to go his own way.

The father gave the son his portion of his wealth. The son took that which his father had given him and went into a far country. There he wasted his inheritance in sinful living.

The son spent his money doing sinful things, so he had no money left to buy food. Furthermore, there was a famine in the land. There had been no rain for a long, long time and the farmers had not been able to grow their crops.

The son found himself in a terrible condition. He was dirty and in rags. The only job he could find was taking care of some hogs. He was so hungry that he wanted to eat the husks that he was feeding to the hogs.

One day the son began to think about his father's house and all the good things there. He said, "How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before you, and am no more worthy to be called your son: make me as one of your hired servants.'"

He got up and started back to his father. This is what the Bible calls "repentance." Repentance is a turn-around. When you see that you have been going the wrong way, and you turn around and go to God, that is repentance.

On his long way back, the son no doubt wondered how his father would receive him. Would he be angry with him? Would he tell him that he could not come back after what he had done?

How did the father receive him? Here are the words of Jesus: "When he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck [hugged], and kissed him."

How does God receive us?

Perhaps you think that you are saved, but you are not really sure. Don't go on doubting. Settle the matter now, once for all. Say to the Lord, "Lord Jesus, if I have never really trusted You as my 'Lamb,' the One who died for all my sins, I am doing so now. I am taking You as my Savior right now!"

Maybe you trusted Christ as your Savior some time ago, but you have not been living for Him. You want to come back to God, but you wonder how He will receive you. The story of the prodigal son shows you how God will receive you.

Don't wait any longer. Come to Him now. Come just as you are. You will discover that God is much kinder and much more loving than you could ever imagine. He will welcome you with joy.

To enjoy God, I must know that all my sins are forgiven, and I must know how He feels toward me. God gave the Lord Jesus to me to be my "Lamb." Because God's Son died for my sins, and I have taken Him as my "Lamb," God has forgiven me of all my sins—past, present, and future. Best of all, I know how God feels toward me right now. He loves me with all His heart!

"Father, I believe that You gave Your Son to be my 'Lamb.' Thank You that I am your forever-forgiven child! Thank You for showing me how You feel toward me now—that You love me with all Your heart. I want to love You with all my heart, and I want to please You."

 

[RiverOL]

I am a New Person in Christ!
Dear Friend,

One of the wonderful things about God is that He likes to make things new. When sin has ruined something that He made, God makes something new, something that sin can never again ruin. God says,

"Behold, I make all things new…." Revelation 21:5

God's first man, Adam, disobeyed God and brought sin and death into the world. Adam produced a race of sinners. Every person born into the world is born into Adam's sinful family.

What did God see?

When God looked at me in my unsaved condition, what did He see? He saw three things:

• God saw my many sins.
• God saw me as a sinner, the one who did those sins.
• God saw me in Satan's kingdom of darkness.

These things are true of every unsaved person. But God loved us and He wanted to remove everything that stood between us and Himself. Let us see how God did this.

How did God deliver me from my sins?
God delivered me from my sins by laying my sins on His Son. The Bible says, "The Lord has laid on Him [Jesus] the iniquity [sin] of us all" (Isaiah 53:6b).

Because the Lord Jesus died for my sins, God has forgiven me of all my sins forever. The Bible says, "the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7b).

How did God deliver me from my sinful self?
It is wonderful to know that God has forgiven me of all my sins, but I have a deeper problem. I am a sinner. I am the one who does the sinning.

Where do my sins come from? They come from my heart—my sinful nature. The Lord Jesus said that all kinds of sins come "from within, out of the heart of men." I cannot change myself. Even God does not try to make my heart good. He has a better solution to my problem.

Suppose God forgave me of all my sins and left me here as I was. I would keep on sinning, and that would be terrible! If I am ever to enjoy my new life as God's child, God must solve this problem of my sinful self.

God's solution to the problem of my sinful self is to get rid of my old self and make me a new person in Christ.

God delivered me from my old self by putting me in Christ on the cross. The Bible says,

"But of Him [God] are you in Christ Jesus…." 1 Corinthians 1:30

When Christ was crucified, I was "crucified" with Him. My old sinful self, which the Bible calls "the old man," was crucified with Christ. God wants us to know this. The Bible says,

"Knowing this, that our old man [our old self] was crucified with Him [Christ]...." Romans 6:6

How do I know that I was "crucified" with Christ? I know because God's Word says so. The apostle Paul said, "I have been crucified with Christ" (Galatians 2:20). The same is true of every believer in Christ.

You may be thinking, "But Christ was crucified 2,000 years ago. How could I be 'crucified with Christ'?"

To help us understand this, let us take a piece of paper and cut out a little man. Now take the little man and place him in a book. Where is the little man now? He is in the book and he will stay in the book.

Suppose we put the book on the floor. Where is the little man now? He is in the book on the floor.

Suppose we place the book on the table. Where is the little man now? He is in the book on the table.

Suppose I take the book with the little man in it and hold it under water. What happens to the little man? He is still in the book, under the water.

Suppose we wrap the book with the little man in it and send it to another city. Where is the little man now? He is in the book in the other city.

In this illustration the book represents Christ and the little man represents me. Just as we put the little man in the book, so God put me in Christ.

Once the little man was put in the book, whatever happened to the book also happened to the little man because he was in the book. The same is also true of me. God put me in Christ on the cross and whatever happened to Him also happened to me because I was in Christ.

When Christ was crucified, I was crucified with Him. When He died, I died with Him. When He was buried, I was buried with Him. And when He rose again, I rose again with Him. Whatever happened to Him happened also to me.

In myself I have not died, but these things are true of me in Christ. Remember the little man in the book. Once the little man was put in the book, whatever happened to the book also happened to him because he was in the book.

The same is true of me. Once God put me in Christ on the cross, whatever happened to Him also happened to me because I was in Christ. I was in Christ when He died. In God's sight that was the end of my old life.

I was in Christ when He was buried. I was in Christ when He rose again, but now I am a new person.

God created me as a new person in Christ. I still have the same body, but I am a new person inside. The Bible says,

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature [a new person]: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." 2 Corinthians 5:17

I am a new person in a new place!
I am no longer in Satan's kingdom of darkness. I am a new person in a new place! I am now in the kingdom of God's dear Son. The Bible says,

"Giving thanks unto the Father ... Who has delivered us from the power [kingdom] of darkness, and has translated [transferred] us into the kingdom of His dear Son." Colossians 1:12a, 13

Christ has delivered me from everything that was against me. It was a happy day when I learned what Christ has done for me. He has removed everything that stood between God and me.

What about my sins? My sins were laid on Jesus. He shed His precious blood for my sins. God has forgiven me of all my sins for Jesus' sake. The Bible says,

"I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake." 1 John 2:12

What about my old sinful life? In God's sight my old life ended with my death with Christ. The apostle Paul said, "I have been crucified with Christ." I can say this too, because Christ is my Savior. I am not the person I once was. I am a new person in Christ. The Bible says,

"…put on the new man, which after God [according to God] is created in righteousness and true holiness." Ephesians 4:24

What about Satan's kingdom of darkness? I am no longer in Satan's kingdom of darkness. God has transferred me out of Satan's kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of His dear Son.

God wants me to enjoy Him.
How wonderful it is to know that all my sins are forgiven, and I am a new person in Christ!

Why does God do all these wonderful things for me? He does them because He loves me and because I am in Christ.

Because I am in Christ, God always looks at me with delight. Is Christ welcome in the Father's presence? Yes, He is, and so am I. Is Christ the Father's delight? Yes, He is, and so am I. God is saying to us, "I love you and delight in you because you belong to My Son."

The Prodigal Son
In the story of the prodigal son, Jesus shows us how the Father receives us when we come to Him, trusting Jesus as our Savior. He forgives us fully and freely. He wants to forgive us. He loves to forgive us!

When the prodigal son returned, his father saw him while he was still far away. The father ran and threw his arms around his son and kissed him. It was not just a little kiss on the cheek. In the original language, the Bible says that the father "covered him with his kisses."

In that moment the prodigal son knew two things. First, he knew that he was fully and freely forgiven.

Second, he knew how his father felt toward him. He knew his father's heart attitude toward him. By his actions, his father was saying, "I love you! I love You! I love you!"

Not only am I forgiven, but I know how God feels toward me—He loves me with all His heart! God's forgiveness is the flowing out of His boundless love toward me in Christ.

It is God hugging me to His heart, even as the father put his arms around the poor prodigal son and folded him to his heart. It is God saying to me, "I love You! I love you! I love you! I am so happy that you came to Me."

Through the work of His Son, God has removed everything that stood between Himself and me. The blood of Christ has cleansed me of all my sins. My old sinful self was crucified with Christ. God created me as a new person in Christ. I am now in the kingdom of God's dear Son.

How do I know these things? I know them because God says so in His Word. What does God want me to do now? He wants me to love His Son and live for Him!

"Father, I believe that You have forgiven me of all my sins and You have made me a new person in Christ. Thank You for all these wonderful things which You have done for me."

 

[RiverOL]

I am in Christ!
Dear Friend,

When God looks down, He sees two families in the world. He sees the family of Adam and the family of Christ. Adam is the head of all who are in his family, and Christ is the Head of all who are in His family.

If I am in Adam's family, God sees me as being in Adam. If I am in Christ's family, God sees me as being in Christ.

God sees me as being in Adam or in Christ. He sees you as being in Adam or in Christ. God sees every person as being in Adam or in Christ.

What does it mean to be in Adam?
To be in Adam means to share in all that Adam did and all that he was. Being in Adam means you are separated from God, in Satan's kingdom of darkness, and under God's judgment. How terrible!

God put me in Christ.
By natural birth we are all in Adam's sinful family. We are all in Adam. That is why the Lord Jesus said, "You must be born again." We must be born again spiritually to get into Christ's family.

Here is some wonderful news! When I took the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior, God took me out of Adam's family and put me in Christ's family. God put me into Christ. I am now in Christ. The Bible says,

"But of Him [God] are you in Christ Jesus...." 1 Corinthians 1:30

How did I get into Christ? God put me there! I could never do this myself, but God did it for me. By His mighty power God took me out of Adam's sinful family and put me into Christ's family. He put me in Christ.

The most precious phrase in the whole Bible is the little phrase in Christ. Over and over again, the Bible speaks of those who have trusted Christ as their Savior as being in Christ or in Him. God wants His believers to know that they are in Christ!

What does it mean to be in Christ?

To be in Christ means to share in all that Christ did and all that He is today. To be in Christ means that I have a new "position" before God. I am loved and accepted by God because I am in Christ.

The moment I took Christ as my Savior, God put me in Christ. I am no longer in Adam; I am in Christ. I will always be in Christ. That is the way God will always see me—in Christ. How wonderful!

Here are some verses that tell us of our new position in Christ:
"But of Him are you in Christ Jesus…." l Corinthians l:30
"…God … has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." Ephesians 1:3
"According as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world.…" Ephesians 1:4
"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto [for] good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:10
"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." 2 Corinthians 5:17
"…we are in Him that is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ…." 1 John 5:20
"In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins." Colossians 1:14
"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus…." Romans 8:1
God wants every believer to know that he is in Christ. Go back over these verses and take your pen or pencil and underline the words that speak of our being in Christ or in Him. Underline them in your Bible. As you read the New Testament, you will discover that these words are used many times. In fact they are used over 130 times in the New Testament. God wants me to know that I am in Christ!

I am forgiven.
Because I am in Christ, God has forgiven me of every sin. The Bible says, "In whom [in Christ] we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins" (Colossians 1:14).

I am made near to God.
As a sinner, I was separated from God and could not come into His presence. But now in Christ Jesus, I can come boldly into God's presence because the blood of His Son Jesus Christ has cleansed me from all sin. The Bible says,

"But now in Christ Jesus you who sometimes were far off are made near by the blood of Christ." Ephesians 2:13

I am redeemed.
To redeem something means to pay a price to get it back. Because of Adam's disobedience, we were "stolen" from God by Satan. But Christ has redeemed us. He has "bought us back." Now we belong to Him, the One who redeemed us. The Bible says,

"In whom [in Christ] we have redemption through His blood...." Ephesians 1:7

Christ had to pay a great price to redeem us. What was the price He paid for us? The price was His precious blood. He died on the cross to get us back. The Bible says,

"...You were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold ... but with the precious blood of Christ…." 1 Peter 1:18-19

I am accepted.
We all like to be accepted by our friends and others, but being accepted by God is the most important acceptance of all.

God could not accept me when I was in Adam, in his sinful family. But the moment I received the Lord Jesus as my Savior, I was accepted by God. Why am I accepted by God? Because I am in Christ! The Bible says,

"To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He has made us accepted in the Beloved [in Christ]." Ephesians 1:6

Christ is "the Beloved," God's dearly loved Son. I am accepted in Christ. What does it mean to be "accepted in Christ"? It means that God loves me and accepts me in the same way that He loves and accepts His own beloved Son. I am "accepted in His beloved Son."

Once there was a beautiful young girl who lived in a far country. Her family was very poor, and she did not have a bright future. One day she decided to leave her home and go to another country to be a servant in the home of a wealthy man.

This man was very rich, and his home seemed like a palace to her. He was good to her, and she worked hard to please him.

This wealthy man had a son whom he loved very much. In time this son fell in love with the beautiful servant girl. She loved him also, and one day he asked her to be his wife.

The father was pleased that his son had found the girl he wanted to marry. One day the son and the servant girl were joined in marriage.

Suddenly everything changed for this young girl. She was no longer a servant, but she was accepted in the family of the wealthy father. Why was she accepted? She was accepted because she had become the wife of the beloved son. She was "accepted in the beloved son."

This is a picture of what God has done for me. I was once in Adam. I had no hope and no future. But one day I took the Lord Jesus as my Savior, and everything changed. I am now accepted perfectly by God.

Why am I accepted by God? I am accepted because now I belong to Christ. I am accepted in Christ. God has made me "accepted in the Beloved."

I have a new position.
My "position" is the way God sees me in Christ. Before I took Christ as my Savior, God saw me as being in Adam. That was my old position.

Now I have a new position in God's sight. God now sees me in Christ. He loves and accepts me in the same way that He loves and accepts His own beloved Son.

Can I lose my position in Christ? No, I can never lose my position in Christ, but there is something I can lose.

I can lose the enjoyment of my position in Christ. If I am disobedient to God and keep doing things that displease Him, I will lose my joy.

Because of His great love for me, God has done something for me that I could never do for myself. He has taken me out of Adam's family and put me in Christ's family. I am now in Christ. Because I am in Christ, God loves me and accepts me. I am accepted in His beloved Son.

"Father, I believe that You have put me in Christ, and that I am loved and accepted in Him. Help me to love You and obey You always so I can enjoy this wonderful new position which You have given me."

 

[RiverOL]

Christ is My Righteousness
Dear Friend,

It is wonderful to know that God has forgiven me of all my sins, but if I am to enjoy God, I need a righteousness that is acceptable to God.

God is a holy God. The Bible teaches that God is all light and glory. He is perfect in righteousness and purity. Nothing sinful can ever come into His presence. Many times in the Bible, darkness stands for sin, and the Bible says "...God is light, and in Him is no darkness [no sin] at all" (1 John 1:5).

The prophet Isaiah once had a vision in which he saw God on His throne of glory. Around the throne were beautiful heavenly beings who were praising God, saying,

"Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory." Isaiah 6:3

When Isaiah saw this vision of the glory and holiness of God, he fell on his face and cried out, "Woe is me! for I am undone … for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts" (Isaiah 6:5).

What caused Isaiah to fall on his face and cry out to God, "Woe is me, for I am undone"? It was his sense of sinfulness. Isaiah was a good man and he loved God, but he knew that he was sinful. He knew that he was not fit to be in the presence of the glorious and holy God.

I need a perfect righteousness.
What is the difference between forgiveness and righteousness? Forgiveness is getting rid of my sins; righteousness means being "clothed" properly to come into God's presence.

Forgiveness is like taking a bath. Righteousness is like putting on nice, clean clothes. We take a bath to get rid of our dirt. We put on nice clothes so that we will be dressed properly.

Suppose I was dirty and in ragged clothes. A great king sees me, and for some reason, he wants to help me. He invites me to come to see him in his palace.

What would I need to do? First, I would need to take a bath to get rid of all my dirt. Then I would need to be dressed in the right kind of clothes to appear before a great king.

What about coming into God's presence? When I think about coming into the presence of God, the King of the universe, I realize that I need to be "clothed" with a righteousness that is acceptable to Him.

What kind of righteousness does God accept? God accepts only a perfect righteousness. That is the only kind of righteousness God will accept.

Can I make myself perfectly righteous in God's sight? No, I cannot. No matter how hard I try, I can never make myself perfectly righteous in God's sight. All of my "righteousnesses"—the very best things that I do—are like "filthy rags" in God's sight. The prophet Isaiah said,

"We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags [in God's sight]…." Isaiah 64:6

Here is good news! What we could never do for ourselves, God has done for us. He provides a perfect righteousness for His believers.

How does God make me righteous in His sight?
God has done three wonderful things to make me perfectly righteous in His sight: God got rid of my old life, God created me as a new person in Christ, and God gave Christ to me to be my righteousness. Let us see how God did this.

God got rid of my old life.
Do you remember the story about the little man and the book? Once the little man was put in the book, whatever happened to the book also happened to the little man because he was in the book.

That is the way it is with us. God put me in Christ on the cross. When He was crucified, I was "crucified with Him." When He died, I died with Him. Of course, I am not dead in myself, but I "died" in Christ. This is the way God sees me. My old life is gone forever from His sight.

God created me as a new person in Christ.
I died with Christ. I was buried with Him. In God's sight that was the end of my old life. Now God says to me, "I have created you as a new person in Christ."

The Bible says,

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:10

God gave Christ to me as my righteousness.

In myself I am not righteous, but God has made me perfectly righteous in His sight. How did God do this? He put me in Christ, and He gave Christ to me as my righteousness. The Bible says,

"For He [God] has made Him [Christ] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Corinthians 5:21

This verse says that we are "made the righteousness of God in Him," that is, in Christ. Just as God looks at Christ and sees Him perfectly righteous, so He looks at us and sees us perfectly righteous because we are in Christ.

The story of the prodigal son shows us how God makes it possible for us to come into His presence with a righteousness that is suitable to Him.

The son was made suitable to his father.

When the prodigal son returned to his father, he had no idea how well he would be received by his father. The father ran to meet him and "covered him with his kisses." At that moment the son knew how his father felt toward him. He knew that he was forgiven and accepted.

But even though he knew that he was forgiven and accepted by his father, the prodigal son was not completely happy. He was not happy because of his condition. He was still in his dirt and rags.

The prodigal son might have said to his father, "It is wonderful that you love me so much and that you can receive me as you do, but I do not enjoy it because I am not fit for you."

What did the father do? He told his servants, "Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him." We may be sure that this new robe was not put over the prodigal son's dirt and rags. He was cleaned up and his old clothes taken away, and then the servants put "the best robe" on him. It is called "the best robe" because there could be no better.

What is the son's situation now? His dirt has been washed off him and he has on the best robe. He knows that he is now fit to be in his father's presence. He can now enjoy being with his father because his father has made him suitable to himself.

The "best robe" not only made the son suitable to his father, but it made him conscious of his suitability. The son now knew that he was fit to be in his father's presence because the father had made him suitable to himself.

This story has a deep, heavenly meaning. The Lord Jesus told us this story because He wants us to know what the Father has done to make us suitable to Himself.

God has not only cleansed me from all my sins, but He has made me a new person in Christ. And He has provided a perfect righteousness for me by giving me His "best robe."

What is God's "best robe"? God's "best robe" is Christ! The moment I was saved, God put me in Christ, and He gave Christ to me as my righteousness.

Because the prodigal son had the "best robe" which his father had given him, he could enjoy being in his father's presence. He knew that he was clothed in a way that was suitable to his father.

God has made me suitable to Himself by giving me His "best robe." He has given Christ to me as my perfect righteousness. I can now enjoy being in God's presence because I am in Christ.

I am "accepted in the Beloved."
Through my death and resurrection with Christ, I am on "new ground" with God. I am no longer in Adam. I am now in Christ. I am accepted by God because I am in Christ. The Bible says,

"To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He has made us accepted in the Beloved [Christ]." Ephesians 1:6

The righteousness and acceptance which I have in Christ is perfect and complete. I did not earn it. God gave it to me the moment I took Christ as my Savior. I can never lose my acceptance with God. I am always accepted in Christ.

My "position" and my "walk"

The Bible speaks of my "position" in Christ and my "walk" with Christ. I need to understand the difference between these two things.

What is my "position" in Christ? My "position" is the way God sees me in Christ. My position is always perfect because it is the way God sees me in Christ.

What is my "walk" with Christ? My walk is the way I live, day by day. Is my "walk" perfect? No, it is not. Why? Because it depends on me, and I still sin. As long as I am here in my body, I will sin at times.

It will help us if we remember that our position is the way God sees us in Christ, and our walk is the way we live here on earth.

God always accepts me according to my position in Christ, and not according to my walk—the way I live. God always sees me in Christ.

When God saved me, He put me in Christ and gave Christ to me as my righteousness. I am made "the righteousness of God in Him." My righteousness before God is Christ Himself. He is God's "best robe," and God never takes back His "best robe" which He has given to us. If you are saved, say to yourself right now, "I am in Christ, and Christ is my perfect righteousness. He will always be my perfect righteousness before God."
Say it again! Isn't that wonderful?

"Father, I believe the wonderful things You have done for me! You got rid of my old life, You made me a new person in Christ, and You have given Christ to me as my perfect righteousness. Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!"