SelahV Today by hariette petersen

GOD'S "ELECTING LOVE" REQUIRES A FEW THINGS...

Are you elected to receive God's love? Are you among those chosen by God to live eternally in His presence? Have you met the requirements?  God has some set up, you know?  When a candidate is elected to office, he has to meet certain requirements in order to be "elected"--a certain age, a residency, be on ballot within a specified time period, etc.  If he doesn't meet those requirements, then the election process (no matter how popular, how kind, how generous, how noble, how honest, a person he is), is null and void.  Even if the man receives the majority of votes in the election process, he still must meet the requirements or he cannot be elected to serve.  God's desire in His election for the kingdom of God, is that no man be a loser in the process.  So what are the requirements of God's elected ones?

But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:8-13

"EVERYONE."

Everyone?

Everyone who confesses with his mouth and believes in his heart.

"Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ."  That's right.

"...if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."

Each and every person who hears the word of the Lord, and professes the Lord, and believes with their heart, then they are saved.  God makes no distinction...each person receives the benefits of His glory and is given the privilege to serve the risen Lord and coming King.  We receive the presence of His Holy Spirit in our lives to guide us, teach us, edify us, bless us, give us specific gifts, comfort us, and pour out faith, hope, mercy, love, forgiveness, self-control, meekness, kindness, gentleness, and peace. 

"All of these spiritual blessings are ours because of the electing love of the Father, the redeeming work of the Son, and the sealing of the Holy Spirit.  These spiritual blessings encompass everything that Christ Jesus has purchased for us."  Mike Leake SBC Voices

Who receives the spiritual blessings of God's love?  Who becomes the benefactor of the redeeming work of the Son of God?  Who inherits the wealth of the kingdom purchased by Christ's sacrificial death upon a cruel cross?  Who is sealed by the Holy Spirit and guaranteed the spiritual blessings in Christ the Lord?  Who gets to spend an eternity in heaven with the Lord?

Everyone who meets the requirements of God's election, that's who.

Do you meet those requirements?  If not, will you confess with your mouth today that Jesus Christ is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead?  Be elected today; let the Holy Spirit validate your election and seal you today forever. selahV

Because Of A Bunch of Self-centered, Self-saturated, Rebellious, Pride-Dominated, Arrogant and Angry People

that God so loved...

a virgin named Mary

found favor in His sight

and conceived His only begotten Son, that whosoever

believed in Him, he would have everlasting life.

Believed in Him?  Yes...

whosoever believed His words and relied upon His words, and heeded His words, and confessed with their lips that He is Lord...then...

no matter how snarky, arrogant, mean, bitter, angry, abusive, self-centered, self-saturated, rebellious and pride-filled person he was, or is, he will be saved and Christ will begin a work in him that is beyond miraculous and never ever leave him alone.  He will be made totally and completely perfect.  Forever and forever and forever, he will dwell in Christ and receive a reward when He returns to earth to gather His people unto Himself.  selahV

Cries At the Cross and Thoughts to Ponder

No other could know the agony as well, nor experience the pain of loss as much as Mary, the mother of Jesus, on the day we call Good Friday.  Long before she gave birth to the Holy Child in Bethlehem, Mary pondered the monumental change growing within her womb.  More than the physical changes...more than the cultural challenges, Mary pondered that she, a lowly Hebrew virgin, would conceive the long-awaited Messiah...the Savior of Israel.  Her first child.  An awesome responsibility for any woman to have a child, but Emanuel?  God with us?

I can't imagine all the thoughts Mary carried throughout her lifetime of her first-born son.  I relate only to those I hold inside my heart and mind for my own son.  Though my first I only saw through a plate glass window 15 hours before he died, I was gifted with my second son for 33 years.  The same age as Jesus when He gave his life on the Friday, we call "Good" in remembrance of the crucifixion.

Needful to say, Mary probably did not feel so "good" that day as she followed her son about to be accused, tried, beaten, mocked, spat upon, nailed to a wooden cross with spikes that tore into his flesh.  As horrific as it seems to me the death I am told claimed my son as his head was crushed, beyond recognition when he met boulders on a bank when the driver of an ATV rolled the 4-Wheeler over and instantly killed my son, it is nothing compared to that which the mother of our Savior experienced as she watched in vigil at the foot of the cross as Jesus drew his last breath and said "It is finished".

What went through her mind?  How unfair did it seem to Mary?  How many memories of joy and laughter and hugs did she recall?  How many tears did she shed?  Did she kneel there in fear for herself by being the mother of the Man from Galilee? How did she feel as she watched all the things she may have expected to occur be destroyed that dark and lonely day on Golgatha's hill?  What did she think would happen? Had she been forewarned?  Could she have fathomed the heartache she would have to endure because her son would have to die that she could live forever with him?  I do not know.

But as I contemplate this day, I know I will some day.  I will know why my son lived only 33 years...before God took him to live with Him for eternity.  I will know, as Mary, why we mothers were left behind.  And it will be a good day.  The best day among all.  And I know then and there, I will have no more sorrow, no more pain, and no more emptiness for the void left behind when my son left me to join Mary's son.  selahV

Can a Believer Lose Faith and OTHER QUESTIONS

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."  Romans 8:38-39 NIV (c) 2011

Nothing can separate us from the love of God.  Is the love of God synonymous with the salvation of God?

"The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." 2 Corinthians 4:4

Is it a valid excuse on judgment day to say  The god of this age--satan--blinded my mind, so I could not see?

To me, there is as much validity in that excuse as Adam's and Eve's excuses in the Garden of Eden.

But what about the person who once professed belief in Christ and now rejects it?  His/her eyes now blinded by satan's logic, reason, rationale and disbelief--Where will that person spend eternity?  Can a Believer ever truly unbelieve?  Would this person be an example of the seed that withers, or is plucked up by the birds, or never really took root in the soil?

I ask these things because I have a friend who once followed Jesus and believed in Him.  Now, this friend denies belief in Jesus and Christianity.  What say you?

SNAILS and Other Marvelous Things

Strange creatures.  Snails are slimy looking globs that carry shells upon their backs as they travel the earth in search of a gardener's bounty.  They can devastate a row a freshly planted seedlings overnight, leaving thin trails of silver slime-lines in their wake.

I haven't planted a garden for a few years now.  Last time I did, I battled cutworms and snails eating my cosmos and tender plants.  But I'm thinking about doing some pot-gardening this year and keeping things at waist level so I can care for them.  I may try a topsy-turvy upside down tomato plant, too.  Of course the snails will still slither up and get the plants if I don't do something.

There are various remedies suggested to keep snails controlled, though most don't work.  They shrivel up if you put salt on them.  Ick!  But who wants to stand around in the night with a flashlight dumping salt on them?  Not to mention that salt is not good for the soil and the plants you're trying to grow.  Others say to put out shallow bowls of beer--supposedly they're attracted to the yeast and they crawl in and drown.  I wonder if they drown because they can't swim or because they get drunk from alcohol poisoning.  No matter, I don't buy beer; so I won't know.  Crushed shells deter them a little, but not much.  Most folks say it's best to simply pick them off and discard them, or put them in your compost pile to help worms work their magic.

I did a bit of blog surfing and discovered one man who had a horrific problem with snails devouring his potato plants and lettuce.  He noticed a rather odd thing when he started using copper gardening tools instead of steel.  The snails which ate his plants almost ignored his garden.  He speculated that the magnetic field in the earth disturbed by the metal was actually an attraction to the snails.  When he switched to copper, the snails were still there but they hardly bothered his potatoes or lettuce.  Copper, hmmmn...maybe he's onto something.  Maybe that's why flies don't come into our church vestibule when we hang bags of water with copper pennies on the windows.

Maybe I should plant pennies around my tender seedlings.  I'll let you know if that works out.  Until then, I wonder; does anyone know how those grey blobby snails keep those big shells balanced on their backs as they climb up a tomato vine?  Is there a hump inside it?  Or does that slime they leave behind help keep them glued on?

Snails...these things make me marvel at the details our Creator puts before us to contemplate and ponder.  So mindful is God of every single tiny detail of life.  I wonder how much time He considered the lowly snail as He created it to protect itself with its own mucous in times of drought.  The same mucous permits it to slide across a razorblade without being harmed.  Amazing.  And yet, for us who know Him and trust Him, He not only created us, but promises far greater things for us.

"...as it is written: “ Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him." 1 Corinthians 2:9

Is that not marvelous to consider?  selahV

POWERFUL Testimony by Wade Burleson

This is one of the most powerful testimonies of how God uses us in our darkest hours when we turn to Him.  Please read Wade Burleson's account of imprisonment in Mexico and be encouraged when you find yourself struggling with circumstances beyond your control.

CLICK >> HERE to Read Saved From Hell, by Wade Burleson.  God is so good!

Thank you, Wade, for posting this story.  You should submit it to Billy Graham's Decision Magazine.  Then they'll reprint it in Spanish.  selahV (a.k.a. hariette petersen)

IN CHRIST ALONE

Oh to stand in before the throne of grace and sing this song to the Lord in heaven.  Even then, any glory I would offer is nothing.

Please take time to listen to this song and pray for others to hear the Voice of God, and know the conviction of the Holy Spirit to the darkest depths of their souls.

May your morning in worship to the Redeemer of man fill you with His eternal love.  May thousands upon thousands be added to His church in the assembly of the saints today.

SAVED AND CERTAIN

Some folks wonder where they will go when they die.  Some believe they will simply be no more...they will rot and become part of the earth again.  Indeed, science shows us that this is true of the body.  But religion causes folks to wonder...is there more?  Some folks struggle with that question.  They settle things in their minds based on variables in their upbringing, or what they have or have not experienced.  Some struggle with salvation--and they come from evangelical backgrounds where Jesus is taught from the cradle to the grave. Some are teenagers; some are adults--who were saved as young children.  What they believe as a child, is scrutinized in light of greater understanding as a teenager.  Then as an adult, salvation is scrutinized again in light of greater understanding as an adult.

Can a person still be saved even though they do not understand all the particulars surrounding salvation?

I was seven-years-old when I walked down the aisle of Triangle Baptist Church in Triangle, Virginia.  Pastor James Weaver asked me a few questions, but I have absolutely no recall as to what he said.  Yet, I clearly remember telling him that I wanted Jesus in my life.  I later told my stepmother, when she was getting me dressed to go to church for my baptism, that Jesus washed away my sin.  I knew that I needed to obey God and do what the Bible said.  I understood that with all the understanding a seven-year-old child could, I suppose.

However, I did not understand grace.  I did not understand faith.  I didn't understand justification, or sanctification, election, nor any of the other doctrines which many people argue and debate today.  For that matter, I didn't really understand baptism.  I did understand that without Jesus I was going to hell.  I wanted Him in my life even though I wasn't sure how He became a part of my life.  I didn't understand all the things that made that so, but I believed the Bible and the preacher when he preached those things.  I believed that God had to do something inside me and that I needed Him to do it.  I didn't understand exactly how He was going to do that, but I believed He would.  I believed as I walked that aisle as a child that He would do in me what I needed in order to go to heaven.

I did not believe in the tooth fairy, Santa Claus, or the Easter Bunny.  Those myths were debunked with reality:  Teeth beneath the pillow the following morning.  Letters to Santa that went unanswered.  Decorating my own eggs the day before Easter.  I still wished upon a star, and tossed coins in wishing wells.  I still made wishes when I blew out my candles.  But most childhood fantasies were just that--fantasy.  I didn't even believe in happily-ever-after.  So I can only surmise that my belief in Jesus was strengthened by solid facts.  People in my life, school teachers, and Sunday School teachers trusted in God and the Bible that documented His words to us.  After all, the Ten Commandments were posted on the wall of every classroom.  It had to be true, didn't it?  I saw my school teachers in church--it had to be trustworthy. 

I spent nearly all summers in Tennessee with my step-mother's family--if not the entire summer, a large portion of it.  I remember going to a little country church in Butler, Tennessee and singing a special, The Wise Man Built His House Upon the Rocks.  After I sang my song, the visiting preacher began shouting and getting all red in the face.  He went out in the crowd and stuck his finger in various faces and said, "If you don't have Jesus you are going to hell."  I remember hoping that the preacher wouldn't come poking me in the nose.  I figured I had Jesus, so I wasn't going to hell.  But he sure made me wonder.

Throughout my life, I felt like God was somewhere doing something to keep me saved because of that moment when I was a child.  I counted myself as a Christian.  As I grew older I fell prey to many temptations and failed miserably at living the life Christ expects.  I will not bore you with the dirty details; suffice it to say I had reason to doubt that a Holy God would allow me next to anyone in Heaven--let alone His Son.  So when I was twenty-eight years old, I came to question my salvation.  I looked at my past and believed I couldn't be saved.  My life was a mess and I lived for myself--not Jesus.  I realized the depth of all Jesus did on the cross, and that through His death and the sacrifice of His blood, He had paid the price for my sins.  Today I am certain I am saved.

I realize salvation is because He alone paid the price and changed me from within.  It says so in God's Word.  I also know because I know.  I know who I was before Jesus, and who I became afterwards.  Desires changed.  My mind changed.  My feelings changed.  I wanted to be more for others than have others be more for me.  I was a selfish, self-centered individual.  I didn't feel like that anymore.  I wanted to make wrongs, right.  I actually cared for others more than myself.  All I wanted to do was talk about Jesus.  Learn about Jesus.  Talk to Jesus.  And it's been like that in my life ever since.

^"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" 2 Corinthians 5:17

"The old has gone, the new has come!"

Sometimes I look back on my life and see how He was with me all along--with every step and every stumble--with every rebellious act of disobedience.  When I read various scripture passages today, I realize how God was always drawing me to Him.  Sometimes I rejected Him and His teachings.  Sometimes I sought His face.  Often, I grieved Him; I quenched the Spirit on many occasions.  But He never let me go.  He loved me long before I ever knew Him.  He died for me long before I was even a thought in my parents' minds.  He had a plan for my life.  He sent His only begotten Son, to suffer, to die, to rise again.  In suffering He shows me how to live.  In His death, He paid the penalty of my sin and showed me how obedience to the Father is not just lip-service.  He rose from the grave, conquered death, and made it possible for me to live eternally in His presence because I trust in Him.  His grace is indeed sufficient.  Glory to His name!  selahV

[Butterfly photograph provided by an Oklahoma lover of nature.  thanks Rose.]