Salvation

'Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; For the LORD GOD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation.' Therefore you will joyously draw water from the springs of salvation.

Isaiah 12:2-3

---

This week I'm reading through the book of Isaiah. This verse stood out particularly for me this morning. Most English translations say something like the New American Standard quoted above, "you will joyously draw water from the springs of salvation." But, I love the distinction in one version of the Bible that lies in this verse. The Orthodox Jewish Bible reads, "...out of the wells of Yeshuah." Salvation is distinguished then, not just as the act of saving, but as the personification of that act. It is the Messiah Himself from whose springs we are to joyfully draw.

What an incredible thought for today! Consider all that the Lord has done. Praise Him for His marvelous works. And remember, it is not an impersonal stream from which we draw our salvation. It is the Living Water that is found in a personal Savior. He did not just give us life. He gave His own that we might live.

Worship Him. He is more than worth it.

---

That you might know Christ,

Revelation 5

"And they sang a new song, saying, 'Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation'...'Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing'...'To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever'...And the elders fell down and worshiped." :: Revelation 5:9,12,13,14

To someone reading this chapter, I can imagine one question (among many) that they might have would be, "Who is this 'Lamb' and why does everyone in heaven bow down and worship him?"

A valid question. With an amazing answer. This Lamb is the very Son of God, who lived a perfect life and died a cruel death to pay the penalty that God requires for the sins that each of us commit against Him. He died to bring us back into right relationship with God. He died to re-order our worship - from self and stuff-centered to God-centered.

It doesn't matter who you are or what you've done, at the end of time you will join the rest of creation, on your face before the throne of heaven, in worship of the Lamb who was slain to take away the sins of the world.

The question is, will you do so willingly?

Will you be gratefully rejoicing because of your love for the Savior and the price that He paid on your behalf?

Or will you be forced to your knees in submission to the God that you refused to acknowledge your whole life?

The choice is yours.

---

That you might know Christ,

Small

{I love to write. And I'd love to write on my blog more often, but many times I feel like I have more to say than time or space to say it. Blogger gives me a practically unlimited space to write in, but I don't always have time to write a post of my typical length. Twitter is my preferred means of social media, but the character limit is sometimes too small to fit everything I want to say. So, I thought of something that can both limit my words and free up time for consistent writing.

New goal: write at least once a week.

New method for making the aforementioned new goal a manageable task: Twitter style.

Each post in this format will be limited to only a paragraph or two of concisely written response to Scripture. Think of it like a few tweets about the same passage of Scripture - short enough to read quickly, long enough to get across a point that Twitter's character limit would not necessarily allow.

It's an experiment, but one that I really hope works for me. Did I mention I love to write?}

---

Seeking wisdom from the Lord this morning, I ran across this gem: "Who has ascended into heaven and descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has wrapped the waters in His garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name or His son's name? Surely you know!" [Proverbs 30:4]

I am struck by how small I am and how big God is. I am convicted by how much I trust and put faith in myself and how often I do so by sacrificing my trust and faith in the Father, who "gathered the wind in His fists." I am overjoyed at the prospect of Jesus Christ, God's own Son, vast enough to establish the earth and yet personal enough to die on the cross for me, a sinner. How greatly He humbled Himself! How much more ought I to do the same?

#humility #trust #gospel

---

That you might know Christ,