Aug 22 2009
August 22, 2009
Reading for today: Judges 21:1-12 and 2 Thess. 2:13-15
“…because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.” 2 Thess. 2:13b
Why do we give thanks to God for our brothers in Christ? Because God chose them to be His. Even if we do not understand or agree with everything they do, we are to give thanks for who they are in Christ Jesus. This process of sanctification is a difficult journey that molds us into an image much more like Jesus and separates us from the sin of this world. The prize is well worth the cost, but it only happens through the Holy Spirit and our believing.
Its lamp is the Lamb.
— Revelation 21:23
Quietly contemplate the Lamb as the light of heaven. Light in Scripture is the emblem of joy. The joy of the saints in heaven is comprised in this: Jesus chose us, loved us, bought us, cleansed us, robed us, kept us, glorified us: We are here entirely through the Lord Jesus. Each one of these thoughts shall be as sweet as a cluster of grapes.
Light is also the cause of beauty. Nothing of beauty is left when the light is gone. Without light no radiance flashes from the sapphire, no peaceful ray proceeds from the pearl; and so all the beauty of the saints above comes from Jesus. As planets, they reflect the light of the Sun of Righteousness; they live as beams proceeding from the central orb. If He withdrew, they must die; if His glory were veiled, their glory must expire.
Light is also the emblem of knowledge. In heaven our knowledge will be perfect, but the Lord Jesus Himself will be the fountain of it. Dark providences we’ve never understood will then be clearly seen, and all that puzzles us now will become plain to us in the light of the Lamb. Oh, what discoveries there will be, and what glorifying of the God of love!
Light also means manifestation. Light manifests. In this world it does not yet appear what we shall be. God’s people are a hidden people, but when Christ receives His people into heaven, He will touch them with the wand of His own love and change them into the image of His manifested glory. They were poor and wretched, but what a transformation! They were stained with sin, but one touch of His finger, and they are as bright as the sun and as clear as crystal. What a display! All this proceeds from the exalted Lamb. Whatever there may be of transcendent splendor, Jesus will be the center and soul of it all. Plan on being present to see Him in His own light, the King of kings and Lord of lords!
Acceptance
“To the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.”
Ephesians 1:6
“Therefore also we have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.”
2 Corinthians 5:9
“You did not choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.”
John 15:16
“Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him, In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will.”
Ephesians 1:5
“Also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will.”
Ephesians 1:11
“But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.”
Acts 10:35
“Wherefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.”
Romans 15:7
“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh not of the will of man, but of God.”
John 1:12
“Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.”
2 Corinthians 1:21
God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
1 Corinthians 1:9
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. ”
Matthew 11:28
“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Romans 8:1
“And you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.”
Colossians 2:10
“For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kindgdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
Colossians 1:14
My home is in Heaven. I’m just traveling through this world.
Billy Graham