March 19, 2010
“God rescued us from dead-end alleys and dark dungeons. He’s set us up in the kingdom of the Son he loves so much, the Son who got us out of the pit we were in, got rid of the sins we doomed to keep repeating.” Colossians 1:13-14 The Message
The One who never quits …
You’re known in the heavens as a rescued one. It is an enviable title. (If there was envy in heaven that is!) Your life has been pulled out of dark alleys and door-rusted-shut-dungeons. It can even happen today .. next week .. next month. But you’re not only a ‘rescued one’ .. you’re a home-free one as well. The Holy Spirit’s daily work is to remind you that your life in Christ is “signed, sealed, and delivered”. You were ‘nothing’ .. now you are ‘something’. You were once a ‘nobody’ .. now you are one of God’s ‘somebodies’. You were once ‘rejected’ .. now you are one of the Father’s ‘accepted’. This Jesus is a pit-raising .. pit-climbing .. and pit-saving savior. That ‘s who you belong to .. who came after you even when you gave up trying to climb out .. who keeps reminding you that you no longer have to keep repeating those “sins” (the ones that you migrate around) over and over. Some sins get buried and spread like a virus over years. Some sins are present tense .. acted on .. self-centered choices .. false promising “dead-end alleys”. It really doesn’t matter to God. It is all the same to Him. You’re stuck and you can’t get out on your own strength. So .. He comes after you. It happens to rescued ones and home-free ones all the time. But God … is the One who never quits. And Christ is the One who loved you enough to climb down into the deepest and darkest dungeons of your life and bring you home. He’s still doing this today … maybe in your life … and maybe through your life with someone else who feels un-rescue-able. It only takes a moment … “a first installment on what’s coming” …
“It’s in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free — signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit. This signet from God is the first installment on what’s coming, a reminder that we’ll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life.” Ephesians 1:13-14 The Message
Ken Chester: Grace-Gripped is sent M-F to Men and Women walking on paths of freedom with Jesus and friends of Priority One (ken@priorityone.org)
