WAY OF SALVATION IS CLEARLY COMMUNICATED

7 27 12 Way of Salvation Clearly Communicated  

Don’t forget to pray. Ask God for insight and an understanding of his Word. This insight or enlightenment is a work of grace and a ministry of the Holy Spirit. Pray you will have eyes to see and ears to hear the marvelous ways that God is showing his love to all his creation but especially to his family of believers.

Scripture: Mk 16: 14-16 Later Jesus appeared to the eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen. 15 He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

Acts 2:21 (NIV) “..everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Acts 16:30-31 (NIV) He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved--you and your household."

Romans 10:9 (NIV) That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Romans 10:10 (NIV) For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

Romans 10:13 (NIV) for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."  6of the 25 verses of scrip. that reference salvation in the NT.
 
Note: Aren’t you glad the Scripture is very clear in how a person is to be saved? No second guessing, no reading between the lines, no secret codes or formulas, just a very clear message of how to be forgiven of your sins and have a relationship with God. The message presented to us is the gospel. The response of the hearer is limited; it’s either you agree and believe or you disagree and reject. It’s that simple.

Yesterday I read about a voicemail that been left on the answering machine of a man by the name of  Dan Sheeran. Dan was having his pants tailored and asked the tailor to leave him a message on his voicemail when they were ready to be picked up. The tailor left the message on his voicemail as requested. The tailor’s speech was highly accented but his English was clear enough to be understood by his customers. What the tailor didn’t know was the answering machine he left the message on was part of a Google speech to text program that would take his voice message and convert it to type and send it via e-mail to Dan. This is where the problem began. At this point I’ll let the article speak for itself: “Mr. Sheeran “Just wanted to let you know that your pants is already done and ready for pickup.” “Ok, then you can pick up your pants at Nordstrom.”

This is the message Mr. Sheeran, a 44-year-old technology executive got instead: “Just wanted to know that your punches ordered the done in the Dipper pickup. Ok. Then you can pick up the French abortion.” [WSJ Article “Say What”]

The reason I found this so interesting is because I have recently purchased a speech to text software program and it has given me several deep belly laughs because of the way it translates this southern boy’s speech. The best one was a recipe I was typing for Eleanor that called for 1 cup chopped onions. The program typed in 1 cup chopped Iranians. After three repeats, I typed it in myself.

It seems we live in a time when it really is difficult to understand one another. One group in particular is Politicians. They seem to speak an entirely different language than most of their constituents. When challenged it seems that they can easily shift their position by saying something like this: “you misunderstood, or that’s not what I was trying to say, or as one of our recent Presidents who was caught in an indiscretion said, "It depends on what the meaning of the words 'is' is."

Communication can be a challenge but thankfully what God has communicated to us in his Word, the Bible is always going to be the same. God wants to have a relationship with you and he reveals to you what you must do for that to happen. He reveals that there is only one Way, that one way being the Way of his Son, Jesus Christ. In fact he makes it very clear that Jesus is not only the only Way but he is also the only Truth, and the only Life. God declares this position of his to be truth! You can accept it or you can reject it but your response to God’s truth doesn’t change the fact that it still remains the truth.

By the way, what you say to the Lord in prayer is always clearly understood. He not only hears the words you speak but he knows your heart. You never have to worry about being misunderstood, misquoted or having to justify, or clarify yourself because he knows the real you. And as Eleanor would say, “that’s a ‘hallelujah!”

Word from the Lord: “Beloved, cry out to me and I will hear your voice. My ears are attentive to your cries for mercy. Come to me for forgiveness of your sins.  With me there is always forgiveness available. Don’t be fearful. Come to me, place your hope in my love for you and do not fear. I have revealed to you my Word. Continue to walk with Christ and his unfailing love will provide your full redemption.” (Psalm 130:2-7)

Did the Lord speak to you today?  Why not write it down and claim it for His Glory.


Prayer:  What do you need to pray to the Lord today? Listen to your heart. He loves you!


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