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Do You Have Verses Jump Out At You?
If you are a Christian like myself, you too have had numerous times where certain verses jumped out at you from the Word of God straight into your heart. They are so powerful that in reading and applying them to your life, you realize all things are changed.
God spoke to you and me directly through His Word!
Perhaps, it was a word of assurance about a decision that you were making. Maybe, it gave you an insight and you knew which path to pursue. Perhaps, it was the push you needed, realizing that like Esther, you were here for such a time as this. Today, we might say to one another, If not now, when?
There are countless powerful verses, I could point to that left me feeling that God had spoken just to me.
Do the Work of An Evangelist
I remember the day that Paul’s powerful words to Timothy, “do the work of an evangelist,” from 2 Tim.4:5-8 KJV leaped off the page and made me feel as though I personally had been physically hit. I KNEW from that moment on what I was to be doing and saying to those around me. There was no doubt in my mind, so great was the certainty that I had been told to DO the work of an evangelist by God. Those powerful verses changed my life. God had spoken to my soul.
Called
I had been CALLED. There would be no turning back, no desire to do anything else, but to serve the Lord in this way. My husband and I together reread through the Bible each year and discuss the chapters we read each day. We think about the verses, ponder what they hold for us specifically, and pray. Time and again, it has been life-changing.
Recently, I read the following verses and share them with you here.
To Live, To Die
For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. Romans 14:8 NKJV
You have perhaps, as a parent, found yourself worried over your children, or are concerned for your elderly parents, or your health situation. Do you think that a health difficulty will prove to bring you to an earlier demise than hoped? Do you hesitate on a job because of fears of inadequacies or presumed inabilities? Are you paralyzed by new territory or change?
Realize the fact that when we receive Christ, we now belong to God.
No matter what comes, we are His.
Whether we serve Him now on earth or die and serve Him in Heaven, we are His.
There is nothing of which God is unaware.
We are safe in His Hands, no matter what comes. As a believer, if you die for your faith, or of some illness, or accident, you are His! Rest in Him and trust that whatever comes, God knows and all will ultimately be well. The difficulties of this life are temporary, eternity with God will bring understanding and joy. Only believe, and trust Him. You are His, as believers, no matter the circumstances. All is well. Paul reminds us of this in the following glorious passage in Romans.
Live Or Die
In this verse in Romans chapter 8, Paul reminds us that if we live or if we die, we do it for and to the Lord. We are HIS, no matter what life…or death…may bring. What a huge comfort!!
WE ARE HIS!
Nothing…nothing…nothing…takes us from Him.
We belong to Him and the outcome is in His Hands. What a powerful assurance we have been given in this verse.
We are free to achieve, try, venture, and live or die for the Lord. There is nothing to fear, for it is a “Win, Win” situation in Him. Furthermore, NOTHING can separate us from the love of God. Read what Paul tells us further on in Romans, chapter 8 about this very thing.
For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39 NKJV
Do you even begin to grasp the magnitude of the comfort of this verse?
Many Christians have been already martyred for their faith.
We might be asked to give up our lives someday for our faith in Christ Jesus too.
Yet, IN LIFE AND IN DEATH, we cannot be separated from the love of God in Jesus! There is no power anywhere that can pull us out of the Hands of God. There is no creature, nothing, no one who can wrench us away from God. Whew! No Matter What Comes, we are His and In His Keeping.
Whether we live or die, we are His!!!!!!!
Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16 NKJV
Rejoice as you take comfort in the glorious fact that WE believers are the temple of God.
God is the Creator of everything and dwells everywhere. Yet He lives within your being when you believe in Christ and open your heart to God, begging forgiveness through Christ, believing, and allowing His Holy Spirit entrance.
HE LIVES WITHIN US!!!
Do you sense the utterly overwhelming joy of this fact?
Hold to the realization that absolutely NOTHING can separate us from the Love of God in Christ Jesus!!
For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:16 NKJV
We infinitely small human beings in sin and weakness have been forgiven when we confess our sins and turn from them. When we confess our sincere belief in Christ as the Risen Son of God Almighty and realize we are absolutely nothing without Him, and as sons of God because of Him, we realize our true worth.
We have NO understanding to instruct God, yet because God gives us His Spirit, WE are given the mind of Christ! Can you imagine?!
We simple humans are given the mind of Christ!!
The Holy Spirit will help us to think as Christ thinks, to value what is truly valuable, and to live in ways that are pleasing to God!!
I simply can’t thank God enough for His blessings to us as believers!
You can’t either.
Last of all, let us both now spend the rest of our lives thanking God as, with His Help, we serve Him fully and joyfully.