Salvation

                                                         SALVATION

Such a volatile, joyous, frightening, debatable topic for this world today.   I mean “Once Saved Always Saved” or “You can lose your salvation if you’re not living right” – “All people who profess salvation as a child will end up ‘getting Saved’ a billion times in their life.”   --  “You have to ask Jesus into your heart – here pray this prayer!” If you haven’t heard all of these and gotten a tiny bit confused at some point in your life, then your sphere of friends are all from the same denomination!  😂

I know what I believe about the finality of personal salvation, but honestly it’s also a personal conviction.  That means what I believe about it is mostly just important – for me!  God may have spoken to you a hair different than myself because He can.  He is a personal God.  The part of the message He will never differ on is that there can be No other Gods before him in your life.  You have to acknowledge that you were born with a sin nature and that you are utterly undone without Him.  You have to accept the gift of payment for your sins (and your inability to be whole without HIM) that Jesus provided on the cross.

This is what I present to my children when they begin asking questions about “asking Jesus into their heart.”  There was a time I wasn’t super comfortable with this process in young children because there is a huge majority of people who have to make this commitment again as an adult.  I mean – I know you can’t tell a kid they can’t “get saved” but are you setting them up for a false sense of security before they’re really old enough to figure out the importance of what they’re doing?   

Finally, after much prayer and God speaking to me through others, and quiet times, and His Word – this is where I’ve landed.  From the Very first time my children/grandchildren express wanting to make a commitment to the Lord, I’m going to celebrate it like there’s no tomorrow!  Because every moment in a child’s life is a building block, a foundation for how they will perceive the next level.  If they believe they have heard God’s voice and want to respond, that’s EXACTLY the kind of righteous stronghold I want to become permanent in their heart!  If they come to me and I try to put them off because they’re not old enough, what I’m establishing in them is a pattern of “hearing God’s voice …. Wait a while … don’t do anything … maybe you’ll hear something stronger later.”   People – that’s a guarantee.  They WILL hear something stronger later.  They’ll hear the world.   No – what I want to develop is “Hearing God’s voice = respond.”  Sure – maybe they’ll miss the application part a little bit, maybe they’ll misunderstand the action item God is setting forth before them and stumble.  Well not maybe – they Will!  And I know this because even coming to know the Lord fully as an adult I still miss the action item sometimes! 

Then comes the question – ‘What if it doesn’t STICK?  What if they don’t really get saved?’  I mean – I don’t know.  Do I believe God is big enough to keep pursuing those whose hearts are softened toward him and living in the pattern of hearing His voice = respond?  Of course I do.  I just have to let them reach for the Lord as many times as it takes and trust Him to do the rest instead of trusting my ability to manipulate it to Just the right Moment!? (good grief)

With all of that being said – we have had a joyous revelation in our household this week!  After the day earlier this fall where I had no keys to get to work and I stayed home with Piper all day and we played outside, talked about God, walked every inch of our property, played on the hay bales and discussed what it’s like to hear God’s voice….  She came to us this week and said she has been hearing God’s voice and it’s time to give Him her life.  She then proceeded to quote Isaiah 41:13 to me without any prompting or suggestion.  She said this is her life verse.  This is big stuff for a kid who struggles so much with anxiety and fears.  So her dad and I went into her bedroom and stood beside her bunk bed while she prayed that God would take control of her life and make her one of His! 

Baptism is another issue … since we are all the way under – dunked fully submerged kind of people, and she has some anxiety and fears about water still,  the baptism is going to come when she feels God is telling her to.  😊  That’s okay – it sets up another ‘hear God’s voice = respond” moment in her life and I’m cool with that!

Establish that stronghold in your life today – to Never stop reaching for God.  Especially when you even just THINK you’ve heard Him speak.  He honors that you know.  Reach for him and He will be found.

What a Merry Christmas season this year!

Blessings for today ya'll - we need 'em every day!

Heather