Remember! This exhortation is directed to believers. Remember what? Remember whose family you were made part of.

Is there any more intimate and personal relationship than that created by being born into a family? 'Blood is thicker than water', as the saying goes. Was the blood relationship you have with your mother and father created by you? No. Did you choose who your father or mother would be? No. Did you decide when and where you would be born? No. When was it that you chose what family you were going to be born into? Did you decide this when you were two years old? Did you decide this when you were four years old? Did you decide this when you were born into this world?

But if you are a believer you have been redeemed and have been made a member of God's family. God looks upon me as a member of his family, as a co-heir with Christ. He does not forget the children he purposed to be blameless and conformed to the image of his Son. He does not forget the children he redeemed through the sacrificial death of his Son.

That is what this meditation is all about--bringing to mind who you are, bringing to mind that you are not on your own.

The 'things' which God has done for each of one us is what has 'shaped' who we are, who you are, who I am. Perhaps a useful comparison would be thinking of the way our genes 'shape' us.

In the Bible many different words or phrases are employed to describe what God has done for us because he had a personal interest in each of us. The concept that such a relationship or intimate connection between God and every believer exists is explicitly stated or pointed to or presumed by many different expressions in the Bible.

What does God's word say to me? You have been made alive; It was God who made us alive. The Bible says so. "But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,  made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved." (Ephesians 2:4-5) I am glad that God did not leave the actual result up to me --as if I had to add a work of my own to his work to make his purpose and work effective. What the Bible says is that God actually brought about that result--he made us alive.

What does God's word say to me? You have been raised from the dead --I never had the choice whether to be alive or dead. When I was dead I had no power to make any choices. It was not up to me to raise myself from the dead. To be alive was not my choice. But God had the choice and the power to carry out his choice.

What does God's word say to me? You have been rescued from the kingdom of darkness, from the jurisdiction or dominion of Satan and brought into the kingdom of God's Son--It was God who brought this about. The Bible says so. "For he [the Father] has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." (Colossians 1:13-14)  I am glad that God did not leave the actual result up to me. What the Bible says is that it was God who brought about that result--he rescued us and brought us into the kingdom.

What does God's word say to me? You have been redeemed-- The Bible tells us it was Christ, the Son of God, "who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good." (Titus 2:14).

What does God's word say to me? You have been been made a chosen people, a people belonging to God.--It was God who called us out of darkness. "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." (1 Peter 2:9).

What does God's word say to me? You have been made a child of God; you have been made an heir. "Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father."  So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir. (Galatians 4:6-7) And again, The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.  Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory." (Romans 8:16-17)

What God has bestowed upon his adopted children is incredible. What does God's word say to the Christians in the church at Corinth and to me? "So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours, 22 whether ... or the world or life or death or the present or the future--all are yours, 23 and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God." (1 Corinthians 3:21-23)

What does God's word say to me and to every believer? You are a recipient of God's gift of eternal life.

Thank God it was never up to me to throw off the stranglehold of sin and choose God and righteousness before I could be a child of God and an heir to eternal life.

I was not on my own before I heard God's call. I was not on my own before I was conscious of God. I was not on my own when I was prisoner under the power of sin--that awful condition that unbelievers are still in as the Bible describes it.

If God had waited for me or any of the prisoners of sin to choose righteousness it would have been like waiting for water to run up hill.

God knew that neither I nor anybody else would come to him. "The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God." (Romans 8:7-8) In the apostle's letter to the congregations in Galatians we are told this fact-- "the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe." (Galatians 3:22)

God knew that neither I nor anybody else would come to him. The Bible put my situation and everybody's situation this way: "Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil." (Jeremiah 13:23)

God knew that neither I nor anybody else would come to him. "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men-[it doesn't say some men]- but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed." (John 3:19-20)

Jesus' disciples had questions about salvation. They put the question to Jesus, asking, "Who then can be saved?"  Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:25-26)

It is just because of the sinner's inability to extricate himself from the power of sin that any coming to God, that any salvation, is up to God. The Bible tells us when and why God did what he did for us--For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did... What did he do? He sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. (Romans 8:3) And again, He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed." (1 Peter 2:24; see also Isaiah 53:5-6) And again, "Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation-- if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel." (Colossians 1:21-23) One of the strongest statements in the Bible about what God did is found in the apostle's 2nd letter to the congregation at Corinth--"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:21)

It wasn't my plan or purpose. It couldn't have been. It wasn't within my power, the power of a dead man. The scripture speaks of my inability to do for myself in many ways. If God had waited for those dead in trespasses and sin to 'come' to him (Ephesians 2:1,3) nobody including me would or could have 'come' to him. Dead men don't choose God or raise themselves from the dead

Thank God God's purpose for me and for each believer did not take effect (or become a reality) prior to my recognizing that God was God and I began to call upon him. Thank God God did not wait for me to choose him before he had chosen to set his love upon me! 

When was the personal relationship between me and God created? When did God set his love upon me? To think that the love of God was set on me only after I was born into this world does not show respect for God's word. What a God-dishonoring thought ! The Bible's descriptions of the the condition of man in sin and the actions of God make it abundantly clear that God did not wait for me to come to him.

It wasn't me. It couldn't have been me. The relationship is eternal but I am not. My body is but a wisp of smoke or a spark that exists for only for an instant. The frailness of man...to dust returning... I could never create an eternal work, a work that lasts for ever and will never cease to exist. I could not create an eternal work even if I had the maximum desire and the maximum understanding and the maximum ability. What comfort or sense of security can be based on a momentary decision? Would I have any God-given reason to feel confident about my eternal future, my eternal destiny, my salvation if it depended upon me? (See Matthew 26:33-35, 69-75)

To think on whose plan it was to include me among those to whom God chose to receive his mercy, his love and protection makes me aware of how great is the guardianship (from the beginning of time to 'forever') that I am under.

What do I know about him who created a personal relationship with each and every believer (me)? Listen to how the creator of the relationship is described.

He who created the world by the word of his mouth was the same one who had purposes for believers. "By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses. Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the people of the world revere him. For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm." (Psalm 33:6-9)

In the beginning of the gospel according to John this teaching about reality, about the Lord, about Christ is revealed to us--"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men.... He was in the world, and though the world was made through him.." (John 1: 1-4, 10)

In the apostle Paul's letter to the congregation of believers at Colossae we are reminded of who it was who saved us. The description takes our breath away. It should. "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross." (Colossians 1:15-20)

The writer of the book of Hebrews summed up the great truth about Jesus Christ. "In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word." (Hebrews 1:1-3)

This is who put me in the favored position--the position of being blameless, the position of having been covered by the blood of Jesus, the position of being conformed to the likeness of his Son, the position of heir to an inheritance of eternal life in God's presence.

The purpose and plan of God for the children he redeemed was not a paltry or measly one. The Creator and sustainer of the universe did not 'short change' the people he redeemed at the cost of the life of the Son of God, Jesus the Christ. "All things are yours,  whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future--all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God." (1 Cor.3:22-23; see also 1 Corinthians 2:9)

In the Bible we read--"because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'  So we say with confidence, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?'" (Hebrews. 13:5-6; see also Daniel 4:35; Romans 8:31-39)

To think on the 'size' of God's plan for me, to think of the 'size' of God's concern for his adopted children leads to comfort. It forces on me the awareness that my current status is not now and never has been a result of my efforts or qualities which necessarily took place in time.

These 'dimensions' are awesome. What do I mean by the 'dimensions' of the relationship God has with us? The 'dimensions' might be thought of as the 'when' and the 'duration' of the relationship. The 'when' refers to when the relationship began. The 'duration' refers to how long the relationship will last or continue. Dwelling on how long the children God redeemed for himself have been under God's protection and how long this relationship which God created will last is a truth that never ceases to give comfort.

The 'When'

The Bible contains many statements which bring out God's attitude towards his people as it manifested itself before the birth of his people on earth. The intentions of God regarding each and every believer did not come into being when the person first heard and responded to Christ. God, his thoughts and purposes, is not subject to time. God's personal relationship with me existed before I ever existed in time. The Bible tells me this in various ways.

The Bible itself makes this very point with a vivid illustration--It speaks about two actual blood brothers (Jacob and Esau) and how God's attitude or relationship to each of them differed not after their behavior diverged but before, before they were even born--"Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad--in order that God's purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls--she [the twins mother] was told, 'The older will serve the younger.' Just as it is written: Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.' " (Romans 9:11-13)

God did not wait for anybody's decision or acknowledgment of him. He did not even wait for our birth. At the beginning of the book of Jeremiah we are told this--"The word of the LORD came to me, [that is, to the prophet Jeremiah] saying, 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.' " (Jeremiah 1:4-5)

What did the apostle Paul say about what God did for him? " 'But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me...' (Galatians 1:15) Other translations bring out the fact that God's action on the apostle's behalf took place before his birth ("from his mother's womb") even though Saul's [Paul's] recognition of Jesus as God did not occur until many years later when Saul-the great Jewish rabbi- was converted on the road from Jerusalem to Damascus.

In the apostle Paul's second letter to Timothy we are told when God set his love upon us. The apostle said to Timothy "So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life--not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time," (2 Timothy 1:8-9)

It is not just special individuals that have been set apart this way by God. Every believer, every saint has been set apart. When God set his love upon us is expressed very clearly in the apostle's letter to the congregation of believers at Ephesus. "He chose us in him [in Christ] before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will." (Ephesians 1:4-5)

In the 11th verse of the same chapter the truth about God's love for his people is put this way: "In him [that is, in Christ] we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will" (Ephesians 1:11; see also John 6:37; 10:27-29; 17:2,6,9,24)

In the apostle's 2nd letter to the congregation of believers in Thessalonica he tells them, "But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14)

And again, "For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers." (Romans 8:29)

The 'when' of God's plan took form is a doctrine which like all other doctrines or truths has implications. Nowhere in these verses do we find a hint that for God's purposes --begun before the foundation of the world-- to be effective, to come to pass, a work of any human beings has to be added (like a catalyst.)

The Bible contains many statements which bring out God's continuing attitude towards his people. God's guardianship of his people which has been present from the beginning is continuing.

"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:32; see also 1 Peter 1:4) God's purpose for his people continues until its goal is achieved--"For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers." (Romans 8:29)

Jesus said to his disciples, "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." (Matthew 10:29-31) Could any statement of God's sovereign will and his attitude towards his disciples be clearer than that? And God sealed his statement with his Son's blood.

God cannot forget the obligation he took upon himself for his people. In the apostle Peter's letter addressed to 'God's elect, strangers in the world', he tells them about God's guardianship through the present. He says, "through faith [they] are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time." (1 Peter 1:5)

The apostle Paul states this glorious truth this way--"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28) In his letter to the congregation of believers at Philippi the apostle Paul said "...continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,  for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose." (Philippians 2:12-13)

The apostle also stated a truth about God, saying, he (Paul) was "confident of this, that he (God) who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1:6)

Will He who entered our world of sin, who willingly took upon himself the form of a servant, who willingly took upon himself the penalty, the unholy cost/consequences of my sin desert us or let us fall and come short of his desires for us--that we who believe shall one day be blameless and without fault in the presence of God who is totally blameless, omnipotent, pure. He whom God made sin for us for will he forget what he as done and cease working to accomplish his purpose for me?

The Bible says of God--"He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?" (Romans 8:32-35)

What was God's purpose that he would bring about? To bring us to God. "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God." (1 Peter 3:18) And again, "For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did ...by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us." (Romans 8:3-4)

It was because of what God did that we who are united to Christ, who are washed in his blood are acceptable to God. It was because of what Christ did that we are in the favored position we are in. "Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation--if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel." (Colossians.1:21-23) And again, "we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand." (Romans 5:1-2)

The Bible contains many statements which bring out God's attitude towards his people as it continues into the future and through eternity. The Bible contains many statements which say how long His care for me will last; how long the personal relationship will last. It will never cease or run out. Only because the personal relationship was created by God who is eternal can it be an eternal relationship (The expression personal relationship with God implies not just any relationship but a favorable one, one of blessing.)

"Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.' " (Matthew 28:18-20)

And again, "God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.' So we say with confidence, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?' "(Hebrews 13:5-6)

God's messenger, the apostle Paul in his letter to the congregation of believers in Philippi expressed his confidence in God's continuing protection and care for them, saying, "being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1:6)

Will God's care and protection come to an end? No. The apostle Peter expressed the answer in these words-- "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time." (1 Peter 1:3-5) The truth about our God's continuing oversight and protection is stated by the apostle Paul in his letter to the congregation of believers at Thessalonica--"May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it." (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24)

Again in the book of Jude we are told about the ability of God to keep his people to the 'end'--"To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy." (Jude 1:24)

God's actions from beginning and continuing to forever are summed in a single verse by the various verbs all of which indicate completed actions of God-- "And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified." (Romans 8:30)

To evaluate God's Truth--by the standards of human logic is absurd. To think that human logic is more binding than the revelations or declarations of God is foolish. When dealing with God's word we often encounter mystery. God's truth contains more depth and more riches than we humans can ever understand or put together. There is more truth in what God says than can be squeezed into the closed and tidy systems of logic that sinners have thought up. What does God say? "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts". (Isaiah 55:8-9) Perhaps the greatest human theologian who ever lived, the apostle Paul declared, "Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!" (Romans 11:33)

Because this is so we dare not allow the conclusions human logic leads us to to shut out or set aside the statements of God quoted in this meditation. Do not think that because the word of God abounds with statements or exhortations that clearly imply or presuppose that the conscious decisions each and every individual makes have spiritual consequences that those many statements give me warrant or authority to pick and choose which  statements of God I will pay attention to and which statements of God I can exclude or ignore (such as the statements of God quoted in this meditation). Do not think that because the word of God abounds with statements or exhortations that imply or presuppose that the conscious decisions each and every individual makes have spiritual consequences that therefore the choices I make somehow overcome or negate the choices and purposes of God. No statements of God are to be excluded for any reason. No teachings of God are to be excluded --set aside or ignored-- in order to make room in our systems of logic for those many, many statements in the Bible which presuppose the presence of the ability in humans to make decisions, to make choices-choices that have spiritual consequences. To think that human logic is a more reliable guide to truth than the statements of God is foolish. Who but a fool would think he knew enough to decide that any statements the Creator of the-universe-and-everything-in-it made can be ignored or set aside?

I must remind myself that falling short of God's glory (perfection) since hearing his call is no ground for thinking I am now on my own any more than I was on my own in the past. I must bring to mind the fact that if my thoughts, words, and deeds are not perfect in the eyes of God now that my 'failures' have not defeated the purposes of God. I must remember that whatever virtues I seem to possess or not posses now don't determine my destiny any more than they did in the past--when I was a prisoner of sin, before I was called out darkness. I must remember that God is as much in control now as he ever was. While whatever 'qualities' or 'non-qualities' I have do not either merit inclusion in, or exclusion from, God's purposes the Bible nevertheless tells me "I must continue to work out my salvation with fear and trembling." (Philippians 2:12; 2 Peter 1:5-8; 3:14) A quintessential element in doing so is to keep our eye on God's purpose for us and on the time when he will have finished the good work which he began... (2 Peter 3:13)

The apostle Paul whose godly character is not to be doubted spoke of his position in God's plan. He said, "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me....I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:12,14) And what prize was that? The apostle knew and we know the living God's purpose for the children he redeemed--that they/we should come forth as gold, that they/we should be blameless; that they/we would be conformed to the image of his Son. We also know that God will complete the good work which he began in us.

Who are we to doubt God's intentions or abilities?

It was the choice of our God, it was the choice of the one we call Abba Father, to lay the penalty for our despicable sin on his own sinless Son. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:5-6) And again, "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. (1 Peter 2:24) And again, For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did." How? "By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, (Romans 8:3) And again, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:21)

The Bible reminds us--"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" (1 John 3:1) The Bible says to me "You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. (1 Corinthians 7:23) In another verse the Bible expresses the same truth but in a way that makes it stand out even more clearly. It says to me, "You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God ..." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) And again, the Bible tells us, "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

Remembering this, remembering that God m" him (his Son) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God is it even thinkable to think that God might forsake us and not to carry his purposes to fulfillment?

What does the Bible say? "Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir." (Galatians 4:6-7; see also Romans 8:16-17)

He bestowed on us an inheritance that is beyond description. "All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas (another name for Peter) or the world or life or death or the present or the future--all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God." (1 Corinthians 3:21-23)

While we sinners born of women did not bring into existence the relationship between us and God (which began long before we were born) it is we who give thanks to God for his rescuing of us and bestowing upon us the inheritance of eternal life.

How good it is to not be on my own. How good it is to be under the eternal protection of God. (1 Peter 1:4; Ephesians 1:3,5) How good it is to be able to take our tears and our cries to God--Hear what the Bible says, "For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father" (Romans 8:15) ('Abba' is the Aramaic word which means father or daddy or papa).

What do I need to hear? And having heard what do I need to have ringing in my mind?--the effective words of the living God--By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.... For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm. (Psalm 33:6,9)

Read them, listen to them, look at them everyday. Do not read them to learn an abstract set of truths or principles for that is not what these words are. The words of God quoted in this meditation convey to believers a great truth, namely, that God is a 'person' who has a personal relationship with each person who is a believer. If these statements in the Bible were cold, inert truths then you would be on your own and you would be eternally lost. But they are not cold and lifeless truths. They are the personal expressions of the living God; 'read' them to 'hear him--to hear him speaking", to 'hear' him the Creator of everything, to hear him who showed a personal interest in you when he chose you to be a beneficiary of his grace from the beginning.

"He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ... No, in all things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."  (Romans 8:32-35,37-39)

I am glad my present position as one of God's redeemed children and my future position as coming forth as gold, as being made blameless, as being conformed to the image of God's Son is not dependant upon the purity of my thoughts, words and deeds even in the present. I am glad my present position as one of God's redeemed children and my future position as coming forth as gold, as being made blameless, as being conformed to the image of God's Son is dependant only upon God's mercy, the mercy God demonstrated by the sacrificial death of Jesus the Christ, the Son of God. Hear him who is your refuge, Hear him who is your Abba, father. Hear him who is protecting you now and who will carry out his long-standing purpose for you.

"The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O LORD, endures forever" (Psalm 138:8)

The original question that is the title of this meditation, 'Are you on your own?' The answer is a resounding 'No'. In how many ways must God say it?

(If you appreciate what you read here please tell your friends about this URL and sign my guest book on the homepage. Also, if, as you read any of the meditations, you feel you know of a situation that beautifully illustrates any of the points made I would be delighted to learn of it. I might incorporate it.)   mailto:camppp21355@comcast.net

 Copyright 2004 Cameron F. Paine Usage Encouraged