VESSEL OF GLORY

Our salvation is of the Lord
and for His glory.
He has saved our souls
to change our lives.
Each Christian is a unique vessel
of God created in Christ Jesus
for good works.

No two are alike,
but
ALL are to be like Christ.

Therefore, as you received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.
Col. 2:6 ESV

For we are his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus for
good works, which God
prepared beforehand,
that we should walk in them.
Eph. 2:10 ESV

…so as to walk in a manner
worthy of the Lord,
fully pleasing to him,
bearing fruit in every good work
and increasing in
the knowledge of God.
Col. 1:10 ESV

Jesus…gave himself for us
to redeem us from
all lawlessness and to purify
for himself a people
for his own possession
who are zealous for good works.
Ti. 2:14 ESV

In Christ
we are not only
JUSTIFIED:
declared righteous
in God’s sight through
faith in Jesus Christ
(Rom. 3:24; Rom. 5:1)…
We are also
SANCTIFIED:
Set apart,
made holy,
a vessel for God’s glory.
An example from
Baker’s Dictionary
helpfully explains
sanctification like this:
“a person or thing set apart
for the use intended
by its designer.
A pen is ‘sanctified’
when used to write.
Eyeglasses are ‘sanctified’
when used to improve sight.
In the theological sense,
things are sanctified when
they are used for the
purpose God intends.
A human being is sanctified,
therefore, when he or she
lives according to God’s
design and purpose.”

We want to BE that which Christ
created us to be and that which we
already ARE.

We have been set apart for
His glory.
We want to fully engage with Him
humbly, submissively,
obediently, and
faithfully in that process.

When God
called and set Peter apart,
impetuous and impatient
Peter became indefatigable
and persevering.

When Jesus confronted
Paul on his way to Damascus,
vicious, religious, vigilante
Saul
became loving, vigilant,
and victorious Paul.

Who would you be
today if Jesus had not saved you?

Who would you be if you
were fully submissive to
Christ?
Christ in you,
is your hope of glory…
now and in eternity!
HE will do it but
He is calling you
humbly submit
to His work in your heart.

Taking the Truth to Heart

Will you turn your thoughts
to consider who you are now
that you are IN Christ?
And what was God’s purpose
in choosing you and
redeeming you?

You have been saved to be a vessel
of God’s glory and
not your own glory.

Yet, the default setting of our flesh
is to find worth in achievement,
accomplishment,
accolades,
and attention.
The flesh
demands attention
and craves glory.
The sin within wants credit,
wants to be noticed,
wants to prove others wrong,
wants its own way,
wants to make a point,
wants to make a name for itself,
wants to be accepted by others,
wants to be popular,
wants recognition from those
that matter,
wants, wants, wants, wants…
In other words…
The sin within LUSTS
after the things of this world.
It “LOVES” the things of this world.
John in his tender, shepherding,
and passionate love for his sheep
warns and exhorts them with these
clear and convicting words:
“If anyone loves the world,
the love of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world-
the desires of the flesh and
the desires of the eyes and
pride of life –
is not from the Father but is
from the world.
And the world is passing
away along with its desires,
but whoever does the will
of God abides forever.”
1 Jn. 2:15-17 ESV

We have been saved for
Christ and His glory!
We have been saved to
exalt His name!
We have been saved to
lose ourselves in Christ!!!

Ask the Lord to help you
become a fully devoted
vessel for HIS GLORY
and HIS ALONE.

Close in Prayer:

O Lord, help me.
I have been saved to be a
vessel of your glory and not my own.
Yet, I feel my flesh demand attention
and crave glory!

Help me
turn my gaze toward
Jesus.
Help me turn away
from my self focused
and self-centered living
and instead to live for Christ
and Him alone.
Lord Jesus, particularly now,
during this time of year,
I beg of you
I cry out to you
to help me truly
believe the Gospel.

I want to believe
the Gospel in such
a way that it helps me lose myself
so that I can become
fully who I have been created to be in Christ!!!
I want to believe the Gospel
so that it impacts
how I live each and
every moment of every day and
how I feel toward others.

I want my life to be
distinctively
Gospel driven.
Lord I want you to
do for me what you did
for Peter and for Paul.
I plead with you
to help me see myself and my sin
and to see Jesus and His sacrifice
so that I have
understanding of what you
have done for me.
I, even as a believer,
can barely comprehend
what you have done for me.
Abba Father,
have mercy upon me.
I want to live for Jesus
just as He did for me…
I want to be willing to die to myself
so that Christ would live in me.

In Jesus’ name I pray.

SALVATION

Through Christ,
God in perfect love,
great mercy, and amazing grace
made a way where there seemed
to be no way.
Because of Jesus’ death
and resurrection,
salvation is available to
all who by God’s grace
put their faith in Christ.

For the grace of God has appeared,
bringing salvation for all people.
Ti. 2:11 ESV

But God, being rich in mercy,
because of the great love with
which he loved us, even when
we were dead in our trespasses,
made us alive together with Christ. . .
For by grace you have been
saved through faith.
And this is not your own doing;
it is the gift of God,
not a result of works,
so that no one may boast.
Eph. 2:4-5a, 8-9 ESV

If you confess with your
mouth that Jesus is Lord
and believe in your heart that
God raised him from the dead,
you will be saved.
Rom. 10:9 ESV

God has provided the way out.
He has shown light
into the darkness.
Because of His great mercy,
he has caused us to be born again
to a living hope through
the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead.

Taking the Truth to Heart

What an indescribable,
immeasurable gift
God has given
to us in Christ.

He has not only saved us from
death, darkness, and destruction,
He has given us life, light,
restoration, and every spiritual
blessing for eternity!

When we were transferred
from the kingdom of darkness
to the kingdom of light
our entire operating system
was replaced.
We were given a new heart
and a new mind.
We were given the heart and
mind of Christ.
When we look in the mirror
we may look the same,
there may not be any
outward visual change
but we on the inside we are
an entirely different.
We are in Christ
and Christ is in us!
This is transforming truth.
May we be transformed by it.

(For reference: 2 Cor. 2:9-16,
Galatians 2:20, Ephesians 1,
1 Peter 1:3-8)

“See what kind of love the
Father has given to us that
we should be called
children of God!”
1 Jn. 3:1 ESV

It is so hard for us to
see ourselves now for who
we are. We only see in part.
But …
“whoever puts their hope
in Jesus and in these truths
purifies himself as He is pure.”
1 Jn. 3:3 ESV

For now we see in a mirror
dimly, but then face to face.
Now I know in part;
then I shall know fully,
even as I have been fully known.
1 Corinthians 13:12 ESV

Close in Prayer:

Heavenly Father,
Please grant me the grace
to SEE you and
SEE your love for me.
The more I see, the more
I want to be transformed.
The more I see, the more
I can enjoy you.

Please grant me the grace to
be able to respond
in word and deed so
that others may see you
and put their faith in Christ.

In Jesus’ name I pray.

 

JESUS

Jesus Christ came, lived a
perfect life, bore the wrath we
deserved, died in our place,
and rose again, overcoming sin
and death that we would
have life eternal.

For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only Son,
that whoever believes in him should
not perish but have eternal life.
Jn. 3:16 ESV

He himself bore our sins in his
body on the tree, that we might
die to sin and live to
righteousness.
By his wounds you have
been healed.
1 Pt. 2:24 ESV

For our sake he made him
to be sin who knew no sin,
so that in him we might
become the righteousness of God.
2 Cor. 5:21 ESV

For if while we were enemies we were
reconciled to God by the death of his Son,
much more, now that we are reconciled,
shall we be saved by his life.
Rom. 5:10 ESV

While we were still
E N E M I E S
God had mercy upon us.

When we were
D E A D
in our trespasses and sins
God had mercy upon us.

While we were
A L I E N A T E D
and
H O S T I L E
in mind
God had mercy upon us.

In His love
God sent His son Jesus.
He is the propitiation
for our sins;
and not for ours only,
but also for those of the
whole world.

J E S U S
R E C O N C I L E D
us in His body of flesh
by His death.

He suffered.

He took the wrath of God
in our place.

He paid the penalty we deserved
suffered.

He was crucified.

He died.

He was buried.

He was raised on the third day
according to the Scriptures.

J E S U S
presented us holy and
blameless and above
reproach before him.

When we put our faith in
Jesus we were forgiven.
We are forgiven of all our sin.
All of God’s wrath, judgment,
and the condemnation and shame
we deserved was poured
out upon Jesus. He became sin
that we might become the
righteousness of God.

Taking the Truth to Heart

Have you fully considered
all that Jesus accomplished
for you on the cross?

Do you truly put your trust
in the work that He accomplished?
Are you trusting in His
righteousness?
Or are you still working to
make yourself righteous?
Do you still feel
the pressure to be perfect,
or the need earn God’s favor?

Will you make the time today
in your thoughts
to meditate upon what Christ
accomplished for you
on the cross?
Will you take the
truth of the Gospel to heart?

Ask God for His mercy
and grace to not only comprehend
what He did for you
but also for the ability to respond
in gratitude…
with your lips
and with your life.

Close in Prayer:

Heavenly Father,
help me take the time today
to meditate upon what Christ
accomplished on the cross.
Help me believe
God’s Gospel not man’s gospel.

Please grant me the grace to
be able to respond
in gratitude…
with all my heart,
all my soul, all my mind,
and all my strength.

In Jesus’ name I pray.