Seated in the Heavenlies

I once believed many years ago, that a Christian could be lost after being saved. After asking the Lord to reveal the truth to me, I am more than confident now that He made it clear in His Word, exactly where I am in eternity.

The Lord has made us a new creation, we were dead and now are alive. We are no longer the old man who can be lost ever again. According to Ephesians 2 we are seated with Christ in the heavenlies, right now, positionally. This is permanent state of being that we could never "change our mind and walk away from Him." He saved us and keeps us. No work of ours at all. We can not work to be saved, we can not work to be kept and we can not work to be lost. The new creation we have become can not go back and become the old again. We have been permanently changed. The Lord did that changing, we did not change ourselves and we can not undo what He did. AND, as a dear friend once said to me, "we would have to fall out of heaven" to be lost again after being seated with Christ in the heavenlies. What a blessed truth that leaves us with assurance and unspeakable joy that we are saved and can never be lost again. God promises that He has "sealed us with the Holy Spirit of Promise" God never breaks a promise.

Ephesians 2: 1-10

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.........Vs 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been made near by the blood of Christ.

Is is possible that we fear that we could be lost again because we think that we did a good deed and saved ourselves? We were wooed by the Lord, and when we responded to His love, He began His work in us. All the work of saving us, was done by Him. Do we think that we are as powerful as the Lord that we could undo what He did. Never!!! He did it and it is done!!!

Perhaps we are confused by those who claim to be saved, and appeared to live the Christian life and then one day seemingly walked away from all of His blessings and commands. We do not have to be confused if we prayerfully look at His Word and not at those who seemed to walk away. The Lord said that many will call him Lord, Lord, but He will say to them, "get away, I never knew you." The Lord never saved them, they tried to live the Christian life as unsaved people. The walking away was evidence that they were trying in their flesh and not in the power of the Holy Spirit, they were never saved and changed after all.

Thankfully, the Lord will answer the prayer of repentance and save anyone who will trust what Jesus Christ did on that cross for them. What a wonderful Lord we serve.

Gwendolyn

The Animals: God's Blessing To Mankind!

I would like you to meet my kissing deer. He came to visit me on several occasions. He has been God's gift to me. I will never forget the morning that I saw him coming out of the woods in our back yard. It was early in the morning and I had not yet gotten dressed for the day. I didn't want to miss an opportunity to get close to the sweet little deer, so I wandered out into the back in my bathrobe and bare feet. As I crept slowly toward the deer, to my surprise, he walked toward me. His little hooves were just a couple of inches from my feet at one point, as he lifted his head to sniff my face, I lowered to greet him. Our noses touched. This picture was a record of the second time this deer came to visit. On this occasion Rodger was home and ran for the camera. The deer tried to come on our porch one day while we were having coffee there. I am sure he would have entered the house if we would have let him. Later we learned that the deer had been raised by neighbors and was used to going into the house through a patio door. This little guy loved our dogs and would put his nose through the fence to kiss them too. The neighbors that raised this deer were also the ones who encountered the bear that killed our dog. The neighbor lady was sitting on her patio when a bear came down from the hills onto the patio as she sat at their table. She slowly got up from the chair and moved backwards through the patio doors to be safe. A year or so later that bear was shot. He had been killing livestock in the area and our dog was one of it's victims. So far we have seen on our property several wild animals, a cougar, coyotes, wild turkeys, big horned owls, raccoons and deer. I felt sorry for a lonely coyote that came through in the middle of the day. He was old and sickly looking. He walked up our driveway and into our woods foraging in old stumps for bugs and mice to eat. I am sure that he was cut out of the pack because he was old and sickly. I watched him for awhile before getting him a bowl of dog food. Something ate that dog food, I had hoped that it was that coyote. I look forward to the day that the Lord will rescue us from this horrid world of death. Someday there will be no starving coyotes or vicious bears and cougars. Everything and everyone will be friendly and loving toward one another, even the animals. The lions will lye down with the bears and children will play with the snakes and not be in danger. What a wonderful world the Lord has in store for those who have placed their trust in His Son Jesus Christ. He created these wonderful animals, what a blessing to be able to watch them and even interact at times in spite of their wild state. What a wonderful God we serve.
Gwendolyn

God Really Did Say "No Man Can Put Assunder What God Has Joined Together"

It is interesting how one thought can lead to another while lying in bed at 3 am. I pondered the idea of painting some kind of mural on the side of our shop building. As I lay in bed thinking about what colors could be used and how two colors mixed together make another color completely different from the original first two, the thought of marriage rushed into my head.

When the Lord said "Let no man put asunder what God has joined together", He really was not commanding man not to put asunder a marriage, but rather making a definitive statement that man could not do so, not matter what he did or how hard he tried to deny a marriage, it was impossible to separate what God had joined.

It occurred to me that if there were two paint colors on a pallet, one of them red and one of them yellow, they were two very distinct and separate colors. But when those two colors were mixed thoroughly, they now become orange, a completely different color. After the new color sits very boldly in its crater, could it be possible for someone to separate the red from the yellow and eliminate the orange, to become two separate colors again? The answer to the question would have to be no, there would be no way to make the yellow, yellow again or the red, red again. The orange remains as a testimony to the permanency of the new color.

God performs a miracle in the bodies and minds of two human beings when they confess their vows before witnesses at a wedding. A spiritual oneness occurs that creates a new and distinct union that can not be separated just like the new color orange on the pallet.

If we could grasp this concept as a Christian culture, we would be very careful about attempting to defy the laws of God in the area of marriage. The permanency of marriage is completely and utterly indissoluble, no matter what we do, we can not undo what the Lord has done in creating a new union when we vow before Him in a marriage ceremony.

This weekend a very special couple will be taking their vows before the Lord and a couple hundred witnesses. The witnesses are there to uphold what God will do in this ceremony. Their responsibility it to share in the joy of a union of two people who will commit to make a brand new family who will promise to honor God and each other for the rest of their lives. This is a serious pledge never to be forgotten by the Lord. Keeping this vow will bring honor to the Lord and love and stability to each other and any children that come from this union.

Stan and Jaqueline, we have great hope in the Lord's work in your life as a married couple. As long as you keep your eyes upon the Lord Jesus Christ, you will have a blessed marriage and family. Let no man deter you from your appointed mission, to bring glory to the Lord through this union.

Gwendolyn