“The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
he is their stronghold in the time of trouble.”
Psalm 37:39

I love letting my bible fall open to wherever it may! Today, this was the first verse my eyes saw. What a wonderful way to start the day! Of course, it only makes sense to think about it some and let it bless not only the beginning but me entire day as well. Let’s do that!

What strikes me most is the security in this verse. Why? Because God is the driver, the initiator, of my spiritual life, not just from the beginning, but for all of eternity. I clearly am in his hands. That is such good news for me because, if I am honest with myself, I am prone to wander into sin just as easily as did the Israelites. What’s troubling to me is that I have a new heart, one that they didn’t have, one that allows me to know and walk in God’s law because it is now written on my heart (New Covenant, see Jeremiah 31 and Ezekiel 36). They didn’t. God’s Spirit lives in me, yet I still wander. Imagine if I didn’t have a new heart? In the right circumstance, I would be dancing around golden calves, too.

Indeed, salvation is from the Lord. That doesn’t absolve me of responsibility. Far from it. In fact, I’m expected to walk in a manner worthy of a son of God. Yes, I have free choice, but God guides, corrects, and trains me with his rod and staff through trials and troubles, even using my own sin and the sin of others to mold me into the image of his perfect Son. Certainly, I am held accountable for my actions.

Yet, here is the good news. He knows me better than I know myself. In his great mercy, I have been forgiven of my sin. All of it. Past, present, and future.

Psalm 103:11-13 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.

Everything changed for me, on the day God had mercy on me. Everything.

Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

Romans 5:10 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.

Over and over and over, we find that genuine salvation is secure. It can’t be changed because God is the one who granted it. Certainly, we are encouraged to test and make sure our salvation is true, but that is for OUR benefit so that we might walk in a manner worthy of our gift. Testing isn’t for God’s knowledge. He already knows our condition: he remembers that we are dust. Dust. And, apart from him, we would quickly turn on him just like the Israelites did.

So, my friends, you are in no risk of losing your salvation. You won’t one day wake up and deny God and cancel his covenant with you. Certainly, you may lose your mind and THINK you canceled it, but he will bring you back around – if, indeed, you are a true believer. If you are a fraud, certainly, you may deny him and never return, but you were never a genuine son of God in the first place. You were an imposter. Imposters aren’t saved; they never were. I think all of us can recall verses on that.

Anyway, my salvation is rock solid, as the opening verse describes. Not only that, but so is my life. God doesn’t save me then walk away. Hardly! No, the creator of the universe has a special fondness for me. He will take me on all sorts of journeys in my life, all with an end in mind: to make me into the image of his Son. That’s what it’s all about. We’re in school, my friends, a real-life, real-time classroom, and God himself is our teacher (Isaiah 54:13, John 6:45). Talk about a charter school!

God isn’t going to forget about you. He isn’t going to neglect you. If it seems so, that is because we aren’t thinking things through. He is taking care of us in a way that we aren’t even able to do for our own children, even if we could do what we wanted. He is God. He knows our frame and that we are but dust. He knows what we need and will give us all good things.

Psalm 91:14-16 “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

Seems to me a good way to start the day.

Father, I thank you. Wow! What a God! Amen!

Copyright © 2020 Scott Powers