A Decade Old Letter that Encouraged Me

My sister was rummaging through our cupboard the other day in pursuit of some diary or book. Instead she found a bunch of letters that I had written to her ten years ago. It was the time back when I was in High School and my sister was doing her college in another city. It was fun to read all the letters I had written to her. To read about the things that go on in a 15 year old's head:) But there was this particular letter that I had written to her after I had attended a Vacation Bible Camp. One of the speakers had shared the gospel in the camp. It was in May of 1999 that God worked in my heart and revealed to me my sinfulness. The realization that I cannot get to heaven based on my righteousness (which are like filthy rags). The truth that Christ died for my sins and that I can enter Heaven only though Him. God sees me Holy through Jesus Christ. What a joy!!!!

Just to read that letter was so encouraging to my soul. To see how the Spirit works and that there is nothing that I can boast in, because I was dead in my sins and Christ regenerated me. Even as i was reading that letter, to see how the Lord has worked in me patiently, faithfully teaching me through His word. The journey so far has been beautiful, those filled with sweet fellowship with God and fellow believers , various trials( given by God to make me more like Him) and wisdom from the Bible. I praise God for who He is and His faithfulness, through this journey. He has been with me every single day. He is my Father, Saviour, Redeemer and Friend.

Even as I end this post, the song that is playing on my computer is"The Glory of The Cross". How apt:) So here are the words:


What wisdom once devised the plan
Where all our sin and pride
Was placed upon the perfect Lamb
Who suffered, bled, and died?
The wisdom of a Sovereign God
Whose greatness will be shown
When those who crucified Your Son
Rejoice around Your throne

And, oh, the glory of the cross
That You would send Your Son for us
I gladly count my life as loss
That I might come to know
The glory of, the glory of the cross

What righteousness was there revealed
That sets the guilty free
That justifies ungodly men
And calls the filthy clean?
A righteousness that proved to all
Your justice has been
And holy wrath is satisfied
Through one atoning death

What mercy now has been proclaimed
For those who would believe
A love incomprehensible
Our minds could not conceive?
A mercy that forgives my sin
Then makes me like Your Son
And now I’m loved forevermore
Because of what You’ve done

Words and music by Bob Kauflin
As recorded on Songs for the Cross Centered Life
© 2000 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI).

Do I contribute anything to my salvation?

Before I answer to the title of this post let me just give you some scripture verses:

Genesis 6:5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Ephesians 2:1-2 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.

Romans 8:6-8 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Romans 3:10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;11 no one understands;no one seeks for God.

After reading these verses the three things that come out are, First-Man is sinful, Second: He does not seek God (in other words, he loves evil) Third: Man is dead in his sin.Therefore to revive a dead person and give him new life there has to be an external source. That external source is our great Lord Jesus Christ. It is because of His death on the cross and His victory over sin that today we are no more slaves to sin.

Ephesians 2:4-9 gives us a clear idea of Christ's work on the cross.

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

He has revived us, redeemed us and made us alive. Praise Be His name!!!!

Unconditional Love

I have been thinking about my salvation a lot lately. To remember what God saved me from, my eternal standing was changed the day He turned my heart of stone to a heart of flesh. There is not one day that I can go by without thanking Him for this beautiful gift of salvation. To be known as His heir. What a privilege. Praise God for adopting us as His children.(Ephesians 1:5: He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ,according to the purpose of His will.)

Have been going through the book of Hosea in my reading time. We know the story of Hosea, where God tells him to marry a women who would later be unfaithful and leave him for some other man (Hosea 1:2). Something that struck me hard was that I was like Gomer, before God saved me from my sin, running after the world and the pleasures of the world. Yet He was merciful and bought me back. Praise God our great shepherd who will bring His scattered sheep back into the fold. In the analogy Hosea depicts God and Gomer, us .

We see Hosea's unconditional love displayed to Gomer. This is the same love that our God has shown on us. What manner of love has God bestowed on us that He gave His own son to die on the cross for our sins.( John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His own Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life").

So let us not take our salvation for granted and remember the work of Christ and what He had to go through to give us this new life. To come down on earth in the form of man, humble Himself to the point of death, to save miserable creatures like us from damnation. Praise Him for His unconditional love.

How Deep is Your Love

I love this song and have been singing it a lot lately. Just to focus on His attributes and remember what Christ had to go through so that we have eternal life.

How Deep

You were broken that I might be healed
You were cast off that I might draw near
You were thirsty that I might come drink
Cried out in anguish that I might sing

How deep is Your love

How high and how wide is Your mercy

How deep is Your grace

Our hearts overflow with praise To You

You knew darkness that I might know light
Wept great tears that mine might be dried
Stripped of glory that I might be clothed
Crushed by Your Father to call me Your own

Words and music by Stephen Altrogge
As recorded on Valley of Vision

© 2006 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI).

To Know God

“And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God and Jesus Christ whom You sent.” John 17:3

This is the Highly Priestly prayer breathed out by Our Saviour for all the believers who believed in Him and who would believe. Yes!! Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners (1Tim.1:15) like you and me. From what? From the bondage of sin, death and from the clutches of the devil. For what? To have eternal life, in order to KNOW God- who is the one true God and Jesus Christ.

Most often when we think of eternal life, we are prone to think in terms of quantity than in terms of quality. Focus on the depth not just the breadth!! True life is knowing God! Stop at that. Think for a minute with me. God saved us to know Him. The one true God who is Great, powerful, Omnipresent, Omniscient, Sovereign, All-wise, abounding in love and so much more. We finite creatures, poor, fallen now washed, cleansed, forgiven to know an infinite God!! Doesn't that thought blow your mind??

We were not saved for ourselves and to just secure a safe place in heaven, but pulled out of hell's fire and brought into a close intimate relationship with God through Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. We are called into a relationship. Notice carefully it is not knowing about God but knowing God. There is a vast difference in that. No wonder it was Paul's running theme often in the Epistle to the Philippians. And God wants us not just to know Him but also to understand Him. And He delights in that. Too much?? Read the verse below.

"Thus says the LORD: "Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands me and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD." Jeremiah 9:23-24.

So the next time you are thanking God for your salvation received through Christ, meditate on John 17:3. We are to know God and Jesus Christ by the power of His Holy Spirit. And this is accomplished with much dependence on His Holy Spirit, by reading and meditating on His precious life-giving word that transforms our life and renews our mind (Romans12:2), in constant prayer and practical application of His word in our lives, desiring His glory alone!! (1Cor.10:31)

Joy in my God

Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and fields yield no food,
and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
Habakkuk 3:17-18