{"id":35331,"date":"2023-05-06T03:30:39","date_gmt":"2023-05-06T10:30:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/?p=35331"},"modified":"2023-05-04T08:41:06","modified_gmt":"2023-05-04T15:41:06","slug":"may-6-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/2023\/05\/06\/may-6-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"May 6, 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div><\/div><\/div>

Real Salvation<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cNow by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, \u02bbI know Him,\u02bc and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.\u201d <\/em>1 John 2:3-6<\/p>\n

A liar? Ouch! Scripture sure can punch a hole in our carefully guarded, comfy lifestyle!<\/p>\n

I don\u02bct know anyone who hasn\u02bct wondered if their salvation was real. \u201cAm I in? I asked Jesus into my heart when I was a kid; does that count? I better ask Him again, just in case….\u201d<\/p>\n

1 John tells us how to know for sure. We know Him if we keep His commandments. We know Him if we keep His Word. We know Him if we walk just as He walked.<\/p>\n

Ouch again. I know I know Him, but I don\u02bct keep His Word perfectly, and I surely don\u02bct always walk as He walked.<\/p>\n

Rather than get into a discussion on how God is at work in us (which He is), and that He is surely sanctifying us (working holiness into us, which He is), I\u02bcd like to present a scenario to you.<\/p>\n

Let\u02bcs say we are at a retreat together. There are a hundred women just like you who have come to listen and learn. I am the retreat speaker, and I am telling you all the reasons why you need to reach out to the hurting women among us. I\u02bcm telling you what Scripture says. I\u02bcm relating stories of other times and places and women who reached out to the hurting, the poor, the needy, the friendless. Several boisterous women in our group put on a skit to exemplify the process of reaching out and the outcome. Then we close our Bibles, pray, and go to our cabins for quiet time.<\/p>\n

Contrast that scene with this one: A woman is walking down the street, and sees a woman in need. She stops to engage her in conversation. As best she can, feeling unprepared and inadequate, she nevertheless shares the love of God.<\/p>\n

You are probably saying right about now, Yes, of course, the woman who actually stopped and helped someone is the one who proved she knows and loves God.<\/p>\n

But what I want to ask you is this: Who learned the most? The group of retreat-goers who heard Scripture and saw a skit and listened to a teaching? Or the one who responded to the need?<\/p>\n

It\u02bcs in the doing <\/strong>that we learn. It\u02bcs in obedience <\/strong>that we are changed. The inadequate and unprepared one who stopped and met the need is now the teacher.<\/p>\n

Lord, You have given us all we need to be obedient. We pray now for the conviction and boldness to go out and do it. We know we are changed by the doing, not just the hearing. In Jesus\u02bc Name, Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

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