"SHARING HOPE THROUGH SCRIPTURE ABOUT A GUARANTEE THAT GOD HAS MADE TO BELIEVERS"

"SHARING HOPE THROUGH SCRIPTURE ABOUT A GUARANTEE THAT GOD HAS MADE TO BELIEVERS"

Ephesians 1:13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,

Ephesians 1:14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

Some explanatory thoughts/application and a prayer:

1. Here's what happened to those in Ephesus who became christians, and it's what has happened to those of us today who have also become christians. Paul says, Eph 1:13c "you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise".

2. Let's take a closer look at what this is, and how it applies to our lives today.

(1) This guarantee was put in place as soon as you trusted in Christ. Notice how it's stated here Ephesians 1:13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation;
The Ephesians had the gospel presented to them, and many of them trusted in Christ as their savior. They came to faith. They like you heard the "Word of truth" , which is the good news of salvation. They heard the good news, and they turned to Jesus Christ.

(2) There is more here. We are told, Eph 1:13b "in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise." Paul is now explaining what happened to those who trusted in Christ, or believed in Christ to save them, and it's what has happened to you also if you have trusted Christ to save you. Upon your believing You were Eph 1:13d "sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise" What this means, is that God has identified you as His own, by giving you the Holy Spirit whom he had promised along time ago. So, this sealing is a mark of ownership. The Holy Spirit comes inside of a Christian when they are saved, and His being there is a "Mark of ownership" It means You belong to God. You are His.

(3) Here's where the guarantee part comes in. Please notice. Ephesians 1:14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. Or to say it another way, the Holy Spirit is your guarantee of all that God is going to give you everything He has promised you.
The word guarantee, means, a pledge, or a security. It's like the earnest money one puts down as a downpayment. Today, we would say, "it's the money which in purchases is given as a pledge or downpayment that the full amount will subsequently be paid"

(4) What has God promised to do for those who believe? Please look again at Ephesians 1:14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
The Holy Spirit dwelling within you, is the guarantee you have, until the time when God takes you to heaven, and there you will praise His glory. He has promised not only to save those who believe, but He has promised to be with them after they are saved, and he has promised to eventually take his saved people to heaven.
This is God's guarantee to us. The Holy Spirit in You is His guarantee that He is going to do everything that He has promised to you.

(5) One final way to look at this "Guarantee" Eph 1:14 The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us everything he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. This is just one more reason for us to praise our glorious God. NLT. The Holy Spirit is God's pledge to you, that He has plans for You, and He is going to fulfill those plans. It's just like the person who says, "I'm going to buy that house. And the realtor and the lender say, "Ok, can you please put some money down" That pledge you just made, means that you intend to complete the deal. You are saying by giving the downpayment, "You intend to actually buy the house" Well, God has done the same thing. He has given you a downpayment of what He intends to do. He is going to finish what He started with You, and this is just one more reason that today you can praise God.

A prayer:

Father, You are so good, You have not only given us Christ to believe in, but You have pledged to us, that You will do everything that You have promised to do for us. We now belong to You, and You will finish what You have started in us, and one day, we will wind up in heaven praising You forever, and forever. In the meantime Lord, we have the assurance that You own us, we belong to You, and no one is going to take us away from You. Thank You for this wonderful guarantee. Thank You Holy Spirit for Your being in our lives this very day. In Jesus name, amen.

Pastor Bob Grenier
Calvary Chapel Visalia.

"SHARING HOPE THROUGH SCRIPTURE ABOUT GOD'S MANY BLESSINGS IN CHRIST"

"SHARING HOPE THROUGH SCRIPTURE ABOUT GOD'S MANY BLESSINGS IN CHRIST"

Ephesians 1:11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,

A few explanatory thoughts/application, and a prayer:

1. Paul in this verse, as with most of the first chapter of Eph, has been telling the Ephesian church, and you and I who also are in Christ, of the many blessings that we have in Christ. And, in this verse we have another one.
Ephesians 1:11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,

2. Let's take a brief look at this verse, breaking it down bit by bit.

(1) Eph 1:11a "In Him" This is speaking of the position we are now in, as those who have come to faith. When we repented of our sins, and placed our faith in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit placed us "In Him" That's where we are, we are in Jesus Christ. In fact, you will find the words "In Christ" mentioned some 85 times in the NT, and "In Him" We used to be without Him, and separated from Him, but, now we are in Him, that is our position. You as a Christian are in Jesus Christ, you are part of His body, His family, His flock, and His household, His army, His field, His building, etc, etc. You are in Him. 1Cor 12:13 "For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free--and have all been made to drink into one Spirit".
That is a blessing indeed.

(2) Eph 1:11b "we have obtained an inheritance," Being in Christ, also means that we are now heirs of God, in fact, Rom 8, tells us we are joint heirs with Christ. Heirs have an inheritance. I means that in the will of God we have blessings in store for us. We will receive these when we arrive in heaven. The word inheritance means, to be assigned something. God has assigned a private possession to each one of us. So, we have blessings now, and untold blessings to come when we leave this world and are finally face to face with our Savior.

(3) Eph 1:11c "being predestined according to the purpose of Him" What a great blessing this is. It's speaking of God's having planned His will for our lives. The word predestined means, to determine before, to ordain, to decide beforehand, to decree from eternity, to appoint beforehand. Thus, we are blessed in knowing that even before we were saved, much less created, God had already been planning out His will for our lives. You are today, as a Christian blessed to know that God has a plan for you, and He is working it out in your life. This is His will for you.
You can pray, Lord show me Your will, help me to know Your will, the will that You have planned out for me.

(4) Eph 1:11d "who works all things according to the counsel of His will", I happen to really love this verse. It's one of my favorites in the whole Bible, it's right there with what Paul said in Rom 8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose".
What this verse in Eph means, is that God is making everything happen, or work out according to His plan.
He decided this plan, long ago, and is now carrying it out. He is working His plan out for your life. It's what He had planned from the beginning. It's what we were destined for long ago. Again what a blessing.

Here's a quote by a lady named Hannah Moore about God's blessings in our lives. "There are three requisites to the proper enjoyment of earthly blessings: a thankful reflection, on the goodness of the giver; a deep sense of our own unworthiness; and a recollection of the uncertainty of our long possessing them. The first will make us grateful; the second, humble; and the third, moderate."

A prayer:

Father, reading Your Word is like opening up a treasure chest of truth. Thank You for the many, many blessing which You have given to us by Your grace. Thank You Lord. You are so gracious. We love You Lord.
In Jesus name. Amen.

"SHARING HOPE THROUGH SCRIPTURE ABOUT GOD FORGIVING OUR SINS"

"SHARING HOPE THROUGH SCRIPTURE ABOUT GOD FORGIVING OUR SINS"

1st John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Some explanatory thoughts/application, and a prayer:

1. The subject matter in this verse, is about sin, confession of our sins, the faithfulness of God to forgive us, and of His cleansing us all unrighteousness. 

1st John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

2. Let's take a closer look at what is said here. 

(1) If we confess our sins. To confess, means to agree with God, it means to say the same thing that God does.
Thus when we confess to God, we are saying, we agree with what You have said about something that we have actually done, or have thought about. That's what it means to confess, to agree with God. 

(2) Sins, means, when we break God's laws, or disobey His Word. The word sin, literally means, to miss the mark, to err, to be mistaken. To miss or wander from the path of uprightness and honor, to do or go wrong. To wander from God's law, and violate God's law. To sin, is to do that which is wrong, it's an offense, a violation of the Divine law in thought or in act. 

(3) He is faithful and just.  John is now talking about our God, and describing two  of His attributes, or characteristic's, and that is, He is faithful, and that He is just.  1st John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful. This means, that God is trustworthy, dependable, can be counted on, or can be relied on, God will do what He says He will do. God is Faithful. How wonderful to know this. The fact that God is just, means, righteous. or virtuous, faultless. In fact, only god is truly Just. 

(4) To forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1st John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
This is telling us what God is faithful to do when we confess our sins to Him. When you agree with God about your sin, there are two things that He does, He forgives, and He cleanses. To forgive means, to send away, to let go, to let be, to leave. To give up, to remit, to keep no longer. To abandon. That's what He does with our sins. He lets them go. But, that's not all. He also cleanses us from all unrighteousness. Or to cleanse us from every wrong. It's similar to forgiveness. It's just telling us that He washes us from our sins as it were. Unrighteousness, is that which is wrong. And, through the Blood of Christ, we are forgiven, and cleansed of our sins. 

A prayer:

Father, we are saved, but we still sin. And, when we do. We wish we did not sin, and sincerely ask that You help us not to sin. Forgive us when we do, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Father, we have no one to blame when we sin, except ourselves. We make the choice. But, we also can make the choice to come clean with You, and You Lord are faithful and just to forgive us of our sins, and to wash us clean of them.
Lord, we want to ask that this day, if there is any sin, that we have not confessed, that we would do so this very moment, and receive Your forgiveness, and Your cleansing. Thank You Father, in Jesus name, amen. 

Pastor Bob Grenier
Calvary Chapel Visalia. 

"SHARING HOPE THROUGH SCRIPTURE ABOUT 3 BLESSINGS GOD HAS GIVEN YOU IN CHRIST"

"SHARING HOPE THROUGH SCRIPTURE ABOUT 3 BLESSINGS GOD HAS GIVEN YOU IN CHRIST"

Ephesians 1:6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved.

Ephesians 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace

Some explanatory thoughts/application, and a prayer:

1. These three blessings belong to each and every person who is "in Christ" All of who have come to faith in Jesus Christ, and are saved, have these and of course many other blessings. But, we are going to look at just these three today.

(1) He has made us accepted in the beloved. Essentially, this means, that we are honored with blessings by Him. Also, it has the idea of being highly favored, and to make accepted. We once were not in this position, but just as Jesus ascended to the Father and was welcomed into heaven, we who are in Christ, are as accepted by God as Jesus is. And, you have to ask yourself, how accepted is Jesus by the Father?. Well, that's exactly how He accepts us. Remember, we are joint heirs with Christ.

(2) In Him we have redemption through His blood. Now, this is another blessing. We have redemption, and we have this through His blood, that is His life being given for our sins payment on the cross. Redemption means that we belong to Him, through His having purchased us. Imagine, God bought you! Wow. Why would He buy such as us? Because He loves us, and wants to know us, and wants us to not perish, but have eternal life with Him.

(3) In Him.....The forgiveness of sins. This is something that only God can give. He is the Forgiver of sins. We cannot do this for ourselves. It's impossible. The wages of sin is death. We would have to die, and be separated from Him forever to pay for our sins. But, He paid for them instead. And, now our sins are forgiven. They are gone away from us, never to be remembered anymore, and never to be held against us. The only remembrance of them, will be on our part, and that memory is, that our Great God has forgiven us for them. Thank You Lord.

A prayer:

Father, the blessings we have looked at today, are just a small sample of the many that we have from You. You are the Great Accepter, Redeemer, and Forgiver, and You are the great Blesser if you will, of all who will put their trust in You. Thank You for leading us to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. We love You Lord. In Jesus name, amen.

Pastor Bob Grenier
Calvary Chapel Visalia.

"SHARING HOPE THROUGH SCRIPTURE ABOUT GOING THROUGH TRIALS"

"SHARING HOPE THROUGH SCRIPTURE ABOUT GOING THROUGH TRIALS"

1 Peter 1:6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials,

1 Peter 1:7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,

Some explanatory thoughts/application, and a prayer:

1. We truly rejoice in what God has done for us. That's what we are told in 1 Pet 1:6. Which is speaking of our salvation. Here's how Peter put it a few verses earlier 1 Pet 1;3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
So, we rejoice that God has saved us. We have been saved by His mercy, and we are saved unto a living hope through Jesus Christ's rising from the dead.

2. So, here are five truths about trials.

(1) Trials are only temporary. 1st Pet 1:6b. "though now for a little while.” This means, they come for a season.
Just like we go through summer, then into fall, then into winter, and then into spring. There are seasons of nature, and they come, and they go. And, that is one of the truths of a trial. They come, and then at some point they are gone.

(2) Trials only come when they are needed. 1st Pet 1:6c "if need be" That is, they come when they are necessary. And, of course our Lord knows when they are needed, and He is faithful to allow them into our lives.

(3) Trials bring grief into our lives. 1 Pet 1:6d you have been grieved by various trials, In other words, they make us sorrowful, they bring sadness, they cause grief, and they make us uneasy. That's the truth isn't it.

(4) Trials come in various ways. 1 Pet 1:6e. "by various trials," There can be many trials that come all at once, or one after the other.

(5) Trials come only to test your faith. To show that your faith is strong and pure. That's what 1st Pet 1:7a says. "that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes,"

(6) Trials not only test your faith, but will be the basis for much praise, and glory, and honor on the day that Jesus Christ is revealed to the entire world. 1st Pet 1:7 b "may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,"

3. So, if you are in a trial right now, may I encourage you to just take a few moments and read these most descriptive and helpful verses from God that speak to what you are going through. May you simply believe what God says, and look forward to His being faithful to accomplish in You what He intends. You will be much stronger after the Lord gets you through the trial. And, He will. The 3 verses below are in the New Living Translation.

1st Pet 1:3 All honor to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for it is by his boundless mercy that God has given us the privilege of being born again. Now we live with a wonderful expectation because Jesus Christ rose again from the dead.

1st Pet 1:6 So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while.

1st Pet 1:7 These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold--and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.

A prayer:

Father, each day, Your Word is indeed the bread of life for our souls. Thank You for all that You do in us through Your Word. You give us perspective, truth, insight, understanding, comfort and hope. Thank You for all You do for us day by day. And, we particularly thank You for this teaching on "trials" We go through them, and these verses really shed light on why we go through them, and how to go through them, and the purpose you have in mind for us going through them. We love You and can hardly wait to see You face to face. In Jesus name, Amen.

Pastor Bob Grenier.
Calvary Chapel Visalia

"SHARING HOPE THROUGH SCRIPTURE ABOUT BEING BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE"

"SHARING HOPE THROUGH SCRIPTURE ABOUT BEING BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE"

Exodus 14:13 And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever.
Exodus 14:14 “The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.”

Some explanatory thoughts/application, and a prayer:

1. These two verses are a record of what God did for His people when they were trapped as it were. They could not go back, because Pharaoh’s army was behind them, they could not go to the left or to the right, because the terrain would not allow an escape, and they certainly could not go forward, because of the Red Sea. They were trapped. They were in the Proverbial, "Between a rock and a hard place"

2. But, God is above all rocks, and all hard places, and above all situations when a person is trapped. In fact, in this case, the Lord had led them into this location, and I'm certain it was to reveal His great power and strength to them, and to begin teaching them, that His people can look to Him, trust Him, wait on Him, for He is faithful to deliver.

3. So, here is what God said to His people through His servant Moses in the NLT Version.

Exodus 14:13 But Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand where you are and watch the LORD rescue you. The Egyptians that you see today will never be seen again.

Exodus 14:14 The LORD himself will fight for you. You won’t have to lift a finger in your defense!”

4. Let's break this down a little bit and look closely at what was told the people.

(1) "Don't be afraid"

(2) "Just stand where you are and watch the LORD rescue you.

(3) The Egyptians that you see today will never be seen again.

(4) The LORD himself will fight for you.

(5) You won't have to lift a finger in your defense.

5. And, we all know the story, God came through just as He said He would, and just as He always does. He is our faithful and true Savior. He makes promises that He makes good on, and He cannot lie.

6. May I encourage You if you are in a difficult place right now to let these words sink deep into your heart, and ask the Lord to wash your fears away, and to give You direction as to what He wants You to do. Our God, is the same God of the people in Exodus. He has not changed, and He loves You, knows all about Your situation, and is very capable of helping You.

A prayer:

Father, what a comfort it is to comforted by You. What a blessing it is, that You would give us Your Word to guide us, to calm us, to encourage us, to lift us up, and to put faith and courage in our hearts, to calm our fears.
And, what a blessing to know that You indeed are our Deliverer. We love You Lord. In Jesus name. Amen

Pastor Bob Grenier
Calvary Chapel Visalia.