Illustration results for Redemption Redeemed Gods Love
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SING
Let me tell you about some dear friends of mine: "Punk" and "Beanie" Peters. Punk’s real name was Ralph; Beanie’s was Lavena. They were members of Driftwood Christian Church near Vallonia, Indiana. Beanie was a simple farm wife who had an unshakable faith.
Dying of liver cancer, I was at the hospital with her family, essentially on a deathwatch. Beanie’s pain was excruciating, and the pain medicine kept her in a nearly unconscious state. Others left the room for a moment; only her daughter Harriet and Punk were present with me. Suddenly Beanie opened her eyes.
Looking at the ceiling, she said, "Sing." I leaned over her bed and asked, "What did you say, Beanie?"
"Sing."
"Do you want us to sing a hymn?"
She nodded. So I started:
"I heard an old, old story, how a Savior who came from glory..." By that time Ralph and Harriet joined in:
"How He gave His life on Calvary to save a wretch like me;
I heard about His groaning, and His precious blood atoning;
Then I repented of my sin and won the victory."
On the chorus, Beanie joined us. She sang the melody; Harriet sang alto; Punk sang tenor, and I picked up the bass.
"Oh victory in Jesus! My Savior forever;
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood
He loved me ‘ere I knew Him
And all my love is due Him
He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood."
I started singing the last verse. With eyes fastened on the ceiling, Beanie’s voice became stronger:
"I heard about a mansion He has built for me in Glory
And I heard about the streets of gold beyond the crystal sea;
About the angels’ singing the old redemption story;
And some sweet day I’ll sing up there the song of victory!"
Sing the chorus with me.
"Victory in Jesus, my Savior forever!"
We prayed together, and hours later, Beanie Peters died. Just a few years later her daughter Harriet died of the same type of cancer. Not long ago, Punk also went home to be with the Lord. Out of the four in that room, I am the only one left to tell the story. No matter what trials you face, sing. God is there to help you through.
The origin and cause of our redemption is the [inexpressible] love of God the Father, who willed to redeem us by the blood of His own Son; the grace of the Son, who freely took our curse upon Him, and imparts His blessing and merits to us; and the Holy Spirit, who communicates the love of the Father and the grace of the Son to our hearts. When we speak of this and of the satisfaction of Christ, we speak of the inmost mystery of the Christian faith.
(Citation: The Works of John Wesley, Letter to William Law, 06 January 1756)
I saw a woman coming out of Loblaws this week with a t-shirt that said “I’LL LOVE YOU WHEN YOU ARE MORE LIKE ME”
That’s often how we do it – once people get redeemed, then we will love them, it is not that...
Cups of the Lord
The Cup of Blessings
Psalms 16:5 says, "The Lord is my portion of my inheritance and my cup..." (NAS) What a wonderful blessing, to know that the Lord Himself is our inheritance.
Dr. Dewight Jones tells us that there are some 32 cups mentioned in the Word of God. We have already looked at "The Cup of Wrath," and "The Cup of Salvation. Let us now consider "The Cup of Blessing."
In the Old Testament the "cup" had been applied to the blessedness, to provision and to the joy of the children of God. It is one thing to give lip serves to the Lord in easy times, but to have a heart that cries, "Thou are my Lord!" even in times of trial is evidence of spiritual maturity and a confidence of having Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
The Holy Spirit illuminated child of God approaches the throne of God saying this in his heart, "Let me have the love and favor of God and be accepted of Him. Let me enjoy the comfort of communion with the Lord and the satisfaction of understanding His graces and sustaining love. Just let me be captivated by His presence and His promise life and rest in my eternal state. What else is there to desire? What more can a man achieve? And what surpasses the blessing of being under the blood of Christ?"
Because Jesus is the inheritance of the true believer, the Christian's heart should be the same as the heart of the man who wrote Psalm 116:12, "How can I repay the Lord for all His goodness to me?
In 1 Corinthians 10:16 the apostle Paul reminds the Corinthian believers about the truths of being under the blood of Christ. He wanted to relay an authoritative message that said if man has eaten the bread in remembrance of the Body of Christ and drunk the wine in remembrance of His Blood, he cannot then fill his heart and life of wickedness.
There was a splendid statue that was done of Jesus Christ by Thorwaldsen. After he had craved it, he was offered a great deal of money to fashion statue of Venus. His answer was this, "The hand that carved the form of Christ can never carve the form of a heathen goddess."
What was true in Corinth at the time of the Apostle Paul's ministry is also true for today. The Christian who has handled the sacred things of Christ cannot soil his soul with things that God calls wickedness. He cannot use the talents, spiritual gifts or possessions that the Lord has given him for personal gain, nor for thi...
