SALVATION

EPHESIANS 2:8,9

Says that salvation is the gift of God....I was pondering this thought the other day and realized a very important truth. A GIFT OF GOD...God, Himself, was the gift.

I am still so amazed at the thought of those powerful words. I have God the Son, who is God in the flesh living in me. "It is not I that live, but Christ that liveth in me." God, who is holy, is the only one who could satisfy the need of a perfect sacrifice so He,God, came to satsified the need for our salvation.

Some times when the children would help me clean the kitchen I would have to remind them; dry the dishes and put them away; make sure all the counters are clean; clean the stove; and on and on it would go. One day one of them told me..."Mama, if you are not satisfied with the way we do it...then do it yourself."

Well, that is a human illustration of how God is. We can not ever satisfy the need for our salvation. My children did eventually with much correcting, reminding and scolding they managed to satisfy me. But we can not satisfy God for He is Holy.

He knew we could not satisfy Him no matter how long we tried. Just as He went looking for Adam and Eve in the garden and when He found them and they repented of the sin they had done, God made the sacrifice of the animal and made them a cloak to cover their sin.

That is what God the Son did. "I and the Father are one." If I could put one stitch in my salvation when I reached Heaven I would walk all over Heaven showing everyone that one little stitch that 'I HAD DONE.'

It is not that way my friend...just as He searched for Adam and Eve He searches for us and tells that part of us that knows there is a God that "I have supplied the sacrifice so that you can be at one with me again." Have you been found by the Savior....My friend, you do not find Him....He finds you...you repent of your sins...and God, the gift, comes and lives in you and your eternal life in Heaven begins at that moment.

Everyone has eternal life, but some will spend theirs in Hell, while others will accept the offer of the Son, the one and only way to eternal life and spend their eternity with the Father, Son and Holy Ghost in Heaven.

HAVE YOU BEEN FOUND? HAS HE KNOCKED ON THE DOOR OF YOUR HEART..."BEHOLD I STAND AT THE DOOR AND KNOCK, IF ANY MAN HEAR MY VOICE AND WILL OPEN THE DOOR, I WILL COME IN AND SUP WITH HIM AND HE WITH ME."

HAS HE KNOCKED...I hope so....e-mail me at lboatwright60@hotmail.com and tell me about how you opened the door and the gift, God Himself, came in and changed your life.......be still and listen....He is knocking...for "GOD WOULD HAVE NO MAN PERISH, BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE." My prayers are with all who would read...

Oh, The Blood.

While studying in the book of John, chapter 1, the Prologue, the first 18 verses...I had a wonderful thought come to my mind. I chewed on it for awhile as I tried to put it together like someone putting a crossword puzzle together, piece by piece as I understood what I had read. Then a bright light came on in my soul and warmth filled me through and through. As I sat there pondering the new understanding I heard a whisper in my soul. "Child, I am the Word. I wrote the Word. It was through this Word in your hands that I created everything that was made, even you." The whispered voice continued..."I wrote this Word in black and white like a legal covenant, a contract, so to speak. When you accepted Me into your heart and life and became mine, (Ezek.16:8) I entered into this contract with you. You did nothing of yourself, for I passed by you and it was a time of love. I entered into this black and white contract with you and made many promises to you that all you had to do was to pray and believe, glorify me and enjoy me forever and I will keep my part of the covenant with you. You will keep your part, not because you have to, but because you want too. I made this contract/covenant with you because I love you. I love you so much I signed my part of the covenant in my own BLOOD." What a truth...I had never realized it before. Yes, I have prayed and had prayers answered, but this was something new. Our Lord signed His covenant with us in His own precious blood. What did we do? Nothing....Why?...If we had put one stitch in our garment of salvation, why, we would spend all eternity telling and showing everyone what we had done. No, my friend, salvation is all of God in the form of a man called Jesus Christ. If He has not changed your life and is continuing to change your life daily...then something is wrong. Read the first 16 verses or so of Ezekiel 16.....It is His beauty the world sees in us, not ours...He did the passing by and it was a "time of love." He saw us in our filth and took us up and cleansed us by the washing of the blood and made us His own.... Do you belong to Him? Can you say you have a covenant with Christ that is written in black and white and signed in His own blood? If not you have no covenant/contract and He is not obligated to do anything for you. We do for Him because we love Him, want to glorify and enjoy Him forever. Even better, He will enjoy us. We will become a sweet savour in His nostrils.....Remember He made the covenant, wrote it all down and signed in His blood...."I love you."...Jesus........Linda Boatwright

Life's Patterns

"THE CROSS OF CHRIST" (copyright 04.16.95 Linda Boatwright) The Cross of Christ was made for me..so the Son said to the Father.. "I'll go...set the sinner free." The Cross of Christ was full of shame..but the Son took it all.. And on me..placed no blame.. The Cross of Christ..How can it be? That the Son of God should suffer so.. All because of Love for me.. The Cross of Christ..such a place of sorrow..He took on Himself..my blame.. My sin, such suffering and horror.. The Cross of Christ a place of sacrifice..there He hung between Heaven and Hell. For me He paid the price.. The Cross of Christ..the place of so great a salvation..a new creation in Christ.. A new life is mine..Oh, what a transformation... Every thing in my life hangs on that Cross...every accomplishment, every talent, every good thing in my life hangs on that Cross. Without that Cross and the One who hung there I am nothing. I don't want to be anything but what that Cross represents. Call me crazy..call me foolish..I don't really care...all I know is that when I met the man on that Cross, the Lord Jesus Christ, He changed my life. The things I did before I do not do now. Now I serve Him because He loves me and forgave my sins and promised me Heaven in return. I serve because I want too, not because I have too....that is the true pattern of my life.....Linda B