Your email preview

Messiah chapter 3 “At Exactly the Right Time”

“But when the right time came, God sent His Son who was born of a woman and lived under the law.” Galatians 4:4

God’s timing is always perfect; my understanding of God’s timing is usually not! One of the primary ways I have found peace in that paradox is by staying connected to Him every day SO THAT I can build evident to be able to trust God when His timing and my continue to conflict.

There was a lot of evidence in this chapter for why God chose the time He did to send His Son. The one primary indicator that something needed to change was “the idea that humans can save themselves by their own works.” This, according to the chapter, “is at the foundation of every heathen religion. And now through Satan’s efforts, was at the center of the Jewish religion as well.”

And that was as far as I got this morning as I reviewed my journal. My first thought was, “Has anything changed?” I must admit, I sat just a bit smugly as I confirmed that fact in a quick mental review of other religions in the world. Yep, looks like they all have some sort of “earning” of salvation by some type of “work” or effort on the believer’s part. Then came a bit of self-realization—for too many is Christianity any different? How many believers in Jesus still are trying somehow to “earn” their salvation?

Ephesians 2: 8,9 flashed through my mind and I share it with you in case you are like me and sometimes might also fall into that “earning” segment of Christians, “For it is BY GRACE you have been saved, and NOT of yourselves; NOT of works so no one can boast.” The beauty of Christianity is still that I am ONLY saved by Jesus and NOT by what I do. I pray that we all continue to discover THAT brand of Christianity in our lives. All I will ever be able to do is say “Thank you.”

Have a great day basking thankfully in God’s grace and goodness,

Pastor Rich

Quote for the day: “The meaning of life. The wasted years of life. The poor choices of life. God answers the mess of life with one word: ‘grace.’” Max Lucado

PS Idahaven Camp still here today! Visit them in the Ortner lobby.

PPS Loveology | Open small group. 6:00 p.m. | College View Church young adult room
In Loveology, John Mark Comer breaks down what relationships are all about. Sex, love, marriage, romance, dating and singleness—what went wrong after the Garden of Eden beginning? God thought the whole thing up—what does he have to say to us now? Learn a new theology of love that could change everything for you.