Running Toward the Son

What’s the Good Word?

A joyful “Good Morning”,

“Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down,” exclaims Solomon in Proverbs 12:25, “but a good word makes it glad.”

So, what’s the good word? Where shall we find the answer – the “good word” – that thwarts Satan’s efforts to ensnare our souls with anxiety and diminish our joy in the Lord?

“I know, O LORD, that a man’s way is not in himself,” mused Jeremiah (10:23), “nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps.” “Help, LORD,” cried David in Psalm 12:1, “for the godly man ceases to be, for the faithful disappear from among the sons of men. They speak falsehood to one another; with flattering lips and with a double heart they speak.”

God responds in verse 5, “‘Because of the devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy, now I will arise,’ says the LORD; ‘I will set him in the safety for which he longs’.”

Then comes the declaration in verse 6,

“The words of the LORD are pure words;
As silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times.

“You, O LORD, will keep them;”
You will preserve him from this generation forever.”

Here is where we find the “good word,” in “the words of the Lord.” So the psalmist exclaims, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. . . . You are my hiding place and my shield; I wait for Your word”; and prays,“Sustain me according to Your word, that I may live; and do not let me be ashamed of my hope. Uphold me that I may be safe, that I may have regard for Your statutes continually” (119:105,114, 116-117).

And in the New Testament, Peter reminds us that God’s

“divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust” (2 Peter 1:3-4).

Jesus’ words in John 14:1, are as much for you and me today as they were for the disciples then: “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.”

May God assure every aspect of your heart – your mind, your will, and your emotions – that you have everything you need in Christ for the present distress and any that might arise in your future (Philippians 4:12-13). “My God,” exclaims our beloved apostle Paul, “will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).

“Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Just as it is written,

“FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG;
WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.”

But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:35-39).

“Now to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”

Together in Christ,

Pastor Ryne

Pressing On

Dear Brothers & Sisters in Christ,

“Keep pressing on so that you may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus laid hold on you . . . the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:12-14). . . . Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory (Colossians 3:1-4)

. . . . Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure (1 John 3:2-3)

. . . . For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)

. . . . ‘I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown. ‘He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name. ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’ !” (Revelation 3:11-13).

Together with you in the pursuit of holiness!

Hebrews 12:14-15

Pastor Ryne

Resurrection Day!

“My brothers and sisters,” exclaimed the apostle Paul, “rejoice in the Lord …. Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!” (Philippians 3:1;4:4)
In the midst of these “unprecedented times,” as we celebrate our Lord’s Resurrection, may you find comfort and encouragement in the following Scriptures which remind us of some of the incomparable blessings that are ours because “He is risen!” (Mark 16:6):

“You were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. . . . But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)” (Ephesians 2:1…5)

“While we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him” (Romans 5:6-9).

“For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colosians 1:13-14).

“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

“For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit” (1 Peter 3:18).

“Knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God” (Romans 6:9-10).
“Jesus, because He continues forever … is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:24-25).

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

Just as it is written,
“FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG;
WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.”

“Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is” (1 John 3:2).

“When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:4).

“Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. “O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:51-57)

“… all things belong to you, and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God” (1 Corinthians 3:22c-23).

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord” ( 1 Corinthians 15:58).

“He is risen, He is risen indeed!”

Yours in Christ,

Pastor Ryne

A Devotional Beginning

Good Morning!

“This is the day which the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” So the psalmist exclaims in Psalm 118:24.

Paul urges us in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Similarly, in Philippians 4:4-7, he exhorts,

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Now, to be honest, there are days, I just don’t feel like doing any of that; but what’s sadder, is there are days when I have not done that – days I have failed to “be anxious for nothing, rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks.” But taking Jesus at His word, I have to confess that the only reason this is so, on any given day, is because I choose not toabide in Him (John 15:4-5).

That Paul understood the inherent difficulty we all find in doing what he exhorts there in 1 Thessalonians 5 and Philippians 4, is evident in Romans 7:21-25, where he, personally, acknowledges the struggle:

“I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.”

However, Paul doesn’t leave us there in the struggle, for as we read further into chapter 8 (and remember there were no chapter breaks in the original letter), he tells us, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.” He goes on to say that because we belong to Christ, the very Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit, dwells in us, and consequently, we are enabled to “set our minds on the things of the Spirit,” over/against the mind of the flesh, and so experience the “life and peace” which Jesus assured us He gives to all who come to Him (John 14:27; Matthew 11:28).

Backing up, then, we can confidently say that the exhortations in 1 Thessalonians 5 and Philippians 4 – “Be anxious for nothing…rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks,” etc. – are commands we are able to do in Christ. Paul points to this enabling power in Titus 2:11-14, when he exclaims, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.” This is the reality that is afforded us, all because of Christ, “who gave Himself…to redeem us from every lawless deed,” and who is at work in us to “purify for Himself a people for His own possession.” What an amazing reality this is! Let me encourage you, if you will, to pause here in your reading, and take a moment to praise our Heavenly Father for these truths that are yours because you belong to Christ.

So here’s the takeaway, I can do all that the Lord Jesus instructs me to do in Paul’s exhortations, when I purposefully choose to submit myself to His Spirit that dwells in me. “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me,” exclaims Paul in Philippians 4:13. And so, in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he says to us in Colossians 3:17, “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.”

If you have been a part of our study in The Pursuit of Holiness, you may recognize that the above is meant to spur us on to appropriate prayer in our lives as one of the “Means of Grace” which the Holy Spirit employs in our practical sanctification. You may remember, that in our introduction to the study on sanctification, we listed 5 means of grace which Michael Riccardi cites in his study, Sanctification: The Christian’s Pursuit of God-Given Holiness. Let me again list these five here:

THE FIVE MEANS OF GRACE:

Scripture
Prayer
Fellowship
Providence
Obedience

In Psalm 119, the author himself addresses and engages each of the 5 means of grace mentioned above. My hope and prayer is I that as we engage with the psalm, in the days and weeks ahead, the Holy Spirit will further activate these 5 means of grace in our lives.

Please pray that the Lord will use the days ahead, to draw us closer to Him – “conform[ing] us to the image of His Son” (Romans 8:29).

Striving to “fix our eyes on Him,”

Pastor Ryne

20/20 Vision in 2020

In this New Year of 2020, may the Lord grant each of us a 20/20 vision of Jesus Christ – to see Him more clearly – for who He is and who we are in Him; to know and love Him more fully – we in His Word and His Word in Us; and to proclaim Him boldly – to the World, which “God so loved, that He gave His only begotten Son!”

May, “The One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. . .the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. . . . that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe, . . . that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. . . May the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.” (2 Corinthians 4:6; Ephesians 1:17-19; 3:16-19; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24)

“You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9)

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21)

Happy New Year, & Beyond!

As we “fix your eyes on Him!”

Pastor Ryne

“Today… born for you a Savior”

On that first Christmas Day:

“The angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for behold,
I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people;
for today in the city of David there has been born for you
a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.'” (Luke 2:10-11)

“Hallelujah!”… on that day over 2000 years ago, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior,

“The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us…” (John 1:14)

“…He [who] existed in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant,
and being made in the likeness of men.
Being found in appearance as a man,
He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him,
and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow,
of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:5-11)

“He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.
But as many as received Him,
to them He gave the right to become children of God,
even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:10-13)

“See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God;
and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be.
We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” (1 John 3:1-3)

“… so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many,
will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin,
to those who eagerly await Him. ” (Hebrews 9:28)

He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.”
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. (Revelation 22:20)

” Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord!” (2 Peter 1:2)

Merry Christmas!

Pastor Ryne

From the Scriptures…

In the Scriptures:

“You are good, and do good,” exclaims the writer in Psalm 119:68. Then, just 3 verses later, he muses, “It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I may learn your statutes” (v 71). The writer of Hebrews understood, for he urges us to see our Heavenly Father’s hand in the difficult times times as His loving discipline, which, he reminds us, is “for our good, that we may share in His holiness” (Heb 12:10).
“And we know,” assures Paul, “that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose….What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?” (Romans 8:28, 31).
Romans 8 is an amazing and encouraging reminder of all that God has done, is doing, and will do as He brings to complete realization the eternal life that is ours in His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ our Lord! (John 3:16; Ephesians 1:3-14). God has also said,
“Because of the devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy,Now I will arise,” says the Lord; “I will set him in the safety for which he longs.”The words of the Lord are pure words;As silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times.You, O Lord, will keep them;You will preserve him from this generation forever. Psalm 12:5-7
“So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty,Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:11
Praying that you will experience “the encouragement of the Scriptures” today! (Romans 15:4)

Love in Christ,

Pastor Ryne

Thanksgiving Day, 2019: A Cue from Christ

For what shall we give thanks this Thanksgiving Day – the blessing of family, friends, provision, protection, health? It is surely appropriate that we do so, for these and so much more, for as Paul reminds us, it is “God who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy!” (1 Timothy 6:17c).

In musing about this “Thanksgiving Day,” my thoughts went to the time when Jesus expressed publicly His gratitude to God. “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,” He exclaimed in Matthew 11:25-26, “that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.” What things? Well, given the context surrounding His prayer, it’s seems certain that He is referring to the “things” pertaining to Him and the salvation that He accomplished for all who will repent and believe in Him.
That which God has done in giving us His Son to save us from our sin and His wrath, is by far the greatest gift we will ever receive. It reaches us in this life for sure, but it takes us far beyond, into eternity, where we will live in His presence and enjoy Him forever!
The writer of Psalm 118 must have glimpsed this reality, when he framed the song with the words, “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His lovingkingdness is everlasting” (118:1, 29), for between those two bookends, he writes:
Open to me the gates of righteousness; I shall enter through them, I shall give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord; The righteous will enter through it.I shall give thanks to You, for You have answered me,And You have become my salvation.The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief corner stone…..The Lord is God, and He has given us light. (Psalm 118:19-22, 27a)
What the psalmist ponders, and Jesus references in His prayer of gratitude, Paul describes this way in 2 Corinthians 4:6, “God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” Later in the same letter, in the context of giving & gratitude, Paul exclaims, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15) Today, Thanksgiving Day, 2019, and throughout this Holiday Season, may God fill you with wonder and gratitude for the greatest gift – the greatest blessing, of all time & eternity – the gift of His Son!

Bless the Lord, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle. (Psalm 103:1-5)

“I will give thanks to You with all my heart….thanks to Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth!” (Psalm 138:1, 2b)

“Joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light!” (Colossians 1:11-12)

In Christ, our Righteousness,

Pastor Ryne

Beauty Out of Ashes

“Beauty Out of Ashes.”

It’s the title of a section in chapter 5 of Jerry Bridges’ book, Is God Really in Control? Chapter 5 is on the wisdom of God, and the section (found on pages 83-84) reads like this:
____________________________
As we watch tragic events unfold, or more particularly as we experience adversity ourselves, we often are prone to ask God, “Why?” The reason we ask is because we do not see any possible good to us or glory to God that can come from the particular adverse circumstances that have come upon us or our loved ones. But is not the wisdom of God–thus the glory of God–more eminently displayed in bringing good out of calamity than out of blessing? There is no question that God’s people live in a hostile world. We have an enemy, the Devil, who “prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). He wants to sift us like wheat as he did Peter (see Luke 22:31), or make us curse God as he tried to get Job to do. God does not spare us from the ravages of disease, heartache, and disappointment of this sin cursed world. But God is able to take all these elements–the bad as well as the good–and make full use of everything and everyone. As someone said years ago,
“A lesser wisdom than the Divine would feel impelled to forbid, to circumvent, or to resist the outworking of these hellish plans. It is a fact that often God’s people try to do this themselves, or cry unceasingly to the Lord that He may do it. So it is that prayers may seem to be unanswered. For we are being handled by a wisdom which is perfect, a wisdom which can achieve what it [intends] by taking hold of things and people which are meant for evil and making them work together for good.”
God’s infinite wisdom then is displayed in bringing good out of evil, beauty out of ashes. It is displayed in turning all the forces of evil that rage against His children into good for them. But the good that He brings about is often different from the good we envision. ____________________________
Bridges’ words reminded me again of Lamentations 3:37-38, where Jeremiah exclaims, “Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the most high that good and I’ll go forth?””In the day of prosperity be happy,” wrote Solomon out of his God-given wisdom, “but in the day of adversity consider — God has made the one as well as the other, so that man will not discover anything that will be after him” (Ecclesiastes 7:14).
If you are facing adversity now, or as you encounter it in the future – which, Ecclesiastes 7:14 implies we all do – as a child of God may you “consider” and know with absolutely conviction that God is ALL loving, ALL wise, and ALL powerful, and that He is ever present, working all things together for your good and His glory (Roman’s 8:28-39). It cannot be otherwise, for God has proclaimed it to be so, and “the Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35). “The words of the Lord are pure words, as silver tried in a furnace on the earth refined seven times” (Psalm 12:6).
May our Lord, Jesus Christ, “grant you according to the riches of His glory to be strengthened with power by His Spirit!”

Learning to lean on Jesus,

Pastor Ryne

The Father’s Gift to the Son; “I Was In His Mind!”

Yesterday, as I was reading in John’s Gospel, I was struck by the number of times that our Lord refers to believers as those whom His Father has “given” to Him. For example, five times (5x) in His prayer in John 17, He speaks of us as gifts from His Father to Him:
17:1-2 – Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life.
17:6 – “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.
17:9 – “I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours;”
17:24 – “Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”
Earlier, in John 6:35-40, as He was addressing the crowd which was following Him the day after the feeding of the 5000, Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”
Given the number of times that the Scriptures speak of the disciples’ dull understanding (e.g., see John 2:22; 12:16; cf. Luke 24:25) it’s fair to say that they were probably a bit slow in grasping the realities in what Jesus had said. That they did eventually understand, in increasing measure, John reveals in 18:3-9, when he recounts Jesus’ arrest: “Therefore He again asked them, ‘Whom do you seek?’ And they said, Jesus the Nazarene. Jesus answered, ‘I told you that I am He; so if you seek Me, let these go their way,’ to fulfill the word which He spoke, ‘Of those whom You have given Me I lost not one.’“

Think for a moment or two how wonderful it is to be designated by Jesus as a gift from His Father:
(1). Foremost, is the certainty that it is God Himself who has initiated our relationship to Him through His Son:“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me.”
As you know, the NT speaks about this in other places. For instance, there’s Paul’s statement in Romans 5:8, that “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” There’s his reminder in Ephesians: “you were dead in your trespasses and sins….But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ…” (2:1,4,5a). Then, there’s his encouraging declaration in Philippians 1:6, “that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”
(2). Secondly, is the realization that as the Father’s gift to the Son, our relationship to Him is secure for all eternity: “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me.” And, “The one who comes to Me,” adds Jesus, “I will certainly not cast out...[and furthermore] This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.”

Other NT Scriptures confirm this “hope,” which as the writer of Hebrews puts it, “we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope, both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” (Hebrews 6:19). Hebrews 7:24-25 reminds us that, “Jesus….because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:24-25; see especially, Hebrews 4:14-16, in light of this truth).
Then, there is Philippians 1:6 (already mentioned above) along with Paul’s catalog of God’s marvelous work in our lives that reaches into eternity:“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified” (Romans 8:28-30).
With our Sovereign God in absolute control, and because He is the One who began a good work in you, and He is the One carrying through with that work until the Day of Christ (see 1 John 3:1), Paul can speak of our glorification as a completed work (Romans 8:30). This is ultimate security, for all eternity, but also for now, especially in the face of anything that you and I may encounter this side of glory. To repeat Paul’s words: “In all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
All because He loved us, He loves us, and He will always love us in and through His love for His Beloved Son (Ephesians 1:3-6).
There is much more to ponder in these verses where Jesus speaks of us as given to Him by His Father. May the Lord enrich you in His Spirit as you meditate on the reality that you are part of the Father’s gift to His Son.

Pastor Ryne