SWORD OF THE SPIRIT                                                                                               1400

“He Lifted Me”

He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. – Psalm 40:2

The tide was out and revealed the remains of a dune buggy at the bottom of a sand cliff. I foolishly made my way down to explore it and stayed too long. The tide was fast approaching and every attempt I made to scale the sand cliff resulted in my footholds giving way and I would repeatedly slide back to the fast-disappearing bottom. I pridefully refused help from my wife, “I got this,” I said. Then I became tired, weary, and in desperate need of a lifeline. My wife tossed a tow rope over the edge, I grasped it, and using the Jeep, she pulled me back up onto solid footing.

I recall this experience when I read our reference Scripture verse and realize how desperately I needed a Savior to rescue me from the depth of the depravity of my sin nature. I needed someone to love me enough to rescue me when I was unlovable.

Sin Soiled, Unclean, and Unlovable – We are born in the sin of Adam and unrighteous enemies of God. We are steeped in sin from the beginning.

As it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive. The venom of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.” – Romans 3:10-18

The Overwhelming Love of the Father – God loved us while we were yet unlovable, living in sin and rebellion. The depth and breadth of the Father’s love for us overwhelms our mind.

For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us; For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. – Romans 5:7-; John 3:16

For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father…that you may … grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge. – Ephesians 3:14-19

Rescued, Delivered, Cleansed, and Transformed – Jesus touched the unclean lepers. He broke bread with the sinners, and He came to rescue us also.

He has delivered 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; You have set my feet in a broad place. – Colossians 1:13-14; Psalm 31:8

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

And we all… are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. – 2 Corinthians 3:18

Jesus is the only lifeline – There is no other way to salvation. We earn the wages of eternal destruction through willful sin and rebellion against God. Our saving grace is a free gift of God.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 6:23

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit -1 Peter 3:18

Are you at the bottom of a sand cliff or mired in the muck of sin?

Are you helpless, hopeless, and in despair trying to extricate yourself from sin?

There are no self-help programs that can save you.

There are no people in this world that can save you.

There are no religions that can save you.

There are no good works that will tip the balance scale of the weight of sin that can save you.

Now is the Best Time – There is no better time than Now – Why are you waiting to call out to Jesus? What are you waiting for before you reach out to take His hand of salvation that is patiently extended toward you?

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. – 2 Peter 3:9

For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. – 2 Corinthians 6:2

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost; For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. – 1 Timothy 1:15; Romans 10:13; Acts 4:12

May the Holy Spirit reveal to you the depth and breadth of the love of God for you.

May you take His hand and be lifted up, saved by grace, born-again to a new life in Him as a child of God, for now and into eternity.