Month: September 2018

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The Sovereign Love of God

On By Raina NightingaleIn Motivation: The Vision of God6 Comments

I love the thought that God is completely sovereign over all the details of my life – and the world. It is, to me, a great expression of His love and a necessary ground of my great confidence in Him. I need not fear any failure of mine, any sin, any weakness: God in love is sovereign, and He will not permit the purposes of His love to fail because of my sinfulness. When I proclaim the Gospel, I need not fear either my inadequacy or my sin, because God is in control, and He loves me and everyone else. I need not fear any power of man: if I am tortured, God’s love will have chosen – out of perfect, stunning, all-encompassing love that staggers all imagination, love tenderer than a mother’s love for her newborn child and I mean that! – every throb of pain, every firing of the nerves, every detail, great or small, whether of intensity or quality or anything else, so that I will receive it as by His tender lovingkindness. When I look around at the world, I know that the brightness and colors of the clouds at sunset, that every hair on every blade of grass, is what and where it is because of God’s express will, Continue reading “The Sovereign Love of God” →

The Universal Church: Christ’s People Never Abandoned

On By Raina NightingaleIn ApplicationLeave a comment

The Book of Philippians is a good illustration of what the Church is; of what Christian unity and fellowship is. The Apostle Paul writes that it is right for him to feel great affection and love for the Philippian believers, since he has them all in his heart, for in his imprisonment and all his other circumstances, they are with him servants of Christ Jesus and partakers of the grace of God. He writes about being of one mind with the bond of love in the unity of the Spirit. He writes of living for their progress in joy in the Gospel, and of having joy in hearing of their conduct in Christ, whether he comes to see them or only hears of them in his absence. Again, he writes that, even if he is poured out like a drink offering on the service of their faith, he is rejoices with all of them, and they too should share his joy.

There is One Church: the Universal (that’s what the word ‘Catholic’ means) Church. The Church is all believers, all who are in Jesus Christ. As it says, over and over again, our unity is Jesus Christ. Our bond of love is the Spirit. We are all children of one Father, and therefore brothers and sisters. We are all members of the body of Christ, and therefore joined to one another. We are members of one another, because we all partake of the one loaf that is Christ. Continue reading “The Universal Church: Christ’s People Never Abandoned” →

The Reward of Christ and the Glory in His Saints

On By Raina NightingaleIn Motivation: The Vision of GodLeave a comment

“He is coming, and His reward is with Him and His recompense accompanies Him.”

Whenever I read or remember these words I see two pictures in my mind, that mean the same thing: I see Jesus, coming, with all His holy ones, redeemed by His blood, around Him, the reward of His suffering, the recompense of His blood. I see Jesus, coming, to give Himself in fullness of glory to all His own. For, we read also, “We do not yet know what we shall be, but we know that we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is,” and, “Righteous Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me, where I am, so that they may see My glory, the glory which You have given Me because You loved Me before the world was.” In Revelations, we read that they sing, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain… for You purchased for God a people with Your blood, out of every nation, language, and tribe, and they shall be a kingdom and priests to our God.”

I believe there is only One who will be praised, honored, and rewarded for His deeds: Jesus Christ. Continue reading “The Reward of Christ and the Glory in His Saints” →