“Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:” (Col 1:13-14; KJV).

Jesus told Nicodemus the Pharisee that he needed to be born again; he needed a spiritual rebirth or salvation as we often refer to it (John 3:3-5). Salvation only comes through Jesus (Acts 3:12). We know that if we believe in Christ and ask him into our life as Lord and Savior; confess him as Lord with our mouths, we will be saved (Rom 10:9-10).

However, going back to our text above, we need to get into the bible and see just what happened when we were saved. We need to be discipled in a bible believing church and grow in all God has for us. Our text gives us a small glimpse of what God has for us as Christians. It says we have been taken out from under the devil’s power and control and placed in Gods kingdom of light. Satan may still try to tempt and trip us but as we keep our eyes on Jesus, on the word of God, we can walk in the victory we have in Christ.

In our verse above we are also told that we have redemption. The bible says we have been redeemed from the curse of the law (Gal 3:13). Redeemed means to be bought at a price; the price was Jesus’ death on that cross. The curses of the law are listed in Deuteronomy 28 and can be summarized as poverty, sickness and spiritual death. In Galatians 3:13 we are told that we are redeemed to receive the blessings of God.

Our original text above also tells us that we have been forgiven. We are forgiven freely by God’s grace from sins past present and future. In fact, our sins have been cast as far from us as the east in from the west (Ps 103:12). Satan may try to remind us of bad things we have done but we need to remind him of God’s love and forgiveness for us.

There is so much we have in salvation; we have just mentioned a few points here. Dig into your bible and discover God’s love and blessings for you. His promises are all yes and amen (2 Cor 1:20).

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“But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day” (Prov. 4:18; KJV).    

If the path ahead of you doesn’t seem very bright at the moment, be encouraged by this verse which says it WILL get brighter and brighter. In addition, in Proverbs 13:9 we are told that the light within the righteous brightens ours faces. So, not only will your path get brighter but so will you.

We also see this in the New Testament in Philippians 2:15. We are told that we shine as bright lights in this wicked world. Jesus is the light and we have him in us, he is our light (John 17:23; John 8:12). Jesus taught that we are not to hide our light but let it shine, just like you would not switch a flash light on and then hide it in a box (Matt 5:15)!

We have opportunities to let our light shine wherever we find ourselves, whether it be at work, in the neighborhood or in the marketplace. So, let your light shine today (Matt 5:16) and make a difference in someone's life (Acts 13:47).   

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“Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation" (Ps 91:14-16; KJV).

The whole of Psalm 91 is wonderful but I love these last 3 verses. God will deliver us, set us on high, answer us, be with us in trouble, give us long life, save us and never forsake us.

However, I believe we have a part to play. What is our job? We need to show God how much we love him and make him the first priority in our lives, ahead of everything and everyone else. Our God is a jealous God (Ex 20:5; 2 Cor 11:2). We need to get to know him, his character, nature and power and understand how much he loves us. We should learn to truly appreciate all his blessings.

How do we do that? If God is our first priority, then that priority needs to have corresponding actions. Marriage without relationship is dead as is faith without action and confession (Mark 11:22-23). Making God number one must reflect in quality time spent with him; time in prayer and the word as well as just fellowship with him. Try it, it’s wonderful.

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Jesus loves you, those 3 little words often glibly roll off people’s tongues without thinking about it. However, the love of God bears thinking about. In 1 John chapter 4 (KJV) we can learn a lot about God’s love. In verse 10 we read, " Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins"; now that is love. Propitiation simply means that Christ’s sacrifice won God’s mercy for us.

In verse 16 the apostle John wrote: “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him”. We can know, experience and believe God’s love for us. It also says if we continue in love, God dwells in us and we in God. That’s a great place to live.

If we truly love God, we will love one another (1 John 4:20). As we dwell in God and he in us, we have his perfect love in us (1 John 4 :16-17) and that perfect love drives out all fear from within us (1 John 4:18)

We really need a revelation of God’s great love for us - it doesn’t just come from a quick read through of this chapter but by meditating on it and confessing it until, we know that we know that we know, God loves us. Once we have that revelation, we will be able to share it with others (1 John 4:7).

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In discovering how we grow in our Christian walk and become more like Jesus, it is often useful to seek the advice of the faith giants in the bible. In 2 Timothy 2:22-25 Paul instructs Timothy as follows: “flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes. And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves” (2 Tim 2:22-25; KJV).

Notice Paul does not say to just watch out for sin but to flee (run from, shun it) from it. We are also to pursue or press in actively, aggressively, to righteousness, faith, love, and peace. This requires effort on our part. We need to walk in that right standing with God and build up our faith by speaking the word (Rom 10:17).

God calls us to seek his peace, not the so-called peace that the world offers (John 14:27) and we are to live our lives by God’s unconditional love. If this was not all enough, we are also called to purity.

God hates strife, so don’t argue; it’s as simple as that. Paul says we are to teach each other and call each other on but look at how we are to do it, with gentleness, patience and a real sense of humility; certainly not lording it over others. Wow, lots of meat there but my heart cry is Lord change me; I need to be all you want me to be. How about you?

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