We Were His Idea

James 1:18

18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.(KJV)

John 1:12-13

12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.(KJV)

Jer 31:33

33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.(KJV)

Eph 2:8

8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:(KJV)

I Jn 4:19

19 We love him, because he first loved us.(KJV)

What are these verses saying? James explains in chpt.1;18 that it was God’s own idea and doing and His own will that brought about our being born again. John explains that, those who received Jesus were born again by God’s will. When you get saved, God puts His laws within your heart and you can love Him and obey Him.

It is really quite simple. When you accept Jesus, you receive God and His character and will-by means of the Holy Spirit, because Jesus opened the way by paying for our sins, and so God’s laws and mind and will are in your heart and you become a son of God-you develop from a baby to a full grown son. That all takes time-babyhood to full grown son, but God wanted you to be in His family, wanted you to be an heir with Jesus Christ -being fit, qualified to receive all things from our triune God. Our salvation is literally a gift, given in response to our desire to be His and do His will. We don’t earn it by any stretch of the imagination. We never deserved it. Even as we grow in Christ, we are unable to deserve it. But it is given us just by God’s generosity, and it is He who works into us God’s character, changing us from "glory to glory", "faith to faith". He is the one who grows us and is the sap that feeds the vine and brings about the fruit. Have you ever seen a branch "try to grow"? Or fruit trying to develop itself? Course not. It happens naturally. When you are grafted into the vine, the sap flows from the vine to the branch. As a result the branch develops and then fruit develops after that. It is a process. And guess what folks, that process goes on all your life. Some times you get pruned. Why? So bigger, better and more amounts of fruit can be borne.

So when you get discouraged, remember, God chose you and is developing you into the Christian He wants you to be. Just cooperate and do your part, then God’s plans for your remaking won’t be hindered. Remember too-

Phil 1:6

6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:(KJV)

So be confident that He will complete what He has started.  He has said so.  God bless you and you have a great weekend.