Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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Jesus is Salvation
Psalm 85
“Show us your unfailing love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation.”  Psalm 85:7
In this Psalm 85, we see God’s people crying out for deliverance from adversity.  They have already experienced the outpouring of God’s wrath and the depth of his mercy in forgiveness. Psalmist is listing all the wonderful things God has done for Israel.  “you restored the fortunes of Jacob. You forgave the iniquity of your people and covered all their sins.” Psalm 85:1-2. This Psalm reminds us of God’s unfailing love that leads to salvation.  
God’s unfailing love:
We see God’s unfailing love in creation, fall of men, promise of a Messiah, and the cross. Time and time again, His unfailing love reaches us. God never abandoned David or his Son Jesus, and he will never desert us.  “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).  Whatever our circumstances, he will give us the strength to carry on, because he is the Almighty God who will never stop loving us: “The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness’” (Jeremiah 31:3).  This love should have an everlasting effect on our lives and our character.  Only this love can satisfy our longing to our Creator.  We have experienced this love in our lives.  But, when troubles come our way, do we remember God’s love that carried us in the past? 
Jesus is Salvation:
Righteousness and justice became flesh in Jesus and he became sin for us on the cross. We see God the father reaching out to us through His Son on the cross and through the Holy Spirit who is in us convicting of our sins and to turn to the ways of our Lord. Salvation is near to those who fear him. (Psalm 85:9). God offers second chances to those who are willing to accept it.  As David repented and found his way back to God, the same path is there for us also.  God looks for a truly “broken and contrite heart” that seeks a restored relationship (Psalm 51:1-2, 17).  While we certainly need to confess our sins daily and strive more and more to live a life modeled after that of our Savior, the reality is that our sins have already been forgiven through the blood of Jesus Christ.  Only Son of Man could provide us Salvation. The choice before us is to either accept Christ as our salvation or to reject God’s plan. What will you choose?      
Prayer:  Heavenly Father, thank you for your unfailing love you show to us through history and your son, Jesus Christ.  Help us to remember your ways and your son’s ultimate sacrifice on the cross.  Help us not to wander from your ways and harden our hearts.  Amen.
Thought for the day: Unfailing love of the creator is plainly visible on the Cross. We must accept his plans for our.

Santhosh George, St. Johns Mar Thoma Church, NY

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