March 9- Jeremiah 30:11

THE VERSE

For I am with you to save you, declares the LORD.
~Jeremiah 30:11

THE THOUGHT

God is with us to save us. His promises presence in our lives results in salvation in two different ways: temporal salvation, and eternal salvation. Temporal salvation means being saved and delivered and protected and sustained during the trials of life. Because God is with us, we can remember the promise of Hebrews 13:5-6-- "He has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' So we can confidently say, 'The Lord is my helper, I will not fear; what can man do to me?'" We can find refuge in the comforting and strengthening power of God's presence, because He has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you." While God doesn't necessarily promise to always protect us from trials, He does promise to save us through them and work all things for our good.

The truth that God is with us also assures us of eternal salvation. The presence of the Holy Spirit in our hearts is what Paul calls "the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of His glory." Because God is with us, we can have assurance of salvation, and confidence that "He who began a good work in [us] will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." If for one moment we were left to ourselves and to the strength of our own hearts and the purity of our own righteousness, we would fall away in an instant. Charles Spurgeon writes, "If there is one stitch in the celestial garment of our righteousness that we must insert ourselves, we are lost; but this is our confidence-- what the Lord begins, He completes... Our confidence must not be in what we have done, nor in what we have resolved to do, but entirely in what the Lord will do." We can know that we will persevere to the end, because though we are weak and at times faithless, yet God is mighty to save and eternally faithful. Romans 8 assures us that those whom He predestines, He always calls, and those whom He calls He always justifies, and those whom He justifies He always glorifies. Because of these promises, and the promise of God's presence with His people, we know that He will save us completely. God is with us to save us.

THE PRAYER

Dear God, Thank you for Your presence in my life. Thank you for the promise that You will never leave me nor forsake me. Give me faith to believe Your promises, and to hold tightly to You, the One who is ever holding tightly to me.

EXTENDED READING

Isaiah 43:1-5
Romans 8:28-30
Ephesians 1:11-14
Philippians 1:3-7
Hebrews 13:5-6

THE QUOTE

"The Great Commission is not an option to be considered; it is a command to be obeyed." ~Hudson Taylor