What are you thankful for regarding the topic of salvation? We hope you have been filling out the 21 days of thanksgiving chart. If you have an entry regarding the topic of salvation, please share it with us by adding a comment to this post.
89 Comments
Leave a comment
Topics
-
Nov 11, 2009
Salvation: What are you thankful for?
What are you thankful for regarding the topic of salvation? We hope you have been... -
Nov 10, 2009
People: What are you Thankful for?
What are you thankful for regarding the topic of people? We hope you have been... -
Nov 09, 2009
Church: What are you Thankful for?
What are you thankful for regarding the topic of church? We hope you have been... -
Nov 07, 2009
Nature: What are you Thankful for?
What are you thankful for regarding the topic of nature? We hope you have been... -
Nov 06, 2009
Material/Physical Blessings: What are you Thankful for?
What are you thankful for regarding the topic of material/physical blessings? We hope you have... -
Other: What are you thankful for?
What are you thankful for regarding the topics other than the ones listed?? We hope...
i’m thankful for the fact that my life is set no matter what happens on this earth. i never need to wonder about my life, in terms of whether i did enough
I’m thankful that God accepts me as I am, and I’m thankful for His grace, mercy, and unconditional love.
I’m thankful that salvation is by grace, not by works. I don’t have to engage in the never-ending rat race of this world to try to earn God’s approval.
I’m thankful for God’s initiative in coming to me when I didn’t have the strength or wisdom to go to him.
I’m thankful for the freedom I’ve received from God thru the gospel. I am no longer bound by my sinful nature and desires, but I’m given the freedom to choose to love God and others rather than just looking after myself and my immediate family, to trust in God’s word and promises rather than just allowing fears to grip me, and to obey His commands rather than just following the patterns of this world.
I’m thankful that salvation is for everyone, and that it’s good news of God’s redemptive love that I can share with other people.
I’m thankful for heaven, that one day there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, that I will be able to see God face to face, and that everything will make sense. I’m thankful that God can use everything in my life for good and that He wants to use me even though I have made myself useless and unworthy.
I am thankful for Jesus–my perfect older brother, behind whom I can hide, who holds my hand through the valleys of life and ministry, who has defeated death and sin and the devil, and whose infinite credit will cover my deficit, whose obedience and victory he shares with me, whose righteousness is given to me because I have none. Jesus and his righteousness gives me rest and peace, knowing that all that I could ever want is mine already in him.
I am thankful that God has forgiven my yesterdays through the cross and gives me hope/strength each day to start over with Him. Thank you Jesus!
I am thankful for my Heavenly Father for demonstrating his love to me – while I was still a sinner. Before I could utter a decent/kind word, do a good deed, or lay any claim to my own goodness and salvation, he sent His Son Jesus to die for my sins. I thank Him that I do not need to earn my salvation and in fact, I cannot earn it. God already was ready to forgive me and restore me. I’m thankful I don’t have to DO something to receive salvation but receive it.
I’m thankful that Christian life is all about grace, and not about earning my way. I’m thankful that God is not like the older brother in the prodigal son story (which is how I often can be) but like the compassionate Father.
I’m thankful that I have received salvation, not because I deserve it or earned it in some way – instead, while I was still a sinner, Christ died for me. My sentiments are summed up well by 5:8 – “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” That means I do not have to ever worry about earning salvation or making sure that I am “good enough” to be saved – the whole point was that I am not good enough, and so God took the initiative to do what it took to save me.
One thing that struck me afresh from DT on Rom 16 this past thurs is how my salvation was made possible through the sacrifices and zealous devotion of countless brothers and sisters throughout Christian history, including those Apostle Paul mentioned specifically in his letter to the Christians in Rome. Because they ‘worked very hard’ and even risked their lives to save lost souls like me generations later, I can write this note of thanks as a redeemed sinner…a fellow follower of Christ. I am so thankful for all those, who’ve gone before me to pass down the precious gospel to me, so I may hear, believe and be saved. I gladly obligate myself to pass on what i’ve received to others not only in my generation, but generations to come.
I am thankful that salvation is not earned but it is a free gift of God. That based on the assurance and the infusion of God’s love, all I have to do is turn away from my old ways of living and instead receive His love and live to serve Him.
I’m thankful that no matter what happens on this earth that ultimately my eternity is taken care of. This gives me a fundamental sense of security that goes beyond how I’m feeling in a given day.
I am thankful that the salvation message somehow its way to reach me, a boy born in Korea far away from the land of Israel. In preparing for Scavenger Hunt at the USF campus, I learned about Matteo Ricci, one of the first Jesuit missionaries to China in the 1500’s. While staying in Beijing, Ricci met an emissary from Korea and taught him basic tenets of Christianity. Ricci also gave him some theological books which he brought back to Korea, perhaps the earliest exposure to Christianity among Koreans. It wasn’t till 1830’s, protestant missionaries came to Korea and many of them died trying to share the good news of the gospel. I grew up hearing the stories of missionaries, pastors and lay christians who were martyred as they refused to denounce their faith. I am a direct receipt of many countless sacrifices that allowed this message of eternal hope to me.
I’m thankful for Jesus Christ who stands with me before God the Judge. Not only with me, but He covers me with his blood so that even though I am guilty of sin, by having a relationship with Him, I’ve been covered by Jesus and God calls me righteous. This is absolutely good news for all!
I am thankful that God first loved us, and that He holds no grudge against us for having been rebellious to Him.
i’m thankful that God loves and accepts me as i am. the older i get, the more i realize how deeply broken and needy i am; i am in need of God’s grace and mercy every day. but i already have it! i have EVERY spiritual blessing in Christ already, and for that, i am so grateful.
I’m thankful that I can receive so much from God, people and am not expected to have to pay it back. What an unbearable burden I am exempted from paying back, and the only right response is gratitude and giving my life in honor of all the ways God has blessed me. There is NO other ideology like this in the world, and I’m so thankful that I have found the truth of it!
I am thankful that i am well qualified to receive his salvation, b/c its nothing of my doing/being, but all of his grace and mercy! How thankful i am to be the subject of his mercy!
I’m thankful for the cross that paid the debt of of my sins and that I now owe an outstanding debt to love God and others.
I am thankful that God made my life so rich. Without the salvation, my life would be just wasted away and poor. Because of the salvation, my life is filled with people, purpose, and hope.
I’m thankful that the gospel changes lives. I was at home in Fresno today for my friend Lee’s wake. I ran into an old friend I haven’t seen in a few years. He used to be one of the most vulgar and profane guys I knew, a womanizer and a drug and alcohol addict, but when I saw him, he seemed different…more mature and at peace. After talking with him, I learned that he had hit rock bottom w/his drug addiction and decided to go to a Christian recovery program, where he gave his life to the Lord…he’s holding down a good job now, drug free, and recently got engaged! I’m just so thankful for how God is in the business of saving and redeeming broken lives!
I am thankful that absolutely nothing can ever rob me of the joy of my salvation. Even in the midst of difficulties, challenges, and set backs, I can still experience peace, joy and thanksgiving because I am eternally secure in Jesus.
I want to thank God for the chance to pray for my health insurance agent a few weeks ago. I found out from her during a phone conversation that she was diagnosed with a spinal tumor. When I called her regarding some businner matters, she sounded unlike her normal self. So I proceeded to ask her what was wrong. She told me that she was diagnosed with a spinal tumor, and there is a chance that it could be malignant because it was growing rapidly. She was scheduled to get surgery in a few days. Though unsure of her religious background, I asked her if I could pray for her. she gladly accepted and said, “I need all the prayers I can get!” In my heart, I prayed that she would not just ask any kind of deity for help, but be able to find God through this ordeal. Recently I got an email from her saying that she actually did not undergo the surgery because the surgeon walked in on the morning of surgery and told her that the tumor had shrunk! So she is currently undergoing some kind of steroid treatment. But what touched me the most was when she said, “But I can’t thank you enough for the kind and spiritual words and prayer you gave me. I was deeply touched and felt the strength from your words. I especially appreciate you taking the time and finding the words to give me hope and strength.” I am thankful for my salvation because I know a God who can offer real hope to people in their times of despair. Instead of just some kind words, we actually have a God who hears our prayers and has overcome death. I hope that she would be able to find the true God through this time.
I thank God for my salvation, which enables me to experience heaven on earth. Through Thanksgiving Retreat, I get a taste of what heaven must be like, in eternal fellowship with God and His people.
I am thankful that I have someone to take my sins to. I don’t know how people can go on with life, with a load of sin, guilt, and burdens that only add up as days go by.
I’m thankful for God’s deep, high, long and wide love. I’m thankful He did not spare his own Son so my once severed relationship with Him could be restored.
I thank God for his marvelous deed to save me despite rejecting God’s words throughout my youth. I thank God that now I have the opportunity to declare God’s power/might to forgive my sins and redeem my life to the next generation.
Psalm 71:17-18
17 Since my youth, O God, you have taught me,
and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.
18 Even when I am old and gray,
do not forsake me, O God,
till I declare your power to the next generation,
your might to all who are to come.
I’m thankful for God’s grace in my life, and that I’m given “new beginnings” each day through the cross of Jesus. I’m thankful that in Christ, all things are made new – including me.
i’m thankful to God for his enduring mercy upon my life. First by saving me from a life that would ultimately be about myself. he brought me out of darkness into his wonderful light where I can be free to be myself and to join in fellowship with precious brothers and sisters in sharing in God’s love. My future is secure in God thus I have the greatest gift. What wonderful news that I continually become new in Him!
I am thankful for the great lengths God was willing to go to in order to give me this gift of salvation. He was willing to send His Son to this earth, Jesus was willing to live life on earth and accept the calling to go to the cross, even though it was not easy, and God kept offering me this gift even when I was walking away from Him and not seeking Him.
I’m thankful to God that for some reason he allowed me to be born into a Christian home where I could grow up hearing the Gospel, and eventually find my salvation in him. I’m thankful that in my deepest of lows God brought me out of my sins and into his light. I’m also thankful that a result of God’s grace to me, I have a purpose in life which is sharing His love with the people around me.
Thank God that my salvation is done, accomplished by Christ, and not dependent on my wayward, inconstant feelings!
I am thankful for having found the complete, fulfilling, and fully satisfying answer for my longing in my life! I was restlessly looking for the answers, directions, and happiness in my life and finally I can be settled in the Truth, which tells me that there is absolutely nothing that can endlessly love and accept me but God and that trying to fulfill my longing through some other ways is being deeply offending God. Thank God for His love and grace!
I am thankful to God for rescuing me through his Son, Jesus Christ. I was worldly and wandering in ambitions, but in a one in a million shot when I never intended to seek God, God found me and gave me a new purpose and ambition.
I am thankful that I have been saved out of what would’ve been a tragic and wasted life.
I am thankful that God can redeem my past hurts, mistakes, and regrets to mold my character, draw me closer to him, and to help others.
I’m thankful for the continued reminder of what I have been saved from. After going through Luke 15 and hearing the message of the prodigal son, I am reminded about the life that I was living before and how meaningless and boring it was. Now, as I look at my life, I see how rich it is. Not only that, I have the promise of heaven. I am reminded that it is not because I chose to find God, but it is because he loved me so much that he anguished over how lost I was and waited for me until I came back home to him.
I am so thankful for my salvation because God showed me how much I am loved by him no matter how rotten I am as a person. Because of the cross, Jesus no longer let my sins steal away my life, but I can live a full life in Him, free from the guilt and shame of sins. I am thankful that I am loved as I am and his unconditional love for me.
I’m thankful that because of my salvation, I have a new freedom in Christ. Freedom to choose what is the best and submit myself to God’s ways and not be enslaved by my flesh or desires and be swayed by every wind of teaching.
I am thankful that because of my salvation, I no longer fear death. I know that I will be raised up on the last day and live with Jesus and my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ happily thereafter.
I’m grateful that God has a great future for his children. It may not be success as measured by the world, but God’s promise of a good life on this Christian race is better- more precious and priceless!
I am thankful that salvation is not based on my performance, potential, or ability. I literally experienced God’s mercy and patience each time I failed or each time something unexpected happened. Regardless of what happens, God is faithful so as His promise of salvation.
I am thankful for God’s faithfulness in my life. As I thought about the state I was in when the Gospel first came to me, I can’t help but to be in awe of the depth of God’s love for me. I am thankful that through the cross He has freed me from the chains of sin, shame and guilt. I am thankful for how He redeems my life and uses the things I experienced (good or bad) to lead me towards Him and to show me who He is. Truly I have no reason to boast except to “boast in the Lord”.
I am thankful for God’s perfect and pleasing will. Even though harsh storms may come and life may suddenly feel like an extreme turmoil, knowing God’s perfect will is in play and that He will use every moment and every event to somehow turn things for the good for His plan of love and redemption for His people, I am truly thankful that He is so amazing. And even though we may mess up at times, He is still going to use that in a way that we cannot imagine. What an amazing and beautiful God we serve!
I am thankful that God does not view me the way I view myself, that he calls things that are not as though they were. I always see myself as lame and as a failure and hold my past sins against myself. I am thankful that God is not like this and that instead he always offers grace and does not condemn me for my past wrongs. I am thankful that his gift and his calling are irrevocable and that he is committed to me for life through Jesus Christ.
I’m thankful that God changed the trajectory of my life, saving me from the path of destruction to the path that leads to eternal life.
I am thankful that God freed me from the folly of living a self-centered life and brought me into a rich relationship with Him, giving me a transcendent purpose, deeply fulfilling mission in life, and people to share and live out this vision with.