Daily Bread

‘The word is near you,
on your lips and in your heart’

(that is, the word of faith that we proclaim);

because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. The scripture says, ‘No one who believes in him will be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

"The Word is near us — on your lips and in our hearts."

The literal word on paper — the law on papyrus or velum — was fulfilled in the living Word, Jesus Christ, and when anyone uses their lips to say that Jesus is Lord, and their hearts to believe that he was resurrected, a new deal is sealed, once and for ever.

When we did this — when we became a Christian — we entered a new covenanted relationship with God, and it was not on the basis of anything to do with us, not our holiness, heritage, ethnic identity, or racial privilege, nor any other characteristic by which us humans differentiate!

The deal we made with God can never be undone because God will always hold to God's end of the contract. This is so important for us to remember, because, like it or not, we may not always be able to keep our end of the bargain.

There may come times in our lives when we are unable to cope, when life feels too much or overwhelming, or when situations or circumstances become too much to bear, but hear this, you may not be able to hold onto God, but God is still holding on to you.

Did you ever open your mouth and say, "Jesus Christ is Lord?" Yes.
Did you ever believe in your heart that Jesus was raised from the dead. Yes.

Well, that's enough. Nothing more is required of you to be 'saved' — which means to be held in God's loving arms now and forever. Sometimes we need to simply stop, rest, and 'be'. God has got us. God will never let us go.

Whether we are in the nightmarish pit of despair, God has got us, or whether we are on a mountaintop in the sun, God has got us, and even when we have no strength to hold on, God's strong hand is gripping our wrist and will never let us go.

Holy God
Thank you for saving me.
May the words, "Jesus Christ is Lord,"
be always on my lips,
and belief that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead,
be ever on my heart.
Thank you for holding me in your loving arms,
and may I rest in the security
that you will never let me go.