31 Days: Day 6- Thanking God He Is My Savior
But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. (Psalm 13:5 ESV)
The older I become, the more aware I am of my need of a Savior. My youthful bravado has faded as I clearly see my faults and weaknesses. I NEED saving. Every day. So today, I want to stop, concentrate, and thank the Lord that He is my Savior!
From that fateful first bite of the fruit in the Garden, mankind has needed a Savior, and it was in Eden that God first spoke of His plan to provide that. God is the same in the Old Testament as the New Testament. He never changes. He has always been our only salvation.
Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation. Our God is a God of salvation, and to GOD, the Lord, belong deliverances from death. (Psalm 68:19-20 ESV)
In the book of Exodus God saves His people at the Red Sea in a miraculous, nobody-but-God-could-do-that sort of way. After walking through the Sea, the people sang:
"The LORD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; This is my God, and I will praise Him; My father's God, and I will extol Him. (Exodus 15:2 NASB)
WHO is God? A God who saves! According to Psalm 20 this deserves shouts of joy. Confession here: I don’t remember recently shouting for joy over my salvation. Yet, that is what our Savior deserves.
May we shout for joy over your salvation, and in the name of our God set up our banners! May the LORD fulfill all your petitions! Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with the saving might of his right hand. (Psalm 20:5-6 ESV)
God’s has always been our Savior, but that has never diluted his holiness. Our sin will always be a barrier between a full relationship with our Lord. So, He bridged the gap, took on flesh, atoned for our sins, conquered death, and now, consequently, offers us full forgiveness. Our part is confession and belief. What an amazing Savior who takes all the cost and then offers us a free gift.
because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. (Romans 10:9-10 ESV)
Our Savior does not require us to earn this gift of salvation. We don’t have to pray hard enough, beg long enough, of prove ourselves worthy. If we did, God would be a merchant, selling a relationship with Himself. Instead, He is a SAVIOR, who desires relationship with us, and offers this relationship to all who would bend their knee him.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV)
This salvation brings amazing gifts to express thanks over. Because He is our Savior, He delivers us from death.
He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken. It will be said on that day, "Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation." (Isaiah 25:8-9 ESV)
His salvation gives us strength and a refuge.
The LORD is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed. (Psalm 28:8 ESV)
His salvation is a source of our hope.
Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. (Psalm 42:11 ESV)
The salvation He offers is not for some far off time, after we die. It is a daily reality that holds us and carries us.
Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation. (Psalm 68:19 ESV)
We can wear His salvation as a protective helmet to cover our minds and protect hope in HIm.
But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. (1 Thessalonians 5:8 ESV)
The Lord’s salvation is a deep well, that never runs out. When we feel lost and undone we simply need to draw near and take a drink of His salvation. His saving grace is available and new every day.
With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. (Isaiah 12:3 ESV)
The Lord’s salvation is a manifest action of His love and desire for relationship. Just look at WHO He is and WHAT He does in the following passage. He is Savior who is good, loving, saving, merciful, and He saves, washes, renews, and pours His Spirit on us. How could we ever stop praising Him?
But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior (Titus 3:4-6 ESV)
So much to thank Him for! What a Savior!
Prayer
My amazing Lord- thank You seems hardly enough to say. How can I begin to express thanks for the indescribable gift of salvation?
You are the God of Salvation! You hold me up daily! Without You, I would be lost. Thank You for the ways Your salvation carries me every day. Forgive me for not shouting to the world the glories of your saving grace. Please empower me to tell others of Your saving power.
Thank You Lord for saving me. I confess You as the one and only Lord. I believe in the power of Your resurrection. Thank you for doing all the work of reconciliation through the cross. Thank You again and again for the marvelous gift of salvation.
Oh Lord, I am so grateful that I no longer fear death. But I am also grateful that I don't have to wait until I die to experience the benefits of salvation- Your wiping my tears, releasing me from guilt and shame. taking my reproach. Your bearing my burdens, providing a refuge, and giving me strength.
Thank You for the hope Your salvation provides and the protection that it gives my mind. May I never forget to drink deeply from its wells and may I always appreciate the life it brings.
I am acutely aware of the inadequacies of these words to thank You for this gift, but I will express it anyway. Thank You my good, merciful, renewing Lord. Help me now to live in the joy of my salvation!
Amen
Salvation
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jude 1:24-25 ESV)
My friend, I encourage you to walk in the incredible gift of salvation today, with joy exuding from your heart. If you have never experienced this salvation it is available. You don't have to get yourself together, fix past mistakes, or take care of anything first. You only need to "confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:9). It will be the best decision you EVER make!
Want to get even more excited about salvation? Here are some more verses to look up: (Psalm 3:8) (Psalm 67:2) (Psalm 74:12) (Psalm 118:14) (Psalm 98:2) (Psalm 149:4) (Jonah 2:9) (2 Corinthians 5:20-21) (Ephesians 6:17) (1 Timothy 4:10) (2 Timothy 1:10) (Titus 2:13) (Hebrews 2:14-15 ESV) (2 Peter 1:11) (1 John 4:14)