Me and my siblings all suffered from the same childhood issue…we all had a “drug” problem. Our parents “drug” us to church three times a week. Every Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night we were in church services without fail. The only time we weren’t “drug” to church was when it had rained incessantly and flooded the road below our house which made it impossible to reach our destination. I have to admit there were times I didn’t want to go. We lived so far out in the sticks that an hour school bus ride at the end of the day pretty much did me in. Sometimes the last thing I wanted to do was to occupy the back seat of my parents Plymouth station wagon and head back into town. I’m sure dad was weary after a long day of work as well. He too had a long drive home at the end of the day. And, yet, without fail, we all piled in the car and headed back to town every Wednesday evening. There were times on Sunday when an “all-important” football game was on television.  I knew better than to beg dad to let us miss church “just this once” to watch the end of the game. The television was switched off and we piled back in the station wagon each Sunday evening to head back to Clarksburg. I don’t’ share that story with you so you’ll feel sorry for me and my siblings and our “drug” problem. I share that story with you because of the importance of regularly meeting with the saints. There are those who have little problem attending Sunday morning, but see little need for meeting again that evening or mid-week. I know it’s getting dark earlier. I know that after you come home from a long day of work the last thing on your mind is dragging your family back into town, but, honestly I wouldn’t trade my childhood for anything. The reason I wouldn’t trade my childhood for anything is because all those times my parents dragged me to church I learned just a little more of who my God is. It helped me to appreciate the importance of meeting regularly with the saints and it embedded the love of God deep within my heart. There’s no guarantee that your children will be faithful to the Lord if you drag them to services three times a week, but I can assure you they’ll have a much better chance of fidelity to God than if you don’t!
 
Have a blessed day and remember the One who gave it to you!                                                                                              
​Kevin

     Justification. We’ve read it in scripture. We’ve talked about in bible studies. We’ve invented clichés to describe it. But, do we truly know what it means? “Just as if I’d never sinned” is one of the most poignant clichés to describe it, but is that all there is to it? If all our attention is focused on what we’ve already done and that Jesus’ blood only covers those sins, there’s always that question in the back of my mind of whether or not He’ll cover sins I’ve never even thought of yet. In Romans 5: 1 the word ‘justification’ is mentioned. The same Greek root word for justification is ‘righteousness’. If you were to ask how many Christians feel righteous there would be few that would answer “yes”, and yet…we ARE righteous IN Christ Jesus. Something magnificent happened at the cross of Calvary. Jesus Christ removed ALL our sins. He removed them as far as the east is from the west and cast them into the uttermost parts of the sea. They’re gone…ALL of them, even the ones we’ve not yet committed. Not only did he remove our sins on the cross, but he imparted his own righteousness onto US. We’re not righteous because we’re good…we’re righteous because Jesus gave us His righteousness. Look at those first two verses: “Since we have been justified = [made righteous BY FAITH] we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through HIM we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”  While it’s true that we cannot completely understand the bigness of our salvation (because it’s so magnificent) we can certainly understand the bigness of our sins. But you and I need to understand and appreciate that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross dealt with our sin problem and continues to do so every day we live. Have you surrendered yourself to the only remedy for sin that exists? Have you given your life to Christ? Without Him you won’t have peace. Without Him you won’t have access to obtain holiness. Without Him you cannot stand. Without Him there will be no rejoicing.
 
Have a blessed day and remember the One who gave it to you!                                                                                              
​Kevin