Elisabeth

We in ourselves cannot be Holy, this is the greatest mystery of all. Because as I stand before a Holy God, I can only do so because Jesus has washed me in His Blood. God sees Jesus in me and therefore I have the Holiness that comes from Christ. If I try to be holy, then I become 'unholy', as of myself I have nothing to bring to God, other than trusting only that I am excepted in Christ. And this I know become His Word teaches me it is so. Thanks be to our Lord Jesus Christ who took a wretch like me, and presents be before the throne of God as His child.

The scariest thing that predestination presents to me is, that God may not have chosen me, and there would hav been now way that I could be saved. That God chose me, and His promises are truth, and I can rely; depend completely on His truth; and that I cannot be lost. It is overwhelming, because I can hardly take it in, that He loves me, and alway did, and always does and always will. I think Paul brings up predestination to encourage the readers to trust in God, and that to remind them that they were a special people. Paul was praising God for this. How can we not praise God for this? The whole passage is one is which Paul is extolling the magnitude of blessings the Lord has bestowed on us, and not only that, that God predestined for them to be His people.

What does it mean to me to be 'in Christ' - incorporated into Christ? What are the implications of this for my life? I have been thinking about this the last few days, and have been thinking hat the questions are not just a matter of knowing Bible verses, but more than that, knowing that Christ is in me, and that I belong to Him. I know that when Christ Jesus saved me that His promise is true. He will never let me go. How do I know this? My spirit tells me it is true, and I am irreversibly His. He lives in me, and despite my fallen state He breathes into me life that is not drummed up, or even a 'feeling' it is a life that is there and deep down. I know that He is mine and I am His. Christ in me is everything, each day my thoughts are about Him even though I am busy. I find myself in thoughts with Him. My conscience is there and I find myself guided by the Holy Spirit. I want to be more of Him and less of me, this is a stuggle at times, as I find that the way I want to be doesnt always come out, but then when I feel that I cant do anything His Spirit in me moves and I know that I am in Christ; safe; protected; redeemed. Sometimes it is like a bubble of irrepressible joy that seems to engulf me and despite circumstances I am at peace. The implications of 'Christ in me' is beyond my comprehension, far as I learn more I sometimes glimpse the vast depths that an eternity could never be enough time for me to find out just how deep my Lord Jesus Christ is. I want to be His servant completely, yet I disobey, and find that I never come close to fully discovering the wonder of being His child. Thank you Lord Jesus for I just simply know that I am in You and I never want to be out!