Come, let us reason together…

If we have received the grace of God in our hearts, its practical effect has been to make us God’s servants. We may be unfaithful servants. We certainly are unprofitable ones. Yet, we are His servants, wearing his coverings, feeding at his table, and obeying his commands. We were once the servants of sin, but He who made us free from sins bondage has now taken us into His family and taught us obedience to his will. We do not serve our Master perfectly, but we would if we could.

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As we hear God’s voice saying to us, “you are my servant,” we can answer with David, “I am Your servant; You have loosed my bonds.” The Lord calls us not only his servants but his chosen ones-“I have chosen you.” We have not chosen him first, but he has chosen us.

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If we are God’s servants, we were not always so. This change must be accredited to sovereign grace alone. His Sovereignty singled us out, and the voice of unchanging grace declared, “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” Long before time began or space created, God had written upon his heart the names of his elect people. He also predestinated us to be changed into the image of His Son. He ordained us heirs of all the fulness of His love, grace, and His glory. His comfort is here! Has the Lord loved us so long only to cast us away?

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He knew how stiff-necked we would be. He understood that our hearts were evil, and yet He made this sovereign choice. Our Savior is not some fickle lover. He does not feel enchanted for a while with some glints of beauty from his church’s eye and then later cast her off because of her unfaithfulness. No, he married her in eternity old, for it is written of Him, “He hates divorce”(Malachi 2:16). The eternal choice is a bond upon our gratitude and upon His faithfulness which neither can disown.

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Prayer:

Almighty God and Father, we praise Your Holy Name and exalt You for who You are. We humbly thank You for everything, Father. We thank Your sovereign choice to bring us into Your Holy family and calling us children of the Most High God. You are the Alpha and the Omega. We thank You for placing us securely in the center of those two, Alpha- (God’s children)- Omega, never to cast us away. As You see the end from the beginning, You see us as we are now, as we will be. We can and do trust You by Your own word, Father. You are our Father now and forever. Through Christ Jesus, our precious Savior, Amen.

~G.W.

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I hope people all over the world appreciate the courage and faith of believers singing these hymns in modern India, where converts to Christ can suffer severe persecution even unto a martyr’s death.

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