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‘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.’ (Romans 10: 8b-13)
Good Tuesday to you, dear Friend, I pray this finds you warm and safe. If you know someone who needs a check-in call this morning, please call and make sure they are okay. The weather has confirmed that authorities have arrested Punxsutawney Phil on charges of fraud! Please keep warm today, dear ones.
A dear friend of mine, Jerry Morton, saved my life. He and I had planned a wonderful river camping trip only to find the entire week leading to that Friday was a week of heavy rain. The usual tranquil and beautiful Guadalupe River was a torrent of brown swirling water rushing to the sea. He asked if we should venture and I said sure. Long story short, we fell into the river and I panicked, Jerry was calm and helped calm me. In those moments when I thought I was dying I saw my mother crying over my coffin. Jerry saved me from drowning and I was okay. This was during my Jonah period; I was hiding from God working in the belly of the whale; that act of salvation was to reaffirm my call into ministry. A couple of years ago, Nellie and I went with our daughter Caitlin and our grandson, Liam, to Disney Land. Liam was disappointed we were not staying on property and wondered how a Holiday Inn Express near Disney Land could even qualify as a good room. We had trouble in a room and moved to another room, the same problem was in the second room, finally the hotel put us in their biggest suite with a wonderful view of Disney Land. As soon as Liam walked into the room he shouted, "Grandpa, you saved me life!" We laughed hard at that little boy's joy. We knew what he meant.
Jesus saved me life. He pulled me out of the rushing waters of sin and the certainty of an eternal death and into the life that I live which I call an abundant life. This happened in my little church when I was quite little. Our pastor at the time preached a salvation sermon, in Spanish, and I understood perfectly the need I had even at a young age, to invite Jesus into my heart as Lord and Savior. Salvation is the work of God through those who already know about salvation. It was also the urgent part of Paul's ministry to go to all the world and proclaim a message like the one in today's passage. We know the word, and the word is Jesus; we know that if we confess with our lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead, we will be saved. And Paul believed the scripture that said, "No one who believes in Him will be put to shame." We have the same Lord as all the world who believes and accepts; and He is a generous Savior to all who call on Him.
Dear friends, we cannot lose sight of the importance of the message of salvation. When I served alongside the pastors of the Corpus Christi, later Coastal Bend district, I urged them to preach this message. I said that many people called United Methodists believe that salvation is a trademarked, copyrighted message of the Baptists, but that is not so! Salvation is for all who claim it, and for all who will share it and preach it. If you seek true acceptance and love, there is none like the love from a forgiving God to a sinner.
PRAYER: Awesome God, be merciful to me, a sinner. I confess I have sinned against You and many; I repent of that sin, and confess Jesus to be my Savior. Please lift me out of the raging waters of sin and into Your loving arms into the life of fullness and abundance. May I share this message with others dear Father; this I pray in Christ Jesus my Lord, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Share a message of salvation with someone today on what others are calling Fat Tuesday!
Eradio Valverde
