What do we deserve?

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ." Ephesians 1:3

I wanted to share something from Milton Vincent's book, "A Gospel Primer."
"A Gospel Primer" is a book that focuses 100% on the Gospel reminding us how we need to preach the Gospel to ourselves every day to be centered on what Christ has done for us that we may experience the life-transforming power that comes from the work of the Gospel in our own hearts as Christians.

We NEED to meditate on the Gospel and preach it to ourselves. We never outgrow our need for it! We cannot be strong in our own strength. The only strength that will be there when we need it is the strength that comes from the Gospel.

What I wanted to share here reminds us of what we actually deserve from God, and in remembering this we can only be grateful for what we do have even if it doesn't seem to be fair to us at the time. We are told to give thanks in all circumstances(1 Thess. 5:18), and how can we not when we are focusing on the Gospel and being reminded of what we actually deserve and would be receiving had it not been for God's love for us in sending Christ Jesus to die on the cross for us to bear upon Himself the wrath that we deserve.
Thank you Lord Jesus!

"For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with Him." 1 Thess. 5:9,10
"and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come." 1 Thess. 1:10

I pray that this encourages us all in the Lord as we face the difficulties and the blessings of our day.


"A Gospel Primer" by Milton Vincent
-Thankfulness Enriched by Relief

The more absorbed I am in the Gospel, the more grateful I become in the midst of my circumstances, whatever they may be.

Viewing life's blessings as water in a drinking cup, I know that I could discontentedly focus on the half of the cup that seems empty, or I could gratefully focus on the half that is full. Certainly, the latter approach is the better of the two, yet the Gospel cultivates within me a richer gratitude than this.

The Gospel reminds me first that what I actually deserve from God is a full cup churning with the torments of His wrath. This is the cup that would be mine to drink if I were given what I deserve each day. With this understanding in mind, I see that to be handed a completely empty cup from God would be cause enough for infinite gratitude. If there were merely the tiniest drop of blessing contained in that otherwise cup, I should be blown away by the unbelievable kindness of God toward me. That God, in fact, has given me a cup that is full of "every spiritual blessing in Christ" and this without the slightest admixture of wrath, leaves me truly dumbfounded with inexpressible joy. As for my specific earthly circumstances of plenty of want, I can see them always as infinite improvements on the hell I deserve.

When I look at any circumstance that God apportions me, I am first grateful for the wrath I am not receiving in that moment (The empty part of the cup never looked so good!). Second, I am grateful for the blessings that are given me instead of His wrath. (Life's blessings, however small always appear exceedingly precious when viewed against the backdrop of the wrath I deserve.) This two-layered gratitude disposes my heart to give thanks in all things and it also lends a certain intensity to my giving of thanks. Such a Gospel-generated gratitude glorifies God, contributes to my peace of mind, and keeps my foot from the path of foolishness and ruin.