salvation Archives - Atonement Church

Highway to Holiness

Posted on February 26, 2025 by Linda Cobourn

REFLECTIONS ON THE SUNDAY SERMON

“The Highway of Holiness”

February 23, 2005

Pastor Amy

And a highway will be there;
it will be called the Way of Holiness;
it will be for those who walk on that Way.

Isaiah 35:8

My son-in-law, Jared, has four pet peeves: bridges, wet socks, country music, and major highways. My oldest son, Dennis, has made up a country song about walking over a bridge in wet socks that he sings for Jared. Yes, we are that type of family. But Jared is an excellent husband to my daughter and we love him despite his quirks.

Highways are a particular sticking point. Jared prefers to find back roads to any destination—avoiding bridges, of course—and calls these departures from the beaten path the “winky, winky way.”

Last Sunday, Pastor Amy told us about the roads in Bible times when the majority of the population walked or rode along paths that were packed dirt with mud puddles and frequent cave-ins. Talk about winky, winky ways! Strewn with rocks, prone to wash-outs, narrow and often winding up mountains, roads were important for travel and trade. Those of royal heritage had “special roads” that mere mortals were not permitted to travel. The King’s Highway and the Via Maris were too such roads. Jared would have definitely stayed off of them.

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. Matthew 7:13

I thought about this verse for a few days. The easy path is not always the best way. Those that have material wealth are often lacking in spiritual wealth. As Jesus pointed out in Matthew 10:17-27, it can be hard to give up the riches on earth for the treasure that waits in Heaven.

Yet it is so worth it! Isaiah 35:1-3 gives us a glimpse of what Heaven will be like! Even the wilderness will rejoice and blossom; it will burst into bloom and shout for joy! The narrow, dusty road we travel will be as beautiful as Carmel and Sharon, reported to be two of the loveliest places in the old world. We will see the “glory of the Lord, and the splendor of our God.”

We need to be on the road that will lead us to holiness and not be deceived by other roads that look better paved and easier to follow. We have been reminded several times this month of February that we are spiritual beings; we need to seek spiritual roads.

Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.

II Corinthians 7:1

Our hands might become feeble and our knees give out (Isaiah 35:3), but if we keep to the path God has set before us, he will give us the strength to make it to the end. And what an end it will be! Look at some of what awaits us on the Highway to Holiness!

The blind will see
The deaf will hear
The lame will walk
There will be water in the wilderness and the desert
There will be bubbling streams and pools
There will be no dangers to fear

Best of all, “everlasting joy will crown our heads” (Isaiah 35:10).

Inspired by my son-in-law, I have been taking more of the “winky, winky ways”, avoiding traffic and associated road rage, slowing down and enjoying the journey towards my destination. Sure, it’s easier to hop on the same road the world follows and fall prey to the temptations, but the Highway to Holiness leads to the destination where

Gladness and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

Isaiah 35:10

I hope you’ll join me on the journey!

To read more of Linda’s faith walk through spousal caregiving and widowhood, read her blog, Quirky: Because we’re all a little different, at lindaca1.substack.com

Have a story of your walk with Jesus to tell others? Talk to Linda!

A Second Chance

Posted on December 21, 2022 by Linda Cobourn

Note: Today’s blog post is written by a young lady who attends The Branch Church but can often be seen between services. I encourage you to pay attention to the advice of this young lady whose life demonstrates that God ALWAYS loves us.

A SECOND CHANCE

Ashley Noel Slape

Mark 11:24 – Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours.

TIME TO PRAY

How often do you pray? For me the answer to that question is easy. My mom has had me going to church since I was born. So, as early as I could start praying, I was. I was going with her until she got too sick. After that point, I had a teacher I loved who encouraged me to go to vacation Bible school at which I had a lot of fun, but it left me with questions.

My dad didn’t go to church. I would have these questions, but he didn’t know how to help me. I will say he gave me free will to believe in whatever my heart desired. I had this friend whose mom would invite me over and we would talk about the Bible. For the first time I was getting some answers. I even went to church with them. My mom and my friend’s mom used to go to church together. My mom would sing at that church with my friend’s dad.

When I was almost 12, my dad passed away. This was one of the first traumas I would continue to endure in my life. Less than a year later, my mom passed away as well. I didn’t understand why God would take away my parents. Even after all that, I still believed.

I ended up living with my cousins who are Christians. I started to go to a private Chcristian school. I learned a lot, made wonderful friends, went to church, youth group, and went home and prayed. My whole life revolved around God and being Christian. I didn’t feel I was a good fit for my cousin’s family, so I went to live with a foster family for a school year.

The new foster family would go to church on Saturday. It would be the longest service I ever went to. I joined the church choir just to make that time not feel as dragged out as it was. This would be the last year I would believe in God. Now at this point, I will write about the things I would have to go through.

THE HONEYMOON PHASE

I left that foster home and lived with what would become my adoptive family. They were not religious in the slightest. Something I learned about living with people I didn’t know is that the first few months to a year is a “honeymoon” phase. After that wears off, this is when problems start to show. I could write about all the bad things that family would do to me, but I will make that long story short.

I lived with my adoptive family from age 13 to 17. My mental health was visibly declining. I was able to get help and went into a psychiatric hospital. This is where I was diagnosed as having mental disorders (which I already knew I had). They started me on medication to help.

The first week I was at the hospital, I met a girl, Katrina, who I would fall in love with. The problem with that was she was an addict. We worked on being able to live together, and soon we would have that. I was living in a large group home for youth my age and graduated high school around this time. This girl I would end up calling my girlfriend and soon after my fiance. We finally went to live together. We were always attached to each other but, of course, the honeymoon phase would end; things got real. We both were declining but continued to love one another unconditionally.

After all we would do, she would relapse worse than the time before. I was there while she overdosed. She died and they got her heart to work again at the hospital. She declined that whole week, but I never left her side. This was a very memorable / traumatic week for me. Everything in her body was failing, and she was on life support. Her parents made the hard choice to take her off life support.

MORE GRIEF

I was able to grieve with Katrina’s mom, Nancy. Nancy is a really great person who is a mother-figure for me. She loves and supports me unconditionally. At the end of the same year that Katrina passed away, my adoptive dad also passed away. This would cause a lot of problems for me.

After two years living in a town, I became homeless. I had to give up my cats, ended up in a bad relationship, and lived with friends here and there until I got to a point where I was left with nowhere to go. Even my brothers couldn’t take me in. I reached out to my aunt, and she and my uncle took me in. Soon after moving in with them, I received my diagnosis that I am positive with Huntington’s Disease that my mom had. (Now that we have my life story, everything else will make sense).

You probably are asking yourself, “How does this relate to prayer?” I always prayed, especially when things were bad. The thing about prayer is God is always listening. He was there even when I wasn’t believing in Him. He always believed in me. If it’s His Will, He will do it and answer our prayers. If He doesn’t answer our prayers, there are bigger reasons why He didn’t.

CHOOSE SALVATION

I recently got saved. Being saved doesn’t mean life will be perfect. You will still go through trials and tribulations. It does mean I choose salvation. I choose to accept God as my savior. I will dedicate my life to getting to know my God. We are all vessels for God. We will also have gifts; things we are good at. We need to use the gifts God gave us.

My journey has been hard, but I believe there is a bigger reason as to why I went through all that. God doesn’t give you things He knows you can’t handle. I truly believe God gave me a second chance. What does this all mean for the person reading this? God is always with you. The second thing is to pray. He listens to our prayers. The third thing is to build a relationship with God. We may not always have the answers, but God does. He loves us unconditionally despite everything.

God has a plan.

If God’s Love Is Unconditional, Why Isn’t It For Me?

Posted on December 15, 2022 by Linda Cobourn

Good News From a Leaky Pen

Today’s blog writer is Marian Humphrey who wants to share with us how she came to be a child of God. Thanks for sharing your journey with us!

There is no fear in Love, because perfect Love expels all fear…( 1 John 4:18)

THE LOVE TEST

Typing Love with a capital L in this scripture was no mistake. Love is Jesus’ essential name because that’s the core of His nature; and He is the only one who can get rid of anyone’s fear. I “speak” that boldly, because throughout 44 of my 83 years of life, I have tried all sorts of schemes using my own imagination as an atheist, and eventually thinking there might be a spiritual world, so trying out several gods who failed the love test before meeting Jesus and experiencing His “brand” of unconditional love over time.

My “other god” exploration ended abruptly when I was totally freaked out by a death threatening–allegedly “good witchcraft” meditation –while alone in my house. That was 39 years ago when I felt desperate for a miraculous healing, so I invited myself to go to a friend’s church since healing took place there. I told her, “It seems since each human is unique, this thing, this spirit works differently with each one. The methods I tried for fixing myself were not the ones for me. “

When folks were called up for healing at the church, the pastor said, “Jesus can heal anyone, but while you’re up here, if you want, you can accept a personal relationship with Christ.”

I thought, “This ritual is this religion’s custom, so I’ll repeat after him at his request.” In my mind I was not hungry for God but for a quick fix; I was just following their rules like I did when experimenting with other gods.

A FRESH NEW BABY

God knew what I was really seeking because I went home healed of my ailment and born again! I was a fresh new baby with a new heart. Even my husband noticed a bright new look in my eyes, one sign that Jesus is who He says He is. Thus began my perfectly joyful, problem free life in Christ as He was now in me as I was in Him, just as the Bible says in John 15:4 and other scriptures. Right?

Somehow, I got the message life would now be a cake walk, as if I was now “fixed”. After all, I was learning that Jesus had deposited love, joy, and all good traits in me when I invited Him into my heart and His love casts out all fear. I thought I would be in constant ecstasy with God.

Of course, my joyful testimony about my new life would make my family and friends want to jump on my bandwagon. What a shock to find that was not so! In fact, I made those I loved the most think my God must be some sort of freak and with alien rules, as I preached and begged them to follow my lead so they wouldn’t go to Hell. After all, notice how righteous I had become. I even suddenly insisted on changing the rules in our family, like no more Halloween after years of homemade costumes and plenty of candy. All that was supposed to accept my loving God.

No one told me right off the bat, just as a new born baby, spits up, yells, and gulps down tons of milk and is very needy for constant care, so a new babe in Christ needs continual guidance by mature Christians and by hearing and studying God’s word. It wasn’t clear to me that though I was born again with a new spiritual heart, my mind, my will and my emotions needed time; lots of time. In fact, a whole lifetime to change, to grow up into maturity to be more like Christ. That’s just like a kid who has to grow with time and training to become a mature adult.

THE HONEYMOON IS OVER

Experiencing the reactions I was getting from those I was hurting with my untamed power caused me to believe more in the old worthless image of myself than in the new person developing in me. The honeymoon with God was over. My brand of brokenness had me struggling for years with retaining that joy that comes only with knowing just how much God loves me. If I wasn’t thinking and acting perfectly, then He had a right to be standoffish in a ready -to-punish- me-stance, I thought. How could I come unabashedly into the lap of a father who might cast me off? How could I truly rest behind His armor, His breastplate of righteousness and abandon my own defenses if I wasn’t good enough for His protection?

I felt for years needy to borrow other peoples loving faith in God and their listening ear to help build my trust in God. I was one of those who wasn’t “quickly getting over myself” so I was setting myself up for more feelings of aloneness.

FINE TUNING MY EARS

Fortunately, at last I have that ongoing sense of joy and peace that comes with knowing that in all circumstances and all times God continually loves me even in all my moods and doings. Because of my struggles, I am more determined than ever to meet each person I encounter with love and acceptance right where they are with encouragement. That motivates me to allow God to fine tune my listening ears and loving heart through leaning into His still small voice or accepting His discipline.

I always loved the first 2 sentences of the 1 John 4:18 scripture that began this message, but ignored the last one I left out. It is often stated, “The one who fears God’s punishment is not made perfect in love,” which seemed to confirm how hopelessly worthless I was. Now I understand it means that the fearful person has not yet “grown into a sufficient understanding of God’s love” (AMP).

May we all continue to be encouraged and encouraging of each other to grow perfectly united in Love as the body of Christ!

Tag: salvation

Highway to Holiness

A Second Chance

If God’s Love Is Unconditional, Why Isn’t It For Me?

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