Habakkuk 2

Then the Lord replied: "Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay."

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

The Desires of the Flesh

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” (Galatians 5:16-24 ESV)


Many professing Christians today are claiming that they are “struggling” with particular sins, usually sexual sin, meaning that they are regularly and consistently and habitually and deliberately giving in to these sins. And then they will claim that they don’t know how to get free from their addictions to repetitive and willful sins. Generally speaking, they will have all sorts of excuses as to why they are still “struggling,” and as to why they are not yet free, even blaming others and not taking full responsibility for their sins.


So, what’s the solution? Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. We must surrender our lives to Jesus Christ to do his will. We must be crucified with him in death to sin and raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin but as slaves to God and to his righteousness. And now we are to walk by the Spirit of God and no longer according to the flesh, for if sin is what we practice, and not righteousness, and not obedience to God, we don’t know God.


And this is what it really comes down to. Who, in reality, is really our God/god? God, or the flesh. If God, then our lives must be surrendered to him. And we must be those who are exercising self-denial, self-sacrifice, dying daily to sin, and following our Lord in obedience to his commands. This does not mean we will never sin again (1 John 2:1-2), but that sin must no longer be what controls us. But now we are to be living under Holy Spirit control and self-control in holiness, godliness, honesty and moral purity.


So, such things as sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, lying, and things like these, should no longer be part of our lives, not in practice, i.e. not as something that we keep going back to over and over again. For if we are those who practice such things as this, we will not inherit the kingdom of God. For Jesus said that not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter, but the one DOING the will of God the Father.


And this is not a rare teaching in the New Testament. This is all throughout the teachings in the New Testament, that if sin is what we practice, and not righteousness, and not obedience to our Lord, and not love for God and for our fellow humans, that we are not in fellowship with God, we don’t know God, we are not born of God, but we are of the devil. And if we profess to know God and to be in fellowship with him but while we walk in sin and while we do not obey his commandments, then we are liars. Truth is not in us.


[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-11; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]


But we can’t just exercise behavioral modification and think that we will now be okay. For if all that we do is just try to kick bad habits, we may be successful in some areas, or not, but that still leaves the door wide open for the devil because our lives are not surrendered to Jesus Christ, and he is not truly our Lord (Owner-Master) because we are still the ones trying to control our own lives, in that case. So our lives must be surrendered to the Lord and we must be walking by the Spirit so we don’t gratify sinful cravings.


And when we are walking by the Spirit, and no longer according to the flesh, then the fruit (outgrowth, results) from that will be love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness (reserved strength), and self-control. And this is not saying that we will never fail in any of these areas or that we will be instantaneously perfect in all of these areas, but there should be evidence of this fruit in our lives and it should be increasing as daily we walk by the Spirit and no longer by the flesh.


For we who belong to Christ Jesus, in truth, have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires, and we should now be those who are walking according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh, in practice, by the grace of God, in the power, strength, and wisdom of God. For we cannot do this in our flesh. For flesh cannot put flesh to death, for it desires the flesh and it opposes what is of God. So, again, our lives must be surrendered to our Lord to do his will, which we are to live by in daily practice.


Just a Closer Walk with Thee  


Hymn lyrics by Anonymous/Unknown

Music by American Melody


“For indeed He was crucified because of weakness, yet He lives because of the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, yet we will live with Him because of the power of God directed toward you” (2 Co. 13:4 NASB).


I am weak, but Thou art strong;

Jesus, keep me from all wrong;

I’ll be satisfied as long

As I walk, let me walk close to Thee.


Through this world of toil and snares,

If I falter, Lord, who cares?

Who with me my burden shares?

None but Thee, dear Lord, none but Thee.


When my feeble life is o’er,

Time for me will be no more;

Guide me gently, safely o’er

To Thy kingdom shore, to Thy shore.


Just a closer walk with Thee,

Grant it, Jesus, is my plea,

Daily walking close to Thee,

Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6Ks49apflE 


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Full Release

Have you received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of your life? What took place when this happened? Did your life change? Did it change radically or just a little bit? Did you leave your old life of sin behind you, and now, by God’s grace, you are living by and walking by the Spirit of God? Or, did it make little difference in your life?


What does it mean to make Jesus the Lord of our lives? It means we now belong to him and he is our owner-master, and our lives are no longer our own to be lived how we want, because we were bought back for God with the blood of Jesus Christ, shed on a cross for our sins. It means, too, that we are no longer enslaved to sin but now we are bond-servants of Christ’s righteousness. The old has gone. The new has come.


It means, too, that we were crucified with Christ in death to sin, and we were raised with Christ to newness of life in him, to be lived to his righteousness (Romans 6:1-23). Now, for us to live is Christ, but to die is gain. We have denied self, and we are taking up our cross daily to follow (obey) our Lord. But, it doesn’t end there. This is just the beginning of a lifetime of walking in the Spirit and not giving way to the flesh. 


As we grow in the grace that is ours in Christ Jesus, and daily, by the Spirit, we are putting to death the deeds of the flesh, we mature in our walks of faith. And, we grow in our understanding of what this Christian life is all about, as our Lord is conforming us to his likeness, and as we daily yield control of our lives over to him. We grow deeper in love with our Lord through our times of fellowship with him, and in obedience to his word, and if called upon to die for the sake of his name, and for his gospel, we will willingly do so.


For, we don’t believe in Jesus Christ just so we can escape hell and have the hope of heaven when we die, or just so we can have our sins forgiven. Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. He died that we might no longer live for ourselves, but for him who gave his life up for us. Coming to Christ means we die with Christ to sin and we are resurrected with Christ to newness of life, “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24). 


The righteous requirement of the law is fully met in us who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit (Romans 8:1-14). Jesus set us free from slavery to sin so we might become slaves of righteousness. The Christian life is a daily walk in the Spirit. It is a process of sanctification of the Spirit of God in growing and maturing us in Christ. Amen!


Full Release  


An Original Work / April 15, 2012


Walking daily with my Savior 

brings me joy.

Loving Father; precious Jesus; 

He’s my Savior and my Lord.

Gently leads me; follow Him.

I’ve invited Him within.

Now abiding in His presence, 

oh, what peace.

From my self-life 

He has brought me,

By His mercy, full release.


Hope and comfort, 

peace and safety Jesus brings

When I daily bow before Him;

Obey freely; do His will.

Follow Him where’er He leads.

Listen to Him; His words heed.

Now obeying his words fully, 

oh, what love

That He gives me 

through salvation,

By His Spirit, from above. 


Loving Father; precious Jesus, 

He’s my friend.

With my Savior, by His Spirit, 

I will endure to the end.

Share the gospel, tell what’s true.

Witness daily; His will do.

Tell the world of how their Savior 

bled and died.

On a cruel cross He suffered 

So that we might be alive. 


https://vimeo.com/115169203 

I Shall Drink the Cup

John 18:1-11 ESV


When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples. So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. So he asked them again, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go.” This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken: “Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one.” Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant's name was Malchus.) So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?”


Jesus Christ (God the Son) was both God and man when he lived on this earth (see John 1:1-36). And he knew that his purpose in coming to the earth was ultimately to be crucified on a cross for the sins of the world. So when he took his disciples with him (all but Judas) to the garden, he knew what was coming. He knew that Judas would betray him to the authorities who would then be the ones to put him to death on that cross. And yet he went willingly to that cross to die so that we might die to our sins.


Now, just because he was God incarnate, it did not make this easy for him to do. It was no “walk in the park,” so to speak, but it was a decision to go through the most horrible of horrible deaths in order that he might save you and me out of our lives of slavery (addiction) to sin so that we might now live holy lives, pleasing to God, and so that we might be at peace with God and have lives with purpose, meaning, and direction, which fulfill God’s purpose for our lives, that we might now live for him and not for self.


For in his death, he who knew no sin became sin for us so that when he died our sins died with him, and when he was raised from the dead he conquered death, sin, Satan and hell on our behalf. And this was so that we, by faith in him, would be crucified with him in death to sin and raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness, no longer as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. For he died that we might become the righteousness of God.


[2 Corinthians 5:15,21; 1 Peter 2:24; Romans 6:1-23; Ephesians 4:17-24]


Now, if we have been taught the truth of the Scriptures regarding what it means to be a Christian and one who is believing in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives, we should have been taught that it means to die to sin and to self and to follow Jesus in obedience to his commands under the New Covenant. We should have been taught that it means the surrender of our lives to God and to his will and purpose for our lives, and that he is now owner of our lives, and that we are now his possession, so he is boss!


So, we should have been taught that the Christian life is a life of self-denial and self-sacrifice and dying daily to sin and following our Lord in obedience to his commands in holy living – all in his power, strength, and wisdom, under the leading and direction of the Holy Spirit living within us (Luke 9:23-26; Titus 2:11-14; Romans 12:1-2). And we should have been taught that suffering as Jesus suffered and being hated, rejected, and persecuted by others is all part of the package of being a Christian and a follower of Christ.


But even knowing and accepting all of that does not make it easy for us. It is no “walk in the park” for us, either. For when the reality of it all is right in front of our faces, and we are now being abandoned and betrayed by our “friends,” and called “crazy” because we follow Jesus in obedience, it will be most painful. We will feel the pain of the rejection and the abandonment. We will feel the injury of betrayal and of false charges against us. But we must accept that this is all in God’s plan and purpose for our lives.


And so we must exercise the same courage as Jesus did. And when he lets us know that it is our time, we must, too, be willing to go to that “cross,” whatever that “cross” may look like for us, if it means the salvation of humans lives. Now obviously we are not called to nor could we ever do what Jesus did for us. But when we surrender our lives to the Lord, and when we speak the truth of the gospel and refute Satan’s lies in a day and time when so many are believing the lies, we are indeed going to that cross.


And we need to not be those who “chicken out” at the last minute and take what we believe is the “easy way out” so that we don’t get hated and rejected. For Jesus said that if we deny him that he will deny us when he returns for his bride, unless we repent of our sin and we turn and we follow him from that moment forward, like Peter did. But we must accept that persecution and rejection are “par for the course” if we are to be genuine followers of Jesus Christ, and we must do what our Lord says to do.


[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; Jn 15:1-21; Jn 16:33; Jn 17:14; Ac 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Rev 6:9-11; Rev 7:9-17; Rev 11:1-3; Rev 12:17; Rev 13:1-18; Rev 14:1-13]


Courageous!  


An Original Work / December 24, 2013  

Based off Various Scriptures


The Word of God throughout taught.

Some people heard but did doubt.

Still others had faith in Christ.

By grace He purified them.


They turned from sin

And they obeyed Christ.

He opened up their blinded eyesight;

Turned them from darkness 

To the true Light;

Forgave their sin by His might.


He strengthened them in their faith.

He said, “Remain my faithful.”

He called them to obedience.

By faith, they were so grateful.


By faith, they were to follow Jesus;

To daily sit and listen to Him;

To have such faith 

That mountains could move;

To love those whom He gave them.


Be on your guard; courageous.

Stand firm in faith. Be thankful.

Take up the shield of your faith;

Protect against all evil.


Do not move from 

The hope that you have.

Your faith in Jesus let it endure.

Hold to the truth; 

Your conscience be clear.

Endure with perseverance. 


https://vimeo.com/112338495

Monday, March 18, 2024

We are Not of the World

Jesus was praying to God the Father with regard to the fact that he was about to be crucified on a cross for the sins of the world and that he would be leaving the world to go back to the Father, and so his followers would no longer have him physically with them.


“I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 


“I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 


“But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.” (John 17:6-17 ESV)


After this, Jesus also prayed for all who would yet believe in him, which includes us who are believing in him now (John 17:20-26). He prayed that we would be one in him and in the Father and that we would be united as one with one another as we are all one with Christ and with God the Father. And this oneness is to serve as a testimony to the world that the world might believe that Jesus came from the Father, and that the Father sent him, and that God the Father loved them even as he loved his Son Jesus, and that the love that the Father has for Jesus might be in them, and Christ in them.


Yet much of what he prayed for those who had been with him physically also applies to us who believe in him now. For if we are believing in Jesus Christ with genuine God-ordained and God-persuaded and God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, and thus we have been crucified with him in death to sin, and we have been raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin but as slaves to God, then we are also those who have kept and who are keeping (obeying) his word that is written for us to follow (Hebrews 12:1-2; Ephesians 2:8-10; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; Romans 6:1-23).


Now this specific prayer was for those who were presently his followers, and so those of us who are presently his followers can apply it to ourselves where it is applicable. Now here he said that he was not praying for the world but for those whom the Father had given him. This is not saying that he did not pray for the world, for this next section that I mentioned first indicates that he was very much concerned for the people of the world that they would believe in him and that Christ would be in them, and that they would know the love that the Father had for them.


But this first part was a prayer for his followers who he was going to leave behind when he returned to the Father. And what was his primary concern? He would be leaving them and thus he would no longer be in the world, but they would still be in the world, not of it, and he would no longer be with them in person to protect them from the evils that are in the world. For he did not want any of them to be lost. And so he prayed to the Father that he would keep them in his name. And he is still concerned for all who are his that we would remain in him and that his word would remain in us.


And another one of his concerns, which I believe is connected to this previous one, is that because Jesus had given them (and us) his word, they would be, and we are presently, at least to some degree, hated by the people of the world because we are no longer like the world (if this is true of us), just as Jesus is not of the world. And he is our role model for what it means to be separate (unlike, different) from the world because we are being made to be like Jesus in character, thinking, attitude, words, and deeds. Like the old cliché said, “What would Jesus do?”


Now, there is a difference between living in the world and being among the people of the world and us literally becoming like the world and participating in worldly practices. So we are to live in the world and among its people, and we are to go out into the world with the message of the gospel, but we are not to embrace worldly practices and attitudes and thinking and behaviors. We are to be in the world but not of the world. So we are not to seclude ourselves from the people of the world, but we need for the Lord to help us to not get caught up in the evils that are in the world.


But this involves our full participation with the Lord in his work of grace in our lives. We must choose the Lord over all else. We must choose to serve the Lord and not the flesh. Daily we must be putting sin to death, by the Spirit, and we must be walking in obedience to our Lord and to his commands under the New Covenant, by his power, and in his strength and wisdom. Moment by moment we must be growing in the grace of the Lord in our walks of holiness and righteousness in surrender to God’s will for our lives. And then we have the hope of salvation and eternal life with God.


[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-11; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]


Broken and Contrite  


An Original Work / May 13, 2012


I come before You, Lord, my Savior,

With humble heart and crushed in spirit.

I bow before You, I implore You,

Heal my broken heart, I pray.

Love You, Jesus, Lord, my master,

You are the King of my heart.

Lord, purify my heart within me;

Sanctify me, whole within.


Oh, Lord, I long to obey fully

The words You’ve spoken through Your Spirit.

I pray You give me grace and mercy,

Strength and wisdom to obey.

Father God, my heart’s desire,

Won’t You set my heart on fire?

Lord, cleanse my heart of all that hinders

My walk with You, now I pray.


Oh, Jesus, Savior, full of mercy,

My heart cries out for understanding.

I want to follow You in all ways,

Never straying from Your truth.

Holy Spirit, come in power,

Fill me with Your love today.

Lord, mold and make me; 

Your hands formed me;

Live Your life through me, I pray.


https://vimeo.com/118841304

Forever With Us

While we live on the face of this earth, we will have troubles, hardships and trials. As followers of Jesus Christ, we have an arch enemy in Satan, who is out to destroy the church. So, we should expect that we will be hated, persecuted, despised and rejected of humankind. Although Satan is our real enemy, he has many people working for him whose goal it is, also, to destroy the church. And, they are coming against us fiercely, either through physical warfare or through psychological warfare, manipulation, and deception. 


Yet, their real enemy is Jesus Christ and his gospel of salvation. So, they are aggressively attacking the foundations of the gospel and the basis for our faith in Jesus Christ. Their goal is to discredit the gospel, and to prove it to be hateful, bigoted, intolerant and divisive, all the while they are passionately promoting global unity among all faiths.


Yet, we are to be encouraged. Our God is completely sovereign and in control over all things and over all powers. Although right now the enemy of our souls is coming against him, and his gospel, and his followers, he will reign supreme over all. One day his name will be lifted up throughout the earth, and he will be honored and worshiped as the King of kings, and Lord of lords. One day every knee will bow and will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Amen! 


So, we should not be afraid or get discouraged. God has a plan and a purpose for all of this, which is to bring humans to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, to revive his adulterous church, to mature his followers in Christ, and to strengthen us in our faith. So, be strong and courageous! God is with us! He will never leave us or forsake us. Amen!


Forever with Us 


An Original Work / February 5, 2016

Based off Psalm 46 


Be still and know 

God is over all things.

Throughout the earth,

He’ll be honored as King.

The Lord Almighty,

Forever with us.

He is our refuge 

When we’re in distress.


Therefore, we have

Not a reason to fear.

Trials will come,

But our God is still near.

He is our helper,

So we do not fall.

Mountains will quake,

But on Jesus we call.


Joy to the Church,

Even if sorrow comes.

Enemies rage,

But our faith marches on.

God’s Holy Spirit,

Now living within,

Gives peace and comfort,

And grace without end.


https://vimeo.com/154477497 

Surely He Has Borne Our Griefs

"Surely he has borne our griefs

    and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

    smitten by God, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions;

    he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

    and with his wounds we are healed." (Isaiah 53:4-5 ESV)


No matter where we have been. No matter what we are presently going through. Jesus Christ is the answer to our problems. He is the solution. For he who was God in the flesh while he walked this earth, while he was also fully man (human), came to this earth to be born as a human baby to a human mother, conceived of the Holy Spirit. He came to bring us the message of the gospel of our salvation, and he came to die on a cross to put our sins to death with him so that by faith in him we might be delivered from our slavery (addiction) to sin so that we can now serve him with our lives.


But he didn’t come just to preach the gospel, and just to die for our sins, but he came to heal broken hearts and lives and bodies, too. For on that cross he also bore our griefs and our sorrows. For he suffered much grief and sorrow himself in order to free us from our addiction to sin. For he was hated and persecuted, despised and rejected. He was betrayed and denied by close companions. He was deserted by his closest friends. And many who were once in support of him turned against him and called for his crucifixion.


Although he had done no wrong, but only good, and even though he had fed the hungry, comforted the sorrowful, raised the dead, delivered people from demons, and healed their diseases and their afflictions, and performed many miracles in their sight, many of the people who he had ministered to turned against him. Why? Because they were persuaded to do so by those in positions of rule and authority over the people. They gave into peer pressure and they joined in with “Crucify him,” even though Jesus was fully innocent.


And he was tempted to sin as we are, but without sin. So, he understands temptation, and he understands grief, sorrow, pain and suffering. He knows from personal experience what it is like to be rejected and mistreated, even by those who claimed to love him and/or to follow and support him. He knows what it is like to be betrayed and thought evil of when he was totally innocent. He knows and understands being falsely accused and framed for a crime he did not commit. So, he understands our suffering.


And Jesus died on that cross, not just to deliver us from our slavery to sin, and not just to give us new lives in him to be lived for his purposes and for his glory, and not just to give us the hope of eternal life with God. He came, and he lived, and he died to heal us from our broken hearts and from our broken lives and from our persecutions and rejections and mistreatments and horrible childhoods and all that we have suffered in this life. And it is because he suffered and died and lived that we can be healed by him.


So, what’s the catch? The catch is that we must believe him. We must surrender our lives over to him and die with him to sin so that we might live to him and to his righteousness, in his power, strength, and wisdom. We must now become his possession and he must now become Lord (Owner-Master) of our lives. And we must accept his sovereignty over our lives, and believe that all we have gone through serves a purpose to make us into the people of God that he wants us to be for his glory.


And so we must forgive everyone who has hurt us in any way. Let go of the hurt, and let go of the bitterness, resentment, hate, and pride and all that goes along with it. Accept God’s sovereignty over our lives. And now we must be yielded fully to the Lord and to his service to go with him wherever he leads us and to do as he commands. And every time we are hurt and we suffer injustice we must surrender it all over to the Lord, forgive, and keep serving the Lord, and keep loving others, even our enemies. Healing will come when we do. And we must walk in obedience to our Lord.


[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; Jn 15:1-21; Jn 16:33; Jn 17:14; Ac 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Rev 6:9-11; Rev 7:9-17; Rev 11:1-3; Rev 12:17; Rev 13:1-18; Rev 14:1-13]


Broken and Contrite  


An Original Work / May 13, 2012


I come before You, Lord, my Savior,

With humble heart and crushed in spirit.

I bow before You, I implore You,

Heal my broken heart, I pray.

Love You, Jesus, Lord, my master,

You are the King of my heart.

Lord, purify my heart within me;

Sanctify me, whole within.


Oh, Lord, I long to obey fully

The words You’ve spoken through Your Spirit.

I pray You give me grace and mercy,

Strength and wisdom to obey.

Father God, my heart’s desire,

Won’t You set my heart on fire?

Lord, cleanse my heart of all that hinders

My walk with You, now I pray.


Oh, Jesus, Savior, full of mercy,

My heart cries out for understanding.

I want to follow You in all ways,

Never straying from Your truth.

Holy Spirit, come in power,

Fill me with Your love today.

Lord, mold and make me; 

Your hands formed me;

Live Your life through me, I pray.


https://vimeo.com/118841304 

Sunday, March 17, 2024

Sorrow Will Turn Into Joy

“A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?” So they were saying, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.” Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? 


“Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.” (John 16:16-22 ESV)


Jesus Christ was speaking to his disciples, and he was letting them know that he was soon to leave them, and that he would be going back to the Father. But then he said that it was to their advantage that he go away, for if he did not go away, the Helper (the Holy Spirit) would not come to them. And why was this so important? Well, just from a very practical standpoint, the more people who believed in Jesus the harder it would be for Jesus to be with them all in person. But by sending his Spirit to indwell his followers, he could be with all his followers at all times and in all places via the Spirit.


And then he told them that “when the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (John 16:13-15 ESV).


So, when Jesus Christ was crucified on that cross for our sins, and thus when he died our sins died with him, so that we might now die to sin and live to his righteousness, the plan all along was for him to be raised from the dead on the third day, after which he appeared to many people, including to his disciples, for a period of 40 days, I believe, before he ascended back to heaven to be with God the Father. So, his followers did see him again for a very short period of time, but we will all see him one day when he returns for his faithful followers to take us to be with him for eternity.


In the meanwhile, by God-ordained, God-gifted, and God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ, we have the Holy Spirit living within us guiding us in all truth, reminding us of all that Jesus taught, and leading us in the ways of holiness and righteousness and in obedience to our Lord and to his commands. He is God with us, living within us. So this is God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – living within us in the person of the Spirit. So Christ is in us if we are in Christ by dying with him to sin and being raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, not as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to righteousness.


[Hebrews 12:1-2; Ephesians 2:8-10; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Ephesians 4:17-24; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 9:23-26]


But we still live in flesh bodies. And Jesus told his followers that their persecutors would put them out of the synagogues. And he said that a time was coming when whoever kills them would think that he was offering service to God (example Saul/Paul). But he said that they would do these things because they have not known Jesus nor the Father. And he said to all of us that we will be hated as he was hated and that we will be treated wrongfully as he was treated by his enemies. And so we will grieve, and we will long for our heavenly home and to be with our Lord for eternity.


So, right now we are suffering for the sake of the name of Jesus and for the sake of his gospel and for the sake of righteousness and because we live on this earth in flesh bodies. So right now we may be sorrowful, and we may weep, but one day our sorrow will be turned into joy when our Lord returns for his faithful bride and when he takes us to be with him for eternity. And at that time our salvation will be complete, and not until then. So while we wait, we are to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives (Titus 2:11-14).


Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer 


Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897


Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.


Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.


O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.


O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.


Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg 


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