Wednesday, October 11, 2017, 6:42 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Fully Ready.” Speak, Lord, your words
to my heart. I read Psalm 62 (Select
vv. NASB).
My Soul Waits (vv.
1-2)
My soul waits in silence for God only;
From Him is my salvation.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
My stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken.
I wonder if we really grasp
what this means. My soul, i.e. my person, my spirit, or the very core or
essence of my being waits, i.e. it stays still and quiet before God, and delays
action until I hear from him, and from him alone. When I am troubled in my
spirit, or when I have to make a serious decision about something, or when I am
seeking counsel or direction for my life, I go to God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit
– as my ONLY source of salvation (deliverance, help, solution). He ONLY is my
Rock (support, strength, foundation). He ONLY is my stronghold (sanctuary,
fortification).
How many of us can say with
all honesty that this is true of us consistently? And, that we don’t first try
to resolve our issues ourselves, with our own logic and reasoning, or run first
to our best friends or to Facebook or to some human counselor or doctor before
we even consult God? Or, if we do pray to God first, that we don’t immediately
then run to someone else or go ahead and make the decisions ourselves rather
than wait on God quietly, until he answers? How many of us, when we are in
pain, go first of all to the medicine chest or the pharmacy or to a doctor
without even consulting God?
Over the years, I have been
learning much about what this entails. I don’t claim to do this perfectly, but
I have grown much in this area of trusting God first and foremost and waiting
on him before acting. Whereas, years past, I use to run to the medicine cabinet
or to a doctor first, now I trust God to see me through the pain and to give me
the wisdom to know what I can do to help alleviate the pain, such as losing
weight, exercising, eating healthier, consuming smaller food portions, drinking
lots of water and avoiding food and beverages high in fat, sugar and caffeine. And,
I feel so much better!
God made us, so he knows best
what we need, so we need to ask him what to do and then wait on him to answer,
rather than looking elsewhere for our help first. I am not saying that we
should not go to doctors or that medicine does not have its place, but all too
often we, as Americans, run there first, whereas we need to run to God and let
him show us what is best for us.
How Long?
(vv. 3-4)
How long will you assail a man,
That you may murder him, all of you,
Like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence?
They have counseled only to thrust him down from his
high position;
They delight in falsehood;
They bless with their mouth,
But inwardly they curse. Selah.
Not only might we be guilty
of running to other helps or helpers, in place of God, or before we seek His
counsel, but we also might be guilty of having “other lovers” (spiritually
speaking) which (or whom) we lean on for support rather than making God our
only husband, lover, Savior and Lord. The first one that comes to mind, for us
in America, at least, and which the Lord has been showing me these past 11
years, is the U.S. government. The vast majority of the church here in America
has partnered with the U.S. government via the 501c3 not-for-profit tax exempt
status. What this does is place the U.S. government in a position as head over
the church, i.e. over the institutional church, superseding Jesus Christ as the
true and only head.
But, it isn’t just that the
church is committing adultery against her Lord with this “other lover,” but
that she has partnered with the ungodly, which is forbidden in scripture (2 Co.
6:14-18), and she has turned the church (God’s house of prayer) into a marketplace,
which Jesus abhors (See: Jn. 2:13-17). Jesus said, “Take these things away;
stop making My Father’s house a place of business.” But, this is what the
church, for the most part, has done! The church is now a corporation under the
headship of the federal government, and answerable to the government, and now
it operates just like any other human-based business, fully incorporating
business and marketing schemes in order to attract their customer base (the
world) to their businesses.
The church, at large, has
partnered with an evil government, which is under the authority of the wealthy
and powerful (elite) of this world, who are forming a New World Order by going
throughout the world conquering peoples, nations and Christians, killing at
will civilians, soldiers, and even our own soldiers in order to bring in the
rule of the beast and a one-world religion. So the church has, fundamentally,
partnered with the antichrist, and has bought into its lies and deceptions. Rather
than standing against what is antichrist, she is giving it her support and
worship via the pledge (vow) of allegiance (fidelity) to the US government, and
the singing of patriotic songs, and the honoring of our soldiers as our
“saviors.” And, she will be held responsible (culpable) for all our
government’s crimes against humanity, too, because of this partnership. She has
blood on her hands.
God is Our Refuge (vv. 7-8)
On God my salvation and my glory rest;
The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God.
Trust in Him at all times, O people;
Pour out your heart before Him;
God is a refuge for us. Selah.
When we make God our only
God, salvation, rock and stronghold, and we follow Jesus Christ and his lead in
our lives, and our ears are tuned into his voice, and we walk in fellowship
with him, we will live lives which are separate (unlike, different) from the
world, because we are being formed into the likeness of Christ. We will now
walk in the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh. We won’t partner with
the ungodly and we won’t participate in their sinful practices. But, our desire
will be for God, to serve him only, and to live holy lives, pleasing to him.
And, we will take our stand on the Word of God, the Word of Truth, the gospel
of our salvation.
Yet, when we do that, many
people will reject, hate, ostracize, abandon, ignore, oppose and/or persecute
us because we aren’t like them. They will think we are weird, crazy, fanatics,
holy rollers, fuddy-duddies, extremists, judgmental, intolerant, legalistic and
the like. And, many of our opponents will actually be inside the organized
church, and among its leadership. But, we cannot let their opinions of us sway
us from following Jesus Christ and what we know is right. Even if it means our
deaths, we must stand on the Word of God and the gospel of our salvation (the
whole counsel of God) as was taught by Jesus and his NT apostles. And, we must
not compromise with the world in order to make peace with the world, either.
Rather, we must share with the world the truth about the gospel, to win them to
Christ.
So, what is this truth we
must share? It is that Jesus Christ died on a cross that we might die to sin
and live to righteousness, not just to forgive us our sins, to free us from
punishment, and to promise us heaven when we die. He died that we might no
longer live for ourselves, but for him who gave his life up for us. He died to
give us new lives in Christ, created to be like God in true righteousness and
holiness. His grace to us is NOT free license to continue in sin without guilt
and remorse. His grace instructs us to say “No” to ungodliness and to live upright
and holy lives while we wait for Christ’s return (1 Pet. 2:24; 2 Co. 5:15; Eph.
4:17-24; Tit. 2:11-14).
You see, our salvation is not
just from hell, but it is from addiction (slavery) to sin. Sin should no longer
have dominion over us, because Jesus set us free! So, we need to live like we
are free – all in his power, strength and wisdom, daily putting on the armor of
God, resisting Satan, fleeing temptation, and drawing near to our God in full
assurance of faith. Amen!
Fully Ready!
/ An Original Work / June 19, 2013
Based off Acts 20-22, 26; Mt. 28:18-20; Ac. 1:8
Why are you weeping and
breaking my heart?
I’m fully ready to suffer for
Christ.
If I must die for the sake of
His name,
I am convinced it will not be
in vain.
Glory to God and to His Son
Jesus,
Who has redeemed us; bought
with His blood.
May I speak to you? Jesus
came to me;
Asked of me, “Why do you
persecute me?”
He said, “Now get up and
stand on your feet.
Go, and you’ll be told all I
have for you.
I have appointed you as a
servant,
And as a witness; you have
been sent.”
“Go into the world and preach
the gospel.
Open the blind eyes. They
will receive sight.
Turn them from darkness to
the light of Christ;
From power of the evil one to
God,
So they may receive
forgiveness of sins,
And a place among those
who’re in heav’n.”
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