After I went to bed and was praying, the Lord gave me this song to write:
Laodicea / An Original Work / April 29, 2011
Laodicea, Laodicea, I’m calling you.
You hear Me calling, you hear Me calling. I’m calling you.
Will you not answer? Will you not answer? I’m calling you.
If you but follow, if you but follow, I’ll answer you.
Won’t you give Me your heart and your soul,
So I can cleanse you and make you whole?
Laodicea, Laodicea, I’m calling you.
If you will answer, if you will answer, I’ll come to you.
I stand at your door, I stand at your door. I’m knocking there.
Will you not listen? Will you not listen, while I’ll be there?
If you’ll but open, if you’ll but open your hearts to Me,
I’ll come within you, I’ll come within you, you’ll sup with Me.
Won’t you buy from Me some gold and salve?
These costly treasures are yours to have.
Laodicea, Laodicea, I’m calling you.
If you will answer, if you will answer, I’ll come to you.
Are you contented, are you contented to be lukewarm?
Will you not have Me? Will you not have Me? Of this I warn –
If you don’t hear Me, if you don’t hear Me, and so obey,
I will spit you out, I will spit you out without delay.
So why not heed this your final call,
And give to God absolutely all?
Laodicea, Laodicea, I’m calling you.
If you will answer, if you will answer, I’ll come to you.
Sheet Music (with lyrics)
Sound/Audio (without lyrics)
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Friday, April 29, 2011
I Wept and Wept
Friday, April 29, 2011, 7:33 a.m. – When I woke this morning, the song, When I’m With You, was playing in my mind. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Revelation 4-5 (quoting chapter 5):
Introduction: This scroll appears to contain the judgments of God in the last days before Christ’s return, because in chapter 6, as each seal is opened, judgment ensues. As well, the scroll encompasses declarations of Christ’s inheritance and that of his saints who will one day reign with him on the earth. The scroll also seems to reveal how the end of all things will take place, including the judgment for the world and the final victory crown for all the saints of Almighty God. [Ref: Zondervan NIV Bible Commentary]
When the seals are opened, what we have largely theorized about up until now concerning the reality of how all these things will actually take place, with our own eyes we will see exactly how these prophecies are fulfilled. Opening the seals, thus, means that the mystery of God contained within them is revealed and is accomplished, just as He had declared previously through the prophets. The seals hide the mystery contained within of how God’s judgment and his kingdom will come on the earth. And, only Christ is worthy and can open the scroll and to reveal its contents within. [Ref: Zondervan NIV Bible Commentary]
My Understanding: I was feeling in awe of God as I read this account of this scroll with the seven seals and of John’s vision of the angel calling for someone worthy to break the seals and to open the scroll, and of John seeing that no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or to look inside. John wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or to look inside. For the first time ever reading this, as far as I can recall, I wept with John. I all of a sudden felt what he must have felt like to realize there was no one worthy to break the seals and to open the scroll. There was such a feeling of hopelessness contained within this description of no one found worthy. Yet, it didn’t end in hopelessness. One of the elders told John not to weep, because Jesus Christ had triumphed.
Jesus Christ was the perfect Lamb sacrifice for our sins. He is God the Son, yet he left his throne in heaven, seated next to the Father, and he came to earth, became a man, took upon himself human flesh, was tempted as we are tempted, yet without sin, and suffered like we suffer. Then he died on the cross for our sins, taking upon himself all our sins. Our sins were thus crucified with him on the cross and were buried with him in the grave. Yet, he triumphed over death, hell, Satan and sin through his death on the cross for our sins and through his resurrection in which he rose victoriously from the grave so that we could free. Because of his blood sacrifice for our sins and his triumph over death and sin, he is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.
As I thought about what made John weep and the ultimate assurance that came to him from the angel concerning Jesus Christ, I could not help but think about what makes me weep and how Jesus Christ, because of what he did for us on the cross, is able to accomplish whatever in my life leads me to weep, to cry out to God, and to plead with him for mercy, grace and healing. I think the thing that makes me weep most is to see those I love not know Jesus Christ and to not know his saving grace, as well as to see those I love who claim to know Christ live as though they do not, i.e. to see them still bound by sin and walking in the flesh, instead of walking in faith and obedience to Jesus Christ. I weep for them because I know that their only true peace, joy and victory in this present life is found in true relationship and fellowship with Jesus Christ. And, I know that their only hope for breaking the chains of sin over their lives is found in the One who is worthy, because he died for our sins. As well, I know that their only true sense of fulfillment of their life purpose is to be found in obedience to Jesus Christ and to His will for their lives.
Yet, there is hope, because Jesus has overcome! He is worthy! And, he can do what is necessary in the hearts of those I love to bring them to faith in Jesus Christ and/or to bring them back to their first love in true fellowship and obedience to Him. So, I entrust with my Lord all that brings me to tears, and I put my faith in Him to accomplish what only the One who is worthy is able to do in human hearts to break the bonds of sin and to open the book of life, God’s word, to their hearts so that he unveils its mystery to their hearts and they are able to learn at his feet and to obey what he teaches them and to love with His love.
When I’m With You / An Original Work / April 22, 2011
When I’m with You, Lord, hear my cries.
Soon I’ll be with You, by Your side.
Harken to me; Lord, hear my plea
When I’m with You and You’re with me
Precious Savior, Lord, and my friend,
Life with You has no final end.
I’ll reign with You eternally
When I’m with You and You’re with me.
Father, God, my only desire.
Your word is in me like a fire.
I’ll sing Your praise all of my days
When I’m with You and You’re with me.
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B5aJQ42RLiUlOTNkZjk2NjItYzBlYi00NjFmLWE0OTUtOGI3MjE2MmFjNmFi&hl=en
The Scroll and the Lamb
1 Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. 2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” 3 But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. 4 I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. 5 Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
6 Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. 8 And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song:
“You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased men for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation.
10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign on the earth.”
11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. 12 In a loud voice they sang:
“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!”
13 Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!”
14 The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
Introduction: This scroll appears to contain the judgments of God in the last days before Christ’s return, because in chapter 6, as each seal is opened, judgment ensues. As well, the scroll encompasses declarations of Christ’s inheritance and that of his saints who will one day reign with him on the earth. The scroll also seems to reveal how the end of all things will take place, including the judgment for the world and the final victory crown for all the saints of Almighty God. [Ref: Zondervan NIV Bible Commentary]
When the seals are opened, what we have largely theorized about up until now concerning the reality of how all these things will actually take place, with our own eyes we will see exactly how these prophecies are fulfilled. Opening the seals, thus, means that the mystery of God contained within them is revealed and is accomplished, just as He had declared previously through the prophets. The seals hide the mystery contained within of how God’s judgment and his kingdom will come on the earth. And, only Christ is worthy and can open the scroll and to reveal its contents within. [Ref: Zondervan NIV Bible Commentary]
My Understanding: I was feeling in awe of God as I read this account of this scroll with the seven seals and of John’s vision of the angel calling for someone worthy to break the seals and to open the scroll, and of John seeing that no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or to look inside. John wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or to look inside. For the first time ever reading this, as far as I can recall, I wept with John. I all of a sudden felt what he must have felt like to realize there was no one worthy to break the seals and to open the scroll. There was such a feeling of hopelessness contained within this description of no one found worthy. Yet, it didn’t end in hopelessness. One of the elders told John not to weep, because Jesus Christ had triumphed.
Jesus Christ was the perfect Lamb sacrifice for our sins. He is God the Son, yet he left his throne in heaven, seated next to the Father, and he came to earth, became a man, took upon himself human flesh, was tempted as we are tempted, yet without sin, and suffered like we suffer. Then he died on the cross for our sins, taking upon himself all our sins. Our sins were thus crucified with him on the cross and were buried with him in the grave. Yet, he triumphed over death, hell, Satan and sin through his death on the cross for our sins and through his resurrection in which he rose victoriously from the grave so that we could free. Because of his blood sacrifice for our sins and his triumph over death and sin, he is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.
As I thought about what made John weep and the ultimate assurance that came to him from the angel concerning Jesus Christ, I could not help but think about what makes me weep and how Jesus Christ, because of what he did for us on the cross, is able to accomplish whatever in my life leads me to weep, to cry out to God, and to plead with him for mercy, grace and healing. I think the thing that makes me weep most is to see those I love not know Jesus Christ and to not know his saving grace, as well as to see those I love who claim to know Christ live as though they do not, i.e. to see them still bound by sin and walking in the flesh, instead of walking in faith and obedience to Jesus Christ. I weep for them because I know that their only true peace, joy and victory in this present life is found in true relationship and fellowship with Jesus Christ. And, I know that their only hope for breaking the chains of sin over their lives is found in the One who is worthy, because he died for our sins. As well, I know that their only true sense of fulfillment of their life purpose is to be found in obedience to Jesus Christ and to His will for their lives.
Yet, there is hope, because Jesus has overcome! He is worthy! And, he can do what is necessary in the hearts of those I love to bring them to faith in Jesus Christ and/or to bring them back to their first love in true fellowship and obedience to Him. So, I entrust with my Lord all that brings me to tears, and I put my faith in Him to accomplish what only the One who is worthy is able to do in human hearts to break the bonds of sin and to open the book of life, God’s word, to their hearts so that he unveils its mystery to their hearts and they are able to learn at his feet and to obey what he teaches them and to love with His love.
When I’m With You / An Original Work / April 22, 2011
When I’m with You, Lord, hear my cries.
Soon I’ll be with You, by Your side.
Harken to me; Lord, hear my plea
When I’m with You and You’re with me
Precious Savior, Lord, and my friend,
Life with You has no final end.
I’ll reign with You eternally
When I’m with You and You’re with me.
Father, God, my only desire.
Your word is in me like a fire.
I’ll sing Your praise all of my days
When I’m with You and You’re with me.
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B5aJQ42RLiUlOTNkZjk2NjItYzBlYi00NjFmLWE0OTUtOGI3MjE2MmFjNmFi&hl=en
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Your Love Inspires Me
Your Love Inspires Me / An Original Work / April 28, 2011
Your love inspires me to want to know you more.
I worship and adore my gracious, loving Lord.
Washing all my sin, purify within,
Your grace and Your loving kindness save from sin.
Because of what You’ve done for me, I praise You, Lord.
You freed me from my sin, and made me whole within.
As I come to You with a contrite heart,
I pray that Your love and mercy, You impart.
Jesus died for you, then He rose up from the grave.
He conquered death and sin, so by our faith we’re saved.
He became a man. This was in God’s plan,
So that we might be forgiven, cleansed within.
Sheet Music (with lyrics)
Sound/Audio (without lyrics)
Your love inspires me to want to know you more.
I worship and adore my gracious, loving Lord.
Washing all my sin, purify within,
Your grace and Your loving kindness save from sin.
Because of what You’ve done for me, I praise You, Lord.
You freed me from my sin, and made me whole within.
As I come to You with a contrite heart,
I pray that Your love and mercy, You impart.
Jesus died for you, then He rose up from the grave.
He conquered death and sin, so by our faith we’re saved.
He became a man. This was in God’s plan,
So that we might be forgiven, cleansed within.
Sheet Music (with lyrics)
Sound/Audio (without lyrics)
The Key
Wednesday, April 27, 2011, 9:39 a.m. – The song, Awestruck Grief, is going through my mind. I asked the Lord what he wanted me to do this morning, and I sensed him leading me to continue reading in Revelation 3:
My Understanding: Jesus Christ is the author of this letter. He describes himself as him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. He is God, the One and Only true and holy God, creator of all things, and through whom all things hold together. He holds the key to eternal life with God in heaven, because it is only through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ that we have access to the Father and to eternity with God. He determines who can enter into his heaven, i.e. it is by grace we are saved through faith, it is not of ourselves, but it is a gift of God, and he determines who he will turn away from heaven for lack of faith.
So, what he opens is the opportunity to receive him as Lord and Savior and thus to have eternal life beginning right now and culminating in Jesus’ return when our salvation will be complete. What he shuts is that door to heaven to all who refuse him and who do not believe in him as Lord and Savior. No man or woman can open his own way into heaven. We can only come to faith in Jesus Christ as the Father draws us to his Son, and that he gives us the faith to believe and to live for him now and forever. As well, we do not have the ability to shut the doors of heaven off to people from believing, though we might certainly hinder their ability to believe and to have true faith if we are teaching them a false gospel. Only God has the keys to heaven and can determine who gets inside and who does not, and the key into heaven’s door is true faith in Jesus Christ.
Jesus said he had placed before this church an open door that no man could shut. This was important for them to hear, because from reading the rest of the letter, it is clear that the church in Philadelphia was suffering much persecution for the name of Jesus Christ, which is why they had little strength. Jesus was assuring them that he held them in the palm of his hand and that nothing could separate them, his true followers, from his love. He had opened the door to salvation to them and no amount of suffering or persecution, mocking, criticism, rejection, or false accusations from those who claimed to be believers, but were not, could keep them from God’s holy presence.
They were to be assured of God’s promises to them, and they were to hold fast in their faith in the face of enormous persecution. And, one day, Jesus was going to make their persecutors fall at the feet of these true believers, and to acknowledge how much God loved them, because their oppressors had obviously been lying and trying to convince them to the contrary, so it would appear from the context of this letter.
The affirmation to these believers in Philadelphia was that, even though they were beaten down by the lies of the enemy of their souls - Satan, via his human instruments - still they had kept God’s word and they did not deny his name (his character; his divine attributes). They kept his command to endure patiently even in the face of great opposition to the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The liars were obviously trying to convince them that they did not have true faith or that something else was required for entrance into heaven, such as Old Testament regulations and religious practices, and this must have been putting confusion into the minds of these believers, which is why Jesus felt it necessary to strengthen them in their faith by letting them know they had the hope of eternal life, i.e. the door was open for them and that no false teachers or false gospel coming against them could hinder them from God’s promises to them and their hope of eternal life.
We, as well, may face this kind of opposition to our faith in Jesus Christ from those who claim to be in Christ Jesus, but who are not. They might try to add to our faith man-made regulations, religious rituals, or religious rites and practices, yet the only requirement for salvation is true faith. Now, we must understand what “faith” really means. It is not a mere intellectual acknowledgement of Christ, nor is it solely an emotional experience that took place at an altar, though those may be aspects of faith or of our decision to believe in Jesus Christ. New Testament scripture is clear throughout that true faith involves repentance and obedience to Jesus Christ, i.e. to God, and that it is evidenced by our fruit (works), i.e. we are not saved by works, but true faith will show itself by what we do. This is evident in all of these letters to the churches in Revelation, because Jesus repeatedly tells them he knows their deeds, because their deeds show (reveal) whether or not they truly have faith. Yet, it is the working of the Holy Spirit to draw us to Christ, to give us the faith to believe, and then to work out our salvation within us, producing fruit in keeping with repentance, as we cooperate with God in allowing him to transform us into His image.
As far as this verse that states, because they had kept his command to endure patiently, that Jesus Christ was going to keep them from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth, there are many varied interpretations of what this means. For one thing, the people from this specific church have long gone and are with Jesus through faith in him, and we have not yet had the time of great tribulation on this earth, so they have literally been kept from it, yet they were not kept entirely from persecution and oppression of the enemy. I believe, though, that these letters, in principle and doctrine, are to be applied to all time, so I believe there is a promise in here for us today that if we endure patiently, that God is going to keep us, as well, from the time of great tribulation and God’s wrath, yet that word “from” can also be interpreted “through”, so either way, this is a promise that, no matter what comes our way, we are in God’s hands and he will hold us and keep us in his love and care and will bring us through even the greatest trials if we endure patiently and we keep his commands.
Jesus said that he was coming soon. “Soon” was a term that meant “imminent,” i.e. he could come at any time. We should always be watching and waiting for his return by how we live our daily lives. We are to hold on to our faith, not just as a belief system, doctrine, theology, etc., but we are to hold on to our faith in life and in practice. All throughout the New Testament, it is clear, and these letters just reaffirm it, that true faith is faith that lasts and that endures to the end, so that no one will take away our crown. As well, all of these letters reaffirm that only those who overcome sin by faith in Jesus Christ and who conquer the flesh via belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and the working of the Holy Spirit within to transform us into Christ’s likeness, through our cooperation with God and his working within us, will be those who inherit eternal life. We don’t “get saved” just so we can go to heaven one day. Salvation is a life altering and life changing transformation of the human heart away from living in sin, and for ourselves, to walking in faith and obedience to Jesus Christ on a day-to-day basis. And, only God knows our hearts.
The promise for those who overcome and who are genuinely believers in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and who have turned from their lives of sin and are walking in faith and obedience to God, is that we will have a permanent place with God in heaven, that God will identify himself with us by writing on us his name and the name of the New Jerusalem, i.e. a spiritual city of God, i.e. Christ’s bride, his true church. We will be permanently situated with God in heaven forever and ever, amen!
He who has an ear… If God has spoken to your heart through this passage of scripture concerning your relationship with Jesus Christ and you realize that true faith in Jesus Christ is faith that endures, that holds on, that overcomes, and if you have been relying on a false hope and a false gospel that has fed you a lie and that has told you that nothing is required of you other than some mental or audible acknowledgment of Jesus Christ and his salvation, then my prayer for you is that you would hear what the Spirit of God is saying to the churches. There is a reason this book of Revelation, which is mainly about the judgments of Almighty God on the earth, begins with these letters to churches and that calls them to repentance and to endurance. The Bible says that even the demons believe and they shudder and that there will be people that God is going to shut out of his heaven who thought they were Christians because they did such and such for God. So, make sure you have a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ that is evidenced by true repentance and obedience and by fruit that reveals a true heart transformation. I’d like to see you in heaven one day. So, repent while there is still time if you are not in true faith in Jesus Christ.
Awestruck Grief / An Original Work / April 21, 2011
When in awestruck grief o’er my sins, Lord, I bow,
Will You hear me, Lord, and forgive me just now?
I am so amazed that You could love me so.
Yet, Your love and kindness ever fill my soul.
Lord, You are amazing, and gracious and kind
To have offered Yourself for us when we’re blind.
You were crucified on that hill, Calvary,
When they hung Your body to die on a tree.
Now that You’ve redeemed us and, thus, set us free,
I pray, Lord, for all on this earth to believe
In Your sacrifice, Lord, cleansing all our sin,
So that we can live for You, and die within.
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B5aJQ42RLiUlNTcyYzFhOTktMzlkOC00NjRjLThmNTktYWI2NWE1ZjBiYWVj&hl=en
To the Church in Philadelphia
7 “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:
These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. 8 I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9 I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. 10 Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth.
11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. 12 Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name. 13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
My Understanding: Jesus Christ is the author of this letter. He describes himself as him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. He is God, the One and Only true and holy God, creator of all things, and through whom all things hold together. He holds the key to eternal life with God in heaven, because it is only through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ that we have access to the Father and to eternity with God. He determines who can enter into his heaven, i.e. it is by grace we are saved through faith, it is not of ourselves, but it is a gift of God, and he determines who he will turn away from heaven for lack of faith.
So, what he opens is the opportunity to receive him as Lord and Savior and thus to have eternal life beginning right now and culminating in Jesus’ return when our salvation will be complete. What he shuts is that door to heaven to all who refuse him and who do not believe in him as Lord and Savior. No man or woman can open his own way into heaven. We can only come to faith in Jesus Christ as the Father draws us to his Son, and that he gives us the faith to believe and to live for him now and forever. As well, we do not have the ability to shut the doors of heaven off to people from believing, though we might certainly hinder their ability to believe and to have true faith if we are teaching them a false gospel. Only God has the keys to heaven and can determine who gets inside and who does not, and the key into heaven’s door is true faith in Jesus Christ.
Jesus said he had placed before this church an open door that no man could shut. This was important for them to hear, because from reading the rest of the letter, it is clear that the church in Philadelphia was suffering much persecution for the name of Jesus Christ, which is why they had little strength. Jesus was assuring them that he held them in the palm of his hand and that nothing could separate them, his true followers, from his love. He had opened the door to salvation to them and no amount of suffering or persecution, mocking, criticism, rejection, or false accusations from those who claimed to be believers, but were not, could keep them from God’s holy presence.
They were to be assured of God’s promises to them, and they were to hold fast in their faith in the face of enormous persecution. And, one day, Jesus was going to make their persecutors fall at the feet of these true believers, and to acknowledge how much God loved them, because their oppressors had obviously been lying and trying to convince them to the contrary, so it would appear from the context of this letter.
The affirmation to these believers in Philadelphia was that, even though they were beaten down by the lies of the enemy of their souls - Satan, via his human instruments - still they had kept God’s word and they did not deny his name (his character; his divine attributes). They kept his command to endure patiently even in the face of great opposition to the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The liars were obviously trying to convince them that they did not have true faith or that something else was required for entrance into heaven, such as Old Testament regulations and religious practices, and this must have been putting confusion into the minds of these believers, which is why Jesus felt it necessary to strengthen them in their faith by letting them know they had the hope of eternal life, i.e. the door was open for them and that no false teachers or false gospel coming against them could hinder them from God’s promises to them and their hope of eternal life.
We, as well, may face this kind of opposition to our faith in Jesus Christ from those who claim to be in Christ Jesus, but who are not. They might try to add to our faith man-made regulations, religious rituals, or religious rites and practices, yet the only requirement for salvation is true faith. Now, we must understand what “faith” really means. It is not a mere intellectual acknowledgement of Christ, nor is it solely an emotional experience that took place at an altar, though those may be aspects of faith or of our decision to believe in Jesus Christ. New Testament scripture is clear throughout that true faith involves repentance and obedience to Jesus Christ, i.e. to God, and that it is evidenced by our fruit (works), i.e. we are not saved by works, but true faith will show itself by what we do. This is evident in all of these letters to the churches in Revelation, because Jesus repeatedly tells them he knows their deeds, because their deeds show (reveal) whether or not they truly have faith. Yet, it is the working of the Holy Spirit to draw us to Christ, to give us the faith to believe, and then to work out our salvation within us, producing fruit in keeping with repentance, as we cooperate with God in allowing him to transform us into His image.
As far as this verse that states, because they had kept his command to endure patiently, that Jesus Christ was going to keep them from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth, there are many varied interpretations of what this means. For one thing, the people from this specific church have long gone and are with Jesus through faith in him, and we have not yet had the time of great tribulation on this earth, so they have literally been kept from it, yet they were not kept entirely from persecution and oppression of the enemy. I believe, though, that these letters, in principle and doctrine, are to be applied to all time, so I believe there is a promise in here for us today that if we endure patiently, that God is going to keep us, as well, from the time of great tribulation and God’s wrath, yet that word “from” can also be interpreted “through”, so either way, this is a promise that, no matter what comes our way, we are in God’s hands and he will hold us and keep us in his love and care and will bring us through even the greatest trials if we endure patiently and we keep his commands.
Jesus said that he was coming soon. “Soon” was a term that meant “imminent,” i.e. he could come at any time. We should always be watching and waiting for his return by how we live our daily lives. We are to hold on to our faith, not just as a belief system, doctrine, theology, etc., but we are to hold on to our faith in life and in practice. All throughout the New Testament, it is clear, and these letters just reaffirm it, that true faith is faith that lasts and that endures to the end, so that no one will take away our crown. As well, all of these letters reaffirm that only those who overcome sin by faith in Jesus Christ and who conquer the flesh via belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and the working of the Holy Spirit within to transform us into Christ’s likeness, through our cooperation with God and his working within us, will be those who inherit eternal life. We don’t “get saved” just so we can go to heaven one day. Salvation is a life altering and life changing transformation of the human heart away from living in sin, and for ourselves, to walking in faith and obedience to Jesus Christ on a day-to-day basis. And, only God knows our hearts.
The promise for those who overcome and who are genuinely believers in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and who have turned from their lives of sin and are walking in faith and obedience to God, is that we will have a permanent place with God in heaven, that God will identify himself with us by writing on us his name and the name of the New Jerusalem, i.e. a spiritual city of God, i.e. Christ’s bride, his true church. We will be permanently situated with God in heaven forever and ever, amen!
He who has an ear… If God has spoken to your heart through this passage of scripture concerning your relationship with Jesus Christ and you realize that true faith in Jesus Christ is faith that endures, that holds on, that overcomes, and if you have been relying on a false hope and a false gospel that has fed you a lie and that has told you that nothing is required of you other than some mental or audible acknowledgment of Jesus Christ and his salvation, then my prayer for you is that you would hear what the Spirit of God is saying to the churches. There is a reason this book of Revelation, which is mainly about the judgments of Almighty God on the earth, begins with these letters to churches and that calls them to repentance and to endurance. The Bible says that even the demons believe and they shudder and that there will be people that God is going to shut out of his heaven who thought they were Christians because they did such and such for God. So, make sure you have a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ that is evidenced by true repentance and obedience and by fruit that reveals a true heart transformation. I’d like to see you in heaven one day. So, repent while there is still time if you are not in true faith in Jesus Christ.
Awestruck Grief / An Original Work / April 21, 2011
When in awestruck grief o’er my sins, Lord, I bow,
Will You hear me, Lord, and forgive me just now?
I am so amazed that You could love me so.
Yet, Your love and kindness ever fill my soul.
Lord, You are amazing, and gracious and kind
To have offered Yourself for us when we’re blind.
You were crucified on that hill, Calvary,
When they hung Your body to die on a tree.
Now that You’ve redeemed us and, thus, set us free,
I pray, Lord, for all on this earth to believe
In Your sacrifice, Lord, cleansing all our sin,
So that we can live for You, and die within.
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B5aJQ42RLiUlNTcyYzFhOTktMzlkOC00NjRjLThmNTktYWI2NWE1ZjBiYWVj&hl=en
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
My Witnesses
My Witnesses / An Original Work / April 26, 2011
You shall be called My witnesses
Unto Me in Jerusalem.
Harken to Me, won’t you believe
Jesus is calling you home?
Trust in Your Lord and God to save
Everyone who trusts His name.
Let everyone who says he’s saved
Honor and magnify My name.
Won’t you believe in Me today?
I have provided the Way.
I lay My life down for your soul.
Won’t you trust Me to make you whole?
Oh, how I love and care for you.
Would you abide with Me in truth?
Listen to Me, now hear My plea,
Won’t you trust Me with your all?
I gave My life, so you go free.
Won’t you bow down on bended knee?
Sheet Music (with lyrics)
Audio/Sound (without lyrics)
You shall be called My witnesses
Unto Me in Jerusalem.
Harken to Me, won’t you believe
Jesus is calling you home?
Trust in Your Lord and God to save
Everyone who trusts His name.
Let everyone who says he’s saved
Honor and magnify My name.
Won’t you believe in Me today?
I have provided the Way.
I lay My life down for your soul.
Won’t you trust Me to make you whole?
Oh, how I love and care for you.
Would you abide with Me in truth?
Listen to Me, now hear My plea,
Won’t you trust Me with your all?
I gave My life, so you go free.
Won’t you bow down on bended knee?
Sheet Music (with lyrics)
Audio/Sound (without lyrics)
First Things First
First Things First / An Original Work / April 27, 2011
First things first! Last things last!
Will you be the first to love others?
Will you follow Jesus, the Lamb?
Will you witness, dispelling darkness?
Will you be the light to the world?
Show the world how much Jesus loves them.
That’s why He died for their sins.
I love God! He loves me!
I will follow Him where he leads me.
Where He goes, I’ll go with Him
Into valleys, grief stricken trials,
Or on mountain tops, peace within.
There is not a challenge He can’t meet
If we but trust in Him.
First things first! Last things last!
Loving God means He is in first place.
He is King; He’s Lord of my world.
I give Him the glory and honor;
Magnifying the great I AM!
He is worthy of all my worship.
He deserves all of my praise.
Sheet Music (with lyrics)
Audio/Sound (without lyrics)
First things first! Last things last!
Will you be the first to love others?
Will you follow Jesus, the Lamb?
Will you witness, dispelling darkness?
Will you be the light to the world?
Show the world how much Jesus loves them.
That’s why He died for their sins.
I love God! He loves me!
I will follow Him where he leads me.
Where He goes, I’ll go with Him
Into valleys, grief stricken trials,
Or on mountain tops, peace within.
There is not a challenge He can’t meet
If we but trust in Him.
First things first! Last things last!
Loving God means He is in first place.
He is King; He’s Lord of my world.
I give Him the glory and honor;
Magnifying the great I AM!
He is worthy of all my worship.
He deserves all of my praise.
Sheet Music (with lyrics)
Audio/Sound (without lyrics)
Dressed in White
Wednesday, April 27, 2011, 4:02 a.m. – When I woke up early this morning, the song, How Sweet the Sound, was playing in my mind. So, I got up, sat down on the sofa to have my quiet time with the Lord and prayed, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” Then, I read Revelation 3:1-6:
In each of these letters, I believe there are three or four (depending upon the letter and to whom it is addressed) main components of the body of each letter: 1) The Affirmation, 2) The Condemnation, 3) The Proclamation and 4) The Application. So far, they have pretty much followed in that order of sequence, but this letter begins with the condemnation, followed by the proclamation and then the affirmation and the application. So, that is the order I will follow with this passage of scripture today as I prayerfully seek God to understand the lessons being taught here that can be applied to my life and to our lives today.
The Condemnation
Jesus said he knows their deeds. He can see everything we do, because he is God. He knows when we sit, rise, lie down, walk, talk, play, work, etc. He knows everything about us, inside and out. Nothing escapes his knowledge or his notice. He knows the end from the beginning. He even knows the numbers of hairs on our heads. And, he was letting this church know that he was well aware of what they were doing. He told them that they had a reputation of being alive, but they were dead. I don’t know on what basis they had this reputation or what that meant for them personally, so what I believe the Lord would have me examine and talk about today is what it means for us to have a reputation of being alive but how some of us are really dead.
Our reputations are the viewpoints, estimations and opinions that others have about us either through observation, personal experience with us, gossip, information passed from one person to another, or whatever other means they may have heard about us or have encountered us in some way. Sometimes the reputations are true and sometimes they are false, misleading and/or distorted based upon hearsay, rumors or misconceptions. Sometimes our reputations are positive and sometimes they are negative, and they can vary from people to people depending on the perspective of the one with the opinion or estimation. In the case of the church in Sardis, they had a good reputation, but it was false and misleading, i.e. they appeared to be better than what they really were. The reason for this “too good to be true” reputation could fall upon the ones who made the assessment, but it is more likely that the church itself gave off the impression they were better than they really were. Either way, their reputation did not match with whom they were inside.
They had a reputation of being alive spiritually, but they were dead spiritually. In other words, they had a reputation that they were true believers in Jesus Christ, but they were not believers. I can take no other view of this based upon the affirmation section of this passage in which it states that they have a few people among them who have not soiled their clothes and they are the ones who will walk with Jesus Christ and be dressed in white for they are worthy. We know that our worthiness does not come from within ourselves but only by God’s grace in his saving work within our lives, so what this is clearly saying is that the majority of this congregation were Christians in reputation only, but they did not have a vital, living and fruit bearing relationship with Jesus Christ.
And, this is not unlike many of our church congregations here in the USA, either, with the watered-down gospel messages that go out regularly from the pulpits of many church gatherings which deny the need for repentance and obedience for salvation. Yet, it is so clear throughout the New Testament that both repentance and obedience are absolutely essential to true faith in Jesus Christ and to our ultimate salvation and eternal life with God in heaven. They often will use the excuse that repentance and obedience for salvation is works-based salvation, yet what true believer in Jesus Christ would not want to repent and to obey or to want to let others know of the importance of repentance and obedience? What is the purpose of a belief that is head knowledge only with no change in attitude or heart or behavior? The Bible is clear that when there is no change, there was no change, i.e. that person is not genuinely saved. Repentance and obedience = true faith in Christ Jesus.
The Proclamation
Wake up! To wake means “to come back to a conscious state after sleeping, or make somebody do this; to become alert and active after being inactive; to become aware of something; and/or to keep watch” (Encarta). This is a call to spiritual alertness, to paying attention to what Jesus Christ is saying, and to obedience. Basically it is saying to stop just wearing the name “Christian” and actually become a true believer in Jesus Christ who turns from living according to the flesh and who walks in faith and obedience to Jesus Christ, not out of his own working his way into heaven, but in allowing the grace of God to do a work of transformation in his or her heart and life to exact change of heart, mind and behavior. Our “job” in faith is merely to cooperate with God in allowing him to change us and to make us into his holy bride ready to meet him when he returns. True faith involves heart surrender.
Strengthen what remains and is about to die – it appears here that even what evidence of spiritual life there was to the church, as a whole, was in danger of dying, perhaps because the majority’s influence was so great that this deadness was spreading throughout the congregation. Yet, when Jesus stated that he did not find their deeds complete in his sight, he was saying that their profession of faith did not match what was in their hearts as was evidenced by what they did, because our actions do speak as to what is truly in our hearts, as well as our fruits reveal whether or not we are truly in Christ Jesus, though not one of us can sit in judgment over another in this matter, because we don’t see as God sees. What’s the solution to the problem? - Repent and obey! If you are a Christian in reputation only for whatever reason, and you have not truly had a heart transformation where you turned from your sinful lifestyle and you turned in the other (opposite) direction to follow the Lord Jesus Christ in faith and obedience, then I would encourage you to make your heart right today.
If those who are Christians in reputation only and who have not repented of their sin and have not turned to walk in faith and obedience to Jesus Christ don’t now repent and obey, Jesus will come to them like a thief. He comes as a thief in judgment to those who are still walking in darkness and who are not, in hope, waiting and watching for his return.
The Affirmation
Yet, not everyone in this congregation fell into this category of having a reputation of being spiritually alive but yet were dead. There were some who did not compromise with sin and with the world and who remained faithful to the Lord Jesus. They are the ones who will walk with Jesus Christ in glory and will be among those in heaven with God and wearing his righteousness. They are worthy because of God’s grace in saving them.
The Application
If those who are Christians in reputation only would only repent of their sin and obey the Lord Jesus Christ by cooperating with him in his work of grace in transforming their hearts and lives, then, as overcomers, they, too, can be dressed in Christ’s righteousness and have the hope of eternal life in heaven with God forever. All those who are true believers in Jesus Christ will have their names permanently stamped in the book of life, sealed by the promised Holy Spirit, and guaranteed eternal life in heaven with God, and Jesus will acknowledge that he knows us, that he loves us, and that we are ones of his before his Father in heaven and before the angels in heaven.
If you have an ear to hear what the Holy Spirit of God is saying to us today through this passage of scripture in which contains this letter to this church, and the Lord Jesus has put his finger upon any area of your life where you are one of his followers in reputation only, but not in reality, then my prayer today is that you would make sure of your salvation by surrendering your all to the Lord Jesus Christ today so that you can one day share in his glory in heaven with the rest of his saints who are and will be singing his praises.
How Sweet the Sound / An Original Work / April 24, 2011
How sweet the sound of Your saints in chorus;
Oh, how we adore You, our King.
We love You so, we want You to know.
That’s why we lift our voice to sing.
Praise and adoration we bring
Just to honor God and our King.
We love You, Lord, for Your great salvation;
Freely given grace from above.
Jesus, our friend, His promise won’t end.
He gave His life out of His love.
By His blood He purchased our fee,
When He died on Calvary’s tree.
He set us free so that we can worship
Him as a living sacrifice.
We come to Him with all of our sin.
Before our God we humbly bow.
We have been forgiven our sin,
So that we might be cleansed within.
Music, Page 1
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/Christsfreeservant/HowSweettheSound51.jpg
Music, Page 2
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/Christsfreeservant/HowSweettheSound252.jpg
To the Church in SardisMy Understanding: This letter is from Jesus Christ. It is addressed to the earthly minister (elder/pastor) of this church in Sardis, yet it is for the church as a whole to hear and to apply its truths to their lives. Jesus is the one being spoken of here as one who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. To hold means to possess, to have, and to keep. Most commentators I have read agree that the “seven spirits of God” represent the Holy Spirit and that the seven stars represent the elder/pastors of each of these seven churches. Jesus Christ was definitely letting his readers know that he was God and that he had the divine knowledge to know what was in their hearts and the divine authority to address them in this letter on the issues presented, based upon that knowledge and the authority of God Almighty to command obedience to His words contained within.
1 “To the angel of the church in Sardis write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.
4 Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. 5 He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels. 6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
In each of these letters, I believe there are three or four (depending upon the letter and to whom it is addressed) main components of the body of each letter: 1) The Affirmation, 2) The Condemnation, 3) The Proclamation and 4) The Application. So far, they have pretty much followed in that order of sequence, but this letter begins with the condemnation, followed by the proclamation and then the affirmation and the application. So, that is the order I will follow with this passage of scripture today as I prayerfully seek God to understand the lessons being taught here that can be applied to my life and to our lives today.
The Condemnation
Jesus said he knows their deeds. He can see everything we do, because he is God. He knows when we sit, rise, lie down, walk, talk, play, work, etc. He knows everything about us, inside and out. Nothing escapes his knowledge or his notice. He knows the end from the beginning. He even knows the numbers of hairs on our heads. And, he was letting this church know that he was well aware of what they were doing. He told them that they had a reputation of being alive, but they were dead. I don’t know on what basis they had this reputation or what that meant for them personally, so what I believe the Lord would have me examine and talk about today is what it means for us to have a reputation of being alive but how some of us are really dead.
Our reputations are the viewpoints, estimations and opinions that others have about us either through observation, personal experience with us, gossip, information passed from one person to another, or whatever other means they may have heard about us or have encountered us in some way. Sometimes the reputations are true and sometimes they are false, misleading and/or distorted based upon hearsay, rumors or misconceptions. Sometimes our reputations are positive and sometimes they are negative, and they can vary from people to people depending on the perspective of the one with the opinion or estimation. In the case of the church in Sardis, they had a good reputation, but it was false and misleading, i.e. they appeared to be better than what they really were. The reason for this “too good to be true” reputation could fall upon the ones who made the assessment, but it is more likely that the church itself gave off the impression they were better than they really were. Either way, their reputation did not match with whom they were inside.
They had a reputation of being alive spiritually, but they were dead spiritually. In other words, they had a reputation that they were true believers in Jesus Christ, but they were not believers. I can take no other view of this based upon the affirmation section of this passage in which it states that they have a few people among them who have not soiled their clothes and they are the ones who will walk with Jesus Christ and be dressed in white for they are worthy. We know that our worthiness does not come from within ourselves but only by God’s grace in his saving work within our lives, so what this is clearly saying is that the majority of this congregation were Christians in reputation only, but they did not have a vital, living and fruit bearing relationship with Jesus Christ.
And, this is not unlike many of our church congregations here in the USA, either, with the watered-down gospel messages that go out regularly from the pulpits of many church gatherings which deny the need for repentance and obedience for salvation. Yet, it is so clear throughout the New Testament that both repentance and obedience are absolutely essential to true faith in Jesus Christ and to our ultimate salvation and eternal life with God in heaven. They often will use the excuse that repentance and obedience for salvation is works-based salvation, yet what true believer in Jesus Christ would not want to repent and to obey or to want to let others know of the importance of repentance and obedience? What is the purpose of a belief that is head knowledge only with no change in attitude or heart or behavior? The Bible is clear that when there is no change, there was no change, i.e. that person is not genuinely saved. Repentance and obedience = true faith in Christ Jesus.
The Proclamation
Wake up! To wake means “to come back to a conscious state after sleeping, or make somebody do this; to become alert and active after being inactive; to become aware of something; and/or to keep watch” (Encarta). This is a call to spiritual alertness, to paying attention to what Jesus Christ is saying, and to obedience. Basically it is saying to stop just wearing the name “Christian” and actually become a true believer in Jesus Christ who turns from living according to the flesh and who walks in faith and obedience to Jesus Christ, not out of his own working his way into heaven, but in allowing the grace of God to do a work of transformation in his or her heart and life to exact change of heart, mind and behavior. Our “job” in faith is merely to cooperate with God in allowing him to change us and to make us into his holy bride ready to meet him when he returns. True faith involves heart surrender.
Strengthen what remains and is about to die – it appears here that even what evidence of spiritual life there was to the church, as a whole, was in danger of dying, perhaps because the majority’s influence was so great that this deadness was spreading throughout the congregation. Yet, when Jesus stated that he did not find their deeds complete in his sight, he was saying that their profession of faith did not match what was in their hearts as was evidenced by what they did, because our actions do speak as to what is truly in our hearts, as well as our fruits reveal whether or not we are truly in Christ Jesus, though not one of us can sit in judgment over another in this matter, because we don’t see as God sees. What’s the solution to the problem? - Repent and obey! If you are a Christian in reputation only for whatever reason, and you have not truly had a heart transformation where you turned from your sinful lifestyle and you turned in the other (opposite) direction to follow the Lord Jesus Christ in faith and obedience, then I would encourage you to make your heart right today.
If those who are Christians in reputation only and who have not repented of their sin and have not turned to walk in faith and obedience to Jesus Christ don’t now repent and obey, Jesus will come to them like a thief. He comes as a thief in judgment to those who are still walking in darkness and who are not, in hope, waiting and watching for his return.
The Affirmation
Yet, not everyone in this congregation fell into this category of having a reputation of being spiritually alive but yet were dead. There were some who did not compromise with sin and with the world and who remained faithful to the Lord Jesus. They are the ones who will walk with Jesus Christ in glory and will be among those in heaven with God and wearing his righteousness. They are worthy because of God’s grace in saving them.
The Application
If those who are Christians in reputation only would only repent of their sin and obey the Lord Jesus Christ by cooperating with him in his work of grace in transforming their hearts and lives, then, as overcomers, they, too, can be dressed in Christ’s righteousness and have the hope of eternal life in heaven with God forever. All those who are true believers in Jesus Christ will have their names permanently stamped in the book of life, sealed by the promised Holy Spirit, and guaranteed eternal life in heaven with God, and Jesus will acknowledge that he knows us, that he loves us, and that we are ones of his before his Father in heaven and before the angels in heaven.
If you have an ear to hear what the Holy Spirit of God is saying to us today through this passage of scripture in which contains this letter to this church, and the Lord Jesus has put his finger upon any area of your life where you are one of his followers in reputation only, but not in reality, then my prayer today is that you would make sure of your salvation by surrendering your all to the Lord Jesus Christ today so that you can one day share in his glory in heaven with the rest of his saints who are and will be singing his praises.
How Sweet the Sound / An Original Work / April 24, 2011
How sweet the sound of Your saints in chorus;
Oh, how we adore You, our King.
We love You so, we want You to know.
That’s why we lift our voice to sing.
Praise and adoration we bring
Just to honor God and our King.
We love You, Lord, for Your great salvation;
Freely given grace from above.
Jesus, our friend, His promise won’t end.
He gave His life out of His love.
By His blood He purchased our fee,
When He died on Calvary’s tree.
He set us free so that we can worship
Him as a living sacrifice.
We come to Him with all of our sin.
Before our God we humbly bow.
We have been forgiven our sin,
So that we might be cleansed within.
Music, Page 1
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/Christsfreeservant/HowSweettheSound51.jpg
Music, Page 2
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/Christsfreeservant/HowSweettheSound252.jpg
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Compromise
Tuesday, April 26, 2011, 5:39 a.m. – When I woke this morning, the song, His Favor, was playing in my mind. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Revelation 2:8-17:
First of all today I believe I am to look at the descriptions being given of the author of these letters, Jesus Christ. Jesus is described as the “First and the Last,” i.e. he is the beginning and the end. In other words, he is God. He existed with the Father always, and he is the creator of all things, as well as he holds all things together. So, we serve a triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He “died and came to life again.” Jesus Christ left his place in heaven with the Father, came to earth, took on human flesh, was tempted as we are tempted, yet without sin, and suffered as we suffer so that he could become our great, sympathetic and compassionate high priest (our mediator between us and the Father).
Then, he was hung on a cross to die as a common criminal, though he had committed no wrong. When he died on the cross, he took upon himself all our sins, which was the greatest suffering of all. Thus, our sins were crucified and buried with him, yet when he rose from the grave, our sins remained in the grave. When he rose victoriously from the dead, he conquered death, hell, Satan and sin – the penalty of sin and the control of sin over our daily lives. He did this because he loved us, so that through faith in Him, we might receive his great and precious promises of eternal life with him forever, of freedom from the penalty and the control of sin over our lives, and the freedom to live new lives in Jesus Christ.
After he rose from the grave, he ascended back to heaven to be with the Father (after having been witnessed as to his resurrection by many people, and after having spent some final time with his disciples on the earth). From heaven, he sent the Holy Spirit to indwell the hearts and lives of those who truly believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. And, one day this same Jesus is coming again in judgment and to receive his bride (the church) unto himself. The second description of him is of the one who has the sharp, double-edged sword, which he will use to judge even the church that is not faithful to Jesus Christ.
The Affirmation
The church in Smyrna was described as having afflictions and poverty, yet they were rich. I believe this is speaking of how they went through hardships in their lives and they were not rich in the things of this world, yet they were rich in faith and in love, which is the greatest richness of all! Perhaps you might identify with them today. Be encouraged! Though we have trials on this earth that test our faith, we must persevere and we must keep our heads in all situations, understanding the times we live in and with the perspective of eternity in mind. Jesus understood the slanderous accusations that stood against these believers by those who called themselves Jews (or we might say today, by those who call themselves Christians), yet they were not what they professed. He had been the recipient of such slanderous accusations himself and I am certain he still is. Yet, we should not be afraid of suffering false accusations, persecutions and/or rejections because of our faith in Christ Jesus. We may or may not be thrown into physical prison, yet Satan has ways of making us feel as though we are in prison (abandoned, forsaken, banished) through our times of suffering and persecution for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ, yet we should not fear. We are to be faithful, even to the point of death, and He will give us the crown of life.
The church in Pergamum was described as living where Satan has his throne, yet they remained true to the name of Jesus Christ, i.e. to who Jesus Christ is – his character, attributes, teachings, what he stands for, etc. Satan has his throne on the earth, so we all live where Satan has his throne (temporarily) until Jesus Christ comes to judge. And, we all face temptation, torments, false accusations, difficulties, etc. at the hand of Satan, which God uses in our lives to strengthen us in our faith and walk with Jesus Christ. In this case, this church was in a location where Satan was coming after believers in Jesus Christ and was killing those who witnessed for Jesus Christ because of their testimony, so these believers in Pergamum were to be encouraged for their faithfulness and in not denying their faith in Jesus Christ even in the face of such great persecution and the potential of death. In the USA, we have yet to face this kind of persecution in our nation to where we are put to death for our faith, but we do experience much emotional, mental and perhaps physical abuse, rejection and persecution for our faith, and even from those who purport faith.
The Condemnation
Even though the church in Pergamum was commended for their strong faith in Jesus Christ and for not denying him and for remaining true and faithful, Jesus Christ still had something against them. There were those in the church who followed false teaching and false teachers. That could be said of today’s church here in America, too. The main components of what Balaam and the Nicolaitans represent could be said, as well, of the church in the USA today. Balaam and the Nicolaitans shared a common thematic element, which was “compromise”. They either compromised with pagan (non-Christian) society or they compromised with worldliness, which are essentially the same thing. They blended their Christian faith and practice in with worldliness and with worldly patterns of behavior.
This “compromise” set the stage for “spiritual” liberty that gave them permission to practice idolatry and immorality. Theirs appeared to be more blatant. Today’s compromise with the world is more subtle and thus more dangerous. When the church becomes like a cleaned-up version of the world in order to attract the world, what they are presenting is the world, which is why the world is attracted to it. When the gospel of Jesus Christ is thus watered down in order to draw in large crowds of people and to be “seeker sensitive”, and repentance and obedience to Jesus Christ are removed from the gospel message, then by default the message of the church is a libertine message that does not bring its followers to the cross and to death to their old ways of life and to obedience and surrender to Jesus Christ. And, that is where most of today’s church in America is today, I believe.
The Proclamation
Whenever a condemnation (what Jesus had against them) was pronounced, it was immediately followed by the command to “repent,” i.e. for them to turn away from their practices that stood in contrast to their faith and to the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and for them to go the opposite direction in faith and obedience to Jesus Christ and to his commands. If they did not repent, i.e. if they refused Jesus Christ’s warnings and did not act upon them in faith and obedience and surrender to God’s will, then Jesus would come against them and would fight against them with the sword of his mouth. Jesus promised judgment of some kind for all these churches who had a condemnation declared against them if they refused to repent. The Bible says that judgment begins with the family of God and Jesus says that he disciplines those he loves, so our God is not just a God of grace, and Jesus is not satisfied with us just praying a prayer and never having changed. He still takes our sins seriously and he wants and commands obedience of his followers.
The Application
In all of the letters, Jesus Christ concludes them in two ways, one of which is to plead with each church to hear what the Spirit of God is saying to the churches. He is still saying that today. If the Holy Spirit of God is speaking to your heart and life via His Word, and/or if your church has been given a word from the Lord against it because of unchecked sin, idolatry, spiritual adultery, false teaching, etc., then Jesus is saying to you today to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying, repent, and obey the Lord so that you don’t face his hand of judgment against you.
The second part of these concluding remarks is the call to overcome, i.e. to overpower, disable, choke out, defeat and conquer anything in our lives that stands in the way to our faith in Jesus Christ from being fulfilled in our lives in full surrender and obedience to God. This is accomplished by not giving way or hold to the enemy, by not being led astray by sin’s deceitfulness, by not following a false gospel that, by default, gives permission to keep sinning, and by turning from sin and turning to walk in faith and obedience to Jesus Christ. Overcomers will receive eternal life and all that has to offer. Make sure today that your faith is one that overcomes and is not one that gives permission to keep on sinning, which is not true faith. Make sure you have the kind of faith that forsakes sin, that comes to the cross, and that follows Jesus Christ in obedience and surrender, and thus promises you eternal life so that you don’t have to live without Christ forever.
His Favor / An Original Work / April 18, 2011
Behold your King!
Worship the Lord, He’s the great I AM; the perfect Lamb.
Jesus, our Redeemer, our Savior, sustainer,
The heavens declare!
The risen One;
He gave His life as a sacrifice. He paid the price.
Our blessed provider, our Lord, magnify Him,
For He’s God’s Son!
Our God is King.
He reigns forever in majesty. He set us free.
Without Him forever, we won’t know his favor,
In victory!
Music, Page 1
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/Christsfreeservant/HisFavor35.jpg
Music, Page 2
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/Christsfreeservant/HisFavor236.jpg
To the Church in SmyrnaMy Understanding: In the previous writing, Overcomers, the Lord gave me an overview of the seven letters to the seven churches in Asia and an outline that each letter basically followed. Each letter was to the church in a specific location, as well as each letter was authored by Jesus Christ. John was the human instrument called to deliver these letters. The main body of each letter, I saw as having three or four main parts, depending upon the letter: 1) The Affirmation, 2) The Condemnation, 3) The Proclamation and 4) The Application. I believe I am to follow that same basic outline with each of these letters. Today I sense I am to combine two of the churches together: Smyrna and Pergamum.
8 “To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:
These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. 9 I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.
11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.
To the Church in Pergamum
12 “To the angel of the church in Pergamum write:
These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. 13 I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.
14 Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. 15 Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.
First of all today I believe I am to look at the descriptions being given of the author of these letters, Jesus Christ. Jesus is described as the “First and the Last,” i.e. he is the beginning and the end. In other words, he is God. He existed with the Father always, and he is the creator of all things, as well as he holds all things together. So, we serve a triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He “died and came to life again.” Jesus Christ left his place in heaven with the Father, came to earth, took on human flesh, was tempted as we are tempted, yet without sin, and suffered as we suffer so that he could become our great, sympathetic and compassionate high priest (our mediator between us and the Father).
Then, he was hung on a cross to die as a common criminal, though he had committed no wrong. When he died on the cross, he took upon himself all our sins, which was the greatest suffering of all. Thus, our sins were crucified and buried with him, yet when he rose from the grave, our sins remained in the grave. When he rose victoriously from the dead, he conquered death, hell, Satan and sin – the penalty of sin and the control of sin over our daily lives. He did this because he loved us, so that through faith in Him, we might receive his great and precious promises of eternal life with him forever, of freedom from the penalty and the control of sin over our lives, and the freedom to live new lives in Jesus Christ.
After he rose from the grave, he ascended back to heaven to be with the Father (after having been witnessed as to his resurrection by many people, and after having spent some final time with his disciples on the earth). From heaven, he sent the Holy Spirit to indwell the hearts and lives of those who truly believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. And, one day this same Jesus is coming again in judgment and to receive his bride (the church) unto himself. The second description of him is of the one who has the sharp, double-edged sword, which he will use to judge even the church that is not faithful to Jesus Christ.
The Affirmation
The church in Smyrna was described as having afflictions and poverty, yet they were rich. I believe this is speaking of how they went through hardships in their lives and they were not rich in the things of this world, yet they were rich in faith and in love, which is the greatest richness of all! Perhaps you might identify with them today. Be encouraged! Though we have trials on this earth that test our faith, we must persevere and we must keep our heads in all situations, understanding the times we live in and with the perspective of eternity in mind. Jesus understood the slanderous accusations that stood against these believers by those who called themselves Jews (or we might say today, by those who call themselves Christians), yet they were not what they professed. He had been the recipient of such slanderous accusations himself and I am certain he still is. Yet, we should not be afraid of suffering false accusations, persecutions and/or rejections because of our faith in Christ Jesus. We may or may not be thrown into physical prison, yet Satan has ways of making us feel as though we are in prison (abandoned, forsaken, banished) through our times of suffering and persecution for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ, yet we should not fear. We are to be faithful, even to the point of death, and He will give us the crown of life.
The church in Pergamum was described as living where Satan has his throne, yet they remained true to the name of Jesus Christ, i.e. to who Jesus Christ is – his character, attributes, teachings, what he stands for, etc. Satan has his throne on the earth, so we all live where Satan has his throne (temporarily) until Jesus Christ comes to judge. And, we all face temptation, torments, false accusations, difficulties, etc. at the hand of Satan, which God uses in our lives to strengthen us in our faith and walk with Jesus Christ. In this case, this church was in a location where Satan was coming after believers in Jesus Christ and was killing those who witnessed for Jesus Christ because of their testimony, so these believers in Pergamum were to be encouraged for their faithfulness and in not denying their faith in Jesus Christ even in the face of such great persecution and the potential of death. In the USA, we have yet to face this kind of persecution in our nation to where we are put to death for our faith, but we do experience much emotional, mental and perhaps physical abuse, rejection and persecution for our faith, and even from those who purport faith.
The Condemnation
Even though the church in Pergamum was commended for their strong faith in Jesus Christ and for not denying him and for remaining true and faithful, Jesus Christ still had something against them. There were those in the church who followed false teaching and false teachers. That could be said of today’s church here in America, too. The main components of what Balaam and the Nicolaitans represent could be said, as well, of the church in the USA today. Balaam and the Nicolaitans shared a common thematic element, which was “compromise”. They either compromised with pagan (non-Christian) society or they compromised with worldliness, which are essentially the same thing. They blended their Christian faith and practice in with worldliness and with worldly patterns of behavior.
This “compromise” set the stage for “spiritual” liberty that gave them permission to practice idolatry and immorality. Theirs appeared to be more blatant. Today’s compromise with the world is more subtle and thus more dangerous. When the church becomes like a cleaned-up version of the world in order to attract the world, what they are presenting is the world, which is why the world is attracted to it. When the gospel of Jesus Christ is thus watered down in order to draw in large crowds of people and to be “seeker sensitive”, and repentance and obedience to Jesus Christ are removed from the gospel message, then by default the message of the church is a libertine message that does not bring its followers to the cross and to death to their old ways of life and to obedience and surrender to Jesus Christ. And, that is where most of today’s church in America is today, I believe.
The Proclamation
Whenever a condemnation (what Jesus had against them) was pronounced, it was immediately followed by the command to “repent,” i.e. for them to turn away from their practices that stood in contrast to their faith and to the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and for them to go the opposite direction in faith and obedience to Jesus Christ and to his commands. If they did not repent, i.e. if they refused Jesus Christ’s warnings and did not act upon them in faith and obedience and surrender to God’s will, then Jesus would come against them and would fight against them with the sword of his mouth. Jesus promised judgment of some kind for all these churches who had a condemnation declared against them if they refused to repent. The Bible says that judgment begins with the family of God and Jesus says that he disciplines those he loves, so our God is not just a God of grace, and Jesus is not satisfied with us just praying a prayer and never having changed. He still takes our sins seriously and he wants and commands obedience of his followers.
The Application
In all of the letters, Jesus Christ concludes them in two ways, one of which is to plead with each church to hear what the Spirit of God is saying to the churches. He is still saying that today. If the Holy Spirit of God is speaking to your heart and life via His Word, and/or if your church has been given a word from the Lord against it because of unchecked sin, idolatry, spiritual adultery, false teaching, etc., then Jesus is saying to you today to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying, repent, and obey the Lord so that you don’t face his hand of judgment against you.
The second part of these concluding remarks is the call to overcome, i.e. to overpower, disable, choke out, defeat and conquer anything in our lives that stands in the way to our faith in Jesus Christ from being fulfilled in our lives in full surrender and obedience to God. This is accomplished by not giving way or hold to the enemy, by not being led astray by sin’s deceitfulness, by not following a false gospel that, by default, gives permission to keep sinning, and by turning from sin and turning to walk in faith and obedience to Jesus Christ. Overcomers will receive eternal life and all that has to offer. Make sure today that your faith is one that overcomes and is not one that gives permission to keep on sinning, which is not true faith. Make sure you have the kind of faith that forsakes sin, that comes to the cross, and that follows Jesus Christ in obedience and surrender, and thus promises you eternal life so that you don’t have to live without Christ forever.
His Favor / An Original Work / April 18, 2011
Behold your King!
Worship the Lord, He’s the great I AM; the perfect Lamb.
Jesus, our Redeemer, our Savior, sustainer,
The heavens declare!
The risen One;
He gave His life as a sacrifice. He paid the price.
Our blessed provider, our Lord, magnify Him,
For He’s God’s Son!
Our God is King.
He reigns forever in majesty. He set us free.
Without Him forever, we won’t know his favor,
In victory!
Music, Page 1
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/Christsfreeservant/HisFavor35.jpg
Music, Page 2
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/Christsfreeservant/HisFavor236.jpg
Monday, April 25, 2011
Overcomers
Monday, April 25, 2011, 7:00 a.m. – When I woke this morning, the song, Rest for the Weary, was playing in my mind. I prayed, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” Then, I read Revelation 2:1-7:
My Understanding: Revelation, chapters 2-3 contain seven letters to seven church congregations in Asia. John is the human instrument chosen by God to deliver these letters, and Jesus Christ is the true author of the letters to the church fellowships. Each letter is addressed to the angel of that specific local church. Commentators I have read present several interpretations for the word “angel,” yet I believe that the Lord has given me the understanding that the angel represents the earthly ministers of each of these local church congregations.
Contained in these letters, Jesus Christ has words, either of affirmation or of condemnation, or both, for each of these church groups. Two of the letters contain affirmations only, one has a condemnation only and the other four contain both affirmation and condemnation. Where a condemnation is present, there is always a call for repentance. And, where a call for repentance exists, there is always a threatened punishment if the church congregation does not repent of its sin. Each letter also concludes with two parts: 1) Calling for all who will hear to listen to what the Spirit says to the churches, and 2) Promises for overcomers.
There are multiple thoughts concerning these letters and how they may or may not apply to today. My belief is that “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17), and that “the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).
In other words, this is God’s living and active word breathed into our hearts that can still speak to church congregations and to individual believers as is applicable to their specific lives and congregations today. The Biblical principles established through these letters are consistent with the rest of New Testament teachings, so I believe the principles presented in these letters are timeless and are still to be taken seriously and applied to today.
So, with that said, I see three or four (depending upon which letter) main divisions within the main body of each letter: The Affirmation, The Condemnation, The Proclamation and the Application. So, now I want to examine this specific letter to the church in Ephesus.
The Affirmation
“I know your deeds…” God knows everything about us. He knows when we sit, rise, walk, lay down, eat, sleep, etc. He knows the good, the bad and the ugly about us. Nothing escapes his knowledge or his notice. I think we forget that sometimes. Our actions, anyway, seem to indicate that we are not always cognizant of the fact that God is watching our every move and hearing every word we say and even knowing every thought we think. I believe it would radically change our lifestyles if we actually gave thought to the presence of Almighty God in every aspect of our daily lives.
“Your hard work and your perseverance…” Based upon the condemnation that follows, i.e. that they had forsaken their first love, I can only conclude then that this hard work and perseverance, though directed apparently toward the right kinds of things, was more flesh driven, as it remains difficult to operate in the power of the Spirit of God within us if we have forsaken (abandoned; ditched) the one we need to give us that power and strength for ministry, if it is to be of the Holy Spirit and not of our own selves. Yet, even though they were forsaking their first love, the Lord still saw fit to acknowledge their hard work.
“You cannot tolerate wicked men…” They appeared to be moral people, holding to some level of spiritual standards of living. They did a lot of the right kinds of things – testing false apostles, persevering through and enduring hardships for the sake of the name of Jesus Christ, and they did not grow weary in doing so. As well, they hated the practices of false teachers and false doctrines. So, they were to be commended for all these good things that they were doing for the sake of the name of Christ.
The Condemnation
Yet, even though they appeared to be good, decent, and moral people who held to a high standard of Christian living and faith, they were still lacking the most important thing of all. They had forsaken their first love, Jesus Christ. Whenever I read this passage of scripture and think of “first love,” I can’t help but think of what it means or meant for most of us to have a “first love” (boyfriend or girlfriend) or even a second or third one that we were just madly in love with. I can still remember those days, even though, for me, that was 40 years ago. I wanted to be with him all the time. We could stay up late at night talking on the phone even if neither of us was saying anything. And, we had a horrible time saying good-night and going to our respective homes and beds. We hated good-byes. We could not wait until we could be married so we could be together forever. He was the first person I thought about in the morning and the last person on my mind before I went to sleep at night. I wanted to share everything with him - all my news, joys, sorrows, excitement, etc. We could just sit for hours holding each other and just being together. We liked a lot of the same kinds of things, and enjoyed doing them together. We still do after 40 years, too.
Well, that is what it means to have Jesus Christ as our “first love,” too. So, when he is not all these things or even part of these things to us, then something is wrong with the relationship. If we treated our spouses, boyfriends or girlfriends with the neglect that many “believers” treat our Lord, those relationships would be in very serious trouble. We need to rethink what it means to truly be in relationship with Jesus Christ and to have him as our “first love.” We should love Jesus just like how I described my love for my husband when we first fell in love and even how we still love each other after 40 years.
The Proclamation
The Lord Jesus does not want us only on Sundays for a couple of hours, he wants us 24/7 and always on call to hear his voice day or night and to obey Him whenever he calls. He wants to have that kind of sweet fellowship with us that I described above about the relationship between two people who really love each other. If we don’t have that kind of relationship with Him, and he is kind of an afterthought or a theology or doctrine we adhere to or a set of religious practices we follow, but we are not in sweet communion with him on a daily and hourly basis, then he is calling us to repent, i.e. to leave our lives of abandoning and neglecting our Lord and to come back into sweet fellowship with him to where we hear his voice speaking to us all the time, and to where we want nothing more than to love, serve and to obey him and to share everything about ourselves with him.
He tells those who have forsaken their first love that if they do not repent that he will come and will remove their lampstand from its place. The lampstands are the churches, so if he removes the church congregation from its place, then this is some kind of judgment that will take place, I believe for the purpose of getting the attention of the church to bring them to their knees in repentance. That judgment can take many forms, but it will entail some kind of hardship. A lamp is a light and we are to be lights to the world, so it could also entail some kind of removal of their effectiveness spiritually in the communities in which they serve. Whatever the judgment may be, we do know the Bible teaches that judgment begins with the family of God and that God disciplines those he loves, and he corrects us so that we will repent and so that we will make the necessary changes to our attitudes, actions and lifestyles, and so we will return to our “first love” or to make him our “first love” for the first time in our lives if we never were truly in a genuine love relationship with him.
The Application
Jesus Christ is saying for us to listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying to us. If the Spirit of God is speaking to your heart and is putting a finger on a specific area of your life that is not right with him, then don’t ignore that voice. Listen and obey.
Lastly, Jesus calls us to be overcomers. In every one of these letters he says that to him who overcomes, He will give or promise or provide some kind of spiritual reward or blessing, and many of those or all of them are specific to our eternal rewards in heaven, as though overcoming is intrinsically tied in with our eternal salvation and our hope of heaven. This letter to the church in Ephesus promises to those who overcome that they will have that perfect fellowship with God restored that existed before sin entered into the world. This can only happen to true believers in Jesus Christ, which means true believers are overcomers. The opposite of an overcomer is one who lives a sinful lifestyle and who lives to please self rather than living to please God and to obey him and his teachings. Repentance, perseverance, faith and obedience are all part of being an overcomer who will one day receive our salvation complete when Jesus Christ returns for his bride.
Rest for the Weary / An Original Work / April 23, 2011
Rest for the weary; peace for the soul;
Light in the darkness; mercy untold;
Perfect salvation; pardoned and free,
For Jesus died so that all may believe.
While we are waiting for Your return,
Jesus, Redeemer, let our hearts yearn
For your soon coming to get Your bride,
Washed in Your blood, having been sanctified.
Father, Son, Spirit, all three in One
Giveth salvation through redemption;
Jesus provided the sacrifice,
For our sins blood bought, for He paid the price.
Music, Pg 1
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/Christsfreeservant/RestfortheWeary45.jpg
Music, Pg 2
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/Christsfreeservant/RestfortheWeary248.jpg
To the Church in Ephesus
1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands: 2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5 Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6 But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
My Understanding: Revelation, chapters 2-3 contain seven letters to seven church congregations in Asia. John is the human instrument chosen by God to deliver these letters, and Jesus Christ is the true author of the letters to the church fellowships. Each letter is addressed to the angel of that specific local church. Commentators I have read present several interpretations for the word “angel,” yet I believe that the Lord has given me the understanding that the angel represents the earthly ministers of each of these local church congregations.
Contained in these letters, Jesus Christ has words, either of affirmation or of condemnation, or both, for each of these church groups. Two of the letters contain affirmations only, one has a condemnation only and the other four contain both affirmation and condemnation. Where a condemnation is present, there is always a call for repentance. And, where a call for repentance exists, there is always a threatened punishment if the church congregation does not repent of its sin. Each letter also concludes with two parts: 1) Calling for all who will hear to listen to what the Spirit says to the churches, and 2) Promises for overcomers.
There are multiple thoughts concerning these letters and how they may or may not apply to today. My belief is that “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17), and that “the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).
In other words, this is God’s living and active word breathed into our hearts that can still speak to church congregations and to individual believers as is applicable to their specific lives and congregations today. The Biblical principles established through these letters are consistent with the rest of New Testament teachings, so I believe the principles presented in these letters are timeless and are still to be taken seriously and applied to today.
So, with that said, I see three or four (depending upon which letter) main divisions within the main body of each letter: The Affirmation, The Condemnation, The Proclamation and the Application. So, now I want to examine this specific letter to the church in Ephesus.
The Affirmation
“I know your deeds…” God knows everything about us. He knows when we sit, rise, walk, lay down, eat, sleep, etc. He knows the good, the bad and the ugly about us. Nothing escapes his knowledge or his notice. I think we forget that sometimes. Our actions, anyway, seem to indicate that we are not always cognizant of the fact that God is watching our every move and hearing every word we say and even knowing every thought we think. I believe it would radically change our lifestyles if we actually gave thought to the presence of Almighty God in every aspect of our daily lives.
“Your hard work and your perseverance…” Based upon the condemnation that follows, i.e. that they had forsaken their first love, I can only conclude then that this hard work and perseverance, though directed apparently toward the right kinds of things, was more flesh driven, as it remains difficult to operate in the power of the Spirit of God within us if we have forsaken (abandoned; ditched) the one we need to give us that power and strength for ministry, if it is to be of the Holy Spirit and not of our own selves. Yet, even though they were forsaking their first love, the Lord still saw fit to acknowledge their hard work.
“You cannot tolerate wicked men…” They appeared to be moral people, holding to some level of spiritual standards of living. They did a lot of the right kinds of things – testing false apostles, persevering through and enduring hardships for the sake of the name of Jesus Christ, and they did not grow weary in doing so. As well, they hated the practices of false teachers and false doctrines. So, they were to be commended for all these good things that they were doing for the sake of the name of Christ.
The Condemnation
Yet, even though they appeared to be good, decent, and moral people who held to a high standard of Christian living and faith, they were still lacking the most important thing of all. They had forsaken their first love, Jesus Christ. Whenever I read this passage of scripture and think of “first love,” I can’t help but think of what it means or meant for most of us to have a “first love” (boyfriend or girlfriend) or even a second or third one that we were just madly in love with. I can still remember those days, even though, for me, that was 40 years ago. I wanted to be with him all the time. We could stay up late at night talking on the phone even if neither of us was saying anything. And, we had a horrible time saying good-night and going to our respective homes and beds. We hated good-byes. We could not wait until we could be married so we could be together forever. He was the first person I thought about in the morning and the last person on my mind before I went to sleep at night. I wanted to share everything with him - all my news, joys, sorrows, excitement, etc. We could just sit for hours holding each other and just being together. We liked a lot of the same kinds of things, and enjoyed doing them together. We still do after 40 years, too.
Well, that is what it means to have Jesus Christ as our “first love,” too. So, when he is not all these things or even part of these things to us, then something is wrong with the relationship. If we treated our spouses, boyfriends or girlfriends with the neglect that many “believers” treat our Lord, those relationships would be in very serious trouble. We need to rethink what it means to truly be in relationship with Jesus Christ and to have him as our “first love.” We should love Jesus just like how I described my love for my husband when we first fell in love and even how we still love each other after 40 years.
The Proclamation
The Lord Jesus does not want us only on Sundays for a couple of hours, he wants us 24/7 and always on call to hear his voice day or night and to obey Him whenever he calls. He wants to have that kind of sweet fellowship with us that I described above about the relationship between two people who really love each other. If we don’t have that kind of relationship with Him, and he is kind of an afterthought or a theology or doctrine we adhere to or a set of religious practices we follow, but we are not in sweet communion with him on a daily and hourly basis, then he is calling us to repent, i.e. to leave our lives of abandoning and neglecting our Lord and to come back into sweet fellowship with him to where we hear his voice speaking to us all the time, and to where we want nothing more than to love, serve and to obey him and to share everything about ourselves with him.
He tells those who have forsaken their first love that if they do not repent that he will come and will remove their lampstand from its place. The lampstands are the churches, so if he removes the church congregation from its place, then this is some kind of judgment that will take place, I believe for the purpose of getting the attention of the church to bring them to their knees in repentance. That judgment can take many forms, but it will entail some kind of hardship. A lamp is a light and we are to be lights to the world, so it could also entail some kind of removal of their effectiveness spiritually in the communities in which they serve. Whatever the judgment may be, we do know the Bible teaches that judgment begins with the family of God and that God disciplines those he loves, and he corrects us so that we will repent and so that we will make the necessary changes to our attitudes, actions and lifestyles, and so we will return to our “first love” or to make him our “first love” for the first time in our lives if we never were truly in a genuine love relationship with him.
The Application
Jesus Christ is saying for us to listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying to us. If the Spirit of God is speaking to your heart and is putting a finger on a specific area of your life that is not right with him, then don’t ignore that voice. Listen and obey.
Lastly, Jesus calls us to be overcomers. In every one of these letters he says that to him who overcomes, He will give or promise or provide some kind of spiritual reward or blessing, and many of those or all of them are specific to our eternal rewards in heaven, as though overcoming is intrinsically tied in with our eternal salvation and our hope of heaven. This letter to the church in Ephesus promises to those who overcome that they will have that perfect fellowship with God restored that existed before sin entered into the world. This can only happen to true believers in Jesus Christ, which means true believers are overcomers. The opposite of an overcomer is one who lives a sinful lifestyle and who lives to please self rather than living to please God and to obey him and his teachings. Repentance, perseverance, faith and obedience are all part of being an overcomer who will one day receive our salvation complete when Jesus Christ returns for his bride.
Rest for the Weary / An Original Work / April 23, 2011
Rest for the weary; peace for the soul;
Light in the darkness; mercy untold;
Perfect salvation; pardoned and free,
For Jesus died so that all may believe.
While we are waiting for Your return,
Jesus, Redeemer, let our hearts yearn
For your soon coming to get Your bride,
Washed in Your blood, having been sanctified.
Father, Son, Spirit, all three in One
Giveth salvation through redemption;
Jesus provided the sacrifice,
For our sins blood bought, for He paid the price.
Music, Pg 1
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/Christsfreeservant/RestfortheWeary45.jpg
Music, Pg 2
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/Christsfreeservant/RestfortheWeary248.jpg
How Sweet the Sound
How Sweet the Sound / An Original Work / April 24, 2011
How sweet the sound of Your saints in chorus;
Oh, how we adore You, our King.
We love You so, we want You to know.
That’s why we lift our voice to sing.
Praise and adoration we bring
Just to honor God and our King.
We love You, Lord, for Your great salvation;
Freely given grace from above.
Jesus, our friend, His promise won’t end.
He gave His life out of His love.
By His blood He purchased our fee,
When He died on Calvary’s tree.
He set us free so that we can worship
Him as a living sacrifice.
We come to Him with all of our sin.
Before our God we humbly bow.
We have been forgiven our sin,
So that we might be cleansed within.
Sheet Music (with lyrics)
Audio/Sound (without lyrics)
How sweet the sound of Your saints in chorus;
Oh, how we adore You, our King.
We love You so, we want You to know.
That’s why we lift our voice to sing.
Praise and adoration we bring
Just to honor God and our King.
We love You, Lord, for Your great salvation;
Freely given grace from above.
Jesus, our friend, His promise won’t end.
He gave His life out of His love.
By His blood He purchased our fee,
When He died on Calvary’s tree.
He set us free so that we can worship
Him as a living sacrifice.
We come to Him with all of our sin.
Before our God we humbly bow.
We have been forgiven our sin,
So that we might be cleansed within.
Sheet Music (with lyrics)
Audio/Sound (without lyrics)
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Perfect Salvation
Sunday, April 24, 2011, 6:37 a.m. – Yesterday afternoon the Lord gave me another song to write, Rest for the Weary, and this morning that song was playing in my mind. As I sat down to have my quiet time with the Lord today, and I began reading in Revelation 1, I could see why the Lord gave me that song last night, for the words fit perfectly with the message in this passage of scripture. I prayed, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening,” and then I read Revelation 1:
John, in the power of the Holy Spirit, speaking the very words of God Almighty, wrote down the words that God gave him to write, so these words are God-breathed and are God’s words to his church yet today, so that is why we must take them to heart, i.e. we must take them seriously and must personalize them to our lives today in obeying whatever the Lord Jesus Christ teaches us through these words, His divine Word for us.
Revelation is the revelation (a showing; disclosure of divine truth) of Jesus Christ, so it should not be surprising that Jesus Christ is the main topic in this first chapter. He is described as the faithful witness, not only because of his teaching while he was on the earth, but because he continues to witness his truth into our hearts through his divinely inspired word (the Bible) and via the witness of the Holy Spirit within us. He witnesses to God’s saving grace to save men and women from their sins, which was provided for us through his shed blood on a cross when he took upon himself all of our sins, having cancelled the debt that stood against us and having risen victoriously from the grave in conquering death, Satan, hell and sin – the penalty and control of sin.
This same Jesus, who came to earth, taking upon himself human flesh, having suffered death on a cross, who then was buried and then rose again, is one day coming again to receive his bride (the true church) unto himself. While we, his bride, are on this earth, we are in the process of being sanctified, i.e. being made holy and set apart for God and for His service while we wait expectantly and hopefully for his soon return. This process of sanctification began when we believed in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, having repented of our sin and having turned our lives over to God in faith and obedience to do his will and to live for him only from this point on. And, it continues throughout our Christian lives as we daily come to the cross of Christ in choosing to not live for our flesh, but rather to honor God with our lives in all things. We grow in him daily as we spend time at his feet in prayer and in the word, and as we apply what he teaches us to our daily lives in full surrender and obedience to God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
While we are still on this earth, we are to be Christ’s witnesses, after the Holy Spirit of God has come upon us in power, and we are to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to obey our Lord’s every command. John was one of those witnesses. The people of his day did not like his messages, so he was banished to an island, which is where he wrote (he was God’s scribe) the revelation of Jesus Christ. As Christ’s witnesses today, we may face some of that same kind of persecution and rejection as Jesus Christ faced, and as his followers faced as they tried to tell people the truth of the gospel.
Yet, when we are rejected, mistreated, banished, abandoned, mocked, and/or persecuted for the word of God, for the gospel of Jesus Christ, and for our testimony for Jesus Christ of the truths of his word, we should not let that discourage us, because John is evidence that God can use us even when we are banished. Paul wrote many of his writings from prison. So, we must never give up or feel that God can no longer use us if man rejects us and/or dismisses us as though we have no value, because we still have value to God and he can still use us no matter what chains man may try to place upon us to hinder us from being who God intended us to be and to be used of God in the way in which he intended. God opens doors that no man can shut and he shuts doors that no man can open, so God can still use us even if we are housebound, in prison, forsaken and abandoned by those we love.
We should never fear what is taking place now nor should we fear what will soon take place in the future because our God is the great I AM. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end; the First and the Last. He is before all things and through him all things were made and have their being and he, Jesus Christ, our God, holds all things together by his powerful word. There is nothing that escapes God’s notice. He has all things under his control. Nothing is too hard or too big for our God. Jesus Christ was alive, then he died on a cross, then he rose again triumphantly, and now he lives for ever and ever, amen. He holds the keys of death and hell, i.e. he is all powerful and he is in absolute control and authority over life, death, hell and heaven, and of our lives – present and future. We never have to fear anything that comes our way, because nothing will happen in our lives that God is not in absolute authority, rule and dominion over anything we could ever experience. He has a plan for everything that he brings and/or allows into our lives.
So, we should rest in who God is, what Jesus Christ did for us in dying for our sins, in our hope of eternal salvation, and of the promise of our Lord’s soon return and we should let the peace of God rule in our hearts and lives. He has provided his light (truth) in the darkness (sin; rebellion; wickedness) of our lives and has provided us with his grace and mercy that could not possibly be comprehended in their fullness by our finite minds. His grace and mercy are fathomless! The price he paid for our sins set us free, not only from the penalty of sin (eternal separation from God in hell), but he set us free from the control of sin daily in our lives, as well as he set us free to walk in freedom, in truth, and in obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ and to serve our Lord in that complete freedom and love for the rest of our days. This is true joy! This is true peace! And, this is true victory over anything and everything this life and world can throw at us. So, rest in his love and kindness today!
Rest for the Weary / An Original Work / April 23, 2011
Rest for the weary; peace for the soul;
Light in the darkness; mercy untold;
Perfect salvation; pardoned and free,
For Jesus died so that all may believe.
While we are waiting for Your return,
Jesus, Redeemer, let our hearts yearn
For your soon coming to get Your bride,
Washed in Your blood, having been sanctified.
Father, Son, Spirit, all three in One
Giveth salvation through redemption;
Jesus provided the sacrifice,
For our sins blood bought, for He paid the price.
Music, Pg 1
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/Christsfreeservant/RestfortheWeary45.jpg
Music, Pg 2
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/Christsfreeservant/RestfortheWeary248.jpg
The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.My Understanding: Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever, gave these words in Revelation to John to write to the churches in Asia. These words were to be for their strengthening, hope of salvation, promise of Christ’s soon (imminent) return and warnings of judgment to come on the earth. He was writing to let them know of the things that were present as well as the things yet to come, the reality of which they did not experience in full in their lifetime, yet we are seeing many of these prophecies of scripture beginning to unfold in our day and time.
Greetings and Doxology
4 John,
To the seven churches in the province of Asia:
Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.
7 Look, he is coming with the clouds,
and every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him;
and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him.
So shall it be! Amen.
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”
One Like a Son of Man
9 I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11 which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”
12 I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and among the lampstands was someone “like a son of man,” dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
19 “Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. 20 The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
John, in the power of the Holy Spirit, speaking the very words of God Almighty, wrote down the words that God gave him to write, so these words are God-breathed and are God’s words to his church yet today, so that is why we must take them to heart, i.e. we must take them seriously and must personalize them to our lives today in obeying whatever the Lord Jesus Christ teaches us through these words, His divine Word for us.
Revelation is the revelation (a showing; disclosure of divine truth) of Jesus Christ, so it should not be surprising that Jesus Christ is the main topic in this first chapter. He is described as the faithful witness, not only because of his teaching while he was on the earth, but because he continues to witness his truth into our hearts through his divinely inspired word (the Bible) and via the witness of the Holy Spirit within us. He witnesses to God’s saving grace to save men and women from their sins, which was provided for us through his shed blood on a cross when he took upon himself all of our sins, having cancelled the debt that stood against us and having risen victoriously from the grave in conquering death, Satan, hell and sin – the penalty and control of sin.
This same Jesus, who came to earth, taking upon himself human flesh, having suffered death on a cross, who then was buried and then rose again, is one day coming again to receive his bride (the true church) unto himself. While we, his bride, are on this earth, we are in the process of being sanctified, i.e. being made holy and set apart for God and for His service while we wait expectantly and hopefully for his soon return. This process of sanctification began when we believed in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, having repented of our sin and having turned our lives over to God in faith and obedience to do his will and to live for him only from this point on. And, it continues throughout our Christian lives as we daily come to the cross of Christ in choosing to not live for our flesh, but rather to honor God with our lives in all things. We grow in him daily as we spend time at his feet in prayer and in the word, and as we apply what he teaches us to our daily lives in full surrender and obedience to God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
While we are still on this earth, we are to be Christ’s witnesses, after the Holy Spirit of God has come upon us in power, and we are to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to obey our Lord’s every command. John was one of those witnesses. The people of his day did not like his messages, so he was banished to an island, which is where he wrote (he was God’s scribe) the revelation of Jesus Christ. As Christ’s witnesses today, we may face some of that same kind of persecution and rejection as Jesus Christ faced, and as his followers faced as they tried to tell people the truth of the gospel.
Yet, when we are rejected, mistreated, banished, abandoned, mocked, and/or persecuted for the word of God, for the gospel of Jesus Christ, and for our testimony for Jesus Christ of the truths of his word, we should not let that discourage us, because John is evidence that God can use us even when we are banished. Paul wrote many of his writings from prison. So, we must never give up or feel that God can no longer use us if man rejects us and/or dismisses us as though we have no value, because we still have value to God and he can still use us no matter what chains man may try to place upon us to hinder us from being who God intended us to be and to be used of God in the way in which he intended. God opens doors that no man can shut and he shuts doors that no man can open, so God can still use us even if we are housebound, in prison, forsaken and abandoned by those we love.
We should never fear what is taking place now nor should we fear what will soon take place in the future because our God is the great I AM. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end; the First and the Last. He is before all things and through him all things were made and have their being and he, Jesus Christ, our God, holds all things together by his powerful word. There is nothing that escapes God’s notice. He has all things under his control. Nothing is too hard or too big for our God. Jesus Christ was alive, then he died on a cross, then he rose again triumphantly, and now he lives for ever and ever, amen. He holds the keys of death and hell, i.e. he is all powerful and he is in absolute control and authority over life, death, hell and heaven, and of our lives – present and future. We never have to fear anything that comes our way, because nothing will happen in our lives that God is not in absolute authority, rule and dominion over anything we could ever experience. He has a plan for everything that he brings and/or allows into our lives.
So, we should rest in who God is, what Jesus Christ did for us in dying for our sins, in our hope of eternal salvation, and of the promise of our Lord’s soon return and we should let the peace of God rule in our hearts and lives. He has provided his light (truth) in the darkness (sin; rebellion; wickedness) of our lives and has provided us with his grace and mercy that could not possibly be comprehended in their fullness by our finite minds. His grace and mercy are fathomless! The price he paid for our sins set us free, not only from the penalty of sin (eternal separation from God in hell), but he set us free from the control of sin daily in our lives, as well as he set us free to walk in freedom, in truth, and in obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ and to serve our Lord in that complete freedom and love for the rest of our days. This is true joy! This is true peace! And, this is true victory over anything and everything this life and world can throw at us. So, rest in his love and kindness today!
Rest for the Weary / An Original Work / April 23, 2011
Rest for the weary; peace for the soul;
Light in the darkness; mercy untold;
Perfect salvation; pardoned and free,
For Jesus died so that all may believe.
While we are waiting for Your return,
Jesus, Redeemer, let our hearts yearn
For your soon coming to get Your bride,
Washed in Your blood, having been sanctified.
Father, Son, Spirit, all three in One
Giveth salvation through redemption;
Jesus provided the sacrifice,
For our sins blood bought, for He paid the price.
Music, Pg 1
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/Christsfreeservant/RestfortheWeary45.jpg
Music, Pg 2
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/Christsfreeservant/RestfortheWeary248.jpg
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Rest for the Weary
Rest for the Weary / An Original Work / April 23, 2011
Rest for the weary; peace for the soul.
Light in the darkness; mercy untold.
Perfect salvation; pardoned and free,
For Jesus died so that all may believe.
While we are waiting for Your return,
Jesus, Redeemer, let our hearts yearn
For your soon coming to get Your bride,
Washed in Your blood, having been sanctified.
Father, Son, Spirit, all three in One
Giveth salvation through redemption.
Jesus provided the sacrifice
For our sins blood bought, for He paid the price.
Sheet Music (with lyrics)
Audio/Sound (without lyrics)
Rest for the weary; peace for the soul.
Light in the darkness; mercy untold.
Perfect salvation; pardoned and free,
For Jesus died so that all may believe.
While we are waiting for Your return,
Jesus, Redeemer, let our hearts yearn
For your soon coming to get Your bride,
Washed in Your blood, having been sanctified.
Father, Son, Spirit, all three in One
Giveth salvation through redemption.
Jesus provided the sacrifice
For our sins blood bought, for He paid the price.
Sheet Music (with lyrics)
Audio/Sound (without lyrics)
When I'm With You
When I’m With You / An Original Work / April 22, 2011
When I’m with You, Lord, hear my cries.
Soon I’ll be with You, by Your side.
Harken to me; Lord, hear my plea
When I’m with You and You’re with me
Precious Savior, Lord, and my friend,
Life with You has no final end.
I’ll reign with You eternally
When I’m with You and You’re with me.
Father, God, my only desire.
Your word is in me like a fire.
I’ll sing Your praise all of my days
When I’m with You and You’re with me.
Sheet Music (with lyrics)
Audio/Sound (without lyrics)
When I’m with You, Lord, hear my cries.
Soon I’ll be with You, by Your side.
Harken to me; Lord, hear my plea
When I’m with You and You’re with me
Precious Savior, Lord, and my friend,
Life with You has no final end.
I’ll reign with You eternally
When I’m with You and You’re with me.
Father, God, my only desire.
Your word is in me like a fire.
I’ll sing Your praise all of my days
When I’m with You and You’re with me.
Sheet Music (with lyrics)
Audio/Sound (without lyrics)
Friday, April 22, 2011
Bearing Witness
Friday, April 22, 2011, 7:06 a.m. – When I woke this morning, the Lord had the song, Awestruck Grief, playing in my mind. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Jude:
My Understanding: As I read through this passage of scripture, I was struck in my mind and heart with how the Holy Spirit of God, through Jude, was contrasting the false gospel with the true gospel message, as well as he was, and still is urging his listeners to contend for (insist on; assert; declare) the true gospel, i.e. the true faith, in contrast to the false gospel. As well, when I read this passage, I could not help but see many parallels to how this false gospel is prevailing in today’s church here in the USA and has superseded the true gospel message on many fronts. So, rather than going through this passage verse by verse, looking for understanding of what the author was speaking about in his time, I believe the Lord would, rather, have me take the principles set forth in this scripture passage and apply them directly to today’s church in the USA, which is where I live and have knowledge and experience, from which I also speak. So, I will follow this same pattern set forth by Jude in contrasting today’s false gospel message with what the true gospel message comprises, and then, as well, I will follow Jude’s example in urging my readers to contend for the true faith.
False Gospel
Based upon years of personal experience in the institutional church here in the USA, as well as having the Lord Jesus, via the Holy Spirit, speak to my heart, and confirm to my mind, on numerous occasions how he views today’s church in the USA, I will share with you, my readers, the false gospel that I believe is prevalent in today’s church here in America. This does not apply across the board to all church congregations, yet its influence and practice is felt and is nurtured by sweeping numbers across the country via false teachers who have infiltrated today’s church with this false teaching. The following, thus, are the characteristics of this false gospel that I have observed and have been a witness of in today’s church:
• More concerned with attracting large numbers of people and doing what it takes…
• More concerned with outward appearance and stage presence; video presentations
• Appeals to the flesh of man and man’s wants and desires (tickles man’s ears)
• Does what will attract the world to their meetings – the world attracts the world
• Provides a cleaned-up version of the same things the world is offering
• Waters down the gospel message to where it is not recognizable as the gospel
• Removes the need for repentance (dying to sin and living for God) and obedience
• Opens the door, thus, to giving its followers a free license for immorality
• Removes the need for fruit (works) as evidence of true faith and belief
• Removes the cross of Christ, i.e. what it means to come to the cross (Gal. 2:20)
• Minimizes or removes the need to die to our old sinful natures as part of faith
• Removes or minimizes the need to be transformed by the renewing of our minds
• Uses same marketing tools as the world for how to grow a business
• Turns the institutional church into a money and profit-making business
• Divides the church by demanding loyalty to man-made teachings and practices
• Follows these same man-made teachings over and above the word of God
• Accuses true followers of Jesus Christ and of the true gospel with “divisiveness”
• Turns away anyone who might be a threat to the continuance of its false teaching
• Promises to deliver true hope of salvation but gives a false hope – empty
• Perverts (distorts; changes; alters) the gospel of grace for its own advantage
True Faith
God the Father sent His Son, Jesus Christ - God the Son – to the earth to take upon himself human flesh, to be tempted as we are tempted, yet without sin, and to suffer as we suffer, so that he can be our sympathetic, compassionate and merciful high priest. He also sent him to die on the cross for our sins, taking upon himself the sins of the entire world. Thus, our sins were crucified and buried with Christ, yet when he rose from the grave, he left our sins buried, and he rose over them triumphantly and in victory over the grave, hell, Satan and sin – the penalty of sin and the control of sin over our daily lives. He did this because he loved us and because he did not want us to be controlled by sin any longer or for us to have to suffer the ultimate penalty of sin – eternal separation from God and torment in hell. As well, he did this because he wanted us free from sin so that we could be free to walk humbly before him in faith and obedience, i.e. in perfect fellowship with Him.
So, when we come to faith in Jesus Christ, and we make him our Savior and Lord, what this means for us is that we bring ourselves to the cross of Christ, dying with Christ to our sinful lifestyles, leaving our lives of sin behind us, then being raised with Christ to newness of life, having been given new birth and new life by the Holy Spirit, so that we can walk now in faith and obedience and to follow the Lord Jesus wherever he leads us. Our physical baptism (by immersion, in particular) symbolizes this inward faith in that it represents this dying to our old lives of sin, burying our sin and then rising to new life in Christ Jesus, being filled now with the Spirit of God in our lives. All of this is a work of God’s grace in our hearts. We cannot produce any of this through human effort. God the Father draws us to Jesus Christ, he gives us the faith to believe, he changes our hearts and crucifies our old sin natures and he raises us to walk in obedience to Christ in all things. So, this is not works-based salvation. This is the true meaning of God’s grace and what it means to believe in Jesus Christ and in what he did for us in dying for our sins and in being raised from the grave in gaining victory over our sin. He did not go through all of that so that we would remain in our sin, i.e. by still living to please ourselves while ignoring God’s grace in our lives.
Our Response
We are being called upon to make sure we have true faith, first and foremost, and that we are not trusting in a false gospel and a false hope to save us, which is no hope at all. Then, when we are in true faith, which was lovingly and graciously provided for us by Jesus’ death and resurrection, then we need to contend for (insist on and declare) that true faith, i.e. the true gospel, which is a gospel of repentance (turning away from sin) and obedience, i.e. it is faith that brings us to the cross to die to our old lives and to be raised to walk in newness of life, being transformed by the renewing of our minds, and no longer living to please our flesh and our flesh natures, but now living to please God and to walk humbly in obedience to him. We need to declare this true gospel in contrast to this false gospel, because the salvation of human lives is at stake here. We need to snatch people from the fires of hell and bring them, through our witness, to saving knowledge in Jesus Christ. And, we need to stand in opposition to corrupted flesh and its deceptive influence on today’s church. The true gospel is under attack! We need to be living and witnessing to the true gospel that saves lives and that does not fill minds with false hope. May we come humbly before God.
Awestruck Grief / An Original Work / April 21, 2011
When in awestruck grief o’er my sins, Lord, I bow,
Will You hear me, Lord, and forgive me just now?
I am so amazed that You could love me so.
Yet, Your love and kindness ever fill my soul.
Lord, You are amazing, and gracious and kind
To have offered Yourself for us when we’re blind.
You were crucified on that hill, Calvary,
When they hung Your body to die on a tree.
Now that You’ve redeemed us and, thus, set us free,
I pray, Lord, for all on this earth to believe
In Your sacrifice, Lord, cleansing all our sin,
So that we can live for You, and die within.
Music, Page 1
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/Christsfreeservant/AwestruckGrief39.jpg
Music, Page 2
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Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James,
To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ:
2 Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.
The Sin and Doom of Godless Men
3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. 4 For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord... these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals—these are the very things that destroy them.
11 Woe to them! …12 These men are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. 13 They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.
14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 15 to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 16 These men are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.
A Call to Persevere
17 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. 18 They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” 19 These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
20 But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. 21 Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
22 Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.
Doxology
24 To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— 25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
My Understanding: As I read through this passage of scripture, I was struck in my mind and heart with how the Holy Spirit of God, through Jude, was contrasting the false gospel with the true gospel message, as well as he was, and still is urging his listeners to contend for (insist on; assert; declare) the true gospel, i.e. the true faith, in contrast to the false gospel. As well, when I read this passage, I could not help but see many parallels to how this false gospel is prevailing in today’s church here in the USA and has superseded the true gospel message on many fronts. So, rather than going through this passage verse by verse, looking for understanding of what the author was speaking about in his time, I believe the Lord would, rather, have me take the principles set forth in this scripture passage and apply them directly to today’s church in the USA, which is where I live and have knowledge and experience, from which I also speak. So, I will follow this same pattern set forth by Jude in contrasting today’s false gospel message with what the true gospel message comprises, and then, as well, I will follow Jude’s example in urging my readers to contend for the true faith.
False Gospel
Based upon years of personal experience in the institutional church here in the USA, as well as having the Lord Jesus, via the Holy Spirit, speak to my heart, and confirm to my mind, on numerous occasions how he views today’s church in the USA, I will share with you, my readers, the false gospel that I believe is prevalent in today’s church here in America. This does not apply across the board to all church congregations, yet its influence and practice is felt and is nurtured by sweeping numbers across the country via false teachers who have infiltrated today’s church with this false teaching. The following, thus, are the characteristics of this false gospel that I have observed and have been a witness of in today’s church:
• More concerned with attracting large numbers of people and doing what it takes…
• More concerned with outward appearance and stage presence; video presentations
• Appeals to the flesh of man and man’s wants and desires (tickles man’s ears)
• Does what will attract the world to their meetings – the world attracts the world
• Provides a cleaned-up version of the same things the world is offering
• Waters down the gospel message to where it is not recognizable as the gospel
• Removes the need for repentance (dying to sin and living for God) and obedience
• Opens the door, thus, to giving its followers a free license for immorality
• Removes the need for fruit (works) as evidence of true faith and belief
• Removes the cross of Christ, i.e. what it means to come to the cross (Gal. 2:20)
• Minimizes or removes the need to die to our old sinful natures as part of faith
• Removes or minimizes the need to be transformed by the renewing of our minds
• Uses same marketing tools as the world for how to grow a business
• Turns the institutional church into a money and profit-making business
• Divides the church by demanding loyalty to man-made teachings and practices
• Follows these same man-made teachings over and above the word of God
• Accuses true followers of Jesus Christ and of the true gospel with “divisiveness”
• Turns away anyone who might be a threat to the continuance of its false teaching
• Promises to deliver true hope of salvation but gives a false hope – empty
• Perverts (distorts; changes; alters) the gospel of grace for its own advantage
True Faith
God the Father sent His Son, Jesus Christ - God the Son – to the earth to take upon himself human flesh, to be tempted as we are tempted, yet without sin, and to suffer as we suffer, so that he can be our sympathetic, compassionate and merciful high priest. He also sent him to die on the cross for our sins, taking upon himself the sins of the entire world. Thus, our sins were crucified and buried with Christ, yet when he rose from the grave, he left our sins buried, and he rose over them triumphantly and in victory over the grave, hell, Satan and sin – the penalty of sin and the control of sin over our daily lives. He did this because he loved us and because he did not want us to be controlled by sin any longer or for us to have to suffer the ultimate penalty of sin – eternal separation from God and torment in hell. As well, he did this because he wanted us free from sin so that we could be free to walk humbly before him in faith and obedience, i.e. in perfect fellowship with Him.
So, when we come to faith in Jesus Christ, and we make him our Savior and Lord, what this means for us is that we bring ourselves to the cross of Christ, dying with Christ to our sinful lifestyles, leaving our lives of sin behind us, then being raised with Christ to newness of life, having been given new birth and new life by the Holy Spirit, so that we can walk now in faith and obedience and to follow the Lord Jesus wherever he leads us. Our physical baptism (by immersion, in particular) symbolizes this inward faith in that it represents this dying to our old lives of sin, burying our sin and then rising to new life in Christ Jesus, being filled now with the Spirit of God in our lives. All of this is a work of God’s grace in our hearts. We cannot produce any of this through human effort. God the Father draws us to Jesus Christ, he gives us the faith to believe, he changes our hearts and crucifies our old sin natures and he raises us to walk in obedience to Christ in all things. So, this is not works-based salvation. This is the true meaning of God’s grace and what it means to believe in Jesus Christ and in what he did for us in dying for our sins and in being raised from the grave in gaining victory over our sin. He did not go through all of that so that we would remain in our sin, i.e. by still living to please ourselves while ignoring God’s grace in our lives.
Our Response
We are being called upon to make sure we have true faith, first and foremost, and that we are not trusting in a false gospel and a false hope to save us, which is no hope at all. Then, when we are in true faith, which was lovingly and graciously provided for us by Jesus’ death and resurrection, then we need to contend for (insist on and declare) that true faith, i.e. the true gospel, which is a gospel of repentance (turning away from sin) and obedience, i.e. it is faith that brings us to the cross to die to our old lives and to be raised to walk in newness of life, being transformed by the renewing of our minds, and no longer living to please our flesh and our flesh natures, but now living to please God and to walk humbly in obedience to him. We need to declare this true gospel in contrast to this false gospel, because the salvation of human lives is at stake here. We need to snatch people from the fires of hell and bring them, through our witness, to saving knowledge in Jesus Christ. And, we need to stand in opposition to corrupted flesh and its deceptive influence on today’s church. The true gospel is under attack! We need to be living and witnessing to the true gospel that saves lives and that does not fill minds with false hope. May we come humbly before God.
Awestruck Grief / An Original Work / April 21, 2011
When in awestruck grief o’er my sins, Lord, I bow,
Will You hear me, Lord, and forgive me just now?
I am so amazed that You could love me so.
Yet, Your love and kindness ever fill my soul.
Lord, You are amazing, and gracious and kind
To have offered Yourself for us when we’re blind.
You were crucified on that hill, Calvary,
When they hung Your body to die on a tree.
Now that You’ve redeemed us and, thus, set us free,
I pray, Lord, for all on this earth to believe
In Your sacrifice, Lord, cleansing all our sin,
So that we can live for You, and die within.
Music, Page 1
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Music, Page 2
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Thursday, April 21, 2011
Awestruck Grief
Awestruck Grief / An Original Work / April 21, 2011
When in awestruck grief o’er my sins, Lord, I bow,
Will You hear me, Lord, and forgive me just now?
I am so amazed that You could love me so.
Yet, Your love and kindness ever fill my soul.
Lord, You are amazing, and gracious and kind
To have offered Yourself for us when we’re blind.
You were crucified on that hill, Calvary,
When they hung Your body to die on a tree.
Now that You’ve redeemed us and, thus, set us free,
I pray, Lord, for all on this earth to believe
In Your sacrifice, Lord, cleansing all our sin,
So that we can live for You, and die within.
Sheet Music (with lyrics)
Audio/Sound (without lyrics)
When in awestruck grief o’er my sins, Lord, I bow,
Will You hear me, Lord, and forgive me just now?
I am so amazed that You could love me so.
Yet, Your love and kindness ever fill my soul.
Lord, You are amazing, and gracious and kind
To have offered Yourself for us when we’re blind.
You were crucified on that hill, Calvary,
When they hung Your body to die on a tree.
Now that You’ve redeemed us and, thus, set us free,
I pray, Lord, for all on this earth to believe
In Your sacrifice, Lord, cleansing all our sin,
So that we can live for You, and die within.
Sheet Music (with lyrics)
Audio/Sound (without lyrics)
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
The Word of Life
Wednesday, April 20, 2011, 3:18 p.m. – Most of the day, the song, His Favor, has been playing in my mind. I had something else I was beginning to write this morning, but it wasn’t flowing, so I took a break from it and spent some time in prayer. This song, His Favor, which the Lord gave me this week, just became stronger in my mind. It begins, “Behold your King!” That is the part that just kept being impressed on my mind and heart. So, I decided to put the other writing aside and to see what else the Lord had for me to write today. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read I John 1 next:
My Understanding: As soon as I read this first chapter in I John, it rang a tone of familiarity with me. John, the human author (God’s scribe), also wrote the Gospel of John. Both the Gospel of John, chapter 1, and I John begin with a description of Jesus Christ, and both descriptions follow a similar pattern. Yet, both of these eye witness accounts of Jesus Christ go beyond a mere accounting of who Jesus was and is. Both versions also describe what Jesus did and then what our response should be to Jesus based upon both who He is and what He did for us. So, I believe the Lord would have me examine those three aspects of this chapter as paralleled with the Gospel of John and also cross-referencing Colossians 1.
Who Jesus was and is
Jesus is the Son of God, he is the second person of our triune God, and he is God. He was with God from the beginning, and all things were made by him, i.e. he is also our creator. He was before all things and in him all things hold together, i.e. he sustains all things by his powerful word. He came from the Father in heaven. He is the Light and he is the Word of Life. He is eternal life. He became flesh and dwelled among mankind on the earth. He is God, the One and Only, who is at the Father’s (God the Father’s) side. He is the image of the invisible God. All the fullness of God dwells in him. He is supreme over all things. He has made the Father known to us. He is full of grace and truth. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. He is the great I AM. He reigns forever in majesty.
What Jesus did for us
Jesus Christ, God the Son, left heaven, took upon himself human flesh, he lived among us, he was tempted as we are tempted, yet without sin. He suffered as we suffer, only far beyond any suffering any of us could even begin to imagine, for his greatest suffering was when he took upon himself the sins of the entire world when they hung him on a cross and crucified him. He committed no crime, and yet he was crucified alongside criminals as though he, too, was a criminal. He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with suffering. He was wounded for our sins and the punishment of our sin was upon him. By his stripes we are healed (See Isaiah 53). Through Christ Jesus, God reconciled all things to himself by making peace through Jesus’ blood shed on the cross. Even though he was the creator of all things, when he was in the world, the world did not recognize him. Even his own people did not receive him. He was betrayed, denied and abandoned by his closest companions. His own people scourged him, mocked him, spat upon him and then crucified him as a common criminal. He was hated for who he was.
Yet, he loved us so much that, while we were yet sinners, he died for us. When he took our sins upon himself, our sins were crucified and buried with him, yet he rose from the dead in victory, triumphing over hell, Satan, death and sin – the penalty of sin and the control of sin over our lives on a day-to-day basis. He went through all of this because he loves us and he wants us to be free from sin, not just so that we can go to be with him in heaven one day, but so we can be free from living according to our flesh natures while we are still on this earth, and so we can be free to walk in victory and in obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ. He freed us and called us to live holy and godly lives, to be his slaves, to be slaves of righteousness, to put our lives on the altar as living sacrifices, to die to our old way of lives and the pattern of this world, to be transformed in the renewing of our minds, to put on our new natures in Christ Jesus, and to yield to the rule of a new master, Jesus Christ.
What our response should be
We must first of all humble ourselves before Almighty God and admit (weep over the fact that) we are sinners in need of a Savior. We must confess (own up to) our sins, i.e. we must admit and agree with God and call sin what it is – sin. We must have a heart desire to want to be free from sin and to have a life change. We must believe in Jesus Christ, in who he is (his divine character) and in what he did for us when he died on the cross for our sins and when he rose from the grave, triumphing over our sin, death, hell and Satan. We must receive him into our lives to be our Lord and Savior. We must walk in the light (the truth of the gospel; teachings of Jesus) he gives us and no longer walk in darkness, i.e. we must repent (turn from our sin and turn to following the Lord with our lives). If we claim that we are in a relationship with Jesus Christ and we say that we are saved and that he is our Savior, and yet we continue to walk (lifestyle) in darkness, then we are liars and we do not live by the truth, because God is light and no darkness dwells in him.
What this is saying is that we cannot rest our salvation in some one-time decision we made at an altar or some intellectual or emotional decision we made to acknowledge what Jesus did for us on the cross, apart from true repentance and obedience to Jesus Christ. True faith and belief involve repentance and obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ. There is no way around this. We must confess our sins, we must turn from walking in darkness and we must walk in the light of the truth of Christ’s teachings and of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Anything less than that is a slap in the face to what Jesus (God) did for us in dying for our sins, and it makes a mockery out of his crucifixion and his payment for our sin. He did not die so we would continue living in sin, thinking that we now have our ticket into heaven.
This does not mean we will be sinless, as we learn in the next chapter, but it means that daily we confess and repent of any known sin in our lives and daily we recommit ourselves to walking in faith and obedience to Jesus Christ. If you are relying upon some decision at an altar to secure your place in heaven but you have not repented of your sin and you are still walking in the flesh and you are not walking in the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ and obedience to him, then think again. You don’t want to spend eternity without him forever and miss out on his grace and the victory he provided for you via his death and resurrection. Humble yourselves today before the Lord Jesus, repent of your sins, and make that decision tonight to make him the Lord and master of your lives so that you can live in victory now, and so that you can be with him forever in victory!
His Favor / An Original Work / April 18, 2011
Behold your King!
Worship the Lord, He’s the great I AM; the perfect Lamb.
Jesus, our Redeemer, our Savior, sustainer,
The heavens declare!
The risen One;
He gave His life as a sacrifice. He paid the price.
Our blessed provider, our Lord, magnify Him,
For He’s God’s Son!
Our God is King.
He reigns forever in majesty. He set us free.
Without Him forever, we won’t know his favor,
In victory!
Music, Page 1
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Music, Page 2
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The Word of Life
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our joy complete.
Walking in the Light
5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
My Understanding: As soon as I read this first chapter in I John, it rang a tone of familiarity with me. John, the human author (God’s scribe), also wrote the Gospel of John. Both the Gospel of John, chapter 1, and I John begin with a description of Jesus Christ, and both descriptions follow a similar pattern. Yet, both of these eye witness accounts of Jesus Christ go beyond a mere accounting of who Jesus was and is. Both versions also describe what Jesus did and then what our response should be to Jesus based upon both who He is and what He did for us. So, I believe the Lord would have me examine those three aspects of this chapter as paralleled with the Gospel of John and also cross-referencing Colossians 1.
Who Jesus was and is
Jesus is the Son of God, he is the second person of our triune God, and he is God. He was with God from the beginning, and all things were made by him, i.e. he is also our creator. He was before all things and in him all things hold together, i.e. he sustains all things by his powerful word. He came from the Father in heaven. He is the Light and he is the Word of Life. He is eternal life. He became flesh and dwelled among mankind on the earth. He is God, the One and Only, who is at the Father’s (God the Father’s) side. He is the image of the invisible God. All the fullness of God dwells in him. He is supreme over all things. He has made the Father known to us. He is full of grace and truth. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. He is the great I AM. He reigns forever in majesty.
What Jesus did for us
Jesus Christ, God the Son, left heaven, took upon himself human flesh, he lived among us, he was tempted as we are tempted, yet without sin. He suffered as we suffer, only far beyond any suffering any of us could even begin to imagine, for his greatest suffering was when he took upon himself the sins of the entire world when they hung him on a cross and crucified him. He committed no crime, and yet he was crucified alongside criminals as though he, too, was a criminal. He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with suffering. He was wounded for our sins and the punishment of our sin was upon him. By his stripes we are healed (See Isaiah 53). Through Christ Jesus, God reconciled all things to himself by making peace through Jesus’ blood shed on the cross. Even though he was the creator of all things, when he was in the world, the world did not recognize him. Even his own people did not receive him. He was betrayed, denied and abandoned by his closest companions. His own people scourged him, mocked him, spat upon him and then crucified him as a common criminal. He was hated for who he was.
Yet, he loved us so much that, while we were yet sinners, he died for us. When he took our sins upon himself, our sins were crucified and buried with him, yet he rose from the dead in victory, triumphing over hell, Satan, death and sin – the penalty of sin and the control of sin over our lives on a day-to-day basis. He went through all of this because he loves us and he wants us to be free from sin, not just so that we can go to be with him in heaven one day, but so we can be free from living according to our flesh natures while we are still on this earth, and so we can be free to walk in victory and in obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ. He freed us and called us to live holy and godly lives, to be his slaves, to be slaves of righteousness, to put our lives on the altar as living sacrifices, to die to our old way of lives and the pattern of this world, to be transformed in the renewing of our minds, to put on our new natures in Christ Jesus, and to yield to the rule of a new master, Jesus Christ.
What our response should be
We must first of all humble ourselves before Almighty God and admit (weep over the fact that) we are sinners in need of a Savior. We must confess (own up to) our sins, i.e. we must admit and agree with God and call sin what it is – sin. We must have a heart desire to want to be free from sin and to have a life change. We must believe in Jesus Christ, in who he is (his divine character) and in what he did for us when he died on the cross for our sins and when he rose from the grave, triumphing over our sin, death, hell and Satan. We must receive him into our lives to be our Lord and Savior. We must walk in the light (the truth of the gospel; teachings of Jesus) he gives us and no longer walk in darkness, i.e. we must repent (turn from our sin and turn to following the Lord with our lives). If we claim that we are in a relationship with Jesus Christ and we say that we are saved and that he is our Savior, and yet we continue to walk (lifestyle) in darkness, then we are liars and we do not live by the truth, because God is light and no darkness dwells in him.
What this is saying is that we cannot rest our salvation in some one-time decision we made at an altar or some intellectual or emotional decision we made to acknowledge what Jesus did for us on the cross, apart from true repentance and obedience to Jesus Christ. True faith and belief involve repentance and obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ. There is no way around this. We must confess our sins, we must turn from walking in darkness and we must walk in the light of the truth of Christ’s teachings and of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Anything less than that is a slap in the face to what Jesus (God) did for us in dying for our sins, and it makes a mockery out of his crucifixion and his payment for our sin. He did not die so we would continue living in sin, thinking that we now have our ticket into heaven.
This does not mean we will be sinless, as we learn in the next chapter, but it means that daily we confess and repent of any known sin in our lives and daily we recommit ourselves to walking in faith and obedience to Jesus Christ. If you are relying upon some decision at an altar to secure your place in heaven but you have not repented of your sin and you are still walking in the flesh and you are not walking in the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ and obedience to him, then think again. You don’t want to spend eternity without him forever and miss out on his grace and the victory he provided for you via his death and resurrection. Humble yourselves today before the Lord Jesus, repent of your sins, and make that decision tonight to make him the Lord and master of your lives so that you can live in victory now, and so that you can be with him forever in victory!
His Favor / An Original Work / April 18, 2011
Behold your King!
Worship the Lord, He’s the great I AM; the perfect Lamb.
Jesus, our Redeemer, our Savior, sustainer,
The heavens declare!
The risen One;
He gave His life as a sacrifice. He paid the price.
Our blessed provider, our Lord, magnify Him,
For He’s God’s Son!
Our God is King.
He reigns forever in majesty. He set us free.
Without Him forever, we won’t know his favor,
In victory!
Music, Page 1
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/Christsfreeservant/HisFavor35.jpg
Music, Page 2
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/Christsfreeservant/HisFavor236.jpg
So Many Times
So Many Times / An Original Work / April 19, 2011
So many times when I hear Your word
Your Spirit speaks and my heart is stirred.
Send a revival my Lord, I pray.
Won’t You be Lord in our hearts now and always.
Humbly and gently I bow the knee.
Yours to be only is now my plea.
I come to Jesus at Calvary.
His blood provided the way we could be free.
Gracious Redeemer, my Lord and friend,
I know You’ll be with me to the end.
A crown awaits me in victory.
Jesus, enthroned above all humanity.
Sheet Music (with lyrics)
Audio/Sound (without lyrics)
So many times when I hear Your word
Your Spirit speaks and my heart is stirred.
Send a revival my Lord, I pray.
Won’t You be Lord in our hearts now and always.
Humbly and gently I bow the knee.
Yours to be only is now my plea.
I come to Jesus at Calvary.
His blood provided the way we could be free.
Gracious Redeemer, my Lord and friend,
I know You’ll be with me to the end.
A crown awaits me in victory.
Jesus, enthroned above all humanity.
Sheet Music (with lyrics)
Audio/Sound (without lyrics)
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Behold Your King
Monday, April 18, 2011, 11:30ish in the evening – Praise the Lord! Our 10th grandchild and 5th grandson was born this evening at 10:44 p.m. to our youngest son and his wife. They named him Jacob. While Jacob was in the process of being born, the Lord was in process of giving me another song to write, “His Favor.” Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read 2 Peter 1:
My Understanding: This is a difficult and controversial passage of scripture, and one that, no doubt, has been the subject of much debate over the years. My intention here is not to present a theological thesis on the passage, but rather my intention is just to hear from God and to gain practical knowledge and understanding in how this teaching of scripture is to be applied to my life. So, with that understanding, I asked the Lord to speak his truths to my heart and to present this passage to me in a way that is new and fresh and alive to me today. I inquired of him concerning the outline he would have me to follow, and I believe he gave me three division titles: 1. Calling, 2. Cultivate, and 3. Captivate. Speak, Lord, your words to me, I pray in Jesus’ precious, awesome and holy name. Amen.
Calling
First of all, we are called by his own glory and goodness. This glory spoken of here is the honor, praise, dignity, majesty, godly character, magnificence, splendor, excellence, and absolute perfection of God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Because of who God is, i.e. because his divine character is comprised in all his holiness, righteousness, love, kindness, mercy, compassion and forgiveness, he called us, not because of anything we did or do, but because of who He is. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. So, it is not from our own righteousness that we are called and saved, but because of God’s righteousness and his divine character that he has called a people unto Himself as his very own.
So, what are we called to? We are called to godliness, and his divine power gives us everything we need in order for us to be godly, i.e. we cannot do this in our own power, strength or wills. This is a God-thing! This is God working in us and through us via his divine power to change our hearts and to make us more and more like Jesus every day. To be godly then means to cultivate the divine character of God into our lives, i.e. to incorporate into our lives his goodness, mercy, kindness, love, generosity, faithfulness and obedience (Jesus was obedient to the cross and to the Father), etc., in cooperation with our Lord and master, in allowing him to transform our hearts and to purify us and to make us holy.
Cultivate
We are to develop these divine character traits into our lives, via the power and working of the Holy Spirit within us in making us holy, so that we do not become ineffective and unproductive in our knowledge of Christ. In other words, we are called to obedience and holiness. We are not called to make some one-time decision to “believe” in Jesus Christ at some altar and then to never have a life transformation that leads to productive, fruit-bearing and effective Christian lives. We are called to live for Jesus in everything we do, are, say, think, etc. He is to be our Lord and master, and we are to be continually being made holy until the day when he takes us home to be with him. We are not perfect yet.
We are not saved just so that we have our ticket into heaven and so we can escape the fires of hell, but rather we are saved to rock this world for Jesus Christ. If nothing ever changes in our hearts, i.e. we never truly ever turned our hearts and lives over to the control of the Holy Spirit within us to make us into someone else, then we are blind and nearsighted, i.e. we have closed our eyes to the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and we are missing the mark. The point of our salvation is not just to save us from the fires of hell and to secure our hope of heaven one day, but the point of our salvation is that we are cleansed of our sins, meaning they are done away with, not just the penalty of them, but we are through with living to please our sinful natures, and instead we are living to please our Lord.
Based in all this knowledge, i.e. because we now have this understanding of what it truly means to believe in Jesus Christ, i.e. consequently this knowledge should prompt us and motivate us to make sure that we have been called, i.e. to make certain that our faith is based upon the truth of scripture concerning what it means to be in Christ Jesus. On the one side of the scale are those who think they can earn their way into heaven via good works. This is faulty thinking and is a false hope, so if you have been relying on following a set of rules, doctrines or religious practices in order to gain favor with God, think again. On the flip side of this scale are the “grace only” folks who water down the gospel message and reduce it to nothing more than an intellectual acknowledgement or an emotional decision to believe in Jesus Christ, but we have to remember what James said here. Even the demons believe, and they shudder. The scriptures also tell us that many will come to him on that day (the Day of Judgment) and say, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name?” but he will answer, “I never knew you.” So, it is possible to think you are saved and not be saved.
Captivate
The Bible, Genesis to Revelation, is the revealed and God-breathed word of God. In other words, even though men physically wrote these books in the Bible, i.e. they were God’s scribes, God himself is the one who wrote the books of the Bible, so when we read scripture, we are reading the very words of God, i.e. they have the life and breath of God still in them today. Now, scripture must be interpreted within context, historical and cultural significance, comparing scripture against scripture, examining God’s divine nature and how he works, and through looking into the perfect law (Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the law) that gives freedom. In other words, we must ask and allow the Holy Spirit within us to interpret his words to us so that we understand and apply his truths to our lives in the manner in which God intended when he wrote scripture. We have to guard against intellectual argumentation. Instead, we must determine, with uncluttered minds, to allow ourselves to hear what the Holy Spirit of God wants to teach us through His Word.
So, understanding that when Peter wrote this book he was nothing more that God’s scribe, as he was carried along by the Holy Spirit, we must then accept these words of Peter’s as the very words of God. God is thus saying to us that we will do well to pay attention to what he is saying to us here through these words in 2 Peter 1, and in all of scripture. Peter said that he would always remind the church of these truths, even though they knew them and were firmly established in the truth. He thought it was good to refresh their minds. That is why we read scripture over and over and over again, not that we don’t already know a lot of it, if we have been a student of the word for some time, but because we need to be recharged in our minds with these truths so that we can daily apply them to our lives.
One of the main truths of scripture we must be reminded of is who Jesus Christ is, what he did for us when he died on the cross to take away our sins, and then what is required of us, his believers, in heart response to his grace provided for us freely. Jesus Christ, God’s Son, is also God, the second person of our triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Scripture bears this out (See John 1; Colossians 1; Philippians 2, among others). 2 Peter 1:17 says, “He received glory and honor from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’” The heavens declare the glory, honor and majesty of Jesus Christ! He is our awesome God! He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. Hallelujah! Praise God!! Give praise to him. Honor his name. Worship him by giving your lives to him as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, not conformed any longer by the pattern of this world, but being transformed by the renewing of your minds, then you can prove what God’s will is (See Rom. 12:1-2).
Jesus died on the cross, taking upon himself all our sins so that we could go free from the penalty and control of sin over our lives, and he rose again as victor over death, hell, Satan and sin – the penalty of sin and the control of sin. Magnify him! Obey Him! Honor Him as Lord by how you live your lives. Don’t “short circuit” (obstruct) what could be yours in Christ Jesus, because you believed in false gospel messages that give you false hope. Without Jesus Christ in your life forever, you will never know the victory that could be yours over sin, death, Satan and hell via his work of grace and favor through Jesus Christ alone.
His Favor / An Original Work / April 18, 2011
Behold your King.
Worship the Lord. He’s the great I AM; the perfect Lamb.
Jesus, our Redeemer, our Savior, sustainer,
The heavens declare.
The risen One;
He gave His life as a sacrifice. He paid the price.
Our blessed provider, our Lord, magnify Him,
For He’s God’s Son.
Our God is King.
He reigns forever in majesty. He set us free.
Without Him forever, we won’t know his favor
In victory.
Music, Page 1
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/Christsfreeservant/HisFavor31.jpg
Music, Page 2
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/Christsfreeservant/HisFavor232.jpg
Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:
2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
Making One’s Calling and Election Sure
3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.
10 Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Prophecy of Scripture
12 So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. 13 I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, 14 because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.
16 We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” 18 We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.
19 And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
My Understanding: This is a difficult and controversial passage of scripture, and one that, no doubt, has been the subject of much debate over the years. My intention here is not to present a theological thesis on the passage, but rather my intention is just to hear from God and to gain practical knowledge and understanding in how this teaching of scripture is to be applied to my life. So, with that understanding, I asked the Lord to speak his truths to my heart and to present this passage to me in a way that is new and fresh and alive to me today. I inquired of him concerning the outline he would have me to follow, and I believe he gave me three division titles: 1. Calling, 2. Cultivate, and 3. Captivate. Speak, Lord, your words to me, I pray in Jesus’ precious, awesome and holy name. Amen.
Calling
First of all, we are called by his own glory and goodness. This glory spoken of here is the honor, praise, dignity, majesty, godly character, magnificence, splendor, excellence, and absolute perfection of God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Because of who God is, i.e. because his divine character is comprised in all his holiness, righteousness, love, kindness, mercy, compassion and forgiveness, he called us, not because of anything we did or do, but because of who He is. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. So, it is not from our own righteousness that we are called and saved, but because of God’s righteousness and his divine character that he has called a people unto Himself as his very own.
So, what are we called to? We are called to godliness, and his divine power gives us everything we need in order for us to be godly, i.e. we cannot do this in our own power, strength or wills. This is a God-thing! This is God working in us and through us via his divine power to change our hearts and to make us more and more like Jesus every day. To be godly then means to cultivate the divine character of God into our lives, i.e. to incorporate into our lives his goodness, mercy, kindness, love, generosity, faithfulness and obedience (Jesus was obedient to the cross and to the Father), etc., in cooperation with our Lord and master, in allowing him to transform our hearts and to purify us and to make us holy.
Cultivate
We are to develop these divine character traits into our lives, via the power and working of the Holy Spirit within us in making us holy, so that we do not become ineffective and unproductive in our knowledge of Christ. In other words, we are called to obedience and holiness. We are not called to make some one-time decision to “believe” in Jesus Christ at some altar and then to never have a life transformation that leads to productive, fruit-bearing and effective Christian lives. We are called to live for Jesus in everything we do, are, say, think, etc. He is to be our Lord and master, and we are to be continually being made holy until the day when he takes us home to be with him. We are not perfect yet.
We are not saved just so that we have our ticket into heaven and so we can escape the fires of hell, but rather we are saved to rock this world for Jesus Christ. If nothing ever changes in our hearts, i.e. we never truly ever turned our hearts and lives over to the control of the Holy Spirit within us to make us into someone else, then we are blind and nearsighted, i.e. we have closed our eyes to the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and we are missing the mark. The point of our salvation is not just to save us from the fires of hell and to secure our hope of heaven one day, but the point of our salvation is that we are cleansed of our sins, meaning they are done away with, not just the penalty of them, but we are through with living to please our sinful natures, and instead we are living to please our Lord.
Based in all this knowledge, i.e. because we now have this understanding of what it truly means to believe in Jesus Christ, i.e. consequently this knowledge should prompt us and motivate us to make sure that we have been called, i.e. to make certain that our faith is based upon the truth of scripture concerning what it means to be in Christ Jesus. On the one side of the scale are those who think they can earn their way into heaven via good works. This is faulty thinking and is a false hope, so if you have been relying on following a set of rules, doctrines or religious practices in order to gain favor with God, think again. On the flip side of this scale are the “grace only” folks who water down the gospel message and reduce it to nothing more than an intellectual acknowledgement or an emotional decision to believe in Jesus Christ, but we have to remember what James said here. Even the demons believe, and they shudder. The scriptures also tell us that many will come to him on that day (the Day of Judgment) and say, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name?” but he will answer, “I never knew you.” So, it is possible to think you are saved and not be saved.
Captivate
The Bible, Genesis to Revelation, is the revealed and God-breathed word of God. In other words, even though men physically wrote these books in the Bible, i.e. they were God’s scribes, God himself is the one who wrote the books of the Bible, so when we read scripture, we are reading the very words of God, i.e. they have the life and breath of God still in them today. Now, scripture must be interpreted within context, historical and cultural significance, comparing scripture against scripture, examining God’s divine nature and how he works, and through looking into the perfect law (Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the law) that gives freedom. In other words, we must ask and allow the Holy Spirit within us to interpret his words to us so that we understand and apply his truths to our lives in the manner in which God intended when he wrote scripture. We have to guard against intellectual argumentation. Instead, we must determine, with uncluttered minds, to allow ourselves to hear what the Holy Spirit of God wants to teach us through His Word.
So, understanding that when Peter wrote this book he was nothing more that God’s scribe, as he was carried along by the Holy Spirit, we must then accept these words of Peter’s as the very words of God. God is thus saying to us that we will do well to pay attention to what he is saying to us here through these words in 2 Peter 1, and in all of scripture. Peter said that he would always remind the church of these truths, even though they knew them and were firmly established in the truth. He thought it was good to refresh their minds. That is why we read scripture over and over and over again, not that we don’t already know a lot of it, if we have been a student of the word for some time, but because we need to be recharged in our minds with these truths so that we can daily apply them to our lives.
One of the main truths of scripture we must be reminded of is who Jesus Christ is, what he did for us when he died on the cross to take away our sins, and then what is required of us, his believers, in heart response to his grace provided for us freely. Jesus Christ, God’s Son, is also God, the second person of our triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Scripture bears this out (See John 1; Colossians 1; Philippians 2, among others). 2 Peter 1:17 says, “He received glory and honor from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’” The heavens declare the glory, honor and majesty of Jesus Christ! He is our awesome God! He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. Hallelujah! Praise God!! Give praise to him. Honor his name. Worship him by giving your lives to him as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, not conformed any longer by the pattern of this world, but being transformed by the renewing of your minds, then you can prove what God’s will is (See Rom. 12:1-2).
Jesus died on the cross, taking upon himself all our sins so that we could go free from the penalty and control of sin over our lives, and he rose again as victor over death, hell, Satan and sin – the penalty of sin and the control of sin. Magnify him! Obey Him! Honor Him as Lord by how you live your lives. Don’t “short circuit” (obstruct) what could be yours in Christ Jesus, because you believed in false gospel messages that give you false hope. Without Jesus Christ in your life forever, you will never know the victory that could be yours over sin, death, Satan and hell via his work of grace and favor through Jesus Christ alone.
His Favor / An Original Work / April 18, 2011
Behold your King.
Worship the Lord. He’s the great I AM; the perfect Lamb.
Jesus, our Redeemer, our Savior, sustainer,
The heavens declare.
The risen One;
He gave His life as a sacrifice. He paid the price.
Our blessed provider, our Lord, magnify Him,
For He’s God’s Son.
Our God is King.
He reigns forever in majesty. He set us free.
Without Him forever, we won’t know his favor
In victory.
Music, Page 1
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/Christsfreeservant/HisFavor31.jpg
Music, Page 2
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b58/Christsfreeservant/HisFavor232.jpg
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