Friday, July 27, 2012,
7:34 a.m. – The Lord woke me this morning with the song “Teach Them” playing in my mind. Speak,
Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Romans 1:18-32 (NIV 1984):
The wrath of God is
being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men
who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God
is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation
of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have
been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are
without excuse.
For although they knew
God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their
thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they
claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal
God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
Therefore God gave
them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the
degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for
a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is
forever praised. Amen.
Because of this, God
gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations
for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations
with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent
acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their
perversion.
Furthermore, since
they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them
over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become
filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full
of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers,
God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil;
they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve
death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those
who practice them.
Ready to Challenge
Paul was a servant of Jesus Christ, set apart for the gospel
of God. He had no reservations concerning his calling. He was ready to do
whatever God desired of him to do in order to fulfill his commission to open
blinded eyes, to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan
to God, so they would receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are
being made holy in Christ Jesus, our Lord. And, this requires that we must
confront sin in sinful man, and call for repentance (turning from sin) and
obedience to Jesus Christ, our Lord. So, the goal of what Paul wrote here was
the salvation of lives.
When I wrote that last sentence, the Lord put this song in
my mind:
Hear my Voice /
An Original Work / July 9, 2012
Based off Psalm 27
The Lord is my great
salvation.
He’s the stronghold of
my life.
When my enemies attack
me,
My heart will not fear
at all.
Though a war break out
against me,
Confident in Christ
I’ll be.
Of the Lord, I ask
that I may
Live with Him
eternally.
Hear my voice, Lord,
when I call you.
Merciful to me You’ll
be.
Though my relatives
forsake me,
My Lord God will
receive me.
Teach me Your way, O
my Jesus.
Lead me in Your
righteousness.
I will sacrifice to my
Lord.
I will sing with
joyfulness.
I am confident that I
will
See the goodness of
the Lord.
All the richness of
His blessings,
My Lord has for me in
store.
He asks me to be of
courage;
To be strong and to
take heart,
Patiently as I wait
for Him,
And from Him to ne’er
depart.
Suppression and
Replacement
When God created us, he put within us the knowledge of God,
as well as God is visible in all that he has created. God has made this
knowledge of him plain to us. His eternal power and divine nature can be
clearly seen from what he has made, so that men are without excuse.
So, when we, as humans, resist the very things we know about
God, because God has made it known to us, we are suppressing the truth about
God. We resist God in many ways and forms, but mainly we do this when we choose
to ignore the realities about God we know through creation, and that we know
through education and training, and we choose to make our own gods and follow
our own natural (sinful) instincts.
When we choose to become our own gods or to make men, man-made
objects, the things of this world, entertainment, worldly happiness and
pleasure, philosophies, and/or religion our god, then we are guilty of
replacing God with mere images, i.e. with things that are cheap imitations;
with things or people with the appearance of being godlike or of God but are in
appearance only; or with things or people, which in themselves may be harmless
or good, but to which we have given our hearts, affection, loyalty and devotion
over and above our required and necessary devotion and obedience to God
Almighty.
Gave them Over
Since godless and wicked people have chosen to resist and to
deny what they know of God, and since they have chosen the path of wicked
living instead of following Jesus Christ, choosing to neither honor and respect
God for who he is nor to give him thanks for all he has done for us, God has
given them over to the sinful desires of their hearts, and to shameful lusts
and sexual impurity. He did and does this because they have chosen to exchange
(trade) the truth of God and his Word for a lie of Satan, and because they have
chosen to give their heart devotion and allegiance to created things to worship
and to serve them instead of to worship and serve their Creator, Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ.
Since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge
of God, i.e. since it was not worth their time to hold on to the truths of
scripture and to apply them to their daily lives, God also gave them over to
depraved (corrupted; shameful; and immoral) minds, to do what ought not to be done.
When God gives us over, he lets us go, and he no longer
convicts us of sin because we have resisted him so much, I imagine. He no
longer offers protection against the temptations to sin, because we have chosen
to go our own way instead of his way. I don’t know at what point God gives people
over to their sinful desires, but I know he does. I believe he does this even
with professing Christians who have resisted and resisted and resisted his
voice over and over again. I believe he comes to a point where he says “Enough
is enough!” We have the example of him with the Jewish people to see how
loving, patient and kind he is, but how he does set limits on how much
disobedience he will allow.
Approve of Sin
People who are engulfed in sin are often not content to be
there alone, but will drag others down with them so they don’t feel so guilty
and alone in their sin, and so they have others to join with them in their degradation.
So, they lead others to sin, too. Jesus had strong words about those who lead
his followers into sin. It would be better for them to have a millstone wrapped
around their necks and to be drowned in the sea than to face what judgment God
has in store for them, and/or to keep them from continuing to lead others to
sin.
As well, they will approve of others falling into the same
sin as them, even though they know God’s righteous decree that those who do
such things deserve death. Now, who are we talking about? We are not talking
about natives out in some remote location of the world who are not aware of God’s
decrees. We are talking of those who have the knowledge of God’s righteous
decrees, and they know about eternal punishment in hell, and not only do they
resist God but they lead others to resist God. They approve of those who they
know are not living according to God’s commands, and they definitely would not,
nor do they have the right to, try to speak to another about his sin in order
to lead him away from a lifestyle of sin. We don’t have to come right out and
say “good job” to someone committing sin to approve their sin. We can approve of
those who practice sin merely by being entertained by movies, TV shows, video
games, et al, that shamelessly promote sin of all kinds, or through apathy and
refusal to lovingly confront sin in sinful man.
Our Responsibility
So, what is our responsibility in all of this? For one, we
are to honor, respect and obey our Lord God in all things, and we are to be
thankful (grateful) for all he has done for us. We are to hear God speak to our
hearts, be aware of him and who he is, seek him out, humble ourselves before
him in repentance over our sin, choose to walk in faithful obedience to him,
and help others to know him, to leave their lives of sin behind them, and to
also walk in fellowship with him, following him wherever he leads them.
We have a responsibility before God to not suppress the
truth by what we say and do, to not give way to the lies of Satan and men, to not
make things, men or man-made religion our gods in place of God, and to not give
into temptation to sin or to resist the convicting voice of the Holy Spirit. We
also must not give the devil a foothold. When we play with fire, we will get
burned. We can’t resist Satan and flee temptation if we are knowingly taking
junk into our eyes, minds, ears and hearts that promotes or laughs at sin, or
if we are not diligently throwing off every sin that entangles or every weight
that may lead us into sin. For instance, I can’t resist the temptation to spend
money if I keep going to shopping sites on the internet or I keep flipping
through shopping catalogs. If you play with a snake, you will get bit. And, the
bite is poisonous and permeates your whole mind, heart and being.
We can no longer take God lightly thinking he doesn’t notice
what we do. He does! Let us give him the honor, respect, esteem and obedience
that he commands and so deserves!
The Song
I was praying for various people I love who are still
blinded by sin’s deceitfulness. My heart was heavy with care and concern for
their lives. I began praying this first verse to the Lord, which is actually
Jesus’ commission to Paul as recorded in Acts 26:16-18, before it actually
became the first verse to this song. Then, the Lord directed me to put these
words to the music he had given me. He then led me to Ephesians 4 and Romans 12
and several other passages of scripture, and he used them to put words to this
song, “Teach Them,” which is about us sharing the gospel and the love of Jesus
Christ, so that others can come to know Christ, and then teaching them by word
and by example what it means to live for Christ.
Teach Them / An
Original Work / May 24, 2012
Based off various scriptures
Open up the blinded
eyes of
Those who walk in
sin’s darkness.
Turn them to the light
of Christ
And to His
righteousness.
Turn them from the
pow’r of Satan.
Turn them to the peace
of Christ,
So they may receive
forgiveness
And eternal life.
Teach them to put off
their old selves
And their former way
of life,
And to put on their
new self,
Reborn to be like
Christ;
To not copy worldly
customs;
Be transformed in life
and mind;
Obey freely His word in
them,
Pleasing unto God.
Teach them how to love
their neighbors
Truly as they love
themselves;
Be a witness; share
the gospel;
Satan’s lies dispel;
Comfort all who mourn
in sadness;
Share Christ’s love
and joy today.
Do this through your
life and witness
For your Lord always.
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