Tuesday, August 28,
2012, 7:44 a.m. – the Lord woke me once with the song “He Keeps Me Singing,” and then again with the song “Trust Him.” When I finished reading the
passage of scripture in 2 Corinthians
5:1-6:2, the song “When We All Get To
Heaven” began playing in my mind. Speak, Lord, for your servant is
listening.
He Keeps Me Singing / Luther B. Bridgers
There’s within my heart a melody
Jesus whispers sweet and low,
“Fear not, I am with thee, peace be
still,”
In all of life’s ebb and flow.
Though sometimes He leads through
waters deep,
Trials fall across the way,
Though sometimes the path seems rough
and steep
See His foot-prints all the way.
Soon He’s coming back to welcome me
Far beyond the starry sky;
I shall wing my flight to world’s
unknown,
I shall reign with Him on high.
2 Corinthians 5:1-6:2
(NIV 1984): Now we know that if the
earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal
house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be
clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be
found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because
we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so
that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now it is God who has made us
for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing
what is to come.
Therefore we are
always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are
away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say,
and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make
it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may
receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or
bad.
Since, then, we know
what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men… For Christ’s love compels
us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And
he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but
for him who died for them and was raised again.
So from now on we
regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in
this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new
creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who
reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of
reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not
counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of
reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were
making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled
to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might
become the righteousness of God.
As God’s fellow
workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. For he says,
“In the time of my
favor I heard you,
and in the day of salvation I helped you.”
I tell you, now is the
time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.
The Earthly Tent
Although our Bible is divided up into chapters and verses,
these “books” of the New Testament are, in many cases, one complete letter, so,
oftentimes the thoughts are continuous from one chapter to another. The
thoughts expressed at the beginning of chapter five, in this case, thus, are a
continuation of the thoughts in chapter four.
At the end of chapter four we read that we should not lose
heart. Even though we go through heartaches, troubles, hardships, persecutions,
and rejections for the sake of the gospel, or although we may even suffer
physically for our testimony for Jesus Christ, or we may face the reality of
death for our faith, the Lord Jesus is there to inwardly renew us day by day,
so we have hope. What suffering we may have to endure in this life for our
witness for Jesus Christ pales by comparison to the glory that will be ours in
heaven one day. So, we keep focused on what is eternal (unseen) and not on what
is of this earth (seen).
The earthly tent we live in is our human fleshly bodies. If
our bodies are destroyed through the natural process of death and decay, or
through our lives being taken unnaturally, perhaps even because of our
testimony for Jesus Christ, we have the hope of an eternal house in heaven; a
spiritual house, not a physical one. When this happens, we will no longer be troubled
with pain, suffering, decay, or sin. So, we, who believe in Jesus Christ,
should never fear death. In fact, we should long for the day when we will be
with our Lord forever in glory! Amen!
We Groan
We groan and are burdened in this life, because we wish to
not be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, Paul said, so
that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. I believe Paul is speaking
here metaphorically, and not just about earthly bodies versus heavenly bodies.
We groan and are burdened in these earthly bodies because of pain, sorrow,
weakness, persecutions, rejections and sin, and we long to no longer be in
these bodies of flesh and to suffer physically or emotionally, or to be tempted
of Satan or by our own fleshly desires to sin.
What is mortal (earthly; worldly; human; sinful) is
swallowed up by life, not just at our death, at the coming of Jesus, and/or at
the time when our physical bodies will be resurrected and we will be given
spiritual (glorified) bodies. What is mortal was swallowed up by life when
Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins so that we would be spared the
ultimate penalty of sin (spiritual death; eternal punishment) and so we would
be free of slavery to (the control of) sin day-to-day.
When we invite Jesus Christ into our lives to be Lord and
Savior of our lives, we enter into relationship with him via death to our old
way of living to please ourselves (in sin), and we are resurrected spiritually
to new lives in Jesus Christ. But, the Christian life is a process of salvation
(we are saved; we are being saved; we will be saved) that will not be completed
until Jesus Christ returns to earth for his bride and to judge the earth and
its inhabitants. So, the Christian life is also a process of the mortal
(worldly; sinful) being swallowed up by life (spiritual life in Jesus Christ).
And, this process can be very painful. So, we long for the day when our
salvation will be completed and we will be with our Lord forever and will no
longer live in these earthly tents (bodies), but we will be clothed in our
heavenly dwelling!
God’ Purpose
God made us for this very purpose and has given us the
Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. What purpose? – Not just so
that one day we can go to heaven to be with Jesus/God forever, but so that the
mortal (worldly; sinful) can be swallowed up by life (spiritual in Christ)
while we are still here on the face of this earth. He made us to be holy. He
made us to worship him, to love him, to honor him and to obey him. Sin
separated us from God and that perfect fellowship with him, but thanks be to
God, Jesus Christ bridged that gap that sin created so that we can have
restored fellowship with God through faith in his Son, Jesus Christ. And, the
mortal can be swallowed up by our new lives in Christ!
The Spirit was given to us as a deposit (security)
guaranteeing what is to come. When we believe in Jesus Christ via turning from
our lives of sin and turning to God in faith and obedience, which is the
working of the Holy Spirit in our lives, as we cooperate with that work, he
fills and empowers us with His Holy Spirit to be able to live holy lives
pleasing to God. We cannot do this in our own flesh. I know! The Spirit within
us enables us to put off the misdeeds of the body (sin) and to put on our new
lives in Christ Jesus, created to be like Christ in true holiness and
righteousness. He is the one who works in us this process of salvation (or
sanctification), as we cooperate fully with that work, through to its
completion.
Christ’s Love Compels
Us
Because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross in dying for
our sins and in being resurrected in conquering death, hell, Satan and sin, we
are able to live new lives in Jesus Christ free from the fear of damnation, free
from the control of sin over our daily lives, and free to love, worship, honor
and obey our Lord with joy. I know what it is like to be in slavery to sin, and
I know what it is like to be liberated from that bondage, and I don’t want to
ever go back, nor do I want to see anyone else continue in slavery to sin, but
would that all would come to know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord (master). His
love for me and his saving grace are what compel me to want to share that same
love and truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ with others so that they, too, can
be set free, and can come to know my wonderful Lord, and to know the blessings
of obedience, forgiveness and daily fellowship with him.
Jesus Christ died, not just so that we could have our “ticket”
into heaven, but so that we would forsake our lives of sin, and of living to
please ourselves, and so we would now live to please our commanding officer,
Jesus Christ, in all that we do and say. I know this is my goal to please him
in every way. If we are truly in Christ Jesus by God’s grace, through genuine
faith, we are new creatures in Christ Jesus. We do not just clean up the old
man. We don’t put Christ over top our bodies of flesh. We don’t grow into
choosing to obey him, even though the Christian life is a process of
sanctification. Yet, true belief in Christ understands that it means that our
old lives of sin (living to please ourselves) are now done away with, and our
new lives in Christ (living to please Him) have now come into being! Again, all
of this is from God and is a working of the Spirit of God, as we cooperate
fully with that work. This is a gift of God, not of human works, lest anyone
should boast.
Be Reconciled to God
So, we implore you on Christ’s behalf to be reconciled (made
right) with God. Jesus Christ died and took upon himself the sins of the entire
world (the worst pain of all) so that we would be free of the control of sin
and so we would be free to live righteous lives in God, no longer to please
ourselves, but to please our Lord (master; boss) and Savior. If someone is
telling you a gospel other than this, they are selling you a bill of goods,
i.e. they are trying to make you believe something is true that is not true.
Salvation requires that we die to our old lives of sin so
that we can be resurrected (spiritually) to live new lives in Christ. You don’t
want to find out in the end that you received God’s grace in vain (unsuccessfully)
because you trusted in a false gospel that does not tell you that faith in
Christ means death to your old way of life. So, if you have not done so, I
encourage you today to turn from your life of sin (living to please yourself)
and turn to follow Jesus Christ in obedience and full surrender and submission
to his will for your life, making it your goal to please him in every way, too.
Now is the time. You don’t know if you have tomorrow. Make that choice today.
Trust Him / An
Original Work / August 15, 2012
Based off Psalm 27:14
Wait for the Lord; be of courage;
Be strong and take heart today.
Do not fear when foes attack you.
Trust in God always.
He will rescue you in times
Of trouble and distress,
He’ll comfort you in all ways
As you trust Him with your life today.
Trust in Him always.
God is with you; He’ll not leave you.
You can always count on Him.
He will fulfill all He promised
Before you began.
His word teaches you
All that you need for this life.
Let Him lead you. Open your heart;
Let his truth envelope you today.
Listen and obey.
Love your Lord God; follow Jesus.
Repent of your sins today.
Make Him your Lord and your master;
Trust Him and obey.
Follow Him where’er He leads you
In His service; be His witness,
Telling others about Jesus’
Price that He did pay
For your sins always.
When we all get to
heaven,
What a day of
rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
We’ll sing and shout
the victory!
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