Don't Miss It!

Saturday, October 27, 2012, 2:27 a.m. – the Lord woke me with the song “For Our Nation,” followed by “Amazing Grace” playing in my mind.

Amazing Grace / John Newton

Amazing Grace! How sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me!

I once was lost, but now am found

Was blind, but now I see.

'Twas Grace that taught my heart to fear,

And Grace my fears relieved.

How precious did that Grace appear

The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils, and snares

I have already come.

'Tis Grace hath brought me safe thus far

And Grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me.

His Word my hope secures.

He will my shield and portion be

As long as life endures.

When we've been there ten thousand years

Bright shining as the sun,

We've no less days to sing God's praise

Than when we'd first begun.

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Hebrews 12:14-29 (NIV 1984):

Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears.

You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.” The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”

But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.”

Be Holy

We are to make every effort to live in peace with all men, but never at the sacrifice of morals, our beliefs, the teachings of scripture (under the New Covenant) or our obedience to Jesus Christ. In other words, we are not called to be men pleasers but God pleasers. We should follow the example of Jesus Christ, doing what he did, and saying the same things he said, as well as exercising the same love and compassion as he demonstrated on a daily basis. Then we will understand what this means to live in peace with all men.

We are also to make every effort to be holy. We are made holy in Christ Jesus at the moment we accept Jesus Christ’s invitation to make him Lord (boss) and Savior (from slavery to sin) of our lives, yet we are also being made holy until the day Jesus Christ returns. The effort on our part is to cooperate daily with God in the Holy Spirit’s work of conforming us to the image of Christ. God will never force his will upon us. We must daily choose to deny ourselves and to take up our cross (die daily to sin and self) and follow Jesus Christ in obedience and surrender to his will for our lives. “Without holiness no one will see the Lord.” We need to take this to heart!

Don’t Miss It!

We are to see to it that no one misses the grace of God. The grace of God was shown to us by Jesus Christ dying on the cross for our sins so that we could be free from slavery to sin and so we could be free to live holy lives pleasing to God. So many people miss this, because they think God’s grace overlooks sin or that it saves us just so we can go to heaven one day, but a true understanding of God’s grace realizes that the reality of the grace is that it sets us free from bondage to sin in this life, and makes us slaves of righteousness. You will miss the grace of God if you think that praying a prayer gets you a ticket into heaven but that coming to Christ costs you nothing. It costs you your life! Jesus said if we hold on to our old lives of living to please ourselves (our lives of sin), we will lose them for eternity, but if we willingly die to our old way of living according to the flesh, for the sake of Jesus Christ and his gospel, we will live with him for eternity.

The Heavenly Jerusalem

We, as believers in Jesus Christ, have been blessed beyond our human comprehension. We did have to live under the Old Covenant relationship between God and man with all of its rules and regulations, but we have come to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God, which is a spiritual city, not a physical one. Under the Old Covenant, the people of God had to follow all kinds of ceremonial and cleansing rituals and regulations (see the book of Leviticus). They worshiped God at a physical temple. They had to go through human priests for the atonement of their sins. And, they relied on the prophets to speak God’s words to them.

Nonetheless, under the New Covenant relationship between God and man, the temple of God is within the lives of those who trust Jesus Christ to be their Lord (boss) and Savior (from slavery to sin) of their lives. We can worship God in spirit and in truth 24/7 without having to go to a physical building of any kind. We have the word of God printed for us (in America, especially), and readily available for anyone to read who wants to read it, as well as we have the Holy Spirit within us speaking God’s truths to our hearts. The Holy City is now a spiritual city, the true church. It is a city without walls. We can meet with God’s church anywhere at any time. The church is not a building or an institution of men, but it is a spiritual entity comprised of those who are true followers of Jesus Christ. Even if the institutional church incorporated underneath the U.S. government, and meeting in buildings built by men, was to suffer great destruction, the true church would still survive and thrive, though it may suffer great persecution and loss of human life.

Our Redeemer and Judge

Yet, just because we are not underneath the Old Covenant rules and regulations, and we may not think God still judges men in the way he did in Old Testament times, we should not think that our relationship with Jesus Christ is absent of rules and regulations or that Jesus Christ requires nothing of us, or that he will no longer judge us. He demands our very lives in total surrender and commitment to him to walk with him in holiness and to obey his commands. He is still the judge of all men. So, we should see to it that we don’t refuse him who speaks to us. This is not speaking of just refusing to accept his invitation for salvation, but we are not to refuse to obey him, thinking that now that we are under grace that we don’t have to turn from our sins, or that we don’t have to obey God. We do! Scriptures make that quite clear! God is still a holy God, and he still demands honor, respect and obedience.

God will judge us. He will judge nations and people and his church (see Rev. 2-3). He will shake this earth, and he has done so, in order to get our attention and to get us to honor him as our holy God, to bow the knee, to humble ourselves before God, to repent of our sins, and to walk with him in holiness and in righteousness. Yet, we should never count on surviving the judgments of God, or that we will be given another chance. God is still a God of grace, and he does give us many opportunities to turn to him, yet we never know if we have tomorrow, so we should follow him today while we still have today.

For Our Nation / An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Trust Him with your life today.

Make Him your Lord and your Savior.

Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.

He will forgive you of your sin;

Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.

On our knees to God we’re praying,

Seeking God to give us answers

That are only found in Him.

God is sovereign over all things.

Nothing from His mind escaping.

He has all things under His command,

And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: we’re believing

In our Lord, and interceding

For our nation and its people

To obey their God today.

He is our hope for our future.

For our wounds He offers suture.

He is all we need for this life.

Trust Him with your life today.

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