This is a repost of an older song with a new recording and new video:
This song is a prayer to Jesus, asking him to lead us where we should go, to be our hope and stay, to open our hearts to him, to transform us, to make his will known to our hearts, and to help us to never stray from him and from our pure devotion to him.
Jesus, Lead Me / An Original Work / July 22, 2011
Jesus, lead me all the way.
Be my hope and be my stay.
Gently lead me where I should go,
So Your Spirit, I want to know.
Open up my heart to You.
Fill me with Your love and truth.
Make my heart want to obey.
Be my Lord today. Gently lead always.
Jesus, lover of my soul,
Cleanse my heart, and make me whole;
Be transformed in my heart today,
As I turn from my sin and pray.
Make Your will known to my heart.
May I not from You depart.
How I long to hear You now,
As I humbly bow. Jesus, hear me now.
Song Lyrics @ Public Domain
New Video:
http://youtu.be/lXl2VHesytM
MP3, Song Lyrics and Sheet Music w/chords (free):
http://originalworks.info/jesus-lead-me/
Friday, November 30, 2012
Thursday, November 29, 2012
A Straight Path
Thursday, November
29, 2012, 4:53 a.m. – the Lord Jesus woke me with the song “Seek the Lord” playing in my mind.
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Psalm 5 (NIV 1984):
Give ear to my words,
O Lord,
consider my sighing.
Listen to my cry for
help,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.
In the morning, O
Lord, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you
and wait in expectation.
You are not a God who
takes pleasure in evil;
with you the wicked cannot dwell.
The arrogant cannot
stand in your presence;
you hate all who do wrong.
You destroy those who
tell lies;
bloodthirsty and deceitful men
the Lord abhors.
But I, by your great
mercy,
will come into your house;
in reverence will I
bow down
toward your holy temple.
Lead me, O Lord, in
your righteousness
because of my enemies—
make straight your way before me.
Not a word from their
mouth can be trusted;
their heart is filled with destruction.
Their throat is an
open grave;
with their tongue they speak deceit.
Declare them guilty, O
God!
Let their intrigues be their downfall.
Banish them for their
many sins,
for they have rebelled against you.
But let all who take
refuge in you be glad;
let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection
over them,
that those who love your name may rejoice
in you.
For surely, O Lord,
you bless the righteous;
you surround them with your favor as with a
shield.
Give
Ear
The Psalmist sought an audience with God. He
lamented and wept over the wickedness of his enemies, as he called to God for
intervention. He acknowledged that God was not a God who takes pleasure in
evil. God is not pleased with us no matter what we do. It grieves him when we
sin against him, particularly when we get engrossed and entrapped in sin all
over again after we have experienced freedom from sin by his grace, and through
Jesus’ blood sacrifice for our sins.
As well, we can’t just pray a prayer for
salvation and then continue to live however we want in order to please
ourselves, thinking we have our ticket into heaven or that God’s grace covers
it all. With God the wicked cannot dwell. If we claim to have fellowship with God
and yet we continue in a lifestyle of willful sin and rebellion, then scripture
says we are liars, and the truth is not in us (see 1 John 1).
The
Wicked
Oh, you might say, that is Old Testament. We
are now under the New Covenant of God’s grace, so the rules have changed. Have
they? Paul, writing to the church in Corinth, said:
Do
you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be
deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male
prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards
nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. ~
1 Co. 6:9-10 NIV 1984
The New Testament is quite clear that we
cannot continue in a lifestyle of willful sin and yet claim God as our Father,
Jesus as our Lord, and heaven as our eternal destiny.
The wicked are described here as those who
cannot be trusted, because their mouths are full of lies. They regularly and
consistently practice deceit, probably to cover up for their other sins. So,
don’t think for a moment that just because you “accepted Christ” at some point
in your life that it means that you are truly saved. If you are continuing in a
lifestyle of sin, and you practice lies and deceit as a way to cover up for
your sin, then scripture lists you among the wicked with whom God cannot dwell.
I am not saying here that any of us must
reach a level of perfection or that this is all about performance. It is not!
It is about repentance, though. If we truly believe that Jesus Christ died,
taking upon himself the sins of the entire world, as though his physical
suffering was not enough, then that should drive us to our knees in humility
and repentance, and we should desire nothing more than to obey our Lord and to
serve him only in all ways. Jesus demands the cross in our lives. He said:
“If
anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily
and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever
loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole
world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?” ~
Luke 9:23-24 NIV 1984
The
Righteous
We are made righteous by the blood of Jesus
Christ. Any “righteousness” we think we have of our own is considered as “filthy
rags” in God’s sight. Take the Pharisees for example. They thought they were
completely righteous, but it was all external, but their hearts were full of
wickedness. So, the righteous are not those who think they are better than
other people because they follow a set of rituals, rites, traditions or
religious practices. It amazes me how many professing followers of Jesus Christ
still judge a person’s level of spirituality by their external religious
practices and performances, and how many of these are within the churches that
claim to be authentic, real, and free from such hindrances, too.
It is only by God’s saving grace, through the
blood of Jesus Christ given for us so we can be free from sin, and by faith
(repentance + obedience) that we are truly made righteous in God’s sight. And,
even our faith is a gift from God, meaning it is only by God’s Spirit that we
can even be drawn to Christ, that we can desire God, that we want to turn from
our sins and follow Jesus, and that we are given new birth in Jesus Christ, our
Lord.
Yet, being made righteous is not just
positional, it is continual. We read in 1 John (NIV ’84):
This
is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him
there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk
in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 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.
In the New Testament we learn that we are
saved, we are being saved, and that we will be saved, i.e. our salvation will
be complete when Jesus Christ returns, and while we wait for his return, we are
continually growing in God’s grace, and are being transformed into the image of
Christ, and daily the blood of Jesus Christ purifies (refines) us from all sin.
Jesus said that every fruit-bearing branch in him he prunes, so that it will be
more fruitful. Our salvation is a process of changing us and making us to be
more and more like Jesus. And, that’s a big job, but God can do it! We just
have to cooperate with his work.
Lead
Me
The Psalmist understood what it meant to
follow God with his life. He was not perfect, and there was a point in his life
where he sinned greatly against God, yet when confronted with the reality of
his sin, he repented of his sin and he turned his heart back to God. He
understood it was only by God’s mercy and grace that he was even able to
approach the throne of grace (of God) to help him in his time of need. He had
great reverence, awe and respect for God, which is something that is greatly
missing in today’s evangelical church here in America. God has become too
casual in man’s sight to where much of the church has lost the awe of God and
often fails to recognize and to respond appropriately to his absolute holiness.
That is why so many professing Christians are able to continue in sin with lack
of conscience, because they don’t see God for who he truly is.
When we have the understanding of who God is
in all his holiness and righteousness, and we see ourselves, not only as loved
by him, as beneficiaries of his divine grace, forgiven, and having an inheritance
with God that cannot fade, spoil, or perish, but we honestly have a full
appreciation of what his grace means to us in delivering us, not just from
eternal damnation, but from bondage to sin day-to-day, then we will truly
desire to have him lead us daily in his righteousness. And, we will want him to
make a straight way before us.
A straight way means no diversions, no
compromises, and no side paths. A straight path is honest, respectable,
honorable, upright, undiluted and unmixed with the world, as well as unadulterated
with other ‘lovers’ and other ‘gods’ of this world. A straight path is focused
in one direction and it is unyielding, stubborn, relentless, and unwavering in
its pursuit of God and his holiness, and wants nothing more than to please God
in all ways. A follower of this straight path will be tenacious, steadfast,
determined and purposeful in how he or she lives each and every day of his or
her life. They will rejoice in the Lord, in whom they take refuge, and God will
spread his spiritual protection over them. God will spiritually bless those who
love him, who are faithful to him, and who walk in his holiness and his righteousness.
God will be a shield around them so that they can withstand Satan’s attacks
against them, and they will give God the glory! Amen!
Seek
the Lord / An Original Work / July 20, 2012
Based off
Isaiah 55
“Come
to Me all you who thirst; come to waters.
Listen
to Me, and eat what’s good today,
And
your soul will delight in richest of fare.
Give
ear to Me, and you will live.
I
have made an eternal covenant with you.
Wash
in the blood of the Lamb.”
Seek
the Lord while He may be found; call on Him.
Let
the wicked forsake his way, in truth.
Let
him turn to the Lord, and he will receive mercy.
Freely,
God pardons him.
“For
My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor
are your ways My ways,”
declares
the Lord, our God.
“My
word that goes out of My mouth is truthful.
It
will not return to Me unfulfilled.
My
word will accomplish all that I desire,
And
achieve the goal I intend.
You
will go in joy, and be led forth in peace.
The
mountains will burst into song… before you,
And
all of the trees clap their hands.”
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Love of Delusions
Wednesday, November
28, 2012, 7:57 a.m. – the Lord Jesus woke me with the song “Living Sacrifices” playing in my mind,
I drifted back to sleep, and then he woke me again with the song “When His Kingdom Comes” playing in my
mind.
When His Kingdom Comes / Dottie Rambo and Dony McGuire
When His kingdom comes, what a
difference
When things are in earth, as they are
in heaven,
When all has been settled and my heart
is His home,
Oh, what a difference, what a great
transformation!
Speak, Lord, for your
servant is listening. I read Psalm 4
(NIV 1984):
Answer me when I call to you,
O my righteous God.
Give me relief from my distress;
be merciful to me and hear my prayer.
How long, O men, will you turn my glory
into shame?
How long will you love delusions and seek false gods? Selah
Know that the Lord has set apart the
godly for himself;
the Lord will hear when I call to him.
In your anger do not sin;
when you are on your beds,
search your hearts and be silent. Selah
Offer right sacrifices
and trust in the Lord.
Many are asking, “Who can show us any
good?”
Let the light of your face shine upon us, O Lord.
You have filled my heart with greater
joy
than when their grain and new wine abound.
I will lie down and sleep in peace,
for you alone, O Lord,
make me dwell in safety.
My Distress
David was distressed over the spiritual condition of his
people. So, he called upon God for mercy, and for God to hear his prayer. In 2
Peter 2 we read about God’s judgments against those who refused to listen to
God and to obey his calls for repentance and obedience, yet in the same passage
we also read of righteous men of God who did listen to God, and who did obey
his commands. One such man was described as a righteous man, “who was distressed by the filthy lives of
lawless men.” He was “tormented in
his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard.” Also, Paul was a
man of God who often grieved and was in anguish of heart and mind over the
spiritual condition of his people. In 1 Corinthians we learn about a situation
in the church where sexual immorality had been allowed to continue unchecked.
Paul asked the question, “Shouldn’t you
rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man
who did this?”
In Ezekiel 9 we read about God sending a messenger of God to
“Go throughout the city
of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament
over all the detestable things that are done in it.” The glory of God was at the threshold of the temple of God when he
commanded the servant to do this. The temple of God now dwells in the hearts of
true followers of Jesus Christ, and Jerusalem is now the heavenly Jerusalem,
i.e. the bride of Christ, the saints of God, the true church. If God were to
visit his church today, how many would he find within who truly “grieve and
lament” over all the detestable things that are going on within our churches,
let alone within our nation and our government? God wants us to be a righteous
people who grieve and lament over the detestable things going on within our churches,
and within our nation, and who will call upon God for mercy. Sometimes, though,
his mercy will come in the form of chastisement, in order to get his bride to
humble herself, to pray, to seek God’s face and to turn from her wicked ways.
How
Long?
Then, the psalmist directed his thoughts to
the people. He asked them how long they would turn his glory (the glory of God)
into shame, and how long they would love delusions and seek false gods. I
believe our Lord God is asking that same question of his church today.
So, what is a delusion? It can be a false
belief, a fantasy (make-believe), or a fallacy (error). It can also be a
deception, i.e. something that appears to be real when it is not real.
When I think of delusion, one of the main
thoughts that comes to mind is the power of the media, especially on
television, to trick the mind into believing something is real or true when in
fact it is not real and it is a lie. Television appeared on the scene when I
was a young child. Most American homes have a TV of some kind in their living
rooms or in their family rooms, and many homes have more than one TV. We did
for many, many years.
One of my granddaughters was observing our
living room about a year ago and she asked me why we didn’t have a TV. So, I
said, “If you can tell me one good reason why we should have a TV, I might
consider it.” She replied, “Because you have a living room.” Wow! That speaks
volumes! Every living room she had seen, evidently, other than ours, housed a
TV. It is almost un-American to not have one. And, they are everywhere – in restaurants,
in doctors’ and dentists’ offices, in car dealerships, etc. We can’t get away
from them. And, then the internet came into being, too. And, that opened a
whole wide door for potential evil to come into our homes, too, and so much of
it is so deceptive, i.e. it is an illusion, too.
So, if we hear it, see it, or read it we
often just accept it as true when, in fact, it may be a purposeful delusion to
deceive our minds. We need to be so discerning and prayerfully consider what we
see, hear or read, asking God to show us the delusions in our lives.
Another huge delusion is false teaching in
the church. It is a delusion because the people don’t even realize that lies,
deceptions and purposeful removal of truth is being danced before their eyes
and minds week after week, all in the name of Christ and his gospel. They think
if it sounds good, looks good and feels good then it must be right and it must
be true. Yet, that is how deception works! I am astounded at the number of
church goers, professing Christians and church leaders who have bought into the
delusion and who love it that way.
For
if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached,
or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different
gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. ~ 2 Co.
11:4 NIV 1984
What an indictment against today’s church!
Even if they are told the truth, many still often choose to follow the lie.
And, one of the biggest delusions existing within today’s church here in
America is that salvation by grace does not require repentance and obedience to
God, and that God is pleased with us no matter what we do. And, all we have to
do is pray a prayer to receive Christ into our hearts, we have our ticket into
heaven, and no one can take it away. Wow! I guess they forget that Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny
himself, take up his cross daily and follow me” (also see Eph. 4:17-24).
Set
Apart
God has called his saints to be holy, i.e.
to be set apart for God, for his righteousness and for his service. We are
called to obedience, and repentance is definitely required for salvation. Just
read the scriptures in the New Testament. You can’t miss it!
As well, we are to offer right sacrifices
to God. Scripture teaches us:
The
sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise. ~ Ps. 51:17
NIV 1984
Therefore,
I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living
sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do
not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s
will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. ~ Rom. 12:1-2
And, we are to put our trust in the Lord. We
are not to put our trust (belief; hope) in men, who cannot save us, or in the
strength of armies or in rulers of men. Included in this is that we should not
automatically trust everything we see, hear or read in the media or even in our
churches, or from our pulpits (platforms; stages). We should pray and test
everything we see, hear and read to see if it is true or not. We get deceived
when we blindly trust men to be who they say they are, or when we think men are
the hope for what ails our nation, or when we believe they are always telling
us the truth. We should also not put our trust in 401Ks, bank accounts,
savings, Social Security, our health, our jobs, our possessions, our
government, our education, our physical or mental abilities and/or talents,
etc., because all these things are destined to perish. Our trust should always
be only in our Lord God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Where we cannot trust
men, we can always trust God to be who he says he is and that he will do what
he said he would do. He is trustworthy!
The Light
Shine
When we consider the greatness of God and
all that he has done for us, especially in giving the life of his Son, Jesus Christ,
to die on the cross for our sins so that we can be free of slavery to sin
(day-to-day), and can be free of the punishment of sin (eternal damnation), it
should drive us to our knees in humility and repentance (turning from our sin).
When we are there before God, we should search our hearts, asking God to show
us what about our lives is displeasing to him. Some of us may find out that we
don’t truly even know God because we have bought into a false gospel of men and
a false hope of salvation. Others of us may realize we have been believing a
lie in this area or that and that we need to stop believing the lie and we need
to accept the truth of God into our lives in certain areas. We need to let the
light of Christ and his truth shine into our hearts, exposing the lies and the
sins that so easily entangle us, so that we can be set free to worship God in
spirit and in truth. Then we will know true peace and joy, for we will be
forever safe in the arms of Jesus.
Living Sacrifices
/ An Original Work / September 14, 2012
Based off Romans 12:1-2; 6:11-14 NIV
Oh, holy ones, I
counsel you,
In view of God’s
mercy,
To give yourselves to
God in love
As living offerings,
Pleasing to God, holy
in love.
This is your true worship.
Do not conform to
worldly lives.
Let God transform you
today.
Then you’ll be able to
Test and approve of
what
God’s will is – His
pleasing
And perfect will.
Oh, holy ones, I
counsel you –
Offer yourselves unto
God.
Oh, holy ones, I
counsel you –
Do not be conceited.
Humble yourselves
before your God.
Do not be
self-righteous.
The strength you have
to live in love
Comes from your Lord
God, so
Live your new lives in
pow’r of God.
Be changed in heart,
mind and will.
Do this because of
what
Christ did for you
when
He died on the cross
to save
The world from sin.
Oh, holy ones, I
counsel you –
Humble yourselves
before God.
Oh, holy ones, I
counsel you –
Count yourselves dead
to sin,
But be alive to God in
Christ.
Do not let sin reign
in
Your earthly lives so
you
Obey its evil desires.
Offer yourselves unto
your God
As those who’ve been
born again.
For sin shall no
longer be
Your lord and master.
Give of yourselves to
God
For righteousness.
Oh, holy ones, I
counsel you –
Be alive to God in Christ.
MP3, Song lyrics and Sheet music (free):
Song on Video:
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Take Refuge in Him
Tuesday, November 27,
2012, 7:47 a.m. – the Lord Jesus woke me this morning with this old hymn
playing in my mind:
With Eternity’s
Values in View / Alfred B. Smith 1916-2001
With eternity’s values
in view, Lord,
With eternity’s values
in view,
May I do each day’s
work for Jesus
With eternity’s values
in view.
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Psalm 2 (NIV 1984):
Why do the nations
conspire
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth
take their stand
and the rulers gather together
against the Lord
and against his Anointed One.
“Let us break their
chains,” they say,
“and throw off their fetters.”
The One enthroned in
heaven laughs;
the Lord scoffs at them.
Then he rebukes them
in his anger
and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,
“I have installed my
King
on Zion, my holy hill.”
I will proclaim the
decree of the Lord:
He said to me, “You
are my Son;
today I have become your Father.
Ask of me,
and I will make the nations your
inheritance,
the ends of the earth your possession.
You will rule them
with an iron scepter;
you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”
Therefore, you kings,
be wise;
be warned, you rulers of the earth.
Serve the Lord with
fear
and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son, lest he
be angry
and you be destroyed in your way,
for his wrath can
flare up in a moment.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
Why?
Nations consist of governments, laws and/or
constitutions of various localities of people throughout the world. The people
mentioned here are the people of those nations, and the kings are the rulers of
those nations or groups of people. This constitutes all the peoples of the
world who stand in opposition to Jesus Christ, the Anointed One. They stand against
his gospel of salvation and his work on this earth carried out by his
followers; his servants; his witnesses. These governments, people and rulers
conspire and plot against God and against God’s people, the saints of God –
followers of Jesus Christ. They plot destruction, ruin and the removal of the
gospel (the whole message), of the word of God, of the Lord’s servants and his witnesses,
and of his anointed ones’ (see 2 Co. 1:20-22) testimony for Jesus Christ.
So, why do they do this? Why did the
Pharisees do this? The Pharisees had great power and authority. Jesus Christ
stood as a threat to their positions of power and rule and control over the
people. Also, Jesus Christ took disciples after himself and he taught the
people to not be like the Pharisees, and he warned against their false
teaching, and he taught the people the truth, so this stood as a threat to the
Pharisees’ credibility and positions of honor among the people. As well, many
people followed after Jesus. Some followed him because he fed them and/or
because he performed miracles, while others followed him because he told them
the truth. This stood as a threat to the Pharisees’ popularity among the
people, so the leaders were jealous of Jesus, which is one of the reasons they
plotted to kill him.
People, rulers, governments, institutions of
men, the institutional church, and its leaders today are all potential
candidates as those today who may stand in opposition to Jesus Christ and to
the truth of his gospel and the witness of his true servants. And, they do it
for many of the same reasons as the Pharisees did, because they are jealous,
they are threatened, they fear losing disciples, they fear having their lies
exposed, and they fear their earthly kingdoms might be destroyed if the truth
be known. So, they will stop at nothing to destroy, kill, silence and remove
all those threats against their earthly kingdoms and positions of power, and I
am speaking here of this happening in the institutional church of today, as
well. The church and its leaders are not unsusceptible to this kind of jealousy
and feelings of threats to their positions of power resulting in them plotting
against those who would expose their lies and who would lead the people toward
the truth.
Many earthly kingdoms, including earthly “church”
kingdoms of men, are built upon lies, deception, manipulations of people and
their emotions, bribes, greed for power or for money, etc. It is a highly
competitive world out there, including inside the institutional church, where
people are constantly trying new methods to gain customers and followers. With
the stress of competition also comes the temptation to cut corners, manipulate,
or to do whatever is necessary to get ahead. The sad reality of it all is that
this earthly kingdom building is strong within the institutional church, and so
is the competition to have more members (bragging roles), baptisms, etc. Even
if gaining more people does not mean great financial gain, there is a lot to be
said for popularity and power, rule and control over people among reasons why
the people and the rulers plot in vain against the Anointed One.
How?
So, what are some ways in which the people,
rulers, nations and institutional church and its leaders conspire and plot in
vain against the Anointed One?
Governments lie and deceive and manipulate
all the time. Not every government leader is a liar and a crook, but many are.
And, they gain power, popularity, authority and control over the people via
their lies and manipulations. And, they have many expensive tools at their
disposal to help facilitate their deceptions, as well. They can use TV, the
news media, advertising, social networks, the internet, and even the
institutional church to help promote their lies and to help them gain the trust
of the people. Much of it is subtle manipulation and some of it comes through
subliminal messages, but nevertheless it exists, and many of us have fallen
prey to it at one time or another until our eyes are opened to the truth.
Much of the institutional church of today, as
well, has fallen into the trap of feeling as though they need to market the
church and the gospel as one would market big business. Much of the money that
goes into the church is spent on esthetics, on performance, and on the big show,
i.e. the stage production on Sunday mornings in many of our institutional
churches. Their goal is often to make the church seeker friendly and for it to
appeal to and be attractive to the world. Yet, the church is the body of
Christ, not an institution of men, and its purpose is for the edification and
encouragement and strengthening of the body of Christ so that we can go out to
the world to share the gospel. Then, as the world accepts Jesus Christ, they
become part of the body of Christ. We have it so backwards.
So, in appealing to the world and to the
flesh of men, much of today’s institutional church has watered down (diluted)
the gospel of Jesus Christ to where it is no longer the gospel so that they could
make it more palatable and acceptable to their listeners. They have turned the
church into a marketplace instead of into the house of prayer that God intended
it to be. The church has become a modern blend of the world and the church. God
spoke many harsh words against his people throughout history because they
blended their worship of God with worship of other gods or with pagan rituals.
And, the church of today is still doing the same thing. Yet, in many of our
churches it has become the norm, so anything different from that would now seem
not normal or not like “church.”
Break
the Chains
“Let
us break their chains and throw off their fetters,” they
say. Do you know what this is saying? As followers of Jesus Christ we are the
Lord’s servants (his bond slaves), and slaves of righteousness, and we bear the
yoke of Jesus Christ on our lives. The goal of these nations, rulers and people
(including in today’s institutional church) is to break these bonds of slavery
(servanthood) to Jesus Christ, to his gospel of salvation and to the truth of
his holy word. They want nothing more than to get us to compromise with the
world and to accept the blending of religions and the blending of worldly
practices with the worship of God. They want us to participate with them in
their pagan rituals and their ungodly practices and to accept a diluted gospel
in place of the true gospel, because it is less offensive. They teach tolerance
of other religions and/or of worldly practices and even of a diluted gospel all
in the name of Jesus Christ in order to draw in large crowds of people. If we
stand for what is true and what is right, we are often ostracized and among
those who are plotted against.
God
Laughs
Yet, all of these plots against the Anointed
One and against his gospel and against his messengers are in vain (empty;
unsuccessful) in destroying God’s work. People, nations, rulers and
institutions of men (including the church) have no power, authority, rule or
control but what God permits, he permits for a time, and that one day he will
bring to judgment and will destroy these kingdoms of men. In fact, the true
church tends to escalate and is often empowered through persecution, because
that is when people really begin to get serious about their God and not take
their salvation and their relationship with Jesus Christ for granted. So, the
more Satan comes against the “Anointed One” and his followers, the more the
saints of God are convinced of their need to stand firm in their faith and to
proclaim with even more zest and zeal the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
As well, God is absolutely sovereign over all
things, including over all nations, people and rulers of the people (including
inside the institutional church), and he has a day of judgment in mind for all
those who would stand in opposition to his Anointed One and to the true gospel.
So, everyone needs to be wise and to realize that, although God may appear to
be silent, at times, and to allow evil to exist, for a time, a day of reckoning
is coming when all men will have to give account to God for what they did with
his Son, Jesus Christ. So, we should never take God lightly, but we should all
serve the Lord with awe, wonder, respect, and honor of God for who he is,
because we love him, because we desire him, and not without thought to the
reality that one day he will judge us all.
One day Jesus will return to the earth to
gather his elect to himself, to judge the world, and to set up his kingdom on
the earth, at which time he will rule and reign over the kingdoms of the earth
for a thousand years, and his saints will rule with him. So, God is the victor
and one day soon he will judge the world, so take what he says to heart and
obey it.
Blessed
are all who take refuge in him.
Seek
the Lord / An Original Work / July 20, 2012
Based off
Isaiah 55
“Come
to Me all you who thirst; come to waters.
Listen
to Me, and eat what’s good today,
And
your soul will delight in richest of fare.
Give
ear to Me, and you will live.
I
have made an eternal covenant with you.
Wash
in the blood of the Lamb.”
Seek
the Lord while He may be found; call on Him.
Let
the wicked forsake his way, in truth.
Let
him turn to the Lord, and he will receive mercy.
Freely,
God pardons him.
“For
My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor
are your ways My ways,”
declares
the Lord, our God.
“My
word that goes out of My mouth is truthful.
It
will not return to Me unfulfilled.
My
word will accomplish all that I desire,
And
achieve the goal I intend.
You
will go in joy, and be led forth in peace.
The
mountains will burst into song… before you,
And
all of the trees clap their hands.”
Monday, November 26, 2012
An Undivided Heart
Monday, November 26,
2012
We read in Psalm
86:11 (NIV 1984):
“Teach me your way, O
Lord,
and I will walk in your truth;
give me an undivided
heart,
that I may fear your name.”
How does the Lord Jesus teach us his ways?
First of all, we have to have willing hearts to obey
whatever it is that he teaches us. We gain nothing at all if all we do is
collect a bunch of head knowledge about God and concerning his word. This kind
of knowledge puffs up, say the scriptures, but love builds up.
We also have to take time to listen to our Lord speak. We
can’t spend just a few minutes a day reading a passage of scripture and
praying, and then spend hours upon hours in pleasing ourselves through
entertainment, social media and recreational activities, and then expect to
hear God speak his truth to our hearts. We also can’t hear God speak if we are
filling our minds with all sorts of garbage this world has to offer via TV,
movies, the Internet, and the like. And, we can’t hear God speak if we are
holding on to unconfessed sin in our lives.
As well, we have to obey what he teaches us. We must not
merely listen to the word, but we must do what it says, say the scriptures (see
Jms. 1:22-25).
Then, once we are in the right frame of mind to hear God
speak, we have thrown off all that hinders our walks of faith with Christ and
the sin that so easily entangles us, so that we can run with perseverance the
race marked out for us (see Heb. 12:1), and we have begun to obey, then the
Lord Jesus can teach us his ways. And, his ways can be learned through careful
and prayerful study of scripture.
Then we can order up our lives according to the truth of
God’s word and what it teaches us with regard to the ways of God, i.e. the ways
of his righteousness and holy living in order to please God, instead of living
to please ourselves or to follow after our own selfish desires.
When we choose to not walk in the ways of this world and of
our culture, with its own value system and traditions of men, and we choose,
instead, to learn and to walk in the ways of God, his truth and his
righteousness, then we can begin to know through experience what it means to
have undivided hearts that seek to please God in all that we do.
And, this is the way in which we demonstrate (live out) our
love, honor and respect for God; for Jesus Christ, and for all he has done for
us in saving us from our sins and in giving us new lives in Christ Jesus, our
Lord.
Hello! My name is Sue Love. If you have any questions
regarding what was shared today, you can find me at www.originalworks.info.
Our Delight
Monday, November 26,
2012, 6:40 a.m. – the Lord woke me with the song “He Touched My Mouth” playing in my mind, followed by the song “My Sheep.”
He
Touched My Mouth / An Original Work / June 13, 2012
Based off
Isaiah 6:1-8; Jeremiah 1:4-9
Oh,
I saw the Lord
Seated
on His throne,
High
and lifted up;
Holy
is the Lord!
The
earth is full
of
His glory.
“Woe
to me,” I cried,
“I’m
of unclean lips.”
My
Lord touched my mouth
With
His cleansing pow’r;
Removed
all my guilt,
Paid
for by His blood.
He
asked, “Whom shall I send;
Who
will go for us?”
I
said, “Here am I.
Send
me!”
Before
I was born,
God
set me apart;
He
appointed me
To
His servant be.
I said,
“I don’t know
How
to speak.
I
am but a child.”
Then,
the Lord replied:
“Do
not say to me,
‘I
am but a child.’
You
must go to all,
And
do what I say.
Do
not fear them,
For
I’m with you.”
My
Lord touched my mouth;
Gave
me words to say.
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Psalm 1 (NIV 1984):
Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the
wicked
or stand in the way of
sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
But his delight is in
the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree
planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does
not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.
Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked
will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the
righteous.
For the Lord watches
over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
The
Lord Replied
This song, “He Touched My Mouth” is based off the passages of scripture in
Isaiah and in Jeremiah which describe God’s calling on these men’s lives. Isaiah,
aware of God’s holiness and righteousness in comparison to his sinful and
fallen nature, called upon God’s mercy in repentance and faith. He received
cleansing from the altar of God, upon which blood sacrifice was made for sins,
which was a prefiguring of the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross for
the sins of the entire world. Isaiah chose to not participate with the sins of
the people around him, but rather to turn to walk in obedience to God. Then, God
gave Isaiah his calling, and Isaiah responded positively, “Here am I. Send me!”
For Isaiah, the roadblock to obedience was
either that he had not yet repented of his sin to God or else it was the fear of
being unworthy to be used of God when faced with the absolute holiness of God
in comparison to his sin nature. Oh, that we would all have such cognizance of
God’s holiness and divine character and will so that we do not take him for
granted or miss out on what he has for each of our lives. And, such realization
of his holiness in comparison to our earthly natures should drive us all to our
knees in repentance.
For Jeremiah, the roadblock to obedience was his fear that
he lacked the wisdom and maturity to know the right words to say. God dispelled
that fear by assuring Jeremiah that he would give Jeremiah the words to speak.
Jeremiah had been called to be a prophet of God even before he was born, yet he
feared that he was not yet ready for such a task as this. In both the case of
Isaiah and that of Jeremiah, God touched these men’s mouths, and he gave them
the words to speak.
So, what does this have to do with me (or you), and how does
this fit with Psalm 1?
Examples for Us
Isaiah and Jeremiah were prophets of God in
Old Testament times. When they spoke in the name of the Lord God Almighty, they
spoke the exact words of God for his people, i.e. they were the word of God.
All the law and the prophets were fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Word
(see John 1). He is God. We have the written word, the Bible, and we have the Living
Word, Jesus Christ, via his Holy Spirit, living within those of us who are
truly His. He speaks his words into our hearts, and he speaks out through us,
his servants. We are his witnesses. We are to teach, encourage, strengthen,
counsel, and give guidance. All of that comes from his written word and from
the Living Word living within us and out through us, and in the power of his
Holy Spirit touching our mouths and giving us the words to speak.
So, although we may not be prophets, that does not mean we
are any less called of God. We read in Psalm 139 that, before we were born, all
the days ordained for us were written in God’s book, even before one of them
came into being. God created each and every one of us with a specific purpose
in mind. We are all called to be holy, to be the Lord’s servants and witnesses
(see Matt. 28:19-20; Acts 1:8), and to walk humbly in faithful obedience to
Jesus Christ. We are all to be his hands and feet to the world around us. Yet,
he also has very specific gifts and ministries to which he has called us
individually, as well. And, it is important that we first of all answer the
call to his general calling upon all of our lives, and then to the specific callings
he has for each one of us individually.
This song, combining these two men’s stories together, gives
us a good picture of the sequence of events that need to take place in our
lives if we are to not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or stand in the way
of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers, but to have our delight in the law
of the Lord, meditating on it day and night, and bearing good fruit.
Bearing Fruit
We must first of all be aware of God and of his holiness and
righteousness, i.e. to stand in absolute awe of him and of his purity in
comparison to our sin condition. We must be filled with grief over our sin and
come humbly before him in repentance (turning from our sin) and in faith
(repentance + obedience). We must choose to leave our lives of sin behind us
and to reject the ways of this world, refusing to participate in the sins of
those around us. We must accept God’s cleansing in our hearts and lives by
choosing to shut the door on our old way of living, to be transformed in heart
and mind via the working and power of the Holy Spirit of God within us, and we
must turn to follow God/Jesus in obedience and surrender to his will for our
lives (see Eph. 4:17-24; Luke 9:23-24).
This is not a one-time decision we make at an altar and then
largely live our lives out to please ourselves. This is a life-time decision that
should affect every aspect of our lives on a day-to-day basis. Jesus said we
must take up our cross daily and follow him. John, in 1 John, gives us a good
picture of how that works. We must no longer walk (order our lives according
to) the ways of sin (darkness), but we must walk in the light (truth;
righteousness) of God and of his word, and the blood of Jesus purifies us from
all sin. Notice this is a daily walk (ordering of our lives), so this is a
daily purification from sin.
We must no longer be conformed to the ways and patterns
(norms; traditions; thoughts; behaviors; and attitudes) of this world’s system
and its values (see Rom. 12:1-2), but daily we must allow the Holy Spirit of
God to continually transform us in mind and heart and will to his ways. This
means we go to God for counsel, not to ungodly men (or women). We don’t
participate with the ungodly in their ungodly acts, and we don’t agree together
with those who would mock God and/or his servants and/or mock God’s ways of
dealing with mankind. Our goal is not to please men (women included here), but
our goal is to please God in all ways, even at the exclusion of man’s
acceptance and approval of us, and even at the risk of man’s rejection and even
mocking of us.
Then we can truly delight in God/Jesus and in his word
within us, and allow what is written in the word of God to be what leads us,
guides us and gives us understanding for how we are to live for Jesus Christ
each and every day of our lives here on this earth. This does not mean that we
merely give God a few minutes each day in his word and in prayer, but it means
that we are continually in an attitude of prayer and with receptive spirits to
hear God speak to us throughout the day and night, ready to respond, “Here am
I. Send me.”
When our lives are fixed in the word of God and in our
relationship with Jesus Christ, then not only will we not be easily shaken by
the storms of this life that come against us, but we will be able to bear fruit
(offspring; outgrowth) for God through our lives and testimony for him. The
fruit will come in season, though. We may not always see the fruit for our
labors for the Lord, because the season for it to be revealed may not yet have
come. Many a missionary spent years laboring in foreign countries, sharing the
gospel, before they ever began to see lives turned to faith in Jesus Christ. We
don’t always know the effects of our labors for the Lord, and we may not see
them in this life, but we have the assurance from God that if we walk in
obedience to him, that the fruit will come in season.
The Wicked
The wicked are described throughout the New Testament as
those who continue in willful sin and rebellion against God. Many of their
specific sins are named throughout scripture – lying, cheating, adultery,
sexual immorality, slander, gossip, and the like. These are those who continue
to walk in darkness, even though they may have received the knowledge of the
truth. So, it is possible to think you are among God’s children because you
prayed a prayer at an altar, but actually be among the wicked because you
continued in sin. Know that you will not be able to stand in the day of
judgment, and you will not be included among the righteous when God calls you
to account for what you did with Jesus Christ in this life. The way of the
wicked will perish, so make sure today you are among the righteous through
repentance, faith and obedience to Jesus Christ, making him your Lord (master).
My
Sheep / An Original Work / June 24, 2012
Based off John
10:1-18 NIV
My
sheep hear me. They know me.
They
listen to my voice and obey.
I
call them and lead them.
They
know my voice, so they follow me.
They
will never follow strangers.
They
will run away from them.
The
voice of a stranger they know not;
They
do not follow him.
My
sheep hear me. They know me.
They
listen to my voice and obey.
I
call them and lead them.
They
know my voice, so they follow me.
So,
I tell you the truth that
I
am the gate, so you enter in.
Whoever
does enter
Will
find forgiveness and will be saved.
Nonetheless
whoever enters
Not
by the gate; other way,
He
is the thief and a robber.
Listen
not, the sheep to him.
So,
I tell you the truth that
I
am the gate, so you enter in.
Whoever
does enter
Will
find forgiveness and will be saved.
Oh,
I am the Good Shepherd,
Who
laid his own life down for the sheep.
I
know them. They know me.
They
will live with me eternally.
The
thief only comes to steal and
Kill
and to destroy the church.
I
have come to give you life that
You
may have it to the full.
Oh,
I am the Good Shepherd,
Who
laid his own life down for the sheep.
I
know them. They know me.
They
will live with me eternally.
They
know my voice, so they follow me.
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Whoever is Thirsty
Saturday,
November 24, 2012, 4:29 a.m. - the Lord Jesus woke me this morning with this
song playing in my mind:
Jesus, Lead Me / An Original
Work / July 22, 2011
Jesus, lead me
all the way.
Be my hope and
be my stay.
Gently lead me
where I should go,
So Your Spirit,
I want to know.
Open up my heart
to You.
Fill me with
Your love and truth.
Make my heart
want to obey.
Be my Lord
today. Gently lead always.
Jesus, lover of
my soul,
Cleanse my
heart, and make me whole;
Be transformed
in my heart today,
As I turn from
my sin and pray.
Make Your will
known to my heart.
May I not from
You depart.
How I long to
hear You now,
As I humbly bow.
Jesus, hear me now.
Speak, Lord, for
your servant is listening. I read Revelation 19-22 (quoting 21:1-8;
22:12-17 NIV 1984):
Then I saw a new
heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed
away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem,
coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for
her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling
of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and
God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from
their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the
old order of things has passed away.”
He who was
seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write
this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
He said to me:
“It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him
who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water
of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he
will be my son. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the
sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all
liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the
second death.”
...Then he told
me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is
near. Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue
to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is
holy continue to be holy.”
“Behold, I am
coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to
what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the
Beginning and the End.
“Blessed are
those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life
and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, those who
practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and
everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
“I, Jesus, have
sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and
the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”
The Spirit and
the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” Whoever is thirsty,
let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of
life.
Revelation
The book of
Revelation is the revelation of Jesus Christ to the church. It contains letters
to the seven churches in Asia, which still apply to the church of today, where
applicable. The message has not changed, because God has not changed.
The book also
contains declarations of judgments of God on the earth and on the people of the
earth. I believe, based upon the fact that preceding these declarations of
judgment, there are the letters to the seven churches, which also contain
threats of judgment on some who do not repent of their sins, that many of these
judgments are specifically for the purpose of getting the worldly and
unrepentant church to repent of her sins and to get her to turn back to her
God.
In Revelation 19
we read about God’s judgment against the “great prostitute.” Now there are many
varied interpretations of who she is, including that she is the institutional
church in partnership with the government, for she rides the beast, and a
prostitute is one who sells herself to her lovers for a price. Other possible
interpretations are that she represents the worldly system, as a whole, of
which the church has adopted, which is why the saints of God are warned to
“Come out of her” in chapter 18 of Revelation, so that they don’t share in her
sins. And, yet another interpretation is that she represents a literal city
that fits that description in our day. New York/Manhattan, containing the World
Trade Center, Wall Street, and the United Nations, seems to fit the description
given of Babylon.
Whatever
interpretation you hold to, though, and there are many more, what is clear in
chapter 19 is that when Babylon is judged, it is declared that the bride of
Christ has made herself ready for the wedding with the Lamb, so there is
a sense in which these judgments were for the purpose of purifying the saints
of God to prepare them for the wedding with the Lamb (Jesus Christ), who was
slain for the sins of the world.
At the end of
these judgments Jesus Christ will return to the earth as judge, to gather his
elect, and to set up his kingdom on the earth - to rule and to reign for a
thousand years. When the thousand years have ended, Satan will be released,
there will be a battle, but Jesus will win. In fact, he has already won! The
devil will be thrown into the lake of fire, where the false prophet and the
beast were already thrown. Then, there will be the final judgment. If anyone’s
name is not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, he (or she) will be thrown into
the lake of fire, too. Then there will be a new heaven and a new earth. There
will be no more death, mourning, crying or pain. Amen! The old order of things
will have passed away and God will make everything new.
Are you Thirsty?
After John had
written all that God/Jesus had given him to write concerning what will take
place at the end of time, God gave another declaration for people in the
present day. If we are thirsty for God/Jesus, evidenced by us coming to him in
humility and repentance, willing to obey him in all things, he will give
us eternal life with him, he will fill us with His Holy Spirit, he will forgive
us all our sins, and he will give us new lives free from slavery to sin, and free
to follow him in obedience and surrender to his will for our lives. This is
truly what it means to receive this drink without cost from the spring of the
water of life. It is without cost to us in the sense that Jesus Christ paid the
price for our sins and we cannot do anything to earn or to deserve our
salvation. It is by God’s grace that we are saved. Yet, God’s grace is also
what gives us the ability to turn from our sin and to obey Christ. And, Jesus
did say that if we want to come after him, we must deny ourselves, take up our
cross daily (die daily to sin and self) and follow (obey) him - only by God’s
grace!
We know, too,
that God intended here that coming to him as one who is thirsty involves
turning away from sin, because he also stated that those who continue in sin -
the unbelieving, vile, murderers, the sexually immoral, idolaters and liars,
etc. - will not have this water of life but will, instead, be facing a lake of
burning sulfur. God takes sin very seriously. That is why he sent his Son Jesus
Christ to the earth to die for our sins so that we could go free from sin, not
continue in it, thinking it is ok now that we are under grace. True grace does
not give us a license to continue in willful sin and rebellion against God.
True grace frees us from slavery to sin and it demands that we not continue in
sin (see 1 John). So, if you want to have this drink from the spring of the
water of life, you must first of all die to your old way of life, be
transformed in heart and mind of the Spirit of God, and then you will be given
the Spirit of God within you welling up in you to eternal life with God.
He is Coming!
One day Jesus is
coming back. Are you ready to meet him? Have you been washed in the blood of
the Lamb? Have you turned from your lifestyles of sin, and are you walking in
obedience and surrender to Jesus Christ? None of us will do this perfectly, but
this is the mark of true believers in Jesus Christ. Jesus makes it quite clear
in these last two chapters of Revelation that there is a definite contrast
between those who have been washed and those who continue in willful sin and
rebellion against God. Being washed (cleansed by the blood of the Lamb) does
not mean we will be perfect in this life, but it does mean that we choose daily
to die to sin and to walk with Jesus. If we think we can have God’s grace and
yet continue to live in willful sin, then we need to think again. 1 John alone
refutes that idea. Paul, James and Peter also spoke strongly on this subject.
So, if you want
to make sure you are ready for his return, then choose today to turn from your
life of sin, and turn to follow Jesus Christ in humble obedience and surrender
to his will for your lives. And, he will give you this water of life welling up
in you unto eternal life with God in glory! None of us knows when Jesus is
coming back, and none of us knows if we have tomorrow, so make this choice
today while you still have today.
Seek the Lord / An Original
Work / July 20, 2012
Based off Isaiah 55
“Come to Me all
you who thirst; come to waters.
Listen to Me,
and eat what’s good today,
And your soul
will delight in richest of fare.
Give ear to Me,
and you will live.
I have made an
eternal covenant with you.
Wash in the
blood of the Lamb.”
Seek the Lord
while He may be found; call on Him.
Let the wicked
forsake his way, in truth.
Let him turn to
the Lord, and he will receive mercy.
Freely, God
pardons him.
“For My thoughts
are not your thoughts,
Nor are your
ways My ways,”
declares the
Lord, our God.
“My word that
goes out of My mouth is truthful.
It will not
return to Me unfulfilled.
My word will
accomplish all that I desire,
And achieve the
goal I intend.
You will go in
joy, and be led forth in peace.
The mountains
will burst into song… before you,
And all of the
trees clap their hands.”
Jesus, Lead Me -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTIM16o9ldg
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
These in White Robes
Tuesday, November 20,
2012, 7:38 a.m. – the Lord Jesus woke me with the song “Broken and Contrite” playing through my mind. Speak, Lord, for
your servant is listening. I read Revelation
6-7 (quoting 6:9-11; 7:9-17 NIV 1984):
When he opened the
fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because
of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a
loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the
inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” Then each of them was given a
white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of
their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was
completed…
After this I looked
and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every
nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of
the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their
hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:
“Salvation belongs to
our God,
who sits on the
throne,
and to the Lamb.”
All the angels were
standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures.
They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying:
“Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks
and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever
and ever.
Amen!”
Then one of the elders
asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”
I answered, “Sir, you
know.”
And he said, “These
are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their
robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore,
“they are before the
throne of God
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the
throne will spread his tent over them.
Never again will they
hunger;
never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat
upon them,
nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb at the
center of the throne will be their shepherd;
he will lead them to springs of living
water.
And God will wipe away
every tear from their eyes.”
The
Tribulation
From what I understand of the “last days,”
they began with Jesus life and ministry on this earth, and they will be
culminated when he returns to judge and to rule the earth. Yet, there will be a
short period of time at the very end of time before Jesus returns, which is
known as the time of tribulation to come on the earth. This is a time of God’s
judgment on the earth and on its inhabitants, yet it is not to be confused with
the final judgment at which time we will receive our rewards for what we did
with Jesus in this life. To those who acknowledged him before men as their Lord
and Savior, repented of their sins, and turned to walk in obedience and
surrender to Jesus Christ, by God’s grace alone and through faith in Christ,
will be given eternal life with God in glory. To those who refused to turn from
their sins, and who refused to obey Jesus Christ and to believe in him, and to
make him their Lord (boss) and Savior, will be given eternal punishment in the
lake of fire.
There are many varied interpretations of the
events surrounding this time of tribulation. Some believe the bride of Christ
will be raptured prior to this time, others believe the church will be raptured
(taken to be with Jesus forever) about halfway through this time, just before
the time called “The Great Tribulation,” which is the most severe time of all,
and others are of the belief that the saints of God will remain during the time
of tribulation, and that we will not be caught up in the air to be with Jesus
Christ until this time of tribulation is complete and Jesus comes to set up his
kingdom on the earth. No matter what you believe, though, Jesus is most
certainly coming again, he will judge the earth, and at some point in time we
will be with him forever. Amen! The most important thing is to make sure we are
watching and waiting for him by how we live our lives each day, expectant and
hopeful!
The
Beast
In Revelation 13 we read about the beast, the
false prophet and the dragon (the unholy trinity) ruling (and/or contributing
to that rule of) the world during this time of tribulation. Again, there are
many varied interpretations concerning these events and who each of these three
figures represent. One of the most popular beliefs is that the beast represents
a global government, the false prophet represents the global ecumenical
(blending of religions) institutional church, and the dragon is a figure for
Satan. The Lord Jesus has been teaching me much about how all this is forming
(coming together) in our present day. I believe we are already under a global
rule, just many of us don’t realize it yet. The institutional church of today,
overall, has compromised with and has so gone the way of the world, has turned
into big business and is marketed in much the same way; has diluted the gospel of
Jesus Christ to make it more palatable and non-offensive to its listeners, and
has become tolerant of sin and of blended religion.
God will give the beast this authority,
because God is sovereign and is in absolute control over all things, and Satan
has no power but what God permits, and God sets the limits. Yet, God said he
would not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear (in his strength
within us), but will with that temptation make a way out from under it, so we
can stand up under it. Amen! So, no matter what Satan throws at us, God can
handle it, because he is God! So, he will allow this time to take place, and he
will give the beast this power to rule over the inhabitants over the earth. Not
only that, it says here that he will be given power to make war against the
saints of God and to conquer them. We will be taken into captivity, we will be
severely persecuted for our testimony for Christ, and many of us will be killed
because of the word of God and the testimony we have
maintained for the gospel of Jesus.
A
Great Multitude
This great multitude that John saw, thus,
consisted of people from all over the globe who had washed their robes and made
them white in the blood of the Lamb. They are the saints of God, the ones who
have turned from their sins (repented), who have made Jesus Lord (boss) and
Savior of their lives, and who have turned to walk in obedience and surrender
to God’s will for their lives; who have held to the truths of God’s holy word
and the testimony of the true gospel of Jesus Christ, and who have chosen not
to sully their spiritual garments with the ways of this world. They have been,
are now, and will be persecuted for their testimony for Jesus Christ, will be
imprisoned (or institutionalized), and many will be put to death because they
refused to compromise, and chose to walk with Jesus only.
These are the ones who, in this life and in
the life to come, give God glory, honor and praise for all that he has done and
will do on the behalf of his chosen ones. They do not give lip service only,
though, but they offer sacrifices of praise to God by how they live to please
him each and every day of their lives (see Ro. 12:1-2; Ps. 51:17).
Before
the Throne
I envision two different dimensions here. In
one sense, these saints of God have, are now, and/or will yet, in this life, be
ones who daily go before the throne of God in prayer, and who serve him day and
night in his temple (in the body of Christ; and in the Holy of Holies dwelling
within the hearts of true followers of Jesus Christ). The other dimension I see
is that of martyred saints who have died and who have gone to be with God
forever standing before his throne in heaven (face to face), giving him glory,
honor and praise, and serving him day and night in his heavenly temple. In both
dimensions God has, will, and is spreading his tent of protection over those
who are his servants and witnesses. We are no longer among those lacking
spiritual sustenance, for he has already satisfied us with his word, his truth,
his Holy Spirit, and with new life in his Spirit, free from slavery to sin.
The Lamb is at the center of his throne, as
he is Lord (master; boss) of our lives in this dimension, and he is our
shepherd, who laid his life down for his sheep. His sheep know him, they listen
to him and they follow (obey) him wherever he leads them. Amen! He guides us,
leads us, counsels, directs, comforts, encourages and corrects us when needed.
He daily leads us to springs of living water – walking in the truth and in His
Spirit. And, daily he wipes the tears from our eyes as we cry out to him in our
suffering, in persecutions, and in our heartaches, as he offers us his loving
comfort and encouragement to keep going, to keep persevering and to remain
faithful to him in all things despite all that is going on in our lives. Yet,
one day he will come again and receive us to himself, we will no longer be in
these flesh bodies, and our crying will be no more. I look forward to that day!
Broken
and Contrite / An Original Work / May 13, 2012
I
come before You, Lord, my Savior,
With
humble heart and crushed in spirit.
I
bow before You, I implore You,
Heal
my broken heart, I pray.
Love
You, Jesus, Lord, my master,
You
are the King of my heart.
Lord,
purify my heart within me;
Sanctify
me, whole within.
I
come before You, Lord, my Savior,
With
humble heart and crushed in spirit.
I
bow before You, I implore You,
Heal
my broken heart, I pray.
Oh,
Lord, I long to obey fully
The
words You’ve spoken through Your Spirit.
I
pray You give me grace and mercy,
Strength
and wisdom to obey.
Father
God, my heart’s desire,
Won’t
You set my heart on fire?
Lord,
cleanse my heart of all that hinders
My
walk with You, now I pray.
Oh,
Lord, I long to obey fully
The
words You’ve spoken through Your Spirit.
I
pray You give me grace and mercy,
Strength
and wisdom to obey.
Oh,
Jesus, Savior, full of mercy,
My
heart cries out for understanding.
I
want to follow You in all ways,
Never
straying from Your truth.
Holy
Spirit, come in power,
Fill
me with Your love today.
Lord,
mold and make me;
Your
hands formed me;
Live
Your life through me, I pray.
Oh,
Jesus, Savior, full of mercy,
My
heart cries out for understanding.
I
want to follow You in all ways,
Never
straying from Your truth.
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