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.
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