Thursday, January 17,
2013, 5:23 a.m. – the Lord Jesus woke me with the song “So Many Times” playing in my mind.
So Many Times / An Original
Work / April 19, 2011
So many times
when I hear Your word
Your Spirit
speaks and my heart is stirred.
Send a revival
my Lord, I pray.
Won’t You be
Lord in our hearts now and always.
Humbly and
gently I bow the knee.
Yours to be
only is now my plea.
I come to Jesus
at Calvary.
His blood
provided the way we could be free.
Gracious
Redeemer, my Lord and friend,
I know You’ll
be with me to the end.
A crown awaits
me in victory.
Jesus,
enthroned above all humanity.
Speak,
Lord, your words to my heart. I read Psalm
145-147 (quoting 145:8-13, 17-20; 147:6, 10-11; 146:3-6; & 147:2-3 in
NIV 1984):
God’s Righteous
Acts
The Lord is
gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and rich in love.
The Lord is
good to all;
he has compassion on all he has made.
All you have
made will praise you, O Lord;
your saints will extol you.
They will tell
of the glory of your kingdom
and speak of your might,
so that all men
may know of your mighty acts
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
Your kingdom is
an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures through all
generations.
God’s
righteous and mighty acts on behalf of his children in the Old Testament often
were a foreshadowing of his plan of salvation for mankind, which was revealed through
Jesus Christ, God the Son. God demonstrated his own love for us in that while
we were yet sinners Christ died for us (see Ro. 5:8). God so loved the world
that he gave us his One and Only Son to die on the cross for our sins, so that
anyone who believes in him might not perish for eternity, but might have
eternal life forever with God in glory (see John 3:16).
When
Jesus Christ died, our sins died with him, and when he rose from the grave, he
conquered death, hell, Satan and sin so that we might be free from the ultimate
penalty of sin (eternal damnation), so we would be free from slavery (bondage)
to sin day-to-day, and so we would be free to walk humbly in obedience to our
Lord Jesus Christ every day.
Those Who Fear
Him
The Lord is
righteous in all his ways
and loving toward all he has made.
The Lord is
near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
He fulfills the
desires of those who fear him;
he hears their cry and saves them.
The Lord
watches over all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.
The Lord
sustains the humble
but casts the wicked to the ground…
His pleasure is
not in the strength of the horse,
nor his delight in the legs of a man;
the Lord
delights in those who fear him,
who put their hope in his unfailing love.
When
Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, he died for all mankind. “The
Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is
patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish,
but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9). Although he died for all people,
not all people are saved. We must come to him in repentance and faith in order
to appropriate (seize; own) what he did for us on the cross to our individual
lives.
The psalmist said that the Lord is near to all who call on
him in truth (reality; genuineness; honesty; loyalty; devotion; fidelity). He
fulfills the desires of those who fear him (who demonstrate respect; awe of; love
for; & obedience, commitment, loyalty & fidelity to him). He hears
their cries, and he saves them! He watches over all who love him (I John says
we show we love God when we obey him). And, he sustains the humble (submissive;
not proud or arrogant; honest; and repentant). Also, he takes no pleasure in
the works, thoughts, teachings, manipulations or plans of people, but he delights
in those who fear (honor & respect) him, and who put their hope in him. He
doesn’t want what we are willing to do for him. He wants us completely
submissive and surrendered to him, obeying his will and ways.
In Luke 9:23-25 we read where Jesus said that if anyone
would come after him, he must deny (disallow) himself (his flesh), take up his
cross daily (die daily to self and sin) and follow (obey) him. And, in
Ephesians 4:17-24 we read that we should no longer live to please ourselves, i.e.
to give ourselves over to sensuality, to indulge in every kind of impurity with
a continual lust for more, to continue in ignorance with regard to the things
of God and the matters of the heart, or to continue to have hardened hearts
with regard to the teachings of scripture and God’s rules for godly living. For
we were taught (or we should have been taught) with regard to our former way of
life (living in sin) to put off our old self, which is being corrupted by its
deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of our minds; and to put on
the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. This
is how we come to know Christ. This is what it means to believe in him!
People or God?
Do not put your
trust in princes,
in mortal men, who cannot save.
When their
spirit departs, they return to the ground;
on that very day their plans come to
nothing.
Blessed is he
whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
the Maker of
heaven and earth,
the sea, and everything in them—
the Lord, who remains faithful forever.
Many
professing followers of Christ today put their hope, faith and trust in people or
in the things of this world more than or even in place of God/Jesus and God’s
holy word. And, this is true of many of our pastors and elders and church
leaders today, too, who rely heavily on books written by humans, marketing
techniques, and humanistic teachings and counsel for how to build God’s church.
My husband and I were church planters, so we went through the training, and we’ve
seen the evidence of the humanism over and above God and his word being taught
and practiced at the highest to the lowest levels of leadership within our
churches. As a result, the gospel of Jesus Christ is being watered down to make
it more palatable to the listener, so as to insure more “conversions,” but to
what?
Many
professing follower of Christ also exerts a great deal of energy in following
political figures, thinking that if we just get the right man or woman in
office that things will get better. But, that is misplaced hope and trust, for
they cannot save us and they cannot solve what really ails our nation. And,
then they exert time and energy in promoting, or in devaluing particular
political candidates on the basis of what they believe to be their political
platform or performance, pitting one politician against another. Yet, what
value is there in this for eternity? Is one person truly better than another?
God says we are not to put our trust in princes who cannot save, but we are to
put our trust in God. Mankind’s plans will come to nothing in the end. Should
we not rather be exerting our time and energy in winning people to faith in
Jesus Christ? He is our only hope for this nation!
Revive us Again
The Lord builds
up Jerusalem;
he gathers the exiles of Israel.
He heals the
brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
The
church of today, particularly in America, is in great need of revival.
Teachings, philosophies and traditions of mankind have replaced or have taken
precedence over the teachings of scripture in many cases. The gospel is diluted
to make it more appealing to people. People are being taught they don’t have to
repent of their sins, and they don’t have to obey Christ. The whole of the New
Testament refutes that! Sin is rampant! Christians are lukewarm. Social
Christianity has replaced true spiritual fellowship. The fear of God is nearly
lost! Truth is being replaced with lies, manipulations and marketing schemes.
Pastors are becoming superstars, and church services are often more like game
shows or entertainment TV. The church has become one with the world in order to
win the world, but what are they winning the world to? – Just a cleaned up
version of what the world is offering.
God
is calling his church (his people) to seek his face, to call on him in truth,
to humble themselves and pray, to turn from their wicked ways (repent), and to
stop placing their hope and trust in mankind or in the things of this world,
but to put their hope solely in God. He is calling them to submit themselves to
God/Jesus, and to surrender their lives to him in full obedience to his
commands, to his will, and to his ways for our lives (see Ro. 12:1-2). When we
do this, he will restore us and he will rebuild our lives, he will heal our troubled
hearts, and he will bind up our wounds inflicted through our sinful rebellion. We
just have to deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow Jesus Christ
wherever he leads us.
Send a Revival / An Original
Work / June 25, 2011
Send a revival
to this nation, Lord, I pray.
Bring us to our
knees, Lord, humbly today.
Teach us to
daily walk in your footsteps.
Guide us in
your truth, and may we find rest.
Send a revival
to this nation, Lord, I pray.
Bring us to our
knees, Lord, humbly today.
Be our desire
and our hearts’ pure devotion, Lord.
Make us a
people who walk close to you.
Change our
hearts to conform to your likeness.
May we love
others who are in distress.
Be our desire
and our hearts’ pure devotion, Lord.
Make us a
people who walk close to you.
Teach us to be
an example of your love, Lord.
May we serve
others as though serving you.
Keep us in
fellowship with you, I pray.
May we obey you
in all things today.
Teach us to be
an example of your love, Lord.
May we serve
others as though serving you.
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