Wednesday, February
27, 2013, 6:30 a.m. – the Lord Jesus woke me with this song:
Follow Him / An
Original Work / February 21, 2013
Based off Luke 9:22-25
Jesus, Son of God,
Died for us on a
cross.
Anyone who would come
to Him
Must deny himself and
follow.
He must take up his
cross daily;
Die to sin and self each
day.
Father, God above,
Loved us so: gave His
Son.
If you want to save
your old life;
Keep on sinning,
follow your ways,
You will lose your
life forever;
Hope of heaven gone
away.
Spirit of our God
Gives us life in God’s
Son.
Nonetheless, if you die
to self;
Forsake your sin;
follow Jesus,
You will live with God
in heaven,
And forever praise His
name!
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Matthew 15:1-20 (NIV 1984):
Then some Pharisees
and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, “Why do your
disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before
they eat!”
Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your
tradition? For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses
his father or mother must be put to death.’ But you say that if a man says to
his father or mother, ‘Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me
is a gift devoted to God,’ he is not to ‘honor his father’ with it. Thus you
nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah
was right when he prophesied about you:
“‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts
are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
their teachings are
but rules taught by men.’”
Jesus called the crowd
to him and said, “Listen and understand. What goes into
a man’s mouth does not make him ‘unclean,’ but what comes out of his mouth,
that is what makes him ‘unclean.’”
Then the disciples
came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they
heard this?”
He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be
pulled up by the roots. Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads
a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
Peter said, “Explain
the parable to us.”
“Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the
stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of the mouth
come from the heart, and these make a man ‘unclean.’ For out of the heart come
evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony,
slander. These are what make a man ‘unclean’; but eating with unwashed hands
does not make him ‘unclean.’”
Tradition vs.
Commands
The Pharisees and teachers of the law were more concerned
with the people of Israel following religious traditions instituted by the
elders than they were concerned with people following the commands of God. I
find this still to be true in the church (Israel) of today.
The Israel (God’s people) of today is the church, the body
of Christ. Yet, just as the Israel of old was a mixture of true followers of
God and those who followed in form only, so the gatherings of the church today
and/or the institutions of church contain a mixture of true followers and those
who follow in appearance only. They also include those who do not claim to
follow our Lord at all, but attend gatherings of the church to please others,
or because of some sense of religious duty based upon family tradition, or a
need to be a part of a social organization, or perhaps to spy on the freedom we
have in Christ Jesus.
John 10 speaks of those who enter the sheep pen by a way
other than through the gate (Jesus Christ). They are strangers to the true
sheep who listen to their Shepherd’s (Jesus’) voice, and who obey him. These
strangers are thieves and robbers who come into the sheep pen (church
assemblies) only to kill and to destroy the church. They are the leaders of the
people who teach a false gospel of men, and who teach their people to be
followers of men and followers of tradition rather than followers of God/Jesus
Christ. This is happening not only in our traditional churches, but in today’s
modern church movements, too.
False vs. True
Many are teaching a false grace and are giving their adherents
a false picture of Jesus Christ, as well. They are teaching, whether by
commission or omission, that we don’t have to repent of (turn away from) our
sins and we don’t have to obey our Lord Jesus, as required for genuine
believing faith for salvation (see Eph. 4:17-24). And, they are teaching that
God is pleased with us no matter what we do. They also give people a false
assurance of eternity with God in heaven just for reciting a prayer, or for
intellectual acknowledgment of Christ, or for an emotional experience at an
altar based upon a lie (a half-truth).
Yet, Jesus said that if anyone would come after him, he must
deny (disallow) himself (his self-life), and take up his cross daily (die daily
to sin and self) and follow (obey) him. He said that we must die to our old way
of living for self and sin if we want to gain life with God in heaven for
eternity (see Luke 9:23-25). As well, we read in Ephesians 4:17-24 that the way
in which we come to know Christ is by dying to (forsaking; putting off) our old
lives of sin and self, by being transformed in heart and mind (the working of
the Spirit of God), and by putting on our new lives in Christ Jesus, “created
to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” Jesus’ first sermon was “Repent,
for the kingdom of heaven is near.” And we learn in scripture that God is not
willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
External vs. Internal
The Pharisees were more concerned with the external rites
and rituals of religious practice than they were concerned with circumcision of
the heart. They gave preference to the teachings and traditions of men over the
teachings of God and his word. This still exists within today’s church, and in
greater numbers in our more modern “untraditional” church settings, too. So
much of today’s modern church movement is based upon appearance, attracting
large crowds of people, appealing to the flesh and preferences of mankind, and
following the model of big business for marketing the church. Thus, the gospel
is diluted to make it more palatable to its listeners, and to gain more members
into the “church.”
Many are more concerned with whether or not we offend men
and women than they are concerned with whether or not we offend God, and so
they shy away from talking about death to sin and self and the essential
requirement of obedience to Christ and his commands for salvation (see 1 John).
They would rather allow sin to go unchecked within the church than to hurt
anyone’s feelings. They would rather put up with what they even know to be
false teaching and a watered-down gospel rather than to expose the false
teaching and to have people not like them, or for them to be ostracized from
the local fellowship (see 2 Co. 11:3-4). They will even deny the teachings of
scripture, in many cases, in order to continue following after the ways and
teachings of mankind, in order to continue building their man-made kingdoms
here on this earth.
By the Roots
Jesus said that every plant that his heavenly Father did not
plant will be pulled up by the roots. This is speaking of divine judgment of
God against his people (cf. Is. 5:1-7). Even Jesus’ quote from Isaiah 29
concerning these people who honor him with their lips, but their hearts are far
from him, is in the context of God’s divine judgment against his people. As
well, the song (below), “Broken Hearts,” is based off Jeremiah 31, which is
also a prophecy of judgment against God’s people. Yet, in all of these
judgments of God against his people he always promised that a remnant would
return to him, he would restore them, and he would renew them in their
relationship with him. Their eyes would then be opened, their ears unstopped,
and they would understand God’s purposes in it all.
If you read the book of Isaiah, I believe you will learn
that most of it is a prophecy concerning Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the
messianic age (church age, primarily), and his judgments at the end of time on
the earth and on the people on the earth, including or most especially upon his
own people (the church – cf. Rev. 2-3). Yet, all through the book of Isaiah we
have the promise that through these judgments will come revival of God’s people
and, as a result, the people of the nations of the world will flock to Jesus
Christ and to his eternal kingdom. I believe this is coming, based upon the
teachings of scripture, and that it is coming to the church that honors God
with their lips only but their hearts are far from him, because they worship
God in vain; “their teachings are but rules taught by men.”
Broken Hearts /
An Original Work / December 14, 2012
Based off Jeremiah 31:15 (cf. Matt. 2:18)
Weeping in Ramah;
Her children no more.
Rachel is weeping;
Her comfort forlorn.
Jesus is waiting;
Her comforter be,
When she calls on Him,
Down on bended knee.
He has provided our
Sins’ sacrifice,
When He died for our
sin,
Paying the price.
Our hearts are broken;
We’re feeling her
pain;
Looking for answers
And someone to blame.
Jesus is calling us;
Him to believe;
Turning from our sins,
So we can be free.
Trust in His promises.
Lean on His grace;
Living for Jesus,
Eternal life gain.
Days of confusion,
Distress, pain and
grief;
Looking for someone
To give us relief.
Our God and Father
In heaven above
Is looking down to us;
Providing love.
Call upon Him in your
Sadness and pain.
Trust your life with
His Son;
Live life again.
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