Sunday, March 17,
2013, 4:30 a.m. – the Lord Jesus woke me with the song “Living Sacrifices” playing in my mind. A few hours later he put
the song “Not Be Silent” in my mind,
and then a few hours after that the song “In
That Day” came into my mind.
In That Day / An Original
Work / May 21, 2011
Based off of
Isaiah 12
In that day you
will say: “I will praise You, Lord.
I know You were
angry; anger’s turned away.
God is my
salvation; I’ll trust; not afraid.
The Lord, the
Lord, my strength; the Lord, Lord, my song;
He is my
salvation; Lord, my comforter.”
With joy you’ll
draw water from salvation’s wells.
In that day you
will say: “Give thanks to the Lord.
Call on His
holy name; make Him known today.
Proclaim: He’s
exalted. Tell what He has done.
Sing, for He is
glorious; make this known to all.
Shout aloud;
sing for joy, people of Zion;
Great is the
Holy One, who among us dwells.”
Speak,
Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Jeremiah 14-17, most of which I will summarize.
The People’s
Condition
Lord, my
strength and my fortress,
my refuge in time of distress,
to you the
nations will come
from the ends of the earth and say,
“Our ancestors
possessed nothing but false gods,
worthless idols that did them no good.
Do people make
their own gods?
Yes, but they are not gods!”
“Therefore I
will teach them—
this time I will teach them
my power and might.
Then they will
know
that my name is the Lord. ~ Jer. 16:19-21
NIV
The
people of God of Jeremiah’s day, not unlike many of God’s people (the church)
today, were prideful, stubborn, unrepentant, not willing to listen to God,
idolatrous, adulterous, arrogant, morally unclean, backsliders, loving to
wander, morally unrestrained, and who trusted in man over God; trusted in the
strength of man over God’s strength; and who put their faith, hope and
confidence in mankind (the flesh of mankind) over confidence, faith, hope and
trust in Almighty God. This is a huge problem in today’s church.
God
had sent his messages and messengers time and time again to call his people to
repentance, but they were unwilling. He also sent warnings of judgment if they
did not repent, and yet they still refused. We serve a very loving, patient,
compassionate and merciful God who is not willing that any should perish but
that all should come to repentance. Yet, we also serve a just and loving God
who will only be patient with his people so long and then he says “Enough!” We
can try God’s patience so long, but he will eventually act in divine discipline
and correction, out of love for us, in order to purify us, to get us to repent,
and to get us to return to him in faithful obedience. This is taught in both
the Old and the New Testaments (see 1 Co. 11:31-32; Heb. 10:29-31; Rev. 2-3;
book of Isaiah; Rev. 19:6-8; Heb. 12:6).
So, God brought judgment on his people, but the result was
that his people were repentant, and they did return, and they gave up their
idols and their adultery, and so he restored and revived them. Yet, there are
messianic overtones in this prayer of Jeremiah’s that is reminiscent of Isaiah
2:1-4. In fact, much of the book of Isaiah is given over to prophecy concerning
Jesus Christ, his life and ministry, his death and resurrection, the life of
the church in the messianic age, the same spiritual condition of the church at
the end of time as was indicative of God’s people of Isaiah’s and Jeremiah’s
days, God’s promised judgments on the church if they do not repent, but yet his
promises of restoration and revival to the repentant, and that as a result,
people from all nations will flock to Jesus Christ, to the gospel, to
salvation, to the church (the people of God) and to God’s eternal kingdom.
Not Be Silent /
An Original Work / December 3, 2012
Based off Psalm 30
O Lord my God, I’ll
exalt You.
I called for help, and
You healed me.
O Lord my God, You
brought me from
the grave. You spared
me from hell.
Sing to the Lord, you
saints of His;
Praise His holy name
today.
Weeping may remain for
a night;
Joy at break of day. Our
debt He did pay!
O Lord my God, I said,
“I will
Ne’er be shaken.” Secure,
I felt.
O Lord my God, You
forgave me.
Confident I stand in
You.
When I could not see Your
face
I was dismayed. I
called to You.
O Lord, You are my
help. You were
merciful to me; By
Your grace set free!
O Lord my God, I’m so
thankful for
Salvation through my
Jesus.
You turned wailing into
dancing;
Clothed me with Your
joy today,
That my heart may sing
To You
and not be silent. Praise
Your name.
O Lord my God, I will
give you
thanks forevermore. My
Lord, I adore!
Blessings and Afflictions
This is what the Lord
says:
“Cursed is the one who
trusts in man,
who draws strength from mere flesh
and whose heart turns away from the Lord.
That person will be
like a bush in the wastelands;
they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the
parched places of the desert,
in a salt land where no one lives.
“But blessed is the
one who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
They will be like a
tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when
heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a
year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.” ~ Jer.
17:5-8 NIV
Our Lord God has much to say against us putting our trust in
mankind for our “salvation,” not speaking here of our eternal salvation, but
trust in human flesh to rescue us from difficulties in life, as well as against
us putting our trust in humans to satisfy our emotional and/or physical needs
that should only be met by God alone (see Ps. 118:8-9; Ps. 20:7; 40:4; 146:3; Is.
31:1; Jer. 9:4-5; et al). We can’t trust in human wisdom and strength at the
same time as we trust in the Lord. Now, we can trust the Lord to give us wisdom
and strength, but if we are relying upon our own resources and strategies
instead of relying upon God and his word, then we will falter in our walk of
faith. Much of today’s institutional church is built upon human wisdom and
intellect, manipulations and deceptions, marketing schemes, and human plans and
philosophies, and thus the gospel is diluted to appeal to the flesh of man.
Yet, if we put our confidence, faith and hope in the Lord
instead of in the wisdom or strength of human flesh, then we have no need to
fear our circumstances or what may come our way. We can be at peace and rest
even if all hell is breaking loose around us. We will experience an abundance
of God’s blessings, we will bear spiritual fruit for his kingdom, confident in
the Lord and in his mighty power, and we will grow in our faith and will branch
out in faith and love to others with Christ’s love, and we will share his
gospel with others. We will love our Lord, desire to serve him in obedience to
his will for our lives, and we will desire to please him in all that we do. This
is where we all need to be.
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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