Things That Belong

Wednesday, July 31, 2013, 7:33 a.m. – the Lord Jesus woke me with the song “Do You Love Me?” playing in my mind. Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Hebrews 3:1-6:20 because it was one continuous subject. I read both in the NIV 1984 and in the ESV.

Take Care

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. ~ Heb. 3:12 ESV

These thoughts were addressed to the Hebrew holy brothers (and sisters) in Christ who shared in a heavenly calling. The writer was addressing these thoughts to the church, the body of Christ, the fellowship of the believers in Jesus Christ, and to all who confessed the name of Christ as Lord and Savior of their lives. And, these words still speak to our hearts today, for the message does not change with the passing of time.

We are to fix our eyes on Jesus Christ. He is our God, our creator and our Savior. He came to earth, took on human flesh (born as a baby), suffered as we suffer and was tempted in all ways in which we are tempted, yet without sin. He was forsaken, betrayed, denied, rejected, despised, falsely accused of evil, and arrested, although he had done no wrong; and he was given a mock trial, was beaten, spat upon, mocked, and was hung on a cross to die as though he was a common criminal. He did all this for you and for me, so we could be free from eternal damnation, be free of slavery to sin (day-to-day), and be free to walk in the power of God’s Holy Spirit within us in Christ’s righteousness and holiness.

Jesus Christ is faithful over God’s house, his church, and “we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope” (ESV), or “if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast” (NIV 1984) – 3:6. Also, we have come to share in Christ, “if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end” (ESV), or “if we hold firmly to the end the confidence we had at first” (NIV ’84) – 3:14. As well, we should all “show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end,” so that we “may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (ESV) – 6:11-12. Or, “We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure” (NIV ’84) – 6:11.

So, what is this saying? Basically, it is saying that we can’t count on a decision we made at an altar as a child or in our youth or even as an adult to save us. We can’t count on a baptism or church membership or church attendance to save us. We certainly can’t rely on our good works to save us. And, we can’t base our salvation on an emotional decision or intellectual assent to what Christ did for us in dying for our sins, which we may call “belief.” True faith in Jesus Christ, this says, holds fast to our faith in Christ to the very end, i.e. it is enduring faith. And, it is faith in action. It is not sluggish, lazy, casual, occasional, distant, and/or unconcerned faith, but it is diligent, persistent, passionate, consistent, courageous, earnest, and faithful to the end. It is not perfect faith, and it is not without fault or sinless, but it is firm, steadfast, committed, and unwavering to the end. Also, this faith is not fleshly, but is of the Spirit of God, working his will out daily in and through our lives, as we yield control of our lives over to him.

So, today if we hear God’s voice speaking to us, we should not harden our hearts against his voice, we should not be rebellious, and we should not go astray from our pure devotion to our Lord in thought, word or deed. We should take care that we do not allow evil thoughts and behaviors to creep back into our lives, nor we should we listen to Satan’s lies and begin to doubt God and his word, and thus fall away from what we have known to be the truth. Instead, we, as the body of Christ, should exhort one another daily. This means that we all have a responsibility before God and to one another to urge, encourage, insist upon, prod, advise, counsel, implore, appeal to, and ask our brothers and sisters in Christ to follow Christ’s teachings and to obey all of his commands, i.e. to live what they say they believe, but to do so in love and in all humility, being completely aware of our own ability to fall away if we do not remain steadfast and diligent in following our Lord Jesus Christ, and in obeying his word.

Strive & Obey

Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. ~ Heb. 4:11 ESV

And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him. ~ Heb. 5:9 ESV

This fourth chapter of Hebrews speaks of entering into God’s rest. For us, this has to do with our salvation and our hope of eternity with God in heaven. This is not proposing works-based salvation, nonetheless, because that would contradict with the teachings on salvation by God’s grace through faith alone. So, what is this saying then? It is saying, I believe, that there is effort and striving involved in true faith, but not in our human flesh, but in our humility, submission and surrender to God’s will for our lives. As an example, we have Christ Jesus who, although he was God, struggled in his flesh with the thought of all that he would have to go through to go to the cross. So, he asked the Father if it would be possible for him to be spared that cup of suffering, yet he said, “Not my will, but Thy will be done.” Then, it says that he learned obedience, thus, through suffering. Although he was tempted, he did not yield to the temptation, but he remained pure. And, this is the same way in which we are to strive and to make effort, i.e. in our submission to the cross of Christ.

There are two thoughts here in these two verses which are coupled together in one common thought and that is that if we persist in disobedience to Christ and to living for self and sinful pleasure, and we refuse God’s voice speaking to us, we are in danger of falling from the hope we profess, and of not entering into God’s salvation, because we rested our hope in a lie that said obedience to Christ and repentance were not necessary for our salvation. This second verse alone spells it out for us. Jesus Christ became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, not perfectly, and not sinlessly, but who consistently choose to walk in obedience, submitting to the cross and to Christ, and who do not continue in a lifestyle of willful disobedience after they have said they believed (Cf. 1 Jn.; Ro. 6). One day we will all give an account to God for what we did with Jesus Christ and his salvation. Make sure today, while you still have today, that your faith is genuine faith.

Then, the writer of Hebrews addressed those believers among the fellowship who had become dull of hearing. These were not new believers (those who confessed faith in Jesus Christ), but they had been Christians for some amount of time to where, by now they should have reached a certain level of maturity to where they could teach others. Yet, they were still acting as though they were just babes in Christ without knowledge of what God required of them in thought, word or deed. And, they still kept going back to the foundations of what they were taught, as though they still didn’t get it. And, there are many among us today who are right where they were, still grappling to even know and understand what salvation, faith and a walk with Christ is all about, even though they have known Christ or have confessed Christ for many years. And, so they remain stagnant.

The spiritually mature, on the other hand, “have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil” (5:14 ESV). Notice the word “practice.” This means they have put into practice the things they have heard and have learned, instead of them still grappling to even know why they exist and/or to understand what God has for them. It means they are growing in their faith and their walks with the Lord Jesus through obedience, surrender, submission, commitment, and walks of faith which yield to the control of the Holy Spirit of God on a daily basis, not perfectly, and not without any sin, but daily dying to sin and to self and by surrendering their wills to the will of God in heaven.

So, the warning here is that we should get with the program, i.e. we should stop living for sin and self, and we should stop just floating along through life, not knowing where we are going, and just living by our feelings, doing what we want instead of what God wants. We should stop pretending as though we don’t know what God requires when we do. We should cease with looking at ourselves in a mirror and consistently walking away, forgetting what we look like, and claiming we don’t know. We do know! If we have known Christ long enough to be teachers of the word and to be expected by God to be spiritually mature, then we do know, and we should walk in the truth of what we know. At the very least, the danger is that we risk missing out on all the blessings of obedience that Christ has for us, and the effect we could have had for the gospel of Jesus Christ in the lives of others. At the very greatest, we risk hearing “I never knew you,” because we were depending on a lie, and thought we could just get by.

Things that Belong

Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. ~ Heb. 6:9 ESV

Now the writer switched to speak to those in whom he had confidence that their lives exemplified the kind of faith that accompanies salvation. And, then he gave us some thoughts on what belongs to salvation. I will add to this list from these other chapters, as well. These are the qualities of true and genuine believing faith that results in salvation:

·         Labor in the Lord, in his power and strength working within us

·         Love shown for his name in serving the saints of God (Christ as our example)

·         Earnestness in this work and love to the end

·         Swiftly fled sin and rushed to embrace or to take refuge in the hope we have in Christ of freedom from slavery to sin and eternal damnation and freedom to walk in Christ’s righteousness and holiness – we have this hope as a steadfast anchor.

·         Hold fast (embrace) our hope to the end in all earnestness, and steadfastness

·         Persist, continue and persevere in obedience and faithfulness to Christ

·         Learn obedience through suffering

·         Become mature and don’t remain stagnant

·         Love God with all your heart and love others as yourself

Do You Love Me? / An Original Work / July 24, 2013

Do you love Me now?

Will you seek My face?

I have given you

My love and My grace.

Will you walk with Me

Ev’rywhere I lead?

Will you find in Me

All of what you need?

Won’t you meet with Me

Down upon your knees?

Will you obey Me,

And do what I please?

Will you hear My voice

Speaking now to you?

I am couns’ling you

To abide in truth.

I have died for you;

Taken all your sins –

Crucified with Me,

You have been forgiv’n.

I have set you free

From your slavery,

So that you can now

Live in victory.

http://originalworks.info/do-you-love-me/

Closer Attention

Tuesday, July 30, 2013, 7:15 a.m. – Several songs are going through my mind this morning: “Near the Cross,” “Oh, To Be Like Thee,” “Have Thine Own Way, Lord,” and “Fully Surrendered.” They are all songs (hymns) of commitment, submission and surrender to Christ Jesus and to the cross of Christ. Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Hebrews 1-2 (ESV): http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews%201&version=ESV; http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=hebrews%202&version=ESV

By His Son

“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high…” ~ Heb. 1:1-3 ESV

But of the Son he says,

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,

    the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.

You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;

therefore God, your God, has anointed you

    with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”

And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning,

    and the heavens are the work of your hands;

they will perish, but you remain;

    they will all wear out like a garment,

like a robe you will roll them up,

    like a garment they will be changed.

But you are the same,

    and your years will have no end.” ~ Heb. 1:8-12 ESV

Jesus Christ was and is the fulfillment of the law and of the prophets, for they all pointed to him and to our salvation. So, all we need is now found in him and in his word. In Old Testament times, God spoke to people through prophets who spoke the exact words of God to the people. Their words are recorded and are now scripture, i.e. they are God’s God-breathed and written words. But, this says, God now speaks to us by his Son.

Yet, this is not to say he no longer uses human instruments to get out the gospel of Jesus Christ and/or to share words of counsel, encouragement, hope, edification, instruction and/or healing to the body of Christ. He does (See Mt. 5:14-16; 28:18-20; Ac. 1:8; Ro. 12; 1 Co. 12; and Eph. 4, etc.). Yet, we are no longer dependent on a human prophet to tell us what God says, because we have the written word of God, and because those of us who are in Christ have the Holy Spirit of God within us teaching us all things - counseling, leading and guiding us into all truth.

Yet, the spiritual gift of prophecy still exists within the church for the edification of the body of Christ, and scripture teaches we should not despise prophecies, but it does tell us we are to test everything. Our measure for testing is two-fold – the teachings of Christ and of the apostles (God’s written word) and the knowledge of God’s divine character and will. We should never put God in a box and say he won’t work a certain way or use a particular method. He is not bound by our reasoning and logic, so he may use whatever is at his disposal, which is everything and everyone, as long as those means and methods are not contrary to the teachings of Christ and of the apostles, and/or to his divine character and will for us as his people. Remember, he once used a donkey to speak to a man. That had never been done before, that we know of, but that didn’t make it wrong.

Jesus Christ has the authority of God to speak God’s exact words directly to us because he is God, he is the Son of God, and he is our creator; because he upholds the entire universe by the word of his power; because he became our perfect Lamb sacrifice and offering for our sins through his death on a cross; because he conquered death, hell, Satan and sin on our behalf through his resurrection from the dead; and because he now sits at the right hand of God the Father where he reigns supreme over all things.

I mentioned here that the test to see if something is of God, or not, is two-fold – the first being Christ’s teachings and those of the apostles (the gospel of Christ), and secondly that of God’s divine character and will for his people. Well, we get a glimpse of God’s character here in Jesus Christ. The scepter (symbol or character of his rule and authority) is one of uprightness (honesty, decency, morality, and honor). He loves righteousness, but he hates wickedness (evil, sin, lies, malice, immorality, etc.). So, if one who says he hears from God and speaks messages from God does not also teach what is in agreement with God’s divine character and will, then we should question whether or not what is taught is of God.

What We Have Heard

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. ~ Heb. 2:1-4 ESV

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. ~ Heb. 2:14-18 ESV

I believe there is a message here both for the non-believer in Jesus Christ and the believer, as well as for those who claim to know Christ, but may not truly know him, but only know of him. If you have heard the gospel of Jesus Christ, but you have not yet accepted God’s invitation to make Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior, then the encouragement here is that you pay closer attention to what you have heard so that you don’t drift away from it and never come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, thus neglecting such a great salvation, and then condemning yourself to eternal punishment in hell.

When this passage of scripture uses the phrase “Pay closer attention to what you have heard,” this is not speaking about merely taking in more information, but it means to heed what you have heard, too, i.e. it means to take what you have heard and to put it into practice in your life. This applies to non-believers, professing Christians only, and to those of us who have genuinely trusted in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

We are still in this world, and we are still in flesh bodies and are thus subject to temptation even as Christ was tempted when he walked the face of this earth, yet without sin. So, it is imperative, if we want to live godly and holy lives for Jesus Christ while we still live in this world that we pay close attention to what the word teaches us, and what the Holy Spirit says to us in our hearts, and that we put into practice what we have heard. Otherwise, we may drift away to non-belief, casual Christianity, lukewarmness in our faith and practice and/or back to a life of living for self and sinful pleasure (See Mt. 13:1-23). We must remain in Christ and his word must remain (and take hold) in us. Jesus said so (See John 15).

Yet, we cannot do this in our own flesh or of our own willpower. We can only have the desire to come to Christ in faith by the Father in heaven drawing us to Christ. We can only come to Christ through the working of the Holy Spirit of God in our hearts and lives in transforming us from living for self and sin to walks of obedience to Christ, as we cooperate with that work (by faith). And, we cannot live righteous and holy lives in human strength and reasoning. It is Christ living us which gives us all we need for godliness and holy living.

As well, Jesus Christ, through his death on a cross for our sins, set us free from slavery to sin, so that through faith in him we should no longer be held captive to sin’s deceitfulness, but we should be liberated by the Spirit of God to walk in the Spirit in Christ’s righteousness and holiness within us. And, because he suffered like we suffer and because he was tempted like we are tempted, yet without sin, he is able to help us when we are tempted, and he will and has provided a way of escape out from underneath that temptation so that we don’t have to give in. Through Jesus Christ, who loved us and who gave himself up for us, we are more than conquerors!

My Savior, My God / Aaron Shust

I am not skilled to understand

What God has willed, what God has planned

I only know at his right hand

Stands one who is my savior

I take him at his word and deed

Christ died to save me this I read

And in my heart I find a need

For him to be my savior…

My savior loves, my savior lives

My savior's always there for me

My God he was, my God he is

My God he's always gonna be…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gt0WluTpFTg

Say "No!"

Monday, July 29, 2013, 7:23 a.m. – the Lord Jesus woke me with this song in mind:

Here I Am To Worship / Chris Tomlin

Light of the world
You stepped down into darkness.
Opened my eyes, let me see.
Beauty that made this heart adore You
Hope of a life spent with You

Here I am to worship,
Here I am to bow down,
Here I am to say that You're my God…

Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen!

Truth leading to godliness

“Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior…” ~ Titus 1:1-3 ESV

Paul began his letter to Titus by stating upfront what the gospel of Jesus Christ is all about. The faith we have in Jesus Christ - through which then God gives to us the hope of eternal life with God in heaven, by his grace - must be based upon the truths of scripture (upon Christ’s teachings and those of the apostles), and it must be in agreement with godliness.

So many people are being taught that they don’t have to turn from their sins (don’t have to repent), and they don’t have to obey God’s commands, and they can still be saved because they “believed.” Oh, how wrong, and how unbiblical! James said that even the demons believe, and they shudder. Humans say they “believe,” and don’t even shudder at all (don’t even have the fear of God). Yet, faith in Jesus Christ is not some intellectual assent to what he did for us in dying for our sins so we can spend eternity with God in heaven, nor is it some emotional decision or a prayer we prayed at an altar. Faith in Jesus Christ is a transformation by the Spirit of God away from our old lives of living for sin and self to having a new attitude of mind toward sin and toward God resulting in a change of life direction, activity, heart and behavior away from sin to walking in obedience to Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior (See Lu 9:23-25; Ro 6; Gal 2:20; Eph. 2:8-9; 4:17-24; 1 John; etc.).

It teaches us to say “NO!”

“For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.” ~ Titus 2:11-14 NIV

So many people have been given a wrong (or faulty) picture of God’s grace. Some see God’s grace as a “get out of jail free card,” while others see it as a “carte blanche,” i.e. as “permission or authority given to somebody to act with freedom” (Encarta); or as “unrestricted power to act at one’s own discretion” (thefreedictionary.com); or as “free license, free rein, blank check, or free hand” (dictionary.com) to do what one pleases or chooses. The Bible is very clear on this – God’s grace is not a free license to continue in sin. If we continue in sin (in a lifestyle of willful sin), then we have no part with God (See 1 Jn).

A true understanding of God’s grace coincides with what Paul said in his opening statement about our faith in Jesus Christ – it is based in truth and is in agreement with godliness. Jesus Christ did not go through all that he went through on this earth and in his death and in taking upon himself the sins of the entire world (the worst of all suffering) just to give us a free ticket to his heaven. He died so we would be free from slavery to and the control of sin and Satan while we still live on the face of this earth, day by day. True grace teaches us to say “NO!” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age. Jesus Christ gave himself up for us to redeem us (buy us back) from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good (right, godly, and true).

Rebirth and Renewal

“At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.” ~ Titus 3:3-8 NIV

If we preach the true gospel of Jesus Christ, which calls for turning from sin and obedience to Christ and to his commands - via his grace and the working of his Spirit within us in rebirth and renewal, through faith (our cooperation with God’s work) - then we are often times accused of teaching works-based salvation and/or of being conceited and judgmental. Neither of these accusations holds any water realistically or scripturally, though it may be true that some do preach the gospel from impure motives.

For one, there is no one righteous. We have all at one time gone astray. All have sinned and come up short of attaining approval of God in our own flesh. Just because we teach the true gospel of salvation does not mean we think we are somehow superior or that we don’t realize the grace of God in our own lives in delivering us from bondage to sin and decay. I, for one, am very cognizant of my own sinful condition outside of God’s grace, and of my own ability to sin even underneath his grace, and I am so thankful that his love lifted me out of the slimy pit and put my feet upon the solid rock, and that he has given me a firm place to stand. And, I grieve over the sins of others, and I hope for their deliverance! That is one of the reasons I do what I do each day in sharing God’s word and his gospel.

A true understanding of God’s grace, as well, will dispel any rumors that teaching repentance and obedience to Christ as necessary components of true faith is teaching works-based salvation. We don’t do good works to get salvation. We don’t earn God’s grace or favor or salvation through anything we do of our own accord and in our own power and strength. It is not possible, because we will always come up short, because we, by nature, are sinners. That’s the reality of it all. That is why Jesus Christ, our perfect Lamb, had to die on the cross for our sins, so that our sins could be crucified with him, and so they could be conquered once and for all via Jesus’ resurrection from the grave. Only by God’s grace can we come to have hope in Jesus Christ both for this life and for eternity with God in glory.

Jesus Christ 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 if we hold on to our old lives of sin, we will lose them for eternity, but if we willingly give up our lives for Jesus Christ, i.e. if we die to self and sin, then we save our lives for eternity. Paul, in the Spirit, said that coming to Christ means that we put off (forsake) our old lives of living for self and sin, that we be transformed in heart and mind (of the Spirit of God), and that we put on our new selves, “created to be like Christ in true righteousness and holiness” (See Lu 9:23-25; Ep. 4:17-24).

Yet, we don’t do this to earn salvation, and we can’t do it in our own strength or willpower. We are saved by God’s grace, through faith, meaning we must cooperate with God in his work of grace in our hearts and lives by willingly yielding to the cross of Christ, dying to sin, and by allowing the Spirit of God to transform us and to give us new lives in Christ Jesus our Lord, free from the control of sin, and free to walk in Christ’s righteousness and holiness. It can’t be works-based salvation and obedience at the same time. Works-based salvation comprises our own human efforts to try to attain God’s approval and his grace, but there is no submission to the cross, and it is not based in obedience to Christ, because it is based in self-effort. Truly if we are obeying Christ, we can’t be doing what he said is wrong to do, can we? They are diametrically opposed to one another.

A true understanding of our salvation and what Jesus Christ did for us knows that to truly believe in what Christ did for us and to make it our own means we yield our lives to Christ and to his cross, and we choose to no longer walk in the flesh according to our worldly passions and desires, but we choose, instead, to follow our Lord in obedience to his will for our lives. Will we do it perfectly? No! But, this should never be an excuse for continued and willful sin. God knows the difference, and he is the one who will judge our hearts. So, make sure your faith is founded in the truth of Christ’s teachings and those of the apostles, and which is in agreement with godliness, and is not based in a lie that gives you a “carte blanche” idea of God’s grace. Your eternity depends upon it.

Here I am to Worship - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaUTv1pXRyU

Walk the Talk

Friday, July 26, 2013, 6:31 a.m. – the Lord Jesus woke me with the song “Do You Love Me?” playing in my mind. Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read 1 Thess. 1:1-4:12 (ESV). There were several verses from each chapter that jumped out at me, so I will share those, and then what the Lord Jesus is teaching me through them today.

From Idols

“For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God…” (1:9).

Jesus said that if anyone would come after him, he must deny (disallow) himself (his self-life), take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and self) and follow (obey) him (See Lu 9:23-25). Paul, in the Spirit, said that the way we come to know Christ is by forsaking (putting off) our old lives of sin, being transformed in heart and mind (of the Spirit of God), and by putting on our new self, “created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (See Ep. 4:17-24; cf. Col. 3:1-17; Ro. 6). Jesus called us to repent of our sins. Jesus said if we do not repent, we will perish. Peter said to repent and to turn back, so that our sins may be wiped out (See Ac. 3:19). Paul said that God commands all people everywhere to repent (See Ac. 17:30). The word repent in scripture nearly always carries with it this idea of rejecting and forsaking our sins and of turning to follow Jesus Christ in faith, obedience, and in surrender to his will for our lives. So, God is calling to each one of us to forsake our lives of sin and our idols (anything that keeps us from following after Christ wholeheartedly), to turn to him in faith, and to serve and walk with him in obedience.

Not to Please Humans

“…but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness. Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ” (2:4-6).

It is so easy in our society here in America, and perhaps this is true throughout the world, to get caught up in wanting to please people, often to the exclusion of pleasing God. Today’s modern church movement only serves to promote and to encourage this idea of doing what is pleasing to humans, because so much of what they do today in building their businesses is to market the church in much the same way as businesses market their products to their customers, with the goal of pleasing the customer. The gospel is diluted in order to not offend anyone and to make the gospel more palatable and acceptable to humans. Many “worship” services center around the “stage production,” stage presence, and the big show, which is intended to draw in large crowds of people, i.e. to attract the fallen world to the “church.” We are encouraged to never confront sin, to never challenge false teaching, and to say only what makes people feel good about themselves.

Yet, this is not Christ building his church or the manner in which Christ builds his church, and this is not the way of the true gospel. The true gospel tells people the truth about their sin, about judgment, and calls people to turn from sin to walk in faithful obedience to their Lord who died so they could go free from slavery to sin. And, thus, we need to be ministers of the true gospel, and we need to live our lives to please God, not humans. We need to be kind and loving, but we should not lie to people or be afraid that they might reject us if we speak the truth in love to them, providing it is the truth.

Walk in a Manner

“For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory” (2:11-12).

This is a common theme throughout the New Testament – that we walk the talk, basically. If we say we are Christians, that we are saved from our sins, and that we have the hope of eternal life with God in glory, then we should live like we say we believe. If Jesus died to save us from slavery to sin, then we should no longer be under the control of sin. This does not mean we will never sin, but that sin should no longer have power and control over our lives. If we say Jesus is our Lord and King, then we should live like he truly is the one on the throne in our lives, like he is the one in charge (See Gal. 2:20). If we believe that our lives are now hidden in Christ, i.e. that our lives are now engulfed in his love, kindness, mercy, forgiveness, and grace, etc., then our lives should reflect this, i.e. Jesus Christ, his word, his character and his divine will for our lives should permeate our entire being – our thoughts, attitudes, plans, goals, our tongues, and our actions and behaviors.

Stand Fast

“For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord” (3:8).

What does it mean to stand fast in the Lord? To stand means to have a certain attitude, opinion, stance, outlook, point of view, and position on something, or it can mean to remain, endure, persist and continue in something. To stand fast means to be firm, steadfast, constant, unwavering and faithful. These are words that should describe our relationship with Jesus Christ, i.e. that we are firm, committed, unwavering and persistent in our walks of faith and obedience, in our beliefs and practice concerning all that he taught us, and in our love for him and our desire (and practice) to please him in all ways. “In the Lord” means according to his divine character and will. Our lives should be enveloped in Christ, in his teachings, in obedience to him and in our service to him. He should be first consideration in all that we do - in all our plans, and all our activities. He doesn’t want part-time servants. He wants us fully surrendered and committed to him 24/7.

Love One Another

“…and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints” (3:12-13).

One of the ways in which we show that we love God is in how we love one another. In fact, the first and greatest commandment is to love God wholeheartedly with our whole being, and the second is for us to love one another as we love ourselves. The sticky part of this is in understanding what it means to love. I think we can all agree that doing for others according to their needs is love, and that showing kindness, mercy and forgiveness are all aspects of loving others. There are so many ways in which we can love other people.

Yet, I think one of the most neglected and most critical ways we should love each other is to love like Christ loved us and gave himself up for us. In other words, he died on a cross so we can be free from slavery to sin and eternal damnation. So we, too, should give our lives to see others go free from slavery to sin and free from eternal damnation. We do this through the sharing of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which involves teaching the Lord’s disciples to obey all things that Christ has commanded us (See Mt. 28:18-20). If we truly love others the way in which we love ourselves, and we have turned to faith in Jesus Christ, so we now have the hope of eternal life with God, then we should tell others the good news of the gospel so that they, too, can be set free and have the hope of heaven.

Not Impurity, But Holiness

“Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you. Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another” (4:1-9).

The Bible teaches that we are saved, we are being saved, and we will be saved. In other words, salvation is a process called sanctification, which will not be complete until Christ returns for his bride. I think a lot of people get the idea that salvation is a one-time experience at an altar, and then one day we go to heaven. Oh, how empty that scenario is. If that is all there is to it, then, like someone said, they should save us then shoot us so we can go to heaven. Yet, it isn’t like that at all.

Jesus Christ died, not just to give us eternal life in heaven, but he saved us from slavery (bondage) to sin while we still live on this earth, and he saved us so we can walk in faithful obedience to him in his righteousness and holiness, and so we can live lives set apart for God and for his service here on the earth. He saved us to give us abundant lives (lives to the full) in Christ. That means that our salvation is so, so much more than just a ticket into heaven. Amen! We are saved to live for Jesus Christ, to obey him, to spend time with him, to enjoy his sweet fellowship, to talk with him about what is going on in our lives, to listen to his words speaking gently to our hearts, to serve him, and to minister his love and grace to the body of Christ and to those outside of Christ.

If we could just picture our relationship with Jesus Christ as an engagement to marry the love of our lives, and that all we are doing here on this earth is in preparation for the wedding day, I believe that would help us all to understand that faith in Christ is not a religion or just a belief in something, but it is a relationship with the one we love and adore above all else, and with whom we desire to please more than anything.

Do You Love Me? / An Original Work / July 24, 2013

Do you love Me now?

Will you seek My face?

I have given you

My love and My grace.

Will you walk with Me

Ev’rywhere I lead?

Will you find in Me

All of what you need?

Won’t you meet with Me

Down upon your knees?

Will you obey Me,

And do what I please?

Will you hear My voice

Speaking now to you?

I am couns’ling you

To abide in truth.

I have died for you;

Taken all your sins –

Crucified with Me,

You have been forgiv’n.

I have set you free

From your slavery,

So that you can now

Live in victory.

http://originalworks.info/do-you-love-me/

Do You Love Me?

After Jesus had died and had risen from the grave he appeared to his disciples multiple times. On one of these occasions he appeared to a small number of them while they were out fishing. The disciples came ashore, Jesus fed them breakfast, and then Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you (god-like) love me more than these?” He didn’t explain the “more than these,” but Peter may have understood what he meant. The point was that Jesus was asking him if he loved him more, truly more than any of “these.” Peter answered that he loved him with a friendship love, to which Jesus replied, “Feed my lambs” (spiritually feed his disciples). This happened again, and then the third time Jesus asked him if he (friendship) loved him, to which Peter once again affirmed his love and affection for his Lord. And, again the Lord said, “Feed my sheep” (followers). – See John 21

I believe Jesus Christ is still asking this question today, only to all of his followers: “Do you love me more than these?” The “these” can be anyone or anything in our lives which robs us of our time with God, our relationship with and obedience to him, and our walk in the Spirit in his righteousness and truth, forsaking all other "gods.” Jesus said that if we love him, we will obey his commands; and we will obey his teaching. His Father will love us, and they will come and make their home with us. Yet, if we don’t love him, we will not obey his teaching – See John 14. Then, John (in 1 John) said that we know we have come to know God if we obey his commands; and love for God is to keep his commands.

Do we love Jesus? Then we need to turn from our sins, follow him in obedience, do what he says, and take his gospel to the ends of the earth – all in the power of his Spirit within us.

Do You Love Me? / An Original Work / July 24, 2013

Do you love Me now?

Will you seek My face?

I have given you

My love and My grace.

Will you walk with Me

Ev’rywhere I lead?

Will you find in Me

All of what you need?

Won’t you meet with Me

Down upon your knees?

Will you obey Me,

And do what I please?

Will you hear My voice

Speaking now to you?

I am couns’ling you

To abide in truth.

I have died for you;

Taken all your sins –

Crucified with Me,

You have been forgiv’n.

I have set you free

From your slavery,

So that you can now

Live in victory.

http://originalworks.info/do-you-love-me/

Hidden With Christ

Thursday, July 25, 2013, 7:24 a.m. – the Lord Jesus woke me with the song “Open My Heart” playing in my mind. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Colossians 3:1-17 (ESV).

Things Above

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

We, as true followers of Jesus Christ, have died to what once enslaved us. We have chosen, by faith, to allow the Holy Spirit of God to transform our hearts away from our lives of sin to walks of faithful obedience to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Sin was once our master and we were under the influence and control of Satan. But, when Christ Jesus came into our lives, by his grace, through faith in him, our old selves were crucified with him so that “I” no longer live, but now Christ lives in me as Lord (master) of my life. He’s the boss! – Not me, and not Satan or sin.

If we have indeed died to sin and have been raised with Christ to new lives, free from the control of sin, and free to walk in Christ’s righteousness and holiness, then our hearts and our minds should be focused on what is above, not on the things of this earth. This does not mean that we don’t work for a living, provide for our families, and make sure we have food to eat, clothes to wear, etc. Those are necessities of life. Yet, what it does mean is that our lives are no longer our own to do with what we want, so our focus should not be on self-gratification, entertainment, and/or our own plans, but we should desire to do the will of God, seek what he wants for our lives, and then walk in obedience to him.

Our lives are “hidden” in Christ, i.e. they are covered with the blood of Christ and are enveloped, encased, swathed and wrapped in his life and in his love. For example, I have nearly 12 grandchildren. The 11^th grandchild (a girl) is only 3 months old. Her mom still swaths her in a blanket, so I can easily picture the love, tenderness and care of God in this swathing of us; and in this wrapping of us in his love, grace, mercy, kindness, forgiveness and protection. It is an awesome visual! If our lives are truly enveloped in Christ in this way, which they should be, then that should mean that our minds, thoughts, emotions, passions, desires, and activities should be permeated (infused) with Christ, his thoughts, his will and his purposes for our lives, and all else should flow from that center.

Put To Death

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

There is a popular teaching in evangelical circles today which teaches that God’s grace means he does it all and nothing is required of us in thought, word, or deed. This would mean that God “zaps” us with salvation and we are now mindless creatures like puppets on a string, and we no longer are even capable of doing anything good or bad, because he takes over like evil spirits take over people’s bodies and he makes us do things, possibly even against our wills. This is not what scripture teaches about God’s grace.

Certainly our salvation comes from Christ and his death on a cross for our sins, and there is nothing at all we can do in our flesh to earn it or to deserve it. Amen! Yet, scripture is real clear on the subject of true faith involving us fully cooperating with the Spirit’s work of transformation in our hearts and lives by us willingly dying to sin daily, and by us choosing to walk in obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ, in the power and strength of the Spirit of God working his will in our lives and through our lives for his good pleasure and for his glory (Cf. Lu. 9:23-25; Ep. 2:8-9; 4:17-24; Gal. 2:20; Ro. 6; Titus 2:12; and 1 Jn., etc.). Otherwise, why would we be given all these instructions in the New Testament on putting to death our worldly and sinful lives, so we can be renewed in the image of our creator?

If we have truly died with Christ and have been raised with him to new life in him, created to be like Christ in true righteousness and holiness, and our lives are now swathed in him, our desires should change, because we now have the Spirit of God within us prompting, encouraging, counseling, nurturing, convicting, and leading us the way in which we should go. And, we should now desire to please our Lord in all we do and say. This is not to say that salvation means instant perfection. It doesn’t, obviously, otherwise why all these instructions on putting to death the deeds of darkness in our lives? Salvation (or sanctification) is a life-long process, and we won’t reach perfection until we get to heaven. Yet, that should never be an excuse for continued willful sin in the life of a believer in Christ.

We are given a list here of some of the things we should put to death in our lives, in the power and wisdom and strength of the Holy Spirit of God within us – sexual immorality, impurity, evil passions and desires, idolatry, anger, malice, slander, and lies (I hate lies), etc. I would encourage each and every person reading this to honestly go before the Lord in prayer, seeking his face, and inquiring of the Lord as to what areas of our lives we need to still put to death. I did that this morning during my time with the Lord, so I am not asking you to do something I have not honestly done myself, not only in inquiry, but in obedience. And, I pray we will all be obedient people of God, who desire him above all else, and who want nothing more than to please him in all ways.

Put On

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

If you are at all familiar with Ephesians 4, you will find many parallels between it and Colossians 3, because they both speak of the necessity for followers of Christ to put off our old way of living for self and sin, being transformed in heart and mind of the Spirit of God, and of putting on our new selves (not cleaned-up old selves) in Christ. And, both passages of scripture give us lists of things we need to put off, and lists of things we need to put on in place of what we put off. There is a Biblical principle here that I believe we all need to get. Many people make professions of Christ as Savior without ever putting to death their old lives, and without truly ever putting on new lives in Christ Jesus, mainly because they never put the old life off first. Coming to Christ does not mean having cleaned up and somewhat altered old lives. Coming to Christ means we change from caterpillars into butterflies, i.e. we become something or someone else. And, that is the principle behind the put offs and the put ons.

Many people, as well, come to Christ in all sincerity, and they even pray for the Holy Spirit of God to remove their old desires and to put new desires within them, and for a time they stop doing what they used to do, but eventually old ways of living begin to creep back into their lives. Why? Well, there could many reasons for this, but one of them, I believe, is that they never truly grasped the whole concept of transformation (from a caterpillar to a butterfly), and of the necessity of filling our lives with the things of God – his purposes, will, working, ministry, etc. in place of those things we put off. If all we do is sweep the house clean, but we never fill it with Christ and the things from above, then eventually the old stuff will come back and fill those empty places. So, not only must we put off telling lies, but we must tell the truth (become truth tellers). Not only should we stop stealing, but we should work and then give to others. Not only should we stop bad-mouthing people, but our mouths should be filled with praise and words that edify and build up God’s people.

Above all else, we should put on love, and this is not speaking just of friendship love, i.e. the kind that is emotional and is based in the one we love. But, we should put on god-like love for one another, which is based in the one who loves us (Christ/God), and we should love as Christ loved (and loves) us, and gave himself for us so we might be free from sin, and so we might walk in his truth. This means that this kind of love speaks the truth in love, it confronts sin in humility, and it cares enough about others to share with them the truth of the gospel, even if it means being hated and rejected in return. This is how Christ loved us and gave himself up for us. True love doesn’t just tell people what they want to hear or what makes them feel good, but it demonstrates love in such a way that shows that we truly care about people, about their lives, their relationships with Jesus Christ, and their eternal destiny. So, let’s love others as Christ loved us, and gave himself up for us.

Open My Heart / An Original Work / July 2, 2013

“Be wise about what is good and innocent about what is evil” (Rm. 16:19b).

Open my heart. Let Your truth in.

Make of me a servant, pure within;

Sing of Your praise all of my days.

Let Your Spirit transform all my ways.

Jesus Christ died on a cross to

Save me from my sin.

“Repent of sin. Be cleansed within.

Obey all of His commands today.”

“Why do you doubt? Why do you fear?

Jesus Christ will wipe away your tears.

He cares for you. He feels your pain.

Die to sin, and life with Him you’ll gain.

Follow Him where’er He leads you.

Talk with Him each day.

Then you will know what He has planned

For your life before your world began.”

“Come unto Me, weary in heart.

Let My love and grace to you impart.

Believe in Me. Trust in My care.

Take your burdens to the Lord in prayer.

He will meet all of your needs,

And give you peace within.

Rejoice in Him! Tell of His love.

He will give you comfort from above.”

http://originalworks.info/open-my-heart/

The Grace of God in Truth

Wednesday, July 24, 2013, 7:24 a.m. – the Lord Jesus woke me with the song “Do Not Fear” playing in my mind. Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Colossians 1 (ESV): http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians%201&version=ESV

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Col. 1:1-14).

We Thank God

Paul thanked God for the believers’ faith in Christ Jesus and for their love for all the saints. They had such faith and love, not of their own accord, for God/Christ is the source and the giver of such faith and love. This is why Paul thanked God and gave him all the praise and glory, while still encouraging the saints in their God-given love and faith. Their faith and love rested not only in the person of Christ Jesus as their Lord and Savior, but also in the promise and hope of eternity with God in heaven, by God’s grace and through faith in him. So, we never have cause to take personal pride in our faith, but we should always be cognizant of the source of our faith – God himself – and we should give him all the glory!

The Word of Truth

Of this faith and hope they had heard previously in the “word of truth, the gospel,” and it was there that they understood “the grace of God in truth.” So, what is the truth of the gospel? And, what is “the grace of God in truth”? Truth obviously is the primary focus here.

We can discover the answers to these questions by reading the whole of the New Testament, but much of this “truth” is explained for us in vv. 13-29. Jesus is the Son of God, the second person of our triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He is the creator of all things, i.e. he existed with God from the beginning, as well as he is God (See John 1). In him all things hold together. In other words, first of all, Christ Jesus is the Word, and he is the Truth, and he is the source of all truth. So, the word of truth is not only found in the written word of God, i.e. in the gospel of Jesus Christ, but in Christ Jesus himself.

Jesus Christ, although he was God, left his home in heaven, came to earth, took on human flesh, and was born as a baby, suffered as we suffer, and was tempted in all ways in which we are tempted, yet without sin. He was despised and rejected, hated, persecuted, accused falsely, mocked, spat upon, scourged, beaten and hung on a cross to die, as though he was a common criminal. He did all this for you and me. He could have called legions of angels in heaven to rescue him. He could have struck down his accusers and attackers. Yet, he willingly went to the cross, because when he died he took upon himself the sins of the entire world so that our sins were crucified and buried with him. When he was resurrected, he conquered sin, death, hell and Satan so that we could go free – from eternal damnation, from bondage (slavery) to sin, and free to walk in Christ’s righteousness and holiness.

For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good (Titus 2:11-14).

God’s plan for our redemption was (and is) for us to be delivered (set free) from the dominion (power, authority, control) of darkness (the absence of his light; evil; wickedness) and for us to be transferred to the kingdom (power, rule, authority) of his beloved Son, Jesus Christ. We are not “saved” just so we can go to heaven one day, as wonderful as that will be. The point or the object of our redemption was and is that we are no longer under the power and influence and control of the evil one and of sin, but our lives are now under the power, rule and authority of Christ Jesus, his truth, and his will for our lives. This is the truth of the gospel, and it is also the grace of God in truth. As well, we do not receive this truth by mere intellectual assent or via an emotional decision. We must cooperate fully with God’s work of redemption in our hearts and lives, in submitting to and in surrendering to his will and purposes for our lives, and in yielding to the Lordship of Christ over our lives, allowing his Spirit within us to work his will and truth in our lives and out through us for his glory and praise (Cf. Jn. 14; Lu 9:23-25; Ep. 2:8-9; 4:17-24; Ro. 6; 1 Jn.; Gal. 2:20, etc.).

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister (Col. 1:21-23).

True faith in Jesus Christ not only involves our cooperation with God in this process of him delivering us out of darkness (sin; wickedness) and transferring us into his kingdom, i.e. with us now underneath his Lordship over our lives, but true faith is continuous, it endures to the end, it is faithful, it remains, and it overcomes, i.e. it is victorious and it conquers (Cf. Mt. 24:13; Jn. 15:6-10; Ro. 11:17-24; 1 Co 15:2; 11 Tm 2:10-13; Heb. 3:14-15; 11 Pet. 1:5-11; 1 Jn. 2:24-25; 2 Jn. 1:9, and Rv. 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21; etc.). Yet, although we have been given this faith in Christ Jesus, that does not mean we will always walk in perfect faith, i.e. we are not sinless, but we are forgiven (See 1 Jn. 2:1). Yet, we should never use God’s grace to us as an excuse for continued and willful sin, and for not continuing to obey the truth of God’s word, or for not walking daily in his righteousness, because the word teaches us that if we do so, we have no part with God (See 1 Jn.).

In All Spiritual Wisdom and Understanding

When Christ Jesus left this earth, he did not leave us as orphans. He sent his Holy Spirit to indwell us – to guide us into all truth, to teach us the things of Christ, to counsel, lead, direct, convict, encourage, and strengthen us; and to reveal to us the things God has prepared for us, even the deep things of God, so we might have the mind of Christ. And he also declares to us the things that are to come, etc. (Cf. Jn. 16:12-14; 1 Co. 2:9-16). So, we not only have Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, and the truth of his gospel of grace made known to us, and appropriated individually to our hearts and lives, but by God’s grace, through faith, we have also been given the Holy Spirit of God within us to fill us with the knowledge of God’s will for us in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so we might “walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” Amen!

If we are filled with the knowledge of God’s will, it should pervade (permeate; saturate) our entire being – our thoughts, affections, emotions, will, intellect, reasoning, purposes, plans and actions. Our entire lives should be given over to Jesus Christ for his will and for his purposes for our lives, with nothing held back. As well, “In all spiritual wisdom and understanding” denotes not only what we might ascertain through the reading of scripture, and through the person and testimony of Jesus Christ, but also via the working and ministry of the Holy Spirit within us in revealing to us Christ, his truth, his mind, his character and his will for our lives, even examining the deep things of God. In other words, this knowledge and understanding is not merely intellectual knowledge (head knowledge) of the teachings of scripture, but it is knowledge made practical and applicable to our individual lives - where we are today, in our world, and in our life’s circumstances and situations. And, the Spirit of God is not limited in means for revealing this will of God to us, provided the means and methods do not contradict God’s revealed word in scripture or his divine character and will.

To walk worthy of the Lord and of his calling for our lives means we walk according to his truth, his word, his will, his divine character, and in his Spirit (not in our flesh). It means we take the knowledge given to us and we put it into practice in our lives by the power and working of his Spirit within us, as we cooperate fully with that work. It also means that true knowledge and wisdom from above is not just scholarly, but it is practical and applicable to our lives on a day-to-day basis, and it has to do with us living godly lives pleasing to God. It also means we act in agreement with what Jesus Christ did for us in dying on the cross for our sins, i.e. we forsake our lives of living for sin and self, and we turn to walk in faithful obedience to Jesus Christ and to his will and purposes for our lives. All this is done, not in human strength, will or reason, but in the power and the working of the Holy Spirit of God within us, as we daily die to sin and self, and we choose to walk in obedience to Christ.

Do Not Fear / An Original Work / June 2, 2013

Based off John 14

Do not let your hearts fear.

Trust in God. Trust in Christ.

“In My house you will find

Many rooms I have

Prepared for you,

And I will come back

And take you to heav’n.”

“I will take you to be with Me;

You’ll be where I am.”

“I am the way and

The truth and the life.

No one comes to the Father,

Except he comes through Me,

So put your faith in Me,

And do all of what I command.”

“Whoever has My commands

And obeys them loves Me.”

“I did not leave you as orphans.

I sent you the Counselor;

The Holy Spirit to live in you.

He teaches you all things,

And He reminds you of Me.”

“My peace I give to you,

So do not fear, trust in Me.”

http://originalworks.info/do-not-fear/

A Romantic Affair

Monday, July 22, 2013, 8:42 a.m. – The song “Believe Him” began playing in my mind. I read Philippians 2:1-18 (ESV).

In Full Accord (2:1-11)

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

This past week one day I all of a sudden had this notion in my head to trade in my car (a Honda Accord) for a SUV – a Sports Utility Vehicle. I inquired of the Lord as to where this notion could have come from, because it didn’t make sense to me at all. Then, my husband came home from work and told me he was thinking about trading in his truck for a car like mine (a Honda Accord). I thought that was really weird and coincidental. It didn’t make sense to have two different Accords, so we went and looked at a couple of SUVs. I liked the Honda CR-V that we drove, but it would cost us an additional $10,000 to buy one of those, even with trading in my husband’s truck, possibly. It just didn’t make sense to spend that kind of money when we already have two vehicles, which are both completely paid off.

The Lord Jesus used this real life scenario as an allegory to illustrate a Biblical truth here. I believe the Lord Jesus is giving me a picture here first of all of someone thinking of trading in his own life (or his first love) for an “accord,” i.e. for a covenant agreement - like the real one, but not the same “agreement” as the true one - i.e. a trade for a different gospel, and then for a SUV (a diversion for amusement and entertainment). The truck represents a human life, rolling along in an easy-going way, powered by the flesh, hauling the heavy burden of sin. So, the truck represents a non-believer. And then he gave me a picture of a believer in Christ considering trading in her “first love,” i.e. her “accord” (agreement with Christ) for a Sports – diversion; amusement; & entertainment – Utility - something that is convenient and is an instrument – Vehicle - a tool or a medium of some kind.

I believe this is about replacing Christ and his gospel with any other agreement and/or with diversions. None of it made sense to me. Jesus already paid the price in full so we could be free from slavery to sin and self-pleasure, free from eternal damnation, and so we could be free to walk in his truth, love, forgiveness, righteousness, grace, peace, purity and faithfulness. Therefore, it makes no sense at all when we replace him in any way with “other loves,” i.e. with other agreements, such as a false gospel. As well, it also makes no sense whatsoever when we replace him in any way with diversions for our own entertainment and amusement, such as smart phones, IPads, TVs, the internet, movies, sports, video games, etc., or with other relationships. Some of these things may not be wrong for us to use with discretion and discernment, but if they are replacements for our relationship with Jesus Christ, and for our time spent with him in his word and in obedience to his commands, and/or for time spent in ministering to the body of Christ, then this makes NO SENSE!

Paul asked the believers, if they were indeed united (one) with Christ, that they also be in one accord (agreement) with one another. Yet, the unity among the believers must be of the same accord, not two different ones which may have the same name but are two completely different vehicles (means of salvation). We need to make certain, thus, that being in full accord with the fellowship of believers does not involve an agreement with a false gospel (a look-alike). We must know the word of God and what it teaches with regard to the gospel and our salvation so that we are not easily persuaded to “buy” an “agreement,” or a “SUV,” other than what is contained in the original gospel – the New Covenant (cf. Lu 9:23-25; Ep. 2:8-9; 4:17-24; Ro 6; 1 Jn; & Gal 2:20, et al.).

Crooked and Twisted

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

I woke from a dream this morning. The subject matter was that of a romantic affair (extra-marital). I will try to just share with you what I believe the Lord Jesus is teaching me through this passage of scripture with the use of this dream as an allegory to illustrate a Biblical truth. I believe the “other woman” represents the institutional church (or religion) and/or preachers and prophets in today’s religious movements. The church (the body of Christ) is in crisis, because she is receiving her nourishment, standing, foundation and growth from her “other lovers,” i.e. she has placed her affections and dependency for her fellowship and spiritual nourishment in humans and in humanistic teachings instead of in Christ. The woman was sending handwritten love notes to the house (to the true church), i.e. these “other lovers” are distributing to the body of Christ personal revelations supposedly from God to the body of Christ, but that are not from Christ – our “first love.”

I wondered if the woman was deranged or if this was a two-way relationship. Other words for “deranged” are “crooked and twisted,” i.e. she represents this crooked and twisted generation, which is now permeating the church, so it is a two-way relationship in many instances, though there are certainly many who hold true to the gospel and who continue to follow their Lord Jesus Christ in obedience and surrender to his will for their lives.

To those who have followed after “other lovers,” and who have turned to or who are considering turning to another gospel, or who are involved in or are considering making “SUVs” their gods (Lords), I believe the encouragement here is that we should cease and desist with putting our dependency in humans and in “SUVs”; and desist in trusting humans to be our voices from God and/or to relying upon humans alone to be our source of spiritual nourishment and spiritual growth. There are a lot of voices out there, but they aren’t all from God. Many of them are “the other woman,” so be wise and discerning, and make sure your relationship with Christ is based on Christ and not in humans, and that you are walking in obedience to Christ and to his will for your life.

Paul asked the believers to obey Christ, not just when he was present with them, but when he was not present, i.e. he asked that they be consistent in their walks with the Lord, and that their dependency be on Christ alone, and not on him. This, then, is one of the possible meanings of working out our own salvation with fear and trembling. It is Christ who works in us, so this is not works-based salvation, but it is speaking to our spiritual walks and development as followers of Christ. We must have a holy respect of God which trembles at the thought of giving in to sin, and we must yield our lives completely to the rule of the Holy Spirit within our lives. And, our walks with Christ should not have to be dependent on a particular man or woman, preacher or prophet, but we should depend on Jesus Christ alone to work in us to work out his good pleasure for our lives. Trust God instead of humans!

To those who are obeying Christ and his word, who are walking in the Spirit, who are faithful to their relationship with Jesus Christ as their only “husband,” and who are his hands and feet in sharing his love and his gospel with the world around them, I believe the encouragement here is to be wise concerning “other lovers” (other accords) and the “SUVs” of this life which have the potential for diverting and sidetracking from the Great Commission, and might place our focus, instead, on self-pleasure, just because it is easy and perhaps makes less waves and helps us to blend in better with our surroundings. We may be even persuaded to believe the lie that we must do some of the things the world does just so we can identify with them and reach them. Jesus called us to come out from the world and to be separate, and he has called us to be lights for the gospel to the world, holding (embracing and keeping) fast (firmly and steadfastly) to the word of life (of truth).

Poured Out

Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.

Yesterday we were having a problem with ants coming into our house. They seemed to be attacking my shoes and no one else’s. That seemed odd. I could not find anything on my shoes that would attract them, and then today the Lord Jesus gave me an understanding of this from a spiritual standpoint. My shoes represent my witness for Jesus Christ and for his gospel. Ants are like soldiers, but they are also workers, so this represented an army of workers coming against my witness and testimony for Jesus Christ. They will attack those of us who are ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ in many ways, because they can smell the aroma of the gospel of Christ on our “shoes.” And, they will do all they can to try to get us off course, distracted, or following after “other lovers.” Lord, help me to be sensitized to this so that I am not easily distracted or diverted away from preaching your gospel. Amen!

Trust in the Lord with all your heart

    and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways submit to him,

    and he will make your paths straight. – Pr. 3:5-6 (NIV)

Believe Him / An Original Work / July 15, 2013

My heart cries: Lord, won’t You hear me

Seeking You for the answers

To my heartache and questions

I have concerning my life?

Speak, Lord, to me right now.

“Oh, dear one, why don’t you trust Me

With your life’s circumstances?

Give your all on the altar

In submission of your will

To My purpose for you.

“Surrender your life completely

To your Lord and your Savior.

He has all things planned for you

For His glory and honor.

He’ll work all things for good.

“Believe Him. He will fulfill all

Of His promises to you

For your life and your future.

Trust Him. Rest in His love.

He’ll give you peace from above.”

http://originalworks.info/believe-him/