Thursday, July 11,
2013, 9:13 a.m. – the Lord Jesus woke me with this song:
I Pray for Them /
An Original Work / June 4, 2013
Based off John 17
…“I have shown You to
those whom
You gave to Me out of
the world;
They were Yours. You
gave them to Me
And they have obeyed
Your words
And they accepted
them. They knew
That I came from You,
and they believed
With certainty, I was
sent.”
“Holy Father, I pray
for them by the
Power of Your name:
Protect them,
So that they may be
one as we are,
For they are still
living in this world.
I have given them Your
word;
Because of Your word,
the world
Has hated them.”
“I pray they may have
the full measure of
My joy now living
within them.
Father, I pray You
sanctify them
By Your word; truly
Your word is truth.
As You sent Me into
the world,
I send them to tell
the world to repent.”
Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read 2 Corinthians 4 (NIV): http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Corinthians%204&version=NIV
Therefore,
since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Rather,
we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we
distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we
commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our
gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age
has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the
gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we
preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your
servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”
made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of
God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
But
we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is
from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed;
perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but
not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that
the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are
always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be
revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at
work in you.
It
is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” Since we have that same
spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the
one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and
present us with you to himself. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace
that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the
glory of God.
Therefore
we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are
being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving
for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on
what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what
is unseen is eternal.
We Have This Ministry
This second letter to the Corinthian church was from Paul
and Timothy. They had just gone through a very difficult time of persecution in
the province of Asia where the pressure was so bad that they despaired even of
life. Yet, they knew that they were sharing in the fellowship of Christ’s
sufferings, and that their sufferings were for several purposes, one of which
was that they would feel compassion toward others who were suffering, and so
that they could comfort them with the comfort they had received from Christ. They
also knew that their suffering was to teach them dependency upon God for all
things, and so they would not rely upon themselves. Tough times often lead us
to call more heavily upon God.
Then, Paul (along with Timothy) began to share with the
Corinthian believers a defense of his ministry, not because he was proud,
arrogant, or full of himself, but because he was called to the ministry of
leading them to know Christ and to grow in Christ, and there were those who
were out to destroy his reputation and to discredit his work among the people. So
his defense was really for the sake of the continuance of the full gospel of
Jesus Christ being preached through Paul, and it not being brought into
disrepute. For that period of time, the strongest opposition against the true
gospel of Jesus Christ came from those who either did not believe in Jesus
Christ as the Messiah at all, or from those who made claims to Christ as Lord,
but who were trying to lead the new believers toward trying to win God’s
approval through legalism, ritual, tradition and/or religious forms of faith
and practice.
Jesus Christ, nonetheless, had set them free from trying to
gain acceptance from God through human effort. He, via his death for our sins and
resurrection, set us free from the power and control of sin and Satan over our
lives; free to be transformed into the image of Christ via the working of the
Holy Spirit of God; free from eternal punishment in hell; and free to love, worship
and obey our Lord and to walk daily in his righteousness, by his grace, and in
his power and strength within us. And, Paul and the other apostles were
ministers of this gospel of salvation through Christ Jesus, which was not based
on human effort, but on the grace of God in providing salvation, and upon personal
faith in Christ via death to sin and being made alive in Christ. Yet, many
remained ignorant and spiritually blind to the truth because they refused to
believe in Christ and in the true gospel of salvation. Many chose instead to
follow after lies of humans (and of Satan), content in their ignorance of
choice.
We set Forth the Truth
Plainly
Paul said that they did not use deception, nor did they
distort the word of God. In fact, they had renounced secret and shameful ways.
They also did not preach themselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and themselves
as servants of the gospel for Jesus’ sake. And, they set forth the truth
plainly. Awesome! I wonder how many ministers of the gospel could honestly claim
that today.
Deception and distortions of the word of God abound in the
church in America, all for the purpose of attracting the world and drawing in
large crowds of people. The church in America has become, for the most part,
just like big business, and is marketed just like a business, which uses
gimmicks, tricks, manipulation of emotions, distortions of truth, etc. in order
to “sell” the institutional church to the world. And, in order to keep the
world coming, the gospel has largely been diluted in our churches. It has been
reduced to something that does not teach the sinner that he or she must turn
from sin, be transformed into a new creature in Christ Jesus, and that he or
she must walk in faithful obedience to Christ. This new “gospel” entertains the
sinner, instead. “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers” and
many naïve believers (or professing believers), too, so that they can’t see the
light of the gospel.
We do Not Lose Heart
Paul and the other apostles suffered greatly for their stand
for Christ and for his gospel. They faced much strong opposition, false
accusations, hardships, beatings, imprisonments, and many faced death for the
sake of their testimony for Christ. Yet, they did not lose heart, because their
dependency was not on themselves or on their circumstances, but on God, his
mercy and his grace. They could endure all that Satan threw at them, though, only
in the strength of the Lord and in his power and love. They were clay vessels
just like us. They bled. They hurt. And, we do, too, when we are persecuted and
rejected because of our stand for Christ and for his gospel. Yet, we can be
encouraged by their lives knowing that when God calls us, he will also equip us,
and he will supply all we need to stand up under even the strongest of
opposition, and perhaps even from those closest to us. And, we can find comfort
in knowing that the purpose of our suffering is so that Christ may be revealed
in us – i.e. his character, love, mercy and compassion, and his passion for the
lost sinner.
We also do not lose heart because, although we may be going
through trials, tests of our faith, persecution, rejection and the like,
because of our stand for the gospel, we have the Spirit of God within us daily
renewing our strength, hope, encouragement, and our desire for Christ, for his
word, and for his work. Through our trials we should be encouraged all the more
to continue in sharing the truth of the gospel, knowing that we are laying up
treasures in heaven, and not on this earth. And, we make it through these times
of suffering and persecution by keeping our eyes and minds focused on Jesus
Christ and the goal of seeing many, many people come to faith (or renewed
faith) in Jesus Christ. What we have to go through on this earth is just temporary,
yet impacting lives for eternity with God is forever. So, woe to me should I
not preach Jesus. I’m compelled to preach the FULL GOSPEL!
Should I Not Preach
Jesus
An Original Work / July 4, 2013
Based off 1 Corinthians 9:16-10:13
Woe to me should I not
preach Jesus.
I’m compelled to
preach the full gospel.
I make myself a slave
to ev’ryone
To win their hearts to
Christ.
All this I do for my
Lord Jesus,
And for the sake of
His Name;
Do it for the sake of
His gospel,
So that I, its
blessings gain.
Scripture notates the
sins of others;
Written down for us as
examples
To keep us from
setting our hearts
On evil as did those
of old.
Do not worship other
gods of man;
Do not give your
hearts to them;
Not partake in
immorality.
Do not test your Lord
and King.
So, be careful if you
think you are
Standing firm in your
faith in Jesus.
God has given his word
to warn us,
So through faith we
will not fall.
No temptation has
o’ertaken you
Except what is
commonplace.
God is faithful to not
let you be
Tempted past what you
can bear.
He gives the way of
escape.
No comments:
Post a Comment