Tuesday, August 06,
2013, 6:57 a.m. – the Lord Jesus woke me with this song:
Near the Cross / Fanny J. Crosby / William H. Doane
…Near the cross! O Lamb of God,
Bring its scenes before me;
Help me walk from day to day
With its shadow o'er me.
Near the cross I'll watch and wait,
Hoping, trusting ever,
Till I reach the golden strand
Just beyond the river.
In the cross, in the cross,
Be my glory ever,
Till my raptured soul shall find
Rest beyond the river.
My husband shared a video with me this morning which he had
seen on Facebook. It is a dramatization of a make-believe conversation between
the bride of Christ - the church - and Jesus. Yet it represents the reality of
the relationship between much of today’s church and their Savior and Lord Jesus
Christ. The allegory (or parable) pictured a woman (representing the church) in
a wedding dress. At first she had a monologue conversation, and then Jesus
joined her in the conversation. The woman represented the span of thought, belief
and practice in the church all the way from strict legalism to loose
libertinism.
She spoke of how she was a fake, pretending she didn’t know
why she exists and what she was supposed to do, when she did know. She combined
a little bit of God’s will with a whole lot of hers. She got relaxed. She took
the Lord’s return lightly. She wanted the blessings of God without the
obedience. Jesus had given her the bread of life, but she chose to just get by
with the “crumbs of commentaries.” No one was attracted to her, so she dressed
up the gospel. She grew distant from Jesus. She admitted that she stopped
addressing sin and that she became culturally relevant. Even though Jesus was
waiting for her to repent, she listened to Satan’s lies instead and she became
convinced she did not have to repent. She had “unexplainable cravings for sin.”
She committed adultery. She became pregnant with falsehood, and it became
nearly impossible for her to conceive the truth. She was deceived. So, she ran
back to what was comfortable to her – being enslaved to sin all over again.
Yet, Jesus reminded her of why he died. He suffered
beatings, betrayal, rejection, abandonment, scourgings, and the cross for her,
because he loved her. He appealed to her to give him her heart. He reminded her
that she was to be his alone. And, he chided her for being too interested in
her eternal rewards, which she believed she would one day receive, while
forgetting about his presence in the here and now. She had quenched the Spirit.
And, she felt unworthy of his grace. Yet, Jesus reminded her that she was the
reason he embraced that cross. He reminded her of his love, and he asked her to
return to him. She admitted she needed his grace and mercy. He reminded her
that he is the One who is to supply the missing pieces in her life, which her
heart longs for. She prayed for forgiveness. Jesus asked her to allow him to
make her clean. And, then he reminded her that he is coming back. Then the
dramatization ended with the question: “Will you be ready or not?”
After watching the video with my husband this morning, I had
my quiet time with the Lord in prayer and in the word. I read 1 Peter 1 (ESV). Wow! The video went
along perfectly with this passage of scripture. This was so God!! He works this
way all the time! http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Peter%201&version=ESV
For Obedience
The letter was addressed to God’s elect, i.e. to the saints
of God, the bride of Christ, the church. These believers were specifically
exiles. They were his elect exiles according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father, i.e. according to his plans and purposes and will. Included in this divine
purpose and will of God for their lives, and for our lives, too, is that we be
sanctified (made holy; purified) of the Spirit of God for obedience to Jesus
Christ. According to God’s great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a
living hope. That means we are given completely new lives in Christ Jesus - not
cleaned up old lives – free from slavery to sin. And, he has given us an
inheritance in heaven that is imperishable (not perishable like the things of
this world), undefiled (not like the defilements we see now in the church and
in the world), and unfading (not like the things of this world which are fading
away). So, we should live our lives on this earth with eternity’s values in
view instead of focusing so much time and affection on the things that are just
going to pass away.
Various Trials
While we are still on the face of this earth we may suffer
grief in various trials, which test our faith. But, we should rejoice in this,
because the testing of our faith is part of God’s refining process in our lives
– to remove our impurities, and to mold us into the image of Jesus Christ.
First of all, these fiery trials test the genuineness of our faith, either
showing us to not truly have genuine faith, or else to reveal our faith as
genuine, resulting in praise, glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus
Christ. Then we will hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” The outcome
of our faith is the salvation of our souls, so it is essential that the faith
we say we possess is genuine faith resulting in salvation. Many professing
Christians have had their faith tested and refined through fiery trials of
persecution throughout the world, even now, and I believe this is coming to
America, too. Yet, we should rejoice that we are counted worthy to suffer for
the sake of Christ and his gospel.
How We Should Live
Because Jesus Christ loved us so much that he gave up his
life for us to die on the cross for our sins, so we could be free from slavery
to sin, our lives should reflect the faith we say we have. We should honor God
with our minds, words and actions. We should be proactive in putting on the
armor of God daily so that we can fight against the devil’s schemes. We should
be serious-minded about our faith in Jesus Christ, not taking what he did for
us lightly or for granted, thinking life is just a big party and/or that the
goal of church is just to have fun. We should not live our lives on this earth
as though we are permanent residents here and that our hope and future are
dependent upon the things of this world. So many Christians are living to please
the flesh – combining a little bit of God’s will with a whole lot of theirs;
settling for a few crumbs instead of feeding on the bread of life daily;
deceived; and believing the lies that it is ok to just get by. But, it is not
ok! We are to set our hope fully on the grace of salvation we will receive,
complete when Jesus returns for his bride.
We are to be obedient children. Don’t believe the lie that
says obedience is not required by God. It is! We are not to be conformed to the
sinful passions and desires of our former lives. We are to be holy in all our
conduct. We are to be pure in mind and behavior and to demonstrate moral integrity.
We are to separate ourselves from all that is wicked. And, this includes separating
ourselves from associations, the things we listen to and watch, and/or the
activities in which we involve ourselves if they are dishonoring to God. We
should picture Jesus doing what we do, listening to what we listen to, watching
what we watch, because if he is in us, he is right there with us just like if
he were sitting right next to us. If we can’t picture him doing what we do,
then we shouldn’t be doing it. We should demonstrate reverence, respect, and
honor for God in all that we do, think and say.
Abide in Him / An
Original Work / July 31, 2013
Based off Ps. 27:14; Is. 40:31; Jn. 14-15
If you wait for the
Lord,
Put your hope now in
Him,
He will give you His
strength
And endurance within.
He will renew your
strength,
So you will not lose
heart.
You will soar on wings
like eagles,
Never depart.
“If you abide in Me,
And My words live in
you,
You will walk with Me
daily
And follow what’s
true.
I will live now in you;
Give you peace now
within,
If you obey My
teachings
And turn from your
sin.”
“If you listen to Me,
And do all that I say,
I will give you My
comfort;
Be with you always.
I will heal all your
pain;
Life with Me now
you’ll gain,
If in fellowship with
Me
You always remain.”
“Ready or Not” is
a very powerful video and message: http://www.p4cm.com/video/ready-or-not.
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