Thursday, August 22,
2013, 9:57 p.m. – the Lord Jesus put this song in my mind.
Myopic / An
Original Work / August 19, 2013
Based off 2 Peter 1:3-11
Jesus has given
ev’rything
Needed for life and
godliness.
His great and precious
promises
Free us from our sin
and distress.
Add to your faith His
goodness;
Knowledge; patience;
godliness;
Brotherly love and
mutu’l affection;
Kindness and
unselfishness.
If you possess these
qualities,
Growing in your
maturity,
They will keep you
from vanity.
You will bear fruit
effectually.
Nonetheless, if you
lack them;
Forget you’ve been
cleansed from sin,
Nearsighted are you;
you can’t see Jesus.
You have closed your
heart to Him.
Therefore, beloved,
confirm, then,
Your calling and your
election.
Do this by showing
diligence:
Obey your Lord; be
repentant.
Practice all these
qualities
God provided on a
tree.
He died for our sins
so we’d be given
Life with Him
eternally.
Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. Then he put this
scripture in mind:
Never
be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord” ~ Rom.
12:11 (NIV)
I got the sense that he was leading me to read the next
passage of scripture in Revelation
3:14-22 (ESV), so I pulled out my Bible and began to read:
“And
to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful
and true witness, the beginning of God's creation.
“‘I
know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold
or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you
out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing,
not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I
counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and
white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness
may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom
I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at
the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in
to him and eat with him, and he with me. The one who conquers, I will grant him
to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on
his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the
churches.’”
The Amen
Jesus Christ, God the Son, is faithful in all he has done
and will continue to do. We can count on him to do everything he has promised
and threatened. He is unchangeable, steadfast and true. His words can be
totally and absolutely trusted. And, these are his true words to the lukewarm
church of that time, and also for today.
Lukewarm Christianity
This church is neither on fire for Jesus Christ, keeping its
spiritual (of the Spirit) passion and zeal for the Lord and for his service
(for his calling), nor is it entirely cold toward (opposed to) Jesus Christ.
They are neither completely indifferent to Christ and his gospel of salvation,
nor are they passionately for him and his gospel. There is no submission,
commitment and surrender to Jesus Christ, i.e. for following him wherever he
leads us in obedience. There is no zealousness for the truths of the gospel of
Jesus Christ; and no ardent concern to expose error and false teachings in the
church, which lead people astray from their pure devotion to Jesus Christ.
There is also no grieving of spirit and weeping over lost souls and those bound
by sin’s deceitfulness, including mourning over our own sins. And, there is no
agape love for one another, which gives up our lives to see others be set free
from slavery to sin and to be free to walk in Christ’s righteousness and
holiness.
This church today is comfortable, it is fun, it is
entertaining, and it is socially acceptable. It tries not to offend people with
the gospel (the cross of Christ), so people will keep coming back. It is
culturally relevant, blends in nicely with the world, and uses worldly methods
to reach worldly people for a worldly church. It is a nice place to hang out
with friends, to enjoy professional-sounding music and to hear fun and
entertaining, as well as enlightening feel-good messages. It is also partnered
with the world, with a worldly and evil government, and is operated and
marketed just like a business, often incorporating gimmicks, lies,
manipulations and deceptions in order to draw in large crowds of people. It is much
focused on entertainment and having fun, often at the sacrifice of truth, and confronting
unrepentant sin, and teaching the true gospel of salvation. It makes for a nice
social club with clean-cut (mostly, but not all) family entertainment. It is a
nice place to take your kids... that is, if you don’t mind that they are being
fed lies and deceptions and they are being given a false hope of eternity in
heaven absent of the cross of Christ in their lives.
Hot or Cold
Jesus would rather this church (where the shoe fits, wear
it) be either on fire for him or be absolutely disinterested and, in fact,
strongly opposed to him. Why is that? The reason is that lukewarm “Christians”
(maybe genuine; maybe not) think they are ok like they are. They believe they
are under God’s grace and they have their ticket into heaven, so they are not
motivated to change. They are content in their mediocrity. They are
self-deluded into thinking that their so-so Christianity is acceptable to God,
too. They obviously ignore the massive amount of scriptures in the New
Testament challenging their level of commitment to Jesus Christ and that call
for repentance, obedience and surrender to Christ and to his will for our lives,
and that warn of the consequences of ignoring their Savior. They are
nearsighted and blind, i.e. they don’t see their own spiritual condition, and
thus they have forgotten that they have been cleansed from sin. Professing
Christians such as these are much harder to reach, because they can’t see their
own spiritual nakedness.
So, Jesus is about to spit this church out of his mouth. If
you have ever picked up and started to drink water that is lukewarm, and you
felt the urge to spit it out, then you understand what this is saying. Jesus
rejects such a church. He still loves her, and he is still calling her to open
her heart to him, yet he is adamantly opposed to such lukewarmness among his
followers. So, he reminds her of his love and his care for her and of his
desire for her to be in close, intimate and obedient relationship with him.
And, he counsels her to find in him all that she needs for life and godliness
and to stop looking to the things of this world to satisfy her. Instead of
filling her life with all the pleasures and treasures of this world, he
counsels her to receive from him all that he gave up his life for. He died, not
just so we could have a free ticket into heaven, but he died so we would be
free from slavery to sin day-to-day, and so we would be free of the control of
sin so we can walk daily in his righteousness and holiness. He is counseling
this church today to walk in his truth and in his love, and to follow his ways,
obey his teachings, and surrender to his will for our lives.
Repent
To repent literally means to have a change of mind. If we
truly have a change of mind about something, our hearts and actions should
follow. In the context of scripture, repentance was nearly always in the
context of forsaking sins and sinful lifestyles – idolatry, adultery, and the
like – and turning to walk in faithful obedience to God/Christ. Even in these
seven letters to the churches, it is obvious that when Jesus says to repent he
means for us to stop doing what he says is wrong and to start doing what he
says is right. Yet, we don’t have to do this in our own strength and flesh. He
gives us all we need for life and godliness if we will but put our trust in him,
abide in him and in his love, resting in his promises, and surrendering our
wills to the will of the Father for our lives.
If we do not repent of our ways (those he says are wrong and
sinful), then he says he will reprove and discipline us, and in this case he is
about to reject those who have all the forms of religion but who deny its power
in their lives. So, if he is putting a finger on an area of your life which he
says is not right, and that needs to be corrected, do not ignore his voice.
Open your hearts to him - let him in, and enjoy the sweet fellowship with him
that he died to give us. Put on the armor of God daily in order to fight off
Satan’s schemes, and abide in Christ and let his words live in and through you,
and walk in his love and truth.
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.”
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