An Undivided Heart

Wednesday, December 31, 2014, 8:07 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song, “Living Water.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Psalm 85 (NASB).

God’s Favor

For the choir director. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

O Lord, You showed favor to Your land;

You restored the captivity of Jacob.

You forgave the iniquity of Your people;

You covered all their sin. Selah.

You withdrew all Your fury;

You turned away from Your burning anger.

When we are born into this world, we are born with sin natures, due to the fall of Adam (See: 1 Co. 15). We are separated from God, without hope, and destined to eternal punishment in hell. Yet, all is not hopeless. God had a plan for our salvation. He sent his Son Jesus Christ to the earth to be born as a baby. His mother was Mary, and his father was God, for Mary’s baby boy was conceived of the Holy Spirit. She remained a virgin until after she had given birth to Jesus Christ. Then, Jesus grew up to be a man. He began his ministry around the age of 30. He called 12 disciples to himself who traveled with him throughout his ministry. After about 3 years of ministry, because the Jewish leaders of his day were jealous of him and hated him, he was hung on a cross to die, although he had done no wrong.

When Jesus died on that cross, he took upon himself the sins of the entire world. Our sins were crucified and buried with him. When he was resurrected from the dead, he rose triumphant over death, hell, Satan and sin. He took our place on that cross so that we could go free from the punishment of sin (eternal damnation), so we could be free of slavery to sin day-to-day, and so we would be free to walk daily in his holiness and righteousness, all in his power and strength within us. He died so we would die with Christ to our old lives of living for sin and self, so we would be transformed of the Spirit of God, and so we would be given new lives in Christ, “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” He died so we would no longer live for ourselves, but for him who gave himself up for us (See: Ro. 6-8; Gal. 2:20; Eph. 4:17-24; 2 Co. 5:15; 1 Pet. 2:24-25; & 1 Jn. 1-5).

We come to faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives by dying with Christ to our old lives of living for sin and self, through repentance, through submission to the cross, and via surrender to our Lord Jesus Christ and to his will for our lives. When Jesus paid the price for our sins, he bought us with his blood, so when we come to him in faith, our lives are no longer our own to be lived how we want. Coming to Christ, thus, means death to self so that we can be alive to Christ. We are to no longer be conformed to the ways of this sinful world, but we are to be transformed of God in the renewing of our minds so that we live holy lives, pleasing to him, which is our reasonable service of worship to him (See: Ro. 12:1-2).

So, daily we surrender our lives to his will for us, and we choose to do what he wants over and above what we want. As well, we choose to NOT do what we know is wrong and would be displeasing to him, because we love him, and because we truly have been made into new creations in Christ Jesus so that we now desire what God wants for our lives. Ideally, this is how it should be. This is what God intended when he sent his Son to die for us on the cross. Realistically, many do not comprehend this, have not been taught it, and thus do not practice this type of Christian living. Others have drifted away from this over time, due to accepting a diluted gospel, and due to having returned to following after the flesh.

A Call for Revival

Restore us, O God of our salvation,

And cause Your indignation toward us to cease.

Will You be angry with us forever?

Will You prolong Your anger to all generations?

Will You not Yourself revive us again,

That Your people may rejoice in You?

Show us Your lovingkindness, O Lord,

And grant us Your salvation.

It appears that God’s people, although he had forgiven them of their sins, and even though he had showed them his favor, had since turned away from him and had followed after other gods and/or the desires of their own flesh. So, they were experiencing some divine discipline and correction. So, the psalmist was praying for God to relent, to be merciful to his people once more, and to revive them so that the people may rejoice in him once more.

As we know from history, though, the people could not be revived unless they had humbled themselves before God, repented of their sins, turned from their idols, had called out to God in prayer, and had turned to follow their God in obedience once more. The same still holds true today. Many believers in Jesus Christ, who once gave their lives to Christ in surrender to his will for their lives have since drifted away and have become complacent, apathetic, rebellious, disobedient and/or lukewarm toward God and in regard to what he did for them in saving them from their sins (See: Rev. 2-3). These believers are in great need of revival. And, God would love to revive them, but they have to first humble themselves, pray, and turn from their wicked ways if they want God to renew them and to restore them.

Walk in His Footsteps

I will hear what God the Lord will say;

For He will speak peace to His people, to His godly ones;

But let them not turn back to folly.

Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him,

That glory may dwell in our land.

Lovingkindness and truth have met together;

Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

Truth springs from the earth,

And righteousness looks down from heaven.

Indeed, the Lord will give what is good,

And our land will yield its produce.

Righteousness will go before Him

And will make His footsteps into a way.

Godliness is not just some state of being from having been cleansed from our sins by God’s saving grace. We are taught all throughout the New Testament that we are to live godly and holy lives, pleasing to God. In fact, God’s grace 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 his return (See: Tit. 2:11-14). There is no peace for those who are doing what is wicked and evil. We can’t be at peace if we are walking according to the flesh, and if we are quenching the Spirit of God in our lives. If we want God to speak peace to us, we need to live godly, and we need to keep moving in a forward direction, and not turn back to sin.

If we want to know God’s grace (favor) in our daily lives, we need to walk in the fear of the Lord. This fear is not speaking of being afraid of God, though, but it is talking about having a healthy respect for God, for who he is, for his holiness, his mercy, but also for his justice. It means we value, respect, honor, submit to, obey and love our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and God the Father so much that we don’t want to sin against him, and so we desire to walk in obedience to his commands. It means we willingly lay down our lives, surrender our wills to the will of the Father in heaven, and that we no longer consider our lives to be our own to be lived out how we want. Jesus is not someone we spend 5 minutes a day with. He is our life, and we commune with him throughout the day and into the night, too. He is our all in all.

God’s loving-kindness and mercy have “met together” with truth and faithfulness. His righteousness and peace have kissed each other. What I believe this means is that they are inseparable, they are brought into harmony with each other and they are fastened together in a common bond (Source: biblehub.com). And, I believe that is how it is supposed to be in our lives, too. In other words we can’t have and show love if we are caught up in telling lies and if we are unfaithful to God and in other relationships where faithfulness is required. We can’t have true peace if we are living in unrighteousness. If we want peace, we must walk in Christ’s righteousness and holiness. If we want to love others, we need to be truth tellers and we need to be faithful to our Lord and show integrity in all other relationships.

So, if you have never given your life to Jesus Christ in death to sin and in surrender to his will for your life, I pray you will do so today. If you know that you have been born again of God, but you have since drifted from your pure relationship with him, and you have gone off to follow after other gods of this world, in order to satisfy the deep longings of your soul, then I pray you will humble yourself before God, call on him in prayer, repent of your sin and turn to follow him today in humble obedience and submission to his will and purposes for your life. His living water is all that will ever satisfy the thirsts of our souls. Amen!

Living Water / An Original Work / November 21, 2013

Based off Various Scriptures

My people have forsaken Me,

Their Savior, who died on a tree;

Made idols, and they worshipped them;

So empty, they will ne’er fulfill.

Lord, You are the hope of Your chosen ones.

Those who turn away from You will be shamed;

The Spring of Living Water left behind.

Living Water satisfies.

The thirsty, let them come and drink;

Believe in Jesus as their King;

The gift of Jesus given them,

So they will never thirst again.

Indeed, the Living Water flows within.

It springs up like a fountain cleansing sin.

Eternal life in heaven promised them.

Living Water glorifies.

Oh people, won’t you come to Him?

Obey Him and repent of sin.

Let Jesus come and live within.

Surrender all your life to Him.

My people, won’t you turn your hearts to Me?

Forsake your idols and then you’ll be free.

Won’t you come now to Me on bended knee?

Living Water sanctifies.

http://originalworks.info/living-water/

https://vimeo.com/113088324

Restore Us

Monday, December 29, 2014, 11:22 p.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song, “My Cry for Mercy.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Psalm 80 (ESV).

Our Shepherd

To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. A Testimony. Of Asaph, a Psalm.

Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,

    you who lead Joseph like a flock.

You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth.

    Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh,

stir up your might

    and come to save us!

Restore us, O God;

    let your face shine, that we may be saved! ~ vv. 1-3

According to the New Testament (post Christ’s death and resurrection), Israel, as in God’s people, is no longer the Jewish nation of the Old Testament, but it is both Jew and Gentile who have put their hope and trust in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of their lives (See: Romans 9:6b-8; Gal. 3:10, 16, 26-29; Gal. 4:22-31; Eph. 2:14-18). So, spiritual Israel today is the church, the body of Christ. And, Jesus Christ, God the Son, is our shepherd.

It appears here that the people of God had come under some type of divine discipline, and so this is a cry for mercy. The psalmist is asking for the shepherd of Israel to come save them. This is not a call of the unsaved to be regenerated, though, but of believers in Christ asking God to revive them, to renew and restore them, either because they had fallen into sin and they had wandered away from their pure devotion to their Lord, and/or because they had become discouraged and disheartened and/or they were lonely and needy because of all the turmoil, distress, persecution and hardships that had come their way.

Our Prayers

O Lord God of hosts,

    how long will you be angry with your people's prayers?

You have fed them with the bread of tears

    and given them tears to drink in full measure.

You make us an object of contention for our neighbors,

    and our enemies laugh among themselves.

Restore us, O God of hosts;

    let your face shine, that we may be saved! ~ vv. 4-7

Evidently, in this case, God was angry with the prayers of his people, and so he was not responding to their prayers. So, I wondered, does God still get angry, or is he sometimes displeased with his people’s prayers? - And, if so, under what circumstances?

We read in the Gospels that we should not pray hypocritically just to make an impression on others. We should also not pray with vain repetitions that don’t mean anything or pray long drawn-out prayers using spiritual-sounding words just so we appear righteous to others. As well, we should not hold on to unforgiveness in our hearts when we come to God in prayer, but we should forgive and then pray. We ought not to pray with a prideful attitude, either, looking down on others and thinking we are so high and mighty. All have sinned.

Husbands are commanded to honor their wives and to live with them in an understanding way so that their prayers may not be hindered (1 Pet. 3:7). God’s ears are open to the prayer of the righteous, but his face is against those who do evil (1 Pet. 3:12). In context, this is written to the church, so the “righteous” here is not a reference to all who have been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, but this is speaking of those who live righteously, as this is contrasted with those who DO evil. If we want God to listen to our prayers, we need to walk daily in his righteousness and holiness. Going along with this idea, in 1 Pet. 4:7 we read that we should be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of our prayers, so obviously our walk of faith and obedience to our Lord has an effect on our prayers.

We also read that when we ask God for something in prayer, that we need to ask in faith and not doubt (Jas. 1:6). And, when we ask God for something in prayer, we should not expect to receive anything from the Lord if we ask with the wrong motives, that we may spend whatever we receive from God on our own worldly passions and desires (Jas. 4:3). If we want to receive from God when we ask him for something in prayer, we need to keep his commandments and do what pleases him (1 Jn. 3:22). We also need to ask according to his will (1 Jn. 5:14). So, it appears that, even today, our prayers can be hindered if we are not walking by faith, living holy lives pleasing to God – all in his power at work within us. So, if we want God to answer our prayers, we need to repent of any known sin and pray for mercy, i.e. for God to restore us to himself, which he will do if we are sincere.

And, yet, God does not promise that we will be delivered out of all our troubles. In fact, he promises that in this life we will have sorrow, pain, hardship, persecutions, etc. Jesus said we would be hated, persecuted, falsely accused, arrested and even killed for our testimonies for him and for his gospel.

But, what he does promise us is that he will never leave us or forsake us, and that he will give us all we need to endure, to be strong in our faith, to be courageous, to persevere and to not lose hope. Even in the midst of sadness, he will fill us with songs of praise to him and with joy everlasting. He will teach us his ways, will grow and mature us, purify our hearts, and he will conform us to the image of Christ. He will also fill us with his peace and assurance even when “all hell” is breaking loose all around us. He will also intervene on our behalf in miraculous ways. Sometimes miracles happen because of difficulties, as well as in spite of them. If we are walking in his ways, he will also use us to be ministers of his grace in the lives of others. And, he will work all things out for good for those of us who love God and who have been called according to his purpose. Amen!

Our Relationship

Turn again, O God of hosts!

    Look down from heaven, and see;

have regard for this vine,

    the stock that your right hand planted,

    and for the son whom you made strong for yourself.

They have burned it with fire; they have cut it down;

    may they perish at the rebuke of your face!

But let your hand be on the man of your right hand,

    the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself!

Then we shall not turn back from you;

    give us life, and we will call upon your name!

Restore us, O Lord God of hosts!

    Let your face shine, that we may be saved! ~ vv. 14-19

When we came to faith in Jesus Christ, via God’s grace to us, we died with Christ to our old lives of living for sin and self, we were transformed in heart and mind of the Spirit of God, and we were given new lives in Christ to be lived in his righteousness and holiness. In fact, Jesus died for our sins so that we would no longer live for ourselves but for him who gave himself up for us. He did not die just so we could escape hell and have the promise of heaven when we die. He died so we would die to sin and live in his righteousness.

This is God’s grace to us: It is not a free license to continue living in willful sin free from guilt and punishment. His grace teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled and upright lives in this present age while we wait for his return. Jesus Christ gave himself up for us “to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” He will give us all we need to live godly and holy lives pleasing to Him. [See: Luke 9:23-25; Ac. 26:16-18; Ro. 6-8; 2 Co. 5:15; Gal. 2:20; Eph. 4:17-24; Tit. 2:11-14; 1 Pet. 2:24-25; & 1 Jn. 1-5.]

If this is not what happened to you when you “believed” in Jesus Christ, then perhaps you did not truly believe in Jesus, and you need to right now submit to his cross, die with Christ to sin and self, and allow the Holy Spirit of God to transform you in heart and mind, and to make you into a new creation in Christ Jesus, “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (See: Eph. 4:17-24).

Or, perhaps you did truly come to faith in Jesus Christ but you have since wandered away from your pure devotion to your Lord, and you have allowed yourself to return to living in sin and to walking according to the flesh instead of according to the Spirit. God has been convicting your heart, but you have been resisting him, and/or you have been living in denial and you have been making excuses for what you know is wrong. And, perhaps, you are facing some type of divine discipline and you want God to deliver you, but you have not yet been willing to give your all to Jesus. Jesus is calling you to repent of your sin and to return to your first love (See Rev. 2-3), because he longs to revive you, renew you and restore you to himself. All you need to do is surrender your life to him. He will restore you.

My Cry For Mercy / An Original Work / October 31, 2013

Based off Psalm 86

Hear my prayer, Lord, I am needy.

Guard my life, for I’m devoted to You.

Save me! I’m Your servant.

You are my God. I trust in You.

O, Lord, have mercy on me,

For I call to You.

Bring joy to me, for to You

I will lift up my soul.

You are giving and forgiving.

You abound in love to all who

Call upon You. Hear my prayer, Lord.

Listen to my cry for mercy.

In days of trouble I call to You,

Knowing that You will

Do marvelous things,

Because You are my God.

Teach me Your way; I’ll walk in it.

In Your truth, Lord, You will guide me.

A pure heart, Lord, You will give me,

So that I may glorify You.

Turn to me, Lord, and grant

Strength to Your servant.

O, Lord, You are my help,

For You love and You comfort me.

Teach me Your way; I’ll walk in it.

In Your truth, Lord, You will guide me.

A pure heart, Lord, You will give me,

So that I may glorify You.

http://originalworks.info/my-cry-for-mercy/

https://vimeo.com/114690984

God's Holy Temple

Monday, December 29, 2014, 7:00 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song, “Fully Ready.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Psalm 79:1-4 (ESV).

A Psalm of Asaph.

O God, the nations have come into your inheritance;

    they have defiled your holy temple;

    they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.

They have given the bodies of your servants

    to the birds of the heavens for food,

    the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the earth.

They have poured out their blood like water

    all around Jerusalem,

    and there was no one to bury them.

We have become a taunt to our neighbors,

    mocked and derided by those around us.

As recorded in Revelation 11, John was told to measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, but to not measure the court outside the temple, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months.

The temple of God is now the church, the body of Christ, the city of God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and the altar a reference to our personal worship of God, a place where we meet God in prayer, and a place of personal sacrifice, i.e. of giving our lives to God in surrender to his will and his purposes for our lives (See: Ro. 12:1-2). We are now the holy city, as the physical city of Jerusalem is now of Hagar, the slave woman, but we, as followers of Christ, are of the free woman and are the children of promise. As well, the Word of God is the measurement by which this temple, the body of Christ, was to undergo spiritual examination (See: Rev. 2-3 for examples). It is also believers in Jesus Christ who are being trampled by the nations. And, this is happening right now in our day and time, though certainly I don’t know where we are exactly in God’s timetable concerning the last days.

What I can tell you is that Christ’s followers – his servants and witnesses - are being persecuted severely and are being put to death throughout the world right now, and by the nations. So, who are these nations? They are comprised of the USA and their NATO allies, though I believe that is expanding. For the past 8 years the Lord Jesus has been opening my eyes and he has been making me aware of what is truly going on in the government of the USA, the UN, and with our NATO allies. I believe that these nations together form what is commonly referred to as the New World Order (alias the beast), and that they are under the authority of a group of elitists who basically are the ones who rule the world.

As well, what the Lord Jesus has been opening my eyes to see these past 8 years is how these nations, primarily the USA, which leads the way in power and in military strength, have created crisis situations and chaos in various nations, including inside our own nation, in order to justify going in to other nations (and now into our own, too) to kill and to destroy at will, to overpower existing governments, and to consume the natural resources of these various nations so that they have complete control of the world’s natural resources, which is why we won’t be able to buy or sell unless we have the mark of the beast. The US and their allies also create “terrorist” organizations and financially support them so that they also have an excuse to go into other nations to kill and to destroy at will.

One of the latest creations of the US/N.W.O. is “ISIS,” which they blame for creating all kinds of havoc and for killing (beheading) Christians and journalists, et al. ISIS just so happens to be the name of an Egyptian goddess who, according to mythology, was the mother of Horus. The All-Seeing eye above the unfinished pyramid on our great seal and on our $1 bill is the Eye of Horus. Supposedly the Statue of Liberty was patterned after this goddess, as many of our statues and buildings in Washington D.C. are also patterned after Greek, Roman and/or Egyptian gods and goddesses, including the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial and the statue which sits on top of our Capital Building. Many of our winter storms of the past two years, as well, have been named after these mythological gods and goddesses. And, we are supposedly a Christian nation.

So, not only has the US government invaded the Lord’s inheritance in the USA via the 501c3 not-for-profit corporation status of churches, thus regulating what churches can and cannot do or say, they have wielded a strong influence, I believe, over what is being taught in our churches today, which is a soft-sell gospel, which is no gospel at all, and which purposefully targets the world, serves to entertain, and shies away from talking about sin, repentance, judgment, hell, punishment and obedience, because it does not want to offend or to make people uncomfortable, and because it wants the world to like coming to its meetings. Yet, the US government also, I believe, are directly or indirectly responsible for the persecution and murdering of Christians throughout the world, and are moving in that direction within the USA itself through the use of fake or orchestrated crisis situations, which then allows them to change our laws, but not in our favor. See the National Defense Authorization Act 2014 as one example of this (link provided below).

Basically, I believe the US government and their allies (the nations) are presently involved in doing exactly what this passage of scripture speaks of, which is the trampling of God’s temple, his church, and the murdering of those who hold to the testimony of Jesus and who keep the commandments of God/Christ. Yet, I also believe that through the church undergoing such severe persecution that it is bearing fruit for the gospel and for the salvation of souls, and that many people will come to faith in Jesus Christ as they see these believers in Jesus Christ stand strong in their faith and not bow to the beast. I believe we are destined to be persecuted and to even be killed for our testimonies for Christ before Christ returns for his bride, but that through this suffering the adulterous church will be revived, and that many will flock to God’s holy mountain, Jesus Christ, and to his gospel of salvation (See Isaiah 2, which is a prophecy about these last days before Christ’s return).

Yet, we are not to fear what is happening and what is about to happen, because all these things must take place. They were all prophesied about in scripture, so they will happen.

Instead, we should be ready to suffer and to even die for the sake of Christ and his gospel of salvation, because our suffering will not be in vain. God will use it to strengthen our faith and our resolve, and to move us to share his gospel of salvation with others, so that many can know the way of salvation and can be saved before the end of time. Yet, we should not wait until things get really bad before we get off our couches and away from our TV sets and we begin to take God and his word seriously, and the salvation of lost souls seriously, and we stand for the truth of God’s word in this perverse generation, rather than join in with them or rather than just entertain them so that they die without hope.

Oh, how I pray that we will take this seriously and that for those of us in the USA, that we will inquire of our Lord concerning the goings on inside the walls of our government, that we will ask the Lord what our government is doing in all these other nations, and that we will seek the Lord concerning what they are doing in our own nation. I pray we would also inquire of the Lord concerning the shortness of time, and that we will get serious about God, about his word, and about sharing his gospel, because time is truly short.

Fully Ready! / An Original Work / June 19, 2013

Based off Acts 20-22, 26; Mt. 28:18-20; Ac. 1:8

Why are you weeping and breaking my heart?

I’m fully ready to suffer for Christ.

If I must die for the sake of His name,

I am convinced it will not be in vain.

Glory to God and to His Son Jesus,

Who has redeemed us; bought with His blood.

May I speak to you? Jesus came to me;

Asked of me, “Why do you persecute me?”

He said, “Now get up and stand on your feet.

Go, and you’ll be told all I have for you.

I have appointed you as a servant,

And as a witness; you have been sent.”

“Go into the world and preach the gospel.

Open the blind eyes. They will receive sight.

Turn them from darkness to the light of Christ;

From power of the evil one to God,

So they may receive forgiveness of sins,

And a place among those who’re in heav’n.”

http://originalworks.info/fully-ready/

https://vimeo.com/115439432

Additional Resources:

NDAA 2014: http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/cypresscreek/blogs/harold-pease-ndaa-still-dangerous-still-unconstitutional-still-unacceptable/article_40c269cc-6ce3-11e3-a736-0019bb2963f4.html

ISIS: http://vigilantcitizen.com/vigilantreport/isis-cia-creation-justify-war-abroad-repression-home/

The Perpetual Ruins

Sunday, December 28, 2014, 8:00 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song, “Trust Him.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Psalm 74:1-4 (NASB).

Remember Us

A Maskil of Asaph.

O God, why have You rejected us forever?

Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?

Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old,

Which You have redeemed to be the tribe of Your inheritance;

And this Mount Zion, where You have dwelt. ~ vv. 1-2

The people of God were under the hand of God’s judgment. God, in anger, had handed them over to the desire of their foe. So, the psalmist was appealing to God for mercy, based upon the covenant relationship God had with his people. He asked God to not forget his people, but to remember those whom he had purchased for his very own.

We don’t know exactly the circumstances surrounding the writing of this psalm other than the psalmist described what sounds like the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple there. In that case, God judged his people for their idolatry, their spiritual adultery, and their refusal to repent of their sin; for their refusal to heed God’s warnings and to listen to the words spoken by his prophets. The people of God had hardened their hearts against God, and they had turned away from him and had gone their own way. Time and time again God sent his prophets to warn them of judgment and to call them to repentance, but they didn’t listen. And, so God had to send upon them the judgment he had threatened. His goal, though, was to bring them to repentance so that he could renew them and restore them.

Yet, God doesn’t always discipline in anger. He often allows us to go through difficult times as a way of maturing us, strengthening us in our faith, teaching us endurance, and purifying our hearts. In these times of trouble we learn to put our dependence in God alone, and not in ourselves or in other humans. We are also humbled during these times of trial and testing so that we learn to be compassionate towards others who are suffering, and so we can offer them the same comfort we received from God. Jesus said that, as his followers, we will be hated and persecuted, mistreated and falsely accused, and arrested and even put to death for our faith in Jesus Christ and for our testimonies for him and for his gospel. So, suffering and persecution do not come our way only because of sin in our lives, but as part of God’s process of conforming us to the image of his Son, Jesus Christ.

The Perpetual Ruins

Turn Your footsteps toward the perpetual ruins;

The enemy has damaged everything within the sanctuary.

Your adversaries have roared in the midst of Your meeting place;

They have set up their own standards for signs. ~ vv. 3-4

Rather than discuss the circumstances surrounding the psalmist’s words here, I believe God would have me look at how this passage of scripture is being realized today.

The temple of God today is the body of Christ, the church – the heavenly Jerusalem. It is not a physical building or an organization of humans, but it is a living organism comprised of believers in Jesus Christ throughout the world. The sanctuary of God is also not within a building built by human hands, so if someone tells you that walking into a building called “church” means you are entering the “house of God” or that when you enter the sanctuary (or worship center) that you are now entering into God’s presence, they are wrong. That is based off the Old Covenant relationship between God and his people. We are now God’s house, and his sanctuary is within our hearts. His presence dwells within us, not in a building. So, if we are believers in Jesus Christ, we are always in his presence.

So, with that in mind, I would like to look at some ways in which the true church today is in perpetual (continuous) ruins – where the sanctuary has been damaged, where our adversaries have roared in our midst, and where they have set up their own standards for signs.

The Sanctuary

Since the sanctuary of God is in our hearts, and thus it represents God’s abiding presence in our lives, because of God’s grace to us in saving us from our sins, how can the enemy do damage to that sanctuary? Well, the purpose of the sanctuary was a place where God’s people could go to meet with him, to find refuge in him and to worship him. The sanctuary thus represents our personal relationships with Jesus Christ, our communion with him, our walks of faith, and our times of fellowship with him in personal Bible study, worship, and prayer, and then followed up with obedience to what he taught us.

The enemy has done great damage to this sanctuary, because he has convinced those who profess the name of Jesus that being under grace is some kind of easy ride, and that since God has forgiven us for our sins, sin doesn’t really matter to God. He has convinced those who want to believe in Jesus that all they have to do is say some prayer and they have their escape from hell (if hell is even mentioned), their ticket into heaven, and that nothing can take that away from them no matter how they live their lives from that point on. In fact, they are taught that God is pleased with them no matter what they do and that he delights in them even when they are willfully sinning against him.

God is presented as a doting grandfather in the sky there to grant their every wish. They are not taught the fear of the Lord, for that might offend people or drive them away. They are not taught that they have to die to their sins, for that might be considered too harsh or judgmental. They are instead taught this happy-happy version of the gospel that requires nothing of the sinner turned saint at all other than to “believe” - whatever that means. And, so they don’t take God and his word seriously, they live just like the world, and they participate in many (or all) of the same sinful activities as does the world. They are idolatrous and are living in spiritual adultery, if they even know Christ. And, they are taught a me-centered version of Christianity rather than the God-centered true gospel.

The Meeting Place

The “meeting place” can represent our personal times of fellowship and worship of our Lord and/or it can mean our times when we gather with the body of Christ for worship, prayer, the teaching of the Word and fellowship.

If the enemy roars in the midst of our meeting place, what picture comes to mind? To “roar” can mean to rumble, thunder, grumble, or sneer. This can mean to create some kind of disturbance, persecution, threat, or distraction. Oh, he is great at doing that when we sit down with our Bibles and we begin to pray and to study God’s word. He may come against us with an accusing tongue, or he may get our minds off on tangents, or he may introduce fear or worry into our minds, or he might get us thinking about all the things we have to get done that day. Or, he could make us sleepy or whatever might work that would get us to be unproductive in spending time with the Lord in prayer and in his word.

He will also lie to us and convince us that God is happy with us spending just 5 minutes a day with him, and he is ok with us having days go by when we don’t spend time with him at all. He understands. Of course, these same folks have plenty of time for Facebook, the Internet, TV, and games, etc. We make the time to do what is most important to us, don’t we?

And, then in the fellowship of the Body of Christ in their meetings the enemy has convinced believers that they need to invite the world into their meetings, that they need to focus the attention of the meetings around reaching out to the world, that they need to make things light, fun and happy and make sure we have a really good band that will draw in large crowds of people, etc. He has convinced the church that they need to entertain everyone so that people will want to come back, and that they need to not be judgmental or get on people’s case about sin, and that they need to avoid such subjects as sin, repentance and obedience, because that is legalistic, and they are “free” from all that. So, what we have here are often theatre productions in public meetings involving both Christians and non-Christians, and then we call that “worship” of God and Christian fellowship.

Their Own Standards

Basically what this means is that the enemy has skillfully and subtly exchanged God’s standards for his own standards. He has convinced church leadership, across multiple denominations to follow books written by mere men who then teach church leaders how to grow their churches. This is where they are taught to dilute the gospel in order to make it more appealing and acceptable to the world, where they are taught to use human marketing schemes for how to draw in large crowds of people to their meetings, and where they are taught to discourage participation from people who hold to the foundational truths of the gospel and to target the people of the world or those who have little Biblical knowledge so that they can mold them according to their pattern.

This has been going on for a very long time. The enemy is very patient. He takes his time slowly and carefully introducing changes into the church which are more in line with his plans for the church than they are in line with God’s plans for his church. The church has thus been on a gradual decline for many years. I have become aware of this only about 16 years now, and I have watched how the enemy has lied to church leaders and congregations and how they have bought into his lies and how little by little he has gotten them to compromise truth and to accept different standards and a different gospel from the ones taught by Christ and by his apostles. And, it breaks my heart!

The psalmist cried out to God in desperation. He appealed to God’s mercy. He listed off to God all the things the enemies of God had done to his temple, to his sanctuary and to his holy city. He also mentioned that the prophets of God also appeared to be no more. Then, he inquired of God as to how long this must go on. When would God intervene on the behalf of his people? He asked that God not forget his afflicted forever. He asked God to plead his own cause.

And, I empathize with him, because I pray to God regularly for him to bring revival to his church here in America. Yet, I believe revival will only come through God’s hand of judgment (discipline), and that will come only when God’s timing is right. Yet, I am not looking forward to that time as far as what I believe this nation will have to suffer, but oh how my heart aches to see the church revived and no longer believing the lies of the enemy, but following God wholeheartedly. So, I wait on the Lord, and I trust him. He will work out all for good in the life of his church, and she will return to HIM. Amen!

Trust Him / An Original Work / August 15, 2012

Based off Psalm 27:14

Wait for the Lord; be of courage;

Be strong and take heart today.

Do not fear when foes attack you.

Trust in God always.

He will rescue you in times

Of trouble and distress,

He’ll comfort you in all ways

As you trust Him with your life today.

Trust in Him always.

God is with you; He’ll not leave you.

You can always count on Him.

He will fulfill all He promised

Before you began.

His word teaches you

All that you need for this life.

Let Him lead you. Open your heart;

Let his truth envelope you today.

Listen and obey.

Love your Lord God; follow Jesus.

Repent of your sins today.

Make Him your Lord and your master;

Trust Him and obey.

Follow Him where’er He leads you

In His service; be His witness,

Telling others about Jesus’

Price that He did pay

For your sins always.

http://originalworks.info/trust-him/ 

https://vimeo.com/115369887

Earnestly I Seek

Friday, December 26, 2014, 11:30 p.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song, “As The Deer.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Psalm 63:1-8 (NASB).

My Soul Thirsts

A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.

O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly;

My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You,

In a dry and weary land where there is no water.

I wonder how many of us can say this and mean it with our whole hearts. Do we sincerely and intently seek after (pursue) God/Jesus day by day? Do our souls and bodies truly thirst and yearn after him? Do we even comprehend what that means?

When we pursue someone we love and admire, we “follow persistently or seek to become acquainted with” him or her (source: thefreedictionary.com). It is a lot like when a young man and a young woman begin dating each other. They call each other on the phone daily, write each other love notes, go out on dates, and work on finding out what pleases the other person, and work on doing what pleases the other person. We work on getting to know everything we can about the person in whom we are interested. We share our deepest thoughts and emotions with him or her, and we long to know what he or she thinks and feels, too. Yet, do we do this with God/Jesus? - Daily?

Have you ever been so thirsty to where your mouth is so dry you can barely swallow, and your throat is so dry that it hurts, and your tongue sticks to the roof of your mouth? Water never looked so good as then. Our bodies then long to have that drink of water and to have our thirst quenched. If we go for long without water, soon that will be what is uppermost on our minds, too. We may even begin to dream about having a nice cool glass of water and begin to imagine in our minds how good that will feel. And, when we get that water, it will be wonderful, refreshing and so satisfying! We may even breathe a big sigh of relief.

Well, this is how we are to think and feel about God/Jesus, too. We should long for and desire to sit at his feet each day, to talk with him, to listen to what he has to say to us, and to drink in his word into our lives, minds and hearts with the same longing and desire as we have for that cool drink of water when we are truly thirsty; and with the same longing and desire as we had in our pursuit of our first love. Yet, do we do this? – Every day?

I admit that this speaks to my heart. Although my Lord and I communicate throughout the day every day, I don’t always enter into my times with him each day with such longing and desire as is described here. Perhaps this speaks to your heart, too. Or, maybe you have become too casual about your relationship with God, and possibly days go by without you even spending a few minutes in his word or in prayer, so thirsting after him and pursuing him are not even on your radar. Yet, if you truly know Jesus, and if you truly love him, your desire should be for him, and you should want to please him in all that you do.

Jesus is our first love, and we need to pursue him as such, and we need to long after and desire him as we would a first love. We need to find out what he is thinking and feeling, and what he desires and what pleases him, and we need to walk in daily fellowship with him, hungering to know him better and to follow him wherever he leads us, because we love him.

His Loving-kindness

Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary,

To see Your power and Your glory.

Because Your loving-kindness is better than life,

My lips will praise You.

So I will bless You as long as I live;

I will lift up my hands in Your name.

My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness,

And my mouth offers praises with joyful lips.

God loves us so much! He sent his Son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins so we can go free from both the punishment of sin and the control of sin over our lives. He also died to set us free to no longer live for ourselves, and to no longer walk according to the flesh, but to live for him and to walk daily in his righteousness and holiness. This is his grace towards us. This is his loving-kindness towards us that is better than life that He gave of himself in death on a cross, and he took upon himself the sins of the entire world so that we might be forgiven of our sins and be made righteous through the blood of Christ. Amen!

This also speaks to my heart. I think for those of us who have known the Lord Jesus many years that we can easily take his salvation for granted, and perhaps lose some of that freshness of what it felt like when he first delivered us and set us free. We can become too casual about his grace to us and forget that there are many people in this world who do not yet know him. So, maybe we need to be reminded from time to time so that our minds and hearts can be refreshed and we can recall again how wonderful is God’s grace to us in rescuing us from slavery to sin and in freeing us to walk in his righteousness and holiness. Then, we will want to sing praises to him, and bless him, and lift our hands to him, and we will want to tell others about his grace so they can know him, too.

When I Remember

When I remember You on my bed,

I meditate on You in the night watches,

For You have been my help,

And in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy.

My soul clings to You;

Your right hand upholds me.

I can definitely identify with the psalmist’s words here. I think about the Lord much throughout the day and even at night when I am in bed. He talks with me throughout the day, and I do the same with him. In fact, I was in bed for the night, or so I thought, when he put this song “As The Deer” in my mind, so I began to think on these words. I wanted to go to sleep, but I couldn’t, so I got back up to hear from the Lord what he wanted to teach me. He sometimes gets me up after I have gone to bed at night, or in the middle of the night, or very early in the morning, because that is when it is the quietest and I am free from distractions, and so it is a good time for him to talk with me and for me to listen.

Sometimes, after my day is over, I will stay up late at night just to talk with him about my day and to inquire of him as to what he wants to teach me, or so I can bring my requests before him and/or to seek wisdom and understanding from him regarding particular situations going on in my life. I love to hear his voice speaking to my heart. It brings me much comfort and encouragement. He helps me when I am feeling weak or confused. He gives me strength and help, and shows me the way he wants me to go. I rest in his love.

He often speaks to me through songs, and he has given me many songs to write which are based off his word. I remember words better when they are put to music, so this is one way in which he speaks his words into my heart throughout the day when I am busy taking care of things here at home or I am running errands or whatever I need to do throughout the day. I will often be doing something or thinking about something when I will all of a sudden become aware of a song playing in my mind. When I recall the lyrics, then I listen to hear what it is he wants to say to me. Sometimes he uses songs as a way to communicate to me his answers to my prayers, even before I officially voice them to him, at times.

My Lord God/Jesus is very precious to me. I need to not allow myself to become too casual about my relationship with him, but I need to earnestly seek him and daily thirst after him as the deer panteth for water when he is thirsty. How about you? Are you thirsting and longing after him?

As the Deer / Martin J. Nystrom

Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water

 So my soul longeth after You

 You alone are my heart's desire

 And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield

 To You alone may my spirit yield

 You alone are my heart's desire

 And I long to worship You…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZv3jzOTE70

Our Stronghold

Thursday, December 25, 2014, 5:30 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song, “Give God the Glory.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Psalm 48 (NIV84).

Most Worthy

A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah.

Great is the Lord, and most worthy of praise,

in the city of our God, his holy mountain.

It is beautiful in its loftiness,

the joy of the whole earth.

Like the utmost heights of Zaphon is Mount Zion,

the city of the Great King.

God is in her citadels;

he has shown himself to be her fortress.

Zion, in the New Testament, is the body of Christ, a living organism in which the Spirit of God dwells – the true church, the heavenly Jerusalem, the City of God. This church, his body, is not to be confused, though, with buildings and institutions of men called “church.” They are not one and the same, even though parts of the body of Christ may attend the meetings of some of these human institutions. Human institutions are organizations and businesses of human origin, run just like any other human businesses. The body of Christ, on the other hand, is a living organism, and its head is Christ, and he is the one to direct the course of his church and how it is to be run.

Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of this church. “Therefore the Lord GOD said: ‘Look, I have laid a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will be unshakable’” (Is. 28:16). He is the first stone; the first and most essential part of this new building, his church, and he is its sure foundation (basis). And, we, like living stones, are being built upon that foundation “as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 2:5). What this means is that our individual lives and the collective body of Christ should be built upon Christ and upon his Word and not on the teachings and philosophies of humans.

HE is to be the praise of HIS church, his body, Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, the City of God. We praise him, though, not just with our lips, but with our lives when we give ourselves to him as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to him, which is our reasonable service of worship of him – no longer conformed to the ways of this world, but transformed in the renewing of our minds (See: Ro. 12:1-2). We were called out of the darkness of sin into his wonderful light of truth and grace so, “as sojourners and exiles,” we are “to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul” (See: 1 Pet. 2:9-12). And, we are to be holy, as He is holy, which means that we are to be separate (unlike; different) from the world, because we are like Christ, set apart to him and to his service.

The Enemy

When the kings joined forces,

when they advanced together,

they saw her and were astounded;

they fled in terror.

Trembling seized them there,

pain like that of a woman in labor.

You destroyed them like ships of Tarshish

shattered by an east wind.

Our enemy is Satan and all his hordes which follow him and do his bidding. God does allow Satan and evil humans to come against us, to attack us, to persecute us and to even kill us for our faith in Jesus Christ, and because we stand on the Word of Truth, and we do not deny Jesus and his gospel. Yet, one day God will judge them for their evil deeds.

Yet, not all is hopeless. Jesus Christ, in his death and resurrection, conquered death, hell, sin and Satan. God has given us spiritual armor with which to fight off Satan’s evil schemes against us (See: Eph. 6:10-20). When Satan comes against us and he tries to tempt us to fear and to doubt God or to sin against our Lord, we are to resist him, and he will flee from us, but we may have to be persistent. There is much power in the name of Jesus.

Yet, resisting the devil is sandwiched between submitting ourselves to God and drawing near to God, “and he will draw near to you.” Coupled with that is that we should “cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded,” and we should weep and mourn over sin and humble ourselves before God (See: Jas. 4:7-10). In other words, we can’t resist Satan unless we are submitted to God, drawing near to him, humbled before him, repentant over sin and have forsaken living in willful sin and rebellion against God.

Secure Forever

As we have heard,

so have we seen

in the city of the Lord Almighty,

in the city of our God:

God makes her secure forever.      Selah

Within your temple, O God,

we meditate on your unfailing love.

Like your name, O God,

your praise reaches to the ends of the earth;

your right hand is filled with righteousness.

Mount Zion rejoices,

the villages of Judah are glad

because of your judgments.

When we come to faith in Jesus Christ, by God’s grace, we die with Christ to our old lives of living for sin and self, we are transformed of the Spirit of God in heart and mind, and we are given new lives in Christ Jesus to be lived in the power of the Spirit within us and in his righteousness and holiness. This is what it means to be born again or to be born of the Spirit. When we are born, thus, into God’s family, he gives us the Holy Spirit to indwell us, to empower us to live holy lives pleasing to God, and to guide, counsel, encourage, comfort, lead and teach us in the way we should go. The Holy Spirit is also a deposit in our lives, guaranteeing what is to come. When we believe in Jesus Christ, we thus receive eternal life with God in heaven. Thus God makes the believer in Jesus Christ secure forever.

The temple of God lives within the lives of believers in Jesus Christ, i.e. we are his temple; his dwelling place. So we are continually in the presence of Almighty God, because his presence lives within us. We are God’s house, not some church building built with human hands. So, we can talk with him, fellowship with him, and worship him 24/7 no matter where we are. We can meditate on his Word and on his great love for us, and we can rejoice in his truth, even the hard truths of God’s word to us.

It is in these times that we spend time in his word, listening to him speak his words to our hearts, and then we take what he has taught us and we apply it to our lives via obedience and submission to the Lord and to his Word. These should be precious times between us and our Lord where he communes with us and he shares with us his heart, and when we pour out our hearts to him, and he speaks encouragement and strengthening to our hearts and minds. I love my times with my Lord!

Her Towers

Walk about Zion, go around her,

count her towers,

consider well her ramparts,

view her citadels,

that you may tell of them to the next generation.

For this God is our God for ever and ever;

he will be our guide even to the end.

Zion, because it is a spiritual entity and an organism instead of an organization, and because it exists all over the world and no longer in one specific location, would be difficult for any of us to walk around physically. Yet, the sense here is one of doing an examination and an evaluation of the church, the body of Christ, to see what all she is made of. Her “towers, ramparts and citadels” all represent her strongholds and her fortifications. These also are no longer physical but spiritual in nature.

God/Jesus is our stronghold: “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold” (See: 18:2; cf. Ps. 9:9; 27:1; 94:22). The Word of God is another tower or stronghold, for it is the power of God in our lives, it is the sword of the Spirit with which we fight off Satan’s evil schemes against us, and it is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, and it pierces our hearts and discerns our thoughts and intentions (See: 1 Co. 1:18; Eph. 6:10-20; Heb. 4:12).

We can only be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power, though, when we find our refuge, wisdom, counsel and guidance in him, and we follow in his footsteps and we go wherever he leads us. He must be our foundation (our basis) for life and how we live it. We should praise him with our lives by submitting to the cross of Christ, and by surrendering to his will for our lives, and by living holy and godly lives pleasing to him – all in the power of his Spirit within us. We have to draw near to him, humble ourselves before him, repent of sin, and walk in his holiness, forsaking our idols and the sins which so easily entangle us so we can run the race he has set before us. And, we must spend time with him each day in his word, in listening to him speak, and then in obeying what he teaches us. Then we will know and will experience him as our rock, our refuge, our deliverer and our stronghold.

Give God the Glory / An Original Work

Based off Psalm 19 / March 10, 2014

All of creation now proclaims:

“Give God the glory; honor His name!”

Each day the stars in heav’n above

Show forth His wisdom; tell of His love.

They do not speak. They have no voice.

Yet, they declare we have a choice:

“Worship the God of heav’n above;

Believe in Jesus; trust in His love.”

God’s word is perfect, just and good,

Refreshing souls who trust in the Lord;

Makes wise the simple; radiant -

Lighting our lives with God’s righteousness.

Joy to the heart His words now speak;

Pure and enduring, now we seek.

They are more precious than our gold;

Sweeter than honey; never grow old.

Keeping the word brings great reward.

By the word Jesus speaks and He warns,

Convicting hearts of all their sin;

Forgiving all who call upon Him.

Praying You keep me, Lord, from sins.

May they not rule my life again.

Then will I walk in all Your ways,

Following Jesus all of my days.

http://originalworks.info/give-god-the-glory/

https://vimeo.com/88900305

Patient Trust

Wednesday, December 24, 2014, 8:17 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song, “Have Thine Own Way, Lord.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Psalm 40:1-10 (NIV84).

A New Song

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

I waited patiently for the Lord;

he turned to me and heard my cry.

He lifted me out of the slimy pit,

out of the mud and mire;

he set my feet on a rock

and gave me a firm place to stand.

He put a new song in my mouth,

a hymn of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear

and put their trust in the Lord.

Psalm 40 is one of my all-time favorites! These words written here have spoken encouragement to my heart so many times; I cannot even begin to count them all. These verses describe what happens to us when we accept God’s invitation to his great salvation, yet, in context, I believe this is talking about those times in our lives when we are faced with great difficulties, hardships, persecutions, sorrows and/or sicknesses.

We can sometimes feel like we are in mud and mire because of the complications of life surrounding us, and so we pray for deliverance. Others may look at our situation and think there is no way God will deliver us, but we trust in our Lord, even when all looks absolutely hopeless from a human viewpoint. And, we wait on God to intervene on our behalf and to work his will and his way in our situations. He may remove us from the situations themselves, or he may just calm the storm within us and fill us with his peace. Yet, our relentless trust in our Lord will serve as a testimony of God’s saving grace and of his power to perform miracles in human lives. Amen!

His Trust

Blessed is the man

who makes the Lord his trust,

who does not look to the proud,

to those who turn aside to false gods.

Many, O Lord my God,

are the wonders you have done.

The things you planned for us

no one can recount to you;

were I to speak and tell of them,

they would be too many to declare.

So, what does it mean to trust in the Lord? I can tell you that it does not mean merely to profess faith in him, or just to acknowledge what he did for us on the cross, or to just accept his forgiveness for our sins, absent of us surrendering to Jesus Christ and submitting ourselves to the cross of Christ.

When we put our trust in the Lord Jesus, we surrender all to him. We die with Christ to our old lives of living for sin and self, we are transformed (metamorphosed) of the Spirit of God in heart and mind, and we are given completely new lives in Christ Jesus to be lived out in the power of the Spirit within us, and in walking daily in Christ’s righteousness and holiness. This is why Jesus died, so that we would no longer live for ourselves, but for him who gave himself up for us, and so we would die to sin and live godly and holy lives pleasing to him (See: Luke 9:23-25; Ac. 26:16-18; Ro. 6-8; 2 Co. 5:15; Gal. 2:20; Eph. 4:17-24; Tit. 2:11-14; 1 Pet. 2:24-25; & 1 Jn. 1-5).

When we truly put our absolute trust in our Lord Jesus Christ, not only for him to save us from our sins, but for us to surrender our all to him day by day, walking in fellowship with him, going wherever he sends us, and doing what he instructs us to do, we no longer walk according to the flesh. Our desire is for our Lord, to please him in all that we do. We no longer follow after the idols of this world and human flesh and what is worldly and sinful in order to satisfy the deep longings of our souls. I wish everyone who claims to know Christ would get this. The life of one redeemed by the blood of the Lamb should be a life that is separate (unlike; different) from the world of sin, because like Christ/God. We don’t trust in Christ merely to escape hell and so we can go to heaven when we die. Faith in Christ means living for God/Jesus every day in being and doing all that he has planned for our lives.

No Sacrifice

Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,

but my ears you have pierced^, ;

burnt offerings and sin offerings

you did not require.

Then I said, “Here I am, I have come—

it is written about me in the scroll.

I desire to do your will, O my God;

your law is within my heart.”

So many people will “do” for God, or so they think, but out of their own will and plans for their own lives. They will even make sacrifices and give offerings to the Lord, but as they will, not as God wills. God’s people of old were guilty of this at times, i.e. they went through the ritualistic exercises of making sacrifices and giving their offerings, but God said their hearts were far from him. They were not walking in obedience to him. They performed their religious duties, as it were, but then they did as they pleased without regard for God, and absent of concern for what he commanded them to do or to not do. I believe this same situation exists within the church of today, only perhaps much worse.

Yet, God is not interested in what we decide we will do for him. He wants us as willing bond-slaves (servants) who will obey him in doing what he decides he wants us to do. I think so many who profess Christ today really have no idea what this means. They have been taught that being a Christian means believing in Jesus and having the hope of heaven, and living basically good lives, though not all do that, but they have not been taught that believing in Jesus means our lives are no longer our own. We were bought with a price. We now belong to Christ, and we are his to live as he chooses, not as we choose. And, we are his 24/7, not just for a few minutes a day when we have our quiet times with him or just on Sundays, or Saturdays, as the case may be. Our desire should be for him to do his will all the time.

I Proclaim

I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly;

I do not seal my lips,

as you know, O Lord.

I do not hide your righteousness in my heart;

I speak of your faithfulness and salvation.

I do not conceal your love and your truth

from the great assembly.

When we truly put our trust and hope in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives, his praise should be on our lips daily. We should want to tell as many people as possible about his saving grace, so that they can come to know him, too. We should not be able to hold it inside. It should flow out of us as naturally, or more so, as telling others about the normal things of our everyday lives.

We, as humans, seem to have no trouble at all telling others about our kids or grandkids, our trips, our possessions, our personal opinions on life, and/or the life experiences we go through each day. When your favorite sports team wins a contest, for those who are sports fans, don’t you shout it out? Well, this is how we should be about telling others about Jesus. We should not be able to hold it inside. We should not be ashamed of Christ or his gospel. We should not conceal his love and his truth, especially out of fear of what others might think of us, or out of worry that we might offend someone. The cross is supposed to be an offense to those who are perishing. So, if we truly love others, we should tell them about Jesus and about how they can be set free from slavery to sin and can walk in holiness.

Bottom line: As followers of Christ, our lives belong to him. We should daily yield control of our lives over to him, asking him to mold us and to make us after his will. Amen!

Have Thine Own Way, Lord / Adelaide A. Pollard, 1862-1934

George C. Stebbins, 1846-1945 / Tune: ADELAIDE, Meter: 54.54 D

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!

Thou art the potter, I am the clay.

Mold me and make me after Thy will,

While I am waiting, yielded and still.

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!

Search me and try me, Master, today!

Whiter than snow, Lord, wash me just now,

As in Thy presence humbly I bow.

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!

Wounded and weary, help me I pray!

Power, all power, surely is Thine!

Touch me and heal me, Savior divine!

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!

Hold o'er my being absolute sway.

Fill with Thy Spirit till all shall see

Christ only, always, living in me!