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.
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