Habakkuk 2

Then the Lord replied: "Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay."

Sunday, December 21, 2014

You Healed Me

Sunday, December 21, 2014, 7:20 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song, “Unless You Are Born Again.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Psalm 30 (NIV84).

A psalm. A song. For the dedication of the temple. Of David

Out of the Depths

I will exalt you, O Lord,
for you lifted me out of the depths
and did not let my enemies gloat over me.
O Lord my God, I called to you for help
and you healed me.
O Lord, you brought me up from the grave;
you spared me from going down into the pit. ~ vv. 1-3

When God created man and woman they were sinless creatures who lived in perfect fellowship with Almighty God in the Garden of Eden. Yet, they sinned against God by eating of a forbidden tree. Ever since that time human beings have been born into sin with a sin nature, separated from God, and destined to spend eternity in hell and in eternal torment.

Yet God had a plan for our salvation. He sent his Son Jesus Christ to die on a cross for our sins so that we could go free of the punishment of sin, be free of the control of sin over our lives, and be free to now walk in Christ’s righteousness and holiness. By God’s grace through faith we can now be saved and have eternal life with God in heaven. Amen!

When we come to faith in Jesus Christ 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 away from sin and to God, and we are given new lives in Christ to be lived in the power and working of the Spirit of God within us – “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (See Eph. 4:17-24; cf. Ro. 6-8). This is awesome! This is grace! This is freedom in Christ!

So, when Jesus delivers us out of the bondage to sin and he sets us free to walk daily in his righteousness and holiness, no longer controlled by sin but guided and directed by the Spirit of God now living within us, we should shout praises to him from the rooftops! We should be so excited that we have been set free, and that we are no longer under the control of sin. Amen? It is a lot like being buried alive in a sealed casket and someone comes along and opens the way so we can be rescued from death, and so we can live. We should rejoice!

Sing Praises

Sing to the Lord, you saints of his;
praise his holy name.
For his anger lasts only a moment,
but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may remain for a night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning. ~ vv. 4-5

You turned my wailing into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
that my heart may sing to you and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever. ~ vv. 11-12

You know, the way so many people today are preaching salvation they totally miss this. They short-circuit God, his grace, his salvation and genuine faith in favor of a “get rich quick” scheme which bypasses genuine sorrow over sin, repentance, and transformation of the inner human’s mind, heart and soul away from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. There is a reason that Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be born again. We are not saved merely so we can escape hell and go to heaven when we die. We are saved so our lives can be radically transformed while we still walk the face of this earth. In fact, Jesus died so we would no longer live for ourselves but for him who died for us (See: 2 Co. 5:15; cf. Tit. 2:11-14).

When we were born the first time we were born of the flesh and we were born with a flesh nature. When we are “born again,” we first of all die to our old lives of walking in the flesh, and then we are born of the Spirit of God. When we were born the first time we started from the beginning, learning to crawl, walk, talk, etc. Every day was new – new adventures and new learning experiences. It is the same when we are born spiritually. We don’t just clean up the old us. We start fresh – the old has gone, the new has come. It is not that we become perfect all of a sudden, but there should be an about face, i.e. we should begin walking according to the Spirit now instead of walking according to the flesh. Then we can truly rejoice in God’s favor, his grace, and that we are no longer walking in darkness but we are walking in the light of Christ’s love. Amen! Hallelujah! Praise Jesus! I am free!!

True Security

When I felt secure, I said,
“I will never be shaken.”
O Lord, when you favored me,
you made my mountain stand firm;
but when you hid your face,
I was dismayed. ~ vv. 6-7

There are many people, though, who are arrogant and who rest in their own security and self-will, and who have not truly put their hope and trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of their lives. Many of these, though, think they are saved because they prayed a prayer, and they were given assurance of heaven, but they never truly humbled themselves before God in repentance and in submission to the cross and in surrender to God and to his will for their lives. In other words, they are not born again. They never truly died with Christ to their old lives of living for sin and self, and thus they were never transformed in heart and mind of the Spirit of God. They bought into a lie that said that all they had to do was “believe,” although this belief is absent of repentance, and is absent of the fear of the Lord, and is absent of submission and surrender to God. So, that is not true belief.

These same people believe that because they “believed” that they will never be shaken, i.e. that they have their ticket into heaven guaranteed and that nothing bad will ever happen to them. There is no fear of God in their hearts but only an arrogance that says because they said some magic words that God is now pleased with them whatever they do, so it doesn’t really matter what they do – sin doesn’t matter. Yet, that is not Biblical. We are taught in scripture what to do to please God, and that we are to live lives pleasing to God, so obviously God is not pleased with us all the time, especially when we are sinning against him.

We are also taught that if we say we love God but we don’t do what he says we are liars, and if we say we have fellowship with God, but we continue in sinful lifestyles, we are liars.

One day you may stand before God and he may tell you to depart from him because he never knew you. Make sure you know him. Make sure you have truly been born again. Being born again means death to sin, turning from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God so that you can receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified and made holy in Christ Jesus our Lord (See: Ac. 26:16-18; cf. Lu. 9:23-25). Then we can truly stand secure in our faith in Jesus Christ and have the assurance and hope of eternal life with God from this point on and forevermore, not because of works of the flesh, but because of the grace of God, and because of the transformation of the Spirit of God brought about in our lives via the shed blood of Christ on the cross for our sins. Amen!

Unless You Are Born Again
An Original Work / November 3, 2013

Based off John 3:1-21

Nicodemus came to Jesus.
He acknowledged God was with Him.
Jesus said, “You can’t see heaven
Unless you are born again.”

“How can a man be born when he’s old?
Can he enter into his mother’s womb?”
Jesus answered, “Flesh is flesh,
So of the Spirit, you must be.”

Jesus said to Nicodemus,
“You’re a teacher, and yet you don’t
Understand of what I tell you,
Because you will not believe.

“For God so loved the world that He gave
His one and His only Son for your sin.
So, whoever believes in Him
Has eternal life in heav’n.

“Light has come into the world,
But human beings love the darkness,
Because their deeds are so evil,
So in truth, they stand condemned.

“Everyone who practices evil
Fears that the Light will expose his sin.
Yet, whoever lives his life by the Light
Does so through his God.”





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