You Only, Lord

Friday, February 27, 2015, 3:55 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Lord, Move Me.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Luke 18:18-30 (NASB).

One Thing You Lack

A ruler questioned Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments, ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’” And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.” When Jesus heard this, He said to him, “One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

When we come into this life we are all born with sin natures, separated from God, and without hope. All of us have sinned, and we all come up short of attaining the approval of God and the hope of heaven (See Ro. 3:23). Not one of us can keep the whole law with absolute perfection, so the law can never save us. Only by God’s grace, through faith in Jesus Christ and his blood shed for our sins, can we have the hope of eternal life in heaven with Jesus (See Eph. 2:8-10). Yet, the question always remains: “What is faith?”

Earlier Jesus had stated that if anyone would come after him, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and self) and follow him (in obedience). He said that if we want to hold on to our old lives (of living for sin and self) that we will lose them for eternity, but if we willingly die to our old lives, we will gain eternal life (See Lu. 9:23-25). The apostles taught the same truth with regard to our eternal salvation. Paul said the way we come to know Christ is “that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth” (See Eph. 4:20-24).

I believe this is the essence of what Jesus was telling this rich young ruler. So many people are willing to “do” things “for” God on their own terms. They may keep at least some of the rules, to the best of their ability, and they may even live morally clean lives, but they won’t yield their lives to Jesus Christ and give him everything. Jesus is saying, though, that to be his followers we must be willing to lay it all down to follow him. He wants our all on the altar. We can’t be his fully devoted followers if we are holding on to “other gods.” For the rich young ruler, his god was his wealth. He was not willing to give it up. For others it may be something else. It could be our entertainment choices, reputation, career, houses, possessions, pride, and/or self-will, etc. A “god” is anything we give our hearts, minds, loyalties, emotion and devotion to in place of or above God. These we must forsake.

When He Heard These Things

But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. And Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” They who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” But He said, “The things that are impossible with people are possible with God.”

So, what is the essence of what Jesus said here? I believe this message reaches far beyond just physical wealth, though that is a very difficult thing, evidently, for the rich to let go of. Many things of this world may have strongholds on our lives, and we may not be willing to let go of them to follow Jesus, and that is indeed very sad. I believe the principle here is that it is hard for those who possess much in the way of the things of this world to enter the kingdom of heaven, because it is hard for them to let go and to leave it all behind. This also means that to enter the kingdom of heaven, it requires that we let go and that we let God have his way in our lives. Sadly enough, this is not being taught much anymore, and so many people have been given a false hope of heaven based off a lie.

The message Jesus gave the rich young ruler is the same message he is giving to all of us, which is we must lay aside (die to) our old self-life, and that we are to then follow Jesus Christ in obedience and in surrender to his will for our lives. This is impossible in our own human will and strength. We can do nothing to earn or to deserve our salvation. Yet God, who is rich in mercy, made the way possible for us to be saved. Jesus Christ paid the price for us so we could be set free from bondage to sin, so in his power and because of what he did for us in conquering sin on our behalf, we can be saved. All this is the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives, yet we must cooperate fully with his work of grace in transforming us away from living for sin and self to following our Lord Jesus in submission to his will.

Following Jesus

Peter said, “Behold, we have left our own homes and followed You.” And He said to them, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times as much at this time and in the age to come, eternal life.”

I have always loved the stories in the gospels of Jesus calling his first disciples to follow him. All of them, or nearly all of them, immediately left their homes and careers, etc. to follow Jesus. They didn’t try bargaining with Jesus. Those who became his disciples did not ask for more time nor did they ask if they could follow him on weekends only. It was all or none. Jesus was very clear on the subject of what it takes to be one of his followers. He said his sheep listen to him and they follow (obey) him. He said we have to be willing to leave everything behind, and we also have to be willing to part with family members or to have family reject and hate us because of our decision to follow Jesus with our lives.

Yet, the benefits and blessings of following Jesus Christ in surrender, submission and obedience to him and to his teachings far outweigh anything we might lose in this life. All that is in this world is destined to perish, so if we hold on, we are holding on to what is subject to decay, and it may easily be taken away from us anyway, and then what have we gained? It is better to lay up treasures in heaven than on this earth. One day we are all going to stand before God to give an account for what we did with Jesus. There will be many who will say, “Lord, Lord, didn’t we do such and such for you?” and he is going to say, “Depart from me, for I never knew you.” And, yet others will hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

What we may have to forfeit in this life is nothing in comparison to what we gain for eternity. If we are following Jesus Christ in obedience, and we are being his hands and his feet to the world around us, and if we are sharing with others the truth of the gospel of our salvation so that many will be saved, we will reap a harvest for our labor in the Lord. If we don’t see the harvest now, in this time we have on the earth, one day when we get to heaven we will get to meet all the people whose lives we have touched for Jesus on this earth. They are the treasures we are laying up in heaven.

May we all take this lesson to heart, and may we all take God and his word seriously, and may we all lay it all down for Jesus and be willing to go wherever he sends us, and to say what he wants us to say, and to do what he wants us to do for his glory and honor and for the salvation of souls and the encouragement and strengthening of the body of Christ.

Lord, Move Me / An Original Work / October 16, 2011

Be my desire, my heart set on fire,

Lord, move me to worship You only, I pray.

Fill with Your Spirit, my heart overflow.

Lord, may I long for You; Your word to know.

Teach me to walk with You, Lord, in Your power,

And may I serve You, Lord, right now in this hour.

Lord, how I want to obey You forever.

Help me to hear You, Lord, so I will not stray.

Teach me to love You; adore You always.

Envelope me, Lord, with Your grace today.

Meet me in my need, and show me Your mercy.

Forgive me for all things, as I humbly pray.

Counsel me, lead me, direct me, and guide me,

So I follow You, Lord, where’er You lead now.

I love to hear You speak Your words to me.

I am so grateful that You set me free.

Wash me, and cleanse me, and make me like You, Lord,

And I will live with You for eternity.

http://originalworks.info/lord-move-me/

Humility Praised

Thursday, February 26, 2015, 7:28 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Blessed Are You.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Luke 18:9-17 (NASB).

Pride and Humility

And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

This should be a warning to all of us to guard our hearts against pride, and against trusting in our own intellect, reasoning, physical health or strength, talent, and/or human resources, and against thinking ourselves somehow superior to others whom we may deem less fortunate than us. We are all human beings. We are all born into sin. And, we only have what we have by the grace of God, no matter what it is. Outside of faith in Jesus Christ we are all destined to spend eternity in hell, without hope and without God. None of us earn or deserve our own salvation. We are only saved by God’s grace, through faith in Jesus Christ. Even the faith to believe is a gift from God. God is completely sovereign over our lives, so what he has given to us he can also take away. All that we have in the way of material wealth or intellect or prestige is all destined to perish. One day we will all die and we will have to stand before God and give an account to God for what we did with Jesus. So, no matter how important we may think we are in this life, it will count for nothing in eternity.

I find it particularly interesting that Jesus said the Pharisee was praying to himself. I wonder how many people pray, thinking that they are praying to God, but they are really just praying to themselves. So, what precipitates people praying to themselves thinking they are praying to God? First of all, if someone is a non-believer in Jesus Christ, and thus does not have a relationship with God, and if that person is not humble before God, and is unwilling to accept Jesus as Lord of his life, and he thinks he is righteous in himself because he is a “good deed doer,” then that might be an occasion when one would pray to himself. Or, the same could apply to someone who has a relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ. If we are holding on to sin in our lives, and we are not willing to humble ourselves before God in repentance, and so we are just playing Christian, and we are just going through the motions in order to appear righteous, we may be guilty of praying to ourselves and not to God at all, because we are just performing and we are not really communicating with God.

On the other hand, if we are like the tax collector in realizing our own sinfulness and our need of Jesus Christ, and we humble ourselves before God, then he will exalt us. We don’t need to exalt ourselves. God will hear our prayers, and he will answer them. We just need to realize our own unworthiness, and submit our lives to the cross of Christ and to following our Lord Jesus in obedience and in surrender to his will for our lives. We need to find in Jesus Christ our all-sufficiency instead of relying upon our own human resources. And, we need to be humble, as well, when it comes to how we treat others, realizing that we are no better than anyone else, for we were all born into sin and we all need Jesus to save us.

Misunderstanding

And they were bringing even their babies to Him so that He would touch them, but when the disciples saw it, they began rebuking them. But Jesus called for them, saying, “Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”

The culture of that day and country is so much different than the culture of today here in America, so it is difficult for me to identify with what the disciples were thinking or why they rebuked the people for bringing their children to Jesus. The closest my understanding comes to this is that, in my childhood years, there was an attitude among many adults that children were to be seen but not heard. I have little recollection of any kind of relationship with my grandparents. Neither of my grandfathers paid much attention to me or to my siblings and cousins unless we were doing something bad, I think. One grandfather lived in town. My other grandfather and my step-grandmother I never knew at all. They lived out of town. Even the one time I do remember us visiting them, we kids slept in the car and I don’t think either of them spoke with us. I never had any communication with them at all.

I don’t know why they were the way they were. Perhaps it is just the way they were taught, i.e. it was the culture under which they were brought up. I suspect much was the same for the disciples. From what I understand, women and children back then were considered more like property and were not regarded with the same degree of importance and value as men. Yet, Jesus treated all people – male, female and children – with the same amount of love, concern, respect, care and value. That means the world to me! So, I think the disciples were operating under a misunderstanding. I believe they thought Jesus would be bothered somehow by having children brought to him, and so they thought what they were doing, perhaps, was being helpful and was showing consideration of their master and Lord. Yet, they didn’t understand that Jesus came for all people, and he loved everyone equally.

Jesus used this situation as an opportunity to teach a spiritual lesson. Children tend to be very trusting and believe easily. Their minds are not cluttered with a whole bunch of knowledge which might hinder many adults from having such child-like faith. So, children serve as wonderful examples of having the kind of faith that is necessary for us to have in Jesus in order for us to enter the kingdom of God. The tax collector in the story above had this kind of child-like faith. This kind of faith takes Jesus at his word, and does what he says. If Jesus says we must die to our old lives of sin if we want to come to him, this faith believes him and it acts on that belief by doing what is required, yet not in human strength or wisdom, but in the power and working of the Holy Spirit. Child-like faith is humble, submissive, obedient, and trusting. And, this is the kind of faith we all need to have.

The Objects

The objects of this misunderstanding by the disciples or of the contempt shown by the Pharisee were those who were poor in spirit, i.e. they were humble and trusting in God. They were rejected because they were considered as less valuable than other people. Perhaps we might identify with the Pharisee or with the disciples, and God is speaking to our hearts that we need to not ever think of others as less valuable than ourselves.

Or it could be that we have been the objects of such disdain or misunderstandings, and so we identify with the tax collector or with the children, and thus we are so grateful for God’s love for us and that Jesus does not treat us like other humans have treated us. Yet, maybe we have unforgiveness in our hearts towards those who have mistreated us and we need to repent of that sin, or perhaps we have been depressed over our misfortune, and so we need to trust in God’s sovereignty over our lives and consider it all joy whenever people persecute us. Jesus said we are blessed when we are treated thus, and we should rejoice. We should forgive those who have mistreated us, and we should pray for them, say kind things about them, and we should do good to them. And, we need to keep on obeying our Lord despite how others treat us, and then just rest in God’s love, because he cares for us.

Blessed Are You / An Original Work / August 29, 2012

Based off Luke 6:20-49 NIV 1984

“Blessed are you;

Blessed are you who are poor

For God’s kingdom is yours.

Blessed are you;

Blessed are you who are hungry,

You’ll be satisfied.

Blessed are you;

Blessed are you who weep now,

For you will laugh with joy.

Blessed are you;

Blessed are you when men hate

And reject you because of Christ.”

“Rejoice in that;

Rejoice in that day and

Leap for joy; great your reward.

But I tell you;

But I tell you to love those

Who hate you; do them good.

Pray for those who;

Pray for those who treat you wrong

And say kind things of them.

Do to others;

Do to others as you would have

Them do; have them do to you.”

“If you love those;

If you love those who love you,

What praise is there for you?

Because Christ is;

Because Christ is kind,

Be merciful, just like He is.

Forgive others;

Forgive others their offense

Against you; be ye kind.

Hear My words and;

Hear My words and put them

Into practice, then you’ll be fulfilled.”

http://originalworks.info/blessed-are-you/

https://vimeo.com/115046573

Seek Him First

Wednesday, February 25, 2015, 1:15 p.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Seek Ye First.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Luke 18:1-8 (NASB).

Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me legal protection from my opponent.’ For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.’” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge said; now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”

The Opposition

The woman, I believe, represents the church here on the earth. The opponent of the church is Satan who disguises himself as an angel of light, and who has many human representatives who do his work for him on this earth. His servants are false christs, false apostles, and false teachers of the word of God. They are wolves in sheep’s clothing who pretend to be true shepherds of the flock.

They can be political figures, i.e. government leaders, and/or religious figures, i.e. leaders in the church. They promise the people peace, safety, security, hope, and/or equality and justice. And, yet their words cannot be trusted. They fill the people’s minds with false promises. They tell them many lies, hoping the people will believe their lies and thus will be deceived into trusting them. Their speech is as smooth as butter, and many of them are gifted orators with eloquent and persuasive (silver) tongues. They twist the truth to their advantage and cleverly insert lies into truth in order to make their lies acceptable.

They try to get us to buy into humanistic philosophy above the teachings of scripture and they try to get us to doubt God’s word. They also try to get us to bow to human authority over the authority of God in our lives. If their smooth and persuasive tongues do not work against us, then they will try to beat us down with lies against us and will convince others that we are the enemy because we hold to God’s truths. They will call us intolerant, bigoted, disunifiers, and haters, and they will convince many not to listen to us. They will convince many Christians to reject the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and thus they will follow after these lies of humans, instead, because it is what sounds pleasing to their itching ears.

Call On Jesus

When we come up against the enemy of our souls, even in human form, via his human representatives, we need to call upon our Lord to rescue us. Yet, Jesus has not promised us that we will have immediate relief from trouble and hardship. In fact, he promises us that we will be hated and persecuted for righteousness’ sake and for the sake of his name, and that many of his servants will even be killed for their testimonies for Jesus Christ. Yet, we should remain persistent in calling upon him, and we should not give up or lose heart, for one day he will rescue us physically from our oppressors. He will suddenly come again one day to take us to be with him and to judge the earth and the people of this earth.

In the meanwhile, he does rescue us emotionally, mentally and spiritually. He has given us the armor of God (See Eph. 6:10-20) with which to fight off Satan’s evil attacks against us. We must answer his accusations and lies with the truth of God’s word and with the truth of what we know about God. We must call upon Jesus, and trust in his love, mercy, grace and sovereignty over our lives. He fills us with his peace. Sometimes we may even need to pray for God to surround us with his angels when Satan is fighting particularly hard against us. In all persecutions, hardships, difficulties and troubles we need to turn to Jesus and not to broken cisterns which do not hold water. He will give us all we need to endure to the end.

Will He Find Faith?

Very early in the morning today the Lord Jesus gave me a picture of the spiritual condition of a vast majority of today’s church here in America, and it is on the decline. It is as Paul described in his letter to the Ephesian church. A vast majority of believers in Jesus (or professing Christians) are spiritually immature, “tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming.” Their commitments to Jesus Christ are continually changing in position, away from God and toward greater faith in humans. Their foundation for their faith is not Jesus Christ but is human-based philosophy loosely based in Christ and scripture.

This human philosophy focuses much on self-pleasure and on making people feel good. They spend much time, money and energy on entertainment and in making the world feel “at home” in their church meetings. Thus, they dilute the gospel of Jesus Christ to make it more appealing and acceptable to the world. They avoid anything they consider “negative,” such as the subjects of sin, repentance, obedience, judgment and hell, and they try to keep things upbeat and positive (pleasing to itching ears). Instead of leading their people to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with people, they teach them to just go around blessing people via good deeds, but to avoid subjects which might offend people. Many of these believers, thus, focus much of their conversations around having fun, joking, laughing, etc.

Many of them preach a gospel which is only half the gospel. Most of them do preach that Jesus Christ died for our sins, that he was resurrected from the dead, that he ascended to heaven, that he sent the Holy Spirit to indwell his followers, and that we are saved by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Yet, they don’t teach that the word of God teaches us that faith in Jesus involves turning away from our lifestyles of sin, being transformed in heart and mind of the Spirit of God, and being given new lives in Christ, “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (See Ro. 6-8; Gal. 2:20; Eph. 4:17-24; 1 Pet. 2:24-25; & 1 Jn. 1-5). They don’t teach that God’s grace teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives and that Jesus Christ died so we would no longer live for ourselves but for him who gave himself up for us (See 2 Co. 5:15; Tit. 2:11-14). So, the church is on a spiritual decline.

I believe God intends to judge his adulterous, idolatrous, wayward and lukewarm church (See Rev. 2-3), not in the sense of the judgment of hellfire, but in the sense of divine discipline and correction for the purpose to bring them to their knees in humility and repentance so that he can revive and restore them before he does come to take his bride to be with him. At that time I believe many of these human-based churches will be brought down and that many will repent in humility and the church will be revived, and I believe that will be a huge answer to prayer, because one of our greatest concerns presently is the spiritual decline of the church and that so many who profess the name of Christ are living no differently from the people of the world.

Yet, one day he will also destroy our persecutors and we will be set free and will no longer be the hated and rejected but will we will reign with Jesus in his millennial kingdom. Amen! In fact, those who are killed for their faith in Christ are already rescued and set free from persecution and are no longer suffering rejection and mistreatment. So, while we are still on this earth, we must seek Jesus and his kingdom first and we must continue to pray for the salvation of souls, the revival of the church, and the encouragement of his persecuted saints, as well as to call on him to rescue us from our persecutors. He will fulfill all he has promised. He will never leave us or forsake us. So, trust him and keep praying, and never give up! Trust in his word and in all his many promises to us and rest in his love.

Seek Ye First / Music: Karen Lafferty

Scriptures: Matthew 6:33; 7:7; 4:4

Seek ye first the kingdom of God

And His righteousness;

And all these things shall be added unto you.

Hallelu, Hallelujah!

Ask, and it shall be given unto you;

Seek, and you shall find.

Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

Hallelu, Hallelujah!

Man shall not live by bread alone,

But by every word

That proceeds out from the mouth of God.

Hallelu, Hallelujah!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LMQfOp9w8k

Faithful in Service

Monday, February 23, 2015, 5:45 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “My Sheep.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Luke 16:1-9 (NASB).

The Parable

This passage of scripture begins with a parable of a rich man who had in his employ a manager who squandered the rich man’s possessions, so the rich man called him to account for his actions. He told the man that he could no longer be his manager. The manager was, thus, befuddled as to what he should do next. So, he devised a plan to endear himself to his neighbors and friends in hope that they would invite him into their homes. For each one of them he reduced the debt they owed the rich man. The rich man, astoundingly, actually praised “the unrighteous manager because he acted shrewdly” in his dealings with the rich man’s debtors, because he knew the manager had done so in order to secure some future provision for himself, or so he thought. Evidently it was the craftiness of the man that the rich man commended, and not the manager’s actions themselves, for the manager did an injustice to the rich man by reducing the debt owed him by his neighbors and friends.

Jesus then said, “And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into the eternal dwellings.”

Given a Trust

I admit that this parable is a little troublesome to me, and that I find it difficult to comprehend, so I pray for understanding. Yet, Jesus chose to use this parable to teach a lesson, and the intended recipients of the lesson appear to be the Pharisees, though it certainly applies to all people. The point of the lesson seems to be that we have all been given a trust. All of humankind has been given the earth, the creatures of the earth, life, and the knowledge of God within our hearts, for which we are responsible to give care and to manage properly. All believers in Jesus Christ have been given salvation from sin, the Holy Spirit within us, the Word of God, gifts of the Spirit, assignments (parts) within the body of Christ, and the promise of heaven and eternal life with God. And we, too, are responsible to manage well what God has given to us, and to bring a good return for God’s investment in our lives in entrusting all of this to us.

Unfaithful in Service

Yet, some of us have been unfaithful in managing what has been entrusted to us. Many have not believed in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of their lives, i.e. they have not given their hearts and lives to God even though the knowledge of God has been placed within them (See Romans 1). Many of those who know God, by God’s grace, through faith in Jesus Christ, or who profess to know God, have been unfaithful in their commitments to our Lord Jesus, for they have not or they are not leaving their lives of sin behind them, they have not truly turned to follow the Lord Jesus in obedience, and they have not humbled themselves before God in being his willing servants in doing what he has called us to do. They are busy living for themselves or are just plain lazy, self-centered, selfish, distracted or otherwise occupied with other things other than living for Jesus Christ and being his servants.

The Confrontation

So, God is saying to us, “What have you done with what I have given to you?” To some he may be saying that, because of their unfaithfulness, they must be removed from this earth, and that they do not have the promise of heavenly rewards. To others he may be saying that he must remove them from managing his affairs until they repent of their sin, until they choose to no longer squander what has been entrusted to them, and until they decide to bear fruit in keeping with repentance and to serve the Lord with faithfulness. To others of us he may be pointing a finger on particular areas of our lives where we are weak in being faithful and where we need to yield to the Lordship of Christ. All in all we must all have to answer this question as to what we have done with what we have been given.

Acting Wisely

The point, I believe, that we are to receive from this parable is not only that we should evaluate and examine our own lives, admitting our sin of unfaithfulness, but that we should act wisely in doing what is required and necessary for us to make provision for our future, but not in our own flesh, or in deceptiveness or craftiness, but according to the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the teachings of scripture (of Jesus and the apostles). In other words, when confronted with the knowledge that we have been unfaithful to the trust God has given to us, and when we are warned of the consequences of such unfaithfulness, we should act wisely by humbling ourselves before God, repenting of our sin, and by submitting to the Lordship of Christ in now doing what he has called us to do in being his faithful and wise servants in following him wherever he leads us from this point forward.

My Sheep / An Original Work / June 24, 2012

Based off John 10:1-18 NIV

My sheep hear me. They know me.

They listen to my voice and obey.

I call them and lead them.

They know my voice, so they follow me.

They will never follow strangers.

They will run away from them.

The voice of a stranger they know not;

They do not follow him.

So, I tell you the truth that

I am the gate, so you enter in.

Whoever does enter

Will find forgiveness and will be saved.

Nonetheless whoever enters

Not by the gate; other way,

He is the thief and a robber.

Listen not, the sheep to him.

Oh, I am the Good Shepherd,

Who laid his own life down for the sheep.

I know them. They know me.

They will live with me eternally.

The thief only comes to steal and

Kill and to destroy the church.

I have come to give you life that

You may have it to the full…

They know my voice, so they follow me.

http://originalworks.info/my-sheep/

https://vimeo.com/114938263

Coming to Our Senses

Sunday, February 22, 2015, 7:30 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “I Will Lift My Eyes.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Luke 15:11-24 (NASB).

Loose Living

And He said, “A man had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.’ So he divided his wealth between them. And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living.

Spiritually and Biblically speaking, I see four classifications of people in this world with respect to relationship to God and to eternity. The first is the non-believer in Jesus Christ who makes no profession of faith in Jesus Christ at all. The second is the one who makes a profession of faith in Christ but it is only on a surface level, for his faith never took root because it was not based in Christ, his grace and the crucified life. The third type of person is one who truly was born of the Spirit, and who walked according to the Spirit at one time, but the temptations of this sinful world beckoned to him, and so he gave in and he strayed from his pure devotion to Jesus Christ in order to go after “other lovers.” The fourth type is the one who is presently walking according to the Spirit and is no longer living to gratify the sinful desires of his flesh, but is living to please his Lord in every way, and is the Lord’s servant and witness in sharing the love, grace and mercy of Jesus Christ with others.

I believe this parable of Jesus is concerning this third type of person who is a true child of the Father, by faith in Jesus Christ, but who has temporarily gone astray, and has lost his way, and who needs to come back to the Father in humility and in repentance so that he (or she) can be restored and renewed in his or her walk of faith. I believe he represents many Christians in America who, although delivered from slavery to sin, have allowed themselves to be enslaved by sin and the flesh all over again. I believe many Christians here in America are living worldly lives and that there is not much difference between the church and the world now days. It seems that few believers in Jesus Christ have truly forsaken the flesh and the ways of this sinful world in order to follow Jesus Christ in wholehearted surrender and obedience. So, the church in America is in great need of revival.

Contributing Factors

Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him.

I see two factors here that oftentimes must take place in the life of a wayward believer in Jesus in order for that person to come to his senses. The first thing is that he spent everything, i.e. he exhausted all of his resources. Many believers in Jesus don’t walk in faith and trust in their Lord the way they ought for multiple reasons. Usually life is going pretty well for them. They have a steady income, their marriage is good, their children are healthy, and they have lots of friends, etc. They seem to be able to survive in their own strength and by their own planning and resources, and so they remain self-sufficient and don’t cry out to God in desperation for help because they don’t feel they need help. But, then something happens to their job, marriage, kids, bank accounts, friendships, etc., and suddenly they are without resource to provide for even their basic needs, and then they suddenly realize that they really can’t make it on their own, and they do need God.

The second factor I see is natural or unnatural (man-made) disasters of great magnitude such as Tsunamis, Volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, wars, severe persecutions on a mass scale, famines, and plague, etc. These go way beyond us just exhausting our own resources to creating all kinds of additional havoc, pain and suffering to our lives, perhaps at a seemingly unbearable level to where we may even despair of life. We have the example of the Jewish people of the Old Testament as an example of how, many times, God had to intervene on behalf of his people with divine discipline and correction, in the form of disasters, wars, persecutions, famine, etc., in order to get them to repent of their stubborn rebellion and to acknowledge their God and to call upon him for their healing.

He Came to His Senses

But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.”’ So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

These two factors listed above, combined together, is what finally got the attention of this son so that he finally came to his senses. Sadly enough, it is what often happens in our lives before we wake up and realize the stupidity and the futility of what we have been doing. It is often what it takes to get us to call upon God, to humble ourselves before him, to repent of our sin and to choose once more to walk in his ways and to never look back. And, I believe that this is what is going to have to happen in America in order for the church here to wake up from her slumber, to realize the futility of following after human flesh, and to submit to her Lord as her ONLY Lord and Master of her life.

When the son came to his senses he did not merely voice the words “I’m sorry” hoping to get some immediate relief from his suffering and to be restored as a son to his father. Notice with me what he did. He humbled himself before his father. He did not expect to be given the kind of treatment he received before. He was willing to take the position of a servant. I think one of the biggest hindrances to many Christians in their walks of faith is this “entitlement” mentality where they live their lives like they owe nothing to God but that he owes them everything. We don’t deserve his grace. He gives it to us freely, though. There is nothing we can do to earn our salvation, either, for we could never be good enough in our own merit. Jesus gave everything he had for us so we could go free from sin. We owe him our very lives in full surrender and submission to him (See 2 Co. 5:15; Tit. 2:11-14).

The other thing that the son did is that he repented of his sins. He acknowledged that he had sinned against God, and he was fairly specific in the way in which he had sinned, too. He admitted that his sin, which was obvious in his case, was not only against his human father, but it was also against his heavenly Father. He left his life of sin behind him, he returned home to his father, and he submitted to his lordship over his life. And, this is what needs to take place in our lives, too, when we have wandered off from following our Lord Jesus in unadulterated commitment to him. We must walk away from the sin, return to our Lord, and submit to his rule over our lives, and walk in obedience and surrender to him.

The Celebration!

But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate.

Perhaps you have been a Christian since you were a child and you have followed the Lord Jesus Christ in surrender to his will most all of your life, though not perfectly, but consistently. So, you may not be able to identify with this son. I was there at one time. I have been a believer in Jesus Christ nearly 60 years. For most of my life I have followed my Lord, though not perfectly. I have grown and matured in my walk of faith with him over these years. I had many things to learn and to unlearn, and my Lord taught me so much. Yet, there was a time in those years when life kicked me hard too many times and I gave up and I yielded to my flesh and to the temptations of Satan and I walked away from following my Lord in pure devotion, and I followed my flesh instead. I did things I never imagined I would ever do. I was going to broken cisterns that could not hold water to satisfy the unmet needs in my life and to soothe over the deep hurts, instead of turning to my Lord. So, I do identify with this son to some degree.

Yet, my Lord did not turn away from me. He was always waiting for me to come back. And, when I did he welcomed me with open arms. And, I am sure he celebrated my return. I celebrated, too. There were many tears at first, as I cried it all out to the Lord in humility and in true repentance, but then he comforted me with his love, and he held me close to him, and he restored me and renewed me and then he chose to use me once more to be his servant. That is cause for celebration! Oh, how underserving I am to be called his servant, but it is because of his grace that I am what I am, for it was his grace that saved me, and it was his grace that brought me back to him, and it is his grace that daily sustains and strengthens me and that keeps me in fellowship with him, as I daily surrender to his will for my life and submit to his kingdom work in following him wherever he leads me.

I am still not perfect. He is still working on me to make me into the image of Christ. Lately he has been reminding me much of how I/we need to be focused on him all the time and to truly be in submission to his Lordship in all that I/we do, and how I/we should guard against distractions which take our focus away from God and from what he has called us to do. If I begin to forget this, he gently speaks to my heart, reminding me of why I am here and that I need to keep my eyes fixed on him. Yet, I celebrate all the time the change he has brought about in my life, not only in saving me from sin, but in restoring and renewing me after I had fallen and had wandered off, as well as I celebrate his grace to me always!

I Will Lift My Eyes / An Original Work / December 12, 2012

Based off Psalms 121-125

I will lift my eyes to my Lord Most High.

My help comes from Him, who saved me from sin.

He will not let your foot slip, and He who watches will not sleep.

Our Lord watches over you, and your life He will keep.

I will lift my eyes to my Lord Most High.

My help comes from Him, who saved me from sin.

I give thanks to Him.

I will lift my eyes to my God in heav’n.

I look to the Lord. My sins, He’s forgiv’n.

Because of His great love for us, He made us alive with Christ.

Through the kindness of our Savior, He gave us new life.

I will lift my eyes to my God in heav’n.

I look to the Lord. My sins, He’s forgiv’n;

My home, now in heav’n.

Praise be to the Lord, who is on our side.

Our help found in Him. He gives peace within.

Those who trust will ne’er be shaken. God will supply all we need.

Our Lord has done great things for us. He’s our friend, indeed!

Praise be to the Lord, who is on our side.

Our help found in Him. He gives peace within.

I can count on Him.

https://vimeo.com/112516626

http://originalworks.info/i-will-lift-my-eyes-2/

Like Him

Saturday, February 21, 2015, 9:13 p.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Oh, To Be Like Thee.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Luke 15:1-7 (NASB).

Cruel Reproaches

Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

There will always be people in this life who will find fault with what we do, and who will criticize what they don’t understand, when we are following Jesus Christ with our lives. Yet, we are in good company, because Jesus was continuously criticized, mocked, chastised, condemned, and falsely accused, and his motives questioned, most especially by the religious leaders of the Jewish people. Yet, the Bible says we should count it all joy when we suffer for righteousness’ sake.

So, how did Jesus respond when he was criticized? It depended upon the circumstances and what all and who all was involved in the situation. Yet, most always he took the opportunity to turn what seemed a difficult situation, at best, into a teachable moment. Sometimes he spoke harsh and very pointed words to his opponents as a means to correct and rebuke them, and also so others would know to not follow them. Other times he spoke in parables. Still other times he turned to his disciples (his followers) to teach them what is right and what is wrong and who and what they should listen to and who and what they should not.

I hear so many people portray Jesus as one who “opened not his mouth” to his accusers, yet even if they were applying that merely to his arrest, trial and crucifixion, it does not apply across the board in all situations there because he did answer them in some cases and in others he did not. And, all throughout his ministry he had times when he responded to his accusers, and times when he did not, too, perhaps.

So, if we are to be like Jesus, then how should we respond to those who would accuse and attack us? I know we should not go and tell other people, i.e. we should not gossip about them behind their backs, just so we can “vent” to our friends. I also know that we are to love our enemies (our opposition) - pray for them, do good to them and say kind things to them and/or about them. I know we are not to try to get even with them and to punish them. Yet, being kind does not mean we say nothing or do nothing and we just walk away. We need to look at all the many examples we have in the Gospels of how Jesus responded to being accused falsely and/or criticized because of his words and/or actions. From what I recall, he mostly responded to his accusers, and he told them the truth.

I find today that a good number of Christians have this notion that we should say nothing and just walk away. I don’t believe that was Jesus’ normal response. I also find that a good number of Christians think you should always say positive things because if you don’t then you are not being very encouraging, as though encouragement is always meant to just make us feel good. Lies are never kind and they are not encouraging. They may cause us to feel good temporarily but they will come back to bite us. Jesus always told the truth because he was more interested in changed hearts and lives than he was in making people feel good. He cared more about people hearing what can change them than he was concerned about whether his listeners would end up turning against him. There is a reason that the cross is an offense to those who are perishing. What is best for us is what we need to hear, but it isn’t always what we want to hear. So be kind, but always tell the truth.

Seeking the Wanderer

So He told them this parable, saying, “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

If we think of this parable in terms of sheep being those who have believed in Jesus Christ, then we will see the wandering sheep as a believer who has drifted away from his or her pure devotion to Jesus Christ and has gone back to walking in the flesh instead of in the Spirit. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, will go after those who have left following Jesus to seek after “other gods.” He will do this because he loves us, and because his heart is filled with compassion, and he does not want to see us continue in sin or return to it as a way of life. He died to deliver us out of bondage to sin.

Or we might see this as those who have never believed in Jesus Christ, as the context of the passage would suggest. Those who are already believers in Jesus and who are walking in the Spirit do not need to be sought after to bring us back, unless we have wandered away from our devotion to our Lord and have returned to living to please our sinful flesh. Jesus is seeking after those who are lost and have not found their way or who have lost their way. They are the ones he must bring to repentance and faith (or renewed faith).

So, if we are to be like Jesus, how should we respond to brothers and sisters in Christ who are not walking in the Spirit but according to the flesh? Perhaps they are not really in Christ, but have only made a profession of faith, or perhaps they do know Christ but the temptations of this life drew them back to their old ways. What did Jesus do? He went out searching for the sheep that had wandered off and he brought the sheep back. He didn’t join in with the sheep in their sin. He didn’t just hang out with them and just have a good time with them. He was very intentional and purposeful in what he did. His goal was always to bring people to repentance and to faith in himself and to lead them to follow him in all of his ways and in his truth and righteousness.

So, if we are to be like Jesus, we also should be very intentional in our relationships with others, and we should seek after those who are lost and/or who have wandered off and with the goal and intent to share with them and to model for them how they can come to know Christ and/or to lovingly confront them with their sin and to lead them to repentance so that they can be healed and restored/renewed and/or regenerated of the Spirit of God.

I find today that a good number of Christians are teaching and are believing that we should just mind our own business, that we should “stay in our lane,” and/or that we should not insert ourselves into the lives of others. Many of them also are teaching and believing that we should just go around blessing people by doing good deeds and that we should not share the gospel because we don’t want to appear pushy, or because we don’t want to offend people or make them feel uncomfortable or judged, and so we only say what we think will make people feel good. Yet, is that what Jesus did? No! He inserted himself into people’s lives consistently and that is what got him hated and killed, yet he did so because he loves us, and because he wants us to have lives that are transformed of the Spirit of God and that are no longer walking in the flesh, but in the Spirit and by the Spirit of God. And, we should have that same compassion as Jesus in intentionally seeking after the wanderer to bring him or her to repentance and to faith or renewed faith in Jesus Christ.

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer

Thomas O. Chisholm / W. J. Kirkpatrick

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg

Counting the Cost

Friday, February 20, 2015, 10:00 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Broken and Contrite.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Luke 14:25-33 (NASB).

Following Jesus

Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

On a surface read this sounds pretty drastic, as well as contradictory to Jesus’ other teachings on how we must love others. So, when we come up against a passage of scripture which seems to contradict other scriptures, then we have to compare scripture with scripture, we have to read the passage in context, and we have to look at what other possible meaning could be gathered from the passage that would fit with the context. Above all, we must pray and ask the Spirit of God to guide us into all truth and to grant us wisdom and insight into what the passage is teaching us, because this is to be spiritually discerned.

So, what is the context? Jesus was teaching the crowds who were physically following him that if they truly wanted to be his followers, i.e. his disciples, that there is a cost to following him. What is the cost? They must hate their family members and even their own lives. Yet, since the second greatest commandment (of the two greatest) is to love our neighbors as we love ourselves (See Matt. 22:36-40), I don’t believe Jesus is teaching that we should literally hate others or ourselves. So, what could he possibly mean? I believe Jesus’ words, as is recorded in Luke 9:23-25, help to shed light on this subject. This is where he said that if anyone would come after him he must deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow him. He said whoever tries to hold on to his own life will lose it for eternity, but whoever dies to his old life has eternal life. So, how does this help us with Luke 14?

I believe that to “hate” our family members and ourselves means to let go of them in the sense of not holding on to what we want for our own lives or what we hope to gain from those family relationships, because following Jesus means he is Lord and Master of our lives and he is now the one who calls the shots. When we truly follow him in this way, and we do his will, it may mean we will be rejected and even persecuted by our family members or that we will have to leave them to go where God wants us. So, we must consider our own lives and the lives of others as not our own to possess or to hold on to, and we must not seek to please ourselves or others, aside from pleasing God, or we may have divided hearts and loyalties, and we may end up choosing ourselves and/or our family members over God. Our Lord has to not only be in first place in our lives, but he must BE our life!

So, if we want to be a follower of Jesus Christ, which is what a Christian is, then we must give up our lives and what we want and lay it all down at Jesus’ feet, and we must go wherever he leads us to go, and to be and to do whatever it is he would have us to be and to do, even if it gets us rejected, persecuted or killed in return. We must trust in the absolute sovereignty of God over our lives, trusting that he knows what is best for us, and that he has a plan and a purpose for everything he allows in our lives. We must never compromise who God created us to be, or our faith, in order to please ourselves or others, but we must be sold out to God and to his kingdom work, even if it means leaving behind all that is familiar and secure to us. “All to Jesus I surrender, all to him I freely give…”

Counting the Cost

For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.

So, now that we know what the cost is to following Jesus Christ with our lives, we must count the cost. So, how do we do that? Well, let me first talk about what happens when we don’t count the cost.

So many people today are teaching that coming to Christ merely means we pray a prayer to receive Christ and now we have the hope of heaven when we die, we are forgiven of our sins, and we won’t face eternal punishment in hell. And, that is where they leave it. Added to that, though, they teach that God is pleased with us no matter what we do and that he smiles on us even when we are sinning against him, because when he looks at us he only sees Jesus. So, what is wrong with this? It teaches that God requires nothing of us, and so it ignores all the teachings and instructions (commands) of Jesus Christ. It does not teach that we have to repent (turn from our sins), that we have to die to living for sin and self, that we must be changed in heart and mind of the Spirit of God, and that we are now given new lives in Christ Jesus to be lived in the power of the Spirit in walking according to the Spirit and no longer according to our flesh.

So, what happens then is that the “follower” is not really a follower of Christ because he is still holding on to his old flesh, because he was never required to give it up. It means he continues to live pretty much the way he did before, except he may begin to clean up a few things in his life and to attend church services regularly. It means he has not ceased to be conformed to the patterns of this sinful world, and so he has not really been transformed in the renewing of his mind. He still does what he wants to do, for the most part, only now God is included in some of the things he does, or so he thinks. Yet, what he has been given is a false hope absent of true grace, for 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 Christ’s return. Jesus did not die to give us free license to continue in willful sin without guilt and without remorse. He died to free us from slavery to sin, and to purify for himself a people eager to do what is good (See Tit. 2:11-14).

Now, the person may have genuinely repented of his sin and he may have been born of the Spirit of God, but not taught the cost of following Christ, and so he remains an immature believer until he learns that following Christ means letting go of everything on this earth. As well, we don’t get perfect at this immediately. We are always growing and learning. I know I am. The Lord Jesus is still perfecting me in this area of letting go of what I want and laying it all at his feet, and letting God have his way in my life, even when it hurts like crazy sometimes. Yet, Jesus made it quite clear that if we don’t lay it all down to follow him that we cannot be his disciples. Not one of us will do this perfectly all the time so what does this mean? I believe it goes to the subject of lifestyle and submission to Christ. If we just pray a prayer and think we now have our ticket into heaven but that nothing is required of us and so we continue to live pretty much as we did before, we are in danger of hearing Jesus say to us one day, “Depart from me, I never knew you.”

So, how do we count the cost? First of all we need to know what the cost is so that we can count it, and then we need to decide if we are willing to lay it all down and to go with God or if we still want to hold on to our own lives and continue to be our own boss. If we choose the latter, scripture teaches that we don’t really know God and he doesn’t really know us. So, make sure you really know him today, because your life depends on it. Give your all to Jesus, nothing held back. Let him have his way in your life. Surrender all to him, and be willing to be, to say, to do and to go with him according to his will and his purposes for your life. “I surrender all. I surrender all. All to Thee my blessed Savior, I surrender all.”

Do you want healing for your life? Have you been hurt by sin’s deceitfulness or disappointed by how things have turned out for you, or crushed in spirit due to mistreatment by others? Then, lay it all down at Jesus feet, surrender all to him, consider the cost of following Jesus, and go with God wherever he takes you, and trust him to work all things out for good.

Broken and Contrite / An Original Work / May 13, 2012

I come before You, Lord, my Savior,

With humble heart and crushed in spirit.

I bow before You, I implore You,

Heal my broken heart, I pray.

Love You, Jesus, Lord, my master,

You are the King of my heart.

Lord, purify my heart within me;

Sanctify me, whole within.

Oh, Lord, I long to obey fully

The words You’ve spoken through Your Spirit.

I pray You give me grace and mercy,

Strength and wisdom to obey.

Father God, my heart’s desire,

Won’t You set my heart on fire?

Lord, cleanse my heart of all that hinders

My walk with You, now I pray.

Oh, Jesus, Savior, full of mercy,

My heart cries out for understanding.

I want to follow You in all ways,

Never straying from Your truth.

Holy Spirit, come in power,

Fill me with Your love today.

Lord, mold and make me;

Your hands formed me;

Live Your life through me, I pray.

http://originalworks.info/broken-and-contrite/

https://vimeo.com/118841304

Peace or Division?

Thursday, February 19, 2015, 5:55 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Luke 12:49-53 (NASB).

“I have come to cast fire upon the earth; and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished! Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

Came to Cast Fire

Jesus had just finished speaking to the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law. He spoke with them about how they appeared clean on the outside but inside they were they were full of greed, robbery, and wickedness. They were big on tithing but short on justice and love for God. They loved feeling important and being publicly recognized. They weighed people down with all sorts of external requirements which did nothing to change people’s hearts. As well, they honored those who killed the prophets - who were God’s servants and messengers. So, God was holding them and their generation accountable for the shed blood of innocent lives. And, lastly, not only did they did not possess the key of knowledge that would give them eternal life with God in heaven, but they tried to hinder those who were entering. As a result of what Jesus told them, they plotted against him to try to trap him.

A little while later Jesus addressed his thoughts to his disciples concerning the Pharisees. He warned them against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. And, then he told them of a time coming when all that has been covered up will be revealed, and when all lies will be exposed for what they are. Words that have been spoken in secret, i.e. primarily with the purpose and intent to deceive and to plot evil, it would appear, will be proclaimed on the housetops. I can’t help but think here of all the words that are spoken via email and private messaging and chats and text messages that are so vulnerable to exposure, as well as how even our phone calls can be monitored and recordings made of conversations we have had.

And, then Jesus spoke words of encouragement and comfort to his disciples. They were not to fear those who could kill their physical bodies, for after they had killed them, they could do them no more harm. Instead, they were to walk in the fear of the Lord – to show him honor, value, respect, esteem, reverence, loyalty, devotion, commitment and obedience. He is the only one who has the power to do harm to people once their bodies are dead, for he has the power and the authority to send people to hell. And, yet, he encouraged them that they are not forgotten by God and that God is completely sovereign over every aspect of their lives, down to numbering of the very hairs on their heads. We are valuable to God!

Then he talked about how if we confess him before men, he will confess us before the angels of God, but if we deny him before men, we will be denied before the angels of God. This is obviously not speaking of making a verbal confession, though that is certainly part of it, for many make professions of what they do not truly possess. We confess or deny Jesus Christ by our very lives – our thoughts, words, behaviors, and deeds. As well, Jesus also spoke of not focusing our attention and value on the things of this world but rather we should be seeking God’s kingdom and righteousness, and he will provide all that we need. He spoke, too, of making sure we are ready to meet Jesus Christ when he comes again and that we are busy doing the work of the Lord to which he has called us when he returns.

It was in this context that Jesus said he came to cast fire on the earth, and he wished it were already kindled. So, what is the context? The context is one that addresses the subjects of judgment on sin, warnings against sinning and warnings of judgment, confronting sin, hypocrisy, calling for changed hearts, the fear of the Lord, hell, damnation, loyalty, devotion, obedience, encouragement, hope, healing, humility, faith, priorities, greed, idolatry, generosity, hardship, persecution, martyrdom, God’s kingdom work, last days, and Jesus coming again, and of us being ready to meet him when he comes, and of us being his faithful servants in doing his kingdom work up until the day he returns.

So, the fire that Jesus came to cast upon the earth is both the cleansing fire we experience in regeneration (our salvation), and in revival (renewal), as well as it represents the cleansing fire of judgment on the earth, which is meant to correct wrong, expose lies, and to purify hearts, as well as it is intended to judge and to destroy what is evil.

A Baptism to Undergo

But first he had a baptism to undergo. He was speaking of his suffering and death on the cross that had to take place for us to be saved of our sins, so we could be set free from the punishment of damnation in hell, and free from slavery to sin, and so we would be free to walk in his righteousness. He had to die so that we could be given the hope of eternal life with him in glory. He had to die so that we would be free to no longer live for ourselves but for him who gave himself up for us (See 2 Co. 5:15). He had to die so that he could forgive us of our sins, and so we could be restored to a right relationship with God Almighty. His death had to take place first before all of these other things could come into being.

In order for us to be saved, which is only by God’s grace to us and via the shed blood of Christ on the cross for our sins, we must believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives. To believe in him means that we die with Christ to our old lives of living for sin and self, that we are changed in heart and mind of the Spirit of God, and that we are given new lives in Christ to be lived in the power of the Spirit within us in walking daily in Christ’s righteousness and holiness. In order for us to be saved, we must surrender our wills to the will of the Father in heaven, submit to the cross of Christ in our lives, and follow Jesus Christ in obedience wherever he leads us, and to be and to do whatever he has for us. It does not mean we will live in sinless perfection from this point on but that our goal will be to please our Lord in every way, and that we will not continue in willful sin against God.

A Divided House

I hear so many people these days describing Jesus as someone who just went around doing good, loving on people, accepting people right where they are, not judging anyone, and teaching peace and harmony all the time, as though he was one who came to this earth to bring about world peace and unity among all peoples and all religions.

He did teach that we should not war against one another and that we should live at peace with all people, as much as it depends on us, but never with the thought in mind of us becoming people pleasers or compromisers of faith in order to not make waves, and so everyone will like us. He did not try to not offend people with the truth of the gospel just so their feelings would not be hurt and so they would feel accepted. He did heal the sick and raise the dead and he cast out demons and he comforted the mournful and sorrowful. He did have tremendous compassion on the hurting, the lonely, the afflicted, the persecuted, the sick and the injured. And, yet he spoke the truth boldly, confronted sin in sinful human beings, and he chastised those who were living hypocritically or who lacked faith or who served Satan’s purposes in casting doubt on Jesus’ words. And, that is what got him killed.

If we are to be like Jesus, which we are, then should we not emulate him? Why is that we have this idea that being a Christian means we just go around “blessing” people via good works but we shy away from talking with them about the gospel of their salvation so as not to offend them or to come on too strongly? Why is that we have this idea that we have to develop relationships with the unsaved people of this world over long periods of time, perhaps even years, before we can earn the right to talk with them about Jesus? What happens if they die in that period of time? Then what? Why is it we have this idea that we should dilute the gospel message or only share the non-offensive parts of it, at least initially, so that we don’t scare people away with the truth? Why is it that we think Jesus didn’t judge people? He did! All the time! Why is it we think Jesus just accepted people where they were? Didn’t he regularly confront them with their sin and call them to repentance? Yes, he did! Oh, why can’t we be more like Jesus and less like the world?

When we live our lives after the model of Jesus Christ and his ministry on this earth, all in the power, strength and working of the Holy Spirit within us, then we should be sharing the hard truths of the Word of God and of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and it should offend people, because the cross is an offense to those who are perishing. When we are no longer conformed to the ways of this sinful world, and we come out from the world and are separate, and we live holy lives unlike this sinful world because we are becoming like Christ, then it should be obvious to the world around us and they should hate us. Even the ungodly within our churches should be offended by us and by our message and they should hate us as they hated Christ. Even those within our own households should oppose us and mistreat us and perhaps even be among those who persecute and put us to death.

Jesus didn’t come to earth to make peace with the world. The world is at enmity with him. He didn’t come to make nice with them, but to confront them with their sin, to tell them the truth about their eternal destiny, and to call them to repentance, faith and obedience to Jesus Christ and to his teachings (instructions/commandments). And, we should do likewise. He didn’t come to make life easier for us, either, free from complications, persecutions, hardship or sword. In fact, we are destined for them. What he said here is that when we commit our lives to him, to follow him in surrender and obedience, and to be his servants and witnesses, that even the people of our own families will turn against us and will hate us. Yet, we should rejoice that we are counted worthy to suffer disgrace for the sake of the gospel and the name of Jesus, and for the sake of the salvation of souls for eternity.

Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee / Henry Van Dyke / Beethoven / MacMillan

Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love;

Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee, opening to the sun above.

Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; drive the dark of doubt away;

Giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day!

Thou art giving and forgiving, ever blessing, ever blest,

Wellspring of the joy of living, ocean depth of happy rest!

Thou our Father, Christ our Brother, all who live in love are Thine;

Teach us how to love each other, lift us to the joy divine.

Mortals, join the happy chorus, which the morning stars began;

Father love is reigning o’er us, brother love binds man to man.

Ever singing, march we onward, victors in the midst of strife,

Joyful music leads us Sunward in the triumph song of life.