Wednesday, April 29,
2015, 4:39 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Refresh My Spirit, Lord.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I
read Romans 1 (selected NASB).
Not Ashamed
Paul was a servant of Jesus Christ, set apart for the gospel
of God – “the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy
Scriptures regarding his Son… Jesus Christ our Lord” (vv. 1-4). The apostles
received grace and apostleship through Jesus Christ to call people to “the
obedience that comes from faith” (v. 5). Paul wrote this letter to “all in Rome
who are loved by God and called to be saints;” to those “called to belong to
Jesus Christ” (v. 6-7). First he thanked God for all of them, because their
faith in Jesus Christ was being reported all over the world. Paul prayed for
them continually. He prayed, by God’s will, that a door may be opened for him
to go see them, that he might bring them some encouragement and strengthen them
in their faith. He desired to have a spiritual harvest among them, and he was
eager to preach the gospel there in Rome (See: vv. 8-15).
For
I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to
everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the
righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But
the righteous man shall live by faith.” ~ Ro. 1:16-17
So, what was this gospel of which he was not ashamed? It is
actually quite simple. Jesus Christ, God the Son, left his throne in heaven,
came to earth, took on human form, and suffered and was tempted in like manner
as we suffer and are tempted, yet without sin. He healed the sick and afflicted,
raised the dead, delivered from demonic possession, comforted the sorrowful,
and spoke messages of hope and healing to all who would listen. Jesus also
confronted sin in sinful human beings, calling for repentance and faith in
Jesus Christ. Many loved and followed him, yet many more hated and persecuted
and rejected him. His strongest opponents were the self-righteous and hypocritical
religious leaders of the Jewish people. They hounded him all throughout his
ministry on this earth, criticizing, rebuking, and falsely accusing him of
actions and motivations not belonging to him.
The religious leaders of the Jewish people, and in the
temple, hated him so much that eventually they had him crucified on a cross, as
though he was a common criminal. Yet, this was all in God’s plan for our
redemption. When Jesus died, our sins died with him. When he was resurrected
from the dead, he rose victorious over hell, Satan, sin and death. He did all
this for you and for me so that we could be saved (delivered) from the ultimate
penalty of sin (eternal damnation), so we could be free from the control of sin
over our lives day-to-day, so we can now walk in the Spirit in Christ’s
righteousness and holiness, and so we could have eternal life with God in his
heavenly kingdom. By God’s grace to us, in sending his Son to die on a cross
for our sins, and through faith in Jesus Christ, we are saved.
Although a free gift from God, meaning we can do nothing of
ourselves to earn or to deserve such a great salvation, we still must receive
this gift by faith. So, what does this faith look like? Jesus said it well, and
his apostles taught the same message. Jesus said that if anyone would come
after him, he must deny self, die daily to sin and self, and follow him in
obedience. He said if we hold on to our old lives of living for sin and self,
we will lose them for eternity, but if we willingly die with Christ to sin, we
will gain eternal life (See: Lu. 9:23-25). He also said his sheep listen to him
and they follow (obey) him (See: Jn. 10).
Paul reiterated the same message when he said the way we
come to know Christ is by putting off our old self, “which is being corrupted
by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your mind; and to
put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness”
(See: Eph. 4:17-24; cf. Ro. 6-8; Ac. 26:16-18; 1 Pet. 2:24-25). Jesus Christ
died, not just so we could escape hell and go to heaven when we die. He died to
deliver us from slavery to sin, and to free us to live holy, upright and
pleasing lives to God while we walk the face of this earth (See: Ro. 12:1-2; 2
Co. 5:15). God’s grace is not a free license to continue in willful sin against
God, claiming that God’s grace covers it all. No, his grace, which brings
salvation, teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to
live self-controlled, godly and upright lives while we wait for Christ’s return
(See: Tit. 2:11-14). If we are not delivered out of slavery to sin, then it is
not grace!
Who Suppress the
Truth
For
the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that
which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to
them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal
power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what
has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God,
they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their
speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they
became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in
the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling
creatures.
Therefore
God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their
bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for
a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is
blessed forever. Amen.
For
this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged
the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the
men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire
toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in
their own persons the due penalty of their error.
And
just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over
to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with
all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit,
malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant,
boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding,
untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of
God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do
the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them. ~ Ro. 1:18-32
The spiritual condition of human beings, as described in
these verses, not only applies to those who have outright rejected Jesus Christ
as Lord and as Savior of their lives, but it also applies, to some degree, to
those who have made a profession of Jesus Christ as Lord of their lives. There
are probably just about as many in the modern church of today, at least here in
America, who suppress the truth of God’s Word, as there are out in the world those
who suppress the truth of God and of His Word. How do I know? I have seen it
first-hand in multiple church congregations, I have experienced similar moral
failure in my own life (past) while still a believer in Christ, and I have read
numerous books and articles by Christian authors who have expressed similar
concerns for today’s modern church and its moral and spiritual condition, so I
know this is widespread, and is not just of local concern. As well, the Spirit
of God has made me aware of much of this going on within the church, and has
impressed on my heart that this is a serious issue that needs to be addressed
and rectified (cf. Rev. 2-3).
Some of the ways in which truth is being suppressed in both
the church and out in the world today is through cover-ups, denial of known
truth, ignoring what we know is true, putting a false front over wicked hearts,
as did the Pharisees, and putting “Band-Aids” over serious sin wounds via
diluting the gospel of Jesus Christ to make it more appealing and acceptable to
the world, so that the “gospel” does not make people uncomfortable or feel
judged. Suppression of the truth is also accomplished through exchanging the
truth for a lie, i.e. through convincing ourselves that it is “really not so
bad.” We compromise with the world in order to win the world, but to what? -
Just a Christianized version of what the world is offering.
As well, many of our national governments are part of the “beast”
global government that is consuming the nations of this world, and is creating
terrorism, false flag operations, uprisings, and unnatural disasters, etc., so
that they can come in and take over these nations, with the goal to then bring
them under the rule of the “beast,” i.e. the New World Order. See: http://originalworks.info/a-familiar-narrative/
Much of the mainstream media is already government
controlled and is used as an arm of deception for this global rule in order to
suppress the truth so that we, they hope, will believe the lie and will be
deceived and will play into their hands. The purpose of some of this deception
is to try to turn us one against the other – black and white, gay and non-gay,
Muslim and Christian, right and left, conservative and liberal, and followers
of the false gospel (diluted) and those who hold to the testimony of Jesus and
obey his commands. So, we need to be wise and discerning, we need to be in the
Word and in prayer, and we need to ask the Spirit of God to make us aware of
these suppressions of truth and these lies being passed off as truth so we are
not easily deceived, too (cf. Rev. 12-14).
“But
examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from
every form of evil” (1 Thess. 5:21-22).
Refresh
My Spirit, Lord / An Original Work / August 8, 2011
Based
off of Psalm 51 & Matthew 11:28-30
Refresh my spirit, Lord.
Revive my heart today.
Move me to serve You,
Lord in all I do and say.
Be my heart’s one desire;
my spirit set on fire
In pure devotion, Lord,
to love you and obey.
Create within me, Lord,
a pure heart, this I pray,
So I can worship You
and yield to You always.
May all Your love and pow’r
be lived in me, I pray,
So I might love as You;
be Your witness today.
Jesus says, “Come to me
all you with heavy hearts,
And find in me your peace,
and give to me your all.
My yoke is light to bear,
‘cause I paid for your sin,
So you might be set free,
and purified within.”
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