If you were to write a psalm
of thanksgiving and praise to your Lord for the great things he has done for
you, in you, and through you, what would it say? What first comes to mind? How
has that impacted your life?
The Lord Jesus led me to read
Luke 1 (Select vv. ESV).
And Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my
spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold,
from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is
his name.” vv. 46-49
When I think of the great
things God has done for me, for which I would want to praise and thank him,
immediately what comes to mind is how he rescued me out of darkness and brought
me into his wonderful light; how he lifted me out of the pit of sin, and how he
gave me new life in him, to his praise and glory.
Granted, I was only 7 years
old when I trusted in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, but I was very
cognizant of my sinful condition, and of my need of the Savior.
I can recall so vividly when
this took place. I was at summer camp. It was a church camp I went to one week
out of every year. Our tabernacle, where we had our services, was an open (to
the outdoors) pavilion with hard bench seats. I was probably sitting in the 3rd
or 4th row when the preacher gave the invitation to accept Jesus
Christ as Lord and as Savior of my life.
[The tabernacle (pavilion),
at Beulah Beach Camp, overlooked Lake Erie, which was a very special place for
me. I always felt very close to God there.]
I knew that, traditionally,
we were supposed to go forward and have someone pray with us to receive Christ
as Savior of our lives, but I just sat in my seat weeping over my sin, and
calling on God to save me from my sins, and to give me new life in him. And, he
did! And, when my parents came to pick me up from camp, I immediately told them
of how I trusted in Jesus Christ to save me from my sins.
The Difference
So, what difference did that
make in my life? I was not instantly perfect, I can tell you that, but I now
wanted to obey the Lord with my life. My desire was for him, to do what he
said. I had been modeled hypocritical legalistic Christianity, and I wanted no
part in that. I wanted something that was real, genuine, and alive in my life,
and not words only. I wanted Jesus and his Word to be a reality in my life, in
other words, and not in form only.
So, I began my journey with
Christ, seeking his face, getting into his Word, learning what he taught me,
and following him in surrender to his will for my life. I stumbled along the
way, at times, but then he picked me back up, and he gave me the strength and
endurance to keep pressing on in his strength and power to live for him.
The Christian life is a walk
of faith in Christ where daily, by the Spirit, we put to death the deeds of our
flesh, and we walk in the Spirit, and we are led by the Spirit of God. It is
not a perfect life, for we still live in flesh bodies, but we are now
sensitized to the Holy Spirit’s voice, and we walk in his love and grace, and
when we do sin, we confess our sin, and we keep moving forward, progressing in
our faith and obedience, in the Spirit’s power, as our Lord conforms us to the
likeness of Christ.
“And his mercy is for those who fear him
from
generation to generation.” V. 50
I wish I could say that I
lived a perfect life from that moment forward, but I didn’t. I grew in my
faith, I progressed in my walk with Christ, I was putting sin to death in my
life, and I was walking in the Spirit. And, then one hardship after another
after another took its toll on my life. Those whom God had put there in my life
to help strengthen me, to encourage me, and to help me in my walk of faith,
only led (pushed) me into sin, stomped on my heart when I was walking by the
Spirit, and cared not how their treatment of me might impact me or my walk of
faith in Christ.
So, I finally caved to the
pressures, and I ran from God instead of to him. And, then I would repent of my
sin, call on him, and he would lift me up. And, then there would be more people
in my life who would try to pressure me into sinning against God, i.e. those
who should have been helping me not to sin. And there were those who pounced on
me once more for my obedience to Christ, and so I caved again, then had to
repent again, and then get back on the right road, and walk in fellowship with
my Lord again.
This happened on and off over
a period of several years until God helped me to see what was going on inside
my heart. He helped me to see that I had this idea that Satan still had power
over me and that there was still a question as to who was going to win this
battle. He helped me to see that he had already won that battle for me, so
instead of fighting off Satan’s attacks against me like an abused child, with
arms crossed in front of my face, hoping to not get hit, I had to put on my
spiritual armor God had given me with which to fight off Satan’s schemes
against me, so that is what I did.
The other thing he taught me
was that I needed to trust in his sovereignty over my life. I had to learn to
accept bad times and good times, at least as God permitted, if not as from God
himself, and to not try to escape the pain of them, but to turn to my Lord,
believe that he has my best interest in mind, and allow him to work his will in
my heart through these difficult times. He helped me to close that door on my
former life and to begin anew with him, walking in his Spirit, and not walking
according to the flesh.
So, I praise him and I thank
him for his mercy to me, that he didn’t give up on me, but that he helped me,
when I called on him in truth, and when I honored him as the holy God that he
is, and I sought his counsel and help.
“He has shown strength with his arm;
he has
scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted
those of humble estate;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich
he has sent away empty.” Vv. 51-53
Before we are ever saved from
our sins, God draws us to Christ. In fact, even before he created the world he
chose us in him to be holy and blameless in God’s sight. Then, he persuades us,
by his Spirit, to turn from our sins, and to turn to walk in fellowship with
him, and to walk in his ways. He brings us to that place of humility before
him, where we weep over our sins, and where we recognize our need of him. And,
then he transforms our hearts, gives us new life in him, and he fills our lives
with desire for him.
This doesn’t mean we will
never sin again, or even that we might not have a time of moral failure in our
lives (example of David and Bathsheba). But, if we have been changed in heart
and mind, by the Spirit of God, we should have a sensitivity to his Spirit, to
desire him above all else, to want to walk in his ways, and we should not be
walking (in lifestyle) according to our flesh, but according to the Spirit.
When we do sin, when we stumble and fall, the pain of it all should overwhelm
our hearts, we should humble ourselves before God, repent of our sins, and
surrender to our Lord in obedience.
Where a lot of people go
wrong these days is that they see salvation as a mere escape from hell and the
promise of heaven when they die, no matter how they live their lives from this
moment forward. There is no fear of God in their lives, for they walk in the
flesh with no conscience as to the fact that what they are doing is wrong. They
make excuses for their sins, justify their actions, then lie about what they
did so that others will think well of them. They may feel badly when they get
caught, but that is a worldly sorrow, not a godly sorrow which leads to
repentance.
So, although being a Christian
does not mean we are instantly perfect and that we will never sin again, being
a Christian means we no longer walk (in lifestyle) without conscience, and in
sin, and without true repentance. If our lives are defined by addiction to sin,
continuously repeating the same behaviors over and over again, without true
repentance, and without true regret, but stubbornly going our own way, doing
what we want, no matter how it hurts others, then scripture says we are not
truly saved, and we don’t have the hope of heaven when we leave this earth.
Please, take this to heart. Your eternity depends on you knowing and walking in
the truth.
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.
Saturday, December 16, 2017,
6:56 a.m. – Thank you, Jesus, for what you have done in my life, in delivering
me out of the pit of sin, and in giving me new life in you, of the Spirit, and
for helping me to walk in love and purity.
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