Honored You'll Be

In Isaiah 49 we read a prophecy concerning Jesus Christ, our Lord and Messiah, our Savior. And yet, as his followers, we are his body, and he dwells within us in the person of the Holy Spirit. So, we are to carry on his ministry on this earth, to do the things he did, in his power within us. And, if we are doing that, we will experience much the same as what he did.

Jesus, as the Christ, is the anointed one of God, and yet we are also anointed of God as his ministers and priests. And, we are to share the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light. We are to be Jesus’ hands and feet to the world about us, in carrying his love and his gospel message to them.

Even before the creation of the world God knew us and he set us apart to be his servants and witnesses, and to give him glory by how we live our lives. If we trust him with our lives, he will supply us with all we need to live godly and holy lives, pleasing to him. And, he will put his words in our mouths, and he will give us what to say when we testify of his grace.

But, ministry can be hard, at times. And, sometimes we may labor for a long while before we see fruit for our labor. We may even face much opposition, and it may seem that what God has called us to do is not making much of a difference in people’s lives, because we can’t physically see the results, or because it seems like the words God gives us to say are falling on deaf ears. And, so we may get disheartened.

And, then we need to remember that our lives are in God’s hands for him to do with what he wills, and the results we must leave to him. Our job is just to obey him in doing what he has called us to do. And, God will give the increase, all in his perfect timing. We just need to keep on in doing what he has called us to do, in his strength, and trust him with the results. Although right now we may be despised, rejected and forsaken, as was Jesus, one day we will be honored for what we did in service to our Lord, when our Lord returns. Until then, we must know that God values us, and he loves us.

Honored You’ll Be

An Original Work / March 31, 2018

Based off Isaiah 49:1-7

Before I was born,

The Lord called me.

From my own mother’s womb,

Spoke He my name.

In His loving hands,

My Lord hid me.

Like a sword that is sharp,

My mouth He made.

“My servant, you are,”

He said to me,

“From within you, I show

My majesty.”

But, I said that I

“In vain labored.

I have spent all my strength

For not a thing.”

Yet, it came to me,

“What is due me –

My reward that’s with God,

Is in His hands.”

The Lord now does say,

“I have formed you

For My servant to be,

At My command.

“I have pardoned you

For My purpose.

I delivered you from

All of your sin.

“I have called to you,

‘Be My witness.

Be My light to the world

To the earth’s end.’

“I have chosen you,

You are valued

In the eyes of the Lord.

Your strength I’ll be.”

The Lord said to me,

“I have loved you.

Though forsaken you are,

Honored you’ll be.”

Suffering for Righteousness

A Man of Sorrows

Isaiah 53:1-3 ESV

Who has believed what he has heard from us?

    And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

For he grew up before him like a young plant,

    and like a root out of dry ground;

he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,

    and no beauty that we should desire him.

He was despised and rejected by men,

    a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;

and as one from whom men hide their faces

    he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

As Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, was treated, so will we who follow him be treated. He was hated, despised, rejected, persecuted, abandoned, betrayed, denied, falsely accused, wrongfully arrested, beaten, mocked and then hung on a cross to die, although he had done no wrong. Why? Because he told people the truth about their sin, because he claimed to be who he was and is, and because he did not conform to the traditions of men.

So, if we truly follow him with our lives, in being his servants and witnesses in taking the gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth, and in living in his righteousness, following his example, then we will also be hated and persecuted.

But, who were Jesus’ fiercest opponents? They were the Jews, who were then God’s people. But they were also the religious leaders within the temple of God. What is the temple of God today? It is the church, but not a physical building or a denomination or an organization, but the people of God, the body of Christ.

So, we should not at all be surprised if our strongest opponents are from within the church, too, and among the leadership, but not necessarily from among those within the body of Christ, but from among those who make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ, but who are hypocrites, as were the Pharisees and many of the religious leaders of Jesus’ day.

He Bore our Sins

Isaiah 53:4-6 ESV

Surely he has borne our griefs

    and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

    smitten by God, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions;

    he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

    and with his wounds we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray;

    we have turned—every one—to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

    the iniquity of us all.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and yet God himself, the second person of our triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – left his throne in heaven, came to earth, took on human flesh, suffered as we suffer, was tempted as we are also tempted, yet without sin, and then was crucified on a cross for our sins.

He who knew no sin became sin for us on that cross so that when he died, our sins died with him, and were buried with him. And, when he was resurrected from the dead, he rose victorious over sin, death, hell and Satan on our behalf. So, through faith in him, we can be delivered from slavery to sin and be set free to walk with him in his righteousness and holiness.

We, as his followers, will never be able to take upon ourselves the sins of the world in the same way in which Jesus did, nor is that necessary, for Jesus died once for all, and only he can take away the sins of the world. Nonetheless, many are called upon to suffer and die for the sake of the name of Jesus Christ and for the sake of his gospel of salvation, because they are laying down their lives in order to see others go free.

They are sacrificing their own reputations, and they are putting themselves in harm’s way by the very fact that they are doing what Jesus did in telling people the truth about their sins, and by calling people to repentance, and by not conforming themselves to the ways of this sinful world.

It Was God’s Will

Isaiah 53:10-12 ESV

Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;

    he has put him to grief;

when his soul makes an offering for guilt,

    he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;

the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;

by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,

    make many to be accounted righteous,

    and he shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,

    and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,

because he poured out his soul to death

    and was numbered with the transgressors;

yet he bore the sin of many,

    and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Yet, it was the will of God that Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, should have to suffer and die on a cross for our sins. Why? Because when we are born into this world we are born with sin natures, separate from God, without hope, and destined for hell and eternal punishment. We can do nothing to earn or to deserve our own salvation, too, because we can never be good enough.

So, God’s plan for putting our sin to death and for setting us free from the curse of sin was to send his Only Begotten Son to the cross to die for our sins. Jesus Christ was the perfect Lamb sacrifice to take away our sins. His blood shed on the cross for our sins bought us back for God so that we can be reconciled with God, forgiven of our sins, and have the hope of eternal life with God in heaven.

So, when we believe in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives, by the Spirit of God we are crucified with Christ in death to sin, and we are resurrected with Christ in newness of life, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. We leave our old lives of sin behind us, and we now walk according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh.

Yet, it was not only the will of God that Jesus should suffer and die for us so that we could be set free of the curse of sin and our slavery to sin, and it is not only his will that we should die to sin and live to righteousness, but it is also his will that we should suffer by being hated and persecuted for righteousness’ sake. For, through our suffering we are being conformed to the likeness of Christ, we are learning obedience, perseverance, and patience, and we are growing in our walks of faith. And, God is using us in the lives of others to see them also be set free from their slavery to sin.

For Our Nation  

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Trust Him with your life today.

Make Him your Lord and your Savior.

Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.

He will forgive you of your sin;

Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.

On our knees to God we’re praying,

Seeking God to give us answers

That are only found in Him.

God is sovereign over all things.

Nothing from His mind escaping.

He has all things under His command,

And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: we’re believing

In our Lord, and interceding

For our nation and its people

To obey their God today.

He is our hope for our future.

For our wounds He offers suture.

He is all we need for this life.

Trust Him with your life today.

https://vimeo.com/112351857

Saturday, March 31, 2018, 3:00 a.m. – Thank you, Jesus, for this teaching from Your Word today. May we find encouragement in these words.

Refresh My Spirit, Lord

Sometimes our bodies get tired and need rest. Other times our spirits get tired and need refreshed, i.e. our emotions sometimes get drained, or even our spiritual lives might feel like something is missing. Sometimes it is because we lack true Christian fellowship with the Body of Christ, and therefore we are not getting the encouragement from others that we need. Or, it can be because the Body of Christ has been rejecting, mocking, ostracizing and/or marginalizing us, instead.

There can also be times when we are under serious attack from our enemy Satan or when our brothers and sisters in Christ (or professing Christians) attack us at every turn, or else they ignore, avoid, and snub us. Or it can be that we face much resistance when we share the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is at those times when we need our spirits refreshed and our souls revived.

For me, my times alone with my Lord in prayer and in his word refresh my spirit, as well as does listening to and/or singing songs of worship and praise to my Lord, or songs of encouragement, hope, healing and leading in the ways of the Lord. And, other times God sends along an encourager at just the right time to give me what I need in order to help me keep going. The Holy Spirit is the best encourager I know. He is the motivating force in my life which keeps me pressing on even in the face of many difficulties and persecutions.

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.”

https://vimeo.com/126092767

Clothed

Our Earthly Tent

2 Corinthians 5:1-5 ESV

For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

As followers of Christ, while we live on this earth, we live in flesh bodies. We experience pain, suffering, sickness, temptation, and physical hunger and thirst. Yet, one day our Lord will return to take us home to be with him forever, and we will no longer be in these flesh bodies, because He will give us glorified bodies. And, temptation, sorrow, sickness and pain will be no more, for he will wipe away every tear from our eyes. Amen!

Of Good Courage

2 Corinthians 5:6-10 ESV

So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

But, God put us in these flesh bodies and on this earth for a time, and for a specific purpose. He did not save us just so we could go to heaven when we leave this earth. He saved us in order to transform us from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so we could receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Jesus Christ.

He saved us from our sins to deliver us out of slavery to sin and so that we might walk in his righteousness and holiness. He saved us so that we would become his own people to glorify him with our lives, and to do what pleases him. We are here on this earth to give him glory, in other words, and that our lives might be for his praise. And, we are here to serve him in doing whatever it is that he has called us to do, and that we might be his witnesses in sharing the gospel of our salvation with the world around us.

We are not here on this earth to live to please ourselves, in other words. We are not here to be incessantly entertaining ourselves and living for self-pleasure. When Jesus Christ died on that cross, and he became sin for us, and he put sin to death, he did so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. With his blood shed on the cross, he bought us back for God that we might honor God with our lives.

The Fear of God

2 Corinthians 5:11-15 ESV

Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

So many people today have lost this whole concept of the fear of the Lord. Fear of God has to do with reverence, awe, respect and honor of him. So many people take God and his grace for granted, or they have this idea that God is here for them, and not the other way around. Jesus didn’t save us from our sins so we could continue in sin guilt free. He saved us to deliver us from slavery to sin so we might walk in his holiness, according to his Spirit.

Walking in the fear of the Lord is what it means to be saved from our sins. It is what it means to have Jesus Christ as Lord of our lives. It is what is meant by being “born again.” Our old lives of living for sin and self are forsaken and now we live for the Lord, for his righteousness, and to advance his eternal kingdom, not to advance our earthly kingdoms. Being a Christian is about being Christlike. It is not about slightly cleaning up our old fleshly lives.

New Creations in Christ

2 Corinthians 5:16-21 ESV

From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

We don’t add Jesus Christ and his salvation on to our old lives. When we believe in Jesus Christ, we die to our old lives, and he gives us new lives in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. The way in which we used to conduct our lives, in the flesh, is done away with, and the new way of living in the Spirit has now taken the place of our old lives.

But, this is not something we generate in our own flesh. Certainly we can produce change in our flesh to a certain degree, but we can never earn or deserve our own salvation. For, no matter how much we might try, we can never be good enough, for we still have these sin natures. So, it is only through faith in Jesus Christ that we can have these transformed lives and that we can walk in the Spirit and no longer according to our flesh.

So, the message here is that, if we have not yet done so, we should surrender our lives to Jesus Christ, die with him to sin, and be raised with him to newness of life in him, and then walk in Him, in His Spirit within us. For Jesus died on that cross, not just to forgive us our sins, but that we might become the righteousness of God, not just positionally, but in practice, too. For, if we walk in sin, according to the flesh, we will die in our sins, not have eternal life with God in heaven.

Living Sacrifices  

An Original Work / September 14, 2012

Based off Romans 12:1-2; 6:11-14 NIV

Oh, holy ones, I counsel you,

In view of God’s mercy,

To give yourselves to God in love

As living offerings,

Pleasing to God, holy in love.

This is your true worship.

Do not conform to worldly lives.

Let God transform you today.

Then you’ll be able to

Test and approve of what

God’s will is – His pleasing

And perfect will. Oh, holy ones,

I counsel you – Offer yourselves unto God.

Oh, holy ones, I counsel you –

Do not be conceited.

Humble yourselves before your God.

Do not be self-righteous.

The strength you have to live in love

Comes from your Lord God, so

Live your new lives in pow’r of God.

Be changed in heart, mind and will.

Do this because of what

Christ did for you when

He died on the cross to save

The world from sin. Oh, holy ones,

I counsel you – Humble yourselves before God.

Oh, holy ones, I counsel you –

Count yourselves dead to sin,

But be alive to God in Christ.

Do not let sin reign in

Your earthly lives so you

Obey its evil desires.

Offer yourselves unto your God

As those who’ve been born again.

For sin shall no longer be

Your lord and master.

Give of yourselves to God

For righteousness. Oh, holy ones,

I counsel you – Be alive to God in Christ.

https://vimeo.com/118480946

Thursday, March 29, 2018, 6:00 a.m. – Thank you, Jesus, for these words.

Don't Choke!

Thieves and Robbers

John 10:1-6 NIV

“Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.

Jesus Christ, God the Son, our Lord and Savior, is both the shepherd of the sheep and the gate by which we enter into relationship with God. He left his throne in heaven, came to earth, took on human form, and was crucified on a cross for our sins. He who knew no sin became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God. When we believe in him, we become part of his body, the body of Christ, the church, i.e. we are now his sheep.

Nonetheless, many are trying to enter into relationship with God by other ways other than through Jesus Christ. Many of these, though, make a pretense of having entered through Christ or else they believe falsely that they have entered through Christ because they have followed after the lies of men in their deceitful scheming. Or, they are not truly trying to enter into relationship with God at all, but they have infiltrated the church under false pretenses in order to steal from (spiritually) and/or to kill and destroy believers in Jesus Christ and the gospel message of our salvation.

These false shepherds of the sheep are hypocritical liars who pretend to have a relationship with Jesus Christ, but it is lip service only. Their hearts do not belong to God but to Satan. And, they serve their own flesh, not the Lord. They are leading God’s people astray, and they are leading many to a false grace gospel which leaves its adherents still in slavery to sin, and bound for hell, while promising them freedom and the hope of heaven.

The way in which they do this is by teaching a half-truth gospel. A half-truth, if told on purpose, is still a lie. They cleverly blend lies and truth together to make it sound like truth to unsuspecting ears, while they are luring their converts into a well-laid trap. For, you see, they teach that God’s grace requires no repentance, no obedience to Christ and no submission to the cross, i.e. to death to sin and living to righteousness. But, that is a lie!

For, God’s grace to us is that Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. This is the essence of the gospel. God’s grace, which brings salvation, instructs us to say “No!” to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives while we await Christ’s return. His grace to us delivers us from slavery to sin, it does not coddle us in our sin so that we don’t feel guilty about continuing in sinful practices.

Thus, the Lord’s true sheep, those who have died with him to sin, and have been born again of the Spirit of God, who are being led by the Spirit, know the truth of the gospel, so they don’t follow after the lies of Satan. They resist the lies and they hold on to the truth. They guard what has been entrusted to them with the help of the Holy Spirit so the thieves cannot break in and steal, kill and destroy. And, they expose the lies of Satan and of his false shepherds so that people will know the truth, because it is in believing the truth that they will truly be set free.

The Good Shepherd

John 10:7-13 NIV

Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

The truth of the gospel is that faith in Jesus Christ is divine persuasion as to God’s will for our lives. If we are persuaded by God, as to his will for our lives, we will, thus, submit to those purposes. We will yield to the Lordship of Christ, and we will thus be crucified with Christ in death to sin, and be resurrected with Christ to newness of life, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Our old lives of living for sin and self will be forsaken, and we will now walk (in lifestyle) according to the Spirit and no longer live our lives to gratify the sinful cravings of our flesh.

For, if we walk according to the flesh, in darkness, and we hold on to our old lives, we will lose our lives for eternity, i.e. we won’t have eternal life with God. If we make sin our practice, we will die in our sins. For, if we sow to please the flesh, from the flesh we will reap corruption (destruction). But, if we sow to please the Spirit, from the Spirit we will reap eternal life. If we claim to have fellowship with God, but we walk in wickedness, we are liars.

The false shepherds of the people care nothing about God’s people. They are just being paid to do a job, and part of that job is to lead people away from God and to a flesh-driven false grace gospel so that they will remain in bondage to sin and under Satan’s control. Their job is to lie to the people and to prepare the way for the control of the beast and the false prophet. And, these false shepherds are political and religious leaders in the world whose job it is to destroy the church and the gospel of our salvation.

So, when their job is finished, and it is time for the beast and the false prophet to rule the world, they will step aside and they will allow this beast to rule and to attack the church. But, we need to hold on to Christ and the gospel of our salvation, and guard what has been entrusted to us with the help of the Holy Spirit, so that, even though we are attacked, mistreated, falsely accused, wrongfully imprisoned or whatever else they may do to us, we remain strong in our faith and in our commitments to Christ and to his gospel.

The Lord’s Sheep

John 10:24-30 NIV

The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”

Many people quote the second half of this passage of scripture minus the first half, and they claim this promise for all who merely profess faith in Jesus Christ. But, the reality of this is that if we are true sheep, we will listen to our Lord, and we will follow him in obedience. This is not saying we will live in absolute sinless perfection, but that sin no longer has mastery over our lives, but Jesus Christ is truly our Lord (owner-master), and our lives are now given over to him to follow him in his ways and in his truth.

So, know the truth, and live the truth, and it will set you free. Also, know the lies so that you can resist them with the truth, to help others to be free, too, and to keep you from being deceived by these clever enchanters.

The Heart of Man  

An Original Work / April 4, 2012

Based off Matt. 15:1-20; Mk. 7:1-23

Listen to me ev’ryone and

Understand this teaching of Christ:

Why do you break the commands

Of God for the sake of tradition?

When you follow the ways of man,

And don’t obey the words of Christ,

You nullify the words of God,

And you hold to the ways of man.

What comes out of a man’s mouth is

What makes him unclean and dirty.

The things that come out of the mouth

Come from the heart, from within him.

The heart of man is so sinful;

From his nature, out comes evil:

Lying, cursing, greed and malice,

Lust and lewdness, deceit, slander.

Jesus calls us to obey him;

Turn from our sins; follow His ways.

Yet, his people honor him with their lips,

but their hearts not with Him.

Their worship of God is in vain.

Their teachings are rules taught by man.

Jesus calls us; gently leads us

To return and follow His truth.

https://vimeo.com/125490002

Wednesday, March 28, 2018, 12:51 p.m. – Thank you, Jesus, for this truth from Your Word. Make it real to our hearts, I pray in Jesus’ name.

Confession of Sin

We read in 2 Samuel 11 a story about King David, who was regarded as a man after God’s own heart. One day David lusted after a woman named Bathsheba. From his roof he saw her bathing, and so he inquired about her. He found out who she was, and that she was married to Uriah, one of his soldiers, who had gone to battle with his other soldiers. So, he sent for Bathsheba, and he slept with her, and then she became pregnant.

David, in order to cover up his sin with Bathsheba, called Uriah, her husband, home from battle, but Uriah, a man of integrity, refused to go home to his wife and to sleep with her as long as his fellow soldiers were out on the battle field sleeping in tents. So, David arranged for Uriah to be killed in battle. Then, after Uriah’s wife had grieved his death, David sent for her, and he married her, and she bore him a son.

Then the Lord sent the prophet Nathan to David to confront him with his sin. Nathan, directed by the Lord, used a parable to bring David to the conscious realization of the gravity of his sin. When David declared that such a man as was mentioned in the parable should die, then Nathan told him that he, David, was the man in the parable. Then, Nathan spoke God’s words against David, and then David repented of his sin. God told him he would live, but that his son would die, and he did.

But, God blessed David and Bathsheba with another son, Solomon, and through David’s family line, from his union with Bathsheba, and through Solomon’s descendants, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior was born. God forgave David of his sin, but he did suffer many natural consequences for his sin, and yet God continued to bless him. God’s plan all along was that the Savior of the world would be born from David’s family line, which is why Jesus is sometimes referred to as the Son of David.

Well, David, after he was confronted with his sin, and he confessed his sin to God and to Nathan, wrote a psalm of confession of his sin. This poem is based off that psalm. And, it is a message of hope to us, because no matter what we have done, no matter how horrible it was, it is not beyond God’s ability to forgive, and to restore, and even to bless our lives, and for God to still use us for his purposes and for his glory.

Confession of Sin

An Original Work / March 27, 2018

Based off Psalm 51

Have mercy on me, O my God.

According to Your gracious love.

Blot out my sins.

Cleanse me within.

Bring comfort to me from above.

I come before You with my sin.

Such evil against You I’ve done.

Sinful at birth;

Covered with filth.

Yet, faithfulness still You did want.

Of joy’s gladness, let me now hear.

From me, all my sadness, expend.

Pure heart, let be,

Now within me.

Renew a firm spirit within.

Then I will teach sinners Your ways,

Now turning their hearts back to You.

My tongue will sing

Of righteousness.

Lord, from my lips, now praise is due.

I sacrifice my life to You,

So holy and pleasing to God.

A contrite heart

You’ll not despise.

To my Savior, I give my heart.

Dependence on God

Are you weary? Are you troubled over any circumstances in your life? Is your heart heavy over any of life’s situations? Are you being ill-treated? Abused? Rejected? Hated? Persecuted for righteousness’ sake? Do the troubles in your life seem to outnumber the hairs on your head? If so, there is hope!

Rest in God

Psalm 62:1-2 NIV

Truly my soul finds rest in God;

    my salvation comes from him.

Truly he is my rock and my salvation;

    he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

We can do nothing, in many cases, about the difficulties of our lives, if they come to us from sources other than from ourselves. We have absolutely no control over other people and what they do or don’t do, unless they are under our authority, and even then, our hands may be tied, at times. And, worrying and fretting over these situations never changes anything, either.

So, if we are followers of Jesus Christ, we learn to take our burdens to the Lord and to lay them at his feet. And, we learn to rest in him and to not fret. Even if we feel fear, which we sometimes will, we give it over to the Lord, and we let him fill our hearts with his peace.

We must know, though, that fear is one of Satan’s greatest tactics against us, and he doesn’t give up easily, so we have to make this our regular practice to recognize when we are feeling fear, and then to immediately take our fears to the Lord in prayer and to hand them over to him, and to keep handing them over to him, and then to keep turning our hearts to him in prayer and in resting in him. And, it is there that we will find peace.

They Delight in Lies

Psalm 62:3-4 NIV

How long will you assault me?

    Would all of you throw me down—

    this leaning wall, this tottering fence?

Surely they intend to topple me

    from my lofty place;

    they take delight in lies.

With their mouths they bless,

    but in their hearts they curse.

We, as human beings, will always have enemies. We will always have people who won’t like us, for whatever reason, and who will hate and persecute us. Yet, as followers of Jesus Christ, Satan is our real enemy, because he is God’s enemy, so he will come against us to try to defeat us, and he will use other human beings to try to bring us down, too.

One of Satan’s biggest weapons against us is lies. He whispers lies into our ears or into our minds on a regular basis, so we need to get to know his lies, and his evil tactics he uses against us, so that we can combat them with the armor of God with which God has supplied us to fight off our enemy.

We have to remember here that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light and his servants masquerade themselves as servants of righteousness. So, their lies may be very subtle and may be mixed in with the truth. So, what they say may sound like truth. It may sound good to our ears. So, we need to pray for much discernment so that we don’t get trapped by their lies.

He is My Rock

Psalm 62:5-8 NIV

Yes, my soul, find rest in God;

    my hope comes from him.

Truly he is my rock and my salvation;

    he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.

My salvation and my honor depend on God;

    he is my mighty rock, my refuge.

Trust in him at all times, you people;

    pour out your hearts to him,

    for God is our refuge.

If we want to have victory over fear or worry, or if we want wisdom from God regarding our circumstances, or if we want to have discernment so that we do not fall into a web of deceit, and get tricked into believing lies, then we need to be grounded in the Word of God. But, this is not about head knowledge. This is about heart knowledge. We must not only know what the Word teaches us, but we must be ones who put the Word into practice.

Yet, if we want to be those who know the truth, and who practice the truth, then we need to, by the Spirit of God, be putting to death the deeds of the flesh in our lives, as our regular practice. We can’t live in two worlds at the same time, in other words. We can’t be giving the devil a foothold in our lives because we are dabbling in things we know are wrong for us, and then wonder why we don’t have victory. We have to put off the old in order to put on the new. The old has to die for the new, in Christ, to be able to thrive.

In other words, Jesus has to be the Lord of our lives. If we are still walking in the flesh, regularly giving in to the evil desires of the flesh, playing with sin, toying with temptation, and if we are not willing to yield to the Lordship of Christ in our lives, then we will go through life just spinning our wheels and going nowhere. Jesus has to be our Rock, our solid foundation. And, our trust has to be wholly in him, and our hearts yielded to him, if we are going to walk in victory over darkness and live in the light of truth.

His Unfailing Love

Psalm 62:11-12 NIV

One thing God has spoken,

    two things I have heard:

“Power belongs to you, God,

    and with you, Lord, is unfailing love”;

and, “You reward everyone

    according to what they have done.”

Oh, how I love my Lord! I am so thankful for his love, his grace, and his mercy towards me. I am so thankful, too, for his salvation from slavery to sin so that I can walk in freedom, and so that sin no longer has mastery over my life. I am grateful, as well, that I do not have to walk this life alone, but that he is there with me, and within me, helping, guiding, counseling, loving, encouraging and strengthening me all the way. I could not do this without him! My dependency is wholly in him to make it through each day.

Knowing that God is completely sovereign over every aspect of my life gives me peace. Knowing that he is totally in control, and that nothing can come against me unless God allows it, and he allows it for a purpose, gives me calm assurance that the difficulties I face are not without reason, and that God is going to work his will in my heart through it all. If I did not know this, I could not endure what all I have gone through. I know that fully well.

What I know is that God is love, but that love also means that he works things together for good in my life. It also means that he allows me to go through trials and tribulations, for through them he works good in my heart and in my life. Through life’s difficulties, when I rest in the Lord, and I trust in his sovereignty, and I yield to his Lordship, he grows me in my faith, he teaches me perseverance, and he conforms me to his likeness. He fills my heart with compassion for others who are hurting. And, He makes me into the person he wants me to be to be used of him for his kingdom work.

Jesus, Lead Me  

An Original Work / July 22, 2011

Jesus, lead me all the way.

Be my hope and be my stay.

Gently lead me where I should go,

So Your Spirit, I want to know.

Open up my heart to You.

Fill me with Your love and truth.

Make my heart want to obey.

Be my Lord today. Gently lead always.

Jesus, lover of my soul,

Cleanse my heart, and make me whole;

Be transformed in my heart today,

As I turn from my sin and pray.

Make Your will known to my heart.

May I not from You depart.

How I long to hear You now,

As I humbly bow. Jesus, hear me now.

https://vimeo.com/113559147

Tuesday, March 27, 2018, 7:00 a.m. – Thank you, Jesus, for these encouraging words of hope and healing today. I love you, my Lord!

Our Manner of Life

Partnership in the Gospel

Philippians 1:3-6 ESV

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

When we believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives, we are not merely escaping the punishment of sin, in hell, and securing our home in heaven for when we leave this earth. For, Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. He died that we might no longer live for ourselves but for him who gave his life up for us. “Lord,” in fact, means “owner-master.” Through Jesus’ shed blood on the cross for our sins he bought us back for God, so we are now his possession, to live for his purposes.

So, as Savior of our lives, he is also our Lord, and as Lord, he is our master, and we are his servants. We are also his followers (his sheep), who listen to him and who follow (obey) him. Thus, as followers of Jesus, we are committed to his will and purposes for our lives, and our desire is for him, to please him. His thoughts become our thoughts, and his desires our desires. What moves him moves us. What concerns him concerns us. Thus, we are also passionate about sharing the gospel with others so they can know him, too. At least, this is what being a follower of Christ should look like.

But, as partners in the gospel of Jesus Christ, we will face opposition, persecution, rejection and mistreatment. Many will hate us, in fact. And, it can get discouraging and disheartening, at times. So this serves to encourage us that the work our Lord began in us will be carried to completion when our Lord returns. Our service for the Lord now will serve God’s purposes and will accomplish his will in our lives and in the lives of others. For, he is the one working in and through us for his glory. So, we need to just rest in the Lord, keep obeying him, and trust Him in it all.

Advancement of the Gospel

Philippians 1:12-14 ESV

I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

When we are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, it serves to advance the gospel. For one, when we are hard pressed by opposing forces, it will move us to call on God, and to draw closer to him. The more we are opposed, and the greater our suffering, the more we call on God in our pain, and we rely on him and not on ourselves. We learn to know him and his will for our lives, and we grow in our faith in Him to maturity. And, the closer our walk with the Lord, the greater will be our commitments to follow him in obedience.

Thus, the closer we are to the Lord and the more that we are in tune with him and with his will, and that we are following him in doing what he has called us to do, the more we will also be sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with others, thus our persecution will serve to advance the gospel.

In addition to that, others will hear of our walks of faith and of our persecution. And, other believers in Jesus will be encouraged in their walks of faith and will find the courage to speak boldly for the Lord, too, when they see how we are continuing to be bold in our testimonies for the Lord despite all opposition and persecution. And, that, too, will advance the gospel.

Faith of the Gospel

Philippians 1:27-30 ESV

Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

Paul, because of his sufferings, his beatings, persecutions and imprisonment, was ready to go home to be with the Lord. I totally understand that. The older I get, in particular, the more I long for my heavenly home. So, he was torn between wanting to remain on the earth, for the benefit of other Christians, and desiring to be with the Lord and to be no longer on this earth. I definitely empathize with that thinking, too. But, he concluded that it was more necessary that he remain on the earth for the other believers’ progress and joy in the faith, even though going home was far better.

So, he encouraged them that they should let their manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ. And, worthy means to be exemplary, or serving as a pattern of or as a model of something. So, what this means is that the way we live our lives, i.e. our customary or routine way of living, i.e. what we practice as a matter of course, should serve as a model of the gospel. And, the gospel, in essence, is that Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.

So, if our lives are a model of the gospel message, then our manner of living should also reflect daily that we are dead to sin or that by the Spirit we are putting to death the deeds of the flesh, and that we are taking up our cross daily and following Christ. The way we live our lives day in and day out should also exemplify that we are living to righteousness, i.e. that we are walking according to the Spirit and no longer are we living to gratify the sinful cravings of our flesh.

If we, as followers of Christ, live in a manner which models death to sin and living to righteousness, we will be of one mind and one spirit with one another, because we will all have the mind of Christ ruling our lives instead of the mind of the flesh. And, united, in one heart and mind, we will be able to encourage and help strengthen one another in the faith, and in all our persecutions, so that we will have courage to speak out for the Lord despite all opposition.

For, it has been granted unto us that, not only that we should believe in Jesus Christ, but also that we should suffer for the sake of his name and for the sake of his gospel message. We are destined to this. It is unavoidable if we are truly following Jesus Christ with our lives, because the devil is going to do everything he can to stop us, and to stop the spreading of the message of the gospel, too.

So, there are going to be many people in this world, and even within the gatherings of the church, who are going to hate, persecute, use, mistreat, betray, deceive, lie to, and gossip about us, etc. Yet, through it all, the Lord Jesus is calling people to salvation, to repentance, and to obedience to him. And, through it all, he is strengthening, encouraging and maturing us in our walks of faith so that we will share in his holiness, and so that we will bear the fruit of his righteousness. So, we just need to surrender our lives to him.

For Our Nation  

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Trust Him with your life today.

Make Him your Lord and your Savior.

Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.

He will forgive you of your sin;

Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.

On our knees to God we’re praying,

Seeking God to give us answers

That are only found in Him.

God is sovereign over all things.

Nothing from His mind escaping.

He has all things under His command,

And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: we’re believing

In our Lord, and interceding

For our nation and its people

To obey their God today.

He is our hope for our future.

For our wounds He offers suture.

He is all we need for this life.

Trust Him with your life today.

https://vimeo.com/112351857

Monday, March 26, 2018, 7:00 a.m. – Thank you, Jesus, for this teaching from Your Word. Bring it home to our hearts, I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!