Psalm 25:4-7 ESV
Show me your ways,
Lord,
teach me your paths.
Guide me in your truth
and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long.
Remember, Lord, your
great mercy and love,
for they are from of old.
Do not remember the
sins of my youth
and my rebellious ways;
according to your love
remember me,
for you, Lord, are good.
The ways of the Lord are righteous. So, if we want him to
show us his ways, and if we want him to teach us his paths, then we need to
surrender our lives to him. We must submit our lives to his Lordship over our
lives. And, we must leave our sinful practices (habits, lifestyles) behind us
to follow Jesus in obedience to his commands, for those are his ways.
We aren’t supposed to live anymore like we did before we
believed in Jesus. It doesn’t mean that we will be perfect, but it does mean
our lives are no longer to be given over to fulfill the lusts of our flesh. We
shouldn’t be living for self-pleasure, always needing to be entertained, always
cracking jokes, and always talking about what is of this world.
We should be different, unique, unlike the world and the
worldly church, too. We shouldn’t sound like, talk like, and think like the
world does. And, we should not take on the attitudes, values and principles of
this world, either.
When we gather together with other Christians, our
gatherings shouldn’t look like and sound just like get-togethers that
non-Christians have. It should be evident that we have been with Jesus and that
our lives are about him, not about the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the
eyes, and the pride of life. And, we should be encouraging one another in the
faith, and talking about the Lord, and sharing what the Lord is doing in our
lives.
If we want forgiveness of our sins and the hope of eternal
life with God, too, then we need to be no longer living for the flesh, but we
should now be walking according to the Spirit of God in holiness, purity,
honesty, faithfulness and righteousness, for the glory and praise of God.
Psalm 25:8-11 ESV
Good and upright is
the Lord;
therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.
He guides the humble
in what is right
and teaches them his way.
All the ways of the
Lord are loving and faithful
toward those who keep the demands of his
covenant.
For the sake of your
name, Lord,
forgive my iniquity, though it is great.
We have all sinned. Not one of us is righteous in his own
merit. All we like sheep have gone astray. So, we can only be made righteous
through Jesus’ death on a cross and through God-given faith in him and in what
he accomplished for us on that cross.
For Jesus, although he was sinless, became sin for us on
that cross. In his death he put sin to death on our behalf. And, this was in
order that we might die with him to sin and live with him to righteousness.
With his blood he bought us back for God so that we would now be God’s
possession, and so that we would now honor God with our lives (1 Co. 6:20; 1
Pet. 2:24).
His salvation he provided for us was never intended to be
merely forgiveness of sins and the promise of heaven when we die. It was always
his plan that we would humble ourselves before him, that we would deny self,
and that daily we would take up our cross and follow (obey) him. His plan was
never just to rescue us from hell, but it was to deliver us out of our slavery
to sin so that we can walk in holiness and righteousness in his power.
His grace was never intended to erase repentance and
obedience. For, his grace instructs us to say “NO!” to ungodliness and worldly
passions and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives while we wait for
Christ’s return. He still commands that we repent, that we leave our sinful
lifestyles behind us, and that we follow him in obedience. For, he didn’t die
just to forgive us, but to transform us through and through.
So, if we walk in obedience to his commands, according to
the Spirit of God, as a matter of course (of practice), then we have the
blessings of forgiveness of sins and eternal life with God. But, if we don’t,
and if we think salvation is just a free ticket into heaven but that we are not
required to obey our Lord, and so we don’t, then we must know that scripture teaches
us that heaven is not our eternal destiny, but hell is.
[Lu. 9:23-25; Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Eph. 4:17-24; 1 Jn.
1:5-9]
Psalm 25:12-15 ESV
Who, then, are those
who fear the Lord?
He
will instruct them in the ways they should choose.
They will spend their
days in prosperity,
and their descendants will inherit the
land.
The Lord confides in
those who fear him;
he makes his covenant known to them.
My eyes are ever on
the Lord,
for only he will release my feet from the
snare.
The Bible teaches us that we who are followers of God, of
Christ, are to walk in the fear of the Lord. This is taught both in the OT and
in the NT. And, that means that we are to live to the honor and praise of God,
doing what he requires, following him in his ways and in his truth. So, we need
to know what his ways are, and the best way to learn that is to read the New
Testament, Matthew to Revelation, verse by verse, in context.
But, we can’t do this in our flesh, with us still on the
throne in our own hearts, living life mainly to please our flesh, with God on
the side. We can only do this by faith in Jesus Christ and as empowered of the
Spirit of God living within us, guiding us each step of the way. And, we can
only do this as we surrender our lives to the Lord, and we submit to his
purposes, and as we walk (in practice) in obedience to his commands.
Then, he will instruct us in the way that we should go,
because we are open to hearing his instructions, and because we are prepared to
submit to his will and to do what he says. And, he will confide in us, and he
will show us his will and his ways because we honor him for the holy God that
he is, and because we respect his position of authority over our lives. And, he
will use us for his glory, perhaps even in ways we didn’t even imagine or think
possible. And, that is because it is him doing it, and not us.
Our eyes need to be ever (always) on the Lord. That doesn’t
mean that we go around quoting scriptures and praying all day and all night,
but that our minds are set on the Lord and on his Word. It means that he is the
focus for our lives. He is our inspiration, our motivation, and our purpose for
living. We don’t spend 5 or 10 minutes a day with God and the rest for
ourselves.
Our minds, our hearts and our time are given over to him to
be used of him any time of the day or night when he chooses to use us and in
the ways in which he chooses to use us. It is like we are on call 24/7. Our
lives are no longer our own, for we were bought with the price of Jesus’ blood.
Seek
the Lord
An
Original Work / July 20, 2012
Based
off Isaiah 55
“Come to Me all you who thirst; come to waters.
Listen to Me, and eat what’s good today,
And your soul will delight in richest of fare.
Give ear to Me, and you will live.
I have made an eternal covenant with you.
Wash in the blood of the Lamb.”
Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him.
Let the wicked forsake his way, in truth.
Let him turn to the Lord, and he will receive mercy.
Freely, God pardons him.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,”
declares the Lord, our God.
“My word that goes out of My mouth is truthful.
It will not return to Me unfulfilled.
My word will accomplish all that I desire,
And achieve the goal I intend.
You will go in joy, and be led forth in peace.
The mountains will burst into song… before you,
And all of the trees clap their hands.”
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