Proverbs 15:7-11 NASB
The lips of the wise
spread knowledge,
But the hearts of
fools are not so.
The sacrifice of the
wicked is an abomination to the Lord,
But the prayer of the
upright is His delight.
The way of the wicked
is an abomination to the Lord,
But He loves one who
pursues righteousness.
Grievous punishment is
for him who forsakes the way;
He who hates reproof
will die.
Sheol and Abaddon lie
open before the Lord,
How much more the
hearts of men!
What should faith in Jesus Christ look like? Do we believe
in Jesus just so we can escape eternal punishment in hell, and just so we can
secure heaven as our eternal destiny? Or, do we believe in Jesus just so our
sins are forgiven us so we don’t have to feel guilty any longer when we do sin
against God?
What’s the object, the purpose of our faith?
The object should be to unite us with our holy God so that
we might have fellowship with him, and that we might be for his praise and
glory. For, sin separates us from God, but God’s grace to us reunites us with
God. For when Jesus died on that cross, he who knew no sin became sin for us
that we might become the righteousness of God. He died that we might die with
him to sin and live with him to righteousness (1 Pet. 2:24; 2 Co. 5:15, 21).
So, the object of our faith is restored fellowship with God,
and that we might be for his glory and praise. And, this is accomplished
through dying with Christ to sin and living to Christ and to his righteousness,
all by God’s grace, and in his power and strength (Rom. 6:1-23; Eph. 4:17-24;
Tit. 2:11-14).
For, our salvation from sin is not just a
get-out-of-jail-free card. It is also not carte blanche to continue in sinful
practices without guilt. And, it isn’t just to make us happy, either. It is for
the glory and praise of God! It is that we might give him glory and praise by
how we live our lives for him and not for ourselves.
For, He delights in righteousness, in holiness, in
uprightness, in truth in our inner being, in holy prayers, and in faithfulness
to him and to his will for our lives. He is pleased when we turn away from our
sinful practices and when we follow our Lord Jesus in obedience to his
commands. And, we delight in Him and in his purity and holiness, and our desire
is for Him to do his will.
So, this isn’t just about deliverance from addiction to sin
and the promise of heaven when we die. This is about union with Almighty God in
purity of devotion to him, desirous to please him in all that we do and say. This
is about a relationship between God and man and woman.
But, if we decide to go our own way, and to keep following
after the flesh, and our desire is not for him but to do what our sinful flesh
craves, we will not have union with God, we won’t be in fellowship with him, we
won’t be saved from our sins, and we won’t go to heaven when we die. But, we
will die in our sins because we refused to die to our sins (Gal. 6:7-8).
Proverbs 15:19-21,
24-25 NASB
The way of the lazy is
as a hedge of thorns,
But the path of the
upright is a highway.
A wise son makes a
father glad,
But a foolish man
despises his mother.
Folly is joy to him
who lacks sense,
But a man of
understanding walks straight.
The path of life leads
upward for the wise
That he may keep away
from Sheol below.
The Lord will tear
down the house of the proud,
But He will establish
the boundary of the widow.
Jesus Christ didn’t save us from our sins so that we could
sit back and relax, take life easy, and live for self-pleasure. He didn’t die
that cruel death just to make life easier for us so that we wouldn’t feel
guilty any more about sin. He saved us to transform us and to conform us to his
likeness, and to make us holy vessels fit for his service, to do what he
requires of us.
Too many Christians (or professing Christians) these days
are taking God’s grace to us for granted, at least here in America. Too many
see it as free license to continue in their sinful practices without guilt. Too
many see it merely as an escape from punishment and a promise of heaven when we
die. And, so they are lazy about their relationships with Jesus Christ.
Thus, many who call themselves followers of Christ are not
really following Jesus at all. They are providing some religious service, which
they think will be acceptable to God, but they are not surrendered to the Lord,
and he is not Lord (owner-master) of their lives, for self is still on the
throne.
So, they live foolishly, for self-pleasure, filling their
minds and their time with the junk this world has to offer. So many are
addicted to entertainment, too, as though we must all be entertained just as a
matter of living life on this earth. So, they fill up their spare time with
videos, movies, TV shows, games, sports, novels, secular music, trash talk on
social media, and the like. And, then many of them say they don’t have time for
God.
But, this is not how we are to live. We are to live for the
glory and praise of God, not for our own glory and praise. We are to live for
his purposes, according to his will, not according to our own purposes and
will. We are to walk the straight and narrow, which leads to life, not the
crooked and broad road that leads to destruction.
So, we need to understand here that how we live matters, not
just for eternity, but for our relationship with God; with Jesus Christ. For,
if it is our practice, i.e. the way we live, to spend our time mainly for
ourselves and for our own pleasure while we neglect God, prayer, the study of
his word, and obedience to his commands, then we are liars if we say we have
fellowship with God. And, heaven is not our destiny, but hell is (1 Jn. 1:5-9).
Proverbs 15:28-29,
31-33 NASB
The heart of the
righteous ponders how to answer,
But the mouth of the
wicked pours out evil things.
The Lord is far from
the wicked,
But He hears the
prayer of the righteous.
He whose ear listens
to the life-giving reproof
Will dwell among the
wise.
He who neglects
discipline despises himself,
But he who listens to
reproof acquires understanding.
The fear of the Lord
is the instruction for wisdom,
And before honor comes
humility.
If we truly believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and as Savior of
our lives it should drastically change how we live, how we think, and the
things that we do. It should change our attitudes, too. It doesn’t mean we will
be perfect or that we will never sin again, but how we now live should be a
turnabout from walking in sin to now walking daily in Christ’s righteousness
and holiness.
Our lives should now be given over to our Lord for his
service. We should want to please him in all that we do and say. And, we
shouldn’t be looking for loopholes in order to excuse away willful sinful practices.
We shouldn’t fight against God’s Word or try to worm our way out of having to
obey him. We should be so in love with Jesus that we want to do what pleases
him.
So, we must humble ourselves before God in repentance and in
submission to his will for our lives. And, we must follow Jesus Christ wherever
he leads us. We must be sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit, too, leading
us in the way he would have us to go, and then do what he says. And, we must
find ourselves delighting in our Lord and in his commandments, and in serving
him with our lives because of the relationship we have with him.
We shouldn’t see obedience to our Lord as drudgery or as
optional. But, we should love to walk in his love and grace in serving him in
all ways in which he leads us. And, we also should not see our Lord as only a
small part of our lives, but we should see him as our life, the totality of why
we are here on this earth. For, this is what it means to fear the Lord, to give
him the love, honor, value, respect and obedience which he so deserves.
So, we should see each day as an opportunity to serve him,
to walk in his love, to listen to what he says, and then to obey him in doing
what he directs us to do. And, we must be careful not to get so busy with other
stuff that we neglect our Lord and that we shirk our callings and that we are
so busy with self-pleasure that we fail to live for the praise and glory of
God.
It’s All You
Lyrics by Tosin Iyawo
Ogaga & Sue Love
Music by Sue Love @
Original Works
Vocals by Tosin Iyawo
Ogaga
May 31, 2019
You are the reason I want to dance.
You are the reason I want to sing.
You are the reason, expressing myself,
I serve You in all the ways You lead me.
You are the reason my heart gives You praise.
You are the reason that I am alive.
I bring out Your best moves
Just so I do embrace You;
Sing out loud as You lead just to please You.
Let myself follow You. I don’t care who watches me.
All I want to do is to make You smile.
Let every fiber of me bring You praise.
Your love has lifted my feet to dance.
Your faithfulness leaves me singing for joy.
You, Jesus, are the reason, it’s all You.
Your grace gives me life.
*full lyrics used by
permission of the lyricists
Tosin singing:
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