His Angry Whacks

An Original Work / December 31, 2019

When Satan throws his angry whacks

Against our Lord, he does attack

Against His servants, His Word, too;

We trust our Lord and His will do.

We put on Armor, fight with Sword;

We trust His Word, obey our Lord.

When battle’s fierce and fraught with fright,

We don’t do wrong. We do what’s right.

We walk in victory over sin.

To temptation we don’t give in.

We trust our Lord, confide in Him,

And let His love now rule within.

We pass through waters, deep they be,

But they shall not overtake me,

For now my Lord is at my side,

Because in Him I now abide.

The fires of hell will not burn me,

Because my Lord delivered me.

We have no reason or cause for fear

When our Lord Jesus we hold dear.

When He is precious in our sight,

We won’t give up, give in to fright.

But, we’ll keep watch throughout the night,

Patiently wait till we take flight.

For us, our Lord will make a way

When on our knees we bow and pray;

Submit to Him as Lord within,

And make him our sure next of kin;

Forsaking sin, walk in His ways,

From this day on, throughout our days.

But Take Heart!

Based off John 13-16

Tomorrow I will turn 70 years old, Lord willing. It is hard to believe that I have lived that long. And, the next day will be the year 2020, which is also so unbelievable, too. It seems so futuristic. It brings back memories of old SCI-FI movies I watched as a child or as a young adult which tried to depict what life would be like in the 2000ths. And some of those projections must have certainly come to fruition, although I would guess that they didn’t all.

Seventy years is considered a lifetime. So, I have lived a normal lifespan. I have seen a lot, and I have experienced a lot over my lifetime. Some of it was good, and some of it was bad. But, God allowed it all in my life to make me who I am today doing what I am doing for his praise, honor and glory. So, even the bad times God used to work good in my life, so I praise him.

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 ESV

Jesus knew that his hour had come for him to depart out of this world to the Father, so he talked for a long while with his disciples in order to prepare them for what was coming, so that they would not be taken by surprise when, what he said was going to happen actually did take place.

So, he taught them how to be humble and how to be servants, one to another, and he taught them the gospel of our salvation, too, that it is not just a one-time cleansing, but that it is a daily walk with the Lord, and a daily cleansing of sin, and a daily dying to sin and self and walking according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh.

He also told them that one among them would betray him, although they didn’t get it. They didn’t understand what he was saying.

Love One Another

And, then he instructed them in how to love one another as He has loved us. He said that this would be the sign to all people that we are his disciples, if we have love one for the other. And, the way in which he loved us was that he humbled himself, became a servant, and he gave up his reputation and his life on a cross so that we can be free from our bondage to sin and so that we can be free to walk righteously before him.

So, if we are going to love others as Jesus loved us, then we need to humble ourselves and be willing to give up our reputations and our lives in order to tell people the truth about sin, salvation, and eternal life with God. For, when we do tell them the truth, many will hate and reject us just like they hated and rejected and killed Jesus Christ because what he told them was the truth, and they didn’t like the truth.

Then, he went on to tell them, to tell us, what it truly means to believe in him as our Lord and Savior. He said that if we love him, we will obey his commandments, and he will show himself to us. And, he said that if we love him by keeping his commandments, that God the Father will love us and that they will come to us and make their home with us. And, he said that if we don’t walk in obedience to his commandments, that we don’t love him.

Abide In Christ

From there he went on to talk about how he is the vine and that we are his branches, and that we can only bear fruit (outgrowth, produce) for his eternal kingdom if we abide in him and if his word abides in us. And, this word “abide” means to live, to have our life, our existence in him and in his word. And, it means to endure without yielding to the enemy, and to accept him and his word without objection. And, it means to remain stable and fixed on the truth of God’s Word in practice in our lives, not just in theory.

But, with that he gave a warning that if we do not abide in him and his word in us that we will be in danger of being cut off from the vine and thrown away into the fire. For, we must walk according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh if we want to have eternal life with God (Lu. 9:23-26; Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Gal. 5:16-21; Gal. 6:7-8; Eph. 4:17-24).

Hated and Persecuted

From there he went on to talk about how we can expect to be hated and persecuted for righteousness’ sake if we truly do walk in obedience to his commands, and if we do truly abide in him and his word abides in us. He said that if the world hated him then it will surely hate us if we are truly walking in his love, and if we are truly his followers.

And, who was the world who hated him? It was the people of his own family, his own community, his own faith, his own race, and his own ancestry. And, it was the religious leaders and rulers within the temple of God.

So, this would be like our family members hating and persecuting us, and us facing persecution from people of our own race within our own communities. But, it goes beyond that, for this includes others who profess faith in Jesus Christ who are within the gatherings of the church, and this especially includes people in positions of rule and authority within the church, too.

And, I can attest to that having been a lot of the bad that I went through in my life, too, beginning with being raised by an abusive father and a good mother, but one who was emotionally neglectful. And, then it went on to being rejected and mistreated by church people and church leaders and by a husband who was an addict (publicly confessed), and more. For, when we take a stand for the Lord and for the truth of His Word, Jesus said we will be hated and mistreated as he was, so it should not surprise us.

So We Don’t Fall Away

And, then Jesus went on to say that he said all these things to keep us from falling away. For, if we get the idea that faith in Jesus Christ is easy street, and that obedience and repentance are not required for our salvation and for eternal life with God, we may fall away because we are convinced that our conduct will not affect our eternal salvation.

Also, if we are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, and we don’t understand that this is all part of the Christian walk of faith, and that it is something that we should expect, then we may fall away when persecution comes, because we will feel it is too hard, so who can bare it?

But, a correct understanding of this realizes that this is all part of God’s plan for our lives and that there is a purpose for it all, and that God will give us all the strength we need to endure, and he will turn it all around for our good and for the good of others.

So, to keep from falling when the bad things come our way, which they will, we need to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, and we need to keep our minds and our hearts fixed on his purposes and his will for our lives. And, we need to trust in his absolute sovereignty over our lives, and trust him in all things, and in all circumstances, through it all.

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 ESV

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg

Feelings and Faith

“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” Ephesians 4:11-16 ESV

We live in a day and age where people are being encouraged to follow their feelings more than ever before, I believe. And, this philosophy has also crept into the church and has largely been adopted by the church, too. And, this thought has also been blended in with the gospel of our salvation, too.

Feelings, though, in and of themselves are not evil. God created us to be people who feel emotions of happiness, sadness, and anger and joy, etc. He created us to express emotion in praise to him, too. For, we are to delight in our Lord, not just in secret inside of us, but outwardly and in audible ways – in singing, dancing, and in playing musical instruments, and the like.

But, our feelings are not to be what direct or rule our lives. And, we can’t base our faith or our worship of God on our feelings, either. So, just because we have some emotional experience, and it feels like it is from God, it doesn’t mean it is from God. We have to test the spirits to see if they are from God. And, we have to test our religious experiences against the Word of God (in context), too, to see if what we are feeling, or if what we are experiencing lines up with the Word of God.

For, although we are to have childlike faith in order to be genuinely saved from our sins, we are not to be childish, immature, irresponsible and self-indulgent, living life for our sinful pleasures, doing what makes us feel good in our flesh. We are to have a simple trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives, but “simple” is not “stupid.” It is not out of control. It is under the control of the Holy Spirit, and it is moral, upright, honest and faithful.

So, if you have people telling you that faith in Jesus Christ is some experience that you go through once and then you are good to go and heaven is now guaranteed you no matter what, don’t listen to them.

And, if they are telling you that all you have to do is just make some profession of faith in Jesus Christ or just acknowledge him in some way, or just accept his gift of grace, and now you have your “fire insurance” which guarantees you heaven when you die, no matter how you live from that moment forward, don’t listen to them, either. For, what these deceitful schemers are telling you is a lie straight from hell, for it is opposite of what Jesus taught.

What they are trying to do is to pull you away from the biblical Jesus Christ and to make you their followers and slaves of depravity. So, they have supplanted the true gospel with a fake gospel, and God’s true grace with a fake grace, and the Jesus of the Bible with a fake Jesus, and the true worship of God with fake worship based on our feelings, not on true faith.

For, they are workers of iniquity who serve the devil, not God, and so they are out to conquer and subdue you and to make you their slaves, instead of you being slaves of God’s righteousness (Rom. 6:1-23). So, their goal is to deceive you with clever stories they have made up which appeal to human flesh, and which lead you away from the gospel of redemption to a flesh-driven gospel (see Revelation 13; Jude 1; 2 Peter and Matthew 23).

They want you tossed here and there by every wind of doctrine of men so that you are not on solid ground in your faith, so that you are on sinking sand, so that you go by your feelings and not by God-given and divinely persuaded faith in Jesus Christ, which surrenders to the Lordship of Christ. They want you living by your flesh believing you are saved from your sins and that you have eternal life guaranteed, even if you live like hell.

And, this is why we need to pray for God to raise up a mighty army of spiritual warriors to do battle against this lie of Satan, to expose it for what it is, and to tell people the truth so that the people who are now living to the flesh will forsake their sinful lifestyles, and so they will follow our Lord in obedience and in surrender to his will for our lives, so that they will have the promise of heaven and eternal life with God guaranteed (Lu. 9:23-26; Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Gal. 5:16-21; Gal. 6:7-8; Eph. 5:3-6; 1 Jn. 1:5-9).

My Jesus, I Love Thee

Hymn lyrics by William R. Featherstone, 1864

Music by Adoniram J. Gordon, 1876

My Jesus, I love thee, I know thou art mine;

For thee all the follies of sin I resign.

My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art thou;

If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.

“Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” Ephesians 4:17-24 ESV

Works-based salvation and a salvation that does not deliver people from their slavery to sin, but which coddles them in their sin, come from the same sources – Satan and the flesh of man. They are both man-made. They are two extremes going in opposite directions of what Jesus and his NT apostles taught regarding our salvation from sin and our eternal life with God.

For, one tries to earn one’s salvation by fleshly works, religious performance, man-made rules, and strict adherence to religious rituals, rites and traditions, which are all external in nature, and which do nothing to change the heart of man. And, the other gives free license to continue in willful sinful practices while claiming God’s love and grace covers them all, and while promising their adherents heaven when they die. But, that also does nothing to change the heart of man, and to move it toward the heart of God.

For both serve the flesh. Both worship the flesh. Both bow to and submit to the flesh, not to God. And, they are both self-serving, not pleasing to God. For, they are both trying to be saved from their sins by another way other than through Jesus Christ – which is through death to sin and living to righteousness, by God’s grace. And, so their flesh keeps getting in the way between them and a genuine believing relationship with Jesus Christ, the Lord.

For they are trying to be saved or they are trying to live for God by human effort. Both legalism and the cheap grace gospel are man-made efforts to be right with God and to go to heaven when they die. But, these man-made gospels have put themselves above God. They do not submit to God – neither one of them do. And, what they bow to is their own flesh. And, this is because in their pride they think they know better than God. So, they ignore the commands of God which are not pleasing to their flesh. And, in their pride they maintain control over their own lives. They don’t yield to the control of the Holy Spirit over their lives, and so they yield to the flesh.

Now, a professed Christian and singer, Debby Boone, daughter to Pat Boone, in 1977 sang a hit song called, “You light up my life,” and the “You” in the song was not Jesus Christ. The “You” was not identified. But it was hinted at. For, at the end of the song she said, “It can’t be wrong when it feels so right, ‘cause you light up my life.” And she said of this unidentified “you,” that he gave her hope to carry on, and he filled her nights with song. So, who tells her that it can’t be wrong if it feels so right? It is not God. It is Satan and the flesh. And, it is a cheap grace gospel, too.

And, there are many people who are promoting this cheap grace gospel in churches and on the internet, on blogs, on Facebook, on Twitter and on Christian discussion sites, too. And, they have a strong influence over the naïve, the immature, and those who have no knowledge of the Bible, or of Jesus Christ, except from what they hear from others and from TV, too.

So, if you profess faith in Jesus Christ, examine your life against these scriptures here to see if your faith is from God or from your own flesh. For, if it is from God, then it submits to Jesus Christ as Lord, it leaves sinful lifestyles behind us, and it turns to God to follow him in obedience to his commands.

And, if you speak or you write out in public and/or on the internet, please realize that your words really matter, and please make sure what you are teaching, with regard to our salvation from sin, matches what is taught here in Ephesians 4, that we must put off our old lives of sin, be renewed in our hearts and minds of the Spirit of God, and that by God’s grace and in his power and strength we must put on Christ and his righteousness daily.

For, we are all going to reap what we sow. If we sow to please the flesh, we will reap destruction, but if we sow to please the Spirit, we will reap eternal life (Gal. 6:7-8).

Lord, Send Me Anywhere

David Livingstone, 1813-1873

Frank Garlock, b. 1930

Lord, send me anywhere, Only go with me;
Lay any burden on me, Only sustain me.
Sever any tie, Save the tie that binds me to Thy heart—
Lord Jesus, my King, I consecrate my life, Lord, to Thee.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-fzUk0X5PM

Do You Know The Way?

How Can We Know?

John 14:1-7 ESV

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

If we truly believe in Jesus Christ to be our Lord and Savior, our Lord is preparing an eternal home for us. And, one day he is going to come back for us to take us to be with him forever. And, that is a wonderful and awesome promise to the believer in Jesus Christ. So, we never have to fear death.

But, not everyone who says he believes in Jesus has true faith in him. Not everyone who professes his name knows the way to God, to salvation from sin, and to eternal life with God. Many may think they do, but they were fed a lie, and so they don’t really know. They know of him, but they don’t really know him. They may have even been told the truth, but they didn’t like the truth, so they exchanged it for a lie, for it made them feel better.

But, Jesus says that He is the only way to God the Father and to eternal life with God. And, by “Jesus” I don’t mean just his name, or only the parts about him that are acceptable to the masses. When Jesus says that He is the only Way to God the Father, He means His will, His ways, His commands, His truth, and His life, not some made up Jesus in the minds of those who want to continue on in their sinful practices without guilt and without true remorse.

Still You Don’t Know Me

John 14:8-11 ESV

Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.

It is possible to have been brought up in the gatherings of the church and still not know Jesus. And, it is imaginable that someone could even make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ and still not know him. And, it is feasible that someone could have even been a pastor or a bible teacher, perhaps for many years, and still not know Jesus. And, it is conceivable, as well, that many could think they have known Jesus many years, and that they still would not truly know him but only the “Jesus” they created in their minds.

For, knowing about Jesus and truly knowing him intimately and personally, are two different things. Acknowledging him for who he was historically and truly honoring him as the King of kings and Lord of lords, are different things, too. Thinking we have an intimate relationship with him and actually living in that intimate knowledge of him are two entirely different things, too.

But, we can’t make up our own Jesus, especially if we are making him in our image rather than in the image of God Almighty. We can’t create our own god to suit our lifestyles who will never confront us with our sins, who will never chastise or correct us, who will never discipline us or be angry with us, and who will always allow us to ignore his commands and to live in our sins while he just comforts, forgives, smiles on us, and pampers us in our sins.

If You Love Me

John 14:15-24 ESV

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me.

If we truly want to know Jesus and to have salvation from sin and eternal life with God then we have to listen to what this says and do it. The true Jesus of the Bible says that if we love him truly we will keep (obey) his commands. He doesn’t say we will never sin, but his word does teach us that his true followers listen to him and they follow (obey) him, in practice.

So, if we walk in obedience to his commands, not only will that show that we truly love him, and that we aren’t just mouthing the words “I love you,” but it will mean that we are loved by Jesus and by God the Father and that they have made their home with us. That will be the sign that we are truly in Christ and that He is in us. And, he will make himself known to us in many ways so that we know his voice, and so that we follow what he says.

And John repeated Jesus’ teaching on obedience in 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd John, too. He said that we have come to know Him if we keep His commandments. But, he didn’t stop there. He said, too, that if we claim that we know Jesus, but we do not walk in obedience to his commands, that we are liars and the truth is not in us.

But, if we walk in obedience to our Lord’s commands, then his love is perfected in us. And, we will walk in the same manner in which Jesus walked in submission to God, in obedience to his commands, doing what he says, going where he sends us, saying what he calls us to say, and loving others the way in which he truly loves us.

And, that means we won’t coddle people in their sins or tell them that Jesus is okay with them continuing in their sinful practices. We will speak the truth to them, in love, because the love of God is being perfected within us. And, we will warn them that the Bible says that if we walk (in practice) according to our flesh (in sin) that we will die in our sins, not have eternal life with God. And, we will tell them, too, that if they claim to know Jesus, but they don’t walk in obedience to his commands, that they are liars who do not live by the truth (cf. 1 Jn. 1:5-9).

But, we aren’t being mean. We aren’t being harsh or unloving. We are being the ultimate in loving and kind, because we are telling them the truth that will save their lives if only they will listen, and if only they will heed the warnings. For to lie to people just to make them feel good is not love. It is hate. And, it is the ultimate in pure selfishness because we are thinking about ourselves, not them, for we want them to like us more than we want them to be saved from their sins and to have eternal life with God.

So, we need to be telling people the truth, for only the truth has the potential to lead them to genuine faith in Jesus Christ.

Lord, Send Me Anywhere

David Livingstone, 1813-1873

Frank Garlock, b. 1930

Lord, send me anywhere, Only go with me;
Lay any burden on me, Only sustain me.
Sever any tie, Save the tie that binds me to Thy heart—
Lord Jesus, my King, I consecrate my life, Lord, to Thee.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-fzUk0X5PM

Confession of an Addict

Disclaimer: This is not an actual letter to you by anyone in particular. But, it serves as a model of a letter of confession by an addict who is attempting to be honest and to come clean regarding his true motives and intentions, and regarding his true heart attitudes and behaviors. For this person, though, is not just an addict, but he is someone who has been leading you away from pure devotion to Jesus Christ, and who has been trying to get you to follow him and his cheap grace, instead, for he doesn’t serve God, but Satan.

Dear Reader,

I am writing to you because I have something I need to talk with you about. I need to tell you that I am not the man you think that I am. For, you see, I lied to all of you. I led you to believe that I was sincere, tenderhearted, and compassionate, when really I was a roaring lion seeking whom I may devour. I led you to believe, too, that I cared about you, when I really just cared about myself. For, I am really an egotistical, selfish brute who takes advantage of others, who is an abuser and a user, an addict, proud, fleshly, controlling, and in my flesh, full of evil and wickedness.

I have lived a selfish life ruled by the flesh and Satan, and not by the Spirit of God, although I promoted myself as a godly man who worshiped and served the Lord.

Yet, while I was cozying up to you, and being all friendly with you, I was secretly committing adultery against God on a consistent basis, feeding my lust addiction, serving myself, lying to HIM and to everyone else, being hateful, spiteful and cruel to the Lord Jesus, cutting HIM to the heart, and serving HIS head on a platter for the rest of you to follow suit. I did this knowing full well this is what I was doing because I wanted you to like me and to not like HIM, because I hated HIM. I was bitter against HIM, too. And, yet HE did nothing to deserve or to earn such treatment from me.

So, while I was secretly abusing the Lord, and while HE was treating me back with love and kindness, and HE was trying to help me overcome my addiction and to get free from my chains, I not only was treating HIM with disdain and resisting HIS loving assistance, but I was badmouthing HIM to others, lying about HIM, and giving false impressions of HIM to others so that others would see me as the wounded one, and HIM as the perp, when clearly it was and still is the other way around.

So, in essence, I took advantage of all of you. And, I led many of you to reject the Lord in favor of me. And, all the while I was being mean and hateful and spiteful towards HIM and was cheating on HIM with “other lovers,” I was warming up to you and I was showing you affection right in front of HIM, giving you what I should have been giving HIM, making you HIS rival.

I need you to understand this. I was a lowly lying cheating user, and yet you often ran to me with outstretched arms, because you didn’t know who I really was, because I had lied to you, and I had deceived you. By comparison, you often seemed to shun or barely acknowledge the Lord who loves you more than you can possibly imagine.

Yet, I let Jesus and HIS servants be the “bad guy.” I stuck HIM with having to keep things going smoothly, making certain everyone was working together as a team, only for HIM to get resistance from your church family, and to experience disrespect and dishonor from many of you, while I did nothing or little to help, because I wanted to be “Mr. Nice Guy” who everyone loves.

I stuck HIM with all of that responsibility because I was thinking only of me, and I didn’t want to take the responsibility for doing the things HE commanded that I should do as a man, as a husband, as a father, and as the spiritual leader of my household. I didn’t care, or very little, what you all thought of HIM, only what you thought of me, because I was dishonoring and disrespecting and abusing and using HIM for my advantage.

But, the thing of it is, I did this for most of my life while professing faith in Jesus Christ. And, I can’t even trust myself now to know for sure if I am really coming out of this or if this is yet another performance, for I have had many. And, I can’t be certain that I am not still operating in my own flesh, for I have made many confessions and admissions before only to go right back to being the same lowly selfish brute as I was previously.

Yet, through it all Jesus loved me, HE cared about me, and HE stuck HIS neck out on the line time and time again to help me be free, only for me to cut HIM to the heart and then stomp on HIS heart over and over again.

So, whatever good opinion you may have had of me, it was not true, because I was a poser, a performer, who just played tricks to entertain everyone so they would like me. And, whatever opinion you may have of Jesus, please, if it was that of a softy who is perfectly okay with your sinful practices, and with you not honoring and obeying HIM, prayerfully consider the things I have shared with you here. And, if you viewed him as a tyrant, a legalist, and a crazy man who is unloving, please be willing to see HIM through different eyes than you may have seen HIM before.

I want you to see that Jesus Christ is God, and that God is using HIS true servants to reach the world with the true gospel of Jesus Christ, and that they have been doing this faithfully for many years all the while they have been facing much opposition from me, in particular. They are not perfect, they will admit, but they love Jesus with all their hearts, and they are following HIM with their lives, and God is using them to help many people to find hope, healing, salvation and deliverance from sin through faith in Jesus.

Jesus has written a book about HIS plan for all of our lives. I want to share it with you, and I hope you will read it, because I want you to see HIM for the God that HE is, and to hear HIS wisdom, for you can learn everything you need for life from HIM, if you are willing. The name of the book is The Holy Bible. And, you can find it on the internet. I do hope you will read it.

Now, in closing, I would like to say that I love you, but I am not certain I yet know what that word means, for it means doing no harm to another, and I can’t be sure I am there yet. I can’t even be sure this is where I truly want to be yet, for I have fooled myself far too many times, and the many confessions I have made before did not result in genuine change, and, in fact, I often just walked away and forgot what I looked like in the mirror.

But, hopefully, this time will be different. Hopefully, I am coming to my senses, and this time will be the real deal, and that this is the point in my life when I truly turn that corner. So, all I can ask of you is that you pray for me, for I have a lot of junk I need to unload so that I can walk the Christian walk instead of just talk it. And, please give Jesus Christ the love, honor, respect and obedience HE so deserves.

Thank you for listening,

Anonymous

And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’ Acts 26:14-18 ESV

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Matthew 25:41-46 ESV

 Lord, Send Me Anywhere

David Livingstone, 1813-1873

Frank Garlock, b. 1930

Lord, send me anywhere, Only go with me;
Lay any burden on me, Only sustain me.
Sever any tie, Save the tie that binds me to Thy heart—
Lord Jesus, my King, I consecrate my life, Lord, to Thee.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-fzUk0X5PM

Taking His Yoke Upon You

“From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Matthew 11:12-15 ESV

Some people interpret this passage of scripture that this is speaking about those coming against the kingdom of God, yet in context, it does not lend itself to that interpretation. In context, this is speaking of John as a messenger of God, preparing the way for Christ, and of the prophets who came before him, who were also God’s messengers.

These men, in the power of God, advanced the kingdom of God forcefully, i.e. persuasively, powerfully, insistently, and urgently, and with much determination, faithfulness, and purpose of heart and mind. And, this is what we should be doing, too, as Christ’s Body, his representatives, and as his messengers in this world.

Yet, that is not to say that the kingdom of God does not suffer violence. It most certainly does. And, it is because the messengers of the Lord, his servants, who are taking the true message of the gospel of our salvation to the people of the world, are being persecuted. And, it is because the gospel of our salvation, itself, is suffering much in the way of people diluting its message and manipulating it to say something else, and in the way of people attacking it as works-based salvation, or as intolerance, hate and/or bigotry.

And, the gospel and its messengers are being attacked, and they are suffering violence and persecution because the kingdom of heaven is forcefully advancing; because the true message of the gospel is going forth via the Lord’s messengers, his servants, who are powerfully and insistently spreading the truth, and who are with great determination and faithfulness exposing the lies for what they are, so that people will reject the lies and so that they hold to the truth, and so that they live the truth and not the lies.

“But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates, “‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;    we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.” Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. Matthew 11:16-20 ESV

In today’s world, and in today’s worldly church, too, if you are a person who takes God at his word, and you take your life in him seriously, and if you do live a life which is separate (unlike, different) from the world and unto God in obedience to his commands, then you are likely to be rejected and thought to be odd, crazy, a weirdo, and out of touch with reality.

If you do follow your Lord in obedience, and you do what he says to do, in his Word, and if you do follow him in his ways and in his truth, then even others who profess the name of Christ may reject you for they may think that you need to be more “normal” and more like the people of the world. For, much of the church today is teaching that concept. They are teaching that we need to blend in with the world and immerse ourselves in the culture of our day, and that we need to be more like the world in order to win the world, but to what? To our institutional churches? Yes! To Jesus Christ? No!

We don’t win people to God-given faith in the Jesus of the Bible by being more worldly and by immersing ourselves in our culture. We don’t win them to true salvation from their slavery to sin, either, by just being “nice” and only saying to them what will make them feel good about themselves. Yet, I am not saying we shouldn’t be nice to people in the sense of being loving and kind, but that we shouldn’t compromise the truth of the gospel so that people will like us and so that they won’t persecute us. We need to tell them the truth, for only the truth will set them free!

We need to be willing to be rejected and thought odd or crazy because we do forcefully advance the kingdom of heaven powerfully, insistently and urgently by getting out the true message of our gospel which saves people from their bondage to sin, not just forgives them their sin. We need to be confronting the lies head on, exposing them for what they are, and proclaiming the truth with full determination and faithfulness.

And, we need to tell people that if they walk (in practice) according to (in agreement with) the flesh and the world, that no matter what they profess with their lips or think they believe in their heart, they will die in their sins, not go to heaven. We need to be telling them that the only way to salvation from sin and eternal life with God is through God-given faith in Jesus Christ which dies with him to sin, and which lives with him to his righteousness, and which is evidenced by our walks of faith, not by our professions of faith.

At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:25-29 ESV

The people of this world who are wise in the ways of the world, which includes many people who profess faith in Jesus Christ, just don’t get this at all. They are so convinced that the way to bring people to Christ is via blending in with the world and dancing their dance, that they fail to be the light to the world that God intends for us all to be. They may get people to come to their “churches,” but they are not winning people to genuine God-given faith in Jesus Christ, because they are not telling them the truth.

They can brag of the numbers who have made decisions for Christ and/or who have been baptized in their churches, but so many of these professions of faith in Jesus Christ are beliefs in a man-made gospel which tickles itching ears and which tells them they can believe in Jesus but still live like the world, but that heaven is still guaranteed them and it can’t be taken away.

But, they take scriptures out of context when they teach this, for the scriptures are clear that heaven and eternal life with God are only guaranteed on the basis of our walks of obedience to the Lord; our walks in the fear of the Lord, where we give him honor, respect and obedience. For, this is how genuine faith is revealed by our obedience, by our lifestyles, by our submission to God and to His Word. It is not saying we have to live in sinless perfection, but that we must walk (in practice) in agreement with the Spirit of God if we want to have eternal life with God (Lu. 9:23-26; Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Eph. 4:17-24; Gal. 6:7-8; Rom. 2:6-8; 1 Jn. 1:5-9).

So, what is God’s yoke that we are to take upon us? It is His Will, His Ways. It is submission to Him as Lord (owner-master) of our lives. It is walks of obedience to His commands. It is surrender of our lives to his sovereignty over our lives and a willingness of heart and mind to go with him wherever he leads us and to do whatever he commands us to do. For, only in surrender to him and in walks of obedience to him will we find rest for our souls.

Too many people, even the cheap grace gospel people, are striving in the flesh to not sin, but they can’t pull it off, because they are still the ones on the throne of their own lives. They are still holding on to the control of their own lives. So, they will try to figure out how to not do certain things but the flesh will rule every time because they are still in the flesh trying to conquer the flesh by the flesh, and that doesn’t work!

If we want victory over our flesh and over sinful practices, we have to surrender our lives fully to God, let go of our flesh, and yield to God’s will and purposes for our lives. We not only need to tell the flesh “NO!” but we have to tell the Spirit of God “YES!” and not just once, but every day, for the rest of our lives, if we want to walk in victory over the flesh, and live holy lives which are pleasing to God, and if we want to be assured salvation from our sin and eternal life with God, too (Rom. 8:1-17; 1 Jn. 1:5-9).

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/379406352

All That is Within Me

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

    and all that is within me,

    bless his holy name!

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

    and forget not all his benefits,

who forgives all your iniquity,

    who heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit,

    who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,

who satisfies you with good

    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

Psalm 103:1-5 ESV

In the next two sections of scripture we are going to read that these benefits of forgiveness of sin, healing, redemption, steadfast love and mercy, and all that is for our good are for those who walk in the fear the Lord, who honor him for the holy God he is, and who do (in practice) what he commands. And, this teaching on the fear of the Lord is not just in the Old Testament, but it is what the New Testament teaches, too, for God does not change.

So, how are we who are walking in the fear of the Lord to bless our Lord? We are to bless him (praise him) with all that is within us – with all our heart, mind, strength, emotion, conduct, attitude, values and speech. We need to thank him and praise him for who he is, for all that he has done, for his sovereignty over all that he has made, for his divine character and purpose, and for his wonderful love, grace and mercy he provides.

But, this blessing of God is with our whole being, not just with our lips. We don’t praise our Lord just in song or just with words or just with hands raised in the air. But the way we truly bring him praise and honor is with our submission to his Lordship, with our forsaking of sin and our idols, and with our walks of obedience to his commands. We truly honor him and glorify him, not just with words, but with holy conduct and sincere hearts which are committed to following him and to living separate from all worldliness.

The Lord works righteousness

    and justice for all who are oppressed.

He made known his ways to Moses,

    his acts to the people of Israel.

The Lord is merciful and gracious,

    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

He will not always chide,

    nor will he keep his anger forever.

He does not deal with us according to our sins,

    nor repay us according to our iniquities.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

    so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;

as far as the east is from the west,

    so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

As a father shows compassion to his children,

    so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.

For he knows our frame;

    he remembers that we are dust.

Psalm 103:6-14 ESV

Again, we must read all these verses in the context of it being for those who fear him, who honor him, respect him, who listen to him, and who do what he says to do. And, again, this is New Testament teaching under the New Covenant, this is not just Old Covenant. So, we can’t discard it as irrelevant.

So, when it says that He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities, this is not saying that God judges no one. It is also not saying that all who merely profess his name are free to continue in their sinful practices while claiming that God’s grace covers it all.

Yes, he doesn’t deal with us according to our sins or else all of us would be lost in our sins, headed for hell. But, because he loves us, he came to earth and he died on a cross to deliver us out of our slavery to sin so that we can now, by his power and strength, walk righteously before Him.

But the faith to believe in him for salvation is God-given and divinely persuaded faith, and thus it submits to God and his purposes, and it forsakes lives of living for sin and self, and it turns to God to follow him in obedience to his commands and to his ways (Lu. 9:23-26; Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Eph. 4:17-24; Tit. 2:11-14; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; 2 Co. 5:15).

So, the Lord shows compassion towards, and he forgives the sins of those who walk in the fear of the Lord; who walk according to the Spirit of God and no longer according to the flesh. Forgiveness of sin is given to those who walk in the Light as He is in the Light, for those who are crucified with him in death to sin and who are resurrected with him in newness of life, and who are walking in his love and in surrender to him and in obedience to his commands (Lu. 9:23-26; Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; 1 Jn. 1:5-9).

This is not saying we have to be sinless, for if we could be, Jesus wouldn’t have had to die for our sins. But, the Word of God is clear that true faith in him dies with him to sin and lives with him to righteousness as a matter of practice, of lifestyle, and that it endures with him until the end of time. It does not make sin its practice, for the one who does that will die in his sin, because he refused to die to his sin in the power of God’s Spirit (Rom. 8:1-17; Gal. 5:16-21; Gal. 6:7-8; Eph. 5:3-6; Rom. 2:6-8; 1 Jn. 2:24-25).

As for man, his days are like grass;

    he flourishes like a flower of the field;

for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,

    and its place knows it no more.

But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,

    and his righteousness to children's children,

to those who keep his covenant

    and remember to do his commandments.

The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,

    and his kingdom rules over all.

Psalm 103:15-19 ESV

Not one of us is guaranteed tomorrow. We are here for a period of time, and then we die, and we are gone. So, we have to take God’s Word seriously and not play around thinking we have all the time in the world, or thinking that God will not judge us if we are not walking according to his ways.

So many people are counting on going to heaven when they die just because they say they believe in Jesus Christ, or just because they feel they are good people, or just because they grew up going to church, or because their parents were professing Christians.

Many people, too, feel that if they confess their sins periodically that God forgives them, even if they are living in sin, in sexual immorality, in hate, in unforgiveness towards others, and in impurity and wickedness of many kinds. They don’t think their regular conduct or their sinful practices will impact their eternal security, and so they go on in their sin while claiming God’s blessings of forgiveness, comfort and compassion over their lives.

But, this is a reminder that our days are numbered and our lives are fleeting, and so we must take God and His Word to heart and DO what it says. Our lives are not our own, for we were bought with a price, the blood of Jesus Christ shed on a cross for our sins. So, we are to honor God with our lives, and with our minds, our bodies, our attitudes and our words.

When we surrender our hearts to Jesus Christ, to follow Him in His ways and in His truth, to DO what he says, walking in the fear of the Lord, then we can claim these blessings of forgiveness of sin and eternal life with God in heaven. But, if we refuse, and if we defy our Lord and we dishonor him in pride, in hypocrisy and in sinful practices, his comfort, his forgiveness of sin and the hope of eternal life with God are not promised to us. We will die in our sins (Lu. 9:23-26; Rom. 8:1-17; Gal. 5:16-21; Gal. 6:7-8; Rom. 2:6-8).

So, surrender your all to Jesus today. Leave your lifestyles given over to sin and self behind you. Turn to your Lord to follow him in obedience to his will and to his ways. DO what He says to do. Walk in His ways. And, you will be saved from your sin and you will have eternal life with God in heaven.

Songs in the Night  

An Original Work / December 18, 2013

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” Acts 16:25 NIV ‘84

Lord, I praise You forevermore.

You, my Savior, I now adore.

Hope in heaven awaiting me,

Because You died at Calvary.

I have been forgiven,

And I’m bound for heaven.

Jesus set me free from

All my sin, I say.

I will praise Him always!

Lord, I love You for all You’ve done:

Overcame death, my vict’ry won!

Jesus saved me, and now I’m free!

I rejoice in His love for me.

I will walk in vict’ry!

My sin is but hist’ry!

I am free to please Him

With my life today.

I will love Him always!

Lord, I thank You for giving me

A new life bought at Calvary.

Loving Jesus, I meet with Him.

Tender mercies now flow within.

Lord, I am so thankful;

Through my Lord, I’m able

To sit at His table;

Fellowship with Him.

I will thank Him always!

https://vimeo.com/379484387

A Wedding or Funeral?

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” Matthew 7:13-14 ESV

Jesus Christ is the only gate we can go through to enter into God’s eternal kingdom (Jn. 10). He is also the Way, the Truth and the Life, so he is the only way to salvation from sin and to eternal life (Jn. 14:6). And both the gate and the way (the road, pathway) are narrow (restricted), such as no one can come to God the Father except through faith in Jesus Christ.

All roads do not lead to heaven. All religions do not believe in the same God. There is only one God – Father, Son (Jesus Christ), and Holy Spirit. So, anyone not believing in Jesus does not believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And, anyone not leaving his sinful lifestyle behind him to follow Jesus Christ, in a walk of obedience by the Spirit of God, does not believe in Jesus Christ (Lu. 9:23-26; Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; 1 Jn. 1:5-9).

But, there is a gate and there is a way that is being promoted today as though it is the right way to faith in Jesus Christ, to forgiveness of sins, and to eternal life with God. But, it is false, for it is a lowering of God’s standards, and it is an altering of his gospel of grace to make it more appealing and acceptable to human flesh. It is not the peace that Jesus gives, either, for it leaves its followers still captive to sinful practices.

For, it does not require that we walk (in practice) according to the Spirit of God to have eternal life with God, and it does not teach that if we walk (in practice, in lifestyle) according to our flesh, that we will die in our sins (Rom. 8:1-17; Gal. 5:16-21; Gal. 6:7-8; Eph. 4:17-24; Eph. 5:3-6; Rom. 2:6-8).

And, some even go so far as to say that we don’t have to repent of our sins, we don’t have to obey our Lord’s commandments, and we don’t have to submit to the authority of Christ and to his Word over our lives, but all we have to do is to profess faith in him, and then we are saved, and we are going to heaven, even if we live like hell from that moment forward.

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.” Matthew 7:15-20 ESV

So, we need to beware false teachers who are teaching a false gospel message. And, please know this: They are liars, deceivers, manipulators, charmers and very likeable. And, they are smooth talkers, and so they know how to present the lies in a way that makes them sound like they are truth, but they are a snake’s bite, and if you aren’t discerning, you can get bit.

So, please test everything you read and see and hear against the Word of God (in context) to make sure that what you are reading and hearing lines up with scripture. For they will use scripture so that it has the appearance of being biblical, but when you compare it with scripture, you realize they are teaching a false god, a false Jesus, and a false gospel disguised to look real.

And, you will know them by their fruits, by their lifestyles, by their behaviors and by whether or not their words match how they live, or whether or not their words match God’s Word, too. And, remember that they are going to come to you in sheep’s clothing, i.e. they are going to profess faith in Jesus Christ. But, don’t buy into everything they say just because they say it is from God, but test it against God’s Word (in context) so you are not led astray, PLEASE! For, you could be buying a house built on the sand.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” Matthew 7:21-23 ESV

Just because you confess with your mouth Jesus Christ is Lord and say you believe that God raised him from the dead, it does not mean that you are saved from your sin and bound for heaven. Why? Because we have to read Romans 10:9-10 in the context of the whole of Romans where Paul clearly states that if we walk (in practice, in lifestyle) according to our flesh that we are going to die in our sins, but if we walk (in practice, in conduct) according to (in agreement with) the Spirit of God, then we have eternal life with God.

Just because we call Jesus our Lord, or we use the term “Lord” to address him, doesn’t mean he is our Lord (master-owner). For, we have to submit to his Lordship, and yield our lives over to him, and leave our sinful lifestyles behind us, and walk in obedience to his commands for him to be our Lord.

For, it is only those who do the will of God who have the promise of eternal life with God in heaven. Yet, this is not teaching sinless perfection. This is talking about what we practice, how we live, what we do as a matter of course, our habits, our “go to.” If what we practice is sin, then we will die in our sins, but if what we practice is God’s righteousness, then we have eternal life with God (Gal. 6:7-8; Rom. 2:6-8; Rom. 8:1-17; Eph. 4:17-24).

If you ignore this teaching, because you don’t like what it says, and so you form your own gospel of grace instead, which gives you permission to continue in your sinful practices without guilt, then please be informed that one day we are all going to stand before God, and some who have claimed him as their Lord, but who lived for themselves, instead, are going to hear, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness.”

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” Matthew 7:24-27 ESV

The cheap grace gospel is the house built on the sand. And, that is because it does not require that we obey the Lord’s commands. And, again, some people even go so far as to openly state that we DON’T have to obey God’s commands, but that we can still be saved, be forgiven, and still go to heaven when we die. For, they say that obedience to our Lord’s commands is works-based salvation. But, that is pure heresy! It is a lie straight from hell! So, don’t buy into it. For, Jesus says we do have to obey his commands!

Even though the cheap grace gospel promises you forgiveness of sin, an escape from hell, and the promise of eternal life with God in heaven, it will not make good on its promise. It will never come to fruition, because it is a house built on the sand. It is a lie. It is a deception. And, it is a snake bite.

But, if we listen to our Lord and his teachings, and the teachings of the New Testament Apostles, IN CONTEXT, and we don’t just listen, but we DO what He says, as a matter of practice, then we are wise, and our salvation is secure, and we have the hope of eternal life with God in heaven which cannot be taken away from us (Jn. 10:27-30; Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; 1 Jn. 2:3-6; Eph. 4:17-24; Lu. 9:23-26; Tit. 2:11-14; Jn. 8:12).

But, we have to be doers of the Word and not hearers only (Jas. 1:19-25).

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.

https://vimeo.com/379508241