Psalm 19:7-8 ESV
“The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the
soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
making wise the
simple;
the precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the
heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure,
enlightening
the eyes.”
The law of the Lord for followers of Jesus Christ are the
commandments of God which are recorded for us in the Scriptures, which are
under the New Covenant Relationship God has with us, his people. We are not
bound by all the old Jewish ceremonial and purification laws they had to follow
under the Old Covenant, but we are not removed from having to obey God’s moral laws.
They are continuously repeated for us in the New Testament.
So, how does the law of the Lord revive our souls? Well,
when we were bound in slavery to sin, living for the flesh, and hurting other
people by our sinful practices, we were spiritually dead, selfish, and lovers
of self rather than lovers of God. We were controlled by the sinful desires of
our flesh and by Satan, and we did not know the love, joy, and peace of knowing
God.
So, when we trusted in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of
our lives, and we surrendered our lives over to him, to now be his, and thus we
died with him to sin that we might live to him and to his righteousness, we
were renewed of the Spirit of God in heart and mind and purpose. We were born
anew of the Spirit of God. And, now we belong to the Lord, and our lives are to
be lived for his praise and glory, and not for ourselves (1 Co. 6:19-20).
Also, when we walked according to our flesh, we did not act
wisely. We made bad choices, some of which hurt others. We lived in
self-indulgence, and we behaved foolishly. But when we repented of our sins,
and we turned away from living to the flesh to now living to Jesus Christ, his
words in the Bible now taught us how to live wisely, thoughtfully, and obediently.
The words of wisdom in the Scriptures teach us how to live holy and godly
lives.
Now, as followers of Jesus Christ, when we read the
Scriptures, even in the Old Testament, we can find encouragement for our walks
of faith, and we delight in the Word of the Lord when we hear his gentle voice
speaking his words to our hearts, when he makes them practical to our lives.
And, the more that we study the Scriptures, under the
guidance of the Holy Spirit, and in CONTEXT, the greater our joy for the words
of the Lord, and the more they comfort and encourage our hearts. We learn more
of the ways of the Lord, he changes our hearts, he purifies us, and he matures
us in our walks of faith, provided we take his words to heart, and that we walk
in them, and we do not walk away and forget what we look like.
Psalm 19:9-11 ESV
“The fear of the Lord is clean,
enduring
forever;
the rules of the Lord are true,
and righteous
altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine
gold;
sweeter also than honey
and drippings
of the honeycomb.
Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them
there is great reward.”
To fear the Lord is to show him respect, honor, and esteem, and
it is to walk in obedience to his commands. Not too many people today are
walking in the fear of the Lord. Too many people show disrespect to God, and
they treat him like he is some genie in the sky there to grant them their every
request. And, so they get angry with him when he does not comply.
Too many people are being taught that Jesus died on that
cross merely to forgive us our sins and to promise us heaven, but they are not
being taught that he demands that we die with him to sin and that we live to
him and to his righteousness (1 Pet. 2:24; Rom. 6:1-23; Eph. 4:17-24; 2 Co.
5:15).
They are not being told that it is those who WALK according
to the Spirit who have eternal life with God, and that those who WALK according
to their flesh are going to perish in their sins (Rom. 8:1-17; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; Lu.
9:23-26; Gal. 5:16-21; Eph. 5:3-6; 1 Jn. 2:3-6; Gal. 6:7-8; Rom. 2:6-8).
Too many people are following the lies rather than the
truth, because the lies tickle their itching ears. They want to hear feel-good
messages which coddle them, and which make excuses for them to continue in
their sins. And, they don’t want to hear messages which call for repentance,
submission and obedience to Jesus Christ as our Lord and master.
But the word of God is truth, and truth is what we need to
hear, for truth is the only thing that is going to breathe life into us. It is
the only thing that is going to open blinded eyes and turn them from darkness
to light. We don’t need more people lying to us, telling us that God is okay
with us living in sin and that his grace covers it all, so we don’t have to
feel guilty about sin.
For, Jesus died to set us free from our bondage to sin, not
to give us free license to continue living in sin while claiming God’s grace
covers it all. He died to obliterate sin in our lives and to lead us to follow
him, that we might now become bond-slaves of him and of his righteousness (Rom.
6:1-23).
So, we are to be those who hunger and thirst after
righteousness, and who desire God’s word and his commandments, that we might
live in them, by God’s grace, in the power of God’s Spirit. Truly God’s word
should be as sweet as honey to our taste, not physical taste, but spiritual.
And, I am not talking here just about the verses that make us feel good, but including
God’s warnings to us, for if we heed them, we have great reward.
Psalm 19:12-14 ESV
“Who can discern his errors?
Declare me
innocent from hidden faults.
Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins;
let them not
have dominion over me!
Then I shall be blameless,
and innocent of
great transgression.
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable
in your sight,
O Lord, my rock
and my redeemer.”
It is true that we may not immediately discern every error
of judgment in any given matter, and that we may not be sensitized to some
things which are wrong for us, either because we are new to the faith, or
because we became desensitized by making small compromises, one at a time, to
where we didn’t see clearly to see all the wrongness in our actions.
Now, I am not talking here about things which are clearly
wrong, and this is never to be used as an excuse for willful and habitual sin
against God and against other humans. We know that lying is wrong. So, we
shouldn’t tell lies. And, deceiving someone into believing something that isn’t
true is also a lie, as is withholding the truth from those to whom it is due.
We also know that adultery is wrong, and that the Bible
teaches that to lust after another is adultery. So, romantic movies or stories
are not a good thing for married people, for it can lead them to lust after the
idea of having extramarital affairs. Any books or movies with sensuality or
sexual situations or which glorify and applaud immorality and wickedness,
should not be part of the Christian’s life. But this may be a learned thing.
But what is clear is that lusting after another to whom you
are not married, viewing pornography, especially habitually, having private
conversations with a person of interest without your spouse’s knowledge, flirting
with others, making sexual remarks to others or sexually suggestive remarks,
and having literal sex with others to whom you are not married is wrong. Also,
masturbation is wrong because it is having sex with yourself.
So, we want the Lord to reveal to us those areas in our
lives where we may have gotten desensitized to evil, so that we can rid our
lives of all hindrances to our walks of faith and to holy living.
But we also need to listen to God’s word, and we need to not
involve ourselves in willful and habitual sin, for Jesus died to deliver us out
of our bondage to sin. We just have to take the way of escape he provided for
us. And, this is a must! For, the Scriptures teach us that if we walk (in
habit) in the flesh, in darkness (sin), that we are going to die in our sins.
So, pray. Ask the Lord to show you where you have made
compromises, where you have become desensitized to evil, and then make the
changes in your lives necessary to rid yourselves of that evil. And, also do
what you know is right, and don’t do what you know is wrong, and don’t play
with sin, either. Put off everything that is leading you to sin, too, so that
you can walk in holiness and purity, in obedience to your Lord’s commands.
Enough for My God
By G. M. Eldridge
In God is the light, the brightest day.
He taught me to walk the narrow way,
Yet still I chose the path that was broad:
O, how could I be enough for my God?
With mercy so sweet, He led me along.
He held my hand, and gave me a song,
Yet still I sinned, a shameful fraud:
O, how could I be enough for my God?
I never had dreamed the day I’d see
the Son of God, who died for me,
Yet here by His side, I stand in awe:
Washed by His blood, enough for my God.
And who could forgive all the sins and the flaws?
O, how could I be enough for my God?
But gently He’ll lead by staff and by rod,
And help me to be enough for my God.
I just want to be Enough for You, God!
*Caution: This link may contain ads
No comments:
Post a Comment