A Life with Purpose

Steadfast in Purpose

Acts 11:21-23 ESV

“And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose.”

When we believe in Jesus Christ to be our Lord and Savior, not only do we turn away from our lifestyles of sin, but we turn to the Lord Jesus to follow him in his ways, according to his commands for us, his church.

But, this decision to accept God’s invitation to his salvation from our slavery to sin doesn’t end at that point. We don’t “get saved,” then we live however we want, and then one day we go to heaven when we die. For, by faith in Jesus we are delivered from our bondage to sin so that we will now live to Christ and to his righteousness (Rom. 6:1-23; Eph. 4:17-24; 1 Pet. 2:24).

So, our decision to believe in Jesus, which is a gift from God, and not something generated from our own flesh, is not just so we can be forgiven our sin, escape hell, and so we can go to heaven when we die. Believing in Jesus is a life transformation. We were living in slavery to sin. Now we are living in slavery to Christ/God, and to his righteousness (Rom. 6:1-23).

But it isn’t just about not sinning anymore, and it isn’t just about doing what is right in God’s eyes. For, when we believe in Jesus, he now takes ownership of our lives. We are now his possession, and our lives are to be lived for his praise and for his glory. Our lives are no longer our own to be lived however we want, doing what we want to do, with God in the background (2 Co. 5:15, 21; 1 Co. 6:19-20; Eph. 2:10; Tit. 2:14).

Our lives are now to be lived with purpose, which is to glorify God with our lives. And, we are to remain steadfast in purpose and faithful to the Lord throughout our lives on this earth until Jesus comes to take us home.

Faithful unto Death

Revelation 2:10 ESV

“Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

The Christian life is not what many people in America paint it to be. It isn’t just about being forgiven your sins so you can go to heaven when you die. And, it isn’t about being happy and having fun all the time, either. The Christian life is not one big party, in other words.

Yes, when we are delivered from our slavery to sin and we are given new lives in Jesus to be lived for his glory, empowered by the Spirit of God, there is much cause for rejoicing. But our joy is not based on our circumstances. Our joy is based on our Lord and on our relationship with him.

For, if we are truly followers of Jesus, and we are doing and saying the kinds of things he did and said, then we are going to be hated and persecuted as he was. He said we would. The Christian life, though it is a life of joy, it is also a life of suffering for the sake of Jesus and for his gospel of salvation.

So, we should not be surprised if we are being persecuted for our faith in Jesus. And, we are also not to be afraid of such persecution, either. The Lord is allowing it in our lives, and he will give us everything we need to endure. And, he will mature us in our walks of faith through it, as well.

And, we are to be faithful unto death, which means we are to remain faithful to our Lord throughout our Christian lives up unto the day we die. And, he will give us the crown of life.

As a Good Soldier

2 Timothy 2:1-7 ESV

“You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.”

As followers of Jesus Christ, we are compared here to soldiers in an army, with Jesus Christ as our commanding officer. But this is not an army which fights the enemy with physical weapons of warfare, for this is a spiritual battle, and it can only be won with the armor of God which our Lord supplies to us who are his (Eph. 6:10-20).

So, what does it mean to be a “good soldier of Christ Jesus”? Well, a soldier in the army in the USA is the property of the government, and the soldier must do what his commanding officer commands him to do. And, as believers in Jesus, we are God’s possession, and no longer our own, and Jesus is now our Master, and we are to do what he commands us to do.

As good soldiers of Christ we are not to get entangled in civilian pursuits. Civilians, in this case, would be those who are not soldiers. So, this would mean we are not to get entangled in the affairs or the pursuits of the ungodly world. We are not to get ensnared by them or caught up in them, for it is Jesus we must serve.

In other words, being a Christian or a follower of Jesus means our lives are now surrendered to Jesus Christ. We give up ownership rights over our own lives, and we now surrender to our Lord as our commanding officer. And, we follow his rules, and we do what he says. And, this will mean suffering for him and for his gospel, too. But he will see us through it all to the very end.

God is With Us

An Original Work / June 11, 2019

Based off Psalm 46

God’s our refuge. He is our strength,

A present help to us when in pain.

Therefore, we will not be afraid,

Although the earth beneath us gives way.

Though the mountains be moved to the sea,

Roaring waters abound so free,

And the mountains now tremble so,

We will not fear, God is near, we know.

God is with us and He makes glad

The hearts of all who to Christ have fled.

Christ is in us, so we’ll not fall

When on our Savior our hearts do call.

God will help us, as mornings arise,

To be faithful to His design.

Nations raging, and tempers flare.

Our God is with us. We know He cares.

Come and see the works of the Lord.

He’s armed for battle with His great sword.

He’s the Word, and He is the Life.

He gives us strength in all of our strife.

Be still and know that He is our God.

He’s exalted where’er He trods.

The Lord Almighty, with us still;

The God of Jacob, our citadel.

https://vimeo.com/341717561

Will of Man or Will of God?

John 1:1-5 ESV

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

When we read further on down in this passage of Scripture, we soon see that “the Word” being spoken of here is none other than Jesus Christ, God the Son, the second person of our triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Jesus didn’t just come into being when he was born as a baby to Mary. He always was, and he always will be. He was with God in the beginning, and he is God. And, he is our creator God. He was in heaven with God, but then he came to earth, was born as a baby, and he became a man, yet he was both fully God and fully man when he walked this earth.

Jesus is the creator of life, and he gave life to all of us humans. But in him is also the life of the Spirit of God which he gives to all who humble ourselves before him, who repent of our sins, and who turn away from sin to follow him in obedience to his commands for our lives (Rom. 6:1-23).

And, the life of the Spirit of God is truth and righteousness, which shines in the darkness (in wickedness, evil, godlessness). And, it exposes evil for what it is, and it calls all humans to repent and to obey God. And, darkness (evil) cannot overcome the light of God (of Christ) and of his righteousness.

So, no matter what evil exists out there in this world, through faith in Jesus Christ we can overcome the darkness so that it does not overpower us. We can resist Satan, and flee temptation, and we can live in victory over darkness. We don’t have to succumb to the enemy. For God has given us the spiritual armor that we need to be victors over darkness through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen! (Eph. 6:10-20)

John 1:6-8 ESV

“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.”

God sent John the Baptist to bear witness to Jesus Christ and to prepare people’s hearts to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior. He was to make a straight path for the people to receive Jesus Christ, and that straight path was the way of holiness and righteousness. Therefore, his main message was to call the people to repent, to turn away from their sins, and to follow Jesus in his ways, and in his truth.

So, when we are bearing witness to Jesus Christ and to his saving grace to us, we all need to call people to repent of their sins, and we also need to prepare a straight way for people to come to faith in Jesus Christ. Thus, we should be teaching them that faith in Jesus means we die with Christ to sin that we might live to Christ and to his righteousness (1 Pet. 2:24).

John 1:9-14 ESV

“The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

When we bear witness to Jesus Christ, and to his death and resurrection, and when we call people to repentance and to obedient faith in Jesus Christ, we need to be prepared to be rejected as Jesus was rejected. We need to anticipate that people will fight against us. And, we need to be emotionally and mentally prepared to even have our own family members turn away from us and to even persecute us because of our faith in Jesus Christ.

For, when we shine the light of truth into the darkness, we are going to be hated, and we will be resisted, and people will fight against us, because they are fighting against the truth. For people love the darkness rather than the light because their deeds are evil, and so they won’t come into the light lest their evil deeds be exposed. So, we need to be prepared for this.

If we are living and if we are proclaiming the truth of the Word of God, in the power of God’s Spirit living within us, and people reject that truth, we need to understand that they are really rejecting Jesus and his gospel message. They are refusing to receive him into their hearts and lives.

But “receiving” Jesus is not just words we say or some formality we go through to “get saved.” To receive Jesus is to accept him and his divine character and will and all that he is and all that he stands for into our lives and into our daily practices.

To receive Jesus, thus, is to receive him as Lord (owner-master) of our lives and to submit ourselves to his will and purposes for our lives and to walk in his ways and in his truth.

And, it is through this type of “receiving” of Jesus that we are born of God, and that we become children of God. But notice with me here that not only is this a spiritual birth, and not only is it of God, but that it is NOT of the will of man. In other words, we can’t make up our own gospel. We must follow the gospel as Jesus and as his NT apostles taught it.

Thus, those who teach that we can be “saved” from our sins, and that heaven is guaranteed us, but that how we live doesn’t matter for eternity, they are feeding you lies that they made up. That is a gospel or a spiritual birth that is of the will of man, not of God.

For, Jesus Christ, God the Son, died on that cross to redeem us, i.e. to buy us back for God so that we would now honor God with our lives. He died that we might die with him to sin and that we might live to him and to his righteousness. And, he died that we might no longer live for ourselves, but for him who gave his life up for us (1 Co. 6:19-20; 1 Pet. 2:24; 2 Co. 5:15).

High Above the Seraphim

Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16

High above the seraphim

Sounds an everlasting hymn;

Voices echo thro’ the hall

And shake the temple wall.

Living creatures bless the King,

Four and twenty elders sing,

“Worthy, He who overcame;”

“The Word of God” His name.

Praise the Seed of Abraham!

All dominion to the Lamb!

Sing of Him, in glory slain,

“Lord God Almighty reigns!”

Shout the God-breathed prophecy;

“He who was will ever be!”

“Kings of earth have passed away!”

The Son is Lord this day!

Night to night I come to Him,

Kneel before His diadem;

While a thousand thousand sing,

I fall before the King.

Soon will He be changing me,

Clothed in immortality,

Swallowed up in victory,

And evermore to be.

Used by permission

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzVaX3wwUyE

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Don't Lose Control

Psalm 37:1-2 ESV

“Fret not yourself because of evildoers;

    be not envious of wrongdoers!

For they will soon fade like the grass

    and wither like the green herb.”

We are not to worry or to be extremely agitated or anxious of spirit because of evildoers and their evil plots against us. We are not to let their actions towards us upset us to the point to where their actions towards us ruin our moods or lead us to be depressed, or to where we begin to doubt God or to question our beliefs, or to where we fear what they might do to us.

Believe me when I tell you that those plotting evil against followers of Jesus will try every trick in their books to try to get us to fail. They want us to blow it. They want us to give up. They want us discouraged and disheartened and afraid. And, they want us doubting ourselves and our relationships with the Lord, and they want us doubting God, too.

So, we are not to fear them or their threats or their evil plots against us. And, we are not to be vindictive towards them, in return for their evil, either. We are to love our enemies, do good to them, as God defines good, and we are to pray for them and say to them what will benefit them spiritually, physically, mentally and/or emotionally, as God would do unto them.

Thus, we are to never lie to them or console them in their sin or tell them “sweet nothings” to soothe their consciences. That is not love! Love (agape) is a love that prefers what God prefers, which is what is holy, righteous, pure, honest, moral, and upright. So true love will never gloss over sin, nor will it make excuses for it nor do anything to help facilitate it, either.

True love will speak the truth in love, in hopes that the wicked will turn from their wickedness, and that they will turn to the Lord in submission and in obedience of faith, so that they may be saved from their sin, walk in purity of devotion to the Lord, and have true hope of eternal life with God.

Psalm 37:3-7 ESV

“Trust in the Lord, and do good;

    dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.

Delight yourself in the Lord,

    and he will give you the desires of your heart.

“Commit your way to the Lord;

    trust in him, and he will act.

He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,

    and your justice as the noonday.

“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;

    fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,

    over the man who carries out evil devices!”

I want to first state here that the desires of our hearts, which God will give us, are contingent upon us trusting the Lord with our lives, us doing the good that God predestined that we should walk in, us being faithful to the Lord, us keeping his word, and us delighting ourselves in the Lord.

Secondly, I want to state that, if we are doing all of that, in the strength of God’s Spirit, then God’s desires will become our desires. So, the desires he will give us will be his desires, which have now become our desires.

But… and going back to vv. 1-2, if our desire has to do with the Lord delivering us from evil people, or if it has to do with the Lord changing the hearts of those who do evil, so that they will now be followers of Jesus, we need to be patient and wait on the Lord.

And, we must commit our lives to the Lord, trusting him that he knows best. We must believe that he is fully sovereign over all things, and that all things are under his command and control. He allows evil to exist, for a time, and he will allow evil people to conquer nations and peoples and to persecute the saints of God, for a time determined by God.

And, this means that we must trust the Lord with our reputations, with what people may be plotting against us behind our backs, with any evil or even perceived evil being done to us, with any slanderous accusations against our character, or with any false judgments against our motives. For, Jesus promised us we would be hated and persecuted for righteousness’ sake.

But, one day we will be exonerated, if we are walking in the ways of the Lord and if we are being slandered as though we are not. We must trust the Lord even if we never see this in our lifetime and if we die a martyr’s death, with the world thinking we did evil in God’s sight. For, that is what happened to Jesus, right? He was killed for being a criminal, which he wasn’t.

So, we have to be willing to have the world think evil of us because we are following Jesus Christ with our lives, and because we are loving others as Jesus loved us, being willing to die wrongfully, if by our deaths others will be brought to faith in Jesus Christ. Again, we must hand our reputations over to the Lord, and we must continue to walk in his ways and in his truth no matter how we are treated in return or even if we are slandered.

Psalm 37:8-11 ESV

“Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!

    Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.

For the evildoers shall be cut off,

    but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.

“In just a little while, the wicked will be no more;

    though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.

But the meek shall inherit the land

    and delight themselves in abundant peace.”

I hate lies! God hates lies! And, I sometimes get angry when someone lies to me, depending upon the circumstances or the severity of the lie. You could call this righteous anger, since God gets angry, too, and since it is hating what he hates.

But I still need to control my temper. I still need to bring my emotions under the control of the Holy Spirit. Even if what I am saying is truth, and even if what I am saying is not vengeful, and even if what I am saying is intended to correct error and to silence the lies, I still must keep my emotions under control and not lose it.  

I think that I (rarely) lose control of my emotions because I am fearing where that other person is going to go with those thoughts or beliefs about me or about themselves or about God. And, I must not do that. I must not let that other person have that kind of power over me. God is speaking to me about that, as I have asked him to do.

And, honestly, I am not rejoicing over the fact that evildoers will be cut off, for my hope is that they will surrender their lives to Jesus Christ, that they will cease to do evil, and that they will now live godly and holy lives, pleasing to God. But I do so look forward to the day when all evil will be cut off, and when we who believe in Jesus will forever be with our Lord.

And, I do so look forward to the day when the evil one no longer attacks me and comes against me and persecutes me. I look forward to no longer being harassed at every turn by the evil one, just because I am living for Jesus and speaking his truth to the world.

But God is good! All the time!! And, he will give me everything I need to endure, to respond correctly to attacks of the enemy, and to not lose it when oppressed strongly. He will give me the grace to make it through every trial and to hold fast to my faith and to not fear what Satan might throw at me.

So, I surrender it all to Jesus, and I trust him to help me in every trial to stay the course and to remain calm even when fiercely attacked, and to keep giving it all over to Jesus, trusting in his sovereign grace through it all.

Eternal Father, Strong to Save

William Whiting

Eternal Father, strong to save,

Whose arm does bind the restless wave,

Who bids the mighty ocean deep

Its own appointed limits keep;

O hear us when we cry to Thee

For those in peril on the sea.

O Savior, whose almighty word

The winds and waves submissive heard,

Who walked upon the foaming deep,

And calm amid the rage did sleep;

O hear us when we cry to Thee

For those in peril on the sea.

O Holy Spirit, who did brood

Upon the waters dark and rude,

And bid their angry tumult cease,

And give for wild confusion peace;

O hear us when we cry to Thee

For those in peril on the sea.

O Trinity of love and pow'r,

Your children shield in danger's hour;

From rock and tempest, fire, and foe,

Protect them where-so-e'er they go;

Thus, evermore shall rise to Thee

Glad hymns of praise from land and sea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BrcQ9_sV3M

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Salt and Light

Matthew 5:13 ESV

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.”

What is the purpose of salt? It is a preservative for food, but it also adds flavor (seasoning), or it brings out the flavor of the food that we eat. It is also used metaphorically to signify purification. And, it is sometimes used as a healing agent, along with warm water, such as for a sore throat.

In a figurative sense, it can be translated to mean wisdom or prudence (forethought, carefulness, discretion, and good sense). If we preserve something, we maintain, uphold, keep (obey), continue in, protect (safeguard) and defend it. In scripture, the Word of God is often symbolized by food or most specifically bread.

Along that line of thinking, we are taught in scripture to preserve, maintain, uphold, continue in, sustain, and to safeguard our walks with the Lord, our testimonies for him, and his word, as well as we are to keep (obey) and defend the Word of Truth. In this way, we are being the salt of the earth in attitude, thought, word and deed.

So, if we are the salt, what does that mean? Well, it doesn’t mean that we are to add anything to God’s word or that we are to add spice to it, either. We are to do nothing to distort, to add to, or to take away from the Scriptures. We can learn from the word and share what we learn with others, but we don’t do anything to improve upon God’s Word.

But we are to preserve the purity of God’s word, and we are to uphold the truths of Scripture, especially the gospel message. Also, as children of God and as followers of Jesus, we are the purified (righteous, holy), by God’s grace, through God-given faith, and we are to remain pure in our walks of faith with the Lord Jesus, as testimonies of God’s saving grace in our lives.

So, if we lose our saltiness, what does that mean? Well, first I believe it means that we are no longer walking in purity of devotion to Jesus Christ, but that our lives have been corrupted by the world and by sin. We have not remained in the Word of God, doing what it says, and thus we have also lost godly wisdom, discretion, and good sense. So, we are of no use to anyone.

If this is where we are, this also means that we are not preserving the purity of God’s word, but we have also allowed it to become corrupted by the thinking, reasoning, and philosophies of human beings. Instead of holding to the truths of Scripture, we have agreed to dilute the truth to make it more appealing and acceptable to the flesh of man. So, we have lost our saltiness there, too.

So, if we have lost our purity, and if we are now walking by the flesh, and not by the Spirit, and if we have diluted the gospel to make it more acceptable to human flesh, we have lost our saltiness, and therefore we are not useful for God’s eternal kingdom in upholding his word by faith, by deed or by word. We can lead no one to genuine faith in Jesus Christ.

Matthew 5:14-16 ESV

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

So, what is light? It is something that dispels the darkness. It helps us to see things we cannot see in the dark. It exposes things that might be hidden in the darkness like dust, dirt, ratty furniture, or soiled garments, etc. And, it shows them for what they really are.

Light helps us to see, too, and sight is also insight, so light is to give us insight into things hidden in the darkness so that they can be exposed and so that they can be dealt with appropriately. For, if we remain in the dark, we can’t see those things that need to be cleaned and/or repaired and/or thrown away.

Light is also the opposite of darkness. Darkness is sin, wickedness, evil, deception, immorality, and all unrighteousness. So, light is truth, holiness, righteousness, purity, morality, kindness, and godliness.

So, when God shines the light of truth and righteousness into the darkness of human hearts, he exposes the evil that is there that needs to be removed and cast off. He exposes the sinful heart that needs to be cleansed by the power of God’s Spirit and the hearts wounded by sin which need to be healed by God’s love, mercy and saving grace (1 Pet. 2:24-25).

So, if we are to be the light of the world, first we must have been cleansed of our sin, and we must have cast it off, by God’s grace, through God-given faith in Jesus Christ. We must have died with Christ to sin, and we must be now living to Christ and to his righteousness, in the power of God’s Spirit. For, we can’t be the light of the world if we are still walking in darkness, for darkness and light don’t mix (Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; 1 Jn. 1:5-9).

And, then if we are to be the light of the world, we must be shining that light of truth and righteousness into the darkness of sin in the world, which would then be exposing the sin out there for what it is. And, we should be shining the truth of God’s word and of his solution for sin, too.

So, that means we will not be telling people lies nor will we be sharing with them feel good messages which coddle them in their sins. We will be spreading the truth of the gospel as Jesus taught it, exposing the fruitless deeds of darkness, and calling people to repentance and obedient faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord.

But we must not be hypocritical. We must be those who are walking the walk and not just talking it, so that we can lead others by example and not by words only.

To Be Like Him 

An Original Work / March 16, 2014 

Based off Scripture

Crucified you are with Jesus.

To be like Him, oh, you’ll be,

Because He died at Calv’ry,

So from sin you’d be free.

Oh, what joy He brings into your life,

Giving life with Him endlessly.

Oh, what plans He has for your life.

Share the gospel faithfully.

Show the people He loves them.

Now His witness you’ll be.

Tell the world of sin about Jesus,

How He died for them on a tree.

Purifying hearts, He saves them,

Who believe on Christ, God’s Son.

Turning now from their idols,

New lives they have begun.

Jesus saves from sin; we’re forgiven.

Over sin, the vict’ry He won!

When He comes again to take us

To be with Him evermore,

There will be no more crying.

Gladness will be in store.

Heavens joys will now overtake us:

We’ll be with our Lord evermore.

https://vimeo.com/89237609

Betrothed to One Husband

2 Corinthians 11:1-4 ESV

“I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.”

A Divine Jealousy

When we come to faith in Jesus Christ with God-given faith, through dying with Christ to sin and being resurrected with Christ to newness of life in him, Jesus becomes not only our Lord and Savior, but he becomes our husband, and we, the church, become his bride. And, by “church” is meant only those who believe in Jesus with God-given faith, not an institution of men.

So Paul, in essence, by sharing the gospel with people, and by them responding to the gospel message with faith in Jesus Christ, saw his part in this union – between the believers in Jesus and their Lord – as kind of like the pastor who performs a marriage ceremony between a man and a woman. He was joining them together in marriage, though literally it was the Holy Spirit who does that. Paul was just the human vessel of God.

So, when he introduced the people to faith in Jesus Christ, by what he taught them regarding that faith, it was clear that they were being betrothed to Jesus Christ as their husband and that they were to see their relationship with Jesus as his bride, and their commitment to that union as that of the vows of fidelity and love in a marriage.

Being Led Astray

But now the people were being tempted and they were being led astray to “other lovers,” like a husband or a wife might be tempted or might give in to the temptation to seek after “other loves” in place of the love of their spouse. And, so Paul was jealous for them almost as though he was the jilted spouse himself. I feel with Jesus, too.

So, how were the people being tempted to stray? How were they being deceived? It was through hypocritical liars and wolves in sheep’s clothing who were coming to them with smooth talk and convincing messages which were teaching them a Jesus different from the one in the Bible and a gospel message, too, different from the one taught by Jesus and by his NT apostles.

And, the problem was that the people within the church were putting up with these false messages. They were entertaining them in their minds, and they were doing nothing to stand against them or to stop them from being spread. And, at least some of them were receiving and were accepting this teaching of a false Jesus and a false gospel into their own hearts and lives.

Another Jesus

So, what is “another Jesus” that is predominantly being taught in the church today, at least here in America? It is a Jesus who is soft on sin, who forgives sin, and who promises heaven, but who requires no repentance, no obedience, and no submission to himself as Lord. And, he asks for no one to honor him as the holy God that he is.

It is also a Jesus who was a good man who just went around performing “good deeds” and “loving on” everyone and blessing everyone, too. He was well liked by everyone because of his charismatic personally, because he didn’t judge anyone or anyone’s sins, and because he just made everyone feel good about themselves, even if they were steeped in rebellion.

And, it is a Jesus who never said a cross word to anyone, who never challenged or confronted anyone in their sin, who always had a smile on his face, and who just gave out a message of unconditional love to the whole world so that they would be comforted in knowing Jesus loved them.

A Different Gospel

So, what is the “different gospel” that is predominantly being taught in the churches in America today? And, maybe in other countries, too?

It is that we can “believe” in Jesus with some obscure not very well explained “faith” which sounds more like an intellectual or emotional decision or assent to who Jesus was and to what he did for us on that cross, although that is skewed, too.

And, it is that we can have this obscure faith in Jesus, be forgiven our sin, be bound for heaven when we die, but we can still live in our sin, doing what we want to do, and still be ruling our own lives, making our own decisions, without having to consult God, and while living for self-pleasure, too.

It also implies or says directly that we don’t have to repent of our sins or walk in obedience with our Lord or submit to his Lordship over our lives. For, it says that is “works-based salvation,” so we don’t have to do any of it. We just have to acknowledge Jesus, accept his grace, then we are good to go until we die, and it doesn’t matter how we live from this moment on. Wrong!

[Rom. 6:1-23; Eph. 4:17-24; Rom. 8:1-17; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; 1 Jn. 2:3-6]

Pure Devotion to Christ

We do not have permission to continue in sin now that we are under grace. We died with Christ to sin that we might walk in newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness (Eph. 4:17-24).

We were crucified with Christ in death to sin, by faith in Jesus Christ, that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to (addicted to) sin.

For, if we present ourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, we are slaves to the one whom we obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness, which then leads to sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God (Rom. 6:1-23).

So, this is a lot like when we marry. We should not marry with the idea that we can continue living like we are single, but with the idea that our “singleness” is now being put to death. And, we should marry with the idea that we are now committed to this other person as our “only love,” to whom we promise love, faithfulness, purity, and devotion.

God, Our Helper

We do not come to faith in Jesus Christ in the flesh or according to our man-made ideas of what that faith entails. It is the Holy Spirit of God who transforms us and who turns us from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. But we must cooperate with that work of grace. We must do what God says. We must obey our Lord (Rom. 6:1-23; 1 Jn. 2:3-6).

And, God says we must die with Christ to sin and live to Christ and his righteousness. He says that the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us who WALK according to the Spirit and NOT according to the flesh. For, if we walk according to the flesh, we will die in our sins, but if by the Spirit we are putting to death the deeds of the flesh, we will live (Rom. 8:1-17).

So, please know this because your eternity depends on it. But, please know also that you don’t have to do this on your own or in your own strength. You couldn’t anyway, for this can only be accomplished in the power of God’s Spirit, for this is a spiritual transformation, not behavioral modification.

So, yield your life over to the Lord and submit to him and to his ways, and follow him wherever he leads you, and he will empower you with strength from on high to do everything he has called you to do for his glory and for his praise.

God is With Us

An Original Work / June 11, 2019

Based off Psalm 46

God’s our refuge. He is our strength,

A present help to us when in pain.

Therefore, we will not be afraid,

Although the earth beneath us gives way.

Though the mountains be moved to the sea,

Roaring waters abound so free,

And the mountains now tremble so,

We will not fear, God is near, we know.

God is with us and He makes glad

The hearts of all who to Christ have fled.

Christ is in us, so we’ll not fall

When on our Savior our hearts do call.

God will help us, as mornings arise,

To be faithful to His design.

Nations raging, and tempers flare.

Our God is with us. We know He cares.

Come and see the works of the Lord.

He’s armed for battle with His great sword.

He’s the Word, and He is the Life.

He gives us strength in all of our strife.

Be still and know that He is our God.

He’s exalted where’er He trods.

The Lord Almighty, with us still;

The God of Jacob, our citadel.

https://vimeo.com/341717561

The Wicked Lie in Wait

Psalm 119:92-93

“If your law had not been my delight,

    I would have perished in my affliction.

I will never forget your precepts,

    for by them you have given me life.”

In this life we will have trouble. We will face difficult challenges which try our faith. We will have wicked people who are out to destroy us, some of whom will do whatever it takes to bring us down, to get us to give up, or to get us to shut up.

If we are not grounded in the word of God, and if the word of God is not our delight, and if we are just casual about the Scriptures, or if we are neglectful of the Scriptures, and if we are not walking in obedience to them, chances are pretty good that when we are tested and tried that we will succumb to the affliction (suffering, difficulty), and we will allow it to overtake us.

Nonetheless, if the Scriptures are our delight, and if we are walking in obedience to our Lord’s commands, and if we are following him in his ways and in his truth, when trials come our way to test our faith, we should be able to stand the test and remain faithful to God’s word.

We ought to be able to refute Satan’s lies with the truth using the full armor of God which our Lord has given us to fight off Satan’s evil schemes against us. And, this means getting out that sword of the Spirit and using it against Satan’s lies and his false accusations by proclaiming out loud the truth.

For we are in a spiritual battle, and the battle is a fight for men’s souls (all people’s souls). And, the more we speak the truth, and the more we expose the lies of the enemy and his evil tactics, the more the enemy is going to be outraged against us and is going to come after us. But this just means we are doing something right, otherwise he would leave us alone.

For, the word of God is what gives life to us, but not just the Scriptures, but God himself, and Jesus Christ, God the Son, who is the Word. Because of what Jesus did for us on that cross, we can have life in him and eternal life with God. We can be delivered from our slavery (addiction) to sin and now live holy lives, pleasing to God, empowered by the Spirit of God.

And, the Scriptures, which are God’s words to us, teach us how to live, and how to deal with the enemy attacks, and how to refute the lies, and how to resist the devil so that he will flee from us. And, they teach us how to walk by faith, and how to live holy lives, pleasing to God. So, they help us to live what we say we believe and to walk the walk and to not just talk it.

Psalm 119:94-95

“I am yours; save me,

    for I have sought your precepts.

The wicked lie in wait to destroy me,

    but I consider your testimonies.”

If we are indeed the Lord’s by genuine God-given faith in Jesus Christ, which means that we have died with Christ to sin that we might live to Christ and to his righteousness, then we can call on him to save us from our troubles and to rescue us from those who would persecute us.

But since our Lord promised us that we will be persecuted for righteousness’ sake, and that we will be hated as he was, then we have to know that he is not always going to physically remove us from persecution, but that he will save us through it, i.e. he will keep us from falling and from giving in to the enemy of our souls.

He may protect us physically from persecution, but we have to be prepared for the eventuality that he will not, but that he will give us whatever we need to endure it and to not succumb to it, but to remain faithful to our Lord and to his word through it, for the glory and praise of God, and as a witness to others that we will not yield to anyone but God.

For, our enemy the devil (Satan) is out to devour us, to lay traps for us, hoping that we might fall. For, he wants us to give up. He wants us to shut up, too, and to stop turning people away from him by telling them the truth. So, if we are out there teaching the truth of God’s word, then we should be prepared that the enemy is going to kick back, and he will use other humans to do his dirty work.

So, when Satan does attack us through other humans, and when he falsely accuses us, or he attacks our character, or he tries to trip us up in some way in hopes that we would yield to him, we must go to the Word of God. We must go to the Lord in prayer and to the Word to get direction for how we are to endure such affliction, and for how we are to respond to such suffering.

And, we must allow the Holy Spirit of God to teach us what to do and how to respond and to give us the right heart attitude about the whole thing, too, so that we do right, and so that we don’t do wrong. And, then we must follow the teachings of Scripture and obey our Lord and follow his leading. For, the Word of God will lead us in the right way.

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.

copyright status is public domain

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

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Abusive and Heartless

2 Timothy 3:1-5, 8-9 ESV

“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.” Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.

Jude 1:12-13, 16-19 ESV

“These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.” “These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage. “But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, ‘In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.’ It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit.”

Gaslighting

I believe the Lord Jesus wants me to talk about something today which is called “gaslighting,” (1) which is abuse, and which is cruel. And, it fits right in with these descriptions of certain kinds of people in these two (above) passages of Scripture.

“Gaslighting” is one form of abuse which users and abusers will use to attempt to control others. And, it may be in retaliation against someone if he/she is getting too close to the truth, and for the purpose to try to silence that person, to shut him/her up.

So, first there is the “set-up,” where the abuser sets the stage for a particular scenario which he is certain is going to accomplish what he desires. He knows enough about his intended target (a person or group of people) that he can fairly predict how that person will react. So, he creates a false narrative to get his target to believe him and to take the bait, and then the play begins. And, then he begins to reel the person in.

Now, this type of situation may happen just between two people, or it may be something done on a much larger scale, such as nationally or globally or in the church. But the scenario is faked, or if it is real, it is then manipulated to the abuser’s advantage to catch his target in his snare.

These abusers are not godly people. They are not mature individuals. They are irresponsible, self-indulgent, lovers of self, proud, without self-control, and lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, etc. For, they are following their sinful nature, doing what they do by instinct, habitually.

Once they have set the bait on the hook, and they see their target coming, they immediately move into action and the performance begins. They begin to operate (utilize their abusive and manipulative tactic). And, then the evil scheme begins rolling. And, what takes place next is dishonorable, corrupt, and immoral, because it is about taking advantage of others for personal gain.

So, when the target takes the bait, and the target believes the abuser, and he does or says what is predictable, then the abuser really gets into the act. He says things, but then denies that he said them. And this is to try to convince his target that he is “hearing things” or that he is misinterpreting things. And, then he begins to twist the words of his target to try to make it sound like the target is saying something different than he is saying.

Then the abuser attacks his target verbally by accusing his target of things the target (person) did not do or did not say, i.e. this is where the character assassinations begin, and the shifting of blame to the target rather than the abuser taking responsibility for his own actions. The whole thing is to try to get his target confused and believing the lies so that the abuser has gained control over the target.

And, its purpose is to get the target doubting himself or his own beliefs or his own sanity or ability to hear things correctly. It is largely about confusion, but the purpose of the confusion is to gain control over the other person. Sometimes it can also be to distract or to just get the other person upset, or to just take up time, sucking up that other person’s time with stuff that is meaningless, that has no value whatsoever. For, the abuser loves to play mind games with other people just to see how they will react.

And, the thing of it is, none of this is provable, and the abuser knows it. For it is all a mind game. And, the abuser’s goal is often, as well, to turn other people against his intended target, and to make his target look bad, or to accuse his target of being crazy and of imagining things, because abusers are often likeable, charming, and manipulative people.

So, just like the Scripture (above) says, we need to understand this. We need to be aware that there are people out there who may appear fairly innocuous outwardly, but who may be like lions waiting for their prey to appear, so that they can attack. Outwardly they may appear harmless and even believable, but they have many tricks up their sleeves.

So, we need to pray for discernment to know when we are being lured into a trap or when we are being played, or when someone is just playing mind games with us, either one on one, or on a much larger scale, too. And, these mind games or traps are not always that easy to spot. Believe me! It may begin innocent looking and then all of a sudden turn ugly.

2 Timothy 3:12-14 ESV

“Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it.”

Jude 1:20-23 ESV

“But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.”

So, what is the counsel to us here? We can’t go around mistrusting everyone and their motives. That isn’t healthy. If we are going to love people with Jesus’ love, to a certain extent we are going to make ourselves vulnerable to being abused (persecuted). These types of situations, too, may seem on the up and up, but we need discernment to see when it isn’t what it appears.

So, what are we to do when we realize what is going on? We need to reject the lies and we need to combat the lies with the truth. We must hold firmly to what we believe and to what we know to be the truth and to not let anyone try to convince us of anything we know is a lie. And, we need to verbally expose the lies for what they are and we need to verbally proclaim the truth, much like Jesus did when Satan was tempting him or when the Pharisees were trying to trip him up.

And, we must realize that Satan is the one attacking us through these abusers, and that he obviously has control over their lives. So we must speak the truth firmly, and strongly oppose the lies in order to snatch people from the fire, and so that we do not get pulled down with it all and get discouraged and want to give up the fight for people’s souls. So, we must stand strong against the devil’s tactics, hating sin, while still showing mercy to people.

(1)       https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/here-there-and-everywhere/201701/11-warning-signs-gaslighting

Beware of Evil Workers

Philippians 3:2-3 ESV

“Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision; for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.”

Man-Made Religion

There are those who do teach salvation by works done in the flesh, to gain favor with God, and to earn one’s own way to heaven. They are in the minority these days, I believe. But they add on externals to the gospel such as requiring physical circumcision of males, or rules about dress, or church attendance, or religious rituals, or indoctrinations, or superstitions, or traditions of human origin. So, this is man-made religion, of the flesh.

So, purportedly, in order to combat this man-made religion, there were those who swung the pendulum the other direction, and they supposedly teach a gospel of grace absent of man-made religion, but what they are teaching is also man-made and of the flesh of man, and is man’s attempts to reach God man’s way, not God’s way. For, they teach a gospel absent of repentance, obedience, and submission to Christ as Lord of their lives.

So, both extremes are false, for they do not line up with God’s word or with his divine character, will, and purpose for our lives. For, we can’t create our own God or our own Jesus or our own gospel out of our own minds to suit our own purposes. Well, we can, but it won’t get us anywhere good. For, we will still be living in slavery to sin, doing what our flesh wants to do, living lives separate in our thinking and believing from God’s will for our lives.

What’s Being Aired?

So, what is the primary gospel message that is being aired (propagated) these days, at least here in America? It is that we can “believe” in Jesus, be forgiven our sin, and have heaven guaranteed us when we die.

But “believe” is seldom explained, so it is often reduced to a mere acknowledgment of Jesus and/or of what he did for us in dying on a cross for our sins. And, it is taught as a one-time event that takes place in our lives that “seals the deal” for us regardless of how we live or how we treat God from that time forward.

And, it not only does not teach the forsaking of our sins and us following the Lord Jesus in obedience to his will for our lives, as necessary components of believing faith, but it often teaches that we don’t have to repent of our sins or obey the Lord and his word, and that we don’t have to surrender our lives to Jesus Christ to make him Lord (owner-master) of our lives. So, this “belief” leaves us still in control of our own lives and still bound in sin.

One other thing about this “gospel” is that it denies Jesus as Lord, and it puts him in the backseat of our lives, and it treats God – Father, Son (Jesus Christ) and Holy Spirit – as though he (God) is of less value, that he is not important, i.e. this gospel devalues God and it elevates human flesh. For, it allows for the flesh to still reign, to be in the driver’s seat. And, it does not submit to the authority of God or his word.

At the Core

So, what this “gospel” allows for is for man/woman to continue living in their sin, and to remain in bondage (slavery, addiction) to their sin. And, what is at the heart (or the core) of this is a mindset that says that we can believe in Jesus, which is supposed to be a marriage relationship between us and him, but that we can continue living as though we are single (unmarried).

It is a mindset that says we can believe in Jesus, and that we can unite our hearts with “other lovers” of the flesh and of the world, but that we don’t have to unite our hearts with God. We can remain independent of God, still making our own life decisions, living separate from him, yet still be “in Christ” and still on our way to heaven.

It is also a mindset that minimizes sin and that covers it up, and it makes excuses for it, or it doesn’t even acknowledge sin as sin. So, it hides or masks the sin, or it calls it something else, and then it lies about it, or it pretends that something else is going on, i.e. a pretense of righteousness while downplaying or refusing to acknowledge the sin.

Thus, this mindset is an enemy of true (agape) love, for it is a false love, a rival love, i.e. it is the “other woman” who is stealing the hearts of people away from Jesus who is to be their only love. For they are convinced that God doesn’t care if they continue living in sin or else they just don’t have the fear of God within them and they don’t believe God will do as he said.

So, this whole minimizing of sin and the flesh, pretending, lying, and living as though one is single while he is to be married to Jesus, if he truly believes in him, is at the core or at the heart of the enslavement (addiction) to sin of many people who profess faith in Jesus Christ. And, it is an enemy of God.

Our Response

So, what should our response be to all of this? First, we should not take this false grace gospel into our minds, hearts, and lives. We must reject it at the very core. We must examine its teachings against the teachings of the Scriptures (in context) about salvation from sin and eternal life with God. And, then we must cast it aside and hold on to what is truth.

Secondly, we must expose the fruitless deeds of darkness by bringing them out into the light and by talking about them to others, to warn them against falling into the trap of the devil. We must reveal the lies for what they are, and then counter those lies with the truth of God’s word, for we may, in so doing, save many souls from bondage to sin and from hell.

But, when we don’t accept this false gospel and its false faith into our lives, and rather we expose it for what it is, and we expose it for what it produces in the lives of those who adhere to it, we must watch out for those who will try to twist the Scriptures to convince us that we are wrong and that they are right.

Especially on social media we are going to encounter all kinds of people from all walks of life, and from many different belief systems, even within the Christian faith. And, some of them may be plants (spies) there to purposefully try to trip us up with our words so that they would have cause to discredit us. So, they may bait us to try to get us into an argument with them, but we must be wise, and we must not bite.

And, we must keep believing, and keep spreading the truth so that many will be saved from their sins, and so that they may have eternal life with God. And, we must not fear these “dogs,” these “evil workers,” i.e. these who adhere to a false gospel which glories in the flesh of man but which devalues the God who gave his life up for them so that they could be free from sin. We must not fear them or what they might do to us or say about us. For…

Our God is Greater

Songwriters: Chris Tomlin / Jesse Reeves

Jonas Myrin / Matt Redman

Water You turned into wine

Open the eyes of the blind

There’s no one like You

None like You

Into the darkness You shine

Out of the ashes we rise

There’s no one like You

None like You

CHORUS

Our God is greater, our God is stronger

God You are higher than any other

Our God is Healer, awesome in power

Our God, Our God…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01Yj7H-eSjM

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