May I Love You and Obey

Psalms 27:1-3 NIV

 

“The Lord is my light and my salvation—

    whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life—

    of whom shall I be afraid?

 

“When the wicked advance against me

    to devour me,

it is my enemies and my foes

    who will stumble and fall.

Though an army besiege me,

    my heart will not fear;

though war break out against me,

    even then I will be confident.”

 

When we are following Jesus Christ with our lives, and we are committed to him and to his service, and especially if we are holding fast to the truth of the Scriptures, and we are proclaiming the gospel that Jesus taught, and that Paul taught (the whole counsel of God), we are going to have enemies.

 

And some of our fiercest enemies and opposition may well come from within the gatherings of the church, not from out in the world, for the world is within the gatherings of the church, and many people who call themselves Christians are living not much different from the world.

 

But we are not to fear their opposition against us, or their personal attacks against our character, or their cruel and unjustified cutting remarks, or their trickery, their gossip, their false accusations, or their turning others against us, too. For, the Lord is the stronghold of our lives.

 

We just have to stand strong on the word of the Lord and remain steadfast in our faith, and in our trust in our Lord and in his sovereignty over our lives. And we must commit our ways to him, and continue to do what he says to do, trusting him with the people in our lives.

 

Psalms 27:4-6 NIV

 

“One thing I ask from the Lord,

    this only do I seek:

that I may dwell in the house of the Lord

    all the days of my life,

to gaze on the beauty of the Lord

    and to seek him in his temple.

For in the day of trouble

    he will keep me safe in his dwelling;

he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent

    and set me high upon a rock.

 

“Then my head will be exalted

    above the enemies who surround me;

at his sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy;

    I will sing and make music to the Lord.”

 

If we are following Jesus Christ with our lives, in surrender to his will for our lives, and in walks of obedience to his commands, we have the hope of eternal life with God. And we have a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Jesus Christ. We are his body, his dwelling place (Rom 6:1-23).

 

Jesus Christ is living within us in the person of his Holy Spirit, so we are God’s house, his temple. He lives in us, and we live in him. So, the beauty of Jesus is within us. And we can come into his presence any time of day or night, on any day of the week, and no matter where we are.

 

By his grace we are saved through faith, and this not from ourselves. It is a gift of God, not of our works lest any of us should boast that we somehow earned or deserved our own salvation. But we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared that we should walk in them (Eph 2:8-10; Tit 2:11-14; Phil 2:12-13; Jas 2:17).

 

So, repentance, obedience and submission to Christ as Lord are essential elements of God’s gift of salvation to us. For the Scriptures make it quite clear that if we don’t turn away from living in sin, and if we aren’t obeying the Lord, and if we don’t submit to his Lordship, we don’t have eternal life.

 

[Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; Gal 5:16-21]

 

The Lord does protect us from the influences of evil on our lives. He doesn’t necessarily protect us from evil forces coming against us, but he has made the way of escape for us out from underneath temptation to sin so that we can walk in holiness, purity, and righteousness in his power.

 

So, he will keep us safe from evil, so that we don’t yield to evil, but we have to cooperate with him. We have to take the way of escape which he has provided. He will protect us spiritually from all forces of evil which would come against us, but we must surrender our lives to him.

 

And we will be able to rejoice in the victories that he gives us over our enemy Satan and over the flesh when we submit to his Lordship and we yield control of our lives over to him and we do what he says to do.

 

Psalms 27:7-14 NIV

 

“Hear my voice when I call, Lord;

    be merciful to me and answer me.

My heart says of you, “Seek his face!”

    Your face, Lord, I will seek.

Do not hide your face from me,

    do not turn your servant away in anger;

    you have been my helper.

Do not reject me or forsake me,

    God my Savior.

Though my father and mother forsake me,

    the Lord will receive me.

Teach me your way, Lord;

    lead me in a straight path

    because of my oppressors.

Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes,

    for false witnesses rise up against me,

    spouting malicious accusations.

 

“I remain confident of this:

    I will see the goodness of the Lord

    in the land of the living.

Wait for the Lord;

    be strong and take heart

    and wait for the Lord.”

 

If we want to have open communication between us and the Lord, we must remain submissive to him and obedient to what his word teaches and what he shows us regarding our own lives. We must desire to be taught by him, in truth, and not in outward shows with no follow through.

 

And if we want to have victory over the flesh and over Satan, and over all evil, then the same thing applies. We can’t live victorious lives over the enemy if we are playing with fire, i.e., if we are playing with sin or with temptation to sin because we refuse to throw off those weights that weigh us down which keep us from running the race God has for us to run.

 

And if we want to be confident that we have salvation from sin and eternal life with God, and that we will spend eternity with the Lord, then we must not live in sin, willfully and deliberately doing what we know is contrary to God’s design and purpose for our lives.

 

For, if we walk in sin, according to the flesh, in deliberate disobedience to the Lord, habitually, making sin our practice, we will die in our sins. We won’t have eternal life with God. But if we walk (in conduct) according to the Spirit in obedience to our Lord, then we have the hope of eternal life.

 

[Lu 9:23-26; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8]

 

A Believer’s Prayer

 

An Original Work / July 31, 2012

 

With my whole heart, Lord, I pray

To be Yours, and Yours always.

Lead me in Your truth today.

May I love You and obey.

Lead me in Your righteousness.

When I sin, may I confess;

Bow before You when I pray;

Live for You and You always.

 

Love You, Jesus, You’re my friend.

Life with You will never end.

You are with me through each day,

Giving love and peace always.

You will ne’er abandon me.

From my sin You set me free.

You died on that cruel tree,

So I’d live eternally.

 

Soon You’re coming back for me;

From this world to set me free;

Live with You eternally.

Oh, what joy that brings to me.

I will walk with You in white;

A pure bride, I’ve been made right

By the blood of Jesus Christ;

Pardoned by His sacrifice.

 

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