The Spirit Intercedes for the Saints

Romans 8:16-17 ESV

 

“The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”

 

It was God’s will that Jesus Christ should suffer and die for us on that cross so that we would be delivered from our slavery to sin and so we would be given new lives in Christ Jesus free from the control of sin and Satan, and so we would be empowered by God to live godly and holy lives. For Jesus died on that cross that we might die with him to sin and live to his righteousness.

 

So, we are called of God to suffer with him, both in his death to sin and in his persecutions for the sake of righteousness, and so that we learn obedience from the things that we suffer, like he did, and so we share in our Lord’s holiness. And suffering produces endurance, character, and hope. And we suffer so we are compassionate with others in their suffering, etc.

 

Suffering is necessary for the follower of Jesus, but the specific suffering being referred to here, I believe, has to do with us dying with Christ to sin and us denying self and the flesh to walk in obedience to our Lord. And it has to do with being persecuted for righteousness’ sake, too. For if we are following the Lord in his ways, he says we will be hated and persecuted as he was.

 

But let’s go back to the preceding verses here so that we get the proper context. We are not to walk any longer according to the flesh but according to the Spirit, so there is a denying of the flesh there. We are not to live in sin or it will result in death, not in life eternal with God. And we are to please God. And by the Spirit we are to be putting to death the deeds of the flesh (of the body) so that we can live with Christ for eternity. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God (Rom 8:1-14).

 

Okay, so now we have the context. So, when this says that we are heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may be glorified with him, this is primarily about putting sin to death in our lives daily, by the Spirit, and us following our Lord in obedience to his commands.

 

It is about our daily walks, and us being led by the Spirit in walks of obedience and in surrender to our Lord and it is about us not living in sin any longer. For if we live according to the flesh we will die in our sins and we will not live with our Lord for eternity.

 

Romans 8:18 ESV

 

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

 

Because of Adam’s sin we are all born in the image of Adam with sin natures. And the world suffers because of sin. And so while we live on this earth we will suffer, but whatever suffering we are called to go through on this earth, it does not compare with the glory that is to be revealed to us. One day it will be worth it all if we endure and if we persevere and if we continue in the faith steadfast and sure and we do not retreat.

 

I know that I look forward to the day when my suffering will all be over and I will be with my Lord for eternity. I look forward to no longer being in pain, and to having my tears wiped from my eyes, and to having no more battles with Satan or facing hardships and persecutions for the sake of the gospel. I look forward to not being sinned against and to not being tempted nor taunted by the enemy. I look forward to being with Jesus most of all.

 

Romans 8:26-28 ESV

 

“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

 

But while we still live on this earth we will suffer. But the Spirit will help us in our weaknesses when our hearts and our flesh fail us and when we feel we can’t go on or the pain is too great. The Lord is our strength and our song. He is our comfort and our joy. He gives us all that we need to endure suffering for the sake of his name. Nothing is too hard for the Lord. He will help us through it all if we will let him and if we will yield to his control.

 

Oh, many times I have been there when I did not know what to pray. The words would not come. Satan was fighting hard against me and I was being attacked from multiple fronts and all I could do was pray, “Help!” And that was enough for the Lord to come to my aid and to help me and to give me strength and endurance to make it through and to keep moving forward and to not let the troubles of this world take me out.

 

We just have to learn to turn to the Lord and believe that he is all powerful and fully sovereign over all things and that he absolutely has all things under his control. We have to believe that he has a plan and a purpose for it all in our lives and that nothing can touch us but what God allows it and he allows it for a purpose and that he is going to bring good out of it. And so we just need to ask him to teach us what we need to learn and to direct us in how to respond to people and to our circumstances, and then just follow him.

 

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

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Let Righteousness Be What We Practice

1 John 3:4-6 ESV

 

“Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.”

 

We know from reading 1 John 2, as well as from reading the whole of the New Testament, that this is not teaching that we can never or that we will never sin if we believe in Jesus (see 1 Jn 2:1-2). But we also know from reading the whole of the New Testament that our Lord draws a line in the sand, so to speak, when he says if we make sin our practice that we will not inherit eternal life with God.

 

[Rom 2:6-8; Gal 6:7-8; 2 Co 5:10; 1 Co 6:9-10; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Rom 6:16; Rom 8:1-17; Jn 15:1-11; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Rev. 2-3; Rev 21:8, 27; Rev 22:14-15; Matt 7:21-23; Heb 10:26-27]

 

Please notice that about half of these Scriptures referenced here are the writings of Paul. So, it isn’t just John or James or Peter who taught this, but Paul taught that if we walk in sin, and if we make sin our practice, that we will die in our sins because we refused to die with Christ to our sins. Therefore, if sin is our practice, and righteousness is not our practice, we will not inherit eternal life with God.

 

The most popular gospel message today, which is not of God, but of human making, excludes the necessity for obedience and for cessation of the practice of sin, for it teaches that Jesus took care of it all and so we do nothing. And they teach obedience and repentance as works-based salvation, and they teach we are to cease from works for that is still being under the law. So, they teach God’s moral laws as something we must not adhere to.

 

But that is because they are mostly willfully misinterpreting the Scriptures when they teach about the law and grace, and so what they are actually promoting is lawlessness. But if we study the Scriptures and what they teach, we will not be able to miss the fact that “the law” they were freed from was all the liturgical, ceremonial, and sacrificial laws under the Old Covenant, but the New Testament still teaches we must obey God’s moral laws, and that if we don’t, we are those who practice lawlessness, which ends in death, not in life eternal with God.

 

Now, some people may differ in opinion on what it means to make a practice of sinning, for they say we all sin sometimes. I do believe the Scriptures make it clear what it means, for it has to do with deliberately and habitually and premeditatedly sinning against the Lord, repeating the same sins over and over again, as a matter of life course, without any true repentance, always going back to the same vomit and slime in direct defiance of God.

 

Now, what we learn here, but also from what Paul taught, is that if we walk in sin, making sin our practice, and if we are not those who practice obedience and righteousness as a matter of life course, we do not know the Lord. Now, this is not to say we will never sin again or that we might not ever have a time where we wander. But if we profess faith in Jesus and then we go on living like we were living, or if we turn away from the Lord and go back to our vomit and remain there, we don’t have eternal life.

 

1 John 3:7-8 ESV

 

“Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.”

 

So, let no one deceive you. All those people telling you that you can believe in Jesus but that you don’t have to repent of your sins and that you don’t have to obey the Lord are lying to you. When they tell you that Jesus does it all and that we do nothing, that is a big fat lie! Yes, we can do nothing in ourselves to earn or to deserve our own salvation. Only by God’s grace are any of us saved, but his grace trains us to say “No” to ungodliness and fleshly lusts and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives.

 

Jesus died on that cross to put sin to death in our lives so that we will no longer be enslaved to sin but so we would now be slaves of God and of his righteousness. He died that we might no longer live for ourselves but for him who gave his life up for us. He died that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness. And he shed his blood to buy us back for God so we would now honor our Lord with our bodies.

 

[Rom 6:1-23; 2 Co 5:15; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:19-20; Tit 2:11-14]

 

Also, “righteousness” is not just something we inherit positionally from Christ by faith in Christ, but righteousness is to be what we practice. We are considered righteous in the eyes of the Lord when we make righteousness our practice, by God’s grace, and in his power and strength. For, if sin is what we practice, we are not of God but of the devil.

 

1 John 3:9-10 ESV

 

“No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.”

 

Now, this takes it a step further, although this was already made perfectly clear, I believe. We cannot claim that we are born of God, that we are his children, that we are saved from our sins, and that heaven is our eternal destiny, if we make a practice (deliberate and willful habit) of sinning. And this would be like someone addicted to porn, as an example, who keeps willfully and defiantly returning to his sexual idolatry no matter who gets hurt in the process.

 

And it is not true repentance if all you do is “sin, confess, sin, confess” but you don’t ever change directions, if you don’t become someone else. You may have pauses between incidents, but if that is what you keep returning to, and you do so knowingly, and you plot it out, and you even lie in advance and/or afterwards to cover up your sin, hoping to not get caught, and you willfully cause pain and suffering to others over and over again, that is not repentance. Repentance is a spiritual U-turn.

 

And this is really the bottom line here. If you do not make righteousness your practice, if obedience to our Lord is not what you do as a matter of life course, and if you do not love others, but you fake righteousness in between or during your sin cycles, then you are not righteous in God’s sight no matter what you profess with your lips. Those who are righteous live righteously. They walk (in conduct) according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh. And they are the ones who are the true children of God.

 

The Prayer

 

Written by David Foster, Carole Bayer Sager,

Alberto Testa and Tony Renis

 

I pray you'll be our eyes

And watch us where we go

And help us to be wise

In times when we don't know

 

Let this be our prayer

When we lose our way

Lead us to a place

Guide us with your grace

To a place where we'll be safe.

 

I pray we'll find your light

And hold it in our hearts

When the stars go out each night

Remind us where you are.

 

Let this be our prayer

When shadows fill our day

Lead us to a place

Guide us with your grace

To a place where we'll be safe.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqFCbtRz1Z0

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P.S. This is not an endorsement of the singers other than as musicians

To All Who Obey Him

Hebrews 5:7-9 ESV

 

“In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him.”

 

Jesus Christ, God the Son, came down to the earth with the ultimate purpose of dying on a cross for our sins. But since he lived in a flesh body, he pleaded with God the Father saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” (Lu 22:42). And he submitted to the will of the Father by dying on a cross for our sins.

 

For this was the will of God that Jesus Christ should be the perfect sacrifice to take away the sins of the world. And he died on that cross so that we would die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness. For through faith in Jesus Christ we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and we are raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

 

Jesus, although he was fully God, he was also fully human, so he had to learn obedience through the things that he suffered. He lived in a flesh body, and he was tempted to sin just like we are, but he did not sin. And we, as his followers, also learn obedience through the things that we suffer. So, suffering, although painful, is for our ultimate good that we may share in the holiness of God becoming like him in heart and mind.

 

Jesus, although tempted to sin, never sinned, and so he was able to become the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him – TO ALL WHO OBEY HIM. Obedience to our Lord is part of believing faith, as is repentance and submission to Christ as Lord. We aren’t saved from our sins on the mere profession of faith but on the evidence that genuine faith exists in our lives – evidence such as repentance, obedience, and submission to our Lord.

 

Hebrews 5:11-14 ESV

 

“About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.”

 

“About this” refers back to learning obedience through the things that we suffer and Jesus becoming the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him. So, this is about obedience. But it is hard to explain to some people since they have become dull of hearing. Oh, yes, they have! For, many are buying into a cheap grace gospel today which is telling them that they don’t have to obey the Lord and/or that they should not obey the Lord.

 

And it doesn’t matter how many Bible verses you show them that say we must obey the Lord for eternal salvation, they will not accept it, for they have been brainwashed into believing that they don’t have to forsake their sins or obey the Lord or honor him as Lord (owner-master) of their lives. And they refuse to even look at the Scriptures to hear what they have to say because they want to believe the lies.

 

And some of these people have been acquainted with the teachings of the Scriptures for many years, so it isn’t as though they don’t know the truth, though certainly some of them don’t, for not all of them were brought up under the teachings of the Scriptures, though many were. But for those who have known the Scriptures a long while but who have become dull of hearing regarding the necessity of obedience, they are needing to hear that again.

 

They are needing to be taught again about submission, repentance, and obedience to our Lord. But not many are listening. Many are stubbornly holding on to the cheap grace gospel message because it permits them to continue in their sinful addictions without guilt, and it permits them to live their lives however they want while still guaranteeing them eternal salvation, forgiveness of sins, and the hope of heaven when they die.

 

And so we have a lot of people who are professing faith in Jesus Christ who are living no different from people who make no profession of faith in Jesus Christ. And today’s churches, for the most part, have stopped teaching about sin, conviction of sin, holiness, repentance, obedience and submission to Christ as Lord. And instead they are giving out feel-good messages which tickle itching ears and which tell them what their flesh wants to hear.

 

And thus they are rejecting the gospel as Jesus taught it and as his New Testament apostles taught it in favor of this cheap grace gospel which requires nothing of them. And so they are also rejecting the Lord’s messengers who are still teaching the pure word of God and the original and full gospel message. And so some of us are being called to suffer for the sake of righteousness because we are holding on to the truth of the word.

 

For Jesus did not call any of us to merely make a profession of faith in him and then to disregard him from that point forward and yet expect him to take us to his heaven. He called us to live holy lives, separate (unlike, different) from the world because we are being made to be like Jesus. He called us to walks of righteousness and godliness in purity of devotion to him. And he called us to make righteousness our practice.

 

And one day we will go to be with him forever and our suffering will be over. We will feel no more pain, and we will cry no more tears, and we will no longer be tempted to sin or sinned against by those who are not listening to the Lord but are going their own way doing whatever they want to do. And that will be a glorious day indeed when our troubles will be over and we will live in peace with our Lord for eternity.

 

[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:9-10, 19-20; 2 Co 5:10, 15; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:22-25; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Matt 7:21-23; Heb 10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10]

 

Paradise Valley

 

Lyrics by Noah White, Music by Virgil Stamps (1935).

 

As I travel thru life, with its trouble and strife,

I’ve a glorious hope to give cheer on the way;

Soon my toils will be o’er and I’ll rest on that shore,

Where the night has been turned into day.

 

Up in paradise valley By the side of the river of life,

Up in paradise valley, We’ll be free from all pain and all strife;

There we’ll live in the garden, ‘Neath the shade of the evergreen tree,

How I long for the paradise valley, Where the beauty of heaven I’ll see.

 

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

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Speaking of Smooth Things

Isaiah 30:1-3 ESV

 

“’Ah, stubborn children,’ declares the Lord,

‘who carry out a plan, but not mine,

and who make an alliance, but not of my Spirit,

    that they may add sin to sin;

who set out to go down to Egypt,

    without asking for my direction,

to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh

    and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!

Therefore shall the protection of Pharaoh turn to your shame,

    and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt to your humiliation.’”

 

Much of today’s church here in America has made an alliance with the state (the government), with the world and with big business (marketing adventures) without consulting the Lord, for he would not approve of such a thing. So they are carrying out business and marketing plans which are not the Lord’s, and they are marketing the gatherings of the church to the world via patterning their gatherings according to the preferences of the world.

 

Since the people of the world are their target audience, they are looking to meet the felt needs of the people of the world, and so they have altered how they do church in order to attract the people of the world to their gatherings and in order to draw in large crowds of people from the world into their meetings. And so they are offering much of what the world is offering, only a Christianized version of it.

 

And since the people of the world are their target audience, they also altered the gospel message to make it more palatable to the people of the world and to the flesh of humans. So they removed from the gospel the teachings that offend people, that make them feel uncomfortable, and that judge them for their sins. And they make believing in Jesus easy and without requirements for changed lives so that they can keep on in their sins without guilt.

 

Isaiah 30:8-11 ESV

 

“And now, go, write it before them on a tablet

    and inscribe it in a book,

that it may be for the time to come

    as a witness forever.

For they are a rebellious people,

    lying children,

children unwilling to hear

    the instruction of the Lord;

who say to the seers, ‘Do not see,’

    and to the prophets, ‘Do not prophesy to us what is right;

speak to us smooth things,

    prophesy illusions,

leave the way, turn aside from the path,

    let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.’”

 

And so they have become stubborn and rebellious and lying people who are unwilling to hear the instruction of the Lord. For, what they are being taught, and what they are telling others is that a (non-descript) belief in Jesus is enough to secure them forgiveness of all sin and heaven as their eternal destiny, regardless of how they live their lives from this moment forward, for they believe repentance and obedience are not required.

 

And so they are indeed telling the Lord’s true messengers, who are bringing forth the truth of the gospel, to stop telling them that they must forsake their sins and follow Jesus in obedience. They want them to tell them pleasant things that make them feel good about themselves while they are deliberately and habitually living in sin. And they want them to get off this path of teaching repentance, obedience, and submission to Christ.

 

And so they like to gather around themselves charlatans who will tell them what their itching ears want to hear. They will listen to the Joel Osteens of the world who will tickle their itching ears with feel-good messages which make no demands on them at all for walks of surrender and obedience to Jesus Christ but which promise them heaven when they die regardless of their sinful lifestyles and their refusal to obey the Lord.

 

Isaiah 30:18 ESV

 

“Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you,

    and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.

For the Lord is a God of justice;

    blessed are all those who wait for him.”

 

First the Lord tells them that they must repent of their sins and that they must walk in obedience to him or they will face his wrath. They will not inherit eternal life with God. And he chastises them for their rebellion and for their unwillingness to listen to him and to his truth, and he confronts them with their specific sins of rebellion against him so that they know exactly what it is that they are doing wrong in his sight.

 

But our Lord is slow in coming to this place where he will return to judge because he is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Pet 3:9). And so the Lord is patient, for now, but not for forever, and he is waiting for you to surrender your lives to him so that he can be gracious to you in delivering you from your slavery to sin and in empowering you to live righteously for his praise and for his glory.

 

So, if this is where you are today, knowingly and deliberately continuing in your sinful practices, unwilling to surrender your lives to Jesus Christ and to walk in obedience to his commands, while holding on to lies which tell you that you don’t have to submit, repent, and obey, but that you can keep on living in sin, only now guilt free, I pray that today you will surrender your all to Jesus Christ and follow him where he leads you the rest of your days.

 

[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:9-10, 19-20; 2 Co 5:10, 15; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:22-25; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Matt 7:21-23; Heb 10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10]

 

I Love You Lord  

 

by Laurie Adams-Klein

 

I love you, Lord, and I lift my voice

To worship you, Oh my soul rejoice!

Take joy, my King, in what you hear

May it be a sweet, sweet sound in your ear

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aQsBvpHQyE

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In the Midst of Liars

Psalms 57:1-3 ESV

 

“Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,

    for in you my soul takes refuge;

in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,

    till the storms of destruction pass by.

I cry out to God Most High,

    to God who fulfills his purpose for me.

He will send from heaven and save me;

    he will put to shame him who tramples on me. Selah

God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!”

 

We all have enemies, no matter who we are. Even some of the most loved people on this earth have or have had those who did not like them, perhaps out of jealousy and resentment. But as followers of Jesus Christ we have additional enemies because Satan is our number one enemy and he is out to get us to take us down, because he doesn’t want us following Jesus, and he doesn’t want us spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world.

 

So, those who are still living for sin and for the flesh, especially those professing faith in Jesus Christ, they may become our enemies because they don’t want to hear messages which tell them that they must repent of their sins and follow Jesus in obedience and that if they don’t they will not inherit eternal life with God. Now, if the messages are in writing on the internet, they don’t have to read them, but some do anyway, and then get angry.

 

But if we are those who take God and his word seriously, and if we are walking according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh, and if we are spreading the gospel of Jesus to the world around us, including to the worldly church, we will face opposition. And that is because we live in a day and time, at least here in America, where the truth of the gospel is not being taught much any more at all in favor of a feel-good gospel.

 

This feel-good gospel makes no demands on its adherents to walk in righteousness and holiness and to leave their lives of sin behind them to follow Jesus in obedience to his commands. And so many professers of faith in Jesus Christ are still living in sin, still in slavery to sin, still deliberately and habitually committing the same sins over and over again, while they claim Jesus as their Lord and heaven as their eternal destiny.

 

And so if we are not among those who are following after this feel-good gospel, we will be hated, rejected, slandered, betrayed, ignored, falsely accused, attacked verbally, mistreated, ostracized, and treated as though we are the enemy, and as though we are the ones in error, and as though we are being judgmental, self-righteous, intolerant and unkind for telling the truth. For the truth is not what people want to hear these days.

 

Psalms 57:4-5 ESV

 

“My soul is in the midst of lions;

    I lie down amid fiery beasts—

the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows,

    whose tongues are sharp swords.

 

“Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!

    Let your glory be over all the earth!”

 

I think that whenever I read these words “in the midst of lions” I think “in the midst of liars.” Liars and deceivers abound in our day and age. Politicians lie, the news media lies, government officials and health officials lie, preachers lie, spouses lie, children lie, Christians tell lies, teachers lie, and the list goes on and on. Every day we are being faced with lies in the news media and on social media and coming from the mouth of the government.

 

Sometimes I wonder if there are many people at all anymore who are telling the truth. It is nearly impossible to know who is telling the truth these days, and even if we do know, because of experience, and because of people’s histories, if we don’t have evidence, we can’t prove it, so we can’t say with any certainty that it is a lie, but we can suspect it. Now some lies are obvious, but not all are, especially in areas not provable.

 

But it is a sad place to be not being able to trust people, especially those who are habitual liars. It is sad knowing that people are lying to us all the time, keeping things hidden from us, secretly sinning against us, betraying us with their lies and with their sins against us. And it is even sadder that so many people are naively trusting these people and they are just accepting the lies as truth because “so and so” said it.

 

Too many professing Christians are buying into the cheap grace gospel which tells them that all they have to do is “believe” but without really explaining what biblical faith is and what that faith should look like. And so they are either giving them the impression or they are telling them outright that they don’t have to submit to Christ as Lord or obey him or forsake their sinful practices, but they will still go to heaven when they die.

 

And they are doing so because they are not testing what they hear. If it sounds good to their ears, they put a “like” on it or they share it (on social media) or they just accept it because it eases their consciences and it gives them permission to keep living in sin without guilt. So many are not reading the Scriptures for themselves (in context) but they are relying on others to tell them what it says, and so many people are following the lies.

 

Psalms 57:6-10 ESV

 

“They set a net for my steps;

    my soul was bowed down.

They dug a pit in my way,

    but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah

My heart is steadfast, O God,

    my heart is steadfast!

I will sing and make melody!

    Awake, my glory!

Awake, O harp and lyre!

    I will awake the dawn!

I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;

    I will sing praises to you among the nations.

For your steadfast love is great to the heavens,

    your faithfulness to the clouds.”

 

Those who are promoting this cheap grace gospel aren’t just teaching lies, but they are strongly opposing the truth. And they are setting traps for those who are believing the truth. And this is why we need to study the Scriptures for ourselves for there are many of these traps out there just waiting for someone to “take the hook” and to fall or to not know how to answer and then be discredited.

 

But we can’t fear them, and we have no control over them or what they will do or what they will say to us or about us. We have no control over what will happen to us next or what tomorrow will bring us. What we have to hold on to is that God holds us in his hands and he is the one in control of what happens to us. And we just have to keep obeying the Lord in doing and in saying what he tells us and leave the consequences in his hands.

 

I Know Who Holds Tomorrow

 

By Ira F. Stanphill

 

I don't know about tomorrow,

I just live from day to day.

I don't borrow from its sunshine,

For its skies may turn to gray.

I don't worry o'er the future,

For I know what Jesus said,

And today I'll walk beside Him,

For He knows what is ahead.

 

Many things about tomorrow,

I don't seem to understand;

But I know who holds tomorrow,

And I know who holds my hand.

 

I don't know about tomorrow,

It may bring me poverty;

But the one who feeds the sparrow,

Is the one who stands by me.

And the path that is my portion,

May be through the flame or flood,

But His presence goes before me,

And I'm covered with His blood.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1puNvGPFiM

Caution: This link may contain ads

Still Living in the Passions of Your Flesh?

Ephesians 2:1-3 ESV

 

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience — among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

 

Do you know that this is a running theme all throughout the writings in the New Testament? If we are true followers of Jesus Christ we are no longer walking in sin as we did before we believed in Jesus. We once walked in sin, past tense. But this is not automatic. This is not some status we wear, either. Just because we say we believe in Jesus it doesn’t mean God considers us as now walking in righteousness and no longer in sin.

 

But the point of this is that this should describe us as having once walked in sin following the course of this world. But this should not be our present reality. We should no longer be walking (conducting our lives habitually) in sin, for Jesus delivered us from our slavery to sin. Walking in sin should be past tense. Walking in righteousness should be present tense. We should no longer be living in the passions of our flesh, but in the power of God.

 

But even though the New Testament Scriptures teach this consistently throughout the books of the New Testament, the popular gospel being taught today does not teach this. It teaches a faith which does nothing, and which believes nothing in required – no repentance, no obedience, and no submitting to Christ as Lord. So there is no death to sin nor living to righteousness under this adulterated half-truth gospel of today.

 

But let’s look again at what this passage is saying. It is basically saying that if this still describes our lives, if we are still walking (in conduct, in practice) according to the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air (Satan), that we are numbered not among the saved but among the sons of disobedience and we are, by nature, children of wrath just like the rest of humankind. We will not inherit eternal life with God.

 

Ephesians 2:4-7 ESV

 

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved — and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

 

Now, not everyone who professes faith in Jesus Christ is genuinely saved from their sins, for not everyone has passed from death to life, and not everyone has been turned from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God and thus has received forgiveness of sins and a place among those sanctified by faith in Jesus Christ (Ac 26:18). For many have continued to walk in their sins following the world and Satan.

 

But yes, it is the mercy of God which saves us, and this is not from ourselves. We cannot even come to faith in Jesus Christ unless God the Father first draws us to Christ, unless he first persuades us as to his holiness and righteousness and of our sinfulness and of our need to repent of our sins and to follow him in obedience to his ways. And even the faith to believe in Jesus Christ comes from God and is gifted to us by God.

 

But since the faith to believe in Jesus comes from God, and it is gifted to us by God, and it is perfected by Jesus Christ, it will submit to God’s will and purposes for our lives. Thus, those with genuine God-given faith in Jesus Christ will surrender their lives to the Lord, be crucified with him in death to sin, and be raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer according to the ways of the world but now according to the Spirit of God.

 

And then we read that the grace of God, which brings salvation, instructs us to say “No!” to ungodliness and fleshly lusts and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for his return. And we read that Jesus said that if anyone would come after him, he must deny self and take up his cross daily (daily die with Christ to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. So, true salvation results in death to sin and living to righteousness.

 

Ephesians 2:8-10 ESV

 

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

 

Yes, we can only be saved from our sins and have eternal life with God by God’s grace, and not of ourselves. There is nothing we can do in and of ourselves to earn or to deserve our own salvation. And again, even the faith to believe in Jesus is from God and is gifted to us by God, but that means that it will submit to God. So, those who believe in Jesus with this God-given faith will forsake their lives of sin and follow Jesus in obedience in his power.

 

Now when this says here “not of works” it doesn’t mean that all works are excluded. It just means that we can’t earn our own salvation by the things we do in our flesh. Our good deeds will never outweigh our bad deeds. But we are God’s workmanship, and he has created us in Christ Jesus for good works, but they are the works of God which God prepared in advance that we should walk (in conduct, in practice) in them.

 

So, we are only saved by God’s grace. Our faith is a gift from God. We can’t even come to Jesus unless God the Father draws us to Christ. And it is the grace of God which transforms us from death to life, and which delivers us from our slavery to sin so that we can now become slaves of God and of his righteousness. But since this is the working of God in our lives we will submit to Jesus as Lord, forsake our sins, and walk in obedience to him.

 

[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:9-10, 19-20; 2 Co 5:10, 15; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:22-25; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Matt 7:21-23; Heb 10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10]

 

The Prayer

 

Written by David Foster, Carole Bayer Sager,

Alberto Testa and Tony Renis

 

I pray you'll be our eyes

And watch us where we go

And help us to be wise

In times when we don't know

 

Let this be our prayer

When we lose our way

Lead us to a place

Guide us with your grace

To a place where we'll be safe.

 

I pray we'll find your light

And hold it in our hearts

When the stars go out each night

Remind us where you are.

 

Let this be our prayer

When shadows fill our day

Lead us to a place

Guide us with your grace

To a place where we'll be safe.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqFCbtRz1Z0

Caution: This link may contain ads

P.S. This is not an endorsement of the singers other than as musicians

For the Look on Their Faces

 Isaiah 3:8-9 ESV

 

“For Jerusalem has stumbled,

    and Judah has fallen,

because their speech and their deeds are against the Lord,

    defying his glorious presence.

 

“For the look on their faces bears witness against them;

    they proclaim their sin like Sodom;

    they do not hide it.

Woe to them!

    For they have brought evil on themselves.”

 

Today in the gatherings of the church here in America it appears we have few people who are following Jesus Christ in purity of devotion to the Lord, who are walking according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh, who have died and are dying daily to sin and who are walking in obedience to the Lord’s commands as a matter of life practice.

 

It appears that the vast majority of those professing faith in Jesus Christ today are accepting a more worldly and social gospel which gives them more liberty to keep on in sin while claiming Jesus as Lord, and salvation from sin, and eternal life with God. Some just think that how they live doesn’t matter for eternity while others believe they should not obey the Lord at all.

 

Many have bought into a half-truth altered gospel message which makes no demands for repentance, obedience, or submission to Christ as Lord. Some may recommend walks of faith but not as required for salvation, while others are opposed to us walking in obedience to the Lord, for they call that works-based salvation, and so they claim Jesus does it all and they do nothing.

 

Sin has always existed since Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, and sinful human beings have always engaged in sinful acts. But this altered gospel is giving those professing faith in Jesus free liberty to continue in deliberate and habitual sin with no requirements for repentance, obedience, or submission to Jesus as Lord, so sin is running rampant in the church.

 

So, basically this altered gospel which is now permeating the gatherings of the church (or what is falsely called church) is against the Lord, and it is against Jesus Christ and all that he stands for, and it is against righteousness and holiness and godliness and purity of devotion to the Lord and walks of obedience to our Lord’s commands.

 

And so it appears that the vast majority of those professing faith in Jesus Christ are living lives habitually that are opposed to the Lord and to his gospel and to his moral standards and his holiness and righteousness. For they are engaged in all sorts of wickedness such as lust, greed, adultery, fornication, homosexuality, self-gratification, porn addiction, spousal and child abuse, lying, cheating, stealing, and faking Christianity, etc.

 

And those who are addicted to lust, well lust has a way of showing up in their faces, in their eyes in particular, and in their countenances. Some may be good at hiding it, but many are not. They are so captivated by lust and by immorality and sexual idolatry that they aren’t thinking about what might be showing up in their faces. And some people don’t care if it does.

 

And the diluted and altered cheap grace gospel makes no demands for holiness and it gives free license to continue in sin, and so we have many people living like the ungodly, as though Jesus never died to free them from slavery to sin. And they are not worried, for they are convinced that all their sins are forgiven and God won’t judge them for their sinful lifestyles and so heaven is still guaranteed them for when they die. But this is a false hope.

 

Isaiah 3:10-11 ESV

 

“Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them,

    for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.

Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him,

    for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him.”

 

The righteous are not those who are just positionally righteous by faith in Jesus Christ but they are those who are living righteously in obedience to the Lord. The wicked are also not just the unbelieving, i.e. those professing no faith in Jesus Christ, but they are those who are living wickedly by the things that they practice such as lying, cheating, and adultery.

 

So, when this says that it will be well with the righteous but woe to the wicked for it will not go well for them, this is talking about those living righteously or those living wickedly by what they do and how they live. But this is not talking about self-righteousness but the righteousness of God being lived out through our lives by obedient faith to our Lord.

 

And this is not just Old Testament teaching. The New Testament teaches us the same. For we will all be judged by what we do, and if we sow to please the flesh, from the flesh we will reap destruction. But if we sow to please the Spirit, from the Spirit we will reap eternal life.

 

[Rom 2:6-8; Gal 6:7-8; 2 Co 5:10; 1 Co 6:9-10; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Rom 6:16; Rom 8:1-17; Jn 15:1-11; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Rev. 2-3; Rev 21:8, 27; Rev 22:14-15; Matt 7:21-23; Heb 10:26-27]

 

Isaiah 3:12 ESV

 

“My people—infants are their oppressors,

    and women rule over them.

O my people, your guides mislead you

    and they have swallowed up the course of your paths.”

 

God has designed it that men are supposed to be the ones leading the church and the family spiritually. They are the ones responsible for the spiritual growth and maturity of their congregations and their households. But these men must be living lives above reproach in all holy and righteous living and in purity of devotion to the Lord in faithful obedience.

 

Well, with the way things are today in the church, and with the cheap grace gospel now permeating the gatherings of the church, statistics have it that perhaps as high as 75% of Christian men and 35% to 50% of pastors and elders are engaged regularly in sexual immorality, in particular porn addiction or the regular viewing of pornographic images.

 

The church overall is on as massive spiritual and moral decline. And so the number of truly godly men who are living lives above reproach is nearly zero. And so marriages are falling apart and children are getting involved in sexual sin, and families are breaking apart, too, and children are being abused, and “Christian” families are largely living just like the world.

 

And so the people of God are lacking for true spiritual male leadership. Too many pastors have become clowns and entertainers and talk show hosts and actors and motivational speakers who are not preaching under the power of the Holy Spirit the truth of the gospel as Jesus taught it and as the New Testament apostles taught it in the power of God.

 

And so the people are not being led by those who are telling them the truth, for the most part, but they are being led by manipulators, liars, thieves, used car salesmen (in personality), con artists and seducers who are telling them that they can believe in Jesus and have heaven guaranteed them but that they don’t have to forsake their sins or obey the Lord.

 

And so many professing Christians are not on the right path at all for they are following these deceivers like they are pied pipers who are leading them to their deaths. For they are promising them heaven while they are sending them straight to hell, for they are telling them that their sins no longer matter to God when they do, and they are telling them that God will not judge them when he will.

 

So, please know this. The Scriptures teach that we must die with Christ to sin, putting our sinful practices behind us, and that we must walk in obedience to our Lord in doing what he says to do or that we don’t have eternal life with God or forgiveness of sins. For faith in Jesus Christ is obedience. It is action. It is doing the will of God (Matt 7:21-23).

 

[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:19-20; 2 Co 5:15; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:22-25; 1 Jn 1:5-9; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10; 1 Co 15:58; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:21-23]

 

Broken Cord

 

An Original Work / August 29, 2018

 

Your bond is broken

With your Lord and Savior

And, your testimony is

Separate from Him.

 

Your words not matching

Your actions today.

Repent of your sin and

Bow down and pray.

 

Live what you testify

In truth always.

 

Purity’s lacking in

Your life and witness,

For you profess one thing,

But other you do.

 

Not moral, spiritual.

Still of the flesh.

Not living in truth to

What you confess.

 

Lying about it

Puts you in a mess.

 

Living a lie is your practice,

‘tis true of you.

Masquerade righteousness –

None of it true.

 

Your heart is not given

To your Lord God.

Because of how you live,

You are a fraud.

 

Turn from your sin and

Give your life to God.

 

https://vimeo.com/287303934

And Then Life Would be Grand

An Original Work / December 28, 2021

He walked into a room

And took her by the hand.

He’d marry her one day

And then life would be grand.

His dreams would all come true,

All that he’d thought about.

He wanted life with her,

To him there was no doubt.

The wedding day arrived,

All joyful was he now.

The one he dreamed about,

His life to her would vow.

But then the truth revealed

It wasn’t her he loved

But self was in first place

And lust was his first love.

To her he’d not be true,

His vows were all misplaced.

They could not be one flesh,

His flesh to others gave.

The lies they did compound

As he did run around.

A false impression gave

Of love not to be found.

He played the Jekyll Hyde,

With hate down deep inside

No sympathy for her

No care his sins did hide.

She was just to be used

To satisfy his thirst

For carnal lust and greed

No matter who he hurt.

The church, it mattered not

To them of what he did

Or that he walked in sin

And that the truth he hid.

Too messy for them to

Engage in any help.

It mattered not his wife

Was crying out for help.

Ignored her cries, they did.

Decided let it go.

Refused to do what God

Has said that they should know.

He listened not to her,

Was angered when she gave

Concern and care for him

So that his life would save.

He wanted to be free

To do what he desired

But still attached to her,

No purity required.

And then the years passed by

And not much changed at all.

The patterns had been formed

And he performed them all.

The cycle went around,

His steps she’d memorized.

She knew all of his tricks.

She’d heard all of the lies.

But love would conquer all,

She knew that she should stay

And care for him each day

And for him she should pray.

So that is what she did

And that she’s doing now.

She trusts the Lord with him

And loves him still, that’s how.

Denying Its Power

2 Timothy 3:1-5 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.”

 

Lovers of Pleasure

 

The Scriptures teach that out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, and slander, etc. These are what defile a person. So these things have always been with us, but in these last days they are being greatly amplified and largely promoted and accepted as normal even for Christians (Lu 6:45; Matt 15:17-20).

 

I believe that a huge contributor to this is what we call the “cheap grace gospel.” It is not the gospel of Jesus Christ but a half-truth gospel created in the minds of human beings who wanted to destroy Jesus and his gospel and his followers. Why do I say this? If we look at what this cheap grace gospel teaches it is obvious that this is of Satan who is out to destroy us.

 

Let’s look at it this way. Jesus said that if anyone wants to come after him that he must deny self and take up his cross daily (daily die with Christ to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. The cheap grace gospel, though, says that we do nothing and that Jesus does it all. They say we are not required to submit to Jesus as Lord or to forsake our sins or to obey our Lord.

 

The Scriptures do teach we are not saved by our own works, of our flesh, of our own making, but that we are saved to good works which God prepared in advance that we should walk in them. And it enumerates for us the good works that we are to do and the evil works that we are not to do. But the cheap grace gospel says no works are required and if we think they are that is “works-based salvation,” i.e. it is us trying to earn our salvation.

 

But even if we show the Scriptures that teach the works that we are to do and the works we are not to do, probably most people who are following the cheap grace gospel will ignore the Scriptures and they will just keep giving out their cheap grace gospel message. It doesn’t matter to them what the Scriptures teach even if they are right there for them in front of their eyes. And I can give witness that I see this taking place on a regular basis.

 

[Lu 9:23-26; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32]

 

In Every Good Work

 

According to the Scriptures we are to always be abounding in the work of the Lord. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Therefore, we are to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in us, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

 

And we are to walk (in conduct, in practice) in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work. And we are to cleanse ourselves from what is dishonorable so that we will be vessels for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.

 

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, for Jesus gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

 

And what happens if we don’t do the works of God but we continue to do the works of our flesh, deliberately and habitually committing the same sins over and over again in God’s face in full defiance of his commands? We will be judged by God and we will not inherit eternal life with God but we will die in our sins because we refused to die with Christ to our sins.

 

[Eph 2:10; 1 Co 15:58; 2 Co 9:8; Gal 5:6; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:9-14; 2 Thess 1:11-12; 2 Tim. 2:21; Tit 2:11-14; Jn 15:1-11; Tit 3:8; Jas 2:17; Rom 2:6-8; Gal 6:7-8; 2 Co 5:10; 1 Co 6:9-10; Rev. 2-3; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Rom 6:16; Rom 8:1-17; Mtt 7:21-23; 1 Jn 2:3-6]

 

2 Timothy 3:6-7 ESV

 

“For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.”

 

And this goes way beyond manipulative and conniving males who are able to capture weak women and to lure them into sin. This is about multiple church denominations who would, in the past, never have joined forces together and who would never have taught the same materials now pretty much all teaching this cheap grace gospel to their people and marketing their church gatherings to the world by appealing to the felt needs of the world.

 

They have joined forces and have been patterning their gatherings in a manner acceptable and appealing to the people of the world and to the flesh of humans, desiring to please humans, but not God, and to do what will draw the masses from the world into their gatherings. And so they have diluted the gospel to make it more palatable to human flesh, too.

 

Therefore, they removed such things as us having to deny self and take up our cross daily and follow Jesus in obedience. They have removed such things as living in the fear of God and honoring God with our lives and with our bodies. They have removed God’s requirements for holy living, for repentance, for obedience to his commands, and for submission to him as Lord. And they have removed the judgments of God from our lives, too.

 

And what they are teaching is a “faith” in Jesus that does nothing and which changes nothing in the lives of those professing to be followers of Jesus. For it still leaves them in slavery to sin, still living to please the flesh, still habitually and deliberately sinning against the Lord, only now guilt free, with the false hope of salvation from sin and eternal life with God in heaven.

 

2 Timothy 3:8-9 ESV

 

“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.”

 

So, those who are promoting and who are teaching and who are expounding this cheap grace do nothing gospel are those who are opposing the truth of the gospel, for what they are teaching is the exact opposite of what the Scriptures teach when it comes to God’s requirements for us for salvation and for eternal life with God. And many of them know it and do it anyway, so they do it deliberately in order to turn people away from Jesus.

 

But God is going to have the final word. For he is going to judge us all by our works. And if we sow to please the flesh, from the flesh we will reap destruction. But if we sow to please the Spirit, from the Spirit we will reap eternal life.

 

For if we walk according to the flesh, and not according to the Spirit, and if we do not obey our Lord, but we walk in disobedience, and if sin is what we practice and righteousness is not what we practice, we will not inherit eternal life with God no matter what we profess.

 

The Prayer

 

Written by David Foster, Carole Bayer Sager,

Alberto Testa and Tony Renis

 

I pray you'll be our eyes

And watch us where we go

And help us to be wise

In times when we don't know

 

Let this be our prayer

When we lose our way

Lead us to a place

Guide us with your grace

To a place where we'll be safe.

 

I pray we'll find your light

And hold it in our hearts

When the stars go out each night

Remind us where you are.

 

Let this be our prayer

When shadows fill our day

Lead us to a place

Guide us with your grace

To a place where we'll be safe.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqFCbtRz1Z0

Caution: This link may contain ads

P.S. This is not an endorsement of the singers other than as musicians

Worthy of the Kingdom of God

2 Thessalonians 1:3-4 ESV

 

“We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.”

 

I don’t know most of you personally, i.e. I have not met you nor have I become acquainted with you in person, so I only know what you tell me about yourselves or I know nothing if I never hear from you at all. But I can tell you what I observe from what I read of what you write and from how you respond to me and to what the Lord Jesus gives me to write.

 

And although I have observed that a large majority of those professing faith in Jesus Christ are not living for the Lord, some of whom believe they don’t have to, but they are still walking according to the flesh and not according to the Spirit, and they are living worldly lives, for the most part, and God is not their Lord and Master, there is a remnant who have not compromised.

 

I see that there are those who are few in number who are still holding true to the word of God and to the gospel of Jesus Christ as he taught it, and as his New Testament apostles taught it, and they are walking according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh, and they are encouraging one another in their walks of faith to live to the Lord and to his righteousness.

 

You bless me! You encourage my heart. I see the love that you have for one another, and that blesses and encourages me and it inspires me. And I see how you are operating as the body of Christ is supposed to operate in sharing your spiritual gifts and your God-given ministries with the body of Christ for their encouragement and for their spiritual growth and maturity.

 

2 Thessalonians 1:5-8 ESV

 

“This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.”

 

Isn’t this interesting wording? In this day and age with so many people teaching that our salvation is not dependent on how we live at all but that God does it all and he requires nothing of us, we read here talk about us being considered worthy of the kingdom of God. And this is in reference to us being steadfast in faith in our persecutions and in our afflictions.

 

"Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me." Matt 10:37-38

 

So, we can be unworthy of Christ? What does that mean? It means we can’t be one of his true disciples. We are not regarded as one of his true followers, so we are not genuinely saved from our sins. We are not Christians. We are not true believers in Jesus Christ. We are not worthy of his grace. If we do not honor Jesus as Lord and turn from our sins and follow him in obedience we have no part in him.

 

[Lu 9:23-26; 1 Jn 2:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Matt 22:8; Eph 4:1; Php 1:27; Col 1:10; 1 Thess 2:12; 2 Thess 1:5, 11; Rev 3:4]

 

But if we do turn from our sins and follow Jesus in obedience to his commands, and if we do honor him as Lord (Master) of our lives, and if our lives are surrendered to him to follow him in the ways in which he would have us to go, by his grace, and in his power and strength, then we are considered worthy. We are his true disciples.

 

And although right now we are suffering for the sake of righteousness and for the name of Jesus Christ and for his gospel, one day all this suffering will be over when Jesus returns for us, his bride, and he takes us to be with him for eternity. One day we will be with our Lord and all our pain and sorrow will be over, and sin will no longer exist. Praise the Lord!

 

But for those who refuse to bow the knee to Jesus Christ and to submit to the Lordship of Christ and who are convinced that they do not have to forsake their sins or walk in obedience to the Lord, so they are continuing to walk in sin and not in righteousness, God will inflict vengeance on them and they will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction.

 

2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 ESV

 

“To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

 

And so the prayer here is that God would make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power. You still have to cooperate with his work, though. You still have to do what he says. He doesn’t just zap you and now you are worthy. You have to live a life worthy of him, but you do it by his grace, and in his strength and power.

 

And this is so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. And God’s grace trains us to say “No!” to ungodliness and fleshly lusts and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s soon return (Tit 2:11-14). And Jesus died that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness (1 Pet 2:24; Rom 6:1-23; Eph 4:17-24).

 

The name of the Lord Jesus will not be glorified in us, though, if we continue to live in sin, deliberately and habitually committing the same sins over and over again in direct defiance of our Lord and of his commands. For we will be judged by what we do. If we sow to please the flesh, from the flesh we will reap destruction, but if we sow to please the Spirit, we will reap eternal life.

 

[Rom 2:6-8; Gal 6:7-8; 2 Co 5:10; 1 Co 6:9-10; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Rom 6:16; Rom 8:1-17; Jn 15:1-11; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Rev. 2-3; Rev 21:8, 27; Rev 22:14-15; Matt 7:21-23; Heb 10:26-27]

 

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.

 

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