That Special Day

An Original Work / June 30, 2022

The wedding bells, they rang that day,

All was well, a special day.

Bride and groom had waited long

Now to each other to belong.

She walked that aisle with smile on face,

She was at her special place,

Groom awaiting down the aisle,

To see his bride’s welcoming smile.

Now they were married, all alone,

They had left their parents’ homes.

Time together, now they’d share,

And to each other burdens bear.

But as we know, no perfect mate

Does exist. The fruit we ate.

All born sinners, without God,

Not giving God a single nod.

The sparkle in each other’s eyes

Sometimes will begin to die.

Time is passing by and by,

And so emotions go bye-bye.

If they’re not careful, time may lead

One find other wants to feed.

Couple then begin to part,

No longer feel love in their hearts.

Marriage takes work, not come easy,

Marriage not always so breezy.

Feelings come and feelings go.

Can’t trust feelings. God to know!

God is love, and love’s not feelings.

Love is doing, feelings fleeting.

Work together, don’t give up.

God and pure love is enough.

Divorce and Separation

Matthew 19:3-6 ESV

 

“And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, ‘Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?’ He answered, ‘Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh”? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate’.”

 

Definitions of words related to divorce and separation:

 

Divorce – disconnect, distance, detach; separate or dissociate (something) from something else. Separate – single, unconnected, independent, divide. Also, a legal dissolution of a marriage by a court or other competent body.

 

Adultery - The voluntary sexual intercourse by a married person with someone other than the offender's spouse; marital infidelity. Infidelity – unfaithfulness, disloyalty, betrayal, cheating. Adulterate – “to render something poorer in quality by adding another substance.”

 

Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:27-28 ESV).

 

“Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, ‘The two will become one flesh’” (1 Corinthians 6:16 ESV).

 

Putting it All Together

 

Now I want to put that all together. Yes, a divorce, in legal terms, is the dissolution of a marriage. But it also means to separate, as is evident in this passage in Matthew 19. So, instead of the two becoming one flesh, they are separated. They are no longer one flesh, but two, if they even ever became one flesh at all.

 

For, if one spouse or the other was never faithful to the other, but continually committed adultery against the other, then the one committing the adultery joined flesh to flesh with others, either in mind only and/or in actual physical relations. So that person never became one flesh with the other spouse. Or, if at some point in the marriage one or the other joined sexually in person and/or in mind only with another, then the offending spouse became one flesh with another.

 

Now, you may think this is a stretch, but please pay attention to the meanings of these words. For to separate is not just a physical parting of one spouse to another location separate from the other. If one spouse is continually living in adultery against the other, that spouse is living in separation from the other. The offending spouse is not one flesh with the other because he/she is joined together with so many others (or just with one other).

 

For, as Jesus pointed out, adultery is not just physical, but it is also mental. And it can be spiritual, too, for Jesus and the apostles spoke of the church or individual Christians living in adultery against the Lord. And what did they do to be in adultery against the Lord? They were unfaithful to their marriage to Christ and they went after other gods to serve them. That says a lot.

 

For, becoming "one flesh" is not just about a sexual union. If we become one with our spouse (and/or with God), we are united in heart and mind with the other. Now, in relation to husband and wife, this does not mean that the two will be like the same person. They will each be who they are individually, and they aren't going to think alike in all areas, either, but they are to work together to be united together in heart and mind, and not work against the other.

 

When one spouse decides to separate from the other by committing adultery (which includes all ways which involve lusting after another, even after one's own self), then that breaks that bond of marriage in two. It is separating from the other spouse in body, mind, and heart, and it is joining to another in body, mind, and/or heart. And then when you add lies on top of that, and willful deception, and hiding what one is doing in secret from the other, that again is separating from one's spouse and being joined to another.

 

So, you and your spouse may still be legally joined together as husband and wife but you may be living as separate individuals because one or the other or both are living in betrayal and adultery against the other. And the only way that the marriage is going to be restored is if the unfaithful spouse comes totally clean and refuses to return to the adulterous ways and chooses now to be totally faithful and committed to the neglected spouse.

 

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

Pursue Righteousness, Faith, and Love

2 Timothy 2:22 ESV

 

“So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.”

 

In the book of 2 Timothy, which is a letter that Paul wrote to Timothy, Paul gave Timothy all sorts of instructions in godly living and in how to conduct himself in certain matters. He reminded him to fan into flame the gift of God within him and to not be timid or fearful. And he encouraged him not to be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, the gospel, but to share in suffering for the sake of the gospel.

 

And he told him to do his best to present himself to God as one approved by God, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, but who rightly handles the word of truth. And he encouraged him to avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness. And then he said, “The Lord knows those who are his,” and “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

 

And then he instructed him to flee youthful passions (lusts) and to pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. And this really is the essence of the gospel message. For Jesus died on that cross, not just to forgive us our sins, and not just to give us the hope of heaven when we die, but so we would die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness.

 

Jesus Christ gave his life up for us on that cross to deliver us out of our slavery (addiction) to sin so that we would now be slaves of his righteousness, no longer under the control (dominion) of sin and Satan. So sin is to have no mastery over our lives. We are to no longer walk in sin but in righteousness and holiness. Sin is to be put away from our lives and now we are to pursue all that is of God and that is holy, pure, and just.

 

So, we are not to be those who lust after the sinful pleasures of this world, and who engage ourselves in habitual and deliberate and addictive sin. Our desire should now be for the Lord to do his will. Our desire should no longer be for living to please our sinful flesh. We should be those who are seeking after the things of God and not after the cravings of the flesh. Daily, by the Spirit, we should be putting to death the deeds of the flesh.

 

And now we should be living for our Lord to please him in everything. Now Jesus Christ is to be Lord (Owner-Master) of our lives. Now we are to obey him in everything and no longer live as obedient slaves to sin. Our lives now belong to him and he is boss, and so he is now the one to determine our steps and to lead us in the way that we should go. And we are to follow our Lord wherever he leads us in obedience to his commands (New Covenant).

 

2 Timothy 2:23-25 ESV

 

“Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness.”

 

Some people enjoy picking fights and so they will purposefully attempt to instigate quarrels. They will try to bait others into getting into quarrels, either because they just love quarreling or because their goal is to try to trip up the Lord’s servants with their words, as the Pharisees tried with Jesus on numerous occasions. So, we are wise if we discern what is important to discuss and what serves no valuable purpose.

 

If someone is challenging our faith we can certainly answer back to them with the truth of what the word of God teaches. And it is better, in some cases, if all we do is answer with Scripture and not with our own words, for some people try to trip us up with our own words. And it is good if we do not answer people in anger but if we let the Holy Spirit guide our words so that we let the Holy Spirit speak through us.

 

2 Timothy 2:25-26 ESV

 

“God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.”

 

Now, let me say here that our faith in Jesus Christ is not of our own doing. We can’t even come to faith in Jesus Christ unless God the Father first draws us to Christ, i.e. unless God first persuades us as to his holiness and righteousness and of our sinfulness and of our need to repent of our sin and to turn away from sin to follow the Lord Jesus in obedience. But we still have to cooperate with God’s work of grace in our lives.

 

In other words, even though our faith comes from God, if our faith is genuine God-given faith, and Jesus is the author and the perfecter of our faith, and God gifts faith and repentance to us, it is not automatic. Not everyone has faith. We must partner with God in his work of grace in our lives, and we must put that faith into practice, by the grace of God, and we must act on that faith by doing what our Lord says to do and by ceasing to do what he instructs us to no longer do. For our faith is obedience. It is action.

 

So, it is not as though God just gives us repentance and thus we have repented. We have to actually turn away from our sin, and we have to turn to God to follow him in obedience. And every day we must choose to obey our Lord or to disobey him. So, it isn’t as though we can pray for God to grant us repentance and then, if we choose sin, instead, to blame God for not granting us repentance. We only have ourselves to blame.

 

And none of us should be living in a “sin, confess, sin, confess” cycle, for that is not true repentance. For repentance has to do with changing our minds, our hearts, our choices, and our will away from living in sin and for self to living for our Lord in his righteousness and holiness. For if we continue living in deliberate and habitual sin, and if we are not walking in righteousness and in obedience to our Lord, then we won’t inherit eternal life with God no matter what we profess with our lips.

 

[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 5:10,15,21; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:21-25; Rom 12:1-2; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-10; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-11; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Heb 10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Matt 7:21-23; Ac 26:18; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15; Eph 2:8-10]

 

Servant of the Lord

 

An Original Work / July 26, 2012

Based off Romans 1:1-17

 

Servant of the Lord;

For the gospel you’re set apart.

Promised through the prophets of old:

Jesus, Son of God.

Through Him, and for His name alone,

We receive His grace

To call people, Him to obey;

Coming from their faith.

Servant of the Lord,

For the gospel you’re set apart.

Promised through the prophets of old:

Jesus, Son of God.

 

You belong to Christ;

Loved by God, and called to be saints;

Serving God with whole heart and mind;

Preaching Jesus Christ;

Always praying for others’ needs;

Helping hand to lend;

Giving courage to others’ faith,

For the praise of God.

You belong to Christ;

Loved by God, and called to be saints;

Serving God with whole heart and mind;

Preaching Jesus Christ.

 

Servant of the Lord;

Of the gospel, I’m not ashamed;

For salvation, power of God

To those who have faith.

In the gospel find righteousness:

Being right with God.

Turn from sin, and trust Jesus Christ.

By faith, live in Him.

Servant of the Lord;

Of the gospel, I’m not ashamed;

For salvation, power of God

To those who have faith.

 

https://vimeo.com/119511640

Lift up Your Voice with Strength

Isaiah 40:3-5 ESV

 

“A voice cries:

‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;

    make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Every valley shall be lifted up,

    and every mountain and hill be made low;

the uneven ground shall become level,

    and the rough places a plain.

And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,

    and all flesh shall see it together,

    for the mouth of the Lord has spoken’.”

 

Make Straight the Way for the Lord

 

This was the call of John the Baptist who made straight the way of the Lord and who prepared the people’s hearts to receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. His main message to the people was to repent of their sins for the kingdom of heaven was at hand (near). And to repent means to change one’s mind, and in this context it had to do with the people turning from their sins to following Jesus Christ (God) in obedience.

 

To repent of our sins is to have not just a change of mind but a change in our inner person with a resulting change of direction of one’s life and a change of attitudes, thinking, believing, and behaviors. It is like a spiritual U-turn. We were living in sin and for self, and now we turn away from that to follow Jesus Christ in his ways and in his truth. This is true repentance, not just admitting sin and then keeping on in the sin.

 

And to make straight a highway for our God is to teach what is truth, and to teach what is righteous, holy, and pure. And especially in our day and age this is critical that we are teaching truth and righteousness and that we are not altering and diluting the gospel message to make it more appealing and acceptable to human flesh and to the people of the world. We need to teach that Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to his righteousness.

 

But we also need to expose the fruitless deeds of darkness for what they are. We are to be calling out the lies and then proclaiming the truth of God’s word in contradiction to the lies which many are teaching today in the name of Jesus and in the name of his gospel. For many people are following the lies which are promising them heaven as their eternal destiny while they continue living in sin which is sending them straight to hell.

 

But Jesus said that if anyone would come after him that he must deny self, take up his cross daily (daily die to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity and heaven will not be our eternal destiny. But if we lose our lives (die with Christ to sin) then we will live for eternity with God. And he said that not everyone saying to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the ones DOING the will of God who is in heaven.

 

Isaiah 40:9 ESV

 

“Go on up to a high mountain,

    O Zion, herald of good news;

lift up your voice with strength,

    O Jerusalem, herald of good news;

    lift it up, fear not;

say to the cities of Judah,

    ‘Behold your God!’”

 

Herald the Good News

 

We are to all herald the Good News of the gospel of our salvation. We are to proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light. We are to be the Lord’s witnesses. We are the light of the world and the salt of the earth. We are to make disciples of Christ of people of all nations. And a disciple is a follower and a follower is one who obeys the one he is following. So we are to teach people to obey the Lord.

 

And we are not to be afraid of the people. We should never compromise truth and righteousness out of fear of what others will say about us or do to us. We should never acquiesce to accepting something less than the truth so that people will still like us and so that they will not reject us and persecute us. But we are to stand on the truth of the gospel and not waver, and we are to speak the truth even if people are wanting to hear the lies.

 

So, even if we are rejected and persecuted for standing on the truth of the gospel and for teaching on repentance, obedience, and submission to Christ as Lord, we need to keep speaking the truth, and we need to keep exposing the lies, for many people are believing and following after the lies and they need to hear the truth that will set them free. They need to hear that Jesus died on that cross to deliver us from our bondage (addiction) to sin.

 

So, even if we get accused of being hyper-religious or of being self-righteous, or of being legalistic and/or judgmental, because we teach the truth and not the lies, we are not to bend. We are not to compromise with the lies and with the world. But we are to stay strong in the Lord and in his strength and power, we are to keep heralding the good news, and we are to call the people to forsake their sins and to follow Jesus Christ in obedience.

 

[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 5:10,15,21; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:21-25; Rom 12:1-2; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-10; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-11; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Heb 10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Matt 7:21-23; Ac 26:18; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15; Eph 2:8-10]

 

Servant of the Lord

 

An Original Work / July 26, 2012

Based off Romans 1:1-17

 

Servant of the Lord;

For the gospel you’re set apart.

Promised through the prophets of old:

Jesus, Son of God.

Through Him, and for His name alone,

We receive His grace

To call people, Him to obey;

Coming from their faith.

Servant of the Lord,

For the gospel you’re set apart.

Promised through the prophets of old:

Jesus, Son of God.

 

You belong to Christ;

Loved by God, and called to be saints;

Serving God with whole heart and mind;

Preaching Jesus Christ;

Always praying for others’ needs;

Helping hand to lend;

Giving courage to others’ faith,

For the praise of God.

You belong to Christ;

Loved by God, and called to be saints;

Serving God with whole heart and mind;

Preaching Jesus Christ.

 

Servant of the Lord;

Of the gospel, I’m not ashamed;

For salvation, power of God

To those who have faith.

In the gospel find righteousness:

Being right with God.

Turn from sin, and trust Jesus Christ.

By faith, live in Him.

Servant of the Lord;

Of the gospel, I’m not ashamed;

For salvation, power of God

To those who have faith.

 

https://vimeo.com/119511640

Deny, Die, and Follow Jesus

Matthew 16:24 ESV

See also Matthew 10:38; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23

 

“Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me’.”

 

In the Luke passage it says, “take up his cross daily (or every day).”

 

This is the essence of the message of the gospel of our salvation, that since Jesus Christ denied himself and took up his cross, and he put our sins to death with him on that cross so that we could die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, we are to deny ourselves and daily die to sin and live for our Lord in obedience to his commands. For Jesus died that we might no longer live for ourselves but for him who gave his life up for us.

 

Now, daily dying to sin doesn’t mean sinning daily and then admitting to God that we sinned. That is not putting sin to death. If daily we are dying to sin, then daily we are resisting the devil and we are fleeing temptation to sin and we are drawing near to God in full assurance of faith and we are not giving in to sin. Sin is to no longer have mastery over our lives to where we are obeying its sinful desires. Now we are to walk in righteousness and holiness.

 

For if we have truly repented of our sins, and we have had a change of mind and heart resulting in a change of behaviors, and we have been turned from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, and so we have received forgiveness of sins, and we’ve been sanctified and made holy by the blood of Christ, although we may still be tempted to sin, at times, sin should no longer be our desire. It should no longer be what we crave.

 

Now our longing should be for our Lord to please him in every way. Our desire should be to walk in obedience to his commands and to daily say “No!” to ungodliness and fleshly lusts and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for his return. His desires should now be our desires. And I am not saying we will be absolutely perfect, but lack of perfection is never to be used as an excuse for deliberate and habitual sin.

 

Matthew 16:25-26 ESV

 

“For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?”

 

If we save our own lives it means we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self and we do not surrender our lives over to our Lord to be lived for him and for his righteousness. And if we do that, and we do not deny self and daily die to sin and follow (obey) Jesus, then we are going to lose our lives for eternity. We will not inherit eternal life with God. For if we live in deliberate and habitual sin we will die in our sins.

 

But if we lose our lives, meaning that we do deny self and we daily die with Christ to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, for the sake of Jesus Christ, then we will have life in Christ eternal. And what this says to us is that our salvation is not something that happens one time in our lives and then we are good to go and we can then live however we want and one day when we die we will get to go to heaven.

 

Our salvation is a process of a lifetime. It is the process of sanctification in our lives. We are saved (past), we are being saved (present), and we will be saved (future) when Jesus Christ returns for his bride, which is when our salvation will be completed provided that we remained steadfast in our walks of faith until the very end in obedience to our Lord and that we did not continue to walk in deliberate and habitual sin against our Lord.

 

[Jn 8:31-32,51; Jn 14:15-24; Jn 15:1-12; Rom 2:6-8; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 11:17-24; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; Col 1:21-23; 2 Tim 2:10-13; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 5:9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:1-5; 2 Pet 1:5-11; 2 Pet 2:20-22; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Matt 7:21-23; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10,24; 1 Jn 5:2-3; 2 Jn 1:6; Jas 1:21-25; Eph 4:17-24]

 

Matthew 16:27 ESV

 

“For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.”

 

This is critical that we understand and that we believe what this is saying. For we are not saved from our sins and guaranteed eternal life with God based on a one-time profession of faith in Jesus Christ. Our faith, which comes from God, and which is gifted to us by God, and which is authored and perfected by Jesus Christ, is a holy faith which dies with Christ to sin and which lives to him and to his righteousness daily.

 

We also need to know and believe that, even if we profess faith in Jesus Christ, that we must not continue in deliberate and habitual sin against our Lord or we will not have the hope of eternal life with God. For we are all going to be judged by God according to what we do in this life. For not everyone saying, “Lord, Lord,” will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but only the ones DOING the will of God the Father who is in heaven.

 

[Lu 9:23-26; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 1:28-32; Rom 2:6-8; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; Rom 6:16; Rom 8:3-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:26-31; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Jn 15:1-11; Rev. 2-3; Rev 18:1-6; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15; Matt 7:21-23]

 

For Our Nation 

 

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

 

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Trust Him with your life today.

Make Him your Lord and your Savior.

Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.

He will forgive you of your sin;

Cleanse your heart, made new within.

 

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.

On our knees to God we’re praying,

Seeking God to give us answers

That are only found in Him.

God is sovereign over all things.

Nothing from His mind escaping.

He has all things under His command,

And will work all for good.

 

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

 

Men deceiving: we’re believing

In our Lord, and interceding

For our nation and its people

To obey their God today.

He is our hope for our future.

For our wounds He offers suture.

He is all we need for this life.

Trust Him with your life today.

 

https://vimeo.com/379406352

The Lord will Fulfill His Purpose for You

I Give You Thanks, O Lord

Psalms 138:1-3 ESV

 

“I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;

    before the gods I sing your praise;

I bow down toward your holy temple

    and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,

    for you have exalted above all things

    your name and your word.

On the day I called, you answered me;

    my strength of soul you increased.”

 

We should be the same no matter who we are with or who we are around. We should not fear anyone, but we should be bold in our witness for Jesus Christ. Now, this doesn’t mean we become insensitive and brash, but it just means we are people of integrity who do not change like shifting shadows depending upon whose presence we are in. So, we will not cease to praise the Lord even if we are before kings and powerful people.

 

Also, giving God thanks and praising him is not just something we do verbally but then not with our lives, with our actions. If our praise is lip service only, it is not genuine praise. The same with our worship, it can’t just be singing songs of worship of God but we need to be worshipers of God by yielding our lives over to the Lord as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to him, which is our acceptable worship of God.

 

For our thanks must be with our whole heart, with our whole being. And our worship of God involves us bowing down in worship of him, which involves humility and submission to him as Lord (owner-master). And this engages our attitudes, our behaviors, and our words, as well as it must be done in truth and in righteousness with no fakery, no pretense. And our worship involves our obedience to our Lord in doing what he says to do.

 

And if our worship of God is genuine, we need to be thankful for every aspect of God’s divine character and will. And this means we will be thankful for his sovereignty over our lives even if that means that God will permit evil people to do evil things to us. This doesn’t mean we can’t pray for deliverance from certain circumstances, but it does mean that we will submit to God’s will and purpose and we will rely on his strength to endure.

 

In the Midst of Trouble

Psalms 138:7-8 ESV

 

“Though I walk in the midst of trouble,

    you preserve my life;

you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,

    and your right hand delivers me.

The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;

    your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.

    Do not forsake the work of your hands.”

 

Our troubles will vary depending on our circumstances, where we live, our ages, our cultures, our governments, and our own walks of faith in the Lord Jesus. The closer we get in our walks of faith the more we will face persecution and have other people opposing us and fighting against us. And the degree of that persecution is certainly dependent largely on the law of the land and the general attitude of the culture toward Christianity.

 

In America, where I live, Christianity is generally acceptable as long as one stays within the parameters of the acceptance of the general populace. In other words, as long as your Christianity remains private, and as long as you don’t try to share your faith with other people, and as long as you blend in with your culture in living not much different from everyone else, you will be acceptable to the general populace for you are not offending anyone.

 

But if you are serving the Lord Jesus with wholehearted devotion, and you are bowing before him in humility and in submission to his will and purpose for your life, and if you are walking in obedience to his commands in going wherever he sends you and in saying whatever he commands you to say, you are going to have enemies because Jesus had enemies and he said we would be hated and persecuted as he was hated and persecuted.

 

Especially in today’s Christian culture in America if you walk closely with the Lord and if you are verbal about your faith, you are going to be considered an odd ball. If you take the word of God seriously, and if you are putting into practice daily what the Word teaches, you will be considered odd even among others who profess faith in Christ Jesus. And especially if you are calling others to repentance and obedient faith in the Lord, this will happen.

 

And if the Lord is fulfilling his purpose for you by leading you in the way that he wants you to go, and by empowering you to do the work of the Lord, and even if that calling is biblical, but the Christian culture around you is more worldly, then you are going to meet with some resistance even from others who profess faith in Jesus Christ. And others who profess faith in Jesus may not want to be around you for you are just too strange for them.

 

Yet, the Lord will preserve your life. But, again, this doesn’t mean that bad things won’t happen to you or that evil people will not treat you badly or that you won’t be killed for your faith in Christ. It just means that the Lord is going to give you all that you need to endure and to persevere and to keep on in your walks of faith and to continue to serve him with wholehearted devotion despite what your enemies are doing against you. Amen!

 

[Matt 5:10-16; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Matt 28:18-20; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; John 15:1-21; Acts 1:8; Acts 26:18; Rom 5:3-5; Rom 12:1-8; 1 Co 12:1-31; 2 Co 1:3-11; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:17-27; Phil 3:7-11; Col 3:16; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; Heb 3:13; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 2:9; 1 Pet 4:12-17]        

 

For Our Nation  

 

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

 

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Trust Him with your life today.

Make Him your Lord and your Savior.

Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.

He will forgive you of your sin;

Cleanse your heart, made new within.

 

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.

On our knees to God we’re praying,

Seeking God to give us answers

That are only found in Him.

God is sovereign over all things.

Nothing from His mind escaping.

He has all things under His command,

And will work all for good.

 

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

 

Men deceiving: we’re believing

In our Lord, and interceding

For our nation and its people

To obey their God today.

He is our hope for our future.

For our wounds He offers suture.

He is all we need for this life.

Trust Him with your life today.

 

https://vimeo.com/379406352

Do We Practice the Truth?

1 John 1:5-6 ESV

 

“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.”

 

God is light. He is truth. He is righteousness. He is holy and pure and good in all that he is and in all that he does. In him there is no darkness. There is no sin, no evil, no wickedness. So, if we profess to believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord of our lives, which means we are professing to be in partnership (cooperation, alliance, fellowship) with God, but while we walk (in conduct, in practice) in darkness (sin, wickedness), we are liars who do not practice the truth. We must die to sin and live to righteousness.

 

And this isn’t just John who said this. Paul said it, too, many times over. In several passages of Scripture he gave lists of various sins and he stated clearly that if we are doing such things as a matter of practice, i.e. if we are deliberately and habitually committing the same sins over and over without genuine repentance, we will not inherit the kingdom of God. We will die in our sins. Heaven will not be our eternal destiny (Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:16; Rom 8:1-17; Col 3:5-11; Gal 6:7-8; 1 Co 6:9-10).

 

And Jesus taught the same thing, too. He said that if we are to come after him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (daily die to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. If we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity, but if we lose our lives (die with him to sin) we will have eternal life. For, he said that not everyone saying to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter into the kingdom of heaven but only the ones DOING the will of God the Father who is in heaven (Lu 9:23-26; Matt 7:21-23).

 

And, John, as well, carried on this message all throughout the book of 1 John. He said that the way that we know that we have come to know Jesus Christ (God) is if we keep (obey) his commandments. He said, “Whoever says, ‘I know him’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. And he said that whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as God is righteous, but whoever does not is not of God. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil (1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10).

 

So, we can’t be in fellowship (relationship) with God (with Christ) and live in deliberate and habitual sin. We must be those who walk according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh. Daily we must die to sin and live to God and to his righteousness. For if we walk in sin we will die in our sins. We will not have eternal life with God no matter what we confess with our lips. For Jesus died that we might die with him and live to him and to his righteousness not so we could go on living in sin without guilt (Rom 8:1-17; Luke 9:23-26; 1 Peter 2:24; Gal 5:16-21; Matt 7:21-23; Eph 4:17-24).

 

1 John 1:7 ESV

 

“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”

 

Light is God/Christ. Light is truth and it is righteousness, holiness, purity, honesty, faithfulness, etc. So if we walk (in conduct, in practice) in the light, we are conducting our lives, in practice, in moral purity, integrity, godliness, truthfulness, faithfulness, trustworthiness, and self-control, etc. We are dying daily to sin and to self and we are walking in obedience to our Lord and his commands as a matter of practice. We may not be perfect people, but sin is no longer our practice. Righteousness is our practice.

 

Also notice here that walking in the light is in contrast to walking in the darkness. One results in us not being in true fellowship with God and thus us not inheriting eternal life with God. The other results in us being in fellowship with God and with other Christians who are in fellowship with God and having our sins cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. So, this obviously is not a one-time thing which takes place in our lives. This is a daily thing, walking in the ways of the Lord and being cleansed of our sins and then having the hope of eternal life with God.

 

1 John 1:8-10 ESV

 

“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”

 

Now, many people quote verse nine here out of context, and they make a case which says that if we verbalize the fact that we have sinned that it results in forgiveness of sins and being cleansed from all unrighteousness. But to confess sin is not just to verbally acknowledge one’s sin. It is to agree with God about our sin, and not just to agree that we sinned, but to have the same mind as Christ about our sin which then results in us repenting of (turning from) our sins and following our Lord in obedience.

 

For we can’t pull verse nine out of this context and make a case for being able to just admit sin and thus our sins are forgiven. We must not walk (in conduct, in practice) in darkness (sin, wickedness), but we must walk (in conduct, in practice) in the light (Christ, truth, righteousness, purity). For if sin is our practice, we will not inherit eternal life with God no matter how many times we have said, “Lord, Lord,” or we have acknowledged (admitted) sinning against God and other humans.

 

[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 5:10,15,21; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:21-25; Rom 12:1-2; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-10; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-11; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Heb 10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Matt 7:21-23; Ac 26:18; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15; Eph 2:8-10]

 

Sweet Beulah Land

 

By Squire Parsons

 

I'm kind of homesick for a country

To which I've never been before.

No sad goodbyes will there be spoken

For time won't matter anymore.

 

I'm looking now, just across the river

To where my faith, shall end in sight

There's just a few more days to labor.

Then I will take my heavenly flight.

 

Beulah Land I'm longing for you

And some day on thee I'll stand

There my home shall be eternal

Beulah Land, sweet Beulah Land

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tW8W7RXg6AA

Caution: This link may contain ads

Platitudes Magnitudes

An Original Work / June 28, 2022

Platitudes in magnitude,

Tasteless, lifeless, wishy-washy,

Tired and worn out, old and musty,

Great in size and mushy-gushy.

Have no meaning, take no stance,

Here or there just happenstance,

Say whatever, take a chance,

Entertain them, do your dance.

Lies a plenty, do their tricks,

Inside or outside, get their kicks,

Up or down, it makes no matter,

They are filled with empty chatter.

Contradictions all around,

Their deception now abounds,

Evil lurking every day,

As they go on out to play.

God Will Uphold His Servants

Isaiah 41:8-10 ESV

 

“But you, Israel, my servant,

    Jacob, whom I have chosen,

    the offspring of Abraham, my friend;

you whom I took from the ends of the earth,

    and called from its farthest corners,

saying to you, ‘You are my servant,

    I have chosen you and not cast you off;

fear not, for I am with you;

    be not dismayed, for I am your God;

I will strengthen you, I will help you,

    I will uphold you with my righteous right hand’.”

 

In this world of ours we will have trouble. Liars abound everywhere – in the government, in the media, and in the church. The gospel is being diluted to coddle people in their sins, so sin abounds even within the gatherings of the church. Wars never cease. People are being killed everyday at the hands of the greedy warmongers who are taking over the world. Confusion, disinformation, and manipulation of truth abounds. Not many to be trusted.

 

But we can count on God to be the same yesterday, today, and forever. He does not change like shifting shadows like people do. He is never unfaithful like humans are. He will never lie to us like other humans do. We can count on our Lord to be true to his word and to be faithful in all that he does. He is the best friend any of us could ever have. He will never leave nor forsake those who are his by genuine faith in Jesus Christ.

 

So, when people lie to us and they betray us and they do evil against us, God is our refuge and strength if we have placed our trust in him for our salvation and if we have forsaken our lives of living in sin and for self to follow him now in obedience to his word and to his ways. And he will help us through every situation that comes our way to remain steadfast in our faith and to keep speaking truth and to keep exposing the lies of the enemy.

 

[1 Pet 2:9; Matt 5:13-16; Matt 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; Acts 26:18; Rom 12:1-8; 1 Co 12:1-31; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:17-27; Col 3:16; Heb 3:13; Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-17; Jn 15:18-21; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12]

 

Isaiah 41:11-13 ESV

 

“Behold, all who are incensed against you

    shall be put to shame and confounded;

those who strive against you

    shall be as nothing and shall perish.

You shall seek those who contend with you,

    but you shall not find them;

those who war against you

    shall be as nothing at all.

For I, the Lord your God,

    hold your right hand;

it is I who say to you, ’Fear not,

    I am the one who helps you’.”

 

If we are following Jesus Christ with our lives, if we are living for the Lord, doing what he says to do, and especially if we are sharing the truth of the gospel with others, we are going to have people incensed against us, for we will be an offense to them, for we will be speaking against the sinful lifestyles that many of them are living. And we will be calling them to turn from their sinful practices to follow Jesus Christ in obedience.

 

Not only will many be incensed against us, but they will also strive against us. Some of them will fight against us because they don’t like the message of the gospel that Jesus and his New Testament apostles taught. Some will do so in ignorance, because they were persuaded to do so, while others will do so with the sole purpose to try to destroy us and our message. For many are adopting the cheap grace gospel which coddles them in their sins.

 

When people are living in addiction to sin, and when sin has a grip on their lives, and when they don’t truly want to forsake their sins, they don’t rejoice over messages which tell them that they must give up their sins to follow Jesus Christ in obedience to his commands. And so if we are teaching the true gospel, we are going to have people who will contend with us about what we are teaching for they don’t want to hear it.

 

Now, the Scriptures teach us that if we are followers of Christ that we will have enemies who will hate and persecute us and who may, at some point, put us to death because of our walks of faith and for our testimonies for Jesus Christ and his gospel. But we are not to fear them. Although God may allow us to be hated and persecuted for righteousness’ sake, he has the final word, and our persecutors will one day perish in their sin.

 

But we should be those who are loving those who hate and persecute us. We should be those who pray for our enemies, and who do good to them and not harm, and we should do for them and say to them what will be for their good (as God defines good). And so we will speak the truth in love to them, and we will tell them the truth of what God’s word teaches, because we love them, and because we want them to be saved and to have eternal life.

 

But we can also find comfort and healing in knowing that our Lord is holding our hands, and that he is helping us through every trial and through every persecution to remain steadfast in faith and to not yield to the temptation to give up. He will help us through it all to keep on in keeping on in our walks of faith and obedience to him and to keep speaking the truth that all people need to hear and to pray that many will listen and will find salvation.

 

[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 5:10,15,21; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:21-25; Rom 12:1-2; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-10; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-11; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Heb 10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Matt 7:21-23; Ac 26:18; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15; Eph 2:8-10]

 

Servant of the Lord

 

An Original Work / July 26, 2012

Based off Romans 1:1-17

 

Servant of the Lord;

For the gospel you’re set apart.

Promised through the prophets of old:

Jesus, Son of God.

Through Him, and for His name alone,

We receive His grace

To call people, Him to obey;

Coming from their faith.

Servant of the Lord,

For the gospel you’re set apart.

Promised through the prophets of old:

Jesus, Son of God.

 

You belong to Christ;

Loved by God, and called to be saints;

Serving God with whole heart and mind;

Preaching Jesus Christ;

Always praying for others’ needs;

Helping hand to lend;

Giving courage to others’ faith,

For the praise of God.

You belong to Christ;

Loved by God, and called to be saints;

Serving God with whole heart and mind;

Preaching Jesus Christ.

 

Servant of the Lord;

Of the gospel, I’m not ashamed;

For salvation, power of God

To those who have faith.

In the gospel find righteousness:

Being right with God.

Turn from sin, and trust Jesus Christ.

By faith, live in Him.

Servant of the Lord;

Of the gospel, I’m not ashamed;

For salvation, power of God

To those who have faith.

 

https://vimeo.com/119511640

Sin Permeating the Church

1 Corinthians 5:1-5 ESV

 

“It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife. And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.

 

“For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.”

 

In the church in America today sexual immorality of various kinds and degrees is permeating the church. It has spread like wildfire and not much at all is being done about it. Very few church congregations anymore exercise true biblical and loving church discipline. Instead, most now coddle people in their sins and they give them permission to keep on living in sin by teaching them the half-truth cheap grace gospel.

 

Rather than the church being the body of Christ gathering together to encourage one another in the Lord so no one is led astray by sin’s deceitfulness, they are now inviting the people of the world into the gatherings of what they call “church” and they are altering the meaning of “church,” and they are altering the gospel message to make it more acceptable to human flesh and to the people of the world.

 

They teach them that a mere profession of faith in Jesus Christ is enough to secure them heaven for eternity regardless of how they live from that moment forward. Some will teach against sin but many do not, but still very few teach the consequences of continued sin in light of eternity. They are not teaching dying with Christ to sin and living to Christ and to his righteousness but many are leaving their adherents still dead in their sin.

 

1 Corinthians 5:6-8 ESV

 

“Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

 

Because sexual immorality has become so prevalent and acceptable in our society and within the gatherings of what is called “church,” and so many people within the gatherings of the church are regularly engaged in some type of sexual immorality, including perhaps as many as 35% to 50% of pastors, rather than exercising true biblical church discipline, sexual immorality has been allowed to continue to grow.

 

And because most “churches” in America are now businesses which are being marketed to the people of the world, not much is going to be done to stop sexual immorality (and all sin) from continuing to permeate the church gatherings. And that is because these “churches” are being taught that they should not do or say anything to offend the people of the world because they want to attract the people of the world to their gatherings.

 

And so we now have children being given access to the internet where they can get to all sorts of evil, and these internet devices are being used as babysitters to entertain the children. And men and women are being unfaithful to their spouses and to their marriage vows, and marriages and family units are falling apart, and human lives are being destroyed by addiction to pornography and other harmful material.

 

1 Corinthians 5:9-13 ESV

 

“I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. ‘Purge the evil person from among you.’”

 

Now, because of the degree to which sexual immorality is now permeating the church, those who are actually living in moral purity are in the minority. And those who are speaking out against sexual immorality and all addictive sin, who are calling people to repentance, to turning away from their lives of sin to follow Jesus in obedience, are largely being ignored and/or shunned, and we are being called judgmental, legalistic, or self-righteous.

 

So, everything is flip-flopped. Evil is now being spoken of as good and good is being spoken of as evil. Now it seems to be a crime to talk about sin and to call people to repentance and to warn them of the consequences of habitual and unrepentant sin, for that offends people. And now you are regarded as good if you talk of sin as something everybody does as a matter of practice and you don’t get on people to repent and to obey the Lord.

 

So, for the people of the gatherings of the “church” who are living in moral purity to now all of a sudden take this passage of Scripture to heart, and to stop associating with everyone who professes faith in Jesus Christ but who is living an immoral life, i.e. who habitually and deliberately engages himself in some type of sexual immorality, all that would mean today would be that a few dedicated followers of Christ would leave the gatherings of the “church.”

 

For anything of this drastic of nature as is taught here to happen in today’s church gatherings in America there would need to be a major revival of God to sweep across our nation and to bring people to their knees and to repentance and to obedient faith in Jesus Christ, their Lord. But this does not mean that we sit back and do nothing about it just because so much of today’s church is doing little to nothing to cleanse the church of this evil.

 

We can “leave Babylon,” i.e. we can come out and be separate from this world of sin and not partake in it and not have close fellowship with other professers of faith in Jesus Christ who we know are living sexually immoral lives or who are living in deliberate and habitual sin against God of any kind. And we can speak out against sin and we can call people to forsake their sins and to surrender their lives to Jesus Christ.

 

And we can share the truth of the gospel and let people know that a mere profession of faith in Jesus Christ is not going to secure heaven for them when they die, but that they have to die with Christ to sin and live to Christ and to his righteousness. And they have to persevere in that faith until the very end if they want to be saved from their sins and have eternal life with God. For if sin is what we practice, we will not inherit eternal life with God.

 

[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 5:10,15,21; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:21-25; Rom 12:1-2; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-10; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-11; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Heb 10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Matt 7:21-23; Ac 26:18; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15; Eph 2:8-10]

 

He Keeps Me Singing  

 

by Luther B. Bridgers, 1910

 

There’s within my heart a melody

Jesus whispers sweet and low,

“Fear not, I am with thee, peace be still,”

In all of life’s ebb and flow.

 

All my life was wrecked by sin and strife,

Discord filled my heart with pain;

Jesus swept across the broken strings,

Stirred the slumbering chords again.

 

Feasting on the riches of His grace,

Resting ‘neath His sheltering wing,

Always looking on His smiling face –

That is why I shout and sing.

 

Though sometimes He leads through waters deep,

Trials fall across the way,

Though sometimes the path seems rough and steep

See His foot-prints all the way.

 

Soon He’s coming back to welcome me

Far beyond the starry sky;

I shall wing my flight to world’s unknown,

I shall reign with Him on high.

 

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus –

Sweetest name I know,

Fills my every longing,

Keeps me singing as I go.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S23RqEr7ox4

Caution: This link may contain ads