Psalms 90:1-2 ESV
“Lord, you have been our dwelling place
in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”
We, as followers of Jesus Christ, are to dwell (live, abide)
in Christ and him in us and us in his word and his word in us. He is to be our
life. He is our purpose for existing – to love, serve, and obey him in all
things. And we are to honor him with our lives and to walk in the fear of the
Lord. For we died with him to sin that we might live to him and to his
righteousness.
We are not to live apart from him. Our lives now belong to
him and they are not our own to live however we want. Jesus doesn’t want just a
few minutes of our day spent in a “quiet time” or in a time of devotions with
him, but he wants all our time dedicated to him and to what he wants for our
lives. For we are now his possession and he is to be our Lord and Master.
So Jesus should be in our thoughts throughout the day, and
our lives should revolve around him and his word and his will and purpose for
our lives. No matter what our days entail at home or at a job, or if we are out
shopping or taking a walk or if we are on social media or taking care of small
children, Jesus and his will for our lives should be what is guiding all our
steps.
[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 5:15,21; Tit
2:11-14; Jas 1:22-25; 1 Jn 1:5-9; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10; Heb 12:1-2; Jn 6:44;
2 Pet 1:1; 1 Co 15:58; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:21-23; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13]
Psalms 90:10-11 ESV
“The years of our life are seventy,
or even by reason of strength eighty;
yet their span is but toil and trouble;
they are soon gone, and we fly away.
Who considers the power of your anger,
and your wrath according to the fear of you?”
Our lives on this earth are short-lived, although I feel as
though 70 is a long time to live (I am 72). But the point is that we don’t have
forever on this earth. Our lives can be taken from us from the moment of birth
(or before) all the way to people dying who lived to be 100 plus. Not one of us
knows when we will breathe our last breath, so we should not take life for granted.
Many people are living their lives, though, with no regard
for God. They are living however they want to live without concern for the
future. Although many of them know what the Scriptures teach with regard to heaven
and hell and God’s judgments they ignore them in favor of living their lives
however they want. And many of them think they are going to heaven.
But the Scriptures teach that if heaven is to be our eternal
destiny that we must die with Christ to sin and live to him and to his
righteousness, not just once, but daily. Sin must be put away from us and we
must now walk in obedience to our Lord. Sin and self are to no longer be lord
over our lives, but Jesus Christ is to be our only Lord and Master. We now
belong to him.
Psalms 90:12-17 ESV
“So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
Return, O Lord! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
and for as many years as we have seen evil.
Let your work be shown to your servants,
and your glorious power to their children.
Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
and establish the work of our hands upon us;
yes, establish the work of our hands!”
Numbering Our Days
YES! We definitely need the Lord Jesus to teach us to number
our days. We need to take it seriously that we don’t have forever and that any
of us could die today. We must consider how we are living our lives and we
should examine our own hearts and actions against the Scriptures, and we must then
take to heart what the Scriptures teach, and then obey the Lord.
For, if you are continuing to live in habitual and
deliberate sin against the Lord, convinced that nothing bad will happen to you
and that heaven is still your eternal destiny, you need to know what the Scriptures
teach on that subject. They teach that you will die in your sins and that you
will not inherit eternal life with God regardless of what profession of faith
you have made.
So many people who are professing faith in Jesus Christ are
still living in deliberate and habitual sin. They are the ones still
controlling their own lives and destiny. They may go through the motions of
religious exercises, but their hearts are not given over to the Lord. They are
the ones charting their own life course, and so they will not inherit eternal
life with God.
The Lord’s Discipline
The Scriptures teach us that the Lord disciplines (reproves,
chastises) those he loves. Now all discipline is not punishment for wrongdoing
although some of it is. Discipline is to be part of the normal Christian life.
And it can be painful, but it is for our good that we may share in God’s
holiness. The Lord allows us to suffer that we might become like him in his death.
[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; Matt 5:10-12; Lu 21:12-19; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb
12:3-12; Jn 15:1-11]
If we are wise, we will accept the Lord’s
discipline in our lives and we will allow him to teach us through our suffering
what we need to learn in order to grow to maturity in Christ and to walk in his
ways and in his truth. But we may also pray to be relieved of our suffering and
for the Lord to bring healing to our bodies, but even there we must accept God’s
will for our lives.
For, like Paul, he was given a thorn in the
flesh to keep him humble. He prayed three times for the Lord to remove his
thorn (ailment) but the Lord told him that his grace was sufficient. Now I
believe in divine healing, and the Lord has healed me many times over, but he
has also given me thorns in the flesh which he has not removed, and they, too,
are for my good.
Jesus,
Lead Me
An
Original Work / July 22, 2011
Jesus, lead me all the way.
Be my hope and be my stay.
Gently lead me where I should go,
So Your Spirit, I want to know.
Open up my heart to You.
Fill me with Your love and truth.
Make my heart want to obey.
Be my Lord today. Gently lead always.
Jesus, lover of my soul,
Cleanse my heart, and make me whole;
Be transformed in my heart today,
As I turn from my sin and pray.
Make Your will known to my heart.
May I not from You depart.
How I long to hear You now,
As I humbly bow. Jesus, hear me now.
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