Psalms 119:132-133 ESV
“Turn to me and be gracious to me,
as is your way with those who love your name.
Keep steady my steps according to your promise,
and let no iniquity get dominion over me.”
Those of us who love our Lord, and who are following in his
ways, are not free from temptation to sin, and we still have the propensity to
sin, so we need to pray for help and strength and wisdom in fighting off
temptation, and in fighting off the enemy of our souls who is coming against us
to try to bring us down. And we can pray
that our Lord will keep steady our steps according to his word, and that he
will let no iniquity get dominion over us, but then we must cooperate with him
in doing what he says to do.
For, although our Lord frees us from our slavery to sin, and
he empowers us to walk in obedience to him in walks of righteousness, we still
have to obey him. We still have to do the work that he has assigned to us to
do. We still must walk (in conduct, in practice) according to the Spirit and
not according to the flesh. And we must not let sin reign in our mortal bodies
to where we obey its sinful desires. And we still must say “No!” to ungodliness
and fleshly passions and live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives, in his
power.
[Romans 6:1-23; Ephesians 2:10; Romans 8:1-14; Titus
2:11-14]
Yet, I know of people who assume God does it all for them
and that they don’t have to do anything. But that isn’t what the Scriptures
teach. For when we believe in Jesus with God-given faith we are crucified with
Christ in death to sin and we are raised with him to walk (in conduct, in
practice) in newness of life in him, not like our old lives. And Jesus died
that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness. And
Jesus said if we will come after him we must deny self, take up our cross daily
(daily die to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. So we must obey our Lord.
[Romans 6:1-23; 1 Peter 2:24; Luke 9:23-26; cf. Matthew
7:21-23]
Psalms 119:134-136 ESV
“Redeem me from man's oppression,
that I may keep your precepts.
Make your face shine upon your servant,
and teach me your statutes.
My eyes shed streams of tears,
because people do not keep your law.”
But when we do follow our Lord in obedience, and when we
walk in his ways, according to his commands (New Covenant), we will be opposed
and we will be oppressed (persecuted, harassed) by other humans who are not
walking in his ways but who are still being guided by the flesh, even if they
do profess faith in Jesus Christ. And especially if we are sharing the truth of
the gospel with people, and if we are refuting Satan’s lies and deceiving
spirits, we are going to be opposed and persecuted for righteousness’ sake.
And a lot of this opposition in America is going to come
through the institutional market-driven “churches” (businesses) who are
marketing “the church” to the world in order to attract the world to their
gatherings. And this is because they have altered the whole meaning of “church”,
and the gatherings of what is called “church,” and they have diluted and
adulterated the gospel of Jesus Christ – all to make “church” more attractive
and acceptable to the people of the world and to human flesh.
And this is a very sad reality that this is where so much of
“the church” is today here in America. And it should bring tears to our eyes,
and we should weep over the spiritual condition of the church here in America
in our day and time. And it should cause us to mourn over the fallen spiritual
condition of what appears to be the majority of those now professing faith in
Jesus Christ. For there is not much of a distinction now between the church and
the world, for so much of the church has gone the way of the world.
And so we do need our Lord’s help and strength to keep the
faith, and to keep persevering in walks of obedience to the Lord Jesus, and to
keep on speaking the truth of the gospel, despite all opposition and
persecution and rejection and isolation. We need him to help us to not get
disheartened or discouraged over the oppression we are facing, but to remain
steadfast in faith and in purpose, and to keep obeying our Lord even if
sometimes we may feel as though we are standing alone. And he will strengthen
us.
He
Lifted Our Burdens
An
Original Work / February 15, 2014
Based
off Isaiah 9:2-7
People walk in darkness.
They abide in their sin.
It has power o’er them.
True belief escapes them.
Jesus Christ came to save them.
He gave His life up for them;
Crucified; died for our sin,
So we might be forgiven,
And have life up in heaven.
Many come to know Him.
God’s love now o’erflows them.
They rejoice in vict’ry.
Their sin is but hist’ry.
We were once bound in slav’ry.
Jesus lifted our burdens;
Set us now free from Satan,
So we now walk in freedom.
Sin has no more dominion.
Praise be to our Savior!
He showed us His favor.
He took all our burdens;
Cast them all upon Him.
He is our mediator;
The Light which shines in darkness.
Counselor in our troubles;
He gives peace now in our hearts;
Joy which is everlasting.
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