Habakkuk 2

Then the Lord replied: "Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay."

Friday, May 19, 2023

An Ungodly People

Psalms 43:1-2 ESV

 

“Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause

    against an ungodly people,

from the deceitful and unjust man

    deliver me!

For you are the God in whom I take refuge;

    why have you rejected me?

Why do I go about mourning

    because of the oppression of the enemy?”

 

Do you ever get discouraged or disheartened when you see all the evil going on all around you? Does it concern you that so much of the church here in America seems to have gone the way of the world and that there is not much of a distinction between the church and the world anymore? Does it grieve your heart to hear pastors of churches (or of what is falsely called “church”) expounding lies disguised as truth?

 

Does it bother you that so many people professing faith in Jesus Christ are so worldly? That the things which should grieve them do not grieve them at all? But rather what grieves them are the truths of the Scriptures, and so they are rejecting those truths by the masses? Do you hurt in your heart when professing Christians grieve the Holy Spirit by their actions? And does it concern you that lies and the truth are now being flipflopped?

 

Does it bother you that the ungodly are often the ones who are praised while the godly are treated as though they are evil? And that lies are often being believed over the truth? And that the liars are being accepted while the truth tellers are being largely rejected? And that this is what is happening much among those who profess faith in Jesus Christ? For now it is becoming much more acceptable to live in sin than it is to live godly and holy lives.

 

Psalms 43:3-4 ESV

 

“Send out your light and your truth;

    let them lead me;

let them bring me to your holy hill

    and to your dwelling!

Then I will go to the altar of God,

    to God my exceeding joy,

and I will praise you with the lyre,

    O God, my God.”

 

I believe we should all be praying something similar to this, that the Lord will send out His light and His truth. Now, he is, but the lies seem to be overtaking the truth. And so we need to pray for the truth to continue to go out into all the world and that many people will hear the truth and believe in Jesus Christ with genuine faith, and that they will be delivered from their slavery to sin and be empowered of God to live holy lives to the praise of God. But we also need to be those who are sending forth the truth.

 

For the truth is the only thing which will lead us to genuine salvation from sin. For so many people today are teaching that we can make a one-time in our lives profession of faith in Jesus Christ, and now all our sins are forgiven, and now heaven is guaranteed us when we die, but regardless of how we live. But Jesus didn’t die on that cross just so we will profess him as Lord. He died so that we would die with him to sin and be raised to walk in newness of life in him, no longer living as slaves to sin but as servants of our Lord.

 

So, we need the truth of the Scriptures to go out, and we need to be people who are spreading the good news of our salvation, in its fulness, with the people of the world. And we need to be people of God who are being led by the Spirit of God and by the Word of God in holy and godly living. And we must be humble and obedient to our Lord and submissive to his will for our lives, and we must no longer live in deliberate and habitual sin. Then we can truly worship our Lord at his altar with songs of praise.

 

Psalms 43:5 ESV

 

“Why are you cast down, O my soul,

    and why are you in turmoil within me?

Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,

    my salvation and my God.”

 

Yes, this whole situation we are being faced with today in America – with so much of the church now going the way of the world and rejecting the truth in its fulness, while embracing the lies – can be rather disheartening. And this can be doubly disheartening when you are loving people with the love and God and you are treated as though you are the enemy, while those who are speaking lies are being treated as though they are the “good guys.” For what that means is that many are following the lies and not the truth.

 

So, we just need to turn these situations back over to the Lord in prayer, and pray for the truth to go forward, and for the lies to be dispelled, and pray for people’s eyes and ears and hearts to be open to receive the truth, and that they will reject the lies. And then we need to trust the Lord, not in the sense that we now forget about it, for we should still continue in earnest prayer, and we should continue steadfastly in speaking the truths of God’s word and in refuting the lies of the enemy. But then we must leave the results to God.

 

Hear my Voice

 

An Original Work / July 9, 2012

Based off Psalm 27

 

The Lord is my great salvation.

He’s the stronghold of my life.

When my enemies attack me,

My heart will not fear at all.

Though a war break out against me,

Confident in Christ I’ll be.

Of the Lord, I ask that I may

Live with Him eternally.

 

Hear my voice, Lord, when I call you.

Merciful to me You’ll be.

Though my relatives forsake me,

My Lord God will receive me.

Teach me Your way, O my Jesus.

Lead me in Your righteousness.

I will sacrifice to my Lord.

I will sing with joyfulness.

 

I am confident that I will

See the goodness of the Lord.

All the richness of His blessings,

My Lord has for me in store.

He asks me to be of courage;

To be strong and to take heart,

Patiently as I wait for Him,

And from Him to ne’er depart.

 

https://vimeo.com/119813963

 

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

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