Deliver Me!

Video Talk

Psalms 43:1-5 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?

“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.

“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.”

I am super tired today. I read this passage of Scripture several times today and it just did not plug into my brain in what direction the Lord wanted me to go with it, for it could be the basis for many different discussions. And so I struggled with it in wondering what I was supposed to do with it, and with what I would say. 

Then the Lord Jesus encouraged me to just trust him. So, I got out my phone/camera/computer and I began to talk, having absolutely no idea where he was going to take this. And even now as I am writing this portion of it I can’t be sure I can recall what he had me say in the video or even if it has to be the exact same wording. For when I do these videos, I don’t have a script that I am following, not usually anyway, so I never know what the Lord is going to put into my mind to say. But I trust him.

Well, I believe the main focus the Lord led me to was to talk about pastors and elders and church people who mistreat those who are following the Lord in obedience, and how they do so apparently based upon some modern teaching and philosophies they are following. And the Lord just recently had me write several devotions on that subject, using Paul’s experiences and my own experiences to illustrate how we can expect to be treated, even by others who claim to be Christians, if we are living holy lives, and if we are taking God and his word seriously.

And the overwhelming thought I had in my mind today was that I just don’t understand how those who claim Jesus as their Savior can be so mean and cold-hearted towards those who are following Jesus with their lives. But Jesus faced this kind of treatment, and so did Paul and the others, and so will we if we are following Jesus like we are supposed to. And honestly a lot of these pastors are being trained in who they should want in their “churches,” and who they should “discard,” for my husband and I went through some of that training, and we have seen it put into practice.

One of their common phrases they use in order to dismiss you, but to do it in such a way to make you feel as though they care about you is this: “I think you should go someplace else where you will be a better fit. And I would be glad to help you find that place.” I have heard that said to me, or to me and my husband, at least three times, as well as I have heard at least one pastor express it publicly from the platform to the whole congregation if they felt they could not get on board with his marketing schemes, basically.

But then I have had others who didn’t sugar-coat it at all but who outright attacked me and accused me falsely of things that I did not do, and they had no proof that I did anything wrong. And one of these pastors told me that he was warned about people like me in his training, i.e. “people with strong convictions.” And that is when he invited me to go where I would be a “better fit.” But Jesus had strong convictions, and so did the prophets and the apostles, for they were the convictions of God and of his Holy Spirit.

But we live in this “fast food” generation which appears to mostly want everything lickity split. They want to “get saved” once, have all their sins forgiven, and be guaranteed heaven when they die, but for it not to interfere with their lives and their daily activities. And that is why so many of them are buying into this teaching which is telling them (or suggesting to them) that they do not have to repent (turn away from) their sins, and that they do not have to obey the Lord, and that no works are required of them. But that just isn’t biblical.

[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] 

Anyway, this prayer is for deliverance from such deceitful and unjust people as this who are people of influence and/or who are in positions of power and authority over others – and over others who will believe whatever they tell them. And this is an encouragement to put our trust in the Lord and to take refuge in him when we experience such deceitful and unjust treatment. And this is an encouragement not to get downhearted over being treated as though you are a throw away, but to let the Lord lead you in the way that you should go regardless of how others treat you. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9h0_ftiNLU

Caution: This link may contain ads

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.

http://youtu.be/_XQkomPFz4Y

Caution: This link may contain ads