They Profess to Know God

 Titus 1:11-16 ESV

“For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party. They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth. To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled. They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.”

Paul wrote to Titus, instructing him to appoint elders, and then he told him God’s spiritual qualifications for those elders. And those qualifications were in contrast to what he talked about next, for here he was warning him that not all who talk the Christian life are of genuine faith in Jesus Christ. Many of them were insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers. So it is today.

And they were teaching false doctrines of salvation, not based on the teachings of Christ but on the thinking, reasoning, and philosophies of human beings. And they were teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. So it is today. For today a large number of them are altering the message of the gospel to make it more acceptable to human flesh.

And the reason it is for shameful gain is that it is not about delivering people out of slavery to sin so they could live holy and godly lives for Jesus Christ, but it was so they could draw in large crowds of people from the world into their gatherings in order to build their earthly kingdoms and to increase their numbers. So the liars need to be rebuked and silenced so they don't lead people astray.

And the whole reason to rebuke them is to hopefully turn them away from the lies and to genuine walks of faith in the Lord Jesus. And what lies are most predominant today in leading people astray? They are the ones which teach that we can profess faith in Jesus Christ one time and now all our sins are forgiven and heaven is guaranteed us when we die regardless of how we live.

But the truth teaches us we must be crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. For if sin is what we practice, and if godliness and obedience to the Lord are not what we practice, we don't have eternal life with God.

Yet, there are many people professing faith in Jesus Christ who are convinced they are saved from their sins and that heaven is their eternal home, but by their actions they deny Jesus Christ as Lord. And those who do so knowingly and deliberately are detestable, disobedient, and unfit to do the good works of God which he prepared in advance that we should walk in them.

My Heart’s Desire

Loved Ones, Oh, my heart’s desire

Is that you might come to Jesus.

Many appear zealous for God,

But they do not trust in Him.

They have not submitted to the One

Who saved them from their sins;

Not forsaken their sins,

Nor have they obeyed their King.

The word of the Lord is near you:

The word of faith we’re proclaiming:

That you must confess your faith

In Jesus as your Lord and King:

Believe in Him as your Lord,

And follow Him where’er He leads.

Share the gospel; be a witness,

And meet others’ needs.

Beautiful are the feet of those

Who bring the good news of Jesus:

Anyone who would come to Him

Must deny himself today;

Die to sin and self, and

Let the Spirit transform you in heart;

Put on your new self in Jesus,

Yielding to the cross.

An Original Work / June 29, 2013

Based off Rm. 10; Lu. 9:23-26;

Changed Lives and Hearts

John 1:9-13 Esv

“The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own,[b] and his own people[c] did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, was with God in the beginning and he is God, the second person of our triune God- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So he is also our creator God. But he willingly left his throne in heaven, came to earth, was born as a human baby, but without sin because God was his birth Father. So while he lived on the earth he was fully God and fully human, but he did not sin, even though he was tempted to sin like we are.

So Jesus Christ is the true light who came into the world. And why did he come? He came to save us from our sins, but not just from the punishment of our sin, but from our slavery to sin. He came to die on a cross, to take upon himself the sins of the entire world, so that when he died our sins died with him so that by faith in him we might now die to sin and live to his righteousness in his power and strength.

But even though he was our creator God, the people created by him did not recognize him for who he is. And even though his own people had been waiting for his coming, they did not know him and they did not receive nor embrace him as their own. But they largely rejected him. Even though he had large crowds following him because of his miracles, most of them walked away when his teaching became what they were not willing to accept.

But all who receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of their lives, who believe on his name, God gives the right to become children of God. So what does that look like? Well, to receive Jesus is to accept him, to embrace him. But this isn't just with words. This is with action and in practice. For if he is now Lord of our lives, he is owner and master of our lives and our lives are now surrendered to him to do his will. And if he is Savior, that means he delivered us out of our lives of slavery to sin so we can now walk in obedience to him.

And to believe in Jesus is also not just with words. For belief is defined by God and by his word, and it comes from God and is persuaded by God, and is gifted to us by God, and it is not of our own doing. For we don't become children of God of the will of our flesh nor of the will of man, but of the will of God and according to his design and purposes. So by faith in Jesus Christ we die with him to sin and we now walk in obedience to his commands.

Therefore, if sin is what we practice, and if righteousness, godliness, and obedience to our Lord are not what we practice, then we are not born of God, we don't know God, we are not in fellowship with him, and we do not have eternal life in him unless we repent of our sins, and we now follow Jesus Christ in obedience to his commands under the New Covenant. For Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.

Since Jesus Came Into My Heart

By Rufus H McDaniel

What a wonderful change in my life has been wrought

Since Jesus came into my heart;

I have light in my soul for which long I have sought,

Since Jesus came into my heart.

Since Jesus came into my heart,

Since Jesus came into my heart;

Floods of joy o’er my soul like the sea billows roll,

Since Jesus came into my heart.

I have ceased from my wand’ring and going astray,

Since Jesus came into my heart;

And my sins which were many are all washed away,

Since Jesus came into my heart.

I’m possessed of a hope that is steadfast and sure,

Since Jesus came into my heart;

And no dark clouds of doubt now my pathway obscure,

Since Jesus came into my heart.

There’s a light in the valley of death now for me,

Since Jesus came into my heart;

And the gates of the City beyond I can see,

Since Jesus came into my heart.

I shall go there to dwell in that City I know,

Since Jesus came into my heart;

And I’m happy, so happy as onward I go,

Since Jesus came into my heart.

The Lord Stood by Me

2 Timothy 4:14-18 ESV

“Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”

When we are serving the Lord Jesus with our lives, and we are sharing the truth of the gospel with the people of this world, and when we are refuting the lies of the enemy, we are going to be opposed, even by others professing faith in Jesus Christ. For not everyone who professes faith in Christ has genuine faith in him. Not everyone who says, “Lord, Lord,” truly worships Christ as Lord.

There are many professors of faith in Christ who are still living worldly lives, still living for the flesh, still habitually and deliberately sinning against the Lord. And so they don't have the mind of Christ, and so they don't really comprehend the things of God and how God works. They are still seeing through fleshly eyes, and so they end up rejecting what they truly do not comprehend.

And it is possible that the majority of those professing faith in Jesus Christ will oppose the truth of the gospel, possibly because they were not taught the truth and so they grew up believing the lie as the truth, and so their natural instinct is to deny what seems opposite of what they had always been taught. Others will reject the truth because it doesn't agree with their chosen lifestyles.

And just like Paul, when he was Saul, opposed the gospel and those who taught it, there will be people who will oppose the truth of the gospel and those of us who are teaching it because they sincerely believe we are wrong and that they are right. But among them are those who don't care that we might be right and that they might be wrong for it is all about them hanging on to what they were always taught, right or wrong.

So, it is possible that you might find yourself standing all alone, at times, with no one to stand with you, and with no one to support you. For even if some people will verbalize agreement with you in private, they may not be willing to take a public stand with you because they don't want to be persecuted with you. For it takes courage to stand on what is truth especially when you have the majority against you.

But even if we have to stand alone, at times, we must stand on the truth. But first we must search the Scriptures to make sure what we are believing is indeed the truth. And this is why it is so critical that we study the Scriptures in their full context, for many are being taught the Scriptures outside their context and so they end up believing the lies and not the truth. So we need to be seekers of truth.

And when we are on the Lord’s side, and when we are obeying him, he is our support even if all humans desert us. He will be our strength, and he will help us to stand on the truth. And he will give us the words to say and the courage to say them. And although he does allow evil people to do evil against us, he will carry us through it all and he will bring good out of it if we trust him and if we obey him.

And one day he will take us to be with him for eternity and that is our hope. But please know that not everyone who says, “Lord, Lord,” is going to heaven, but only the ones doing the will of God. So, if walking in obedience to the Lord, in holy living, is not your practice, but if living in sin and for self is your practice, you will not inherit eternal life with God regardless of what your lips profess. For we must obey our Lord, in practice, and we must not walk in sin if we want to have eternal life with God.

I Will Lift My Eyes

An Original Work / December 12, 2012

Based off Psalms 121-125

I will lift my eyes to my Lord Most High.

My help comes from Him, who saved me from sin.

He will not let your foot slip, and He who watches will not sleep.

Our Lord watches over you, and your life He will keep.

I will lift my eyes to my Lord Most High.

My help comes from Him, who saved me from sin.

I give thanks to Him.

I will lift my eyes to my God in heav’n.

I look to the Lord. My sins, He’s forgiv’n.

Because of His great love for us, He made us alive with Christ.

Through the kindness of our Savior, He gave us new life.

I will lift my eyes to my God in heav’n.

I look to the Lord. My sins, He’s forgiv’n;

My home, now in heav’n.

Praise be to the Lord, who is on our side.

Our help found in Him. He gives peace within.

Those who trust will ne’er be shaken. God will supply all we need.

Our Lord has done great things for us. He’s our friend, indeed!

Praise be to the Lord, who is on our side.

Our help found in Him. He gives peace within.

I can count on Him.

Fight the Good Fight of Faith

2 Timothy 4:6-8 ESV

“For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.”

Paul had just given instructions to Timothy to preach the word, to reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching. For, he told him, “the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” And then he encouraged him to always be serious-minded, to endure suffering, and to do the work of the ministry.

Paul was now convinced that he was about to die, and that his life and ministry were about to come to an end. He believed his own work was nearly done, and perhaps that is why he was giving Timothy the instructions that he was, perhaps so that Timothy would carry on where Paul left off. And it appears that Paul was ready for it all to come to a close, for truly he had fought the good fight and had finished the race well which was marked out for him to run, and he had indeed kept the faith right up to the very end.

But his death, it appears, was to be because of his testimony and witness for Jesus Christ and for his gospel. For he was about to be martyred for his faith, it would seem. And many Christians today are also being martyred for their walks of faith in Jesus Christ and for their testimonies for Jesus Christ and for his gospel. But none of us knows with any certainty when our lives are going to end and when our time is going to come for us to leave this earth and for us to breathe our last breaths.

But while we are still living on this earth, and while we are waiting for the day when the Lord will take us home to be with him forever, we are going to go through trials and tribulations. And if we are sharing the gospel message in its fullness, as did Paul, and if we are calling out the liars and the deceivers and the deceptions and the false gospels, like Paul did, and if we are calling sin what it is, and if we are teaching what the Scriptures teach about sin, we are going to be hated, and some people may want us dead.

But even if they don’t want us dead, they may reject us, hide themselves from us, not want anything to do with us, scorn us, persecute us, say all manner of evil against us, despise us, mock us, and mistreat us – all because of our walks of faith in Jesus Christ and for our testimonies for him and for his gospel and because we expose the fruitless deeds of darkness, like we are all called to do. For if you are living the life God has called us all to live, you are not going to be well liked by most people.

Therefore, although the Christian life is glorious in that we get to live with Christ, and him within us, and in his power and strength we are now free from the control of sin, and we can now walk in holiness and in righteousness, in obedience to our Lord, in doing what he has called us to do, we will also go through hard times and we will be hated and persecuted as Jesus Christ was hated and persecuted. And sometimes we may feel we are ready to die because things have gotten so hard.

But we are to be those who persevere in the strength of the Lord, who continue to fight the good fight of faith until the very end and who do not give up the fight just because things got a whole lot harder, which they will if we live long enough. And we must be those who keep the faith and who keep on walking the walk, and who follow our Lord in obedience, and in truth, in holy living. And we must endure to the very end and we must be those who finish the race well. So no matter what, never give up!!

[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; Jn 15:1-21; Jn 16:33; Jn 17:14; Ac 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Rev 6:9-11; Rev 7:9-17; Rev 11:1-3; Rev 12:17; Rev 13:1-18; Rev 14:1-13]

Precious Lord, Take My Hand  

Unknown

Precious Lord, take my hand,

Lead me on, let me stand,

I am tired, I am weak, I am worn;

Through the storm, through the night,

Lead me on to the light:

Take my hand, precious Lord,

Lead me home.

When my way grows drear,

Precious Lord, linger near,

When my life is almost gone,

Hear my cry, hear my call,

Hold my hand lest I fall:

Take my hand, precious Lord,

Lead me home.

When the darkness appears

And the night draws near,

And the day is past and gone,

At the river I stand,

Guide my feet, hold my hand:

Take my hand, precious Lord,

Lead me home.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHBzI_Jb-o4

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To Suit Their Own Passions

2 Timothy 4:1-5 ESV

“I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

But Having Itching Ears

The time has come indeed when not just people, but many people who profess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of their lives are not enduring sound teaching, but they are rejecting it. They don’t want to hear the truth, but they want to hear the lies, for the lies coddle them in their sins, and the lies make them feel good about themselves even when they are habitually and deliberately sinning against the Lord Jesus. For they want to continue in their sinful practices, but they also want the hope of heaven when they die.

So, they surround themselves with teachers who will tell them what their itching ears want to hear. For they will tell them things like, “All you have to do is pray this prayer and now all your sins are forgiven and heaven is guaranteed you when you die and nothing can take it away from you, no matter how you live your life.” And they call that “God’s grace.” And they will tell them that God can’t even see when they sin anymore and that when he looks at them all he sees is Jesus, even if they are steeped in sin.

And they will call the true gospel – the one taught by Jesus and by his NT apostles – they will call that “works salvation.” And they will either lead the people to believe or they will tell them directly that they do not have to repent (turn from their sins), and they don’t have to obey the Lord, and they are not required to do any works at all, not even though Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

For you know how, in the political world, it appears that anything that contradicts the “official narrative” is called a “conspiracy theory,” even if it is the truth, or especially if it is the truth? The parallel to that in the “Christian” world and culture of today is that if anyone is speaking the truth of the gospel, in biblical context, they are tagged as “works salvation people.” And what they are teaching is tagged as “works salvation.” And the people are being programmed to disregard it automatically then, even if it is true.

Oh, and then the BIG THING right now appears to be that everything must be positive, happy-happy, feel-good, and uplifting, even spoken to those who are living in deliberate and habitual sin. For it is all about not offending people these days, even if you are offending them with the truth. For they regard the truth as negative, for it is all about not being negative these days. But, in reality, it is the lies which are negative and the truth is positive, because it is the truth which saves lives, not the lies.

So, today they have kind of romanticized the gospel of Jesus Christ and made it like a romantic love story of two people falling in love with each other with all those initial mushy-gushy whirlwind feelings. But that is based in feelings, not in truth. Now part of it is the truth, but it is a deliberate half-truth they are teaching, which then makes it a lie. And it is all so focused on what Jesus does for us, but not on what is required of us in love response to him because of what he did for us.

And so it is well sought after and well liked because it doesn’t make anyone feel bad. It doesn’t make anyone feel guilty for their sins. And it doesn’t require that they forsake their sins, but it focuses on God’s grace in forgiving us our sins so that when we die we get to be with Jesus for eternity. And so it shares all these promises of God but absent of to whom the promises apply, and absent of the stipulations and the conditions for the promises to be realized. And so a lot of people are claiming promises not theirs.

Be Sober-Minded

So, Paul, realizing these things were coming, and that some of them were already on the scene, to a certain degree, he gave Timothy particular instructions, which can also be applied to all of us who believe in Jesus Christ. For we are all to proclaim (preach, herald) the excellencies of God who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light (1 Peter 2:9). We are all to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth and those who make disciples of Christ of people of all nations.

And not one of us is to be ashamed of our Lord and of his gospel, or else when he returns one day he will be ashamed of us. And this isn’t just about sharing the gospel, but this is also about us encouraging, exhorting, urging, and provoking one another to leave our lives of sin behind us and to follow Jesus in obedience to his commands, and to live godly and holy lives, for the glory of God, and for us to do the works which God prepared in advance that we should walk in them (see Ephesians 2:10 and Titus 2:11-14).

[Matt 5:13-16; Matt 28:18-20; Jn 4:31-38; Jn 13:13-17; Jn 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:14-18; Acts 26:18; Rom 10:14-15; Rom 12:1-8; Rom 15:14; 1 Co 12:1-31; 1 Co 14:1-5; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:17-27; Php 2:1-8; Col 3:16; Heb 3:13; Heb 10:23-25; 1 Pet 2:9,21; 1 Jn 2:6]  

And as Christians, it isn’t that some of us are called to “the ministry” and that some of us are not. We are all called to the ministry of the gospel of Christ and to helping one another to grow in our walks of faith in Jesus Christ and to not fall back into sin. We are all called to be the Lord’s witnesses and to love the people of this world and our fellow Christians. We are all called to minister God’s love and grace to other people and to be engaged in meeting other people’s legitimate needs.

God did not place us on this earth and save us from our sins so that we could go on living in sin and for self, doing what we want to do, living for the passions of the flesh, and not living for him and for his gospel in walks of obedience and in holy living. We are not here just to have fun and to entertain and to be entertained. We are to be serious-minded people whose lives are surrendered to Jesus Christ who are speaking the truth of the gospel, and who are exposing the lies and who are suffering because of it.

[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; Jn 15:1-21; Jn 16:33; Jn 17:14; Ac 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Rev 6:9-11; Rev 7:9-17; Rev 11:1-3; Rev 12:17; Rev 13:1-18; Rev 14:1-13]

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg 

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Corrupted in Mind

2 Timothy 3:1-5 ESV

“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.”

Now this is not just a list of possible character traits of people living in these last days before the return of Christ who make no profession of faith in Jesus Christ. For these are people who are giving off an appearance of godliness and righteousness, but they are denying its power in their lives by how they live their lives. So these are religious people who probably faithfully attend weekly “worship services” in a building somewhere called “church.” And some of them may even be pastors of such “churches.”

But they are ungodly people, people who are deliberately and habitually and often premeditatedly sinning against the Lord Jesus and against other humans, even against those they are supposed to love. And they do what they do without compassion, without conscience, and without true remorse. And even if they sometimes confess their sins, they go right back to the same sins over again, habitually. For faithfulness means nothing to them at all, and their addiction to sin overrides everything else.

2 Timothy 3:6-9 ESV

“For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.”

These are also people who are extremely deceptive and manipulative, usually charmers and winsome people who other people are naturally drawn to. They may come across very sincere and even as though they are loving and caring people. Oftentimes they will be very friendly, happy-go-lucky types who are fun, interesting, smart, and entertaining. Children and weak-willed women are drawn to men who are like this, but they aren’t the only ones. “Churches” are filled with people who love these types of people.

They are very conniving people, too, who can tell a lie with a straight face and make it sound just like the truth. And some of them or many of them are also those who are living in sexual immorality, idolatry, and adultery. So they sin habitually against their spouses and against other people and their spouses, for they are known to “play around” while promising faithfulness. So they will fake repentance and make false promises, for they are people corrupted in mind who are disqualified regarding the faith.

2 Timothy 3:10-13 ESV

“You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.”

In America we seem to have very few people as dedicated to the Lord and to his service as was Paul. Paul was so sold out to Christ with his life that he even encouraged other Christians to follow his example. And here Paul commended Timothy for following Paul’s example in his teaching, in his conduct, in his life aim, and in his faith, etc. And this was not out of pride that Paul said this, but as an encouragement to Timothy. For Paul was truly following Jesus Christ with his life, and so was Timothy.

And this is the type of Christian example we should be following, too, to live like Paul did, in truth and in righteousness, in faithfulness to the Lord, willing to be persecuted and even put to death for the sake of the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. But Jesus Christ is to be our prime example in godly and holy living, and we should be following the teachings of Christ and of his NT apostles. And yes, it will mean being persecuted for our walks of faith, but that’s better than being impostors who go from bad to worse, deceiving.

2 Timothy 3:14-17 ESV

“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

So, what is the encouragement for us here? We are to walk (in conduct, in practice) according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh. Sin is no longer to be our practice, but righteousness, holiness, godliness and obedience to our Lord are to be what we practice. And if this is how we have been living, then we are to continue in it and not allow ourselves to get caught up in the sinful trappings of the flesh and of the world. And we are to guard our minds and hearts against being deceived by wicked deceivers.

And we are to be students of the Scriptures who put the word of God into practice in our daily lives, and who are living holy and godly lives to the glory and praise of God. And we should be those who diligently are testing the things that we read and hear and see from other people who profess faith in Jesus Christ so that we are not led astray from the truth to follow after lies. And we should be people who are exposing the lies and who are proclaiming the truth of the gospel for the salvation of human lives.

[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] 

My Heart’s Desire  

Loved Ones, Oh, my heart’s desire

Is that you might come to Jesus.

Many appear zealous for God,

But they do not trust in Him.

They have not submitted to the One

Who saved them from their sins;

Not forsaken their sins,

Nor have they obeyed their King.

The word of the Lord is near you:

The word of faith we’re proclaiming:

That you must confess your faith

In Jesus as your Lord and King:

Believe in Him as your Lord, 

And follow Him where’er He leads.

Share the gospel; be a witness,

And meet others’ needs.

Beautiful are the feet of those

Who bring the good news of Jesus:

Anyone who would come to Him

Must deny himself today;

Die to sin and self, and

Let the Spirit transform you in heart;

Put on your new self in Jesus,

Yielding to the cross. 

An Original Work / June 29, 2013

Based off Rm. 10; Lu. 9:23-26; Ep. 4:20-24

https://vimeo.com/115643303 

What Does the Bible Say About Addiction?

Defining Addiction

First of all, what is the meaning of the word “addiction” and who is an “addict”? Addiction is defined as habit, compulsion, dependence, obsession, and craving. And dependence is reliance upon, trust, confidence. And craving is longing, desire, passion, hunger, yearning, etc. And habit is custom, routine, practice, pattern, and addiction. And obsession is fascination, fixation, and preoccupation. And compulsion is urge and impulse.

And addicts are those whose lives are defined by and ruled by their habits, compulsions, dependencies, obsessions, cravings, yearnings, practices, passions, patterns, impulses (instincts), fascinations and fixations. And what is a slave? He is one who is subject to control by another. So, an addict is a slave to what controls him. He is a slave to his instincts, patterns, habits, and practices. But he is a willful slave. This is something he chooses.

For, what does the Bible teach about addiction and choice? We read in John 3:19-20 that “people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does” (practices) “wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does” (practices) “what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

So, we all have a choice. We can choose evil or we can choose good. We can choose to make evil our practice, or we can choose to make righteousness, godliness, holiness, and obedience to our Lord our practice, our habit. We can choose to be enslaved to sin, or we can choose, by the grace of God, to be enslaved to God and to his righteousness, and to make godliness, moral purity, honesty, and faithfulness our practice, and not sin.

For the Scriptures are very clear on this subject of addiction, although they may not use that exact word. But they often use the words practice or habit or pattern, or they use active words such as doing, saying, and teaching. They definitely talk about cravings and desires and passions and longings. And they use the words dependence, reliance, trust and confidence. And they teach us both the good side and the bad side of these words.

To The Scriptures

For we read in Romans 6:1-23 that a true believer in Christ has been crucified with Christ in death to sin, and he has been raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to be enslaved to sin, but now to be enslaved to God and to his righteousness. So, we are not to let sin reign any longer in our mortal bodies, to make us obey its passions. For if sin is what we obey, it leads to death, but if obedience is what we obey, it leads to eternal life with God.

And in Galatians 5:16-21 we read that the works of the flesh are sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. And Paul warned them, as he warned them before, that those doing such things (practicing such things) will not inherit the kingdom of God. And it says basically the same thing in Galatians 6:7-8; Romans 2:6-8; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 2 Corinthians 5:10; Ephesians 5:3-6; Colossians 3:5-11; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Hebrews 10:26-31.

Basically, what the Scriptures teach regarding our faith, salvation, and eternal life with God is that if, by God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ, we die with Christ to sin, not just once but daily (in practice), and we now walk (in conduct, in practice) in obedience to our Lord in living holy and righteousness lives, then we have eternal life with God. But if sin is what we practice, i.e. our habit, our pattern, and our obsession, and if holiness, righteousness and obedience to the Lord are not what we practice, then we will not inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what our lips profess.

Now, does this mean that we will never sin? Probably not (see 1 John 2:1-2). But God “draws a line in the sand,” basically, and the dividing line has to do with what is our practice, our habit, our pattern. If our pattern is to keep returning to the same habitual sins over again, by choice, by deliberately and habitually and even premeditatedly sinning against God and against other humans, then the Scriptures teach that we don’t know God, we are not of God, and we do not have eternal life with God. Please take this seriously!

And we are without excuse if we continue living in sin deliberately and habitually choosing over again to sin not only against God but to do harm to other humans. But those who are addicted to sin are full of excuses for why they won’t obey the Lord and turn away from their sins and now treat God and others with love. And one of them is that “it takes time.” And so many people are buying into that, no matter how long they have been using that as an excuse. But God doesn’t accept that excuse and neither should we.

But does it take some time to undo sinful habits? It can, but not a long time, and not without incremental change in habit in the right direction and away from the wrong direction. There should be continual progress in the right direction and not this dragging it out forever and forever only to continue in the same sinful behaviors making the same excuses over again. For it is what we practice that defines who we really are, not what we profess with our lips. So please forsake your sins and now follow Jesus in obedience.

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 

Is God's Word Our Delight?

Psalms 119:92-93 NIV

 

“If your law had not been my delight,

    I would have perished in my affliction.

I will never forget your precepts,

    for by them you have preserved my life.”

 

God’s Will and Purpose

 

Under the New Covenant we are not under the Mosaic law. We do not have to obey all the liturgical, ceremonial, sacrificial, purification, and dietary laws and restrictions of the Old Covenant. But that does not make us lawless, for Jesus died on that cross to free us from all lawlessness. And our faith in Jesus Christ, if it is God-given and God-persuaded faith, requires that we obey our Lord’s commandments under the New Covenant, which we can read in the New Testament, especially in the epistles.

 

So, “the law” for us is the Word of God, but specifically the Word that is for Christians, for the church, for us who have believed in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives. It is God’s New Covenant commandments, which include his moral laws. And we who believe in Jesus are required to obey them, in practice, or else we don’t know God, we are not born of God, and we will not inherit eternal life with God. For we must die to sin and live to God and to his righteousness and no longer walk in sin.

 

Therefore, it is true that if God’s commandments under the New Covenant are not our delight, and if our desire is not to obey them, and so we don’t, then we will die in our sin and heaven will not be our eternal destiny, regardless of what faith we profess with our lips. But it is also true that if God’s Word to us is not our delight, what we long for, and that which we feed on daily, then when we go through trials and tribulations and persecutions, we will not survive emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. We will crash!

 

Therefore, we are never to forget nor neglect the commandments of our Lord under the New Covenant. For by God’s Word, by our obedience to his Word, our lives are preserved (saved), but not just for eternity. We are given new lives in Christ Jesus, our Lord, to be lived for him and in obedience to his commands, and for his pleasure, and for his will and his purpose. Now our lives have meaning and purpose and direction, and when we live by God’s word, then God’s purpose for our lives is able to be realized.

 

[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]

 

Psalms 119:94-95 NIV

 

“Save me, for I am yours;

    I have sought out your precepts.

The wicked are waiting to destroy me,

    but I will ponder your statutes.”

 

Persecution and Opposition

 

When we as followers of Jesus Christ are obeying the commands of our Lord, in practice, and we are walking in his ways, and in his truth, and not in sin, we are going to have enemies. And those enemies won’t just be people who make no profession of faith in Jesus Christ. In fact, our greater enemies may be those who profess faith in Jesus Christ, but not in truth, and not in practice. For the same was true for Jesus Christ. His greatest opponents were the religious and the rulers in the temple and the teachers of God’s Word. And they were his own people and even some of his own family.

 

So, this cry for the Lord to “save me” is not a cry for salvation from sin, but it is a cry for deliverance from one’s enemies – from his persecutors, his opponents, and all those who oppose God and His Word, in truth. For even many who claim to believe in Jesus Christ, and who claim to believe in the Scriptures, do not obey the commandments of our Lord under the New Covenant, and so they don’t adhere to the Scriptures. And so they may oppose those who do believe the Scriptures and who do obey the Lord, in practice. For they may find their walks of faith an offense to them.

 

Thus, this also means that “the wicked” are not to be assigned only to those who make no profession of faith in Jesus Christ. For “the wicked” are all those who live wickedly, who live in sin, who make sin their practice, and who behave “unseemly,” i.e. improperly, dishonorably, and indecently. And this includes people professing faith in Jesus Christ who are still walking in sin, still giving themselves over to the lusts of the flesh and to the lusts of the eyes, and to the pride of life. So sometimes the “unsaved” behave way better! Sometimes the “unsaved” put the “saved” to shame by how they live.

 

For just as Jesus’ persecutors and opponents plotted and carried out his death on that cross, because they hated him, because he was righteous, we will have persecutors and those who oppose us and who may even want us dead and who may even plot out our murders. And the Lord allows us to go through such things in this life, but sometimes he does rescue us physically when he is not finished with us yet, and there is still work to be done. But if not physically, he does rescue us spiritually and emotionally and mentally so that we do not give way to our persecutors and so we continue to obey God.

 

[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; Jn 15:1-21; Jn 16:33; Jn 17:14; Ac 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Rev 6:9-11; Rev 7:9-17; Rev 11:1-3; Rev 12:17; Rev 13:1-18; Rev 14:1-13]

 

No Less  

 

An Original Work / March 19, 2012

 

I can do no less than praise You,

Lord, for all You’ve done for me.

You died for my sins to save me,

So I would be set free.

I adore You! Lord, I praise You!

Jesus, Savior, King of kings!

You provided my redemption.

Your grace has pardoned me.

 

I can do no less than serve You.

Lord, Your witness I would be,

Telling others of Your love,

And why You died on that tree.

Tell of how You gave of Your life,

So from sin we’d be set free,

So we could worship You forever,

And live eternally.

 

I can do no less than love You,

Lord, for You have first loved me.

You gave of Your life so willing,

Because You cared for me.

Turn from my sin! Obey freely!

Live for You each passing day.

Read Your word, and follow Your lead,

Lord, as I humbly pray.

 

https://vimeo.com/125493623

Godly Examples

Philippians 3:17-21 ESV

“Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”

Paul was concerned for the believers in Christ that they might be led astray from their pure devotion to Christ by “the dogs” he mentioned in verse 2, who were other humans who were evildoers and false teachers of a false half-truth and altered gospel message. For they were teaching a man-created gospel, which was of the flesh of man, and which gave glory to the flesh and not to God. And we have a very similar situation in the American church where far too many people are believing in a man-created gospel.

Since Paul was confident in the Lord of his own relationship with Jesus Christ, and of his walk of faith, in a walk of holiness and righteousness, in obedience to our Lord, and in the power of God, he then invited the other Christians to follow his example and the example of other Christians, all of whom were following the example and the teachings of Christ and of the Holy Spirit. For that would keep them going in the right direction so that they would not be led astray by these “wolves in sheep’s clothing.”

But if we are to follow the example of anyone today, let it be the example of Christ, for far too many professers of faith in Jesus Christ are not living godly and holy lives, in purity of devotion to the Lord. Far too many are conforming to the ways of this sinful world, and they are still walking in sin, in deliberate and habitual and often premeditated sin against God and against other humans. And they do this while they put on a show of righteousness and pretend all is well between them and God.

And let’s follow the teachings of Christ and those of the New Testament apostles, but in context. For far too many teachings today come from taking Scriptures outside their context and interpreting them in ways not in conformity with the teachings of Christ and of his NT apostles, as a whole, and in truth. Many of them are giving promises to people out of context without sharing with them the conditions for those promises to be fulfilled. And all of God’s promises have conditions and stipulations.

So, we need to be people who are seekers of truth and righteousness who do not buy into everything we read or hear or see just because it sounds good or looks good. For there are far too man liars and deceivers disguised as servants of righteousness who are twisting the truths of God’s Word and who are giving misimpressions (indirect lies) to the people via sermons, devotionals, books, videos, movies, and social media memes, etc. And they have turned the grace of God into a license for sensuality and immorality.

For they are teaching that we can make a profession of faith in Christ once in our lives and now all our sins are forgiven (past, present, and future), and heaven is now guaranteed us, and it can’t be taken away, end of story, or regardless of how you live your life from that moment forward. But that is a lie from hell! For Jesus said that not everyone saying to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one DOING the will of God the Father who is in heaven (see Matthew 7:21-23).

But Jesus taught that if anyone would come after him that he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him, in practice. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for the sake of Jesus we die with him to sin and live to his righteousness, in his power, then we have eternal life with God. For if we are ashamed of Christ and his Word in this life, he will be ashamed of us and he will deny us when he returns for his bride.

[Matthew 10:32-33; Matthew 15:7-9; Luke 9:26; 2 Timothy 2:11-13; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; Titus 1:15-16; 2 Peter 2:1-3; Jude 1:3-4]

Therefore we need to understand that Jesus and his NT apostles taught progressive faith and salvation, that we must now walk according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh in order to have salvation from sin and eternal life with God. We must walk in obedience to our Lord in holy living and in daily, by the Spirit, putting the deeds of the flesh to death. For if sin is what we obey, it will end in death. But if obedience is that we obey, it will end in eternal life with God.

[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] 

No Less  

An Original Work / March 19, 2012

I can do no less than praise You,

Lord, for all You’ve done for me.

You died for my sins to save me,

So I would be set free.

I adore You! Lord, I praise You!

Jesus, Savior, King of kings!

You provided my redemption.

Your grace has pardoned me.

I can do no less than serve You. 

Lord, Your witness I would be,

Telling others of Your love,

And why You died on that tree.

Tell of how You gave of Your life,

So from sin we’d be set free,

So we could worship You forever,

And live eternally.

I can do no less than love You,

Lord, for You have first loved me.

You gave of Your life so willing,

Because You cared for me.

Turn from my sin! Obey freely!

Live for You each passing day.

Read Your word, and follow Your lead,

Lord, as I humbly pray. 

https://vimeo.com/125493623 

But I Press On

Philippians 3:10-16 ESV

“…that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.”

The predominant gospel message which is permeating the American church today is not the one taught by Jesus and by his New Testament apostles. For the one most taught today teaches that we can make a once-in-our-lifetime decision to “believe” in Jesus (a faith not usually biblically defined), and now all our sins are forgiven (past, present, and future), and heaven is guaranteed us when we die, and it can’t be taken away from us, end of story, or regardless of how we live our lives from that moment forward.

Well, Paul’s teaching here alone “blows that out of the water,” i.e. it destroys that notion completely. For Paul made it clear all throughout his writings that we have to die with Christ to sin and live to his righteousness in obedient walks of faith or we don’t have salvation from sin nor eternal life with God. For if sin is what we practice, and if righteousness and obedience to our Lord are not what we practice, then we will not inherit eternal life with God. For our salvation is progressive, and we must walk in it, not just profess it.

So, pay close attention to Paul’s words here and his words in other passages of Scripture, too, in their full context. For by God-given faith in Jesus Christ Paul was endeavoring, in the power of God, to know Christ and the power of his resurrection in his life, and to share in his sufferings, and to be becoming like Jesus in his death, in dying to sin and in living to God and to his righteousness, so that he may attain the resurrection from the dead. And this is not works salvation. This is living out the salvation God provided.

And then he went on to explain that he hadn’t already obtained this nor was he already perfect (complete in Christ), but that he pressed on to make this his own, because Christ Jesus had made him his own. So, again, this is speaking of progressive salvation. We are not yet perfect (complete) in Christ, and our salvation from sin will not be complete until Jesus Christ returns and he takes his bride, his faithful ones, to be with him forever. And so we must walk according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh.

So, what did Paul do? He made it his practice to put his past behind him and to strain forward to what lies ahead. He died daily to sin and to self and he walked in obedience to the Lord in godly and holy living, by the grace of God, by God-given faith in Christ, and in the power of God, and not of his own flesh. And he pressed on toward the goal for the prize up the upward call of God in Christ Jesus, not in human effort, but in the strength of the Lord and under the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit.

But, again, this wasn’t Paul trying to earn his salvation. He was walking in the salvation which God already provided, but which God also set as the criteria for us to receive that salvation that we walk (in conduct, in practice) no longer according to the flesh, but now according to the Spirit, in the power of God, in obedience to his commands (New Covenant). For Jesus said that not everyone saying to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one DOING the will of God the Father (Matt 7:21-23).

And Jesus taught that if anyone would come after him that he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him, in practice. For, if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for the sake of Jesus we die with him to sin and we now live to him and to his righteousness, in his power and strength, then we have eternal life with God. For if we are ashamed of Jesus and his words in this life, then when he returns he will be ashamed of us (see Luke 9:23-26).

And the apostles taught what Jesus taught, and they, too, taught that if sin is what we practice, and if righteousness, holiness, and obedience to our Lord are not what we practice, that we will not inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what our lips professed. So we need to all think this way, and if you think otherwise, then please read the Scriptures in their full context and let the Holy Spirit guide you into all truth. And for those who are following the Lord in obedience, keep on walking the walk, and follow Jesus Christ wherever he leads you in doing whatever he has called you to do.

[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]

Video Talk

https://youtu.be/6wwRBBlIVAs

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The Lord’s Anointed  

An Original Work / December 16, 2011

Based off Isaiah 61

The Spirit of the Sov’reign Lord on me;

Anointed to preach the Good News;

Sent me to bind up the brokenhearted;

Proclaim freedom for the captives.

He sent me to preach release for pris’ners

Who are walking in sin’s darkness;

Proclaim God’s grace to all men who’ll listen;

And tell them about God’s judgments;

Comfort all who mourn;

Give crowns of beauty;

Oil of gladness and thanksgiving. 

They will be called oaks of God’s righteousness,

A planting of our Savior, God,

For the display of our Lord’s splendor, and

They will rebuild God’s holy church.

God will renew them, and will restore them,

And you’ll be called priests of the Lord.

You will be ministers of our God, and

You will rejoice in salvation.

The Lord loves justice;

He is faithful to 

Reward those who are seeking Him.

I delight greatly in the Lord;

My soul rejoices in my Savior, God.

He has clothed me with His salvation,

And in a robe of His righteousness.

He has given me priestly garments to wear, 

As the bride of Jesus Christ.

As the garden of our Lord and Savior, 

He causes us to grow in Him.

He makes righteousness, 

Praise, and thanksgiving

Spring up before all the nations. 

https://vimeo.com/114836524

For additional context, please read: https://runwithit.blog/2023/07/28/quoting-who-i-am-in-christ/

Quoting "Who I Am in Christ"

Philippians 3:2-4,7-11 ESV

“Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh— though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also.”

“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”

The Dogs

Who were the dogs being referred to here? They were false teachers who were teaching a false gospel, which was not the gospel that Jesus taught and that his New Testament apostles taught. This reference to “dogs” was also usually symbolic of those who were spiritually and morally unclean. In this case they were adding on works of the flesh to their salvation, but today we primarily have those who are removing God’s requirements for salvation from sin, and they are making up their own version of “the gospel.”

Either way what is being taught is a man-created gospel which is loosely or partially based in the true gospel, but usually it is a distorted and altered version of the true gospel of Christ. For it is man-created to appeal to human flesh, either in a sense of pride for having accomplished certain things in the flesh, or as an “out” from having to obey the Lord’s commandments under the New Covenant, which is required of us for salvation from sin and for eternal life with God, according to the New Testament Scriptures.

So, when this says that we are the circumcision, who worship God by the Spirit, and who put no confidence in the flesh, what this is saying is that our faith in Jesus Christ is what is taught in the Scriptures, it is authored and perfected by Jesus Christ, so it originates with God, it is gifted to us by God, it is persuaded by God, and it is not of our own doing. It is not of our flesh. We cannot make up what this faith looks like from our own way of thinking, either, but this faith has to be biblical faith which is persuaded by God.

[Jn 1:12-13; Jn 6:44; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Eph 2:8-10; 1 Peter 2:24; 2 Pet 1:1; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 12:1-2]

Biblical Faith

So, what is biblical faith? How do the Scriptures define and describe what this faith looks like? Well, since the faith comes from God, it is gifted to us by God, it is not of our own doing, but it is divinely persuaded, then this faith will align with the word of God and with the teachings of Christ and of his NT apostles. And it will align with God’s will and purpose for our lives. And it will agree with what the Scriptures teach regarding the kind of faith that saves. For it requires that we forsake our sins and obey our Lord.

[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] 

So, when Paul stated that whatever gain he had in the flesh, he counted as loss for the sake of Christ, in order that he may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of his own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith, he was not saying that our faith in Jesus Christ excludes obedience to our Lord and to his commands (New Covenant). For our faith in Christ includes the forsaking of our sins and obedience to our Lord.

What he was talking about was the Judaizers who were trying to convince the Gentile Christians that they had to be circumcised and that they had to obey some of the old liturgical, ceremonial, and dietary laws and restrictions of the Old Covenant, which they did not. But Paul made it very clear in his writings that our faith has to involve us walking in obedience to the Lord and no longer in sin, or we don’t have genuine faith, we are not saved, and we do not have eternal life with God (see Scripture references above).

So, the real point of what he was saying here is that we can’t make up our own version of faith or of Christianity. We can’t alter the gospel of Christ to make it fit our own lifestyles. We don’t get to redesign God’s Word and his will and his purposes for our lives to fit the way we want to live. But this is what many are doing today. And they are conforming “the gospel” to fit the sinful lifestyles of those who want to keep their sins but who want to be promised forgiveness of all sins and heaven as their eternal destiny.

In Christ

Therefore, quoting "Who I am in Christ" does not make you "in Christ," nor does it mean that is truly who you are. For we are not what we profess we are, but we are what we do. For if some people are habitual liars, they can profess with their lips all they want that they are truth tellers and that doesn't make them truth tellers. And if they are adulterers, they can profess with their lips all they want that they are faithful and morally pure, and that doesn't make them faithful and morally pure. 

So, we need to go by what the Scriptures teach, for they teach us that the righteous in God's sight are those who are making righteousness their practice, and the ungodly are those who are living ungodly lives, not just those who make no profession of faith in Christ. So the ungodly and the wicked can include some or many people who profess Christ as Savior and Lord with their lips but who are still making sin their practice.

So, first off we need to know that we are not "in Christ" just by a mere verbal confession of Christ as Lord and Savior. The Scriptures are clear that those who are "in Christ" are those who have died with Christ to sin and who are living to God and to his righteousness, not necessarily in absolute sinless perfection, but as those who make righteousness, godliness, honesty, moral purity, and obedience to their Lord their practice, their way of life, and for whom sin is not their practice.

I Will Lift My Eyes  

An Original Work / December 12, 2012

Based off Psalms 121-125

I will lift my eyes to my Lord Most High.

My help comes from Him, who saved me from sin.

He will not let your foot slip, and He who watches will not sleep.

Our Lord watches over you, and your life He will keep.

I will lift my eyes to my Lord Most High.

My help comes from Him, who saved me from sin.

I give thanks to Him.

I will lift my eyes to my God in heav’n.

I look to the Lord. My sins, He’s forgiv’n. 

Because of His great love for us, He made us alive with Christ.

Through the kindness of our Savior, He gave us new life.

I will lift my eyes to my God in heav’n.

I look to the Lord. My sins, He’s forgiv’n; 

My home, now in heav’n. 

Praise be to the Lord, who is on our side.

Our help found in Him. He gives peace within.

Those who trust will ne’er be shaken. God will supply all we need.

Our Lord has done great things for us. He’s our friend, indeed!

Praise be to the Lord, who is on our side.

Our help found in Him. He gives peace within.

I can count on Him.

https://vimeo.com/379508241

They Lead God's People Astray

Jeremiah 23:23-24 ESV

“Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord.”

Now, I am going to apply this more broadly than the passage probably does because it applies, in truth, more broadly in our world today, especially among those professing faith in Jesus Christ but who are still walking in sin. So many people have this idea or this false perception that if they sin in secret that somehow God can’t see when they sin. Or even if they believe he can, they shut that out of their thinking when they want to commit sin against the Lord and against other humans, as though God can’t see.

Some people are even teaching today that once you “believe” in Jesus (with a faith which is rarely biblically defined), and so all your sins are now forgiven, that God can’t even see when you sin anymore, but all he sees when he looks at you, even if you are steeped in sin, is Jesus. That is a lie from hell! For if he could no longer see when we sin then we would have to declare a large part of the teachings in the New Testament as false teachings, which they are not. 

But the way that we know that God can still see when we sin is by reading the teachings of the New Testament. The apostles were regularly pointing out the Christians’ sins and were calling them to forsake their sins and to follow Jesus in obedience. And they were regularly warning them, too, that if they continued living in sin, making sin their practice, and not holiness and obedience to the Lord, that they would not have eternal life with God. So obviously God can see our sins, and he will judge sinful rebellion.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

Jeremiah 23:25-32 ESV

“I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? 

“Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the Lord. Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who steal my words from one another. 

“Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the Lord.’ Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the Lord, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the Lord.”

Okay, so what is this talking about? Is this an indictment against people sharing their dreams with others? No! Is this an indictment against God speaking to people in dreams, using their dreams as parables to go along with where they are reading in Scripture to give them a broader or more specific understanding and application of the Scripture to their individual lives? No! For we read in Acts 2:14-18 where Peter explained to the people that in the last days God’s people would dream dreams and see visions.

So, what is the indictment here? And were their dreams the kind we have when we are sleeping? First I will answer the second question. A dream can be a vision which can also be a goal, ambition, desire, and business plan. For it can be your goal for what you want your business to be in the future. And it seems most “churches” here in America are being patterned after business plans and goals and visions for how to “grow their churches,” and for how to “draw in large crowds of people from the world.”

And a dream can be something just made up in someone’s own mind, which they concocted, which is their own idea, or it could be someone else’s concoction and someone else’s idea which they are then sharing as their own. So it doesn’t have to be a literal dream like we would have in the night, but it could be just a thought or an idea or a notion, and it can be that they claim it is from God when it is not from God because it is against God and against his word and against his will and purposes for his people.

So, what was wrong with the dreams? For this is not an indictment against all dreams. It was that they were prophesying lies, but what kind of lies? They were willful lies for the intended purpose to make God’s people forget his name by their dreams that they tell one another. So the intention of the telling of these dreams was to deliberately deceive the people and it was to turn them away from the Lord. They were those who were prophesying lying dreams in order to lead God’s people astray from their devotion to God.

So, the indictment is not against dreams, in general, nor against the telling of dreams, nor against God using dreams as a way of communicating with his people. But if God does speak to us through dreams, sometimes, the dreams should not speak lies against God’s words, nor against his divine will and purpose for our lives, nor against us having to live morally pure, godly, upright, honest, and faithful lives to God, in obedience to him. But they should point us to Christ’s cross and to obedient walks of faith in Christ.

For we are to speak God’s Word faithfully, and not in lies and deceptions in order to lead people away from God and away from the truth of his word. And our spiritual leaders are not to be sharing with us their own imaginations and their own goals and plans for God’s church, or those of others who are also trying to lead God’s people away from holy and godly living in order that they might follow after the ways of man and of the flesh, instead. For that is where the real danger lies.

I Will Lift My Eyes  

An Original Work / December 12, 2012

Based off Psalms 121-125

I will lift my eyes to my Lord Most High.

My help comes from Him, who saved me from sin.

He will not let your foot slip, and He who watches will not sleep.

Our Lord watches over you, and your life He will keep.

I will lift my eyes to my Lord Most High.

My help comes from Him, who saved me from sin.

I give thanks to Him.

I will lift my eyes to my God in heav’n.

I look to the Lord. My sins, He’s forgiv’n. 

Because of His great love for us, He made us alive with Christ.

Through the kindness of our Savior, He gave us new life.

I will lift my eyes to my God in heav’n.

I look to the Lord. My sins, He’s forgiv’n; 

My home, now in heav’n. 

Praise be to the Lord, who is on our side.

Our help found in Him. He gives peace within.

Those who trust will ne’er be shaken. God will supply all we need.

Our Lord has done great things for us. He’s our friend, indeed!

Praise be to the Lord, who is on our side.

Our help found in Him. He gives peace within.

I can count on Him.

https://vimeo.com/379508241 

They Strengthen the Hands of Evildoers

This 23rd chapter of Jeremiah is a lamentation regarding a particular group of pastors who destroy and scatter the sheep (the followers of Christ) of God’s pasture. And how do they scatter and destroy them? They do it by teaching them a false gospel of our salvation and by leading them to reject the truth of the gospel as Jesus and as his New Testament apostles taught it, and by casting out those who are teaching and following the truth of the gospel. 

“Concerning the prophets:

My heart is broken within me;

    all my bones shake;

I am like a drunken man,

    like a man overcome by wine,

because of the Lord

    and because of his holy words.

For the land is full of adulterers;

    because of the curse the land mourns,

    and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up.

Their course is evil,

    and their might is not right.

‘Both prophet and priest are ungodly;

    even in my house I have found their evil,

declares the Lord.’” 

“But in the prophets of Jerusalem

    I have seen a horrible thing:

they commit adultery and walk in lies;

    they strengthen the hands of evildoers,

    so that no one turns from his evil;

all of them have become like Sodom to me,

    and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.” Jeremiah 23:9-11,14 ESV

For there are many “wolves in sheep’s clothing” and charlatans serving as “pastors” of many “church” congregations here in America. And they are not being led by the Holy Spirit of God. And the Holy Bible (the Scriptures) is not their true “bible.” For they are following the ways of man and business goals and methods, and marketing schemes, in order to draw in large crowds of people from the world into their gatherings. And they don’t want to offend them with the truth, for they want them to keep coming back.

They are also unholy and ungodly men (and some women) who pervert the grace of God into a license for immorality and sensuality (2 Peter 2:2; Jude 1:4). And do you know the meaning of this word “sensuality”? I didn’t fully understand its meaning until just recently. It means “licentiousness, wantonness, outrageous conduct, conduct shocking to public decency, and lewdness.” And it means “violent spite which rejects restraint and indulges in lawless insolence” (source: biblehub.com interlinear). Wow!

And how do they do this? By teaching them that they can make a once-in-their-lifetime decision to “believe” in Jesus (not usually biblically defined), and by telling them that now all their sins are forgiven (past, present, and future), and now heaven is guaranteed them when they die, and it can’t be taken away from them, end of story, or regardless of how they live. And some (or many) of them are literally teaching against repentance and obedience to God and doing the works of God he prepared for us to do.

And then they do this by coddling them in their sin and by reinforcing in them that how they live doesn’t matter for eternity, and by providing for them “outs” so they won’t feel guilty when they do sin. So, they just tell them if they are feeling guilty to just “claim who you are in Christ” which is a list (some of it semi-biblical) of the qualities or character traits of those who are ”in Christ,” as though by claiming these that it makes them who they claim to be even if they are living the opposite of what they claim.

“Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, “It shall be well with you”; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, “No disaster shall come upon you.”’

“For who among them has stood in the council of the Lord

    to see and to hear his word, or who has paid attention to his word and listened?” Jeremiah 23:16-18 ESV

Exactly! This is literally what is happening in so many congregations of what is called “the church” here in America. And so it appears that we have a large majority of professers of faith in Jesus Christ who are living no differently from those who make no professions of faith in Jesus Christ. For the vast majority of them appear to be living the same kinds of lives, listening to the same songs, watching the same movies, and talking the same talk as those who make no professions of faith in Jesus Christ.

If you are on social media, just look at what the vast majority of “Christians” are posting on social media. With few exceptions, it seems, most of them appear to be talking about all the same things the non-professers of faith in Christ talk about, and this includes many pastors, too. And the name of “Jesus” is barely mentioned unless it is a religious holiday, and the Scriptures and the gospel are rarely shared. But they love sharing jokes, even making jokes about the Bible. But this is just my observation. You may have a different experience from me, and I recognize that.

For the BIG THING today in American Christianity is to not offend anyone with the truth, and to make everything positive and upbeat and to not speak of anything that might be regarded as negative. But in reality it is negative to lie to people and it is positive to tell them the truth, in love, so they really have it all backwards. But they want the “feel-good” messages which tell them that all is good regardless of their sinful practices, and that all will go well with them, even if God really isn’t even on their radar.

“But if they had stood in my council,

    then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,

and they would have turned them from their evil way,

    and from the evil of their deeds.” Jeremiah 23:22 ESV

Amen and Amen!! What was true then is still true today! We are in desperate need of true men of God who are living holy lives in accord with God’s word and who are teaching the people the truth of the gospel of our salvation and not the lies which are leading many professers of faith in Jesus Christ to continue living in sin without guilt and without remorse. We need godly men (and women) who will teach the people to turn from their sins and from their evil ways and to now follow Jesus in surrender and in obedience to his will.

For, the truth of the gospel teaches us that we must be crucified with Christ in death to sin so that we can be raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer living as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. For if sin is what we practice, and if righteousness and godliness and obedience to our Lord are not what we practice, regardless of what faith our lips have professed, we will not inherit eternal life with God, we will not have salvation from sin, and heaven will not be our eternal home.

[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] 

I Will Lift My Eyes  

An Original Work / December 12, 2012

Based off Psalms 121-125

I will lift my eyes to my Lord Most High.

My help comes from Him, who saved me from sin.

He will not let your foot slip, and He who watches will not sleep.

Our Lord watches over you, and your life He will keep.

I will lift my eyes to my Lord Most High.

My help comes from Him, who saved me from sin.

I give thanks to Him.

I will lift my eyes to my God in heav’n.

I look to the Lord. My sins, He’s forgiv’n. 

Because of His great love for us, He made us alive with Christ.

Through the kindness of our Savior, He gave us new life.

I will lift my eyes to my God in heav’n.

I look to the Lord. My sins, He’s forgiv’n; 

My home, now in heav’n. 

Praise be to the Lord, who is on our side.

Our help found in Him. He gives peace within.

Those who trust will ne’er be shaken. God will supply all we need.

Our Lord has done great things for us. He’s our friend, indeed!

Praise be to the Lord, who is on our side.

Our help found in Him. He gives peace within.

I can count on Him.

https://vimeo.com/379508241

Pursue Holiness, Not Wickedness

Hebrews 12:12-16 ESV

“Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no ‘root of bitterness’ springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy...”

When God is disciplining those of us who are his by faith in Jesus Christ, and so we are going through trials and tribulations, we may grow weary, and we may get disheartened and discouraged, and we may even be tempted to give up the fight, especially when things get really hard. So, this is an encouragement here to shake off all discouragement and faintness of heart and emotion and to fight the good fight of faith, and to put on those spiritual weapons of warfare provided by God for us to fight off Satan’s attacks.

For if we are making straight paths for our feet, then first of all we must have shaken off those weights and those sins which cling so closely, and so we are now walking in the ways of the Lord in his strength and power, and not in our own strength. We are walking (in conduct, in practice) according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh. And we are walking in the ways of holiness and godliness and righteousness and in obedience to our Lord, and we are no longer walking in sin. Sin is no longer our habit.

Then we are to strive for peace with everyone. But this peace does not involve compromise of faith nor of spiritual convictions nor of the truths of God’s word. For this peace has to do with the health and welfare of people. It has to do with their spiritual wholeness, and wholeness has to do with the way of moral purity, uprightness, honesty and faithfulness. It is the way of righteousness and holiness. But this also has to do with unity within the body of Christ, which is first and foremost unity with Jesus Christ.

And we are to strive for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. And to be holy is to be separate (unlike, different) from the world because we are being progressively transformed by the Lord into the likeness of character of Jesus Christ. We are to no longer be conformed to the ways of this sinful world, but we are to be transformed of the Spirit of God away from walks in sin to walks of righteousness and obedience to our Lord. For if we are still walking in sin and not in obedience, we will not see the Lord.

And we are to be diligent in watching out for one another within the body of Christ so that not one of us fails to obtain the grace of God. So what does that entail? What is the grace of God? Yes, it is his favor, but how is it realized in our lives? 

Well, it has to do with Jesus Christ dying on that cross so that we can now, by God-given faith in Christ, die with him to sin and live to his righteousness. And it has to do with Jesus Christ shedding his blood for us on that cross to buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of our lives of sin so that we will now honor God with our lives. And God’s grace, which is bringing salvation, instructs us to say “No!” to ungodliness and fleshly lusts, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we await Jesus’ return.

So, how would someone fail to obtain the grace of God? This would happen if they did not, by God-persuaded faith in Christ, die with him to sin and live to his righteousness, but they continued in deliberate and habitual sin, and in living for themselves, and not for God. And so they did not obey him and his commands (New Covenant). So in that case they would not even know God, they would not be in fellowship with him, their sins would not be forgiven, and heaven would not be their eternal destiny.

We are also to guard our hearts against all bitterness, especially bitterness against God. For bitterness involves resentment, anger, unforgiveness, and hostility against the Lord, which then leads people into sin and away from genuine fellowship with God. And we are to guard our hearts and minds and emotions against being tempted toward sexual immorality and adultery and any kind of moral impurity which would separate us from God. For if sin is what we practice, we will not inherit eternal life with God.

[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] 

I Will Lift My Eyes  

An Original Work / December 12, 2012

Based off Psalms 121-125

I will lift my eyes to my Lord Most High.

My help comes from Him, who saved me from sin.

He will not let your foot slip, and He who watches will not sleep.

Our Lord watches over you, and your life He will keep.

I will lift my eyes to my Lord Most High.

My help comes from Him, who saved me from sin.

I give thanks to Him.

I will lift my eyes to my God in heav’n.

I look to the Lord. My sins, He’s forgiv’n. 

Because of His great love for us, He made us alive with Christ.

Through the kindness of our Savior, He gave us new life.

I will lift my eyes to my God in heav’n.

I look to the Lord. My sins, He’s forgiv’n; 

My home, now in heav’n. 

Praise be to the Lord, who is on our side.

Our help found in Him. He gives peace within.

Those who trust will ne’er be shaken. God will supply all we need.

Our Lord has done great things for us. He’s our friend, indeed!

Praise be to the Lord, who is on our side.

Our help found in Him. He gives peace within.

I can count on Him.

https://vimeo.com/379508241