The Church Has Lost Her Testimony

“The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” (1 Peter 4:7-11 ESV).

I read a quote by A.W. Tozer on Facebook today. This was probably written in the 1940s, for it is similar to other writings of his around the same time period. And as I read this I was amazed at how accurate of a description this is to what is going on within the gatherings of what are called “churches” here in America in 2023, nearly 100 years later. Here is the quote:

“The church has lost her testimony. She has no longer anything to say to the world. Her once robust shout of assurance has faded away to an apologetic whisper. She who one time went out to declare now goes out to inquire. Her dogmatic declaration has become a respectful suggestion, a word of religious advice, given with the understanding that it is after all only an opinion and not meant to sound bigoted. Pure Christianity, instead of being shaped by its culture, actually stands in sharp opposition to it.” Aiden Wilson Tozer

And I shout a heart-felt and passionate AMEN to that quote. For it is truth. And this is where the American church, at large, is today, sad to say. For the church at large (not including every congregation) has been incorporated under the state and has become a business being marketed to the world. Thus the whole meaning of “church” has been altered to cater to the ungodly. As well, the character of God/Christ and of the gospel of Christ have been altered and lessened to appease human flesh and to pacify sin. 

So, instead of the godly church going out into the world with the truth of the gospel of our salvation to turn hearts away from sin to following the Lord Jesus in obedience, they are inviting the world into the gatherings of what are called “church.” And so “the church” is catering their gatherings around the desires of the world to win the world to their gatherings so that the world will feel at home in these gatherings. Do you see what is wrong with this picture? It is all backwards, and it is against God’s plans and purpose.

And the gospel which is largely permeating the American church, at large, is not the gospel that Jesus taught, and it is not the gospel that Paul and the other NT apostles taught, if read in context. But it is a feel-good message which is careful to not offend the people of the world with the truth. And thus many of them don’t even mention sin anymore and they don’t teach biblical repentance, i.e. the forsaking of our sinful practices to follow our Lord in obedience. Or if they mention these, they are more like suggestions.

But the true gospel, the one that Jesus taught, and that his NT apostles taught, insist that, by God-given and God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ, we deny self, we die daily to sin, and we follow our Lord in obedience to his commands (New Covenant). For if we don’t, and if we continue in deliberate and habitual sin, and not in walks of holiness and in obedience to our Lord, we don’t know God, we are not in fellowship with Christ, we are not born of God, and we don’t have eternal life with God, regardless of what we profess.

[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 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; Titus 2:11-14; 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; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

So, we need to look at our present situation through the lens of God’s Word and not through the lens of humans, many of whom do not have the mind of God but who have the mind of the flesh, instead. Now, in my opinion, I believe Tozer was right on target and that he was seeing the situation through God’s spiritual lens and not through the eyes of man, and that the words he spoke were prophetic and are being lived out in our world and church today. But he was still not God. 

But I do believe that everything points to us now living in these final days before our Lord’s return, but I don’t know when he is coming back. Even Peter wrote “the end of all things is at hand” two thousand or less years ago (I didn’t do the math). And Tozer wrote what he wrote maybe 80+ years ago, definitely with an eye to the future. And here we are living in that future today. But no matter what date or time it is, it is always the time to get right with God and to live self-controlled, godly, and upright lives.

And, again, the Lord put this secular song in my mind, which taken from a spiritual perspective can be an appeal (a prayer) to God to save people’s lives from hell, even if our own lives must be sacrificed in the process of sharing the truth with them that will lead them to true salvation and to eternal life with God, if they surrender their lives to the Lord, and if they choose now to walk in obedience to his commands and to forsake their lives of sin and to live holy lives, pleasing to God, from this moment forward.

Bring Him Home

By Alain Boublil / Claude Michel Schonberg / Herbert Kretzmer

God on high

Hear my prayer

In my need

You have always been there..

He's like the son I might have known

If God had granted me a son..

You can take

You can give

Let him be

Let him live

If I die, let me die

Let him live

Bring him home

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXnRf3TQcpk

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Bring Them Home

“Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.” (1 Peter 4:1-5 ESV).

This is a very passionate plea to all of you out there who are professing faith in Jesus Christ but who are still deliberately and habitually sinning against the Lord and against other humans, while convinced that you are saved from your sins and on your way to heaven, and that nothing can take that away from you, regardless of how you live. 

Please know that the Scriptures do not teach you can be forgiven all your sins, including future sins, while you go on living in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord and against other humans. For Jesus Christ died on that cross to put our sins to death with him so that by God-given faith in him we can now die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, no longer as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness, in the power of God, by the grace of God (Romans 6:1-23; 1 Peter 2:24).

We are not forgiven our sins so that we can go on sinning without feeling guilt for our sins and while we just “claim who you are in Christ” in order to alleviate that guilt. First of all, you are not even in Christ unless you have been crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. For Jesus said we must deny self, die daily to sin (in essence), and follow him in obedience if we want to have eternal life (Luke 9:23-26).

And second of all, who we are in Christ must be who we really are, in practice, not just because we read these character traits on a list someone gives us. They don’t apply to us unless they truly apply to us, because this is how we are living. For our salvation from sin is not a status that we wear, but it is how we live. We are saved (past), we are being saved (present active), and we will be saved (future) when Jesus returns for his faithful bride, but provided we are putting sin to death and walking in obedience to our Lord in holy living, in practice, unto the very end.

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

For, yes, the time that is past suffices for doing what the ungodly want to do (or are doing), living in sensuality, sexual immorality, sensual passions, the lusts of the flesh, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, lawless idolatry, lying, cheating, stealing, faithlessness and committing adultery, etc. These are to have no part in the life of a follower of Jesus Christ. We are to put all such things out of our lives, by the grace of God, and we should now be walking in moral purity, holiness, honesty, faithfulness and obedience to God. For to this we have been called of God to live holy lives, pleasing him.

Now those who are living in sin, especially who are professing faith in Jesus Christ, may malign those of us who are taking the Scriptures seriously and who are walking in obedience to our Lord, in practice, although not in absolute perfection. For so many today are believing the lies which teach that we can live in sin, but because of God’s grace we can be forgiven it all and have heaven guaranteed us even though that means ignoring our Lord and his commands and not following him in his ways. That’s a lie!

For we are all going to have to give an account to God for what we did in this life in relation to what his word teaches us with regard to how we must live if we are going to be saved from our sins and have eternal life with God. And those who choose to continue in deliberate and habitual sin, and not in walks of faithful obedience to our Lord, in holy living, they will not inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what their lips professed. But they will die in their sins. So this is my plea to God…

The following song is taken from the musical “Les Misérables,” a play which I don’t recommend because it has some questionable scenes, I believe. But the song is a plea coming from a man who is praying to God and pleading with God to save the life of a young man, even if it means that he, the man, must lose his own life. The song is extremely passionate and heart-felt. And if we would translate this into spiritual terms, this is my heart-felt plea for all who do not believe in Jesus, but especially for those who profess his name but who are still living in sin, that the Lord would save their lives from hell and bring them home to God and to heaven for eternity.

Video Talk

https://youtu.be/ppzcIaUL82g 

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Bring Him Home

By Alain Boublil / Claude Michel Schonberg / Herbert Kretzmer

God on high

Hear my prayer

In my need

You have always been there...

He's like the son I might have known

If God had granted me a son...

You can take

You can give

Let him be

Let him live

If I die, let me die

Let him live

Bring him home

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXnRf3TQcpk

Caution: This link may contain ads

Whoever Desires to Love Life

"Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. For

“Whoever desires to love life

    and see good days,

let him keep his tongue from evil

    and his lips from speaking deceit;

let him turn away from evil and do good;

    let him seek peace and pursue it” (1 Peter 3:8-11 ESV).

This word “unity” is a big “buzz word” across the globe, so we need to test it whenever we hear it to check to see what we are being asked to unify with. For even within the gatherings of what are called “churches,” much of the unity being pushed is not unity with God and with his will and purposes for our lives, but it is unity with human beings in their marketing goals and visions and schemes and methodology. Or it is unity with a particular theology of humans or with a particular religious “church” denomination.

But when the Scriptures teach us that we are to have unity of mind with one another, it is speaking of the mind of Christ, which is of the will of God for our lives, not of the will of humans and their own way of thinking. We are all to be united with Christ in heart and mind and purpose, and then we can be united with one another with that same mind. Otherwise there will always be friction and disagreements and quarrels, for some will have the mind of Christ while others will still have minds of the flesh, contrary to Christ.

Now I am not suggesting that we who are Christlike in our thinking (not perfectly) should engage in quarreling with others who are not likeminded with us. We should not. But we are to contend for the faith, and we are to speak the truth of God’s word, and we are to respectfully refute the lies of the enemy and expose the fruitless deeds of darkness. So we are allowed to speak against what is evil and immoral and the lies which are being spoken in the name of truth. But we are not to get into useless fights. Walk away!

So, the unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, tender hearts, and humble minds must all be centered in the character and the will of God for our lives, and all must agree with and be consistent with the teachings of the Scriptures and not be of a human (fleshly) nature. For even brotherly love must be centered in the love of God which prefers what God prefers, which is what is morally pure, upright, godly, faithful, honest, and submissive and obedient to our Lord and to his commands (New Covenant).

Thus, all will not be selfish in nature, but will show regard for God’s will and purpose, and for the legitimate needs of others. Thus, we won’t be “get even” kind of people when we think “our rights” are being stomped on, or when we feel we did not get a fair deal, or when others do evil against us to harm us. For didn’t we learn early on in life that “life is not fair”? Was Jesus treated fairly? No! Did he retaliate? No! And we are not to do so, either. But we are to forgive, to love, to pray for, and to do good to our enemies.

So, no matter how other people treat us, we are to have the right response which is not to trade “tit for tat.” But it is love, and it is forgiveness. Now forgiveness is not permission for others to sin against us. When Jesus forgives our sins he says to go and sin no more. His forgiveness of sins is not ever an excuse to continue in deliberate and habitual sin. He sets boundaries we are not to cross over, and if we do, there are consequences. And we can set boundaries, too, regarding what we will allow.

But this doesn’t mean that others won’t cross those boundaries. But if they do, we are still to forgive, not retaliate. But we can confront others with their sins against us, and where possible we can withdraw from those who are deliberately doing evil against us and who are refusing to respect our boundaries. But the Scriptures do teach us that if we follow Jesus Christ with our lives, and if we are walking in obedience to his commands, and if we are bearing witness for the gospel, we will be hated and persecuted.

But we are to love where people revile us. And we are to bless, and not curse. And we are to forgive. And we can speak the truth in love, and we can take certain steps to protect ourselves from harm, sometimes, and sometimes we must just walk away, but we are not to retaliate! We are to keep our tongues from speaking evil, and especially from speaking lies. And we are to turn away from all evil and do good, and to pursue peace, but not compromise of truth, morals, and the teachings of the Scriptures.

“For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,

    and his ears are open to their prayer.

But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil” (1 Peter 3:12 ESV).

So, we need to take this to heart and follow our Lord in obedience to his commands (New Covenant) and not be those who are following the ways of human flesh and of the will of man instead of the ways of God and the mind and will of God for our lives. Always do what is right, not what is wrong.

A Shield About Me

By Thomas Donn Charles / Williams Charles Henry

Thou Oh LORD, art a shield about me

You're my glory and my lifter of my head

Thou Oh LORD, art a shield about me

You're my glory and my lifter of my head

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

You're the lifter of my head

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPCUmT6mj48 

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A Godly Christian Marriage

“Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct. Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious. For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.

“Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered” (1 Peter 3:1-7 ESV).

As Christian married women, we are to be in submission to our husbands, “as to the Lord.” For, “as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands” (see Ephesians 5:22-24). And the reason I have added in these words from Ephesians 5 is that it is critically important that we understand that this submission has stipulations. For, “as to the Lord,” is to be understood as “in the same manner as we submit to Christ.” And Christ would never require that we submit to sin.

So a requirement to submit to sinning against our Lord in any way would, thus, be an exception to submission to our husbands. We do not have to submit to anything that is sinful, that is immoral, and that is contrary to God’s will and purpose for our lives. We are not to disobey God in order to be in submission to our spouses. And we are not to compromise our faith and biblical convictions in order to submit to any human authority (1)(2). But we should remain humble, loving, and kind, with a servant’s heart.

Now, this part about “even if some do not obey the word,” appears to be in relationship to Christian wives of husbands who did not believe in Jesus Christ and his gospel message. So, this would be a situation where the wife believed in Jesus but the husband didn’t. So it would appear that he had heard the message of the gospel of Christ but that he had refused it. So the Christian wife of the unbelieving husband who had refused to believe in Christ was not to try to force the issue, but to just be a godly example.

Now this next section is somewhat cultural to that part of the world and to that day and time in history, but there is certainly a general lesson that is to be learned from this, and that is a lesson in connection to us wives having respectful and pure conduct. We should dress accordingly in all modesty and propriety. We should not be sensual nor seductive in our dress or makeup or with any outward adorning on our bodies. And what is private, for our husbands only, should be kept hidden and not displayed for the world to see.

We should be women of God who do not work to draw attention to our physical bodies, but we should be women of God who are morally pure, modest, upright, honest, godly, faithful, kind, gentle, and obedient to our Lord, who care about other people and their needs, and who care about the salvation of human souls, and who also are ministers of the gospel of Christ, as we all are to be. For a “quiet spirit” does not mean “silent.” For we are all called to share the gospel of Christ with other people.

And Christian husbands are to live with their wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel. And I assume this first part has to do with the fact that men and women are different from each other. We are not just biologically different, but we are wired differently in our ways of thinking and approaching subjects and working out problems. So, men should not expect their wives to be just like them other than in godliness, moral purity, honesty, faithfulness, and in obedience to God.

And married men are to treat their wives in this godly manner, loving them as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, and in loving them as they do their own bodies. And they are to be those who have left their parents’ authority, and who now hold fast to (cling to like glue) their wives in faithfulness and in integrity of the marriage relationship in order that the two might become one flesh (see Ephesians 5:25-33). And they are to treat their wives with honor so that their prayers may not be hindered.

And us wives are to treat our husbands with respect (regard, submission, purity of mind and heart and behavior, value, care, concern, recognition, interest, affection, and honor). And we are to be their “help meets”. And a marriage is to be a partnership, with give and take on both sides, with each showing mutual respect, one to the other, and with each helping the other. For God did not design husbands to rule over their wives with an iron fist or for wives to be doormats under their feet. We should work with each other.

See also: [Genesis 2:24; Hebrews 13:4; 1 Peter 3:1-7; 2 Peter 2:13-19; 1 Corinthians 5:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-20; Ephesians 5:1-33; Colossians 3:18-19; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8; Titus 2:3-5; Matthew 5:28; Matthew 15:19-20; Matthew 19:9; Mark 7:20-22; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:13-21]

A Shield About Me

By Thomas Donn Charles / Williams Charles Henry

Thou Oh LORD, art a shield about me

You're my glory and my lifter of my head

Thou Oh LORD, art a shield about me

You're my glory and my lifter of my head

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

You're the lifter of my head

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPCUmT6mj48

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(1) https://runwithit.blog/2023/10/30/exceptions-to-obedience-to-authorities/

(2) https://runwithit.blog/2023/10/30/worship-god-alone/ 

To This We've Been Called

“But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls” (1 Peter 2:20-25 ESV).

Now, in context, this is speaking to those who are bondservants to human masters, giving them instructions in how they are to conduct themselves towards their masters, and in enduring unjust suffering (verses 18-20). But the rest of this applies to all of us who are followers of Jesus Christ, and so this is the part I will be focusing on here in this writing. For we are all called to suffer for the sake of the name of Jesus, and for the sake of the gospel, and for the sake of our testimonies (witness) for Jesus Christ.

And when Jesus was arrested and put on trial for no crime that he had committed, and when he was beaten beyond recognition, and mocked, and spat upon, and had all sorts of insults hurled at him because of who he is, and because of the things that he did and said in the name of his Father, and in his own name, and in the cause of the gospel of our salvation, he set the example for us in how we are to respond to and to endure unjust suffering on account of his name, and on account of our walks of faith in him.

But, as we know, his suffering was much worse than just what has been mentioned so far, for after they had done all those other things to him then they hung him on a cross to die a very painful death, as though he was a criminal. But this was in God’s plan for us that Jesus should die on that cross. For in his death, he who knew no sin became sin for us so that when he died our sins died with him, and when he was raised from the dead, he conquered sin, Satan, death, and hell on our behalf, so we could be free.

But now this freedom is not just freedom from the punishment of sin, but it is freedom from our slavery to sin, which was the primary reason for why Jesus died on that cross. For he died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, and that we might now live for him and no longer for ourselves. And he shed his blood for us to buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of our lives of slavery to sin and living for self, so that we will now honor God with our bodies, and so we will now serve him with our lives.

1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:15,21; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Romans 6:1-23

So, he sets the example for us to follow, not only in how we are to conduct our lives in holy living and in surrender to the will of God for our lives, but also in how to respond to unjust suffering. For if we are living for the Lord as we ought to live, and if we are walking in his ways and in his truth and righteousness, and not in sin, and if we are speaking the truths which he spoke to the people, with regard to the gospel of our salvation, then we will also be treated as he was, and we will be hated and persecuted.

[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]

The Sands of Time are Sinking

a.k.a. Immanuel’s Land

by Anne R. Cousin, 1857

The sands of time are sinking,

The dawn of Heaven breaks;

The summer morn I’ve sighed for—

The fair, sweet morn awakes:

Dark, dark hath been the midnight,

But dayspring is at hand,

And glory, glory dwelleth

In Immanuel’s land.

O Christ, He is the fountain,

The deep, sweet well of love!

The streams on earth I’ve tasted

More deep I’ll drink above:

There to an ocean fullness

His mercy doth expand,

And glory, glory dwelleth

In Immanuel’s land.

The King there in His beauty,

Without a veil is seen:

It were a well spent journey,

Though seven deaths lay between:

The Lamb with His fair army,

Doth on Mount Zion stand,

And glory—glory dwelleth

In Immanuel’s land.

The bride eyes not her garment,

But her dear bridegroom’s face;

I will not gaze at glory

But on my king of grace.

Not at the crown He giveth

But on His pierced hand;

The Lamb is all the glory

Of Immanuel’s land.

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

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Worship God Alone

 

Exceptions to Obedience to Authorities

“Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor” (1 Peter 2:13-17 ESV).

Now, whenever I teach on obedience to human authority I generally focus the attention on the exceptions to the rule. Why do I do this? Well, the Scriptures themselves make clear God’s commands that we obey those in authority over us, but not all of them make clear that there are exceptions, which are critical that we understand. Why must we understand this? Because there is so much deception and so many who are teaching blind loyalty and devotion to people in authority who are leading people astray.

So, let’s look at Revelation 13, as an example. There it speaks of two different beasts, one of them “the false prophet,” I believe. This first beast is allowed to exercise authority over the people for forty-two months (not sure that the 42 months are literal months). So, this person or this group of people, or this conglomerate of people in positions of power and authority over the people of the world are like the “New World Order,” comprised of the elite of this world who are the ones presently running the world.

Now this beast is allowed to make war against the saints of God, i.e. God’s holy people who are believing in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of their lives. So, are we, as the saints of God, to obey this beast? Not if this beast requires that we disobey God. Not if this beast requires that we deny Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives and that we worship him, instead. Not if this beast tries to get us to compromise our faith and convictions in order to unify in heart and mind and deed with the ungodly of the world.

But do you know that is what is going on today? For this “beast” is not initially going to be obvious that is what he/they/it is/are. For he is of Satan, and his servants disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. For this beast is antichrist (against and opposed to Christ and to his gospel). And so he/they/it will send their messengers into the gatherings of “the church” in order to deceive those who profess the name of Jesus into believing lies. For this is one of the many ways he makes war against the saints, via deception.

So, the second beast, the false prophet, I believe, makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast. Okay, so what does this word “worship” mean? It means “adoration, reverence, devotion, commitment, religious zeal, loyalty, fidelity, and support. And who are Christians, at least here in America, being shamed into giving their undying loyalty, devotion, fidelity, support, trust, reverence, and religious zeal to? To the government of the USA? Yes! To our military? Yes! To the Jewish nation? Yes! And to “pastors” of “churches”? Yes! But any of these may be or are presently of this beast.

And what does it mean to be marked on the right hand or the forehead with this mark of the beast? If and before it ever becomes a physical mark it is a sign or an indication or characteristic of loyalty and devotion and fidelity to this beast (conglomerate). For this is a heart issue, not a body tattoo issue. We first of all surrender our hearts and minds and devotion to this “beast,” i.e. to these liars and deceivers and antichrist groupings of people or else we would never take a physical mark identifying ourselves with them.

And this calls for wisdom, why? Because this is all about deception! And what does the forehead symbolize? Our thinking and our believing. And what does the right hand symbolize? Our deeds, our handiwork. So this is about giving our worship to a conglomerate of antichrist groupings via our believing in them without question, giving them our trust, our devotion, our undying loyalty, our fidelity, our support, and our religious zeal. And many professing Christians are doing this because they are blinded to the truth.

But this should not be! Our worship, loyalty, devotion, adoration, praise, fidelity, support, reverence, and religious zeal should be given to God and to God alone, and to no other. So, please understand this. And we are not to obey any authority if that authority is leading us in any way to disobey our Lord and to worship and bow down to them, instead. But this is happening BIG TIME in today’s modern market-driven “churches” here in America, where loyalty, devotion, and obedience are often to men over God.

So, yes, obey the law of the land where that obedience is consistent with obedience to our Lord. For the whole purpose of this command is that we do what is right in the eyes of the Lord and that we do not give way to what is evil. And obey your church authorities unless what they command you to do is against God’s divine will and purpose for our lives. And believe me when I say that many of them are indeed leading their people to disobey God and his word, and to obey them, instead. Watch out for this, please!

And then we have biblical examples of this in the prophets of old, in Daniel, in Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in Jesus Christ, and in the lives of his NT apostles who did not bow to foreign gods and foreign idols and who did not compromise their faith and convictions in order to submit to those in authority over them. They stood strong in their faith and in their testimonies for God/Christ, and for the teachings of the Scriptures, and they did not submit to any human authorities who led them to do wrong.

‘Til The Storm Passes By

By Thomas Mosie Lister

In the dark of the midnight have I oft hid my face

While the storm howls above me, and there's no hiding place

'Mid the crash of the thunder, Precious Lord, hear my cry

Keep me safe till the storm passes by

Many times Satan whispered

There is no use to try

For there's no end of sorrow, there's no hope by and by

But I know Thou art with me, and tomorrow I'll rise

Where the storms never darken the skies

Till the storm passes over, till the thunder sounds no more

Till the clouds roll forever from the sky

Hold me fast, let me stand in the hollow of Thy hand

Keep me safe till the storm passes by

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

Caution: This link may contain ads

They Wage War Against Your Souls

“Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation” (1 Peter 2:11-12 ESV).

When we believe in Jesus Christ to be Lord (Owner-Master) and Savior of our lives, it is not so that we can just have our sins forgiven and so we can escape hell and go to heaven when we die. If that is what you believe, you are not believing the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. For Jesus gave his life up for us on that cross that we might be crucified and buried with him in death to sin and raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin but to God and to his righteousness (Romans 6:1-23).

So, the urging here in this passage of Scripture is not a mere suggestion nor a recommendation. This is not a “this is the way we ought to live but…” phrase, either. This is required for our salvation and for eternal life with God that we abstain from the passions of the flesh, that we no longer walk in deliberate and habitual sin against our Lord, but that we now, by the grace of God, walk (in conduct, in practice) in moral purity, uprightness, godliness, honesty, integrity, faithfulness, and obedience to our Lord’s commands.

[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, this is not something that we can just pass over and assume that it is not required of us. We can’t go on living in deliberate and habitual sin while “claiming who we are in Christ” in order to not feel guilty or as a coverup for habitual sinning against our Lord and against the people of this world. Those who think they get a “pass” just because they have verbally acknowledged Jesus as their Lord and Savior, but absent of true repentance and obedience, are believing the lies of Satan, and not the truth that Jesus taught.

For Jesus taught that if anyone is to come after him he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin) and follow (obey) him. 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 deny self, die daily to sin, and follow him in obedience, then we have eternal life. For he also said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one DOING the will of God the Father (Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

Therefore, as those who are of genuine God-given and God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ as Lord (Owner-Master) of our lives, we are to be those who are abstaining from the passions of the flesh. We should not be viewing or listening to anything that is immoral, morally impure, seductive, sensual, provocative, irreverent of God, and against God and his teachings, as a matter of choice and of practice. And then we should not be engaging in what is evil, immoral, dishonest, impure, wicked and unfaithful.

For these things wage war against our souls, and they are of the devil, not of God, and they will only lead us away from God and away from his divine will and purpose for our lives, and if these things are our practice, they will land us in hell, not in heaven, regardless of what our lips profess. For the Scriptures make it quite clear that those who live according to the flesh, who make sin their practice, and for whom righteousness and obedience to our Lord are not their practice, they will not inherit eternal life with God.

[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 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; Titus 2:11-14; 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; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

So we are to keep our conduct pure and honorable, and not just for the sake of the salvation of other people’s lives, but for the sake of the salvation of our own lives. And not just so that we will have a good reputation, but so that how we live our lives will be a true testimony to others as to what the Christian life is truly all about. But also, when others speak evil against us, which they will if we are walking in obedience to our Lord, that they will see that our good deeds are of God, and for the glory and praise of God.

‘Til The Storm Passes By

By Thomas Mosie Lister

In the dark of the midnight have I oft hid my face

While the storm howls above me, and there's no hiding place

'Mid the crash of the thunder, Precious Lord, hear my cry

Keep me safe till the storm passes by

Many times Satan whispered

There is no use to try

For there's no end of sorrow, there's no hope by and by

But I know Thou art with me, and tomorrow I'll rise

Where the storms never darken the skies

Till the storm passes over, till the thunder sounds no more

Till the clouds roll forever from the sky

Hold me fast, let me stand in the hollow of Thy hand

Keep me safe till the storm passes by

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

Caution: This link may contain ads

Called Out of Darkness

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” (1 Peter 2:9-10 ESV).

In context, the subject is Jesus, the Christ, the promised Messiah of Israel and of all people who was to come and who had now come. He came unto his own, the Jews, but they rejected him as their Messiah, the Christ, although not all did. And not only did they reject him as the Christ who had been promised to them, but they largely opposed him, and eventually they plotted and carried out his death on a cross, although he was God incarnate, and although he was sinless and he had done no wrong but only good.

But it was in God’s will and purpose for Jesus Christ to die on that cross, for in his death he put our sins to death with him, and in his resurrection he conquered sin, death, hell, and Satan, on our behalf. Thus, by God-given faith in him we are crucified with him in death to sin, and we are raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. So sin must no longer reign in our bodies to make us obey its desires, for obedience to sin leads to death.

[Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Luke 9:23-26; 1 John 3:4-10]

Now it goes on to say that whoever believes (believing – present active, not past only) in him will not be put to shame. But this belief is not of our own doing, so we don’t get to decide what this belief looks like. For this believing in Jesus is authored and perfected by Jesus Christ, it is gifted to us by God, it is persuaded of God, and it is not of the will nor of the flesh of humankind. And God persuades us as to his holiness and righteousness, and of our sinfulness, and of our need to repent of sin and to obey his commandments.

[Hebrews 12:1-2; Ephesians 2:8-10; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23; Acts 26:18; Titus 2:11-14; 1 John 2:3-6]

So, it says here in verses 7-8 that the honor is for us who believe in Jesus Christ, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and “A Stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” And “They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.”

Now, who is that referring to? It applies to all who do not believe in Jesus Christ with genuine God-given faith in Jesus Christ, who are not dying to sin and living to God and to his righteousness, in practice, who are not obeying him, in practice, but who are still deliberately and habitually sinning against him, which can include many false professers of faith in Jesus Christ. But who does this speak of more specifically, especially in reference to them as “the builders” who rejected Jesus Christ as their Messiah? The Jews!

The Jews, as a people group, but not including all Jews, rejected Jesus Christ as their Messiah, the Christ that they were promised and had been waiting for. And they still do, as a people group, as a nation. Now they had a choice like we all do, but they were destined to do this so the Gentile believers in Christ might now be grafted into Israel where the unbelieving Jews had been cut out of Israel, by God, because of their unbelief. They refused to make Jesus their Lord and their Savior and to put their faith and hope in Him.

[see: Matthew 21:42; Acts 4:11; John 8:18-19,38-47; Romans 9:4-8,33; Romans 11:17-25; Galatians 3:16,26-29; Galatians 4:22-31; Ephesians 2:11-22; Ephesians 3:6; Hebrews 8:8-10; 1 Peter 2:9-10; 1 John 2:22]

And then what does this say next? It says that we who believe in Jesus Christ are now God’s chosen race, his royal priesthood, his holy nation, the people for his own possession. We who believe in Jesus Christ are God’s chosen people, whether Jew or Gentile by physical birth. We alone are his holy nation Israel. The Jews who refuse Jesus Christ as their Lord and Messiah are the same as all people who do not believe in Jesus Christ. But they can be grafted back into Israel by faith in Jesus Christ.

[Rom 1:6-7; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-29; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 1:9; 1 Co 3:17; 1 Co 6:19-20; 2 Co 5:15,21; Gal 5:13-21; Eph 1:3-4; Eph 2:10,21; Eph 5:27; Col 1:22; Col 3:12; 1 Thess 4:7; 2 Tim 1:8-9; 2 Tim 2:21; 1 Pet 1:13-16; 1 Pet 2:5-9,24; 2 Pet 1:3; Tit 2:11-14; Lu 9:23-26; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Jn 2:3-6]

So, when you speak of God’s chosen people, his holy nation today, you must speak now of all of us who believe in Jesus Christ. The Jews who have rejected Jesus Christ as their Messiah are not God’s chosen and holy nation at present. They can become his people again through faith in Jesus Christ but that is the only way to become the people of God under the New Covenant God promised to make with his people Israel. For the Israel of God is not the Jewish nation but all who are believing in Jesus as their LORD.

Therefore, as God’s chosen people we are to be holy, set apart by and for God, separate (unlike, different) from the world because by God we are being conformed to the likeness of character of Jesus Christ. And as God’s possession, our lives are to be surrendered to Christ/God to do his will and to do the works he prepared in advance that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10; Titus 2:14). We should be walking in obedience to his commands and daily by the Spirit putting sin to death.

And we are ALL to be proclaiming (preaching) the excellencies of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, God the Son, who called us out of darkness (sin) into his marvelous light (Jesus Christ, the gospel of Christ, truth and righteousness and holy living). We should all be sharing the truth of the gospel with the people of this world and with the worldly church. We are all to be making disciples of Christ of the people of this world, teaching them to obey our Lord’s commandments.

[Matt 5:13-16; Matt 28:18-20; Jn 4:31-38; Jn 13:13-17; Jn 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 26:18; Rom 10:14-15; 1 Pet 2:9,21; 1 Jn 2:6]

And then it says that we were once not a people, but now we are God’s people; once we had not received mercy, but now we have received mercy. Now, in a general sense, this is speaking of all who are believing in Jesus Christ as evidenced by our walks of faith and obedience to our Lord. But in a more specific sense, this is speaking to us non-Jews by physical birth who, before Jesus died and was raised from the dead, were not part of God’s chosen people, who were not part of his holy nation (Israel), but now are.

So, again, God has only one chosen people, one holy nation, only one people for his possession, and they are not those who reject Jesus as their Messiah, but they are all those who have embraced Jesus Christ as their Messiah. For all who reject Jesus are no different from all people who reject Jesus. So, please know what the Scriptures teach so that you do not end up supporting and following after and giving your loyalty and devotion and blind trust to a nation which is godless and which is antichrist.

A Shield About Me

By Thomas Donn Charles / Williams Charles Henry

Thou Oh LORD, art a shield about me

You're my glory and my lifter of my head

Thou Oh LORD, art a shield about me

You're my glory and my lifter of my head

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

You're the lifter of my head

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPCUmT6mj48

Caution: This link may contain ads

The Stone that the Builders Rejected

“As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture:

‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,

    a cornerstone chosen and precious,

and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.’

So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,

‘The stone that the builders rejected

    has become the cornerstone,’

and

‘A stone of stumbling,

    and a rock of offense.

They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do” (1 Peter 2:4-8 ESV).

As you, you who are coming (present active) to Christ by continuous God-given faith in him… not just one time in your life where now you think you “got saved,” and now all your sins are forgiven, and heaven is guaranteed you when you die, and it can’t be taken away from you, but regardless of how you live. For this involves daily denial of self and dying with Christ to sin and walking in obedience to his commands in holy living, by faith in Him. And it requires that we remain steadfast in such faith to the very end.

[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] 

As you are coming to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious… He is our true foundation stone on whom our lives are being built, we who are like living stones within his spiritual building, his church. He is also God, the second person of our triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – who left his home in heaven to come to the earth and to take on human form and to die on a cross to save us out of our lives of slavery to sin and to empower us to live holy lives, pleasing to God.

Although when he lived on this earth he was God incarnate, fully God and yet fully man, and he was the promised seed of Abraham, the Christ they long awaited, his own people rejected him and refused to honor him for who he was. In so doing, Jesus said that they also rejected God the Father, and that Abraham was not their father, and God was not their Father, but the devil was their father, for they chose to follow him instead of follow Christ (see John 8:18-19,38-47).

And they hated Jesus, and so they plotted evil against him, and ultimately they had him put to death on a cross, even though he was sinless and he had done no wrong. But God the Father raised Jesus from the dead on the third day, just as Jesus said would happen, and then Jesus showed himself to many people for about 40 days before he ascended back to the Father in heaven. And after that he sent his Holy Spirit to indwell his followers to be “Christ in us,” and with us who submit to his purpose for our lives.

…you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ… We are Christ’s body, his church, his temple in whom his Spirit dwells. Christ is now our mediator between us and God the Father, and by faith in Jesus Christ we can go directly into the presence of God. We need no human mediators between us and God. And we make our own sacrifices to God which are the sacrifices of broken and contrite hearts (Psalms 51:17).

But this is not a one-time thing. This is the process of sanctification in our lives, and of us walking in fellowship with and in obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ, by his grace, by God-given faith, in his power and strength and wisdom, as our walk of faith, one day and one step at a time. We are in the process of growing to maturity in our walks of faith in the Lord, obeying him day by day and moment by moment, surrendering our lives to him and submitting to his will and purpose for our lives (Romans 12:1-2).

And whoever believing in him (present active, not past tense only) will not be put to shame. And believing in him means we daily deny self, and we daily die to sin, and we daily walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands (New Covenant) in living holy lives, pleasing to him. But for those who will not surrender their lives to him, but who are continuing in deliberate and habitual sin, out of disobedience to him, they will not inherit eternal life with God regardless of what faith they profess with their lips.

[See noted Scriptures above]

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.

https://vimeo.com/379406352

"Stop Hate. We Need Love and Unity."

"So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good” (1 Peter 2:1-3 ESV).

So, a Christian friend of mine posted a video on Facebook which was a dramatization of people spelling out a message with their physical arms, like in a choir. And the message read: “Stop Hate. We Need Love and Unity.”

On a surface read it sounds good, right? For who doesn’t want to stop hate? For, isn’t that what this Scripture is teaching? We are to put away from our lives all malice, and malice is hate, spite, venom, viciousness, meanness and nastiness, with harm intended. We are to put these things out of our lives. And envy can go right along with malice, along with jealousy, resentment, and bitterness. And deceit and slander are just two sides of the same whole, for they are both about deliberate lies told to harm other people.

So, should we as Christians automatically “like” this Facebook video? No! Why? It goes to the whole matter of deception, which can include the use of misimpressions in order to mislead people into believing something on the basis of false assumptions. For this message has been being conveyed via people of the world and world leaders for some time now who want global unity, who desire all the people of the world to be of one mind and heart and purpose, which is not God’s mind and heart and purpose for our lives.

When Obama was president of the USA for eight years, he and the pope “sang a duet,” basically, by giving out this message of unity and oneness and of all the people of the world fundamentally joining hands together in singing, “Kumbaya”. And looking at my documents, I see that Donald Trump gave a similar message for Thanksgiving in 2016 speaking in terms of “healing our divisions,” “shared purpose,” “common resolve,” “one voice and one heart,” and a “unified” America. This is where things are headed.

11/01/2016: “They want us to do away with all which divides us as the people of the world. Sovereign nations divide as does the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are divided “saved” and “unsaved.” So, they feel the gospel and its messengers must go, or be reformed, so the world can all live together in perfect harmony. We are already being tagged as hateful, bigoted, intolerant and as religious extremists, which is to be associated with terrorists” (1). 

So, please don’t take all things you read or hear or think you see at face value and automatically assume good purposes are behind them, when they may not be. For misimpressions (indirect lies) and manipulations of truth are huge right now! So, we then need to go to the source of the message and look to see what that source stands for. And I guarantee the source for that video did not come from a Christian perspective but from a worldly perspective, and every indication was the intention I have mentioned above.

So, we have to be careful about receiving messages like this. Although it sounds good, and yes, it is true that hate should be stopped, and that we need love and unity, still who is sending the message? That is the big question. Is this the love of God/Christ? Is this unity with Christ? With whom are we supposed to unite? And how is hate being defined? Many are defining the teachings of the Scriptures and the gospel of Christ as “hate speech.” 

But this love, unity, and absence of hate being pushed is not of the heart, mind, and voice of God, but of man. And if we unify with them, then we have to disunify with Christ and with the gospel of Christ, for many are calling Christians "haters" and "disunifiers." So, although this sounds good on a surface read, if you consider the reality of it on a global scale, this is not good. So as Christians we need to be testing all these things.

And we need to be those who are longing for and seeking after the pure spiritual milk of God’s word, and of his gospel message, so that we may grow up into salvation, into maturity in our walks of faith. And so we don’t fall prey to the devil’s traps, and so we can be more discerning of the tricks of the enemy which are to get us to buy into his lies. And then we must follow our Lord in obedience to his commands in holy living, and sin must no longer be what we practice. Therefore, we are not to be hypocrites!

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.

https://vimeo.com/379406352

(1) https://runwithit.blog/2016/11/01/they-surround-me/

Through the Word of God

“Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for

“’All flesh is like grass

    and all its glory like the flower of grass.

The grass withers,

    and the flower falls,

but the word of the Lord remains forever.’

“And this word is the good news that was preached to you” (1 Peter 1:22-25 ESV).

The goal of our salvation is not just forgiveness of sins and the hope of heaven when we die. The goal of our salvation, the very purpose for why Jesus Christ gave his life up for us on that cross, is our deliverance out of our lives of living for self, and out of our slavery to sin, so that we can now, in the power of God, live holy lives pleasing to God, in faithful obedience to him and to his commands (New Covenant), from here to eternity. 

[Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23]

That is the message of the gospel, in a nutshell. But sadly that is not the “gospel” that is permeating the church in America, at present. The “gospel” being largely taught and accepted in America today is that you can make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ one time, have all your sins forgiven, be on your way to heaven, with the promise that nothing can take that away, yet while you continue in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord. Lie!

For the gospel that Jesus taught said that if anyone would come after him he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our lives of living for self and in sin we will lose them for eternity. But if for the sake of Jesus we deny self, die daily to sin, and follow him in obedience, we have eternal life. For if we deny him in this life, he will deny us when he returns for his bride (Luke 9:23-26).

So, we must know that the Bible doesn’t teach the “gospel” message that has gained so much popularity these days. It teaches, in fact, that if we do not put our lives of sin behind us, but if we continue in deliberate and habitual sin, and if we do not walk in obedience to our Lord in holy living, in practice, that we will die in our sins. We do not know God. We are not born of God. And we will not inherit eternal life with God regardless of profession.

[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 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; Titus 2:11-14; 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; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

Therefore, the life of a true follower of (believer in) Jesus Christ should be a life of one who has died with Christ to sin and who has been raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as a slave to sin, but now as a slave to God and to his righteousness. And daily by the Spirit he should be continuing to put sin to death and to follow the Lord Jesus in obedience to his ways and to his commands (New Covenant).

And as an outgrowth of this life of faith in Jesus Christ should come genuine godly love, not only for God, but for our fellow humans. And this love is not human love, based in our emotions (although not absent of emotions), but this love is based in God, who is love, and in moral purity. And it means to prefer what God prefers, which is all that is righteous, morally pure, upright, honest, faithful, and obedient to our Lord and to his commands.

So, when we love one another with this kind of love we are going to say to one another and do to and for one another what is ultimately for our good (in the eyes of God) and what upholds moral purity, honesty, and faithfulness, etc. So we will not deliberately and habitually sin against our fellow humans and against God. But we will work toward what will bring about the salvation of human lives for eternity, which is for our good.

Therefore, we are not going to lie to people just so they will feel good about themselves and so that they will like us. And this includes that we will not withhold the truth from people, either, to whom it is due, either to hide sin or out of fear of rejection. We will be kind and thoughtful and considerate of others but never to the point to where we tell lies or we withhold truth that they need to hear in order for them to receive genuine salvation from sin.

For, if we believe the lies, and not the truth, and we put our trust in humans and what they tell us is the truth, and not in God and in his word, then we have the real possibility of being deceived and of heading to hell instead of to heaven, but while other humans are giving us the promise of heaven guaranteed us when we die. So we need to be students of the Scriptures who are studying them for ourselves, in context, and who are not relying on others to tell us the truth.

Thy Word

By Amy Lee Grant / Michael Whitaker Smith

Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path

Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path

When I feel afraid

Think I've lost my way

Still you're there right beside me

And nothing will I fear

As long as you are near

Please be near me to the end

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6LC8cu03Ig

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Jesus Christ is God

“He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God” (1 Peter 1:20-21). 

This is speaking of Jesus Christ, who was with God in the beginning, and who is God, the second person of our triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Although he is God, he humbled himself and came to earth and was born as a human baby to a human mother, conceived of the Holy Spirit of God. So God the Father was his birth father, not man. So he was not born with a sin nature in the image of Adam as the rest of all mankind is. 

[John 1:1-36; John 8:24,58; John 10:30-33; John 20:28-29; Romans 9:5; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 2:9; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 1:8-9; 2 Peter 1:1]

Jesus Christ lived on the earth for about 33 years. At the age of 30 he began his earthly ministry, at which time he called 12 men to be his disciples and to follow him and to work alongside him in feeding the hungry, comforting the sorrowful, raising the dead, delivering people from demons, healing their diseases and their infirmities, and preaching the good news of the gospel. And his gospel message was not like what many are preaching today.

For Jesus said if anyone would come after him, he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin) and follow (obey) him. 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 Jesus’ sake we deny self, die daily to sin, and follow him in obedience to his ways and to his commands, then we have eternal life. For if we deny him on this earth he will deny us when he returns for his bride (Luke 9:23-26). 

See also: [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]

He also taught that not everyone who says 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. For many will stand before him one day and will profess him as Lord and will claim many things they believed they did in his name, but he will say to them, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness,” for they refused to obey the Lord (see Matthew 7:21-23).

[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 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; Titus 2:11-14; 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; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

Now Jesus did gain some popularity, for a time, because of all the miracles that he performed, and because of him feeding the hungry, and because he raised the dead and delivered people from demons and because he healed their diseases and their infirmities. But his gospel message was not this light and fluffy stuff that is being offered up as his gospel message in today’s world here in America. For he taught death to sin and to self, and obedience.

And the stronger his message became in relation to the cost of following him as our Lord and Savior, the less popular he became, and the more rejection that he faced. And this will be the same with us. If we teach and preach the gospel he taught, we are going to be hated and rejected and mistreated like he was, and we will not have huge followings and lots of “likes” on our internet posts. But if it saves people’s lives from hell, it is worth it all!

Jesus also was not a friend of the religious leaders in the temple of God. They did not like him, and so they continually hounded him and persecuted him and falsely accused him of what he did not do, and they plotted evil against him, and tried to trick him into saying something to where they could accuse him of wrongdoing. And we may experience the same from pastors in “churches” where they don’t like the gospel Jesus taught.

So, those leaders who hated him plotted his murder, and they incited the people into joining in with them in calling for Jesus’ crucifixion. And so they falsely arrested Jesus, and gave him a mock trial, and they beat him beyond recognition, and they spat on him and mocked him, and they put a crown of thorns on his head to mock him. And then they hung him on a cross to die as though he was a common criminal worthy of death as punishment.

But this was God’s will for him. For in his death he took up himself the sins of the entire world. He who knew no sin became sin for us on that cross so that when he died our sins died with him. But he didn’t stay dead. God the Father raised him from the dead on the third day. So by faith in Jesus Christ we are crucified and buried with Christ in death to sin, and we are raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness, no longer to walk in slavery to sin. Amen!

[Isaiah 53:1-12; Matt 26:26-29; Lu 9:23-26; Lu 17:25; Jn 1:1-36; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 8:24,58; Jn 10:30-33; Jn 20:28-29; Rom 5:8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 9:5; 1 Co 6:19-20; 1 Co 11:23-32; 1 Co 15:1-8; 2 Co 5:15,21; Eph 4:17-24; Php 2:5-11; Col 2:9; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 1:8-9; Heb 2:14-15; Heb 4:15; 1 Pet 2:24; 2 Pet 1:1]  

I Stand in Awe

By Mark Altrogge

You are beautiful beyond description

Too marvelous for words

Too wonderful for comprehension

Like nothing ever seen or heard

Who can grasp Your infinite wisdom?

Who can fathom the depth of Your love?

You are beautiful beyond description

Majesty, enthroned above

And I stand, I stand in awe of You

I stand, I stand in awe of You

Holy God, to whom all praise is due

I stand in awe of You

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmZTz5H49zw

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Preparing Our Minds for Action

“Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’ And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Peter 1:13-19 ESV).

As followers of Jesus Christ we are not to take God’s grace for granted. We are not to assume that God/Christ does everything for us and that nothing is required of us. And we are not to assume that if we make a one-time profession of faith in Jesus Christ that now we can live however we want and that our sins won’t be charged against us. For Jesus died on that cross and he was resurrected from the dead so that we, by faith in him, can be crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God.

Therefore, we are to be those who are preparing our minds for action. And being sober-minded, we are to set our hope fully on the grace that will be brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ. In other words, we are to take God and his word seriously. We are to know what the Scriptures teach, in context, and then we are to be doing what the Scriptures instruct us who believe in Jesus in how we ought to live for the glory of God. And we should understand the seriousness of not walking in obedience to our Lord.

For our salvation will not be complete until Jesus returns and he takes his righteous and faithful bride to be with him for eternity, but provided that we are walking according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh, and that we are walking in obedience to our Lord in holy living and not in sin, and that we continue in those walks of faith unto the very end. And this is why we need to be sober-minded (serious-minded) about our relationships with God/Christ and our walks of faith in him, for our walks matter!

Therefore, we are not to continue living in deliberate and habitual sin under the guise of God’s grace. We are to be obedient to our Lord and to his commandments under the New Covenant. We are not to be conformed to the ways of this sinful world and to our culture. For we are to be God’s holy people who are set apart by and for God that we might live separate (unlike, different) from the world because God is conforming us to the likeness of character of Jesus Christ, as we cooperate with him in his work of grace.

So, we are not to be those who are living for self and in sin, doing whatever it is we want to do with our lives without regard for God and for the purpose that he has designed for our lives. But we are to be holy in all of our conduct. It doesn’t mean we will be absolutely perfect in every way, but we should none of us be living in deliberate and habitual sin. But we should all be living our lives to please God in obedience to his commands in holy living serving our Lord in the ways in which he has called us to serve him.

And we should be those who walk in the fear of the Lord, who believe God and his word – his promises and his warnings. We should believe that his promises all have conditions and that they are only for specific people groups. And so before we go claiming all those promises, it would behoove us to know who those promises are for and what conditions are attached to those promises. For we don’t have the hope of eternal life with God based on a profession of faith, but on the basis of us walking in obedience to our Lord, and not in sin, but in moral purity, honesty, uprightness, and faithfulness.

For Jesus died on that cross that we might die with him to sin and live to his righteousness. He died that we might now live for him and no longer for ourselves. He shed his blood for us to buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of our lives of living in sin and for self so that we will now honor God with our bodies. For by faith in Christ we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. And so Jesus is now our Master.

[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]

A Shield About Me

By Thomas Donn Charles / Williams Charles Henry

Thou Oh LORD, art a shield about me

You're my glory and the lifter of my head

Hallelujah

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPCUmT6mj48

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Obtaining the Outcome of Your Faith

“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:6-9 ESV).

These words are written to the elect of God, his chosen ones, his saints in Christ Jesus, the born again of God by faith in Jesus Christ for obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ and to sanctification by his Spirit. We are his holy people who are living separate (unlike, different) from the world because we are being conformed by God to the likeness of character of Jesus Christ, as we submit to God’s will and to his purpose for our lives, and as we cooperate with his work of grace in our lives by doing what he says we are to do.

We who are called of God to his service, and who are walking in obedience to his commands, in practice, and who are sharing the gospel of our salvation with the people of the world, are also those who are being hated, rejected, falsely accused, cast aside, unwanted, discarded, and opposed. For it is not popular these days to stand on biblical truth and righteousness and holiness, even within the gatherings of much of what is called “church.” For so many have gone the way of the world to attract the world, and thus oppose God.

And they oppose God and his Word in the name of religion, and in the name of religious practice, and in the name of God/Christ. And many are calling themselves Christians, but the Christian life and practice are not what they do, in practice. So many of them are giving lip service only to the Lord while they continue on in their deliberate and habitual sins. And many who profess to be the shepherds (pastors) of God’s sheep are truly wolves in sheep’s clothing disguising themselves as servants of righteousness.

And so we live in an age of deception where so many are deceiving and being deceived, and where lies and liars abound, and where so many people are embracing the lies of Satan and are rejecting the truth of Jesus Christ and his gospel message. And so if you are someone who is following the Lord in obedience, and if you are sharing the gospel message that Jesus and Paul and the other apostles taught, you are going to have even pastors and elders and other church people turn against you and shun you.

But Jesus warned us that to follow him with our lives means that we are going to be treated like he was. He told us that we would be hated and rejected even by those professing to believe in and to follow the same God as we do – the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit). And he warned us that even some of our family members will turn against us and oppose us because we speak the truth of God’s word and not the lies which have gained so much popularity.

But we are also taught in the Scriptures that trials will come upon us to test the genuineness of our faith. And if we find that our faith is not standing the test, because it is weak faith, or because it is not genuine faith, then those tests give us the opportunity to have our faith strengthened in the Lord or to make certain that our faith is genuine biblical faith and not a cheapened version of it that is so popular in the Christian culture of America today. So these trials are for our good to grow us to maturity in Christ our Lord.

And why is this important? Because our faith is not a once in a lifetime profession of faith in Jesus Christ that guarantees us heaven when we die regardless of how we live. Those who are teaching that are teaching lies. All throughout the New Testament we are taught that we must walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands in holy living, and that by the Spirit we are to be continually in the process of putting sin to death and growing to maturity in Christ, becoming like Jesus in his death.

For if we don’t, and if we continue in deliberate and habitual sin, and not in holy living, and not in walks of obedience to our Lord, then we do not know God, we are not born of God, we are of the devil, we are not in fellowship with Jesus Christ, we are not saved from our sins, and we will not inherit eternal life with God. So we need trials and tribulations which test our faith to keep us faithful to the Lord, and to keep us depending on the Lord and walking in obedience to his commands, because we are human.

And then if we pass the test, and our faith is found to be genuine, not perfect, but being perfected of God, and growing, and maturing, and moving in a forward and not backward direction, then our faith will be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ when he returns for his faithful bride. For it is then and then only that our salvation will be complete, and only if we remain faithful to our Lord in walks of obedience and holiness, and if we remain faithful to the very end.

[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] 

When I Go Home

By G. M. Eldridge

“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes…” Revelation 21:4

In the moment He appears

And the light from heaven shines,

I’ll forget ev’ry fear,

Ev’ry pain I’ll leave behind.

Then I’ll see Him as He is

And I’ll know Him as I’m known.

Ev’ry tear wiped away when I go home.

Ever present is the tho’t 

That a moment waits for me

When unworthy as I am,

His glory I will see.

I will empty all my praise

Before my Father’s throne.

Ev’ry tear wiped away when I go home.

If the trial I endure,

And your presence I can’t find,

Be near me, Lord, I pray,

Bring back unto my mind

That your promises are firm

And I’m never on my own.

Ev’ry tear wiped away when I go home.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z98Zvr1CyXg 

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Who by God's Power

“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

“To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood:

“May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:1-5 ESV).

The apostle Peter wrote this letter to the elect of God who were living in exile in various locations. And who are the “elect”? We are the select or favorite of God, those chosen by God out of the world to be his holy people. And to be holy is to be separate (unlike, different) from the world because we are being conformed by God to the likeness of character of Jesus Christ when we surrender our lives to Christ to be his holy people. And we are those who make serving the Lord Jesus our choice, by faith in him.

We are the elect of God according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit. And what is sanctification? Sanctification is the process of making or becoming holy, set apart. And it is the process of advancing in holiness, with the believer being progressively transformed by the Lord to his likeness. And this involves us cooperating with God in his work of grace in our lives by forsaking our sinful practices to now, by faith in him, follow the Lord Jesus in obedience to his commands (New Covenant) in living holy, godly, morally pure, upright, honest, and faithful lives.

[Ps 139:13-16; Jer 1:1-19; Lu 9:23-26; Ac 26:18; Rom 1:6-7; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,28-29; 1 Co 1:9; 1 Co 12:1-31; Gal 5:13; Eph 1:3-4; 1 Thess 4:1-8; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 10:26-31; 1 Pet 1:14-16; 1 Pet 2:9; 2 Pet 1:3]  

And this sanctification of the Spirit of God (of the Holy Spirit) is for obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. And since the goal of our sanctification is for obedience to Christ, that means that we who believe in Jesus Christ, who are the chosen and the select and the elect of God, are to be those who are walking (in conduct, in practice) in obedience to our Lord and to his commands day by day, in his power and strength. 

And this is for the purification of our lives by the blood of Christ. For in his death on that cross Jesus shed his blood for us to buy us back for God (to redeem us) and to purify us, to make us holy, so that we will no longer live our lives according to the flesh, but now according to the Spirit, and in the honoring of God with our bodies and with our minds and in our actions. For Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, and that we might now live for him and no longer for ourselves.

[1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:15; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Romans 6:1-23]

So, as we continue reading in this passage, we need to keep in mind that these are the people to whom these words were/are spoken. They are not spoken to all people who make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ and who honor Christ with their lips but who by their actions deny the Lord. So if you profess faith in Jesus Christ but you are still walking in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord, and not in holy living, in practice, and not in walks of obedience to the Lord, you can’t claim these promises.

For those who are born of God are not those who are still making sin their practice and who are not walking in obedience to the Lord (1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10). And those who are still making sin their practice (addiction, habit) do not know God, they are not in fellowship with Jesus Christ, and they will not inherit eternal life with God. So this promise of salvation from sin and of eternal life with God is only for those who make righteousness and obedience to the Lord their practice, their way of life.

[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 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; Titus 2:11-14; 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; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

Now this isn’t talking about sinless perfection (1 John 2:1-2), for not one of us will be perfect until Jesus takes us home to be with him, and provided that we are of genuine obedient and submissive faith in Jesus Christ and that we continue in those walks of faith unto the very end. But lack of perfection is never to be used as an excuse for deliberate and habitual sin. For, again, if sin is what we practice, and not righteousness and obedience to God, we do not have salvation from sin and eternal life with God.

But, for those who have been crucified with Christ in death to sin, and who have been raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but as slaves to God and to his righteousness, and who are continuing in the process of daily dying to sin and living to God, in the power of God, by God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ, we have that hope of an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for us, who by God’s power (not our own) are being guarded through faith (persuaded by God) for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Do you get what that last sentence just said? Basically what it is telling us is what the Scriptures teach about our salvation. We are saved (past), we are being saved (present active), and we will be saved (future) when Jesus returns to take his faithful ones to be with him for eternity, for that is when our salvation will be complete and not until then. And our salvation depends on us walking according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh if we want to have eternal life with God when Jesus returns.

[Matt 24:9-14; Rom 8:24; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Jn 8:31-32; Jn 15:1-12; Rom 11:17-24; 1 Co 15:2; Col 1:21-23; 2 Tim 2:10-13; Heb 3:6,14-15; 2 Pet 1:5-11; 2 Pet 2:20-22; 1 Jn 2:24-25] 

Behold Our God

By Jonathan Baird / Meghan Baird / Ryan Baird / Stephen Altrogge

Who has held the oceans in his hands?

Who has numbered every grain of sand?

Kings and nations tremble at his voice

All creation rises to rejoice

Who has given counsel to the Lord?

Who can question any of his words?

Who can teach, the one who knows all things?

Who can fathom all his wondrous deeds?

Who has felt the nails upon his hands?

Bearing all the guilt of sinful man

God eternal, humbled to the grave

Jesus, Savior, risen now to reign

Behold our God, seated on his throne

Come, let us adore him

Behold our king, nothing can compare

Come, let us adore him

You will reign forever (let Your glory fill the Earth)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCwb1vEXyv4

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"Master, Master, We are Perishing!"

“One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side of the lake.’ So they set out, and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. And they went and woke him, saying, ‘Master, Master, we are perishing!’ And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, ‘Where is your faith?’ And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, ‘Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?’ Luke 8:22-25 ESV

There is not anything in this life that we go through that God does not know about and that he did not know about in advance. And sometimes he chooses to take us through what he knows are going to be challenging situations for us to have to endure, but he has something to teach us through these difficult times. For look at what it says here. Jesus got into the boat with his disciples and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” Did he not know what was coming? He did most certainly!

So, our Lord is not unaware of our circumstances. And then ponder this with me, if you will. We read in Psalms 139 that he knit us together in the wombs of our mothers, and that all the days ordained for us were written in his book before one of them came into being. Wow! So, whether you had good parents or bad parents, or good upbringings or bad upbringings, God put you there in the womb of your mother even knowing in advance what was going to happen to you, even if you were abused, as I was.

So, why would a loving God do that to us? Because he is a loving God, and he wants us to follow him with our lives and to live for him and to not end up in hell. So he allows difficult circumstances in our lives to draw us to him, and to teach us to rely on him so that we hunger after him, and so we are not content with status quo. He even allowed Satan to do all sorts of evil against Job, and Job was a righteous man. But Job grew stronger in his faith and he learned about the sovereignty of God through what he suffered.

And what did Joseph tell his brothers who had sold him into slavery because they were jealous of him? And this was many years later. He told them that what they did to him they meant it for evil in his life but that God intended it for good for the salvation of human lives (see Genesis 50:15-21). For, because of what his brothers did to him, eventually Joseph got placed in a powerful position in the land of Egypt to where he was able to come up with a plan to save people’s lives during a time of great famine on the earth.

And I get that personally. For not only did the Lord put me in a family where he knew I was going to be severely abused and emotionally neglected, but he allowed other people in my life to do evil and after evil to me, and not because I was sinning. And I am not saying that I never sinned. I did! But it wasn’t when I was sinning that these people did evil after evil to me. But it was while I was walking in purity of devotion to the Lord. And those who did the evil all professed faith in Jesus Christ, many of whom were pastors.

So, why would a loving God do that to me? Because, like Joseph, he was preparing me in advance for this ministry to which he later called me, which is for the salvation of human lives from hell and out of their lives of sin so that they can now live for God and for his righteousness, giving glory and honor to God with their lives. But he knew I was going to face much rejection, so he allowed me to suffer much to make me strong and very determined to keep going despite all turning against me, if it should be.

So, back to the story… So Jesus got into the boat with his disciples, meaning he was on this journey with them and they were not alone. And then he led them right into a storm while he fell asleep. And here I picture us going along through life and then all of a sudden a storm hits us big time, i.e. a difficult circumstance of some sort comes into our lives that really just knocks us to the floor. And so many of us might then say to God, “Where are you? Do you not see what I am going through?” Have you been there??

But Jesus, who is God, was still in control. He was resting because he had no need to be afraid. He was in his Father’s hands always. And he knew what was coming, and he already knew what was going to happen and what he was going to do about it. And we can be at peace like that, too, and rest in our heavenly Father, knowing that difficult things are going to happen to us, because the Bible says they will, and because we are flesh and blood and we live on this earth. And we can be at peace even in the midst of storms.

For if we have the kind of faith that Jesus talked about then we know these things are going to come into our lives. Now I am not saying that we won’t feel these circumstances or that we won’t cry in pain and suffering. I do! But we can be at peace with God even in the worst of the worst because our trust is in him and we know that he is in control. Now this doesn’t mean that we don’t pray about our circumstances or for other people. We do! For when we pray in faith God strengthens our faith through these times.

And we are warned in the Scriptures that, as followers of Christ, we are going to be hated and persecuted and spoken against and falsely accused of wrongdoing. And some of us will be severely persecuted and even put to death because of our walks of faith in Jesus Christ, and because of our testimonies for him. And we are warned of the rising of a beast, an antichrist, who is going to deceive many and who is going to persecute Christians and put them to death, so please know this is happening, and it is only going to get much worse. But keep trusting the Lord through it all!

[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]

‘Til The Storm Passes By

By Thomas Mosie Lister

In the dark of the midnight have I oft hid my face

While the storm howls above me, and there's no hiding place

'Mid the crash of the thunder, Precious Lord, hear my cry

Keep me safe till the storm passes by

Many times Satan whispered

There is no use to try

For there's no end of sorrow, there's no hope by and by

But I know Thou art with me, and tomorrow I'll rise

Where the storms never darken the skies

Till the storm passes over, till the thunder sounds no more

Till the clouds roll forever from the sky

Hold me fast, let me stand in the hollow of Thy hand

Keep me safe till the storm passes by

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

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