Mourning Over Unrepentant Sin

“Here for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be a burden, for I seek not what is yours but you. For children are not obligated to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved less? But granting that I myself did not burden you, I was crafty, you say, and got the better of you by deceit. Did I take advantage of you through any of those whom I sent to you? I urged Titus to go, and sent the brother with him. Did Titus take advantage of you? Did we not act in the same spirit? Did we not take the same steps?

“Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves to you? It is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ, and all for your upbuilding, beloved. For I fear that perhaps when I come I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish—that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder. I fear that when I come again my God may humble me before you, and I may have to mourn over many of those who sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and sensuality that they have practiced” (2 Corinthians 12:14-21 ESV).

Paul spent a lot of time in this second letter to the Corinthian church defending his ministry and his own integrity because he was being falsely accused of things he did not say and do, and his qualifications as a true apostle of Jesus Christ were coming under scrutiny. He evidently was also accused of doing what he did for financial gain and that he was taking money for himself that was to be given for the needs of the saints. And these accusations all seemed to stem from false apostles among them.

So, Paul was defending his ministry and his integrity, as well as he was calling out these false apostles for who they were, and he was warning the Corinthian church against believing the lies of these false apostles. And he was asking them to look at his own record and to see that the lies being spread about him did not coincide with what they had known of him and had seen in him and had experienced from him in his treatment of them. And perhaps his thorn in the flesh was these false accusations against him.

Now Paul was preparing to come to them in person for the third time. And I like what he said here: “And I will not be a burden, for I seek not what is yours but you.” And then, “I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved less?” 

I get that! For in the present culture of the American church we are being often given the wrong idea of what love is and what the gospel is, and what it looks like to love others with the love Christ has for us. For Jesus Christ loved us so much that he willingly gave his life up for us on that cross, and he became sin for us so that when he died our sins died with him so that by faith in him we can die to sin and live to righteousness. And he loved us enough to speak the truth to us, even if it hurt.

And so many people have this mistaken idea that if people say and do for you only what makes you feel good, and if they are fun and entertaining, and if they are always positive and upbeat, and never negative, and if they only tell you the promises of God, but not the conditions for those promises to be met, and if they promise you heaven guaranteed, but while you continue in deliberate and habitual sin, but they don’t talk about judgment or hell, then they are being loving and kind. Not true!

The most loving thing we can do for anyone on the planet earth is to tell them the truth of the gospel, and I mean the whole truth, not just the parts that sound good and feel good and that don’t make you feel bad at all. And that is not an easy task when you run up against people who don’t want to hear that, or who have been convinced that they are to shut out anything that is not “positive.” But we must speak the truth of what the Scriptures teach, in context, even if we get persecuted in return.

Now I cannot speak for every person on this planet who calls himself or herself a believer in Christ, or who claims he or she is speaking the truth of the gospel. But from personal experience I can say that when exercising true biblical agape love, not everyone is going to accept it as love. And we may get misjudged as being mean when what we are saying is the most loving thing we can say at that moment, for that is the truth that they need to hear, even if it is a hard truth that they don’t want to hear.

So, even though we may be sacrificing our own lives for the lives of others, knowing that we are going to be hated in return, but willing to pay that cost to get the truth to them, it doesn’t mean we are going to be received well. And even though we are willing to give of our time and energies and life to minister to the legitimate needs of others, it doesn’t mean that we will be thanked for it, and that we will not be hated and mistreated in return. 

But that is what Jesus did. He gave his life up for us for our freedom from sin. And when I say, “freedom from sin,” I am not meaning just from the punishment of sin, but from our slavery to sin so that we can now live holy lives pleasing to God, no longer as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness (Romans 6:1-23; Ephesians 4:17-24).

For this is why Paul and the other apostles continually addressed sin issues going on within the church gatherings in order to bring those who were sinning to a place of repentance and to true faith in Christ or to return to the faith that they once professed as truth. For if we read through the books of the New Testament, in full context, we will see that they are not filled with all feel-good stuff, but there are many hard teachings and confrontations and callings out of sin and warnings that took place, too.

So, Paul was hoping here that when he came to them in person that he was not going to find quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder, though he knew that he might, and that saddened him greatly. For he got no pleasure out of having to exercise church discipline, but he knew he must if he got there and that those who had sinned earlier had not repented of (turned away from) the impurity, sexual immorality, and sensuality that they had practiced.

But if he did not exercise church discipline, and if nothing was said or done about the sinful condition of many within the gatherings of the church, then like he said in 1 Corinthians 5, what was going on would spread like yeast in dough all throughout the church, the body of Christ. And this is where we are today in the American church where sexual immorality and idolatry and adultery are running rampant, but few are doing anything to put a stop to it, and many are giving the people free license to continue in their sins.

So, please know that the Scriptures teach that if sin is what we practice, and not righteousness and obedience to our Lord and to his commands, that we will not inherit eternal life with God, we don’t know God, we are not born of God, we are not in fellowship with God, and God the Father is not our Father. But we are of the devil. And hell is our destiny, not heaven. So, please believe what the Scriptures teach and please surrender your lives to Jesus Christ today and forsake your sins and follow him in obedience forevermore.

[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]

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

A Thorn in the Flesh

“So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10 ESV).

The apostle Paul was once a man named Saul who was a Jew and a Pharisee and a persecutor of Christians. Then one day Jesus Christ visited him, I believe in a vision, on a road to Damascus where Saul/Paul was headed to persecute even more Christians. And it was there that Jesus Christ transformed Saul’s/Paul’s life and he called him to be one of his apostles and to take the gospel to Jew and to Gentile and to be a spiritual father to the church, the body of Christ, to teach them how to live as Christians.

Well, in order for Paul to do what God had called him to do, he received many spiritual and supernatural revelations from God, some or all of which have been recorded in the Christian Bible. And so there was a danger that Paul might become conceited, not that he would take credit for what certainly came from God, and not from himself, but that he might become conceited because God had chosen him, and because of these supernatural revelations God was giving him, just because God was giving them to him.

And so he was given a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass him, to keep him from becoming conceited. Now who wanted Paul to not be conceited? God. So God gave this thorn to Paul. He allowed Satan to inflict Paul with this thorn, just like he allowed Satan to do what he did to Job who was a righteous man of God. So God allowed this in Paul’s life to keep him from becoming conceited over these great revelations that the Lord was giving him. Paul needed that thorn to keep him humble and trusting God.

Now we don’t know what that thorn was, although many people have speculated. What we do know is that it was not addictive sin. For if we are living in sin, and we plead with the Lord to remove that sin out of our lives, the Lord is not going to refuse us and tell us that we must continue to struggle with (regularly giving in to) sin to keep us from becoming conceited. For Jesus Christ died on that cross that we might die to sin and live to his righteousness and in walks of obedience to his commands.

So, it could have been his blindness, or it could have been Satan just tormenting him in his spirit, accusing him falsely of things he did not do and say, or trying to get him to fail, trying to get him to doubt God, trying to make him feel guilty over things he had no reason to feel guilty over. And Satan will use other humans to do his dirty work, too, to try to get us discouraged and disheartened so that we will give up and back down and stop sharing the truth of the gospel and stop exposing the lies.

So, when we feel that convicting voice in our spirits we should first of all take it to the Lord in prayer, inquiring of the Lord if there is anything we have said wrong and done wrong that maybe we are not aware of. For we should always be open to the voice of the Holy Spirit correcting us where we need corrected. In fact, I have recently withdrawn an entire video and I made changes to several documents I posted because the Holy Spirit let me know I had something wrong, not intentionally wrong, but still wrong.

But once the Lord has cleared us, and we know that we have done all that we know to do to make something right, that needs to be made right, then we need to rest in the Lord and let him fill us with his peace, and then we need to move on. And if Satan nags us and harasses us, we can reject what he is saying, knowing that what he is speaking are lies, and so we reject the lies. But here is the other part of this. We need to be okay with insults and hardships and persecutions, etc. We need to not let them take us out.

Now, this is not saying that we cannot or that we should not come to our own defense. Jesus did. Paul did. Peter and John did. But then we have to accept that such persecutions against us, or even misunderstandings directed against us, were allowed by God in our lives for a purpose, and we must be reconciled to the fact that, as followers of Christ, we are going to have those. And when we do, we must rely on the strength of the Lord to get us through those times and to give us wisdom in how to respond, too.

But we cannot let them take us out. Right now there are many things which are hidden and that we don’t have answers for or explanations for, and so we just have to put our lives in the hands of the Lord and trust him that he will teach us what we need to learn through these trials, and that we will grow stronger in our walks of faith because of them. And then we need to just keep pressing forward in continuing to do the will of God, as best as we understand it, for the glory of God, in the power and strength of our Lord.

[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]

Video Talk

https://youtu.be/Lzx56TS5KwU

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Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

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

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

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

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

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

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Deceivers under Disguise

“And what I am doing I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds” (2 Corinthians 11:12-15 ESV).

 

In context, there were false teachers who were trying to undermine Paul’s ministry and who were presenting to the people a false Jesus and a false faith and a false gospel which were not biblical Jesus, biblical faith, and the biblical gospel taught by Jesus Christ and by his NT apostles. And so Paul spent some time defending his ministry and the truth of the gospel and the truth of who Jesus really is and what genuine faith in Jesus Christ really looks like. For the people were putting up with the lies easily enough.

 

But Paul was not going to change who he was or what God had called him to do in order to be a people pleaser. He was going to continue to speak the truth in love to the people and to combat the lies of the enemy and to call out those who were lying to the people in hopes that the people would not listen to the false apostles who were trying to convince the people that they were of equal standing with Paul and with the other apostles, i.e. that they were also called of God in bringing the truth to the people.

 

And then he went on to describe these false apostles as deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ and as servants of righteousness. So, what does that look like exactly? Today?

 

Well, we do still have modern day Judaizers who are trying to convince Christians that they need to be more like Jews and that they should participate in some of the Jewish traditions and ceremonies and celebrations in order to enhance their faith in Jesus Christ, like an add on to their faith. And we have some who are trying to convince Christians that they are somehow less than the Jews or that they are beholding to the Jewish people for their faith and that they should, in a sense, worship the Jewish people.

 

And we have legalists who add on to God’s requirements what God does not require of us, his people. And these are sometimes religious traditions and culture and practices that have been passed down from generation to generation in which they are convinced that if we do not do what they do that we are somehow sinning against God, even though the Scriptures do not teach that. For these are externals on which they are insisting which add nothing to our faith, and which do nothing to change human hearts.

 

And then we have charlatans and wolves in sheep’s clothing who are bringing to the people another Jesus and a different faith and gospel message other than what Jesus taught and his NT apostles taught. These are deceitful workmen whose goal it is to deceive and to twist the Scriptures and to make them say what they do not say, and usually for the purpose to appease human flesh and to lead the people astray so that they do not follow Jesus Christ in obedience, so they don’t have eternal life with God.

 

And what are the lies that they are teaching and that so many people today are believing? Mainly it has to do with making the people believe that they can make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ once in their lives and now all their sins are forgiven (past, present, and future), and so now they are on their way to heaven guaranteed, and it can’t be taken away from them, but regardless of how they live, even if they continue in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

So, what is the truth? It is that Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. He died that we might now live for him and no longer for ourselves. And he shed his blood for us on that cross to buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of our slavery to sin so we will now honor God with our bodies and so we will now serve Jesus Christ with our lives in faithful obedience to his commands (New Covenant) and in walks of holiness and righteousness and not in sin.

 

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

 

And it is what Jesus taught when he said that if anyone would come after him that 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 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 commands, then we have the hope of eternal life. And he taught that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one doing the will of God.

 

[Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23; Ephesians 4:17-24; Titus 2:11-14]

 

And then we learn in the Scriptures that if sin is what we practice, and not righteousness, and not obedience to our Lord, that regardless of what our lips profess, we will not inherit eternal life with God. Thus, we cannot just claim faith in Jesus Christ but then continue on in moral impurity, sexual immorality, adultery, idolatry, lying, cheating, stealing and the like. But we must be people of God who honor God with our lives in living morally pure, upright, godly, self-controlled, honest and faithful lives to the glory of God.

 

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

 

So, please take this to heart. Know what the Scriptures teach, in context, and test everyone and everything you hear or read or think you see against the Scriptures in their context so that you do not fall prey to deceiving spirits. Bow the knee to God. Submit to Christ as Lord. Follow him in obedience to his commandments under the New Covenant and leave your lives of sin behind you. Submit to his will for your lives and follow his lead in where he wants you to go and who you are to become for God’s glory.

 

The Prayer

 

Written by David Foster, Carole Bayer Sager,

Alberto Testa and Tony Renis

 

I pray you'll be our eyes

And watch us where we go

And help us to be wise

In times when we don't know

 

I pray we'll find your light

And hold it in our hearts

When the stars go out each night

Remind us where you are.

 

Let this be our prayer

When shadows fill our day

Lead us to a place

Guide us with your grace

To a place where we'll be safe.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqFCbtRz1Z0

 

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Readily Enough

“I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough” (2 Corinthians 11:1-4 ESV).

If we are true followers of Jesus Christ, with the minds of Christ, who are students of the Scriptures, who study them in their contexts, and who test the spirits, and who follow our Lord in walks of obedience and in holy living and in righteousness, and who are no longer walking in sin, then we should also be those who feel what God feels, who grieve over sin and over lies and deceptions and over God’s people being led astray by false teachers.

We should be on the lookout for lies and deceptions and for liars and deceivers who captivate the minds and hearts of so many people with their feel-good messages which dilute and alter the character of God/Christ, and of his church (his body), and of his gospel message. But it isn’t just the feel-good messages that are the issue, but it is all the manipulations of truth and misimpressions and subliminal messages sweeping the church in America.

And I am certain that what the Lord has me share with you is not just an American problem. But America is where I live, and it is what I know, so all of you who live elsewhere must read these passages of Scripture and apply them to where you live, for I don’t really know what is going on in your nations. And I cannot even trust our media here to tell me the truth of what is going on inside your nations, so just let the Lord speak through his word.

But regardless of where we live, if we are true followers of Christ, it should grieve our hearts when we see so many professing Christians living no differently from the people of the world, doing and viewing and listening to all the same types of things that the ungodly do. And while they go through their religious rituals, so many of them are not following the Lord in obedience, and they are not living for him and for his righteousness.

For so many are being led astray by charlatans and by wolves in sheep’s clothing who are teaching them lies disguised as truth. For what they teach is another Jesus than the one the Scriptures teach, and a different gospel from the one that Jesus taught and that his NT apostles taught. For they are not teaching dying with Christ to sin daily and walking in obedience to our Lord as required by God for salvation and for eternal life with God.

And this isn’t legalism, and it is not works salvation. It is what Jesus and his NT apostles taught about salvation from sin and eternal life with God. 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 sin, we will lose our lives. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, and follow Jesus in obedience, by faith in him, then we have eternal life (Luke 9:23-26).

And God’s grace to us is his gift to us, but his grace is him giving himself to us to die on that cross that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, and that we might live for him, and no longer for self. It is Jesus shedding his blood for us to buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of our lives of slavery to sin so that we will now serve God with our lives and honor him with our bodies in walks of moral purity, honesty, and faithfulness.

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

For God’s grace, which is bringing us salvation, trains us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return. For Jesus Christ gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them (Titus 2:11-14; Ephesians 2:10).

And John said that if we claim to be in fellowship with God/Christ while we still walk (in conduct, in practice) in darkness (sin, wickedness), we are liars. And if we profess to know God, but we are not obeying his commandments (New Covenant), in practice, we are liars. And if we deliberately and habitually sin against our Lord, we don’t know him, we are not born of God, but we are of the devil. For whoever practices righteousness is righteous.

[1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; cv. Galatians 5:16-21]

And please know that many people today are teaching freedom in Christ as though it is freedom from having to obey God’s commandments under the New Covenant, as though it is freedom to remain lawless, still living in slavery to sin. And they teach that anyone obeying God’s commandments is a legalist and is not free in Christ. That is a major twisting of what the Scriptures teach, and it is contrary to what Jesus and his apostles taught.

Yes, we do not have to obey the Old Covenant liturgical, ceremonial, sacrificial, purification, and dietary laws and restrictions. But we still have to obey God’s moral laws which never went away, and which are still taught us under the New Covenant. And we don’t have to obey man-made legalistic requirements that the Scriptures do not teach. But we do have to obey the teachings of Christ and of his NT apostles intended for his church, his body.

And if we choose not to obey the Lord and his word, but still hold on to the belief that heaven is our eternal home, then please read the words of Jesus. For he 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. So, many will claim they know him and that they are doing things in his name, but he will say, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness,” for they didn’t obey the Lord (Matthew 7:21-23).

So, test the spirits to see which ones are from God, and test them against the teachings in the New Testament under the New Covenant, but in context. For many false teachings stem from Scriptures taught outside of their context and are twisted to say what they do not say, and in order to deceive people into believing lies disguised as truth. And hold on to the truth of God’s word, and do not waver, and keep obeying the Lord Jesus Christ.

10,000 Reasons

Matt Redman / Jonas Myrin

The sun comes up

It's a new day dawning

It's time to sing Your song again

Whatever may pass

And whatever lies before me

Let me be singing 

When the evening comes

Bless You Lord

And on that day

When my strength is failing

The end draws near

And my time has come

Still my soul will

Sing Your praise unending

Ten thousand years

And then forevermore

Forevermore

Bless the Lord oh my soul

Oh my soul

Worship His Holy name

Sing like never before

Oh my soul

I'll worship Your Holy name

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXDGE_lRI0E

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Beyond the Limits

“But we will not boast beyond limits, but will boast only with regard to the area of influence God assigned to us, to reach even to you. For we are not overextending ourselves, as though we did not reach you. For we were the first to come all the way to you with the gospel of Christ. We do not boast beyond limit in the labors of others. But our hope is that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you may be greatly enlarged, so that we may preach the gospel in lands beyond you, without boasting of work already done in another's area of influence. ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.’ For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends” (2 Corinthians 10:13-18 ESV).

What does it mean to “boast beyond limits”? It would be to claim something to be true beyond what is true, like to give off an image about oneself that is beyond what is really true. It would be to try to make oneself look better than you really are. And it could even be for the purpose to try to hide what is really going on, to try to hide sinful attitudes and thinking and behaviors from coming out into the open, wanting them to remain behind the curtain where no one else can see them. It is to give off a false persona.

And the Lord is directing me this afternoon to center on this subject, not to go into the history of Paul’s particular situation, but to deal with the subject of, not only what it means to boast beyond limits, and what all that might entail, but what it looks like when someone commends himself in a way in which the Lord does not commend him. So this could be like someone bragging that he is walking with the Lord when he is still walking in sin, or acting outwardly as though he is for God, when he is against God.

For it is all about giving off a false image of oneself that is not true to the person’s true nature and thinking and attitudes and behaviors. And sometimes this is done as a way of trying to hide a person’s secret sins and his secret attitudes, thinking, and behaviors. But it doesn’t always work. For out of the heart the mouth speaks, and when there is anger, bitterness, resentment, and unforgiveness stored up in the heart, sometimes that comes out of the mouth, and the coverup is revealed as phony.

Another way in which this can be expressed is seen in this passage:

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye” (Matthew 7:1-5 ESV).

Now this is not teaching that all judging is wrong. This is teaching that hypocritical judging is wrong, when you have a mound of sins piled up in your own life that you have not dealt with and reconciled and gotten rid of, and yet you are critical of others who may have only a small speck in their own eyes. And so you may lash out at those with only a small speck in their eyes while you continue on with that log still in your own eye, which you may be trying to cover up, hoping that no one will notice it.

For, since you are someone who is trying to look better than what you are so that people will believe you are living beyond what you are really doing, this definitely engages much deception and coverups and perhaps even false accusations against others, perhaps others who can see what is going on. And you don’t like that, and so you might go all out to try to destroy their reputations so that others will think badly of them, and so that others will not believe them, but so they will believe you, instead. People do this!!

If they are concerned about getting caught or getting found out they may destroy another person’s life, if necessary, in order to keep their own sins hidden safely away from being exposed. For it isn’t just that they are trying to present an image of themselves beyond limits, but they are actually living sinful lifestyles that go beyond God’s proper limits regarding how we are to live. But they are trying to keep that hidden (secretive), and so they are bragging beyond what they are really living.

Now this is not speaking of those who have no knowledge of God. This is speaking of those who profess faith in Jesus Christ and who know the Scriptures. So they know the way out of their sinful conditions, but they have not yet chosen to take the way out God provided for them. They may try some things in the flesh to try to not go certain places, at times, but those always fail eventually, because they are of the flesh and not of God. And so they continue with that log still in their eyes.

They know the solution is out there. They know what Jesus did on that cross to free us, not just from the punishment of sin, but from our slavery to sin, but they will not go the distance to put into practice what he has provided for them, even though they know that it will do the job if they will surrender their lives to Jesus Christ, and if they will submit to the Lordship of Christ, and if they will choose to say “No!” to sin and “Yes!” to God and walk now in his ways and in his truth and in his power, where there is true victory!!

So, if that is where any of you are today, putting on a show of righteousness on the outside while you are still living in deliberate and habitual sin, in secret, I pray that you will bow the knee to God, surrender your lives to him, truly repent of (turn from) your sinful lifestyles, and by the grace of God, and in the power of God, now walk in obedience to the Lord and to his commands (New Covenant) in holy living. For God has called all of us to forsake our sins, to obey him, and to walk in righteousness and not in sin.

[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] 

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

Power to Destroy Strongholds

“I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!— I beg of you that when I am present I may not have to show boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh. For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete” (2 Corinthians 10:1-6 ESV).

It appears that there were those within the Christian community in Corinth who supported Paul and his ministry, and those who did not, who were false to the truth, and who were critical of Paul. So, Paul here is addressing some of those false accusations against himself and against Timothy, which seem to be primarily directed at Paul. And the part where he said, “I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away,” seems to be in reference to an accusation that was made against him.

Now, one of the criticisms was evidently boldly stated or suggested that Paul and Timothy were operating in the flesh and not in the Spirit, and that what they were doing and saying came from within themselves and not from God. And that might be like someone today accusing you of having a false theology when you aren’t teaching a theology at all, but just what you are learning from the Scriptures as you read them in their context and as the Holy Spirit points out the truth of what they are saying to you.

Now, we should definitely be those who test whatever we hear coming from anyone against the Scriptures, in their context, but we must guard against ignoring the truth of the Scriptures just because they don’t agree with our theology, too. For to test what we hear involves us looking at what the Scriptures teach, in their context, and us allowing the Holy Spirit to teach us what they actually say without us finding ways around them because they don’t fit with what we have always been taught.

I can remember early on in my life having been taught certain things from the Scriptures that I had grown to accept as truth, then being challenged as I actually began studying the Scriptures in their context. At first I was trying to make the Scriptures fit with what I had always been taught, but that just wasn’t working. And the longer I studied those Scriptures the more I realized that I could no longer accept what I had always been taught, but that I had to embrace what the Scriptures actually teach as fact.

But when we begin to realize what the Scriptures literally teach as opposed to some teachings we may have been taught early on in our lives, or presently, we have a choice to ignore them or to excuse them away or else to accept them for what they literally teach. But when we do accept what they are teaching as fact, and if we begin sharing those truths with others who had similar upbringings to us, we may face a lot of opposition, especially in particular areas which are considered “hot button” issues.

And so we may or may not have people opposing us and/or accusing us falsely of teaching what is false, or worse. But when we are opposed we do need to use the armor of God with which to combat the lies with the truth of God’s word, once we are fully convinced and very well biblically supported in what we know to be the truth of what the Scriptures are teaching on that particular subject. But, if in the process of this we find that we are in error in any respect, we must humble ourselves and admit our errors, too.

Now let me share this example with you. Forty three years ago we had neighbors who were of a different belief system from us, though both under the “Christian” faith, and these neighbors were trying to convince me that the Scriptures taught a particular doctrine that my upbringing did not teach. So I asked my pastor about it, and his response was, “Now dearie, don’t (something or other)… for our church denomination does not believe that.” But I wanted to know what the Scriptures taught; not what humans teach.

I want to know what the Scriptures teach in their purest sense and not what some church denomination or some preacher tries to tell me I am to believe. For the Word of God is truth, but not everyone teaches the truth. But when we discover that truth through our times of study in God’s word, and then when we share it with the Christian community, we should be ready to be opposed by others who hold to what they have always been taught and have come to believe, but we should keep listening to the Lord and keep learning.

And we must rest in the Lord and in his truth and in his righteousness and holiness. And even when we are being opposed, we must trust the Lord with the truth of his word that he will get his truth into the minds and hearts of the people, us included. All we can do is share the truth of what we believe the Scriptures teach, in context, and we can refute what we believe to be lies and misperceptions of truth, but only the Spirit of God has the power to change people’s thinking and believing, according to the truth of his Word.

So, the encouragement to all of us here is that we need to be students of the Scriptures who are listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit, and who are studying the Scriptures in context, especially in context of the whole of the New Testament. And we need to be willing to have our beliefs altered if the Holy Spirit points out to us certain truths in the Scriptures which contradict what we have always been taught or have come to believe as truth. And then we need to walk in that truth and share that truth with others.

[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] 

10,000 Reasons

Matt Redman / Jonas Myrin

The sun comes up

It's a new day dawning

It's time to sing Your song again

Whatever may pass

And whatever lies before me

Let me be singing 

When the evening comes

Bless You Lord

And on that day

When my strength is failing

The end draws near

And my time has come

Still my soul will

Sing Your praise unending

Ten thousand years

And then forevermore

Forevermore

Bless the Lord oh my soul

Oh my soul

Worship His Holy name

Sing like never before

Oh my soul

I'll worship Your Holy name

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXDGE_lRI0E

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Who is Biblical Israel Today? Updated

The physical nation of Israel is at the forefront in the news right now. But there are many misconceptions among those who believe in Jesus Christ as to who biblical Israel is in the Messianic age and in these last days before the return of Christ. So, I pray that all who profess faith in Jesus Christ would take the time to read the noted Scriptures here, from which come the following 25 statements on who Biblical Israel is today.

Who is Biblical Israel Today?

1 Not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel

2 Not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring

3 It is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God

4 The children of the promise are God’s offspring

5 The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed

6 And to your seed, that is, Christ

7 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed

8 If you belong to Christ, you are heirs according to the promise

9 God made the Jews and the Gentiles one by faith in Christ

10     Gentile believers in Jesus are fellow heirs with Jewish believers

11     We are members of the same body if we believe in Jesus Christ

12     Who is the antichrist? All who deny that Jesus is the Christ

13     The city of Jerusalem is now of Hagar, the slave woman

14     The Jews who do not believe in Jesus are still in slavery 

15     The slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance

16     We who believe in Jesus are of the free woman (Sarah)

17     Through Christ both Jew and Gentile have one access to God

18     We who believe in Jesus are the Israel of God

19     God has made us one with Israel via faith in Jesus Christ

20     One with all those who also believe in Jesus Christ

21     No one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly

22     All God’s promises have conditions

23     God’s covenant with Israel has the condition of obedience

24     God’s covenant with Israel has the condition of righteous living

25     The Israelites who disobeyed God did not enter the Promised Land

[Genesis 17:7-9; Genesis 18:19; John 8:18-19,38-47; Romans 2:28-29; Romans 9:4-8; Romans 11:17-25; 1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Galatians 3:16,26-29; Galatians 4:22-31; Ephesians 2:11-22; Ephesians 3:6; Colossians 3:12-15; Titus 2:14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-16; Hebrews 8:6-13; 1 Peter 2:9-10; 1 John 2:22; Jude 1:5; Revelation 2:9; Revelation 3:9]  

The Ministry of This Service

“The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written,

“’He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor;

    his righteousness endures forever.’

“He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God” (2 Corinthians 9:6-12 ESV).

Now, in context, this is speaking of the gift of giving to those who are the saints of God who are in financial need. “Your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness” (2 Corinthians 8:14 ESV). We are to have equal concern for one another in caring for one another’s legitimate needs. But we must be discerning here, always, for there are those among us who are thieves and liars and manipulators and con artists. So pray for wisdom.

Now this is not teaching that if we give that we are always going to be given back, in return, in material wealth. But sometimes the Lord will supply for us in ways we would not imagine so that we can provide for the needs of others. My husband and I have seen that happen to us many times where we would have extra income we were not expecting, but just in time to help meet the needs of others, especially those within the family of God. But we should never give just so that we will be given back. Wrong motivation.

For the point here is that we should not be selfish and be hoarders who care only for our own needs and who do not want to share with others for fear that we will not have enough. Now this doesn’t mean that we give away what we have that we need to pay our own bills and then just expect that someone else is going to pay our bills for us. We need to be responsible people who make certain, as much as is within our power to do so, that we have enough to cover our own necessities (not all our wants).

For this sowing and reaping, I believe, has more to do with spiritual blessings than it does to do with material blessings. For, when we give to the legitimate needs of others we are blessed when we see how our giving made a difference in their lives, and how God’s prompting us to give was just what they needed at that exact moment in time. 

For example, we once had a neighbor who had no teeth but he couldn’t afford false teeth so the Lord led us to give him the money for the teeth, and when he got the teeth his smile was priceless! That was our reward, to see the joy on his face that he now had teeth.

For this sowing increases the harvest of our righteousness, not necessarily increases our bank accounts. And that is because we give freely as we are prompted by the Lord to give without ever expecting anything in return, even if we get no thanks or no acknowledgment for the gift given. We can be satisfied in know that we obeyed the Lord in this giving, and we trust that he is going to use it in the lives of others, not only to meet their needs, but also to increase their faith as they give thanks to God for what was supplied.

But this also has a spiritual parallel to it in that when we sow sparingly in spiritual matters, in our walks of faith, in time spent in the word of God, and in time with and in obedience to the Lord in serving others in their spiritual needs, we are also going to reap sparingly. We will not grow to maturity in Christ, we will not have close walks with the Lord, and we will not have a spiritual impact on the lives of others in sharing with them the gospel of Christ and the teachings of Christ and of his New Testament apostles.

But if we sow bountifully in our spiritual lives in all the areas mentioned above, we are going to reap bountifully in our close walks with the Lord in our obedience to him and in service to him. And we are going to see at least some of the fruit of our labors in the lives of the people who have been touched by our ministry to them. But if our ministry is on the internet, we may not see much of the results of our labors in this life, but that is okay, because we can be at peace knowing that we are doing the will of God.

Fit for Service 

 

An Original Work / October 5, 2011

Holy Spirit, come within us.

Cleanse our hearts, 

and from sin free us.

Make us holy vessels fit 

for service to the King.

Fill us with Your love and power.

Anoint us within this hour

To be living witnesses 

For Jesus Christ, our King.

Our praise to Him bring.

Father God, our heart’s desire,

Come and speak to us in power.

Revive our hearts to obey You;

Live for You always.

May we love and serve You only,

Walking with You; 

Not a phony.

May we always tell the truth,

And show integrity.

Your true servants be.

Jesus, Savior, sanctify us.

Purify our hearts within us;

Be transformed into Your likeness,

Holy unto You.

May we always listen to You

Speaking Your words 

Now within us.

May we heed Your counsel to us;

Follow You today.

Do all that You say. 

https://vimeo.com/113979906 

Godly Grief or Worldly Grief?

“For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter.” (2 Corinthians 7:10-11 ESV)

The subject matter is the difference between godly grief and worldly grief. Worldly grief may have its temporary moments when someone may feel badly that he did something wrong, or that he got caught for doing wrong, or that someone was now upset with him for doing wrong, but if it doesn’t result in change of mind, and change of attitude, and change of behavior, and if that person just goes repeatedly right back into the same sins, especially without conscience or conviction, then that is worldly sorrow.

For repentance is not just a change of mind that doesn’t result in a change of attitude and behavior. True repentance involves us making a spiritual U-turn. We were going one direction, and now we turn, and now we go in the opposite direction. For this is what the Scriptures teach. And so you can’t just do “sin, confess, sin, confess” over again, or with no confession at all, and expect that God accepts that, or that those you are sinning against should just accept that as true sorrow for what you did wrong.

And I am certainly not claiming that we must be absolutely perfect or that we will never sin, but the Scriptures make it quite clear that if sin is our practice, and not righteousness and obedience to our Lord, we will not inherit eternal life with God, we are not in fellowship with God, we don’t know God, and we are liars if we say that we do. For we can’t walk in the light and in the darkness at the same time. Either sin is our practice or obedience and righteousness are our practice. We can’t have it both ways.

And so I like it that this passage of Scripture defines for us what godly grief and true repentance really look like. And many Scriptures give us a true picture of what godly grief and genuine repentance look like, too. For in Acts 3:19 it says, “Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out.” And Acts 26:20 says, “that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.”

And in 2 Corinthians 12:21 it says, “I fear that when I come again my God may humble me before you, and I may have to mourn over many of those who sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and sensuality that they have practiced.” The sense here is more than just a confession of wrongdoing, but it is of the need to change directions, and to stop the sinning that they were practicing, and to now do what is right.

And in 2 Timothy 2:25-26 it says, “…correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.” Again, this is about escaping the snare of the devil, escaping being captivated by sin and now walking in obedience to the Lord in holy living in obedience to God.

[Matt 3:8; Matt 4:17; Matt 11:20-21; Matt 12:41; Matt 21:28-31; Mk 1:15; Mk 6:12; Lu 5:32; Lu 13:3; Lu 15:2-8; Lu 24:47; Acts 3:19-20; Acts 5:30-31; Acts 8:22; Acts 11:17-18; Acts 17:29-31; Acts 19:18-20; Acts 20:21; Acts 26:18-20; Rom 2:4; 2 Co 7:8-10; 2 Co 12:21; Eph 4:17-32; 1 Thess 1:9-10; 2 Tim 2:24-26; 2 Pet 3:9; 1 Jn 1:5-10; Rev 2:5,16; Rev 3:3,19]

And Jesus said that if anyone would come after him that 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 walks of obedience to his commands (New Covenant), then we have eternal life. And he said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter into the kingdom of heaven but the one DOING the will of God.

And Paul wrote that by faith in Jesus Christ we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. So sin is no longer to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires, for if sin is what we obey, it will lead to death, but if obedience is what we obey, it leads to righteousness and to sanctification, and its end is eternal life.

And he wrote that the truth that is in Christ Jesus we should have been taught is “to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

[Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23; Romans 6:1-23; Ephesians 4:17-24]

And the grace of God, which is bringing us salvation, trains us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return. For Jesus Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Titus 2:11-14; Ephesians 2:10)

“For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.”

So, please understand that repentance is not just making a confession of sin only for you to go right back and keep repeating the same sins over again with no change, and with no reversal of mindset, attitude, and behavior. For it is not enough to just feel sorry that you sinned, but you must turn, you must change, you must go in the opposite direction as you had been going, and now you must follow the Lord Jesus in obedience and in righteousness or else you do not have salvation from sin and eternal life with God.

“See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears” (Hebrews 12:15-17 ESV).

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

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

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

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

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

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

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We've Wronged No One

“Make room in your hearts for us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one. I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. I am acting with great boldness toward you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy” (2 Corinthians 7:2-4 ESV).

What does it mean to wrong someone? It means to maltreat, abuse, oppress, cheat, defraud, and/or dishonor someone, particularly with willful and deliberate intent. And what does it mean to corrupt someone? It is a willingness to act dishonestly, to do what is unscrupulous, and to make deliberate alterations to something, i.e. to manipulate and falsify information. And what does it mean to take advantage of someone? It means to ask for or expect more than is fair or reasonable from someone or to use someone unfairly for personal gain or to exploit (abuse) someone.

These were the kinds of things the apostles were being accused of and which we might also be accused of when we are following Jesus Christ with our lives, and when we are speaking the truth, in love, to others, and when we are addressing sin issues in others which need to be resolved, which is what the apostles were apparently doing when they were falsely accused of wrongdoing. For we can have all good intentions, but sometimes when we try to help others it will backfire on us, and we may be treated as though we are the enemy while the true enemy is brought under no scrutiny at all.

There seemed to be some concern here that the Corinthian believers were perhaps believing and accepting the lies, and that they may have been withdrawing from the apostles to some extent, because of the rumors which were flying about them. And so Paul was asking that they make room in their hearts for the apostles and that they accept the fact that they had not done evil to anyone. For just because some people might take us in the wrong way or make judgments about us based on their own perceptions, it does not necessitate that any wrongful acts have been committed at all.

But he did not say this to condemn them. He was not accusing them of anything, but he definitely had cause for concern, which is why he was asking that they make room in their hearts for the apostles. And he did encourage them that they were in the hearts of the apostles, to die together and to live together. And then he commended them for something, and as we read further on down in the passage, it appears it had to do with their response to a letter he wrote them previously, which could have been the fact that, although grieved by his letter, it led them to repentance.

It is always great when things like this turn out in a good direction and not a bad one, when people who accuse others wrongfully of things they did not do, in the way they are being accused of doing them, when they are finally able to see clearly that no harm was intended, but only good, and no evil took place, and no lying, misleading, manipulation or dishonesty took place, but only what had good intentions for the good of others, and not to harm them. Sadly, it doesn’t always turn out that way, but it is wonderful when others can lay down their swords and relent from unfounded accusations.

But even if we are being accused falsely of things we did not do, we can rest assured that God is still sovereign over all he created, and he has a plan and a purpose for it all in our lives, and that if we are following him with our lives, he is working it all out for our good. And good doesn’t mean necessarily that we will no longer suffer, but that we will learn what we need to learn through our suffering so that we can grow to maturity in Christ through the things that we suffer and can be used of God in ways he could not use us before he took us through these trying times.

[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 Prayer

Written by David Foster, Carole Bayer Sager, 

Alberto Testa and Tony Renis

I pray you'll be our eyes

And watch us where we go

And help us to be wise

In times when we don't know

I pray we'll find your light

And hold it in our hearts

When the stars go out each night

Remind us where you are.

Let this be our prayer

When shadows fill our day

Lead us to a place

Guide us with your grace

To a place where we'll be safe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqFCbtRz1Z0

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God's Promises Have Conditions

 

Since We Have These Promises

“Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 7:1 ESV).

The first part of this passage of Scripture is in reference to the previous verses from 2 Corinthians 6:14-18. And, as with all of God’s promises, they have conditions. And what were the promises? God said that he will make his dwelling among us and walk among us and he will be our God and we will be his people, and he will be a father to us, and we will be his sons and daughters. But what are the conditions for those promises?

We are not to be unequally yoked together with those who are living in sin, who are the ungodly because what they practice is sin. We are not to be in partnership with them. We are not to be in fellowship with them, for what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness, and what fellowship has light with darkness? And what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever, i.e. with those who are still walking in darkness (sin) and who are not walking in obedience to our Lord?

So, we are to come out of their midst and to be separate from them, and we are to touch no unclean thing. And this means coming out of these market-driven “churches,” too, which are being led by worldly men who are following the marketing schemes and tricks and gimmicks of man instead of following the teachings of Christ and of his NT apostles, and who are altering the character of God/Christ, and of his church, and of his gospel to make them more appealing and acceptable to the ungodly and to human flesh.

We must not partner with them. We must not be in fellowship with them. We must not be in agreement with them. But we are to come out from among them and be separate (unlike, different) from them because we are being made to be like Jesus, if we are, indeed. And to touch no unclean thing means that we do not participate in evil, and we do not deliberately and habitually sin against the Lord, but we are to be walking in holiness and in righteousness and in obedience to our Lord, in the power of God.

And then we will have these promises. And that is why this is instructing us that we must cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God. And this means that we have to, if we haven’t already, cut out of our lives every avenue into sin that we know we might take if it is still available to us, and we have to search our own hearts and get rid of all that is stored up in our hearts that might lead us into sin, for it is out of the heart that all that evil comes.

Then we must surrender our lives to Jesus Christ to do his will and leave our lives of sin behind us to follow him in obedience. Then we have to renounce (say “NO!” to) all ungodliness and worldly and fleshly passions and desires, and by the grace of God we must now live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the power of God while we wait for our Lord’s soon return. For Jesus Christ gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

[Titus 2:11-14; Ephesians 2:8-10; Luke 9:23-26; Romans 6:1-23]

For to live holy lives pleasing to God has to do with us living in such a manner that is separate (unlike, different) from the world of sin, and we are to be becoming like Jesus Christ in godly character and morals and in purity of devotion to God and in holy living. We must be those who are walking (in conduct, in practice) in moral purity, uprightness, godliness, honesty, faithfulness, and righteousness in obedience to our Lord, in his power and strength and wisdom. And sin must no longer be what we practice.

For to walk in the fear of God is to honor him with our lives, to obey him and his commandments (New Covenant), to do what is honorable, and to love others as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us to set us free from our sins and to empower us to walk in godliness and in obedience to our Lord. And it is to believe God, to take him and his word seriously, and to not put him to the test, and to not ignore him and his commandments. And it is to believe his warnings to us, too, and then to live accordingly in holy living.

O The Deep, Deep Love Of Jesus 

Samuel Trevor Francis (1875), 

Welsh melody adapted by Thomas John Williams (1890)

O the deep, deep love of Jesus,

Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!

Rolling as a mighty ocean

In its fullness over me!

Underneath me, all around me,

Is the current of Thy love

Leading onward, leading homeward

To Thy glorious rest above!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus,

Spread His praise from shore to shore!

How He loveth, ever loveth,

Changeth never, nevermore!

How He watches o’er His loved ones,

Died to call them all His own;

How for them He intercedeth,

Watcheth o’er them from the throne!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus,

Love of every love the best!

’Tis an ocean vast of blessing,

’Tis a haven sweet of rest!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus,

’Tis a heaven of heavens to me;

And it lifts me up to glory,

For it lifts me up to Thee!

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

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Unequally Yoked with Unbelievers

“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,

“’I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,

    and I will be their God,

    and they shall be my people.

Therefore go out from their midst,

    and be separate from them, says the Lord,

and touch no unclean thing;

    then I will welcome you,

and I will be a father to you,

    and you shall be sons and daughters to me,

says the Lord Almighty’” (2 Corinthians 6:14-18 ESV).

How do the Scriptures define “unbelief”? They define “unbelief” as “disobedience to God and to his commands.” God said that the Israelites who wandered in the wilderness but who disobeyed him and who continued in their sins and in rebellion against him didn’t get to enter into God’s eternal rest because of their disobedience, because of their unbelief. And this was to serve as a warning to us so we don’t follow the same path of disobedience as they did (1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-16).

And Paul said that if we obey sin, it leads to death, but if we obey obedience, it leads to righteousness and to sanctification, and its end is eternal life. And he said that if sin is what we practice, that we will not inherit eternal life with God. And John said if we claim to be in fellowship with God/Christ, but while we walk (in conduct, in practice) in sin, we are liars. And if we claim to know God, but we do not obey his commandments (New Covenant), in practice, we are liars. And he said that whoever practices sinning is of the devil.

[Romans 6:1-23; Galatians 5:16-21; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Ephesians 5:3-6; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10, etc.]

Therefore, it is not a profession of faith in Jesus Christ that makes one a believer in Christ, but it is us dying with Christ to sin and us being raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness, in walks of obedience to his commands. So, if you continue in deliberate and habitual sin, and if obedience to the Lord and to his commandments is not your practice, then according to the Scriptures, you don’t know God. You are not born of God.

So, when this says for us to not be unequally yoked together with “unbelievers” this is not speaking just of those who make no profession of faith in Jesus Christ, but is speaking of all who are still walking in sin, in disobedience to the Lord, in living in immorality, lying, cheating, and stealing, and in committing adultery, and the like. We must not be in close fellowship and/or partnership with those who are living ungodly lives, but we are to come out from that fellowship or that partnership.

For we are called to come out from the world and to be separate (unlike, different) from the world, because we are to be becoming like Jesus. And we should not choose to partner with nor to be in fellowship with those who are ungodly. And I believe that includes church fellowships where they are not teaching the truth of the gospel and where they are giving people permission to keep on in deliberate and habitual sin, and where they are not exercising church discipline over those who are deliberately sinning against the Lord and against their spouses and/or the church, as a whole.

And then the Lord will welcome us, and he will be a father to us, and we will be his sons and daughters. For we can’t be in close fellowship with the ungodly and be in close fellowship with our Lord, too. For if we are truly in close fellowship with the ungodly, it means that we are doing the kinds of things that they do which are ungodly. For to partner with someone means to be united with that person in mind, heart, and in behaviors, too. It means to be in agreement with them. But if we are truly united with the Lord, the ungodly will not really want to be with us, anyway.

Open The Eyes Of My Heart  

By Paul Joseph Baloche

Open the eyes of my heart, Lord

Open the eyes of my heart

I want to see You

I want to see You

To see You high and lifted up

Shinin' in the light of Your glory

Pour out Your power and love

As we sing holy, holy, holy

Holy, holy, holy

We cry holy, holy, holy

You are holy, holy, holy

I want to see you

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vnqb7Vn4AEE

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Working Together with God

 

“Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says,

“‘In a favorable time I listened to you,

    and in a day of salvation I have helped you.’

“Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. We put no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything” 2 Corinthians 6:1-10 ESV

The apostles were working together with the Lord, and as such they were appealing to (exhorting) the Corinthians, who were part of the gatherings of the church there, to not receive the grace of God in vain. So, what does that mean exactly? Vain means to be ineffective, hopeless, unproductive, empty, and worthless (of no value or profit). And what is God’s grace to us? The Greek word xáris (favor) has to do with God/Christ freely extended to give himself away to us. And Jesus did this by dying on that cross for our sins.

But what does his death on that cross and his resurrection from the dead mean for us who believe in him? If our faith in him is genuine faith, we are crucified and buried with him in death to sin, and we are raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. Thus, we are no longer to let sin reign in our mortal bodies to where we obey its desires, for if sin is what we obey it will lead to death, not to life eternal (Romans 6:1-23).

And how else is grace defined for us in the Scriptures? God’s grace, and even the faith to believe in him, are God’s gifts to us. But God’s grace, which is bringing us salvation, trains us to renounce (say “NO!” to) ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return. For Jesus Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” (see Titus 2:11-14; cf. Ephesians 2:8-10).

So, if we receive God’s grace in vain, then we have not been crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with him to walk in newness of life in him in holiness and in righteousness and in obedience to his commands (New Covenant), but we just made a pretense of faith in Jesus Christ. And we are not denying self and dying daily to sin and walking in obedience to our Lord, as he commands. And we are not zealous to do the works of the Lord which he had planned out in advance that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10).

Yet, since our salvation is progressive (saved, being saved, will be saved), and our salvation will not be complete until the Lord returns for his faithful bride and he takes her to be with him for eternity, biblically it appears possible that those who may have begun well with the Lord can later on fall away beyond recovery and lose their lives. For the Scriptures are very clear that sin must not be our practice, but obedience to our Lord, and that we must continue in these walks of faith unto the very end to be saved.

[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] 

And what does it mean to put no obstacle in anyone’s way so that no fault may be found with our ministry? The word translated “obstacle” means “an occasion of stumbling.” And to stumble is to disobey the word of God. So there should be nothing in what we share or teach from God’s word that would be a cause to lead someone into sin. For many preachers today are teaching watered-down and altered gospel messages which are giving their adherents free license to continue in deliberate and habitual sin.

But we should be those who are teaching the truth of the gospel as Jesus and as his NT apostles taught it and not as so many are teaching it today which is giving people permission to keep sinning against God while they claim heaven as their eternal destiny. For the Scriptures are quite clear that if we walk in sin, and not in obedience to our Lord, and not in righteousness, we will not inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what faith our lips have professed. So it is possible to receive God’s grace in vain. Don’t do that!

And we who teach the truth of the gospel must stay the course regardless of how we are treated in return. And we must be diligent to make certain that we are living what we are teaching, and that we are not being hypocritical, but that we are living morally pure, upright, godly, holy, honest, faithful, and obedient lives to the glory and praise of God, and in his power and strength and wisdom, and that we are not leading, by example, in a way of living which is contrary to the will of God and to the teachings of his word.

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

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

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

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

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

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

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Be Ye Reconciled to God

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:17-21 ESV).

When we read this passage of Scripture we need to read it in the context of the whole of Scripture, particularly Scriptures which teach the message of the gospel of Christ. For many are perverting this to say that if you make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ that you are now “in Christ” and that all your sins are forgiven (past, present, and future), and you are on your way to heaven guaranteed, that nothing can take that away from you, but regardless of how you live. Just not true!

Notice with me the “if” clause. This is conditional. If you are in Christ then… And since Paul made an appeal here to the Corinthians to be reconciled to God, the message appears that at least that some of them had not yet been reconciled to God, or if they had, they had since fallen away and needed to be brought back into fellowship with the Lord. So, we are going to take a look here at what these words mean so that we have a better understanding of what the message is here.

So, if you are truly one who is “in Christ,” the old you should have passed away and the new you should have come into being. For when we believe in Jesus Christ with genuine God-given faith, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to righteousness. So sin is to no longer have mastery over our lives to where we obey its desires, for if sin is what we obey, it leads to death, not to life eternal (see Romans 6:1-23).

And while this is true that all this is from God, and it is God’s gift to us, and it is not of our own doing, that gift has conditions, for that gift of grace trains us to renounce (say “NO!” to) ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return. For Jesus Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” (see Titus 2:11-14; Ephesians 2:8-10).

So, what does it mean to be reconciled to God? It means I change, exchange; properly, decisively change, as when two parties reconcile when changing to the same position; usually used in a redemptive sense of a sinner reconciling to the Lord; to change from enmity with God to friendship, fellowship, partnership with God. It is about exchanging the old life for the new life in Christ Jesus, which is what it talks about in Romans 6:1-23 and in Ephesians 4:17-24 and in Luke 9:23-26, etc.

So, we can’t just make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ and consider that all our sins, even future sins, are all forgiven and thus we can keep on in deliberate and habitual sin and that it will not be held against us. Wrong! For Jesus said if we don’t give up our old lives that we will lose them for eternity (Luke 9:23-26). And the Scriptures teach that if we continue in sin, making sin our practice, and if righteousness and obedience to our Lord are not what we practice, that we 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 not saved one time, good to go, regardless of how we live. If we are truly in Christ, having truly been reconciled to God, then we are saved (past), we are being saved (present active), and we will be saved (future) when Jesus Christ returns for his bride which is when our salvation will be complete, and not until then, but provided that we walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit, and that we continue in those walks of faith and in obedience to the Lord unto the very end.

[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] 

So, when this says that God the Father made Jesus Christ to be sin for us, who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God, he is not talking about some kind of status. He is talking about us living holy lives, pleasing to God, in walks of obedience to his commands (New Covenant) and us no longer walking in sin. We are not to be those who are living in sexual immorality, lying, cheating, stealing, and committing adultery, etc., but we are to live in moral purity, honesty, and faithfulness.

So, when this says “Be reconciled to God” it means to surrender your old life to Jesus Christ, forsake your lives of sin and now follow Jesus Christ in obedience to his commands and in holy living. And keep on living that way until Jesus comes back to take his faithful ones to be with him for eternity. Do not continue in deliberate and habitual sin or you will die in your sins because you did not die to your sins. So, repent of your sins today, surrender your life to Christ, and obey him from now on and forevermore.

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

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

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

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

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

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

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