Trusting in the Lord Without Wavering

“Vindicate me, O Lord,

    for I have walked in my integrity,

    and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.

Prove me, O Lord, and try me;

    test my heart and my mind.

For your steadfast love is before my eyes,

    and I walk in your faithfulness.

“I do not sit with men of falsehood,

    nor do I consort with hypocrites.

I hate the assembly of evildoers,

    and I will not sit with the wicked.

“I wash my hands in innocence

    and go around your altar, O Lord,

proclaiming thanksgiving aloud,

    and telling all your wondrous deeds.” (Psalms 26:1-7 ESV)

When we are following Jesus Christ with our lives, in walks of faithfulness and holiness and in obedience to our Lord and to his commands (New Covenant), in practice, we are going to have enemies who are our Lord’s enemies, in reality. And many of them are those who profess faith in Jesus Christ, but not in truth and in righteousness, for they are still living according to the flesh and in sinful desires, and not according to the truth of God’s word, and not according to his commands (New Covenant).

Many are they who are teaching lies and/or are those who are believing the lies of the enemy, and so they are living not much different from the world at all, for they are still walking according to the flesh and not according to the Spirit. And the lies which are permeating the American church today are telling the people that they can make a profession of faith in Christ, have all their sins forgiven, and be on their way to heaven, but regardless of how they live. But that just isn’t biblical teaching. It is a lie from hell!

For Jesus said that if we are to come after him, we must deny self, take up our 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 walk in obedience to his commands, then we have eternal life in him. For he also said that not everyone who calls him “Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING the will of God the Father (Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

And the Scriptures teach us that Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, and that we might now live for him, and no longer for self. He shed his blood on that cross to buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of our lives of slavery to sin so that we will now honor God with our bodies in walks of moral purity, uprightness, honesty, faithfulness, and integrity. For Jesus died that we would be crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with him to now walk in newness of life in him in service to our Lord.

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

But those who are teaching and/or who are believing the lies may be convinced that we are the liars, and that we are the enemy to be fought against, for they have had the lies ingrained in them from childhood, or perhaps they have bought into them more recently. But either way they are convinced that the lies are the truth and that the truth is the lie and that they are to reject what they view as the lie, which is really the truth, and so they will also come against us who are teaching the truth.

But regardless of how others perceive us, which may be based off their own misperceptions of right and wrong, we need to be people of integrity who hold fast to the word of truth, taught in context. And we are not to let the opinions of others or their rejection of us persuade us to waver in opinion with regard to the truth of the Scriptures. But we need to be students of the Scriptures who read them in their context, and then who are walking in that truth in our daily lives, and not those who hold on to traditions of man.

But we need to guard against believing lies, too. So we need to be those who are diligent before the Lord in rightly handling the word of truth, in context, and who do not stubbornly hold on to what we have always been taught, just because we were taught that from childhood. We need to be willing to examine the Scriptures in context to make certain that what we are following is indeed the truth and not the lies that so many are following these days. And then we can speak with confidence with regard to the truth.

And then we need to not only be those who confidently share the truth as we understand it, but who are living the truth that we profess with our lips, too. So we need to be people who walk in integrity, who are trusting in the Lord without wavering, who have had our hearts and minds tested and tried of the Lord, and whose love for our Lord is steadfast in walks of faithfulness to him and to his commands. This doesn’t make us perfect people, but we are to no longer be walking in sin, but righteousness must be our practice.

And for this to be accomplished in our lives, by the Spirit, we need to also be people of God who do not take part in falsehood, and who do not consort with hypocrites, and who despise the assembly of evildoers, and who do not cohort with the wicked. But we are to be people of God who follow our Lord in obedience, and who walk in his ways and in his truth, and who are who we say we are, and who not only live the truth we profess but who are sharing that truth with others so they can come to know him, too.

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

As the Deer 

By Martin J. Nystrom

Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water

 So my soul longeth after You

 You alone are my heart's desire

 And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield

 To You alone may my spirit yield

 You alone are my heart's desire

 And I long to worship You

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZv3jzOTE70

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