With Regard to Your Way of Life

“Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!

    Serve the Lord with gladness!

    Come into his presence with singing!

Know that the Lord, he is God!

    It is he who made us, and we are his;

    we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving,

    and his courts with praise!

    Give thanks to him; bless his name!

For the Lord is good;

    his steadfast love endures forever,

    and his faithfulness to all generations.” (Psalms 100:1-5 ESV)

War, politics, lies, betrayal, the murdering of innocents, our young men and women in uniform dying on a battlefield via men of power; takeovers of nations, riots and lawlessness, sin abounding, the church asleep or complacent for the most part; the gospel diluted, and do we even notice? 

Through all that is going on in this world of ours, Jesus is gently calling us to Him to make him Lord (master) of our lives. The good news is that God is in absolute control over all things, and he will work it all out for our good. We need to pray much for our nation.

 

“Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods” (Ps. 40:4).

“So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.

 

“You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:17-24).

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

You Have Made it a Den of Robbers

“And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, ‘Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.’

“And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, saying to them, ‘It is written, “My house shall be a house of prayer,” but you have made it a den of robbers.’

“And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him, but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on his words.” (Luke 19:41-48 ESV)

We live in a day and time, at least here in America, where good is being called evil, and evil is being called good. And many are abandoning the faith, in practice, though not necessarily in profession, and in order to follow after the liars and their lies. For the lies make peace with their sins. The lies do not confront them in their sins and call them to repentance and to obedient walks of faith in Jesus Christ. For the lies tell them that they can “believe” in Jesus, have all their sins forgiven, be on their way to heaven, but regardless of how they live. But that is not the gospel that Jesus taught.

“The church” is now regarded as a building or as a church denomination or as a civic center or a social club or as a house of entertainment or as a business incorporated under the state now being marketed to the world just like any other man-created business which is being led by marketing schemes and goals and missions. But that is not the biblical church. The biblical church is the people of God, the universal body of believers in Jesus Christ who have died with him to sin and who are living to his righteousness. And we, as the body, are all ministers who are to be helping one another.

But what has largely happened is that Christians down through the generations have turned “the church” into a den of robbers (a business, a marketplace), which is against God’s will and purpose for his church. And so many of them now are modeling their gatherings after the same business role model for how to grow “their churches” (their businesses), and so marketing books and goals and missions are replacing the Holy Spirit and the Scriptures and God’s goal and mission and purpose for his church.

And so much of what is called “church” are these businesses of human-origin that do not resemble the biblical body of Christ, largely because they are not of God, Christ is not their head, and they are a conglomerates of people professing faith in Jesus Christ who give lip service only to God but who are living worldly lives, and those who make no professions of faith in Jesus Christ, and those of genuine walks of faith in the Lord who are doing his will and who are following him in obedience to his ways.

And so they do not operate as the biblical body of Christ for, as a whole, they are not his true body, and because the “churches” themselves are these businesses being run by those who are following marketing plans and goals and schemes. And it appears, at least here in America, that there are few gatherings of the true body of Christ being operated as the biblical body of Christ “with every part doing its work.” For our work is to do the work and will of God not the work and will of human beings.

And so the character of God/Christ, and of his gospel, and of his church, are all being altered to make them more acceptable and appealing to human flesh and to the ungodly of this world. And the character of Jesus Christ is right now under massive alterations via movies, TV shows, the internet, social media, advertisements, cartoons, “Christian” song lyrics, and the like. And this is in addition to all the marketing schemes being used in these gatherings of what are called “churches.” 

And so our Lord is indeed weeping over the spiritual condition of “the church” here in America which has largely drifted away from God’s will and purpose for her on this earth and has become so worldly. And I believe that “the church” here in America is already under the judgment of God, and part of that judgment has been him handing her over to her own devices (like in Romans 1:18-32). But he will most certainly come against her in judgment as he promised the five (of the seven) churches in Revelation 2-3.

So, please take this to heart, for the Scriptures teach us that it is a “fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (see Hebrews 10:26-31). And they teach that if sin is what we practice, and not obedience to our Lord and to his commands, and not walks of holiness and righteousness, that we will not inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what our lips profess. For Jesus said that not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING the will of God the Father (Matthew 7:21-23).

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-11; 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]

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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If These Were Silent

And when he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, saying, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’” 

So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them. And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. 

As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” (Luke 19:28-40 ESV)

This historical event was prophesied in Zechariah 9:9 ESV:

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!

    Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!

Behold, your king is coming to you;

    righteous and having salvation is he,

humble and mounted on a donkey,

    on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

So, the Lord Jesus had need of the donkey, for this was to fulfill prophecy regarding the Christ (the Messiah) who had been promised and who had now come in the person of Jesus Christ. He was fully God and fully human when he lived upon the earth. For Jesus always was with God, and he is God, and although he was born of a human mother, he was conceived of the Holy Spirit, and thus his birth Father was God the Father. So Jesus was not born with a sin nature, in the image of Adam, as we are. And all the while he lived on the earth he never sinned, although he was tempted to sin of the devil.

Now Jesus had 12 men who he had chosen to follow him in ministry, but they were not his only disciples (followers). He had many other people, both men and women, and probably children, too, who followed him as their Lord and Messiah, at least temporarily they all did. And so as the Lord rode this donkey into the city of Jerusalem, this multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen the Lord do. And they said, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

So, the people were proclaiming that Jesus Christ was indeed the promised Messiah of Israel, their long awaited King. But some of the Pharisees, most of whom were opposed to Jesus Christ, asked that Jesus rebuke his disciples, that he silence them in their words of adoration and praise and thanksgiving to God for the coming of their Messiah. But Jesus’ response to them was, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” Amen! I love that part!!

Does the Lord Jesus need us humans? He doesn’t need us in the sense that he can’t do it himself or that he has to have us helping him out for him to be able to accomplish his work on the earth. For even if we are silenced, the very stones will cry out when God makes them cry out. But it is in God’s plan and purpose that he should use us humans to do his work and to carry out his purposes. And he created us for that purpose, not because he needs us but because he wants us, which is why he created us. 

And presently we are living in a day and time when many hypocrites, like the Pharisees, want us silenced. And so they are going to great efforts to try to discourage others from listening to us and in order to dissuade them from following the truth of the gospel in order to go after a lie. But if they silence us who are the Lord’s true servants and messengers, the Lord can make the rocks cry out. That is not going to stop God, which is what they are trying to do. They cannot conquer the Lord Jesus. He will always prevail! Amen!

So, if you are being silenced, or if you are in a situation where it appears that will take place very soon, just know that our God is fully sovereign over all things, and nothing can thwart his purposes. What he purposes he will do despite all the opposition against him and against his gospel and against his messengers. So, just keep speaking, and don’t be silent. Keep sharing the truth of the gospel, and please be discerning of the lies, for the lies are what are permeating the church overall here in America.

So keep telling the people that Jesus died on that cross so that we will die with him to sin and live to his righteousness, and so we will live for him and no longer for ourselves. Keep telling them that he shed 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 honor God with our bodies. And keep telling them that he died that we might be raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to righteousness. And don’t forget to tell them that if sin is what we practice, and not obedience to our Lord, that we will not inherit eternal life with God. This is critical we get this!

[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 3:1-11; 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]

Should I Not Preach Jesus 

An Original Work / July 4, 2013

Based off 1 Corinthians 9:16-10:13

Woe to me should I not preach Jesus.

I’m compelled to preach the full gospel.

I make myself a slave to ev’ryone

To win their hearts to Christ.

All this I do for my Lord Jesus,

And for the sake of His Name;

Do it for the sake of His gospel,

So that I, its blessings gain.

Scripture notates the sins of others;

Written down for us as examples

To keep us from setting our hearts 

On evil as did those of old.

Do not worship other gods of man;

Do not give your hearts to them;

Not partake in immorality.

Do not test your Lord and King.

So, be careful if you think you are

Standing firm in your faith in Jesus.

God has given his word to warn us, 

So through faith we will not fall.

No temptation has o’ertaken you

Except what is commonplace.

God is faithful to not let you be

Tempted past what you can bear.

He gives the way of escape. 

https://vimeo.com/116057811 

Deliver Me, O Lord, from Lying Lips

“In my distress I called to the Lord,

    and he answered me.

Deliver me, O Lord,

    from lying lips,

    from a deceitful tongue.

“What shall be given to you,

    and what more shall be done to you,

    you deceitful tongue?

A warrior's sharp arrows,

    with glowing coals of the broom tree!

“Woe to me, that I sojourn in Meshech,

    that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!

Too long have I had my dwelling

    among those who hate peace.

I am for peace,

    but when I speak, they are for war!” (Psalms 120:1-7 ESV)

We now live in a day and age where lying lips are pretty much everywhere you look – in our national governments, among world leaders, in the media (in general), in the news, in sports, in entertainment, and within the gatherings of what are called “churches,” and via their preachers’ sermons (messages or talks). Lying lips are in all sorts of social media memes, movies, videos (especially short ones), song lyrics (including “Christian” song lyrics), cartoons, advertisements, and the like.

Deception is one of the largest means of these lying lips, for here they may not tell an outright lie (obvious lie) but they may give a false impression (or a misimpression) which is an indirect lie, but which is still a lie. These are harder to prove because the lies are hidden and indirect, and so this is a very popular way in which the lies are being told today. And one of the means of these lies is via teaching Scriptures out of context and thus having them say what they don’t say if they are taught in context.

One example of this is Ephesians 2:8-9 which is absent of verse 10. So they end up teaching that God requires no works of us at all. But that isn’t what it says. We are not saved of our own doing, of our own fleshly works. We can do nothing to earn or to deserve our own salvation. So we don’t get to choose what that salvation looks like, either. But “we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (verse 10). So works are indeed required of us.

Another one is John 10:28-30 which leaves out verse 27. They begin with verse 28 and they teach that everyone who makes a profession of faith in Jesus Christ has now been given eternal life in Christ, that they will never perish, and that no one and nothing can ever snatch them out of God’s hand. But verse 27 says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” And then it goes on and says, “I give THEM eternal life…” So, it is those who are listening to the Lord and who are following him in obedience who have eternal life, not those who just give lip service.

But not all the lies are in words. Many of them are in images and videos and movies and anything pictorial, all of which now can be altered and doctored and photo-shopped to make them appear one way while they may be something altogether different. So just because you think you see it, that doesn’t mean it is true or that it really happened that way. They can even create a video with you in it committing a crime that you did not commit, if they want to ruin your life. So we can’t believe everything we see or hear or read, for all can be faked and manipulated and altered to tell lies.

So, this calls for much spiritual discernment. Especially we should not be believing everything we see or hear in the news or from our government heads or in social media memes and movies depicting biblical subjects. Especially the character of Jesus Christ is currently being manipulated via all sorts of media – movies, TV series, videos, advertisements (“He gets us”), cartoons, and song lyrics, and the like. So we must be students of the Scriptures who study them in context and who are in the habit of testing everything we read, hear, or see against the Scriptures and in prayer.

So, who are those who hate peace? They are all those who sow discord and who willfully lie, manipulate, distort, and deceive people to get them fighting with one another over things that possibly don’t even exist, in reality. For example, political left and right, at least here in America, is man-created, and in order to keep us at odds with one another. In reality they do not exist. They are just two sides of the same whole, and that whole is a one world order consisting of people of many nations working to destroy independent nations in order to bring us all under a one world government.

And political left and right is not the only faction that they use to divide the people so that they can conquer them. They willfully incite factions of all different kinds in order to always keep things stirred up and the people distracted and entertained and at odds with one another. It is the whole “divide and conquer” scenario which is being used on us, the people, and it is working. It is also the “order out of chaos” scenario at work. First they create the problem, and then they come to the “rescue” with their preconceived “solution” to our problem. It is where this is all headed.

So be people of discernment, and before you just believe what you hear or read or see, test it against the Scriptures taught IN CONTEXT, and test it before the Lord, in prayer, seeking his guidance and counsel and wisdom to know what is truth and what are lies, for they are not all easily discernable. Let the Holy Spirit and the Word of God lead you into all truth, and don’t put your faith and trust solely in any human being, no matter who that person is. For no human is infallible. Even some of the seemingly godliest among us have turned out, in the past, to be some of the wickedest. Test them all!!

[Matthew 7:15-23; Matthew 24:11-14; John 10:1-15; 2 Corinthians 11:13-15; Philippians 3:2; 2 Peter 2:1-22; 1 Timothy 1:3-7; 1 Timothy 6:3-10; 2 Timothy 3:1-9; 1 John 4:1-6; Jude 1:1-25] 

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 

Caution: This link may contain ads

Share in Suffering for the Gospel

“Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do. 

“But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me. Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.” (2 Timothy 1:8-14 ESV)

We who are followers of Jesus Christ are not to be ashamed of the message of the gospel of our salvation, the testimony about our Lord Jesus Christ. And we are not to be ashamed of his true servants and messengers who are speaking the truth of the gospel to the people, either. But please make sure these messengers truly are speaking the truth and not the lies, for the lies are what so many are teaching as the gospel these days, at least here in America. And the lies will appear Scriptural, but they are largely based off Scriptures which are being taught outside their appropriate context.

So, what is this gospel that we are not to be ashamed of and that we are to suffer for? It is first of all that God the Father sent his only begotten Son Jesus Christ (God the Son) to the earth to be born as a human baby, to live to manhood, to minister to the needs of the people, to share with them his gospel message, to be hated and rejected by the religious leaders, and ultimately to be put to death on a cross. But in his death, he who knew no sin became sin for us that we, by genuine God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ, might become the righteousness of God in our daily practice.

And it is that this faith which is required of us for salvation from sin and for eternal life with God is of God, it is persuaded of God, and it is gifted to us by God, and it is not of our own doing – not of the will nor of the flesh of man. Jesus Christ is the author and the perfecter of our faith, and we can’t even come to faith in Jesus Christ unless God the Father first draws us to Christ, i.e. unless he first persuades us as to his holiness and righteousness and of our sinfulness, and of our need to repent of (turn from) our sins to now follow him in walks of obedience to his commands in holy living.

[John 1:1-36; John 3:16-21; Philippians 2:5-11; 2 Corinthians 5:15,21; Hebrews 12:1-2; John 6:44; Ephesians 2:8-10; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:1-32]

And now we read in Romans 6:1-23 that, by this faith in Jesus Christ, we were crucified and buried with Christ in death to sin, and we were raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness, no longer to live as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. For we are to no longer let sin reign in our mortal bodies to obey its desires, for if sin is what we obey, it leads to death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it leads to righteousness and to sanctification, and its end is eternal life with Jesus Christ our Lord.

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 to self) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for the sake of Jesus we deny self, die daily to sin, and follow him in obedience in holy living, then we have eternal life. And he said that not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING the will of God the Father who is in heaven. And many will hear, “I never knew you, depart from me you workers of lawlessness.”

[Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23; cf. Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Galatians 5:16-21; Ephesians 4:17-24; Ephesians 5:3-6; Colossians 3:1-11; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10]

Now, it is true that we are not saved by our own fleshly works. Not one of us is saved by our own merit, by the good deeds that we do in the flesh. Even the faith to believe in Jesus is not of our own doing but is a gift from God. But by that faith we must be 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 as slaves to God and to his righteousness. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Romans 6:1-23; Ephesians 2:10; cf. Titus 2:14).

And our Lord saved us to a holy calling. And we are to be holy in all of our conduct (1 Peter 1:13-16). And to be holy means to be separate (unlike, different) from the world because we are being conformed to the likeness of character of Jesus Christ. So we are to be people of integrity who live holy, upright, godly, morally pure, honest, and faithful lives to our Lord in walks of obedience to his commands, for to this we have been called. But if, instead, sin is what we practice, and not obedience to our Lord, then we will not inherit eternal life with God (see all Scriptures referenced above).

So, this is the gospel message that we are to be sharing with others and that we are to be living, as followers of Jesus Christ. And when we do both, we are going to have people, even others who profess faith in Jesus Christ, who will turn against us, who will want nothing to do with us, who will shun us, and ignore us, and abandon us, and who will delete us out of their lives. And some of them may come against us and fight us and attack us, too. But we must stay the course and keep on living for the Lord and keep sharing his gospel message so that many others can come to know Jesus, too.

Should I Not Preach Jesus 

An Original Work / July 4, 2013

Based off 1 Corinthians 9:16-10:13

Woe to me should I not preach Jesus.

I’m compelled to preach the full gospel.

I make myself a slave to ev’ryone

To win their hearts to Christ.

All this I do for my Lord Jesus,

And for the sake of His Name;

Do it for the sake of His gospel,

So that I, its blessings gain.

Scripture notates the sins of others;

Written down for us as examples

To keep us from setting our hearts 

On evil as did those of old.

Do not worship other gods of man;

Do not give your hearts to them;

Not partake in immorality.

Do not test your Lord and King.

So, be careful if you think you are

Standing firm in your faith in Jesus.

God has given his word to warn us, 

So through faith we will not fall.

No temptation has o’ertaken you

Except what is commonplace.

God is faithful to not let you be

Tempted past what you can bear.

He gives the way of escape. 

https://vimeo.com/116057811

What's Your Purpose?

What’s Your Purpose? Why you be?

Are you trapped? Or are you free?

In and out is where you are?

Sometimes nearer? Sometimes far?

Broken record played each time?

Nothing changes, not in time?

Worn out efforts do not work

So you angry? So you irk?

What’s the purpose, shrink from all?

You no courage? You no gall?

Run away is your escape?

You’re just playing same old tape.

This goes nowhere, never has,

Broken record, same old jazz. 

Time is passing, passing by,

One day you are gonna die.

Make decision, make it now,

To stop passing, passing ball.

Face the music, face it well,

So you don’t end up in hell.

An Original Work / February 28, 2024

Fan Into Flame the Gift of God Within You

“I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” (2 Timothy 1:1-7 ESV)

For all of us who are followers of Jesus Christ, God has a plan and a purpose for our lives which he had planned for our lives from even before he laid the foundations of the earth, and even before we were formed in the wombs of our mothers. God created us with a very specific plan and purpose in mind, part of which is his plan for all who follow him in truth, and part of which is his specific calling on our individual lives. And we are to be the people of God that he created us to be in his power, strength, and wisdom.

With regard to his general purpose for all of us, it is that he saved us and he called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began. He has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him (2 Timothy 1:8-9; Ephesians 1:3-4). And to be holy is to be separate (unlike, different) from the world because we are being conformed to the likeness of character of Jesus Christ.

For we are those whom God has called according to his purpose. And his purpose is that we die to sin and now live for him in walks of righteousness and obedience to him. And those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. So, as obedient children, we are not to be conformed to the passions of our former ignorance, but as he who called us is holy, we are also to be holy in all our conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (Romans 8:28-29; Romans 6:1-23; 1 Peter 1:14-16)

But, then like I said, he has a very specific purpose for each of us individually, as well. Like we read in Psalms 139:13-16, we learn that it is God who formed our inward parts. It is God who knit us together in the wombs of our mothers. And his works are wonderful. But he didn’t put all of us in homes where we were loved and cared for as we should have been. Some of us were severely abused as children and were emotionally neglected, and so we didn’t feel loved at home, even if we did know that God loved us, which was then a comfort to us.

But that was no accident. That was the home and family he chose for us to be raised in for his purposes. It doesn’t mean that he incited evil against us or that he supported such evil, but that he allowed us to endure such evil for his purposes in order to make us into the people he wanted us to be for his purposes and for his glory. For this Psalm also states that “in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” None of us are here by accident. And we have all had the histories we have had to prepare us for the present.

And then we read in Jeremiah 1:5 God’s words to Jeremiah: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” And this fits with what we read in Psalms 139. But Jeremiah felt ill-equipped for what God had called him to do, and so the Lord let him know that he was to go to whomever God sent him, and he was to say whatever God gave him to say, and he was not to be afraid of the people and of their response to him, for the Lord would deliver him. 

[Jeremiah 1:1-19; Psalms 139:13-16; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:6-7; Romans 6:15-21; Romans 8:28-29; 1 Corinthians 1:9; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; Galatians 5:13; Ephesians 1:3-4; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8; 2 Timothy 1:8-9; Hebrews 10:26-31; 1 Peter 1:14-16; 1 Peter 2:9; 2 Peter 1:3] 

And all this fits with what Paul said to Timothy about God’s calling upon his life and how he was to fan into flame the gift of God on his life, and that he was not to be afraid, for the Lord gives us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. And God is reminding us, too, that he has given each of his followers a specific calling that he has for us to do, and that we are to “fan into flame” those callings and those ministries and the giftedness of God to be able to do what he has called us to do. And we are not to be afraid of the people and what they will do to us or say about us.

And if we don’t know what God’s specific calling is upon our lives, then we should pray and ask him to make it known to us, and then we must yield to God’s will and purpose for our lives, even if we largely get hated and rejected in return. And we can’t worry about all the “what ifs” because we have no control over most things in this life. The only thing we really have control over is our own lives and the choices that we make, either to follow Jesus with our lives or to continue to live our lives for our own fleshly desires. We just have to step out in faith, take it one day at a time, and trust the Lord to guide us and to empower us every step of the way.

But the main thing here is to know that we are not on this earth for no reason, and we are not here just to please ourselves. We are here to live for the Lord and to please him with our lives and to do his will, and not to please other humans. For if our lives are truly surrendered to Jesus Christ to do his will, then we are going to be hated and rejected and cast aside as he was because we are living for the Lord and because we are speaking the truth of this gospel and because we are refuting the lies of the enemy, and so the enemy is going to be fiercely against us. So our trust must be firmly in the Lord and in the truth of his word, and we must rest in him.

Not Be Silent 

An Original Work / December 3, 2012

Based off Psalm 30 

O Lord my God, I’ll exalt You.

I called for help, 

And You healed me.

O Lord my God, 

You brought me from the grave. 

You spared me from hell.

Sing to the Lord, you saints of His;

Praise His holy name today.

Weeping may remain for a night; 

Joy at break of day.

Our debt He did pay!

O Lord my God, I said, “I will 

Ne’er be shaken.” Secure, I felt.

O Lord my God, You forgave me.

Confident I stand in You.

When I could not see

Your face I was dismayed.

I called to You. O Lord, 

You are my help.

You were merciful to me;

By Your grace set free!

O Lord my God, I’m so thankful for

Salvation through my Jesus.

You turned wailing into dancing;

Clothed me with Your joy today,

That my heart may sing

To You and not be silent.

Praise Your name.

O Lord my God,

I will give you 

thanks forevermore.

My Lord, I adore!

https://vimeo.com/117908145 

A Perverted Heart Devises Evil

The Sluggard

6 Go to the ant, O sluggard;

    consider her ways, and be wise.

9 How long will you lie there, O sluggard?

    When will you arise from your sleep?

12 A worthless person, a wicked man,

    goes about with crooked speech,

13 winks with his eyes, signals with his feet,

    points with his finger,

14 with perverted heart devises evil,

    continually sowing discord;

15 therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly;

    in a moment he will be broken beyond healing. (Proverbs 6:6,9,12-15 ESV)

A sluggard is a person who is idle, lazy, loafing, apathetic, and lethargic. In the New Testament we are encouraged to admonish the one who claims to be a brother or a sister in Christ but who is idle. And we are also warned to keep away from a brother or a sister who is walking (in conduct, in practice) in idleness (1 Thessalonians 5:14; 2 Thessalonians 3:6). 

For as followers of Christ, even if we are living off of our retirement money and no longer have to work for pay, we are still to be doing the work of the Lord that he has called us to do. For our lives now belong to God/Jesus, and we are his possession, and he is our Lord (Owner-Master), and so we are to be working for him full-time and not for ourselves.

Yet, many who are professing faith in Jesus Christ are being spiritually lazy (slothful), and their lives are not dedicated to the Lord and to his service but to serving self. They are all caught up in the ways of this sinful world and its desires, and so they are neglecting to follow after the desires that the Lord has for their lives, for which he created them and planned to use them.

And since their minds are set on the flesh and on pleasing the flesh and not on God and on his requirements for their lives, they waste away their lives which could be lived for the Lord by doing what their flesh wants, instead. And so they don’t have the mind of Christ, and thus they are following what their perverted hearts desire, instead.

Now this says that calamity will come upon him suddenly. In a moment he will be broken beyond healing. Now this could be at the coming of the Lord when he returns to judge and to take his faithful ones to be with him for eternity. For that will be sudden and without warning. But this might also happen in someone’s lifetime on this earth when the Lord says, “Enough is enough!” and he decides that the person needs to be judged in some way.

Things God Hates

16 There are six things that the Lord hates,

    seven that are an abomination to him:

17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue,

    and hands that shed innocent blood,

18 a heart that devises wicked plans,

    feet that make haste to run to evil,

19 a false witness who breathes out lies,

    and one who sows discord among brothers. (Proverbs 6:16-19 ESV)

I hate these things, too. For as followers of Christ we are to love what he loves, and we are to hate what he hates. Now we are not to hate other human beings, not even our enemies. We are to love our enemies and pray for them and do good to them and we are to bless them, i.e. to do for them and to say to them what is beneficial for them in the eyes of the Lord.

But we are to hate lies and lying tongues and false witnesses who breathe out lies (anything to do with lies and deception and manipulation and misimpressions and subliminal messages, etc.). We are to hate pride and selfishness and godlessness and murder and adultery and evil plots which are divisive and which end up hurting other people intentionally. 

Those Who Commit Adultery

23 For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light,

    and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,

24 to preserve you from the evil woman,

    from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.

25 Do not desire her beauty in your heart,

    and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes.

32 He who commits adultery lacks sense;

    he who does it destroys himself.

33 He will get wounds and dishonor,

    and his disgrace will not be wiped away. (Proverbs 6:23-25,32-33 ESV)

Those who commit adultery are not just those who are married to one person but who have sex with someone else to whom they are not married. Jesus said that “everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:27-28). So adultery does not require a physical act to take place, for it can take place in a person’s heart if he/she looks at another with lustful intent.

Therefore this can include but is not limited to just sexual fantasies and the viewing of sexually suggestive and/or explicit movies or videos or cartoons, and to self-gratification, flirtations, extramarital affairs, and romantic movies, particularly where adultery is romanticized. For if you find yourself lusting after a movie actor or actress, it is still lust, and so it is still adultery. And we are to be faithful to God and to our spouses in every way.

So, the person who commits adultery even once lacks sense. But the person who commits adultery as a continual life practice definitely lacks more than just sense, but that person is lacking in a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ, for he or she is lacking in integrity, moral purity, honesty, agape love, faithfulness, holiness, godliness, and in obedience to the Lord. For the Bible teaches that if sin is our practice, we will not inherit eternal life with God.

And that goes right along with these last two verses where it says that the adulterer (or adulteress) destroys himself (or herself). And this is so true. And if he or she does not repent of (cease and desist from) their habitual and deliberate sins against the Lord, and against their spouses, and against any others they may involve in their adulteries, their disgrace will not be wiped out, and heaven will not be what awaits them.

So, don’t be a sluggard. Don’t waste your life away on self-pleasure. Don’t be a liar. Don’t be one who practices deceit and hypocrisy and indirect as well as direct lies of any kind. And don’t be one who practices what God calls adultery in any of its various forms, and there are many. But surrender your lives to Jesus Christ as living sacrifices to him, holy and pleasing to him, and now follow after his ways and his truth.

And now love God with agape love which prefers what he prefers, which is what is upright, morally pure, honest, faithful, and obedient to our Lord and to his commands. And love your spouses with this same kind of love, and treat them as you ought with honor, respect, and value. And honor your marriage covenant and be faithful and honest in your marriage relationship. And then love all people with this agape love which prefers what God prefers and serve God with your life and not self, and you will be blessed.

[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 3:1-11; 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]

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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If You Don't Use It, You Lose It

They Hated Him

“Now while they were listening to these things, Jesus went on to tell a parable, because He was near Jerusalem, and they supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately. So He said, ‘A nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself, and then return. And he called ten of his slaves, and gave them ten minas and said to them, “Do business with this until I come back.” But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, “We do not want this man to reign over us.”’” (Luke 19:11-14 NASB)

Jesus Christ, God the Son, left his throne in heaven, came to earth and took on human flesh. He lived on the earth as fully God yet as fully man. He is the embodiment of the kingdom of God. So while he walked the face of the earth, the kingdom of God was among the people, although many did not recognize him for who he is (John 1:1-36). 

Although Jesus was loved by some, he was hated by many. They did not want him as their King. The leaders of the Jewish temple of that time were jealous of Jesus, and they resented him because he claimed to be God and their promised Messiah. They did not like it, as well, that he confronted them with their sins and that he called them out for being hypocrites. 

So, they plotted how they might bring him to ruin. Eventually they had him falsely arrested on trumped up charges and they hung him on a cross to die, as though he was a common criminal. Yet, this was in God’s plan and design that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, should suffer and die on that cross for our sins so that any who would be believing in him (in daily practice) with God-persuaded faith in him – which is crucified with him in death to sin, and raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but as slaves to God – might not perish but have everlasting life. 

[John 3:16-21; Ephesians 2:8-10; John 6:44; Romans 6:1-23]

Faithful Servants

“When he returned, after receiving the kingdom, he ordered that these slaves, to whom he had given the money, be called to him so that he might know what business they had done. The first appeared, saying, ‘Master, your mina has made ten minas more.’ And he said to him, ‘Well done, good slave, because you have been faithful in a very little thing, you are to be in authority over ten cities.’ The second came, saying, ‘Your mina, master, has made five minas.’ And he said to him also, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’” (Luke 19:15-19 NASB)

Although I believe these words of Jesus allude to when he returns for his bride, and when we go to be with him, and we receive our heavenly rewards, the context also indicates that there was some continuance of ministry and giftedness. So I imagine this also speaks to our lives and ministry while we are still here on this earth. 

The Biblical principle that I believe is being taught here is that, to each of us who have trusted in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives, God gives natural abilities and talents, spiritual gifts, and assignments within the body of Christ, i.e. our roles (parts) within the body which we are to fulfill. If we are faithful in using what God has given to us for his glory, and in obedience to his personal direction and leading in our lives, then he will give us more. He has certainly done that in my life. All glory to God.

Unfaithful Servants

“Another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I kept put away in a handkerchief; for I was afraid of you, because you are an exacting man; you take up what you did not lay down and reap what you did not sow.’ He said to him, ‘By your own words I will judge you, you worthless slave. Did you know that I am an exacting man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow? Then why did you not put my money in the bank, and having come, I would have collected it with interest?’ 

“Then he said to the bystanders, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’ And they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas already.’ I tell you that to everyone who has, more shall be given, but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. But these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them in my presence.” (Luke 19:20-27 NASB)

Yet, if we are unfaithful in fulfilling what God has purposed for us even before we were formed in the wombs of our mothers (see Psalms 139:13-16; Jeremiah 1:1-19; Ephesians 1:3-4), what we have been given may be taken away from us and given to someone else who will use what God has given to them for his purposes, and for his glory, and to fulfill the great commission to go and to make disciples of Jesus of peoples of all nations. 

I can tell you from personal experience that there is no greater joy than to be right in the center of God’s will, doing exactly what you know he has called you to do, no matter how hard it may get, and even in the face of much opposition. And I can tell you that there is no greater sorrow than to be out of God’s will doing what we want to do, going our own way, and resisting God, instead of resisting Satan. 

So, I pray that all who are reading this today will say “Yes” to following Jesus wherever he leads you from this moment on, and that you will be a faithful servant who will bear much fruit for God’s eternal kingdom.

Your New Life 

An Original Work / May 15, 2014

Based off the Gospels 

Go and make disciples of peoples,

Teaching them to obey their Savior.

Do not fear, but go where He sends you.

Tell them all of what you have heard.

The kingdom of God now is upon you. 

Come, and follow Jesus, your Lord.

He will make you fishers of man.

If the people Jesus desire,

They must die to sin and to self-life.

If they want to hold on to their lives

They will lose them forevermore.

Surely you heard that coming to Christ

Means a new life in Jesus, your Lord.

Follow Christ wherever He leads.

Love the Lord with all of your heart, and

Love your neighbors as you would yourself.

Preach the gospel to all the nations.

Do not worry what you will say.

Proclaim the freedom for all the captives.

Share the light with all who are blind.

You are ministers of our God.

https://vimeo.com/95450440 

In Deed and In Truth

“Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” (1 John 3:18 ESV)

Whether this is talking about us loving God or it is talking about us loving other humans, this is absolutely the truth that we must hold to as God’s children. But we are only his children if we walk in that love, and if we love God and other humans, and if we forsake our sinful practices to follow the Lord Jesus in obedience to his commands in righteous and holy living. But this is not of our own doing. We can only love as God loves because of Jesus’ love for us, and because of God calling us to himself to be his forever.

So, this is not speaking of human love. For human love is based in emotions and feelings and circumstances and in people and in ourselves and in our moods, so it is fickle, and it fluctuates. We cannot depend on human love to always be there for us or in us. But the love this is speaking of is agape love which comes from God, because he is love. And agape love prefers what God prefers, which is all that is holy, righteous, godly, morally pure, upright, honest, faithful, and obedient to our Lord and to his commands.

So, human love will make many claims of love but which may or may not follow through with those claims. But this is speaking of agape love. We should not promise such love and then have it be lip service only. So, this would mean that we should not promise or claim to prefer what God prefers, and to say with our lips only that our desire is for the Lord and to live for (and through) him, and that we want what he wants for our lives, and that we do want to obey him, and then do the opposite of what we profess.

And the same has to do with loving our spouses. We should not tell our spouses that we love them and then do the opposite. For the love that we are to have for our spouses is not just a mushy-gushy romantic love, but it is this agape love which loves despite what our spouses do. It does what is right even if our spouses do what is wrong. For when we love our spouses with this agape love we are honest, faithful, morally pure, upright, and godly in our actions towards them. We don’t lie to them nor cheat on them.

So, basically, if our words say to God or to other humans, “I love you,” with this agape love, then for our words to be true they must be followed through by our actions. For actions speak louder than words. And this love is not what we feel. It is what we do. But the actions we must do are not to be determined by other humans nor by our culture nor by religious traditions but by the word of God, i.e. by the teachings of Christ and those of his NT apostles. And all of that may not agree with our worldly culture.

For to love as God loves means to speak the truth in love to one another who profess to know and to love God. And it is to speak the truth of the message of the gospel of our salvation to all people and to let them know that we are all born into sin and that we need deliverance from our bondage to sin, and that Jesus Christ, the second person of our triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – came to the earth to give his life up for us on that cross in order to put our sins to death with him so that we might die to sin. And he rose from the dead so that we might live to his righteousness.

And this isn’t the only way that we show love, but it is one of the expressions of agape love that the world or worldly Christians may not receive as love. But it is the ultimate in loving others because it means us putting our own lives and reputations on the line in order to tell others the truth that can save their souls from hell and that can give them the hope of genuine deliverance from slavery to sin so that they can now serve the Lord Jesus with their lives in walks of obedience to him in holy living.

But we are to love in all the ways that Jesus loved, not necessarily in raising people physically from the dead or in physically healing them, but in praying for them, and in doing good to them (as God defines good), and in caring about them and their needs. And in believing God for miracles in their lives, and in sharing with them food and clothing and comfort and time and having them into our homes and listening to them, all of which can be emotionally healing for them… but without neglecting to tell them the truth that can save their lives from hell and to give them the hope of salvation from sin.

[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]  

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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One Thing You Lack

“A ruler questioned Him, saying, ‘Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments, “Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.”’ And he said, ‘All these things I have kept from my youth.’ When Jesus heard this, He said to him, ‘One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.’” (Luke 18:18-22 NASB)

Now, before I get into the main message here, I want to respond to Jesus’ first response to this rich ruler. When Jesus said, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone,” he was not saying that he was not good nor that he was not God. If anything, I believe he was leading the man to realize that Jesus was God because indeed he was good, for he is the second person of our triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Now when we come into this life we are all born with sin natures, separated from God, and without hope. All of us have sinned, and we all come up short of attaining the approval of God and the hope of heaven (Romans 3:23). Not one of us can keep the whole law with absolute perfection, so the law can never save us. Only by God’s grace, through faith in Jesus Christ and his blood shed for our sins, can we have the hope of eternal life in heaven with Jesus (Ephesians 2:8-10). Yet, the question always remains: “What is faith?”

Earlier Jesus had stated that if anyone would come after him, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow him (in obedience). He said that if we want to hold on to our old lives (of living in sin and for self) that we will lose them for eternity, but if we deny self, and if we willingly die to our old lives, and if we now follow our Lord in obedience to his commands in holy living, we will gain eternal life (Luke 9:23-26). 

The apostles taught the same truth with regard to our eternal salvation. Paul said the way we come to know Christ is “that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth” (Ephesians 4:20-24). 

I believe this is the essence of what Jesus was telling this rich young ruler. So many people are willing to “do” things “for” God on their own terms. They may keep at least some of the rules, to the best of their ability, and they may even live morally clean lives, but they won’t yield their lives to Jesus Christ and give him everything. Jesus is saying, though, that to be his followers we must be willing to lay it all down to follow him. 

He wants our all on the altar. We can’t be his fully devoted followers if we are holding on to “other gods.” For the rich young ruler, his god was his wealth. He was not willing to give it up. For others it may be something else. It could be our entertainment choices, reputation, career, houses, possessions, pride, and/or self-will, etc. A “god” is anything we give our hearts, minds, loyalties, emotion and devotion to in place of or above God. These we must forsake. Jesus must become our “all in all.”

“But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. And Jesus looked at him and said, ‘How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.’ They who heard it said, ‘Then who can be saved?’ But He said, ‘The things that are impossible with people are possible with God.’” (Luke 18:23-27 NASB)

So, what is the essence of what Jesus said here? I believe this message reaches far beyond just physical wealth, though that is a very difficult thing, evidently, for the rich to let go of. Many things of this world may have strongholds on our lives, and we may not be willing to let go of them to follow Jesus, and that is indeed very sad. 

I believe the principle here is that it is hard for those who possess much in the way of the things of this world to enter the kingdom of heaven, because it is hard for them to let go and to leave it all behind. This also means that to enter the kingdom of heaven, it requires that we let go and that we let God have his way in our lives. Sadly enough, this is not being taught much anymore, and so many people have been given a false hope of heaven based off a lie.

The message Jesus gave the rich young ruler is the same message he is giving to all of us, which is we must lay aside (die to) our old self-life, and that we are to then follow Jesus Christ in obedience and in surrender to his will for our lives. This is impossible in our own human will and strength. We can do nothing to earn or to deserve our salvation. Yet God, who is rich in mercy, made the way possible for us to be saved. 

Jesus Christ paid the price for us so we could be set free from our bondage to sin, so by his grace, and in his power and strength, and because of what he did for us in conquering sin on our behalf, we can be saved. All this is the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives, yet we must cooperate fully with his work of grace in transforming us away from living in sin and for self to now following our Lord Jesus in submission to his will and in obedience to his commands in holy living – all for the glory and praise of God!

[Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians 5:16-21; Galatians 6:7-8; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Colossians 1:21-23; Colossians 3:1-11; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 10:23-31; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10]   

Just a Closer Walk with Thee  

Hymn lyrics by Anonymous/Unknown

Music by American Melody

“For indeed He was crucified because of weakness, yet He lives because of the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, yet we will live with Him because of the power of God directed toward you” (2 Co. 13:4 NASB).

I am weak, but Thou art strong;

Jesus, keep me from all wrong;

I’ll be satisfied as long

As I walk, let me walk close to Thee.

Through this world of toil and snares,

If I falter, Lord, who cares?

Who with me my burden shares?

None but Thee, dear Lord, none but Thee.

When my feeble life is o’er,

Time for me will be no more;

Guide me gently, safely o’er

To Thy kingdom shore, to Thy shore.

Just a closer walk with Thee,

Grant it, Jesus, is my plea,

Daily walking close to Thee,

Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6Ks49apflE 

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Religious Hypocrisy and False Judging

“He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: ‘Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: “God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.” But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.’” (Luke 18:9-14 ESV)

Now, what did Jesus teach us about the Pharisees? They were skilled at hypocrisy, professing one thing outwardly, while doing another. They did not practice what they preached. They did their deeds to be seen by others. They loved attention. They lead people to hell on the promise of heaven. They adhered to religious rituals but not to God’s righteousness. They appeared clean (righteous) outwardly but inwardly they were full of wicked deeds, greed, hypocrisy, and self-indulgence. They persecuted those who were truly righteous, and they were proud and unjustly judgmental of others who were not like them (see Matthew 23:1-39).

So, it isn’t as though this Pharisee in this parable had any just cause at all for seeing himself as better than the tax collector. He was worse, in fact, because he had all sorts of head knowledge with regard to what is right and to what is wrong, and yet he did evil, and not good, while outwardly putting on an image of all goodness. So he was self-righteous, not righteous in the eyes of the Lord. For the Lord doesn’t see things the same way that human flesh sees things. Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. And from the heart can come good or evil, depending upon what is stored up in a person’s heart (Luke 6:45; Matthew 15:17-20).

Now, should we be thankful for God’s saving grace? Amen! Should we be thankful to God that we who believe in Jesus with God-honoring faith in him have been delivered from our slavery to sin so that we can now walk in holiness and in righteousness and in obedience to our Lord? Yes! So, from that perspective we can be thankful that the Lord drew us up out of our pits and that he gave us new life in him to be lived for his purposes and for his glory. We can be thankful to God that we are no longer walking in sin, making sin our practice, but by the grace of God, and in his power and strength, we can now live holy lives, pleasing to God. That is a good prayer!

But to unjustly and to hypocritically stand in judgment over others when we might be just as bad or much worse is hypocritical, for one, it is unloving, it is not kind, it is prideful, and it sets ourselves up to be superior to others as though in ourselves we have obtained some superior status. But all of us were born into this world with sin natures, in the image of Adam, with the propensity to do evil. And it is only by the grace of God and by his righteousness that any of us can be made righteous in the sight of God, and thus all the glory goes to God. 

But is it evil to point out the evil in others? It depends on where we are spiritually and what is our purpose. If it is to try to make us look superior and for the purpose only to condemn others, then it is wrong. If the purpose is of God, and it is to confront sin in sinful humans in order to lead them to repentance, to turning away from their sins to walks of genuine faith and obedience to our Lord in holy living, that is good. Or if it is to help a wandering brother or sister to come out from his wandering and to walk in faithful obedience to the Lord, the purpose is good.

But to stand up and to pray to God and to say to God, “Look at how good I am compared to this other person,” then that is wrong, especially if we are doing so hypocritically. For not one of us is good in our own selves. For we are self-deceived and we are not able to really see ourselves as God sees us if we feel that we have to point out to God how superior we are to others, especially if we are not living righteously but hypocritically. But should we pray for sinners to come to repentance? Yes! And should it burden us that so many people are living wicked lives? Yes! It should!

But it is only by the grace of God that any of us are lifted up out of our sinful lifestyles and are able to now live holy lives, pleasing to God. So this is not a prideful matter at all. This is a matter of true humility in realizing where we would be without Jesus and without his blood sacrifice for our sins so that we can be delivered from our addiction to sin. We would all be doomed to hell! So we should be extremely grateful for God’s saving grace. And when we see someone who is trapped in sin’s deceitfulness, it should grieve our hearts, and we should pray for that person, and we should share with that person the truth of the gospel as to how he can be set free, too. And this is good!

For in this case the tax collector was actually more righteous than the religious Pharisee, for the tax collector acknowledged his sins before God and he prayed to God for mercy. Yes, he didn’t go through all the religious rituals of the Pharisees, which was good, but he had a heart for God and he wanted to know God and he wanted the Lord to save him from his sins. But the Pharisee was so full of pride that he couldn’t even see his own sins and his own hypocrisy, but all that he could see is how much better he thought he was than this other man who he regarded as less. 

So, don’t be a snob. Don’t be self-righteous. Don’t be a hypocrite. Humble yourselves before God and serve the Lord with your lives and pray for those who are still walking in sin to be delivered from their slavery to sin. And love them into the kingdom of heaven by sharing with them the truth of the gospel in how they can be set free from their bondage and in how they can now walk in holiness and in righteousness in the power of God, if they are willing. And do good to them and not evil. 

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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Keep Praying! Don't Lose Heart!

And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Luke 18:1-8 ESV)

So, I think for maybe the past several days the Lord has been putting this secular song in my mind called, “Be Here Now.” The song is an original by a father-daughter singing duo, Matt and Savanna Shaw. It is not a Christian song, so it is not based in the Scriptures, but it has some practical lessons in it that we can certainly learn from to apply to our lives, some of which can certainly fit with this passage of Scripture, which is why I believe the Lord put it in my mind. For the lessons need to agree with Scripture.

In the song, the daughter is singing about how she worries about tomorrow and what her future is going to look like, and if she will ever fall in love, and if her parents will be proud of her and the path that she has taken. And then the father sings about how he replays his whole day when he goes to bed, wondering if he did the right thing or if he should have done something different, etc. And their conclusion is that they could spend their whole lives chasing whatever they think is missing and they could miss their whole lives trying to change the past, but they would rather live in the here and now.

Okay, so what does that have to do with this story? The parable is intended to teach us that we ought always to pray and to not lose heart. And some of the reasons that people lose heart is because of long histories of their prayers not being answered the way that they had hoped, perhaps because history just keeps repeating itself over again, but not in a way that they have control over, but in ways which are beyond their abilities to do anything about other than to just keep praying, and to keep trusting the Lord, and to keep following the Lord in doing whatever he leads them to do or to say.

So a lot of what we must do is to come to some of the same conclusions as this father and daughter, that we can’t change the past and we really have very limited control over what our future holds for us, and worrying about either solves nothing, and so we just have to live life today. But then we must live it by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, according to his will and purpose for our lives, trusting in his sovereignty over our lives, believing that God’s timing is perfect, and that he is in control, and that he is going to work all things for good for those who love him, who are called according to his purpose.

The woman in the parable wanted justice against her adversary. Our adversary is the devil, but he also works through other human beings who then also become our adversaries. Especially if we are walking in obedience to our Lord in holy living, and no longer in sin, and if we are sharing the truth of the gospel of our salvation, and if we are refuting the lies of the enemy, the enemy is going to be coming against us, and he will do this through other humans. And we are human beings, so we will feel the pain of the opposition against us, and so we will cry out to God for relief.

But when relief doesn’t come, and when our circumstances do not change, it can get disheartening. But this isn’t just about praying for justice, for we as followers of Christ are to pray for our human enemies, and love them, and do good to them, and do or to say what is beneficial for them in the eyes of the Lord. And we should be praying for their deliverance from their slavery to sin so that they will no longer serve the enemy, but God. But it can get disheartening there, too, when we don’t see change, and we want so much for them to turn from their sins to walk in obedience to the Lord.

So, in order for us to stay the course, and to keep on praying, and to not give up, and to not lose heart, we must let go of the past, and we must forgive, and we must learn from it how we can do better now, and we must live in the present, and we must not worry about the future or how long it is going to take before our prayers are answered. We just have to take it one day at a time, praying, believing, trusting the Lord, following him wherever he leads us, and not let lack of visible results get us to lose heart.

One day our Lord is going to return and he is going to take his faithful bride to be with him for eternity. And for us who have died with him to sin and who are living to his righteousness and in walks of obedience to his commands in holy living, in the power of God, who are not those who are living in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord, we will go with our Lord to be with him for eternity. And then all our pain and sorrows and heartaches will be no more. And when this happens, it will be quick.

Until then, we must keep persevering, no matter how much longer we must wait for the Lord to answer our prayers. And we must not give up! And in the process we must be those who keep on learning and who have teachable spirits to let our Lord teach us through our difficult circumstances what he wants us to learn about him, and about ourselves, and about what he wants us to do or to not do, and where he wants us to change to be more like him. No worries about tomorrow nor about the past. Just live one day at a time by faith in obedience to our Lord, and keep praying, and don’t lose heart.

Pray, Pray, Pray  

An Original Work / September 6, 2012

Based off Various Scriptures

Pray that eyes may enlightened be,

So they may know Christ.

Pray that they may Him better know,

Strengthened by His pow’r. 

Pray that they may grasp 

How wide and long

And high and deep

Is Christ’s love.

Pray that they may be filled

To the fullness of God’s love.

Pray with thanksgiving.

Pray for an open door for me,

So I may share Christ.

Pray when the gospel is proclaimed –

Shared with clarity.

Pray words are given me so

I declare the gospel fearlessly.

I pray for you to be active

Sharing your faith, too.

Pray continually.

We oft not know for what to pray,

So we ask for help.

The Spirit intercedes for us – 

Words cannot express.

Just keep on praying for the saints

With all kinds of requests to God.

Pray they may have faith to 

Please their God in ev’ry way.

Pray with joyfulness. 

https://vimeo.com/119259373 

What are You Spending Your Life On?

“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. Remember Lot's wife. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.” (Luke 17:26-33 ESV)

It would appear that we are now living in these days mentioned here. For we live in an era, at least here in America, where the gospel message has largely been diluted and altered to appeal to human flesh and in order to not offend the ungodly, so that the ungodly will want to come to the gatherings of what are falsely called “churches,” but which are really human-based businesses being run by marketing schemes and goals and plans like would be used in most any other businesses.

But it isn’t just the gospel of Christ that has been altered in order to attract the ungodly, but it is the divine character and will and purpose of God Almighty – Father, Son (Jesus Christ), and Holy Spirit – which is being diluted and altered BIG TIME! And this is being accomplished on a large scale via the media, via movies, TV series, cartoons, memes, “Christian” song lyrics, ads, videos (especially the short ones), and certain preacher’s sermons, especially those of very large congregations (but not all).

And “the church” itself is also being altered and turned into businesses of men which are being marketed to the people of the world just like any other businesses. Instead of the church being the universal body of believers in Jesus Christ whose lives are surrendered to the Lord Jesus and who are walking in obedience to his commands in holy living, and who are taking the TRUE message of the gospel out to the world, and who are encouraging one another in their walks of faith, many are now houses of entertainment.

Now this does not describe everyone who professes faith in Jesus Christ nor does it describe every fellowship of believers in Jesus Christ, but it definitely describes the majority in our day and time. The church at large in America, anyway, has gone the way of the world and they have adopted the ways of the world in order to draw in large crowds of people from the world into their gatherings, because this is what their leaders are teaching them that they must do in order to “grow their churches.” And so they compromise with the world in order to win the world to their worldly gatherings.

And what that has resulted in are congregations full of worldly people, many of them claiming faith in Jesus Christ, but who are still walking according to the flesh, and not according to the Spirit. For they are still being given over to the lusts of the flesh, and the lusts of the eyes, and the pride of life. And they are, thus, going on as usual, pursuing their sinful pleasures, living in idolatry, adultery, sexual immorality, impurity, unfaithfulness, with lack of integrity, lying, cheating, stealing, and entertaining and being entertained.

God/Jesus is not their Lord (owner-master) for they are still their own masters. They are still the ones charting their own life courses, doing what they want to do, without or with little regard at all for what purpose God has for their lives and for what he wants them to be doing with their lives while they still live on the earth. And so many of them spend their whole lives chasing after whatever it is they think is missing from their lives, only to never be satisfied, to never be at peace, because they are not seeking God.

For our Lord is not interested in our “church attendance” on Saturdays or Sundays while we sit as spectators in seats or benches or pews and we sing songs others have chosen for us to sing, which may largely be very watered down, and then while we listen to the same man preach to us week after week, and then while we then leave and go home and go back to business as usual. What he wants from us is our entire beings on his altar laid as living sacrifices, holy unto him, which is our acceptable worship of him (see Romans 12:1-2).

For whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.

In other words, if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self, doing what our flesh desires, and not what God has designed for our lives, we will lose our lives for eternity, regardless of whether or not we have made a confession of Christ as Savior and Lord of our lives. But if for Jesus’ sake we deny self, die to sin daily, and walk in obedience to his commands in holy living, by his grace, and in his power and strength, then we have the hope of eternal life with God (see Luke 9:23-26; Romans 6:1-23).

So don’t let the worldly “Christian” culture suck you into believing that you can “believe” in Jesus, have all your sins forgiven, have heaven guaranteed you when you die, but regardless of how you live your life. For the Scriptures teach that if we walk (in conduct, in practice) according to the flesh, we will die in our sins, and if sin is what we practice, and if obedience to our Lord is not what we practice, we will not inherit eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls Jesus “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING the will of God the Father in heaven (Matthew 7:21-23).

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-11; 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]

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.

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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Don't Be Jealous!

“Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’” (Luke 15:25-32 ESV)

Now, earlier this morning I read the story of the prodigal son from Luke 15:11-24, and I shared what the Lord taught me through it in a writing called, “The Son Who Wandered.” This is a continuation of the same story, only now this is talking about the response of the brother who did not wander. He was the faithful son who remained with the father and who served and obeyed him. But he was not without fault, for he was jealous of his brother. And he thought that he had gotten a raw deal, and so he refused to celebrate his brother’s return to the father. And that in itself is sin.

For whom are any of us to deserve God’s grace and mercy? We are not! We are all born into this world with sin natures, in the image of Adam, the first man to sin against God. And not one of us can come to faith in Jesus Christ of our own accord. We can only come to faith in Jesus Christ if God the Father first draws us to Christ, i.e. only if he persuades us as to his holiness and righteousness and of our sinfulness and of our need to repent of our sins and to humble ourselves before God and to now walk in his ways. And then we can only change because of the change God creates in our hearts.

For example, someone may reject Jesus Christ his whole life, not necessarily in words or in profession, but in action. For how we live speaks volumes as to what we truly believe. For true faith in Jesus Christ, because it comes from God, and it is not of our own doing – not of the will nor of the flesh of man – is going to align with God’s will and purpose for our lives. So faith that is genuine will result in us dying with Christ to sin, not just once, but daily (in practice), and in us walking in obedience to our Lord’s commands, also in practice, not necessarily in absolute perfection.

So someone may live his whole life for self and in sin, but at the very last breath of his life may surrender his life to the Lord and may be welcomed into heaven. And that is fair! And that is just! Because God is fair and he is just, and he is the one who determines who gets into his heaven and who does not. And it is not based in our own goodness of our own flesh. We can do nothing within ourselves to ever be good enough to be acceptable to God. It is only by God’s grace and by God drawing us to himself that any of us can be saved from our sins and have eternal life with God.

What God requires of us is that we humble ourselves before him, that we repent of (turn from) our sins and that we now follow him in obedience and in surrender to his will, even if that is only for a very short period of time before we die. But we should never take God’s grace for granted or presume upon God that we can just ignore him and that at the last minute we can make that decision to believe in Jesus and to die to sin and to live to his righteousness. We may not be given that “last minute” to change our minds. 

But the point here is that none of us are deserving of God’s grace and mercy, and it is not by our own human efforts nor by our own goodness in our flesh that any of us are saved. So even if any of us have lived most all of our lives in service for the Lord, and even if we never wandered, which sadly I did, for a time, we have no right to think we are more deserving of God’s grace than those who have waited much longer to finally repent. For none of us are deserving of God’s grace. 

But this is not to say that God’s grace does not have requirements of us. It does! For God’s grace, which is bringing us salvation, trains us to renounce (say “No!” to) ungodliness and worldly passions (lusts) and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return. And his grace doesn’t just forgive us our sins, but it delivers us out of our slavery to sin so that we can now serve the Lord with our lives in walks of obedience to his commands, in his power, strength, and wisdom. But if we should choose to continue in deliberate sin, we do not have eternal life with God.

So, the moral of this story is that we should not be prideful and think we are deserving of God’s grace because of a long history of walks of obedience to the Lord whereas those who have wandered most of their lives are not. And we should not be jealous when others who have wandered finally turn or return to the Lord when the Lord now blesses them and uses them for his purposes and for his glory, even though they have tainted pasts. I know well that I am not worthy, in myself, to be used of God in the way he is using me because of things I did in my past. But that is why this is called “grace.”

But, again, God’s grace is not permission to keep on in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord. For if we don’t truly repent, and if we don’t truly make that spiritual U-turn in our lives, but if we keep going back to our vomit over and over, God’s grace does not cover that. And his word is firm on this issue that we will not have salvation from sin nor eternal life with God. So if you are wandering, make that spiritual U-turn now, and by the grace of God stay the course from now to eternity. 

And if you have been faithful to the Lord in service, don’t be jealous of those who God now approves because of their repentance, but who perhaps wandered most of their lives. Rejoice with them and celebrate with them that, although they were once dead in their sins, that now they have been made alive in Jesus Christ, our Lord. They were once lost in their sins, but now they are found by God and by his grace and so their lives are now being transformed and made into the likeness of Jesus Christ. All glory to God!

[Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians 5:16-21; Galatians 6:7-8; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Colossians 1:21-23; Colossians 3:1-11; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 10:23-31; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10]   

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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