He Was Risen

Christ was crucified in death

And He breathed His final breath.

Laid Him in a tomb, they did,

While His followers, oh, they hid.

Women at the tomb they saw

He was risen, oh what awe.

Told His followers. They did, too.

What He promised, He came through.

Shown Himself He did to many

So their doubts they’d not have any.

He ascended back to heaven,

Sent His Spirit to the brethren.

Holy Spirit dwells in followers

Of our Savior who was lowered.

Helps us to walk faithful to Him,

Holy living, while we sing hymns.

An Original Work / March 31, 2024

Putting Our Necks on The Line

 

Are You Embarrassed by Them?

“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)

What does that look like to be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord? Well, to be ashamed is to be embarrassed and to not want to be associated with something or someone out of fear of what others might think of you. It is to be reluctant and unwilling and hesitant to be involved in something or to show support for someone or something, again out of fear of what others will think of you and/or out of fear of how you will be treated by them. And that is a legitimate concern, for if you are a true follower of Christ, you will be rejected and persecuted by someone, or by many people. 

But as genuine followers of Jesus Christ we should not be those who are ashamed of the testimony of Christ, which is the message of the gospel of our salvation. We should not be embarrassed by those whose lives are committed to sharing the truth of the gospel, nor by the fact that they are suffering much persecution and rejection for the sake of the name of Jesus, and for the sake of the truth of the gospel, and for exposing the lies of the enemy for what they are in hopes that many will reject the lies and that they will pursue and follow after the truth of what Jesus taught, instead.

Instead, we are to be those who are “putting our necks out on the line” and who are willing to swallow our pride in order to share the truth of the gospel of our salvation and to expose the lies of the enemy so that many may come to genuine salvation from slavery to sin and to genuine walks of faith and obedience to our Lord in holy living. For we are not here on this earth to be liked by other people and for them to think that we are wonderful. We are here to share Jesus Christ and his gospel with the people of the earth so that they will love Jesus and so that they will want to serve him with their lives.

For Jesus didn’t die on that cross merely to forgive us our sins so that when we die we get to go to heaven. He died that we might be 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 and to his righteousness. For he called us to a holy calling, to be holy in all our conduct. And to be holy is to be separate (unlike, different) from the world because we are being conformed by God to the likeness of character of Jesus Christ in holy living and in walks of obedience to our Lord and to his commands.

Now we are not saved by our own works of our own flesh and of our own doing. We can do nothing in ourselves to earn or to deserve our own salvation. But God’s grace, which is bringing us salvation, is training us to renounce (say “No!” to) ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared in advance that we should walk in them. For Jesus gave himself up for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for GOOD WORKS.

[1 Peter 2:24; Romans 6:1-23; 1 Peter 1:13-16; Ephesians 2:8-10; Titus 2:11-14; Ephesians 4:17-32; Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23] 

Therefore, a profession of faith in Jesus Christ is much more than just lip service to God. If our profession of faith is genuine God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ, then our lives should now be surrendered to the Lord and to his service. We should not be those, therefore, who are ashamed of the gospel of Christ, but we should be those who passionately and obediently are committed to spreading the truth of the gospel regardless of how others react to us, and regardless of how we get treated in return. We must be the servants of the Lord and not servants to our own flesh.

He Gives Purpose  

An Original Work / June 9, 2012

“Listen to Me when I’m calling to you.

Obey freely My word.

Follow Me in all of My ways.

Do all that I say.

Hear Me gently whisper to you

My will for your life and future.

Give all of your life and heart to

Follow Me always.”

Repent of your sins and worship Jesus.

He’s your Lord and Master.

He died for your sins so you could

Live with Him today.

He has a plan for your life and

He gives purpose and direction.

He gives meaning to your life,

So follow Him today.

“I love you so much I gave My life for

You to walk in My ways,

Living for Me each day as you

Bow to Me and pray.

Witness for Me of your love for Me and

Of My grace and mercy,

How I died to save you of your

Sins now and always.”

https://vimeo.com/119038798 

He Gives Purpose

There are many people in this world, especially here in America, who claim to be Christians, or who profess to have personal relationships with Jesus Christ by faith in him, and in what he did for us in dying on a cross for our sins so that we could be forgiven our sins and have the hope of eternal life with God in heaven. Yet not everyone who says “Lord, Lord” knows God, or has truly put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ to be Lord (Owner-Master) and Savior of their lives. 

Even many people who have been born of the Spirit from above are not living like they say they believe, but have since wandered off to follow the gods of this world, and to chase after the pleasures and passions of their own sinful flesh. 

So, God is calling out to the unsaved, and to his adulterous and idolatrous people, and he is insisting that they listen to him when he is calling to them, and that they obey him and follow him in all of his ways. For he has a plan and a purpose for their lives which he wants to reveal to them, if they will but listen and do what he says. 

So many people have half-hearted devotion to God. He really is not on the throne in their lives. But, our God is not pleased with half-hearted devotion. He wants our all on the altar of sacrifice laid. He wants our hearts to be Holy Spirit-controlled. He desires that we be yielded to him fully, and that he truly be Lord of our lives, and not just in name only.

So, if this is where any of you are, i.e. if you are not a believer in Jesus Christ, or if you confess to know Christ, but by your lifestyle you show that you have never had a heart transformation of the Spirit of God, or if you are a true believer, but you have since deserted your first love, and the purity of your relationship with Christ has been compromised by disobedience, then I pray you will turn from your sin to follow Jesus Christ with your life today. He died that you might die to sin and live to righteousness (1 Peter 2:24). 

Therefore, when you truly believe in Jesus Christ to be Savior and Lord of your life, you die with Christ in death to sin, and you are resurrected with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness and in walks of obedience to his commands and in holy living, by the grace of God, and for the glory and praise of God our only Lord, empowered by God and not by self.

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

He Gives Purpose  

An Original Work / June 9, 2012

“Listen to Me when I’m calling to you.

Obey freely My word.

Follow Me in all of My ways.

Do all that I say.

Hear Me gently whisper to you

My will for your life and future.

Give all of your life and heart to

Follow Me always.”

Repent of your sins and worship Jesus.

He’s your Lord and Master.

He died for your sins so you could

Live with Him today.

He has a plan for your life and

He gives purpose and direction.

He gives meaning to your life,

So follow Him today.

“I love you so much I gave My life for

You to walk in My ways,

Living for Me each day as you

Bow to Me and pray.

Witness for Me of your love for Me and

Of My grace and mercy,

How I died to save you of your

Sins now and always.”

https://vimeo.com/119038798 

Follow Jesus Where He Leads 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 1:3-7 ESV)

I never knew any of my grandmothers. My father’s mother died in the flu epidemic of 1918 when he was only four years old. My mother’s mother died when I was two years old, and I have no memory of her, although I do have a picture of me and one of my brothers with her. And my father’s step-mother lived with his dad in a different US state and we never heard from them, and I don’t recall them ever coming to visit us. So I only ever knew my mother’s father and he never remarried after my grandma’s death.

But my mother’s mother kept journals, and she was a godly woman who loved the Lord with all her heart, mind, and soul. But the journals went missing for a while, and then they were found, and eventually I had possession of them for a while before I passed them on to another family member and they got lost again. But when I read my grandmother’s journals I connected with her in ways in which I did not connect with anyone else in my family. She talked just like me, and she had the same heart for Jesus.

So, whenever I read this passage of Scripture I identify with Timothy that he had a grandmother of such sincere faith, a faith that proved genuine by her actions, just like I had. And my grandmother prayed to the Lord for someone like me to come along, although I suspect she had in mind a male, not a female. But the Lord is having me do the kinds of things that she prayed for many years ago, way before I was born into this world. And my faith in the Lord is so much like the faith that she had, although we are different people.

I know that my grandmother cried many tears. She was so burdened for the salvation of the people of this world, and she was so burdened for the church, the body of Christ, who even back then had so many people not living the faith that they professed and who were worldly and ungodly in their actions. And she was a definite prayer warrior, and she was someone who went to people’s homes and who ministered to their needs. Not everyone was fond of her, and some thought her crazy, but she loved Jesus.

And the Lord has given me a similar burden for the salvation of the lost, and not only for those who make no profession of faith in Jesus Christ but for all who make verbal professions of faith in Jesus Christ but who do not live, in practice, what they profess with their lips. And the Lord has given me a similar burden for his idolatrous and adulterous church, so many of whom have wandered far away from the Lord and from the truth of the Scriptures to follow after the lies of the enemy, instead. 

So the Lord Jesus gave me the same encouragement that he gave to Timothy, many times over the course of my life when I was being persecuted for my sincere faith and devotion to the Lord and to the teachings of the Scriptures, in context, and by others who professed faith in Jesus Christ, and by some pastors of church congregations who just did not get me, and/or who were walking in the ways of the world and of the flesh, and so I was an offense to them, for I did not fit in with their marketing schemes.

And so the Lord would keep encouraging me to not fear them and to not let the opinions of other humans determine who I should become and what I should do with my life. And when I retreated in fear, he would push me to get back up on my feet and to keep pursuing him and his will and purpose for my life, and to keep doing what he has called me to do despite how I am treated in return. And, by the grace of God, I have not retreated for the past twenty years, but I have remained steadfast in faith despite all else.

And I have done and am doing what God has called me to do which is to be his servant and witness in taking the message of the gospel of our salvation to the people of the world and to the church, for not everyone professing faith in Jesus Christ is a true biblical follower of Christ. For not everyone calling Jesus “Lord” has truly made him Lord (Owner-Master) of their lives. And not all who profess him with their lips have been crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness.

And God has called all of us who profess his name, not only to forsake our sins and to follow him in obedience to his commands in holy living, but he has called all of us to be his servants and witnesses in taking the true message of the gospel to the people of this world and to let them know that faith in Jesus Christ requires that we die with Christ to sin and that we now live for him and for his righteousness in walks of obedience to his commands or we do not have salvation from sin and eternal life with God.

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

VOICE OF TRUTH 

By Mark Hall & Steven Curtis Chapman

II Corinthians 12:7-10/I Corinthians 1:20-24

Oh what I would do to have

The kind of strength it takes to stand before a giant

With just a sling and a stone

Surrounded by the sound of a thousand warriors

Shaking in their armor

Wishing they’d have had the strength to stand

But the giant’s calling out my name and he laughs at me

Reminding me of all the times I’ve tried before and failed

The giant keeps on telling me

Time and time again, “Boy you’ll never win!”

“You’ll never win!”

But the stone was just the right size

To put the giant on the ground

And the waves they don’t seem so high

From on top of them lookin’ down

I will soar with the wings of eagles

When I stop and listen to the sound of Jesus

Singing over me

I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CsiBjc0UIA

Caution: This link may contain ads

What Partnership has Righteousness with Lawlessness?

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

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

    and I will be their God,

    and they shall be my people.

Therefore go out from their midst,

    and be separate from them, says the Lord,

and touch no unclean thing;

    then I will welcome you,

and I will be a father to you,

    and you shall be sons and daughters to me,

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

Who is an unbeliever, according to the Scriptures? It is all who do not obey the Lord and his commands, in practice, who are still walking in deliberate and habitual sin, and who are not walking in holiness and in righteousness in the power of God, by the grace of God. For belief in Jesus Christ is not measured by what we profess with our lips but by what we do with Jesus and with what he did for us in dying on that cross to free us from our slavery to sin so that we can now become slaves of God and of his righteousness.

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

So, we are not to be in a binding or contractual or obligatory relationship or partnership (fellowship) with anyone who calls himself a Christian but who is still walking according to the flesh and not according to the Spirit, who is still walking in deliberate and habitual sin, and not in holiness and in righteousness and in obedience to our Lord Jesus. And the same applies to all who make no profession of faith in Jesus Christ. We are not to be partners with them to where we end up participating with them in sin.

Now, this is not saying that we can’t have any kind of relationship with the ungodly, for how would we then be able to love the people of the world? How would we be able to share Jesus Christ with them? This is specifically talking about not being in partnership and in fellowship (agreement, cooperation) with the ungodly, whether or not they profess Jesus as Savior and Lord. And this applies to gatherings of what are called “churches” which are given over to the ways of the world and which are diluting the gospel of Christ, too.

But now if you are married to someone who is ungodly, either because you married the person when you were not a believer yourself, or when you thought the other person was a believer in Christ, but later you learned he/she was not, this is not teaching that you should divorce your spouse. In fact, I believe that Paul taught if your unbelieving spouse wants to remain with you that you should remain with him/her, because you can potentially lead him/her to saving knowledge of Jesus Christ by your godly example.

But you should not be in agreement with what is ungodly, and you should not partner with what is ungodly, and you should not participate in what is evil and sinful and against the commands of God just because your partner in marriage may participate in those things. For we are all to be holy unto God, living lives which are separate (unlike, different) from the world, because we are being made to be like Jesus in character, as we cooperate fully with God’s work of grace in our lives.

Now, Paul was speaking to the church collectively. And they were/are the temple of God. We who believe in Jesus Christ with God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ, who have died with Christ to sin, and who are living to God and to his righteousness, are his temple, his body, his church, his people. So as his church we are not to partner with the ungodly, which is what much (or most) of the church has done today here in America by incorporating themselves under the state and by marketing themselves to the world.

We are not to operate as human-based businesses, which is what so many (or most) of them are doing today. We are not to conform to the world in order to attract the world to our gatherings, but we are to gather together as the body to encourage and urge and exhort one another to live godly and holy and morally pure and obedient lives to Christ, in union with Christ, and to maturity in Christ, speaking the truth in love to one another, and as each body part does its work.

[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 5:11-27; Php 2:1-8; Col 3:16; Heb 3:13; Heb 10:23-25; 1 Pet 2:9,21; 1 Jn 2:6]  

And so if we are in a partnership with the ungodly – which includes the market-driven “churches” of today which have compromised with the world in order to attract the world to their gatherings – the call of God here is for us to come out from their midst, and to be separate (unlike, different) from them, and that we are not to participate in anything that is unholy and that is contrary to the will of God and to the teachings of the Scriptures. But we are to be followers of Christ who walk in obedience to our Lord.

And when we come out from these partnerships (fellowships) which are unholy, and not of God, then God says that he will welcome us, and he will be a father to us, and we will be his sons and daughters. For it is not enough to just make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ, but we need to be walking in obedience to his commands and doing what his word teaches us we must do, and not doing what the Scriptures teach we must not do. For if sin and disobedience to God are what we practice, we do not have eternal life.

VOICE OF TRUTH 

By Mark Hall & Steven Curtis Chapman

II Corinthians 12:7-10/I Corinthians 1:20-24

Oh what I would do to have

The kind of faith it takes to climb out of this boat I’m in

Onto the crashing waves

To step out of my comfort zone

Into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is

And He’s holding out His hand

But the waves are calling out my name and they laugh at me

Reminding me of all the times I’ve tried before and failed

The waves they keep on telling me

Time and time again, “Boy, you’ll never win!”

“You’ll never win!”

But the voice of truth tells me a different story

The voice of truth says, “Do not be afraid!”

And the voice of truth says, “This is for My glory”

Out of all the voices calling out to me

I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CsiBjc0UIA

Caution: This link may contain ads

How Can You Say to My Soul

“In the Lord I take refuge;

how can you say to my soul,

    ‘Flee like a bird to your mountain,

for behold, the wicked bend the bow;

    they have fitted their arrow to the string

    to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart;

if the foundations are destroyed,

    what can the righteous do?’

“The Lord is in his holy temple;

    the Lord's throne is in heaven;

    his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man.

The Lord tests the righteous,

    but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.

Let him rain coals on the wicked;

    fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.

For the Lord is righteous;

he loves righteous deeds;

    the upright shall behold his face.” (Psalms 11:1-7 ESV)

I was just commenting to my husband this morning that if anyone has the title of “missionary” that people appear to be likely to get behind them and to support them and to lift them up, many times without even questioning them as to what they are actually doing and teaching. It is like being called “missionary” raises them up to some superior status above the rest of us regular people who are being missionaries in the spreading of the gospel, and just because they have a title of “missionary.” This should not be!

Now, occasionally I will read what the commentators of old had to say about particular passages of Scripture, and when I read “Benson Commentary” on Psalms 11:1, it immediately struck me that this goes right along with my comment to my husband this morning. For this was the first sentence:

“In the Lord put I my trust — It is not in fortresses or strong holds that I place my confidence, but only in the Lord, in his power, and love, and faithfulness.”

Amen! I love it! We are not to put our trust in titles given to people, such as pastor and evangelist and missionary and apostle and prophet and the like. We should not put our trust in the title of “Christian,” either. For someone is not who he is based on a title but on what he does, how he lives, and what he practices. For if someone calls himself a doctor or a dentist, it doesn’t mean he actually is one unless that is what he practices. So we have to guard ourselves against raising up titles, especially without question.

We are not less just because we don’t have a title. And I believe that is what this passage is teaching. You are not a missionary just because you have the title of missionary. You are a missionary if what you do is spread the TRUTH of the gospel of Christ, as he taught it, to the people of the world, in practice. And that is because being a missionary is taking the message of the gospel of our salvation to the ends of the earth, to the people of the world, and even to those professing faith in Jesus, for not all have faith.

And so you don’t have to go through some training in being a missionary at some college or seminary where they may or may not be training you in the ways of the Lord and in following the leading of the Holy Spirit. And you don’t have to physically go to another country to be a missionary. You can be a missionary from your own home on the internet, sharing the gospel of our salvation in writing or in video talks or in song. And depending upon where you live, these messages can go to people of many nations. These do!

Now you may be treated as less, as though what you are doing is not important, while others who are called “missionary” may get all kinds of praise and support and encouragement, regardless of what they are literally doing, in practice. For not all missionaries or mission organizations are actually spreading the message that Jesus taught and that his NT apostles taught, but many of them are just “do good” organizations, which we need, but who are diluting the gospel message to make it more acceptable.

But don’t let that discourage you. Don’t accept that you are less or that you have no value just because you don’t have a title or just because you are not supported by some institution of human origin, many of which are incorporated under the state and which are beholding to particular church denominations and to their theologies. And many of which are not teaching the whole counsel of God but who are altering the character of God/Christ and of his gospel message and of his church, the body of Christ.

So, be wise about who you support and who you raise up to a status above the rest of us common people, for those people are just humans like us, and they may not even be living up to the status of “missionary,” but they may be worldly people who are just “good deed doers” who are not giving the people the message that they need to hear that will save their souls from hell and which will give them true hope of salvation from sin and eternal life with God in heaven. So test everyone and everything!

So let God be your fortress, not some human institution. Let the Holy Spirit be your guide, not the theologies of human beings. And get your praise from God, not from men. And get your peace in knowing that you are in the center of God’s will doing what he has called you to do regardless of whether or not anyone praises you, or encourages you, for that matter. And test everyone and everything, and don’t accept titles as proof of practice. Ask questions. Find out what the people are actually teaching. It may be lies.

For Jesus taught that if anyone would come after him, 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, then we have the hope of eternal life with God. For 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.

So, know what the Scriptures teach. Read them IN CONTEXT. Read them carefully and prayerfully, and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and not in accord with the theologies of humans. And follow the Lord in obedience in doing whatever it is he has called you to do regardless of how other people treat you, and regardless if you are treated as a nothing while others with titles are raised up above all the rest of us. Just do what God has called you to do and leave the results to God, and test everything and everyone.

THE GOSPEL MESSAGE

[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 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; 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; 1 Pet 2:24; 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]

Courageous!  

An Original Work / December 24, 2013  

Based off Various Scriptures

The Word of God throughout taught.

Some people heard but did doubt.

Still others had faith in Christ.

By grace He purified them.

They turned from sin

And they obeyed Christ.

He opened up their blinded eyesight;

Turned them from darkness 

To the true Light;

Forgave their sin by His might.

He strengthened them in their faith.

He said, “Remain my faithful.”

He called them to obedience.

By faith, they were so grateful.

By faith, they were to follow Jesus;

To daily sit and listen to Him;

To have such faith 

That mountains could move;

To love those whom He gave them.

Be on your guard; courageous.

Stand firm in faith. Be thankful.

Take up the shield of your faith;

Protect against all evil.

Do not move from 

The hope that you have.

Your faith in Jesus let it endure.

Hold to the truth; 

Your conscience be clear.

Endure with perseverance. 

https://vimeo.com/112338495 

Hallelujah!

"Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns" (Revelation 19:6 NIV).

“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45 ESV).

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV).

“He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen” (1 Timothy 6:15b-16 ESV).

This is a song of praise of our Lord Jesus Christ! We praise him for coming to earth, for taking on human flesh, for suffering as we suffer so that he could become our faithful and compassionate high priest, and for dying on the cross for our sins so that we could be free (saved from the penalty and control of sin), and free to walk daily in his holiness and righteousness. Amen! And we praise him, as well, that he is coming again one day to receive us as his bride, made holy for her wedding to her husband, Jesus Christ!

Hallelujah  

An Original Work / May 3, 2011

Hallelujah, hallelujah!

He is coming, hallelujah!

He’s our Lord God and we love Him 

For He saved us from our sin.

He is with us, hallelujah,

And He loves us, hallelujah!

We adore Him; give our worship

To our Lord God, King of kings.

He’s our Savior, hallelujah!

He provided our redemption;

Paid our ransom; we’re forgiven;

In His death He bore our sin.

He is risen, hallelujah!

Conquered death, hell, sin, in vict’ry;

Sent His Spirit; lives within us;

Cleansed and purified within.

He is coming, hallelujah,

To receive us, hallelujah, 

As His pure bride for our wedding

To our Lord God, priest and King!

Live in vict’ry, hallelujah,

For He freed you, hallelujah,

To obey Him; turn from your sin;

Walk in fellowship with Him.

https://vimeo.com/113438723 

Despised and Rejected

“Who has believed what he has heard from us?

    And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

For he grew up before him like a young plant,

    and like a root out of dry ground;

he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,

    and no beauty that we should desire him.

He was despised and rejected by men,

    a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;

and as one from whom men hide their faces

    he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” (Isaiah 53:1-3 ESV)

If you are going through difficult circumstances in your life, and if you are at that place where you feel like no one cares, that no one understands, please be assured that we have a God who understands and who has been where we are and has suffered immensely so that we could be free from our slavery to sin and so that we can now walk in purity of devotion to our Lord in walks of holiness and righteousness, and in obedience to our Lord. And his name is Jesus Christ, who is God, our creator God (Father, Son, Holy Spirit).

For Jesus Christ, who is God, the second person of our triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – and who was God incarnate (in the flesh) when he walked this earth, came into this world as a human baby to a human mother, but conceived of the Holy Spirit. So, God the Father was his birth father, and he was not born into sin like we are, and he never sinned. And during his years of ministry he healed the sick and afflicted, raised the dead, cast out demons, fed the hungry, and preached repentance for forgiveness of sins.

Although some people liked him and received him warmly, and even though he had crowds of people following him for a while, because he fed them and because he healed them, and because of the miracles he performed, he did not have many who genuinely followed him with their lives and whose lives were committed to him in genuine faith that he was their Messiah, the Christ who had been promised, and who were willing to surrender their lives to him and to forsake their lives of sin to follow him in obedience to his commands.

And so he was indeed despised and rejected, at first mostly just by the religious leaders and rulers and people of prominence in the Jewish faith who were against him and who continuously persecuted him and taunted him and tried to trip him up so that they would have cause to accuse him. But as time progressed, many who had been following him deserted him because they found his teachings too hard, and eventually all abandoned him, and one betrayed him, and one denied him, and the many said, “Crucify Him!”

“Surely he has borne our griefs

    and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

    smitten by God, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions;

    he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

    and with his wounds we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray;

    we have turned—every one—to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

    the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:4-6 ESV)

But when Jesus’ enemies had him hung on a cross to die, this was in the will of God for Jesus, and for us, too, that Jesus should be the perfect lamb sacrifice to die for the sins of the people of the world so that, by faith in him, we might die with him to sin and be raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. For he shed his blood for us to buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of our slavery to sin so that we will honor God with our lives.

But Jesus Christ did not just take upon himself the sins of the people of the world, but he took upon himself our griefs and our sorrows, too, and not just in his death, but in his life here on this earth. For he was mistreated, hated, persecuted, mocked, falsely accused, called “of Satan,” called “crazy,” and even his family members wanted to put him away. So, whatever you are going through in this life, Jesus can feel your pain, and he cares, because he suffered like we suffer when he lived on this earth.

And when he died on that cross, it was not just so that he would forgive us our sins so that when we die that we get to go to heaven and not hell. He was crucified on that cross, and he was resurrected from the dead, so that by faith in him we will be 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, and so that we will live holy lives, pleasing to God, and so that we will now follow him in obedience to his commands.

For all of us like sheep have gone astray and we have gone our own way, but via God-gifted and God-persuaded faith in Christ we can now live for him, and for his will and purpose for our lives. We now can serve Jesus Christ with our lives in doing what he has called us to do, and we can no longer go astray, and no longer go our own way, but we can go God’s way, by his grace, and in his power, in forsaking our sins and in following him in obedience and in holy living, to the praise and glory of God.

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

Explaining a Christian Meme

Yesterday, the Lord Jesus had me share the following in the form of a Christian meme. Memes are intended to be short and something that someone can read without having to turn a page or to scroll down further into the document, so they can be useful tools for communication. But one of the drawbacks is that there is not much room for explanation. So, I believe that I am to expand here on the thoughts presented in the meme.

Truth vs Theology (the meme)

When I was much younger, I used to read the Scriptures in light of the particular theology I had been taught in my early life. But the more that I read the Scriptures, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the more that I struggled with the theology I had been taught and with trying to make it fit with what the Scriptures were teaching, which was sometimes the opposite of each other. 

So, at first, I would kind of do an “either/or” kind of explanation, not really taking a stand one way or the other. But as time went by, and as I grew to maturity in my walk of faith in Jesus Christ, I could no longer do that. I had to take a stand on the truth of God’s word even if it went against what I had always been taught. And this is where I have remained.

[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 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; 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]

Explanation

I was asked by a reader to give an example of what I stated above, so that is what I am going to do here. So, I will begin by stating that, growing up, I was taught a lot of Scriptures out of context which were then interpreted opposite of what the Scriptures teach in context. And the main area in which this was taking place was in the presentation of the gospel message. For they had these oversimplified and quick to read gospel presentations where one verse after another was taught out of context and misinterpreted.

Usually John 3:16 was presented independent of its context:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

“Believes” was not explained as to its meaning, and the verb tense really should be “believing”, which is active and continuous belief. And, out of context, the reader was left with the impression that if he (or she) professed faith in Jesus Christ that he (or she) now had the promise of life eternal with God. But faith is defined by God and by his word and not by us, and it means to be persuaded of God, and it engages death to sin and living to God and to his righteousness in walks of obedience to his commands.

For the Scriptures teach us that Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, and that we might live for him and no longer for self, and 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. By faith in him we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness.

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

The same happened with Romans 6:23 which was taught out of context:

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

In the sequence of verses presented, this verse was taught as though if we received God’s free gift of salvation, by a declaration of faith in him, that we would no longer come under condemnation but that all our sins would be forgiven and now heaven was guaranteed us when we die, on the basis of that profession of faith, but independent of how we lived our lives from that moment forward. Thus, many people professed faith in Jesus, assumed they were now guaranteed heaven, but it didn’t change their hearts.

But, in context, what this verse is saying is that, as long as we live as slaves to sin, the end of it all is the opposite of life eternal with God. It is eternal death and eternal punishment. But if we are now slaves to God and to his righteousness via walks of obedience to his commands, no longer living in obedience to sin, in practice, then the fruit (results) that we get leads to sanctification and its end is eternal life with God (read Romans 6:1-23). So this is teaching progressive salvation.

Conflicting Verses

Therefore, since the gospel that they were teaching was that we could believe (not biblically defined usually) in Jesus, and now all our sins were forgiven, and now heaven was guaranteed us when we die, and it couldn’t be taken away from us, then when they came across verses such as what I noted in the meme, they often tried to find ways around what those verses were saying, for so many of those verses teach that if sin is what we practice, and not righteousness, and not obedience to our Lord, that we don’t have the hope of eternal life with God.

And they teach that our salvation is progressive – we are saved (past), we are being saved (present active), and we will be saved (future) when Jesus returns for his faithful bride and he takes us to be with him for eternity, which is when our salvation will be complete, and not until then. And all this is dependent on us walking (in conduct, in practice) according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh, and in obedience to our Lord, and not in sin, and that we continue in that faith, in practice, until the very end.

And this is where they would try to find “work arounds” to try to explain away the verses that teach that we can lose our lives for eternity if we are not persistent in our walks of faith and obedience to our Lord until the very end of time. And this is where, for years, I would try to interpret the Scriptures like they did, but I kept seeing that they didn’t teach what they were saying, and so at first I would say, “It could be this or it could be that.” But the more I studied the Scriptures the more I could no longer do that.

So, when I read Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:21-23, I take them to heart:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one doing the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” 

Courageous!  

An Original Work / December 24, 2013  

Based off Various Scriptures

The Word of God throughout taught.

Some people heard but did doubt.

Still others had faith in Christ.

By grace He purified them.

They turned from sin

And they obeyed Christ.

He opened up their blinded eyesight;

Turned them from darkness 

To the true Light;

Forgave their sin by His might.

He strengthened them in their faith.

He said, “Remain my faithful.”

He called them to obedience.

By faith, they were so grateful.

By faith, they were to follow Jesus;

To daily sit and listen to Him;

To have such faith 

That mountains could move;

To love those whom He gave them.

Be on your guard; courageous.

Stand firm in faith. Be thankful.

Take up the shield of your faith;

Protect against all evil.

Do not move from 

The hope that you have.

Your faith in Jesus let it endure.

Hold to the truth; 

Your conscience be clear.

Endure with perseverance. 

https://vimeo.com/112338495 

Truth vs Theology

 

Did You Receive God's Grace in Vain?

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

“’In a favorable time I listened to you,

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

“Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:1-2 ESV)

So, what does it mean to “receive the grace of God in vain”? For if you really do receive the grace of God, how then can it be in vain? Well, vain means “empty (in moral content), ineffective, foolish, worthless, false, pretentious, hollow” (source: biblehub.com interlinear). So, if you receive it in vain, it is a false (empty) receiving of God’s grace, which is what is happening today very much, partly due to a false concept of what God’s grace is, and partly due to false professions of faith which are not biblical in nature.

For the grace of God largely being taught today is God just forgiving people of their sins so that when they die they get to go to heaven. But that is just part of it. For God’s grace, which is bringing us salvation, is training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return. For Jesus Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” (Titus 2:11-14)

For, by God’s grace, we who believe in Jesus Christ with God-gifted and God-persuaded faith in him are crucified with Christ in death to sin in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we will no longer be enslaved to sin. Therefore, we are no longer to let sin reign in our mortal bodies, to make us obey its passions. 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 in Christ Jesus, our Lord. (see Romans 6:1-23)

So, if we receive God’s grace in vain, this will mean that we professed faith in Jesus Christ, and we accepted God’s forgiveness of our sins and the hope of heaven when we die, but we did not die with him to sin, and we are not living to him and to his righteousness, but we are still living for self and in sin while still promising ourselves God’s forgiveness of our sins and the hope of heaven as our eternal destiny. But it is in vain because we did not, in truth, receive his grace, and the grace we received was not biblical grace.

So, that brings us to the questions of “What is salvation? What are we saved from? What are we saved to?” For so many people today are teaching salvation as only God forgiving us our sins so that when we die we get to go to heaven. For they also teach faith in Jesus Christ as a mere verbal profession of faith or as an acknowledgement of who Jesus is and of what he did for us on that cross, but empty of true God-gifted and God-persuaded faith in our Lord which comes from God and is not of our own doing – not of the will nor of the flesh of man.

[Hebrews 12:1-2; Ephesians 2:8-10; John 1:12-13; John 6:44]

For so many people today professing to be teaching the truth of the gospel are teaching a diluted and altered gospel message absent of biblical repentance, submission to God, surrender of their lives to Christ as Lord of their lives, and walks of obedience to the Lord in holy living, no longer living as slaves of sin but as slaves to God and to his righteousness. They are mainly teaching that you can “believe” in Jesus, have all your sins forgiven, and be on your way to heaven, but regardless of how you live your life.

And they call that grace, but that is not true biblical grace. And they call that “faith” and they call that “salvation” but they are not biblical faith and biblical salvation, either. For when God persuades us to have faith in Jesus Christ, he persuades us to deny self, die to sin (not just once, but in daily practice), and to follow him in obedience to his commands (Luke 9:23-26). And our salvation is deliverance out of slavery to sin so that we can now live holy lives, pleasing to God, by the grace of God, in his power.

So, make certain that when you hear the terms “grace,” “faith,” and “salvation,” that they are being taught biblically in full context of what the New Testament Scriptures teach as “grace, faith, and salvation.” And this salvation is not something that just happens to us once in our lives and now we are good to go to heaven when we die regardless of how we live, which is how so many are teaching it these days. We must remain steadfast in our walks of faith and obedience, and not in sin, until the very end.

[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 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; 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]

VOICE OF TRUTH 

By Mark Hall & Steven Curtis Chapman

II Corinthians 12:7-10/I Corinthians 1:20-24

Oh what I would do to have

The kind of faith it takes to climb out of this boat I’m in

Onto the crashing waves

To step out of my comfort zone

Into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is

And He’s holding out His hand

But the waves are calling out my name and they laugh at me

Reminding me of all the times I’ve tried before and failed

The waves they keep on telling me

Time and time again, “Boy, you’ll never win!”

“You’ll never win!”

But the voice of truth tells me a different story

The voice of truth says, “Do not be afraid!”

And the voice of truth says, “This is for My glory”

Out of all the voices calling out to me

I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CsiBjc0UIA

Caution: This link may contain ads

Great is the Lord

The Lord Jesus had given me a tune to write the day before this, so in the morning I prayed and I asked the Lord if he had words for the tune. I acknowledged before God that I could not do this. This tune would only have words if he gave them to me. Then, I heard in my mind the song “How Great Thou Art,” singing, “Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee, how great Thou art…” 

I knew then that this song was to be about the greatness of God. Then he led me to these passages of Scripture and gave me the words. How great is his love, his faithfulness, his many wondrous deeds and miracles, his purposes for mankind, his compassions, his covenant of love with those who love him, his redemptive power in his saving grace toward humankind, the promise of his soon return, and our hope of eternity with him in heaven. 

“For your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds” (Ps. 57:10ESV).

“I will sing of the steadfast love of the LORD, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations” (Ps. 89:1ESV).

“Great are your purposes and mighty are your deeds. Your eyes are open to the ways of all mankind; you reward each person according to their conduct and as their deeds deserve” (Jer. 32:19NIV).

Great is The Lord! 

 

An Original Work / June 12, 2013

Based off Various Scriptures – Ps. 57:10; 89:1; 145:3; Jer. 32:19; 

La. 3:22-24; Da. 9:4; Lu. 21:27; Ep. 1:19; Tit. 2:13; 1 Jn. 3:1 (NIV ’84)

Great is the Lord! He has done wondrous things.

Great is His love reaching up to the heav’ns.

His faithfulness reaches up to the skies.

Of His great love, I will sing evermore.

Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise!

Truly His greatness no one comprehends.

Great are His purposes; mighty His deeds.

His eyes are open to the ways of man.

Great is the Lord! His compassions ne’er fail.

Great is His faithfulness. I’ll wait for Him.

He keeps His covenant of His great love

With all who love Him and do what He says.

Great is the Lord! He is coming in pow’r.

His saints will wait for Him; their hope secure.

How great His love He has lavished on us,

That we should be called the children of God.

https://vimeo.com/116116133 

The Message of Reconciliation

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

Now, when this says, “If anyone is in Christ..” it is assuming that not everyone reading this is in Christ, not even all who profess to be in Christ. And what did Paul teach us that it meant to be “in Christ”? It means that we are now walking (in conduct, in practice) according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh. “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8:1-14)

And he said that we have been crucified with Christ in death to sin, and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to God and to his righteousness. So, we are no longer to 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 God. So, if we have been set free from sin, that means that we are now slaves of God, and the fruit of that is eternal life with God (Romans 6:1-23).

And he taught that the way that we should have learned Christ - assuming that we have heard about him and we were taught in him the truth that is in Jesus, is that we are “to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:17-24). So, being “in Christ” means that we have died with Christ to our old lives of living in sin and we are now living for Christ in walks of obedience to him.

[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 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; 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]

But are we able to accomplish any of this in our own flesh? No! But does that mean that God does it all and that we do nothing? No! For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared in advance that we should walk in them. And the grace of God, which is bringing us salvation, is training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives. For Jesus Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” (see Ephesians 2:8-10 and Titus 2:11-14)

So, when we read this passage in 2 Corinthians 5 we should read it in the context of these other Scriptures and of these other teachings of Paul so that we get the correct context and meaning out of the passage. For this is not teaching us that anyone who says “Lord, Lord,” is truly a new creation in Christ Jesus. And it is not teaching us that God does it all and that nothing is required of us at all. Yes, it all comes from God, and it is all empowered by God and by his Spirit, but it involves our cooperation (partnership) with God and our God-gifted and God-persuaded faith in Christ for it to happen. 

So, the old isn’t really gone unless it is really gone. So, if you profess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of your life, but then you go on living in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord, and not in walks of obedience to his commands, and not in holy living, then the old is not gone. It is still alive and it is still thriving! And you aren’t a new creation unless you have died to the old self, and to the old life of sin, and unless you are now walking in obedience to the Lord in holy living, empowered by his Spirit. For to be reconciled to God is to exchange your life of sin for a life of holy living.

So, when Paul implored the people to be reconciled to God, he was imploring them to die to their old lives of living in sin and for self and to be transformed in heart and mind of the Spirit of God away from a life of living in sin and for self to now living for God and for his righteousness in holy living and in walks of obedience and in surrender to our Lord and to his will for our lives. Then the old is truly gone and the new has come into being. For Jesus gave his life up for us on that cross so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, no longer as slaves to sin, but as slaves to God.

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 

Caution: This link may contain ads

Teaching a Different Doctrine

“If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. 

“But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” (1 Timothy 6:3-10 ESV).

We live in a day and time when the truth is massively under fire, i.e. it is greatly under attack. Truth and lies are now being flip-flopped to where it can be difficult to discern truth from lies. Truth is also being altered and diluted to make it less offensive to the ungodly and to human flesh. And deliberate half-truths are lies. And these lies are being spread through some preachers’ sermons, video talks, movies, TV shows, cartoons, “Christian” song lyrics, social media memes, and famous people’s testimonies, etc.

But one of the big dangers of these lies is that they are cleverly blended in with the truth, and they are skillfully disguised as truth, and so they have the appearance of truth, and so many people believe them. And then we live in a “fast food” generation where the shorter that messages are the better that they are received. But the shorter they are the more they are missing in content, and thus it is easier to deceive naïve and unsuspecting minds who receive them as truth if they sound good, and if they make them feel good.

Therefore, the ability to discern if anyone is teaching a “different doctrine” becomes harder and harder to distinguish if we are not grounded in the truth of the Scriptures being taught IN CONTEXT, and not out of context, as so many are doing these days. And it is harder if we are just easily accepting what appears good and what sounds good, but without testing what we are reading or hearing against the Scriptures taught in their appropriate context. And CONTEXT is absolutely critical to correct biblical understanding.

For I know that a “different doctrine,” which does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus, is what is largely being accepted as the truth here in America, and it is what the masses who profess faith in Jesus Christ are following, and not the truth. For they are being taught that they can profess Jesus as Savior and Lord, have all their sins forgiven, be guaranteed heaven when they die, and promised that nothing can take that away, but regardless of how they live. And some are even promoting the continuance of sin.

And the liars are able to convince many people to believe this “different doctrine,” as though it is truth, because they are teaching the Scriptures out of context, and most people are not testing what they are hearing against the truth of the Scriptures taught in context, and so they are believing the lies and not the truth. But sadly, even if you present them with the truth, many are refusing the truth and are continuing with the lies for the lies do not demand that they forsake their sins and obey Jesus and his commands.

And it isn’t just the love of money which leads people to accept the lies and not the truth, but it is the love of self, and it is the love of the world, and it is the desires (lusts) of the flesh and of the eyes and the pride of life which keep them still in slavery to sin and living for self but while claiming Jesus as their Lord and Savior. And it is wanting to be approved and accepted by other humans and to not be considered as different. And for some, it is that they just like to create controversy because they love to argue and quarrel.

So, how do we separate truth from lies? We have to go to the source of truth to get the truth, but we have to read what is written in its immediate context and then compare it to the overall context, as a whole. For Scripture should agree with Scripture. So if you are being taught a particular doctrine, go to that Scripture in your Bible and read that Scripture in its full context. And please read a reputable translation and not some of the more recent translations that have come out which deter much from the truth.

And then pray to the Lord for spiritual discernment to separate truth from lies so that you listen to the truth and not to the lies. And sometimes the lies are just what Satan is whispering in our ears and they are not even Scriptures taught out of context and twisted to say what they do not say. And sometimes they are just “sayings” of other people which sound biblical, but which are not based in the Scriptures at all. But the truth should agree with the teachings of Jesus Christ, which accords with godliness.

For Jesus taught that if anyone would come after him, he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. For if sin is what we obey, and not obedience to our Lord, we don’t have eternal life with Jesus Christ. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, and follow our Lord in obedience to his commands, we have eternal life. For he also said that not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven but the one DOING the will of God the Father who is in heaven.

[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 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; 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]

VOICE OF TRUTH 

By Mark Hall & Steven Curtis Chapman

II Corinthians 12:7-10/I Corinthians 1:20-24

Oh what I would do to have

The kind of faith it takes to climb out of this boat I’m in

Onto the crashing waves

To step out of my comfort zone

Into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is

And He’s holding out His hand

But the waves are calling out my name and they laugh at me

Reminding me of all the times I’ve tried before and failed

The waves they keep on telling me

Time and time again, “Boy, you’ll never win!”

“You’ll never win!”

But the voice of truth tells me a different story

The voice of truth says, “Do not be afraid!”

And the voice of truth says, “This is for My glory”

Out of all the voices calling out to me

I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CsiBjc0UIA

Caution: This link may contain ads

Beginning to Sink, He Cried

“Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, ‘It is a ghost!’ and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.’

“And Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’ He said, ‘Come.’ So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, ‘Lord, save me.’ Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’ And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’” (Matthew 14:22-33 ESV)

Sometimes, when we are in the middle of difficult circumstances, and all seems to be going against us, and not for us, and Jesus enters into those circumstances, we may not even recognize that it is him there. We may be so focused on our problems that we don’t even see him there waiting to speak to us, to bring comfort and encouragement to our hearts, and to counsel us in the way that we should go. For all we see are the waves crashing against us, and all we see are impossible situations, when instead we need to see that Jesus is right there and he has it all under control.

And if we pray, and we ask the Lord to reveal himself to us, so that we know that it is him speaking to us, and he shows us that it is him, and that we should not be afraid, then we need to trust him to lead us in the right direction. And if we then step out in faith, and we walk by faith and not by sight, but then something happens that shakes our faith, we are not to give way to fear. We are not to lose sight of Jesus and that he is there and that he is in control of what is going on about us. And we need to trust him. For he has it all handled. We just need to believe that he does.

Now, this is certainly not teaching that we sit back and do nothing. For the Lord has things for us to do, by faith in him. He has given us gifts of his Spirit, and he has assigned us particular roles (body parts, functions) in his body which he intends for us to fill. And he has given us all sorts of instructions in the Scriptures regarding what we should be doing and not doing. But we must not go in the flesh, and we must not leave God out of the picture, but we must walk by faith in his strength and power, letting him lead and empower and equip us to do the work he has called us to do.

For he is not going to call all of us to easy stuff. In fact, he taught us that if we follow him that it means death to sin and to self and following him in obedience wherever he leads us, and it means we will be hated and persecuted and that we will be faced with a lot of challenges and difficult situations to try our faith. But we are to grow in our walks of faith through these trials and not let them defeat us. And we are to trust the Lord that he is there and that he has all things under his control, and then we must follow his lead and walk by faith and not by sight.

So, the encouragement here for all of us who profess faith in Jesus Christ is to trust the Lord fully with our lives, to surrender all to him, to die with him to sin, and to live for him and in righteousness, holiness, godliness, and in obedience to his commands. And then we are to walk by faith and not by sight, trusting the Lord to lead us in the way that he would have us go. And then we need to obey him, even if it means having all kinds of things crashing against us, and people hating us and disapproving of us. And we need to believe that God has all things under his control. So trust Him.

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

VOICE OF TRUTH 

By Mark Hall & Steven Curtis Chapman

II Corinthians 12:7-10/I Corinthians 1:20-24

Oh what I would do to have

The kind of faith it takes to climb out of this boat I’m in

Onto the crashing waves

To step out of my comfort zone

Into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is

And He’s holding out His hand

But the waves are calling out my name and they laugh at me

Reminding me of all the times I’ve tried before and failed

The waves they keep on telling me

Time and time again, “Boy, you’ll never win!”

“You’ll never win!”

But the voice of truth tells me a different story

The voice of truth says, “Do not be afraid!”

And the voice of truth says, “This is for My glory”

Out of all the voices calling out to me

I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CsiBjc0UIA

Caution: This link may contain ads

Do Not Neglect Your Gift

“Command and teach these things. Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.” (1 Timothy 4:11-16 ESV)

We read in the Scriptures that the body of Christ, his church, is made up of many parts (we are those parts), that we do not all have the same function, and that we don’t all have the same giftedness. But we, as members of Christ’s body, are to be using the gifts given to us by God in the areas of ministry assigned to us by God. For some, their gift is prophecy, for others it is service, to another it is teaching, and to another it is exhortation, or it is generosity, or it is leadership, or it is mercy, etc. 

And we, as members of the body of Christ, are to be those who are encouraging one another in our walks of faith and in obedience to our Lord. We all are to speak the truth in love to one another so that we are not led astray by the cunning and craftiness of other humans in their deceitful scheming, and so we all grow to maturity in Christ together, as each part does its work. We all are to be teaching and admonishing one another with all wisdom and exhorting one another so that none of us becomes hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 

And all of us are to be stirring one another up to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together so that we can be encouraging one another. And if a fellow believer falls back into sin, we who are living godly lives should restore that person back to fellowship with Christ and to godly living. For whoever brings a sinner back from his wandering will save his soul from death. And we are all to making disciples of Christ, teaching them to obey his commands, and we are to be proclaiming the truth of the gospel and exposing the fruitless deeds of darkness.

[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 5:11-27; Php 2:1-8; Col 3:16; Heb 3:13; Heb 10:23-25; 1 Pet 2:9,21; 1 Jn 2:6]  

So, Paul’s exhortation to Timothy may well apply to all of us who are followers of Jesus Christ, who are his servants and witnesses, who are his body parts, who have been gifted of the Spirit in various ways and who are to be ministering to one another as these Scriptures teach that we are to minister to one another. Yes, we are not all in positions of biblical authority over other people, but we still have a responsibility to the body of Christ to help one another to live holy lives, pleasing to God, and to help one another to walk in faithful obedience to our Lord, and not in sin.

Especially since we live in a day and time, at least we do here in America, where “the church” has largely been turned into businesses incorporated under the state marketing their businesses to the ungodly of the world, we need to be people of God who are serving the Lord in the ways in which he has designed us to serve him and one another. For it appears that not many gatherings of what are called “churches” are operating as the biblical body of Christ, but they are operating as businesses marketed to the world.

And especially since it appears that the majority of these gatherings have ceased from teaching the full gospel message as Jesus taught it, and as his NT apostles taught it, but so many of them have altered and diluted the gospel to make it more acceptable to human flesh, we need to be the people of God who are still speaking the truth of the gospel, who are calling people to genuine repentance (change of mind resulting in change of behavior) and to obedient walks of faith in Christ in holy living, and no longer in sin.

For so many professers of faith in Jesus Christ these days are living not much differently from those making no profession of faith in Jesus Christ, so that there is not a distinguishable difference these days between the church and the world. And largely they are being taught that they do not have to repent (turn from) their sins and follow Jesus in obedience to his commands in holy living. For they are being given the impression that a mere profession of faith in Jesus Christ “seals the deal” and now heaven is guaranteed them.

And so many of them are continuing to live worldly lives, and for self, and for self-pleasure, and in sin, even in sexual sin and in immorality and adultery and in lying, cheating, and stealing and whatever else they feel that they have the liberty to now do without punishment since they made a profession of faith in Christ. But the Scriptures teach that if sin is our practice, and if righteousness and obedience to our Lord is not what we practice, we don’t know God, and we do not have eternal life with God.

So we need to be those of God who are living for him, in practice, and who are speaking the truth of the Scriptures to other Christians and to the people of the world so that they can come to genuine God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ and be crucified with Christ in death to sin, and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. For if sin is what we 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 God (Romans 6:1-23).

[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 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; 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 

Irreverent and Silly Myths

“If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.” (1 Timothy 4:6-10 ESV)

Should we dismiss everything we can’t prove? Not necessarily. But take for instance that one of the biggest means of deception right now is via the use of misimpressions (indirect lies) which are hard to prove. But when you learn the lingo of the false teachers and of their false gospel message, and you learn to recognize their patterns of deception, you can begin to spot these clever ways of spreading lies which are hard to prove because they are indirect, and not direct lies. So this requires Holy Spirit discernment.

Since such clever ways of deceiving people is predominant right now, because they who are spreading them know that they are not provable, we do need to be on our guard against taking everything at face value and assuming that everything and everyone is as they are being presented. For since fakery, lies, subliminal messages, misrepresentations, and the twisting of truth abounds in our day and age, we do need to be wise to their existence so that we are not fooled by their trickery.

So, just saying here that the things we are taught here to avoid aren’t always as recognizable as black and white and easy to recognize. And the things which are really happening in our day and age are not all provable, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t exist, or that they are not true, but that we just have no real way to prove that they are true, even if most people know that they are true. For so much in our day and age is “cloak and dagger,” i.e. mysterious, hidden, secretive, but nonetheless evil.

So, the lesson here is that we are to avoid (have nothing to do with) irreverent and silly myths. And myths are falsehoods, fiction, fabrications, and untruths (lies). So my point in what I said previously is to set the stage for what this says, for truth and lies are being so “flip-flopped” these days that the lies often appear as truth while the truth is often presented as lies. And so the danger here is that, although with good intentions, we might reject the truth and embrace the lies because we are not discerning.

Now some things are quite obvious. For example, if the Bible says we must obey God to have eternal life with God, we can take that at face value. For it says it enough times to where we know that it is a biblical fact. But even though the original manuscripts of the Scriptures were without error, many of our translations are not without error, and so it is critical that we read verses, not only in their immediate context, but in the context of the whole of the New Testament to make certain that our understanding is correct.

And it is also critical that we read Scriptures in their appropriate context, for so many of the false teachings we are being presented with today are based off Scriptures being taught out of context and thus taught erroneously. So someone may show us an independent Scripture and try to convince us that it says something it does not say because they have pulled it out of context. And so, even though it has the appearance of truth, it doesn’t mean that what they are telling us is actually the truth.

Therefore, although we are certainly to have nothing to do with irreverent and silly myths (falsehoods), we need to be very discerning people who pray for guidance in knowing what is true and what is false, because it is not all that obvious. For we live in a day and time of massive deception where so many things are being faked and altered and made to look real when they are not real at all. So, if we want to know what is real and what is fake, although we will never know it all, we need Holy Spirit discernment.

And that brings me to this next part. For Paul said, “Rather train yourself for godliness.” Amen! We are not discerning people when we are allowing ourselves to be caught up in the ways of the world and of the flesh and when we are not really training ourselves for godliness but we are entertaining ourselves in worldliness, instead. For if we are of the world we are not going to be discerning about what is of the world and not of God. And so we must be those who are living godly, morally pure, and obedient lives to God.

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

Caution: This link may contain ads

God Desires All People to be Saved

“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.” (1 Timothy 2:1-7 ESV)

When I read this, the first question that came to my mind was, “What should I pray for all people, and for those in positions of rule and authority in the nations all over the world, and in my own nation?” Well, I know that I need to pray according to the will of God, and not against his will. But I hear so many people taking this that they should pray for God to bless certain people or particular nations or specific people who are in positions of political power. But is that what God intends? Does he want to bless all people?

So, then I got to thinking about the people in this world who are thieves, liars, murderers, adulterers, those who rape people and who take over other nations, and who steal from them, and who kill whomever they choose, and who commit horrific crimes against humanity. How should we pray for them? Well, would you pray for God to bless them? But this is what and who many heads of nations are, at least they are here in America. And this is what many professers of Christianity are, too, including many pastors.

So, how should we pray for them? Well, as we read here in this passage of Scripture it tells us that we should pray for them, for this is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. And there you have it! That is the answer to my question. We need to pray for the salvation of the people of the world and for heads of nations, that they would come to the knowledge of the truth of God’s word, and that they would obey the truth.

And this is where it gets sticky. Many people, at least here in America, have a false conception of what it means to believe in Jesus Christ and to be saved from their sins. They see their salvation as deliverance from the punishment of sin (hell) and their faith in Jesus Christ as something that they can create in their own minds to suit their own purposes and their own chosen lifestyles. And thus so many of them make professions of faith in Jesus but they are still living for self and in sin and not for the Lord.

So, if we are going to pray for the people of the world, including for heads of nations, to come to genuine faith in Jesus Christ and to be saved from their sins, and to come to the knowledge of the truth of God’s word, then we need to be praying that they understand that faith in Jesus Christ comes from God and is persuaded of God and is gifted to us of God and is not of our own doing – not of the will nor of the flesh of man. So we don’t get to decide what this faith looks like. God does! His word does!

Therefore, if we look into the word of God (in context) we will learn that the faith required of us for salvation from sin is this God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ which leads us to be crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. So we are saved out of our lives of addiction to sin so that we can now live for the Lord in walks of obedience and in holy living, pleasing to God (see Romans 6:1-23).

And we also need to know the truth of what the word teaches regarding our salvation, that it is not a one-time thing that takes place in our lives and now heaven is guaranteed us regardless of how we live. For if sin is what we practice, and not righteousness, and not obedience to our Lord, then we do not have salvation from sin and eternal life with God. And we will be judged by God according to our works, and many will hear him say, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness.” (Matthew 7:21-23)

Now, if you are at all paying attention to what is going on in the world and in your nations, and if you are listening to the Holy Spirit speaking truth to your hearts, you should be aware that we are living in the last days before the return of Christ and that end times prophecies are being fulfilled in our present world situations. And you should be able to see the moral and spiritual decline of what is called “the church,” at least here in America, and perhaps across the world, and that God is presently judging us.

So what we really need to be praying for the people of the world, and for professing Christians, and for pastors of “churches” and heads of nations is that they all come to genuine repentance (turning from sin) and that they surrender their lives to Jesus Christ to now serve him with their lives. We need to pray that they die with Christ to sin and that they now live to him and to his righteousness in holy living, in the power of God. For if they continue in sin, even if they profess faith in Christ, they will die in sin.

[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 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; 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]

Video Talk

https://youtu.be/8V3XIZYza90

Caution: This link may contain ads

Gracious Father  

An original work / April 6, 2011

How great are You Father; 

how great are You, Lord.

My heart so adores You; 

Your mercy outpour.

Your love and your kindness; 

Your gracious reward

Are treasures from heaven 

that we can’t afford.

So, freely they’re given 

and humbly received

When we bow before You 

on penitent knee. 

O gracious Redeemer; 

my Master and King,

To You I owe everything – 

my offerings I bring

With whole heart devotion, 

to honor and praise

My loving companion 

and friend for always.

It’s You I serve only, 

to walk in Your ways,

So I have your promise 

for all of my days.

https://vimeo.com/115878674