Dropping the Masks

We all experience trials in this life, at least to some extent. Some people seem to have more than their fair share of them, though, while others appear to be relatively trouble free. But appearances can be deceiving. We don’t really know what goes on in other people’s lives unless we know them well, and we can see for ourselves what they are going through, or unless they tell us. So, we should never be too quick to judge others.

A lot of us have been trained to keep those things to ourselves, and to not share them, which may be wise, in some cases, but then how can people pray for us? How will we be ministered to and encouraged in our suffering by others? How will they know that they are not alone in their suffering? How will they be encouraged in their own walks of faith when they go through hard times if they think no one else has walked where they are walking?

Yet, when we do share, we should do so prayerfully and as led by the Spirit of God. It should not be to gossip, to have a pity party, to put others down, to puff ourselves up, or just to vent. Our goal should always have eternal values and God’s kingdom work in mind, as well as love for God and for others.

“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:3-6)

When Paul penned these words, he was in prison, but not for committing a crime, but for preaching the gospel of our salvation and Jesus Christ, our Savior. And, he had been in there a long while, too. But, instead of griping and complaining, blasting his persecutors, or venting of his unfair treatment, he wrote this letter to encourage his fellow believers in Christ in Philippi, who had encouraged him in his sufferings and had supported him in his ministry.

But, what if Paul had kept his suffering a secret, and he didn’t let anyone know? The church would have missed this opportunity to share with him in his suffering and to encourage and support him. And, he would have missed out on their encouragement and support, too. Through this sharing of mutual love and support, they bonded, they united in heart and mind, and they were all strengthened in their faith, and in their purpose, and in their commitments (resolve) to obey the Lord and to keep on in his service.

So, we need to have a healthy way and a biblical and godly way to share with other believers our sufferings so that they can help strengthen and encourage us, but also so that we can encourage them in their suffering with the encouragement we have received from God (2 Corinthians 1:1-11). Yet, we need to do this under the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit, in love, in kindness, in gentleness, and with the ultimate goal of ministering God’s grace and mercy into the lives of others, and not just to please ourselves.

“It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:7-8)

When we do share our sufferings with others, this is when we learn who our true friends are, i.e. those who will stand beside us, even if they don’t know what to do, and who will pray for us, and not reject us because what we just shared with them was uncomfortable for them to hear. Friends like that, though, seem few and far between. Most people will just walk away. And so many people just want to put on masks and pretend “I’m ok, you’re ok,” even if they are not ok. And that isn’t healthy, either. 

The point of this, though, is that if we are to have genuine fellowship with one another, in the Spirit, and if we, the body of Christ, are to grow together in love, one for the other, we have to “drop our guards,” and not wear masks, though we must exercise wisdom and discernment with this, too. We can go from shoving it all inside us to the opposite extreme where all we do is complain and want people to commiserate with us, and that is not healthy, either. We have to find the right balance in this.

“And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” (Philippians 1:9-11)

Always, before we open our mouths and blurt out our hurts, we should pray, asking the Lord for wisdom and direction, and we should examine our own hearts to see if our purpose in sharing is godly, with the goal in mind of our own spiritual maturity, and/or with the goal in mind of leading others to spiritual maturity in Christ, that they may walk in his holiness and righteousness. Our purpose in sharing should be to increase one another’s love for God and our love for one another, otherwise it can be destructive to the body of Christ.

“I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.” Philippians 1:12-14)

I love this! Our purpose in sharing our sufferings with others, should, as well, be for the advancement of the gospel of Christ. This should be the intended outcome. And what is the gospel? It is that Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. And this should always be what we teach, that our Lord gave his life up for us so that we might be free of our chains. So many people are in chains, by their own choice, because of wrong choices, but also because they keep their sins a secret.

So, if we want hope and healing for ourselves or for others, we need to have the courage to tell someone, or to share with the body of Christ what we are going through. But, we also need to be prepared for rejection, because too many want to keep things on a surface level, i.e. happy, happy, and they will not want to share in the fellowship of our sufferings, as we share in the fellowship of the sufferings of Christ. 

But that should not keep us from giving testimony to God’s saving grace and mercy in our lives, because we never know how God is going to use what we share in the lives of others, if not now, maybe some time down the road when they are ready for it. So, be courageous, be bold, be humble, be sensitive, be discerning and wise, and be submissive to your Lord in doing what he wants you to do for your own healing, and for the healing of others.

Songs in the Night  

An Original Work / December 18, 2013

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” Acts 16:25 NIV ‘84

Lord, I praise You forevermore.

You, my Savior, I now adore.

Hope in heaven awaiting me,

Because You died at Calvary.

I have been forgiven,

And I’m bound for heaven.

Jesus set me free from

All my sin, I say.

I will praise Him always!

Lord, I love You for all You’ve done:

Overcame death, my vict’ry won!

Jesus saved me, and now I’m free!

I rejoice in His love for me.

I will walk in vict’ry!

My sin is but hist’ry!

I am free to please Him

With my life today.

I will love Him always!

Lord, I thank You for giving me

A new life bought at Calvary.

Loving Jesus, I meet with Him.

Tender mercies now flow within.

Lord, I am so thankful;

Through my Lord, I’m able

To sit at His table;

Fellowship with Him.

I will thank Him always!

https://vimeo.com/379484387

The Road Less Traveled

I had a choice between two roads –

One was narrow, and one was broad,

One was honest, and one a fraud,

One of the devil, one of God.

I had to choose which one to take –

The road less traveled, will it do?

Or should I choose what others do?

Which will be false, and which is true?

I had to choose, for time is short –

Life on this earth not guaranteed,

For it can be cut off, indeed.

I had to choose, do it with speed.

So, choose I did, I made my choice –

I chose the narrow road as best,

That in Christ’s life I would invest,

E’en though I knew it’d be a test.

I made the right choice, yes I did –

I chose to leave my life of sin,

And let Christ Jesus to come in,

And follow Him until the end.

I keep on choosing Him, you see –

To daily choose Him, yes I do,

To follow Him now, through and through,

To do the things He did – me, too.

An Original Work / October 24, 2020

I Have Seen a Horrible Thing

 

“But in the prophets of Jerusalem

    I have seen a horrible thing:

they commit adultery and walk in lies;

    they strengthen the hands of evildoers,

    so that no one turns from his evil;

all of them have become like Sodom to me,

    and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.” (Jeremiah 23:14 ESV)

“They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’” (Jeremiah 23:17 ESV)

“But if they had stood in my council,

    then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,

and they would have turned them from their evil way,

    and from the evil of their deeds.” (Jeremiah 23:22 ESV)

The prophets were those who spoke the words of God to the people, his messages that he wanted to give to the people. They were the Lord’s messengers sent by God to the people to give his messages to the people. And to prophesy is to speak to the people of God for their encouragement (exhortation, warning, urging, admonishment) and for their spiritual maturity, that they might live lives worthy of the gospel. And this can be in the form of a strong appeal, request, and/or a pleading to live rightly.

But now all of us within the body of Christ are to be those who are speaking the Word of God to one another for the purpose of encouraging and exhorting one another in our walks of faith and in obedience to our Lord in holy living, and in appealing and urging one another to not fall back into the practice of sinning against the Lord, but that we all might walk in holiness and in righteousness and in obedience to God and no longer in sin. We are to be those who speak the truth of God to one another for our spiritual growth.

[Romans 12:1-8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; 1 Corinthians 14:1-5; Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:1-16; Ephesians 5:15-21; Ephesians 6:10-20; Philippians 2:1-8; Colossians 3:12-16; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:13; Hebrews 10:23-25; James 5:19-20]

But we have many people within the gatherings of the church, or of what are falsely being called “churches,” who are not speaking for the Lord, and who are not speaking the truth of his word, many of whom are in positions of leadership and rule and spiritual authority over the people, and who are in positions of influence with persuasive powers to direct people in the way in which they want them to go. But they themselves are not living for the Lord, but they are those who habitually commit adultery and walk in lies.

But not only that, but they lead their people in the wrong direction by teaching them that if they profess faith in Jesus Christ that, regardless of how they live from that moment forward, heaven is secured for them and all their sins are forgiven, even future sins, which they say will not be held to their account. And by doing this they strengthen the hands of evildoers so that no one turns from his evil ways, because they are convinced that they don’t have to, but that they can still go to heaven when they die.

For they tell those who despise the word of the Lord that it will be well with them, even if they continue in deliberate and habitual and premeditated sin against the Lord, as their practice. And to despise the word of the Lord has to do with how we treat the word, i.e. if we refuse to obey the word of the Lord and to put it into practice in our daily lives. That is despising the word. But they tell them if they feel guilty for sinning that they should just claim who they are in Christ, even if, in truth, they aren’t really “in Christ.”

For what did Jesus say? He said that if anyone would come after him he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our former lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for Jesus’ sake we deny self, die daily to sin, and follow him in obedience, we have eternal life in him. For not everyone who calls Jesus “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven but the ones DOING the will of God (Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23; cf. Romans 6:1-23).

But if the prophets and priests and pastors and elders and teachers of the Scriptures who are strengthening the hands of the evildoers, so that no one turns from his evil (and who are telling those who despise the commands of the Lord that it will go well with them), if they had stood in the council of the Lord, and not in the counsel of the wicked, then they would have proclaimed the words of the Lord to the people and not these diluted and altered gospel messages intended to tickle itching ears and to appease the flesh.

And if they would have, and if they would now proclaim the truth of God’s words to the people, instead of the lies, there would certainly be many more people turning from their evil ways and from their evil deeds, for they would understand that if sin is what they practice, that it leads to death. But if obedience to the Lord and righteousness is what they practice, by the grace of God, in the power of God, it leads to life everlasting and to true salvation from sin and to true hope of eternal life with God for all who obey the Lord.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; 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 Peter 1:15; 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]

As the Deer 

By Martin J. Nystrom

Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water

 So my soul longeth after You

 You alone are my heart's desire

 And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield

 To You alone may my spirit yield

 You alone are my heart's desire

 And I long to worship You

 

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

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Teach Them

I was praying for various people I love who are still blinded by sin’s deceitfulness. My heart was heavy with care and concern for their lives. I began praying this first verse to the Lord, which is actually Jesus’ commission to Paul as recorded in Acts 26:16-18 before it actually became the first verse to this song. Then, the Lord directed me to put these words to the music he had given me. 

He then led me to Ephesians 4 and to Romans 12 and to several other passages of scripture, and he used them to put words to this song, “Teach Them,” which is about us sharing the gospel and the love of Jesus Christ so that others can come to know Christ. And then this is about teaching them by word and by example what it means to live for Christ. 

Teach Them  

An Original Work / May 24, 2012

Based off various scriptures

Open up the blinded eyes of

Those who walk in sin’s darkness.

Turn them to the light of Christ

And to His righteousness.

Turn them from the pow’r of Satan.

Turn them to the peace of Christ,

So they may receive forgiveness

And eternal life. 

Teach them to put off their old selves

And their former way of life,

And to put on their new self,

Reborn to be like Christ;

To not copy worldly customs;

Be transformed in life and mind;

Obey freely His word in them,

Pleasing unto God.

Teach them how to love their neighbors

Truly as they love themselves;

Be a witness; share the gospel;

Satan’s lies dispel;

Comfort all who mourn in sadness;

Share Christ’s love and joy today.

Do this through your life and witness

For your Lord always. 

https://vimeo.com/125485489 

The Shepherds Who Destroy

“’Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!’ declares the Lord. Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: ‘You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord. Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord.

“’Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness.”’” (Jeremiah 23:1-6 ESV)

Now, I am not going to go into all the history of all of this, but I will be looking at this in a practical sense with regard to how this can be applied to our world, to the church, and to our individual lives today, in 2024. And I am trusting the Lord Jesus to guide me in the understanding he wants me to have from this passage today, and that he will also guide me in the words that I am to write for the encouragement and strengthening of the body of Christ, his church, today. I live in America, so I will focus mainly here.

So, who are the shepherds today? In the gatherings of the church they are called pastors or elders or overseers. They are the ones who have spiritual oversight of the church body under their care, and it is their responsibility to give that oversight in such a way which upholds the truth of the gospel, and the teachings of Christ and of his New Testament (NT) apostles, and the commands of our Lord under the New Covenant. And they are to make certain that the gatherings of the church operate as they should according to the teachings of Christ and of his NT apostles, in all areas of ministry.

Now the Scriptures detail for us the biblical qualifications for these overseers which include elders and deacons. And so before these men are placed in these positions within the local gatherings of the church, these men are first of all to meet the biblical qualifications prior to taking such positions. 

“Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.” (1 Timothy 3:2-7 ESV; cf. Titus 1:5-9; 1 Peter 5:1-4)

“Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.” (1 Peter 5:2-3 ESV)

Now, let me add here that being well thought of by outsiders must include all these other qualifications, too. For there are a lot of men and women in prominent positions within the body of what is at least being called “the church” who are well thought of by outsiders but who do not qualify under the spiritual qualifications for being a pastor or elder (overseer) because they are not living moral lives in submission to the Lord in holy living, and they are not teaching the truth of God’s word, but they are diluting it.

Sadly, the situation here in America, and possibly across the world, too, is that so many of these “shepherds” are now businessmen who are marketing their “churches” to the people of the world just like any other businesses. For they are not being led of the Holy Spirit, and they are not operating under the headship of Christ, but they are following after business models and marketing schemes and books written by mere mortals telling them what they need to do in order to grow their “churches.”

So, they are destroying the lives and the possible ministries of those who would desire to follow Jesus Christ with their lives while they are catering to the ungodly in order to draw in large crowds of people from the world into their gatherings. And they are destroying the teaching of the gospel of Christ and his character and the character of the body of Christ to make them all more attractive and appealing and desirable to the ungodly. And so they are teaching many Scriptures out of context while they ignore many others.

So they really scatter the flock in two different ways. One of the ways is by teaching what is false and twisted and contrary to the gospel that Jesus Christ taught, if taught in context, so that many are now wandering from their pure devotion to the Lord and are following the ways of the world, instead. And another way is by getting rid of those of us who are still holding on to the truth of the gospel so that we don’t interfere with what they are doing that is evil and that is of the flesh and that is not of God.

And so they drive away or push away many who are serious students of the Scriptures and who are serious about their walks of faith and obedience to the Lord, and who are still teaching the gospel as taught by Jesus and by his NT apostles, as taught in their full context, and not out of context. And the rest, who remain, they work to deceive and to manipulate and to con them into believing lies, and thus a false gospel which is of the flesh and which does not teach biblical repentance and walks of obedience to Christ.

The Lord is Our Righteousness

So, what many are teaching is that a mere verbal profession of faith in Jesus Christ is enough to secure for us salvation from sin and eternal life with God, regardless of how we live our lives from that moment forward. But Jesus said that if anyone would come after him he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to sin, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, and follow Jesus in obedience, by his grace, in his power, we have eternal life.

For Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By genuine 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. So we should not let sin reign in our mortal bodies to make us 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, to sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; 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 Peter 1:15; 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]

For Our Nation  

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Trust Him with your life today.

Make Him your Lord and your Savior.

Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.

He will forgive you of your sin;

Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.

On our knees to God we’re praying,

Seeking God to give us answers

That are only found in Him.

God is sovereign over all things.

Nothing from His mind escaping.

He has all things under His command,

And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: We’re believing

In our Lord, and interceding

For our nation and its people

To obey their God today.

He is our hope for our future.

For our wounds He offers suture.

He is all we need for this life.

Trust Him with your life today.

https://vimeo.com/379406352

The Walking Wounded

This phrase, “the walking wounded” came into my mind one day, and it stayed with me for a while. I had some idea of what it meant, but not entirely, so I Googled it to find its meaning. And I found these definitions:

• “People who have been injured in a battle or major accident but who are still able to walk” (Google).

• “People who are injured, especially in a psychological or spiritual way, but still functional” (Dictionary.com).

• “Injured persons who are of a relatively low priority” (wikipedia.com). 

I believe what the Lord wanted me to see from this, and/or for us to see, is that “the walking wounded” are defined by all three of these definitions. 

The Lord Jesus led me to read some verses in 2 Corinthians, chapter one.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-7 ESV)

All of us will face difficulties in this life, some of them fairly minor, and others of them could be quite major. Some people will seemingly face only minor troubles, while others of us may have had deeply traumatic experiences in our lives, and maybe throughout our lives, too. And we may even be going through some very hard times right now. 

And some of us, too, may have questions concerning these troublesome times, either asking why they are happening to us and/or what we are supposed to do about them, or how we are to respond to them.

Through the things that we suffer, though, we can learn compassion for others who are hurting, in this case for “the walking wounded”. These are people who have been physically and/or emotionally and/or spiritually wounded by others, but they are trusting in the Lord for their healing, and so they are not letting it defeat them, but they are up and running, and walking with the Lord, and going in the right direction, by the grace of God, and in his power. But they need encouragement and comfort from other believers in Christ. And they need their prayers.

But they can be people who are often overlooked or ignored, because these are people whose wounds are not visible to the public, or because people think they should just “suck it up” and move on, as though these things do not deeply impact them and us. They deeply impact God, so why wouldn’t they impact us greatly, too? And some of these situations need to be addressed in the church, for by leaving them unaddressed, the addicted to sin continue in their addictions, and the wounded continue to get hurt.

“For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.” (2 Corinthians 1:8-11 ESV)

The “walking wounded” are not only people whose wounds do not always visibly show, and so they are overlooked or disregarded or considered a low priority, but they are those who have suffered enormously in this battle for other peoples’ lives, and for their marriages, and because they decided to stand on what is right and to fight off Satan’s evil attacks with the armor of God. So, although wounded, they are survivors! They are overcomers who have learned to put their faith, their hope, and their security in Christ.

Through all that they have suffered at the hands of their persecutors and opposition, they have learned to draw their strength from the Lord. They have learned that they cannot survive all the attacks against them in their own strength, and that they don’t have the courage to keep moving forward, in their own flesh. But they need the body of Christ to pray for them, but that requires that they have the liberty to share some of what they are going through, as Paul expressed in his letter here to the Corinthian Church.

But they have learned that their total dependency has to be in God, and in God alone, for he is the ONLY ONE who will never fail them. People will fail them and turn against them, and will not want to know that they are suffering. Jesus is the only one totally trustworthy, who will never let them down. And this strengthens them in their walks of faith, and it draws them closer to God, and through it all, God is purifying their hearts and making them into moldable vessels he can use for his purposes and for his glory. 

For, although they are wounded, God is healing them, and they are walking in the power and strength and wisdom of God, and God is using them to minister his love and grace into the lives of others who are wounded, too.

Not all the wounded, though, have yet learned to put their dependency totally in the Lord, so this is an encouragement here to cry out your pain to the Lord, to let him heal your wounded hearts, and then to let him make you into who he wants you to be, to be used of him in the lives of others, as you learn to rely totally on him, and not on yourselves. Then, although you still may be in this battle, you can have peace, and you can get up each day and have purpose and meaning for your life, and you can overcome in the power, strength and wisdom of the Lord, as you yield your life to HIM.

Thank you, Jesus, for this teaching from your word, and for what you have taught me through it. Amen!

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer 

By Thomas O. Chisholm / W. J. Kirkpatrick

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.

Ponderings

Pondering my heart’s desire,

Lord, of You, I must inquire,

What, of me, do You require

So that I obey Your will?

Living in a situation,

Often found in tribulation,

Want to sing in jubilation,

My heart Holy Spirit fill.

Be my vision, live Your mission,

Circumstances not conditions,

Dedication to Your vision,

May my heart to You obey.

Sacrifices, holy to You,

Sword of Spirt, through hearts pierce You,

Humble hearts we submit to You,

Lives surrendered all today.

Love unending to You bending,

Lifestyles are not cool or trending,

On the altar to Christ friending,

Contrite hearts, He’ll not despise.

Holy Spirit leading witness,

Must now be about Christ’s business,

Godly living, life of fitness,

No more dead, but now alive!

An Original Work / October 21, 2020

Tempted with Evil

“Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” (James 1:13-15 ESV)

Although God is completely sovereign over all that he has made, and Jesus Christ is the head over every power and authority, and all angels, authorities and powers are in submission to him, God is NOT the author of evil. 

Before God created anything or anyone, he knew what the result would be, and he allowed for it, but it was for his purposes. He created the being who then became Satan (the devil), who was an angel in heaven, but who rebelled against God, along with a third of all the angels. And, God knew this rebellion would take place, but he created this angel anyway (said to the best of my understanding as to what the Scriptures teach on this subject). 

[Isaiah 14:12-14; Luke 10:18; Hebrews 12:22; Revelation 9:1; Rev 12:3-9] 

And, even after this angel rebelled against God, and was thrown out of heaven, God allowed him to still exist, knowing full well that he would tempt humans, and they would sin against God, and that God would then curse them all, and that, as a result, all humans would be born into sin. And he created humans, knowing full well that they would disobey him, and that he would have to toss them out of the garden in which he had placed them.

So, God created us, knowing that all this would take place. But he had a plan in place, even from the very beginning, for how he was going to save us and to deliver us from our slavery to sin. For God always existed in three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – and from the very beginning of creation God the Father had planned that his Son, Jesus Christ, would be our sacrificial Lamb to die on a cross to deliver us from our sins (said to the best of my understanding as understood in the context of Genesis 3:15).

So, although God is not the author of evil, he allowed evil to exist, and he still allows it, and he uses the evil done against us for his purposes in our lives. For he never said we would have carefree lives full of eternal bliss and that we would never experience heartache, trials, persecutions, and abuse, etc. In fact, he said we would. But, he has a plan in place to use these situations in our lives for our good, if we will but yield our lives over to him, and follow his lead, and do what he says. And it’s to make us more like him.

[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Luke 6:22-23; Luke 12:49-53; Luke 21:12-19; John 15:1-21; John 16:33; John 17:14; Acts 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Eph 6:10-20; 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]

So, even though God did create a being who eventually rebelled against the Lord and became our arch enemy Satan (the devil), God is not the author of evil and he does not tempt us with evil to do evil, either. But he allows evil to oppose us and to come against us to push us more toward God, just as God the Father allowed Satan to tempt Jesus Christ for a period of forty days in the wilderness where Jesus had fasted during that period of time. But Jesus stood his ground against the devil’s temptations, and Jesus responded to Satan with the word of God. (Luke 4:1-13)

Now, whenever I read this passage of Scripture in James chapter one, I am a little conflicted in my mind with regard to some of the things stated. For one, it says that God cannot be tempted, and yet Jesus Christ, who is God, was tempted of Satan in the wilderness. But perhaps that is because Jesus Christ was also man, and so as man he could be tempted as we are tempted, but now that he no longer is man/God, but now he is just God the Son, he is not subject to temptation as we are who are human.

Secondly, this says that each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. But Jesus Christ was tempted of Satan when he had no evil desire. So I believe that not all temptation stems from evil desire within a person, though much does, but we can be tempted to do something wrong just because Satan puts a suggestion in our minds to try to trip us up, but we are able to immediately resist him, as Jesus did, and to use the armor of God to resist him, as Jesus did, and thus gain victory over Satan.

But it is certainly true that desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. And by fully grown, I believe this is speaking of one who deliberately and habitually and even premeditatedly sins against the Lord, in practice, and so he is not someone who honors God as holy, and who submits to his will and purposes, and who is crucifying the flesh daily, by the Spirit, and who is walking in obedience to the Lord’s commands in holy living. So he has no eternal life with God.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; 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 Peter 1:15; 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]

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 

Teach Me, Lord

No matter how long I have known the Lord Jesus, I always need him to teach me how to love and to serve him, how to obey him, how to be his witness, and how to love others with his love, so this is my prayer. I want to walk in his ways, to do what he says, and to be his servant and witness always. I pray all the time that he will teach me how to love others like he loves me. 

I do listen to my Lord, but not always as well as I should. Sometimes I battle with the flesh, like when I am tired and I want to take a break when he wants me to keep going. But then I yield to his will and to his ways, though not always as quickly as I should. Sometimes he has to urge me to go the way in which he is leading me. But I don’t want to stray from him. I don’t want to have idols in my life, so I pray regularly that he would show me anything in my life that is displeasing to him, or that he would convict me of any way in which I am sinning against him of which I am unaware. 

Sometimes he does show me areas of my life where I am not as committed to him as I should be or where I could do better in serving him or where I am falling short, possibly because I am allowing myself to get distracted by other things. And if he shows me an area where I need to change, then I have to confess that to him and turn from anything that might be pulling me away from full commitment to him. Most times he encourages me that he is pleased with me, and that I am walking in his truth. But that is where I want to remain, always living to please him with my life.

Teach Me, Lord  

An Original Work / June 12, 2011

Teach me, Lord, to walk in Your ways,

And observe all You command.

May I ever hasten to You,

And desire to not offend.

Teach me how to follow Your steps,

Gently guiding me each day.

May I love and serve You always,

Loving others, this I pray.

Teach me, Lord, to listen to You

Speaking Your words to my heart.

May I never stray from Your truth,

And from Your law ne’er depart.

Teach me how to instruct others

In the way that we should go,

Leading them by my life witness,

So that Jesus they should know.

Teach me, Lord, to be a light in

This dark world of grief and sin.

May I always care for others;

Share their burdens; help to mend.

Teach me how to share with them that

Jesus came to set them free,

So that they could be forgiven;

Live with Christ eternally. 

https://vimeo.com/126020281 

Needing Wisdom

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:5-8 ESV)

When we pray, and we ask God for wisdom, I believe it is perfectly okay for us to make certain that we have heard the Lord correctly, and that we didn’t misunderstand his counsel to us, and also to make certain that it was indeed God speaking to us, and not our own emotions, and not other voices in our heads. But, when he assures us of his counsel, and that this was indeed him speaking, because it was biblical, then we need to “take it to the bank,” so to speak, and hold on to it fast, and do what the Lord is counseling us to do. 

For we can’t keep going back and forth like on a teeter-totter questioning God and his instructions to us. And we can’t let other people’s opinions cause us to waver in unbelief, too. If we have been assured of God’s counsel, that it is biblically supported, then we need to stay the course, and do what he says to do, and believe him and trust him with the results, even if we can’t immediately see the fruit of what we believe he has said for us to do. And we must trust in his timing in this, too.

For our God often works behind the scenes, so we are not always going to see what he is doing outwardly and visibly. But we must not let lack of physical evidence of him working to cause us to doubt that he is working. For example, you may have a prompting of the Holy Spirit to share a word of encouragement with someone, but there is no response back. Thus, the temptation may be to wonder if you did the right thing, but if it was something the Scriptures encourage us to do, we should trust the Lord.

For we are not always going to see the results of our labors here on this earth, and we may never know how God is going to use our obedience to minister to the lives of people we may never even meet in this life. And the Scripture that comes to my mind the most here is the one where it says:

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven

    and do not return there but water the earth,

making it bring forth and sprout,

    giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;

    it shall not return to me empty,

but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,

    and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:10-11 ESV)

So, just because you get no response, it doesn’t mean that a seed has not been planted if you have shared with someone an encouragement (includes exhortations and urgings) from God’s word. And you may even die not knowing how it was used at all. So don’t get discouraged and don’t give up following the leading of the Holy Spirit just because you received no response. If the seed was planted, the Lord Jesus can bring that back to the minds of those to whom the seed has been given, even years later.

But then there are those who ask God for counsel and wisdom, but they wait until he answers before they decide whether or not they want to take his counsel. So they are those who do not ask in faith, believing that God is going to do what they ask if they are asking in faith and with the right motives and for the right purposes. For they just want to see what God’s word says first, and then they decide if that is what they want to do or not. So, they are the double-minded who will receive nothing from the Lord.

So, don’t be those who waver back and forth between what they believe, going from this side to the next and then back to the first side, and so on and so forth, because they are never decided in what they really believe, which is also evidenced by their actions (their fruit). And if the Lord calls you and he counsels you to send a card to someone or to share a Scripture verse or to share a song to encourage someone in his/her walk of faith, don’t give up if you don’t hear back. Just keep trusting the Lord, and keep obeying.

I Just Keep Trusting My Lord

By John W. Peterson

I just keep trusting my Lord as I walk a long

I just keep trusting my Lord and He gives a song

Though the storm clouds darken the sky o'er the heav'nly trail

I just keep trusting my Lord, He will never fail

He's a faithful friend, such a faithful friend

I can count on Him to the very end

Though the storm clouds darken the sky o'er the heav'nly trail

I just keep trusting my Lord, He will never fail

I just keep trusting my Lord on the narrow way

I just keep trusting my Lord as He leads each day

Though the road is weary at times and I'm sad and blue

I just keep trusting my Lord, He will see me through

He's a faithful guide, such a faithful guide

He is always there walking by my side

Though the road is weary at times and I'm sad and blue

I just keep trusting my Lord, He will see me through

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8R9Kb8krko

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Leap for Joy?

Let’s have a show of hands. How many of us, when we go through tough trials, immediately count it all joy? How many of us delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, and in difficulties? How many of us, when people hate us, when they exclude us and insult us and reject our names as evil, because of Jesus Christ, rejoice in that day and leap for joy? And yet this is what we are told in the Scriptures that we must do. And it is modeled for us, too, in the Bible.

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:2-4 ESV)

But this doesn’t mean that we will feel no pain, or that we won’t suffer, or grieve, or that we won’t struggle before God with what has just happened to us. We may have to cry it all out to God first, in our pain, and with tears streaming down our faces, before we are able to undertake what has just been handed to us, and before we are able to consider it a joy to share in the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings, becoming like him in his death.

Examples for Us

Job had just lost pretty much everything, his possessions, his livelihood, his servants and his children. His first response was to grieve this loss and to call on God and to worship the Lord. Then, and then only was he able to take this attitude: 

“And he said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.’” (Job 1:21 ESV)

Paul, to keep him from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations which God had given to him, was given a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass him. This, he said, was “to keep me from becoming conceited.” Then, he said, “Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’” Only then was Paul able to accept that thorn in the flesh and to state that he delighted in insults, in persecutions, and in difficulties. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

So, it isn’t that we must immediately respond to our trials with “Yay!” “Yippee!” For we may have to grieve them first, call on God, and/or plead for deliverance from them. But, then we must resolve to accept the sovereignty of God over our lives, and believe that God works all things for good for those who love him and who have been called according to his purpose. 

During these difficult times, we must learn to rejoice in the Lord and to be thankful that we are considered worthy to suffer for the sake of the name of Jesus, because God truly does have our best interest at heart, and he has allowed these things to come into our lives for a purpose. So, we need to commit our ways to him and then ask him to teach us what he wants us to learn through our hardships, that we might mature in him, learn patience and compassion, be forgiving, and be conformed to Christ’s likeness.

Steadfast under Trial

“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.” (James 1:12 ESV)

Instead of trying to escape or run from or resist God in what he is allowing in our lives, we must take our pain and our suffering to him in prayer, lay it down at his feet, and then submit our hearts and lives to him. And we must pray for wisdom and guidance, too, and then do what he says to do. We must forgive our persecutors, and do good to those who do evil to us. We must not get even, for it is God’s to avenge, not ours. But, “good” is not “soft on sin.” “Good” has to do with what is in the best interest of others, i.e. regarding what they truly “need,” not necessarily what they want.

So, remaining steadfast under trial does not mean we merely grit our teeth and endure what has been laid in our laps and that we say and do nothing. No! What it means is that we trust our lives into God’s hands, and then we do what God shows us we must do. 

So, we speak the truth in love, and we put on that armor of God with which to fight off Satan’s evil schemes against us, and we securely fasten into place that belt of truth with which to fight off Satan’s lies. For God may use us to be a voice for the abused or to speak out against all these injustices. We just need to ask him what his plan is for our lives through it all, and then do what he says (Ephesians 6:10-20).

Thank you, Jesus, for how much you love us, and for dying for us, that we might be free from slavery to sin, and that by your stripes we might be healed of our wounded hearts, too.

Believe Him  

An Original Work / July 15, 2013

My heart cries: Lord, won’t You hear me

Seeking You for the answers

To my heartache and questions

I have concerning my life?

Speak, Lord, to me right now.

“Oh, dear one, why don’t you trust Me

With your life’s circumstances?

Give your all on the altar

In submission of your will

To My purpose for you.

“Surrender your life completely

To your Lord and your Savior.

He has all things planned for you

For His glory and honor.

He’ll work all things for good.

“Believe Him. He will fulfill all

Of His promises to you

For your life and your future.

Trust Him. Rest in His love.

He’ll give you peace from above.”

https://vimeo.com/115945593

His Gentle Whisper

In the stillness of the moment,

As I sit here in the silence,

I am talking with my Savior,

And I’m listening for His kindness.

I can hear His gentle whisper,

As He breaks through all the hush,

And He tells me that He loves me,

Which He does, so very much.

As He tenderly instructs me,

In what He is all about,

I can feel the urge within me,

To let out a great big SHOUT!

For you see, I love my Savior,

And I love my times with Him,

When He reaches down in kindness,

And He shares a part of Him.

I love everything about Him,

His great power, so divine,

And His tender mercies given,

When the words I cannot find.

He knows everything about me,

And He loves me, just the same,

For He made me for a purpose,

That my life with Him I’d gain.

He reached down from all His glory,

And He chose me to be His,

That I might yet be His servant,

And for Him, my life I’d live.

So, I thank Him and I praise Him,

That He cared so much for me,

That He’d give Himself up for me

When He died upon a tree.

But, that’s not the end of story,

For He rose up from the grave,

That from sin I’d be delivered,

And that by His grace I’m saved.

And, so now He lives within me,

Giving guidance all the way,

So that I can live all for Him,

Doing what He says each day.

So, I thank Him and I praise Him,

For His great love so divine,

That He didn’t leave me helpless,

So true love, in Him, I’d find.

An Original Work / December 12, 2019

That the Word May Be Honored

“Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 3:1-5 ESV)

So, what is “the word of the Lord” that Paul was referring to here? Definitely Paul would be speaking about the words that Jesus spoke when he was on the earth which were written down for us who believe in Jesus Christ so that we should follow his teachings. But "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV) So, the word is the Scriptures.

Now, this requires that we read the Scriptures in their context, prayerfully, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, discerning what is written for us who follow Jesus Christ with our lives so that we may do what the word teaches us that we must do. But we are not under the Old Covenant liturgical, ceremonial, sacrificial, purification and dietary laws and restrictions, nor are we required to have all males circumcised. But God’s moral laws have remained intact, and we still have to obey his New Covenant commands.

And the word of the Lord is the gospel of our salvation which is that Jesus Christ was crucified on a cross, he died, and the third day he rose from the dead, he appeared to many, then he ascended back to heaven, and one day he is coming again to judge the people of the earth and to take his faithful bride to be with him for eternity. But he died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness and that we might walk in obedience to his commands in holy living, honoring the Lord Jesus with how we conduct our lives.

So, by genuine God-persuaded and God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ we are crucified with him in death to sin, and raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin, but as slaves to righteousness. Therefore, we are not to let sin reign in our mortal bodies to make us 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 in Christ our Lord (1 Peter 2:24; Romans 6:1-23).

And that is the word that Paul taught, that we must die to sin and live to righteousness in walks of obedience to our Lord’s commands and in holy living, and that we must no longer walk according to the flesh in deliberate and habitual sin and not in walks of obedience to our Lord and to his commands (New Covenant). But not everyone accepts that as the gospel message. Many are preferring a watered-down version of the gospel which does not require death to sin and walks of obedience to our Lord.

And so, if we are teaching the full gospel message of our salvation, we will be opposed by those who are teaching the diluted gospel message intended to tickle itching ears and to appease human flesh and to not offend the people of the world. For not everyone who professes Jesus Christ with their lips has genuine God-persuaded faith in the Lord, but many are following after a faith created in the minds of humans which removes God’s requirements for death to sin and for walks of obedience to his commands.

And so they will be offended by us if we are teaching the truth of the gospel as Jesus taught it. And Jesus said that if anyone would come after him, he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin, we will lose them for eternity. But if for Jesus’ sake we deny self, die daily to sin, and follow him in obedience, then we have eternal life. For not everyone who says “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven. Only those DOING the will of God the Father.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; 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 Peter 1:15; 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]

So, hold on to the truth of God’s word, and don’t be ashamed of the gospel that Jesus taught and that his NT apostles taught, even if you get rejected and persecuted and falsely accused of wrongdoing. For it is the truth that will set people free from their sins, not the lies which so many are spreading today in the name of Christ and in the name of the gospel. For if sin is what we practice, and not righteousness, and not obedience to our Lord in holy living, we will not have eternal life with God, regardless of what we profess.

As the Deer 

By Martin J. Nystrom

Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water

 So my soul longeth after You

 You alone are my heart's desire

 And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield

 To You alone may my spirit yield

 You alone are my heart's desire

 And I long to worship You

 

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

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Speak Lord

So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 

The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” 

Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” 

And the LORD said to Samuel: “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle. ~ I Samuel 3:9-11

Most every day when I awake there is a song in my mind which the Lord Jesus places there. The song is to go with where I am reading in scripture for that day. As I sit down to hear from the Lord through the reading of his word, I ask him to speak his words to my heart, and he does. 

I cannot begin to describe the awesomeness of hearing God speak his words to my heart in very practical and applicable ways to my life. He sometimes answers my requests, but sometimes he teaches me things I was not even seeking. 

Oh, how I love to hear him speak and to have him show me the plans he has for my life, and to lead me in his righteousness. His words are very precious to me. I want to know his ways, so that I can walk in his truth, and so that I can do what I know is his purpose for me. Praise his name!

Speak, Lord  

An Original Work / May 8, 2011

Speak, Lord, for Your servant’s list’ning to You.

Let me hear You speak in love and in truth.

Guide me, I pray. Teach me Your way.

Speak, Lord, while I bow before You now.

Speak, Lord, fill me with Your peace and Your joy.

Let Your Holy Spirit’s work now employ.

Strengthen within. Keep me from sin.

Speak, Lord, words that lead to victory.

Speak, Lord, so that I might walk in Your ways.

Let Your love o’er-flow in my heart today.

Be my desire. Set me on fire.

Speak, Lord, comfort me with Your presence.

https://vimeo.com/119817891 

Herald of Good News

“Go on up to a high mountain,

    O Zion, herald of good news;

lift up your voice with strength,

    O Jerusalem, herald of good news;

    lift it up, fear not;

say to the cities of Judah,

    ‘Behold your God!’

Behold, the Lord God comes with might,

    and his arm rules for him;

behold, his reward is with him,

    and his recompense before him.

He will tend his flock like a shepherd;

    he will gather the lambs in his arms;

he will carry them in his bosom,

    and gently lead those that are with young.” (Isaiah 40:9-11 ESV)

In the New Testament we read that we who are of genuine God-gifted and God-persuaded faith in the Lord Jesus are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that we may PROCLAIM (preach) the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness (sin) into his marvelous light (Jesus Christ, truth, righteousness). (1 Peter 2:9)

And we read that we are the SALT of the earth and the LIGHT of the world, so we are those who are to preserve and to hold on to the truth of the Scriptures and who are shining the light of THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL to the people of the world. So we are not to let our salt lose its taste nor are we to hide our lights under a basket or a bushel, but we are to put our lights on a stand so that it gives light to all. But this is not to be just with our lips, but with our lifestyles which give evidence to the truth of what we are saying. (Matthew 5:13-16)

And we read the instructions which Jesus gave to his disciples, and if we are of genuine faith in the Lord Jesus, then we are his disciples. And he told them to GO and to MAKE DISCIPLES (of Christ) of people of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, TEACHING them to OBSERVE (obey) all that the Lord had commanded. And he told them that they would be his WITNESSES to the ends of the earth. (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8)

And then we read, “How beautiful are the feet of those who PREACH the GOOD NEWS!” And “Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are WHITE FOR HARVEST. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together.’” And (Jesus speaking) “Whoever believes in me will also DO THE WORKS that I do”. (Romans 10:14-15; John 4:31-38; John 14:12)

And “Whoever says he abides in him OUGHT TO WALK in the same way in which he walked.” And “For this YOU HAVE BEEN CALLED, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might FOLLOW IN HIS STEPS.” (1 John 2:6; 1 Peter 2:21)

So, you see, we are all here for a purpose, and that purpose is to serve our Lord Jesus Christ in doing what he has called all of us to do in being his witnesses, and in sharing the truth of the gospel, in making disciples of Christ of other people of all nations, and in doing the kinds of works that Jesus did, and in following in his footsteps in walking in like manner as he walked when he lived on this earth. We are to be his representatives to the people of the earth in living the lives he designed us to live and then in sharing with them his gospel message so that they can know him, too.

But we need to make certain that we are following what the Scriptures teach with regard to how we are to live, as his followers, and that we are sharing the gospel that Jesus and his New Testament apostles taught, and not this modernized version of the gospel which has been altered and diluted in order to appease human flesh and human consciences so that they can go on living in sin convinced that all their sins are forgiven, and that heaven is secured for them when they die, but regardless of how they live.

For Jesus said that if anyone would come after him, he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin we will lose them for eternity. But if for Jesus’ sake we deny self, die daily to sin, and follow him in obedience, then we have the hope of eternal life with God. For he also said that not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those DOING (obeying) the will of God (Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

And 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. And genuine belief in Jesus Christ results in us being 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. So sin is no longer to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires, for if sin is what we obey, it leads to death. But obedience to God ends in eternal life with God (Titus 2:11-14; Ephesians 2:10; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14).

So, the encouragement for all of us here is that we should all be those who are following our Lord in obedience in holy living and that we are no longer making sin our practice. We should be walking in our Lord’s footsteps in going wherever he leads us and in doing whatever he commands that we should do, as his followers. And then we should be witnesses and we should be sharing the truth of the gospel with the people of the world by how we live, in practice, and by sharing what Jesus and his NT taught us in what salvation from sin looks like and what a true Christian should look like, too.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; 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 Peter 1:15; 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]

As the Deer 

By Martin J. Nystrom

Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water

 So my soul longeth after You

 You alone are my heart's desire

 And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield

 To You alone may my spirit yield

 You alone are my heart's desire

 And I long to worship You

 

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

Caution: This link may contain ads

A Voice Cries, "Make Straight the Way"

A voice cries:

“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;

    make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Every valley shall be lifted up,

    and every mountain and hill be made low;

the uneven ground shall become level,

    and the rough places a plain.

And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,

    and all flesh shall see it together,

    for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” (Isaiah 40:3-5 ESV)

This was a prophecy of the prophet Isaiah concerning John the Baptist who was to go before Jesus Christ to prepare the way for him in order that the people might receive him as their Lord and Messiah. So John the Baptist called for the people to repent of their sins, so the baptism with which he baptized them was a baptism of repentance, with water. 

John the Baptist speaking: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.” “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Matthew 3:2,8,11 ESV)

“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.” (John 1:6-8 ESV)

“So they said to him, ‘Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?’ He said, ‘I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, “Make straight the way of the Lord,” as the prophet Isaiah said.’” (John 1:22-23 ESV; cf. Matthew 3:1-3)

“The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, “After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.” I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.’” (John 1:29-31 ESV)

Now, John the Baptist was the one called of God to prepare the way for the Lord, to make straight (upright, honest, moral, blameless) the way of the Lord. And we who believe in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives are also to make straight (godly, upright, morally pure) the way of the Lord Jesus when we share with others the truth of the gospel so that they can come to know him as their Lord and Savior. So we need to be those who are sharing the gospel, but the way that is righteous, upright, and godly.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 15:1-11; 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 3:5-11; 2 Tim 1:8-9; 2 Tim 2:10-13; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:1-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10]  

For Jesus said that if anyone would come after him, he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin, we will lose them for eternity. But if for Jesus’ sake we deny self, die daily to sin, and follow him in obedience, in practice, then we are promised eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter God’s heavenly kingdom, but only the ones DOING (obeying) the will of God the Father (Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

And this is the way that is straight, upright, godly, and morally pure. We need to be those who are preparing the way of the Lord for the people to follow that is teaching righteousness and holiness and obedience to our Lord and which is not crooked, i.e. which is not giving them carte blanche to keep on in their sin without punishment. For Jesus Christ did not die on that cross just to forgive sins and to promise us heaven when we die. He died that we might die to sin and live to him and to his righteousness (1 Peter 2:24).

And now our lives are to be lived for the glory of God and not for ourselves. Now we are to honor God with our lives, and our hearts are to be surrendered to him, and we are to be his servants and witnesses. Now we belong to him, we are his possession, and he is our Lord and Master. He is our commanding officer and we are his soldiers in his spiritual army, and so we are to obey our Lord in going where he sends us and in doing and saying what he commands us to do and to say for his glory and honor.

Songs in the Night  

An Original Work / December 18, 2013

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” Acts 16:25 NIV ‘84

Lord, I praise You forevermore.

You, my Savior, I now adore.

Hope in heaven awaiting me,

Because You died at Calvary.

I have been forgiven,

And I’m bound for heaven.

Jesus set me free from

All my sin, I say.

I will praise Him always!

Lord, I love You for all You’ve done:

Overcame death, my vict’ry won!

Jesus saved me, and now I’m free!

I rejoice in His love for me.

I will walk in vict’ry!

My sin is but hist’ry!

I am free to please Him

With my life today.

I will love Him always!

Lord, I thank You for giving me

A new life bought at Calvary.

Loving Jesus, I meet with Him.

Tender mercies now flow within.

Lord, I am so thankful;

Through my Lord, I’m able

To sit at His table;

Fellowship with Him.

I will thank Him always!

https://vimeo.com/379484387

Give it a Rest

When we don’t understand,

Trust His plan.

When life doesn’t make sense,

Trust His ways.

When things often confuse,

Trust His care.

When the answers don’t come,

Trust His grace.

When the myst’ries are there,

Say a prayer.

When bewilderment nods,

Overcome.

When complexities scheme,

Know He’s there.

When we can’t trust in man,

Rest in God.

For, we may never know

What’s in store,

Or how God’s working right

To the core.

For, we can’t always see

What’s ahead,

Or how God’s working things

Out, instead.

So, when life’s complications

Get bad,

And we fear that we now 

Have been had,

Trust in Jesus to work

For our best,

And give an-xi-e-ty

A good rest.

An Original Work / September 22, 2018

We Who Wait for the Lord

“Why do you say, O Jacob,

    and speak, O Israel,

‘My way is hidden from the Lord,

    and my right is disregarded by my God’?

Have you not known? Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God,

    the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He does not faint or grow weary;

    his understanding is unsearchable.

He gives power to the faint,

    and to him who has no might he increases strength.

Even youths shall faint and be weary,

    and young men shall fall exhausted;

but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;

    they shall mount up with wings like eagles;

they shall run and not be weary;

    they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:27-31 ESV)

Have you Christian; have you follower of Christ; have you man or woman of God ever felt as though God had forgotten you or that he was not really paying attention to your circumstances? Have you ever felt as though you were abandoned by God and he was so busy elsewhere that he wasn’t really even noticing you and what you were going through? And/or have you ever thought that God could do nothing about what you were experiencing, and that other humans had power over you over which God had no control?

There was a time in my life when I subconsciously believed that God had no power over my circumstances and over other people, and that other humans had power over me that God could do nothing about. Consciously I did not believe that, but my actions proved what I really believed. But I didn’t realize that is what I believed. Even one time when the Lord was encouraging me to get back into a difficult situation and to work it through, my immediate response to the Lord was, “But God, you don’t understand!”

It was what my heart felt and believed and accepted even though my conscious mind was telling me something different. And it all came down to the fact that I had been abused severely by my father, and I had faced other abusive situations in my life, too, and although I did cry out to God in those circumstances, the Lord did not rescue me from them when I was going through them. So my subconscious mind came to believe that God really was powerless to do anything and that man still had power over me.

And that is what this lesson is about and what God was addressing with his people, that they believed that their way was hidden from the Lord, and that their right (their cause) was disregarded by God. For they were those who were bringing the Good News to the people, but evidently they were not being received warmly and with welcome by all the people, for they were being instructed to not be afraid, but to say to the people, “Here is your God!” And they were to lift up their voices with a shout (Isaiah 40:9).

And so the Lord reminded them that he was all powerful, and that God sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and the earth’s inhabitants are like grasshoppers. And he told them of how he stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in. And he brings princes to nothing, and he makes rulers of the earth as emptiness. [We definitely have some empty rulers of the earth.] And he told them that when he blows on these rulers, they wither, and they are carried off (Isaiah 40:21-24).

And that surely is a picture of the sovereignty and the almighty power of God over the earth and over the people of the earth. So, whatever happens, God allows it. It doesn’t mean he approves of it, just like he allows sin and sinners to exist on the earth for a time, but he does not approve of sin. And if God allows something in our lives, he will carry us through it. We just have to trust him, believe him, turn to him, and follow him wherever he leads us in doing and saying and being what he wants. 

So, our God is all powerful and all knowing and he is present everywhere at all times and there is nothing that escapes his notice, and there is nothing that is beyond his ability to act in any given situation. He will not grow faint nor weary, so we can always depend on him to be there for us if we are his followers (his disciples) and if we are following him in walks of obedience to his commands in holy living, and if sin is no longer our practice. And he will give us the strength to endure and to conquer all that comes into our lives.

For those who wait for the Lord are not those who just use God as their genie in the sky there to grant their every request. And if we are those who wait for the Lord, we are those whose trust is in him regardless of our circumstances, that he will see us through everything that comes our way, and that he will give us the strength to endure and the wisdom to know how to respond. We will acknowledge his power over our lives, and we will submit to his will and purposes. And we will trust him to bring good out of it all.

Here is Your God!  

An Original Work / July 18, 2012

Based off Isaiah 40:9-31 NIV

You who bring good tidings to Zion,

Lift up your voice; raise with a shout,

And do not be afraid of the people.

Say, “Here is your God!”

See how the Lord God comes now with power.

His arm rules for Him; His reward with Him.

He tends His flock just like a shepherd,

His lambs in His arms.

Do you not know? Have you not heard? 

Has it not been told you from beginning?

Our Lord sits enthroned above all things.

None to Him compare.

Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens.

Who made all of these? Who calls them by name?

Because of His great power and strength,

All accounted for.

Why do you say, “My way is hidden

From the Lord, and my cause forgotten”?

Do you not know? Have you not heard?

The Lord, He is your God.

He will not weary. He gives us power.

Those who trust in Him will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings just like eagles;

Walk and do faint not.

https://vimeo.com/125488095 

Songs in the Night

As I was writing the words to this song, as the Lord Jesus was giving them to me, I was picturing in my mind the persecuted church throughout the world, either in prison or in hiding, singing songs of praise to their God for his great salvation. 

I pictured that the night truly symbolized a time of great trouble and hardship to come upon the church, and so the church was lifting holy hands in prayer and in praise to their Lord despite their difficult circumstances. I also pictured that among them were new believers in Jesus Christ who were freshly praising their Lord for their newfound freedom in Christ. Oh, how glorious!

Songs in the Night  

An Original Work / December 18, 2013

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” Acts 16:25 NIV ‘84

Lord, I praise You forevermore.

You, my Savior, I now adore.

Hope in heaven awaiting me,

Because You died at Calvary.

I have been forgiven,

And I’m bound for heaven.

Jesus set me free from

All my sin, I say.

I will praise Him always!

Lord, I love You for all You’ve done:

Overcame death, my vict’ry won!

Jesus saved me, and now I’m free!

I rejoice in His love for me.

I will walk in vict’ry!

My sin is but hist’ry!

I am free to please Him

With my life today.

I will love Him always!

Lord, I thank You for giving me

A new life bought at Calvary.

Loving Jesus, I meet with Him.

Tender mercies now flow within.

Lord, I am so thankful;

Through my Lord, I’m able

To sit at His table;

Fellowship with Him.

I will thank Him always!

https://vimeo.com/379484387

With All of Your Heart

And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions. (Mark 12:28-34 ESV)

Jesus Christ summarized the Ten Commandments and possibly also all the liturgical, ceremonial, sacrificial, purification, and dietary laws and restrictions (and the law of circumcision) of the Old Covenant into two commands. For, when Jesus Christ died on that cross, he did away with the Old Covenant with its requirement for circumcision and with all its liturgical and ceremonial commands and restrictions. But what remained intact were God’s moral laws, i.e. the law of love for God and for other humans.

And all throughout the New Testament, under the New Covenant, we are still instructed that we must obey the commandments of God which are spelled out for us all throughout the writings in the New Testament. But the “rule of thumb” for all the New Covenant commands is the law of love that Jesus described here. But this is not human-based love, but this is agape love, which is to prefer what God prefers. For the believer it is to prefer to live through Christ, choosing his choices, and obeying them in his power.

And what God prefers is all that is holy, righteous, just, honorable, faithful, honest, trustworthy, morally pure, upright, godly, and obedient to his commands. So if we love God with this love, we are not going to be those who deliberately and habitually sin against God and against other humans. But we will be those who obey the Lord, in practice, who serve the Lord in ministry, and who demonstrate the love of Christ to the people of the world, in the manner in which Jesus showed that he loved the people.

And how did Jesus show love? He healed the sick and afflicted and he raised the dead and he delivered people from demons and he fed the hungry and he comforted the sorrowful, and he performed all sorts of miracles. But he also called the people to repent of their sins to the forsaking of their sins and to walks of obedience to his commands. And he warned them that if they did not obey the Lord and leave their sins behind them, that they would lose their lives for eternity and they would not enter into his heavenly kingdom.

[Isaiah 53:1-12; Matt 7:21-23; Matt 26:26-29; Lu 9:23-26; Lu 17:25; Jn 1:1-36; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 8:24,58; Jn 10:27-33; Jn 20:28-29; Rom 5:8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 9:5; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 11:23-32; 1 Co 15:1-8; 2 Co 5:15,21; Eph 4:17-24; Php 2:5-11; Col 2:9; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 1:8-9; Heb 2:14-15; Heb 4:15; 1 Pet 2:24; 2 Pet 1:1; 1 John 3:4-10]  

So “love” isn’t just all this feel good and mushy gushy stuff which makes people like us and think we are great. For the love Jesus had for the people got him hated and rejected and despised and falsely accused and hounded and beaten and hung on a cross to die for our sins. For they didn’t like the things that he did nor the things that he taught, especially if he called them to account for their sinful practices and to turn from their wicked ways to now follow him in obedience to his commands.

So, if you are truly loving God with your whole heart, soul, mind, and strength, your life will be surrendered to the Lord to do his will, to do what pleases him, to do what he prefers as your life choices and practices. And so that means dying with him to sin and now walking in obedience to his commands in holy living, and us no longer making sin our practice, but righteousness and obedience now to be our practice. And so you will not actively nor habitually nor deliberately make sin your practice.

But this love for God is not just about us forsaking our sinful practices, but it is about us following after him wherever he leads us to go, and to do whatever he calls us to do. And he calls us to make disciples of Christ of people of all nations and to teach them to obey his commandments. And he calls us to be his witnesses, and to proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light, and to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth in taking his gospel message to the world.

And out of love for the Lord and for our fellow humans, he also calls us to minister to one another within the body of Christ, to encourage and to exhort one another in our walks of faith and obedience to the Lord, to comfort, but also to warn against false teachings and falling back into sin. For out of love for God and for our fellow Christians, we are to speak the truth of God’s word to one another for our strengthening and our maturity of faith in the Lord. And we are to stir up one another to love and good works.

[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; Gal 6:1; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:11-27; Eph 6:10-20; Php 2:1-8; Col 1:9; Col 3:12-16; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:13; Heb 10:23-25; Jas 5:19-20; 1 Pet 2:9,21; 1 Jn 2:6]  

In Harmony  

An Original Work / September 2, 2012

Based off Ro. 12:9-21; 1 Pet. 3:8-17

Love each other truly. 

Cling to what is good.

Hate all that is evil. 

Never lack in zeal.

Serve the Lord with fervor. 

Joyful in hope be;

Patient in affliction; 

Praying faithfully.

Honor one another. 

Live in harmony.

Share with all God’s people

Who are found in need.

Do not be conceited.

Sympathetic be.

Love, and show compassion

In humility.

Keep your tongue from evil.

Peaceful you must be.

Honor one another.

Live in harmony.

God sees who are righteous;

Listens to their prayers.

But He’s against evil – 

Is His to avenge.

Do not fear what they fear.

Suffer patiently.

In your hearts, make Christ Lord.

Serve Him faithfully.

Honor one another.

Live in harmony.

https://vimeo.com/112832903

Temples of Business

“And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. And he was teaching them and saying to them, ‘Is it not written, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations”? But you have made it a den of robbers.’ And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching.” (Mark 11:15-18 ESV)

The temple of God today is no longer a physical building constructed with the hands of human beings. Jesus Christ is this temple, and all who follow him with their lives are his temple, the body of Christ, his church, in whom God/Christ dwells by his Spirit (the Holy Spirit). So the church is not a building called “church” nor is it a gathering of people called “church” if it is not under the authority of Christ, and if it is not abiding by the teachings of Christ and of his NT apostles, as taught in their appropriate context.

The church, thus, is also not a church denomination, which is of man, and not of God. It is not a social club nor a community or a civic center. And it is not a business incorporated under the state being run like any other worldly business with the full purpose of marketing “the church” to the people of the world using worldly means and methods to attract the world and to “draw in large crowds of people” from the world so that they will feel “at home,” and so that they will want to come back to these gatherings (businesses).

The church (the temple of God) is comprised of all who believe in Jesus Christ with genuine God-persuaded and God-gifted faith in the Lord, who 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 now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. This does not make us perfect people, but true Christians are those for whom righteousness and obedience to the Lord are their practice, and for whom sin is no longer their practice (habit).

And this is not to say that all true Christians will never fail the Lord (1 John 2:1-2), or that they will never fall back into sin and need to come to repentance and to renewed faith in the Lord Jesus, for we have multiple examples of this in the Scriptures, particularly in Revelation 2:1-29 and Revelation 3:1-22, but also in Galatians 6:1 and in James 5:19-20. But we must be aware that the Scriptures teach that if sin is our practice, and not righteousness and obedience to God, we do not have eternal life with God.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; 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 Peter 1:15; 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]

Okay, so back to the temple, the body of Christ, his church. God – Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit – feel the same way about the body of Christ, the temple of God today, as Jesus felt about the temple of God during the time in which he lived on this earth. For we are not to make the church (the temple of God), the people of God, into “houses of trade” and into “dens of robbers” and into “marketplaces” and into “places of business” (see John 2:16 in the ESV, NIV, NLT, and NASB).

For we must obey God, rather than man, if man requires that we disobey the Lord and that we operate in human flesh, instead. We are never to obey any government or church officials above our obedience to the Lord. So we are never to alter the meaning of “church” or the biblical practice of our church gatherings in order to attract the world to our gatherings. And we are not to alter (dilute) the message of the gospel so as not to offend the people of the world and human flesh. And we are not to change the character of God.

As well, we are not to be unequally yoked (partnered) with the ungodly, which includes those who profess faith in Jesus Christ who give lip service only to the Lord and who still are living according to the flesh and not according to the Spirit. And this also includes that we are not to be partnered in business with the government via incorporating as not-for-profit businesses under the state, which are now being largely marketed to the ungodly and to human flesh by means of diluting the truth of God.

So, the Lord is calling his people to come out from among these gatherings called “churches” which are just businesses of men being marketed to the people of the world, where they have compromised with the world and with the flesh in order to attract the ungodly to their gatherings, and so as not to offend them with the truth of the gospel. We are not to be partners with them lest we share in their sins and in their punishment, and so that God will welcome us, and he will be a Father to us, and we will be his people.

[Matthew 21:12-13; Mark 11:15-18; John 2:13-17; Acts 5:27-32; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Philippians 3:18-19; Revelation 13:5-8; Revelation 18:1-5]

And we are to gather together with the true body of Christ for mutual encouragement, for mutual edification, that we might use the gifts of the Spirit given to us by the Spirit in the areas of ministry to which God has assigned us and called us. And we are to speak the truth in love to one another so that none of us are led astray by those who practice human cunning and craftiness and deceitful scheming in order to lead people away from their pure devotion to Christ so that they will remain in the flesh.

And we are to speak the truth in love to one another, and exhort one another daily, so that none of us are taken captive by the deceitfulness of sin but rather we grow together to maturity of our walks of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And we are to address one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, and we are to teach and admonish one another in all wisdom, and we are to stir up one another to love and good works, the works which God prepared in advance that we should walk in them.

[Romans 12:1-8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:1-16; Ephesians 5:15-21; Ephesians 6:10-20; Philippians 2:1-8; Colossians 3:12-16; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:13; Hebrews 10:23-25; James 5:19-20]

In Harmony  

An Original Work / September 2, 2012

Based off Ro. 12:9-21; 1 Pet. 3:8-17

Love each other truly. 

Cling to what is good.

Hate all that is evil. 

Never lack in zeal.

Serve the Lord with fervor. 

Joyful in hope be;

Patient in affliction; 

Praying faithfully.

Honor one another. 

Live in harmony.

Share with all God’s people

Who are found in need.

Do not be conceited.

Sympathetic be.

Love, and show compassion

In humility.

Keep your tongue from evil.

Peaceful you must be.

Honor one another.

Live in harmony.

God sees who are righteous;

Listens to their prayers.

But He’s against evil – 

Is His to avenge.

Do not fear what they fear.

Suffer patiently.

In your hearts, make Christ Lord.

Serve Him faithfully.

Honor one another.

Live in harmony.

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