God is Our Help and Our Shield

“Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,

    on those who hope in his steadfast love,

that he may deliver their soul from death

    and keep them alive in famine.

Our soul waits for the Lord;

    he is our help and our shield.

For our heart is glad in him,

    because we trust in his holy name.

Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,

    even as we hope in you.” (Psalms 33:18-22 ESV)

What does it mean to fear the Lord? It certainly means to be in awe of him and to give him honor, value, respect, and obedience to his commands. But it also means to take him and his word seriously, and to heart, and not only to acknowledge what he says, but to do what his word says. And that means when the Scriptures teach us that if we walk (in conduct, in practice) in sin (and not in righteousness, and not in obedience to God), that we will not inherit eternal life with God, that we should believe God and act accordingly.

So, as those who claim to be Christians (believers in Christ), and thus to be followers (disciples) of Jesus Christ, we are to deny self, die to sin daily, by the Spirit, and follow our Lord in obedience to his commands in holy and righteous living, by the grace of God, and in the power of God. This is to be our life practice, not living for self and still for selfish desires, and not in sin and for the flesh. Our goal in life should be to please the Lord in all that we are and do and say, and for the glory of God, and not for self-glory.

So, when we hope in our Lord’s steadfast love, this is not to be one of those “God does it all and we do nothing” kinds of messages. I hear so many messages being spoken about God’s love and his faithfulness and his mercy and kindness and compassion, but which then disregard his justice and his holiness and righteousness and all that he requires of us in the way of thought and word and deed. And thus these messages also disregard his many warnings to us who profess him as Lord and Savior, too.

For if we truly want our souls to be delivered from death we must be crucified with Christ in death to sin, and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. Now we are no longer to let sin be our master to where we obey its desires, for if sin is what we obey, it leads to death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it leads to righteousness and to sanctification, and its end is eternal life with Jesus Christ, our Lord.

[Luke 9:23-26; Romans 6:1-23; Galatians 5:16-21; Matthew 7:21-23]

Now, if our lives are surrendered to Jesus Christ, to do his will, to live for him, and to do what pleases him, and so, by the Spirit, daily we are denying self and dying to sin and walking in obedience to his commands, although not necessarily in absolute sinless perfection (1 John 2:1-2), then the Lord is our help and our comfort and our joy and our shield and defense against the enemy of our souls and against all attacks against us and against our character and against our walks of faith in obedience to our Lord.

He will help us to walk the walk and to not just talk it, and he will help us to be strong in our walks of obedience to him, despite all the temptations and persecutions all around us. But we must cooperate with his work of grace in our lives. We must follow his lead and go where he sends us and say what he wants us to say and to do, and to not do what he says we are not to do. And he will help us. But if we resist him, and turn away from him, and choose to go our own way, instead, then we should not expect his help.

[John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; 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 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]

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