Who Take Refuge in Him

“With the merciful you show yourself merciful;

    with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;

with the purified you show yourself pure;

    and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.

For you save a humble people,

    but the haughty eyes you bring down.

For it is you who light my lamp;

    the Lord my God lightens my darkness.

For by you I can run against a troop,

    and by my God I can leap over a wall.

This God—his way is perfect;

    the word of the Lord proves true;

    he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.” (Psalms 18:25-30 ESV)

When I read this, the first thing that came to mind is how so many people today have this false impression that if they profess faith in Jesus Christ that now everything is good for them – all their sins are forgiven, heaven is now guaranteed them when they die, and it can’t be taken away from them, but regardless of how they live, i.e. regardless of whether or not they are walking in holiness and in righteousness and in obedience to our Lord and to his commands. And regardless of how much they sin against God.

And now you might be thinking, well she is reading from the Old Testament, but under the New Testament things are different. In some respects that is true, but not when it comes to the holiness of God and what he requires of those who call him their Lord and Savior. Whether it is in the Old Testament or in the New Testament, God requires of his people walks of obedience to him and to his commands and that we forsake our lives of living in sin and for self, if we want salvation from sin and eternal life with God.

He does not require absolute sinless perfection (1 John 2:1-2), but that sin should no longer be what we practice, and that righteousness and godliness and walks of obedience to his commands are to be what we practice. Sin is to no longer have mastery over our lives to where we obey its desires. For if sin is what we are obeying, if sin is what we do habitually and deliberately, in direct opposition to the Lord and to his teachings, we will die in our sins. We will not have eternal life with God, regardless of what our lips profess.

[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, we need to take this seriously. And this is not legalism, and it is not works salvation, but it is the message of the cross of Christ that we must die with him to sin and be raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. For Jesus died to rescue us out of our lives of slavery to sin so that we will now honor and serve him with our lives in walking in obedience to all that his word teaches us that we must do as his followers.

And when Jesus Christ is truly Lord (Owner-Master) of our lives, who has saved us (delivered us) out of our slavery to sin so that we now walk with him in obedience to his commands, he will lead us and guide us and strengthen us in our walks of faith and in obedience to him so that we will not fail, and so that we will serve him with our lives and walk in his ways. For he is a shield for all who take refuge in him, and he will keep us from sin and from defeat and from failure if our trust is wholly in him.

A Believer’s Prayer 

An Original Work / July 31, 2012

With my whole heart, Lord, I pray 

To be Yours, and Yours always.

Lead me in Your truth today.

May I love You, and obey.

Lead me in Your righteousness.

When I sin, may I confess;

Bow before You when I pray;

Live for You and You always.

Love You, Jesus, You’re my friend.

Life with You will never end.

You are with me through each day,

Giving love and peace always.

You will ne’er abandon me.

From my sin You set me free.

You died on that cruel tree,

So I’d live eternally.

Soon You’re coming back for me;

From this world to set me free;

Live with You eternally.

Oh, what joy that brings to me.

I will walk with You in white;

A pure bride, I’ve been made right

By the blood of Jesus Christ;

Pardoned by His sacrifice.

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