On Father's Day

*I know this is not Father’s Day today, but the subject matter here is that of abuse, specifically the abuse coming from a father, but this can extend to abuse coming from anyone in a position of rule and authority over others. So this can include the abuse inflicted by any parent, spousal abuse, and the abuse administered by people in positions of authority in the gatherings of the church or in the government or in the workplace. And this is also a message of healing of damaged emotions related to abusive situations.

On Father’s Day

Ephesians 6:4 ESV

“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

In America we have one day a year where we celebrate our Fathers. It is called “Father’s Day.” And for those who had good and not negative experiences with their fathers, it is usually a day of good memories or of good times in the present day. But not everyone had a father, or if they did, not everyone had a good father. Many of us had abusive and hateful fathers who did not love us at all.

Now when this talks here about fathers not provoking their children to anger, but bringing them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, this is saying, I believe, that there is a difference between discipline and abuse. Abuse is usually done in anger and plain meanness, for no thought for what the parent is actually doing to the child, and it can be very selfish driven. Now true discipline should be painful, to a certain extent, but it should be pain which is related to loving correction, and not in rage or selfishness.

Now my father was an abuser of the worst kind. He abused some of us sexually and all of us physically and emotionally, and “us” includes my mother and all four of my siblings. And we never knew when he was going to blow up at us, and it could be for nothing we did at all, but sometimes it was just what he created in his own mind, or because we didn’t do something his way, the way he thought it should be done at the very second he wanted it done, and I am not speaking of us disobeying him here.

I will give you an example. This one day he wanted me to get a book for him out of a bookcase filled with books. Now he could see the book he was pointing to, but I saw a whole bookcase full of books and I didn’t know which one he was pointing to, so I didn’t go grab it because I didn’t know which one he meant. And so as I stood there trying to understand which book he wanted, he knocked me over the head with his fist. I got hit in the head a lot when I was a child. 

And here is another one. Back in my day we didn’t have dishwashers. My sisters and I were the dishwashers. One of us would wash, another would dry, and the other would put away. And we would rotate these chores so that we didn’t all get stuck with doing the same job all the time. But sometimes my sisters wouldn’t get a dish clean, and so I would hand it back to them to finish washing it before I dried it. 

So, this one day when I was the one washing the dishes, I had missed washing the back of the spatula when I handed it to my sister to dry. It still had grease on it. But rather than handing it back to me, she showed it to my father, I think out of spite (I forgave her), which she admitted many years later, and so he swiped me across the face with it. And that’s just the minor stuff. For he was particularly physically abusive to our mother, beating her regularly. We never knew when his fist would strike, and so we lived on edge and in fear.

But then I grew up and I got married and I moved out of my father’s house. And we only lived in my birth city for about 8 years after that before we moved south permanently, well, at least for the next 34 years, we did, until my husband retired. And so I only saw my dad maybe once or twice a year after that, and it was limited visits. But on Father’s Day I always felt obligated to send him a card, and that was a painful experience for me.

And maybe you can identify with this. But I would go to the card shop and pick up a card and it would talk about the wonderful father I had and so I would put it down and pick up another, same scenario, and so I would pick up another, and the same. Not one of them expressed the relationship I had with my birth father. And that was a painful experience to go through year after year after year. And then the Lord gave me permission to not get him a card at all, for that holiday is just a human tradition. But after some time of healing, I went to getting him a more generic card just to show him love.

So, if you identify at all with any of what I have shared with you, I empathize. I feel your pain. I hope you have come to a place of healing and wholeness and that you are no longer living in that pain. But I know that Father’s Day is still not a day of celebration for you unless you can find something you feel that you can celebrate.

For me, I just found things that my father did that were unrelated to abuse and that were just his quirky way he did some things, like moving the pictures on the wall so many times that the walls had holes all in them, or how he always had to explain about the stack tables he had that slid in and out of one another, big to little. I can think of those things and smile. And my favorite picture of my dad is when he was a boy. I like that picture. I don’t like the ones of him when he was my dad. I’m okay with that.

So, what’s the encouragement today? If you are a dad, please know that there is a difference between loving correction and abuse. Please do not abuse your children in anger and in selfishness but correct them in love so that they might learn to be responsible and loving and caring adults. And if you had a dad like mine, know that healing is there for you through Jesus Christ if you will trust him with your life and if you will relent of all bitterness, and if you are willing to forgive those who have hurt you. And then let God be the one you celebrate today as your heavenly Father who loves you.

On Father’s Day

Video Talk

June 18, 2023

https://youtu.be/tQqnuXAmdng

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What is Life?

What is life?

How or when does it have meaning?

Why are we here?

What purpose do we serve?

Are we here by happenstance?

Are we here solely for ourselves –

For our own survival –

To do what pleases us only?

When we wake up in the morning,

What gets us up and going?

What is our thinking or our reasoning

For even existing and breathing?

Why do we do what we do every day?

What drives us and motivates us?

Did someone somewhere instill within us

Some reason for why we were even born?

And, what if they didn’t?

I mean what if we were beaten down?

What if no one ever said a kind word to us?

What if no one encouraged us along the way?

Would we still have reason to exist?

What if all we ever heard was

“You’re no good!” “You will never amount to anything!”?

What if no one said, “I love you!”?

What if no one hugged you or told you that you were special?

Would you still want to get up in the morning?

For, not everyone has a good life.

Not everyone is loved or cared for

Or made to feel important or special,

At least not by other humans.

Not everyone has their tummies full

When they go to bed each night.

Not everyone has a nice warm home

With warm blankets to curl up under in bed.

But, whether we had it good or we had it bad,

What impact did that have on our lives?

How did that form our thinking or our reasoning

About why we are here and what purpose we have?

Is it possible that there is someone greater than us

Who formed us, who made us, 

and who has a purpose for why we exist?

Is it reasonable to think that 

we did not just appear one day,

but that there was a masterful design for us

that was in place even before the world began?

Is it probable that all that we have gone through;

All that we have experienced in this life,

Whether good or bad, was in preparation

For the life design that we were destined to live?

Is it realistic to think that just maybe

There was a purpose for it all?

That it was not all just for naught?

But there is some sense to be made

Of all the craziness that we went through?

I believe there is. I believe in God, 

Creator of the universe and creator of all that has 

The breath of life which he breathed into them.

And, I believe our purpose is to give God

All the honor, the praise, and the thanksgiving

For giving us life, and for placing us here,

And for revealing himself to us through his creation.

I believe our purpose in existing is 

To give God our worship and our very lives

Given over to him, yielded solely to him

For his purposes and for his glory and praise.

And, I believe that we are to give all honor 

To the Son of God, Jesus Christ, 

Who gave himself up for us on a cross

So that we could be delivered from our sin

And have eternal life with God.

And, I believe that through faith in Jesus Christ

We can have meaning and purpose for our lives.

And, we can begin to see God’s plan for our lives

From even before he created the world.

And, when we yield our hearts and our lives

To follow Jesus Christ, in his ways, according to his will,

He shows us the way that he has for us.

And, then life begins to make sense,

And all that we went through has meaning,

And it has purpose, and we can see God’s hands

On our lives all the way, through it all.

And, then we begin to realize that 

It wasn’t all for naught, for there was a reason

For this season in our lives where we may not have

Felt God’s love and care, but still He was there.

And, so we bow before him,

And we acknowledge his sovereignty

Over our lives, and we say “Yes”

To his will, to follow him in his ways.

And, now we have a reason to live,

To get up in the morning,

And to do what he has for us to do

Each and every day.

And, that reason is not only for His glory, honor and praise,

But it is for our own salvation and our fellowship with God.

And, too, it is that we minister his love

And his grace in other people’s lives.

For, we do not live to ourselves,

But we live to please God,

And we live to love others

As God loves us.

And, one day our Lord is going to return

And he is going to gather all of his servants,

And he is going to take us to be with him forever,

And we will then forever live in peace, to the glory of God. Amen!

An Original Work / December 5, 2018

That Your Hearts May be Encouraged

“For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” (Colossians 2:1-7 ESV)

Why did Paul struggle? He had enemies. He had people who were out to destroy him, who spoke evil against him, who lied about him, and who tried to destroy his reputation among the people. He had those who tried to contradict what he was teaching, too. And he was beaten, left for dead, falsely imprisoned, and went through all kinds of physical suffering for the sake of the name of Jesus, and for the sake of the gospel, and for the sake of the salvation of human lives from sin so they could have life in Christ.

And so he often had to come to his own defense, too, against false accusations, but not just for the sake of his own reputation among the people, but for the sake of the truth of the gospel. For if he was discredited, so would be the message that he was teaching, which was Satan’s intention. So, he went through many hardships, not only for the salvation of the lost, but for the encouragement and strengthening of those of genuine faith in the Lord Jesus, many of whom were also being persecuted for their faith.

So Paul was very dedicated to getting out the truth, and to rebuking the lies, so that the people would come to know Christ in truth and in righteousness, and so that they who were of genuine faith in the Lord Jesus would come to maturity in their walks of faith and obedience to God. For he was not interested in just “getting them saved,” but in helping them to grow in their walks of faith in becoming more like Jesus, and so that they would not be deceived and led astray by those who would delude them with lies.

And if we are those who are of genuine faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, we, too, are to be encouraging one another in our walks of faith and obedience to our Lord, and who are sharing the truth of the gospel with the people, even if we get hated, rejected, and mistreated in return, as did Paul. Our lives should be so dedicated to the Lord and to his gospel message and to loving the people of this world and to encouraging our fellow Christians, that we will be willing to be hated, rejected, and mistreated without cause.

And in the times in which we now live, we will be opposed, even by others who profess faith in Jesus Christ, and even by some pastors and elders of “churches” which they have turned into businesses and are being marketed to the people of the world. And that is because we stand on the truth of God’s word and on the gospel message that Jesus taught in a time when so many people are altering the character of God/Christ, and of his church, and of his gospel, in order to appease human flesh and attract the world.

So, if we hold on to the gospel according to Jesus and according to the Scriptures and to the NT apostles, as taught in their full context, and not out of context, we are going to be rejected and persecuted and cast aside as unwanted, as well as we may be verbally opposed and even lied about, and we may even have others who will repeat what we said out of context, and who will twist our words to try to convince others that what we are teaching is not the truth, while they will pretend that they are teaching the truth.

But, out of love for God and for our fellow humans, we must persist in getting out the truth, and in refuting the lies of the enemy, even if we get hated and rejected and mistreated and even falsely accused, in return. And we must teach that Jesus Christ died on that cross to redeem us out of our lives of slavery to sin so that we will now become servants of God and of his righteousness in walks of obedience to our Lord in holy living. And we must warn that if sin is our practice, and not obedience to God, we will die in sin.

[Matthew 5:10-12; Matthew 10:16-25,34-39; Matthew 24:9-14; Luke 6:22-23; Luke 21:12-17; John 15:18-21; Revelation 6:9-11; Revelation 7:9-17; Revelation 11:1-3; Revelation 12:17; Revelation 13:1-18; Revelation 14:1-13; Romans 6:1-23; Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23; Galatians 5:16-21]

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 

All Hands on Deck

All hands on deck, all needed here

So we might win this battle near.

The enemy is hard at work

To get us all to our faith shirk.

He wants us dead, dead to the Lord,

So on his bus we’ll get on board.

Distractions plenty is his scheme,

And entertainment is his theme.

Diluting truth and speaking lies,

He deceives many, don’t deny.

He twists the truth, and tells his tales,

For his hope is that our faith fails.

So get on board with God, instead,

And let the Lord now be your head.

And follow Jesus every day,

And share His gospel, don’t delay!

An Original Work / May 22, 2024

You Endured a Hard Struggle

“But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. For,

“’Yet a little while,

    and the coming one will come and will not delay;

but my righteous one shall live by faith,

    and if he shrinks back,

my soul has no pleasure in him.’

“But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.” (Hebrews 10:32-39 ESV)

For the past five days, the Lord has been having me focus on messages related to one-sided relationships, abuse of power, abuse of people, the hurting and abused, overcoming the difficulties of life, healing of damaged emotions, forgiving the people who have mistreated us, fighting the good fight of faith, conquering the enemy of our souls, victory in Jesus Christ, deceiving spirits, people who lie, trick, and deceive, who are masters of manipulation, and faith and hope and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

So, the writings and video talks from the past five days have, in part, if not in whole, covered some of these subjects to some extent, which then is a good segue into today’s lesson. For the life of a true follower of Jesus Christ is going to involve abuse, mistreatment, persecutions, rejections, reproaches, false accusations, hard struggles, sufferings of many kinds, and afflictions, and the like. For Jesus promised us that if we follow him with our lives that we will be hated and persecuted as he was so mistreated.

So, although painful when we are going through these times of difficulty, we should not be overtaken by them. They should come as no surprise to us, for we were forewarned about them. And if we have overcome and have had victory over a specific trial, and then things seemed okay for a little while, but then they got bad again, or worse, or they came from a different source this time, or a different method of trying to destroy us, we should not let that overtake us, but we are to remain strong in our faith and persevere.

So, who are our enemies? Who are those who are opposed to us and who are against us and whose desire it is to do away with us? Well, the main enemy is Satan, but our enemies are also some human beings. And they can be our parents, our spouses, our siblings, our children, our “friends,” our neighbors, our co-workers, and others who profess faith in Jesus Christ and who are in the gatherings of “the church,” and they can be pastors and elders and government heads and the news media, etc.

For not everyone is who they claim to be. Many masquerade as servants of righteousness, but their hearts are far from God. Many are those who are mean, cruel, malicious, and despicable, but who masquerade as those of genuine faith in the Lord Jesus and as those who are teachers or preachers of the true faith. Outwardly they may appear righteous, but inwardly and in true nature and practice they are servants of the devil, and they are the self-indulgent, deceivers, liars, and manipulators who fake their Christianity.

They blend in with Christianity so that they appear as though they are Christians, but more like a chameleon blends in with his environment, but is someone who changes his colors depending upon whom he is with. And what they teach others is also a blending of the truth and the lies and deceptions so that what they teach has the appearance of truth while it is truly lies of the enemy. They profess to know God and to be in intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, but it is all a performance in order to lie and to deceive.

They pretend that what they are teaching is the true gospel of our salvation, but what they teach is really a lie of Satan intended to lead people away from pure devotion to Jesus Christ, while claiming who they say they are in Christ, and while claiming heaven as their eternal destiny. Part of what they teach may be truth, but it is blended in skillfully with the lies so as to appear as truth, but not really truth. And they will, thus, be opposed to us who are teaching the truth and who are exposing the lies for what they are.

But we are not to be those who run away from these situations, but we are to be those who are proclaiming the truth that Jesus taught and that his NT apostles taught, that we must be crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. We must be refuting the lies of the enemy and warning the people that if they continue in deliberate and habitual sin, and not in obedience to God, they will die in sin.

We must be people of God who love God and who love our fellow humans above wanting to “play it safe.” We must care enough about people to tell them the truth that can save their souls from hell, even if we get rejected and mistreated and even lied about, in return. And we must be willing, too, to stand with others of true faith who are genuinely (in truth) being persecuted for righteousness’ sake and for speaking the truth of the gospel. We must be willing to give it all up to follow Jesus and to share his gospel.

[Matthew 5:10-12; Matthew 10:16-25,34-39; Matthew 24:9-14; Luke 6:22-23; Luke 21:12-17; John 15:18-21; Revelation 6:9-11; Revelation 7:9-17; Revelation 11:1-3; Revelation 12:17; Revelation 13:1-18; Revelation 14:1-13; Romans 6:1-23; Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23; Galatians 5:16-21]

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg 

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One-Sided Relationships

Ephesians 4:32 NIV

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” 

In this video talk I make reference to a song sung by Whitney Houston. The song is titled, “I Have Nothing.” It is considered a romantic or a love song of sorts, but this is the first stanza:

“Share my life, take me for what I am

'Cause I'll never change all my colors for you

Take my love, I'll never ask for too much

Just all that you are and everything that you do”

Now that is a description of a one-sided relationship. It basically says to the other person that I want everything from you but you have to take me just as I am because I will never change who I am for you. Ouch! And although many people will not express this in words, though some will, this is the approach that many people are taking to marriage, and to their marriage to Jesus Christ.

They are just looking for what that other person can do for them, for how that other person can meet their desires, even if they are twisted and perverted desires. It is all about them and what their flesh craves but without consideration for how what they do might impact the other person. Some people may even feel as though what they do is none of their spouse’s business, for although they are married, they still want the single life.

And many people who profess faith in Jesus Christ are taking that same approach to their relationships with Jesus Christ. They want whatever God has to offer them in the way of forgiveness and eternal life and all the blessings of God, but they are telling the Lord that he has to take them just as they are and that they have no intentions of changing. I have heard many of them verbalize to me that they believe they don’t have to do anything, that they don’t have to repent of their sins nor obey the Lord Jesus.

Now, if you are a true believer in Jesus Christ you should never make compromises of your faith and of morality and of holiness and righteousness in order to be in a relationship with another human. You should never agree to sin just to make another person happy. So this is definitely not saying that we should compromise in any way on our Christian faith and practice, and especially we should not agree to sin to change for another person. The changes we make need to be in the confines of our Christian faith.

But the whole point here is that if we are being kind and compassionate and loving toward other people we are not going to sin against them deliberately, and we will not deliberately and habitually do what we know is wrong and what is hurting them, for there is no kindness or compassion in such behaviors as that. It is meanness, and therefore it is hate, not love. 

And the same applies to our relationships with Christ. If we deliberately and habitually sin against him, that is not love but it is hate. And if we go into our relationships with Christ with this attitude that God does it all and we do nothing, that is unbiblical, it is a lie, and it is unloving and unkind. For Jesus requires that we deny self, that we die daily to sin and to self, and that we follow him in obedience if we want to be in relationship with him, and if we want salvation from sin and eternal life with God (Luke 9:23-26).

One-Sided Relationships

Video Talk

October 29, 2022

https://youtu.be/5V5Uy0T2RZo

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The Church

 

Toward Those Who Fear Him

Psalms 103:1-19

“Bless the Lord, O my soul,

    and all that is within me,

    bless his holy name!

2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,

    and forget not all his benefits,

3 who forgives all your iniquity,

    who heals all your diseases,

4 who redeems your life from the pit,

    who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,

5 who satisfies you with good

    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.” (Psalms 103:1-5 ESV)

If we were to read Psalms 103 under the New Covenant relationship that God now has with his people Israel (both Jew and Gentile by legitimate walks of faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord), the “you” and “your” would be in relation to those 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. For Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to his righteousness, by his grace.

For this is speaking of those whose lives have been redeemed from the pit of hell. And Jesus Christ shed his blood for us on that cross in order to buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of our lives of slavery (addiction) to sin so that we would now serve him with our lives in walks of obedience to his commands in holy living. Thus, sin is no longer to have mastery over our lives where we obey its desires. For if we obey sin, it leads to death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, its end is eternal life with Jesus Christ.

So, it is only by God-persuaded and God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ that any of us are able to be delivered out of bondage to sin, to have our sins forgiven, and to be healed emotionally, mentally, and spiritually (and sometimes physically, too) of sin’s attacks on our minds, emotions, and bodies. And this faith comes from God and is defined by God and not by us, and the Scriptures teach that this faith requires that we die to sin daily and that we walk in obedience to our Lord in holy living, or else die in our sins.

[Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Ephesians 2:8-10; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23]

“The Lord works righteousness

    and justice for all who are oppressed.

7 He made known his ways to Moses,

    his acts to the people of Israel.

8 The Lord is merciful and gracious,

    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

9 He will not always chide,

    nor will he keep his anger forever.

10 He does not deal with us according to our sins,

    nor repay us according to our iniquities.

11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

    so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;

12 as far as the east is from the west,

    so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

13 As a father shows compassion to his children,

    so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.

14 For he knows our frame;

    he remembers that we are dust.” (Psalms 103:6-14 ESV)

Now, please read all of Psalms 103 in its full context, and please do not take certain verses out of context to make them say what they do not say if taught in the proper context. For all of these promises of God, and all of these benefits of being in relationship with God – Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit – although given as gifts to us by God, have conditions that we must meet in order for us to receive what our Lord has promised. And the main condition mentioned here is: “to those who fear him.”

So, what does that mean? It means that we must be people of God who reverence the Lord, who worship him in spirit and in truth, who walk in his ways and in his truth and righteousness, who honor him as Lord (Owner-Master) of our lives, and who serve him in the ways by which he has called us to do so. We take him and his word seriously to obey it. We believe him, and not only his promises, but his warnings, too, and we take them to heart, and we behave accordingly. For we love God with our whole being.

And who are “the oppressed,” in this context? They are those who are being persecuted for righteousness’ sake, who are harassed (as Jesus was), tormented, baited, wronged, mistreated, bullied, falsely accused, lied about, gossiped about, betrayed, slandered, treated as dirt, treated as though they are nothing of value at all, ignored, and cast aside as unwanted. Satan is hot on their trail, “pulling out all the stops,” in hopes to destroy them and their reputations so that people will no longer listen to the truth that they speak.

[Matthew 5:10-12; Matthew 10:16-25,34-39; Matthew 24:9-14; Luke 6:22-23; Luke 21:12-17; John 15:18-21; Revelation 6:9-11; Revelation 7:9-17; Revelation 11:1-3; Revelation 12:17; Revelation 13:1-18; Revelation 14:1-13]

“As for man, his days are like grass;

    he flourishes like a flower of the field;

16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,

    and its place knows it no more.

17 But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,

    and his righteousness to children's children,

18 to those who keep his covenant

    and remember to do his commandments.

19 The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,

    and his kingdom rules over all.” (Psalms 103:15-19 ESV)

But those who go after the Lord’s servants and messengers, to destroy them, and to silence them, and to turn others against them so that others will stop listening to them, God will destroy, if they do not repent of their wicked ways, and if they do not die with Christ to sin and now live to him and to his righteousness in walks of obedience and in surrender to the will of God for their lives. For the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear (honor) him, as Lord, not just speak his name.

But to honor the Lord means to obey him, for if we do not obey him, but we go our own way, instead, we will die in our sins, regardless of whether or not we profess Jesus as our Savior and Lord. We must keep his New Covenant commandments, which are listed for us all throughout the New Testament. So first we must love God above all else with our whole being, and to love him is to obey him. And then we are to love our fellow humans with that same love which prefers all that is holy, righteous, godly, and morally pure.

Rejoice, the Lord is King!  

Lyrics by Charles Wesley, pub. 1744

Music by John Darwall, pub. 1770

Philippians 4:4; Psalms 103:19

Rejoice, the Lord is King!

Your Lord and King adore;

Rejoice, give thanks, and sing,

And triumph evermore;

Lift up your heart, lift up your voice;

Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

Jesus, the Savior, reigns,

The God of truth and love;

When He had purged our stains

He took His seat above;

Lift up your heart, lift up your voice;

Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

His kingdom cannot fail,

He rules o’er earth and Heav’n,

The keys of death and hell

Are to our Jesus giv’n;

Lift up your heart, lift up your voice;

Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

Rejoice in glorious hope!

Jesus the Judge shall come,

And take His servants up

To their eternal home;

We soon shall hear the archangel’s voice;

The trump of God shall sound, rejoice!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N0iVysrykU

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Life Surrendered

Life surrendered; self-life rendered

Dead to sin, alive to God.

Speak no evil, do not wicked.

Sinful ways give not a nod.

Holy, Holy, Lord Almighty,

God of heav’n and earth and sky.

Sing His praises, do what pleases

Him, and Him do not deny.

God is righteous, pure, unselfish,

Thought of us when Jesus died.

Jesus gave His life up for us

So on Him we’d now rely.

Give your life now all to Jesus.

Make him now your Lord and King.

Glory now in His pure presence.

Your life give an offering.

An Original Work / June 22, 2022

In Hope of the Glory of God

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:1-5 ESV)

If we have been justified by faith in Jesus Christ, what does that mean? What does that look like? For being justified isn’t just about being made right with God, but it has to do with being approved by God, according to his word, and according to his biblical standards for what it means to be made right (righteous) with God. For it means to be conformed to a proper standard with regard to what is upright in the eyes of the Lord. For we can only come to faith in Jesus Christ via divine persuasion (what faith means).

And what does God persuade us to do? He persuades us as to his righteousness and holiness, and of our sinfulness, and of our need to die with him to sin and now to live to him and to his righteousness. He persuades us to deny self, to die daily to sin, by his grace, and to follow him in walks of obedience to his commands. And his grace to us trains us to renounce (say “No!” to) ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we await our Lord’s return.

And not only does he persuade us with regard to what we must do, as those who are truly saved from our sins and who have eternal life in him, but he persuades us with regard to the things that we must put off (get rid of), and of the consequences of disobedience to him and of continuing in deliberate and habitual sin against him. For if we claim him as Lord and Savior of our lives, but we do not obey him, in practice, but sin is what we practice, then regardless of our professions of faith in him, we will not have life in him.

So, if we want to obtain access into his grace, by which we are to stand (steadfast), we must deny self, die to sin daily, by God’s grace, and walk in obedience to his commands – in his power, strength, and wisdom. And we must cease from making sin our habit. Godliness and holiness and righteous living are now to be what we practice, by his grace, and in his power. For faith which comes from God, and which is gifted to us by God, and which is not of our own doing, results in self-denial, death to sin, and walks of obedience to our Lord’s commands in holy living, or it is not biblical faith.

[Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:23-31; Hebrews 12:1-2]  

Those of us, therefore, who have been crucified with Christ in death to sin, and raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness, should be those who rejoice in hope of the glory of God. We should have confidence in (exalt in) the hope (expectation) of the glory (exaltation, honor, intrinsic worth, renown, manifestation) of God. We should be those who give him glory and praise and honor, not just with our lips, but with our lives.

And we do this by surrendering our lives to him to do his will, and by submitting to his Lordship (ownership, mastery) over our lives, and by dying to sin daily and by following him in obedience to his commands in holy living. We do this by giving up ownership over our own lives, and by committing ourselves to his service to do what he has called us to be and to do, according to his calling and his purpose for our lives collectively, as well as individually. For he has a very specific purpose for each one of us.

And this also includes suffering for the sake of righteousness, too. For if our lives are surrendered to Jesus Christ to do his will, and if we are following him wherever he leads us, and so we are living godly and morally pure and upright lives, by the grace of God, and sin is no longer our practice, we are going to be hated and rejected. And if we are sharing the whole counsel of God (his gospel message) with the people of this world, and if we are exposing the fruitless deeds of darkness, we will be persecuted.

But in our suffering we need to have the perspective that suffering is working good in our lives, when we respond to it in the right way. God is growing us in him in maturity, and he is teaching us patience and endurance, and he is developing in us godly character and a strong desire to follow him in obedience, regardless of the persecutions and rejections. He is teaching us to rely on him and not on ourselves. He is humbling us. He is making us more like Jesus. And he is making us strong to fight against Satan.

[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]

The Battle for Truth

An Original Work / May 18, 2013 

Based off Malachi 1-4

Truth is marching, truth is marching.

I love you. Honor me.

Tell the truth. You’ll be free.

Sing My praise all your days.

I will give all you need.

Truth is marching, truth is marching.

Turn from sin; cleansed within.

Stand in awe of My Name.

Teach what’s true. Walk in peace.

Follow Christ, in His ways.

Truth is marching, truth is marching.

Show to God faithfulness.

Do not be adult’rous. 

Do not shed shallow tears.

Do not be insincere. 

Truth is marching, truth is marching.

I have sent messengers,

Who have giv’n my address.

They call for repentance,

And they warn of judgment.

Truth is marching, truth is marching.

I, the Lord, do not change,

So return – blessings gain:

Healing comes; joyfulness;

Freedom from your distress.

https://vimeo.com/117023801

Masters at Manipulative Tactics

“Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help

    and rely on horses,

who trust in chariots because they are many

    and in horsemen because they are very strong,

but do not look to the Holy One of Israel

    or consult the Lord!” (Isaiah 31:1 ESV)

Be very careful who you believe and who you put your trust in and who you follow or idolize or admire, etc. All people (humans) are flesh and blood, and all have the capacity to fail. And many are good at fakery and at putting on performances to impress others and/or to deceive others. Many are experts in duplicity, in appearing one way in front of some people while being someone else entirely in front of other people. Many are good at storytelling, too, but the stories do not represent who they really are, in truth.

Many are liars and deceivers and manipulators and charmers who know how to trick and to convince and to capture the hearts of other humans. Their influences among those professing faith in Jesus Christ are especially powerful and effective in convincing them of the lies that they tell them. They may be charlatans and wolves in sheep’s clothing who are out to deceive the masses with a false gospel message. Or they may be haters who slander and who do evil against those they are jealous of.

They may, in some instances, take on a completely different character from what they had been displaying, depending upon whom they are trying to impress. But they just as easily can change right back, too. So, they could tell you one thing, and then in front of someone else say the exact opposite, perhaps to impress, or perhaps to try to make you look bad, like a fool. Their personalities can change so rapidly that you may not see it coming when the change appears. For they can turn on you “on a dime.”

For they are not people who are to be trusted, although they can appear as though they are good and righteous and pure of heart and mind. And this is why the Scriptures dedicate much teaching to this subject of false teachers and prophets, and of false christs, and of the necessity that we test them and their character and their teachings in prayer and in the study of the Scriptures, in their appropriate context. And it lets us know that we will know them by their deeds, but also by all the words that they speak.

“Turn to him from whom people have deeply revolted, O children of Israel. For in that day everyone shall cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which your hands have sinfully made for you.” (Isaiah 31:6-7 ESV)

But it isn’t just that there are a lot of liars and deceivers and tricksters and manipulators among us who we need to be discerning about. We are not to look to human flesh to be “God” to us or to be the “Word of God” to us, or to be our “saviors” and those who will rescue us from “evil.” All humans have the capacity to fail us. So we should not put any human on a pedestal. Honor those for whom honor is due, yes, but make certain that the honor is justified and that they are who they say they are and that they are being true to God’s word, and that they are of moral character and love for God.

But God alone is to be our God. Jesus Christ is our only Savior. No human being is going to be able to save us, the people of this earth, from the forces of evil in this world, or from our own sinful natures. Only Jesus Christ has the power to save the people of this world from what ails them. For it is sin in the hearts of human beings that makes the earth so filled with evil. And only Jesus can deliver us out of our bondage to sin, and to empower us to live godly, morally pure, upright, honest, and obedient lives to God.

So, don’t look to human beings to be your saviors, or to be the answer to your troubles, or to rescue you from the evil that is in this world of ours. Look only to God. But don’t look to God to do everything for you while you just sit back and watch him work. For Jesus died on that cross that we might die to sin and live to his righteousness. He shed his blood to buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of our lives of slavery to sin so that we will now serve and obey the Lord with our lives. And if we keep walking in sin, and not in obedience to God, we will not inherit eternal life with God.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; 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 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2]

Living Sacrifices  

An Original Work / September 14, 2012

Based off Romans 12:1-2; Romans 6:11-14 NIV

Oh, holy ones, I counsel you,

In view of God’s mercy,

To give yourselves to God in love

As living offerings,

Pleasing to God, holy in love.

This is your true worship.

Do not conform to worldly lives.

Let God transform you today.

Then you’ll be able to

Test and approve of what

God’s will is – His pleasing

And perfect will. Oh, holy ones, 

I counsel you – Offer yourselves unto God. 

Oh, holy ones, I counsel you – 

Do not be conceited.

Humble yourselves before your God.

Do not be self-righteous.

The strength you have to live in love

Comes from your Lord God, so

Live your new lives in pow’r of God.

Be changed in heart, mind and will.

Do this because of what

Christ did for you when 

He died on the cross to save

The world from sin. Oh, holy ones, 

I counsel you – Humble yourselves before God.

Oh, holy ones, I counsel you –

Count yourselves dead to sin,

But be alive to God in Christ.

Do not let sin reign in

Your earthly lives so you

Obey its evil desires.

Offer yourselves unto your God

As those who’ve been born again.

For sin shall no longer be 

Your lord and master.

Give of yourselves to God

For righteousness. Oh, holy ones, 

I counsel you – Be alive to God in Christ. 

https://vimeo.com/118480946 

Himself

Hymn lyrics and Music by A. B. Simpson, 1891

Once it was the blessing, now it is the Lord;

Once it was the feeling, not it is His Word;

Once His gift I wanted, now the Giver own;

Once I sought for healing, now Himself alone.

Once ‘twas painful trying, not ‘tis perfect trust;

Once a half salvation, now the uttermost!

Once was ceaseless holding, now He holds me fast;

Once ‘twas constant drifting, now my anchor’s cast.

Once ‘twas busy planning, now ‘tis trustful prayer;

Once ‘twas anxious caring, now He has the care;

Once ‘twas what I wanted, now what Jesus says;

Once ‘twas constant asking, now ‘tis ceaseless praise.

Once it was my working, His it hence shall be;

Once I tried to use Him, now He uses me;

Once the power I wanted, now the Mighty One;

Once for self I labored, now for Him alone.

Once I hoped in Jesus, now I know He’s mine;

Once my lamps were dying, now they brightly shine;

Once for death I waited, now His coming hail;

And my hopes are anchored safe within the veil.

All in all forever, Jesus will I sing;

Everything in Jesus, and Jesus everything.

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

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This is The Way, Walk in It

Isaiah 30:21-22 ESV

“And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. You will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, ‘Be gone!’”

The history here is that the children of Israel of that time were being stubborn and rebellious. They were making alliances and carrying out plans that were not of God. And they were adding sin to sin. They were lying children, children unwilling to hear the instruction of the Lord. And they were telling the Lord’s messengers to stop telling them what was right, but to speak to them smooth things, and to prophesy illusions. They didn’t want to hear any more about the Holy God of Israel.

And this parallels over to the church at large here in America and perhaps in other nations, too. Only you know what it is like in your nation. I can only speak of my own country, for it is what I know. And it appears that the vast majority of the church here in America is rejecting the “right way,” and that they are listening to those who are telling them smooth things, and who are deceptive and who are tricksters who are teaching half-truths (lies) instead of the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. For the truth offends people.

And so the Lord spoke to the people, like he is speaking to his wayward ones today, or to those who make a profession of him but not in truth, and he is saying that in returning to him and in resting in him you shall be saved. And this involves forsaking sins to follow Jesus in obedience. For that is the essence of the gospel message that Jesus taught and that his New Testament apostles taught. We must die with Christ to sin and then we must walk in holiness and righteousness in obedience to our Lord.

But they weren’t listening to the Lord, like many people who profess him as Savior are not listening to him today. And so they were doing whatever they wanted to do in following after the flesh and not after the Spirit. But then the Lord is saying that he longs to be gracious to you. But his grace is not free license to continue in deliberate and habitual sin. His grace trains us to renounce ungodliness and fleshly lusts and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we await his soon return (Titus 2:11-14).

And then we have the verses quoted above at the beginning of this writing. The Lord is telling us the way that is his way that we should walk in it. We just need to listen to what he says and then obey him. And when we obey him we will forsake our lives of sin and we will walk in obedience to his commands, and we will cast off all idols and sinful habits and sinful addictions and we will say to them, “Be gone!” But this must not be in words only. We have to cast them off, and then we have to obey our Lord.

This is the Way; Walk in It

Video Talk

October 27, 2022

https://youtu.be/daid6n28Llg

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Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg 

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Lying Tongues

You say one thing, 

But you do another. 

You say you’re pure, 

But have another lover. 

Your talk is cheap.

And your walk is failing.

You’re not sincere,

So, you can stop your railing. 

You play your games,

And your lips do conquer.

You may fool some,

But, I have got your number.

You plead your case,

And say you’re innocent.

Your sin declares, though, 

You must, in truth, repent.

You now can stop

With all of your charades.

Your God knows all, which

He surely can display.

In pride, you’ll fall,

From all you don’t repent;

If you keep on sinning, 

And you don’t relent.

So, give your all

To Me, Your Lord, today,

And I will wipe

All your guilt and sins away.

And you will walk

In freedom from your sin,

When you invite Me

To come and live within.

An Original Work / April 9, 2018

You Turn Things Upside Down

“And the Lord said:

‘Because this people draw near with their mouth

    and honor me with their lips,

    while their hearts are far from me,

and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,

therefore, behold, I will again

    do wonderful things with this people,

    with wonder upon wonder;

and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,

    and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.’ (Isaiah 29:13-14 ESV)

One of the biggest problems facing “the church” here in America today is that so many people are being taught that they can make a public acknowledgement of Christ as Lord and Savior of their lives, and now all their sins are forgiven (past, present, and future), and heaven is guaranteed them when they die, and it can’t be taken away, but regardless of how they live. No dying to sin, and no walks of obedience to our Lord and to his commands, and no holy and righteous living are being required of them.

So, many are they who draw near to God with their mouth and “honor” God/Christ with their lips, but while their hearts are far from God. For they are following a gospel of men (humans) rather than the gospel of Christ, as taught by Jesus Christ. They are following a gospel created in the minds of humans who are altering the character of God/Christ, of his gospel, and of his church (the body of Christ). For they are trying to “draw in large crowds of people from the world” to their gatherings, so they appease the flesh.

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

And Paul taught that, by faith in Jesus Christ, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin, and we are raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. So we are 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 with Christ Jesus, our Lord. (Romans 6:1-23)

And the grace of God, which is bringing us salvation, instructs us to renounce (say “No!” to) ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return. For Jesus Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Titus 2:11-14; Ephesians 2:10)

“Ah, you who hide deep from the Lord your counsel,

    whose deeds are in the dark,

    and who say, ‘Who sees us? Who knows us?’

You turn things upside down!

Shall the potter be regarded as the clay,

that the thing made should say of its maker,

    ‘He did not make me’;

or the thing formed say of him who formed it,

    ‘He has no understanding’?” (Isaiah 29:15-16 ESV)

Since so many people are being taught a diluted and altered “gospel” message, they lack the fear of the Lord. They do not take God and his word seriously, and so they continue on living in sin, deliberately, convinced that their sins will not keep them out of heaven. So they do not honor God as Lord of their lives, but they continue to chart their own course and to live life the way that they want, regardless of what the Scriptures teach, and regardless of God’s requirements of all who profess the name of Jesus.

Some of them are very blatant about this and don’t even try to hide what they do, while others will put on a performance of righteousness while they sin in secret, convincing themselves that no one sees and that no one knows, but God knows. And those who know them very well will see the patterns of behavior, too. They may not be able to prove anything, so they cannot accuse them of wrongdoing, but they may be able to see it in their eyes and in their body language when they are sinning in secret.

And this whole thing of turning things upside down is such a reality of what is going on within so many of the gatherings of what are called “churches” today. Good is now being spoken of as evil, and evil is now being spoken of as good. For if you take God and his word seriously, you may be called a legalist or one who teaches “works salvation,” while those who teach lies and who distort the truth in order to deceive the naïve and the fleshly, will often be referred to as friendly, kind, gracious, and merciful.

And then there is this whole thing of what is regarded as “negative” and “positive.” If you tell people lies which make them feel good about themselves, then you are being “positive.” But if you tell people the truth of what the Bible teaches on the subjects of salvation and eternal life, then you are regarded as “negative,” and you are to be avoided like a “hot potato.” But in reality, lies and “feel-good” messages are negative, for they are opposed to the truth of God’s word, while the truth is really what’s positive.

And definitely many are flip-flopping the roles of God and of humans, and humans are treating God/Christ like he is a doting grandfather or a genie in the sky there to grant their every desire, and as though he does everything for us and as though nothing is required of us. It is all about what God does, and not much is being taught about what God requires of us, in return. But our salvation is not a free ride to heaven. It is death to sin and living to God and to his righteousness, obeying God by his grace, and in his power.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; 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 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2]

The Heart of Man  

An Original Work / April 4, 2012

Based off Matt. 15:1-20; Mk. 7:1-23

Listen to me ev’ryone and

Understand this teaching of Christ:

Why do you break the commands 

Of God for the sake of tradition?

When you follow the ways of man,

And don’t obey the words of Christ,

You nullify the words of God,

And you hold to the ways of man. 

What comes out of a man’s mouth is

What makes him unclean and dirty.

The things that come out of the mouth

Come from the heart, from within him.

The heart of man is so sinful;

From his nature, out comes evil:

Lying, cursing, greed and malice,

Lust and lewdness, deceit, slander.

Jesus calls us to obey him;

Turn from our sins; follow His ways.

Yet, his people honor him with their lips, 

but their hearts not with Him.

Their worship of God is in vain.

Their teachings are rules taught by man.

Jesus calls us; gently leads us 

To return and follow His truth. 

https://vimeo.com/125490002

They Say, "Tell Us Pleasant Things"

Isaiah 30:1-5,8-11 ESV

“Ah, stubborn children,” declares the Lord,

“who carry out a plan, but not mine,

and who make an alliance, but not of my Spirit,

    that they may add sin to sin;

who set out to go down to Egypt,

    without asking for my direction,

to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh

    and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!

Therefore shall the protection of Pharaoh turn to your shame,

    and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt to your humiliation.

For though his officials are at Zoan

    and his envoys reach Hanes,

everyone comes to shame

    through a people that cannot profit them,

that brings neither help nor profit,

    but shame and disgrace.”

And now, go, write it before them on a tablet

    and inscribe it in a book,

that it may be for the time to come

    as a witness forever.

For they are a rebellious people,

    lying children,

children unwilling to hear

    the instruction of the Lord;

who say to the seers, “Do not see,”

    and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us what is right;

speak to us smooth things,

    prophesy illusions,

leave the way, turn aside from the path,

    let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.”

Although this is Old Testament, it is very applicable to Christians today. For the church, at least here in America, has largely formed an alliance not of God, and they are carrying out a plan not of God, for they have gone to their “Egypt” without asking direction from God, or without really listening to God’s answer, and they have taken refuge in the US government (the state), and they are relying on marketing books and businessmen to teach them how to grow their churches and how to attract the world to their gatherings.

So, instead of gathering together as the saints of God to encourage and to exhort one another in our walks of faith in obedience to our Lord, where the whole body can do the work of the ministry which God has assigned us to do, as his body, the gatherings have been now aimed at attracting the world and doing the kinds of things the world would want to come to. And so they have changed the whole meaning of “church,” and most are diluting the gospel message so as not to offend the people of the world with the truth.

And so they are definitely telling us who are still teaching the whole counsel of God to stop confronting them with their sins of idolatry and adultery and sexual immorality and lying, etc. And they want us to stop calling people to repentance and to walks of obedience to our Lord. And they want us to stop exposing the lies that we are being taught in many of these institutional churches. And they want us to tell them things that make them feel good and which don’t offend sinners. They want to hear pleasant things. But we who belong to Jesus need to keep speaking the truth.

And what is the truth that we need to keep speaking? It is that Jesus Christ (God the Son) came to earth, took on human form, and he preached repentance for the forgiveness of sins and obedience to him for eternal life with him. But he was hated for telling people the truth, and so his enemies had him hung on a cross to die. But in his death, he who is without sin, put our sins to death with him so that, by faith in him, we will die with him to sin and now walk in obedience to his commands.

But if we reject the gospel message that Jesus taught, and that his NT apostles taught (in context), and we rebel against the Lord and against his commands, and we chart our own course, and we go our own way, and we listen only to “pleasant things” which do not call for death to sin and obedience to God, and so we continue living in sin and not in walks of obedience to our Lord, then the Scriptures teach that we will die in our sins, and we will not inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what we profess.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; 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 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2]

They Say, “Tell Us Pleasant Things”

Video Talk

October 26, 2022

https://youtu.be/4tSJkC-504Q

Caution: This link may contain ads

The Lord’s Anointed  

An Original Work / December 16, 2011

Based off Isaiah 61

The Spirit of the Sov’reign Lord on me;

Anointed to preach the Good News;

Sent me to bind up the brokenhearted;

Proclaim freedom for the captives.

He sent me to preach release for pris’ners

Who are walking in sin’s darkness;

Proclaim God’s grace to all men who’ll listen;

And tell them about God’s judgments;

Comfort all who mourn;

Give crowns of beauty;

Oil of gladness and thanksgiving. 

They will be called oaks of God’s righteousness,

A planting of our Savior, God,

For the display of our Lord’s splendor, and

They will rebuild God’s holy church.

God will renew them, and will restore them,

And you’ll be called priests of the Lord.

You will be ministers of our God, and

You will rejoice in salvation.

The Lord loves justice;

He is faithful to 

Reward those who are seeking Him.

I delight greatly in the Lord;

My soul rejoices in my Savior, God.

He has clothed me with His salvation,

And in a robe of His righteousness.

He has given me priestly garments to wear, 

As the bride of Jesus Christ.

As the garden of our Lord and Savior, 

He causes us to grow in Him.

He makes righteousness, 

Praise, and thanksgiving

Spring up before all the nations. 

https://vimeo.com/114836524 

Deception is Huge

 

The Fool Cannot Understand This

“How great are your works, O Lord!

    Your thoughts are very deep!

The stupid man cannot know;

    the fool cannot understand this:

that though the wicked sprout like grass

    and all evildoers flourish,

they are doomed to destruction forever;

    but you, O Lord, are on high forever.

For behold, your enemies, O Lord,

    for behold, your enemies shall perish;

    all evildoers shall be scattered.” (Psalms 92:5-9 ESV)

Who are the stupid? They are the foolish, senseless, irresponsible, impulsive, reckless, childish, and self-indulgent. And they may be people who are intellectually very smart, who have a vast array of knowledge on many different subjects, but who play dumb, when it suits their purposes, and/or who act ignorant when they do not wish to acknowledge wrongdoing. And they may be very charming and clever enchanters who are very winsome, but who plot evil on their beds against those who they despise.

I believe they are described for us in Romans, chapter 1, where it says,

“For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.” (Romans 1:19-23 ESV)

So, what might that look like in our day and time? I believe one of the biggest idols plaguing people today is the media – TV, movies, videos, the internet, social media (Twitter X, Facebook, YouTube, etc.), video games, and cartoons, and the news media – all of which are now available to us around the clock, 24/7, at our fingertips in our pockets, in the privacy of a corner, even in a crowded room. In themselves they are not all evil, but evil is lurking in every one of them. So it takes a person of discipline to manage them so that they do not become idols in their lives and consume them.

But it isn’t just that these idols can steal our time away so that we are not using our time wisely on other things of much greater importance, especially on matters of obedience to God in holy living, but they have enormous power to influence us away from the ways of God to the ways of the flesh. So many of the memes on social media, for example, are intended to persuade our minds a particular direction, which is often the wrong direction, and some people are easily influenced by these memes and will buy into the lies of the enemy without even realizing that it is what is taking place.

And then there are all these possible temptations to go places where no true Christian should go, and many people are being led down those “rabbit holes,” i.e. “used to refer to a bizarre, confusing, or nonsensical situation or environment, typically one from which it is difficult to extricate oneself” (dictionary). Pornography may be one of the biggest “rabbit holes,” especially for men, but it isn’t the only one. Some of these are just time wasters from media that is intentional in trying to “dumb us down.” 

And since so many people are being “dumbed down” by what is simplified so as to be intellectually and/or spiritually undemanding, i.e. oversimplified for the very purpose to keep us from thinking and analyzing and questioning, many people are not questioning a lot of what they think they see or hear or read, but they just accept it at face value if it sounds good, and if the message is pleasing to their ears. And so many people, thus, are being deceived and are being duped into believing the lies and not the truth.

And this isn’t taking place just in the world and on TV and the internet and other media sources, but the same methods of deception are being used in many of what are called “churches,” but are really businesses of human origin being marketed to the people of the world like any other businesses and their products. And so many of the leaders of these “churches” are now following the marketing schemes of other humans, and so they are diluting and altering the character of God/Christ, of his gospel, and of his church.

And the masses appear to be buying into the lies because the lies tickle their itching ears and make them feel good about themselves and do not require of them that they die daily to sin and walk daily in obedience to our Lord and to his New Covenant commands. For they are being told that a mere profession of faith in Jesus Christ guarantees them forgiveness of all sins and heaven as their eternal destiny, but regardless of how they live. And they are being convinced that anyone teaching death to sin and walks of obedience are legalists who teach “works salvation.”

So, even though God has revealed himself to all humankind through his created works, only a minority of people seem to be listening to the Lord and to his Scriptures (in context) and who are following the Lord in dying daily to sin and in walking daily in obedience to the Lord in holy living. They are the ones who are on the narrow path leading to eternal life, while the majority (including professers of faith in Jesus Christ) are on the wide path leading to destruction which tells them what their itching ears want to hear, but not the truth that they need to hear, that they must die to sin and obey God.

But the truth of what Jesus taught and that his NT apostles taught is that we are required of God, for salvation and for eternal life with God, not only that we acknowledge that we believe in Jesus Christ, but that we show our faith to be genuine by dying daily to sin and by following our Lord in obedience to his commands. For if we walk in sin, and if sin is what we practice, and not obedience to God, and not holy living, then we do not have the hope of salvation from sin and eternal life with God. So we need to believe this!

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; 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 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2]

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

In This Crazy World

In this crazy world of ours,

With emotions flying high,

With fear mongers at their worst

Blowing everything sky high,

Can we trust in what they say?

Do their words even make sense?

Is it logical to say 

That a few is an event?

An agenda, do they have?

Is it clear to you right now?

That the purpose of it all –

To the beast that we should bow?

So discerning we must be.

Must not buy into everything.

The deceiver has his tricks,

That we might bow to him as king.

God gave us all our minds,

And we need to put to use

In discerning all the lies,

And in seeing the abuse.

They want us all to be afraid.

So to capture us, they will,

If we all don’t use our brains,

And we swallow every pill.

So, turn off the television,

And the media, alike,

And spend time with your Lord

Asking him what’s up with life.

Pray he gives you much discernment,

And the knowledge of his will,

To not buy into every story

That comes to us from The Hill.

For, the book of Revelation

Foretold this long ago,

That a beast would rise and take us

Where we do not want to go.

So, we must, we must resist him,

And not buy into his lies,

So he does not overtake us

And we get a huge surprise.

We must follow Jesus, Savior, 

Where’er he leads to go,

And the Word of God He’s given,

We must truly, truly know.

For there is a great deceiver

Who is up to all his tricks,

And he wants to capture Christians

With his lies, so no one flicks.

So, take time to sit and listen

To the Lord and what he says

About our present circumstances

And then rest in him, instead.

Let the Word of God fill up you

With his promises, for sure,

And the peace of God o’ertake you,

So you don’t bite the “worry lure.”

An Original Work / March 11, 2020

When There's No Hiding Place

“And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, ‘Save us, Lord; we are perishing.’ And he said to them, ‘Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?’ Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, ‘What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?’” (Matthew 8:23-27 ESV)

Do we, as followers of Jesus Christ, truly comprehend the power of God to perform miracles of his grace in our lives? Do we truly understand the sovereignty of God over our lives, and over all that he created, that he is absolutely in control over all things, and that nothing can touch us but what God has allowed it, and that he has allowed it for his purposes, and that he has the power to see us through it, and to bring good out of it? If we do, then we can ride through the storms of life at peace within our hearts.

Now, for the disciples, what they were facing was a literal and physical storm that was lashing them with the waves of the sea. And there are many people today who are being faced with literal physical storms, but not just on the sea with waves of water splashing on them, but via wars and famine and fires and hurricanes and starvation and physical enemies who are out to destroy them physically, in fact to murder many of them. And some of them are Christians who are being persecuted for righteousness’ sake.

But there are other kinds of storms we will face in this life, too. For not all persecution is physical. Not all persecution leaves physical scars that everyone can see. Much persecution (abuse) is verbal, mental, emotional, and spiritual. And it is orchestrated by liars, deceivers, manipulators, con artists, and haters who are resentful, bitter, jealous, and unforgiving towards others who they deem to be their enemies, but who may not be their enemies at all, but who may be those who love them with the love of God.

And so they may gossip about them slanderously in the hopes to get others to turn against them, too, and to believe lies about them. For they are backbiters who want to “get even” and who want to destroy the character of those they deem to be their enemies. Or they may bait them by making comments to them for which they are hoping to get a response in order to accuse them in some way. Or they may do the same in front of other people in hopes to get a particular response which they hope will destroy them.

A psychological term to describe these types of behaviors might be something called “gaslighting.” It is something used by abusers against those they target. They will also exercise mind games, intimidation, and manipulation to try to injure and to upset those they want to hurt. Those who make this their practice are often called “narcissists” (a psychological term, which can be misused, at times). They are usually the self-indulgent who are “in love” with themselves who take advantage of others.

But biblical terms to describe them are lovers of self, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, swollen with conceit, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, and having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power (see 2 Timothy 3:1-9). And this really is the best definition to define these abusers who want to destroy the character of those they regard as their “enemies.”

And there are a lot of people who are being subjected to this kind of abuse for whom there really is not a feasible way of escape because mental abuse is very difficult to prove, and many abusers are also charmers and are well liked by others. And not many people will rally behind the ones being abused, even if the abuser confesses to some of the abuse. And sometimes the one who reports the abuse is treated harshly and cruelly and is chastised rather than the abuser. And so the abused becomes the enemy.

Sometimes the Lord may say to the ones being abused, “Go someplace else.” And other times he may say, “Stay and see the salvation of the Lord.” Each situation is as individual as the individuals themselves, and all Christians who are in such abusive situations need to seek the counsel of God in what they are to do and in how they are to respond, for there are no easy solutions to many of these situations. And sometimes the Lord calms the abused and not the storm, for he has a plan and purpose for it all.

Whatever your situation might be, if you are being faced with a physical storm coming against you, or a mental, emotional, and/or spiritual storm, know that God is in control, and he has a plan and a purpose for it all. So trust his lead, and go where he sends you, or stay and ride out the storm under his loving care. If you are his, he has not forgotten you, and he has not forsaken you. And if you trust him, he will work it all out for your good, even though it might not be a good situation. For he never said it would be easy, did he?

[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]

‘Til The Storm Passes By

By Thomas Mosie Lister

In the dark of the midnight have I oft hid my face

While the storm howls above me, and there's no hiding place

'Mid the crash of the thunder, Precious Lord, hear my cry

Keep me safe till the storm passes by

Many times Satan whispered

There is no use to try

For there's no end of sorrow, there's no hope by and by

But I know Thou art with me, and tomorrow I'll rise

Where the storms never darken the skies

Till the storm passes over, till the thunder sounds no more

Till the clouds roll forever from the sky

Hold me fast, let me stand in the hollow of Thy hand

Keep me safe till the storm passes by

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

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Sing Praises to the Lord

Psalms 92:1-4 NASB

“It is good to give thanks to the Lord

And to sing praises to Your name, Most High;

To declare Your goodness in the morning

And Your faithfulness by night,

With the ten-stringed lute and with the harp,

With resounding music on the lyre.

For You, Lord, have made me joyful by what You have done,

I will sing for joy over the works of Your hands.”

When I was 61 years old, and my voice had seen better days, the Lord Jesus gave me the gift of writing songs. Now I had only ever once put a melody to one of my poems and that was a very long time ago, so this was something I had never done before, and I did not think I would ever be writing songs, because I felt that was not my gift. But the Lord gave me the gift despite my thinking and reasoning in the matter. And I accepted it from him.

But since I had not done this before, I had a lot to learn. Now I will say that I did study music in college (1968-72), but that was a very long time ago. But it gave me enough of a foundation to get started. But then I had to learn how to record the songs, and then how to share them publicly, and it was definitely a process of many steps along the way. There is a lot more to writing a song than probably most people imagine. But my family helped!

Anyway, the Lord would give me a tune and then he would give me the words to go with the tune, and then I would record it and then I began posting the songs on YouTube and then on Vimeo. Now the early recordings were definitely very raw, as I was learning how to do this, but I was learning, and the Lord was encouraging me, and as he gave me the songs I put them on the internet to share with others.

For this is what the Scriptures teach us to do, perhaps not to this extent, but we are to speak “to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your hearts to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:19 NASB). And: “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16).

Now these do not have to be professional sounding songs by the world’s standards, and they are not to be for entertainment purposes. And they may be sung by people who are not singers or who have old voices, but that’s okay. This is not about how it sounds, but it is about singing praises to the Lord, and this is about encouraging and exhorting one another in our walks of faith and obedience. So, listen to the heart of the song, not the sound.

Sing Praises to The Lord

Video Talk 

October 24,2022

https://vimeo.com/763349858

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.

http://youtu.be/nSf8TrmFurs

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Rejoice, the Lord is King!

Lyrics by Charles Wesley, pub. 1744

Music by John Darwall, pub. 1770

Philippians 4:4; Psalms 103:19

Rejoice, the Lord is King!

Your Lord and King adore;

Rejoice, give thanks, and sing,

And triumph evermore;

Lift up your heart, lift up your voice;

Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

Jesus, the Savior, reigns,

The God of truth and love;

When He had purged our stains

He took His seat above;

Lift up your heart, lift up your voice;

Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

His kingdom cannot fail,

He rules o’er earth and Heav’n,

The keys of death and hell

Are to our Jesus giv’n;

Lift up your heart, lift up your voice;

Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

Rejoice in glorious hope!

Jesus the Judge shall come,

And take His servants up

To their eternal home;

We soon shall hear the archangel’s voice;

The trump of God shall sound, rejoice!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N0iVysrykU

Caution: This link may contain ads

He is Pouring Out His Spirit

“Be glad, O children of Zion,

    and rejoice in the Lord your God,

for he has given the early rain for your vindication;

    he has poured down for you abundant rain,

    the early and the latter rain, as before.

“The threshing floors shall be full of grain;

    the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.

I will restore to you the years

    that the swarming locust has eaten,

the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter,

    my great army, which I sent among you.

“You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,

    and praise the name of the Lord your God,

    who has dealt wondrously with you.

And my people shall never again be put to shame.

You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,

    and that I am the Lord your God and there is none else.

And my people shall never again be put to shame.

“And it shall come to pass afterward,

    that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;

your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

    your old men shall dream dreams,

    and your young men shall see visions.

Even on the male and female servants

    in those days I will pour out my Spirit.” (Joel 2:23-29 ESV)

What if this is not all to be taken so much literally, but more figuratively? Now I do not always reference commentaries, but I sometimes will go to them when a passage of Scripture is not clear to me as to its meaning. And I do not follow any commentator in particular, nor do I accept what any of them say unquestioningly. I read a variety of them (not all of the same theology) prayerfully, asking the Lord to direct me to the truth of what this is saying. But many of them all seemed to be consistent on this one thing.

This “early rain” is given “according to righteousness,” and also has in this verse a significance of a “teacher” being given, i.e. a teacher “unto righteousness.” This can also be spoken of as spiritual blessings being bestowed on the “Children of Zion,” which have a connection to the grace of God. And if we then connect this to verses 28-29, we can also connect this, potentially, to what happened on the Day of Pentecost when God poured out his Spirit on Christ’s followers and they did prophesy (see Acts 2:1-21).

Young’s Literal Translation of Joel 2:23: “And ye sons of Zion, joy and rejoice, In Jehovah your God, For He hath given to you the Teacher for righteousness, And causeth to come down to you a shower, Sprinkling and gathered -- in the beginning.” 

Okay, what I am seeing from this is that this may be a prophecy, not only of the coming of the Lord Jesus, the Christ (the promised Messiah of Israel), but of salvation from sin, eternal life with God, the receiving of the Holy Spirit, the outpouring of the Spirit (who is our teacher and counselor), and of the gifts of the Spirit given to us by the Spirit to be used within the body of Christ to minister God’s love and grace to one another. For both Jesus and the Holy Spirit were given to us to be teachers of righteousness.

So, this would be a prophecy regarding the Messianic age and of God’s grace to us in sending Jesus Christ to be our “sacrificial lamb” to die on a cross for the sins of the entire world. And we are definitely to rejoice and to be glad in that! For this had to take place in order that we might now, by faith in Jesus Christ, be 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 God and to his righteousness. Jesus Christ is a teacher of Righteousness!!

And when Jesus died, and was resurrected from the dead, and after he appeared to many people, he then ascended back to the Father in heaven. And after a little while he then sent his promised Holy Spirit to indwell and to empower his people and to teach them all things about Christ. So the Holy Spirit living within us is God/Jesus Christ living within us, empowering us to no longer walk in sin and to now walk in obedience to our Lord, and helping us to live righteously and to minister God’s love and grace to others.

But this also has to do with the last days before the return of Jesus Christ, and these days are days filled with trials and tribulations to test our faith, and persecutions and misjudgments because we follow Christ with our lives, and because we believe him and his word, and so we share with others what he is teaching us through his word. And so I believe there is a promise here of Jesus’ return when he takes us to be with him for eternity, when our sorrows and heartaches will be no more, but only rejoicing in heaven.

[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]

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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