They Set a Net for My Steps

“They set a net for my steps;

    my soul was bowed down.

They dug a pit in my way,

    but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah

My heart is steadfast, O God,

    my heart is steadfast!

I will sing and make melody!

    Awake, my glory!

Awake, O harp and lyre!

    I will awake the dawn!

I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;

    I will sing praises to you among the nations.

For your steadfast love is great to the heavens,

    your faithfulness to the clouds.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!

    Let your glory be over all the earth!” (Psalms 57:6-11 ESV)

Who are “they”? They are those who trample on us who are following Jesus Christ with our lives. They are liars, deceivers, manipulators, and tricksters. They are accusers (falsely) of those who are upright in heart, i.e. who are following Jesus Christ with their lives. And they are preachers and teachers of “the Word” who are teaching lies and who are teaching Scriptures out of context and who are twisting them to say what “itching ears” want to hear. And many of them are “marketeers” selling a product to please the flesh.

Therefore, if you are one of the few (who are following the narrow path) who take the Scriptures to heart, and who believe what they teach, in context, and who are sharing the truth of the gospel, and not the lies, you will likely be hated and persecuted by these liars who trample on the truth of the gospel and on those who are still teaching the truth. For they are learning in their training to get rid of those with “strong convictions” who might bring to light those things hidden in darkness and might expose the lies being told.

So, what kinds of “nets” do they set for our steps? Many of these modern-day preachers and evangelists are being trained in marketing schemes and goals and techniques in what to do or to not do in order to “draw in large crowds of people into their gatherings.” And these schemes will often supersede the teachings of the Scriptures, for they are wanting to attract the world to their gatherings in order to grow their “churches,” i.e. their businesses, and to build their earthly kingdoms.

So, if you are someone who holds to the truths of the Scriptures, taught in context, you may be ostracized, rejected, cast aside as unwanted, rebuked, encouraged to change course, encouraged to compromise with the world, lied about, falsely accused of wrongdoing, and otherwise mistreated and rejected and told to “go someplace else where you will be a better fit.” You may be treated as the enemy within the gatherings of what are called “churches” (businesses marketed to the world), and therefore dumped.

For so much of what are called “churches” here in America today are just businesses of human origin incorporated under the state, and thus they are “state churches,” i.e. not the church of the living God, the body of Christ, with Christ only as her head. There may be genuine believers in Christ among them, but they are mixed in with the people of the world, and the goals and objectives come largely from marketing books and seminars, and they are not the goals and objectives of Christ for his church.

So, as followers of Jesus Christ, we are to keep steady our paths of following Jesus Christ in walks of obedience to his commands, in holy living, and in daily putting our sins to death, by the Spirit. And we are to hold on to the truths of the Scriptures, taught in their appropriate context, which we are to be living, in practice, and which we are to be sharing with other people. And we are not to let any opposition get us down and discouraged to where we give up or to where we retreat and to where we cave to conformity.

And the most critical thing we must hold fast to, and which we must be sharing with other people, is the truth of the gospel as taught by Jesus Christ and by his NT apostles (in context). For they taught that Jesus gave his life up for us on that cross in order that we might now die with Christ to sin and live to him and to his righteousness in walks of obedience to his commands in holy living. And if sin is what we practice, and not obedience to God, and not righteousness, we do not have 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]

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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