Letters to the Seven Churches, Laodicea

“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation.

“‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’” (Revelation 3:14-22 ESV)

This is Jesus Christ speaking to the believers in Jesus Christ in the city of Laodicea. Collectively they were the church in the entire city of Laodicea. And a lot of people believe that they represent the apostate church of these last days, while others say that they represent the church (in general) of the last days before the return of Christ. I would attest to that in my nation, the USA, but I am not knowledgeable about the church (the people of God) in other nations and how they function as the body of Christ.

So we need to apply these words to our lives however they apply today. For I would say that the vast majority of the church (or what is called church) here in America today fits this description. But I believe this is the result of a very slow and orchestrated process to manipulate and to deceive and to alter the thinking of Christians with regard to what church is and how it is to function, and with regard to the true nature of God – Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit – and with regard to the teaching of the gospel.

Since I attended gatherings of the church from birth, and I have been part of the body of Christ about 68 years (I turned 75 yrs old today), I have watched how the church has slowly changed and conformed to the patterns of the world and has largely forsaken their passion for Jesus Christ and for the truth of the gospel and for holy and righteous living and walks of surrender and obedience to the Lord. For they have largely been manipulated and deceived into accepting the lies as truth and the truth as lies.

And now so much of what is called “church” are just businesses of man being marketed to the world just like any other business. And so they have conformed the church to the world in order to attract the world to their gatherings, in order to grow their numbers. And so for many Christians (or professing Christians) “church” is something they go to once a week to sing songs and to listen to a sermon and then to go home and live their lives as normal during the week only to return the next week to repeat the same.

And when the Lord counsels them to buy from him these various things mentioned here, he is really asking them to surrender their lives to him, to make him their Lord and Master, and to forsake their sinful practices, and to now walk in obedience to his commands in holy living. He is counseling them to now have spiritual insight into God’s will for their lives and to walk in his ways in righteousness and in moral purity, uprightness, honesty, faithfulness and devotion to him and to his will and purpose for their lives. 

For Jesus Christ is not really the head of most of these gatherings of the church (or what is falsely being called church), for now it seems most of them are being led by marketing books and schemes on how to grow their “churches” in numbers. And so they have essentially pushed God – Father, Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit – right out of the church, and they have embraced worldliness and marketing gimmicks and schemes and business models to lead them in how to conduct “the church,” instead.

And that is why, I believe, he is standing outside the door of the church, because they have pushed him out in favor of attracting the world to their gatherings. And so he is knocking on the door of this market-driven worldly apathetic to the cause of Christ church of these last days, and he is inviting them into fellowship with him. But for that to happen, they must repent of their sins, and they must now surrender their lives to Jesus Christ in commitment to walk now in obedience to his commands, day by day.

For we read in 1 John 1 that if we say that we have fellowship with God, but while we walk (in conduct, in practice) in darkness (sin), we are liars who do not live by the truth. And if we claim that we know God (1 John 2), but we do not obey him and his commandments, in practice, we are liars, and the truth is not in us. For Jesus gave his life up for us on that cross in order that we might now die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness. Sin is no longer to be what we practice. We are to practice righteousness.

So, to conquer is to repent of all sins of idolatry and adultery and apathy and to now follow Jesus Christ with our lives in obedience to his commands. And we have the hope of salvation from sin and eternal life with God. But if you don’t repent, and you ignore the call of God to surrender your life to him and to walk in obedience to his commands in fellowship with him, and so you continue living in sin and in disobedience to God, then you do not have salvation from sin nor eternal life with God. So please take this to heart!

[Matt 7:13-14,21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 10:27-30; Ac 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; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10]

Letters to the Seven Churches, Laodicea

Video Talk

December 13, 2024

https://youtu.be/Idg9AI1H0Rs

Caution: This link may contain ads

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

Laodicea

Laodicea, Laodicea, I’m calling you.

You hear Me calling, you hear Me calling. I’m calling you.

Will you not answer? Will you not answer? I’m calling you.

If you but follow, if you but follow, I’ll answer you.

Won’t you give Me your heart and your soul,

So I can cleanse you and make you whole?

Laodicea, Laodicea, I’m calling you.

If you will answer, if you will answer, I’ll come to you.

I stand at your door; I stand at your door. I’m knocking there.

Will you not listen? Will you not listen, while I’ll be there?

If you’ll but open, if you’ll but open your hearts to Me,

I’ll come within you, I’ll come within you, you’ll sup with Me.

Won’t you buy from Me some gold and salve?

These costly treasures are yours to have.

Laodicea, Laodicea, I’m calling you.

If you will answer, if you will answer, I’ll come to you.

Are you contented; are you contented to be lukewarm?

Will you not have Me? Will you not have Me? Of this I warn – 

If you don’t hear Me, if you don’t hear Me, and so obey,

I will spit you out; I will spit you out without delay.

So why not heed this, your final call,

And give to God absolutely all?

Laodicea, Laodicea, I’m calling you.

If you will answer, if you will answer, I’ll come to you.

An Original Work / April 29, 2011

Based off of Revelation 3:14-22

https://vimeo.com/112738953 

The Image of The Beast

“And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?” (Revelation 13:1-4 ESV)

So, who is this beast? Many speculate. Only God knows for certain. From what I have read and watched and been taught of the Lord over the past 20 years, I believe this beast to be, for example, “The World Economic Forum.” Basically it is a conglomerate of the wealthy and powerful of the world, a large number of them Jewish Zionists, who are the ones truly ruling the world and who are taking over nations, one at a time, to bring all nations under the rule of this beast in a One World Totalitarian Order of government.

I believe that the USA serves this beast and that this group of elite are the de facto government of the USA. And so the USA and their military forces have been instrumental in the take down and the conquering of nation after nation across the globe, in order to bring all nations under the rule of this beast. And now America itself is being taken down, one piece and one step at a time, using the same modus operandi that they used to take down many other nations across the globe, perhaps beginning after WW2.

So first they create the problem and then they come in as “saviors” with a preconceived solution to “the problem” they created. And then they appoint a new head of government over what now is regarded as a “unity” and/or as a “transitional” government. So they have to create situations which make the people cry out for a “savior” to deliver them and to bring normalcy back to their lives. That is their hope. But “normalcy” is not what is intended. A totalitarian one world government of the beast is the ultimate goal.

“And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. If anyone has an ear, let him hear:

“If anyone is to be taken captive,

    to captivity he goes;

if anyone is to be slain with the sword,

    with the sword must he be slain.

Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.” (Revelation 13:5-10 ESV)

And if we are paying close attention to what is going on in our world and in the USA (if that is where we live), we should be seeing the signs of the times in which we now live, and we should be seeing how this beast is conquering people and nations and Christians (the saints of God). And so much of this is done via psychological warfare and massive deception and indoctrination and cult followings. For us baby boomers in America, we have been trained in government worship from very early on in our lives (1946 to present).

But the indoctrination and mind manipulative tactics that the government uses to enslave us as its followers is also now being incorporated into the gatherings of the institutional market-driven “churches” (businesses) of today. So if you are in the minority and not the majority, because your eyes and ears are attentive to what is going on and you can see the deceptive changes being made, then you may be ostracized and even invited out of these “churches” to go somewhere where you will be “a better fit.”

“Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain. Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.” (Revelation 13:11-18 ESV)

A big part of the founding of America had to do with the separation of church and state. Although they may have been separate for many years, they have not been in entirety since sometime in the 1950s when the 501c3 tax exempt status came into being. And it appears that most American “churches” incorporated under the state as not-for-profit incorporations of (mergers with) the state. And this was wholly unnecessary, for the church had always been tax exempt. But now it brought the majority of what are called “churches” in union with the US government, which God warns against.

Then many churches began operating as businesses, and began marketing their “churches” to the people of the world. And in order to attract the world to their gatherings they began to dilute (alter) the gospel message and the character of God/Christ and of his church in order to make “the church” more inviting and acceptable to the ungodly, i.e. to the flesh of humans. And pastors began to become more like cult leaders and anyone who was not on board with their marketing schemes might then be encouraged to leave.

Anyway, I see this second beast as this union of church and state in an unholy union, which God forbids. And from my childhood on up I was taught government worship in the “church.” And an “image” can be many things from something like a national flag to television to the internet to anything or anyone who emulates this beast in character and which has the capability to lead the masses to worship this beast. TV and the internet are images and they are quite capable of leading the masses to worship this beast.

And with regard to the mark of the beast, although it may end up as a physical mark of some kind, the greater danger is its mark (influence, character, evidence) in our lives – in our thinking, believing, speaking, behaving, attitudes and actions. We are not to take on the character of the world as followers of Christ. We are to be separate (unlike, different) from the world, for we should now be being conformed to the likeness of character of Jesus Christ. So pray for spiritual discernment in this matter.

[Matt 21:12-13; Jn 2:13-17; Ac 5:27-32; 2 Co 6:14-18; Php 3:18-19; Rev 13:5-8; Rev 18:1-5; Matt 7:13-14,21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 10:27-30; Ac 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; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10]

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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Israel, My Servant

“But you, Israel, my servant,

    Jacob, whom I have chosen,

    the offspring of Abraham, my friend;

you whom I took from the ends of the earth,

    and called from its farthest corners,

saying to you, “You are my servant,

    I have chosen you and not cast you off”;

fear not, for I am with you;

    be not dismayed, for I am your God;

I will strengthen you, I will help you,

    I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Behold, all who are incensed against you

    shall be put to shame and confounded;

those who strive against you

    shall be as nothing and shall perish.” (Isaiah 41:8-11 ESV)

First, I want to say that not everything written in the Old Testament applies to our lives today, although we can learn from the Old Testament Scriptures as well as from the New Testament with regard to what our lives are to look like if we are true followers of Jesus Christ. For example, we are not under the Old Covenant, so we do not have to obey those old liturgical, ceremonial, sacrificial, purification, and dietary laws and restrictions.

But I believe this passage of Scripture can be applied to our lives today if we are of genuine faith in Jesus Christ via dying with Christ to sin and being raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness (Romans 6:1-23). For if we are of true faith in Christ, then we are true Israel, according to the Scriptures. And we are now God’s chosen people, the offspring of Abraham.

For it is not all who are physically descended from Abraham or from Israel who belong to Israel or who are the children of Abraham. For it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise. And the promise was given to Abraham and to his seed, and his seed is Jesus Christ. So if we belong to Christ, then we are Abraham’s seed, and we are heirs according to the promise.

For, via Jesus’ death and resurrection, God’s purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two (Jew and Gentile), thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, and by faith in Jesus Christ. So, we who are Gentiles by physical birth, if we believe in Jesus Christ, are now fellow heirs with the Jews who also believe in Jesus Christ, for we are now members of the same body, and partakers of the promise of Christ Jesus through the gospel.

So, according to God/Jesus, the Jews who do not believe in Jesus Christ cannot claim Abraham as their father or God as their father, for their father is the devil, and they serve him. For since they did not receive Jesus Christ as their Messiah, they do not know God the Father. So they are not of God. But they are antichrist, denying the Father and the Son, and they are of Hagar, the slave woman, and not of free woman.

For they were cut out of the vine of Israel (of Christ), and the Gentile believers in Christ were grafted into Israel. But the unbelieving Jews can be grafted back into Israel through genuine faith in Jesus Christ. So all Israel is both Jew and Gentile by genuine God-given faith in Jesus Christ and not by physical birth. And the physical city of Jerusalem is not the holy city. We who believe in Jesus are that holy city, and we are now the temple of God.

[Genesis 17:7-9; Genesis 18:19; Romans 2:28-29; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 9:4-8,25-28; Romans 11:1-36; Galatians 3:16,26-29; Galatians 4:22-31; Ephesians 2:11-22; Ephesians 3:6; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 2:22; John 8:18-19,38-47; Jude 1:5; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-16; Hebrews 8:6-13; Revelation 2:9; Revelation 3:9]

Therefore, these words spoken to the Israel of old can now be applied to our lives, for we are now Israel, God’s chosen people, the offspring of Abraham, friends of God, whom God has called from the ends of the earth. And if we are of genuine faith in Jesus Christ, then we are to also be the Lord’s servants, doing his will for our lives. And regardless of what we are going through in this life, God has not forsaken us. He is there for us.

But sometimes in our lives we may feel as though God has forsaken us. But if we are his servants, and if our faith in him is God-given faith, and so we have died with him to sin, and we are living to his righteousness, in his power, then no matter what we are going through God is there with us, and he will give us the strength that we need to endure whatever trials we may be facing or may yet will be going through.

So we can be encouraged that no matter how bad things get, and we are not promised that they are going to get better, that God is on our side if we are indeed on his side and if we are following him with our lives. And he will uphold us with his righteous right hand if we will let him, and if we will yield control of our lives over to him, and if we will trust him with our lives and with our circumstances and believe in his sovereignty over our lives.

Now some of those trials are going to involve persecutions for our walks of faith in Jesus Christ. And there are people who are and who will be incensed against us if we are truly following Jesus with our lives and not the flesh. And they will strive against us because we are following Christ and not the flesh, and some of them may be others who profess faith in Jesus, and even some pastors who are worldly and so they will reject the truly godly.

Now, one day our enemies are going to be dealt with by God because of how they have treated the Lord’s servants. This may not happen in our lifetime, but we do know that both the Old and New Testaments teach that the enemies of the cross of Christ will one day perish in their sins. We should be praying for them that God will change their hearts and that they will come to true faith in Christ. And we should pray for God to give us strength to endure what we are now going through and what is yet to come.

Israel, My Servant

Video Talk

July 5, 2023

https://youtu.be/tc7xJsvxFo4

Caution: This link may contain ads

Pray, Pray, Pray  

An Original Work / September 6, 2012

Based off Various Scriptures

Pray that eyes may enlightened be,

So they may know Christ.

Pray that they may Him better know,

Strengthened by His pow’r. 

Pray that they may grasp 

How wide and long

And high and deep

Is Christ’s love.

Pray that they may be filled

To the fullness of God’s love.

Pray with thanksgiving.

Pray for an open door for me,

So I may share Christ.

Pray when the gospel is proclaimed –

Shared with clarity.

Pray words are given me so

I declare the gospel fearlessly.

I pray for you to be active

Sharing your faith, too.

Pray continually.

We oft not know for what to pray,

So we ask for help.

The Spirit intercedes for us – 

Words cannot express.

Just keep on praying for the saints

With all kinds of requests to God.

Pray they may have faith to 

Please their God in ev’ry way.

Pray with joyfulness. 

https://vimeo.com/119259373 

Idol Worship

 

A Crooked and Twisted Generation

Philippians 2:14-16 ESV

“Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.”

We, as followers of Jesus Christ are not to be people who go around trying to pick fights with people just for the pleasure of being argumentative. But there are people like this. We are also not to be people who go around grumbling and complaining about everything and everybody. And I am not claiming absolute perfection in this area, for I can’t claim that I am perfect in my speech at all times and in all ways, even though I am walking with the Lord in faithful obedience to him day by day. 

But let me say this here. Sharing the truth of the gospel and confronting the lies of Satan and exposing the fruitless deeds of darkness are being regarded these days as “negative,” and we are being told that we are not to be negative but that we are to be positive and upbeat people at all times. But if you might recall, the people of old said the same things to the prophets of old, telling them to stop confronting them with the Holy One of Israel, but to tell them sweet things, and things to make them feel good.

So this Scripture is not teaching us that we have to go around being upbeat all the time, always telling people only what makes them feel good. For if that were true, we would have to throw out most of the Scriptures. For all throughout both the Old and the New Testaments we are taught to put off lies, sexual immorality, adultery, stealing and cheating, etc., and we are to put on moral purity and faithfulness and honesty, etc. And we are to speak the truth in love, and we are to expose the fruitless deeds of darkness.

And we are to live morally pure and upright and godly and holy lives, in the power of God, and in obedience to our Lord, so that we can shine as lights of the truth of the gospel in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, which has now infiltrated much of the gatherings of the church, or of what is falsely being called church here in America. For so much of the church has altered their gatherings and the gospel message in order to attract the people of the world to their gatherings, and that is all backwards.

For the purpose of the gatherings of the church is to gather together those of genuine God-given faith in Jesus Christ for their mutual encouragement and edification and spiritual growth and maturity so that they can then go out into the world and to share the truth of the gospel with the ungodly, which includes with those making false professions of faith in Christ, too. For so many professers of faith in Jesus Christ are not living the faith they profess, for so many of them are buying into the lies of the enemy.

So, what is the truth of the gospel that we should be sharing with the ungodly of this world, and with the church? It is what Jesus said:

“And he said to all, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.’” Luke 9:23-26 ESV

And this: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” Matthew 7:21-23 ESV

And we should be sharing this truth regardless of how we are treated in return, for this is love to tell people the truth that they need to hear, even if it costs us our reputations or our lives. This is love and kindness and compassion and mercy to tell people the truth of the gospel in order to save their lives from hell. For many people are on their way to hell on the promise of heaven when they die because their “faith” in Jesus is lip service only, and it is lacking in submission to Christ and to obedience to his commands.

Jn 10:27-30; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 2 Co 5:10,21; 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; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10

A Crooked and Twisted Generation

Video Talk

July 1, 2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WN8cdkrSnTw

Caution: This link may contain ads

My Sheep  

An Original Work / June 24, 2012  

Based off John 10:1-18 NIV

My sheep hear me. They know me.

They listen to my voice and obey.

I call them and lead them.

They know my voice, so they follow me.

They will never follow strangers.

They will run away from them.

The voice of a stranger they know not;

They do not follow him.

So, I tell you the truth that

I am the gate, so you enter in.

Whoever does enter

Will find forgiveness and will be saved.

Nonetheless whoever enters

Not by the gate; other way,

He is the thief and a robber.

Listen not, the sheep to him.

Oh, I am the Good Shepherd,

Who laid his own life down for the sheep.

I know them. They know me.

They will live with me eternally.

The thief only comes to steal and

Kill and to destroy the church.

I have come to give you life that

You may have it to the full… 

They know my voice, so they follow me.

https://vimeo.com/114938263 

What's the Stink?

Hear the whispers. Makes you think.

Mind now wonders, “What’s the stink?”

Is it factual? Makes you doubt.

Hear what’s hidden in the clout.

Preys on people who’re naïve.

Love they to make many scenes.

Who has done it? Do they know?

Or, is all this just for show?

News and Rag Mags much the same.

They are all part of same game.

Get them fighting ‘mongst themselves,

‘til the Captain rings the bell.

Now they march to diff’rent tune.

Tyrant leader right on cue.

He is here to “Save the day,”

But he will make many pay.

Don’t bow to him, take his mark.

He will bite you, not just bark.

Don’t fall for the reality show.

Pray to God who’s in the know.

Let Him lead you to the truth.

He will show you who’s uncouth.

Pray for wisdom to not fall

For the whispers, not at all!

Listen to God, to His Word,

He will show you what’s absurd. 

Get your heads out of the sand,

And on Christ’s love now depend.

Follow Him where’er He leads.

He will meet all of your needs.

An Original Work / September 24, 2019

One Flock and One Shepherd

“So Jesus again said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 

“’And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.’” (John 10:7-18 ESV)

The first sheep mentioned in this passage of Scripture were the Jews of the Old Covenant. The “other sheep” mentioned are the Gentiles who Jesus said that he must bring in also, and there will be ONE FLOCK under ONE SHEPHERD Jesus Christ (see Ephesians 2:11-22). All who are of genuine faith in Jesus Christ are now Israel (Jew and Gentile). All who have not died with Christ to sin and who do not obey God are not Israel (not of God). God’s people (Jew and Gentile) who are of genuine faith in Jesus Christ under the New Covenant that God has with his people are his chosen ones. 

[Genesis 17:7-9; Genesis 18:19; Romans 2:28-29; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 9:4-8,25-28; Romans 11:1-36; Galatians 3:16,26-29; Galatians 4:22-31; Ephesians 2:11-22; Ephesians 3:6; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 2:22; John 8:18-19,38-47; Jude 1:5; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-16; Hebrews 8:6-13; Revelation 2:9; Revelation 3:9]

So, the physical nation of Israel is not the Israel of God. They are a nation just like any other nation. For as a nation they have rejected Jesus Christ as their Lord, the Christ. And all who have rejected Jesus have rejected God, because he is God – the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So if you feel you must support Israel, then support those who truly are of God who believe in Jesus Christ and who are walking in truth and in righteousness in walks of obedience to the Lord, and who are no longer walking according to the flesh and according to their sinful desires. Support them.

But, contrary to the teachings of the Scriptures (taught in context), many people, at least here in America, have been convinced that the physical nation of Israel is the chosen of God still and that they are to be treated with the same honor and respect as the Israel of God of the Old Covenant. But the Lord promised his people that one day there would be a New Covenant that he would have with his people, and he promised them to send them the Christ who was to be their shepherd under the New Covenant. And the Scriptures teach that all who deny Jesus as the Christ are not of God.

So, don’t make the physical nation of Israel an idol to be worshipped and supported above Christ and his teachings and even above your fellow Christians who may not join in with you in your support of the physical nation of Israel, which is not of God, but is a creation of man via WWII. As a physical nation, they are godless. And notice with me how they are being treated by our government, as though they are to be worshipped, and all who do not support them are considered antisemitic, which is becoming a crime. There are true Christians there, but they are far in the minority.

Doesn’t that sound a whole lot like if we do not bow to the beast (Revelation 13) that we will be put to death? The nation of Israel is being treated as though they are a god to be worshipped above all other nations and peoples and that they are to receive our blind and undying support, regardless of the evil that they are committing against the people of other nations. It is, therefore, not the obligation of Christians to give their undying support to a godless nation which rejects the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and which worships the idols of man, instead, which sounds like America, too. 

But we who believe in Jesus Christ are to worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who is Father, Son (Jesus Christ), and Holy Spirit. And we are to have no other gods before God. For it is morally wrong, and it is an insult to God to put any other gods before him or to combine the worship of God with the worship of false gods (nations, peoples, Santa Claus, etc.). It is morally wrong to worship anything above or in place of God, and many who profess the name of Jesus are worshippers of their own flesh and of the pleasures of this world in place of living their lives to please God.

Many who profess the name of Jesus are double-minded for they claim to believe in Jesus while they live for the pleasures of the flesh, in practice. Although with their lips they give praise and honor to God, perhaps, yet with their lifestyles (practices, habits) they deny him as Lord (Owner-Master), and they continue to live for sinful pleasures and for what brings them gratification and enjoyment. And so they make excuses for their sinful habits, and they pursue the ‘thieves and robbers’, instead, who will tell them what their itching ears want to hear, to console them in their sins.

So, the encouragement here is to deny self, die daily to sin, and to follow Jesus in obedience to his commands if you desire Christ as your Lord and salvation from sin and eternal life with God, for this is what God requires. Also, be those who test everyone and everything against the teachings of the Scriptures, taught IN CONTEXT, to make certain that what you are being told is the truth and not the lies of these false shepherds in their deceitful scheming. And don’t put your trust in any politician to save your nation from what ails it, for what ails it is sin, and only God can deliver us from sin.

For lies and liars abound in my nation (the USA) for sure, and many of them are politicians and government officials, pastors of churches, the media, and any other famous or highly regarded institution of man or individual. Don’t be those who are followers of humans who believe everything coming from the mouths of other “trusted” humans who may or may not be who you believe them to be at all. For remember that we are living in the last days, and we are warned in the Scriptures against these false shepherds of the people. So be spiritually discerning people who test everyone. 

I am a firm believer that my nation (the USA) is Babylon, and that we, as a nation, are under the judgment of God, and it is just a matter of time before God visits us in judgment because of all the idolatry and false worship of God that is going on in this nation in the name of Christianity. So, please know that the gospel that Jesus taught tells us that we must deny self, die daily to sin, and follow him in obedience if we want to have salvation from sin and the hope of eternal life with him. For if sin is what we practice, and not obedience to our Lord, we will NOT inherit eternal life with God.

[Matt 7:13-14,21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 10:27-30; Ac 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; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10]

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

Take Heart! Jesus Overcame the World

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:12-15 ESV)

“Jesus answered them, ‘Do you now believe? Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.’” (John 16:31-33 ESV)

In context, Jesus Christ was speaking to his disciples (his followers), and he was letting them know that he was going to be leaving them soon, and regarding what they should expect to then happen. He warned them of Christian persecution, even coming from their fellow Jews, and that many of them would be put to death for their walks of faith in the Lord Jesus and for their testimonies for him. And he said these things to them in order to keep them from falling away from their pure devotion to Christ as their Lord.

And then he told them that after he went away (after his death and resurrection and he went back to the Father) that he would send them the promised Holy Spirit who would guide them into all truth, for he spoke on the authority of God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And he would declare to them, not only the things of Christ Jesus, but of things yet to come. For not only do we have the written word (the holy Scriptures) but we who believe in Jesus have the Holy Spirit living within us guiding us into all truth.

Now, Jesus let his disciples know that he would not be with them much longer, but that in a little while he was going to return to the Father in heaven. They were a little confused at what he was telling them initially, for at first he was using figures of speech, but then he spoke to them more plainly, and then they understood. And then Jesus told them that the hour had come when they would be scattered, each to his own home, and that they would leave him alone. He was speaking of his arrest yet to come.

He, in essence, was letting them know that they were all going to desert him when he was arrested and taken prisoner and then put on trial for a crime he did not commit. But he said this to assure them, perhaps when they began to feel guilty for deserting him, that he was not alone in that moment, for God the Father was with him. Yes, they deserted him, but he was not alone. God the Father was with him in his arrest and beatings and persecution and false accusations, and in the calls for him to be crucified.

But then, again, he warned them that they were going to have tribulation, but that in him they would find peace. And he gives us the same message. We are already having much tribulation in the world, and it is only going to get much worse, because the Bible tells us that it is going to get much worse before Jesus returns to judge the world and to take his faithful ones to be with him for eternity. And when it gets much worse, especially, we need to find our peace in the Lord by trusting him in all our circumstances.

And we need to know these things. We need to know that the Bible declared long ago of the events which would take place in these final days before our Lord’s return, and I believe we are seeing many of these prophecies being fulfilled in our day and time, and that we should anticipate things getting worse and not better. And so we should be those who have surrendered our lives to Jesus Christ to do his will, to go where he sends us, and to do and to say whatever it is he has for us to do and to say, without fear, by faith.

We need to know, as well, when things get utterly crazy, which they will, that our Lord has overcome the world. The world has no power over us unless we give it power over us. And we can have peace within our hearts and minds even when all hell is breaking loose all around us. Our hearts and lives just need to be surrendered to the Lord and committed to his service regardless of how others treat us or what they say about us. And if we are arrested on false charges, we need to trust the Lord to give us the words to say when we need to say them. But we need to give it all over to the Lord.

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

I Surrender All  

Hymn lyrics by Judson W. Van De Venter, 1896

Music by Winfield S. Weeden, 1896

… Lo, we have left all, and have followed Thee. (Mark 10:28)

All to Jesus I surrender,

All to Him I freely give;

I will ever love and trust Him,

In His presence daily live.

All to Jesus I surrender,

Humbly at His feet I bow;

Worldly pleasures all forsaken,

Take me, Jesus, take me now.

All to Jesus I surrender,

Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;

Let me feel the Holy Spirit,

Truly know that Thou art mine.

All to Jesus I surrender,

Lord, I give myself to Thee;

Fill me with Thy love and power,

Let Thy blessing fall on me.

All to Jesus I surrender,

Now I feel the sacred flame;

Oh, the joy of full salvation!

Glory, glory, to His Name!

I surrender all,

I surrender all;

All to Thee, my blessed Savior,

I surrender all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2BnL_zI7uw 

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A People Divided

There are so many things which divide us as a nation, as a people, and as the children of God. We are divided by hatred, violence, political affiliation, denomination, race, religion, social status, culture, belief systems, etc. We are also divided by greed, love of power, idolatry, spiritual and physical adultery, wars of men, lies, deceptions, manipulations, betrayal, and rejection of Christ and of his followers, and by false prophets and teachers of the people, and false gospels of men, etc.  

This song is a call to leave our idols, our desires for wealth and power, and the things which divide us as a people of God that are not of God, such as hatred, unforgiveness, pride, adultery, and all that is called sin in the Bible. We are to turn from our sins, and we are to make the Lord Jesus Christ the Lord and master of our lives, choosing to walk with him in full surrender to his will for our lives and in obedience to his commands.

A People Divided 

An Original Work / July 4, 2011

Flick’ring torches; hatred; violence; 

Crashing windows; guns of men;

We are a people divided

By our love of pow’r and fame.

Idols marching; they’re in chorus;

Their goal to destroy the church,

Tempting us to follow them in

Pure devotion; them we search.

Leave your idols. Follow your God.

Make Him your Lord God and King.

Be a living witness for Him,

And your off’rings to Him bring.

Repent of your sins and worship Him.

A living sacrifice,

Put your all upon His altar.

Leave your old life way behind.

Flick’ring torches; hatred; violence; 

Crashing windows; guns of men;

We are a people divided

By our love of pow’r and fame.

https://vimeo.com/126494411 

Letters to the Seven Churches, Philadelphia

“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.

“‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you. Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. 

“’I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’” (Revelation 3:7-13 ESV)

When we follow Jesus Christ with our lives, and our lives are committed to him and to his service, he opens doors of ministry for us, and he gives us divine appointments with certain people, and he makes ways for us to do his will where there seems to be no way, in human terms, anyway. He makes things happen the way in which he wants them to happen in order to accomplish his purposes. And no one and nothing can thwart his purposes, either. If he opens a door it will remain open unless he closes it.

And why is it important to know this? Because Satan is out to get us if we are serving Jesus Christ with our lives. He wants to stop us from doing the will of God, any which way that he can. But no matter what he does, and no matter what people he uses to accomplish his purposes against us, none of it can take place unless God allows it, and he allows it for his purposes, and perhaps just for the reason to test our faith and to make us stronger and more determined in our walks of faith to follow him in obedience.

But Satan is going to whisper things in our ears to try to make us fearful, to try to get us to doubt the sovereignty of God, and to try to get us to believe that he or that other humans can outwit God. And this is not to say that God is not going to allow us to be falsely accused of things we did not do and say, or that he is not going to allow us to go through difficult times. For he said that if we follow him with our lives that we are going to be hated and persecuted and mistreated as he was, and we will have people lie about us, too.

Now this is not to say that every word spoken against us is a lie, either, for we are not perfect people, and we have all made mistakes, and we have all sinned. But we should no longer be walking in sin, making sin our habit, deliberately and habitually doing what we know is against the will of God. But as followers of Christ we should all be walking in fellowship with our Lord in obedience to his commands, living holy lives pleasing to the Lord, doing whatever it is that he has called us to do, in his power.

But when that is how we are living, Satan is going to be hot on our trail to try to discourage and/or to frighten us in any way that he can. And that is when we just need to surrender it all over to the Lord and be willing to accept whatever the Lord allows in our lives, believing that God is good and that he has a good purpose for it all, whatever happens. But, if we are the Lord’s servants and messengers, until he is ready to close any doors that he has opened for us, those doors will remain open, despite all opposition.

So, when Satan throws his darts at us to try to make us afraid, and to try to get us to back down and to give up, we just have to put up that shield of faith and get out that sword of the Spirit and fight back with the armor of God against the devil’s schemes against us. For we as humans are not all strong people in our natures. But our Lord knows that about us, and he will supply all that we need to combat the enemy’s attacks against us if we will trust him, and if we will depend on him for the strength that we need.

Now, Jesus was speaking to a very specific group of people here when he told them that those of the “synagogue of Satan who say they are Jews and are not, but lie,” he would make to come and bow down before the feet of those who are following him with their lives. And they would learn, he said, that he had loved those for whom he had opened doors that no one could shut. Now, can we take this and apply it to our lives? Perhaps. I can certainly see that our Lord may well do that.

And the same may apply with this next part where he promised those who had kept his word about patient endurance that he would keep them from the hour of trial that is to come on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. But this could have just been for this group of people, too. But one thing I have learned about this is that this word “from” can also mean “through,” i.e. “out from within,” which would indicate the Lord keeping us through the hour of trial rather than us escaping the hour of trial.

But the encouragement to all of us is that we are to hold fast to what we have in Christ and to not let the devil get to us to where we get discouraged and we give up hope. And many in this situation might actually desert the Lord, deciding that it is just too hard to follow him with their lives. But we are to be those who conquer the enemy and his threats and his schemes against us and who conquer the flesh and any temptations at all to sin against our Lord. For Jesus died to deliver us out of our slavery to sin.

Jesus died on that cross to free us from our addiction to sin so we will now serve him with our lives, and so we will now walk in obedience to his commands in holy living for the glory of God, in the power of God. And we must never desert that faith. We must never give the devil a foothold in our lives, but we must stay armored up daily so that we can win this battle that Jesus already won for us if we stay the course and don’t give up. And one day we will go to be with him for eternity if we continue in him until then.

So, when the devil sends his messengers, who pretend that they are Christians, but who are not, and who pretend to be for us, when they are truly against us, and they chase after us to try to get us to be afraid so that we will stop speaking the truth of the gospel in Jesus' name, we are not to fear them nor what they might do to us or say about us. But we must be strong in our faith and keep on speaking the truth of God's word, regardless of how many hate and reject us and turn against us and speak evil against us. So keep on speaking the truth and don't be silent. Many people need to hear the truth so that they can be saved.

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

Letters to the Seven Churches, Philadelphia

Video Talk

December 12, 2024

https://youtu.be/7motYR0ViYc

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Your Grace Divine 

 

An Original Work / November 6, 2011

All I have is Yours, Lord.

You gave all to me,

When You died at Calv’ry

On that cruel tree.

Crucified for my sins;

You paid what I owe,

So I’d be forgiven; 

My God come to know.

All I have is Yours, Lord.

You gave all to me,

When You died at Calv’ry

On that cruel tree.

Lord, I am so thankful

For Your grace divine.

I invited You, Lord,

In this heart of mine.

I have been forgiven

For all of my sins,

So I’d live with Jesus;

His grace flow within.

Lord, I am so thankful

For Your grace divine.

I invited You, Lord,

In this heart of mine.

Growing in Your grace, Lord;

Live for You each day;

How I love to worship

You throughout my day.

Sitting at Your feet, Lord,

List’ning to You speak,

Leads me to love You, Lord,

More throughout the week.

Growing in Your grace, Lord;

Live for You each day;

How I love to worship

You throughout my day.

https://vimeo.com/125863486 

Handwriting on The Wall

“And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,

“’Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,

    for he has visited and redeemed his people

and has raised up a horn of salvation for us

    in the house of his servant David,

as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,

that we should be saved from our enemies

    and from the hand of all who hate us;

to show the mercy promised to our fathers

    and to remember his holy covenant,

the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us

    that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,

might serve him without fear,

    in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;

    for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,

to give knowledge of salvation to his people

    in the forgiveness of their sins,

because of the tender mercy of our God,

    whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high

to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,

    to guide our feet into the way of peace.’” (Luke 1:67-79 ESV)

Zechariah was the father of John the Baptist, and after John was born he gave this prophesy regarding Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, who was yet to be born, and regarding God’s call upon the life of Zechariah’s son John the Baptist, that he would be the one to go before the Lord Jesus to prepare his ways, and to share with the people the gospel message of our salvation. And all of us today who believe in Jesus Christ are to be sharing with the people of this world the gospel of our salvation and the ways of the Lord Jesus.

For Jesus Christ, the second person of our triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – came into this world as a human baby to a human mother, conceived of the Holy Spirit. So while he lived on this earth he was fully human and fully God (God incarnate, in the flesh). And while on this earth he performed many miracles and he preached repentance (death to sin) and obedience to him as necessary components of genuine faith, persuaded of God, and for salvation from sin and for eternal life with God, by God’s grace.

For Jesus Christ died on that cross nearly 2000 years ago in order to put our sins to death with him so that, by God-gifted faith in him, we would now die with him to sin (not just once, but daily), and so that we would now walk with him in obedience to his commands. For our greatest enemies are Satan and sin, which he delivered us from, so that we might now serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. This is the essence of the gospel of our salvation from sin, by the grace of God.

And this is the message of the gospel that we must be giving out to the people, too. For forgiveness is only promised to the truly repentant, and it is not free license to keep walking in sin. And God’s mercy was in putting our sins to death with him so that, by God-persuaded faith in him, we will now deny self, die to sin daily, and follow our Lord Jesus in walks of obedience to his commands. For the light is Jesus Christ and truth and righteousness and the gospel which delivers us from the darkness (sin) so we obey him now.

The Rejection of Christ

So how did the Jewish nation respond to Jesus Christ and to his gospel message? As a nation they rejected Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, and thus they divorced their husband (God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). And they married another (human flesh and the gods of this world). Some Jews believed in Jesus as their Lord and Messiah (the Christ) but the majority have not, and the nation as a whole has not. So the nation of Israel does not believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jesus’ words.

[Genesis 17:7-9; Genesis 18:19; John 8:18-19,38-47; Romans 2:28-29; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 9:4-8,25-28; Romans 11:1-36; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 3:16,26-29; Galatians 4:22-31; Ephesians 2:11-22; Ephesians 3:6; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-16; Hebrews 8:6-13;1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 2:22; Jude 1:5; Revelation 2:9; Revelation 3:9]  

But it isn’t just the majority of the Jews or the Jewish nation which has rejected Jesus Christ as the Christ, the Lord. And it isn’t just all those who make no profession of faith in Jesus Christ. But it is a very large number of those who profess faith in Jesus Christ with their lips but who have divorced him as their husband (Lord, Master) and who have become followers of other humans and their teachings, many of which are contrary to the teachings of Christ and of his NT apostles on the subject of the gospel.

Probably most of what is called “church” here in America are institutions of human origin being run just like any other human-based businesses, being marketed to the people of the world. And in order to market “the church” to the world they have also altered the gospel message and the character of God/Christ and of his church to make them more agreeable and appealing to human flesh. And in so doing they have divorced Jesus as their husband and they have married (partnered with) those of like kind (the flesh of humans), instead.

King Belshazzar

And from here the Lord reminded me of the story of King Belshazzar, and of all his idolatry and his worship of other gods and the shameful way in which he treated God and what is of God. And then there was the handwriting on the wall which Daniel was then able to interpret: 

“And this is the writing that was inscribed: Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin. This is the interpretation of the matter: Mene, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; ekel, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting; Peres, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.” “That very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.” (Daniel 5:25-28,30-31 ESV)

And this is not just Old Testament kinds of stuff. If we read in the New Testament, we are given many warnings of judgment for all who do not honor God as holy and who go their own way and who follow their own evil course and who do not obey the Lord and his commandments. They will die in their sins. They will not inherit eternal life with God. 

[Matt 7:13-14,21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 10:27-30; Ac 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; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10]

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

Redeem Me from Human Oppression

“Your word is a lamp for my feet,

    a light on my path.”

“My heart is set on keeping your decrees

    to the very end.”

“Direct my footsteps according to your word;

    let no sin rule over me.

Redeem me from human oppression,

    that I may obey your precepts.

Make your face shine on your servant

    and teach me your decrees.

Streams of tears flow from my eyes,

    for your law is not obeyed.” (Psalms 119:105,112,133-136 NIV)

When we live on this earth in these flesh bodies we are going to have pain and sorrows. That is just part of life. And when we believe in Jesus Christ to be Lord (Owner-Master) and Savior of our lives, and we are walking with him in fellowship with him and in obedience to his commands in holy living, we are going to face persecutions and rejections, and we will be hated and mistreated by some, while we will be ignored and cast aside by others. And we will have those who will try to trip us up and to lead us back into sin.

For Jesus Christ told us that if we follow him with our lives that his enemies will be our enemies. And his enemies are not just those who refuse to believe in him, but they are also any who profess faith in him but who have continued to walk in deliberate and habitual and sometimes premeditated sin against the Lord, and who will not walk according to his commandments, and who will not live morally pure, upright, godly, faithful, and honest lives, in daily practice, in honor of God as Lord of their lives.

So, when the word of the Lord is, in truth, the lamp (light, guide) for our walks of faith, and when our hearts are truly set on (fixed on) keeping (obeying) his decrees (commands under the New Covenant), and to the very end, without wavering, and without bouncing back and forth, we are going to face rejection and persecution even from others who profess to be our brothers and sisters in Christ, and even from pastors of “churches,” and even from our family members, for this is what Jesus faced, in essence.

But we are not to let that dishearten us. We are not to be afraid. And we are not to retreat out of fear of what others think of us or say about us or out of fear of what they will (or might) do or are doing to us. For we should never allow the opinions of other people to persuade us to forsake our Lord and to go back into sin and to run away from being hated and persecuted. I did that for a period of time in my life, sadly so, because I just kept getting one beating after another after another, and so I gave up for a period of time.

But by the grace of God, the Lord brought me back into right relationship with him – all glory to His Name! And he taught me to stand strong in the face of all opposition, and to keep speaking the truth of his word, regardless of what others think of me or say about me or how they treat me. For it is the truth of God’s word that sets people free, not the lies that so many people are feeding into their minds and hearts today. And the Lord has kept me on that steady course for the past 22 years, at least.

So, to be redeemed from human oppression doesn’t necessarily mean that we are going to be rescued physically from human oppression. In fact, the closer our walks with the Lord, and the greater our commitment to following the Lord and to walk in his footsteps, the greater the opposition will be. For this is what Jesus and his NT apostles promised us. And if we are not being persecuted for the sake of the name of Jesus, or for the sake of the gospel, or for the sake of righteousness, then we should begin to wonder why.

But the Lord will redeem us in a different way. He will deliver us out of the fear of our enemies, and out of letting their treatment of us determine the path that we will take. And he will give us the courage and the confidence in the Lord that we need to carry on in our walks of faith and obedience to our Lord, despite how we are treated in return. He will fill us with his peace and his joy even in the midst of much sorrow and suffering so that we can count it all joy that we are considered worthy to suffer for the sake of our Lord.

But this doesn’t mean that we will not still feel it when others stomp on our hearts and when they treat us as though we don’t matter and as though they wish that we would just disappear from the face of the earth. And this doesn’t mean that we won’t still cry many tears over the many who are still walking in the ways of the flesh and in sin and who refuse to repent of their sins and to turn away from them and to now follow the Lord in obedience to his commands. For when we stop feeling, we are dead.

So, don’t be afraid to suffer for the sake of righteousness, and for the sake of the gospel of Christ, and for the sake of the name of Jesus Christ. And don’t let how other people treat you determine who you become and what you do and how you live your life. Give everything over to the Lord Jesus, and keep walking in his ways and in his truth, and trust him fully with your lives and with your circumstances. And then just do as he commands and share the truth of the gospel and also refute the enemy’s lies.

[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; Jn 15:1-21; Jn 16:33; Jn 17:14; Ac 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; 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]

Redeem Me From Human Oppression

Video Talk

February 11, 2024

https://youtu.be/udsxYQGrVeo

Caution: This link may contain ads

Hear My Cry

By G. M. Eldridge

When my soul is worn and weary

And my eyes are filled with grief,

When my hands in desperation

Reach to heaven for relief,

Would I find the words there waiting

If I had the strength to start?

Could a mortal tongue interpret

All the sorrow of a heart?

Spirit, search me in my weakness,

And discern this growing gray.

Intercede in understanding,

Hear the things I cannot say.

Hear my cry, heav’nly Father,

You have known my ev’ry pain.

You have seen all my sorrow,

Hear my cry once again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOJiTN56xTg

Caution: This link may contain ads

The Fear of the Lord

Psalms 103:17-18 ESV

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

    and his righteousness to children's children,

to those who keep his covenant

    and remember to do his commandments.”

Psalms 103:17-18 NLT

“But the love of the Lord remains forever

    with those who fear him.

His salvation extends to the children’s children

    of those who are faithful to his covenant,

    of those who obey his commandments!”

A lot of people might consider this Old Testament or Old Covenant, and they may feel as though this does not apply to Christians today. But the New Testament teaches the same thing. We are instructed to fear God, to reverence him, and to not be those who have no fear of God before their eyes. For we are to walk in the fear of the Lord. And his mercy is for those who fear him. 

And anyone who fears the Lord and does what is right is acceptable to him. And we should be those who know what it is to fear the Lord. And we are to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in us, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. And a time is coming when God will reward his servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear his name. 

[Matt 10:28; Luke 1:50; Acts 9:31; Acts 10:34-35; Rom 3:10-18; Rom 12:1-2; 2 Co 5:6-11; 2 Co 7:1; Php 2:12-13; Heb 5:7; Heb 12:28-29; Rev 11:18; Rev 14:7; Rev 15:4] 

So, you can see that this is not just Old Testament teaching, but it is New Testament teaching, too. And to fear God is to believe him and to believe his word, and then it is to do what he says to do, to act upon what we say we believe, and not to just mouth empty words of faith in him which are not followed up with walks of obedience, living holy lives pleasing to God. For we are to cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God (2 Corinthians 7:1).

And the New Testament also teaches the importance of love for God and for obedience to his commands. For Jesus said that if we want to come after him that we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. And Jesus said that if anyone keeps (obeys) his word, he will never see death. And he said that if we love him that we will keep (obey) his commandments (New Covenant). And he said that his sheep hear (or listen) to his voice, he knows them, and they follow (obey) him.

And then the apostles taught that God/Jesus is going to render to each one according to his works, and for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. And we know that we have come to know Christ if we keep (obey) his commandments. For whoever says that he knows him but does not keep (obey) his commandments is a liar. But whoever keeps God’s word, in him truly the love of God is perfected, etc.

[Luke 9:23-26; John 8:51; John 14:15-24; John 15:10; John 10:27-30; Matthew 7:21-23; Romans 2:6-8; 1 John 2:3-6,15-17; 1 John 3:4-10,24; 1 John 5:2-3; 2 John 1:6; Romans 6:16; Hebrews 5:9; 1 Peter 1:1-2; James 1:21-25; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13]

So, we must understand here that the fear of the Lord and the necessity of obedience to our Lord are still taught to us in the New Testament. And God’s unfailing love is toward those who fear him, who walk in the fear of the Lord, and who honor, respect, and submit to him and to his will for our lives. He forgives the sins of those who fear him, who obey him, and who do what he says, and who do not ignore nor spurn his commands. But if we walk in sin, and not in obedience to him, we don’t have eternal life in him.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

The Fear of the Lord

Video Talk

June 28, 2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyX4HGCf79Q

Caution: This link may contain ads

I Pray for Them 

 

An Original Work / June 4, 2013

Based off John 17

“Glorify Your Son, that Your Son

May glorify our God in heav’n. 

Father, You granted Him all power

And all authority over men,

That He might give eternal life

To all those whom now

You have given Him.”

“This now then is eternal life:

That they may know You, 

Father, and Your Son;

That they may know the only true God,

And Jesus Christ whom the Father sent.

I have brought You the glory by

Finishing the work that You’ve given Me.”

“I have shown You to those whom

You gave to Me out of the world; 

They were Yours. You gave them to Me 

And they have obeyed Your words

And they accepted them. They knew

That I came from You, and they believed 

With certainty, I was sent.”

“Holy Father, I pray for them by the

Power of Your name: Protect them,

So that they may be one as we are,

For they are still living in this world.

I have given them Your word;

Because of Your word, the world

Has hated them.”

“I pray they may have the full measure of

My joy now living within them.

Father, I pray You sanctify them

By Your word; truly Your word is truth.

As You sent Me into the world, 

I send them to tell the world to repent.”

https://vimeo.com/116141024 

In Surrender to Our Lord

 

Grow in the Grace

Summary 2 Peter 3:1-16

This is talking about the prophecies of Scripture regarding these last days before the return of Christ and of his coming again one day. One day this world as we now know it is going to be totally destroyed by fire, including the ungodly of this world (including many who profess faith in Christ, but not in truth). But this has not yet happened because our Lord is patient toward all people, not wishing (or willing) that any should perish, but that all should reach (or come to) repentance (2 Peter 3:9).

And then it speaks of how the day of the Lord will come like a thief and all these things are going to be destroyed (dissolved by fire). Thus we need to be people of God who are living holy lives, pleasing to God, while we wait for our Lord’s return (see Titus 2:11-14). But we who trust in Jesus Christ to be Lord (Owner-Master) and Savior of our lives are waiting and are looking forward to the new heaven and the new earth in which righteousness dwells. For that is going to be wonderful to live where sin no longer dwells.

2 Peter 3:17-18 ESV

“You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”

So, why do we have so many warnings in the New Testament to the church, to professers of faith in Jesus Christ, with regard to how we live our lives, especially in relationship to our Lord’s return and to judgment? It is because we are all going to be judged by God one day according to our works, so our works matter with regard to where we end up for eternity. For we can make all the professions of faith in Jesus Christ that we want and still end up in hell if we do not surrender our lives to him and follow him in his ways.

It is what the Scriptures teach. 

Judged by God according to our works: [Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15] 

So, we need to be people of God who take these warnings and these exhortations seriously. For we can’t just verbalize a profession of faith in Jesus Christ and then expect that all our sins are forgiven and now heaven is guaranteed us when we die, but regardless of how we live. How we live matters for eternity. For if sin is what we practice, and if righteousness, godliness, holiness, and obedience to our Lord are not what we practice, according to the Scriptures, we will not inherit eternal life with God.

And then we need to be growing in the grace of our Lord in our walks of faith in Jesus Christ. For God’s grace, which is bringing us salvation, instructs (teaches, trains) us to renounce (say “No!” to) ungodliness and worldly and fleshly passions and desires, 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” (see Titus 2:11-14).

Grow in the Grace

Video Talk

June 27, 2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3VAZOCDJ44

Caution: This link may contain ads

Songs in the Night  

An Original Work / December 18, 2013

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

Lord, I praise You forevermore.

You, my Savior, I now adore.

Hope in heaven awaiting me,

Because You died at Calvary.

I have been forgiven,

And I’m bound for heaven.

Jesus set me free from

All my sin, I say.

I will praise Him always!

Lord, I love You for all You’ve done:

Overcame death, my vict’ry won!

Jesus saved me, and now I’m free!

I rejoice in His love for me.

I will walk in vict’ry!

My sin is but hist’ry!

I am free to please Him

With my life today.

I will love Him always!

Lord, I thank You for giving me

A new life bought at Calvary.

Loving Jesus, I meet with Him.

Tender mercies now flow within.

Lord, I am so thankful;

Through my Lord, I’m able

To sit at His table;

Fellowship with Him.

I will thank Him always!

https://vimeo.com/379484387

Life Has Meaning

Testing, besting, charms and jesting,

Life and love, in what investing?

Entertaining and complaining,

What of all of this has meaning?

Ferris Wheels and Carousels are

Not the path to life eternal.

Jokes and tales and magic spells are

Not what God has called you to do.

Ministers of gospel you be,

Telling others they can be free.

Walk in fellowship with their Lord,

Obey him all in one accord.

Live your life in love for your God,

Go with him wherever he trods.

Leave your life of sin behind you.

Do not let the world then blind you.

An Original Work / April 21, 2022

Truth and Righteousness

John 8 Select Verses

12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

19 They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”

31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.

39 They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, 40 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. 41 You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.” 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. 43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? 47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”

Contained within these verses quoted here is the message of the gospel of Christ, of our salvation from sin. It is the same message taught by Jesus at other times and that was taught by the NT apostles of Christ Jesus. 

When Jesus claimed that he was the light of the world, he was claiming to be God, the second person of our triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – which will continue to become evident the more we read of his conversations with the Jews of his time. He was claiming, too, to be truth, righteousness, and the ONLY way to God (John 14:6) and to salvation from sin and to eternal life with God, and the giver of human life as well as spiritual life in Christ.

So when he said, “whoever follows me,” he was also saying, “whoever follows God.” And to follow God/Christ Jesus is first of all to deny self, die with him to sin (not just once but daily) and to walk in obedience to him and to his commandments (New Covenant). It is to follow him in whatever ways he leads us which must be consistent with the Scriptures and not against the Scriptures. For God is not going to lead us to do something that is anti-God.

And what is the result of following (obeying) our Lord? We will not walk (in conduct, in practice) in darkness (sin, wickedness, evil, rebellion). For we will have the light of life dwelling within us in the person of the Holy Spirit guiding and directing us in the ways of God, speaking to our spirits, and letting us know the ways in which our Lord would have us to go, as his followers (disciples). And he will empower us to do what is right.

Now Jesus Christ gave his life up for us on that cross to put our sins to death with him so that we will die with him to sin and now live to him and to his righteousness in walks of surrender to our Lord in obedience to his commands and in holy living. And he is the ONLY way to relationship with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So anyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ (in word and/or in deed) is not born of God. He does not know God.

To know God we must be in intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, God the Son. And that involves self-denial, dying to sin daily, and walking in obedience to his commands, in practice. For that is what it means to abide in the Word (Jesus is The Word). For abide means to “comply with, obey, follow, stick to, act in accordance with, consent to, uphold, continue with and remain in (stay with). We must obey our Lord as a matter of lifestyle.

Then we are his true followers, his disciples. And to believe in Jesus is to be his follower (disciple). You can’t just make an intellectual or emotional profession of faith in him and then go on living just like you did before. For everyone who practices (habitually and deliberately) sin is a slave to sin and has not been set free by the blood of Christ shed on that cross. And when Jesus sets us free, we have thus died with him to sin, and we are now empowered of God to live godly and holy lives in obedience to our Lord.

So lip service alone does not get it done. You can claim that God the Father is your Father all you want, and even that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior, but if by your actions you deny him, because you have chosen the path of sin and not the way of righteousness, then you don’t really know God or his Son Jesus Christ. And your father is the devil because your flesh is truly your god and it is what you truly worship and not God/Jesus Christ.

[Matt 7:13-14,21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 10:27-30; Ac 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; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10]

In Truth 

An Original Work / January 10, 2012

Fellowshipping with my Lord, Savior, King.

He is Lord of all; Lord of ev’rything.

He is with me through ev’ry hour of day,

List’ning to me speak, as I humbly pray.

He cares for my needs, 

and He intercedes for me,

‘cause He loves me in ev’ry way.

Obey His commands, and do all He says.

Sitting at His feet, daily in His word,

Let His word speak to me in ev’ry way,

Giving comfort and healing through each day.

Oh, how Jesus loves,

And He cares for you,

Which is why He died for our sins, in truth.

Love our Lord God, Savior, and King of kings.

Worship Him in truth, for He reigns supreme.

He created us with a plan in mind

For us to be His servants, and Him mind.

Follow Him in truth;

Go where’er He leads.

Share His love with others, and their needs meet.

Others: their needs meet. 

https://vimeo.com/125738283 

A Thorn in The Flesh

 

Letters to the Seven Churches, Sardis

“And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.

“‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’” (Revelation 3:1-6 ESV)

This is Jesus Christ speaking to the believers in Jesus Christ in the whole city of Sardis. They may not have all met in one location, for the Scriptures teach that the early church met from house to house and in the temple courts daily, and I am not sure of the time of this or the location of this in relation to the early church and to the temple courts. But the point here is that this was the entire body of believers in Jesus Christ (and including those with false professions of faith in the Lord Jesus, I believe) in this entire city.

The church in that city had a reputation of being alive, but they were dead (or mostly dead). Now I live in the USA so I am going to be making practical application of this to the church here in America, which is what I understand. And if you live in another country, you can do the same for your country. But here in America a reputation of “being alive” in today’s culture would have to do with having a really “cool” (exclamation of acceptance or of excellence) band that plays modern sounding music, and a “cool” and fun pastor.

For the whole point of it all is to attract the world to their gatherings so that the world will feel at home in their gatherings and will want to keep coming back. So they (not all) try to be more like the world in order to win the world to their gatherings in order to grow their numbers. So they try to be relatable to the world so that the world will want to come to their meetings. And this is why so many of them are operating just like businesses and they are marketing their “churches” to the people of the world.

So, although some of these “churches” have a reputation of being alive, by the world’s standards, they are mostly dead, for they have traded the truth of the gospel for the acceptance of the people of the world. And they are telling the people what their itching ears want to hear rather than teaching them what Jesus taught and what his NT apostles taught as the gospel. For they are not teaching that we must deny self, die daily to sin, and follow our Lord in walks of holiness in obedience to his commands.

And so they are diluting the truth of the gospel so that they don’t offend the people of the world who they are trying to attract to their gatherings. But they are lying to the people when they give them a half-truth gospel message while they leave out the parts they know will offend people. And so they don’t teach what Jesus taught when he said that to come after him we must deny self, die daily to sin, and follow him in walks of obedience to his commands. But they give their adherents permission to keep on sinning.

So, when this letter from Jesus says to “wake up,” it is speaking of waking up spiritually, and believing what Jesus taught and what the NT apostles taught as the gospel (taught in context), and putting what they taught into practice in our daily lives. And we are to be reminded of the truth that Jesus and the apostles taught as the gospel, and we are to repent (turn from) our sins, and we are now to follow our Lord in walks of obedience to his commands in the keeping of his word in our daily practice.

For the grace of God, which is bringing us salvation, is training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives. 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.” (see Ephesians 2:8-10; Titus 2:11-14)

So, if you are believing that you can just make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ or “pray a prayer to receive Christ,” and now all your sins are forgiven, and heaven is now guaranteed you when you die, but you have not denied self, and you have not forsaken your sinful lifestyles, and so you are not walking in obedience to the Lord and to his commands, then please know that the Scriptures teach that you will not inherit eternal life with God. God will judge you and he will say, “I never knew you. Depart from me..”

But thank the Lord that not everyone who professes the name of Jesus is in that situation. And we must pray for those who are, that they will believe the truth and so be saved and have eternal life with God and now walk in holiness in walks of obedience to our Lord, and now serve him with their lives. For it is only those who have conquered sin in the flesh, by the grace of God, who are now walking in righteousness and in obedience to the Lord, who have the hope of salvation from sin and eternal life with God.

[Matt 7:13-14,21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 10:27-30; Ac 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; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10]

Letters to the Seven Churches, Sardis

Video Talk

December 11, 2024

https://youtu.be/Me-yHSNCduc

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Trust and Obey  

Words by John H. Sammis, 1887

Music by Daniel B. Towner, 1887

When we walk with the Lord 

in the light of His Word,

What a glory He sheds on our way!

While we do His good will, 

He abides with us still,

And with all who will trust and obey. 

But we never can prove 

the delights of His love

Until all on the altar we lay;

For the favor He shows, 

for the joy He bestows,

Are for them who will trust and obey.

Then in fellowship sweet 

We will sit at His feet.

Or we’ll walk by His side in the way.

What He says we will do, 

Where He sends we will go;

Never fear, only trust and obey.

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way

To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KB4KcleYiWM

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