Worldly Mindsets

“Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.” (Philippians 3:17-21 ESV)

Now this is for the brothers and the sisters, i.e. for the whole family of God. And Paul was telling the believers at that time to imitate his walk of faith. So, please know that what many people today are falsely saying about Paul is not true (1). For Romans 7 has to be interpreted in light of Romans 6 and Romans 8. Paul was a man of God who walked closely with God in obedience to the Lord and in faithfulness of service, even to the point of being severely persecuted for his walk of faith. So he wasn’t dabbling in sin here and there.

So, we can follow Paul’s example of his walk of faith in Jesus Christ. But regarding keeping our eyes on those who walk according to the example we have in the apostles, be careful, for there are many people out there professing faith in Jesus Christ who are giving off an air of holiness and righteousness but are not who they profess to be. Many of them are liars and deceivers who put on a show of righteousness so that you will follow them, and so that you will believe what they say, but test them all!

For many people today professing faith in Jesus Christ are not true followers of Jesus Christ. They are worldly people just using a profession of faith in Christ to manipulate and deceive Christians into believing their lies. And their lies can be very subtle and hard to discern for the naïve, and for those who don’t really know the Scriptures, and for the unsuspecting who don’t ever test what they hear against the Scriptures, in context, to make certain that what they are hearing is the truth. Many just go by their feelings.

And that is why “misimpressions” are being used so widely today to deceive naïve minds, for they are indirect lies which are inserted into the truth, disguised as truth, but leading people toward a particular impression which they hope they will then adopt into their beliefs and lifestyles. But they are hard to spot, and difficult to prove. But for seasoned Christians who are used to testing what people are saying against the truth of the Scriptures, in context, these indirect lies should jump out at them “like a sore thumb.”

But these liars and deceivers, who walk as enemies of the cross of Christ, their end is destruction. Heaven is not what awaits them. Hell is their destiny. For they are not in the ministry to teach the truth of the gospel for the genuine salvation of human souls, but they are marketers who are marketing the church to the world. And so they have altered the gospel and the character of God/Christ to make them more acceptable to human flesh. So they are busy building their earthly kingdoms.

But, for us who are following Jesus Christ with our lives, in truth, in righteousness, in holy living, and in walks of obedience to our Lord, our citizenship is in heaven. Amen! Praise the Lord! And one day Jesus is going to return for us, and he will transform these earthly bodies of ours to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. So, one day we are going to leave this world of sorrow and pain and sin, and we are going to be with Jesus for eternity. That is our hope!

Worldly Mindsets

Video Talk

June 14, 2023

https://youtu.be/4AzLyaXUbk8 

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

(1) https://runwithit.blog/2023/05/13/was-paul-a-hypocrite-ii/ 

Don't Cop Out!

Clip-clop, flippity-flop, 

Watch your footing,

Don’t cop out.

Beware unaware,

Check your gauges,

Don’t them spare.

Fine tune all your senses,

Don’t be taken

By happenstances.

Train minds godliness,

Righteous and

Holiness.

An Original Work / January 31, 2023

Is Your Eye Healthy?

“No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.” (Luke 11:33-36 ESV)

Another word for lamp is light, and a lamp shines forth the light, and the light biblically represents Jesus Christ, the truth, the gospel, and our salvation and his righteousness. So, if we accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives, via dying with him to sin and living to him and to his righteousness – via being crucified with him in death to sin and raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness – then that truth and righteousness, and the holiness of God, should be shining forth from our lives.

So, what I believe this is saying is that if our faith in Jesus Christ is genuine faith, and truly we have received the true Light, we shouldn’t be people who then bury that light and hide it so that no one can see it. We shouldn’t be ashamed of Jesus and of his gospel in word or in deed. Our lights should be shining forth the truth of God’s holy word, but not in word only, but in our actions and behaviors and way of thinking and attitudes, etc. It should be obvious that our lives are committed to Jesus Christ and to his Word.

Other words for “eye” are judgment, discernment, and discrimination. And this has to do with discerning good from evil and choosing either to do good or to do evil. And the physical eye definitely can be involved in this, too. For some judgments (decisions) have to do with what we allow our eyes to focus on and to gaze upon. But this really is about the decisions and judgments we make each and every day regarding how we choose to live and what we choose to accept and reject. So this is about how we choose to live our lives.

So, if our practice is to make righteous judgments and moral and upright decisions and choices for our lives, which then is followed by that being how we live, then our eye is healthy, and our whole being is full of righteousness and purity and holiness. But if our practice is to make sinful, evil, and immoral choices, followed by sinful, evil and immoral behaviors, then our eye is bad, and our body (our whole being) is full of darkness (sin, wickedness, evil). And the light within us is darkness.

So, what does that mean? Well, the light represents Jesus and his gospel and truth and righteousness, so I would suggest here that this is speaking of a false light, a false gospel, and a false faith and salvation. This would be people who profess faith in Jesus Christ but by their lifestyles and their life choices they deny him. They give lip service to him only, but they are still living in sin, doing what their evil hearts desire, and they are not living for the Lord, even though they profess to know him.

So, the warning or the caution here is to make certain that we have received within us the true light and not a false light, which is really darkness disguised as light. And receiving the true light is not just words we say. It is living out the truth of what the Word teaches us regarding how we ought to live in our daily lives. Again, I am not saying we must be perfect in every way. But sin should no longer be our master to where we are habitually and deliberately yielding to the sin and not to God and to his righteousness.

[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] 

Is Your Eye Healthy?

Video Talk

June 13, 2023

https://youtu.be/a_7eWpd8iyM 

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

True Worship and Genuine Faith

 

Steadfast in Trials and Tribulations

“Righteous are you, O Lord,

    and right are your rules.

You have appointed your testimonies in righteousness

    and in all faithfulness.

My zeal consumes me,

    because my foes forget your words.

Your promise is well tried,

    and your servant loves it.

I am small and despised,

    yet I do not forget your precepts.

Your righteousness is righteous forever,

    and your law is true.

Trouble and anguish have found me out,

    but your commandments are my delight.

Your testimonies are righteous forever;

    give me understanding that I may live.” (Psalms 119:137-144 ESV)

This word “righteous” denotes “divine approval, the approval of God, his judicial verdict” which “refers to what is deemed right by the Lord (after His examination), i.e. what is approved in his eyes” (Helps Word-studies). The word also carries with it the meaning of “virtuous, moral, blameless, upright, honorable, honest, respectable, and decent” (MS Office Thesaurus). Our God is 100% blameless, upright, honorable and trustworthy in all that he is and does and says. He is absolutely perfect in every respect, because he is God.

So God’s rules (his New Covenant commands), for us who believe in Jesus Christ to be our Lord and Savior, are also fully righteous in purpose and in character and in intent. They are for our good (our welfare) to keep us from walking in sin and in wickedness and to help and guide us in holy living. For as Christ’s followers, we are commanded that we must obey our Lord and his commandments to us, and that we must not make sin our practice, or else we will not inherit eternal life with God. And we must take this to heart.

So many people today, though, are not teaching this. They are teaching God’s grace as full forgiveness of all sins with no requirements for true repentance (turning from sin) and for walks of obedience to our Lord and to his commands. Many are teaching one verse (Romans 10:9) out of context and they are making that “the gospel” message, in entirety. And so they are giving people a false impression that all they have to do is say with their lips, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in his resurrection, and thus they are saved.

But that does not agree with the teachings of the New Testament, as a whole, with regard to the gospel of Christ and of our salvation from sin. The teachings on the message of the gospel and on what constitutes genuine faith and salvation are that we must die with Christ to sin and walk in obedience to his commands, in practice, and sin must no longer be what we practice. For Jesus gave his life up for us on that cross to deliver us out of our slavery (addiction) to sin so we would now obey him with our lives.

[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]

But, if we are among those who believe in and who follow the gospel message taught in its full context, which requires that we deny self, die to sin daily, and follow our Lord in walks of obedience to his commands, we may be ostracized by the majority who are following after a diluted and altered gospel message based off Scriptures taught out of context and twisted to say what they do not say when taught in context. And we may face much rejection, persecution, and false accusations against ourselves.

But, regardless of how we are treated by those who prefer a very diluted and altered gospel message to the truth, in its fullness, we must stay the course. We must keep following our Lord in obedience to his commands, and we must continue to deny self and to die to sin daily and to honor God with how we live our lives, day in and day out. And we must seek his will and purpose for our lives and then follow him wherever he leads us in whatever calling he has upon our lives collectively and individually. No giving up!!

[Matthew 5:10-12; Matthew 10:16-39; Matthew 24:9-14; Luke 6:22-23; Luke 21:12-17; John 15:18-21; Jn 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]

‘Til The Storm Passes By

By Thomas Mosie Lister

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

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

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

Keep me safe till the storm passes by

Many times Satan whispered

There is no use to try

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

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

Where the storms never darken the skies

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

Till the clouds roll forever from the sky

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

Keep me safe till the storm passes by

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

Caution: This link may contain ads

Living By Faith

Romans 1:14-17 ESV

“I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’”

I find that there is a lot of confusion these days over two specific words here, one of which is the “gospel,” and the other of which is “faith.” And so we have a lot of people claiming to believe in Jesus Christ but they are still living in sin and not in righteousness and holiness. For their “faith” was something created in their own minds as to what that should look like. And many of them were taught a distorted, altered, and diluted version of the true gospel, and so they ended up with wrong concepts of those two words.

Now the gospel is the Good News of our salvation from sin and of eternal life with God. But the true gospel teaches that Jesus died that we might die with him to sin and live to his righteousness. It teaches that Jesus died that we might now live for our Lord and no longer for ourselves, and that Jesus shed his blood for us on that cross to buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of our lives of sin so that we will now honor God with our bodies (see 1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:15; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 and Romans 6:1-23).

And Jesus said that if anyone would come after him that he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. For in essence he said that if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self that we will lose them for eternity. But if for the sake of Jesus we die with him to sin and live to his righteousness, then we have eternal life. For if we are ashamed of him and of his Word in this life, then when he returns he will be ashamed of us (he will deny us because we denied him by our lives).

And he also said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one DOING the will of God the Father who is in heaven. For many will stand before the Lord one day and they will claim all the things they did in his name, but he will say to them, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness,” because they would not obey him, but they went their own way, instead (Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

And then we read in 1 John that if we claim to be in fellowship with the Lord while we walk (in conduct, in practice) in sin, we are liars. And if we claim to know God but we do not obey his commands (New Covenant), in practice, then we are liars. For it is those who practice divine righteousness who are righteous in the sight of God. And those who continue living in sin and not in righteousness, and not in obedience to the Lord, they are of the devil, and they are not born of God (1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10).

So, all of this above, and much more, is the gospel of our salvation. It is not that we can pray a prayer to receive Christ, and profess Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and acknowledge that he died and rose from the grave, and now all our sins are forgiven, and heaven is secured us for when we die, but regardless of how we live. We must walk (live) by faith. So, what is faith?

Well, the word “faith” means to be persuaded, and in this case to be persuaded by God. The faith is authored and perfected by Jesus Christ, and it is gifted to us by God, and we can’t even come to faith unless God draws us (persuades us) to Christ. And this faith is not of our own doing, so we don’t get to decide what this faith looks like. God does! So, what is God going to persuade us to do? What is his will and purpose for our lives? He is going to persuade us of his holiness and righteousness, and of our sinfulness, and of our need to repent (forsake our sins) and to follow him in obedience to his ways.

[Eph 2:8-10; Heb 12:1-2; Jn 6:44; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Acts 5:32; Tit 2:11-14; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Eph 4:17-32; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Lu 9:23-26; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:19-20; 2 Co 5:15,21; Matt 7:21-23]

And it isn’t just something we profess one time in our lives, done deal, and now we are good to go. We have to walk in that faith. We have to walk no longer according to the flesh but now according to the Spirit in living holy lives, pleasing to God. And we have to continue in that faith until Jesus returns if we want to be saved from our sins and to have eternal life with God. It is what the Scriptures teach. For the righteous shall live by faith, meaning we must practice the faith we profess in God’s power day by day.

Living by Faith

Video Talk

June 12, 2023

https://youtu.be/mG2HsliGl4o 

Caution: This link may contain ads

Just a Closer Walk with Thee  

Hymn lyrics by Anonymous/Unknown

Music by American Melody

“For indeed He was crucified because of weakness, yet He lives because of the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, yet we will live with Him because of the power of God directed toward you” (2 Co. 13:4 NASB).

I am weak, but Thou art strong;

Jesus, keep me from all wrong;

I’ll be satisfied as long

As I walk, let me walk close to Thee.

Through this world of toil and snares,

If I falter, Lord, who cares?

Who with me my burden shares?

None but Thee, dear Lord, none but Thee.

When my feeble life is o’er,

Time for me will be no more;

Guide me gently, safely o’er

To Thy kingdom shore, to Thy shore.

Just a closer walk with Thee,

Grant it, Jesus, is my plea,

Daily walking close to Thee,

Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6Ks49apflE 

Caution: This link may contain ads

That Time of Year

So Christmas is that time of year

When folks give others words of cheer

Folks seem in a holiday mood

With lots of drinks and lots of food

They hustle bustle to and fro

And some put on a great big show

They buy their trees, and tinsel, too

And many friendships they renew

They get their cards, and presents swell

And some will entertain with bells

They sing their songs and dance their jigs

And some will eat their dates and figs

And some will worship Santa Claus

And yet for Jesus they will pause

They picture him in manger laid

A tiny baby unafraid

Yet Santa Claus is big and bold

Who knows about us, so we’re told

And he brings presents, flies through air

In single night he’s everywhere

But that’s a lie that comes from hell

For only God knows all too well

Who we the people truly are

And only He is near and far

So Santa turns out a false god

Thus he’s not real but a façade

He takes the place of Christ in hearts

And from the truth those hearts depart

So if you want to worship Christ

And celebrate him and his life

Then give your hearts sold out to Him

And walk in victory, free from sin

An Original Work / December 2, 2022

The Song He Had for Me to Sing

Ephesians 5:15-21 ESV

“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.”

This morning the Lord Jesus is leading me to focus primarily on this subject of being filled with the Spirit and addressing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart. And the reason this is important is that the Lord intends for us to do just that. And this has nothing to do with a worship service in a church gathering where all the music is being controlled by the music director and where the congregation just sings whatever is put on the screen for them to sing. This is different from that.

This also has nothing to do with entertaining anyone or having a really cool sound or a great voice or great instrumentation and rhythm, etc. This is not for show! The person singing the song doesn’t have to have a great voice at all! In fact, he or she may have a mediocre voice or an old voice, and that shouldn’t matter, for the Holy Spirit can give songs through whatever voice he wants to give them, for he is going to pick his singers based on their walks of faith in Jesus Christ and their love for the Lord, and not for their cool sound and great guitar and drums in the background.

Do you hear what I am saying? We need to get what this is saying here, for the body of Christ needs this. And this isn’t about me. Please understand that. This is about the need to release those who God has given them songs to share with the body of Christ, which are biblical, and which are for the encouragement and spiritual strengthening of the body of Christ, to be given the opportunity to share these songs with the rest of the body of Christ, and to not be critiqued on the basis of worldly standards, but on the basis of godly standards regarding the message that is in the songs.

The songs should just be biblical messages put to music. And they are for us, the body of Christ, to be sharing with one another, kind of like in the old days when we used to have special music in the church gatherings and people could share a song they believed that the Lord put on their hearts to share, and some of those were original songs, and some were not, but they got to share with the body a song God put in their hearts to share with the rest of the body for their encouragement. So many of these modern market-driven churches of today have gotten away from that, and we need that!

For you see, the body of Christ, we the people of God, his church, are to be encouraging and exhorting and urging and provoking one another to the love of God and to doing the works of God which he has for us to do, and for us to live godly and holy lives, lives given over to the Lord for his service. And we are all necessary to the proper working of the body of Christ to bring us to maturity in Christ, and we each should have a message to share, but it needs to be biblical in nature, and definitely not contrary to Scripture. And some of those messages will be given to the body via song.

Anyway, to illustrate this message today the Lord had me share in a video me singing along with a recording of one of the songs that he gave me to write in 2012, and he had me share a little bit of my testimony as to how that all came about. And my voice has definitely seen much better days. Usually it gives out on me now quite frequently, but the Lord kept it going throughout the entire song. Below is first of all the video from today with me singing along with the song, and below that is the recording without me singing along with it today. And here you can also read the words.

The Song He Had for Me to Sing

Video Talk

June 11, 2023

https://youtu.be/iy8Pj4AM6s4

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

Refusal to Bow the Knee

 

The Mind and Heart of God

“Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. For

“Whoever desires to love life

    and see good days,

let him keep his tongue from evil

    and his lips from speaking deceit;

let him turn away from evil and do good;

    let him seek peace and pursue it.

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,

    and his ears are open to their prayer.

But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” (1 Peter 3:8-12 ESV)

The Righteous in God’s Sight

As those who profess faith in Jesus Christ, we are to have “unity of mind” with one another. But that unity must be with the mind of Christ first and foremost and not with human flesh. So, just because the majority appear to think the same way about some things, it does not mean that they are in the right. For it is the few who are on the right path to salvation from sin and to eternal life with God, according to the Scriptures. So don’t follow the majority. Follow the Lord Jesus and his teachings, taught IN CONTEXT.

And if all of us are to have sympathy, brotherly (and sisterly) love, tender hearts, and humble minds toward one another, these qualities must be in accord with the complete character of God – Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit – and with the teachings of Christ and of his New Testament apostles. These character traits are to be defined by God and by his Word and not by human beings, no matter who they are. For not all who profess Jesus Christ as Lord have the mind and heart of our Lord and Savior.

For, contrary to what many are teaching today as ‘the gospel,’ our Lord does set requirements for us who claim that we are in fellowship with him and that we know him intimately as our Lord and Savior. We must deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in the power of God, by the grace of God. For if we give lip service only to our Lord, we will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. We must be those who are DOING the will of God which he had prepared that we do.

We must keep our tongues from evil and our lips from speaking deceit (lies). We must turn away from evil (sin) and do good (the good works God prepared in advance that we should walk in them – Ephesians 2:10). But the peace that we are to pursue above all else is peace with God, which requires that we surrender our lives to him and that we submit to Christ as Lord (Owner-Master) and that we follow our Lord in obedience to his commands. And this may result in us not being at peace with all humans who reject us.

But no matter how we are treated by other humans, we are never to repay evil for evil, but we are to love our enemies, to do good to those who hate us, and to pray for those who spitefully use us. And we are to bless them in the sense of speaking to them the words that they need to hear and that will lead them to genuine salvation from sin (deliverance from bondage to sin) and that will lead them to walks of obedience to our Lord, which will then lead them to righteousness and sanctification and eternal life with God.

[Matt 5:13-16; Matt 28:18-20; Lu 6:27-28; Jn 4:31-38; Jn 13:13-17; Jn 14:12; Ac 1:8; Ac 2:14-18; Ac 26:18; Rom 10:14-15; Rom 12:1-8; Rom 15:14; 1 Co 12:1-31; 1 Co 14:1-5; Gal 6:1; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:11-27; Eph 6:10-20; Php 2:1-8; Col 1:9; Col 3:12-16; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:13; Heb 10:23-25; Jas 5:19-20; 1 Pet 2:9,21; 1 Jn 2:6; Jude 1:22-23]  

Those Who Do Evil

However, we have many professers of faith in Jesus Christ who are the double-minded, who make professions of faith in our Lord with their lips, but whose hearts are far from God, for they are still living in addiction to the sinful cravings of the flesh, and for selfish and sinful desires, and for the purpose to be entertained, and not to live in submission to the will of God for their lives. They are the self-indulgent who are looking to please the flesh, and not God, and who do not have the mind of God, but of the flesh.

Their god is their own flesh, and not God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And they worship the flesh of man, and not God, not in truth. So their intimacy is with their own selves, and not with God, even if they profess Jesus as their Lord and Savior. For they live to please their flesh and not to please God in all that they are and do and say. And so they are also among the unfaithful, not only to God, but to their spouses, and to their children, and to all to whom they should be loving with the love of God, but they are not.

One of the most pronounced ways in which this is being displayed today is via the viewing of sexually explicit movies, still pictures, and videos (including cartoons) in order to stimulate the flesh toward sexual desire for someone other than for the person’s spouse. Sexual arousal is being promoted and stirred up via advertisements, YouTube videos, social media posts and memes, song lyrics, music, video games, and the like. And many professing Christians are living in entrapment to such sexual idolatry.

Even though most (if not all) of them know right from wrong, and they know, in general (at least) what the Scriptures teach about sin and rebellion and disobedience to our Lord, they choose to ignore our Lord’s commands, i.e. his boundaries he has laid down for our protection to keep us from doing evil. And they choose not to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives, to the glory of God, but to live self-willed, out-of-control, and willfully disobedient lives in direct opposition to our Lord and his commands.

And if you are a person who loves the Lord, and who is bringing these issues into the light, you may be accused today of being “negative” or “judgmental.” But, according to the Scriptures, we are to be those who are exposing the fruitless deeds of darkness and who are calling people out of the darkness (out of sin) into God’s marvelous light (Jesus Christ, truth, the gospel, righteousness). We should be those who are rescuing people from the fires of hell, not leaving them to drown in their own “vomit.”

So, this is not being “negative,” and it is not being “judgmental.” This is what true love is, and it is how Jesus loved. We must love other people enough to tell them the truth about the gospel and about sin and about what constitutes a genuine saving relationship with Jesus Christ. And we must be those who lovingly warn others of the consequences of remaining in deliberate and habitual sin, which is death, not life eternal, even for those who profess faith in Jesus Christ with their lips. So this is love at its best!

[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 Harmony  

An Original Work / September 2, 2012

Based off Ro. 12:9-21; 1 Pet. 3:8-17

Love each other truly. 

Cling to what is good.

Hate all that is evil. 

Never lack in zeal.

Serve the Lord with fervor. 

Joyful in hope be;

Patient in affliction; 

Praying faithfully.

Honor one another. 

Live in harmony.

Share with all God’s people

Who are found in need.

Do not be conceited.

Sympathetic be.

Love, and show compassion

In humility.

Keep your tongue from evil.

Peaceful you must be.

Honor one another.

Live in harmony.

God sees who are righteous;

Listens to their prayers.

But He’s against evil – 

Is His to avenge.

Do not fear what they fear.

Suffer patiently.

In your hearts, make Christ Lord.

Serve Him faithfully.

Honor one another.

Live in harmony.

https://vimeo.com/112832903

Come and Follow Him

“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (1 John 1:5-10 ESV)

God is holy, pure, righteous, truth, and faithfulness, etc. In him exists no sin. So, if we claim to be in relationship with him, via faith in Jesus Christ, and thus to be in fellowship and in communion with him, and in partnership with him, in a cooperative effort, in participation with him in his work of grace in our lives, but while we walk (in conduct, in practice) in sin, we lie and we do not practice the truth. For we can’t walk in sin and walk in fellowship with the Lord at the same time.

But if we walk (in conduct, in practice) in the light (in Christ, in truth and in righteousness), and not in sin, we have fellowship with God (understood) and with one another who are also in genuine fellowship with God. And the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. So, please notice here that this cleansing from sin is something that is ongoing, not just something that takes place once, and it is conditional on how we live our lives, in practice. So we can’t walk in sin and be cleansed of our sin, too.

Now it is important here that we are honest about our sin, first of all acknowledging that we are born into sin, in the image of Adam, and that there is nothing that we can do in our flesh to be good enough or to earn or to deserve our own salvation. And then we must repent of (turn away from) our sins and then follow our Lord in obedience to his ways in walks of holiness and righteousness. And if we should sin, we should tell the truth, but we should agree with God about our sin, which includes agreeing with him about the remedy for our sin, too.

And if we agree with God about our sin, and thus we repent of our sins, it means that we no longer are living in slavery to sin but now, by the grace of God, we are walking in holiness and in righteousness, in the power of God. Now we are walking in the light as he is in the light, and so we are in genuine fellowship (partnership) with him in a cooperative effort with him via walking in obedience to his commands and no longer in sin. And the Lord is then faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So, this has to do with our daily practice.

Therefore, please know that how we live on this earth matters for eternity, and it determines whether or not we end up in heaven one day. For faith in Jesus Christ, which comes from God, and which is gifted to us by God, and which is not of our own doing, but it is persuasion of God, involves obedience to our Lord, surrender to him as Lord, and us following him in obedience and in walks of holiness and in righteousness. And forgiveness of sins and cleansing from all unrighteousness are also conditional on us walking in obedience to our Lord, and not in sin. So, please take this to heart.

[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] 

Come and Follow Him

Video Talk

June 6, 2023

https://youtu.be/EiMvnDUTwX0 

Caution: This link may contain ads

The Spirit Calling

An Original Work / November 12, 2019

Hear the Spirit calling.

He’ll keep you from falling.

Tenderly He’s calling,

“Come and follow Him.”

Walk with Jesus daily.

Don’t give in to lazy.

Folks may call you crazy.

Fellowship with Him.

Follow where He leads you.

Eat what Jesus feeds you.

His love will renew you

If you follow Him.

Do what Jesus tells you.

Don’t let your faith fail you.

His love will avail you

If you walk with Him.

Jesus, Lord and Savior,

Reigneth now forever.

He gave us His favor

So we’d live with Him.

Turning now from our sin,

Holy Spirit live-in.

Holiness we walk in,

Purified by Him.

https://vimeo.com/373006449

Christmas and Idol Worship

Christmas’s right around the corner,

Comes from idol worship former,

Instills idol worship further,

Yet from many, not a murmur.

Celebrates the idols plenty,

Santa Claus and greed and money,

Entertainment, fill your stomachs,

Play your games, that is a sum up.

Downplays Jesus in a manger,

Elevates, instead, a stranger,

Attributes of God giv’n to him,

He’s the focus, all else is dim.

Jesus painted helpless baby,

Santa portrayed fun and gaily,

Flies in carriage, gives us presents,

Gives us what we want, in essence.

Baby, manger, unattractive,

While with Santa they’re distracted,

All about the fun, adventure,

While the Spirit some do censure. 

If Christ you do want to worship,

Sacrifice to Him must stir up,

Give your life to Him, obey Him,

Holy living now will praise Him.

An Original Work / November 2, 2023

Betrothed to Christ

“I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.” (2 Corinthians 11:1-4 ESV)

Now, first of all I want to talk just a little bit about the Jewish marriage of the Bible, which could have changed since then. From what I understand, the parents of the potential bride and groom got together and agreed on the marriage between their children and then the bride and groom signed a covenant of marriage, which was not to be consummated until the groom first prepared a place for him and his bride to live. Then he came and got her and they had the wedding ceremony and feast, the marriage was then consummated, and now they lived together until one of them died.

And this parallels over to our faith relationship with Jesus Christ. For when we believe in Jesus with God-given faith, and we are crucified with him in death to sin, and we are reborn of the Spirit of God, and we are raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin but as slaves to God and to his righteousness, we then enter into a covenant of marriage with Jesus Christ. He becomes our husband and we become his bride, but our marriage won’t be consummated to him spiritually speaking until he finishes preparing a place for us and he returns for us, his bride.

So, when Paul said that he betrothed these Christians to Christ, he, in essence, served as the minister who performed the marriage ceremony. He was the one who married them to Christ via his sharing of the gospel with them and them believing in Christ to be Lord and Savior of their lives. And so he was jealous for them with a godly jealousy, for he was concerned that they were in danger of or that they literally were already committing spiritual adultery against the Lord Jesus by the mere fact that they were tolerating the teaching of a false gospel and a false Jesus.

And this is what we are being faced with in America today, too. For so many people in America who profess Jesus as their Lord and Savior are indeed putting up with and are accepting of a half-truth (lie) false gospel and a half-truth (false) Jesus. For the gospel message that the Scriptures teach and the divine character of Jesus Christ are both being altered and diluted and misrepresented today to make Jesus and his gospel more socially acceptable and appealing to human flesh and to the ungodly. And Jesus and his gospel are being misrepresented much via movies and TV shows and cartoons.

So, what we have are many people who are teaching that we can believe (not usually biblically defined) in Jesus, have all our sins forgiven (past, present, and future), and have heaven guaranteed us when we die, but regardless of how we live. Therefore we have many people professing faith in Christ who have not been crucified with Christ in death to sin, and who have not been raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer living as slaves to sin but as slaves to God and to his righteousness. So, they are still living in deliberate and habitual slavery to sin and are not free.

But Jesus taught that if anyone would come after him that he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self we will lose them for eternity. But if for the sake of Jesus we die with him to sin that we might live to him and to his righteousness, then we have eternal life. And Jesus said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the ones DOING the will of God the Father who is in heaven (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23; Romans 6:1-23).

[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] 

Betrothed to Christ

Video Talk

June 5, 2023

https://youtu.be/BaCeR7cDvr4 

Caution: This link may contain ads

What the Lord Says  

An Original Work / February 24, 2014 

Based off Isaiah 43:1-44:5

This is what the Lord says to you:

Fear not, for I have chosen you.

I have summoned you by your name.

You are mine. I died, you to save.

When you go through your trials, so deep,

I will be with you; you will not sink.

You are so precious always to me.

Trust in your Lord, Savior and King.

This is what the Lord says to you:

He who gave salvation to you;

Who delivered you from your sin;

Takes your burdens now upon Him:

Forget the former things of your life.

Give of your heart not now up to strife.

See all the new things I have for you.

Walk in vict’ry. Trust in what’s true.

This is what the Lord says to you:

He who made you; who will help you:

Do not fear what humans may do.

Walk in freedom. Follow what’s true.

Drink of my Spirit given for you.

Trust in my mercy, for I love you.

I have a plan for all of your life.

Follow my ways. Do what is right. 

https://vimeo.com/87634334

A Christmas Poem

You say that Christmas is about Jesus,

The One who died on the cross to free us.

You say that His birth you must celebrate –

It must be celebrated on this date.

But who foretold of this, it would come true?

Who said that Jesus’ birth we must renew?

Who said that Christmas is the day to be

Thinking of Jesus as a small baby?

Where in the word of God is this mandate?

Where are we told to worship on this date?

Where did the prophets tell this would occur –

This worship of Christmas, to you allure? 

What does the word of God require of you?

To your Lord Jesus, let your hearts be true.

Give of your life to God, on His altar.

In faithfulness to Him, do not falter. 

Walk in much fellowship with Him each day.

Bow on your knees to Him, and daily pray.

Forsake your sins and do what Jesus says.

Live your life for Him, let Him be your stead.

Seek Him with all your heart, oh every day.

Submit to Him as Lord, without delay.

Inquire of Him, to what He has you do.

Walk with Him faithfully, to Him be true.

An Original Work / December 25, 2020

Pray for Wisdom and Discernment

John 13:21-28 NASB 1995

When Jesus had said this, He became troubled in spirit, and testified and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, that one of you will betray Me.” The disciples began looking at one another, at a loss to know of which one He was speaking. There was reclining on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved. So Simon Peter gestured to him, and said to him, “Tell us who it is of whom He is speaking.” He, leaning back thus on Jesus’ bosom, said to Him, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus then answered, “That is the one for whom I shall dip the morsel and give it to him.” So when He had dipped the morsel, He took and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. After the morsel, Satan then entered into him. Therefore Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.” Now no one of those reclining at the table knew for what purpose He had said this to him.

It was the time of the Feast of the Passover, and Jesus and his disciples were gathered together to share in this feast. But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, was about to betray our Lord to the death, for the devil had put it in his heart to do so. And Jesus let his disciples know that one of them would betray him. When asked who it was, he said that it was “the one for whom I  shall dip the morsel and give it to him.” Then Jesus dipped the morsel and gave it to Judas Iscariot, and he said to him, “What you do, do quickly.” 

Now, for us who are reading this, it may seem quite obvious that Jesus was letting his disciples know that Judas was the one who was going to betray the Lord, but none of the disciples, other than Judas, perhaps, understood what Jesus was telling them and showing them. Even though he said it, and then he did it, they still missed it. Some of them thought that Jesus was telling Judas, their treasurer, to buy something or to give some to the poor. They completely missed what he was trying to tell them and to show them.

How many of us do the same? We may ask the Lord, as well, for wisdom and knowledge and understanding, and for him to show us who the “betrayer” of these last days is, but we may have our minds focused elsewhere, and we may miss entirely what he is trying to have us see. And it could be because we have been brainwashed from early on in our lives to see people and situations a certain way, and so when he tries to show us otherwise, we don’t see it, for we have blinders on preventing us from seeing the truth.

This is one of the reasons that the Scriptures teach us over again that we must test the spirits (the spirits of people) to see which ones are of God, and which ones are not. And we test them against the teachings of the Scriptures taught IN CONTEXT. The Scriptures warn us against charlatans, and wolves in sheep’s clothing, and deceitful workmen who put on a show of righteousness but inwardly are ferocious wolves. And if we don’t take this seriously we may end up following “Pied Pipers” to our deaths.

So, it is of critical importance that we are testing the spirits and that we are not believing everyone and everything we hear or read or think we see, for lies and liars and deceivers and deception abound everywhere you look these days. There are liars on “the left,” and there are liars on “the right,” and there are liars everywhere in between “left” and “right,” too. And this includes people who call themselves preachers of “The Word,” for many of them are teaching Scriptures out of context and are twisting their meaning.

So, how are we going to know which ones are “bad” and which ones are “good.” First of all, we must be like John who was leaning on Jesus, who was resting his head on the Lord’s shoulder or chest (or bosom). We must rest in our Lord and find our knowledge, strength, and support in him, and not in other human beings who are bound to fail and disappoint us, and even to lie to and deceive us. But then we must pay close attention to what he tells us and not get distracted by what others are saying and doing.

I find it interesting that Simon Peter, instead of asking Jesus himself, asked John who Jesus was speaking about. But then John asked Jesus, instead of trying to come up with an answer himself. He went straight to the master to get the truth, and that is what we must do, too. We must be asking the Lord to show us the truth, and we must not rely on other humans to tell us the truth. Some of them who are leaning on Jesus may be able to lead us to the truth, but we need to still seek our understanding from the Lord himself.

But then we need to really listen to what the Lord is saying to us, and it is not all going to be written down for us in exact terms, for the people who exist today did not exist when the Bible was written. The USA did not exist when the Bible was written, and neither did I, other than in the mind and heart of God. So we need to pray for wisdom to know how we are to apply what the Scriptures teach to our lives and situations, and to the times in which we now live. And this is one reason that we are given the Holy Spirit.

So, rather than just trusting people with our lives, thinking that they are “good,” when they may be “bad” (even the worst of the worst), we should take everything to our Lord in prayer, and put our trust in him and in his word and in the Holy Spirit to give us understanding of what the Scriptures are teaching us with regard to the times in which we now live. For remember that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light and his servants masquerade themselves as servants of righteousness. So test them all!

We read in the Scriptures about an antichrist who is to come on the scene and of a beastly kingdom which will conquer nations and people and even the saints of God. And he is going to be a liar and a deceiver, and he may even pretend that he is a follower of Jesus Christ. And he may promise us all kinds of things which sound good to itching ears. But he is the betrayer of the people who put their trust in him. And his true colors will one day come to the surface when the people realize they have been betrayed.

So, don’t be those who are distracted with so many things that you miss the truth when it is right in front of your eyes. Ask the Lord to show you who the betrayer (the antichrist) is. Ask the Lord to show you how you are to recognize him. Then begin paying attention to words spoken, and to actions, and pay attention to signs and symbols and indications that we are living in these last days and that the antichrist is at work among us deceiving so many people with his lies about who Jesus is and about his gospel message.

[Matt 7:15-20; Matt 24:11,24; Matt 16:6-12; Lu 6:26; Rom 16:17-20; Eph 5:6-16; 1 Thess 5:16-22; 2 Thess 2:1-12; 2 Tim 3:1-17; Tit 1:10-16; 1 Co 3:18; 1 Co 6:9-10; 1 Co 15:33; 2 Co 11:1-4; Gal 6:3,7-8; Eph 5:3-11; Jas 1:16,26; 2 Pet 2:1-22; 1 John 1:8; 1 John 2:26; 1 John 3:7; Rev 13:11-14]

 

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.

http://youtu.be/_XQkomPFz4Y

Caution: This link may contain ads

Death Resulting in Life

2 Corinthians 4:1,7-12 ESV

“Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart… But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.”

“The ministry” Paul was addressing here was the ministry of delivering the message of the gospel to the people. But the gospel that he taught is not what many people are teaching today. He taught what Jesus taught which is that we must, by faith in Jesus Christ, die with Christ to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, in obedience to our Lord, by the grace of God and in his power and strength. The old self must be crucified with Christ so that we can be raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer living as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness.

And that is why he and the other apostles were being persecuted for their faith in Jesus Christ and for sharing the truth of the gospel, because they didn’t teach what many people are teaching today. For they renounced disgraceful and underhanded ways, and they refused to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word. But they taught Christ crucified, buried, and raised from the dead. And they taught us being crucified with him in death to sin and us being raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, not like our old lives, but now as servants of righteousness and holiness.

For we don’t just “get saved” and now all our sins are forgiven and heaven is guaranteed us when we die regardless of how we live. And obedience to our Lord and death to sin and living to God and to his righteousness are not optional, and they are not mere suggestions. But many people these days aren’t even suggesting that we live holy lives, but they are teaching that we do not have to repent of our sins, and that we do not have to obey the Lord, and that no works are required of us at all, because they are appeasing the flesh and they are ignoring so much of what the Scriptures teach.

So, when this says that we have this treasure in jars of clay, this is not suggesting that the Lord will use us despite our lifestyles, and regardless of how often we deliberately sin against him. For, as jars of clay in the hands of the Master Potter, we are being molded into the likeness of Jesus Christ, as we yield control of our lives over to our Lord. And what this means for us is that we are always carrying in our bodies the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our bodies. So, we are to be those who are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

Therefore, we are those who have been crucified with Christ in death to sin, and who have been raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer living as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. Daily we are to be putting self and sin to death, by the Spirit, and walking in holiness and righteousness, in obedience to our Lord, in the power and strength of God. And this means surrendering our lives to the Lord and to his service, being willing to be hated and persecuted for the sake of the gospel and for the sake of the salvation of human lives.

Death Resulting in Life

Video Talk

June 3, 2023

https://youtu.be/_TtQEt76ah0

Caution: This link may contain ads

All The Way My Savior Leads Me

Lyrics by Frances J Crosby, pub. 1875

Music by Robert Lowry, pub. 1875

All the way my Savior leads me,

What have I to ask beside?

Can I doubt His tender mercy,

Who through life has been my Guide?

Heav’nly peace, divinest comfort,

Here by faith in Him to dwell!

For I know, whate’er befall me,

Jesus doeth all things well.

All the way my Savior leads me,

Cheers each winding path I tread,

Gives me grace for every trial,

Feeds me with the living Bread.

Though my weary steps may falter

And my soul athirst may be,

Gushing from the Rock before me,

Lo! A spring of joy I see.

All the way my Savior leads me,

Oh, the fullness of His love!

Perfect rest to me is promised

In my Father’s house above.

When my spirit, clothed immortal,

Wings its flight to realms of day

This my song through endless ages:

Jesus led me all the way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWdmZGik1Jw

Caution: This link may contain ads

Jesus Paid It All

Now Jesus paid it all one day,

And so my sins He took away.

He pardoned me of all my sin

So I would now live just for Him.

For in His death He ransomed me

So from my sin I’d be set free,

So I would walk with Him each day

And kneel to God and to Him pray.

And so by faith I walk with Him

In living my life free from sin,

In walking in obedience

And also in His righteousness.

I follow Him where’er He leads,

And on His Word I truly feed,

And of His strength I surely need

So I can be one who plants seeds.

An Original Work / April 9, 2023

Faithful Stewards

“This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.” (1 Corinthians 4:1-5 ESV)

This was Paul speaking to the church in Corinth, and he included “and our brother Sosthenes” in his initial greetings to the church (chapter 1). So, he could have been speaking here about himself and Sosthenes, or he could have been thinking of himself and the other apostles. And from reading what he wrote here it appeared to me that he and/or they were experiencing some level of persecution and criticism against themselves, which Paul frequently faced. And Paul frequently, as well, had to come to his own defense against those false criticisms and false accusations.

Now he was addressing these words to the church, even though they were not all walking with the Lord as they ought, and so he was having to correct them in some matters. But he was appealing to them to regard him and the other apostles, and possibly including this man Sosthenes, as servants of Christ and as stewards of the mysteries of God. So, he was asking, not out of pride, that they honor and show them respect, because if he was to teach them they had to acknowledge that he had the authority of God to teach them and that the apostles were indeed genuine servants of the Lord.

And then he spoke of the importance of being faithful to the calling of God on our lives to be his stewards, i.e. those who are entrusted with the word of the Lord and who are his faithful servants. And we are all called to be faithful to the call of God on our lives to be his followers, and to forsake our sins, and to obey his commands, and to live holy and godly lives, to the glory of God. But if we are faithful servants of the Lord in today’s Christian culture, and we take God and his word seriously, and we are walking in that truth, we, too, will be criticized and falsely accused and thought to be oddballs.

And then he talked about people judging him by human thinking and reasoning, and not justly and according to the Scriptures. And this will happen to us, too, when we are serious about the Lord, and when we are following him in truth and righteousness. For not everyone is going to accept us and be thrilled over our commitments to Christ, not even many professing Christians will these days. So others will make false judgments against us based on their upbringing or based on their culture or their traditions or based on their own personal prejudices, or whatever.

And they may judge us prematurely without knowledge and without understanding. But judging others prematurely may also entail condemning them and writing them off as no good when God is not finished with them yet. But this is not saying that we cannot judge according to the Scriptures or that we cannot judge righteously, for in 1 Corinthians 5 we are instructed that we are to judge the church, and in the rest of the Scriptures we are taught to judge rightly according to the truth, and to test the spirits, and to reject the lies and to embrace the truth.

And I like it here that Paul, although he was claiming innocence in the matter of which they were making a judgment about him, he was not claiming that somehow he had arrived and that he was absolutely perfect. And I faced something like that quite a few years back where I was being falsely accused, and I let my accusers know that I was not guilty as charged, but that I was not claiming absolute perfection. I was just innocent with regard to the specific accusations being made against me. But Paul was a righteous man who lived what he claimed to believe and what he taught.

And that is how we are to live, too, in humility, but in faithfulness to our Lord and to his calling upon our lives. And it is perfectly okay to defend yourself against false accusations against your character. Paul did that regularly, and so did Jesus. Yes, Jesus remained silent during part of his mock trial, prior to them putting him to death on the cross, but he was not silent through it all, nor was he silent throughout his time of ministry on the earth. He came to his own defense many times when he was being attacked by his opponents. But sometimes he didn’t, and he found other ways to turn them away.

Faithful Stewards

Video Talk

May 31, 2023

https://youtu.be/ge-4ujvlItY 

Caution: This link may contain ads

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 

Caution: This link may contain ads

Bring Them Back

 

Abstain From Fleshly Passions

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

“Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.” (1 Peter 2:9-12 ESV)

These words are addressed here to the elect of God, his saints, his holy ones, his called out ones who are to be living holy lives pleasing to the Lord, separate (unlike, different) from the world because we are being made to be like Jesus in character, of the Spirit of God, as we cooperate fully with God’s work of grace in our lives. For we are called to obedience to Jesus Christ and to his New Covenant commands, as well as to the forsaking of our sins.

We who believe in Jesus Christ with genuine God-persuaded faith in our Lord are to be those who have died with Christ to sin and who are now living to him and to his righteousness. So, we are to put away all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, slander, murder, immorality, idolatry, adultery, and the like. And we are to long after the pure word of God in the Scriptures so that we may know God’s will, and so that we may walk in obedience to his commands.

For God has chosen us out of the world to be his holy people for his own possession. Not only are we to be living lives separate from the world, in holy living, and in walks of obedience to his commands, but we are to be his messengers in proclaiming the excellencies of our Lord who called us out of darkness (sin) into his marvelous light (truth, righteousness, Jesus Christ). We are to be sharing the truth of the gospel with the people of the world.

And the truth is what Jesus Christ and the NT apostles taught (in context). And they taught that coming to faith in Jesus Christ means us dying with Christ to sin, forsaking our sinful practices, and now walking in obedience to his commands, in practice. For if we continue walking in sin, in deliberate and habitual sin against God, and against our fellow humans, we will not inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what our lips profess.

This is the truth that we are to be proclaiming, not the watered-down “gospel” message so popularized in America today. For we are not saved from our sins and promised heaven as our eternal destiny based off lip service only. We cannot just profess him as Lord and Savior, and then acknowledge what he did for us on the cross, and now we are saved and on our way to heaven. We must die to sin and obey our Lord’s commands.

For the mercy of God is not just getting a free pass into heaven. Do any of us deserve his salvation? No! Can we do anything to earn it? No! But by faith in Jesus Christ, by God’s grace, we are delivered out of our addiction to sin so that we can now serve God with our lives in doing what he says to do. But this involves us surrendering our lives to the Lord and submitting to his will and obeying him and his commands, in his power, as part of saving grace.

Therefore, while we live on this earth as strangers (not one with the world), we are commanded that we are to abstain (refrain) from the passions of the flesh which wage war against our souls. We are no longer to be engaged in lying, cheating, stealing, sexual immorality, trickery, adultery, idolatry, and/or murder, and the like. These are to be put out of our lives so that we can now live for our Lord in doing his will and purpose for our lives.

And when our walks of faith and obedience to our Lord are genuine, for our lives are surrendered to his will and purpose for our lives, this will serve as a testimony to others as to what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. For it is not in lip service only, but in action, and in deed (see Ephesians 2:8-10 and Titus 2:11-14). And, via our walks of faith, this may lead other people to genuine faith in the Lord who die with him to sin and obey his commands.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2]

Not I, but Christ 

By Ada A. Whiddington / A. B. Simpson

… I no longer live, but Christ lives in me… (Galatians 2:20 NIV)

Not I, but Christ be honored, loved, exalted,

Not I, but Christ be seen, be known, be heard;

Not I, but Christ in every look and action,

Not I, but Christ in every thought and word.

Not I, but Christ to gently soothe in sorrow,

Not I, but Christ to wipe the falling tear;

Not I, but Christ to lift the weary burden,

Not I, but Christ to hush away all fear.

Christ, only Christ, no idle word e'er falling,

Christ, only Christ, no needless bustling sound;

Christ, only Christ, no self-important bearing,

Christ, only Christ, no trace of “I” be found.

Not I, but Christ my every need supplying,

Not I, but Christ my strength and health to be;

Christ, only Christ, for spirit, soul, and body,

Christ, only Christ, live then Thy life in me.

Christ, only Christ, ere long will fill my vision,

Glory excelling soon, full soon I'll see;

Christ, only Christ, my every wish fulfilling,

Christ, only Christ, my all in all to be.

Oh, to be saved from myself, dear Lord,

Oh, to be lost in Thee,

Oh, that it might be no more I,

But Christ that lives in me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7YZcDHu42M

Caution: This link may contain ads