The Choice is Ours

Wednesday, March 06, 2013, 7:38 a.m. – the Lord Jesus woke me with the song “Broken Hearts” playing in my mind. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Matthew 21:33-44 (ESV): http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2021&version=ESV

“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

“‘The stone that the builders rejected

    has become the cornerstone;

this was the Lord's doing,

    and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”

Young’s Literal Translation: “…and he who is falling on this stone shall be broken, and on whomsoever it may fall it will crush him to pieces.”

The Vineyard

At the time Jesus spoke these words, it appears that the vineyard represented the people of God, Israel, the Jews of that time. The tenants were the Jewish people and/or their leaders. The servants were the OT prophets and the Son was Jesus Christ, whom they crucified. The kingdom of God was taken away from the Jews, as a nation, because they rejected Jesus Christ as their Messiah, and the gospel of Jesus Christ was given to the Gentiles.

So, how does this apply to us today? The Bible says that “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16). So, that means there is a Biblical principle here that can be applied to our lives yet today.

Since the vineyard represents the people of God, today that would be the church. The tenants can be the people of God, as well as the leaders, for we have all been given the responsibility of sharing the gospel, making disciples, helping people grow in their faith and in the knowledge of God, encouraging one another, building one another up in the faith, speaking the truth in love, confronting sin, exposing the deeds of darkness, and living lives pleasing to God, holy and acceptable to him, and thus letting our lights shine before men. Yet I do believe a greater responsibility lies with those in leadership positions.

God’s Care

God has gone to great lengths to take care of his vineyard, the church. He first of all sent his Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins so that we may be saved. Then, he brought his Son back to life, thus conquering death, hell, Satan and sin so that we might be free from the penalty of sin, free from slavery to sin, and free to live lives pleasing to God in his power and strength within us. He gave us the gift of his grace and even the ability to believe, to turn from our sins, and to obey him. He sent his Holy Spirit to indwell us to guide, direct, counsel, encourage, teach, correct, and to train us in righteousness. He gave us the prophets, the apostles, evangelists and pastors and teachers to help us to grow in our faith, though not all are teaching the true gospel today, so we must be discerning. And, he gave us one another to help encourage, strengthen and build one another up in the faith.

God also put a hedge of protection around this vineyard of his, i.e. he gave us the Holy Spirit within us, and he has promised us his continual presence, love, nurturing and care. God is absolutely sovereign over every area of our lives and nothing can touch us but what God allows it, and he allows it for a purpose. To believe otherwise limits God and says he is not who he says he is. He also promises us his peace, assurance, joy, counsel, provisions, etc. for all that we need to live lives holy and pleasing to him while we still live in these flesh bodies on the face of this earth. We don’t ever have to be afraid, because he is always there, and he will supply all we need if we would just humble ourselves before him and call upon him in honesty, sincerity and with submissive hearts ready to do his will.

The Season for Fruit

In the life of a follower of Christ it is always the season for fruit, for the scriptures speak much of the necessity that we bear fruit in keeping with repentance and that we bear fruit for the gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives. This fruit can take many forms, but it is always centered in obedience to Jesus Christ and in relationship with God’s Son. We should all reflect the fruit of the Spirit, we should love one another as Christ has loved us and gave his life up for us, and we should love God by obeying his commands (see 1 John). We should also share the gospel of Jesus Christ with others, let our lights shine before men, and we should be busy making disciples of Christ of all peoples, teaching them to obey Christ.

The Servants

The servants sent to gather the fruit should be our pastors and teachers within the church who are there not only to teach us, but to disciple, to nurture, counsel, direct, love and help us to grow in our faith and to not follow the ways of this fallen world, as well as we each have a responsibility toward one another for the spiritual growth of our brother or sister in Christ. Sadly enough, though, many of our leaders, and even our fellow Christians, are like the tenants who beat, stoned and killed those whom God had sent to collect his fruit.

They have fallen prey to the ways of this world themselves, and are choosing the ways of men over the ways of God, and over the ways of truth in many instances, and in numerous respects. And, those God is sending to the church and to church leaders today to “collect”, i.e. to give an account for what they are doing with Jesus Christ and with his gospel, may not be who we might think. If God can use a donkey to get a message to a misguided prophet and to help him to see the angel in his path, and if God can speak through all creation (rocks crying out, mountains singing and trees clapping their hands), then he can speak through anyone, and even those we least expect.

I believe very much that God is sending his servants to the church today to “collect,” i.e. to call to repentance and renewed faith and to warn of judgment if the messages are refused. And, many pastor and church leader is treating those servants sent of God in the same manner in which the Jewish people treated the prophets of old and Jesus Christ. Jesus said that whatever we do to one of the least of these we do to him, and how we treat his followers who are obeying him with child-like faith is how we are treating him. So, when we persecute, reject, ostracize, kick to the curb, mock, ridicule and snub our noses at those truly humble servants of God sent with his messages, who are truly just obeying their Lord in loving God and his church, then we are just like these tenants who did the same to the prophets of old and to Jesus Christ, the Son, the stone that the builders rejected.

Be Humble or Be Humbled – taken in part from “Fall, or Fallen?” May 2012 - http://christsfreeservant.blogspot.com/2012/05/fall-or-fallen.html

Then Jesus said: “He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed” (NIV84). I believe, in the context here of the dual people types, i.e. those from whom the kingdom of God will be taken away, and those whom the kingdom will be given who will produce its fruit, the “but” (or “and”) in Jesus’ statement must be seen as depicting contrasting thoughts, not complimentary thoughts.

In other words, I believe Jesus was saying that to fall upon the stone means to willingly come to Christ in humility and repentance with broken and contrite heart. The brokenness is a result of falling upon the stone, i.e. putting our faith and trust in Jesus Christ via repentance (turning from sin) and via choosing to turn to Christ in faithful obedience and surrender of our wills to his will for our lives. This is the kind of fruit God was hoping his vineyard would produce and the kind the prophets were to “collect.”

In contrast to that, those who choose to not fall upon the stone, i.e. who refuse Christ either by refusing to believe in him or by refusing, by our lifestyles, to walk with him, obey him, and honor him as holy, will be crushed (will face the judgment of God). First of all I see here that there are those who have fully rejected Christ and they will face the final judgment of eternity in hell. Yet, the Lord says that he disciplines, rebukes, chastises and punishes those he loves in order to make us holy, so sometimes we can be crushed in spirit because of sin in our lives that the Lord wants to purify out of our lives. And, his discipline in our lives is his way of humbling us so that we do fall upon the stone in humility and repentance.

So, we humble ourselves by falling upon the rock, i.e. by coming to Christ willingly in brokenness of spirit and with contrite heart, in repentance (turning from sin) and in surrendering our wills to the will of God over our lives, truly making him our Lord and master. Or, we refuse Christ and/or we refuse his requirements for salvation (the appropriate wedding attire – see Matt. 22), and we do not humble ourselves or become obedient to the cross of Christ in dying to our old lives of sin so that Jesus Christ and his righteousness can live in and out through us, bearing much fruit in keeping with repentance. The choice is ours. Humble ourselves, fall upon the Rock, Jesus Christ, and experience the brokenness of a heart given over to Christ Jesus. Refuse the Rock, and the Rock will fall on you, i.e. God will judge your heart for your refusal of his Son. Which will you choose?

Broken Hearts / An Original Work / December 14, 2012

Based off Jeremiah 31:15 (cf. Matt. 2:18)

Weeping in Ramah;

Her children no more.

Rachel is weeping;

Her comfort forlorn.

Jesus is waiting;

Her comforter be,

When she calls on Him,

Down on bended knee.

He has provided our

Sins’ sacrifice,

When He died for our sin,

Paying the price.

Our hearts are broken;

We’re feeling her pain;

Looking for answers

And someone to blame.

Jesus is calling us;

Him to believe;

Turning from our sins,

So we can be free.

Trust in His promises.

Lean on His grace;

Living for Jesus,

Eternal life gain.

Days of confusion,

Distress, pain and grief;

Looking for someone

To give us relief.

Our God and Father

In heaven above

Is looking down to us;

Providing love.

Call upon Him in your

Sadness and pain.

Trust your life with His Son;

Live life again.

http://originalworks.info/broken-hearts-2/

America, the Beautiful?

Tuesday, March 05, 2013, 8:36 a.m. – The Lord Jesus woke me with the song: America, the Beautiful / National Hymn / Katharine Lee Bates – 1913 / Samuel A. Ward http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America_the_Beautiful

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Matthew 21:18-22 (ESV):

In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once.

When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

Nothing But Leaves – taken in part from “Into the Sea,” dated October 2010:

“I prayed for understanding, and I looked at this passage in several different commentaries. What was consistent in the various commentaries that I read was that the fig tree represents Israel, i.e. in today’s context it would be the church, for we are God’s people (true Israel; spiritual Israel) today. The church, in this context, is like the church in Laodicea (see Revelation 3), neither hot nor cold, but lukewarm, so God is about to spit them out of his mouth. The lukewarm church is spiritually dead (barren) because of their sins. The lukewarm church is professing to be fruitful, but is fruitless. It is full of professions, but is lacking in the reality of Christlikeness, holiness and fruitfulness.

“In Luke 13 is recorded a parable of a fig tree that after 3 years still did not bear fruit, so the owner wanted to cut it down. The man who cared for the fig tree asked for one more year and if it still did not bear fruit, the owner could cut it down. This represents, I believe, that God gives his people, his church, time to bear fruit and time to repent, but a day will come when God will judge, and that is what this passage in Matthew is about. This cursing of the fig tree represented a pronouncement and a carrying out of judgment by God against His people because, although they had the appearance of righteousness, they were really dead, just like this withered fig tree.”

Today: The picture the Lord Jesus is giving me today is not only of the church in America, which he intends to cleanse (see vv. 12-13), but of our leadership and government in America, and thus the nation itself, which, I believe, he is cursing as he did this fig tree.

America (and the church here) gives forth the appearance of a nation blessed of God, beautiful in nature (which it is), whose motives are pure and right, which cares about its own people and the people of the world; which sends troops into other nations to help the oppressed and the afflicted and to bring them “freedom;” which is invincible in many respects; which worships the one true God, and truly cares about the freedoms of its own people; whose leaders are truly looking out for our own good; and is a nation NOT full of lies, deceit, manipulations, and betrayal stemming from its leaders, etc.

Yet, what I believe the Lord is showing me here is that the church in America (overall), and our leadership and government in America, and thus America itself, though giving forth the appearance of bearing fruit for God Almighty, i.e. they advertise they are blessed of God and in his service, and all looks bright and shiny and hopeful here, the advertisement is misleading, i.e. it is for show (appearance only). This is especially true within our government and media (which works for the government), but sadly enough it also is true in much of today’s modern church movement which is truly of man and not of God. It looks good on the outside, and “appearance” is central, but upon close examination we find that it is truly dead (barren). So, God is cursing our nation and is promising judgment and destruction (withering from the roots of our nation).

Yet, God intends, I believe, which we can find in the words of this national hymn, to pour out his grace upon us through judgment - to “mend our every flaw,” and to refine us as gold, till “every gain” of ours truly “is divine.” In other words, I believe God will judge our nation in order to bring us to God or back to God in faith, repentance and obedience.

This Mountain - taken from “Into the Sea,” dated October 2010:

The disciples asked how this tree withered so fast, and Jesus then told them that not only could they do what was done to the fig tree but that they could tell “this mountain” to throw itself into the sea, and it would be done if they had the faith and did not doubt.

I wondered what that meant, too, so I prayerfully began to search out the scriptures to see what this meant, in the context of the previous verses. I reexamined the previous verses and their meaning. The fig tree represents God’s people who today are the church. The church being represented here, thus, is symbolic of a fruitless, dead tree upon which God has cast his proclamation of judgment and a demonstration of his power to carry out what He said he would do. Then, Jesus told his disciples that if they believed and did not doubt, that they could do the same as was done to the fig tree, but they could also say to “this mountain,” “Go throw yourself into the sea,” and it would be done.

So, if what Jesus did was representative of a proclamation of judgment against His people, then to do what he did would thus be to also proclaim judgment on God’s people (as is written about in scripture) who have the appearance of righteousness but are really dead. The whole gospel includes the fact that God will judge. The Bible says that “judgment begins with the house of the Lord.” I believe God will judge his people first for their fruitlessness, their sins of idolatry and spiritual adultery, and their refusal to repent and to turn back to God in faith and obedience. That is what this passage is about.

So, if to do what Jesus did to the fig tree means that we, as well, proclaim judgment of God on a fruitless people who claim to be God’s people, then what would it mean to tell “this mountain” to throw itself into the sea? That was my question to God, so I looked up “this mountain” in the scriptures, which then led me to Mount Zion, which then led me to Zion, which eventually led me to an understanding that Zion was another word for Israel and that the church is now Zion and the mountain is the heavenly Jerusalem. So, if we tell “this mountain,” i.e. Zion (the church) to throw itself into the sea, what does that mean in this context? That was my question to God, so I looked up the phrase “throw into the sea.”

I learned that the idea of being thrown into the sea had to do with judgment. So, to throw oneself into the sea would thus be to judge oneself. Also, being thrown into the sea meant death, potentially, so to throw oneself into the sea would be to bring about death in oneself. This brought two passages of scripture to mind:

I Corinthians 11:27-32 (NIV84): Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself… But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.

Matthew 16:24-27 (NIV84): Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.

I believe what the Lord is showing me here is that he is telling his disciples, not only that they can do great miracles in the physical realm, but of greater importance is that they could see great miracles of God in people’s lives in the spiritual realm if they just believed God and did not doubt. They could, in faith, proclaim the whole gospel of Jesus Christ which tells people that we are sinners in need of a Savior, that we have to acknowledge that fact to God, that we have to repent (turn from) of our sin, that we must die to our old lives (throw ourselves into the sea), that a day of judgment (the withering of the fig tree) is coming, that Jesus provided the way for us to be free of our sin and the penalty of (eternal separation from God) and the bondage to sin, and that true faith and belief in what Jesus did for us in dying on the cross for our sins means that we also must die.

There is the final judgment in which the books will be open and those whose names are written in the “Book of Life” will be with God forever, but those whose names are not written there due to their unbelief, will face eternity without God. Yet, God also judges us regularly as divine discipline so that we are not condemned with the world in eternal separation from God. And, then there is also the judgment of the time of tribulation. The book of Revelation begins with letters to the churches, the last of which is the church in Laodicea. In most of these letters, he tells the church that they must repent or else face some kind of judgment from Almighty God. So, judgment is not just something that will determine who goes to heaven and who goes to hell, but it is God’s divine discipline on his people in order to cleanse them of this world, to make them holy, to purify them and to make them a bride ready to meet their bridegroom when he returns.

So, back to this passage in Matthew 21, when it says, “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer,” I believe we have to consider the context in which these words were spoken in order to understand what they mean. I believe this is speaking about believing God for the miracle of His grace, his mercy, and his forgiveness in people’s lives, which is the greatest miracle of all. When we share the whole gospel of Jesus Christ, and when we call on the people of God to repent (to throw themselves into the sea), and we believe and don’t doubt that it will be done, then we are believing God for the salvation of lives, and we are believing him for revival in the church. So, when we receive what we ask for in prayer, in this context, I believe, we are receiving the fruit of the sharing of the gospel which is a harvest of souls (lives) that are committed to bearing fruit and not just giving the appearance of having fruit. This kind of prayer in faith, I believe, is belief in God for a great spiritual awakening.

Oh, that we would pray that prayer in complete faith and not doubt so that we would see people’s hearts transformed by the working of the Holy Spirit within them, his church, in making them into fruit-bearing trees for God’s purposes and for His glory. 

The Blind Cry Out

Monday, March 04, 2013, 8:58 a.m. – the Lord Jesus woke me this morning with the song “I Will Lift My Eyes” playing in my mind. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Matthew 20:29-34 (ESV):

And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” And stopping, Jesus called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.

On the Way

Jesus and his disciples were on their way to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover Feast, so the crowd may have been a crowd of people on that same journey, yet the indication here is that the crowd was following Jesus. Jesus had just finished telling his disciples that, in Jerusalem, he would be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, that they would condemn him to death, and that they would deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked, flogged and crucified, yet he would be raised on the third day. And, in a subsequent conversation he told them that they would drink the cup that he was to drink, not that they would be the sacrificial Lamb to take away the sins of the world, but that they would also be persecuted, mocked, flogged and/or crucified (or killed) for their testimony for Jesus Christ.

On Jesus’ way to Jerusalem there were two blind men sitting by the roadside. When they heard Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” What is remarkable to me about this statement is that these blind men recognized that Jesus Christ was indeed the promised Messiah, the Son of David. So, they were not just crying out to a miracle worker or a man with a reputation for healing diseases, but they were crying out to Almighty God to heal them. And, I love the fact that, after the crowd rebuked them and told them to be silent, that they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” They were determined in their cries to God, and they did not easily give way to those who would try to put a damper on them, or to try to stop their pleas for mercy.

Lord, Have Mercy

As I read this passage of scripture, and especially in light of this song based off Psalms 121-125, where the psalmist said he would lift his eyes to his Lord Most High, the Lord Jesus gave me a picture here of the spiritually blind calling out to God for mercy, and those, as well, who have come into relationship with Jesus Christ, but who have been blinded by the lies of Satan to God’s truths, calling out to God to open their blinded eyes, too.

The men had first of all heard about Jesus Christ and/or had witnessed his miracles. They certainly knew of him by reputation, yet it was God who put within them the knowledge and the ability to believe that Jesus Christ truly is the Son of God, i.e. the promised Messiah. The Bible tells us that none of us can come to Jesus Christ unless the Father draws us, so I believe the Father was drawing these men to his Son. Also, the men had to have heard about Jesus Christ in order to know to call on him, and the Bible poses the question, “How are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?” And, “How are how are they to hear without someone preaching?” And, then it makes the statement: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” As well, it teaches us that “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (see Ro. 10:13-17).

So, they heard about Jesus, and the Father put within them the knowledge of who Jesus is and the desire to even call on him for mercy, and I believe also the tenacity to keep pursuing Jesus despite persecution, rejection, or others trying to silence them. This is a picture of how we are drawn to Christ, and it is also a picture of how Jesus continues to call us to himself and to call us to his truths. And, we may truly face this kind of opposition and persecution when we do call out to Jesus in faith, asking for his mercy upon us, yet we must persist and we must continue in our pursuit of God and of his truths, and we must follow Jesus Christ in surrender and obedience to his will for our lives, no matter what.

Jesus’ response

I love the fact that Jesus asked the men what they wanted him to do for them, instead of him making the suggestion. I believe that is a great question and a great approach to sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ, too. I believe many evangelistic approaches put words in people’s mouths that do not come from the people’s hearts. I personally believe that we would do well to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with people, and then allow them to respond in their own words in answer to this question, “What do you want me to do for you?”

Many people make decisions to “receive Christ” because they think it is going to give them assurance of heaven when they die, or because of pressure (emotionally based) to do so, or because it seems like the right thing to do at the time, or because they were sold a bill of goods, i.e. they were led to believe that they didn’t really have to make any immediate changes, but they could kind of grow into this faith, but that nothing was really required of them other than to “believe,” and yet “believe” was not really defined Biblically.

So, I believe if we would take the evangelistic approach of asking people, based upon what we have shared with them, what they would like Christ to do for them, it would first of all help us to see how well the people actually understand what was shared, and we would see if their hearts were really there with their words. I think it is dangerous to put words into people’s mouths and then to tell them what took place in their hearts, and based upon that to assure them salvation and eternity with God in heaven. Only they know and God knows what really took place, so I believe we would do well to ask more questions and allow people to respond in their own words from their own hearts rather than to suggest or to declare what may or may not be true, and thus risk giving them a false hope of heaven.

Our Eyes Opened

The men knew what they wanted, and they had no trouble at all articulating it to Jesus, either. They wanted their eyes opened. They wanted to receive their sight. And, I believe that when the Holy Spirit of God has prepared a person’s heart for the gospel, and the Father has drawn them to Christ, and they are convicted of their sin (their spiritual blindness), they will know enough, if the true gospel has been presented to them, to voice to Jesus what it is they want him to do, too. It may not be with all the right words, or said with the best of grammar and perfect flow of thought, but they will be like that other blind man Jesus healed. He didn’t know much, but what he did know is that once he was blind, and now he could see, and he told what he knew – simple, yet enough.

The men realized they were blind and they recognized they needed Jesus and his mercy for them to be healed of their blindness. That is where each and every one of us must come. We must see that we are sinners in need of the Savior, and we must call out to Jesus for mercy and for him to heal (save) us of our sins. And, Jesus will respond to our pleas with compassion and mercy, he will forgive us our sin, and he will welcome us “home.” These men lifted their blinded eyes to Jesus and he healed them. We all need to lift our eyes to Jesus and to realize that our help comes from him and from no other.

Lifting Our Eyes

Hebrews 12:2 (NIV 84) says: “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

In 2 Corinthians 4:18 (NIV 84) we read: “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

When we lift our eyes to the heavens and/or we fix our eyes on Jesus, this is not speaking merely of the use of our physical eyes, but this is speaking of our whole being – thoughts, attitudes, heart, emotion, and will. This means that the central focus of our lives, in all we do, think, are and speak is centered in Jesus Christ and his divine will for our lives, because of all that he has done for us in saving us from sin. We look to God, not to man, and not to the things of the world for our help. We seek God for all that we need, and for him to give us the strength and courage we need to live each and every day of our lives for Him and for His glory. And, God is faithful. “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness” (2 Pet. 1:3 NIV ’84).

I Will Lift My Eyes / An Original Work / December 12, 2012

Based off Psalms 121-125

I will lift my eyes

To my Lord Most High.

My help comes from Him,

Who saved me from sin.

He will not let your foot slip, and

He who watches will not sleep.

Our Lord watches over you, and

Your life He will keep.

I will lift my eyes

To my Lord Most High.

My help comes from Him,

Who saved me from sin.

I give thanks to Him.

I will lift my eyes

To my God in heav’n.

I look to the Lord.

My sins, He’s forgiv’n.

Because of His great love for us,

He made us alive with Christ.

Through the kindness of our Savior,

He gave us new life.

I will lift my eyes

To my God in heav’n.

I look to the Lord.

My sins, He’s forgiv’n.

My home now in heav’n.

Praise be to the Lord,

Who is on our side.

Our help found in Him.

He gives peace within.

Those who trust will ne’er be shaken.

God will supply all we need.

Our Lord has done great things for us.

He’s our friend, indeed!

Praise be to the Lord,

Who is on our side.

Our help found in Him.

He gives peace within.

I can count on Him.

http://originalworks.info/i-will-lift-my-eyes-2/

The god of the Underworld

Sunday, March 03, 2013, 8:36 p.m. – I sat down to talk with the Lord about some things on my mind, and to write out my thoughts on paper with pen. He put the song “Why So Downcast?” in my mind, so part of what I wrote about was thinking through the words of this song, which is based off Psalm 42.

The psalmist was downcast due to some trying and difficult times in his life. He may have been in exile. He was suffering greatly. The storms and tempests of his life were sweeping over him like a flood. He felt forgotten by God. He questioned why he must endure such suffering. He was bordering on serious depression. Satan was attacking him, putting doubts in his mind: “Where is your God? Why has he not come to rescue you?”

The psalmist thus counseled himself. He countered each doubt with the truth of who God is, and with the truth of the psalmist’s past relationship with God; how God was his only hope; how God was his Savior (fulfilled in Jesus Christ) and his Lord; how the Lord sent forth his love into the psalmist’s life day-by-day; and how at night God’s song was always with him. God had always been there for him before, and he would not leave him now. And, he remembered that God was his Rock (a name for Jesus Christ), i.e. his fortress and his deliverer. In other words, the psalmist chose to put on the armor of God with which to fight off Satan’s attacks (lies) and to put on the truth of who God is, and of all that he has done.

The psalmist intensely longed for his intimate relationship with God to be restored, i.e. for him to sense God’s holy presence abiding with him. He compared his intense thirst for God and for his righteousness to that of a deer panting for water. He longed to meet with God in his temple. He cried so many tears over his painful situation that it almost seemed as though his tears had been his food day and night. Men mocked him in his situation, thus reinforcing the thought in his mind that he had been deserted by God. Yet he chose to pour out his soul to God in prayer, to counter those lies with the truth, and, in spite of all his suffering, to put his hope and trust in God.

Storms and Tempests

As I considered the thought of these “storms and tempests sweeping over the psalmist like a flood,” it brought to mind that I had just read about this new storm sweeping across the country heading east, which the weather channel has named “Winter Storm Saturn,” and the “East Beast.” The weather channel has gone to naming winter storms since last year, and some of the names are very interesting (and telling, too, I believe). All of these names have specific meanings or history associated with them, such as Athena, Caesar, Nemo, Saturn, Xerxes and Zeus, just to name a few.

I looked up the name “Saturn,” and it took me to an article on the mythological god in ancient Roman religion, Saturn. “He was the first god of the capitol,” read the Wikipedia article. He was also known as the “god of time,” according to the article. And, the Temple of Saturn housed the state treasury, the article said - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn_(mythology).

For those who still believe that the forefathers of this nation founded its constitution and government upon Christian principles and that we, as a nation, have been a Christian nation, all you have to do is to do some research to see the pagan and mythological god (and Satanic) symbols all throughout Washington, D.C. This article even suggests that the ratification of the Constitution in 1788 announced the “return of the golden age of Saturn.” http://community-2.webtv.net/westernmind/WASHINGTONDC/

In researching another unrelated or possibly related topic, I read that “The root of east is Latin aurora, meaning ‘dawn.’” - http://thesaurus.com/browse/east. So, this “East Beast” could also be called “The beast of the dawn,” symbolizing, perhaps, the dawning of a new era; something on the horizon about to begin. I believe “the beast” is an obvious reference to the beast of Revelation which will conquer and rule the kingdoms of the earth for a short period of time, in which the saints of God will be severely persecuted and put to death for their testimony for Jesus Christ and the world and its inhabitants will face the wrath of God. Perhaps the message here is that the Beast of the Dawn is ready to take the world and/or the U.S. by storm.

I wrote: “Jesus is our Savior and our God, so we should put our hope in him, and we should think of him when we are going through these difficulties (storms and tempests sweeping over us). By day the Lord sends forth his love, and in the night his song is with me (see Ps. 42). So, I praise his name, and I put my hope in God. My soul pants for God. I pour out my soul to God. I’ll still praise his name.” Then, I read Matthew 20:17-19 (ESV):

And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”

I wrote: “This is what is coming for Christians here in America and other parts of the world where they have not yet experienced this kind of severe persecution for their testimony for Jesus Christ, i.e. where this is not presently already happening throughout the world. Yet, we are to put our hope in God and ever praise his name.”

The Beast of Burden

I inquired of the Lord if he had anything he wanted to say to me or show me, or if he had a vision or a dream (don’t usually ask for that) that would give me further understanding of the meaning behind this storm and its name(s). Then, I had a vision.

THE VISION: I saw a large elephant facing toward me (south). The elephant’s trunk was raised. There was a large amount of stuff the elephant was carrying on its back, and some of it seemed to be falling off on the east side of the elephant. I then heard in my head, “Beast of Burden.”

There were some people standing on the ground to the east of the elephant. Then, the elephant aimed his raised trunk to the east and spewed out water on the people. I think the people were trying to get to this pack on the elephant’s back, but the elephant kept spewing water on them through his raised trunk.

Then, I heard in my mind the name “Sasha,” and I saw what looked like a bronze statue of a goddess. END

Then, I read Matthew 20:20-28, and these words are what stood out to me (v. 25): But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.”

I definitely saw the elephant and its trunk as lording it over the people, and as “high officials” (NIV84), or “great ones” exercising authority over the people. This appears to be a picture of tyranny and oppression. This fits with the image of an elephant with raised trunk, too, spewing forth water on the people. A raised trunk is a display of dominance and can be a warning or a threat. The elephant was the “beast”, i.e. I believe the Lord was giving me a picture here of this “beast of the dawn,” which is comprised of these “high officials” or “great ones” exercising dominance over the people, lording it over the people, via tyranny and oppression, and that somehow this storm is a display of dominance and serves as a threat or a warning to those in the east, perhaps to some of those in lower positions.

In researching “Sasha,” I learned that is another name for the Greek Goddess Persephone (consort of Hades). She is the daughter of Zeus, in mythology, and queen of the underworld. “She is also associated with spring and with the seeds of the fruits of the fields.” “In classical Greek art, Persephone is invariably portrayed robed; often carrying a sheaf of grain.” See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persephone.

Now, compare this description of Persephone to the statue that sits atop the capitol building and to the idea of “high officials” or “great ones” exercising power, rule, and authority over our capitol, and the idea of “Saturn,” as being the “first god of the capitol,” and the fact that Persephone is mythologicallly-speaking the “queen of the underworld.” Satan is over our capitol building, i.e. in authority, and his “beast of the dawn” is spewing forth “storms and tempests sweeping over us,” yet we are not to be afraid of what is coming, but we are to put our hope and trust in God.

Also, “Sasha” is the name of an evil spirit that Beyonce, the star of the Super-bowl half-time show, said possesses her and takes over her body, which was obvious from the snippet that I caught of her performance in the news media. Her performance, evidently, contained illuminati symbolism and Satanic rituals. A message was being given through her performance, though I don’t know for certain what that was. Yet, the Lord is making a connection here, I believe, between the message given at the Super-bowl half-time show that was of the Illuminati (the great ones; high officials lording it over the people); the elephant and trunk spewing forth “storms and tempests” over the people; the statue over top the capitol building; and the beast of the dawn and the beast of burden, etc. Yet, we are not to fear what is coming, but we are to put our hope and trust in God.

Jesus said: “But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matt. 20:26b-28)

Why So Downcast? / An Original Work / December 21, 2012

Based off Psalm 42

Why so downcast,

O my soul,

And why so disturbed

Now within me?

Put your hope

In Jesus Christ,

For I will praise His name.

He’s my Savior

And my God,

So therefore I’ll

Remember Him through

Storms and tempests

Sweeping o’er me.

Still I’ll praise His name.

Put your hope in God.

By day the Lord

Sends forth His love.

In the night

His song is with me.

I pray to the

God of my life.

I will praise His name.

I say to God my Rock,

“Why must I be called

To suffer this way?”

Foes attack me;

Satan sneering.

Still I’ll praise my God.

Put your hope in Him.

As a deer pants

For the waters,

So my soul pants

For You, O God.

My soul thirsts for

God who’s living.

When can I meet Him?

My tears have been

My food at night,

When men say,

“So, where is your God?”

I pour out my

Soul to my God.

I’ll still praise His name.

Shout with joy to Him.

http://originalworks.info/why-so-downcast-2/

Radical Abandonment

Sunday, March 03, 2013, 8:04 a.m. – the Lord Jesus woke me with the song “A Believer’s Prayer” playing in my mind. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Matthew 19:16-30 (ESV):

And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Then Peter said in reply, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

What good deed?

A man came to Jesus asking what good deed he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus’ first response was to ask the man why he asked Jesus about what is good, for there is only One who is good. Jesus was saying that God was the definition of, and all that is good. Some people feel Jesus, by this statement, was saying he, himself, was not God, yet all throughout his teachings he definitely claimed to be God, which is one of the reasons the Jews had him put to death. I believe he was letting the man know that he was/is God, and therefore he had/has the power, ability and knowledge to determine what is good.

Next, he told the man that if he wanted to enter life (be saved), he must keep the commandments. The man asked which ones, and Jesus listed some of the ones that basically had to do with our relationships with other people, which Jesus later summarized with the single commandment, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (see Matt. 22:35-40). The man believed he had kept all these commandments. As far as we know, Jesus did not dispute that. Jesus had the advantage to know the man’s heart, and he knew what the man was going to ask next. He was not teaching works-based salvation, yet it is certainly true that one of the elements of genuine believing faith, which is evidence that we truly love God, is that we must obey Christ’s commandments (see 1 John 2:3-4; 3:22-24; 5:2-3).

The man was cognizant of the fact that this, alone, must not be enough for him to gain eternal life, so he asked Jesus what he still lacked. Perhaps he was of the mindset where he felt as though he could earn his salvation or work his way to heaven, and since he felt as though he had already kept all the commandments Jesus listed off, which Jesus would have known about him, he wanted to know what else he could do to merit eternal life with God.

Come, Follow Me

Jesus told the man if he would be perfect, he must sell all he possessed and give it to the poor, and he would have treasure in heaven, and then he must come and follow Jesus. Jesus did not tell all his disciples that they had to sell all they had and give to the poor, yet he did teach death to self and sin daily, and he did teach that we must follow him in obedience and surrender of our wills to his will for our lives. All throughout Jesus’ teachings he taught radical abandonment (rejection) of all that we would naturally hold on to, and radical abandonment (giving over to) of ourselves to him as his followers (slaves). He said if we want to hold on to our old lives of sin and self, we will lose them for eternity, but if we willingly die to (forego; forsake) our lives of sin and self, then we will gain them for eternity. That is the same message he was giving this man, only he knew what was holding this man back from radical abandonment - it was his wealth. And, he chose his wealth over Jesus.

Although Jesus’ specific message to each one of us may not be “sell all you have and give to the poor,” the principle is still there for each one of us. Coming to Jesus Christ means we die to self, i.e. we let go of everything in our natural lives, and we give it all to Jesus to be used however he wants – trashed, given away or put to good use. For some of us, he may have us literally leave all that we possess in this life behind us in order to go where he wants us to go. For others, he may use those material possessions for the advancement of his kingdom, such as he uses my computer so that I am able to write out and send out what he teaches me from my times with him each day. If I did not possess this computer, I could not do this, yet truly it is not mine, for it is given over to him and to his service. Yet, if the Lord said, “Leave it all behind, because where I am sending you, you will have no need of it,” I would walk away from it all, because Jesus Christ is my greatest treasure!

Jesus then described how difficult it is for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. He gave the illustration of the largest animal in Palestine going through the smallest opening. Yet, he said, this would be easier for this to happen than for a rich person to enter into eternal life with God. Wow! Why so? This is obviously not an indictment against all who possess great wealth, for there were many wealthy and godly people throughout scripture, Job included. Yet, the more we possess in this life, the greater the risk for pride, self-will, a feeling of self-accomplishment and self-dependence to set in. It is harder for us to see our need of God, and it is harder to let go of all that we have acquired. And, there is the danger of making “stuff” our god. That is why it often takes tragic events, hardships, or times of great difficulty to get some of us to realize our need for Jesus, and for us to be willing to make the choice between our “stuff” and radical abandonment to his will for our lives.

Who can be saved?

This is where the rubber meets the road (the most important point; the true test of something). We can’t be saved in and of ourselves, no matter how many good works we do or how many commandments we perfectly obey, though not many of us have done that, I suspect. “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” It is by God’s grace alone that we are saved (see Eph. 2:8-9). We cannot even come to Christ of our own accord – the Father must draw us to Christ. And, even the faith to believe in Jesus is a gift from God – yet a gift that must be appropriated (made our own) to our own lives. In other words, faith is action and the action required is total abandonment to Jesus Christ and away from all that is of self and sin in this life. Jesus wants us to come to him with the humility and simple trust of a child, and he demands complete and total surrender and allegiance to him and to him alone. This is the essence of what he told the rich young man (ruler).

A Believer’s Prayer / An Original Work / July 31, 2012

With my whole heart,

Lord, I pray to be Yours,

And Yours always.

Lead me in Your truth today.

May I love You, and obey.

Lead me in Your righteousness.

When I sin, may I confess;

Bow before You when I pray;

Live for You and You always.

Love You, Jesus,

You’re my friend.

Life with You will never end.

You are with me through each day,

Giving love and peace always.

You will ne’er abandon me.

From my sin You set me free.

You died on that cruel tree,

So I’d live eternally.

Soon You’re coming back for me;

From this world to set me free;

Live with You eternally.

Oh, what joy that brings to me.

I will walk with You in white;

A pure bride,

I’ve been made right

By the blood of Jesus Christ;

Pardoned by His sacrifice.

http://originalworks.info/a-believers-prayer/

The Debt we Owe

Saturday, March 02, 2013, 7:00 a.m. – the Lord Jesus woke me with this song:

Near the Cross / Fanny J. Crosby / William H. Doane

Jesus, keep me near the cross;

There a precious fountain,

Free to all, a healing stream,

Flows from Calvary's mountain.

Near the cross, a trembling soul,

Love and mercy found me…

Help me walk from day to day

With its shadow o'er me.

In the cross, in the cross,

Be my glory ever,

Till my raptured soul shall find

Rest beyond the river.

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Matthew 18:21-35 (NASB):

Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.

“For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made. So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’ And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt.

But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’ But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed.

So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. Then summoning him, his lord said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”

Our Debt

We, as humans, are born with a sin nature and thus with the propensity to sin. The scriptures teach us that all have sinned, and thus we all come up short of attaining God’s glory. We all like sheep have gone astray, and each one has gone his own way. No one is righteous in his own self or in his own merit. No one can earn his own salvation. No matter how many good things we do, we will never be good enough. We will always come up short. Our sins, thus, separate us from our God. Our debt resulting from our sin is HUGE! And, we have no way of repaying this debt. The result is death and eternal separation from God and eternity in hell. [See Romans 3:9-26; Eph. 2:8-9; and Isaiah 53:1-12]

God’s Mercy

God caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Jesus Christ. He became our perfect Lamb sacrifice to take away the sins of the world. This was God’s plan for our redemption. Jesus Christ was “pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed” (Is. 53:5).

He was crucified on a cross for our sins, although he had done no wrong. When he died our sins were crucified with him, and when he was buried, our sins were buried with him, but when he arose from the grave, he conquered death, hell, Satan and sin so that we could live victoriously over sin and so that we could walk with Christ in righteousness and holiness, though not with a righteousness of our own making. This righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ is for all who believe in Him; for those who put their trust in Him as Savior and Lord (master) of their lives. “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph. 2:8-9).

Repentance

We must humble ourselves before God and call upon him for mercy. We must confess our sin and acknowledge our inability within ourselves to be able to satisfy this debt. In other words, we must acknowledge our need for the Savior, and for what he did for us in dying for our sins so that we can go free from slavery to sin, free from hell, and free to walk in God’s righteousness and holiness. Jesus said that if anyone would come after him, he must negate his self-life, he must willingly and daily forego (die to) his former life of living for self pleasure and sin, and he must follow our Lord Jesus Christ in obedience and surrender to his will for our lives (see Luke 9:23-25). This is what it means to believe.

The Apostle Paul, God speaking through him, said that the way in which we come to know Christ is by dying to (forsaking; taking off) our old way of living for self and sin, by being transformed in heart and mind (the working of the Spirit of God within us), and by putting on our new self in Christ Jesus, “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (see Eph. 4:17-24). As well, he said in Gal. 2:20 that when we come to Christ, we, i.e. our self-life is crucified with Christ and that “I”, “you,” “we” no longer live. In other words, our self life is crucified with Christ and we no longer live for self, but for God, who loved us and who gave himself up for us. Now Christ and his life should be on the throne of our lives and his life should be lived within and out through our lives. We are, thus, his representatives (his ambassadors) to this world for the gospel. Now we live by faith in Jesus Christ.

Forgiveness

When we come to Jesus Christ on bended knee (in humility), admitting that we have sinned and that we need the Savior to save us from our sins (from slavery to sin daily), and we turn from our sins, and we turn to walk in obedience to Jesus Christ, he forgives us of our sins and he cancels the debt that we owe. He does this because he loves us so very much!

Yet, do we so easily forgive others their debts against us? I mean, when others sin against us, and they come to us asking for mercy, do we easily and readily release them from their debt against us? Or, do we refuse to forgive? Or, maybe we think we have forgiven, but we are still holding what we believe is their sin against us to their account. To forgive means to no longer hold on to bitterness, anger, resentment, or a feeling of “pay back,” but we release the offending party from his debt, just as Jesus did for us, only our debt was much greater by far, and a perfect and holy God, who never sinned, was willing to die for us so we could go free. If Jesus did that for us, how can we not forgive others who have sinned against us, or even who we think may have sinned against us? We must forgive, because Jesus forgave us. If we don’t, the Lord Jesus may visit us in divine discipline and correction.

Awaken the Dawn / An Original Work / January 15, 2013

Based off Psalm 57 (NIV 1984)

O my God, have mercy on me!

In the Lord, my soul takes refuge.

In the shadow of Your wings, Lord,

I find shelter till the storms pass.

I cry out to my God Most High.

He fulfills His purpose for me.

He sent His Son to die for me,

So I could be saved.

I am in the midst of lions;

Men whose teeth are spears and arrows;

Whose tongues are sharp; words accusing.

They spread a net, my feet to catch.

They dug a pit, in hopes I’d fall.

O God, be exalted o’er all.

Let Your glory shine to all men,

So they may be saved.

Steadfast is my heart, O my God;

I will sing of all Your wonders.

Awake, my soul! Sing praise to God!

Early I will rise and praise Him!

I’ll praise God among the nations;

I will sing among the peoples.

God’s love reaches to the heavens,

So we may be saved.

http://originalworks.info/awaken-the-dawn2/

Become Like Children

Friday, March 01, 2013, 7:30 a.m. – the Lord Jesus Christ woke me with this song:

As the Deer / Martin J. Nystrom

Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water

 So my soul longeth after thee

 You alone are my heart's desire

 And I long to worship thee

 You alone are my strength, my shield

 To you alone may my spirit yield…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_the_Deer

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Matthew 18:1-9 (NASB):

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

“Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!

“If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire. If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell.

Like Little Children

The disciples wanted to know who was the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus said that unless we change (are converted) and become like little children that we will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Jesus Christ, as we know, is the embodiment of the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom thus includes his life and ministry on the earth, his death, burial, resurrection and ascension to heaven, his sending of the Holy Spirit to indwell the lives of his true followers, the life of his church (the body of Christ) here on the earth, his coming again, his kingdom reign on the earth, and life everlasting in glory with God. So, obviously this becoming like children is essential for our salvation and eternal life with God.

So, what did Jesus mean when he said we had to become like children? To what characteristic traits of small children was he referring? I believe he was speaking of the kind of trust and faith small children have. God can get through to small children so much easier than he can get through to many adults, because small children don’t have all the filters we have. They so easily believe, and they so easily act upon what they believe, too, and they also are not afraid to tell others about what they believe, as well. There is a certain transparency about small children that is often missing in many adults.

So, we need to be unpretentious like small children, we need to have a sincere and honest trust and faith in what Jesus Christ teaches us, and we need to act on that faith. When a small child believes you will catch him, he will jump out into the air without fear and into your arms because he believes that you will be there for him. That is the kind of faith Jesus Christ requires of us, i.e. the kind that believes his words and that acts on that belief by obeying what he says, by submitting to his will, and by surrendering to his ways. He said if we are to come after him we must deny (forbid) our self-life, and we must die daily to sin and to self, and we must follow (obey) him. Child-like faith takes Jesus at his word and does what he says, and willingly lays it all down for the Lord and for the kingdom of heaven.

Love Like Jesus

Jesus now moved from using a literal child to demonstrate his principle of humbling ourselves like children, to speaking of his true followers, i.e. of those who have become like children in their faith and belief in Jesus Christ. If we receive those into our fellowships who have this child-like faith and trust in Jesus Christ, and who take Jesus at his word, and who obey what he says to the best of their understanding, and in his power and strength within them, then it is just like we are receiving Jesus Christ.

The opposite would thus be true, as well, for anyone who rejects, denies, disallows, pushes away, ostracizes, ridicules, mocks or otherwise mistreats a true follower of Jesus Christ, it is as though he or she is doing the same to Jesus Christ.

“Well,” you might say, “Who would do such a thing?” Pastors, elders, deacons, church leaders, church people and the world – that is who. The modern church of today has become so much like the world that many church congregation members or church leaders think and act just like the world, and some of them have even been guilty of treating those with child-like faith with such disdain and disregard as Jesus is speaking of here.

Many of them do this because they are listening to men, man’s philosophies, and marketing schemes for how to build big churches (businesses of men). They do this, as well, because they are caught up in the ways of the world themselves, because they personally don’t possess child-like faith, because they are following the culture of their society, because they want to gain large crowds of people, because they are people pleasers (which Jesus was not), and/or because those with child-like faith might pose a threat to their earthly kingdom building, and/or might expose their own lack of faith in Jesus Christ, etc.

As well, if anyone causes one of Jesus’ (child-like faith) followers to stumble in any way, Jesus said it would be better if he had drowned in the depth of the sea rather than to face the wrath of God.

There are many ways in which people can cause true followers of Christ to stumble. One way is through rejection and mistreatment. Especially a young believer, who does not have the years of maturity under his or her belt, might be easily discouraged and disheartened and might draw back in his or her faith due to mistreatment. Another way is through peer pressure and trying to convince the young believer that he or she really does not have to obey Jesus, and he or she really does not have to turn away from his or her sin, and God is pleased with her or him no matter what, i.e. to try to get the young believer to doubt Jesus’ words and to believe man. And, yet another way is to literally tempt the young believer to falter in his or her faith and to give way to sin, because, after all, everyone does it, and nobody is perfect, and God won’t do anything to us now anyway, since we are under grace.

Stumbling Blocks

A stumbling block is anything that causes or leads us to falter in our faith and to sin against God. In Hebrews 12:1-3 (NASB) we read that we should “lay aside every encumbrance” (that which hinders) “and the sin which so easily entangles us,” so that we can run the spiritual race before us. As well, it teaches us that not only should we get rid of these stumbling blocks to our faith, but we should stay focused on Jesus Christ, and we should recall that Jesus went through enormous suffering for us so that we could be free. He faced much opposition from sinful man (most of it from the religious leaders of his day).

In the case of those who would try to tempt us to sin, who would put doubts in our minds and hearts concerning our sincere and child-like faith, and/or who would try to convince us that the word of God does not really say what we believe it says, i.e. those who teach a false gospel and who would try to lead us away from our pure faith, the Bible teaches that if anyone does not receive the true gospel (our message), that we are to brush the dust off our feet and move on to another place, and if we are persecuted in one place, we should flee to another. This is not always possible, i.e. a woman is subject to her husband, and thus a move such as this would have to be mutual. Yet, as much as is within our power to do so, I believe scripture teaches us that we should remove from our lives these hindrances to our faith and our walk with the Lord, and we should certainly not put up with false teaching, but we should be somewhere where they are preaching the truth of God’s word.

In the case of obstacles and road blocks, i.e. stumbling blocks to our obedience to our Lord are concerned, which we have brought upon ourselves, I believe scripture teaches that we are to throw these off, i.e. we are to get rid of them, and even throw some in the trash. For example, if we are tempted to shop beyond our means, we should avoid websites and shopping malls, etc., that would tempt us to keep buying what we don’t need and can’t afford. If our weak spot is food, we should not buy or cook more than we need so we are not tempted to eat beyond what we need. When eating out, share a meal with someone or eat only half of what they serve you and take the other half home. If our area of temptation has to do with lust, we should avoid watching TV shows and movies, playing video games, listening to music, visiting certain internet sites, et al, which promote or allow displays of sensuality in any form, in particular those which entertain us with and/or promote sinful behavior of any kind.

In Summation

If we want to be saved of our sin and have eternity with God in heaven, we need to come to our Lord Jesus with child-like faith that believes his word, that acts upon what we believe his word teaches us, and that transparently, honestly (and passionately) shares what he teaches us with others, because that is what small children do. We need to not filter out Jesus’ words, but we need to filter the words of mankind, so we can hear Jesus clearly. We need to receive into our fellowships those with child-like faith instead of kicking them to the curb because they don’t fit in with today’s modern church movement. And, we need to be in the word of God daily, drinking in its truths, and applying its truths to our lives so that we are not easily swayed by the opinions or perceptions of men. And, as much as is possible and is in within our power to do so, we should rid our lives of those things which cause (lead us) to stumble and to falter in our faith and our walk with Jesus Christ.

Follow Him / An Original Work / February 21, 2013

Based off Luke 9:22-25

Jesus, Son of God,

Died for us on a cross.

Anyone who would come to Him

Must deny himself and follow.

He must take up his cross daily;

Die to sin and self each day.

Father, God above,

Loved us so: gave His Son.

If you want to save your old life;

Keep on sinning, follow your ways,

You will lose your life forever;

Hope of heaven gone away.

Spirit of our God

Gives us life in God’s Son.

Nonetheless, if you die to self;

Forsake your sin; follow Jesus,

You will live with God in heaven,

And forever praise His name!

http://originalworks.info/follow-him1/