Where There is No Water

Psalm 63:1-5 NASB

O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly;

My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You,

In a dry and weary land where there is no water.

Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary,

To see Your power and Your glory.

Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,

My lips will praise You.

So I will bless You as long as I live;

I will lift up my hands in Your name.

My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness,

And my mouth offers praises with joyful lips.

When I was a child, I was abused by my earthly father, but that only drew me close to my heavenly Father. Jesus became my best friend and my strength and comfort, particularly in times of sadness and pain. God was and still is the love of my life. He is my hope, my joy and my song.

But, the closer that I drew to God, the more I faced opposition from other human beings, but that, as well, only drew me to call on God even more, and to draw me near to him. I desired my Lord greatly, and I feasted on His Word, and my heart’s desire was to obey him in all things. But, that only brought more opposition into my life, and coming from within the church and from family members, and not just from people out in the world.

I wish that I could say that was my full testimony, that I remained steadfast in my relationship with the Lord despite all opposition, but it isn’t. As most of you probably know by now, years ago I was led down the wrong path by my husband, and we both entered into a time of moral depravity together for a period of several years. (Our testimonies are on the internet.)

But, the Lord was not finished with me, and so he pulled me up out of that pit, and he restored me back to a right relationship with him. Praise His Name! All glory to God!

The Lord then turned my life around and he put me on a path which is even stronger in my relationship with him than ever before, and fully determined to walk daily in purity, holiness, righteousness, honesty and faithfulness. And, that is the road I have been on since that time, all glory to God. Great things He has done!

But, because of where I have been and what I have done in the past, and because of God’s grace to me, I am all the more appreciative of God’s grace which rescues us out of our pits we fall into. I am appreciative of his loving patience towards me, too, and that he waited on me to return to him, and then he brought me back into wonderful fellowship with him. And, so I do seek him earnestly, and I do thirst for him, and “in a dry and weary land where there is no water,” too.

For, so many people who profess the name of Jesus have fallen by the wayside and they have gone after the things of this world, and the lusts of their flesh, and they have adopted a false grace gospel in order to appease their consciences, too. So much of today’s church has gone the way of the world and they have diluted the gospel, too, to appeal to human flesh, and so they coddle people in their sins instead of leading them to full repentance and changed lives by the power of the Spirit of God.

And, thus, many pastors, teachers and church goers are caught up in sinful addictions, adultery, porn, and idolatry. And, the mood of the church is reflected by this, too.

So, if you are one who stands up for what is right, and who teaches moral purity, and who stands on the Word of Truth, and honors God with your life, you are like in a desert because there are not many people joining in with you, but there are many who will oppose you.

Psalm 63:6-8 NASB

When I remember You on my bed,

I meditate on You in the night watches,

For You have been my help,

And in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy.

My soul clings to You;

Your right hand upholds me.

I can now, with full confidence, state that this describes my relationship with the Lord. All glory to God! The Lord talks to me all throughout the day and night, and I am in continual communication with him, as well. He is on my mind when I awake in the morning, and he is on my mind and heart when I go to bed at night, too. And, nearly every morning he wakens me with a song in my mind which is to go with my quiet time with him in his Word.

And, yes, the Lord has been my help. Amen! He helped me yesterday via the prayers of my brothers and sisters in Christ to remain awake so that I could write my devotion, as I had been struggling for days to stay awake, and he is helping me today to stay awake, too, all glory to God. Amen!

But, it isn’t just things like that which he helps me with, but he helps me to remain strong in my faith and to persevere when my husband has and perhaps still is floundering, and when he has and perhaps still is living in adultery against me, his wife. My Lord then heals my wounded heart, and he gives me the strength to keep loving, to keep forgiving, and to keep hoping that one day things will change for the better.

For, when my husband and others forsake me, the Lord holds me fast to him, and he does not let me go. He holds me tenderly in his arms of love and he assures me of his love and his watch and care over my life. He ministers to my spirit when I feel rejected and cast aside because of my walk of faith in Jesus Christ, too. And, I do cling to my Lord, especially during those times of loneliness and when I am feeling betrayed.

Psalm 63:9-11 NASB

But those who seek my life to destroy it,

Will go into the depths of the earth.

They will be delivered over to the power of the sword;

They will be a prey for foxes.

But the king will rejoice in God;

Everyone who swears by Him will glory,

For the mouths of those who speak lies will be stopped.

My husband has sought my life to destroy it most all of our marriage, by his own adulteries and lies and by him pushing me to join in with him in his depravity, for a time, until I said a final “No” to him, that I would no longer go there. And, then his anger burned against me, and then he tried to destroy me in other ways through trickery, manipulations, play acting, false accusations, outbursts of anger, and snide and cutting remarks, etc., intended to hurt me and to cause me harm. (He has given testimony of these actions towards me on his blog on the internet.)

But, the Lord has been my support through it all, and he is carrying me and guiding me in the way he would have me to go. But, I know, too, that I am not alone in this. For, porn and/or lust addiction is epidemic in our society and even inside the church of today. So many men, even “Christian” men are addicted or are regular participants in the use of porn or extramarital affairs (romantic or sexual), or private chats with someone of interest behind the backs of their spouses, or they are involved with sex-texting, etc.

They are going after broken cisterns which do not hold water, and they are using “spare parts” along with their broken relationships rather than fixing the relationships. And, they are hiding what they are doing in secret, thinking that no one knows, and that no one will find out, for they are very good at hiding and covering their tracks. But, God sees, and their actions are not hidden from him, none of ours are, and one day their evil deeds will be exposed for what they are, and their lies and deceptions will be stopped.

But, we, who are on the receiving end of the lies, the manipulations, the adulteries, and the like (whether male or female), must forgive those who have hurt us, who have betrayed us, turned against us and have lied to us. And, we must love them and pray for them and do good to them and hope that they will one day turn their lives over to Jesus Christ and they will make him truly Lord of their lives. We pray that they will forsake their evil ways and that they will now walk in truth and in victory over darkness, instead of opening the door to darkness to reign in their lives.

For, if they continue down their dark paths, and they continue to live in adultery and to practice what is immoral, and then to cover it with lies, even lies against their spouses, judgment awaits them on the other end, not eternal life with God, as they have hoped. So, don’t be fooled. God cannot be mocked. We will all reap what we sow. If we sow to please the flesh, from the flesh we will reap corruption. But, if we sow to please the Spirit, from the Spirit we will then reap eternal life (Gal. 6:7-8; cf. Gal. 5:19-21; Lu. 9:23-25; Rom. 8:1-17; Eph. 4:17-24; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; Rom. 6:1-23; et al.).

Give Them All to Jesus

Phil Johnson / Bob Benson Sr. 1975

Give them all, give them all,

Give them all to Jesus -

Shattered dreams, wounded hearts, and broken toys.

Give them all, give them all,

Give them all to Jesus,

And He will turn your sorrows into joy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Whdd4fs3RB8

Sunday, October 7, 2018 – Lord Jesus, help us all to walk with you in purity, in holiness, in godliness, in integrity and in faithfulness to you and to our spouses, and to love others with your love and to follow you in obedience.

Our Security

In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

“We have a strong city;

He sets up walls and ramparts for security.

“Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter,

The one that remains faithful.

“The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace,

Because he trusts in You.

“Trust in the Lord forever,

For in God the Lord, we have an everlasting Rock.

“For He has brought low those who dwell on high, the unassailable city;

He lays it low, He lays it low to the ground, He casts it to the dust.

“The foot will trample it,

The feet of the afflicted, the steps of the helpless.”

(Isaiah 26:1-6 NASB)

This strong city today is the holy city, but it is not physical Jerusalem, but heavenly Jerusalem, the body of Christ, his church. We are the city on a hill. We are the children of promise, along with Isaac (See: Gal. 4:22-31). Yet, we are not a physical city with physical walls, but we are a spiritual city with spiritual walls and ramparts.

Our security is not in physical ramparts, but our security is our salvation through Jesus Christ, our Lord, by God-given faith, which is divinely persuaded as to God’s holiness and righteousness and of our need to die with Christ to sin and to live to him and to his righteousness. Thus, by faith in Jesus Christ we leave our lives of sin behind us and we turn to follow Jesus Christ in obedience to his commands, empowered by God’s Holy Spirit now living within us (Rom. 6:1-23; Eph. 4:17-24; Lu. 9:23-25).

Jesus Christ made the way for all to be able to come to him by faith and to receive his gift of salvation from sin, which is freedom from slavery to sin and freedom to live godly and holy lives - all in the power and working of God’s Spirit now at work in our hearts and minds. But, only those who die with him to sin and live with him to righteousness are able to enter in through those gates and find salvation from their sins (Rom. 8:1-17).

Yet, there are those who try to enter by their own flesh, and there are those who come into the sheep fold, but not by the DOOR (Jesus Christ), but by another way. And, they slip in among us in order to try to lead people away from Jesus Christ, and in order to teach a false grace gospel which saves no one from their sins, but that leaves them still in their sin, headed to hell.

For Jesus did not die merely to forgive us our sins or to give us an eternal home in heaven, but he died to put sin to death in our lives so that we might walk in his holiness and become like him in all that we do and say and are. He died for us on that cross so that we would no longer live for ourselves, but for him who gave his life up for us (2 Co. 5:15; Tit. 2:14).

The way of the righteous is smooth;

O Upright One, make the path of the righteous level.

Indeed, while following the way of Your judgments, O Lord,

We have waited for You eagerly;

Your name, even Your memory, is the desire of our souls.

At night my soul longs for You,

Indeed, my spirit within me seeks You diligently;

For when the earth experiences Your judgments

The inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

Though the wicked is shown favor,

He does not learn righteousness;

He deals unjustly in the land of uprightness,

And does not perceive the majesty of the Lord.

(Isaiah 26:7-10 NASB)

There are many people today who are convinced that they can still walk in their sinful addictions, following after the lusts of their flesh, and still love God and still have the hope of heaven when they leave this earth. But, scripture teaches the opposite of that, and I am talking about the New Testament, not just the Old Testament.

We can’t love God and love our sinful lusts, too. We can’t walk according to the Spirit and according to the flesh at the same time. As followers of Jesus we are still human, and we still have the propensity to sin, but sin should no longer be our master. It should not be what defines us. It should not be what we practice; what we give our lives over to. It should not be our idol.

If we want to be in relationship with Almighty God, and be saved from our sins, and have that hope of eternal life with God, then we need to walk in the ways of our God, not to earn our salvation, and not in our own flesh, but as a result of genuine faith in Jesus Christ, for this is now our heart’s desire.

The walk of faith of a follower of Jesus is not smooth in the sense of having no troubles, but it is smooth in the sense that it is level (straight, upright, godly, moral, pure, holy and righteous). God’s grace to us is not free license to continue in willful sinful practices without guilt and without judgment. God’s grace instructs us to say “No!” to ungodliness and fleshly lusts and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives while we wait for Jesus Christ’s soon return (See: Tit. 2:11-14).

When we live on this earth, we will have trials. We will have heartaches. We will experience death, betrayal, abuse, false accusations, and snide and cutting remarks from those who disagree with us, etc. We, too, will have sickness and disease and body aches and pains, especially when you near the age of 70. But, God allows these difficulties in our lives for our good so that we will call on him, and so we will learn righteousness.

If we do not go through hardships, we may become complacent about our walks of faith, for difficulties have a way of drawing us closer to our Lord in fellowship with him, and they help us to see that we must rely on God and not on ourselves. But, the wicked, if they don’t go through these things, and everything seems to go well for them, will not learn righteousness.

Come, my people, enter into your rooms

And close your doors behind you;

Hide for a little while

Until indignation runs its course.

For behold, the Lord is about to come out from His place

To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity;

And the earth will reveal her bloodshed

And will no longer cover her slain.

(Isaiah 26:20-21 NASB)

While we live in these flesh bodies we are going to be tempted to sin against God. We are going to have people who will try to convince us that God is ok with our sin, and who will tempt us to believe those lies so that we can be consoled in our sin. Satan is our enemy, but he will use other humans in our lives to try to discourage us, to tempt us to not follow our Lord in obedience, and who will try to pull us away from our pure devotion to Christ.

So, we do need to have a place we can go to get alone with God, even if it is in a literal closet or a laundry room, but somewhere where we can shut the door, and at an hour when we don’t have small children running around the house unattended. Yet that alone is not going to give us the protection that we need from the enemy of our souls who is out to get us to destroy us.

We need to enter into God’s holy presence in daily confession of sin, in daily dying to sin and self, by the Spirit, and daily we need to walk according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh. Daily we must put on the armor of God to fight off Satan’s evil schemes against us, and part of that armor is prayer, but not just us praying alone to God, but calling on the body of Christ to hold us up in prayer when we are under attack, too.

If we do not hide under the shelter of the Almighty daily, and if we daily are yielding to the lusts of our flesh and the pride of life, in willful sin against God, then we don’t have this protection, and when the judgments come, we won’t make it. Yes, not one of us is perfect, but lack of perfection should never be used as a cover-up for continued, blatant and willful sin against God, in his face, day after day, fully knowing what his word teaches.

For, we will all reap what we sow. If we sow to please the sinful flesh, from that flesh we will reap destruction. But, if we sow to please the Spirit, from the Spirit we will reap eternal life (Gal. 6:7-8). Please take this to heart!

May Christ Be Seen in Me 

By Lois DeHoff / Percy Crawford

May Christ be seen in me, O Lord,

Hear Thou my earnest plea; 

O take me, fill me, use me, Lord,

Till Christ be seen in me.

Saturday, October 6, 2018 – Lord, help us all to take you at your word and to not ever take your grace for granted, but help us, I pray, to remain steadfast and faithful in our walks of faith in purity, holiness and godliness.

Prayer Request

Hello to all my wonderful friends out there in the blogging world. I would ask that you pray for me for I am having a time trying to stay awake during the day, especially when I sit down to write my daily devotions. I feel this is an attack from the enemy, but God has allowed it for a purpose, but I would ask you that you pray for God to give me the strength that I need to persevere through this trial and to keep trusting the Lord for all that I need to keep serving him in the way he has called me to do. Thank you so much!

Free Gift

“Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters;

And you who have no money come, buy and eat.

Come, buy wine and milk

Without money and without cost.

“Why do you spend money for what is not bread,

And your wages for what does not satisfy?

Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,

And delight yourself in abundance.

“Incline your ear and come to Me.

Listen, that you may live.

And I will make an everlasting covenant with you,

According to the faithful mercies shown to David.”

(Isaiah 55:1-3 NASB)

We all thirst for something, don’t we? I mean we are all born with this God-void inside of us because we are born with sin natures, and so we have this need within us, which we might not even be able to describe, which only God can fill. And, so, as those with sin natures, we try to fill that void, only we, in our sin, try to fill it with all the wrong things, which will never satisfy.

Thus, in our sin natures, we end up craving this or that, always trying to fill that void with entertainment, human relationships, sports, careers, hobbies, possessions and sinful habits, and the like. But, although these things can bring gratification to our flesh, and they can certainly kill time and take up space, they can never fill that God-void which is deep down inside of us.

So, the counsel here is for us to come to God, to Jesus Christ, our Lord, who is the ONLY ONE who can fill that void and bring peace, comfort and joy to our hearts. And, we can’t buy him with money. We can’t do anything in our flesh to gain his divine approval. And, we can never earn or deserve his grace and our own salvation from sin. God’s grace to us is a FREE gift, so that is why we can “buy” (accept) it even if we have no money at all.

“Seek the Lord while He may be found;

Call upon Him while He is near.

Let the wicked forsake his way

And the unrighteous man his thoughts;

And let him return to the Lord,

And He will have compassion on him,

And to our God,

For He will abundantly pardon.”

(Isaiah 55:6-7 NASB)

But, FREE does not mean God requires nothing of us, even though a lot of folk will try to convince you of that. And, that is because they don’t understand what the “free gift” really is. They think God’s grace is like waving a magic wand over us and “poof,” everything is good now, and we can just go on with our lives, assured that one day, when this life on earth is over, we will get to go to heaven and be with God because Jesus paid the penalty for our sin.

Well, they have it half right, but they leave out the other half. They leave out the half where Jesus/God says that we have to forsake our wicked ways, including our unrighteous (immoral or impure) thoughts. And, then we need to turn to the Lord and seek him and call upon him, but not just when we are in trouble or when we have a need we want him to meet. For, he is not a genie in a bottle, although many people make him out to be just that.

If we want to be saved of our sins and have eternal life with God, and experience God’s compassion and forgiveness, we have to first of all die with Christ to sin and then live with him to righteousness. For, it is not those who merely confess Jesus Christ as Lord who are saved, but it is those who walk (conduct their lives) according to God’s Spirit and no longer according to the flesh who have that hope of eternal life with God (See: Lu. 9:23-25; Rom. 8:1-1-7; Eph. 4:17-24; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; Gal. 5:19-21; Gal. 6:7-8).

For, the “free gift” is not just forgiveness of sins and the hope of heaven when we die. The “free gift” is death to sin and living to righteousness because Jesus died on that cross to sin and he was resurrected from the dead to the honor and glory of God the Father in victory over our sin. And, the “free gift” is deliverance from the control of sin over our lives and the power of God in our lives to live godly, holy and upright lives until Jesus returns.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

So are My ways higher than your ways

And My thoughts than your thoughts.

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,

And do not return there without watering the earth

And making it bear and sprout,

And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater;

So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth;

It will not return to Me empty,

Without accomplishing what I desire,

And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.

“For you will go out with joy

And be led forth with peace;

The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you,

And all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

“Instead of the thorn bush the cypress will come up,

And instead of the nettle the myrtle will come up,

And it will be a memorial to the Lord,

For an everlasting sign which will not be cut off.”

(Isaiah 55:8-13 NASB)

For, we don’t think like God does, not in our human flesh. God is not made in our image, but we are to become like him in all ways. Our salvation is not just for us, but it is that we might give glory to God by our lives. It is for the praise of God that he provided salvation from sins. And, it is for his honor that he delivered us from slavery to sin so that we might walk with him in purity, in holiness, in righteousness and in integrity, honesty and faithfulness.

We can’t base our salvation on human logic and reasoning or on the teachings of those who want to coddle us in our sins, probably because they want to be coddled in their sins, too. God’s Word is true, and everything he said he would do will be accomplished, which can be a wonderful promise or it can be a severe warning, depending upon whether or not we believe what his Word teaches us which is evidenced by how we live our lives.

For those who have believed God’s Word (the whole counsel of God), and who have placed their trust in Jesus Christ, and who have died with him to sin and are living with him to righteousness, we have that wonderful promise that we have been delivered from our sins and that one day we will get to be with our Lord forever in heaven (in glory).

But, for those who have chosen to believe the lies of Satan, which are propagated by human pastors and teachers and counselors, who are teaching that we can love God and sin, too, and still have our eternal life secured, then be warned that those lies are a false hope. God’s Word is clear that if we walk after the flesh or if we keep on practicing sin and we don’t walk according to the Spirit, that we will die in our sins, not live with Christ for eternity. So, don’t believe the lies. Believe God!

Believe Him  

An Original Work / July 15, 2013

My heart cries: Lord, won’t You hear me

Seeking You for the answers

To my heartache and questions

I have concerning my life?

Speak, Lord, to me right now.

“Oh, dear one, why don’t you trust Me

With your life’s circumstances?

Give your all on the altar

In submission of your will

To My purpose for you.

“Surrender your life completely

To your Lord and your Savior.

He has all things planned for you

For His glory and honor.

He’ll work all things for good.

“Believe Him. He will fulfill all

Of His promises to you

For your life and your future.

Trust Him. Rest in His love.

He’ll give you peace from above.”

https://vimeo.com/115945593

Friday, October 5, 2018 – Thank You, Jesus, that Your Word will not return empty, but it will accomplish the purpose for which you sent it. Amen!

Cause for Much Praise!

To those of us who are strangers on this earth, whose citizenship is in heaven through faith in Jesus Christ, who were chosen by God before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless before him, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit in our hearts, to obedience to Jesus Christ: May grace and peace be ours in the fullest measure (1 Peter 1:1-2 paraphrased).

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:3-5 NASB)

Praise the Lord that we are no longer bound in our sins without hope and without God. I am so thankful that Jesus set us free from our chains which held us in captivity to sin, so that we can now walk in his love, in his light, and in his purity. Amen! I thank him, too, for giving us new life in him which is full of his love and grace, and which brings much joy and peace into our lives. Once we were hopeless, and now our lives are filled with hope.

I am thankful, too, that we are now in daily communion with our Lord, and that we are able to enjoy such sweet fellowship with him every day, throughout the day, and even into the night. We can daily come into the presence of Almighty God and just listen to him speak his words to our hearts. And, we can talk with him, and share with him what is on our hearts, too. And, we can experience his presence with us, his counsel and guidance, and his love, mercy, compassion and his comfort, too.

I am so grateful that we have this hope in God secure through our faith in Jesus Christ, which is God-given faith, and thus it is divinely persuaded as to God’s righteousness and holiness and of our need to walk in that holiness, too. We are blessed with such faith as this that can endure the test of time because it is of God and because our Lord regularly strengthens us in our faith, if we are willing, so that we can endure with him to the end of time and thus receive the fullness of our salvation when Jesus returns for us.

In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:6-9 NASB)

We may not always feel like rejoicing, though, when our faith is being refined with fire and we have to go through difficult times which test our endurance and the genuiness of our faith in Jesus Christ. And, it isn’t that we will always leap for joy when those trials initially come, either. For, sometimes we have to first of all grieve, and work through those emotions, and then surrender to our Lord, and then the peace and the joy do come.

But, trials are for our good. Even Jesus learned obedience through the things which he suffered, and he was perfectly sinless. For, when life is too easy for us we can sometimes get lazy about our walks of faith and become complacent about things like holiness, purity and uprightness. So, we need trials to keep us humble, and to keep us seeking after God and his righteousness, and to make us more and more like Jesus.

When we have to suffer, and suffering is part of this Christian life, too, we learn to rely on God and not on ourselves. We learn perseverance and endurance and patience, too. We become more like Christ in our attitudes and actions, as well, and we become more compassionate, too, towards others who are going through difficulties. And, all of this is part of our sanctification process which will culminate in the salvation of our souls when Jesus Christ returns and he takes his faithful to be with him forever.

Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:13-16 NASB)

Because of this great salvation which has been provided for us, and because we have been given this new hope in Jesus Christ, which is Christ in us the hope of glory, then our lifestyles, our thinking and our attitudes should reflect Jesus Christ and his gospel of salvation to us. We should not take his salvation and his grace to us for granted, but we should walk in the light which he has given to us, and we should run with perseverance the race which he has set before us, all in his power and strength at work within us.

What this means for us is that we no longer live like the world does. We don’t take pleasure in what the world enjoys, at least not in the sense of finding our enjoyment and pleasure in what is sinful and ungodly and impure. Instead, we prepare our minds for action. Thus, we don’t leave the door wide open for ourselves to keep falling into the same sins over and over again. And, we take appropriate measures to make certain that does not happen. So, we remove things from our lives which serve as a continual stumbling block to us. And, daily we put on the armor of God with which to fight off Satan’s evil schemes against us, so that we don’t yield to them.

We have to be diligent about this. We have to take God and his word seriously. We can’t live casual Christian lives and expect not to get burned. We have to move away from trying to blend in, in order to fit in, to being willing to stand out, and to be rejected because we are different, which is what it means to be holy, to be separate from the world because we are being made to be like Jesus. And, we must be obedient to Jesus and his words and not think freedom in Christ is free license to sin against God.

If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. (1 Peter 1:17-21 NASB)

Our lives should be so set apart from the world that the world and the worldly church will not love us, include us, accept us, and want to join in with us. They will think us odd (peculiar), which is what we are supposed to be, but not in way that is fleshly and in order to gain attention to ourselves. And, worldly people probably won’t be comfortable hanging out with us, either, because we don’t do the things that the world of sin does, and we no longer think like that, and we don’t laugh at what they laugh at, too.

Basically, as followers of Jesus Christ, we are to walk (conduct our lives) in the fear of the Lord, i.e. in treating God with honor, respect, reverence, submission, obedience, surrender, love, and faithfulness. This means that we don’t have one foot in the world and the other in our relationship with Christ. We don’t crave the things of this sinful world nor do we entertain ourselves with what is unholy, ungodly, impure and faithless. For, we can’t love God and the world, too. For, if we love the world of sin, the love of the Father is not in us (See 1 Jn. 2:15).

As well, the whole reason Jesus gave his life up for us on that cross is that we might die with him to sin and that we might live with him to righteousness. This is the essence of the gospel of our salvation. Jesus didn’t die just to forgive us our sins, but he died to put sin to death in our lives, and that we might die daily with him to sin and walk in obedience to his commands. And, this is awesome! This is cause for much praise!! Because of this we should be shouting “Hallelujah!” For, we no longer have to walk in darkness, but now we can walk in the light of his love and live with him forever and ever, amen! Praise His Holy Name! All glory to God!

Jesus, Lead Me 

An Original Work / July 22, 2011

Jesus, lead me all the way.

Be my hope and be my stay.

Gently lead me where I should go,

So Your Spirit, I want to know.

Open up my heart to You.

Fill me with Your love and truth.

Make my heart want to obey.

Be my Lord today. Gently lead always.

Jesus, lover of my soul,

Cleanse my heart, and make me whole;

Be transformed in my heart today,

As I turn from my sin and pray.

Make Your will known to my heart.

May I not from You depart.

How I long to hear You now,

As I humbly bow. Jesus, hear me now.

https://vimeo.com/113559147

Wednesday, October 3, 2018 – Jesus, thank You so much for giving us these new lives in You free from our chains and free to live for you in holiness.

We Are an Offense

Proverbs 29:1-3 NASB

A man who hardens his neck after much reproof

Will suddenly be broken beyond remedy.

When the righteous increase, the people rejoice,

But when a wicked man rules, people groan.

A man who loves wisdom makes his father glad,

But he who keeps company with harlots wastes his wealth.

The Stiff-Necked

There are many people who know the truth, but who do not live by the truth. They may even be teachers of the Word of God, but they distort the truth in order to justify themselves and their sinful lifestyles. Many of these people not only know the truth, and they not only ignore the truth so that they can go on in their sin, but God has been reproving them for some time, and yet they still ignore him and his reproofs, and they continue to go their own way. It is as though they think they are invincible, but they are not. For, they will reap what they sow, the Bible teaches us (Gal. 6:7-8).

I think this second verse can be true, but it cannot be true, too, depending on the culture, the times we live in, and the society in which we dwell, etc. For, I see the opposite of this to be true in our day and time, at least here in America. The wicked seem to be the ones who are high and lifted up and who receive the praise and adoration of mankind. While the righteous seem to be shunned, mocked, criticized, and thought crazy or out of touch with reality, etc. Even in the church the righteous are often pushed aside while those who continue on in their sinful lifestyles seem to be lifted up.

Not all fathers honor wisdom, integrity, honesty and purity, either. Some fathers have no problems at all if their sons follow after the lusts of their own flesh, and if they commit adultery against their wives, and if they are addicted to porn or to going to prostitutes, etc. And, that is most likely because those fathers are also addicted to following after the lusts of their own flesh.

It seems a rare find these days to find a man who is truly walking in purity, in holiness, in truth, and in faithfulness to God and to spouse. And, I believe that explains a lot as to the spiritual decline of the church in America, too.

Proverbs 29:5-7 NASB

A man who flatters his neighbor

Is spreading a net for his steps.

By transgression an evil man is ensnared,

But the righteous sings and rejoices.

The righteous is concerned for the rights of the poor,

The wicked does not understand such concern.

Righteous and Wicked

What is the purpose of flattery? People who hand out false compliments and praise in excess oftentimes do so for their own self-interest, i.e. they are hoping to gain some advantage over the other person or they hope to get something from that person. The motives are selfish, usually, and the praise is insincere. The purpose can be to play upon the vanity of others in order to manipulate them and to persuade them to do something the flatterer wants. Or, the purpose can be to try to trap them or to trip them up, as well.

I am not certain that every person who is righteous in God’s sight, through faith in Jesus Christ, truly is concerned for the rights (needs) of the poor, though. I am not sure, either, that everyone who is walking righteously before God gives much thought to the concerns of the poor, unless they are among the poor themselves. I am also not convinced that every wicked person cares nothing for the poor, for it appears many people of wealth who make no claims to faith in Jesus Christ are quite generous in helping others less fortunate than them.

But, the righteous should care for other people’s needs, and not just their physical needs, but their spiritual needs, too. And, sometimes the wicked or the ungodly put Christians to shame by their charitable acts towards others.

Proverbs 29:9-11 NASB

When a wise man has a controversy with a foolish man,

The foolish man either rages or laughs, and there is no rest.

Men of bloodshed hate the blameless,

But the upright are concerned for his life.

A fool always loses his temper,

But a wise man holds it back.

The Upright are Concerned

There is righteous anger and there is sinful anger, and Jesus set the example for us of righteous anger, as did Paul and Stephen, I believe. For, sometimes strong words are necessary, and it is necessary to speak them with a certain amount of force, yet while still speaking the truth in love.

For, some people who are stiff-necked and hard-hearted and stubborn need to hear the truth said with greater emphasis because of their stubborn wills and their hard hearts, especially if they are ones who have resisted God and his rebukes over and over again. For, they need to understand that God is not going to be patient with them forever, and that he hates their deceptions, and one day they will be judged for their wrongdoing.

For, the upright in heart, who are following Jesus with their lives, are concerned for those who are walking this kind of “tightrope,” who are hoping to not fall off, though their pride will eventually be their downfall. For the upright know the dangers awaiting the hard-headed and the stiff-necked, which is why they care about those who think they are invincible. They even care about those who persecute them without cause, because they want to see even their persecutors set free from their bondage to sin.

Proverbs 29:25-27 NASB

The fear of man brings a snare,

But he who trusts in the Lord will be exalted.

Many seek the ruler’s favor,

But justice for man comes from the Lord.

An unjust man is abominable to the righteous,

And he who is upright in the way is abominable to the wicked.

He Who is Upright

Yet, for those of us who are walking by faith in Jesus Christ, according to the Spirit, in purity and holiness, and who are being persecuted for righteousness’ sake, we should not fear what our persecutors may do to us or say about us. For fear is the opposite of faith, and fear denies the deity and the sovereignty of God over our lives. For fear gets us focused on our circumstances and it gets our eyes off Jesus. So, we need to put our absolute trust in the Lord, and lay our burdens at his feet and rest in Him.

When we allow fear to take over, we are in danger of putting our trust in humans and the flesh over and above our trust in God. The children of Israel in Old Testament times were known for looking to man’s help and the help of other nations and kings to save them from their enemies while they ignored God’s commands to them, and while they denied him as their only Savior. So, we need to be careful that we don’t do the same, for when we do that, we lack faith in God, and when we do that, we put ourselves at risk because we are trusting in mere humans who are likely to betray us and fail us.

As followers of Jesus Christ, we are to hate what he hates and love what he loves. Yet, so many who profess the name of Jesus appear to hate what Jesus loves, and love what he hates, because they have bought into the lies which tell them that they need to be one with the world, and that God is ok with them continuing in their sinful practices.

Yet, as followers of Jesus, we should not admire and worship and venerate the wicked and the ungodly while we look down on those and disapprove of those who have truly surrendered their all to Jesus Christ. Instead, we should honor and lift up in prayer those saints who are giving their lives for their faith in Jesus Christ and who are willing to lay it all down for the sake of the name of Jesus and his gospel message and the salvation of human souls. For, truly the wicked are offended by the ways of the upright and they will make it their goal to persecute the righteous and to bring them down.

Seven Woes  

An Original Work / May 31, 2012

Based off Matthew 23

Woe to you, teachers of the law;

Hypocrites, you keep men from God.

You refuse to obey the truth,

Nor will you permit others to.

You travel o’er land and sea

To win a single convert to you.

When he becomes one

You make him twice as much

A “son of hell” as you are.

Woe to you, blind guides of mankind.

You distort the words of your God.

By your practices you declare

Your oaths mean nothing, though you swear.

You give a tenth of your spices,

But you neglect justice, mercy.

When you focus your

Time and talents on

What is external, you miss out.

Woe to you, who appear so clean,

When inside you are crass and mean.

You work hard to look so upright,

While you hide all your sins inside.

You deceive yourselves when you think

You would not have done what others

Did to God’s messengers

And prophets of old,

For you will do much the same.

You’re to blame.

https://vimeo.com/125489388

Tuesday, October 2, 2018 – Thank You, Jesus, that you came to deliver us from all wickedness and to make us into a pure people for your praise and glory. Amen!

His Benefits Bestowed

Can you imagine with me what it would be like to physically be in Jesus’ presence, and to be able to sit down with him on a mountain, and to listen to him teach us his truths? Think with me for a moment what it would be like to gaze up at his face and to be able to look into his eyes and to see his tender mercy for us, and his love and compassion extended towards us. And, then let’s listen to him speak tenderly to our hearts what we need to hear from him today so that we may apply these truths to our daily lives.

When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

If we are blessed by God, we are fortunate to receive from him his grace and mercy, his love and compassion, his forgiveness of sins, deliverance from our slavery to sin, and new life in him created to be like him in true righteousness and holiness. Our chains have been lifted and we are now free to walk with him in purity, living holy lives pleasing to him. And, now we have the hope that one day we will be with him face to face for eternity.

Yet, in order to receive these blessings, we must first of all humble ourselves before God, and own up to our own sinfulness and of our need for the Savior. We must willingly lay down our lives, forsake our sinful pasts, leave it all behind, and then follow Jesus Christ in obedience to his commands. We must consider our lives worth nothing without God, and we must surrender our wills to the will of the Father and yield to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in our lives. For this is what it means to be “poor in spirit.”

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Part of this humbling of ourselves before God in repentance of sin is grieving over that sin, like grieving over the death of a loved one. We don’t grieve that we now have to give up that sin, though, as though we have lost a loved one to death, but we grieve in the sense that we truly comprehend that sin means death, not just physical death, but spiritual death, and that our sin meant Jesus’ death on a cross so that we could be set free from that sin. We feel in our spirits that our sin is what separated us from God, and we realize that we must die to that sin in order that we might have life in Him.

The benefit of this death to sin is that we are able to be free from the control of sin over our lives, and we can now walk in that freedom, and we can now experience the joy and peace of God in our lives. The weight of our sin has been lifted from our shoulders, and the burden of the control of flesh over our lives has been removed so that we can now walk according to the Spirit of God and not be ruled by the flesh. And, this is what brings comfort to our hearts, because we are no longer ruled by sin, but we are now being led of God by the Spirit in living holy lives committed to God and to his service.

“Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.

Some translations say “Blessed are the meek.” And, many people confuse meekness with weakness, but they are not one and the same. For, Jesus was gentle, and he was meek, but he definitely was not weak. He was very strong in the things he taught, in fact, and he was very definite about how he felt about sin – lying, cheating, adultery, hypocrisy, and the like. He was gentle with the contrite, but he was formidable in addressing the Pharisees with their hypocrisies and their false righteousness and hidden sins.

So, “gentle” or “meek” does not mean weak on sin. The meaning of the word has more to do with controlled strength, not being unduly harsh, but also not shying away from speaking the truth in love out of fear of rejection. Jesus modeled this perfectly for us. When he needed to be fierce, he was, and when he needed to be more gentle, he was, depending upon whom he was addressing and what the situation called for. For, he was under the control of God and not of the flesh, and that really is the bottom line here.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Not many of us in America know what it means to truly be hungry. I have seen food pantries available to the poor overflowing with food to the point to where there was no more room to store the food. And, the government freely hands out food stamps to people considered at poverty level, too. And, there are many charitable organizations in our country which help provide basic needs for the poor, so few people have to go hungry in our country, I would suspect.

So, I think that for the vast majority of Americans, we can’t really relate to the true nature of what this verse is saying, and perhaps that is why so many American Christians live such lukewarm Christian lives, because they don’t feel that need, that hunger within themselves for God, because they have so much in the way of this world’s goods that it often crowds out God. But, this is where we need to be, truly hungering and thirsting for God and his righteousness as though we cannot exist if we do not have him.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

To be merciful is to show compassion, kindness, sympathy, forgiveness, and understanding towards other people. But, we should never confuse mercy with being weak on sin or for making excuses for people’s sins or giving them a pass for repeated and willful offenses. We don’t get even. We don’t trade tit for tat. We forgive, but we don’t forgive in such a way as to make allowances for sin. Basically, we follow the example of Jesus.

Jesus’ mercy to us is not just in taking our penalty for sin for us, and it is not just in forgiving our sins, but it is in freeing us from the control of sin over our lives, and it is in being honest with us about our sin and our need to die to sin and to live to righteousness. It would not be mercy if he left us still under the control of Satan and the power of sin still bound in our sinful addictions. True mercy sets us free from the power of sin over our lives.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

We need to be people who are pure in heart. Pure means to be undefiled by sinful practices. It means to live lives which are not adulterated by sinful addictions. And, it means to be unmixed with the world of sin and with worldliness, and not being held captive to all that the world is offering us in the way of pleasing our flesh.

It means, too, that we walk in purity, honesty, integrity, holiness, uprightness and faithfulness, and not in lying, engaging in hidden sins, and giving into the lusts of our flesh on a consistent basis. It means, too, that we walk in the fear of the Lord and not in the fear of man, and that we live holy lives pleasing to God, because we love God, and we want to please him.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Some people are peacekeepers, and some people are peacemakers, and there is a distinct difference between the two. A peacekeeper is one who will compromise truth, godly principles, righteousness, purity and the like in order to not ruffle anyone’s feathers, and not upset anyone, and to not be controversial or say things to people which will make them not like us.

Peacemakers, on the other hand, are those who consider their lives and their reputations as not as important as the salvation of other human lives. They will willingly lay down their lives in order to see others be delivered from their slavery to sin, even if it costs them friends, family, and jobs, etc. For, they are more concerned with people being at peace with God than they care about whether or not those people will like them in return.

“Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

So, if you are a peacekeeper, you may have the world love you, but you will “love” these people to hell if you don’t tell them the truth about their sin and of their need to repent of their sins and to follow our Lord in obedience. For, if you notice what these verses have said here, it is those who are pure in heart who will see God, and it is those who are peacemakers who will be called sons of God. It is the contrite of heart and those who grieve over their sins who have the promise of the kingdom of heaven. And, it is those who show God’s mercy to others who will receive mercy in return.

But, if we are peacemakers, as Jesus was, the world will probably hate us, including the worldly church will most likely reject us, too. And, we will be persecuted, insulted, have all kinds of evil spoken against us, be treated badly, mocked, betrayed, and perhaps even put to death because we cared more about other people’s relationships with God than we gave thought to protecting our own reputations. And, because of this, we are blessed by God, and so we should rejoice that we have been counted worthy to suffer injustice for the sake of righteousness and for loving other people.

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.

https://vimeo.com/114796263

Monday, October 1, 2018 – Thank You, Jesus, for this teaching from Matthew 5:1-12 NASB. May we take it to heart and apply its truths to our daily lives. Amen!