The Veil That is Spread

Isaiah 25:1-2 ESV

“O Lord, you are my God;

    I will exalt you; I will praise your name,

for you have done wonderful things,

    plans formed of old, faithful and sure.

For you have made the city a heap,

    the fortified city a ruin;

the foreigners' palace is a city no more;

    it will never be rebuilt.”

Who is our enemy, our greatest foe? Satan! And, how does he come against us? In what ways? His tactics are many!! Sometimes he just attacks our minds. He puts doubts and fears in our minds and hearts. He attacks us with lies against us. Or, the lies are that we are without resource, and that God will not come to our aid, but that we will be left alone with none to help.

Does Satan have power over us who are the Lord’s by God-given faith in Jesus Christ? No! Can he cause us harm? Most certainly! Can he bring havoc into our lives? Yes! Look at the example of Job in the Old Testament. We who are in Christ are not immune to Satan’s attacks against our bodies, our minds, our hearts, our families, our marriages, and/or our reputations.

But, does he have power over us? No! Only as we let him. For, if we entertain his attacks against our minds and hearts, and if we dwell on what is negative, and if we give way to fear, then we allow him to have power over us. But, if we put on the armor of God to fight off his evil attacks against us, then he has lost his power. He can’t wield any power over us if we are yielded to our Lord.

For, he is a defeated foe. In Jesus’ death on the cross to take away the sins of the world, he conquered Satan, sin and death, so that as followers of Jesus, Satan has no more dominion over us. He and his hordes are like this fortified city that is no more. We just have to live like we believe that. We have to daily put on that armor of God and fight off Satan’s attacks against us, and we have to move forward in the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen!

Isaiah 25:3-5 ESV

“Therefore strong peoples will glorify you;

    cities of ruthless nations will fear you.

For you have been a stronghold to the poor,

    a stronghold to the needy in his distress,

    a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat;

for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall,

    like heat in a dry place.

You subdue the noise of the foreigners;

    as heat by the shade of a cloud,

    so the song of the ruthless is put down.”

The Lord is our refuge and our strength, a very present help to us in trouble. Even though bad things may happen to us, and we may go through some serious trials and tribulations, which are to test our faith, our Lord is with us.

He is our strength and our help. He will help us to remain steadfast in spirit and in faith. So, we need to be still, and know that He is God, and that he will be exalted among the unbelieving world and in the earth (see Ps. 46).

All that “noise” that is coming against us, because of Satan’s attacks against us, God will silence within us if we will turn to him in faith, and if we will find our rest in him, and if we will reject Satan’s lies and hold fast to the truth.

Isaiah 25:6-8 ESV

“On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples

    a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine,

    of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.

And he will swallow up on this mountain

    the covering that is cast over all peoples,

    the veil that is spread over all nations.

    He will swallow up death forever;

and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces,

    and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,

    for the Lord has spoken.”

I love this part! I will explain why in a minute.

What kind of covering is cast over all peoples? What is the veil that is spread over all the nations? I believe it is deception. For, Satan is the great deceiver, and he goes about the earth growling and seeking whom he may devour. And, one of the biggest ways he devours people is via his lies. He catches them in his trap of deception, and they end up believing his lies and rejecting the truth.

And, there are so many ways in which Satan is presently deceiving the masses, including within the church. And, he can deceive us, too, if we are not aware of his tactics, and if we are not daily putting on that spiritual armor. For, his lies are many and varied. They come in all different sizes and colors, too. They may be outward, coming from other people, or they may be whispered in our ears, in the recesses of our minds and hearts.

Some of those lies are coming from church leaders who are telling people that faith in Jesus Christ is a mere profession of faith but that it does not have to alter their lifestyles one bit. Or they recommend spiritual growth, but they don’t require it. They make it optional. And, so many people are believing they are saved from their sins and bound for heaven while they are still in slavery to sin and bound for hell. So, that lie is deadly!!

And, then there is the news media, and social media, and our government leaders. Many of them also spew out lies. And, many of them are involved in fear mongering, too. Reading the news is a lot like watching TV soap operas. Social media is not much different. There is angst all the time. There always seems to be something to get people’s “feathers ruffled” and fighting against one another. This is of Satan!

And, then you have the world of psychology which is giving some mental illness diagnosis for pretty much every sin or every lie of Satan known to man, or it would appear. And, so the masses are being convinced that they have to take drugs to exist every day, and that they can’t live without these drugs, as though drugs are their savior. They aren’t! Only Christ is!!!

Ok, so why do I love this part? Because through Jesus’ death and resurrection he lifted that veil of deception from the eyes of all who would believe in him, and who would put their trust in him. We now have spiritual eyes to see those lies and to reject them, and to put on the truth of God’s Word, if we will listen to our Lord, and if we will reject the lies, and if we will put on the truth.

But, I also believe a day is coming when God judges “Babylon,” and that when that day comes, all of a sudden the eyes of many will see that they have been deceived, and that they will turn their hearts to the Lord before the day Jesus returns to judge and to receive his own to himself for eternity. I am not anxious for judgment, though, but I am very much wanting to see the veil of deception lifted from the eyes of many before Jesus returns.

Isaiah 25:9-12 ESV

“It will be said on that day,

    ‘Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.

    This is the Lord; we have waited for him;

    let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.’

For the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain,

    and Moab shall be trampled down in his place,

    as straw is trampled down in a dunghill.

And he will spread out his hands in the midst of it

    as a swimmer spreads his hands out to swim,

    but the Lord will lay low his pompous pride together with the skill of his hands.

And the high fortifications of his walls he will bring down,

    lay low, and cast to the ground, to the dust.”

Right now, evil is still reigning on the earth. Right now many are being deceived. Right now Satan and his hordes are attacking the righteous, and they are persecuting the Lord’s servants and witnesses. But, one day Jesus is going to return as judge, and he will rescue his loved ones from this earth. Amen! And, so shall we be forever with our Lord, tears wiped away!

And, God will judge the unrighteous, i.e. those who refused him and who would not submit to his Lordship, and all who would not obey his commands. But, I do not rejoice that many will go to hell. For, that is a sad day, indeed. But, I do rejoice that, at last, Satan and his hordes will be defeated, and that they would no longer be able to cause harm to the beloved of God. Amen!

Master, The Tempest is Raging!

Lyrics by Mary A. Baker, 1874

Music by Horatio R. Palmer, 1874

Master, the tempest is raging!

The billows are tossing high!

The sky is o’ershadowed with blackness,

No shelter or help is nigh;

Carest Thou not that we perish?

How canst Thou lie asleep,

When each moment so madly is threat’ning

A grave in the angry deep?

Master, with anguish of spirit

I bow in my grief today;

The depths of my sad heart are troubled—

Oh, waken and save, I pray!

Torrents of sin and of anguish

Sweep o’er my sinking soul;

And I perish! I perish! dear Master—

Oh, hasten, and take control.

Master, the terror is over,

The elements sweetly rest;

Earth’s sun in the calm lake is mirrored,

And heaven’s within my breast;

Linger, O blessed Redeemer!

Leave me alone no more;

And with joy I shall make the blest harbor,

And rest on the blissful shore.

The winds and the waves shall obey Thy will,

Peace, be still!

Whether the wrath of the storm-tossed sea,

Or demons or men, or whatever it be,

No waters can swallow the ship where lies

The Master of ocean, and earth, and skies;

They all shall sweetly obey Thy will,

Peace, be still! Peace, be still!

They all shall sweetly obey Thy will,

Peace, peace, be still!

Copyright status is public domain

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Until You Let That Go!

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 ESV

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

Love for God

The love that we are to have for God is a God-like love which prefers what God prefers, which is what is righteous, holy, pure, honest and faithful. Love for God is also obedience to his commands. If we don’t walk in obedience to his commands, we don’t love him, and we don’t know him intimately.

So, to love God is to submit to his Lordship over our lives. It is to leave our sinful lifestyles behind us, and it is to walk in obedience to his will and to his ways (Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Eph. 4:17-24; 1 Jn. 2:3-6; Tit. 2:11-14).

And, to love him with all our heart, soul, and might is to walk in his truth, in his ways, in obedience to his commands, with our whole being, with everything that is within us. It is to give our hearts, our minds, our strength, our passions, our desires – everything to him, in submission to his will and purposes for our lives, in surrender to following him in all ways, in all things.

On Your Heart

Our Lord’s commands, his teachings, the teachings of his New Testament apostles, and all scripture that is consistent with the New Covenant is to be on our hearts. And, on our hearts doesn’t mean we have some warm fuzzy feeling about them, or that we are merely memorizing scripture or meditating on it. It means we are walking in the truths of the scriptures in obedience to our Lord, in his power at work within our lives.

For, there are many people who are teachers of the word of God who do not put the Word into practice in their own lives. There are many people who can rattle off scriptures at any given moment under particular circumstances, but they are not living the scriptures themselves. They know how to talk the walk, but they aren’t walking the walk.

And, they can put the scriptures on their car bumpers, or plaster them on the internet, and they may even put them in memes on social media, and they may even have them posted various places in their homes, too, but they don’t live them.

It is all for show, for appearance, to make it look like they are following the Lord, but it is all superficial, merely a performance, and usually as a cover-up for evil and for hidden secretive sinful practices.

So, the instructions here are not meant to be applied superficially or hypocritically. My father, who was the epitome of Satan to me, knew the scriptures. He could expound the scriptures. But, he didn’t live them. He lived the opposite of them. He was an abuser of the worst kinds. He taught a legalistic performance based Christianity like the Pharisees did, which was all external, but which did nothing to control the passions of the flesh.

So, if we are going to put the scriptures out there in whatever form we do that, and if we are going to teach them to others, then we need to make sure we are living them. It doesn’t mean we are perfectly sinless, but that we are not walking according to the flesh, but we are walking (in lifestyle) according to the Spirit of God. And, it means we aren’t teaching others what we are not willing to do, or what we are not doing (in practice) ourselves.

Then, when we do put them out there, and we do teach them to others, it is because they are on our hearts, because we are living them by God’s grace, and in his power and strength at work within us who are His by faith in Him.

Deuteronomy 6:13-15 ESV

“It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you— for the Lord your God in your midst is a jealous God—lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.”

To walk in the fear of the Lord is to live our lives for his honor and glory. It is to show him respect and reverence by walking in obedience to his commands. It is to love him with our whole being, too. And, it is to prefer what he prefers, and to live our lives in such a way that is pleasing to him.

So, we are not to go after other gods. But, we aren’t talking here necessarily about some foreign gods or idols of another religion other than Christianity, though that can certainly play into this, as well.

For, here is our present situation in much of today’s church, in particular the institutional market and flesh-driven church. Too many people are giving the appearance of being in relationship with Almighty God, through faith in Jesus Christ, but it is surface-level only. For, it never got to their heart. For, they have made man, and man-made teachings, and their own flesh, and their own strength, and their own worldly wisdom their gods.

They have not yielded control of their lives over to the Lord Jesus Christ, but they are stubbornly holding on to the control of their own lives. Their Christianity is in profession only, and thus their righteousness is a false righteousness that is of the flesh, not of God.

For, their dependency is in their own flesh and in man-made religion, and in a false gospel of grace, which permits them to make a profession of faith and yet continue to walk in the ways of their sinful flesh.

Strength of Man

So, it may appear as though they are now Christians, by faith in Jesus Christ, but the heart never changed. No transformation of heart and mind happened. They were never delivered from their slavery to sin, so they are still dragging that old sin along with them on their journey. So, their progression is of the flesh, and of the strength of man, not of God.

So, they end up “struggling” with the flesh all the time, i.e. regularly giving in to their sinful addictions, because they are trying to live for God in their flesh and in their own strength and wisdom, and not in the strength and wisdom of God, because they are not yielded to God in heart and mind and soul. And, many of today’s preachers are feeding this flesh, for they are promoting these man-made gospels which don’t submit to God.

They are finding their spiritual nourishment, too, in humanistic philosophy and in the teachings of market-driven and flesh-driven minds, which is sometimes a blend of different religions, and of truth and lies, and which appeals to the passions of the flesh, because that is what draws in large crowds of people into their “churches,” i.e. their businesses called “church.”

But, spiritual healing will never come to them unless they surrender their lives to the Lord Jesus Christ, and they walk in obedience to his commands. It will not come to them if they are still dragging the weight of sin and the flesh along with them, taking the “easy way” out. Skipping over repentance and obedience to our Lord’s commands, though, is like circumventing the healing process in their hearts and lives. They can’t move forward.

Deuteronomy 6:16-19 ESV

“You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah. You shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and his testimonies and his statutes, which he has commanded you. And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may go well with you, and that you may go in and take possession of the good land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers by thrusting out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has promised.”

My niece Rachel wrote something on Instagram the other day that fits perfectly well with this. I asked her permission to quote her here, so I am going to conclude this with what she shared on Instagram.

For, she was busy remodeling her house, and in the process of the remodeling, the Lord was teaching her a spiritual lesson about letting go of the old to make room for the new that he had for her. She said:

“So I question God, and I ask Him what He wanted to speak to my heart because I am literally sad letting go of an old pan! Then He, as graciously as He always does, says, ‘I am doing a new thing, but first you must let go of the old things in your life that aren’t useful anymore in order to receive what I am doing in its full glory.’”

So, she prayed, “Yes Lord, help me to let go of the old things so I can receive the new that you have for me…”

Then, after I had responded to her she said, “Sometimes we try to hang on to those old ways when God is saying, ‘No, I can’t do what I need in you until you let that go!’”

And, this goes back to the beginning of this writing and this quote:

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.”

Psalm 19

Song lyrics taken from Psalm 19 KJV

The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul:

The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart:

The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever:

The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold:

Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

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Be Very Courageous!

The children of Israel of the Old Testament had just spent 40 years in the wilderness after they had been delivered by God, via Moses, out of slavery in Egypt. Many of them died in the wilderness, though, because of their sins of disobedience to God, which included idolatry and sexual immorality, which then God equated as unbelief (same equation in New Testament).

Moses was now dead, and Joshua was appointed by God to be their leader to lead them into the Promised Land. Then, four times the Lord told them to be strong and courageous. And, the third time he also told them not to be frightened. Why?

They were going in to take possession of the land God had promised them, but they were going into unknown territory. They were going to face enemies. They were going to encounter opposition. So, their faith had to remain strong, and they had to do what the Lord said, even in the face of potential failure, or they would fail. For, this was not going to be easy.

Joshua 1:7 ESV

“Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.”

There is a spiritual parallel between the deliverance of the nation of Israel of the Old Testament out of slavery in Egypt, and our deliverance from slavery to sin. And there is a spiritual parallel between their journey to their Promised Land, and our journey on this earth going toward our Promised Land, which is eternal life with God.

And, it is believed that Joshua was a prefiguring of Jesus Christ who is the one leading us into our Promised Land.

Moses represents the old Levitical laws that the Israelites of old were required to obey, and those are dead to us who are in Christ, i.e. we don’t have to follow all the old ceremonial and purification laws of the Jews. But, that doesn’t mean we don’t have to obey God’s commandments. We do. We have to obey all the instructions given to us by Jesus and by his NT apostles.

For, just as God equated disobedience to unbelief in the Old Testament, he does so again in the New Testament. For, he says that to love him is to obey him, and if we don’t obey him, we don’t love him and we don’t know him and he doesn’t know us (Jn. 8:51; Jn. 14:23-25; Rom. 6:16; 1 Jn. 2:3-6).

And, there were many Israelites of old who thought that their inheritance was a sure thing because they were Abraham’s descendants and God’s chosen people, but many found out that it wasn’t so, after it was too late.

And it is the same today. Many are claiming an inheritance with God based on a church affiliation, or because their parents were Christians, or because they made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ, or because they were baptized. But, according to the New Testament, we have to walk in obedience with our Lord, and we have to leave our lives of sin behind us if we want to inherit eternal life with God (Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17).

Not an Easy Road

And, just like their journey toward their Promised Land was not easy, and that is why they had to be strong and courageous, and to not be frightened, our journey is not easy, either. For, it is not the broad road that many are traveling that leads to destruction. But it is the narrow way that is restricted, and that is hard, that we must follow. And, few truly go that way.

And, so we are going to face opposition, but not just from the people out in the world, but from a large majority of people who call themselves Christians, who attend gatherings in buildings called “church,” and even from pastors of these churches, too. For, many have gone the way of the world and of big business, and the narrow path just doesn’t work for them.

But, that isn’t our only opposition. The one who is behind all opposition against those of us who are true followers of Jesus Christ is Satan. And, he does not want us to make it into the Promised Land. And, so he has devised all sorts of schemes and tricks to deter us, and to get us off course, and to get us to retreat, and to return to him, and to reject Jesus and his Word.

So, he has introduced an alternate path to our Promised Land that is much easier than the one God laid out for us to travel. It requires no courage and no spiritual strength and stamina, though, because we don’t have to leave our wilderness or our slavery behind us. We can remain as we are and just take it easy, and heaven will just be handed us on a silver platter.

And, Satan is not going to oppose us, because we have now come over to his side, which is exactly where he wants us. But, it is all a lie! And, it is a trap! For, it delivers no one from slavery to sin, and it requires no walks of obedience, and so when we come before God one day, we are going to be judged just like the Israelites of old were judged. For, God regards our disobedience as unbelief, and unbelief will land us in hell, not heaven.

Joshua 1:8 ESV

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

The Book of the Law to us is the Bible. And, we can learn how to live for God from all the scriptures in the Old and in the New Testament. But, we aren’t under those ceremonial and purification laws the Jews had to follow. If what was taught in the Old Testament, though, is repeated for us in the New Testament, then we do have to follow it. And, all of the ten commandments, but one, are repeated for us in the New Testament.

The only one not repeated is to remember the Sabbath Day and to keep it holy. And, that is because our salvation is now our Sabbath rest, and we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and we can now enter into God’s presence anytime, anywhere, and on any day in the week. The NT church met daily in the temple courts and from house to house.

So, what should not depart from our hearts, our minds, our mouths and our conduct is God’s moral laws, which he really summed up in two, to love God with our whole being and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, which is God-like love, which prefers what is holy, righteous and faithful.

Joshua 1:9 ESV

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Nonetheless, this obedience to our Lord and to his commandments is not something we can do in the flesh. It isn’t a set of rules we follow that we can check off and say that we did them. This isn’t about performance. This is about being in Christ and him in us, and it is about walking by the Spirit, according to the Spirit, and as empowered and strengthened by the Spirit.

If we try to do it on our own, in our own flesh, we are going to sink. We are going to fail. For, obedience to Christ is submission to him as Lord. It is death with Christ to sin, and it is living to Christ and to his righteousness, in the Spirit, empowered by the Spirit, according to the Spirit. It is following Jesus Christ wherever he leads us, in doing what he has called us to do, and in saying whatever he commands us to say. It is a life given over to God to be his servant, but in his power, by his Spirit, and according to his will.

Master, The Tempest is Raging!

Lyrics by Mary A. Baker, 1874

Music by Horatio R. Palmer, 1874

Master, the tempest is raging!

The billows are tossing high!

The sky is o’ershadowed with blackness,

No shelter or help is nigh;

Carest Thou not that we perish?

How canst Thou lie asleep,

When each moment so madly is threat’ning

A grave in the angry deep?

Master, with anguish of spirit

I bow in my grief today;

The depths of my sad heart are troubled—

Oh, waken and save, I pray!

Torrents of sin and of anguish

Sweep o’er my sinking soul;

And I perish! I perish! dear Master—

Oh, hasten, and take control.

Master, the terror is over,

The elements sweetly rest;

Earth’s sun in the calm lake is mirrored,

And heaven’s within my breast;

Linger, O blessed Redeemer!

Leave me alone no more;

And with joy I shall make the blest harbor,

And rest on the blissful shore.

The winds and the waves shall obey Thy will,

Peace, be still!

Whether the wrath of the storm-tossed sea,

Or demons or men, or whatever it be,

No waters can swallow the ship where lies

The Master of ocean, and earth, and skies;

They all shall sweetly obey Thy will,

Peace, be still! Peace, be still!

They all shall sweetly obey Thy will,

Peace, peace, be still!

Copyright status is public domain

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Hope Well

My husband and I lived in Nashville, TN (USA) from August of 2017 to August of 2019, so we are well acquainted with the area. And, we have friends and family there, too.

Tuesday morning, just after midnight, I believe it was, a tornado ripped through Greater Nashville, TN. And, it did an enormous amount of damage to houses and buildings, and even to some church buildings, too, across a wide area. And, a number of deaths were reported, as well, sad to say.

My heart goes out to the people of Nashville at this time. My love and prayers are with you at this difficult time.

When I learned about the tornado, I got on the internet to check out the news, and it was just heartbreaking to see all the damage there. And, then a life-time friend of ours who lives there texted me to let me know that their church building was destroyed in the tornado.

And, so I looked that up on the internet, too, and I saw this video of a prayer meeting outside the damaged church building.

The Fallen Cross

What impressed me about this video was that their church steeple had fallen down to the ground, and the cross, which had been placed on top the steeple, was now resting near and seemingly pointing to a handicap spot in the parking lot. But, the cross was not damaged.

Immediately I sensed in my spirit that this was a message from God, so I prayerfully began to take notes on what I had seen, seeking the Lord for the message he has for me to get from this, and then possibly to share.

Then, I went back to the video, and on my camera on my phone I recorded a section of the video where they were panning down the steeple, away from the building, to the cross, which was seemingly pointing to this handicap spot in the parking lot.

Now, I was totally unaware that while I was doing this that my husband was playing some hymns in the background off of his phone, and the hymn that got recorded on my recording of the video was “All the Way My Savior Leads me” (full lyrics below). It couldn’t have been more perfect!

For, then I looked up the definition of “handicap,” and that led me to “a circumstance that makes progress or success difficult.”

Well, that certainly describes the situation in Nashville, TN, at this time, and the situation this church congregation is being faced with, too. And, then I read through the lyrics to this hymn, and what stood out to me were these words:

“Can I doubt His tender mercy,

Who through life has been my Guide?

…For I know, whate’er befall me,

Jesus doeth all things well.”

I believe the Lord is in this, and that he has a purpose for it, and it is about his tender mercy, and it is about God working things out for good for those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. But, it isn’t just that. I believe there is a much deeper message here.

Psalm 63:1-4 ESV

“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;

    my soul thirsts for you;

my flesh faints for you,

    as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,

    beholding your power and glory.

Because your steadfast love is better than life,

    my lips will praise you.

So I will bless you as long as I live;

    in your name I will lift up my hands.”

I believe that God, in his providence, allows us to go through difficulties, trials, disasters, and tragedies, oftentimes to get our attention, and to draw us to seek him earnestly with our whole hearts, minds and souls. And, that is because there is a message he has for us, something he wants us to learn through our trials, if we will listen, and if we will heed his words to us.

And, this is the message I am seeing here:

The name of the church is “Hopewell.” If you break that down, it says “hope well.” “Hope” is what we have in God, in Jesus Christ, in his grace, and in his salvation from slavery to sin, which he provided for us in his death on a cross. And we, who genuinely believe in Jesus as Lord of our lives, have this hope in the promise of eternal life with God, too.

And, “well” means “sound, healthy.” So, this is a biblically sound (in doctrine) hope in God and in his promises.

So, “Hope Well Church” has been destroyed by a tornado, which is a storm. So, this would be like saying that the church which hopes well (was sound in doctrine regarding their hope) has been destroyed. But, not entirely. It is severely damaged, but there were parts of this building still standing, representing not a physical building, though, but a spiritual building comprised of living stones, with Jesus as the chief cornerstone.

And, the “storm,” I believe, is the cheap grace gospel which is permeating today’s church, particularly here in America, which is not sound in doctrine regarding our true hope in Christ, but is a man-made gospel created to appeal to human flesh and to coddle people in their sins, rather than to encourage them to turn away from their sins to follow our Lord in obedience.

To The Cross

Now, this is what stood out to me next. The camera panned down the steeple away from the destroyed “hope well church” to the cross of Christ and to this picture of that circumstance that makes progress or success difficult, represented by the handicap parking spot. And, then the song said, “All the way my Savior leads me…”

So, where was the camera leading us? Away from the destroyed “hope well church,” i.e. the church that hoped well in God, but that sound (in doctrine) hope had been destroyed. And, it led us to the cross of Christ, and to our troubled circumstances, and to the song which talks about our Savior leading us in the way he would have us to go.

So, I believe the message here, that our Lord wants to convey through this, is that he wants us to turn away from that destroyed hope, that damaged hope that was once well, but that is not well now. And, he wants to lead us to the cross of Christ as our hope, and as our answer for what troubles us.

And, he is leading us back to a hope that is well, i.e. that is sound in doctrine, because it is based in the teachings in scripture, and not in the teachings of men who are promising a false hope based on a lie.

What is it?

So, what is this hope that is “well,” i.e. that is sound in doctrine, which our Lord is leading us to?

First of all, it is that we need to earnestly seek after and thirst after the Lord and his holiness and righteousness. Then, we need to turn away from what is destroyed, what is ruined, what is not whole and healthy spiritually, but what is ruining our lives spiritually.

We need to move away from all of that destruction, and we need to come to the cross. And, Jesus explained what that means when he said that if any of us would come after him, we must deny self and take up our cross daily (die daily to sin and self) and follow (obey) him. For, if we hold on to our former (destroyed) lives, we will lose them for eternity. But, if we lose our old destroyed lives for his sake, we will gain eternal life (Lu. 9:23-26).

The Handicap

And, lastly I see one more thing, which I believe is a message for the whole church, but which may be a message the Lord wants to give to this specific congregation, too. And, that is that as the camera panned down this steeple away from the destroyed physical building, it took us to the cross of Christ and pointed to our broken condition, too, i.e. to our handicap.

And, I believe that handicap that is hindering the church’s spiritual progress is this building, but not speaking necessarily of the physical building itself, but that the church is not a building built by human hands. It is not a denomination or a corporation under the government or a business or a social organization. It is not anything man-made, in other words.

So, the Lord, I believe, is taking this opportunity to say to his church here to move away from this idea that the church is a building or a denomination, etc., and to move away from man-made religion and man-made structures within the church, and away from man-made gospels which do not honor Christ as Lord, and which do not call for repentance and obedience to Christ.

And, he is calling everyone to come to the cross, and to die with him to sin that they might live with him to his righteousness and for eternity with God.

He wants us not dependent on men and their man-made structures, but he wants us totally dependent on him in all things and for all things. So, the encouragement here, I believe, is to move away from what is of man, and to come to the cross, and to seek after, and to thirst after God, instead.

All The Way My Savior Leads Me

Lyrics by Frances J Crosby, pub. 1875

Music by Robert Lowry, pub. 1875

All the way my Savior leads me,

What have I to ask beside?

Can I doubt His tender mercy,

Who through life has been my Guide?

Heav’nly peace, divinest comfort,

Here by faith in Him to dwell!

For I know, whate’er befall me,

Jesus doeth all things well.

All the way my Savior leads me,

Cheers each winding path I tread,

Gives me grace for every trial,

Feeds me with the living Bread.

Though my weary steps may falter

And my soul athirst may be,

Gushing from the Rock before me,

Lo! A spring of joy I see.

All the way my Savior leads me,

Oh, the fullness of His love!

Perfect rest to me is promised

In my Father’s house above.

When my spirit, clothed immortal,

Wings its flight to realms of day

This my song through endless ages:

Jesus led me all the way.

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

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While He May Be Found

Isaiah 55:6-9 ESV

“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;

let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,

    and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

    neither 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.”

What are the ways of God? They are the ways of holiness, righteousness, purity, faithfulness, truthfulness, morality and godliness, etc. They are not the ways of man (of humans). For, God doesn’t think like we do. His ways are much higher than our ways, so we must be so careful that we don’t try to bring God down to our level and to assume that he thinks like we do.

So, this gospel which is permeating the church, at least here in America, but that is teaching that belief in Jesus is a mere confession of faith, but that it doesn’t have to alter our lifestyles, is not from God. It is conceived in the wicked hearts of men in their deceitful scheming to pull us away from God, not to lead us to God – not to the God of the Bible, anyway.

Whether Old Testament or New Testament, it is still God’s ways that we turn away from our wicked ways and that we turn to the Lord, not just for forgiveness of sins, though. For, this turning away from wickedness, and this turning to the Lord has to do with us now living according to his ways, but in his power and strength at work within our hearts and lives (Eph. 4:17-24).

So, if you have confessed faith in Jesus Christ, and you are assuming that heaven is your eternal destiny, but you have not turned away from your wicked ways, and you are not walking now according to the Spirit of God in holiness and righteousness, then please know that you are believing a lie, not the truth of the gospel, and heaven is not your eternal destiny.

If we want God’s pardon for our sins we must, as the scriptures teach, turn away from wickedness. We must forsake our former lives of living for sin and self. And, we must turn our hearts to the Lord to follow him in obedience to his ways (Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; 1 Jn. 1:5-9).

Isaiah 55:10-11 ESV

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

    and do not return there but water the earth,

making it bring forth and sprout,

    giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;

    it shall not return to me empty,

but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,

    and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”

It can be both an encouragement and a warning to know that God is a person of his word, and that he will do all that he said he would do. For, not only has he promised to pardon those who turn from their wicked ways to follow after him in his ways of holiness and righteousness, but he has promised that those who refuse him and his ways will not spend eternity with him in glory, but that they will spend eternity in the fires of hell.

But, before that time of the end comes when we will be judged by God and we will receive our eternal rewards, either of heaven, or of hell, our Lord has also promised that he will discipline those he loves and that he will judge on this earth in our lifetimes those who have turned away from him to follow wicked ways. And, usually the purpose of those judgments or those divine disciplines is to bring us to repentance and to draw us near to God.

I believe in our lifetime now that we can see the hand of God in all this craziness that is happening on the earth. We can see how God is allowing conquerors to conquer people and mad men to rule kingdoms in order to bring people to their knees in repentance and in true faith in Jesus Christ before the end comes and their chances for pardon are now gone.

For, God’s words will not return empty, but they will accomplish the purpose for which he sent them. And, the purpose, I believe, is to save the hearts and lives of many people on this earth before the day when we will all be judged and will go to our eternal destinies. And, that is why the New Testament is filled, not only with promises, but with many warnings, even many warnings to those who profess faith in Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 55:12-13 ESV

“For you shall go out in joy

    and be led forth in peace;

the mountains and the hills before you

    shall break forth into singing,

    and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;

    instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;

and it shall make a name for the Lord,

    an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

This is God’s objective that we would all be led forth in peace and would rejoice in our eternal salvation and in our fellowship with our Lord. But, not everyone is going to turn from his wicked ways. And, not everyone is going to turn to the Lord to follow him in obedience to his ways. Even not everyone who confesses Jesus as Lord is going to inherit eternal salvation.

But, it is God’s will that none should perish but that all should be brought to repentance. And, that is why he allows us to go through times of hardship and heartbreak and suffering so that we do come to him, and so that we do bow the knee to God in humility and in surrender to his will and purposes for our lives. For, many are living in open rebellion against God all the while they are professing faith in him, and this should not be!

For, God’s purposes and his ways have not changed to conform to the ways of man, as many would have you to believe. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. His purposes for us have not changed. He still demands that we leave our former lives of sin to follow him in obedience to his ways if we want to be in relationship with him and if we want to have eternal life with him (Rom. 8:1-17; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; Lu. 9:23-26; 1 Jn. 2:3-6; Gal. 6:7-8).

So, if you want your sins to be pardoned, and for you to be in fellowship with God, and to have heaven as your eternal destiny, then you must seek the Lord while he may be found, and call on him while he is near, and forsake your sinful and wicked ways, and turn to the Lord in true repentance and in genuine faith, which is accompanied by walks of obedience to Christ.

But, this is not some one-time event that takes place in one’s life. This is a choice to choose God to be our Lord and Master for the rest of our lives. This is a choice to follow him in obedience and in surrender to his ways day after day after day for eternity. This is a choice to leave our old lifestyles behind us and to be transformed in heart and mind of the Spirit of God to new lives in Christ Jesus, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness (Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Eph. 4:17-24; Lu. 9:23-26; 1 Jn. 1:5-9).

So, if you haven’t done this yet; if you haven’t surrendered your life to Jesus Christ, making him your Lord, I pray you will do so today.

My Jesus, I Love Thee

Hymn lyrics by William R. Featherstone, 1864

Music by Adoniram J. Gordon, 1876

My Jesus, I love thee, I know thou art mine;

For thee all the follies of sin I resign.

My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art thou;

If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.

I love thee because thou hast first loved me,

And purchased my pardon on Calvary's tree;

I love thee for wearing the thorns on thy brow;

If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.

I’ll love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death,

And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath;

And say, when the death-dew lies cold on my brow,

If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.

In mansions of glory and endless delight;

I'll ever adore thee in heaven so bright;

I'll sing with the glittering crown on my brow;

If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.

*Copyright status is public domain

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHrF4_1r-qA

Ambulance to the Rescue!

Life has its trials and its tribulations. And, whether we are godly, or we are not, we are not immune to suffering. Suffering is just part of life.

And, as followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to share in the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings, becoming like him in his death. And, so our suffering is not without purpose (Ro. 5:3-5; Phil. 3:7-11; 1 Pet. 1:6-7; I Peter 4:12-17; Jas. 1:2-4; Matt. 5:10-12; 2 Co. 1:3-11; Heb. 12:3-12; Rev. 3:19).

But, if we are not living for the Lord, and if we are straying from our pure devotion to him, following the way of the flesh; or if we know the way of salvation from sin, but we have been resisting God and his voice to us, he may allow suffering in our lives as natural consequences of our disobedience to him, or as a result of our continued refusal to acknowledge him as Lord.

So, the Lord gave me a picture of this yesterday as an ambulance coming to the rescue of someone. And that, too, is his grace and mercy to us, although it may not feel like it when we are going through it. For, in the Old Testament we have many such records for us of God sending judgment on his own people so that they would turn their hearts back to him. And, the New Testament reiterates this, too (1 Co. 10; Heb. 3-4; Heb. 12; Rev. 2-3).

For, sometimes it takes emergency situations in people’s lives to bring people to the place to where they find that healing and that wholeness in Christ Jesus. And, sometimes it takes emergency situations in people’s lives to get them to apply the Word of God to their lives, too, and to put it into practice in their lives, and to repent of their sins of adultery and spiritual apathy, and to trust the Lord Jesus with their lives, before it is too late.

Job 23:8-9 ESV

“Behold, I go forward, but he is not there,

    and backward, but I do not perceive him;

on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him;

    he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him.”

Job was a righteous man, and yet God allowed him to go through enormous suffering, far beyond what many of us will possibly ever know or realize. But his life, and his difficult situation he was called upon to endure, have served as an example and as an encouragement to many of us who, through the years, have had to endure much suffering for righteousness’ sake.

But, God allowed this suffering in Job’s life for a purpose, and he accomplished his purposes through it. Job initially had all the right responses, but as things got much worse, and as they went on and on without relief, his faith began to wane, and he began to question God’s sovereignty over his life, and pride began to surface from his heart.

So, no matter how godly we are, and no matter how closely we walk with the Lord, severe suffering may bring out things in our hearts that we didn’t know were there. And, so the suffering serves the purpose of God purifying us, pruning us, and disciplining us that we might share in his holiness, and that it might later yield “the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Heb. 12:7-11; John 15).

But, at the time we are going through the suffering, we may not understand all of this. God may seem distant to us. We may pray, and yet not feel he is answering our prayers. We may not see how he is working, not just in our lives, but in many people’s lives through what he is allowing us to endure.

Job 23:10-12 ESV

“But he knows the way that I take;

    when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.

My foot has held fast to his steps;

    I have kept his way and have not turned aside.

I have not departed from the commandment of his lips;

    I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.”

Job was confident of his relationship with the Lord and that the Lord was going to turn his suffering around for good, although, as I stated, he did waver in this as the trial continued and got much worse. And, his confidence in the Lord, and in his relationship with him, eventually turned to pride.

But, understand this here. It is not wrong to be confident in our relationships with the Lord, believing that we are in a right standing with God, provided that we are, and that our consciences are clear, and that we know that we are not walking in disobedience to our Lord. We can be confident that God is on our side and that the trial we are having to endure will result in the praise, honor and glory of God when it is over.

But, we must guard our hearts against pride, too, always keeping our focus on the Lord, and always giving God the glory for any good that he accomplishes in and through us for his praise, honor and glory. For, we can get overconfident to the point of it turning to pride if we don’t guard our hearts, and if we get our eyes off Jesus and on to ourselves.

Job 23:13-17 ESV

“But he is unchangeable, and who can turn him back?

    What he desires, that he does.

For he will complete what he appoints for me,

    and many such things are in his mind.

Therefore I am terrified at his presence;

    when I consider, I am in dread of him.

God has made my heart faint;

    the Almighty has terrified me;

yet I am not silenced because of the darkness,

    nor because thick darkness covers my face.”

At the end of the book of Job, we read where God said that his servant Job spoke rightly of him, whereas Job’s friends, who were accusing him falsely, had not.

But, Job didn’t speak rightly of God the whole time, for he did struggle in his mind and in his heart with what he was having to endure, which included being falsely accused by his friends. And, he struggled to maintain his previous stance he had taken regarding God’s goodness to him, even in the face of much suffering. For, he had his doubts and his fears, too.

But here he spoke rightly of God. God is unchangeable. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. His divine character and will for mankind is the same in the New Testament as it was in the Old Testament, and that is that we should honor him as the One and Only True God, the creator of all.

God’s righteous requirements of us, his people, have not changed. Both in the Old and in the New Testaments God reiterates over and over again his moral standards for us, and his requirements of us that we forsake our sins and our idols, and that we follow him in obedience and in surrender to him as Lord. And it is that we walk in the fear of the Lord.

[Lu. 9:23-26; Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Eph. 4:17-24; Tit. 2:11-14; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; 1 Jn. 2:3-6; Gal. 5:16-21; Eph. 5:3-6; Gal. 6:7-8; Rom. 2:6-8]

And, if we refuse, we will be judged on the basis of our disobedience to him, which he equates with lack of faith (unbelief). For, God will do what he has purposed in his heart to do, which is taught to us in scripture, in order to bring us to repentance and to obedience of faith in him (Rev. 2-3).

So, if you refuse him, don’t be surprised if one day you may have to face some of his divine correction and rebuke to get you where he wants you to be, living in submission to him, according to his will and purpose for your life, forsaking your sins, and walking in obedience to his commands.

Master, The Tempest is Raging!

Lyrics by Mary A. Baker, 1874

Music by Horatio R. Palmer, 1874

Master, the tempest is raging!

The billows are tossing high!

The sky is o’ershadowed with blackness,

No shelter or help is nigh;

Carest Thou not that we perish?

How canst Thou lie asleep,

When each moment so madly is threat’ning

A grave in the angry deep?

The winds and the waves shall obey Thy will,

Peace, be still!

Whether the wrath of the storm-tossed sea,

Or demons or men, or whatever it be,

No waters can swallow the ship where lies

The Master of ocean, and earth, and skies;

They all shall sweetly obey Thy will,

Peace, be still! Peace, be still!

They all shall sweetly obey Thy will,

Peace, peace, be still!

Master, with anguish of spirit

I bow in my grief today;

The depths of my sad heart are troubled—

Oh, waken and save, I pray!

Torrents of sin and of anguish

Sweep o’er my sinking soul;

And I perish! I perish! dear Master—

Oh, hasten, and take control.

Master, the terror is over,

The elements sweetly rest;

Earth’s sun in the calm lake is mirrored,

And heaven’s within my breast;

Linger, O blessed Redeemer!

Leave me alone no more;

And with joy I shall make the blest harbor,

And rest on the blissful shore.

Copyright status is public domain

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlpSl3yadO4

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How to Understand This?

The Arrogant Wicked

Psalm 73:6-9 ESV

“Therefore pride is their necklace;

    violence covers them as a garment.

Their eyes swell out through fatness;

    their hearts overflow with follies.

They scoff and speak with malice;

    loftily they threaten oppression.

They set their mouths against the heavens,

    and their tongue struts through the earth.”

The arrogant wicked have set their hearts against the Lord to bring him down. And, so they have devised evil against him, and against his gospel, and against his messengers. They have devised a fake substitute for the real gospel, which has the appearance of being the true gospel, but it is a lie.

But, what they are passing off as the true gospel is a stretch, i.e. it is not very believable, for it is full of holes. For, what they are promoting is the opposite of righteousness, godliness and holiness. For, their fake half-truth gospel requires no change of heart, no transformation of mind (thinking), no repentance, no obedience to Christ, and no submission to the cross of Christ.

Thus, it is vain, empty, fruitless, and unproductive with regard to salvation from slavery to sin, and with regard to eternal life with God.

Yet, its influence is far reaching, for it has superseded the true gospel of our salvation in the hearts of the majority, at least here in America. But, what it teaches is not holiness and godliness. What it teaches is that we can be saved from our sins and on our way to heaven, but that it doesn’t have to alter our lifestyles. We can continue in our sinful practices, it claims, without guilt and without punishment, for they say God’s grace covers it all.

Thus, they have lowered and devalued God’s moral standards, which are his boundary lines for us. And, the God and the Jesus they are presenting to the people are also not the God and the Jesus of the scriptures, but a false god and another Jesus other than the Jesus (God) of the scriptures. For, what they are presenting are a man-made God and a man-created Jesus (God) which appease human flesh, but do not put sin and the flesh to death.

And, that is because these arrogant wicked have fat bellies, i.e. they have insatiable appetites for the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes, and the pride of life, and all that this sinful world has to offer. And, so their fake god and their fake (half-truth) gospel accommodate those insatiable appetites.

How Can God Know?

Psalm 73:10-12 ESV

“Therefore his people turn back to them,

    and find no fault in them.

And they say, ‘How can God know?

    Is there knowledge in the Most High?’

Behold, these are the wicked;

    always at ease, they increase in riches.”

Satan is the one behind these arrogant wicked and their plots to destroy the gospel of our salvation and to steal, kill and to destroy the church, our Lord’s sheep (See John 10; Revelation 12-14). And, he is turning the hearts of many who profess faith in Jesus Christ to follow His ways, instead.

It would seem, at least here in America, that the vast majority of those who profess faith in Jesus Christ have turned to follow after this fake God, this fake Jesus, and this fake (half-truth) gospel. For, people are flocking to these charlatans by the thousands, and perhaps millions. And, I am not speaking here merely of Mega churches, either. For, this fake gospel (cheap grace) is permeating the American church in little congregations, too.

So, not only does it appear that the vast majority of those who profess to be Christians in America are following after these charlatans and their cheap grace gospel, but by doing so they have invited this wickedness into their own hearts and lives. Thus, many are living in sin, while claiming Jesus as their Lord and heaven as their eternal destiny.

They do so arrogantly, too, because they have bought into Satan’s lies. And, they have convinced themselves that God doesn’t even see when they sin anymore, but that all he sees is Jesus when he looks at them. And, if they do begin to feel guilty about their sin, they just ease their consciences by claiming “who they are in Christ,” which is a lie if they are not really in Christ by genuine faith in him, which repents of sin and follows Jesus in obedience.

Coming to Understand

Psalm 73:16-17, 23-28 ESV

“But when I thought how to understand this,

    it seemed to me a wearisome task,

until I went into the sanctuary of God;

    then I discerned their end.

“Nevertheless, I am continually with you;

    you hold my right hand.

You guide me with your counsel,

    and afterward you will receive me to glory.

Whom have I in heaven but you?

    And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.

My flesh and my heart may fail,

    but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

“For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;

    you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.

But for me it is good to be near God;

    I have made the Lord God my refuge,

    that I may tell of all your works.”

So, if we want to have understanding of all of this, we need to turn to the scriptures, but we have to read them in context, as a whole, and not “cherry pick” the ones we like while rejecting the ones that we don’t like.

We need to hear the full message of the gospel, not this half-truth altered gospel message that is conformed to the image of man, instead of conformed to the image of Christ. We need to take in the whole truth, the whole counsel of God, and not listen to these lies which are a cover-up for evil, and which allow people to continue in sinful practices unhindered.

We need to sit under the counsel of the Most High God and not under the counsel of the arrogant wicked in their deceitful scheming. We need to not get our truth from sermons or books coming from mere mortals, but we need to study the scriptures for ourselves under the guidance of the Holy Spirit so that we can discern truth from error. And, we need to be testing whatever we hear against the scriptures (in context), too.

And, there we will discover the truth. And, our eyes will be opened to see all the deception that is being passed off as truth, but that is really a lie straight from hell intended to lead all who would have faith in Jesus Christ to go after their flesh, and to follow the ways of man rather than the ways of God.

In the scriptures, in the New Testament, in particular, as we read book by book, chapter by chapter, and verse by verse, seeking God’s face and his truth, we will learn what the truth is as opposed to the lies.

The Truth in Jesus

For, we will learn that Jesus died, not just to forgive us our sins and to promise us heaven when we die, but he died that we might die with him to sin and that we might live with him to righteousness. He died that we might no longer live for ourselves, but for him who gave his life up for us (1 Pet. 2:24; 2 Co. 5:15; Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Eph. 4:17-24; 1 Jn. 1:5-9).

And, we will learn that Jesus shed his blood for us on that cross to buy us back for God that we might now be God’s possession, that he might be our Lord and Master, and that we might glorify God now with our lives, not glory in our flesh (1 Co. 6:20; Eph. 2:10; Tit. 2:14; 2 Co. 5:21).

We will learn, as well, that if we walk (in lifestyle) according to the Spirit, that we have eternal life with God, and salvation from sin. But, if we walk (in lifestyle, in conduct) according to our flesh, that we are going to die in our sins because we would not die to our sins (Lu. 9:23-26; Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Eph. 4:17-24; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; Gal. 5:16-21; Eph. 5:3-6; 1 Jn. 2:3-6).

And, we will learn, too, that we are all going to reap what we sow in this life. If we sow to please our sinful flesh, from that flesh we will reap destruction (decay, death). But, if we sow to please the Spirit, then from the Spirit we will reap eternal life. We are not promised heaven on a mere profession of faith, but only on a walk of faith in Jesus Christ (Gal. 6:7-8; Rom. 2:6-8).

Psalm 19

Song lyrics taken from Psalm 19 KJV

The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul:

The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart:

The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever:

The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold:

Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hJKLfGdyYI

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