Our Help and Our Shield

Psalm 33:8-12 ESV

“Let all the earth fear the Lord;

    let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!

For he spoke, and it came to be;

    he commanded, and it stood firm.

“The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;

    he frustrates the plans of the peoples.

The counsel of the Lord stands forever,

    the plans of his heart to all generations.

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,

    the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!”

Our Lord God is absolutely sovereign over all that he has made. Nothing can thwart his plans and his purposes. No human, no corporation, no country, no politician, no virus, and no army – nothing can defeat God!!

But this is not to say that God doesn’t allow evil people to exist, and that he doesn’t allow them to accomplish their evil purposes, for a time. He does. And, this is not to say that these evil people will not be able to conquer us, for a time, militarily or via deception. They will (See Rev 12-14).

For, God, all throughout history, has used even more evil people to judge his wicked, idolatrous, and adulterous people. And, he is doing it again. For, he promised he would, if his wayward people would not repent (Rev. 2-3). And, in America, not many have repented, but the majority have continued in their idolatry and in their wicked ways.

But I believe the Lord is allowing us to go through what our nation is now enduring to bring the wayward church back to the Lord in submission to him and in surrender to his will and to his purpose for their lives. So, good will come out of it all, for its purpose is to get the people of this earth to fear the Lord and to stand in awe of him, and to give him the honor he so deserves.

And, when the Lord has accomplished his purposes in the hearts of the people of this world, and in the hearts of his adulterous church, he will then turn on his divine instruments of judgment, and he will judge them.

And, one day soon he is coming back for us, his bride, to take us to be with him forever. So, although trials will come to test our faith, we should not lose hope, for we have an inheritance waiting for us with God in glory.

Psalm 33:13-17 ESV

“The Lord looks down from heaven;

    he sees all the children of man;

from where he sits enthroned he looks out

    on all the inhabitants of the earth,

he who fashions the hearts of them all

    and observes all their deeds.

The king is not saved by his great army;

    a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.

The war horse is a false hope for salvation,

    and by its great might it cannot rescue.”

Again, God is completely sovereign over all that he has made. Nothing surprises him. Nothing escapes his notice. He knows the end from the beginning. He sees everything that goes on.

So, don’t believe the lies which tell you that once you are “saved” that God no longer sees when you sin against him. For, if he couldn’t see our sin, there would not be much need for most of the New Testament.

God still sees what we do. He sees ALL our deeds. He sees everything you do when you think no one else is looking. He knows every lie that you tell, every secret sin you commit, and he knows every thought that you think, too, and every evil that you plot out against him and against his people.

So, he sees all those who are depending on their own strength to save them, or who are looking to other humans to rescue them from the evils of this world. He knows every futile attempt you make to try to rescue yourself. And, he knows every cover-up and every excuse and every justification for why you are still walking in darkness and not in the light of his truth, too.

And, he wants you to know that Jesus died to deliver you out of your addiction to sin so that you can now be his bondservant and a slave of his righteousness. And, he wants you to know, too, that you will be judged by your deeds, and that if you continue a sinful course, heaven is not your eternal destiny (Rom. 8:1-17; Gal. 5:16-21; Gal. 6:7-8; Rom. 2:6-8).

Psalm 33:18-22 ESV

“Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,

    on those who hope in his steadfast love,

that he may deliver their soul from death

    and keep them alive in famine.

Our soul waits for the Lord;

    he is our help and our shield.

For our heart is glad in him,

    because we trust in his holy name.

Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,

    even as we hope in you.”

Amen! And, do you know what it means to fear the Lord? It means to respect, honor, and obey him. It means to take him and his word seriously, and to apply it to our lives. And, it means to not take God and his grace for granted, thinking we can sin now as much as we want without guilt now that we are under grace. Romans 6 alone dispels that theory.

If you want your soul delivered from death (eternity in hell), then you need to walk in the fear of the Lord. You must leave your lifestyle of sin behind you, and you must turn to the Lord Jesus to follow him in his ways from this day forward, until the end of time (Eph. 4:17-24; Rom. 8:1-17).

But, following our Lord Jesus in obedience to his commands isn’t just about being forgiven our sin, escaping hell, and being promised heaven when we die. For, when we put our hope and trust in Jesus Christ to be our Lord and Savior, we enter into an intimate relationship with Almighty God.

Now Jesus is our Lord and master, but he is also our friend, our comforter, our counselor, our helper, our companion, our husband, and our confidant. He is absolutely the best friend anyone of us could ever have, for he will never leave us or forsake us, he won’t lie to us or betray us, and he won’t cheat on us, but he will be faithful in all things at all times.

Jesus loves us like no human ever could or ever will. For, his love is absolutely pure and honest. His love for us always has in mind what is for our good, as God defines good. He wants us to live pure and holy lives committed to God because that is what is best for us. He wants us free from slavery to sin, because sin destroys us and it destroys others we know.

He knows that what is best for us is for us to walk in obedience to him and to follow him in his ways, for that is where we will find perfect peace and joy and purpose and direction for our lives. That is where we won’t have to fear what men may do to us, because we understand that all things work together for the good of those who love (obey) the Lord, who have been called according to his purpose and will for our lives.

So, trust in the Lord completely, especially during this time of national and global crisis. Find your strength and your help and your peace in God and not in the people or the things of this world which are going to die, and which will disappoint you and even betray you. Set your mind on things above, not on things on this earth, and follow the Lord Jesus wholeheartedly.

Let the Lord Jesus live his life out through you, too, as you minister his love and grace to the people of this world, and as you share with them the only hope for their salvation, and the only answer for what ails them. He alone is our peace! He alone can rescue us from evil! So, trust him fully!

Sing to Me of Heaven

Songwriters: Ada Powell / Benjamin Burke Beall

Sing to me of Heaven, sing that song of peace

From the toils that bind me it will bring release

Burdens will be lifted that are pressing so

Showers of great blessing o'er my heart will flow

Sing to me of Heaven, tenderly and low

Till the shadows o'er me rise and swiftly go

When my heart is weary, when the day is long

Sing to me of Heaven, sing that old, sweet song

Sing to me of Heaven, let me fondly dream

Of its golden glory, of its pearly gleam

Sing to me when shadows of the evening fall

Sing to me of heaven, sweetest song of all

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMeC-hZnhuo

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Don't Be Gullible

Proverbs 14 ESV (Select vv)

                      

2 Whoever walks in uprightness fears the Lord,

    but he who is devious in his ways despises him.

5 A faithful witness does not lie,

    but a false witness breathes out lies.

25 A truthful witness saves lives,

    but one who breathes out lies is deceitful.

Why is it that so many people professing the name of Jesus as their Lord are so devious? So many are making lying their practice, even pastors. And, the most offensive lie of them all is that we can be saved from our sins, and be bound for heaven, and still walk (live) in sin, as a matter of life course.

For, it is not the one who confesses Christ as his Lord who is saved. It is not the one who says he believes in Jesus, either. It is not the one who is baptized, or who prays a prayer, or who attends church services, or who tithes, or who does “good deeds” for others, either.

And, salvation from sin is not a one-time experience in our lives, either, whereby we “get saved,” and then heaven is guaranteed us no matter how we live our lives while we are still on the earth.

For, we are saved (past). We are being saved (present). And, we will be saved (future) when Jesus returns, and our salvation is complete. It is not complete until then, and we must continue in that faith, too (Rom. 8:24; Rom. 13:11; 1 Co. 1:18; 15:1-2; 2 Tim. 1:8-9; Heb. 9:28; 1 Pet. 1:5).

Thus, those who think they can be saved from their sins and still live in sin are being lied to, they are accepting the lies, and many of them are regurgitating the lies to others, too. But if we live in sin, doing what our flesh dictates, then we despise our Lord. We don’t love him, know him, or live in him! (Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; 1 Jn. 2:3-6; 1 Jn. 1:5-9).

For, it is those who walk in uprightness who fear the Lord. It is those who walk according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh who are saved from their sins and who have eternal life with God. For, we must be crucified with Christ in death to sin, be changed in heart and mind of the Spirit of God and turn to our Lord to walk according to his commands (Eph. 4:17-24).

And, those who tell the truth about this are not the enemy! They are saving lives by telling people the truth, even if people despise them, in return.

6 A scoffer seeks wisdom in vain,

    but knowledge is easy for a man of understanding.

7 Leave the presence of a fool,

    for there you do not meet words of knowledge.

8 The wisdom of the prudent is to discern his way,

    but the folly of fools is deceiving.

If we are living for the Lord, walking in his ways and in his truth, doing what he says, going where he sends us, and saying what he wants us to say, we are going to have enemies, no doubt. We are going to be hated, mocked, criticized, made fun of, and lied about. For, Satan wants to silence us.

If we speak in the wisdom of God, and not of man, we will be scoffed, yelled at, falsely accused, discarded, and even removed from “Christian” gatherings, etc. For, many people don’t want to hear the truth of what God’s word teaches. They want to hold on to the lies, instead, because the lies coddle them in their sins. The lies are more comfortable.

So, if you are writing on the internet, and especially if you are writing on social media, be wise. Be discerning. And, don’t give way to anger. Don’t be intimidated by those who oppose you, either. Don’t respond to comments which are intended to egg you on to get you to say something you shouldn’t say. It is okay to say nothing. We don’t have to answer everyone.

10 The heart knows its own bitterness,

    and no stranger shares its joy.

11 The house of the wicked will be destroyed,

    but the tent of the upright will flourish.

12 There is a way that seems right to a man,

    but its end is the way to death.

There are many people holding unforgiveness in their hearts towards others, and that unforgiveness has turned to bitterness, and bitterness to hatred and hatred to resentment. And, even if you point this out to them, they may refuse to see it, or if they do see it, they may do nothing to get rid of it.

And, the way we can see this bitterness is in our actions and in our attitudes towards others. If what comes out of our mouths is hate (as God defines it), and if our actions towards others is of hate and not love (as God defines love), then it reveals that bitterness. For, if we sin against others willfully, knowingly, habitually and premeditatively, that is hate, not love.

Please know this. If we walk according to the flesh, we are going to die in our sins, not have eternal life with God. If we sin against others habitually and premeditatively, that is hate, not love. And, if this is what we practice, we are told we will not have eternal life with God, but we will have a fearful expectation of the fires of hell (Rom. 8:1-17; Gal. 6:7-8; Rom. 2:6-8).

15 The simple believes everything,

    but the prudent gives thought to his steps.

16 One who is wise is cautious and turns away from evil,

    but a fool is reckless and careless.

22 Do they not go astray who devise evil?

    Those who devise good meet steadfast love and faithfulness.

The simple (naïve, gullible) believes everything. But, we should not believe everything we hear or read or think we see, either. Anything can be faked, and anything can be a lie except for the truth of God’s word. And, even that can be twisted to say what it does not say, so we must be discerning there, as well, so that we are not led astray.

Any person can be fake, too, or a liar and a deceiver. There are many people who fake Christianity, too. Some of them for the purpose to deceive others, and some of them for the purpose to try to trap Christians in their words in hopes to discredit and to destroy them, too.

So, be cautious. Don’t take everything and everyone at face value and assume they are who they say they are. They may not be. They may be setting you up for a fall or they may be trying to lead you into sin. So, be wise and be discerning, and test everything you see, hear, or read. And, follow the Lord with your lives and not men, who may be out to deceive you.

Jesus Draw Me Ever Nearer

Lyrics by Margaret Becker

Music by Keith Getty

“Jesus draw me ever nearer

As I labour through the storm.

You have called me to this passage,

and I’ll follow, though I’m worn.

Jesus guide me through the tempest;

Keep my spirit staid and sure.

When the midnight meets the morning,

Let me love You even more…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amqP9rvikvg

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Sexual Idolatry

Jeremiah 17:1-3 ESV

“The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron; with a point of diamond it is engraved on the tablet of their heart, and on the horns of their altars, while their children remember their altars and their Asherim, beside every green tree and on the high hills, on the mountains in the open country.”

What is the sin of Judah? It is most certainly idolatry. But, what kind of idolatry? The references here to Asherim and to altars are specific references to sexual idolatry, and perhaps related to child sacrifice, too (Molech). And, that is the subject the Lord is leading me to talk about today.

Porn Addiction

Sexual idolatry and addiction is rampant in the church in America. The statistics are high for men addicted to porn, including maybe half or more of all pastors are reported as dabbling in or are addicted to porn. And, the numbers appear to be growing for women addicted to porn, as well.

A large percentage of children now are addicted to porn due to free and unsupervised access to the internet via personal computers, TV, tablets (like I Pads) and smart phones. And, this is not just happening in the homes, but in the church and in the schools, too. There are always back doors to stuff.

For, these devices are often now being used as babysitters, and parents are often glad to hand them over to children to keep them occupied so that the parents can do whatever it is that they do. And this is CHILD SACRIFICE! Too many children are being sacrificed on the altar of their parents’ idols.

But it isn’t just that. Parents who are addicted to porn and to sexual perversion will sometimes or often expose their children to sexually graphic material, and/or else they will sexually abuse their children themselves. And, so the children end up often following in the footsteps of their parents.

It is particularly bad if the parent, who may be an aging parent by this point, is still sexually addicted after a lifetime of sexual idolatry and addiction with no true heart change, and no true repentance, even though he may be claiming Jesus as his Lord and Savior and heaven as his eternal destiny.

And, so they do nothing to help their children out of their addiction, either, so the cycle continues, sometimes with no end in sight. And, more children get abused and sacrificed on the altar of the gods of lust and sexual perversion. And, marriages get broken, and families destroyed, and children’s lives are ruined by the sins of their parents, which were against them. And, it is only by the grace of God that these children have any hope.

Hypocritical Liars

Many people whose god is their sexual lust will never surrender their lives to Jesus Christ because they don’t want to let go of their idol. And, then we have the modern church of today coddling these addicts in their sin, giving them pacifiers and pats on the back and telling them that they are just to claim who they are in Christ to alleviate their guilt while they are sinning.

And, then we go one step further with the cheap grace gospel which has been adopted by the vast majority of the church. And, these who teach it, these thieves and robbers who are out to destroy the church, literally say or imply that one can be saved from his sin, be bound for heaven, and never die to his sin – never repent and never obey or submit to Jesus Christ.

And, this is blasphemy! This is utter disrespect and dishonor to Almighty God and to God the Son, Jesus Christ, who gave his life up for us on that cross so that we could be delivered from our slavery to sin, and so we could now becomes bond-servants (slaves) of God and of his righteousness.

So, they end up just playing games, pretending they are righteous and that they are in relationship with the Lord, while they willfully and premeditatively continue on their sinful course day after day and year after year and generation after generation with no obvious signs of remorse or repentance or honest confession and a desire to change.

But they play church just fine. They are pastors, elders, deacons, Bible teachers, small group leaders, scout masters, youth leaders, lay workers, and children’s workers, etc. And, they are those who are just spectators who don’t get involved in any ministries within the church at all, but who put on an air that they are walking in fellowship with the Lord.

So, spiritually speaking, they are fruitless for God’s eternal kingdom, for they have wasted their lives on their idols while they allowed the world to go to hell. For, they are self-consumed, self-gratified, self-indulgent, lovers of intoxication, who are irresponsible and who think only of themselves.

They are not dressed in righteousness but in filthy rags. And they walk according to the flesh and not according to the Spirit. And, they continue their sinful course no matter who they hurt in the process, and no matter for how long they continue to injure others, either. For they are self-consumed. For their sin is engraved on the tablet of their hearts while they refuse to open their hearts to the Lord and allow him to transform their hearts.

Jeremiah 17:3-4 ESV

“Your wealth and all your treasures I will give for spoil as the price of your high places for sin throughout all your territory. You shall loosen your hand from your heritage that I gave to you, and I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.”

So, the Lord Jesus is judging the idolatrous and adulterous church in America. That is what all these trials we are going through presently are about. And, this judgment is going to include a financial collapse at some point. It already has a moral collapse. And, now it is becoming lawless.

He is bringing our enemies against us in order to get his adulterous people to return to him, and to get those who make only a profession of faith in Jesus to be in genuine relationship with Christ, and so that many others will be saved from their sins and have eternal life with God, too.

For, the Lord wants to break those cycles of abuse, idolatry, addiction, and adultery. And, he wants to set people free from their slavery to sin, for that is why Jesus died on that cross. And, if that is where you are, in that cycle of addiction, abuse and idolatry, I pray you will surrender your lives to Jesus Christ today. Truly repent of your sins and let Jesus transform your heart and make it new in Christ.

Then, instead of being enslaved to sin, now you will be free to become slaves (bondservants) of God and of his righteousness. And, then you can be assured of eternal life with God, provided you continue in Christ and in obedience to him until the very end (Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17).

For Our Nation  

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Trust Him with your life today.

Make Him your Lord and your Savior.

Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.

He will forgive you of your sin;

Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.

On our knees to God we’re praying,

Seeking God to give us answers

That are only found in Him.

God is sovereign over all things.

Nothing from His mind escaping.

He has all things under His command,

And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: we’re believing

In our Lord, and interceding

For our nation and its people

To obey their God today.

He is our hope for our future.

For our wounds He offers suture.

He is all we need for this life.

Trust Him with your life today.

https://vimeo.com/379406352

According to Our Ways

Trust in Man

Jeremiah 17:5-6 ESV

Thus says the Lord:

“Cursed is the man who trusts in man

    and makes flesh his strength,

    whose heart turns away from the Lord.

He is like a shrub in the desert,

    and shall not see any good come.

He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,

    in an uninhabited salt land.”

We live in a society today where trust in man dominates, where people are looking to other humans to save them from the evil which is all around us. This is obvious on social media with all the talk of which politician is best for our nation, and regarding which one will be able to pull us out of the mess we are in. Christians are even fighting one another over who is best.

But this isn’t just about putting our trust in other humans to save us. It is also about putting our trust in ourselves, in our own flesh, and living in our own strength and willpower, rather than us living in the strength of the Lord.

Many people who profess faith and trust in Jesus Christ do not live as though their faith and trust is in the Lord. For, they are still living under the power and control of Satan and the flesh. They are still the ones driving their own lives, making their own decisions, and doing what their flesh dictates.

For, they love the darkness rather than the light, so they won’t come into the true light for fear that their evil deeds will be exposed. So, they will profess faith in Jesus Christ with their lips, but by their lifestyles they deny and dishonor him. For, they don’t want to surrender to Jesus. They just want a quick fix so that they can be assured heaven when they die.

But by trusting in themselves, and in their own flesh, rather than surrendering their lives to Jesus Christ, thereby not making him truly Lord (owner-master) of their lives, they have sealed their own destiny. But it is not the destiny they hoped for. It is the opposite of what they hoped.

But it isn’t as though they didn’t know. They know. They just choose to reject the truth to follow the lie, because the lie allows them to keep on in their sinful practices, only now without guilt. So, they choose to trust in their own flesh, rather than to trust in God, for they want to retain control.

Trust in God

Jeremiah 17:7-8 ESV

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,

    whose trust is the Lord.

He is like a tree planted by water,

    that sends out its roots by the stream,

and does not fear when heat comes,

    for its leaves remain green,

and is not anxious in the year of drought,

    for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

Nonetheless, if we truly put our trust in the Lord, which should be obvious by our lifestyles that our trust is in him, and not in our flesh, then we will be blessed of God. We will be blessed with spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus.

For, Jesus died that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness. So, when we place our trust in the Lord, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin, and we are resurrected with Christ to newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness (1 Pet. 2:24; Rom. 6:1-23; Eph. 4:17-24).

The old man (the flesh) has now been put to death so that we can now live new lives in Christ Jesus, our Lord, for his praise and for his glory. But that is just the beginning. Now we must walk (in lifestyle) according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh. For, if we continue to walk according to the flesh, we will die in our sins, not have eternal life with God (Rom. 8:1-17).

But, if our trust is truly in the Lord, we will listen to him, and we will follow him in obedience. And, in his power and strength, we will begin to grow in our walks of faith and to become more and more like Jesus in all that we do.

And, we will be strengthened in our faith, often through trials, and we will learn to persevere in trials, and to be steadfast in spirit and in hope. And, we won’t be shaken by fear or by what is going on in the world all around us. For, our hope and trust is in the Lord, and he will save us from evil.

The Lord will help us to walk faithfully to him. He will guide and direct our path. He will teach us his will, and he will give us words to speak. And, he will heal our diseases, and comfort us in our sorrows, and he will teach us to know and to do his will even in the face of opposition from the enemy. For, he has a purpose for our lives even in these dark days.

Search the Heart

Jeremiah 17:9-10 ESV

“The heart is deceitful above all things,

    and desperately sick;

    who can understand it?

‘I the Lord search the heart

    and test the mind,

to give every man according to his ways,

    according to the fruit of his deeds.’”

The human heart is deceitful and desperately sick, for we are all born with sin natures. Thus, we are unable, within ourselves, to be approved by God or to be righteous before him. We are prone to wander, and to go after the desires of the flesh, to do what our wicked hearts dictate (Romans 3).

And, that is why God the Father sent Jesus Christ, God the Son, to the earth, to take on human form, to suffer as we suffer and to be tempted in like manner as we are also tempted, yet without sin, so that he could be our compassionate priest, and so he could be our sacrificial lamb to die for our sins. For, in his death he put sin to death that we might die with him to sin.

Only by God’s grace, through God-given faith in Jesus Christ, can any of us be saved from our bondage to sin and have eternal life with God. We can only come to obedient faith in Jesus Christ if the Father first draws us to him, and if he gifts us with the faith to believe in Jesus, and if he gifts us with repentance, too, and if he empowers us to live for Jesus, too.

For, you see, our salvation is from God, from start to finish. But that doesn’t mean we do nothing. Although we can’t earn our salvation by works done in the flesh, we are saved to good works, which God prepared in advance that we should walk in them (Eph. 2:10; Tit. 2:11-14; Phil. 2:12-13).

But these works are not of the flesh, but of the Spirit, done in the power of the Spirit, for the glory and praise of God. And, they are for the building up of the body of Christ to maturity in Christ. And, they are for our own walks of faith, and for holiness and righteousness, that we walk in obedience to our Lord, and that we grow in his grace.

And, even though we are saved by God’s grace, through God-given faith in Jesus Christ, we are going to be judged by our works. For, we will all have to give an account to God. For, 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 reap eternal life (Gal. 6:7-8; Rom. 2:6-8; 2 Co. 5:10; Gal. 5:16-21).

Many people misunderstand this because they don’t understand God’s grace. God’s grace to us is not just forgiveness of sins. His grace to us is deliverance from our slavery to sin and empowerment of the Spirit of God to live godly and holy lives while we wait for our Lord’s return (Tit. 2:11-14; Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Eph. 4:17-24; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; Lu. 9:23-26).

There’s a Stirring

By Annie Herring

There's a stirring deep within me
Could it be my time has come
When I'll see my gracious savior face to face when all is done
Is that his voice I am hearing?
'Come away, my precious one'
Is he calling me?
Is he calling me?

I will rise up, rise up
And bow down
And lay my crown
At his wounded feet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yocTjkB6hV8

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A Time of Decision

Luke 19:37-40

“As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!’ And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, rebuke your disciples.’ He answered, ‘I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.’”

Satan wants to silence us. So, he puts coverings over our faces to shut us up, and he separates us one from the other, and he makes us afraid of people and germs so we don’t go near each other, so that we don’t share the Good News of the gospel with people face to face. Do you see it?

And he tries to convince us that we need to “stay in your lane,” and to not say anything to anyone that might offend them with the truth. And, he tries to make us afraid of being accused of bigotry or hate speech or intolerance because we are sharing the truth of the gospel, which divides people as saved and unsaved. And, he tries to persuade us to compromise with him.

And, he tries, via his false prophets, to convince us that we are wrong, or that we are unloving and not kind, and that we are judgmental or self-righteous because we tell people the truth about sin, judgment, salvation, submission, repentance and obedience to Christ’s commands.

And, so he tries to convince us that the loving and kind thing to do is to blend in with the world, and to be one with the world, and to deny Jesus as our Lord (master), and to deny the gospel which says Jesus is the only way to God, and to deny that salvation means dying with Christ to sin and living to Christ and his righteousness, in the power of God’s Spirit.

For, he wants to convince us to come his way, and to be accepting of all religions and all people’s lifestyles, and of sin, and to be of one mind and one heart with the nations, and to accept a one world religion so that we can live in peace (a false peace) and harmony with the people of the world.

But I love Jesus’ response, don’t you? If we are silent, the very stones will cry out. Amen! If we are silent, too, we will miss out on the blessings of obedience to our Lord and the fruit of seeing other people come to obedient faith in Jesus Christ, because we loved our own lives more. But if we love ourselves more than God, then we are not worthy of our Lord (Matt 10:37-38; Lu. 9:62).

Luke 19:41-44

“And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, ‘Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.’”

Do you weep over lost souls? Do you weep over those who profess the name of Jesus but by their lifestyles they deny him? Does that grieve your spirit to see so many people claiming faith in Jesus Christ while they live not much different from the world, and sometimes worse?

Do you weep, too, over all the deception in the world, within our governments, and within the church, coming from men in our pulpits, too? Does it grieve your spirit to see so many deceived, following the lies, convinced they are going to heaven while they are headed straight for hell?

Many are saying “peace, peace,” when there is no peace. Many are teaching a false peace, too, which is a peace with man, not with God, and which is a lack of controversy and lack of differences, so that we can all be in harmony with one another, regardless of beliefs, practices, values or morals.

And, many professing Christians are buying into the lies, and they are not seeing what truly makes for peace – the kind of peace that God is offering. And, this is because their eyes have dirt in them, i.e. the lust of the eyes, so that they can’t see clearly, and so they are not discerning of truth from lies.

And, it is because their hearing is blocked, too, because they prefer the lies to the truth, because the lies coddle them in their sin, and the lies make no demands for submission to Christ as Lord, or for repentance of sin, or for walks of obedience with Christ Jesus. So, they resist the truth.

And, it is because they are caught up in the culture and the society and the world and its ways, and its philosophies, and with having things, and with craving sinful pleasures, and with a constant thirst to be entertained and to be jovial and to make light of what they don’t understand.

And, this, I believe, is why the USA is going through all this turmoil, because God is judging his adulterous and idolatrous church here in America who has eyes to see and ears to hear, but who is unwilling to hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

Luke 19:45-48

“And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, saying to them, ‘It is written, “My house shall be a house of prayer,” but you have made it a den of robbers.’ “And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him, but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on his words.”

The church in America, for the most part, united with the government and with the world in an unholy union, turned the church into a marketplace to be marketed to the world, and placed another head over the church in place of Jesus Christ. All 3 of these God forbids!

She then largely replaced the purity of the Word of God with words of men, or with misinterpretations of men, and she replaced the Holy Spirit with marketing books and seminars on how to grow “churches,” i.e. businesses.

Then, she turned the worship services into stage productions and centers of entertainment to attract the world to her gatherings. And, thus she conformed the gatherings of the church to the ways of the world to appeal to the flesh of man and to the values of the world, so that the world would feel comfortable and at home in her midst.

Her pastors now had to be actors, performers, magicians, charmers, manipulators, comedians, and entertainers to keep the crowds coming, and coming back for more of the same. And, they all had to bow to the worldly church model, which is a model for how to market a business, complete with lies, manipulations, and compromises with the world.

Thus, to make the world feel at home, they also diluted and altered the gospel message of our salvation to make it more palatable to the world and to human flesh. And, so they reduced it to a mere prayer or a mere acknowledgment of Jesus, and they twisted God’s grace, and they turned the way of the cross into the broad road which leads to destruction, rather than the narrow road which leads to life everlasting with God.

For, they outright say, or they imply, that death to sin and living to the Lord and to his righteousness is “works” and so they don’t have to do them. And, so the gospel is now free license to continue living in sin, and it is permission to treat Almighty God with gross dishonor and disrespect, for they say we don’t have to obey our Lord’s commandments. We do nothing, they say.

But the truth is that faith in Jesus Christ means death to sin and living to God and walking in his righteousness and holiness, by the Spirit of God. It means we no longer live like we did before we believed in Jesus, but now we put all those sins out of our lives so that we can now walk in purity of devotion to our Lord, which is why Jesus died for us on that cross.

For, Jesus didn’t die just to forgive us our sins and to promise us heaven everlasting, but he died to deliver us out of our slavery to sin so that we would now be bond-slaves (servants) of him and of his righteousness, which then leads to eternal life with God (Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Eph. 4:17-24; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; 1 Jn. 2:3-6; Tit. 2:11-14; Gal. 6:7-8; Rom. 2:6-8).

But if you teach this, i.e. if you teach the truth of the gospel, you better get ready for some severe persecution, for it is most certainly on its way. All the signs are there, if we are willing to see them and to believe that time is short, and that we need to decide this day who we are going to serve.

Hide Me, Rock of Ages

Brantley C. George, 1946

Oh Thou blessed rock of ages

Trusting now dear Lord in Thee

Keep me till my journey's ended

Till Thy blessed face I see

Keep me when the storm clouds gather;

‘Til the sun comes shining through;

Keep me ‘til my work is over;

‘Til I bid this world adieu.

Hide me oh blessed rock of ages

'Til Thy blessed face I see

When the storm around me rages

Rock of ages hide Thou me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRKU-D5k21w

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Before It's Too Late

Romans 12:1 ESV

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”

When you think of worship of God, what comes to mind immediately? In America, the response I often get is this image of people sitting in a “worship service” in a “church” building singing “praise and worship” songs with hands raised in the air or with dancing and the clapping of hands.

But what I find to be true often is that this is more about human emotion than it has anything to do with true worship of God.

I am certainly not saying that some people involved in this are not truly worshiping God. But since so much of today’s church has gone the way of the world, and since holy living and submission to Christ as Lord are no longer being taught much, or they are even being discouraged, it says to me that true worship of God is mostly not happening.

For, although praise to God and the singing of songs of worship is certainly a part of our worship of God, something else needs to be taking place first before true worship can happen in such settings as this.

We must first surrender our lives wholly to Jesus Christ, holy and pleasing or acceptable to God. For, this is our spiritual worship of God. And, holy means to be separate (unlike, different) from the world, because we are becoming like Jesus in mind, heart, character, and deed. For, Jesus called us out of the world and to not be unequally yoked together with the ungodly.

So, we can’t be living like the world during the week, living for sinful pleasures and for the lusts of the flesh, and for the lust of the eyes, and for the pride of life, and then go to a church service on Saturday or on Sunday and truly worship God just by singing songs. That’s not true worship.

Romans 12:2 ESV

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

But this true worship doesn’t happen with just surrendering our lives to Jesus Christ, holy and acceptable to him. For, we can’t be holy as he is holy unless we first are crucified with him in death to sin, and we are raised with him to newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness, which is God’s gift to us (Rom. 6:1-23; Eph. 4:17-24).

Once we have died with Christ to our old lives of sin and self, and we have been given new lives in Christ Jesus, to be lived to him and to his righteousness, then we begin our journey with Christ, which involves daily dying to sin and self, and daily taking up our cross and following Jesus (Lu. 9:23-26; Rom. 8:1-17; 1 Jn. 1:5-9).

And, this walk of faith involves daily putting to death, by the Spirit, the misdeeds of our flesh, and putting on Christ and his righteousness. So, we put off lying, and we tell the truth. We put of stealing, and we work, and we give to others. And, we put off adultery, and we put on purity and faithfulness and love, etc.

For, we can’t truly worship God or discern his will for our lives if daily we are consuming the filth of the world and then regurgitating it to others. We can’t be conformed to Christ and his ways if we are still conformed to the ways (patterns) of this sinful world. So, we must be transformed of the Spirit of God in the renewal of our minds away from sin to living for the Lord.

I hear many professers of faith in Jesus Christ say they are praying for direction from the Lord or for God to reveal his will for their lives while they are willfully not living according to his revealed will for their lives as recorded for us in Scripture. Therefore, we can’t discern God’s will if we are living opposed to his revealed will in his word.

Romans 12:3 ESV

“For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.”

This is interesting the way this is written. Do you notice it? It doesn’t say we can’t have an honest assessment of ourselves and of our walks of faith with the Lord. It doesn’t say we can’t be confident in the Lord, in his strength and wisdom, in our walks of faith in him, empowered by his Spirit. We can be confident of who we are in Christ, knowing who we are is because of Him.

What it says is that we should not think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think. We should not be arrogant and conceited, thinking we have arrived, or that we have no need of correction ever. We should not take pride in book knowledge or in human intelligence or in human talent and giftedness. We should also not take credit for what God does through us. And, we should not look down on others as though they are less than us.

But we should have hearts of compassion, knowing that it is only by God’s grace than any of us are saved from our sins and are made righteous in the eyes of God. But compassion is not weak on sin. It doesn’t tolerate willful defiance against our holy God, especially not habitual defiance of God’s commandments.

We preach truth because we do have hearts of compassion. Otherwise, why bother? I am not saying that everyone preaches truth out of hearts of compassion, though, but that if we are truly compassionate towards others, we aren’t going to lie to them or withhold the truth from them which can save their lives from hell and which can promise them eternal life with God.

For, we must remember that God so loved us that he sent his only begotten Son to die on a cross for us so that we can be delivered from our slavery to sin and so we can now be bond-servants of our Lord Jesus and walk in his holiness, and in his power. And, we must recall that it was because Jesus spoke the hard truths to the people that they crucified him.

So, if we truly love others, and we aren’t stuck up, thinking we are superior, we will be willing to die, to be rejected, to be hated, and to be falsely accused in order to tell people the truth which we know can save their souls. That is true love. That is sacrifice. And, that is thinking with sober judgment, for our minds and our hearts are fixed on Jesus, and on seeing others come to faith in Jesus Christ before it is too late and they miss out on salvation.

I Will Lift My Eyes  

An Original Work / December 12, 2012

Based off Psalms 121-125

I will lift my eyes to my Lord Most High.

My help comes from Him, who saved me from sin.

He will not let your foot slip, and He who watches will not sleep.

Our Lord watches over you, and your life He will keep.

I will lift my eyes to my Lord Most High.

My help comes from Him, who saved me from sin.

I give thanks to Him.

I will lift my eyes to my God in heav’n.

I look to the Lord. My sins, He’s forgiv’n.

Because of His great love for us, He made us alive with Christ.

Through the kindness of our Savior, He gave us new life.

I will lift my eyes to my God in heav’n.

I look to the Lord. My sins, He’s forgiv’n;

My home, now in heav’n.

Praise be to the Lord, who is on our side.

Our help found in Him. He gives peace within.

Those who trust will ne’er be shaken. God will supply all we need.

Our Lord has done great things for us. He’s our friend, indeed!

Praise be to the Lord, who is on our side.

Our help found in Him. He gives peace within.

I can count on Him.

https://vimeo.com/379508241

Come Out, My People

Come Out, My People

Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,

“Come out of her, my people,

    lest you take part in her sins,

lest you share in her plagues;

for her sins are heaped high as heaven,

    and God has remembered her iniquities.”

Revelation 18:4-5 ESV

https://vimeo.com/434224486