God Will Bring Healing

Jeremiah 33:1-3 ESV

The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still shut up in the court of the guard: “Thus says the Lord who made the earth, the Lord who formed it to establish it—the Lord is his name: Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.

Jerusalem was under siege by the king of Babylon, and Jeremiah, a prophet of God, who spoke God’s exact words, was being held captive, i.e. he was being persecuted for his faith and for his testimony for God and for his Word. The scriptures say he was “shut up” in the court of the guard.

Right now, America is “under siege,” but not just physically, but spiritually. The word of God is “under siege” and is being “shut up,” too. The gospel of salvation, as Jesus and as his New Testament apostles taught it, is under attack, not just from the world, but from within the church.

Charlatans are everywhere proclaiming lies as though they are truth. They are smooth-tongued charmers who cleverly insert lies into the truth, and so they are leading many people astray. Because their name says “Pastor,” many people trust them, and they are falling for their deceptions.

So, we need to be people who call on God, and who seek his counsel, and who test everything we see (or think we see), and everything we read and/or hear against the Word of God and against God’s divine character and will for us, his people. For the name “Pastor” may not mean “truth teller.”

Instead of just listening to “Pastors,” thinking they must be telling us the truth, we need to examine what they are teaching against God’s Word. So, this means we need to be students of the Word of God, rightly handling the Word of Truth. We need to study Scriptures in their context, too, for many false teachings stem from Scriptures taught outside of their context.

Don’t just believe everything a “Pastor” tells you, please! It may sound good, but it doesn’t mean it is good. Many of them are wolves in sheep’s clothing, who are masqueraders of righteousness, but who don’t represent Jesus Christ, but the devil.

For, the primary gospel message being taught and accepted in America is not the one Jesus taught. It is an adulterated gospel, full of lies, which is convincing people that they can be “saved” and on their way to heaven, while they convince them that they don’t have to turn away from their sins, nor obey Christ’s commands to his church, nor surrender their lives to Jesus. And, that is the opposite of what Jesus and his NT apostles taught.

For, they taught that we must die with Christ to sin, that we must forsake our former lives of living to sin and to self, and that we must now walk in obedience to our Lord, according to the Spirit of God, and no longer according to our flesh, if we want to be saved from sin and have eternal life with God (Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Eph. 4:17-24; Lu 9:23-26).

Jeremiah 33:4-5 ESV

For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah that were torn down to make a defense against the siege mounds and against the sword: They are coming in to fight against the Chaldeans and to fill them with the dead bodies of men whom I shall strike down in my anger and my wrath, for I have hidden my face from this city because of all their evil.

The reason that Jerusalem was under siege is because of Israel’s sins of idolatry against God. So, this was a judgment of God on his people for their sins of rebellion against God, and for their refusal to listen to his instructions.

I believe that the church in America is under siege right now for the same reasons. The church here, for the most part, has become idolatrous and worldly. They are teaching a cheap grace gospel which gives permission for their adherents to continue living in their sin, only without guilt.

So, wickedness abounds within the gatherings of the church. Sexual immorality is being allowed to run rampant within the church, and hardly anyone is confronting the offenders with their sins, thus making demands for true repentance. If the sexual immorality is dealt with at all, it is usually via support groups which tend to coddle people in their sins rather than bring them to full repentance.

The church, which is the body of Christ, united herself with the government and with the world and with big business in an unholy union, so that she is now unequally yoked together with the ungodly, which God forbids.

And, the church at large has been turned into a marketplace and is being marketed to the people of the world. And, so they have conformed the gatherings of the church to the world in order to attract the world to their gatherings, i.e. in order to “draw in large crowds of people” from the world.

And, all of this is against God’s divine purpose and will for his church. For, he called us to be a holy people, set apart (unlike, different) from the world so that we might be conformed to the likeness of Christ. He called us to obedience to him and to his commands for his church, not to reject his commands, thinking that being “saved” means we don’t have to obey.

And, he has been calling his adulterous people to repentance and to renewed faith in him for some time now, but most have not been listening. They have not heeded his calls, but they have continued in their sinful ways. So, the judgment he promised is now upon his adulterous people.

Jeremiah 33:6-9 ESV

Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and security. I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, and rebuild them as they were at first. I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me. And this city shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth who shall hear of all the good that I do for them. They shall fear and tremble because of all the good and all the prosperity I provide for it.

But even now the call is still going out for God’s people, who are living in spiritual adultery against him, to repent of their sins of idolatry. The Lord is sending out the message loud and clear through those who are listening to the Lord, and who are willing to give out his messages.

The Lord wants to bring spiritual healing to your lives. But you must turn away from your lifestyles of sin, you must forsake your idols, you must humble yourselves before God, you must surrender your will to the will of God, and you must turn to the Lord to walk in obedience to his word.

Then, he will restore you to himself. He will revive you, or he will save you who never did repent of your sins or who never did follow him in obedience, but who now have repented, and who now are surrendered to him as Lord, and who now are walking in obedience to his commands in the strength and in the power of God’s Spirit now living within you. Amen!

Nearer, Still Nearer

Lyrics and Music by Lelia N. Morris, pub. 1898

Nearer, still nearer, close to Thy heart,

Draw me, my Savior—so precious Thou art!

Fold me, oh, fold me close to Thy breast;

Shelter me safe in that “haven of rest.”

Nearer, still nearer, nothing I bring,

Naught as an off’ring to Jesus, my King;

Only my sinful, now contrite heart,

Grant me the cleansing Thy blood doth impart.

Nearer, still nearer, Lord, to be Thine!

Sin, with its follies, I gladly resign,

All of its pleasures, pomp and its pride,

Give me but Jesus, my Lord crucified.

Nearer, still nearer, while life shall last,

Till safe in glory my anchor is cast;

Through endless ages ever to be

Nearer, my Savior, still nearer to Thee!

Copyright status is public domain

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5DLDBIo22s

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A Friend of Sinners?

A popular teaching today is that Jesus hung out with (was a friend of) the ungodly, while he avoided contact with the "super religious," which is often a popular reference to the godly. But Jesus was not a friend of the ungodly. He was a friend to those who obeyed him (Jn 15:14-15; Jas 2:23).

So, I believe the Lord would have me examine this popular teaching, considering the teachings in Scripture. So, I will begin with the Scripture that is often taken out of context and is misinterpreted to say that Jesus was/is a friend of sinners.

Matthew 11:16-19 ESV

“But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates, “‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;    we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’ “For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.”

The Scriptures do not teach that Jesus was a friend of sinners (the ungodly), i.e. that he had a personal, intimate, shared, close and loving affectionate bond (union) with them, and that he hung out with them regularly, and that he engaged in activities with them, and that he went places with them as one might do with a close friend.

He loved them! Yes! Which is why he gave his life up on a cross to die for us. And, he did eat with them, but it was so he could share the gospel of our salvation with them, and so he could teach them about the kingdom of heaven so that they would believe on him and have eternal life with God.

So, he was accused of being a close companion with the ungodly, but the accusations came mainly from hypocritical liars who were jealous of Jesus and of his ministry, who resented him, and who were threatened by him. They hated him because he spoke the truth, and because he didn’t play their games, and he didn’t dance to their tunes (their ways of doing things).

But, the hypocrisy in all of this is that those who were accusing him were the ungodly, who just thought they were righteous, while those Jesus ate with were those who knew they were sinners, and so they were open to listening to what Jesus taught them. And, many of them believed in him, and they became the godly, while Jesus’ accusers continued in their ungodly ways and in their false righteousness and hypocrisies.

So, who did Jesus call his friends? He referred to as his friends those who listened to him, who believed what he taught them, and who obeyed him as their master (Jn 15:14-15; Jas 2:23).

And, what do the Scriptures teach us regarding who our (close, intimate, bonded) friends should be or not be?

2 Corinthians 6:14 ESV

“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?”

James 4:4 ESV

"You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God."

We are not to love worldliness, godlessness, wickedness, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. We are to have no part in any of that, and we are not to be bonded together in close intimate fellowship with those who are godless and who love and who prefer what is of this world to (in place of) holiness, righteousness and godliness.

Yet, we are to love all people, Christian or not. And, we are to be in the world, and we are to associate with Christian and non-Christian. This is biblical. But we are not to be of the world so that the world loves us as its own. We are not to be bonded to in close intimate relations w/the ungodly.

In other words, if we don't associate with or have any contact with the people of the world, we can't share the love of God with them or share the gospel of Jesus with them. But the ungodly (Christian or not) are not to be our close intimate friends with whom we bond in fellowship. For, we are not to participate with them in ungodly ways or to be influenced by them.

So, what is the true message behind this popular message which teaches that Jesus was a friend (close companion) with sinners and that he avoided friendships with the “super religious”?

My Observations from Experience

From what I have experienced in hearing such messages over the years, it is my observation that the message is that we are to surround ourselves with the ungodly while we are to avoid close associations with the godly, who they call “hyper-religious.”

And, this is a message that has been loud and clear in today’s market-driven church. For, this appears to be the goal of these churches, to bring in the world, but to push out the mature in Christ.

And, why is that? Well, one good reason would be that the world is moldable to the cheap grace gospel and to false worldly teaching, whereas the mature in Christ are not.

I had one pastor tell me that he was trained (by men) to avoid people such as me who had “strong convictions.” He invited me to leave his church, and he offered to help me find somewhere where I would be a “better fit.” And, I did nothing to deserve that treatment, I assure you!

So, who is it that is giving out these messages that say we need to blend in with the world and to become one with the culture, and that we are to “be the gospel” by being “good deed doers” who go around “blessing” everyone? And, that we need to have the ungodly as our close friends and companions?

They are those who are following man-made religion and marketing techniques for how to grow their “churches” (businesses), and so they are also those who are promoting the cheap grace gospel which requires no submission to the Lordship of Christ, no obedience to God, and no repentance (turning away from sin).

So, what they are teaching is of the flesh of man, not of God, and not of his righteousness and holiness. So, we need to be studying the Scriptures, and we must be testing everything we hear, see, or read (or we think we see) against the Scriptures to make sure they align with the Word of God.

And, then we need to be those who follow the truth of God’s word, and not those who are following humanistic philosophy being passed off as though it is from God.

Trust and Obey  

Words by John H. Sammis, 1887

Music by Daniel B. Towner, 1887

When we walk with the Lord

in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will,

He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.

Chorus (Refrain):

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

Not a shadow can rise,

not a cloud in the skies,
But His smile quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt or a fear,

not a sigh or a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.

Not a burden we bear,

not a sorrow we share,
But our toil He doth richly repay;
Not a grief or a loss,

not a frown or a cross,
But is blessed if we trust and obey.

But we never can prove

the delights of His love
Until all on the altar we lay;
For the favor He shows,

for the joy He bestows,
Are for them who will trust and obey.

Then in fellowship sweet

We will sit at His feet.
Or we’ll walk by His side in the way.
What He says we will do,

Where He sends we will go;
Never fear, only trust and obey.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KB4KcleYiWM

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Putting on a Mask

1 Samuel 16:7 ESV

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

Outward Appearance

“Wearing a mask” has a new meaning these days. It used to mean to put on a façade or a disguise to cover-up one’s true character and conduct. It meant to conceal who you really are so that no one would know you for real, but they would only know the persona you wanted to present outwardly.

A biblical term for that is hypocrisy. It is pretending to be something or someone you are not. Now, someone may do this out of fear of the rejection of others, or they may “put on a mask” to hide something more sinister. Either way, it is still giving a false impression of who you really are.

And behind "the facade" is wanting to gain human approval and acceptance and/or it is for the purpose to deceive and to manipulate others so that they will like you, and/or so that you can gain some type of advantage over them which is for your benefit, not for theirs.

But, as followers of Jesus Christ, we are not supposed to be those who put on airs, who pretend to be better than what we are. Now, it doesn’t mean to do the opposite, which still stems from pride. We don’t go around with a false humility putting ourselves down so others will build us up, either.

As Christians, we are to be sincere and honest. And, we are to be trustworthy and faithful. We are not to lie to people. We are not to even tell “white lies,” which are still lies. And, we are not to give false impressions to deceive others, too. But we are to let our “Yes” be “Yes” and our “No” be “No.”

Judging by Appearance

We should not be those who judge others by their outward appearance. For, we may judge a scoundrel to be a godly man, and a godly person to be off base. And, we should not judge them by comparing them to ourselves. And, we should not judge them by human standards and traditions, either.

This is not to say that all judging is wrong, though. We make judgments every day of our lives. And, we are to judge good from evil and right from wrong and lies from truth and false teaching from biblical teaching, etc. And we are to judge those in the church who are living in sin without repentance.

But we need to judge righteously, by God’s standards, and according to his measurements, not by human standards or by ourselves or hypocritically. For, if we are not careful, we can end up hurting our own wounded while we end up honoring and following wolves in sheep’s clothing.

I read a book by Chuck Swindoll, which he wrote many years ago, that addresses this issue, I believe. It is called “Dropping Your Guard,” published in 1983. In it he addressed the issue of the church hurting its own wounded.

He said, “Churches need to be less like national shrines and more like local bars . . . less like untouchable cathedrals and more like well-used hospitals, places to bleed in rather than monuments to look at . . . places where you can take your mask off and let your hair down . . . places where you can have your wounds dressed.” “Do you know what you need? You need a shelter. A place of refuge. A few folks who can help you, listen to you, introduce you, once again, to ‘. . . the Father of mercies, the God of all comfort; who comforts us in all our affliction’ (2 Cor. 1:3-4). Christianity may be ‘like a might army,’ but we often handle our troops in a weird way. We’re the only outfit I’ve ever heard of who shoots their wounded.”

But I must caution here against going soft on sin and not speaking the truth in love to those who need to hear the truth, out of fear of hurting them. But also, I must caution all of us to make certain we are speaking God’s truth, not our own, and that we are following the leading of the Holy Spirit.

If we must make judgments, let us make sure we are judging righteously, according to the Word of God (taken in context), in truth, and in love, which is for the benefit of the listener, to help him or her to grow in his or her faith and to walk in obedience to the Lord.

The Lord Looks at the Heart

Now, we can’t see into other people’s hearts. Only God can. Nonetheless, the Bible says that it is out of the heart that the mouth speaks, and it is out of the heart from which all kinds of evil comes. And, the Scriptures do tell us to test the spirits to see which ones are of God, and that we will know who is from God by the fruit that they bear.

But, again, we must be very careful here that we do not judge people falsely without knowledge or based on appearance or on a surface level evaluation or based on ourselves or our traditions or human thinking and reasoning, etc. Again, if we are not careful, we may be guilty of suppressing the righteous while we uphold the ungodly. And this does happen regularly.

So, we must test all things in prayer against the word of God (again, taken in context), once we make certain we don’t have a log in our own eye first that needs to be removed. And, we must pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit to make right judgments, for we must judge good from evil, and what is false from what is truth. We must, so that we are not led astray.

But before we endeavor to make such judgments about others, let us all make certain that we are living righteously, and that we are not living hypocritically, pretending one thing on the outside while we live another.

And, then let us not make false judgments without knowledge based on appearance, but let us ask the Spirit of God to lead us to right judgments that are for the good of others to help them to walk in holiness and in purity of devotion to our Lord Jesus Christ.

Nearer, My God, to Thee

Lyrics: Sarah F. Adams, pub. 1841

Vs. 6: Edward H. Bickersteth, Jr.

Music: Lowell Mason, 1856

Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!

E’en though it be a cross that raiseth me,

Still all my song shall be, nearer, my God, to Thee.

Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!

Though like the wanderer, the sun gone down,

Darkness be over me, my rest a stone;

Yet in my dreams I’d be nearer, my God, to Thee.

Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!

There let the way appear, steps unto Heav’n;

All that Thou sendest me, in mercy giv’n;

Angels to beckon me nearer, my God, to Thee.

Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!

Then, with my waking thoughts bright with Thy praise,

Out of my stony griefs Bethel I’ll raise;

So by my woes to be nearer, my God, to Thee.

Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!

Or, if on joyful wing cleaving the sky,

Sun, moon, and stars forgot, upward I’ll fly,

Still all my song shall be, nearer, my God, to Thee.

Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!

There in my Father’s home, safe and at rest,

There in my Savior’s love, perfectly blest;

Age after age to be nearer, my God, to Thee.

Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5WLZAVKB88

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Fight Lies with Truth

James 1:2-4, 12 ESV

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.”

Counting our trials as joy doesn’t mean we won’t feel the pain of the suffering, otherwise Jesus wouldn’t need to wipe the tears from our eyes. So, obviously we will suffer, we will feel the pain, we will cry, and we will hurt, and we will need to cry out our pain and our suffering to the Lord.

But in our suffering, and in our time of pain, we need to have a heavenly perspective of our trials and our suffering. And, so we need to thank the Lord and praise him in our suffering. We need to realize that our God is sovereign over all that he has made, so nothing can touch us but what God allows it, and he allows it for a purpose.

Several byproducts of suffering, if we respond to our suffering in the right way, is the understanding that our faith is being tested, and that through that testing we are going to learn steadfastness, which will then lead to maturity in Christ. But suffering teaches us so much more!

We learn through suffering to rely on God and not on ourselves. We learn compassion for others who are suffering so that we can comfort them with the comfort we received from God. We are sharing in Christ’s holiness. We are becoming like Christ in his death. We are humbled. We learn how to love others with Christ’s love. And it draws us closer to our Lord in obedience.

And, at the end of it all, we will be with our Lord forever, we will have eternal life with God in heaven, and our suffering will be no more. For this is God’s promise to those who love him. And, those who love him are those who walk in obedience to his commands (1 Jn. 2:3-6; Jn. 14:23-24).

Jeremiah 17:7-8

“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.”

So, at all times, but particularly when we are going through trials and tribulations which try our faith, we need to put our trust in the Lord. And, to trust in him is to believe that he has all things under his control, and that he has it handled. He will see us through it all if we will just rest in him.

Certainly, we need to cry out our suffering to him, and we need to seek his counsel in how to respond to our suffering. We should also ask him to teach us what he wants us to learn through our suffering, as well. For, our suffering is not without purpose. We can grow in our faith through it.

But when we learn to trust our Lord through our suffering, and to trust him with the outcome, and for him to do in our lives what he wants to do through it all, we will have peace instead of being anxious and distraught. It is good to cry out the pain to get it out, but then we need to rest in Jesus’ arms of love and believe him that he is working this all for the good of us who love (obey) him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Jeremiah 17:14-16 ESV

“Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed;    save me, and I shall be saved,    for you are my praise.Behold, they say to me,    ‘Where is the word of the Lord?    Let it come!’I have not run away from being your shepherd,    nor have I desired the day of sickness.You know what came out of my lips;    it was before your face.”

Then, we need to allow the Lord to heal us. We must never hold on to the hurt to where it impacts us emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. We must let it go and allow Jesus to heal our wounded hearts and minds. We must forgive all people who have hurt, abused, betrayed, or mistreated us in any way. And, we must keep on loving others, even our enemies.

One of the many ways in which other people will hurt us (or attempt to harm us) is that they will mock us for our faith in Jesus Christ, or for our witness and our testimonies for him. We may be called crazy, hyper-religious, self-righteous, legalistic, bigoted, hateful, and intolerant, or we may be accused of not hearing the Lord correctly.

They will also try to trip us up with our words, like the Pharisees did with Jesus, and so they will try to confuse us by accusing us falsely of things we did not do, or they will try to plant ideas or attitudes in our minds that our not ours. They will twist our words and they will say one thing and then the opposite to try to get us confused and upset.

But we can’t let their false accusations unsettle us. We must confidently claim what we know to be true. We must combat all lies with the truth using the armor of God which God has supplied us.

First we should examine our own hearts, where needed, to make certain there is not truth to the accusations, but once we have been assured that there is no truth to the accusations, then we need to hold on to the truth we know and are assured of, and we need to keep doing what God has called us to do.

We must put our lives in the hands of the Lord, trust him to work it all out according to his purposes, ask for his guidance and counsel, let him teach us what we need to learn through it all, and then keep on walking in the ways of the Lord, fulfilling God’s purpose he has for our lives, for his glory.

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

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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The Perfect Law

James 1:22-24 ESV

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.”

Deceiving Spirits

There is a gospel of salvation being taught today that is not of God. It is not the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is a gospel of human origin, of the flesh of man. I call it a “Do Nothing Gospel,” for it teaches that we who believe in Jesus Christ don’t have to do anything. No actions required. No repentance, no obedience, and no submission to Christ as Lord of our lives.

They do teach that we must “believe” in Jesus, but the belief they require is not God-given faith, otherwise they would repent, obey the Lord, and submit to Christ as Lord.

So, what they are teaching is human faith, of the flesh and of the will of man, not of the will of God. And, the faith they teach is also a one-time decision made whereby the “believer” is guaranteed heaven, and that it can’t be taken away from him, no matter how he lives from that moment forward. But that is not what Scripture teaches.

If we who profess to be Christ’s followers think that we don’t have to obey God’s word to us, then we are deceived. We are listening to charlatans, who are frauds and swindlers, working a con. They are those who masquerade as servants of righteousness, but they are of Satan.

For, the Scriptures teach that we must follow our Lord in obedience and that we must leave our lifestyles of sin behind us for us to be saved from our sins and to have eternal life with God in heaven. And, we must continue in this way until the very end (Lu. 9:23-26; Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Eph. 4:17-24; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; 1 Jn. 2:3-6; Gal. 6:7-8; 1 Co. 15:2; Col. 1:21-23).

A Look in a Mirror

Many people who are being deceived don’t even bother to look into the mirror to see their reflection (spiritually speaking), because they have been convinced that they don’t have to. They believe that their confession of faith in Jesus Christ now guarantees them heaven upon death, but that they can continue living just like they were living before they were “saved.”

But then there are the double-minded (vv. 5-8) who are trying, in the flesh, to at least appear righteous, even though they are not living righteously. They give the appearance of godliness, but they deny its power in their lives. They are those who are trying to look good on the outside but who are still living in rebellion against God when no one can see what they are doing.

So, even though they will make an appearance before the mirror, which metaphorically reflects for them what is in their hearts and minds, they walk away and immediately forget what they looked like.

And, this is speaking of us reading the word of God, and God speaking to our hearts, and him showing us what is in our hearts, and what needs to be purged from our lives, and what needs to be in our hearts in place of sin, and then us closing the Bible, and us walking away and forgetting God’s words to us, and us just going on about our business doing what we were in the habit of doing, without regard for what the Lord revealed to us.

So, even though they know the truth, and even though they may make some human and fleshly attempts at living righteously or appearing righteous, the word of God doesn’t stay with them. Maybe in their minds, it does, but not in their hearts, and not in their actions. For, God is not their god, but their idols are their gods which they worship, instead.

And, so they abandon the faith to continue living how they want to live. So, they will twist the Scriptures to their advantage to excuse away what they know is wrong and to appease their own consciences. Or else they will cherry pick the Scriptures they like, and they will ignore those Scriptures which tell them they must walk in obedience to the Lord.

James 1:25 ESV

“But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.”

The law of liberty is not liberty to continue living in sin once you are “saved.” God’s grace to us is not freedom to keep on living in sin, as many people would have you believe or would imply by what they teach. The Scriptures are clear on this subject! If we continue living in sin, then we don’t have eternal life with God (Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Gal. 5:16-21; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; 1 Jn. 2:3-6).

The law of liberty is freedom from slavery (bondage, addiction) to sin. For, this is the reason for which Christ died, that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness. For, by faith in Jesus Christ, 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).

So, the perfect law is the gospel of Jesus Christ. And, that gospel message is not just that Jesus forgives us our sins so we can escape hell and so we can go to heaven when we die. It is that we must die with Christ to sin and live to Christ and to his righteousness. We must walk according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh if we want to be saved from our sins and have eternal life with God.

And, faith in Jesus Christ isn’t some mere acknowledgement of him or some emotional decision to “believe” in him for salvation. Faith in Jesus Christ means we repent of (turn away from) our sins, we surrender our lives to Jesus Christ, and we now walk in obedience to his word (to his commands). And, it isn’t a one-time decision, but it is a lifestyle (Rom. 8:1-17).

We must continue to be doers of the word and not hearers only. We must persevere in our walks of faith and obedience to our Lord, in his power and strength. This must be how we walk, how we live if we want to be saved from our sins and to have eternal life with God. For, our salvation will not be complete until Jesus returns, and then everyone will receive what is due him (Gal. 5:16-21; Gal. 6:7-8; Rom. 2:6-8; 2 Co. 5:10; Eph. 5:3-6).

If Jesus Goes with Me

By Charles A. Miles, pub. 1908

It may be in the valley, where countless dangers hide;

It may be in the sunshine that I, in peace, abide;

But this one thing I know—if it be dark or fair,

If Jesus is with me, I’ll go anywhere!

It may be I must carry the blessed Word of life

Across the burning deserts to those in sinful strife;

And though it be my lot to bear my colors there,

If Jesus goes with me, I’ll go anywhere!

But if it be my portion to bear my cross at home,

While others bear their burdens beyond the billow’s foam,

I’ll prove my faith in Him—confess His judgments fair,

If Jesus stays with me, I’ll stay anywhere!

It is not mine to question the judgment of my Lord,

It is but mine to follow the leadings of His Word;

But if to go or stay, or whether here or there,

I’ll be, with my Savior, content anywhere!

If Jesus goes with me, I’ll go anywhere!

’Tis heaven to me, where’er I may be, if He is there!

I count it a privilege here, His cross to bear,

If Jesus goes with me, I’ll go anywhere!

Copyright status is public domain

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Blessed Beyond Measure

1 Corinthians 1:4-9 ESV

“I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge — even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you — so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

The Grace of God

What is the grace of God? People differ in opinion on this subject quite often. For some people see God’s grace as merely forgiveness of sin and as unconditional salvation and eternal life with God regardless of how one conducts his life while still here on the earth.

Still others believe that we must do something to earn God’s grace, as though we, in our flesh, can be righteous enough to be acceptable to God. Yet, they add to our salvation works done in the flesh, which are external, and which do nothing to change human hearts.

But then there are those who I believe have the correct biblical understanding of God’s grace. And, that is that Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. He died that we might live no longer for ourselves but for him who gave his life up for us (1 Pet. 2:24; 2 Co. 5:15).

For, the grace of God, which brings salvation, instructs us to say “No!” to ungodliness and fleshly lusts and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return (Tit. 2:11-14).

Jesus Christ died on that cross, and he rose from the dead, not just to forgive us our sins and to promise us heaven when we die, but he died to deliver us out of our slavery (bondage, addiction) to sin and to free us to now walk in his holiness and righteousness, in his power and strength (Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Lu. 9:23-26; Eph. 4:17-24; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; 1 Jn. 2:3-6).

Enriched in Him

In Christ Jesus, by faith in him, we are given many spiritual blessings and gifts of God. We are given the strength and power of the Spirit of God to be delivered from our slavery to sin and to walk in Christ’s righteousness and holiness.

And, we are blessed with insight and wisdom into God’s holy word as we read it, and as we allow God’s Spirit to speak to us through it, and as we walk in obedience to what it teaches us. And, we are given fruitfulness in our labors of love in the Spirit of God so that, by God’s grace, and through our faithfulness, we are impacting other people’s lives for Jesus Christ, too.

And, we are gifted of the Spirit of God with spiritual gifts to be used for the encouragement and the maturity of the body of Christ. And, we all are necessary to that proper working of God’s body, too, so that we all reach maturity in Christ and unity in faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord (Rom. 12; 1 Co. 12-14; Eph. 4).

And, we are also empowered of the Spirit of God in our speech and knowledge in order that we might share Christ and his gospel of salvation from sin with the world around us and also with those who profess faith in Jesus Christ but who are not living the faith they profess.

And, we are given courage and willpower to withstand opposition and persecution and to keep speaking the truth of God’s word, and to remain steadfast in our faith and in our testimonies for Christ and for his salvation.

He Will Sustain You

This is a wonderful promise!! The Christian life is the only life that is worth living, and the only one that gives us the hope of deliverance from sin and the empowerment to live holy lives, and the hope of eternal life with God.

But this is not something we do in our own flesh. The Christian life is not a religion via which we follow a bunch of religious practices. We can’t be “Christian” just by living moral lives and by doing “good deeds,” either.

We can only come to faith in Jesus Christ because God first draws us to Christ, and then he gifts us with his grace and with the faith to believe in Jesus for salvation from sin. And, he grants us repentance, too. But since this faith comes from him, it submits to him as Lord. So, those who believe in Jesus will also repent of (turn from) their sins, and they will turn to Jesus to follow in obedience to his commands (his word).

Then, as followers of Jesus, we die daily to sin and self, and we walk daily according to the Spirit, and we no longer walk (live) according to the flesh. But all this is from God, too, who sustains us and who equips and empowers us to walk in holiness and to no longer live to please our sinful flesh. But we have to cooperate with God. And, we have to follow him in obedience.

And, he gives us everything we need to endure trials, to flee temptation, to resist Satan and to draw near to God. We just have to appropriate to our lives all that the Lord supplies for us. And, the Lord will carry us through to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

God is Faithful

This, too, is wonderful news!! We can depend on the Lord to do what he says he will do. If we are following him, and if we are doing what he says, this is very comforting to know that he will be faithful to every promise he has made to those who have humbled themselves before him and who have surrendered their lives to him, and who have made him Lord of their lives.

He will never leave us or forsake us. He won’t lie to us, trick us, betray us, turn against us, or abandon those of us who are his by God-given faith in Jesus Christ.

For, he is completely faithful in all that he does. So, we never have cause to fear anything or anyone, for he will uphold us, and he will not let us go. We can fully depend on him. We just have to trust him completely, believe in his sovereignty over all things, and believe he is with us all the way.

Be with Me, Lord

By Thomas O Chisholm

Be with me, Lord – I cannot live without THEE,

I dare not try to take one step alone.

I cannot bear the loads of life, unaided,

I need THY strength to lean myself upon.

Be with me Lord, and then if dangers threaten,

If storms of trial burst above my head,

If lashing seas leap ev’rywhere about me,

They cannot harm, or make my heart afraid.

Be with me Lord! No other gift or blessing

THOU COULDST bestow could with this one compare –

A constant sense of THY abiding presence,

Where’er I am, to feel that THOU ART near.

Be with me, Lord, when loneliness o’ertakes me,

When I must weep amid the fires of pain,

And when shall come the hour of “my departure”

For “worlds unknown,” O Lord, be with me then.

Copyright status is public domain

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Though I'm Worn

Psalm 119:113-114 ESV

“I hate the double-minded,

    but I love your law.

You are my hiding place and my shield;

    I hope in your word.”

A person who is double-minded is a person who wavers or who vacillates in his mind between two opinions or two beliefs. He is often marked by hypocrisy, pretending one thing on the outside while he does another.

He leads a double life. He is a Dr. Jekyll and a Mr. Hyde, going back and forth between the two characters. He is a person who tries to serve two masters, like someone trying to walk in opposite directions at the same time. So, he tends to drift, lacking true direction, flittering here and there.

He will make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ, but his mind will keep altering between believing the true gospel of grace or believing the cheap grace gospel. But by his lifestyle it is evident what he believes. He says he wants to follow Jesus with his life, but he can’t maintain the character for long before he switches back to the other person.

We read more about this double-minded person in the book of James, chapter one. A double-minded person there is one who asks God for wisdom but then he doubts the wisdom which God imparts to him, or else he doubts that God will give him wisdom. So, he is unstable in all his ways. Therefore, he will not receive anything from the Lord.

To me this is a lot like a person who asks God to give him insight into his own heart and for God to show him what needs to be cast out of his life, only to ignore God’s counsel once he gives it to him. Or, it is like the person who asks God to help him not to sin while he goes ahead and plays with sin, or else he doesn’t put up the guards he needs to keep from falling into sin, and then he wonders why he keeps failing.

The Scriptures do teach that God hates lies and false witnesses, and they also teach that liars and deceivers have no inheritance in the kingdom of God. So, those who keep trying to serve God, in their own flesh, while they still hold on to their idols (their false gods) and their evil practices, cannot expect to receive anything from God, except for judgment.

So, we need to be those who love God, who walk in obedience to him, who are committed to our Lord, and who love his word. We need to be those who have chosen to walk in his ways and who are following in his footsteps.

Psalm 119:115-117 ESV

“Depart from me, you evildoers,

    that I may keep the commandments of my God.

Uphold me according to your promise, that I may live,

    and let me not be put to shame in my hope!

Hold me up, that I may be safe

    and have regard for your statutes continually!”

Those evildoers who are double-minded may be troublesome for those who are walking in the light of truth. For, they may be those who are trying to trick and trap believers in Jesus with their words to accuse them, much like the Pharisees did with Jesus.

For, they masquerade as servants of righteousness part of the time, but then they can “turn on a dime” and change characters in an instant. Nothing they say can be trusted.

They love to twist people’s words. They love playing mind games with people, too, saying one thing one minute and then reversing course the next. They are authors of confusion. They will pretend they are your friend one minute and the next treat you like you are the enemy. They will be supportive one minute and then another they are ready to pull out the rug from underneath you.

I once had a teacher in school who would frustrate me because he talked out of both sides of his mouth. It was difficult to get a straight answer from him. He would encourage you to go one direction, and then when you did, he would punish you by downgrading you for doing what he encouraged you to do. And, there are people like this even in the church, and even in leadership within the church.

So, we must be aware of this so that we don’t fall into their traps, and so we can guard our hearts against their tricks. And, we must pray for discernment in knowing how to respond to those who, like the Pharisees, make a game out of trying to trip people up or who try to confuse them, hoping to keep them from obeying the commandments of God.

And, we must remain strong in our faith, committed to our Lord, learning the truth through the careful study of God’s word, so that we aren’t easily led astray or brought to a place of confusion to where we might doubt God and what we believe. We must know what we believe and then we must stand on the truth of God’s word. It doesn’t mean we stop being teachable, but that we are not easy to sway in opinion so that we become double-minded.

So, we need the Lord to help us to remain steadfast and to not give way to evildoers and the double-minded who want us to falter and to doubt God and to question his word. We need the Lord to uphold us and to give us strength when we are under attack, especially. And, then we need to hold our positions, based on God’s word, and not falter.

Psalm 119:118-120 ESV

“You spurn all who go astray from your statutes,

    for their cunning is in vain.

All the wicked of the earth you discard like dross,

    therefore I love your testimonies.”

My flesh trembles for fear of you,

    and I am afraid of your judgments.

We don’t love God just out of fear of hell. Yes, we are to walk in the fear of the Lord, and that includes taking him and his word seriously, and not playing games with God, and not taking his grace for granted, too.

But to fear the Lord isn’t just about fear of hell. It is to love him, and to show that we love him by obeying his commandments, and by respecting and honoring him as the holy God that he is. But we fear him because we love him, and we love him because we believe in him and in who he is. And, we love him because he has put the love of God within us.

But many people continue in their wicked ways because they don’t love God, because they are lovers of self and of self-pleasure, and they are those who are self-indulgent and who live for self-gratification. They don’t respect God because they don’t want to give up their sins. They don’t want to yield control of their lives over to God, because they want to still be in control.

So, yes, God does spurn all who go astray from him and from his word, and he will bring those into judgment who choose to go their own way rather than to surrender to God and to his way. It doesn’t matter what they confess with their lips. What matters to God is what is in their hearts, which is evident by what they do (what they practice).

But for those who think they can profess faith in Jesus Christ and still live for the flesh, and thus make it their practice to be double-minded, the Scriptures are clear that they will not inherit eternal life with God. So, please know the truth which will set you free (Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Gal. 5:16-21; Gal. 6:7-8; Rom. 2:6-8).

And, for those who are committed to the Lord but who are being troubled and/or persecuted by the double-minded, please know that the Lord is your strength, and he is there to help you through every storm and every difficulty and every trial that you may face, so you can rest in him secure.

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…

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