Led By the Spirit

A Conversation I Had Today

 

I was having a conversation today with someone on social media about a topic other than this one, but which led into a discussion about the Holy Spirit and if we can hear (not audibly) the Holy Spirit speaking to us in our minds. She was relaying to me how she had listened to a preacher say that God does not whisper to us.

 

So, then I began to relay to her what I understand of what the Scriptures teach on the subject of the Holy Spirit and how he works in our lives.

 

I said to her, “Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit to teach us all things. He is the living word within us. He speaks to us through the written word of God, but he can speak to us through a child, or a song, or a story, or a picture, etc. Not everyone agrees with this, though.

 

“Many people are cutting out the Holy Spirit and so they can only take in God's word intellectually. They don't allow for personal application. If I did not listen to the Spirit's voice in 2004, I would not have written over 4,000 devotions that have gone out all over the world.

 

“There is nothing wrong with saying "God told me" unless what you say God told you is in contrast to his divine character and will and is in conflict with the teachings of Scripture. For the Holy Spirit was given to us to teach us all things, and we have the mind of Christ.

 

“The Holy Spirit is our comforter, our counselor, our teacher, our guide. If we can't hear him speaking to us inside our minds how can he teach, counsel, comfort and guide us? He speaks to me all throughout the day every day and he leads me in what to say on Twitter, too.

 

“When I write devotions, I don't write them from my own intellect, and I don't choose what to write. The Holy Spirit speaks to me through the Word and he reveals to me specifically the message he wants me to give for that day because someone needs to hear that message.

 

“In Romans 1 it says that God revealed his divine character and will through his creation so that men were without excuse. God speaks to us in so many different ways, but we must always test what we are hearing against his revealed will in Scriptures.

 

“He speaks to us through sermons or through each other when we are sharing what the Lord taught us through his word, and that was what I was sharing in that writing, how he spoke to me through sermons that I heard at a prayer conference.”

 

Do Not Quench the Spirit

 

So, then I went on a Tweet storm, for a fire had been lit in my belly. It grieves me so much that so many preachers are telling people that they can’t hear the Spirit’s voice speaking to them and that all they can listen to is the written word, except that would mean they shouldn’t listen to preachers, right? Or can they listen to preachers but not the Spirit?

 

“If the Holy Spirit does not speak to us, then you can throw out the 4,000+ devotions, the 185 songs, the 100 poems, the hundreds of tweets, and the thousands of replies to people he has given, inspired, and/or led me to write over sixteen years, and all the people's lives touched by them, too.

 

"Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil." 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 – Too many people quenching the Spirit by denying that he speaks to us. So, they rely on the flesh to speak to them, instead.

 

“If the Holy Spirit does not speak to us except strictly through the written word of God and thus he can't make personal application to our lives or call us to specific areas of ministry or tell us to call someone or pray for them or send them an encouraging word, that is dead faith.

 

“If the Holy Spirit did not speak to me in my spirit, leading me in what to write and in calling me to this writing ministry, I would not be here. We would never have met. You would never have heard anything the Spirit gave me to say. None of this would ever have happened.

 

“The Holy Spirit directs me start to finish. This is his ministry, not mine. He says when, what, where and how. I just sit in front of the computer and I let him lead. He wakes me at all hours when he wants me to write. I just listen and obey.

 

“If the Holy Spirit is not guiding what I write on my blog posts, then I should not write. I depend on him to guide me in what he wants me to say. I say to him, "You write, and I'll type." And I trust he leads me.

 

“The Scriptures are spiritually discerned, which means the Spirit of God has to speak to us through them in our minds and in our hearts to give us understanding into what they are saying and in how they are to be applied to our lives. I am so glad I have the Holy Spirit to speak to me.”

 

To The Word

 

“By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who WALK not according to the flesh but ACCORDING TO THE SPIRIT." Rom 8:3-4 ESV

 

“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live ACCORDING TO THE SPIRIT set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” Rom 8:5-8 ESV

 

“So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if BY THE SPIRIT you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are LED BY THE SPIRIT of God are sons of God.” Rom 8:12-14 ESV

 

"The natural person does not accept the things of THE SPIRIT OF GOD, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are SPIRITUALLY DISCERNED." 1 Co 2:14 ESV

 

All Through the Night  

 

An Original Work / December 7, 2013

Based off Various Scriptures

 

Blessed are you when you’re persecuted

Because of your faith in Jesus Christ.

Blessed are you when people insult you,

And falsely say what leads folks to doubt.

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is

Great in the heavens. You’re not alone.

 

When you are persecuted in one place,

Flee to another. God will be there.

You will be hated by all the nations

Because you testify of God’s grace.

Many will seize you and persecute you,

And put to death the foll’wers of Christ.

 

Yet, do not fear what humans may do to you,

For I’m with you all through the night.

I tell you, love your enemies with my love,

And forgive as I forgave you.

Pray for those who do evil against you.

Rest in my love and grace from above.

 

https://vimeo.com/379481617

Go On Speaking Truth

Acts 18:5-6 ESV

 

“When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus. And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, ‘Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.’”

 

This has been somewhat my experience with the institutional (state 501c3) church. Whenever I have been really serious about my relationship with the Lord, following him in obedience to his commands, and teaching or sharing what his word teaches, I have faced much opposition from people in the church and from church leadership where we attended services.

 

Now, I was not out of order. I was not usurping authority over anyone or speaking out of turn in public gatherings. I was in submission to the leadership even when I disagreed with them, as long as they did not ask me to sin against God. So, I did not bring this treatment upon myself.

 

What I was up against, though, was institutional religion based on the traditions of men mixed in with Scripture. I was faced with leadership who were lax in their own personal relationships with the Lord and/or who were following men rather than God, and/or who had compromised the gospel to make it more appealing to the flesh of humans.

 

So, when I shared the truth of what the Scriptures taught or when I stood on the truth, sometimes I was rebuked, and I was asked to take a lesser view of such things and to compromise and to soften the message so as not to offend people. Or I was accused falsely of what I did not do or say.

 

I have also faced this kind of treatment on some Christian websites and a particular social media site. In all of these cases the Lord led me to leave and to go someplace else. I had shared with them the truth of what God’s word teaches, but they rejected it, some of them vehemently. So, the Lord sent me where he could use me where there were people willing to listen.

 

Acts 18:7-8 ESV

 

“And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. His house was next door to the synagogue. Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized.”

 

Prior to 2004, I had not used the internet for purposes of sharing the gospel, at least, not that I recall. I used it more for social and educational purposes. The ministry I was involved in most of my life was with people face to face in traditional institutional churches, and then some with a college ministry my husband and I had out of our home for 7.5 years.

 

But in 2004 the Lord impressed it heavily on my heart that the church, the body of Christ, was in crisis – the crisis of supremacy of Jesus Christ. He told me that it was “indistinguishable between the lives of evangelical Christians and the world.”

 

And he reminded me that we need to get back to the basics. We need to put our focus on Jesus and the cross of Christ instead of on the teachings of man. And he encouraged me that I need to keep teaching the Word of God, and that I need to keep listening to him and to keep obeying him.

 

He said to me, “Tell the people what God tells you to tell them and leave the results in God’s hands.” He reminded me of his calling on my life, to be a teacher of true faith, and of the clear sense of his purpose for me, and of the urgency to fan into flame the gift of God in my life for his purposes.

 

And then he gave me my present calling to write down what he teaches me from my times with him in his word each day and to place those on the internet so that “a herald” could “run with it.” And he said to me that NOW was my time, for such a time as this I was placed upon the earth.

 

So, I had been in the institutional church ministering to people face to face, getting mostly rejected and persecuted for my walk of faith, and then the Lord had me leave institutional religion, though I still held on for a little while, and he put me on the internet where what he has me write is going to people all over the world. Glory to God!

 

Although I surely don’t see all the many ways in which the Lord is using what he gives me to write, I do see some fruit for my labor in people’s lives, but not so much in person as it is on the internet. But my assignment is just to write, and to post it on the internet, and the Lord takes it from there.

 

Acts 18:9-11 ESV

 

“And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, ‘Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.’ And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.”

 

As I mentioned earlier in this writing, I have faced much opposition on the internet, too, but not as much presently where the Lord has me as some I have faced in other locations on the internet. And I still face some in person with people face to face, but the Lord keeps encouraging me to continue.

 

So, I find this passage of Scripture particularly encouraging, especially as I know we are coming into a season when those who are seriously following Jesus with their lives are going to come under severe persecution here in America where I live. Yet, we are not to be afraid of what is coming!

 

But I must put in a word of caution to anyone reading this passage who may consider this as a general promise to all followers of Christ that we will not have to face persecution. Clearly that is not the message, for Paul faced much persecution in his time of ministry for Jesus Christ.

 

Sometimes the Lord does give us reprieves, though. And that is a blessing, for sure. I praise him that I am counted worthy to suffer for righteousness’ sake, but I am thankful for those times when I don’t have to suffer and where I am being encouraged and strengthened in my faith.

 

The important message here, though, is that we are not to fear opposition from men or women or children, but we are to keep on speaking what the Lord gives us to speak from his word, and we are not to be silent out of fear of what humans may do to us. For our Lord is with us, and he will carry us through it all, and he will accomplish his purposes through it, too.

 

Awaken the Dawn  

 

An Original Work / January 15, 2013

Based off Psalm 57 (NIV 1984)

 

O my God, have mercy on me!

In the Lord, my soul takes refuge.

In the shadow of Your wings, Lord,

I find shelter till the storms pass.

I cry out to my God Most High.

He fulfills His purpose for me.

He sent His Son to die for me,

So I could be saved.

 

I am in the midst of lions;

Men whose teeth are spears and arrows;

Whose tongues are sharp; words accusing.

They spread a net, my feet to catch.

They dug a pit, in hopes I’d fall.

O God, be exalted o’er all.

Let Your glory shine to all men,

So they may be saved.

 

Steadfast is my heart, O my God;

I will sing of all Your wonders.

Awake, my soul! Sing praise to God!

Early I will rise and praise Him!

I’ll praise God among the nations;

I will sing among the peoples.

God’s love reaches to the heavens,

So we may be saved.

 

https://vimeo.com/115213982

Daily Surrender

John 6:35-36 ESV

 

“Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.’”

 

Jesus is The Word (John 1). He is The Way, The Truth and The Life (John 14:6). And he is the bread of life. So, the bread is The Word, The Way, The Truth and The Life. So, to eat the bread is to partake (to take part in) all that all of that entails.

 

It is to receive Jesus Christ into our lives, by faith in him, but to receive him is to accept into our lives the very character of God, including his divine purpose for our lives. It is not just to make a public confession of faith in him, but it is to humble ourselves, repent of sin, obey his commands, and submit to his Lordship over our lives.

 

Before we believe in Jesus, we don’t have a relationship with God. We are all sinners, and we all come up short of attaining God’s divine approval and his righteousness (Rom 3:23). So, we have a “God-void” in our lives which only he can fill. For he made himself known to all of us that we might surrender our lives to him (Rom 1:18-32).

 

So, when we do surrender our lives to Jesus Christ, by faith in him, and we take part in his righteousness, holiness, godliness, and faithfulness, etc., then that God-void is filled so we no longer have that empty feeling inside of us that says that something is missing that we, as unbelievers, try to fill.

 

Now we have Jesus living within us in the person of his Holy Spirit. Our lives are no longer our own to be lived how we want, for Jesus bought us back for God with his blood that we might now be God’s possession and that we might now glorify God with our lives (1 Co 6:19-20; 2 Co 5:15, 21).

 

Not only is Jesus now living within us, but now he is our life! Our flesh and our sin have been put to death with him, we have been reborn of the Spirit of God, and now our lives are being lived to the glory of God, in submission to his will, in accordance with his Spirit and in obedience to his word.

 

For, Jesus said to come to him we must deny self, die daily to sin, and follow him in obedience to his will for our lives (Lu 9:23-26; cf. Rom 8:1-17). If we don’t, then we don’t know him, and we don’t have eternal life in him.

 

John 6:44-48 ESV

 

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life.”

 

We can’t come to faith in Jesus Christ of our own accord. So, faith in Jesus Christ comes from God and it is divine persuasion. We have to be drawn to Jesus by the Father. We have to be persuaded by God to believe in him. Thus, the faith that it takes to believe in Jesus is going to be in accord with God’s divine character and will for our lives.

 

Thus, those who say they “believe” in Jesus, but they are convinced they do not have to repent of their sins or obey the Lord or submit to Christ as Lord, they do not have divinely persuaded faith, but human faith, of the flesh of man. For, if faith comes from God it will submit to God and to his will for our lives. The believer will repent, obey, and submit to the Lord.

 

If the Father draws us to Jesus, and we are taught by God the Father, the Father is going to teach us that we must humble ourselves before him, forsake our sins and our idols, walk in obedience to his commands, and submit to him as master (owner) of our lives. We will come to Jesus in truth, not in some humanistic teaching that denies him as Lord of their lives.

 

John 6:52-58 ESV

 

“The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ So Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.’”

 

When Jesus refers to his body (his flesh) and his blood, he is speaking of him giving his life up for us on the cross that we might be delivered from our slavery to sin and that we might walk in his righteousness and holiness.

 

He is speaking about how, when he died on that cross, he who knew no sin became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God. When he died he put sin to death so that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness and that we might no longer live for ourselves but for him who gave his life up for us (1 Pet 2:24; 2 Co 5:15, 21).

 

So, when he says that we must eat of his flesh and drink of his blood if we want to have his life in us, which is eternal life with God, he is speaking of us being crucified with him in death to sin and of us being raised with him to newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness (Rom 6:1-23; Eph 4:17-24).

 

But this is not a one-time event that takes place in our lives and then we are good to go until we die and go to heaven. This is daily dying to sin and self and daily walking in obedience to our Lord. This is daily feeding on his word and fellowshipping with him in the Spirit. And this is daily surrendering our lives to him for his service to do what he has called us to do, too.

 

Broken and Contrite  

 

An Original Work / May 13, 2012

 

I come before You, Lord, my Savior,

With humble heart and crushed in spirit.

I bow before You, I implore You,

Heal my broken heart, I pray.

Love You, Jesus, Lord, my master,

You are the King of my heart.

Lord, purify my heart within me;

Sanctify me, whole within.

 

Oh, Lord, I long to obey fully

The words You’ve spoken through Your Spirit.

I pray You give me grace and mercy,

Strength and wisdom to obey.

Father God, my heart’s desire,

Won’t You set my heart on fire?

Lord, cleanse my heart of all that hinders

My walk with You, now I pray.

 

Oh, Jesus, Savior, full of mercy,

My heart cries out for understanding.

I want to follow You in all ways,

Never straying from Your truth.

Holy Spirit, come in power,

Fill me with Your love today.

Lord, mold and make me;

Your hands formed me;

Live Your life through me, I pray.

 

https://vimeo.com/118841304

Lovers of Righteousness

Hebrews 1:8-9 ESV

 

“But of the Son he says,

 

“‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,

    the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.

You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;

therefore God, your God, has anointed you

    with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.’”

 

The Son, the Son of God, who is God, is Jesus Christ our Lord and Messiah. God the Father calls his Son “God,” for he is God. He is the second person of our triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Matt 28:20; 1 Pet 1:2).

 

Jesus Christ is eternal just like God the Father. He was with God in the beginning and He is God. He is our eternal God, without beginning or end. And his kingdom will never come to an end no matter how fiercely Satan fights against it. Amen!

 

The Lord’s scepter, his staff, which is an emblem of his sovereignty, of his power and authority and of his Kingship, is a scepter (emblem, symbol) of uprightness (righteousness, morality, honesty). He rules righteously, justly, honestly and with all purity. There is nothing impure in this King at all!

 

Jesus, our Lord, and our sovereign King above all kings, loves righteousness and he hates wickedness. Amen! He is the only man to walk this earth who was fully righteousness and who never once sinned. So, he is the only one who completely loves righteousness and hates wickedness.

 

Since he was fully man, yet fully God, and because he was sinless, he was able to be our sacrificial Lamb for us on the cross to take away our sins. Only God can remove our sins. No other sacrifice could remove our sins. This book of Hebrews explains all of that to us.

 

And, as Jesus’ followers, we are also to hate wickedness and to love righteousness, which we can only do through him. And we can only do that through him by faith in him by which we die with him to sin, and we are reborn of the Spirit of God to new lives in him, whereby we now live to Christ and to his righteousness in his power and strength (Rom 6:1-23).

 

So, Jesus, who is fully righteous, and who hates wickedness and who loves righteousness is not going to provide a salvation from sin whereby his followers are free to continue living in sin, are free to disobey him, and whereby they are free to dishonor him as God and to go their own way.

 

Hebrews 1:10-12 ESV

 

“And,

 

“‘You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning,

    and the heavens are the work of your hands;

they will perish, but you remain;

    they will all wear out like a garment,

like a robe you will roll them up,

    like a garment they will be changed.

But you are the same,

    and your years will have no end.’”

 

The things of this sinful world are all going to perish one day along with all those who refused to bow the knee to Jesus and to make him their Lord and master. But our Lord will remain forever, as will his word (his truth, his righteousness). And only those living in his righteousness will live with him forever, too (Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; 2 Co 5:10).

 

For, he says that if anyone would come after him he must deny self, take up his cross daily (daily die to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. If we hold on to our old lives (of living for sin and self), we will lose them for eternity. But if we lose our lives (die daily with him to sin), we will have eternal life, he said (Lu 9:23-26; cf. Rom 8:1-17; 1 Jn 1:5-9).

 

So, if we want to be saved from our sins and to have eternal life with God, by faith in Jesus Christ, we must be crucified with Christ in death to sin and live to Christ and to his righteousness. We must walk (conduct our lives) no longer according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit (Rom 8:1-17).

 

For, if we walk (conduct our lives) according to the flesh, in darkness, in disobedience to our Lord, as a matter of life course (addictively), we will die in our sins. We will not have eternal life with God (Rom 8:1-17; 1 Jn 1:5-9; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 5:3-6; 1 Jn 2:3-6).

 

Hebrews 1:13-14 ESV

 

“And to which of the angels has he ever said,

 

“‘Sit at my right hand

    until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet’?

 

“Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?”

 

Jesus’ enemies are those who are enemies of righteousness and holiness, so they include all who profess faith in Jesus Christ but who are willfully and deliberately continuing to live in sin, in God’s face, in absolute disrespect to him as Lord (King).

 

Thus, since we are his followers, they are our enemies, too, for they are opposed to us, as well, who proclaim the truth of God’s Word, who point out sin, who call for repentance, and who call for obedience and submission to Jesus Christ as our sovereign Lord.

 

Our fiercest opponents are often those within the church, the temple of God, which is not a temple built with human hands but by God’s Spirit. We are a temple without walls which is made up of living stones (us), with Jesus as our chief cornerstone and the one upon which this church is built.

 

Yet, they are most likely not part of his true temple but are those who have come into the sheepfold by another way other than through genuine faith in Jesus Christ. So, they gather together with some of the saints of God but that does not make them saints (true sheep).

 

Jesus’ enemies right now have diluted (altered, adulterated) his gospel to make it appealing and acceptable to human flesh. They have removed his righteous requirements for repentance, obedience, and submission, and they have gone on an all-out attack against his true gospel of grace.

 

Thus, they are also coming against the Lord’s servants and messengers who are spreading the truth of the gospel. But our Lord is our support, and he gives us the words to say, and he gives us courage to speak the truth, and he sends his angels to minister to us, too, to help us.

 

So, we don’t ever have to fear opposition or what humans may do to us, for our Lord is our strength and he will never leave us but will be with us always.

 

All Through the Night  

 

An Original Work / December 7, 2013

Based off Various Scriptures

 

Blessed are you when you’re persecuted

Because of your faith in Jesus Christ.

Blessed are you when people insult you,

And falsely say what leads folks to doubt.

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is

Great in the heavens. You’re not alone.

 

When you are persecuted in one place,

Flee to another. God will be there.

You will be hated by all the nations

Because you testify of God’s grace.

Many will seize you and persecute you,

And put to death the foll’wers of Christ.

 

Yet, do not fear what humans may do to you,

For I’m with you all through the night.

I tell you, love your enemies with my love,

And forgive as I forgave you.

Pray for those who do evil against you.

Rest in my love and grace from above.

 

https://vimeo.com/379481617

They Injure His Cause

Psalm 56:1-4 ESV

 

“Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me;

    all day long an attacker oppresses me;

my enemies trample on me all day long,

    for many attack me proudly.

When I am afraid,

    I put my trust in you.

In God, whose word I praise,

    in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.

    What can flesh do to me?”

 

Our Adversary

 

Who is it that is trying to swallow us up or that is trampling on us day and night, every day of the week, all year long? Satan! He is our primary attacker, our adversary, who is trying to oppress us and to make us afraid. He is the one who wants to bring us down, and he never quits.

 

But he uses other humans against us to do his dirty work for him. And who are these humans who are trying to swallow us up and who are attacking us on a consistent basis? They are those who are listening to Satan over God, and so they are believing his lies.

 

Some of them may even believe that they are doing good by coming against us, because they have believed lies against us. And it may not be lies that are specific just to us individually, but to us collectively who are sincere in our devotion to the Lord and who are walking in obedience to his commands.

 

And some of our opposition and attackers may also be those who profess faith in Jesus Christ, and some may even be pastors and elders of church fellowships who are part of this modern market-driven and flesh-driven church which is marketing the church to the world via worldly methods.

 

Our opposition and attackers could even be members of our own families, or our friends or neighbors or other professing Christians with whom we gather on a weekly basis. And they can be people in the government or in high up positions in religious organizations.

 

The point is that there are many people out there who are listening to Satan’s lies and who are following the lies, knowingly or not, who are being used as weapons, whether knowingly or not, against us who are following Jesus with our lives. And sometimes it can get very fierce and oppressive.

 

When I Am Afraid

 

Fear is a natural human emotional response to danger or to a sense of danger. I jump when I hear sudden loud noises I did not expect or when someone sneaks up on me and I did not hear him or her coming, or if I hear what sounds like someone trying to break into our home/apartment.

 

But then I have a choice. I can let the fear overtake me and give in to it, or I can pray it through, trusting the Lord with my circumstances, trusting him to protect me from harm and/or to carry me through all difficulties. I can give in to the fear of man, or I can trust God with my life.

 

I used to be afraid of people, in particular those in authoritative positions, like teachers, pastors, elders, and parents, etc. I used to think they had control over me, and that God could not rescue me from their grasp. I used to fear what they might do to me, like I feared my father’s abuse of me.

 

So, the Lord allowed me to go through much in the way of persecution from people in such positions, and from people who were forceful in personality who attacked me fiercely when they did not agree with me, even accusing me falsely of what I did not do or think or say.

 

And the Lord allowed this in my life so I would learn to trust him and to not fear humans, and so I would do whatever the Lord asked me to do, or say whatever it is he asked me to say without fear of how humans might respond to me in return.

 

Some people think I am a strong person naturally, that this is my personality, but it isn’t. My boldness for the Lord and for the truth of his word does not come from me, but from Him! In my flesh I would retreat. I would run away. But in the Spirit I must be bold and speak the truth.

 

Psalm 56:5-7 ESV

 

“All day long they injure my cause;

    all their thoughts are against me for evil.

They stir up strife, they lurk;

    they watch my steps,

    as they have waited for my life.

For their crime will they escape?

    In wrath cast down the peoples, O God!”

 

As followers of Jesus Christ who are walking in obedience to his commands and who are on the front lines sharing the truth of the gospel, we are going to be opposed. And there are literally people out there whose goal it is to injure our cause, for our cause is to present the truth of the gospel to all who will hear so that they can turn from their sins and be saved.

 

Some of our opposition might hound us like the Pharisees did Jesus and not ever relent until we give up and run away. And some of them are professing Christians and they can be downright hateful and nasty, too. For, their goal is to destroy us and to stop us from obeying the Lord.

 

I had a man (a friend of ours) one day come to our house and end up yelling and screaming at me because I would not join them in following false teachers and false teaching. He was irate with me because I would not bend. He told me that the majority is right and since I am in the minority, that means I am wrong. His thinking doesn’t agree with Scripture, though.

 

I have had so many people over my life time oppose me, attack me fiercely with their words, accuse me falsely, try to shame me into compromise, try to trip me up with my words, reject me, persecute me, slander me, etc. and the Lord would keep sending me back to get attacked more.

 

But through it all the Lord strengthened me. He made me determined to keep speaking the truth despite all opposition and all slander and all attacks against me, and to keep trusting him to give me the strength to endure all opposition and to keep on speaking the truth.

 

I have cried many tears through it all, though, for I am not naturally a strong person. But the Lord comforts me with his love. For, the Lord is on my side because I am on his side, doing his bidding.

 

So, I put my trust in him and I am not afraid. What can man do to me? God will prevail! So, I must obey my Lord no matter what happens to me.

 

Awaken the Dawn  

 

An Original Work / January 15, 2013

Based off Psalm 57 (NIV 1984)

 

O my God, have mercy on me!

In the Lord, my soul takes refuge.

In the shadow of Your wings, Lord,

I find shelter till the storms pass.

I cry out to my God Most High.

He fulfills His purpose for me.

He sent His Son to die for me,

So I could be saved.

 

I am in the midst of lions;

Men whose teeth are spears and arrows;

Whose tongues are sharp; words accusing.

They spread a net, my feet to catch.

They dug a pit, in hopes I’d fall.

O God, be exalted o’er all.

Let Your glory shine to all men,

So they may be saved.

 

Steadfast is my heart, O my God;

I will sing of all Your wonders.

Awake, my soul! Sing praise to God!

Early I will rise and praise Him!

I’ll praise God among the nations;

I will sing among the peoples.

God’s love reaches to the heavens,

So we may be saved.

 

https://vimeo.com/115213982

I Have Seen Affliction

Lamentations 3:1-3 ESV

 

“I am the man who has seen affliction

    under the rod of his wrath;

he has driven and brought me

    into darkness without any light;

surely against me he turns his hand

    again and again the whole day long.”

 

[Read vv. 1-18, for the next section will begin with verse 19]

 

When God Judges

 

When God judges a nation, or when he judges his adulterous people within that nation, everyone suffers, even the godly and those living righteously.

 

For example, I believe America and other nations in the world and/or the adulterous church within America and/or in other nations, too, are now under God’s judgment, and that is why we are all going through what we are now going through, whether we are righteous or not.

 

Our nations are in turmoil. Our freedoms are being stripped away from us. We are coming under more and more government control. Civil unrest is all over the place. Deception abounds both on the left and on the right. And good is being portrayed as evil, and evil is being portrayed as good.

 

Jesus Christ, his gospel, and his messengers are all undergoing persecution. The gospel is being brought into disrepute, while a false gospel of men is being raised up as holy. Jesus’ teachings on repentance, obedience and submission are being rejected while teachings on freedom to sin, disobedience, and dishonor of God are being accepted as righteous.

 

So, those with sincere devotion to Jesus Christ who are following him in his truth and in his ways, who are still proclaiming the gospel as Jesus and his New Testament apostles taught it, are being discriminated against within local gatherings of the church which are united with the state church.

 

They are being told to “lighten up,” or to “stay in your own lane,” or to not say anything that will offend people, or to withhold the truth from people until they have known them at least two years and they have earned the right to speak truth to them.

 

They are being encouraged to forsake teachings on repentance, obedience and submission to Christ, for these are now being classified as “works-based salvation,” which we are to not engage in, but while they are pushing a gospel that gives permission to continue living in sin, without guilt, and that even teaches disobedience to and the dishonoring of God.

 

And we have the promise of the worst yet to come, both as prophesied in Scripture regarding these last days before the return of Christ, and as being promoted through our government leaders and news media who give the bleakest of predictions for our future as the people of this world.

 

Heart Cries

 

When we are going through difficult times such as these it may be difficult for us to comprehend why God is allowing all this evil to take place and why he is not coming to our rescue. We may even begin to question God’s sovereignty over our lives or his judgments in these matters.

 

We may even begin to doubt our own sanity or our own relationships with the Lord and to wonder if, perhaps, we are doing something wrong and that is why this evil has come upon us. Now we should examine our hearts, for we may be at fault, but not to the point of self-abasement.

 

We may even turn our distress over these situations into anger and resentment against God and we may feel that he is doing us wrong by allowing us to go through all these trials and by not rescuing us from it all. And so, we may blame him for our troubles.

 

And we may feel as though he is ignoring our pleas for mercy, for help, and for deliverance, as though he has abandoned us and has turned his back on us. And we may, thus, feel deserted and in despair, feeling hopeless, as though there is no way out of this mess.

 

And we may begin to see God as the enemy rather than to see Satan as our enemy, and to see God as our opposition who wishes us harm, rather than to see Satan as the one who is trying to take us out. We may even feel that God is standing back and that he is just laughing at us.

 

Lamentations 3:19-24 ESV

 

“Remember my affliction and my wanderings,

    the wormwood and the gall!

My soul continually remembers it

    and is bowed down within me.

But this I call to mind,

    and therefore I have hope:

 

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

    his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

    great is your faithfulness.

‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul,

    ‘therefore I will hope in him.’”

 

Reason and Understanding

 

If and when we have worked through all those confusing emotions in prayer with our Lord, then we can come to a place of reason and of understanding, so that we now have hope. Sometimes we just have to work all those emotions out in prayer before we can come to that place of peace.

 

Then we can pray in submission to his purposes for our lives and in all humility, regardless of the outcome, believe that God truly has our welfare in mind. We can believe in his sovereignty over our lives, and trust that he truly knows best. And then we can surrender our lives to his will for us.

 

For, now we can see clearly that God’s love never fails us, and his mercies never come to an end. He is always there for us, day in and day out, no matter what we are going through. If he allows us to go through difficult times, they are for our good, to mature us in Christ and to make us holy.

 

For, our Lord is completely faithful in all that he does. So, we can trust him fully with our lives, and we can put our hope completely in him, for he will not fail us. He will not desert us. And he will not let us down. He will work all things in our lives for good for those of us who love him (obey him) and who have been called according to HIS purposes.

 

Believe Him  

 

An Original Work / July 15, 2013

 

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

Seeking You for the answers

To my heartache and questions

I have concerning my life?

Speak, Lord, to me right now.

 

“Oh, dear one, why don’t you trust Me

With your life’s circumstances?

Give your all on the altar

In submission of your will

To My purpose for you.

 

“Surrender your life completely

To your Lord and your Savior.

He has all things planned for you

For His glory and honor.

He’ll work all things for good.

 

“Believe Him. He will fulfill all

Of His promises to you

For your life and your future.

Trust Him. Rest in His love.

He’ll give you peace from above.”

 

https://vimeo.com/115945593

To All Who Receive Him

 John 1:1-5 ESV

 

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

 

Jesus Christ, God the Son, is the second person of our triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He was with God in the beginning and all things that were made were made by him. He is fully God, and he is fully sovereign over all that he has made. And he is the living Word of God.

 

He is our creator God. It is he who made us. We are his creation. He is the one who gave us the breath of life, and he is the one to give us eternal life in him, too, by faith in him, by the grace of God.

 

He is the Light – the truth, righteousness, holiness, godliness, and moral purity. He is the wisdom of God. The light, his righteousness, shines in the darkness (into the wicked hearts of human beings), and he exposes the darkness, but the darkness cannot overcome him or his righteousness.

 

John 1:6-8 ESV

 

“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.”

 

John the Baptist, as he was called, was the forerunner of Jesus whose calling it was to prepare the hearts of the people to receive Jesus Christ as their Messiah and Lord. He bore witness to Jesus, the light, and he called people to repentance in preparation for Jesus and for his message.

 

When John was asked who he (himself) was, he answered: “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” (Jn 1:23)

 

And to make a straight path for God, for Jesus Christ, is to preach repentance, turning away from sin, and to teach obedience to Christ and to his commands. And it is to teach submission to Christ as Lord (master) of our lives, too (Lu 9:23-26; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24).

 

John 1:9-14 ESV

 

“The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

 

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

 

Jesus Christ, although he was God, he left his throne in heaven, came to earth, and he was born as a baby to a human mother. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit, not of man. While he lived on the earth some 33 years he was fully God and fully man.

 

While he was on the earth, particularly during his time of ministry on the earth, he preached good news to the poor in spirit, and he preached freedom for the captives who were in bondage to sin. Some believed in him and they put their trust in him for their salvation, while others refused to believe and so be saved.

 

Of those who refused to believe in him, many were strongly opposed to him, particularly the religious leaders in the temple of God. So, they harassed him at every turn, and they tried to trip him up with his words so they would have cause to accuse him. For they wanted to silence him any way they could.

 

For, they didn’t like the things he did and said. Partly it was out of jealousy, because he was gaining followers, although many of those were superficial only, and he was gaining the confidence of the people, for a time, and so they felt threatened by him. They were concerned that if he gained popularity that they might lose the control and power they had over the people.

 

They also did not like it that he called himself God, and so they accused him of blasphemy. And they didn’t like it that he healed people, particularly on the Sabbath. They were also offended by him pointing out their sins to them and him calling them to repentance and to obedience to himself as their Lord and Messiah. So, they also accused him of being crazy and of being of Satan.

 

Eventually they were able to persuade most of the people to turn against him and to call for his crucifixion, and then they were able to convince the authorities to have him crucified on a cross, as though he was a common criminal, although he had done no wrong.

 

But there was a remnant who believed in him, who after he was resurrected and then ascended back to heaven, met together in prayer waiting for him to send his Holy Spirit to indwell them as he had promised. So, some people did believe in him, and many more did when the remnant began speaking the gospel to the people in their own languages on the day of Pentecost.

 

To Us Today

 

So, what is the message in this to us today? It is that we are to believe on the Lord Jesus. We are to receive him, which means to welcome him into our lives, and not just to receive him by name only, but to receive (accept) who he is and what he stood for and what he came to accomplish – all of it!

 

It is to deny self and to take up our cross daily and follow Jesus, i.e. to die daily to sin and self and to follow our Lord in obedience. It is to repent of our sins, i.e. to forsake them in order that we may now walk (live) according to his Spirit and in his righteousness (Lu 9:23-26; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17).

 

For, this is why Jesus gave his life up for us that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness. It is that we might no longer live for ourselves, but for him who gave his life up for us. For when he shed his blood for us on that cross, it was to buy us back for God (to redeem us) so that we would now glorify God with our lives (with our bodies).

 

So, don’t buy into the lies which tell you that you can “receive” Jesus by a mere confession or by praying a prayer but that you can still live in sin and have the hope of heaven when you die and that you are now a child of God.

 

The Scriptures make it quite clear that if we continue living in sin, willfully and deliberately, as a matter of practice (habit, addiction, slavery), that we don’t have salvation from sin, eternal life with God and the promise of heaven when we die. So, believe the truth. Your life depends on it!

 

[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:44; Jn 8:31-32, 51; Jn 10:27-30; Jn 14:23-24; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Acts 26:18; 1 Co 6:9-10, 19-20; 1 Co 15:2; 2 Co 5:10, 15, 21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; Heb 3:6, 14-15; Heb 10:26-31; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 2:24-25; 1 Jn 5:3]

 

Courageous!  

 

An Original Work / December 24, 2013  

Based off Various Scriptures

 

The Word of God throughout taught.

Some people heard, but did doubt.

Still others had faith in Christ.

By grace He purified them.

 

They turned from sin

And they obeyed Christ.

He opened up their blinded eyesight;

Turned them from darkness

To the true Light;

Forgave their sin by His might.

 

He strengthened them in their faith.

He said, “Remain my faithful.”

He called them to obedience.

By faith, they were so grateful.

 

By faith, they were to follow Jesus;

To daily sit and listen to Him;

To have such faith

That mountains could move;

To love those whom He gave them.

 

Be on your guard; courageous.

Stand firm in faith. Be thankful.

Take up the shield of your faith;

Protect against all evil.

 

Do not move from

The hope that you have.

Your faith in Jesus let it endure.

Hold to the truth;

Your conscience be clear.

Endure with perseverance.

 

https://vimeo.com/112338495