By the Mercies of God

Romans 12:1 ESV

 

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

 

Is music a part of our worship of God? Certainly, it is! But is it the totality of our worship? Absolutely not! Can we worship God without music? Yes! Can we sing praise and worship songs and not be worshiping God at all? Absolutely! For, worship first begins in the heart.

 

So, what is worship? According to this passage of Scripture it is us presenting our bodies (our whole being) to God as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable (pleasing) to God. So, what is a sacrifice acceptable to God? It is an offering to the Lord as prescribed by him, offered on his terms.

 

And what does he require? That we die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness. That we no longer live according to the flesh, but that we walk (in conduct, in practice) according to the Spirit. That we walk in obedience to his commands, and that we love one another.

 

[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Pet 2:24; 2 Co 5:15; 1 Co 6:19-20; Tit 2:11-14; Lu 10:27]

 

And what does it mean to be holy? It means to be set apart (unlike, different) from the world because we are being conformed to the image of Christ. It means we now have the mindset of God, not of the world, and our desire is for Jesus Christ, and not for the cravings of our sinful flesh.

 

So, if this is not a description of our lives, but we are still living for the flesh, doing what we want to do without regard for what God wants from us and for us, then we aren’t worshiping God even if we are singing praise and worship songs. For, he doesn’t want lip service. He wants our obedience.

 

Romans 12:2 ESV

 

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

 

As living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, we are to no longer be conformed to the ways (patterns, behaviors, thinking) of this sinful world. We should stand out as different. They should think us odd. For, we shouldn’t be doing all the same things that they do, or having the same conversations, or embracing the same humanistic philosophies.

 

We shouldn’t be playing all the same video games, or watching all the same movies, videos, or TV shows, or listening to all the same music. We should be choosing what we do based upon God’s Word and our relationship with Jesus Christ, and on God’s purpose for our lives in saving us from slavery to sin. For Jesus called us out of the world to be separate.

 

Our minds should not be set on the things of this world but on things that are from above. We shouldn’t be living according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For, those who live according to the flesh have their minds on the things of the flesh, which ends in death, not life everlasting with God.

 

“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 8:7-8).

 

So, we need our minds renewed of the Spirit of God, not just once but daily. Daily we die to sin and self and we put on Christ and his righteousness and we walk according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh. And we pray for him to change us, and we cooperate with him in his work of grace.

 

And we need to be those who are discerning of the will of God, and we need to be those who are walking in obedience in doing his will. This is not saying we will be perfect, but that we are not to be walking by the flesh but by the Spirit, and daily we are to be allowing God’s Spirit to change us and to conform us to Christ and to his likeness.

 

Romans 12:3 ESV

 

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

 

All this is because of God’s grace to us. We can’t do any of this on our own, in our own flesh. All this is the working of God’s Spirit in our lives as we humble ourselves and we allow God to work in changing our hearts and minds, and to make us more like Jesus.

 

So not one of us should think that we somehow attained something of eternal value on our own. We can’t. But that doesn’t mean we do nothing, and that God does it all. What it means is that we open up our hearts and lives to our Lord to let him change us and transform us and make us more like him and less like us.

 

So, we have no cause to brag that we did this, for we didn’t. If we are walking in holiness, praise God! If we are living according to his will and purpose, then all glory to God! And if we are walking according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh, then praise the name of Jesus! Hallelujah!

 

It is all because of God’s grace that we can even be saved and that we can have the hope of eternal life with God. But his grace trains us to say “No!” to ungodliness and fleshly lusts and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for his return (Tit 2:11-14; cf. Eph 4:17-24; 1 Jn 1:5-9).

 

So, work for the Lord. Do what he says to do. Go where he sends you. Say what he commands you to say. But do so humbly, giving him all the glory and praise for what he has done for you, and for what he is presently doing in and through your life.

 

A Believer’s Prayer

 

An Original Work / July 31, 2012

 

With my whole heart, Lord, I pray

To be Yours, and Yours always.

Lead me in Your truth today.

May I love You, and obey.

Lead me in Your righteousness.

When I sin, may I confess;

Bow before You when I pray;

Live for You and You always.

 

Love You, Jesus, You’re my friend.

Life with You will never end.

You are with me through each day,

Giving love and peace always.

You will ne’er abandon me.

From my sin You set me free.

You died on that cruel tree,

So I’d live eternally.

 

Soon You’re coming back for me;

From this world to set me free;

Live with You eternally.

Oh, what joy that brings to me.

I will walk with You in white;

A pure bride, I’ve been made right

By the blood of Jesus Christ;

Pardoned by His sacrifice.

 

https://vimeo.com/114796263

 

Do You Love Me More?

John 21:15

 

“When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ He said to him, ‘Feed my lambs.’”

 

Now, these words Jesus spoke to Simon Peter after Peter had denied Jesus three times, but also after Peter had repented of his sins. So, Jesus asked him three times if he loved him. Thus, three denials were followed by three affirmations of his love for Jesus.

 

But Jesus wasn’t just asking him if he loved him, but if he loved him “more than these.” And “these” is not specified. But “these” can be anything that we put before Jesus, or that take his place in our hearts, or to which we give our most attention, passion, and devotion.

 

So, according to the Scriptures (the whole counsel of God), it is not unreasonable to say that Jesus is asking us the same question. Do we love “these” (specific to our individual lives) more than we love him? And what is love of God? It is to obey him. So, what do we obey or give loyalty to?

 

Also notice with me what Jesus said to Peter after he verbally acknowledged his love for Jesus. He said, “Feed my sheep.” So, what was he saying? He was/is saying that if we say we love him that we need to show it by what we do in obedience to him. For, love is not what we feel. It’s what we do.

 

And how about us? Are we to feed the Lord’s sheep (his followers)? Yes! Not necessarily in the position of shepherd of the sheep, but in being part of the body of Christ, encouraging one another and building one another up in our faith to maturity in Christ (Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:15-21; Rom 12; 1 Co 12).

 

1 John 2:15-17

 

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”

 

This is not saying that we should not love the people of the world. We should. This is talking about not preferring, and not taking pleasure in, and not esteeming the lusts of the flesh and the lusts of the eyes and the pride of life. The desires and the lusts of the flesh should have no sway in our lives. And they definitely should not be what we give our hearts, passion, loyalties, and devotion to. They should have no part in our lives.

 

So, if we prefer, take pleasure in, esteem and give our loyalties and devotion to the lusts of the flesh and of the eyes, and to the pride of life, then the love of God the Father is not in us. Do you get what this is saying? We can’t live to our flesh and have the love of God in our lives, too.

 

For, all these sinful thoughts and pleasures and desires don’t come from God but from the world and from the evil desires of the hearts of people not surrendered to Jesus Christ. So, this is saying that if we love God, we will hate all that is evil and is of our sinful flesh, so we won’t feed it.

 

So, who has eternal life with God? It is whoever DOES the will of God. It is whoever obeys the Lord and his commandments (New Covenant). It is not those who merely profess faith in Jesus Christ, but it is those who have died and are dying with him to sin and who are living to his righteousness.

 

1 John 3:7, 10

 

“Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.”

 

“By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.”

 

This is not speaking here of our own righteousness, but the righteousness of God which we have as believers in Jesus Christ, but which we must put into practice. It is what is deemed right by the Lord, what is approved in his eyes. It is honesty, uprightness, holiness, morality, and purity of heart.

 

These are the things we must put into practice in our lives. We must be obedient children of the Lord, and we must walk according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh. And we must die with Christ to sin and live to Christ and to his righteousness.

 

We must no longer live in sin, making sin our practice, lying, cheating, stealing, committing adultery, giving false witness, abusing, persecuting, tricking, manipulating and deceiving others. For, love does no deliberate harm to its neighbor.

 

So, the righteous are not those who profess Jesus with their lips, but they are those who put God’s righteousness into practice in their daily lives.

 

2 John 1:6

 

“And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.”

 

Love for God is keeping his commandments (in practice). It is living according to his commandments (New Covenant). It is doing what his word (in context) teaches us who are Jesus’ followers. It is not just words that we say, but it is doing what the Lord requires of us.

 

But this isn’t us, in the flesh, following a set of rules or going through a bunch of routines. This is us, in the Spirit, empowered by the Spirit, doing the works God prepared in advance that we should walk in them. It is us walking (in conduct) according to the Spirit, and not according to the flesh.

 

It is us, the Lord’s sheep, loving our Lord with our whole hearts and wanting nothing more than to please him in all that we do and say. It is us surrendered to his will, submissive to his Lordship, repentant of sin, and walking in fellowship with him, in purity of devotion to him, because we love him.

 

A Believer’s Prayer

 

An Original Work / July 31, 2012

 

With my whole heart, Lord, I pray

To be Yours, and Yours always.

Lead me in Your truth today.

May I love You, and obey.

Lead me in Your righteousness.

When I sin, may I confess;

Bow before You when I pray;

Live for You and You always.

 

Love You, Jesus, You’re my friend.

Life with You will never end.

You are with me through each day,

Giving love and peace always.

You will ne’er abandon me.

From my sin You set me free.

You died on that cruel tree,

So I’d live eternally.

 

Soon You’re coming back for me;

From this world to set me free;

Live with You eternally.

Oh, what joy that brings to me.

I will walk with You in white;

A pure bride, I’ve been made right

By the blood of Jesus Christ;

Pardoned by His sacrifice.

 

https://vimeo.com/114796263

Be Fervent in Serving the Lord

Romans 12:9 ESV

 

“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.”

 

What kind of love? The kind of love that comes from God, that is centered in moral preference, which prefers (chooses) what God prefers, which is what is holy, righteous, godly, moral, honest, faithful, upright, kind, and generous, etc. So, it will do no willful or deliberate harm to another.

 

Let this love not be hypocritical. Don’t try to fake it. Don’t pretend that you love people while you stab them in the back when they aren’t aware of what you are doing. Don’t say “I love you” and then slander, gossip about, and/or plot evil against others. Don’t pretend love just to use other people, either.

 

Instead, abhor what is evil (wicked, malicious). Detest it. Hate it. Want nothing to do with evil. Live a life completely separated from all evil. Have no part in what is evil. And this includes not allowing ourselves to be entertained by evil via music, games, videos, movies, TV shows, sports, etc.

 

Hold fast to what is good. May it stick to you like glue. May you bond with what is good in the eyes of God, and may it become what you are and what you do. May you cleave to it and connect to it in a “soul-knit friendship” (1). May it become your character, your thinking, your believing.

 

And “good” is defined by God, not by humans. For, it originates with God, for only God is truly good. As well, this good is empowered by God in our lives, for we cannot be good in and of ourselves, of our own flesh, which is not good. So, this is what God says is good, which may not agree with humans.

 

Romans 12:10 ESV

 

"Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.”

 

When we love with “brotherly affection,” this does not mean that we cease to love with the love which comes from God, which centers in moral preference, and which prefers what God prefers. So, “brotherly affection” should never be outside the confines of “agape love.”

 

So, we don’t hang out with and join in with those who are engaging themselves in what is evil. We don’t compromise truth or God’s morals or godliness in order to show “brotherly affection” to others. One is not exclusive of the other. This is still the love a Christian should have for one another in the family of God.

 

So, if we truly care about one another with a “brotherly affection,” then what should be upmost on our minds is what is for the good (welfare, benefit) of our brothers and sisters in the Lord. So, we should learn what the Scriptures teach about how we are to show love, one to the other.

 

We are to love our brothers and sisters in Christ as though they are members of our own natural families. And we are to be devoted to loving them in this way, and to treating them just like they are flesh and blood brothers and sisters.

 

And we are to value them, all of them. We should not be saying to a member of the body of Christ “we have no need of you.”

 

But, if they are living in sin, we don’t put them in positions of spiritual leadership or spiritual influence over others, but we work with them, in love, to bring them to repentance and restoration, leading the way for this by our own example of what it means to walk with God.

 

Romans 12:11 ESV

 

“Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.”

 

We are not to be spiritually lazy. Jesus did not put us on this earth and then save us from our sins so that we could go on living for sin and self, with little to no regard for him and what he wants for us and from us. For, he called us to be his holy people, living godly lives pleasing to him.

 

Jesus shed his blood for us on that cross to buy us back for God (to redeem us) so that we would no longer live for sin and self but for the glory of God. He died to free us from our slavery to sin so we would now become slaves of God and of his righteousness (1 Co 6:19-20; 2 Co 5:15; Rom 6:1-23).

 

So, our lives are no longer our own to do what we want, when we want, the way we want. “Retirement” is not in God’s vocabulary. We may retire from a job, but not from living to serve our Lord and to doing his will. If we have been crucified with Christ, we died to self, and now Jesus lives in us.

 

Do you know what this word “fervent” means? “I burn in spirit.” Like boiling water, we are to bubble over in passion for our Lord and for following him in obedience, and for living our lives according to his plan and purpose for our lives, committed to doing whatever he asks of us to do.

 

Romans 12:12 ESV

 

“Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.”

 

We are to rejoice in our hope which is in Jesus Christ, our Lord. And that hope is not just an escape from hell and the forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life with God. For, Jesus died to deliver us from our slavery to sin so we would become slaves of him and his righteousness.

 

Our hope is our salvation and our relationship with our Lord. And we are saved from addiction to sin and from being under the control of sin and Satan, and we are saved to living to God and to his righteousness, and to doing his will for our lives, which will RESULT in eternal life with God.

 

So, please understand this. For, if we continue living in sin and for self, and we don’t bow the knee to Jesus, and we don’t honor him as Lord (master) of our lives, but we continue to go our own way, doing our own thing, it will not result in eternal life with God but in destruction of our lives for eternity.

 

[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; 2 Co 5:10]

 

And if this is the truth that we are believing and living and sharing with others, we will face much tribulation and persecution and rejection. We will be hated, ignored, abandoned, slandered, and falsely accused, etc. But we must be patient in enduring such trials as this for the glory of God.

 

And absolutely we must be constant in prayer. We should have such close relationships with Jesus Christ, in fact, that we can hear him inside our heads 24/7. And we can commune with him any hour of any day or all day throughout our day, for prayer is talking to God and listening to him, too.

 

Romans 12:13 ESV

 

“Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.”

 

Love for God and for others is not in words only. We show our love by what we do. If we see others in need, especially those within the family of God, as God leads, and within our own means, we should reach out to help meet those needs. And determining needs vs wants is important here, too.

 

Finally, the doors of our hearts and our homes should be open to receiving others unselfishly, with a desire to demonstrate God’s love to them.

 

Being Made Right

 

An Original Work / September 8, 2019

 

Jesus, lover of my soul,

Cleansed and saved me,

Made me whole;

Purified me, now new within.

By His grace, I’m free from sin.

 

Holy Spirit lives within,

Teaching me to walk with Him,

Guiding me each step of the way.

Living for my Lord each day.

 

Father God, He is my Lord.

Walk with Him in one accord.

Follow Him wherever He leads,

Living holy, Him to please.

 

Witnessing for Him each day,

Loving others in His way,

Telling them about Jesus Christ,

And how they can be made right.

 

https://vimeo.com/358879480

 

(1)       https://biblehub.com/greek/2853.htm

Trials Which Spare us Harm

James 1:2-4 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.”

 

Count it All Joy

 

When we pray for God’s intervention in our life’s situations, he may not answer our prayers exactly in the way we might have expected. And sometimes that is because our thinking is different from his thinking, i.e., sometimes he is rescuing us by not giving us what we ask for.

 

For example, you may be running late for work, and the traffic is heavy, and so you ask the Lord for the traffic to lighten up so you can get to work soon, but the traffic only gets worse, and so you get delayed. And the date is 9/11/01, and God saved your life because you were late for work.

 

Or, like we were traveling one time and I was driving, and it was snowing, and my husband reminded me that the bridge ices before the road. But then I got on the bridge and the car spun around and landed in a ditch on the side of the road, but to where my husband could get it out of the ditch.

 

We got back on the road, and a little bit down the road there was an accident that had happened that looked fatal for some people. I believe God pulled me over into that ditch to save my life that day, and the lives of my family members. I can’t prove it, obviously, but I believe that is what he did.

 

So, skidding on the ice and landing in the ditch was a trial, especially since the next morning when it was a wind chill factor of 50 degrees below zero, and we were supposed to be someplace early in the morning, after my husband changed one flat tire, he discovered that two of our tires were flat. But they didn’t go flat the whole drive from North Carolina to Northern Ohio.

 

So, God’s plans were different from our plans. And he worked things out according to his plans and for our good. So, delays or roadblocks that keep us from doing what we think is something good, but not God’s best, while they may be a trial, God is answering our prayers, just not in the way we expected. And he may be sparing us from some kind of harm, too.

 

James 1:12 ESV

 

“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.”

 

Assumed Good vs. God’s Best

 

Some trials are short-lived. Some last a lot longer. And some last a lifetime. Some are minor or mild. Others are much harder. And some are severe. But no matter what the trial is, God is sovereign over our lives. He has all things planned out for us according to his will and purposes.

 

So, if we are praying for God to work in a particular way, and it isn’t out of the realm of his revealed will for us that he should answer our request, still he may not answer in the specific way we are asking because he knows things we don’t know, and sometimes he is sparing us a greater trial.

 

If I am praying a particular direction, and I know Scripture supports that prayer, that it is within God’s revealed will, but perhaps I am headed a direction God doesn’t want me to go, or that he knows is not going to be safe for me at this time, then he may not give me what I ask, for he is sparing me something else that might have happened if he had answered me as I had hoped he would. For, he can see the future. We can’t.

 

So, we should never force the issue. If we don’t get the answer that we expected, then we need to yield to God’s perfect will and to his judgment in the matter. Even if what we wanted to do was a good thing in our way of thinking, it may not be what God wants. So, we just need to let go and let God, and just rest in him that he knows best.

 

Sometimes God allows these trials in our lives to test our faith, kind of like he did with Job. And this is for our maturity. It is for our spiritual growth. Through such trials our Lord Jesus makes us stronger and bolder in our witness and more determined to follow our Lord in full obedience.

 

So, we need to pray that we will have the right responses to our trials and that we will not falter, but that we will trust the Lord that he knows best and that he has a plan and a purpose for it all in our lives. We need to trust his judgment and his decisions and not our own.

 

And then we just need to obey him in wherever he leads us and be willing to not be able to do what we thought would be good if God deems it is not good for us, or not good for us at this specific time. For, again, he could be sparing us from much worse. So, we trust him. And we rest in his wisdom.

 

In the Hour of Trial

 

Lyrics by James Montgomery (1771-1854)

Music by Spencer Lane (1843-1903)

 

In the hour of trial, Jesus, pray for me,

Lest by base denial, I depart from Thee;

When Thou seest me waver, with a look recall,

Nor for fear or favor suffer me to fall.

 

With its witching pleasures, would this vain world charm

Or its sordid treasures spread to work me harm,

Bring to my remembrance sad Gethsemane

Or, in darker semblance, cross-crowned Calvary.

 

If with sore affliction, Thou in love chastise,

Pour Thy benediction on the sacrifice.

Then upon Thine altar, freely offered up,

Though the flesh may falter, faith shall drink the cup.

 

When in dust and ashes, to the grave I sink,

While heaven’s glory flashes o’er the shelving brink,

On Thy truth relying, through that mortal strife,

Lord, receive me, dying, to eternal life.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-mEtvA434U

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When Others Revile You

Matthew 5:10-12 ESV

 

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

 

So, what does it mean to be persecuted for righteousness’ sake? Is it just because we claim to be Christians or Jesus followers? Is it because Christians (or professing Christians) attend church services on Sundays? Is it because those who call themselves Christians read their Bibles and pray?

 

First, what is righteousness? It is the approval of God. It is what is deemed right by the Lord, i.e., what is approved in his eyes. So, what meets with God’s approval? What is deemed right in his eyes? Titus 2:11-14 says:

 

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.”

 

That says it right there. This is the message all throughout the New Testament. It was for this reason that Jesus gave his life up for us on that cross, that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness (1 Pet 1:24; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24).

 

And it is the reason we are being persecuted for righteousness’ sake. It is the reason that people hate, reject, mistreat, scheme evil against, abuse, falsely accuse, slander, beat, falsely imprison, and kill followers of Jesus Christ, because we are living righteously in God’s power. See this:

 

“Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 Jn 3:7-8).

 

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. (Jn 15:18-20; cf. Matt 24:9; Lu 21:12).

 

As followers of Jesus Christ, we are being made to be like him. Our lives are to be modeled after his life. We are to speak and do the kinds of things that he said and did when he walked the face of the earth, not in our own strength, but in the strength and power of God’s Spirit who lives within us.

 

The more we become like Jesus and we live the kind of life that he lived, the more that we will be hated and rejected by others, as he was hated and rejected. And who were Jesus’ greatest persecutors? They were his family, friends, neighbors, fellow Israelites (God’s people) and the temple rulers.

 

So, don’t be surprised if your greatest persecutors are family, friends, neighbors, fellow Christians (or professing Christians), and pastors and elders in the church (or in the institutional church). For, the church at large, but not the whole, at least in America, has gone the way of the world.

 

And since we are called out of the world, to be separate (unlike, different) from the world of sin, the world and worldly Christians are not going to be united with us in heart and mind. They will think us odd, crazy, hyper-religious, self-righteous and/or legalistic. They won’t be particularly comfortable being around us.

 

Some of them will just ignore us. Others will go on the offensive against us. Some will be mild in their objections, while others’ objections will be expressed in much more severe ways. And sometimes we will feel as though we are all alone, but not believing that God has abandoned us, though.

 

But we are blessed of God. We have salvation from our slavery to sin, and empowerment of the Holy Spirit to live godly and holy lives, pleasing to God. And we have the Holy Spirit as our helper, giving us strength and encouragement, guiding us in the way that we should go, and counseling and comforting us in our sorrow and in our suffering.

 

And we have the hope of eternal life with God and a better home than this earth where there will be no more sin, no sickness, no rejection, and no persecution. And He will wipe away all the tears from our eyes that we have cried because of persecution and because of grieving for those who are lost.

 

A Believer’s Prayer

 

An Original Work / July 31, 2012

 

With my whole heart, Lord, I pray

To be Yours, and Yours always.

Lead me in Your truth today.

May I love You, and obey.

Lead me in Your righteousness.

When I sin, may I confess;

Bow before You when I pray;

Live for You and You always.

 

Love You, Jesus, You’re my friend.

Life with You will never end.

You are with me through each day,

Giving love and peace always.

You will ne’er abandon me.

From my sin You set me free.

You died on that cruel tree,

So I’d live eternally.

 

Soon You’re coming back for me;

From this world to set me free;

Live with You eternally.

Oh, what joy that brings to me.

I will walk with You in white;

A pure bride, I’ve been made right

By the blood of Jesus Christ;

Pardoned by His sacrifice.

 

https://vimeo.com/114796263

Saved for Good Works

Ephesians 2:1-3 ESV

 

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience — among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

 

So many people quote Ephesians 2:8-9 out of its context, so the Lord wants us to see the context here so that we understand those two verses within the proper context and meaning. For Scriptures removed from their context are often misrepresented and are used as proof texts for false teachings.

 

The first half of the first sentence of vv 1-3 is so telling! As believers in Jesus Christ, we WERE (past tense) dead (spiritually) in the trespasses (swerving aside, fall) and sins (evil deeds) in which we ONCE (past tense) walked (conducted our lives in practice).

 

So, when we believe in Jesus Christ, we die with Christ to sin and we are raised with Christ to newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. For, Jesus died that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness (Rom 6:1-23; Eph 4:17-24).

 

We ONCE (past tense) followed the course (patterns, ways) of this world, following the devil. We are not now to be following the ways of this world, or following after the devil, or living in deliberate and habitual (addictive) sin against God and other humans. For, we died with Christ to sin.

 

We ONCE (past tense) lived (past tense) in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the sinful desires of the body and the mind, and thus we were (past tense) by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

 

So, this is what the life of a genuine believer in Jesus Christ should look like from the start, and it should continue in the same way. This is not saying that we will be perfect, but that we should no longer be living like we did before we believed in Jesus. We should no longer be slaves to sin.

 

We should no longer be walking (conducting our lives) according to the flesh, but we should be walking (in practice) according to the Spirit. Sin should no longer be our master. Jesus is to be our only Lord and master, and we are to live in obedience to him, not in disobedience.

 

Ephesians 2:4-7 ESV

 

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved — and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

 

Before Jesus saved us, we were dead in our sins, living to please the passions of our flesh, following the ways of this sinful world, living under the control of Satan and the flesh. So, we did nothing to earn or to deserve our own salvation. We are only saved by God’s grace, because he loved us.

 

But look at what this says, and then go back and read the first three verses again. It says that God made us alive together with Christ. And then read Romans 6, also. For, we have to first die with Christ to sin before we can be made alive with Christ, and this is why living for sin and self is now past tense. It is the way we ONCE lived, not how we should now live.

 

And then read Ephesians 4:17-24:

 

“Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.

 

“But that is not the way you learned Christ! — ASSUMING that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the TRUTH is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

 

The truth that is in Christ Jesus instructs us that we must put away our former life of living for sin and self, which is corrupt through deceitful desires, and we are to be renewed in the spirit (heart, essence) of our minds (thinking, believing), and we are to put on (apply to our lives) the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

 

We are not to continue living in sin like we did before, for if we do, we will die in our sins. We will not inherit eternal life with God (Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Lu 9:23-26; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8).

 

Ephesians 2:8-10 ESV

 

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

 

So, yes, it is only by God’s grace that we are saved through faith, and this is not of our own doing. None of it is our own doing. We can’t even come to faith in Jesus Christ unless God the Father first draws us to Christ (Jn 6:44). And the word “faith” means to be persuaded (convinced) by God.

 

Thus, since our salvation from sin comes from God, and the faith to believe comes from God, for none of this is of ourselves, then the faith we have will submit to Christ as Lord. We will surrender our lives to Jesus Christ and die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, for this is the purpose for which he gave his life up for us (Rom 6:1-23; 1 Pet 2:24).

 

And what is the gift? It is the gift of faith and it is the gift of salvation from sin. But what are we saved from? And what are we saved to? We are saved from our slavery (addiction) to sin that we might be slaves of God and of his righteousness. For, we die with Christ to sin that we may live with Christ to his righteousness.

 

Not a result of works? Not a result of our own works, our own deeds, of our own doing, of our own fleshly decisions. We can’t, in our flesh, be ever good enough to receive salvation from sin and eternal life with God. But our faith is not absent of works (v. 10).

 

Instead of doing our own works, trying to earn our salvation by our own good deeds, our Lord saves us by his grace, through the faith gifted to us by God, which is persuaded of God as to his holiness and righteousness, and as to his divine will and purpose for our lives.

 

And now we are God’s workmanship, his doing, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk (conduct our lives in practice) in them (Eph 2:10; 1 Co 15:58; 2 Co 9:8; Gal 5:6; Phil 2:12-13; Col 1:9-14; 2 Thess 1:11-12; 2 Tim. 2:21; Tit 2:11-14; Jn 15:1-11; Tit 3:8; Jas 2:17).

 

And we are also going to be judged by our works. For, if we sow to please the flesh, of the flesh we will reap destruction. But if we sow to please the Spirit, of the Spirit we will reap eternal life with God.

 

[Rom 2:6-8; Gal 6:7-8; 2 Co 5:10; 1 Co 6:9-10; Rev. 2-3; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Rom 6:16; Rom 8:1-17; Jn 15:1-11; 1 Jn 2:3-6]

 

Therefore, Ephesians 2:8-9 is NOT teaching that we do nothing, or that if we do forsake our former lives of living for sin and self, and if we are walking in obedience to our Lord, in submission to his will, that we are trying to earn or to deserve our own salvation. It just means we are doing the works that God planned for us in advance that we should walk in them, in his power.

 

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.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZJrS9ppeWk

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Choosing Rather to Be

Hebrews 11:6 ESV

 

“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”

 

Faith is not some innocuous (lacking in qualities that stimulate or challenge) belief in God – Father, Son (Jesus Christ) and Holy Spirit. We can’t just say we believe and then go on with our lives without that faith stimulating and challenging us to change, and without it affecting change in our lives.

 

[Lu 9:23-26; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Jn 1:5-9]

 

For one, we can’t even believe in Jesus Christ unless God the Father first draws us to Christ, i.e., unless God persuades us as to his will for our lives (Jn 6:35-58). So, this faith comes from God (Eph 2:8-10), and thus it submits to God and to his divine will and purpose for our lives.

 

And what is the goal of this faith? It is to please God. And we don’t please him if all we do is acknowledge him and his sacrifice for our sins, but we don’t surrender our lives to him to allow him to work in our lives to change us, to transform us, and to make us into his likeness (Eph 4:17-24).

 

Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. For, they are those who have their minds set on the flesh and not on the Spirit, who are living to please themselves, and are not living to do what pleases God.

 

Therefore, the mind set on the flesh is death, for it is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot (See: Rom 8:1-17).

 

And do you know that whoever sows to please their flesh, that from their flesh they will reap destruction? But whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life (Gal 6:7-8; cf. Rom 2:6-8; 2 Co 5:10).

 

So, we make it our goal to please the Lord, and we find out what pleases Him, so that we can do it, and we live a life worthy of the Lord, by his grace, and we seek to please him in every way, bearing fruit in every good work, and we live by the Spirit in order to please Him, in his strength.

 

[Rom 8:8; 2 Co 5:9; Gal 6:8; Eph 5:10; Col 1:9-11; 1 Thes 2:4; 1 Thes 4:1; 2 Tim 2:4; Heb 11:6; Heb 13:6; 1 Jn 3:22]

 

Hebrews 11:24-28 ESV

 

“By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.”

 

This is a wonderful picture here of what genuine faith in Jesus Christ should look like. We are to refuse to be children of the kingdoms of this world, too. We are to no longer live according to our flesh, but now according to the Spirit. We are no longer to live for the pleasures of this world, but we are to live to please God with our lives (Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24).

 

We are to no longer live to please our flesh or the world. Rather, by living to please God, we open ourselves up wide to be hated and persecuted by the people of the world, and by worldly-minded Christians, too. For, even within the gatherings of the church, holy living is not being taught much today.

 

The church, overall, has gotten so worldly that many are rejecting those among them who are choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. So, they accuse them of being over-zealous for God or hyper-religious or self-serving or legalistic.

 

But for those of us who are being treated this way because we choose to serve our Lord with our lives, and not the flesh, we are to have this same attitude as Moses had. We are to consider the reproach of Christ of greater worth than the treasures and pleasures this world has to offer us.

 

For, indeed, we are being mistreated because of our faith in Jesus Christ, and we are being treated like Jesus Christ was treated, because we are his followers. But our rewards are eternal, not of this world. Our rewards are everlasting, not of this world which is perishing.

 

So, by faith in Jesus Christ, we obey our Lord by coming out of the world and by being separate (unlike the world), because we are being made into the image of Christ, our Lord. And we don’t fear the anger of church leaders, friends, family, or the government, but we endure persecution for the sake of the name of Jesus and for the sake of his gospel.

 

For, by faith in Jesus Christ, we died with Christ to sin so that we would live in it no longer. And we were resurrected with Christ to newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. And so we now live to please God with our lives, and we walk according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh (Eph 4:17-24; Rom 8:1-17; Rom 6).

 

And now we have eternal life with God, and we will not die in our sins. And all of this is because of God’s grace to us, and because Jesus Christ died on that cross to deliver us out of our slavery to sin and to empower us to become slaves of his righteousness. By his grace we are saved. Amen!

 

The Lily of the Valley

 

Lyrics by Charles W. Fry, 1881

Music by William H. Hays, 1871, arr. Charles W. Fry, 1881

 

I’ve found a friend in Jesus, He’s everything to me,

He’s the fairest of ten thousand to my soul;

The Lily of the Valley, in Him alone I see

All I need to cleanse and make me fully whole.

In sorrow He’s my comfort, in trouble He’s my stay;

He tells me every care on Him to roll.

 

He all my grief has taken, and all my sorrows borne;

In temptation He’s my strong and mighty tow’r;

I’ve all for Him forsaken, and all my idols torn

From my heart and now He keeps me by His pow’r.

Though all the world forsake me, and Satan tempt me sore,

Through Jesus I shall safely reach the goal.

 

He’ll never, never leave me, nor yet forsake me here,

While I live by faith and do His blessed will;

A wall of fire about me, I’ve nothing now to fear,

From His manna He my hungry soul shall fill.

Then sweeping up to glory to see His blessed face,

Where rivers of delight shall ever roll.

 

He’s the Lily of the Valley, the Bright and Morning Star,

He’s the fairest of ten thousand to my soul.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QS6KMx_0NDQ

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