Grace Upon Grace

John 1:14-18 ESV

 

“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. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, ‘This was he of whom I said, “He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.”’) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.”

 

Jesus Christ is God

 

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was with God in the beginning, and he is God, and he is our creator God. He is our Messiah, the Christ, the Savior of the world. He left his throne in heaven, came to earth, took on human form, lived among the people on the earth, and he ministered to their needs.

 

Jesus Christ, because he was God, spoke the exact words of God to the people, and he taught them that they must come to him for their salvation from sin and for eternal life with God. And he taught them that they must die with him to their sins, and that they must follow him in obedience.

 

For, he said, if they held on to their old lives (of living for sin and self) that they would lose them for eternity. But if they lost their lives for his sake, i.e., if they died with him to sin and lived to him and to his righteousness, then they would have life eternal with God.

 

Not everyone loved him, though. Not everyone accepted his messages or his ministry on the earth. He had many enemies, primarily those who were the religious rulers and/or influencers within the temple of God, who knew and who taught the Scriptures, so they knew of the Messiah to come.

 

But Jesus’ enemies would not accept him as their Messiah. And they turned many of the people away from him, too. And they were responsible for making sure that he was put to death on a cross, because they wanted to put an end to him, and to his message, and to his ministry.

 

Full of Grace and Truth

 

So, they hung Jesus Christ on a cross to die, but this was the will of God that Jesus should die for the sins of the world. For, when he died, he who knew no sin became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God. In his death, thus, he put our sins to death so that we might no longer live to sin and to self, but so that we would now live for the glory of God.

 

And when God the Father raised Jesus from the dead, Jesus rose victorious over death, hell, Satan, and sin on our behalf so that we could die with him to sin, and so that we would be resurrected with him to newness of life in him, and so that we would now live holy lives, pleasing to God.

 

Now, through God-given and God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin, and we are born anew of the Spirit of God, we are delivered from our slavery to sin, and now, by the grace of God, we are able to become slaves to God and to his righteousness.

 

Now we walk (in practice, in conduct) according to the Spirit of God and no longer according to our flesh. For, if we deliberately continue living in habitual sin, and if we do not repent of our sinful practices, and if we do not become those who practice righteousness, we will not inherit eternal life.

 

For, God’s grace to us is not just forgiveness of sins and the hope of heaven when we die. His grace trains us to say “No!” to ungodliness and fleshly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s soon return.

 

Law and Grace

 

As followers of Jesus Christ, we are under the New Covenant relationship God has with his people. The Old Covenant God had with the Jewish people was done away with when Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, and he made both Jew and Gentile one in Christ, via faith in Christ.

 

So, as followers of Jesus, we are not subject to all the ceremonial, liturgical, sacrificial, and purification laws of the Old Covenant. But the New Covenant is not “lawless.” We are still subject to obeying our Lord’s commands, which are his moral laws, which never went away.

 

Under the New Covenant we must turn away from our lifestyles of sin, and we must follow Jesus in obedience to his teachings, and to the teachings of the New Testament apostles, which are directed to us who follow Jesus. And we must conduct our lives according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh if we want salvation from sin and eternal life with God.

 

So, if anyone is trying to tell you that God’s grace requires no repentance (turning from sin), no obedience to Christ, and no surrender to Jesus as Lord, then don’t listen to them. If they are trying to convince you that you can be saved and on your way to heaven but that God no longer sees when you sin and so you can keep on living in sin, know that is a lie from hell.

 

Yes, we are saved only by God’s grace, through God-given faith in Jesus Christ, and this is not of ourselves or of our own works lest we should boast that we did something to earn our own salvation. But Jesus died that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness.

 

He not only delivers us from bondage to sin, but he empowers us to live righteously in his power and strength. So, it all comes from the Lord, so all the glory goes to God and not to ourselves, because we can’t walk according to the Spirit in our flesh, but only in the power of God’s Holy Spirit.

 

[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; 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; 1 Co 6:9-10, 19-20; 2 Co 5:10, 15; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 3:4-10]

 

He Reached Down  

 

An Original Work / February 3, 2014

Based off Psalm 18

 

How I love You, Lord, my Rock and my strength.

My God is my fortress; I hide in Him.

He is my shield and the horn of

My salvation, whom I praise.

I have found my refuge in Him.

 

He reached down from heaven and rescued me;

Drew me out of waters so deep, I’d sink.

He delivered me from Satan

And my slavery to sin;

Gave me hope of heaven with Him.

 

My God turned my darkness into His light;

Opened up my blinded eyes; gave me sight.

As for God, his way is perfect.

He gives strength to stand secure.

I have found my vict’ry in Him.

 

My Lord lives! Praise be to my Savior God,

Jesus Christ, who died on a cruel cross.

He is my Rock and the source

Of my salvation, whom I trust.

I will give praise always to Him.

 

https://vimeo.com/86346545

The Favor of the Lord

Psalms 90:12-17 ESV

 

“So teach us to number our days

    that we may get a heart of wisdom.

Return, O Lord! How long?

    Have pity on your servants!

Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,

    that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,

    and for as many years as we have seen evil.

Let your work be shown to your servants,

    and your glorious power to their children.

Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,

    and establish the work of our hands upon us;

    yes, establish the work of our hands!”

 

Numbering Our Days

 

None of us knows if we have tomorrow. We may not even make it through the night. We may live to be 70 years old or older, or we may die very young. The number of our days on this earth is not guaranteed us. So, we should not take for granted the time that we have been given.

 

Thus, we need the Lord to teach us to “number our days,” to take to heart the brevity of life, the uncertainty of how much time we have been given, and the consequences of a life not well spent, and then to consider how best we should be spending the time that we have been given on this earth.

 

Far too many people, even many who claim to be Christians, are wasting their lives away on frivolity, entertainment, jokes, games, movies, partying, play time, laziness, senselessness, and sinful addictions (practices). Not all of these are bad, but if not sinful, they can just be a waste of time.

 

So, if we are numbering our days, we are giving serious and careful consideration to how we are spending our days, and if what we are doing is worthwhile, or if what we are doing is sinful and/or wasteful of the precious time God has given to us to live our lives for his glory and praise.

 

Thus, the bottom line here, I believe, in numbering our days, is to ask ourselves if our lives are fully surrendered to the Lord. Is he owner-master of our lives? Is he the one “calling the shots,” or are we still the ones determining our own steps and going our own way?

 

A Heart of Wisdom

 

So, the object of us “numbering our days” is that we may get a heart of wisdom. So, how does this happen? It can only happen if we take the exercise seriously and if, in the process, we allow the Holy Spirit to convict our hearts of any sinful practices or wasteful time.

 

And, then once he has pointed out to us the ways in which we are sinning against him, and where we are wasting away precious time, then we need to act on what he has shown us. We need to forsake all sinful practices, and we must stop being wasteful of the time we have been given on this earth.

 

Now, I am not saying that we can’t ever relax, or have fun, or play games, or watch something decent. But I am saying what the Word of God says, and that is that Jesus needs to be Lord of our lives, and our lives need to be surrendered to him, and he should be the one directing our steps.

 

We need to take into serious consideration that our lives, as believers in Jesus, are no longer our own. We were bought back for God with Jesus’ blood shed on that cross for our sins so that we would now honor God with our lives and live for him and not for ourselves.

 

And we need to walk (conduct our lives) in the wisdom of God and not in the wisdom of this sinful world or of our sinful flesh. Jesus and his Word should be our road map for the way we live our lives and for what we do with our time, and our road map should not be determined by the flesh of man.

 

His Steadfast Love

 

If we are not among those who believe in Jesus Christ with God-given faith, and/or if our faith in Jesus Christ was of our flesh and not of the Spirit of God, and thus it did not bear the fruit of righteousness, and/or if we believed in Jesus Christ with genuine faith, but we have since wandered from that pure faith, God’s love and grace are available to us to restore us.

 

But God’s love and grace are not free license to us to deliberately continue living in habitual sin. God’s love and grace deliver us out of our slavery to sin and they put sin to death in our lives so that we can now be slaves to God and to his righteousness, for his glory and praise.

 

Thus, if we deliberately continue living in habitual sin against God, his love and grace do not apply to our lives. And I am not saying that there can’t ever be a time in our Christian lives where we wander and need to be brought back to the Lord, but that the Scriptures are quite definite on the fact that those who live according to the flesh will die in their sins.

 

Thus, the Scriptures teach that the truth that is in Christ Jesus is that we must forsake (put off) our old lives of living to sin and self, and we must be transformed in heart and mind of the Spirit of God, and we must now walk (in conduct) according to the Spirit, and not according to the flesh if we want salvation from our sins and eternal life with God.

 

For, God’s grace, which brings salvation, trains us to say “NO!” to ungodliness and fleshly lusts and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s soon return. And His grace frees us from our slavery to sin and it empowers us to walk in obedience to our Lord.

 

[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; 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; 1 Co 6:9-10, 19-20; 2 Co 5:10, 15; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 3:4-10]

 

The Great Redeemer

 

Lyrics by Francis Foster, 1915

Music by Samuel W. Beazley, 1915

 

How I love the great Redeemer

Who is doing so much for me;

With what joy I tell the story

Of the love that makes men free.

Till my earthly life is ended,

I will send songs above,

Then beside the crystal sea

More and more my soul shall be

Praising Jesus and His love.

 

He has purchased my redemption,

Rolled my burden of sin away,

And is walking on beside me,

Growing dearer day by day.

That is why I sing His praises,

That is why joy is mine,

That is why forevermore

On the everlasting shore

I shall sing of love divine.

 

Glory be to Him forever!

Endless praises to Christ the Lamb!

He has filled my life with sunshine,

He has made me what I am.

Oh, that everyone would know Him,

Oh, that all would adore!

Oh, that all would trust the love

Of the mighty Friend above

And be His forevermore.

 

He is everything to me, to me,

He is everything to me,

And everything shall always be;

I will never cease to raise

A song of gladness in His praise;

Here, and in the world above,

My soul shall sing of saving love;

Life and light and joy is He,

The precious Friend who died for me.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MD-LJGRnUZY

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Not for Our Own Pleasure

Teach the Word

2 Timothy 4:1-2 ESV

 

“I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.”

 

We who believe in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives are all called of God to share the light of the gospel with others. For, we are the light of the world and the salt of the earth, and we are to share the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light.

 

But the gospel message isn’t just that Jesus died on a cross one day many years ago in order to take on our sins and to put them to death so that we could be forgiven our sins, escape hell, and go to heaven when we die. And we don’t receive this salvation by a mere confession of faith in him.

 

Jesus died to free us from our slavery to sin, so we would become slaves to him and to his righteousness. He died that we would die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, and so we would no longer live for ourselves but for Him who gave his life up for us.

 

He died on that cross to redeem us (to buy us back for God) so that we would now glorify God with our lives, and so we would now walk (in conduct, in practice) according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh, and so we would be God’s possession to serve him with our lives.

 

The gospel we should have all been taught is that we are to put away our old lives of living for sin and self, be changed in heart and mind of the Spirit of God, and now we must walk in obedience to our Lord, doing what he says, going where he sends us, and saying whatever he gives us to say.

 

Our lives are no longer our own, to be lived however we want, for we were bought back for God with the blood of Christ shed on the cross for our sins. Now we are to live our lives to please our Lord in all that we do, and we are to be saying “No!” to sin and “Yes!” to God every day.

 

For, if after we have professed faith in Jesus Christ, we continue deliberately in making sin our practice (habit), and righteousness is not what we practice, we will die in our sins, not have eternal life with God.

 

[Matt 5:13-16; 1 Pet 2:9; Rom 6:1-23; 1 Pet 2:24; 2 Co 5:15; 1 Co 6:19-20; Rom 8:1-17; Tit 2:11-14; Eph 4:17-24; Lu 9:23-26; Gal 5:16-21]

 

Having Itching Ears

2 Timothy 4:3-4 ESV

 

“For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”

 

This time has already come. Most people, it seems, are not enduring sound teaching (doctrine), but they are accumulating for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and they are definitely turning away from listening to the truth, and they are wandering off to follow after myths (lies).

 

A cheapened, adulterated and altered version of the gospel of God’s grace is permeating today’s church, and it appears the vast majority of those professing faith in Jesus Christ are following after the lies, and they are strongly rejecting the truth of the gospel and its messengers.

 

These teachers of this adulterated gospel are telling people that they can “believe” in Jesus, although “belief” is rarely defined, and that now heaven is secured for them no matter what, and that it can never be taken away from them, no matter how much they sin from that point forward.

 

But that is a twisting of God’s grace. For, Jesus died on that cross to deliver us out of our slavery to sin so that we would now live according to his ways and purposes for our lives. He didn’t die to forgive us our sins so that we could now continue deliberately living in sin guilt free.

 

It is not God’s grace if it leaves us still in bondage (addiction) to sin, still living for ourselves, doing whatever we want to do, and with no requirements for repentance, obedience, and submission to Christ as Lord (owner-master) of our lives. That is hopeless!

 

Yet, many of these false teachers of the gospel are teaching a diluted gospel to appeal to the itching ears of those who want a gospel to suit their own fleshly passions, for that is truly what that gospel is about. For, it does not put sin to death in the life of the sinner, but it leaves him still dead in sin.

 

So, please know the truth. Jesus died to free us from our slavery to sin so that we would now be slaves of his righteousness. If we continue living in sin, deliberately, we will die in our sins, not have eternal life with God.

 

[Lu 9:23-26; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:7; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10]

 

Be Sober-Minded

2 Timothy 4:5 ESV

 

“As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

 

The Christian life is not all fun and games, bells and whistles, entertainment galore, getting what we want, throwing a party, and living like we did before we “believed” in Jesus. It is dying with Christ to sin, suffering for the sake of righteousness, and living for Jesus Christ for the glory of God.

 

It is not all about us, and what Jesus did for us, and what God can do for us, but it is about Jesus Christ/God and his glory, and us submitting to him, and us living for him and for his righteousness, and us doing his will, and us obeying his commands, and us forsaking our sins.

 

This doesn’t mean we go around with frowns on our faces all the time or that we can never laugh or have fun (appropriate, decent), but it does mean that we take God and his word and life seriously, and we take sin seriously, and we no longer walk in sin, but we now walk according to God’s Spirit.

 

And it means we live for the Lord and not for ourselves, and that Jesus truly is our owner-master, and that he has full power over our lives, and that we follow him in living how he requires and desires that we live for his purposes and for his glory and praise.

 

For we were not put on this earth for our own pleasure, but in order that we would please our Lord in all that we do. We see our lives as no longer our own, and we follow Jesus and his leading in our lives in doing what he has called, equipped, trained, and empowered us to do for his praise.

 

He Gives Purpose  

 

An Original Work / June 9, 2012

 

“Listen to Me when I’m calling to you.

Obey freely My word.

Follow Me in all of My ways.

Do all that I say.

Hear Me gently whisper to you

My will for your life and future.

Give all of your life and heart to

Follow Me always.”

 

Repent of your sins and worship Jesus.

He’s your Lord and Master.

He died for your sins so you could

Live with Him today.

He has a plan for your life and

He gives purpose and direction.

He gives meaning to your life,

So, follow Him today.

 

“I love you so much I gave My life for

You to walk in My ways,

Living for Me each day as you

Bow to Me and pray.

Witness for Me of your love for Me and

Of My grace and mercy,

How I died to save you of your

Sins now and always.”

 

https://vimeo.com/119038798

According to the Gift of God's Grace

No Pride!

Ephesians 3:7-10 ESV

 

“Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.”

 

There should be no pride coming from those who are sharing the gospel with others, as though this all came from ourselves. We can’t even come to faith in Jesus Christ unless God the Father draws us to Christ. And even the faith to believe in Jesus is a gift from God. And Jesus Christ is the founder and the perfecter of our faith, not us. So, none of this is of ourselves.

 

And some of us, if we look at our lives, and where we were either before we believed in Jesus, and/or where we ended up if we ever strayed from our pure devotion to him at any time, we must realize how totally undeserving we are of God’s grace, and of his calling, of his forgiveness, and of his assignments he has given to us to carry his gospel to the world about us.

 

Now, this is not saying that people don’t share the gospel in the flesh. I am certain that some (or many) do. I am also certain that many who share the gospel in the flesh also distort the gospel of Jesus Christ to make it more appealing to the flesh and to the people of the world, and so it is a half-truth gospel they share, and a half-truth is a lie.

 

But what I know with great certainty is that, if we were made ministers of the gospel by the grace of God, and if this gift was given to us by the working of the power of God, if we operate in that gift, it will be the Holy Spirit working through us guiding us in what to say (or to write), and this won’t be coming from our own flesh.

 

Also, if this gift is from God, and if this gift was given us by the working of God’s power, we are not going to be sharing a diluted gospel message intended to appease human flesh, but we will be sharing the fulness of the true gospel of grace, in the power of God’s Spirit, for the glory of God, and for the genuine conversion of human souls.

 

[Jn 6:44; Eph 2:8-10; Heb 12:1-2; Rom 6:1-23; Eph 4:17-24; Lu 9:23-26]

 

God’s Eternal Purpose

Ephesians 3:11-13 ESV

 

“This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.”

 

God has an eternal purpose for each one of us, much of which is a collective purpose, but he also has individual assignments for us, too. For, we are all members of the body of Christ, through faith in Jesus Christ, but we are not all the same part. We don’t all have the same function. But each part is critical to the working and the maturity of the whole body.

 

For example, in 2004, God called me to write down what he was teaching me through his word and to place it on the internet so that the internet could “run with it.” By 2006, he had called me to this ministry full-time, and he was having me write pretty much every day. Then he began to add songs to every writing, and then he eventually had me write songs.

 

This is my part in the body. It is not any better than or any less than any other part, but it is uniquely my assignment from the Lord. And my part is part of the universal body of Christ, not confined to only a local body of Christ, although that is where I served the Lord for most of my life, for he called me to teach his word when I was a teenager.

 

But whatever our part is in the body of Christ, we are equipped and empowered to do those ministries in the power of God’s Spirit, not in our own flesh. God doesn’t call us and then throw us out there, and we are on our own to figure it out for ourselves. His Spirit will guide and direct us in what to do, and he will empower and strengthen us to do his work, too.

 

Through His Spirit

Ephesians 3:14-19 ESV

 

“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

Because of God’s grace, and because Paul was called of God, and he was empowered of God’s Spirit, and he was being led by the Spirit of God and given the words God wanted him to share with the people, therefore he had the boldness to approach the throne of grace, and to find the help he needed, and to speak the word of God he wrote in the Scriptures.

 

But also because of what the Lord was doing in and through his life, for the glory of God, and for the salvation of human lives, he was also suffering much persecution for the gospel of Christ, too. But he willingly suffered much for the sake of the gospel, for the salvation of souls, and for the freedom of people from their bondage to sin.

 

But Paul wasn’t disconnected from the people with whom he was sharing the gospel. He prayed for them. He pleaded for them to God. And he was deeply concerned that they walk according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh. He was concerned for their walks of faith and for their maturity in Christ and for their obedience to the word of the Lord.

 

So, he prayed for their encouragement, and for them to be strengthened with power through God’s Spirit, and that they would grow in their faith, and be being rooted and grounded in God’s love, and that they would comprehend the fulness of God’s love for them, but not the way many are teaching it today, but according to the Scriptures.

 

For, this love isn’t feelings oriented. Love for God is to obey him. Love for others is to do good to them and to not deliberately sin against them, especially not habitually. And God’s love for us delivers us out of our slavery to sin so that we can be his slaves, and slaves of righteousness. For, his love doesn’t put a “Band-Aid” over our sin.

 

To God be the Glory!

Ephesians 3:20-21 ESV

 

“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

 

Jesus didn’t die on that cross just so we could be forgiven our sins, be delivered from hell, and so we could go to heaven when we die. He died that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness. For, his goal for us is that we be fully surrendered to him, as living sacrifices, living lives which are holy and pleasing to him, for his praise and glory.

 

The Way That He Loves

 

By W. Elmo Mercer

 

Scripture: I John 3:1; I John 3:16

 

The way that He loves is as deep as the sea,

His spirit shall be my stay.

The way that He loves is as pure as a rose,

Much sweeter He grows each day.

His peace hovers near like a dove.

I know there’s a heaven above.

To Jesus I cling, life’s a wonderful thing

Because of the way He loves.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFDAc6m2V8g

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Fiery Trials to Test You

Don’t Be Surprised!

1 Peter 4:12-13 ESV

 

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.”

 

A fiery trial is not a small thing. Although little trials sometimes try our faith more than greater trials, probably because we prepare ourselves for the big ones, and the little ones often catch us off guard, still it is the more severe trials which are being referred to here which God uses to refine us.

 

The types of trials being referred to here are said to be those which cause us to share in the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings. So, they would be suffering like he did. And he suffered for being the Son of God, for teaching the people the truth of the gospel, and for telling people about their sins.

 

He also suffered for doing good to the people, for healing the sick and afflicted, and for delivering people from demons, and for raising the dead. And so, we suffer as God’s children, who believe in Jesus Christ, who are doing the work of God, and who are sharing the truth of the gospel.

 

We are hated as he was hated, and we are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, as he was, if we are genuine disciples of Jesus Christ, following him in his ways, doing what he says to do, and saying the kinds of things which he said.

 

In America, where I live, Christian persecution has not yet reached severe level, but it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist or that Christians are not being hated and persecuted. Those who are following Jesus wholeheartedly, and who are living for the Lord, doing what he did, do know persecution.

 

But we are to rejoice that we share in the sufferings of Christ. And we should not be surprised when these sufferings come, too, for they will. So, we should be ready for them. So, basically, we don’t let these trials take us out, nor do we let them incite us to back down or to compromise the gospel.

 

You Are Blessed

1 Peter 4:14-16 ESV

 

“If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.”

 

Have you been insulted for the name of Jesus Christ? Have you been personally attacked, called names, lied about, slandered, and had people try to trick you and trip you up? And have you been falsely accused of saying and doing things you did not do or say?

 

Have you had friends desert you, attack you, insult you, reject you and no longer want anything to do with you? Are you ignored? Have you been invited to leave certain “church fellowships” because of your walk with the Lord and your stand on the truth of his word?

 

Do you get the “cold shoulder” from certain people when you talk about Jesus and his word? Are some of these people those who profess the name of Jesus, too? They either look away from you or they look at you with those eyes which say that they don’t support what you are saying?

 

You are not alone. This is how Jesus was treated, and it is how many followers of Christ have been treated throughout the years. And the Scriptures teach us that we are called to such suffering as this, that we are blessed, and that we should not be ashamed of such suffering.

 

So, what do we do in such circumstances? We pray. We ask the Lord for wisdom to know and to do his will, and then we continue to do what he has called us to do no matter what happens to us. And we love our enemies and pray for them and do good to them in Jesus’ name.

 

It Begins with Us

1 Peter 4:17-19 ESV

 

“For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And

 

“’If the righteous is scarcely saved,

    what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?’

 

“Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.”

 

Some people are teaching that Christians shouldn’t have to suffer, and that we should be happy all the time, and that things should go well for us, all because we believe in Jesus. But Jesus taught we will be hated and persecuted as he was, and that we will suffer for his sake.

 

Some people are also teaching that once we are “saved” that God can no longer see our sin, but all he sees is Jesus, and therefore we can continue living in sin, for they say it is all covered, and that our salvation was the insurance against that probability that we will keep on sinning.

 

But that isn’t what the Scriptures teach. They teach that if we say we have fellowship with God, but we walk (in practice) in darkness (sin) that we are liars who don’t live by the truth. And they teach that if sin is what we practice that we will die in our sins. We won’t have eternal life.

 

They teach that we must walk (in conduct) according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh, and that we must walk in obedience to our Lord’s commands, and righteousness should be what we practice, not sin, if we want salvation from sin and eternal life with God.

 

And they teach that God does judge his people, and that he prunes us, and he disciplines and rebukes and chastises us for our good that we may share in his holiness and that we may bear the fruit of righteousness. God will allow us to suffer in order to purify us and to make us holy.

 

So, what we need to understand here is that a profession of faith in Jesus one time in our lives, while we then live however we want, and we continue living in deliberate sin, will not save us. We must live according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh, and we must obey our Lord.

 

For, God’s gift of grace to us is not just forgiveness of sins so that we can go to heaven when we die. His gift of grace delivered us from our slavery to sin and it empowers us to say “NO!” to ungodliness and fleshly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives. But if we continue making sin our practice, we will die in our sins.

 

[Lu 9:23-26; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:7; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10]

 

God is With Us

 

An Original Work / June 11, 2019

Based off Psalm 46

 

God’s our refuge. He is our strength,

A present help to us when in pain.

Therefore, we will not be afraid,

Although the earth beneath us gives way.

 

Though the mountains be moved to the sea,

Roaring waters abound so free,

And the mountains now tremble so,

We will not fear, God is near, we know.

 

God is with us and He makes glad

The hearts of all who to Christ have fled.

Christ is in us, so we’ll not fall

When on our Savior our hearts do call.

 

God will help us, as mornings arise,

To be faithful to His design.

Nations raging, and tempers flare.

Our God is with us. We know He cares.

 

Come and see the works of the Lord.

He’s armed for battle with His great sword.

He’s the Word, and He is the Life.

He gives us strength in all of our strife.

 

Be still and know that He is our God.

He’s exalted where’er He trods.

The Lord Almighty, with us still;

The God of Jacob, our citadel.

 

https://vimeo.com/341717561

Are You Fully Aware?

1 Thessalonians 5:1-3 ESV

 

“Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.”

 

The Times and Seasons

 

Let’s examine the times and seasons we are living in now. No matter where you live on the earth, you have probably not been unaffected by what has been going on in the world this past year, plus a few months. For, there was a global pandemic declared over a year ago that turned the world upside down.

 

All of a sudden, it was like everything came to a halt. I felt like I was living in an old Sci-Fi movie. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced in my life of 71 years. Businesses shut down. People lost their jobs. They couldn’t pay their bills. People were confined to their homes. And we were told we all needed to social distance and wear masks.

 

Now, I know that seems trivial compared to what is happening to many people in other countries, but it was a definite disruption in the lives of many, and it has had many repercussions, not all of which are obvious, I am most certain. And many people have died as a result of all that has been happening. And our way of life has definitely been altered.

 

There has been much upheaval in various areas of our lives. We have experienced all sorts of angst the past year or so with the pandemic, the elections, with racial tensions, and now with the proposed remedies for all that has been going on, too. There just seems to always be something stirring the pot getting people all up in arms.

 

And don’t think I am minimizing any of this. I am not. I just know that in America we have not yet had to suffer like people in some other nations. So, by comparison, what we are going through may not be as severe as what they have had to suffer, at least not yet, but that in no way diminishes the suffering here.

 

The Spiritual Pulse

 

What do our present times and seasons reveal to us about the spiritual condition of the church? I really don’t know where the church stands in other nations, only that Christians are being persecuted and killed for their faith in Jesus Christ in some nations throughout the world, so I am assuming that is because they are serious about their walks with the Lord.

 

I live in America (the USA), so I can speak about the church here. I know that the vast majority of the church in the USA partnered with the government and with the world of big business in an unholy union, and they turned the church upside down, too, turning its gatherings into a marketplace to be marketed to the world just like any other product.

 

Thus, they altered the gatherings of the church and the gospel of Jesus Christ to appeal to the world and to human flesh. They made it about pleasing the people of the world instead of about pleasing our Lord. Thus, they twisted God’s words and they pulled Scriptures out of context, and they created a false gospel which does not honor God.

 

Most of them are teaching a “feel good” gospel which requires no dying with Christ to sin, no walking in obedience to our Lord’s commands, and no submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ as essential elements of believing faith in Jesus Christ, and for our salvation from sin and the hope of eternal life with God.

 

They have definitely been preaching a “peace and security” message that has people believing that they can make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ, and that their sins are forgiven, and heaven is secured them, no matter how they live, and that nothing will harm them, and that Jesus will rapture them before anything really bad happens.

 

But this past year or so began to unravel some of that “peace and security.” And I believe some people are beginning to wake up. But that false gospel of a cheapened grace is still going strong, and it is spreading far and wide, and many people are being deceived by those who are spinning their webs of deceit to catch their prey in their traps.

 

For, Satan is behind this. He is the one out to destroy Jesus Christ and his gospel and to bring down the church (not the buildings, but the people of God). And he is turning many hearts away from genuine faith in Jesus Christ while he is leading them to a false faith based on a lie from hell.

 

1 Thessalonians 5:4-8 ESV

 

“But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.”

 

If we are genuine followers of Jesus Christ, though, we should not at all be surprised by what is going on in the world and in our individual nations, in the world of politics and big business, and within the gatherings of the church, too. For, the Scriptures told us what to expect. And we are seeing some or much of that taking place right now.

 

We should not be accepting everything as truth that comes from people in positions of rule and authority within our governments or within the church, for we must know that deception is a huge part of the “times and seasons” related to the nearness of our Lord’s return. So, before we just trust what someone tells us, we need to be praying for discernment.

 

And not one of us should be caught up in the “cheap grace gospel.” We should be able to spot the lies because we are in Christ, and God’s Spirit is living within us pointing these things out to us. If we have died with Christ to sin and if we have been reborn of the Spirit, we know what is required for us to be saved from our sins and to have eternal life with God.

 

So, if we are genuine followers of Jesus, not one of us should be walking in the darkness, doing the kinds of things we did before we believed in Jesus, or doing the kinds of things the ungodly are doing. We should be walking, instead, according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh.

 

1 Thessalonians 5:9-11 ESV

 

“For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.”

 

This is NOT saying that if you profess faith in Jesus Christ that you will not face the wrath of God. Please understand this. The Scriptures make this quite clear. If we walk (in conduct, in practice) according to the flesh, in sin, doing what we want to do deliberately and habitually, we will face God’s wrath. We will die in our sins. We will not inherit eternal life.

 

What this is saying is that this is not God’s will that we should face his wrath. That is why he provided the way of salvation for us from our slavery to sin so we would now become slaves of God and of his righteousness. So, we need to encourage one another to walk according to the Spirit, living to please the Spirit, and then we will have eternal life.

 

[Lu 9:23-26; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:7; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10]

 

The Great Redeemer

 

Lyrics by Francis Foster, 1915

Music by Samuel W. Beazley, 1915

 

How I love the great Redeemer

Who is doing so much for me;

With what joy I tell the story

Of the love that makes men free.

Till my earthly life is ended,

I will send songs above,

Then beside the crystal sea

More and more my soul shall be

Praising Jesus and His love.

 

He has purchased my redemption,

Rolled my burden of sin away,

And is walking on beside me,

Growing dearer day by day.

That is why I sing His praises,

That is why joy is mine,

That is why forevermore

On the everlasting shore

I shall sing of love divine.

 

Glory be to Him forever!

Endless praises to Christ the Lamb!

He has filled my life with sunshine,

He has made me what I am.

Oh, that everyone would know Him,

Oh, that all would adore!

Oh, that all would trust the love

Of the mighty Friend above

And be His forevermore.

 

He is everything to me, to me,

He is everything to me,

And everything shall always be;

I will never cease to raise

A song of gladness in His praise;

Here, and in the world above,

My soul shall sing of saving love;

Life and light and joy is He,

The precious Friend who died for me.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MD-LJGRnUZY

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We Will Not Walk in Darkness

Whoever Follows Him

John 8:12 ESV

 

“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’”

 

If we genuinely believe in Jesus Christ to be our Lord and Savior, we will not deliberately conduct our lives in sin. Sin will not be what we practice. It will not be our habit, our “go to.” We will no longer live according to the flesh, but we will now walk (in conduct, in practice) according to the Spirit.

 

So, from the time that we get up out of bed in the morning until the time that we go to bed at night, we will follow Jesus Christ with our lives. He will be our Lord (master), and our lives will be surrendered to him, to do his will, not to do whatever we want to do without regard for him.

 

So, he will be our consideration in all that we do, in all that we view, and in all that we read or listen to or participate in. Our thought life will be surrendered to him, and we will be allowing him to direct all our steps, showing us the way in which he wants us to go.

 

So, before we involve ourselves in any activity, or before we get on the internet or turn on the TV set, or click on a social media site, or text others, or watch videos or listen to music or play games, etc., Jesus should be in our thoughts, and we should have regard for what he wants of us.

 

And regarding the time we have when we are not working a job or caring for children or others or feeding our families, etc., that time, too, is to be dedicated to the Lord and to his service. And Jesus should be the one directing what we do with that time, too.

 

And if we have the light of life living within us, we are going to naturally be sharing that light of life with others. We should not be able to hold it inside. God’s love compels us to share the gospel of our salvation with others so that they, too, can find salvation from their slavery to sin.

 

IF We Abide

John 8:31-32 ESV

 

“So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’”

 

To abide in Jesus’ word isn’t just about reading it or studying it or memorizing it or listening to it taught by others. Many people, I am sure, know the word of God, but they are not abiding in it. For, abiding in his word is to remain stable or fixed in his word, and it is to continue in his word.

 

To abide in Jesus’ word means that his word becomes a permanent condition of our lives. It means, therefore, that we are not only taking in the word daily into our minds, but that we are walking in obedience to what it teaches us. We are applying its truths to our daily lives in all practicality.

 

We aren’t like those who look intently into the word of God only to walk away and forget what we look like, i.e., we don’t forget what it shows us about ourselves and where we need to change to be conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ. But we let Jesus change us.

 

Then we are truly Jesus’ followers (his disciples). And a disciple does what his master says for him to do or what he models for him to do. For, a follower of Jesus is one who respects and obeys him, who abides by his word, and who makes it his practice to keep his commands (New Covenant).

 

So, if we are abiding in his word and we are truly his disciples, then we will know the truth because we will be listening to our Lord, and his Spirit will reveal the truth of God’s word to our hearts and minds so that we can obey the word of the Lord.

 

And that truth will set us free because we are now walking in that truth, and it isn’t just head knowledge. We are living the word of God in our daily lives. And so, we are now living in freedom from slavery to sin and we are walking (in conduct) now according to God’s Spirit.

 

Slaves to Sin

John 8:34-36 ESV

 

“Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.’”

 

When we believe in Jesus Christ with God-given faith, and not with man-made faith coming from a diluted and adulterated gospel, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin, we are reborn of the Spirit of God, and we are raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him.

 

Our new lives in Jesus Christ are not supposed to be like our old lives, for we died with Christ to sin, so how can we live in sin any longer? We are to no longer walk according to our flesh, but now according to the Spirit. Sin is to no longer have mastery over our lives.

 

So, if sin is still what we practice, then we are still living in slavery to sin, and thus our lives will end in death, not in life everlasting with God. We will die in our sins. We will not inherit eternal life with God unless we turn away from living to sin to now living to God and to his righteousness.

 

So, if you are believing in a gospel of salvation that gives you the liberty to continue living in sin, you are believing a lie from hell. I’m not saying you will never sin again, but that you should no longer be under the control of sin. Sin should no longer be what you practice.

 

Nonetheless, if we are believing the gospel of Jesus Christ, we will die with Christ to sin and we will live to him and to his righteousness. Sin will no longer have mastery over our lives, for Jesus delivered us from our slavery to sin so that we might become servants of his righteousness.

 

Full Release  

 

An Original Work / April 15, 2012

 

Walking daily with my Savior

brings me joy.

Loving Father; precious Jesus;

He’s my Savior and my Lord.

Gently leads me; follow Him.

I’ve invited Him within.

Now abiding in His presence,

oh, what peace.

From my self-life

He has brought me,

By His mercy, full release.

 

Hope and comfort,

peace and safety Jesus brings

When I daily bow before Him;

Obey freely; do His will.

Follow Him where’er He leads.

Listen to Him; His words heed.

Now obeying his words fully,

oh, what love

That He gives me

through salvation,

By His Spirit, from above.

 

Loving Father; precious Jesus,

He’s my friend.

With my Savior, by His Spirit,

I will endure to the end.

Share the gospel, tell what’s true.

Witness daily; His will do.

Tell the world of how their Savior

bled and died.

On a cruel cross He suffered

So that we might be alive.

 

https://vimeo.com/115169203