The Paths of all Who Forget God

Job 8:11-15 ESV

 

“Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh?

    Can reeds flourish where there is no water?

While yet in flower and not cut down,

    they wither before any other plant.

Such are the paths of all who forget God;

    the hope of the godless shall perish.

His confidence is severed,

    and his trust is a spider's web.

He leans against his house, but it does not stand;

    he lays hold of it, but it does not endure.”

 

False Faith in Jesus

 

Just because we profess faith in Jesus Christ does not mean we genuinely believe in Jesus. Just because we say we believe in him in our hearts and we have confessed him as Lord with our lips doesn’t mean that he is our Savior and our Lord. For, we can have all the outward appearances of being a believer in Jesus Christ while it may all be a façade, all outward, not inward.

 

Many people today are reducing faith in Jesus Christ to a mere confession or a profession of him as Lord and Savior but they are not teaching that faith in Jesus comes from God and that it means to be persuaded by God as to his will for our lives, and so it means to submit to God’s will and purposes for our lives, to forsake our sins, and to follow Jesus in obedience to his word.

 

So, here is our situation today, at least here in America. We have people in high up positions in government and in the institutional church who have promoted (pushed, persuaded) the marketing of the church just like any other business and who have propagated a false half-truth gospel intended to deceive the masses by appealing to their fleshly natures.

 

These people who are turning the church into a business of man and who are propagating this half-truth gospel are despicable people who take advantage of others for their own purposes. They are sneaky, deceptive liars who are living immoral lives and who are shifting the word of God in the direction of the felt needs of the people and to appease their flesh.

 

For, their goal is not the spiritual growth and maturity of those who profess faith in Jesus Christ, but it is the nurturing and appeasing of the flesh in order to keep people still dead in their sins so that they don’t have the hope of eternal life with God. Their goal is the destruction of the church, and of the gospel, and of human lives for eternity, not the saving of lives.

 

And so they are teaching them that they can believe in Jesus Christ, have their sins forgiven, have heaven guaranteed them when they die, but that nothing is required of them – no turning away from their lives of sin, no humbling of themselves in surrender of their lives to Jesus Christ, and no walking in obedience to his commands.

 

And so they are leaving them dead in their sins, bound for hell, but on the guarantee of heaven when they leave this earth. And people are flocking to this false faith by the droves because it tickles their itching ears and it sooths their fleshly lusts and desires. But in reality they are following pied pipers to their deaths, for they are not going to inherit eternal life.

 

On the Attack

 

These liars and deceivers and manipulators of the truth of the Scriptures, though, are not content with just convincing people to follow another Jesus and a different gospel, but they are going after the truth of the gospel and those who are teaching it, and they are attacking them vehemently with their lies and with their false accusations.

 

These cunning, crafty, and predatory creatures, who are wolves in sheep’s clothing, are out to destroy the truth of the gospel and all who are still holding to it and who are teaching it. So, they are on the attack, and they are laying traps, and they are using trickery to try to discredit the true gospel and its messengers and to bring them into disrepute.

 

So, they are attacking our covenant relationships with Jesus Christ with their lies. And they do this in many ways, many of which are subtle, deceptive, and manipulative. They will use memes on social media to spread their propaganda, as well as they will use “Christian” movies and songs to break down the truth of the gospel and to spread their lies.

 

They will use popular authors and public speakers and preachers and writers of devotions to also spread their subtle deceptions which most people don’t seem to pick up on, so the unsuspecting end up accepting and spreading whatever sounds good to them at the moment regardless of what the meme or the preacher or the book is really teaching at its core.

 

For, we live in a “fast food” society which takes quick glances and snapshots of things and then makes quick decisions and forms fast opinions, and with a quick push of a button “likes” and “shares” what they see without any further thought or examination as to whether or not what they just liked or shared had any truth to it at all, and without consideration if there might be a hidden message contained within filled with subtle lies.

 

Are You Being Discerning?

 

Take for example the popular TV series called “The Chosen.” Although they say it is a dramatization of biblical events, and they are not claiming that they are being totally accurate to Scripture, still this series is captivating the minds, emotions, and hearts of many people who call themselves Christians, and it is filled with subtle and not so subtle deceptions to deceive people.

 

And today I just saw that there is a new movie out called “The Jesus Music,” which is all about Christian contemporary music from the 1960s to the present, which includes all sorts of distortions of Christianity and the Scriptures and what worship of God is all about. But how much of that teaches repentance, walks of obedience, and submission to Christ as Lord?

 

Christians say they believe the Scriptures. They say they believe there is a devil who is out to deceive them, and yet most don’t seem to believe that they can be deceived, and so they are not being discerning about what they are watching, reading, and listening to, but they are far too quick to just readily accept whatever feels good or sounds good at the moment.

 

And they don’t see or they won’t see how much of what is being passed off as “Christian” these days is not only not biblical, but it is anti-biblical intentionally to deceive the masses and to lead them astray from pure devotion to Jesus Christ, to follow after their flesh and other humans and what feels good, looks good, and sounds good, without testing to see if it is good.

 

And so they get caught in the devil’s traps. They get caught in his webs of deceit. And so they live the lies. And they spread the lies. And they lead others to follow suit. And so while they are convinced that Jesus is their Lord and Savior and that when they die they are going to heaven, one day they are going to come before God and he is going to tell them to depart from him, for he never knew them. For, they were workers of iniquity.

 

And many people are going to be surprised when this happens because they were counting on that false promise of heaven when they die based on a clever deception and manipulation of truth. And they won’t test it because it is giving them the freedom to keep on living in sin, and they don’t really want to give up their sins, and so they believe the lie.

 

So, if this is where you are, still living in sin on the promise of heaven when you die, then please read the New Testament word for word in context with full sincerity and a desire to know the truth. For, the Scriptures teach that if we walk in sin we will not inherit eternal life with God. It doesn’t matter what we say we believe or what we profess with our lips. What matters is our obedience to our Lord and our submission to him.

 

[Eph 2:8-10; Heb 12:1-2; Jn 6:44; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:9-10, 19-20; 2 Co 5:10, 15; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:22-25; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Matt 7:21-23; Heb 10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10]

 

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer

 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

 

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

 

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

 

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

 

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

 

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg

*Caution: This link may contain ads

The Battle for Truth is Intense

Psalms 11:1-3 ESV

 

“In the Lord I take refuge;

how can you say to my soul,

    ‘Flee like a bird to your mountain,

for behold, the wicked bend the bow;

    they have fitted their arrow to the string

    to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart;

if the foundations are destroyed,

    what can the righteous do?’”

 

We are at War

 

Do you realize that we are in a war? I am not talking about a political battle, though that, too, and I am not talking about the endless wars the US government engages in with other nations, though that, as well, but I am talking about a spiritual battle, and the battle is for the truth of God’s word and for his gospel of grace (of salvation from sin).

 

For, the enemy of our souls and his hordes have devised a wicked scheme to destroy both the church and its witness, and the gospel of our salvation. The enemy has inundated the gatherings of the church and the teachings of the Scriptures with a “drink” that will not become in us a spring of water welling up to eternal life, although it will promise it is, but a drink to our deaths.

 

What they are pouring into the church gatherings, and into the teachings of the Scriptures, is an intense and fierce evil which is permeating both the gatherings of the church and the preaching of the gospel. And this evil is infiltrating the gospel with lies which are altering the message of the gospel to make it say what it does not teach. And this is purposeful!

 

And the people who are delivering this “drink” to the church and to the world are salespeople whose con job it is to pitch this different gospel in a way that Christians and the world will embrace it. So, they appeal to human flesh and to fleshly desires and to the sinful nature with their sales pitch, but with enough truth mixed in so that some Christians will accept it as truth.

 

So, they are pouring their lies into their false gospel of salvation which is replacing the true gospel in many people’s hearts and minds. The shift has taken place slowly over many years, and it has been subtle, and it has been introduced one small piece at a time so that the shift has barely been noticeable to most people in the gatherings of the church.

 

Thus, they have so filled the teachings of the word and the gospel with their evil lies that the truth is being removed along with all the restrictions, restraints, and controls taught by Jesus and by his NT apostles. Now what they teach is a very diluted gospel message which makes no requirements at all for forsaking one’s sins, for submission to Christ as Lord, and for obedience to his commands, so a “believer” can keep on in his sin.

 

Destroying the Foundations

 

So, what they are doing is destroying the foundations of the church and the gospel as laid down by Jesus and the prophets and the apostles (Eph 2:20). They are shaking them to the core. They are disturbing and disrupting the tenets of the Christian faith and practice as taught in the Scriptures and they are turning the gospel into some humanistic trash (pep) talk.

 

And while this is going on the vast majority of people who call themselves Christians, at least here in America, are largely being lulled to sleep by the media, whether it is TV, the internet, movies, games, music, the news, or social media. And they have become so much like the world that it is indistinguishable between the church and the world for the most part.

 

So, we who profess faith in Jesus Christ need to take this seriously. We need to unite together as soldiers in the Lord’s army and fight these lies of Satan with the spiritual armor which God has supplied. We must speak out. We must confront the lies and proclaim the truth, for many people are being deceived and they are following pied pipers to their deaths.

 

So, we need to put on our spiritual armor and take it seriously that we are in a battle for the truth against Satan and his hordes who are pouring out his lies through every avenue they can to reach as many people as they can with the big lie. We need to stand with each other on the truth of God’s word and let the world know the gospel Jesus taught.

 

And the truth that is in Christ Jesus is that you are “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.”

 

[See: Eph 4:17-24; cf. Lu 9:23-26; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Tit 2:11-14]

 

The truth is that Jesus Christ died on that cross not just to forgive us our sins but to deliver us from our slavery to sin so we would now be slaves of his righteousness. The truth is that he died that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, and that we would no longer live for ourselves, but for him who gave his life up for us. For, he shed his blood for us to buy us back for God so we would now be God’s possession, and so we would now honor God with our lives.

 

[Rom 6:1-23; Lu 9:23-26; 1 Pet 2:24; 2 Co 5:15, 21; 1 Co 6:19-20]

 

For, if we continue in habitual, premeditated, and deliberate sin against God, we will die in our sins. We will not inherit eternal life with God. It doesn’t matter what we have confessed with our mouths or think we have believed in our hearts.

 

If we don’t surrender our lives to Jesus Christ, but we keep on making sin our practice, we will hear him say one day that he never knew us. And he will tell us that we are workers of iniquity and that we must depart from him. So, please take this seriously and don’t be left behind.

 

[Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Matt 7:21-23; Heb 10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10]

 

The Battle for Truth

 

An Original Work / May 18, 2013

Based off Malachi 1-4

 

Truth is marching, truth is marching.

 

I love you. Honor me.

Tell the truth. You’ll be free.

Sing My praise all your days.

I will give all you need.

 

Truth is marching, truth is marching.

 

Turn from sin; cleansed within.

Stand in awe of My Name.

Teach what’s true. Walk in peace.

Follow Christ, in His ways.

 

Truth is marching, truth is marching.

 

Show to God faithfulness.

Do not be adult’rous.

Do not shed shallow tears.

Do not be insincere.

 

Truth is marching, truth is marching.

 

I have sent messengers,

Who have giv’n my address.

They call for repentance,

And they warn of judgment.

 

Truth is marching, truth is marching.

 

I, the Lord, do not change,

So return – blessings gain:

Healing comes; joyfulness;

Freedom from your distress.

 

https://vimeo.com/117023801

 

Are You "Messed Up"?

Psalms 63:1-4 ESV

 

“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;

    my soul thirsts for you;

my flesh faints for you,

    as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,

    beholding your power and glory.

Because your steadfast love is better than life,

    my lips will praise you.

So I will bless you as long as I live;

    in your name I will lift up my hands.”

 

Are You Being Discerning?

 

When we read such language as this, and in Jesus’ words, and in the words of Paul and the other apostles and the writers of the New Testament, it is so different from the words we are hearing today from many Christians and pastors, and from religious “memes” on Social Media.

 

I read a meme on Facebook today which said this: “I’d rather attend church with messed up people who love God, than religious people who dislike messed up people.”

 

My response was this: “What is this saying exactly? Define ‘messed up.’ If it means habitually and deliberately sinning against God, then those are people who don’t love God (1 John 2:3-6). Then define ‘religious people.’ The Bible is not against religious people as long as their religion is pure. The Bible is against Pharisees who say they believe in God but who live the opposite of that.

 

“Then define ‘dislike.’ This could be talking about people whose religion is pure who hate what God hates, which is sin, and so they are opposed to sin, or this could be talking about those whose religion is false who are deliberately mistreating people who don’t live like they do, but “mistreatment” as defined in Scripture, not by humans.

 

“So just saying that this meme could be taken many ways and can be used in an unbiblical way to teach what is false.” End Quote

 

And this is being done all the time, too. And so many people who profess faith in Jesus Christ are putting “likes” on these memes and they are sharing them with others without thought to what the memes are actually saying and if they are even biblical or not. So many of these come from humanistic philosophy and are not really based in Scripture at all or they are twisting Scripture to make it say what they want it to say.

 

Watch Out for How Things are Worded

 

Anyway, so much of what is being taught as the gospel or as Christian today barely resembles words such as are expressed in this Psalm or in the words of Jesus and the NT apostles. Do the Scriptures define people who love God as those who have died with Christ to sin and who are living to Christ and to his righteousness in obedience to Him, or as those who are “messed up”?

 

Or are they described like they are in this Psalm, as people who earnestly seek after God, whose souls thirst for God, who are beholding God’s power and glory and his steadfast love, and in response they are praising him and blessing him, but not just in words, but in their deeds, too?

 

Do you know that “messed up” is the common phrase in the church which has replaced the word “sin”? It lessens the offense. It makes it sound like a casual mistake, like messing up a recipe, or driving in the wrong direction, and so they are able to casually dismiss their sins by minimizing them and by lessening their offense and by not calling sin what it is.

 

People will say they “messed up” when they deliberately, habitually, and premeditatedly engage in what is immoral, in sexual immorality, in adultery, in cheating, in lying, etc. This is commonplace in today’s market-driven “church.” And so they never deal with the sin or what is leading them into sin and they won’t deal with what is in their hearts because they feel they can just claim they “messed up” and somehow that makes it all better.

 

Therefore, if you are one who is following the Scriptures, and you are living the pure Christian life, although not in absolute sinless perfection, but you are one who is practicing righteousness and not sin, and so you are sharing the truths of the Scriptures, you may be accused of disliking “messed up people” merely because you stand on the truth and you share the truth with others so they will turn from their sins and obey the Lord.

 

Psalms 63:9-11 ESV

 

“But those who seek to destroy my life

    shall go down into the depths of the earth;

they shall be given over to the power of the sword;

    they shall be a portion for jackals.

But the king shall rejoice in God;

    all who swear by him shall exult,

    for the mouths of liars will be stopped.”

 

How Did We Get Here?

 

So, how did we get here? How did we go from the teachings of Jesus and the NT apostles to the junk that is being passed off as truth today? This didn’t happen by accident. It is far too coordinated an effort, and across denominational boundaries, too. This was on purpose. For this is not one or two folks giving their opinions. Many people are repeating the same lingo.

 

It is like a cult, and people are reciting this garbage by memory. As soon as I hear a few key phrases I know immediately what I am dealing with, because it is pretty much the same memorized and indoctrinated message being shared far and wide by people who have no connection with one another. But they are all buying into the same junk.

 

Years ago you could never get churches of different denominations to work together and to accept the same teaching, but then, all of a sudden, across denominational boundaries, they seemed to all be teaching the same stuff, but it wasn’t the Bible, but it was a book written by a mere man who was writing from his own mind, and not from the mind of God.

 

And then church after church started patterning their teachings, their services, and their programs after this one man’s books and marketing philosophies. And then the church shifted to becoming a business of man being marketed to the world just like any other business, looking to meet the “felt needs” of the people and to please the people, not God.

 

Since they were now trying to attract large crowds of people from the world to their gatherings, they also altered (adulterated) the gospel message to make it more acceptable and appealing to the world and to human flesh. And this is being reflected in such messages as in this meme quoted, and in people’s posts on social media and on other discussion sites.

 

And the goal is to destroy the church and the gospel and the message of salvation from sin so that people will follow after man instead of God, and so they will not repent (turn away from) sin and turn to following the Lord Jesus with their lives. And this is destroying lives for it leaves them still bound in sin headed for hell on the promise of heaven when they die.

 

We Are In a War

 

So, we are in a war here, and the battle is for truth and it is for the salvation of human lives. And we who believe in Jesus are to be out there in the world spreading the truth of the gospel for all to hear so that we dispel the lies of Satan and let the truth be known, because we are not saved by a mere confession of Christ as Lord, but only by God-given faith in Jesus Christ which denies self and dies with Christ daily to sin and which lives to him and to his righteousness in obedience to our Lord and in his power and strength.

 

So, be discerning about the things you “like” and “share.” Pray, seek the Lord, go to his word, and study it in context and see if what you are hearing or reading is biblical or if it is a twisting of truth, which is a lie. Don’t take everything at face value. Deception is not obvious. It is hidden. Just because it looks good or sounds good doesn’t mean it is good. Examine it! Test it!

 

Also be students of the word of the Lord so you know the truth and so you will recognize the lies of the enemy when you hear them. But this won’t happen unless you are walking in that truth and in righteousness and holiness. For if you are making sin your practice you are denying the truth and you won’t see the lies because you are accepting them yourself.

 

So, repent of your sins, turn away from them. Leave them behind you and follow Jesus in obedience to his word. Do what he says. Die daily to sin and to self and put on that armor of God with which to fight off Satan’s lies and with which to proclaim the truth. And live what you say you believe.

 

[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 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:9-10, 19-20; 2 Co 5:10, 15; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:22-25; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Matt 7:21-23; Heb 10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10]

 

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer

 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

 

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

 

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

 

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg

*Caution: This link may contain ads

Into Your Hand I Commit My Spirit

In Your Righteousness Deliver Me

Psalms 31:1-5 ESV

 

“In you, O Lord, do I take refuge;

    let me never be put to shame;

    in your righteousness deliver me!

Incline your ear to me;

    rescue me speedily!

Be a rock of refuge for me,

    a strong fortress to save me!

 

“For you are my rock and my fortress;

    and for your name's sake you lead me and guide me;

you take me out of the net they have hidden for me,

    for you are my refuge.

Into your hand I commit my spirit;

    you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.”

 

Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, who is God, and who is our creator God, and who is the second person of our triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – left his throne in heaven, came to earth, and was born in the likeness of men. Then he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death on a cross for the sins of the whole world (Jn 1:1-34; Php 2:5-11).

 

He came to redeem us from our sins, i.e., with his blood shed for us on that cross he bought us back for God so that we would now be God’s possession, and so we would now honor God with our lives. For Jesus died that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, and that we might no longer live for ourselves but for him who gave his life up for us.

 

He became our deliverer via his death on that cross and via his resurrection back to life. For he died on that cross to deliver us out of our slavery (bondage, addiction) to sin and to empower us to live godly and holy lives, pleasing to God, and so that we might now be slaves to God and to his righteousness. He didn’t die just to forgive us, but to transform us.

 

Via God-given and divinely persuaded faith in Jesus Christ we are crucified with Christ in death to sin, and we are given new lives in Christ Jesus, our Lord, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Now we walk (in conduct) no longer according to our flesh, but according to the Spirit who empowers us to forsake our sins and to walk in obedience to our Lord.

 

Now we are being led by the Spirit of God and not by our flesh. This is not to say that we will never sin again, but that sin is no longer our master. Sin no longer controls what we do. But now we are living under Holy Spirit control. 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.

 

When Jesus was at the point of death on the cross he “called out with a loud voice, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.’ When he had said this, he breathed his last” (Luke 23:46 NIV).

 

And when we believe in Jesus Christ with God-given faith, we die with Christ to sin, and into God’s hands we commit our spirits, too. For the Christian life is a life of surrender to Jesus Christ as Lord (owner-master) of our lives, and it is a life of commitment to him and to his design and purpose for our lives, and it is a walk of obedience to his commands (New Covenant).

 

[1 Co 6:19-20; 1 Pet 2:24; 2 Co 5:15, 21; Rom 6:1-23; Eph 4:17-24; Rom 8:1-17; 1 Jn 2:1-2; Tit 2:11-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6]

 

Because of My Adversaries

Psalms 31:6, 11-16 ESV

 

“I hate those who pay regard to worthless idols,

    but I trust in the Lord.

 

“Because of all my adversaries I have become a reproach,

    especially to my neighbors,

and an object of dread to my acquaintances;

    those who see me in the street flee from me.

I have been forgotten like one who is dead;

    I have become like a broken vessel.

For I hear the whispering of many—

    terror on every side!—

as they scheme together against me,

    as they plot to take my life.

 

“But I trust in you, O Lord;

    I say, ‘You are my God.’

My times are in your hand;

    rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!

Make your face shine on your servant;

    save me in your steadfast love!”

 

As followers of Jesus Christ we are not to hate people, but we are to hate their evil deeds. So, we should hate the act of paying regard to worthless idols, and we should not participate in idol worship ourselves.

 

And an idol is anything to which we give our hearts, passion, desire, loyalty, affection, attention, and commitment in place of or over and above our passion, loyalty, devotion, and commitment to Jesus Christ as our only Lord.

 

We are to hate wickedness and evil and sin because of what it does to people, to those sinning and to those being sinned against. For even many professers of faith in Jesus Christ are living sinful lifestyles and are practicing sexual immorality, lies, cheating, stealing, and committing adultery, etc. For they believe God’s grace gives them permission to keep living in sin.

 

So, when we choose to not follow after the idols of this world, and we choose to make Jesus our only Lord, and to walk in obedience to his commands, and to go where he sends us, and to say what he gives us to say, we are going to have enemies, and many of them may be fellow professers of faith in Jesus Christ, and they may be church pastors.

 

We will face opposition, in other words, if we are following Jesus wholeheartedly, and if we are holding fast to the gospel that Jesus and his NT apostles taught, and especially if we are sharing the truth of the gospel out in the public, or even with other professers of Christ. For many people today are following a diluted gospel made to appease human flesh.

 

And those who are teaching (spreading) this diluted half-truth (lie) gospel message are not content with just spreading their lies, but they are literally attacking the truth of the gospel and those who are teaching the whole counsel of God and they are convincing many people that the lie is the truth and the truth is a lie, and people are following them by the droves.

 

They are accusing the true gospel of teaching “works-based salvation” and they are accusing those of us who are teaching the true gospel of teaching a false gospel and of being self-righteous, legalistic, crazy, hyper-religious, bigoted, hateful, and intolerant of those who believe differently from us or whose lifestyles are not acceptable to God.

 

And much pressure is being exerted to attempt to get us to back down from the truth and to build bridges of compromise with people who believe differently from us so that we can all unify together as one people regardless of beliefs or practices. But we must persevere, and we must keep our trust in the Lord, and we must put our times in God’s capable hands.

 

Trust and Obey  

 

Words by John H. Sammis, 1887

Music by Daniel B. Towner, 1887

 

When we walk with the Lord

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

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

 

Not a shadow can rise,

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

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

 

Not a burden we bear,

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

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

 

But we never can prove

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

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

 

Then in fellowship sweet

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

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

 

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

 

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

*Caution: This link may contain ads

Filibuster

An Original Work / October 5, 2021

Filibuster of the luster

Putting off what he can’t muster

Stalling tactics light his candle

Honesty he cannot handle

Twiddling thumbs is now his mission

While he’s lacking any vision

He’s wasting time, which makes no sense

While waiting for his recompense

So, looking back, he sees no harm

In all he’s done with all his charm

So, don’t berate him, he’ll not take it

Sincerity, he’ll likely fake it

Controlling, idling, that’s his thing

On his high horse maneuvering

He’s got his set ups all in place

So quickly he can now erase

But pride will come before a fall

And soon he’ll not be standing tall

But he’ll be standing in a hall

Waits for his name someone to call

So, don’t be prideful, full of lust

Or someone may your pride, he’ll bust

Surrender your life up to God

And stop your being such a fraud

When Judgment Comes

The Path of the Righteous

Isaiah 26:7-9 ESV

 

“The path of the righteous is level;

    you make level the way of the righteous.

In the path of your judgments,

    O Lord, we wait for you;

your name and remembrance

    are the desire of our soul.

My soul yearns for you in the night;

    my spirit within me earnestly seeks you.”

 

Who are the righteous? They are those who have put their hope and trust in Jesus Christ to be Lord (owner-master) and Savior of their lives. By God-given faith in Jesus Christ they have been crucified with Christ in death to sin that they might now live in Christ to him and to his righteousness, all for the glory of God, and only in his strength, power, and wisdom.

 

They are those who are walking no longer according to the flesh, but who are conducting their lives according to the Spirit of God, in agreement with God. They are walking in obedience to their Lord in doing what he commands and in going where he sends them, all in his power. They are not perfect people, but they are not living in deliberate and habitual sin.

 

For, they have forsaken their lifestyles of sin to follow Jesus where he leads them. Sin is no longer what they practice, but righteousness is their practice. They are saying “No!” to ungodliness and fleshly lusts, and they are living self-controlled, upright, and godly lives for the praise and glory of God and in his power and strength, according to his will and purpose.

 

They are those who seek after the Lord, and who desire to do his will, and to do what pleases him, because they love him. So, they follow him wherever he leads them, and they obey his commands as a matter of practice, and they resist the devil, and they flee temptation, and they draw near to God in full assurance of faith because they love their Lord.

 

The Path of the Wicked

Isaiah 26:9-11 ESV

 

“For when your judgments are in the earth,

    the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

If favor is shown to the wicked,

    he does not learn righteousness;

in the land of uprightness he deals corruptly

    and does not see the majesty of the Lord.

O Lord, your hand is lifted up,

    but they do not see it.

Let them see your zeal for your people, and be ashamed.”

 

The wicked are not like the righteous, for they have not been crucified with Christ in death to sin and they are not living to God and to his righteousness, although many wicked people profess faith in Jesus Christ. But their faith is of the flesh, not of the Spirit of God, and so they give themselves permission to keep on in deliberate and habitual sin.

 

The wicked, thus, can be those who give off an air of righteousness all the while they are sinning in secret when they think no one else can see what they are doing. Thus, they have dirty little secrets they are hiding from view, thinking that no one sees and that no one will catch them in the act, and therefore they can continue in their wickedness.

 

They have this idea that if no one sees and no one knows that they are free to keep on in their evil deeds. For, they have convinced themselves that they are free to sin as much as they want. And their pride and their arrogance keep them from facing the reality of their wickedness and the ultimate reality of judgement.

 

They have this false sense of security which tells them that they can do a little bit here and a little bit there and it won’t matter, for they truly believe they are the conquerors and that they sit as king and that they are untouchable. For those of them who say they have “believed” in Jesus, they see their salvation from sin as a “free for all” to continue in sin.

 

But they are wrong. Even if no other human sees, God sees what they are doing, and one day they will face his judgment, whether they believe it or not. Hopefully that judgment will come in time for them to make a turnabout with their lives, for them to finally face the reality of what they have done, and what that has cost them, and for them to turn their hearts to Jesus.

 

For, sad to say, as long as God shows his favor to the wicked, and God does not bring judgment immediately, the wicked do not learn righteousness. They continue on in their corruption, for they refuse to believe that God will ever judge them for their evil deeds. Since God has not yet judged them yet, they have a false sense of security that he never will.

 

So, God sends his judgments on the earth as a way to teach the people his righteous ways and so that some of them will turn from their wicked ways, and so that they will turn to the Lord and follow him. Sadly, for some people that won’t take place until a tragedy happens in their lives, or until they are caught in their evil deeds and are forced to pay the consequences for their sins. Still, even then, they don’t all learn righteousness.

 

Even in the midst of God’s judgments many will still refuse to see the righteousness of God and what he has for their lives if they will but put their faith in him. But they will stubbornly hold on to their pride and they will continue in their sin, and they will not be ashamed of their sins at all, but they may even justify them. And that breaks my heart!

 

So, if this is where you are right now, living in secret sin, refusing to repent and to obey your Lord, perhaps while you put on a show of righteousness, please know that God’s word is true, and that he will do all that he said he would do. And his word teaches that if we walk in sin, making sin our practice, we will die in our sins. We will not inherit eternal life with God.

 

[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 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:9-10, 19-20; 2 Co 5:10, 15; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:22-25; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Matt 7:21-23; Heb 10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10]

 

Broken Cord

 

An Original Work / August 29, 2018

 

Your bond is broken

With your Lord and Savior

And your testimony is

Separate from Him.

 

Your words not matching

Your actions today.

Repent of your sin and

Bow down and pray.

 

Live what you testify

In truth always.

 

Purity’s lacking in

Your life and witness,

For you profess one thing,

But other you do.

 

Not moral, spiritual.

Still of the flesh.

Not living in truth to

What you confess.

 

Lying about it

Puts you in a mess.

 

Living a lie is your practice,

‘tis true of you.

Masquerade righteousness –

None of it true.

 

Your heart is not given

To your Lord God.

Because of how you live,

You are a fraud.

 

Turn from your sin and

Give your life to God.

 

https://vimeo.com/287303934

Hear, That Your Soul May Live

Come, Everyone Who Thirsts

Isaiah 55:1 ESV

 

“Come, everyone who thirsts,

    come to the waters;

and he who has no money,

    come, buy and eat!

Come, buy wine and milk

    without money and without price.”

 

All of us humans thirst for (yearn, desire, long for) something, perhaps not even knowing what we want. As sinners we have a God-void that needs to be filled with God, but as sinners we may try to fill that void with many things but never be truly satisfied because we are trying to fill that void with the things of this world that will never truly satisfy the thirsting of our souls.

 

So, this is truly a call to come to the Lord to have our spiritual thirst satisfied. We don’t pay money for this, though. Jesus Christ, God the Son, paid the price for this with his blood shed on a cross for our sins. And what he is offering to us is not anything of this world, but it is of the kingdom of heaven. For, it is our salvation from sin and our eternal life with God.

 

All this comes from God and not from ourselves. We can do nothing to purchase or to earn or to deserve our own salvation from sin. We can’t even come to faith in Jesus Christ unless God the Father first draws us to Christ. And even the faith to believe in Jesus is not of ourselves, but it is a gift of God to us, and it is founded and perfected in Jesus.

 

But it is critical that we understand what that gift is, i.e., what all our salvation entails and what all faith involves. For, when we receive by God-given faith the free gift of salvation from sin, we are not just accepting forgiveness for our sins and the hope of heaven when we die. We are accepting that we must die with Christ to sin and live to him and to his righteousness in his power and strength.

 

For, the free gift of salvation is freedom from our slavery to sin and empowerment of God to live holy and godly lives pleasing to the Lord. For, when we believe in Jesus we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and we are raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. All this comes from God.

 

Eat What is Good

Isaiah 55:2-3 ESV

 

“Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,

    and your labor for that which does not satisfy?

Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,

    and delight yourselves in rich food.

Incline your ear, and come to me;

    hear, that your soul may live.”

 

So, the question comes as to why we labor and spend money on what will not satisfy the deep longings of our souls. Even many people who are Christians will get caught up in trying to find satisfaction and fulfillment in the things of this world rather than finding them in Christ alone. But the things of this world will always leave us empty and not fulfilled.

 

Our only true peace and satisfaction and fulfillment is to be found in Christ alone and in his true gift of salvation from sin, which is not just forgiveness of sins, but which is deliverance from our enslavement to sin so that we can now be slaves to God and to his righteousness. So, this is a call to listen to Jesus and to die with him to sin and to live to him and to his righteousness.

 

Seek the Lord

Isaiah 55:6-9 ESV

 

“Seek the Lord while he may be found;

    call upon him while he is near;

let the wicked forsake his way,

    and the unrighteous man his thoughts;

let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,

    and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

    neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

    so are my ways higher than your ways

    and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

 

For, you see, coming to faith in Jesus Christ involves us forsaking our wicked ways, not just being forgiven our sins so that we can now continue in our wicked ways guilt free. And it involves walks of obedience to our Lord and to his commands. For our salvation from sin is not according to the ways of man but according to the ways of God which are higher than our ways.

 

When we believe in Jesus with God-given faith we die with Christ to sin that we may live to Christ and to his righteousness in his power and strength. Basically, we make a spiritual U-Turn with our lives. We were living in sin and we were headed to hell, and now we have turned away from our lifestyles of sin to now following our Lord in his ways and in his truth.

 

Not Return Empty

Isaiah 55:10-11 ESV

 

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven

    and do not return there but water the earth,

making it bring forth and sprout,

    giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;

    it shall not return to me empty,

but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,

    and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”

 

We who are followers of Jesus Christ are to be his servants and witnesses in taking his gospel to the ends of the earth. We are to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth in bringing forth a clear message of salvation from sin and eternal life with God according to the fulness of God’s word and not according to the teachings of sinful humans.

 

For, many preachers today are teaching a diluted and altered gospel which appeals to human flesh but is not according to the Word of God. They are mixing lies with truth, and they are teaching half-truths which are lies. So, their “gospel” messages have the ring of truth but they are deceptive and misleading and many are following them to their deaths.

 

For what they are teaching is that Jesus died on that cross merely to forgive their sins and to give them the hope of heaven when they die. But they are not teaching that our salvation involves us dying with Christ to sin and living to Christ and to his righteousness. So, those who follow this diluted gospel are being given a false hope of salvation and eternal life with God.

 

So, we need to be those who are carrying the true gospel throughout the world, sharing the truths of God’s word which teach that the free gift of salvation is deliverance from our slavery to sin and it is freedom to walk in holiness and righteousness in the power of God’s Spirit living within us. For it is the truth of the gospel which will set people free, not the lies.

 

[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 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:9-10, 19-20; 2 Co 5:10, 15; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:22-25; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal  6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Matt 7:21-23; Eph 2:8-10; Heb 12:1-2; Jn 6:44; Rom 12:1-8; 1 Co 12:1-31; Eph 4:1-16; 1 Pet 2:9; Matt 5:13-16; Matt 28:18-20]

 

Do You Hear the People Sing?

 

From Les Misérables

 

Do you hear the people sing? …

It is the music of a people

Who will not be slaves again!

When the beating of your heart

Echoes the beating of the drums

There is a life about to start…

Will you join in our crusade?

Who will be strong and stand with me?

Beyond the barricade

Is there a world you long to see?

Then join in the fight

That will give you the right to be free!

Will you give all you can give

So that our banner may advance

Some will fall and some will live

Will you stand up and take your chance?

The blood of the martyrs…

 

We are in a war which is not fought with the weapons of this world, but with the armor which God has supplied. And the battle is for the souls of humans who need to hear the truth of the gospel (the whole counsel of God) which teaches freedom from our enslavement to sin and which teaches that we must now surrender our lives to Jesus Christ to do his will.