For the Surpassing Worth of Knowing Christ

Philippians 3:7-11 ESV

 

“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”

 

I Count it All Loss

 

When we believe in Jesus Christ with God-given faith we humble ourselves before God, deny ourselves, and we submit to being crucified with Christ in death to sin and to being raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Our old self is crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we will no longer be enslaved to sin but to God’s righteousness.

 

So all that is from our past lives we count as loss for the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord. All that we accomplished in the flesh, all the pride, all the sin, all the living for self and for self-pleasure we willingly forfeit in order to now be children of God and heirs of the promise and followers of Jesus Christ. This doesn’t mean we instantly become perfect, though, for our salvation and our sanctification are a lifetime process.

 

But when I state anything about us not being perfect, this is no way is to ever be used as an excuse for deliberate and habitual and premeditated sin against God and against other humans. It is just realizing that we will always be a work in progress until Jesus comes to take us home to be with him. And this is why the Scriptures teach we must daily die to sin and to self and that we must be walking in obedience to our Lord, and sin should not be what we practice but righteousness and obedience to the Lord should be our practice.

 

Now, none of this comes from our own flesh. We can do nothing to earn or to deserve our own salvation. Our good deeds will never outweigh our bad deeds. And flesh cannot cast out flesh. All this is the working of God’s Spirit in our lives from beginning to end, but we must cooperate with that working of God’s Spirit by obeying what our Lord says we must do and by ceasing to do what he commands that we not do – all in his strength and power.

 

Becoming Like Him

 

For the goal of our faith is indeed that we may know Jesus intimately and personally, and that we may know experientially the power of his resurrection in our own lives, and that we may share in the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible we may attain the resurrection of the dead.

 

So what this is saying is that knowing Jesus means that we have been crucified with him in death to sin and we have been raised with him to walk in newness of life in him in the power of God via our submission to his work of grace in our lives. This means that sin has been put to death in our lives so that we can now live holy and godly lives to the praise and glory of God in his strength. We become like him in his death when we make the choice to die with him to sin and to live to him and to his righteousness in his power.

 

But this is not a one-time thing that happens in our lives which guarantees us heaven when we die regardless of how we live our lives from that moment forward. Becoming like Jesus in his death means we are daily dying to sin and to self and we are walking in obedience to his commands in his strength and power. And it means that we are continuing in these walks of faith steadfast in him until the very end so that we will have eternal life with him when he returns for his bride.

 

For, if we continue in deliberate and habitual sin, and we do not walk in obedience to our Lord in his righteousness, then we will not inherit eternal life with God. For Jesus said that not everyone saying to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter into the kingdom of heaven but only the one DOING the will of God the Father who is in heaven. So faith is not what we claim but it is what we do. Faith is obedience, it is submission to Christ, and it is dying to sin daily.

 

[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 5:10,15,21; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:21-25; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-10; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Heb 10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Matt 7:21-23; Ac 26:18; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

 

Give Me Jesus

 

Oh, What Gladness!

An Original Work / December 2, 2013

 

Give me Jesus. He’s my Savior.

I’ll walk with Him in His favor.

I’ll abide in His love always;

Follow His ways to the end.

 

Jesus is the Son of God.

He died upon a cruel cross.

He’s forgiven all my failures

By His mercy and His love.

 

Give me Jesus – His compassion,

And His mercy; loving kindness.

Let Him teach me how to love Him,

And to please Him. He’s my friend.

 

Jesus died for all our sin

So we could have eternal life.

He will free you from your bondage

If you trust Him with your life.

 

Give me Jesus. Let me trust Him.

May I listen to His teachings.

May I follow where He leads me

In His service. He’s my Lord.

 

Jesus Christ will come again

To take His bride to be with Him.

Oh, what gladness; free from sadness

When I meet Him in the air.

 

https://vimeo.com/113054381

Do You Want Peace and Security?

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.”

 

A Warning Heeded

 

I have a very odd sleeping schedule because the Lord has me writing all different times of the day and night. I assume he does it this way since my readers are from countries all over the world who do not all live in the same time zone as me. I am also 72 years old so I do get up periodically in the night to use the bathroom, and sometimes I do then go back to sleep. So, when I awoke at 3 a.m., after using the bathroom, I crawled back under the covers for about 10 minutes and then I knew it was time to get up.

 

It occurred to me just as I was about to get up that I should put on my slippers just in case I might encounter a cockroach. We do get them periodically, but not more than maybe one a week, usually. So, I turned on the light next to my bed and I got out of bed, but there were no slippers to be found. And then I looked to my path ahead to the bathroom and I saw something black on the carpet. I could not make it out exactly, so I got out my flashlight and I shined the light in that spot and it was a cockroach.

 

The cockroach was positioned right where my chair normally sits at my desk when I am up and writing. I push the chair underneath the desk at night so that I do not run into it on my way to the bathroom. So, I looked for something to kill him with but there was nothing between me and him. So, I kept the light shining on him while I found something to use to strike him, and I did, and then I used my grabber to squeeze him, and then I took him into the bathroom and I flushed him away.

 

Exposing and Extinguishing the Lies

 

Well, as I have shared before, sometimes the Lord uses real life situations as parables in my life to illustrate a biblical truth or a specific message the Lord is wanting me to receive and/or to share. And “cockroach” is a term used to describe a person who is a liar, a deceiver, a manipulator, someone not trustworthy, someone who is an opportunist and egocentric. So it also represents someone who is spiritually unclean.

 

The cockroach was not only positioned where my chair normally sits when I am writing out my devotions to post on the internet, but he was also in my path to the bathroom. And, symbolically speaking, the bathroom represents the gospel, for it is the place where we rid our lives of sin (our waste material, dung) and where we are cleansed (bathed or showered with soap and water) and made new by the grace of God, by God’s Spirit.

 

So, what I believe the Lord is showing me this morning is that this cockroach symbolizes false teachers of the Scriptures who are in the position of teaching the Word of God but who are liars and deceivers. The fact that this cockroach was in my way to the bathroom suggests that these liars and deceivers are also preventing people from getting rid of the sin in their lives and from being spiritually cleansed of their sins, by the Spirit.

 

Literally I believe it was the Lord who put it in my head this morning to be on the lookout for a cockroach and to cover my feet to protect them from stepping (walking in conduct) on the cockroach. And my feet represent me taking the gospel of Jesus Christ to the people of the world via writing out my devotions and posting them on the internet (beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news).

 

So, the warning given was also to be on the lookout for cockroaches (liars and deceivers) who are in positions of teaching the Scriptures but who are spiritually unclean and who manipulate the Scriptures to their advantage and who, by their lies, prevent their adherents from getting rid of the sin in their lives and from being cleansed spiritually and made new by God’s Spirit. And I was to shine a light on this cockroach, to expose these liars and deceivers and their deceptions and to put to death their lies.

 

While People are Saying

 

So, these cockroaches (liars, deceivers, and manipulators), who are in positions of teachers of the Scriptures, are saying to the people, “Peace, Peace,” when there is no peace, and then the people who follow them are also repeating the same messages. For they are teaching lies which are blocking people from ridding their lives of sin and from being truly born anew of the Spirit of God to now live in freedom from slavery to sin and to live godly, holy, and morally pure lives in the power of God’s Spirit.

 

For they are telling them that all they have to do is “believe” in Jesus Christ (not defined), that all their sins are forgiven (past, present, and future), and that heaven is now guaranteed them when they die regardless of how they live while they are still on this earth. And many of them are even discouraging their adherents from repenting of (turning away from) their sins and from being transformed in heart and mind of the Spirit of God to where they now walk no longer according to the flesh but now according to the Spirit in righteousness and holiness, in walks of obedience to their Lord.

 

So, the “peace, peace” message they are giving them is telling them that they can continue in deliberate and habitual sin and still have salvation from sin and eternal life with God guaranteed. They can ignore God and his commands, refuse to honor him as Lord, walk in disobedience to his commands, and keep on in their sinful practices, and they are being promised that God will not judge them and heaven is secured for them.

 

But the Scriptures teach that if we walk (in conduct, in practice) in sin, according to the flesh, and not according to the Spirit, and not in obedience to our Lord’s commands (New Covenant) that we will NOT inherit eternal life with God no matter what we profess with our lips. For Jesus said that not everyone saying to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter into the kingdom of heaven but only the one DOING the will of God the Father in heaven (Matt 7:21-23).

 

So, if we want to have salvation from sin and eternal life with God, we need to reject the lies and flush them away and we need to be doers of the Word of God and not hearers only, and we need to walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit in obedience to our Lord. But we must first of all humble ourselves and turn from our sins, and then daily we must continue to die to sin and live to God and to his righteousness in his power.

 

Under His Wings

 

By William Orcutt Cushing and Ira David Sankey

 

Under His wings I am safely abiding;

  Though the night deepens and tempests are wild,

Still I can trust Him, I know He will keep me;

  He has redeemed me, and I am His child.

 

Under His wings—what a refuge in sorrow!

  How the heart yearningly turns to His rest!

Often when earth has no balm for my healing,

  There I find comfort, and there I am blest.

 

Under His wings—oh, what precious enjoyment!

  There will I hide till life’s trials are o’er;

Sheltered, protected, no evil can harm me;

  Resting in Jesus I’m safe evermore.

 

Under His wings, under His wings,

  Who from His love can sever?

Under His wings my soul shall abide,

    Safely abide forever.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeHcf_EtZ6A

Caution: This link may contain ads

 

[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 5:10,15,21; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:21-25; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-10; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Heb 10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Matt 7:21-23; Ac 26:18; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

We Worship by the Spirit of God

Philippians 3:2-3 ESV

 

“Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.”

 

A “dog” is a term usually indicating someone who is spiritually unclean, and it is often also used in Scripture to define someone who is a false teacher and an evildoer. In this case it is describing someone who is pushing a faith that is of the flesh and not of God. It is a faith based in our own fleshly works and not in the works of God which he prepared in advance that we should walk in them (Titus 2:14; Eph 2:10; 1 Co 15:58; Php 2:12-13).

 

So, whether the faith of the flesh is legalism or libertinism, both are of the flesh, and neither are of God. So, whether you add man-made rules onto the gospel or you remove God’s holy and righteous requirements from the gospel and you are teaching a lawless faith, still it is human-based faith and not God-given faith which saves. It is still faith that is made up in the minds of humans and it does not come from God nor is it approved of God.

 

Legalism used to be a big thing but now the pendulum has swung the other direction and the predominant “gospel” being taught in America in the gatherings of what is called “church” is libertinism (unrestrained by convention or morality, leading to a dissolute life). For they teach we can “believe” in Jesus (undefined), have all our sins forgiven, and be on our way to heaven regardless of how we live our lives on this earth.

 

So, we are to be on the lookout for these dogs (false teachers) and evildoers who are teaching a false faith not of God which is of human flesh for it glorifies the flesh and not God. And we should be students of the Scriptures who are bathing our minds and hearts with the word of God (in context) so that we know what the Scriptures teach us and so that we will then walk according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh.

 

Philippians 3:17-19 ESV

 

“Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.”

 

In America, speaking from my experience of 72 years, and from what I have observed over my lifetime and read and heard coming from the mouths of these false teachers and their followers, there are not many men of God today who are living holy and pure lives to the glory and praise of God. There are not many godly men who we can view and consider their lifestyles and consider these are people setting the right example for us to follow.

 

Many men and women today who claim faith in Jesus Christ, some of whom are pastors and elders and deacons and teachers of the Scriptures, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their god is their belly, not God our maker, not Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. And their minds are set (determined, fixed) on earthly things, not on things above, not on the things of God such as holiness, righteousness, honesty, moral purity, and faithfulness, etc.

 

So many people professing faith in Jesus Christ are not much different from those making no profession of faith in Christ. They have all the same conversations, laugh at all the same jokes, share all the same memes on social media, tell all the same raunchy stories, watch all the same videos, movies, and TV shows, and listen to all the same music, and play all the same games, etc. They are worldly and fleshly and not of God.

 

Although they profess faith in Jesus Christ it is a faith of the flesh and not of God for it does not give glory to God but to the flesh. For they believe that they can believe in Jesus, be forgiven all sin, and be on their way to heaven, but that they do not have to give up their sinful practices, and that they do not have to follow Jesus in obedience. And so their end is destruction because they refuse to repent of sin and to walk in obedience to Christ.

 

[Lu 9:23-26; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 1:28-32; Rom 2:6-8; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:3-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:26-31; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Jn 15:1-11; Rev. 2-3; Rev 18:1-6; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15; Matt 7:21-23]

 

Philippians 3:20-21 ESV

 

“But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”

 

Those of us who have our citizenship in heaven are those who have been crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. We are those who have been delivered from our enslavement to sin who are now walking (in conduct, in practice) according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh. And daily by the Spirit we are putting to death the deeds of the flesh and we are walking in obedience to the Lord Jesus.

 

Now, this does not mean we are perfect people and that we never sin or that we never fail to live up to the standard God has set before us that we are to follow. But what it does mean is that Jesus is our Lord (Owner-Master), and we do follow him with our lives, and sin no longer has dominion over our lives. We no longer live as slaves to sin but as slaves to God and to his righteousness in the power and wisdom and strength we get from God.

 

But lack of perfection is never to be used as an excuse for continued deliberate and habitual and often premeditated sin against God and against other humans. The Lord does set the standard that we are either those who walk in sin or who walk in holiness. But walking in holiness does not mean we have yet reached divine perfection which we will have when Jesus returns for us, his bride, and he takes us to be with our Lord forever.

 

Walking in holiness means that we love our Lord and our desire is for him to obey him and that we now live our lives for his glory and praise. We now follow him wherever he leads us and it is our practice to do as he commands. We do not deliberately nor habitually choose to sin against our Lord nor do we refuse to obey him. And we look forward with great anticipation to the day when he comes to take us home to be with him.

 

Living Water

 

An Original Work / November 21, 2013

Based off Various Scriptures

 

My people have forsaken Me,

Their Savior, who died on a tree;

Made idols, and they worshipped them;

So empty, they will ne’er fulfill.

 

Lord, You are the hope of Your chosen ones.

Those who turn away from You will be shamed;

The Spring of Living Water left behind.

 

Living Water satisfies.

 

The thirsty, let them come and drink;

Believe in Jesus as their King;

The gift of Jesus given them,

So they will never thirst again.

 

Indeed, the Living Water flows within.

It springs up like a fountain cleansing sin.

Eternal life in heaven promised them.

 

Living Water glorifies.

 

Oh people, won’t you come to Him?

Obey Him and repent of sin.

Let Jesus come and live within.

Surrender all your life to Him.

 

My people, won’t you turn your hearts to Me?

Forsake your idols and then you’ll be free.

Won’t you come now to Me on bended knee?

 

Living Water sanctifies.

 

https://vimeo.com/379511565

Healthy Eyes or Bad Eyes?

Luke 11:33-36 ESV

 

“No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.”

 

Letting the Light Shine

 

When we come to faith in Jesus Christ, if our faith is genuine, we should be enthusiastic about our newfound freedom from the weight of our bondage to sin, and we should be rejoicing in the God of our salvation, and we should be on fire for the Lord and for his gospel, and we should be desiring God and his holiness and righteousness, and we should want to do what pleases him. We should desire to obey his will and to do what he says we must do.

 

We should want others to see that something has changed in our lives, and that we aren’t who we were before, because of what Jesus did for us in dying on that cross that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness. We should want others to see the light of Christ in our lives and to know that Jesus can save them from their slavery (addiction) to sin, too, and that they can also walk in freedom from bondage to sin.

 

Healthy Eyes

 

And while it is true that our physical eyes can and do sometimes reveal what is going on inside of us, I believe this “eye” is to be taken more metaphorically to mean judgment, discernment, and wisdom. It is the ability to decide between truth and error and between right and wrong and to make wise and right and godly decisions which not only go in the right direction (the way of God) but which know to reject and to abstain from all evil.

 

So, if our eye is healthy spiritually, our whole body (being) is full of light (truth, godliness, righteousness). We are making right and godly decisions, not wrong and sinful choices. We are choosing to forsake our lives of sin and to follow Jesus in obedience, and we are walking in his ways and in his truth and righteousness in the power of God, by his Spirit. And we are not ashamed of Christ and his gospel but we are sharing his gospel with others.

 

Bad Eyes

 

But if our eye (judgment, discernment, wisdom) is bad, our whole body is full of darkness. And this does show up sometimes through our physical eyes, as well, like where the Scriptures talk about people having eyes full of adultery. Now certainly this could also be speaking of judgment, that their judgment is to engage themselves in adultery and not in faithfulness and in moral purity. And it could be speaking of what they are viewing, such as pornography, but lust does reveal itself sometimes through physical eyes.

 

But a bad eye is bad judgment and discernment. It means we are not acting wisely with spiritual discernment but we are making sinful and unwise choices which are leading us down a path of sin and not on the path of righteousness. It means we are willfully choosing sin over righteousness and disobedience over obedience. It means we are ignoring our Lord’s commands and we are choosing our own path and we are doing what our flesh dictates and not what the Spirit commands.

 

Our Whole Body

 

Now, notice with me what this says about our bodies, but not just our physical bodies but our whole being. If we have spiritually healthy judgments and discernment, by the Spirit, and we are forsaking our lives of sin to follow Jesus in obedience to his ways, our whole being is full of light (truth, righteousness, holiness and godliness). We are the Lord’s and we have salvation from sin and we will inherit the kingdom of heaven.

 

But if we have spiritually bad judgments and discernment, and if we are choosing habitual and deliberate sin in place of faithful obedience to our Lord, our whole being is full of darkness. Like John said, if we say we have fellowship with God but we walk (in conduct, in practice) in darkness (in sin, in wickedness), we lie and the truth is not in us. The same applies if we claim to know God but we are not doing what he commands, we are liars and the truth is not in us (1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10).

 

Be Careful

 

So, there is a warning here to be careful lest the light in us be darkness. How can this be? Many people today are professing faith in Jesus Christ but the faith is man-generated, not God-given faith, and it is being taught to them by charlatans and imitators of righteousness who are leading them in the wrong direction. They are telling them that all they have to do is “believe” in Jesus (not defined) and all their sins are forgiven and heaven is guaranteed them when they die regardless of how they live on this earth.

 

And so many of them have not been crucified with Christ in death to sin and they have not been raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. All they did was make a profession of faith in Jesus or say some words in a prayer after another person which are not usually words of true repentance and true humility of spirit with a heart desire to now change and become like Jesus in character and to no longer walk in sin.

 

And so the light that they think now dwells within them is actually darkness because there was no death to sin and no change of heart and mind away from sin to walk with the Lord in holiness and righteousness. And so they continue in deliberate and habitual sin thinking their sins are forgiven and that heaven is their eternal destiny. But their eye is not healthy, it is bad, and so their whole being is full of darkness and now they are headed to hell.

 

In other words, we can’t just profess faith in Jesus Christ and assume that our sins are all forgiven and heaven is what awaits us when we die while we continue to walk in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord. If sin is what we obey, it will end in death, not in life eternal. But if obedience to our Lord is what we obey, it will lead to righteousness and to sanctification and its end is eternal life with God. So know and believe the truth.

 

[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 5:10,15,21; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:21-25; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-10; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Heb 10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Matt 7:21-23; Ac 26:18; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

 

Living Water

 

An Original Work / November 21, 2013

Based off Various Scriptures

 

My people have forsaken Me,

Their Savior, who died on a tree;

Made idols, and they worshipped them;

So empty, they will ne’er fulfill.

 

Lord, You are the hope of Your chosen ones.

Those who turn away from You will be shamed;

The Spring of Living Water left behind.

 

Living Water satisfies.

 

The thirsty, let them come and drink;

Believe in Jesus as their King;

The gift of Jesus given them,

So they will never thirst again.

 

Indeed, the Living Water flows within.

It springs up like a fountain cleansing sin.

Eternal life in heaven promised them.

 

Living Water glorifies.

 

Oh people, won’t you come to Him?

Obey Him and repent of sin.

Let Jesus come and live within.

Surrender all your life to Him.

 

My people, won’t you turn your hearts to Me?

Forsake your idols and then you’ll be free.

Won’t you come now to Me on bended knee?

 

Living Water sanctifies.

 

https://vimeo.com/379511565

Yes, I Tell You, Fear Him

Luke 12:2-3 ESV

 

“In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, ‘Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed or hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.’”

 

Leaven (yeast), figuratively speaking, is the spreading influence of what is typically concealed. It is generally a symbol of the spreading nature of evil. And hypocrisy is pretending to be someone or something we are not. It is the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one’s own behavior does not conform, does not match up. We are to guard our hearts against the spreading influence of pretending to be what we are not.

 

We need to be those who are sincere and honest, who do not put on airs to impress other people. We should be who we are no matter who we are with or where we are located or whether we are in person or in writing only. We should not speak above what we are living, or else we should be honest that we are failing or that we are still growing in this area. We should all be able to say with Paul that we are still a work in process (progress), a work not yet completed, but that we are going in the right direction (Php 3:12-14).

 

And to be clear, a work in process is the process of sanctification, it is not the process of addiction to sin where we are still habitually and deliberately giving our lives over to particular sins as a matter of habit and life course. Being not yet fully perfected is never to be used as an excuse for continued and deliberate and premeditated sin against God and against other humans. For if our hearts are still being given over to sin habitually while we are claiming to be following Jesus with our lives, that is hypocrisy.

 

Now if we are not being hypocritical, the following should not concern us. For this tells us that nothing that is hidden will not be revealed or made known at some time. Whatever we have spoken in secret will be heard in the light and will be proclaimed on the housetops. So I will say in all honesty that my speech has not always been perfect. There have been things I have said in private that I would not want announced publicly. But sin is not my practice. Righteousness and obedience to my Lord are what I practice, as is honesty.

 

And if we are at all aware of what is going on in the world we must realize that nothing, absolutely nothing we do or say, if we are at all connected to technology, is private anymore. There are ears listening to us all the time. Just pay attention to your conversations and then pay attention to what ads you get on the internet or how easily Google finishes your searches like it knows what you are going to say or ask. And one day they could shout from the rooftops everything they heard us say, too. So beware.

 

Luke 12:4-7 ESV

 

“I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

 

The Bible acknowledges the fact that, as Christians, we may sin at times (1 Jn 2:1-2), but that we do have an advocate, Jesus Christ, who speaks in our defense. We do not lose our salvation every time we sin. BUT, and we need to get this, the Scriptures are also very clear about the end result of living in sin, in continuing in habitual and deliberate sin against the Lord and of not walking in obedience to his commands. We will not inherit eternal life with God. And if this is our practice, we don’t even know God (1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; 1 Co 6:9-10).

 

So, being a follower of Jesus does not necessarily mean that we never sin or that we never say something we know we shouldn’t have, but it means that we are no longer under the control of sin, that sin no longer has power over our lives, and that we are no longer enslaved (addicted) to sin but that we are now servants of righteousness and of holiness. And we are now walking according to the Spirit in obedience to our Lord, and we are not walking any longer according to our flesh, obeying sin and not God.

 

But, if we are followers of Jesus, and if we are making righteousness and holiness and obedience to our Lord our practice, and sin is no longer our practice, and if we are going wherever the Lord sends us, and if we are saying what he gives us to say, and if we are doing what he calls us to do in taking his messages to the people of the world, we will be opposed just like Jesus was, and just like the apostles were and the prophets before them. For those who are living in sin, especially if they are being hypocritical, will not like us, and they may come against us and they may persecute us.

 

But we are not to fear those who can kill the body but who cannot kill our souls. We are not to fear the opinions of or the rejection of those who do not approve of our chosen lifestyles as those who are following Jesus with wholehearted devotion. We are not to fear anything that other humans may do to us or say about us because God is still in control and nothing can touch us that God does not allow it for his purposes. And the Lord will carry us through it all or he will take us home to be with him forever.

 

But we are to continue to walk in the fear of the Lord in all honesty and sincerity of devotion to the Lord. We are to honor the Lord with our lives (with our bodies) and we are to live to please him in all that we do and say. We are to be conformed to his likeness and not to the likeness of other humans or to the patterns of this sinful world. And we are to show our Lord respect and obey him and give our worship to him and follow him always.

 

But should we continue to walk in sin, in deliberate and habitual (addictive) sin against the Lord, and not in holiness, and not in obedience to our Lord, then we need to understand that the Scriptures teach that we will not inherit eternal life with God no matter what we profess with our lips. So if you profess faith in Jesus but you are still walking in sin, salvation is not yours to have (to claim). Heaven will not be your eternal destiny. Hell will be. So, please surrender your lives to Jesus today and follow him in his ways.

 

[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 5:10,15,21; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:21-25; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-10; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Heb 10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Matt 7:21-23; Ac 26:18; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

 

All Through the Night  

 

An Original Work / December 7, 2013

Based off Various Scriptures

 

Blessed are you when you’re persecuted

Because of your faith in Jesus Christ.

Blessed are you when people insult you,

And falsely say what leads folks to doubt.

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is

Great in the heavens. You’re not alone.

 

When you are persecuted in one place,

Flee to another. God will be there.

You will be hated by all the nations

Because you testify of God’s grace.

Many will seize you and persecute you,

And put to death the foll’wers of Christ.

 

Yet do not fear what humans may do to you,

For I’m with you all through the night.

I tell you, love your enemies with my love,

And forgive as I forgave you.

Pray for those who do evil against you.

Rest in my love and grace from above.

 

https://vimeo.com/379481617

We Must Contend for the Faith

Jude 1:3-4 ESV

 

“Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”

 

The Church

 

The church is the universal body of Christ comprised of the saints of God all throughout the world who are the called of God to be his holy people. We are those who have been crucified with Christ in death to sin and who have been raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. We have been delivered from our slavery to sin so that we can now live as slaves to God’s righteousness.

 

[Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Ac 2:42-47; Rom 12:3-8; 1 Co 12; Eph 4:1-24; 1 Pet 2:4-6; Col 1:18; Col 2:19; Eph 1:22; Eph 2:19-22; Eph 5:23-30]

 

But certain people have crept into the gatherings of the church, largely unnoticed. They are ungodly people, people who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and who deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. And they have turned the church upside down and have turned it into something it is not. They have turned the gatherings of the church into businesses of men being marketed to the world like any other business.

 

And so the gatherings of what was once the church, the body of Christ, have largely been altered to appeal to the flesh of man and to the people of the world, at least here in America. So, rather than the church gathering together as the body of Christ to encourage one another in the faith so that we can go out into the world with the gospel, the people of the world are being brought into the gatherings, and now they appeal to their desires.

 

And in order to attract the world to “the church,” which is no longer just the body of Christ but a mixture of the world and the church, they have also altered and diluted the gospel of Jesus Christ and the grace of our God to make them more attractive and acceptable to the people of the world and to the flesh of man. And they have definitely perverted God’s grace into a license for lasciviousness, and they deny Jesus as Lord and Master.

 

Perversions of Grace

 

So, first of all, God’s grace to us is deliverance from our slavery (addiction) to sin so that we can now be slaves of God and of his righteousness. Jesus died on that cross that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness. He died that we might no longer live for ourselves but for him who died and was raised. And Jesus shed his blood for us on that cross to buy us back for God (to redeem us) so that we would now honor God with our bodies.

 

[Rom 6:1-23; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Pet 2:24; 2 Co 5:15; 1 Co 6:19-20]

 

But these who have crept in among us largely unnoticed have artfully and cleverly slipped lie after lie inside the gospel to where the vast majority are believing the lies over the truth. What they are teaching is that we can “believe” in Jesus (not defined), have our sins forgiven (past, present, and future), and be guaranteed heaven when we die regardless of how we live on this earth. And some even go so far as to say that once you receive Christ that you can never reject him.

 

What many are teaching is that we don’t have to repent of our sins, and we don’t have to submit to Christ as Lord, and that we don’t have to obey Jesus, for they say that is works salvation or Lordship salvation. So, their adherents are given carte blanche to continue in deliberate and habitual sin while promising them heaven when they die. Some are even teaching that God no longer sees when we sin and all he sees is Jesus and so he smiles on us even when we are habitually sinning against him.

 

What this is, though, is them perverting God’s grace into sensuality and it is denying our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ, for it refuses to bow to him as Lord and to obey what he says, and it refuses to forsake sinful practices. For it teaches that we can believe in Jesus and still continue in deliberate and habitual sin. What a mockery of what Jesus did for us on that cross that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness.

 

Contend for the Faith

 

So, we are to be those who contend for the faith. We are to be sharing the gospel with others, but we are to be sharing the truth of the gospel. For the truth teaches us that we are to be crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him. Our old self is to be put to death with Christ so that we are no longer enslaved to sin but so we are now slaves of God and of his righteousness.

 

Now we are to walk (in conduct, in practice) according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh. Daily by the Spirit we are to be putting to death the deeds of the flesh and we are to be following our Lord in obedience to his ways. And we are to put off our old self, which belongs to our former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of our minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

 

For if we don’t, but we continue in deliberate and habitual sin against our Lord, and against other humans, then we don’t have eternal life with God no matter what we profess. For Jesus said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but only the one DOING the will of God the Father who is in heaven. We have to forsake our lives of sin and follow Jesus in obedience if we want eternal life with God.

 

Also, we need to be gathering together with the body of Christ, with those of genuine faith in Christ who are not living in sin but who are walking in obedience to the Lord, and we need to be encouraging (exhorting, urging) one another to live holy lives, pleasing to the Lord. Now we can meet virtually on the internet or we can meet in person at a coffee shop or at the mall or in one another’s homes, etc., but we need to be encouraging one another so that none of us is hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

 

[Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Lu 9:23-26; Matt 7:21-23; Rom 12:1-8; 1 Co 12:1-31; Eph 4:1-24; Eph 5:17-21; Col 3:16; Heb 3:13]

 

We are the Church

 

By Donald S. Marsh, Richard K. Avery

 

The church is not a building,

the church is not a steeple,

the church is not a resting place,

the church is a people.

 

We're many kinds of people,

with many kinds of faces,

all colors and all ages, too,

from all times and places.

 

I am the church!

You are the church!

We are the church together!

All who follow Jesus,

all around the world!

Yes, we are the church together!

 

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

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Loving the Word of God

Psalms 19:7-8 ESV

 

“The law of the Lord is perfect,

    reviving the soul;

the testimony of the Lord is sure,

    making wise the simple;

the precepts of the Lord are right,

    rejoicing the heart.”

 

The Law of the Lord under the New Covenant is the Gospel of Jesus Christ which includes all teachings related to our salvation and to our walks of faith in our Lord. It is the perfect law, the law of liberty that James talked about in James 1:25. The one who looks into it and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing, James said.

 

And that gospel teaches us that we must die with Christ to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, for this is the reason for which Jesus died on that cross. It instructs us that we are to say “No!” to ungodliness and fleshly passions, and that we are to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return. For it teaches us that sin should no longer have mastery over our lives but Christ should now be our Master.

 

And it does revive our souls, for by faith in Jesus Christ it turns us from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God so that we might receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those sanctified by faith in Jesus Christ. For it teaches us to put off our old self, which belongs to our former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of our minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

 

We can count on the Word of God being true. Now there are many different translations of the Scriptures, so only the original writings are perfect. So we do need to be discerning about what translations we use, and if only one is available to us then we just need to trust the Lord to lead us to all truth and to help us to discern if a translation is not hitting the mark. But that is why we are given the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth.

 

But the word of God should be a joy to our hearts, and by it we should gain wisdom and understanding. And so we need to be dedicated to getting into the word each day and to drinking in its truths and letting the Holy Spirit speak truth to our hearts. And then like James said, we need to be doers of the word and not hearers only. We need to be those who are putting into practice what we are learning through the word by the Spirit each day.

 

[Jas 1:22-25; 1 Pet 2:24; Rom 6:1-23; Eph 4:17-24; Tit 2:11-14; Ac 26:18]

 

Psalms 19:8-9 ESV

 

“The commandment of the Lord is pure,

    enlightening the eyes;

the fear of the Lord is clean,

    enduring forever;

the rules of the Lord are true,

    and righteous altogether.”

 

We who believe in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives, who have surrendered our hearts to the Lord, who have forsaken our sinful practices, and who are following our Lord in obedience to his ways, as a matter of life course, are to be walking in obedience to the Lord’s commands. But these aren’t the Old Covenant liturgical, ceremonial, and purification laws, but they are the law of liberty, the teachings of the gospel of our salvation.

 

Jesus summarized the law and the prophets into two commands, to love him with our whole being and to love our neighbors (other people) as we love ourselves. If we are doing this we are obeying our Lord in all things because to love God is to obey his commands. To love God is to do what he tells us to do. It is to forsake our sins and to follow him in obedience. And it is to not deliberately and habitually sin against him and our fellow humans.

 

And the fear of the Lord is to give him honor, respect, obedience, worship, and submission to him as Lord of our lives. It is to die with him to sin and to live to him and to his righteousness. It is to go with him wherever he leads us and to do and to say whatever he gives us to do or to say. It is to make him truly Lord (Owner-Master) of our lives and for us to be his servants who do his bidding. For he owns us and now we belong to him.

 

[Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; 1 Jn 2:3-6; Jas 1:22-25; Matt 22:36-40; 1 Pet 2:24; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 5:3-6; 1 Co 6:9-10; Rom 2:6-8]

 

Psalms 19:10-11 ESV

 

“More to be desired are they than gold,

    even much fine gold;

sweeter also than honey

    and drippings of the honeycomb.

Moreover, by them is your servant warned;

    in keeping them there is great reward.”

 

The teachings of Jesus and the teachings of the New Testament Apostles and any teachings from the Old Testament which teach the same messages are to be desired more than anything of this world which is only temporary and which is passing away. We are to hunger for the word of God and to thirst after his righteousness. And we need to be studying the pure Scriptures in their context so that we are getting the correct teaching from them.

 

Reading and studying the Scriptures should never be a drudgery. They should not be something we ignore or that we cast aside or that we put off to another time and then we end up not getting into the word each day. Doing that is like ignoring our physical hunger and forgetting to eat food or to drink liquids until we begin to physically deteriorate for lack of nourishment. We need to daily nourish our souls, too.

 

Now the Scriptures are not fun and games. They are not generally entertaining, either, though they may have their humorous spots. But they aren’t supposed to be so we can have a few good laughs. So we should never make jokes about the Scriptures but we should take them seriously. And we shouldn’t just read the parts which make us feel good inside, but we should read the parts that convict us of wrongdoing, too.

 

The Scriptures are filled with teachings, instructions, lessons, examples (good and bad), encouragements, promises, hope, healing, and forgiveness. But they are also filled with warnings, and many of those warnings are given to the church, to those professing faith in Jesus Christ, and some of those warnings let us know what constitutes faith which saves and what behaviors will keep us out of the kingdom of heaven.

 

So, we need to read them all, and we need to heed them all, and we should not cherry pick the ones we like and skip over the ones we don’t like. For the truth is that Jesus died on that cross that we might die with him to sin and that we might live to him and to his righteousness. And if we continue in deliberate and habitual sin and not in walks of obedience to our Lord, then we will not inherit eternal life with God. So we need to take that to heart and do what God says.

 

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