Take His Yoke Upon You

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30 ESV)

Many of us are going through trials and tribulations and difficult circumstances which test our faith, and which may trouble our minds and hearts and bring us to tears and move us to call out to God in our distress, which then move us to pray for his intervention in our trying times. For some people in the world, what they are going through is enormous! It is tragic beyond words, and I grieve for them and what they are going through.

By comparison with what many people in the world are suffering who are suffering greatly at the hands of their enemies, our suffering may appear minute. But that doesn’t make it less for us. It is still hard to go through such difficult times, and so we feel the hurt and the pain and the suffering, some of us daily. But the Lord says to bring our burdens to him, to come to him with our burdens, and he will give us rest (inward peace in suffering).

But what does it mean to come to Christ? It means that we must deny self, die daily to sin, and follow our Lord Jesus in obedience to his commands. It means we must forsake our former lives of living in sin and for self, and we must now follow our Lord in obedience to his will for our lives. He must now be Lord and Master of our lives, and we must now let him be the one in control, and then we must yield to his control over our lives and do his will.

[Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 9:23-26; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Corinthians 5:15; Galatians 5:16-21; Galatians 6:7-8; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Hebrews 10:23-31; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10]   

And this is the only way we are going to find rest in all our trials and tribulations. For we can’t just call on his name and then expect him to do what we want. We must be those whose lives are surrendered to him to do his will and who are listening to him and who are following him wherever he leads us. And then we must also accept his sovereignty over our lives and yield to his will, even if it means more suffering for us.

For the peace and rest that he gives us is not necessarily via the absence of conflict, but in spite of the conflict. We can be at peace and at rest within our minds and hearts even if all hell is breaking loose all around us. And this isn’t saying that we won’t feel fear, but that our Lord, if we trust him with our circumstances, will help us to overcome that fear and to respond in faith despite what is going on in our lives.

But we have to take his yoke upon us. We have to do what he says to do and to go where he goes and to not fight against him and to not try to do it our way. For this involves submission to Christ as Lord and surrender to his will for our lives, even if that will is that we suffer for the sake of his name and for the sake of his gospel, and for the sake of his truth and righteousness and holiness. When we yield control to God, we are at peace.

And the reason that his yoke is easy and his burden is light is because we are giving the weight of what we are going through over to him and we are not carrying that burden on our shoulders alone. For we are resting in him and we are letting him lead us in the way that he would have us to go despite our difficult circumstances. For it is kind of like a book I read a long time ago called, “Feel the Fear But Do it Anyway.”

[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; Jn 15:1-21; Jn 16:33; Jn 17:14; Ac 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Rev 6:9-11; Rev 7:9-17; Rev 11:1-3; Rev 12:17; Rev 13:1-18; Rev 14:1-13]

Video Talk

https://youtu.be/Y6cupFkbNLc

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Rest for the Weary  

An Original Work / April 23, 2011

Based off of Matthew 11:28-30

Rest for the weary; 

peace for the soul.

Light in the darkness; 

mercy untold.

Perfect salvation; 

pardoned and free,

For Jesus died 

so that all may believe.

While we are waiting 

for Your return,

Jesus, Redeemer, 

let our hearts yearn

For your soon coming 

to get Your bride,

Washed in Your blood, 

having been sanctified.

Father, Son, Spirit, 

all three in One

Giveth salvation 

through redemption.

Jesus provided 

the sacrifice

For our sins blood bought, 

for He paid the price.

https://vimeo.com/117068847

Calling Him Lord versus Him Being our Lord

 

Courage When Rebuked and Silenced

As Jesus drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” And he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me recover my sight.” And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God. (Luke 18:35-43 ESV)

Have you ever been silenced and/or rebuked for seeking the Lord Jesus with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength? For seeking after his grace and mercy? For pursuing his love and kindness? For going after his truth and righteousness? For desiring his healing touch upon your life? And by the people in the front? By elders and deacons and pastors of what are called “churches”? This is how I relate this story to my life. Do you identify?

My husband and I had just had a conversation on that topic and then I read this passage of Scripture and immediately I saw how it related to my life and experiences. And I assume that others, like me, have encountered some of the same types of situations which may have discouraged them, but which may not have discouraged them. For they may have continued to pursue the Lord, his truth, and his will for their lives despite those who silenced them.

For we live in a day and age when “the church” at large is very worldly and is following the teachings of man often times over the teachings of the Scriptures taught in full context. Many of them have been trained in following after other men and their marketing schemes for how to grow their “churches” numerically by altering the character of God and of the church and of his gospel to make them more appealing and acceptable to flesh.

So, if you are a seeker of truth and righteousness, who desire the Lord, who want to obey him, who want his healing touch upon your life, you may find yourself in conflict with the marketing schemes and manipulations and tricks that are being used today to “draw in large crowds of people from the world.” And you may find yourself like a fish going against the flow, in the “rare” category, and seemingly all alone on many biblical issues.

And so you may also find yourself being silenced and rebuked for seeking after the Lord and his truth and his righteousness, in earnest, because you do not fit with their marketing schemes for how to “grow their churches.” But I just love the courage of this blind man. He did not let the people “in the front” intimidate him into giving up and running away. He stood his ground and he cried all the more for the Lord to have mercy on him. Love it!!

This is the kind of courage and determination we should all have if we are earnestly seeking the Lord and his touch upon our lives. We should not let the treatment we receive from others and their opinions and their perceptions and beliefs and practices, which they might try to force upon us, hinder our walks of faith. We should not let their abuse, their false judgments, their criticisms, and their hushing of our voices stop us from honoring Jesus with our lives. I admire this man’s determination!

For, you see, this isn’t just a story about Jesus healing a blind man. This story is about a man who was seeking Jesus Christ and his touch upon his life and the opposition that he faced from those “out in front” who wanted to keep him from that relationship with Jesus Christ, who wanted to keep him from being healed, who wanted to put a damper on his faith, to squelch it, to silence him. And this is a story of his courage and determination to keep pursuing the Lord despite those who were trying to silence him.

And because he didn’t give up. And because he would not be silenced. And because of his faith and his courage and his determination to keep calling out to Jesus, Jesus listened to him, and he healed him. Praise the Lord! So we can’t let other people, no matter who they are, determine our destiny for us. We can’t just shut up because they say we must. We must keep speaking the truth, and we must keep calling out to Jesus, and calling for him to heal broken lives and marriages and families, and not give up hope.

We need to keep believing the Lord Jesus for miracles despite what other people do or say. We need to keep believing the Lord in all things and in all situations and even in all the persecutions and opposition that we face along the way. Even in those dark valleys, we need to keep believing the Lord and calling out to him and pursuing him, even when things seem hopeless, and even when we are silenced and rebuked because of our faith in the Lord, and for our earnestness in seeking his face and his truth and righteousness.

For God is not limited by what men do. They have no power over him. So don’t let other people determine your life situation for you. Don’t let them determine for you who you are and who you are to become. Yes, other people can have a certain amount of control over us, depending upon where we live and what those circumstances are, but they can’t determine what is in our hearts and who we are and who we become, by the grace of God. So, we must not let them have that kind of power over us. Love this man’s faith!

Mary, Did You Know?

Songwriters: Greene Lee Rufus / Lowry Mark Alan

Mary, did you know that your baby boy

Would one day walk on water?

Mary, did you know that your baby boy

Would save our sons and daughters?

Did you know that your baby boy

Has come to make you new?

This child that you delivered, will soon deliver you

The blind will see, the deaf will hear

The dead will live again

The lame will leap, the dumb will speak

The praises of the Lamb

Mary, did you know that your baby boy

Is Lord of all creation?

Mary, did you know that your baby boy

Would one day rule the nations?

Did you know that your baby boy

Is heaven's perfect Lamb?

That sleeping child you're

Holding is the great, I Am

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

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Watch Out for the Fakes!

“And he said to the disciples, ‘The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. And they will say to you, “Look, there!” or “Look, here!” Do not go out or follow them. For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 

“’Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. 

“’On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. Remember Lot's wife. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.’” (Luke 17:22-33 ESV)

I believe we live in a present day and time, at least here in America, where so many things are being faked and altered and made to look one way when they are actually another. And so if we are people who are seeking after the Lord and after truth and righteousness, we may have to sift through a whole lot of fakery and altered truth to finally unveil the truth and to get to the real biblical Jesus. For so many people today are altering the truth of the character of God and of his church and of his gospel to attract the world.

For, although many profess faith in Jesus Christ, many are those who are following an altered Christ and gospel created in the minds of human beings which is presently permeating the church in America at large. For they are writing over and covering over the truth of who Jesus is and of why he died on that cross and of his gospel message in order to make him and his gospel more attractive and appealing to human flesh and to the ungodly. So what they are presenting is not biblical Jesus nor his biblical gospel message.

And this is being done via cartoons, movies, TV shows, music lyrics, social media memes, short (or long) videos, books, devotionals, poetry, sermons, and various other means of spreading their messages to the people of this world. The mediums themselves are not evil, for righteousness is being spoken through many of these mediums, too, but so is so much fakery and lies and deceptions which add on to and which cover over the truth of who Jesus is and the truth of his gospel message, and many are deceived.

So, we are being cautioned here to be discerning people and to not follow after the fakes and the phonies and the false gospels of men which are intended to present a different Jesus and another gospel other than the Jesus and the gospel message of the Scriptures. For it is the self-indulgent, the disobedient, and the pleasure-seeking who are altering the character and the word of God to make it more attractive to human flesh. For so many are teaching that a mere profession of faith in Christ is enough to secure for us salvation from sin and eternal life with God in heaven.

And so we live in a day and time when so many who are professing faith in Jesus Christ are living not much different from those who make no such professions of faith. So we are living in the days of Noah, basically, when so many people, professing Christians and not, are living for self-pleasure and for what feels good, and for sinful pleasure and not for the will of God, and not in walks of obedience to his commands, and not in holy living and moral purity, honesty, and faithfulness. For they are being convinced that they don’t have to and that they can continue in sin and still go to heaven.

And so we are being warned here of the dangers of living for self and for self-pleasure and not for the will of God, according to his commands. And the warning is a strong encouragement to change course and to remove from our lives all that is in opposition to the Lord and to his commands. For we are to be his holy people who are living in moral purity and uprightness and in godly living and who are no longer walking in deliberate and habitual sin against our Lord. And this is a warning, too, to cast off all these false and altered teachings which are leading so many people astray.

For if we go our own way, and we ignore our Lord and his commands, it will not end well for us. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for the sake of Jesus we deny self, and we die with him to sin daily, and we walk in obedience to his commands, in practice, then we have the hope of eternal life with God. For not everyone who says to Jesus, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING the will of God the Father (Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

[Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 9:23-26; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Corinthians 5:15; Galatians 5:16-21; Galatians 6:7-8; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Hebrews 10:23-31; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10]   

As the Deer 

By Martin J. Nystrom

Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water

 So my soul longeth after You

 You alone are my heart's desire

 And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield

 To You alone may my spirit yield

 You alone are my heart's desire

 And I long to worship You

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZv3jzOTE70

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Don't Let Them Sweet Talk You into Backing Down

At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” And he said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’” (Luke 13:31-35 ESV)

So, when I first read this I thought, “What? The Pharisees are concerned about Herod wanting to kill Jesus?” These were Jesus’ enemies, although perhaps not all of them. But they mostly wanted him dead. So this made no sense to me. So I looked it up in an old commentary, and the author said basically what I was thinking, that this was a trick to try to get Jesus to stop what he was doing, which seems evident by Jesus’ response when he called Herod a “fox,” for that indicates deception, trickery, and a con job.

And Satan is going to use the same methods on us who are following Jesus with our lives to try to get us to stop obeying the Lord and to stop sharing the truth of the gospel and to stop refuting the lies of the enemy. For he doesn’t want people to know that Jesus said that if we are going to come after him that we must deny self, take up our cross daily (daily die to sin) and follow him in obedience to his commands (New Covenant). And they don’t want us to tell people they will die in their sins if they don’t obey God.

So, one of Satan’s methods (tricks) to try to get us to back down from obeying the Lord and from doing what he has called us to do is to have someone show concern for us and to try to sweet talk us into backing down from serving the Lord in the way in which he has called us to serve him, and for us to take a break or a vacation and to not take things so seriously. And it may be under the guise that they are concerned for our health or they are concerned that people are coming against us and attacking us, etc.

And I am not saying that there are not people out there who care about us and who are genuine in their concern for us, but whether knowingly or not, a lot of people, well meaning or not, are being used as tools of Satan to try to get the Lord’s servants and messengers to back down from serving the Lord in the way in which the Lord has called them to serve and to be more like everyone else, more like the world and less serious about God. And we can’t give into the temptation to withdraw by believing those who seem to care.

We need to respond like Jesus did. For if truly we are doing the will of the Lord, and we are obeying him and his word, and we are fulfilling his purposes for our lives in encouraging the body of Christ in holy living, and in sharing the truth of the gospel, and in refuting the lies of the enemy, then we shouldn’t allow ourselves to be talked out of that, but we must keep doing what we are doing today and to do it tomorrow and the next day, and the next, until we die or until Jesus returns and he takes us to be with him.

And then, like Jesus, we should be people who grieve over those who are putting their hands up to their ears and to their eyes and who are refusing to see and to hear the truth of what God’s word teaches, because they prefer the lies instead. For the lies convince them that they can keep living in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord, and against other humans, but while they profess Christ as Lord and Savior and heaven as their eternal destiny. It should pain us deeply that they will not yield to the Lord.

And then we should pray for them that they will surrender their lives to Jesus Christ, and that they will submit to Christ as Lord of their lives, and that they will now forsake their sinful practices and that they will now walk in holiness and righteousness and in moral purity, uprightness, integrity, honesty, and faithfulness to the Lord and to his commands. And pray that they don’t keep resisting the Lord until it is too late to the point to where they hear Jesus say, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness.” And it was because they would not obey the Lord.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

Video Talk

https://youtu.be/IKVD2Fkmb7Q

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My Sheep  

An Original Work / June 24, 2012  

Based off John 10:1-18 NIV

My sheep hear me. They know me.

They listen to my voice and obey.

I call them and lead them.

They know my voice, so they follow me.

They will never follow strangers.

They will run away from them.

The voice of a stranger they know not;

They do not follow him.

So, I tell you the truth that

I am the gate, so you enter in.

Whoever does enter

Will find forgiveness and will be saved.

Nonetheless whoever enters

Not by the gate; other way,

He is the thief and a robber.

Listen not, the sheep to him.

Oh, I am the Good Shepherd,

Who laid his own life down for the sheep.

I know them. They know me.

They will live with me eternally.

The thief only comes to steal and

Kill and to destroy the church.

I have come to give you life that

You may have it to the full… 

They know my voice, so they follow me.

https://vimeo.com/114938263 

Lip Service is Not Enough

“He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. And someone said to him, ‘Lord, will those who are saved be few?’ And he said to them, ‘Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 

“’When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, “Lord, open to us,” then he will answer you, “I do not know where you come from.” Then you will begin to say, “We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.” But he will say, “I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!” 

“’In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.’” (Luke 13:22-30 ESV; cf. Matthew 7:13-14,21-23)

Yes, the Bible teaches that few in number will be those who will be saved from their sins and who will enter into the kingdom of heaven. For few are those who enter by the narrow (controlled, restrained, regulated, restricted) gate (door, entrance into heaven). For it is few who surrender their lives over to Jesus Christ, who submit to him as Lord (Owner-Master) of their lives, who deny self, who die to sin daily, and who follow him in obedience. For the narrow way that leads to life is hard, and the many prefer the easy way.

So we are to endeavor to enter through the narrow door. So what this is saying is that we don’t enter into God’s eternal kingdom merely by a profession of faith in Jesus Christ once in our lives. Our salvation and our eternal life with God are contingent on us dying with Christ to sin, not just once, but daily, and on us walking in faithful obedience to his commands in holy living, in moral purity, honesty and faithfulness to our Lord. And we must continue in these walks of faithful obedience until our Lord returns.

For not everyone who professes faith in Jesus Christ will be saved in the end and will have eternal life with God. For many professers of faith in Jesus Christ are walking the easy path that leads to destruction, and they are not walking the hard path that leads to eternal life. For they have bought into the lies of the enemy who is telling them that they can “believe” in Jesus, have all their sins forgiven (past, present, and future), be guaranteed heaven when they die, but regardless of how they live on this earth.

For not everyone who says to Jesus, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING the will of God the Father in heaven. For once he shuts that door, there is no more chance for entry. And many are going to profess that they knew him, and that they were in relationship with him, and that they had their salvation secured, and that they did all sorts of things in his name, and that they faithfully attended weekly church services, and that they read their Bibles, etc. But he will tell them that he never knew them and that they are to depart from him, “all you workers of evil.” 

Why? Because they would not submit to him as Lord (Owner-Master) of their lives, and they would not walk in obedience to his commands, and they would not forsake their sinful practices, but they continued on living in sin and for self and for self-pleasure rather than for the will and for the pleasure of God. They were still lord of their own lives, doing whatever they wanted to do, regardless of what the Scriptures teach we all must do as followers of Christ if we want to have salvation from sin and eternal life with God. But they thought they could take the short-cut. But there are no short-cuts.

And this is a very sad reality that so many professers of faith in Jesus Christ are taking the short-cut thinking that it is going to get them into heaven, but while they continue living life the way that they want rather than in submission to Christ as Lord of their lives. And so they are not going to be given access into God’s eternal kingdom, but they will be among those who are in a place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, instead. For they refused the truth of the gospel in favor of a lie so that they could live however they want rather than as God requires of us all.

So, please know that it is not a profession of faith in Jesus Christ that is going to guarantee you entrance into God’s heaven. It is denying self, dying to sin daily, and walking in obedience to the Lord and to his commands, by the Spirit, by the grace of God, in the power and strength of God, in submission to his will and purpose for our lives. For if sin is what you practice, and if righteous and godly living and moral purity and obedience to the Lord are not your practice, you will not inherit eternal life with God.

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15] 

Fit for Service 

 

An Original Work / October 5, 2011

Holy Spirit, come within us.

Cleanse our hearts, 

and from sin free us.

Make us holy vessels fit 

for service to the King.

Fill us with Your love and power.

Anoint us within this hour

To be living witnesses 

For Jesus Christ, our King.

Our praise to Him bring.

Father God, our heart’s desire,

Come and speak to us in power.

Revive our hearts to obey You;

Live for You always.

May we love and serve You only,

Walking with You; 

Not a phony.

May we always tell the truth,

And show integrity.

Your true servants be.

Jesus, Savior, sanctify us.

Purify our hearts within us;

Be transformed into Your likeness,

Holy unto You.

May we always listen to You

Speaking Your words 

Now within us.

May we heed Your counsel to us;

Follow You today.

Do all that You say. 

https://vimeo.com/113979906

Tradition versus Relationship

“Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, ‘Woman, you are freed from your disability.’ And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God. 

“But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, ‘There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.’ Then the Lord answered him, ‘You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?’ As he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him.” (Luke 13:10-17 ESV)

There are many such people as these who criticized Jesus who live among us today. They are those who are locked into tradition and culture to the point to where they are not capable of seeing when God is working in people’s lives. They are so locked into their traditional practices that they will openly criticize those who have escaped those non-biblical traditions to truly worship the Lord in spirit and in truth. And they will even accuse you of being unfaithful to the Lord because you do not adhere to their religious practices which are not in accord with the teachings of the Scriptures.

And it won’t matter to them if people are being healed, and if people are hearing the truth of the gospel and if they are trusting in the Lord for their salvation. It won’t matter to them that the gospel is going out to people in many nations across the globe and that the body of Christ is being encouraged and exhorted by the truths of the Scriptures to walk in righteousness and in holy living in obedience to the Lord. What matters to them only is that you are following their traditions, and if you are not, you are regarded as someone who is not following the Lord Jesus.

This is how Jesus got treated, and in some cultures this is how we will get treated, too, if we break with tradition to truly follow the Lord Jesus with our lives in truth and in righteousness and in obedience to his commands.

But let me preface this all with this: The church is the ekklēsía, the people of God who are called out from the world and to God. We are God’s holy people who are to be different from the world because we are being made to be like Jesus in character, word, and deed. We who have been crucified and buried with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness, we are the church, the body of Christ. And there is only one church, but we gather in different locations throughout the world. 

But human tradition and culture have largely made “the church” into a building, an institution of human origin, a social club, a civic center, a church denomination, a corporation under the state, and a business of human making being marketed to the ungodly in order to draw in large crowds of people from the world and to incorporate them into their gatherings. And human tradition has them gathering mostly on Sunday mornings for a song service and to hear a preacher preach until the next week, then repeat. Some of them also do have small group gatherings throughout the week.

But these gatherings are not the biblical church, the body of Christ, because they are a conglomeration of the people of the world, the ungodly, the rebellious, the habitual sinners, the government, big business and worldliness and godlessness all combined together. And most are not following the biblical pattern for the purpose for why we gather together as the body of Christ, and many have even eliminated much of what the Scriptures teach is the purpose of our gatherings, because they are trying to attract the people of the world to their gatherings.

Now the Scriptures clearly teach that we are to come out from among such gatherings as these which are worldly minded and worldly focused and which are not doing what the body of Christ is supposed to be doing in their gatherings. For we are not to turn our gatherings into a marketplace to be marketed to the ungodly. And we are not to be unequally yoked (united) together with unbelievers (with the ungodly), and we are not to be in fellowship with them. But we are to come out from among them and to be separate so that we don’t take part in their sins and in their punishment.

[Matthew 21:12-13; John 2:13-17; Acts 5:27-32; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Philippians 3:18-19; Revelation 13:5-8; Revelation 18:1-5]

But if you separate yourself from the worldly market-driven “church,” then you are regarded as out of fellowship with God and as the ungodly, even if what you are doing is what the Scriptures teach that we are all to be doing. For the church is made up of all of us of genuine faith in Jesus Christ and we all have a job, an assignment of God, and we have all been given spiritual gifts, and we are to function in those assigned areas of ministry as God assigns us, utilizing the spiritual gifts we have been given to minister to one another and to encourage one another in our walks of obedience to Christ.

And we are to be those who are taking the truth of the gospel to the people we know and to worldly professing Christians and to the people of this world. And we are to be daily exhorting one another as Christians so that none of us are hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. And we are to be speaking the truth in love to one another so that we are not led astray by men in their deceitful scheming. And we are not to be telling one another that we don’t want them or need them or that they should go someplace else just because they don’t fit with human marketing plans. But we are to be loving one another.

[Matt 5:13-16; Matt 28:18-20; Jn 4:31-38; Jn 13:13-17; Jn 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:14-18; Acts 26:18; Rom 10:14-15; Rom 12:1-8; Rom 15:14; 1 Co 12:1-31; 1 Co 14:1-5; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:17-27; Php 2:1-8; Col 3:16; Heb 3:13; Heb 10:23-25; 1 Pet 2:9,21; 1 Jn 2:6]  

But if you are someone who is doing all that, who is following what the Scriptures teach, and you are taking the gospel message to the ends of the earth, and you are daily exhorting and encouraging your brothers and sisters in Christ in holy living and in walks of obedience and surrender to our Lord, but you have obeyed the Lord and you have come out of these institutions of man which are in fellowship with the world and with the government and with the ungodly, then you are regarded as a backslider of some sort because you do not attend their Sunday gatherings.

And please see that this is the same as what the religious hypocrites of Jesus’ day did to him when he healed people on the Sabbath. He was doing the good that he ought to do but they were more concerned that he not do it on their Sabbath day, mainly because they did not really comprehend the purpose of the Sabbath, which was for the good of the people, not to do them harm. For man was not made for the Sabbath but the Sabbath for man, Jesus said, and he was Lord of the Sabbath. And now Jesus is our Sabbath rest and we worship him in spirit and in truth anywhere on any day of the week at any time of the day or night, for his Spirit lives within us.

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 

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