Jesus, Rescue Me

Are you presently struggling with sin? What I mean is, not are you are being tempted, but are you giving in to the flesh thinking that sin or Satan has power over you and that you don't have the ability to say "NO!" to sin?

In the book of Romans, chapter 7, Paul described for us the struggle with sin that we have in our flesh natures. The good we want to do, we do not do, and the evil we don’t want to do, we end up doing. Paul came to the conclusion, “Oh, what a wretched man I am!” Then, he asked, “Who will rescue me from the body of death?” And, then he answered the question, “Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!” We, as believers in Jesus Christ, are rescued! Amen! We no longer have to be in bondage (slavery) to sin! 

Jesus delivered us, not just from eternal damnation, but from the power of sin over our lives. He already won this battle for us. He has given us all we need to live in victory over sin and the flesh. He has given us the Spirit within us to guide, lead, counsel, strengthen and empower us. He has given us the armor of God with which to fight off Satan's evil attacks against us. It is not a matter of who is going to win. Jesus already won! We just have to live like we believe he won this one for us, and we have to daily resist Satan, flee temptation, and draw near to God in full assurance of faith. 

We have to use that spiritual armor God gave us, and we have to mean business with sin, i.e. we can't play with it and expect not to get burned. And, we have to take that way out from underneath the temptation so that we can stand up under it - the way of escape Jesus provided for us on the cross when he died so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. 

At the time the Lord Jesus gave me this song, I was going a direction which I thought was ok. I mean, I was not sinning, at least not that I knew. But, he sees what we don’t see ahead, which is why he often warns us of danger in advance, and we will do well to heed his warnings and to not go where he says don’t go. In this way, he is also rescuing us. 

Yet, there were times in my Christian life when I didn't take the way out, and I did yield to my flesh, and it was because I was convinced that Satan had power over me and that there was a question as to who would win, not that that was an excuse. We are never given permission to sin against God, i.e. God's grace is not a free license to continue in sin. Yet, we need to know that Jesus won the victory for us, and that in his power and in his strength, as we submit to him, and yield control of our lives over to him, we can be victorious over sin and the flesh, and that sin no longer has mastery over us.

Jesus, Rescue Me  

An Original Work / September 18, 2011

Based off of Romans 7:7-8:39

Jesus, rescue me today.

Listen while I bow and pray.

I need Your help to obey You;

Live for You always.

Meet me in my hour of need, Lord,

As I pray to You.

Help me walk in fellowship, Lord,

Living in Your truth.

Jesus, how I long for You to

Change my heart anew.

Father, God, my heart’s desire

Is to live for You this hour

In Your Holy Spirit’s power

Living in me now.

Teach me to walk in Your love, Lord,

Guiding me each day.

Help me to show love and kindness

To the lost, I pray.

Father, teach me to love others

As You love always.

Holy Spirit come in pow’r.

Revive our hearts in this hour.

Change our hearts to be like You, Lord;

Live for You each day.

Help us to forsake our sins, Lord,

As we humbly pray.

Teach us how to live for You, Lord,

Obey You always.

Holy Spirit come in power,

Revive us today. 

https://vimeo.com/126092919 

No Tears on Outside

He’s hurting, he’s crying,

No tears on outside.

He’s injured, he’s stirring,

All now kept inside.

He’s failing for words

To say all that he feels.

He cannot express,

Cannot make his appeals.

His outside is inside,

Trapped now in his skin,

Knows not where to turn,

And his faith’s wearing thin.

He doesn’t know who to trust.

Who really cares?

And so he says nothing,

In space he just stares.

He’s built up his walls

To keep others outside

So they will not know

What is deep down inside.

I pray for him now

That he sees Someone cares,

Someone who sees him

Behind all the stares.

Someone who gave his life

For you and for me

So now from our sins

We could truly be free.

I pray, Lord, that you

Will get through to his heart

And show him you want

To give him a new start.

An Original Work / January 4, 2024

Examining God's Holy Temple

“I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, ‘Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, with its worshipers. But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for months. And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.’ They are ‘the two olive trees’ and the two lampstands, and ‘they stand before the Lord of the earth.’ If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. They have power to shut up the heavens so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.” (Revelation 11:1-6 NIV)

The events which were spoken of here occur during the Messianic age, not under the Old Covenant. Thus, the temple being spoken of here is not the physical temple of God of the Old Covenant, but it is us, the people of God today who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives. We are that temple. God/Jesus Christ lives within us in the person of the Holy Spirit. For the temple is no longer a physical building but is a spiritual building with us who believe in Jesus as its living stones, with Christ as the cornerstone.

And so the measurement being spoken of here is not a physical but a spiritual measurement (examination). So, we are to be examined (judged) spiritually by God’s spiritual measurements, which are his Word and his commands. We the church are to come under the examination of God with regard to the spiritual condition of his temple, the church, the body of Christ, in our present day and time. And we have biblical examples of this kind of judgment written down for us in Revelation 2:1-29 and Revelation 3:1-22.

And what is the altar of God today? It is also not a physical place but a spiritual place of worship of God where we surrender our lives to him as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to him, which is our acceptable worship of him. It is us spending time with him in his word each day, drinking in its truths, taking them to heart, and then obeying the commands of our Lord under the New Covenant in our daily lives. For this is our walks of faith and obedience and service to our Lord as living sacrifices, pleasing to him.

And worship of God is not just singing a bunch of “praise and worship” songs in a “worship service.” It is giving our lives to the Lord as living sacrifices to be lived for God and according to his word. We who believe in Jesus Christ are to be crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. Thus sin is no longer to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires, for if sin is what we obey, it will lead to death.

[1 Peter 2:4-10; Romans 12:1-2; Romans 6:1-23; Luke 9:23-26]

And the outer court is the world which is comprised of all who deny Jesus Christ as Lord and who refuse to obey his commands. They are the ungodly, and they include both Jew and Gentile by physical birth, and even many of those who make professions of faith in Jesus Christ, but not in truth, and not in righteousness, because sin is still their practice. For their practice is also not righteousness, and not obedience to our Lord and to his commands. These are the “Gentiles,” i.e. the unholy and the ungodly of this world.

And what and where is the “holy city” now? It is not physical Jerusalem, for Paul made it quite clear that physical Jerusalem, representing the Jews who deny Christ as their Messiah, is of Hagar, the slave woman, because she is still in slavery with her children. For the physical nation of Israel, as a unit, has not accepted Jesus Christ as their Messiah (Savior), but they deny Christ as Lord, just as do many Gentiles and many who profess Jesus’ name, too. So they are the same as their Arab neighbors in relationship to salvation.

So the “holy city” today is comprised of all who believe in Jesus Christ in truth and in righteousness, who have died with him to sin, and who are denying self, dying daily to sin, and who are following the Lord Jesus in obedience to his commands, in practice. We are his holy nation, his people, set apart from the world and unto God, who are being conformed by God to the likeness of Christ, by the grace of God, in his power and strength, and as we cooperate fully with his work of grace in our lives. 

[Genesis 17:7-9; Genesis 18:19; Matthew 12:15-21; John 8:18-19,38-47; Acts 8:34-35; Romans 2:28-29; Romans 9:4-8,25-26; Romans 11:17-25; 1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Galatians 3:7-9,16,26-29; Galatians 4:22-31; Galatians 6:16; Ephesians 2:11-22; Ephesians 3:6; Philippians 3:2-3; Colossians 3:12-15; Titus 2:14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-16; Hebrews 8:6-13; 1 Peter 2:9-10; 1 John 2:22; Jude 1:5; Revelation 2:9; Revelation 3:9]  

And the nations [all people who do not believe in and who do not worship the one true God – Father, Son (Jesus Christ), and Holy Spirit] will trample on us who are walking in obedience to our Lord in holy living. They will persecute and they are persecuting those of us who deny self, and who daily die to sin, and who walk in obedience to our Lord, and who are his servants and messengers in taking the true message of the gospel to the people on planet earth, and who are refuting the lies of the enemy.

For we are his witnesses in these last days before our Lord’s return, and what we witness is what is taught us both in the Old and in the New Testaments (the two witnesses, possibly). And we are dressed in humility, for it takes humility to be willing to be hated and persecuted in order to stand on the truth of God’s word in a day and age when the truth is largely being cast aside in favor of the popularity of the lies which ease people’s consciences and which do not demand of them obedience to the Lord.

And the Lord is sending us forth in these last days to prepare people’s hearts for a time of judgment to come which is beyond what any of us have known before, not to this degree, anyway, although many have suffered much in the past nearly 2,000 years for their walks of faith in the Lord Jesus. But our job is to prepare people’s hearts to surrender their lives to Christ before the day of judgment, and to forsake the lies, and to obey the truth so that they will not hear Jesus say, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness” (see Matthew 7:21-23), because they would not obey God.

[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]

For Our Nation  

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Trust Him with your life today.

Make Him your Lord and your Savior.

Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.

He will forgive you of your sin;

Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.

On our knees to God we’re praying,

Seeking God to give us answers

That are only found in Him.

God is sovereign over all things.

Nothing from His mind escaping.

He has all things under His command,

And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: We’re believing

In our Lord, and interceding

For our nation and its people

To obey their God today.

He is our hope for our future.

For our wounds He offers suture.

He is all we need for this life.

Trust Him with your life today.

https://vimeo.com/379406352

God Has Told Us What is Good

“He has told you, O man, what is good;

    and what does the Lord require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

    and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8 ESV)

What was true when this was penned by Micah, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is still true today in the Messianic age. We have been told, too, what is good, and what the Lord requires of us in the way of holy living and us not walking in sin. And another word for justice is righteousness, and we are to walk in righteousness in genuine humility with our Lord. And justice is also fairness, honesty, integrity, and uprightness, which we are to practice.

[James 2:12-13; James 3:17; Jude 1:23; Galatians 5:22-23; Colossians 3:12; Romans 6:13-23; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 4:17-24; Ephesians 5:8-10; Ephesians 6:14; Philippians 1:9-11; Philippians 3:9; 1 Timothy 6:11; 2 Timothy 2:22; 2 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 12:11; James 1:20]

“The voice of the Lord cries to the city—

    and it is sound wisdom to fear your name:

‘Hear of the rod and of him who appointed it!

    Can I forget any longer the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked,

    and the scant measure that is accursed?

Shall I acquit the man with wicked scales

    and with a bag of deceitful weights?

Your rich men are full of violence;

    your inhabitants speak lies,

    and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.’” (Micah 6:9-12 ESV)

And the New Testament echoes the same types of sentiments. We are also taught to walk in the fear of the Lord, in honor, respect, reverence, and obedience to our Lord and to his commands. And to fear the Lord is to believe him and his word and to show respect for him and his word by obeying what he teaches us that we must all do as followers of Christ. And we are to believe his promises and his judgments and their conditions.

For we cannot just give lip service to the Lord and then expect that heaven is now guaranteed us regardless of how we live. That is not what the Scriptures teach! They teach that we must deny self, die daily to sin, and follow our Lord in obedience to his commands. For if sin is what we practice, and not righteousness, and not obedience to our Lord’s commands (New Covenant), then we don’t know God, we are not born of God, and we will not inherit eternal life with God unless we repent and we are obeying our Lord.

Yet there are many who profess faith in Jesus Christ who are still “wandering in the wilderness,” still walking in sin, in wickedness, in deceit, in conniving and trickery and manipulation, and in lying to cover up their wickedness. They are habitual liars and deceivers and those who make a practice of sin – of sexual immorality, thievery, lying, and unfaithfulness, who masquerade themselves as servants of righteousness, but who are hypocrites, in reality.

[Jn 3:19-20; 2 Thes 2:9-10; 2 Thes 3:1-2; Jas 1:19-21; 3 Jn 1:10; Matt 7:21-23; Matt 15:18-20; Mk 7:20-22; Lu 6:45; Lu 13:26-28; Jn 5:28-29; Rom 1:29-32; Rom 2:6-10; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Col 3:5-11; Heb 3:12; 1 Pet 3:12; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10]

“’Therefore I strike you with a grievous blow,

    making you desolate because of your sins.

You shall eat, but not be satisfied,

    and there shall be hunger within you;

you shall put away, but not preserve,

    and what you preserve I will give to the sword.

You shall sow, but not reap;

    you shall tread olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil;

    you shall tread grapes, but not drink wine.

For you have kept the statutes of Omri,

    and all the works of the house of Ahab;

    and you have walked in their counsels,

that I may make you a desolation, and your inhabitants a hissing;

    so you shall bear the scorn of my people.’” (Michah 6:13-16 ESV)

Many people professing faith in Jesus Christ have this mistaken idea that a mere profession of faith in Christ is enough to secure heaven for them, but regardless of how they live. They believe that all their sins, even future sins, are all forgiven and thus no matter how much they sin, it will not be charged against them. And so they go on from bad to worse, living in immorality and idolatry, lying, cheating, and committing adultery without conscience.

But God will judge, and not just at the very end, but he will judge the sins of his people and those giving lip service to him only. For he disciplines those he loves and he rebukes and chastises them in order to bring them to full repentance and to genuine faith or to renewed faith in him and in obedience to his commands (see Revelation 2-3 and other NT verses). But at the end he will cast judgment on those who refused to obey him, and they will not inherit eternal life with God, even if they professed him with their lips.

[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]

For…

“He has told you, O man, what is good;

    and what does the Lord require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

    and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8 ESV)

For Our Nation  

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Trust Him with your life today.

Make Him your Lord and your Savior.

Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.

He will forgive you of your sin;

Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.

On our knees to God we’re praying,

Seeking God to give us answers

That are only found in Him.

God is sovereign over all things.

Nothing from His mind escaping.

He has all things under His command,

And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: We’re believing

In our Lord, and interceding

For our nation and its people

To obey their God today.

He is our hope for our future.

For our wounds He offers suture.

He is all we need for this life.

Trust Him with your life today.

https://vimeo.com/379406352

You Who Love the Lord, Hate Evil

“The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice;

    let the many coastlands be glad!

Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;

    righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

Fire goes before him

    and burns up his adversaries all around.

His lightnings light up the world;

    the earth sees and trembles.

The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,

    before the Lord of all the earth.” (Psalms 97:1-5 ESV)

Our God – Father, Son (Jesus Christ), and Holy Spirit – is all powerful, all knowing, and ever present everywhere all at the same time. He is our creator God and he is fully sovereign and in control over all that he has created. And he reigns over all the earth. There is not anything which escapes his notice or that is beyond his power to act when he chooses to act. And righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

“The heavens proclaim his righteousness,

    and all the peoples see his glory.

All worshipers of images are put to shame,

    who make their boast in worthless idols;

    worship him, all you gods!” (Psalms 97:6-7 ESV)

So, what is righteousness? It is morality, justice, decency, uprightness, honesty, and blamelessness. It is the opposite of wickedness and evil. And it means divine approval, i.e. what meets God’s approval. It refers to what is deemed right by the Lord, what is approved in his eyes. So he is the only one who determines right from wrong and what is righteous and what is evil. And his word spells out for us what he approves and what he disapproves.

And idolatry is definitely one of the main things that God disapproves of all throughout the Scriptures. And images worshiped can be anything, including people, possessions, intellect, talent, entertainment, sports, music, movies, games, politicians, preachers, government heads, sports figures, entertainers, the news media, nations, people groups, products, and the like. It is anything we put above God in our lives, to which we are devoted.

But we are to give our worship (veneration, reverence, loyalty, devotion, honor, respect, and fidelity) to God above all others. He is to have first place in our hearts and minds. His word trumps the words of all human beings. He should have our time, our loyalties, and our affections above all else. And everyone and everything else in our lives should be tested against his word to see if they should even have part in our lives, and if so, how much.

“Zion hears and is glad,

    and the daughters of Judah rejoice,

    because of your judgments, O Lord.

For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth;

    you are exalted far above all gods.

“O you who love the Lord, hate evil!

    He preserves the lives of his saints;

    he delivers them from the hand of the wicked.

Light is sown for the righteous,

    and joy for the upright in heart.

Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous,

    and give thanks to his holy name!” (Psalms 97:8-12 ESV)

Our God is a God of love, but he is also a God of justice who judges his people and the people of this earth and the nations. He makes just and righteous decisions about the deeds of mankind. And he separates the “sheep” from the “goats.” He knows who are his true sheep and who are not, for his true sheep pay attention to his words and they follow him in obedience to his commands in holy living (see John 10:27; Luke 9:23-26).

So, all of us who claim Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives, who claim to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, we are to be those who hate evil in all its various forms. And evil is anything that is opposed to God and to his moral laws and to his divine character and will for our lives. So we are to hate all immorality, dishonesty, trickery, faithlessness (to God, to spouse), and the worship of what is not God.

For his word teaches us that the grace of God, which is bringing us salvation, trains us to renounce (say “No” to) ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return. For Jesus Christ gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works (see Titus 2:11-14; Ephesians 2:10).

For if sin is what we practice, and not the righteousness of God, and not obedience to his word and to his commands (New Covenant), then we are not in fellowship with God, we don’t know God, we are not born of God, but we are of the devil. And we will not inherit eternal life with God if this is the course we continue on, and if we do not turn from our sins to follow our Lord in obedience in steadfastness of spirit and practice until the very end.

[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]

For Our Nation  

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Trust Him with your life today.

Make Him your Lord and your Savior.

Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.

He will forgive you of your sin;

Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.

On our knees to God we’re praying,

Seeking God to give us answers

That are only found in Him.

God is sovereign over all things.

Nothing from His mind escaping.

He has all things under His command,

And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: We’re believing

In our Lord, and interceding

For our nation and its people

To obey their God today.

He is our hope for our future.

For our wounds He offers suture.

He is all we need for this life.

Trust Him with your life today.

https://vimeo.com/379406352

Tell of His Salvation from Day to Day

“Oh sing to the Lord a new song;

    sing to the Lord, all the earth!

Sing to the Lord, bless his name;

    tell of his salvation from day to day.

Declare his glory among the nations,

    his marvelous works among all the peoples!

For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;

    he is to be feared above all gods.

For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,

    but the Lord made the heavens.” (Psalms 96:1-5 ESV)

I love to sing, don’t you? I began singing solos in the gatherings of the church when I was still a child, and then I took voice lessons, and then I majored in voice and in music in college. And I sang in church choirs and in ensembles and quartets and trios and duets, and I sang solos for many years before my voice began to give out and to give way to old age. So I don’t sing out loud now as much as I used to, but I still love to sing.

But when I sing, I love to sing about my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I love to sing about God – Father, Son (Jesus Christ), and Holy Spirit. I love to sing about who he is and the things that he has done and about his gift of salvation from slavery to sin. I love to sing about his amazing grace in dying on that cross so that we can die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness in walks of obedience to his commands (New Covenant).

But to sing is not just to make music. To sing is to call out something loudly, to shout, to call, to cry out, to inform, to tell. So this includes us speaking and proclaiming and telling of his salvation from day to day. This is what we all should be doing whose lives are committed to serving our Lord. We should be declaring the glory of the Lord to the nations. And we can do that right here on the internet on various sites, including on social media.

We shouldn’t just be mentioning Jesus on religious holidays or on Sundays. We should be sharing Jesus Christ and his word daily with our friends and with other Christians and with the world. This is what the Bible says that Jesus’ followers are to do. It may seem weird to some people if that is what we actually do, but it is what we are all to be doing. For many people yet need to come to genuine faith in Jesus Christ before the end of time.

For our Lord is to be feared above all gods. But it seems not many people these days are talking much about walking in the fear of the Lord. And far too many are presenting an image of God as our “genie” in the sky there to grant our every wish and desire while we are not required to do what he desires and what he requires. Far too many are teaching an altered character of God and of his church and of his gospel to appease the flesh.

But great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised. And he is to be feared above all gods. And a “god” can be any idol, anything that you give your undivided loyalties and passion and time to above all else. And an idol can be another person or it can be a sport or a game or entertainment or sexual immorality or food or drink or possessions and any passions and desires of the flesh which are sinful and which are being honored above or in place of God.

But if we truly walk in the fear of the Lord, we will not be worshipers of idols. We will not have other gods before our God. We will take God and his word seriously, and we will apply all the teachings to the church and all of God’s moral laws to our daily lives, in practice. For we love God with our whole being, and our desire is for him to obey his commands and to serve him faithfully with our lives in surrender of our wills to the will of God.

We can’t just make professions of faith in Jesus Christ and then just assume that we are now “good to go.” We should not assume that, just because we confessed Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives that it now gives us freedom to keep deliberately and habitually sinning against our Lord or that it gives us the freedom to just sit back and relax and entertain ourselves and do whatever we want to do until Jesus comes back to take us home.

For if that is our attitude, heaven is not our eternal home. For what we worship then is worthless, because it is of this world, and of the pleasures of this world. But we who are called out to be the Lord’s people are to be his servants and messengers who follow him obedience and who share the gospel with others, and who encourage (exhort, urge, provoke) other Christians to genuine walks of faith in obedience to our Lord.

So, we are to live our lives by the Word of God, and according to his will and purpose for our lives, which we can read about in the Scriptures. And true belief in Jesus Christ results in us being crucified with Christ in death to sin and being raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin but to God and to his righteousness. For if sin is what we obey, it leads to death. But if we obey obedience, its end is eternal life (Romans 6:1-23).

And Jesus said that if anyone would come after him, he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if for Jesus’ sake we deny self, die daily to sin, and follow him in obedience, then we have life eternal. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven but the one DOING God’s will (Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23). So, be the people of God our Lord wants us to be.

[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]  

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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When the Cares of My Heart are Many

“Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O Lord,

    and whom you teach out of your law,

to give him rest from days of trouble,

    until a pit is dug for the wicked.

For the Lord will not forsake his people;

    he will not abandon his heritage;

for justice will return to the righteous,

    and all the upright in heart will follow it.

“Who rises up for me against the wicked?

    Who stands up for me against evildoers?

If the Lord had not been my help,

    my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence.

When I thought, ‘My foot slips,’

    your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.

When the cares of my heart are many,

    your consolations cheer my soul.” (Psalms 94:12-19 ESV)

This is the life of a true follower of Jesus Christ. We are the disciplined of the Lord. We are those whom he reproves and corrects and chastises, which is for our good, that we may share his holiness. “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” Therefore, we are to make straight (upright) paths for our feet (see Hebrews 12:1-17).

We are also those who are being trained in the Word of the Lord and in his ways that we may walk in them. We are being taught by the Lord through our times spent with him in his word, listening to him speak truth to our hearts, and then obeying his word in his power and strength. Through the teachings of the written word, as we listen to the Spirit’s voice, we find rest from days of trouble, too, for we trust in God’s sovereign will.

For the Lord will not forsake those who are truly his by genuine God-persuaded and God-given faith in Jesus Christ. But this faith is not lip service only. This faith leads us to be crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. This faith leads us to walk in obedience to his commands in holy living, by his grace (Romans 6:1-23).

Then, when the wicked come against us to sin against us, to attack us, to betray us, and to do all sorts of evil against us, the Lord is our support. This doesn’t mean that he is always going to physically deliver us from those who do evil against us. He will not always remove us from our difficult circumstances, but he will provide us with all that we need to withstand all opposing forces and to keep the faith and to keep pursuing righteousness.

But I can attest to the fact that when we face fierce opposition and persecution, it is only in the strength of the Lord that we are able to endure and to keep going and to keep loving our enemies and to continue praying for them and doing good to them and forgiving them. For it is hard to love those who hate us and who treat us badly. But Jesus is our example to follow, for he loved us while we were still his enemies, enough to die for us.

And when we go through these times when our enemies are coming after us to take us down, and we come to that breaking point where we wonder if we can keep moving forward another day, and when, in our emotions, we may feel like giving up, that is when we need to reach out to the Lord in prayer and pray for the strength to keep going, and to keep loving, and to keep doing the will of the Lord even when we are opposed and rejected.

And I just love this part! “When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.” Amen! Even when streams of tears are flowing from my eyes down my cheeks, and my heart is aching, and I long for the day when my Lord will rescue me from this evil world, the Lord’s consolations cheer my soul, and I am able to smile again, and even to laugh, and to keep moving forward in doing what he has called me to do.

Trials and Sufferings: [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]

Near the Cross  

Hymn lyrics by Fanny J. Crosby, 1869

Music by William H. Doane, 1869 

Jesus, keep me near the cross; 

There a precious fountain, 

Free to all, a healing stream, 

Flows from Calvary's mountain. 

Near the cross, a trembling soul, 

Love and mercy found me; 

There the bright and morning star 

Sheds its beams around me. 

 

Near the cross! O Lamb of God, 

Bring its scenes before me; 

Help me walk from day to day 

With its shadow o'er me. 

Near the cross I'll watch and wait, 

Hoping, trusting ever, 

Till I reach the golden strand 

Just beyond the river. 

In the cross, in the cross, 

Be my glory ever, 

Till my raptured soul shall find 

Rest beyond the river.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5gong-PNmY

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