Repentance, Forgiveness, and Healing

King David had it in his heart to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, but God chose David’s son, Solomon, to build the house, instead. And so Solomon built the temple of God. And in that temple he set the ark, in which was the covenant of the Lord that God had made with the people of Israel. And this temple was to be a place of prayer to God, and of sacrifice to God, and of true submissive worship of God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – Father, Son (Jesus Christ), and Holy Spirit. 

Then God said to Solomon: “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place.” (2 Chronicles 7:13-15 ESV)

That was under the Old Covenant God had with his people Israel. But since Jesus Christ came to the earth, was born as a baby to a human mother, conceived of the Holy Spirit, and then as an adult took upon himself the sins of the entire world in his death on a cross, the Old Covenant God had with his people Israel was done away with and a New Covenant came into being which included the Gentiles and the Jews – but only those of genuine God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ, via death to sin and obedience to God.

[Genesis 17:7-9; Genesis 18:19; Romans 2:28-29; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 9:4-8; Romans 11:1-36; Galatians 3:16,26-29; Galatians 4:22-31; Ephesians 2:11-22; Ephesians 3:6; 1 John 2:22; John 8:18-19,38-47; Jude 1:5; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-16]

So, the temple of God is now human hearts which are surrendered to Jesus Christ to do his will, to forsake their lives of sin to now follow Jesus Christ in obedience to his commands under the New Covenant. And Jesus Christ is that temple, and we who believe in him with God-gifted faith are his body, the body of Christ, his church, his temple. And he now dwells within us in the person of the Holy Spirit, by God’s grace, through submissive and repentant and obedient faith in Jesus Christ, which of God, not of the flesh.

So, the sacrifices that we now make are those of ourselves as living sacrifices to God, holy and pleasing to him, for this is our reasonable and acceptable worship of God. And it is for us to be no longer conformed to the ways of this sinful world, but transformed of God in heart and mind away from all that is sinful to now live holy lives which are pleasing to God. For true worship of God surrenders our lives to him so that we die with him to sin and now live for him and to his righteousness, by his grace.

[Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 9:23-26; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Ephesians 2:8-22; Colossians 3:12-15; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 8:8-10; Hebrews 10:30; Hebrews 11:25; 1 Peter 2:9-10,24]

So, can we make application of what God said to Solomon under the Old Covenant to our lives today, who are living under the New Covenant? 

What first comes to mind is Hebrews 12:1-29. There we read that the Lord disciplines those he loves and he reproves and he chastises us who are his, and that it is for discipline that we have to endure. But God disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness, and that it may yield the peaceful fruit of righteousness in the lives of us who have been trained by it. And then there are instructions for us to lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely and to lift drooping hands and to strengthen weak knees.

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

For then it goes on and it instructs us to make straight (righteous, godly, morally pure, upright, honest, faithful, and obedient to God) paths for our feet (for our walks of faith). And we are to strive for holiness, without which no one will see the Lord. And we are to watch that none of us is defiled by sexual immorality and/or by any other addictive sins which may have a hold on some people’s lives, and so we fail to inherit eternal life with God. For if we fail to heed God’s word, in practice, we will not have eternal life in him.

[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; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-29; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15] 

But if we would humble ourselves, pray, and seek God’s face, and turn from our wicked ways to now walk in obedience to his commands in holy living, in practice, then he will forgive us our sins, and we will have the hope of salvation from sin and of eternal life with God, but provided that we continue in those walks of faith and obedience, and that we not continue living in sin, and until Jesus Christ returns, or until we die, and he takes his faithful ones to be with him for eternity, which is when our salvation will be complete.

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

Living Sacrifices

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:1-2 ESV).

“So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace” (Romans 6:11-14 ESV).

Because of God’s great love for us, and because of his richness in mercy toward us in sending his Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our sins, we should lay down our lives as living sacrifices on the altar of thanksgiving to God, living lives that are holy (set apart in purity) and pleasing to God. This is what it means to truly worship God! We are to no longer be controlled or conformed to the standards and culture of this world, but we are to be transformed in heart and mind by the working of the Holy Spirit of God within us. Sin should no longer be our master, but we should be instruments of Christ’s righteousness to the world around us for the glory of God. Amen!

Living Sacrifices  

An Original Work / September 14, 2012

Based off Romans 12:1-2; Romans 6:11-14 NIV

Oh, holy ones, I counsel you,

In view of God’s mercy,

To give yourselves to God in love

As living offerings,

Pleasing to God, holy in love.

This is your true worship.

Do not conform to worldly lives.

Let God transform you today.

Then you’ll be able to

Test and approve of what

God’s will is – His pleasing

And perfect will. Oh, holy ones, 

I counsel you – Offer yourselves unto God. 

Oh, holy ones, I counsel you – 

Do not be conceited.

Humble yourselves before your God.

Do not be self-righteous.

The strength you have to live in love

Comes from your Lord God, so

Live your new lives in pow’r of God.

Be changed in heart, mind and will.

Do this because of what

Christ did for you when 

He died on the cross to save

The world from sin. Oh, holy ones, 

I counsel you – Humble yourselves before God.

Oh, holy ones, I counsel you –

Count yourselves dead to sin,

But be alive to God in Christ.

Do not let sin reign in

Your earthly lives so you

Obey its evil desires.

Offer yourselves unto your God

As those who’ve been born again.

For sin shall no longer be 

Your lord and master.

Give of yourselves to God

For righteousness. Oh, holy ones, 

I counsel you – Be alive to God in Christ. 

https://vimeo.com/118480946 

Let Us Walk in The Light

“Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” (Romans 13:10-14 ESV)

 

If we love God, and if we love our fellow humans, we are not going to sin against them deliberately and habitually, and especially not premeditatedly. We will not willfully do what we know is wrong and that we know is going to hurt other humans and that will hinder our walks of fellowship with God. For to love with this kind of love is to prefer what God prefers, which is what is holy, righteous, godly, morally pure, upright, honest, faithful, and obedient to our Lord, which we obey in his power, strength, and wisdom, by his grace.

 

We are also not going to be self-absorbed, only thinking about ourselves and what we want, without regard or concern for what God wants for our lives, and without regard for what needs the Lord wants us to meet in other people’s lives, and in what ways. And this includes we will not display total lack of concern with regard to the signs of the times in which we live and of the critical need and requirement of God that we should live holy lives, pleasing to him, and that we should be sharing the truth of the gospel.

 

For when this says here that our salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed, it is letting us know that our salvation is not just something that takes place in the past, and that’s it. For we are saved (past), we are being saved (present active), and we will be saved (future) when Christ returns for his faithful ones, but provided that we are those who are walking according to the Spirit, and not according to the flesh, and in obedience to our Lord, and not in sin. For if sin is what we obey, it leads to death.

 

Therefore, we need to be those who are making it our practice to cast off the works of darkness (sin, wickedness) and to put on the armor of light (truth, righteousness, the gospel, Jesus Christ). For like Jesus said, if we are going to come after him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our lives of sin, we will lose them for eternity. But if for Jesus’ sake we give up our lives of sin to follow him in obedience, then we have eternal life with God (Luke 9:23-26).

 

And then we must walk (in conduct, in practice) according to the Spirit of God and no longer according to the flesh, and in walks of holiness and in obedience to our Lord, and no longer in deliberate and habitual sin. And this is why we must die with Christ to sin, not just once, but daily, and it is why things such as sexual immorality, sensuality, adultery, murder, stealing, cheating, lying, orgies, drunkenness, and the like, should not have any part in our lives. But we are to put on Christ and make no provision for the flesh.

 

For, if we make sin our practice, i.e. if sin is what we obey, and not obedience to God, and not righteousness and not holy living, then, according to the Scriptures, we will not inherit eternal life with God. In fact, we do not know God, we are not born of God, we are not in fellowship with Christ, we don’t have salvation from sin, and we will not enter into the kingdom of heaven, for we are of the devil if sin is what we practice and not obedience to our Lord. So we must continue in Christ steadfast to the very end.

 

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

 

Walk With Me

 

By Al Langdon and P.J. Zondervan

 

Walk with me, walk with me,

Lest mine eyes no longer see

All the glory, all the story of Your love;

Talk to me, talk to me,

Like You spoke so tenderly,

When You talked there,

When You walked there by the sea.

 

Talk to me, talk to me,

Lest mine ears no longer hear

All the wonder, all the beauty of Your grace;

Walk with me, walk with me,

As You walked so lovingly,

When You walked there,

When You talked there by the sea.

 

Let me follow in the footsteps

That trod the shore of Galilee,

Let me learn to pray like He did

In the Garden of Gethsemane;

Take my hand, take my hand,

Teach me Lord to understand,

All the duty, all the beauty of Your love.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=no8_yctK-Zg

 

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Listen! Listen!

Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness (See: 1 Pet. 2:24). He died that we might no longer live for ourselves, but for him who gave his life up for us (See: 2 Co. 5:15). And, he died that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For, if we walk according to the flesh, we will die in our sins, but if by the Spirit we are putting to death the deeds of the flesh, we will live (See: Ro. 8:1-14; cf. Ro. 6:1-23; Lu. 9:23-26). 

God’s grace is not a free license to continue in sin without guilt and remorse. His grace, which brings salvation, teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives while we wait for Christ’s return (See: Tit. 2:11-14).

God takes sin very seriously. He hates sin because of what sin does to his children, and how it has the potential for ruining lives, homes, marriages, friendships, and/or church congregations, etc. So much sin in today’s church goes unchecked. So many messages in today’s church leave out the word “sin.” They do not call the sinner to repentance, and they do not demand obedience to Jesus Christ. They often placate sin so as not to offend the sinner, and they water down the gospel message so the sinner does not feel guilty about his sin, but he feels that God’s grace gives him a free license to continue in his sin and yet still attain heaven. May it never be! 

Christ Jesus came to set us free from sin, and not just free from the ultimate penalty of sin, which is eternal damnation. He set us free so sin no longer has to have dominion over our lives, but so we can be free to not allow sin to control us. Instead, we can now be slaves to righteousness, as obedient servants of Christ. And, we can walk in the Spirit and no longer conduct our lives according to the sinful flesh.

Listen! Listen!  

An Original Work / December 20, 2011

Weep and wail o’er your sins, children.

God is calling out to you:

Be ye honest; tell the truth,

And it will set you free.

Harken to Him calling you to

Bow on bended knee today.

Don’t delay to let Him in,

And He’ll cleanse your hearts;

Pure within. 

Sinners, won’t you listen to Him

Calling out to you today?

He died so that you would be free

Of your sins always.

Turn from your sin. Turn to Jesus.

Obey Him in ev’ry way.

He wants to set you free of

All your guilt, 

For which He did pay. 

Listen! Listen!

Don’t close your hearts

To His voice speaking to you.

He will give you all of His peace,

If your hearts be true.

He longs for you to come to Him

Humbly now and repentant.

Obey all of His commandments.

Live with Him eternally. 

https://vimeo.com/125862580 

Be Patient in Your Tribulations

“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ To the contrary, ‘if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:9-21 ESV)

Love does not engage in nor does it rejoice in what is evil, but it abhors what is evil. So it is not loving God or anyone else if we participate in or approve of or are entertained by what is evil. And we can, sometimes, approve of what is evil by our silence, by not speaking out against what is evil. And if we know that a fellow professing Christian is living in sin, are we not approving of their sin by our silence if we have the opportunity to say something but we say nothing? (women with women, and men with men)

For to (agape) love one another is to prefer what God prefers, which is all that is holy, righteous, godly, morally pure, upright, honest, faithful, and obedient to our Lord and to his commands. And it is to prefer to live through Christ and to choose his choices and to obey his commands in his power. And so it is to treat others with the love of God, which does no harm to a neighbor, but only what is good in the eyes of the Lord and that is beneficial for them as God determines what is beneficial for them, not as man chooses.

And we, as followers of Jesus Christ, are not to be slothful in zeal for our Lord and for the work of the ministry to which he has called us. But we are to be fervent in spirit in service to our Lord in accord with his word and with his calling upon our lives, both collectively and individually. For God – Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit – should be the one guiding and directing our lives, and the one to whom our lives should be surrendered to do his will. For this is why we exist, to serve God with our lives.

But serving the Lord is not always easy. For when we serve him in the ways in which he has called us to serve him, and so we speak the truth in love to others, and so we are sharing the truth of the gospel, and we are refuting the lies of the enemy, we are not going to be well liked, even by others who call themselves Christians. And so we will be hated and rejected and cast aside as unwanted, and we will be persecuted and have evil done against us, and even by those who profess to love us, in some cases.

But through it all, we are to rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation and affliction, and be constant in prayer and in service to our Lord in walks of obedience to his commands. And instead of taking revenge when others do evil to us or tell lies about us to turn others away from us, or when they sin against us in other ways (lying, cheating, stealing, adultery, betrayal, etc.), we are to love them in return, and do good to them, and pray for them. For we are to love even our enemies and those who do evil against us.

And when this says here, “if possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all,” this is never promoting compromise of truth and righteousness and moral purity nor the truth of the gospel of our salvation. We don’t back down from the truth of God’s word just so people will like us and so that they will not hate us. And we don’t join them in their evil just so they will think we are okay, and so that they won’t think that we are religious fanatics. But we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit always.

And when our enemies, who could be anyone, do evil against us, we are to do good back to them. But we need to be very wise and discerning in this so that we don’t get caught in any of their traps, too. So be loving, be kind, be forgiving, but be wise and discerning, for our enemies will try to trip us up, and they may betray us, and stab us in the back while pretending to be our friends, too. So while we are loving our enemies we must be careful to not be overcome by evil, but to continue to overcome evil with good.

[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; Eph 6:10-20; 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]

Love Must Be Genuine 

An Original Work / October 22, 2013

Based off Romans 12:9-21

Love must be genuine.

Hate what’s evil; cling to good.

Love each other with affection.

Show respect for ev’ryone.

Never lack in your zeal.

Serve the Lord with diligence.

Rejoice in steadfast hope.

In affliction, patient be.

Keep on praying; share with others.

Practice hospitality.

Bless those who persecute.

Feel with others sympathy.

Be not filled with conceit.

Daily sit at Jesus’ feet.

Live in harmony with others.

Live at peace with ev’ryone.

Repay not to someone

With the evil he begot.

Do not take your revenge;

Leave it to the wrath of God.

If your enemy is thirsty,

Give to him something to drink.

Do what’s right for mankind.

Evil: overcome with good.

https://vimeo.com/114695549 

Are You Abiding in the Teachings of Christ?

“And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it. For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward. Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.” (2 John 1:6-11 ESV)

The apostle John wrote this letter, either to a very specific lady, with regard to her and to her household, or with regard to her and the church that met at her house, or to a specific church fellowship that met in someone’s home, it would appear. He expressed to her that he rejoiced to find that some of her physical children or that some of her spiritual children were walking in the truth. But then he asked that they love one another (see 2 John 1:1-5).

But this is not human love, which is based in how we feel, and which is often based in the one we are loving. This is agape love which centers in moral preference and which prefers what God prefers, which is all that is holy, godly, morally pure, upright, honest, faithful, and obedient to God and to his commandments (New Covenant). So, as believers in Christ we prefer to live through Christ, and to choose his choices, and to obey them in his power.

For this is (agape) love, that we walk (in conduct, in practice, in lifestyle) according to our Lord’s commandments. For if God we do not obey, in practice, but we continue living in sin and for self, we do not know God, we are not born of God, we are not in fellowship with Christ, we are not saved from our sins, and we don’t have eternal life with God. And it doesn’t matter what our lips profess, for lip service only doesn’t get us into heaven.

Yet there are many deceivers who have gone out into the world, and who have entered into the fellowships of believers in Christ, or into these businesses which are creations of humankind which are called “churches,” and they are lying to the people. And in our day and time many of these deceivers do indeed confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, with their lips, but they use this as a ploy to gain acceptance so they can deceive.

For since the object is to deceive, they first disguise themselves as servants of righteousness and as the Lord’s true sheep so that they gain the acceptance and approval of “the flock” who they are hoping to deceive with their half-truth lies. But they are, in reality, “wolves in sheep’s clothing” out to destroy the sheep with their lies. And they are being quite successful, sadly so, at deceiving the majority, it would appear, here in America.

For they are teaching that we can just acknowledge who Jesus is and what he did for us on that cross, or that we can make a mere profession of faith in Jesus Christ, or that we can “pray a prayer” to receive Christ into our lives, and now all our sins are forgiven (past, present, and future), and now heaven is guaranteed us when we die, and that it cannot be taken away from us, but regardless of how we live. But that’s not biblical faith.

So we need to watch ourselves so that we do not lose what we worked for, but may win a full reward. For everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide (live in, walk in, continue in) the teaching of Christ, does not have God. And Jesus taught 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 our lives of sin, we will lose them for eternity (Luke 9:23-26).

And Jesus also said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING the will of God the Father. For many will stand before him on the day of judgment, calling him “Lord,” and claiming all that they did in his name, and he will say to them, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness,” because they would not obey the Lord’s commands (Matthew 7:21-23).

So, if you have people telling you that you can say some words and now you have heaven guaranteed you for life, despite how you live, they are lying to you. For the Scriptures teach that we must forsake our lives of sin and follow Jesus in obedience to his commands if we want to have salvation from sin and eternal life with God. And we must continue in these walks of faith steadfast to the end for God to let us into his heaven.

So if anyone comes into your gathering of the body of Christ, and if he brings a teaching that does not teach the necessity of death to sin and walks of obedience to our Lord and to his commands for us to have genuine salvation from sin and eternal life with God, do not receive him and his teaching. For the Scriptures teach that if we continue in sinful practices, and if we do not walk in obedience to God, we do not have eternal life with God.

And we need to be those who are not only humbling ourselves before the Lord in genuine repentance and in genuine walks of faithful obedience to our Lord, but who are praying for all to believe in Jesus Christ with the kind of faith that puts sin to death in our lives and that gives us the strength and the power of God to now walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands in holy living, so that we may all have salvation and eternal life with God.

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

Hear My Cry

By G. M. Eldridge

When my soul is worn and weary

And my eyes are filled with grief,

When my hands in desperation

Reach to heaven for relief,

Would I find the words there waiting

If I had the strength to start?

Could a mortal tongue interpret

All the sorrow of a heart?

Spirit, search me in my weakness,

And discern this growing gray.

Intercede in understanding,

Hear the things I cannot say.

Hear my cry, heav’nly Father,

You have known my ev’ry pain.

You have seen all my sorrow,

Hear my cry once again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOJiTN56xTg

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He Disciplines for Our Good

Are you struggling against sin?

Does a battle rage within?

Have you forgotten ‘bout God?

He helps us with His discipline.

Be not weary when reproved.

Discipline of God is love.

We have need, need to endure.

God is treating us as His.

If not disciplined, we’re not His.

God does for us what is good –

We may share His holiness,

Bear the fruit of Righteousness.

Therefore, lift your drooping hands,

Strengthen then, too, your weak knees,

Make straight paths now for your feet,

So that what is lame now’s healed.

Based off of Hebrews 12:3-13

An Original Work / May 2, 2024