While You Have the Light

Jesus Christ speaking: “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die. So the crowd answered him, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” (John 12:32-36 ESV)

Jesus Christ was about ready to go to the cross to die for our sins. And the purpose for which he died on that cross is that we might now die to sin and live to righteousness, that we might now live for him, and not for ourselves, and that we might now honor God with our bodies instead of dishonoring God by using our bodies to engage in the lustful desires of the flesh. For he died to free us from our slavery to sin and to empower us to live godly and holy lives to the honor of God, in his power and strength.

[1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:15; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Romans 6:1-23]

And Jesus Christ was put to death on a cross by his enemies because they hated him and what he stood for, and they hated his message of the gospel which demanded total allegiance to the Lord, death to sin, living to God, and walking in obedience to the Lord and no longer in sin. But in Jesus’ death and resurrection he provided for us the way to salvation, and the way out of living in sin and for self, via genuine God-given and God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ. We just have to surrender our lives to him.

Now I believe the warning that he gave to those people then applies still to us today, for we live in a day and age when the truth of the gospel is being snuffed out and when the lies are overtaking the truth and they are being accepted largely in place of the truth. And we are getting nearer and nearer to the time of our Lord’s return when he will come to judge the earth and the people of the earth and to take his holy and righteous ones to be with him for eternity.

So, we are all living on borrowed time. Not one of us knows when we will breathe our last breath. It could be today. So we shouldn’t take for granted the time we have on this earth. And we shouldn’t take for granted God’s grace and mercy. So while we still have a glimmer of light (truth, righteousness) remaining we should latch on to it and put our hope and trust in Jesus Christ. And then we must die with him to sin and live to his righteousness, by the grace of God and in his power and strength.

For the Scriptures teach that we must walk in the light of truth, that we must conduct our lives in holiness, that we must walk now according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh. For if we don’t, the darkness indeed can and will overtake us. And if we walk in the darkness (in sin) and not in righteousness and godliness and in obedience to our Lord, then we must know that the Scriptures teach that we will not inherit eternal life.

So, while we still have the light (the truth, the gospel, the opportunity to give our lives over to Jesus Christ), we must believe in the light, in practice, by how we live in moral purity, honesty, and faithfulness to our Lord, and in walks of obedience to his commands (New Covenant). And by this God-persuaded faith in Christ we can become true children of God (of the light) and no longer walk in darkness, so that we do have true hope of 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] 

While You Have the Light

Video Talk

July 14, 2023

https://youtu.be/oQP_slUnU9Y

Caution: This link may contain ads

Songs in the Night  

An Original Work / December 18, 2013

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” Acts 16:25 NIV ‘84

Lord, I praise You forevermore.

You, my Savior, I now adore.

Hope in heaven awaiting me,

Because You died at Calvary.

I have been forgiven,

And I’m bound for heaven.

Jesus set me free from

All my sin, I say.

I will praise Him always!

Lord, I love You for all You’ve done:

Overcame death, my vict’ry won!

Jesus saved me, and now I’m free!

I rejoice in His love for me.

I will walk in vict’ry!

My sin is but hist’ry!

I am free to please Him

With my life today.

I will love Him always!

Lord, I thank You for giving me

A new life bought at Calvary.

Loving Jesus, I meet with Him.

Tender mercies now flow within.

Lord, I am so thankful;

Through my Lord, I’m able

To sit at His table;

Fellowship with Him.

I will thank Him always!

https://vimeo.com/379484387

Who is Our Savior?

 

Jesus Christ is Our Only Savior

“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?’ She said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.’” (John 11:25-27 ESV)

What Jesus Said

This conversation took place between Jesus and Martha (the sister of Mary and Lazarus) after Lazarus had died and before Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. But I am not going to talk about that Bible story now, but I am going to focus on these few verses here and what they mean for us, and with regard to how that applies to our lives today in 2025. 

So, the first thing I need to discuss is what it means to “believe” in Jesus Christ. Well, first of all the word is “believing,” which indicates something that is active and ongoing, not something that happened just once. And a good study of the New Testament Scriptures will bear that out, that faith (belief) that is genuine (of God) is not a one-time thing in our lives but it is something that must be lived out in our lives day by day, by the Spirit. 

And the word “believe” or “faith” means to be persuaded, i.e. in this sense to be persuaded by God. For not one of us can even come to faith in Jesus Christ of our own doing, but only if God the Father first draws us to Christ and he persuades us as to his holiness and righteousness and of our sinfulness and of our need to forsake our sinful practices, to die with him to sin, and to now walk with him in obedience to his commands, in his power, by his grace.

[Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:23-31; Hebrews 12:1-2]  

So, what Jesus said to Martha was, basically, that whoever believes in Jesus Christ with this faith (described above), even though we will one day physically die (unless Jesus returns to take us home first), we will live in the Spirit and we will have eternal life with God, so we will not spiritually die. For we who have died with him to sin and who obey him will live with Christ for eternity. 

Idols, not God

But the situation that we are in today, at least here in America where I live, is that so much of the church (or what is falsely being called church) is not teaching the gospel that Jesus taught, but they are teaching a diluted and altered gospel message created in the minds of humans which cuts the gospel in half and which removes the most critical elements to the gospel of our salvation which are necessary for true faith to exist.

And they have made these false gospel messages, and the false church, and some human beings (pastors, politicians, etc.) their gods in place of God (Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit) as their one and only true God. And they are worshiping other humans and false gospels and false churches in place of Jesus Christ as our only Lord (the Christ), and in place of his message of death to sin and walking in obedience to him.

So, they largely have literally hidden the truth of the gospel from the people and they are spreading a half-truth (false) gospel message, instead, and the majority of those professing faith in Jesus Christ appear to be accepting of this half-truth (false) gospel which largely does not require that we die with Christ to sin and that we now walk in obedience to his commands, in his power, by his grace. It is more feel-good stuff.

They are literally sullying the gospel that Jesus taught, and that his NT apostles taught, by not teaching death to sin and walks of obedience to our Lord’s commands, and by giving their adherents the notion that they can “believe” (rarely biblically defined) in Jesus, have all their sins forgiven, be on their way to heaven, but regardless of how they live. But it isn’t just preachers who are doing this. Some politicians professing faith in Jesus Christ are muddying the gospel message, too. It is not all inclusive.

So, just because someone says, “I am a Christian,” or “I believe in Jesus Christ,” it doesn’t mean that they truly are biblically defined Christians and that they believe in the biblical Jesus and all that he is and was and taught and practiced. Pay attention to all that they say and what gospel message they are really conveying. And pay attention to whatever else they say that they believe in or that they accept and/or embrace. Not all is Christian. Much of it is very ecumenical and all-inclusive of different faiths.

And don’t make other humans your god or your savior. So many people calling themselves “Christians” are idolizing other human beings as though they are gods, or as though they are our saviors who are going to rescue us from what ails us as a nation, or as the world. But what ails us is sin, and only Jesus Christ is the solution for sin. Only he could and did die in order to put our sins to death with him so that now, by God-persuaded faith in him we will die to sin and now walk in obedience to his commands.

For Jesus said that if anyone would come after him, he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him, in practice. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. We will die in our sins, and we will not inherit eternal life with God. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, and follow our Lord in obedience to his commands, then we have eternal life in him.

Judged by Our Works

[Matt 7:13-14,21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 10:27-30; Ac 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; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10]

Idolatry

[1 Corinthians 5:11; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; 1 Corinthians 10:1-33; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Galatians 5:16-21; Ephesians 5:3-6; Colossians 3:5-10; 1 Peter 4:1-5; 1 John 5:21; Revelation 21-22]

Your Grace Divine 

 

An Original Work / November 6, 2011

All I have is Yours, Lord.

You gave all to me,

When You died at Calv’ry

On that cruel tree.

Crucified for my sins;

You paid what I owe,

So I’d be forgiven; 

My God come to know.

All I have is Yours, Lord.

You gave all to me,

When You died at Calv’ry

On that cruel tree.

Lord, I am so thankful

For Your grace divine.

I invited You, Lord,

In this heart of mine.

I have been forgiven

For all of my sins,

So I’d live with Jesus;

His grace flow within.

Lord, I am so thankful

For Your grace divine.

I invited You, Lord,

In this heart of mine.

Growing in Your grace, Lord;

Live for You each day;

How I love to worship

You throughout my day.

Sitting at Your feet, Lord,

List’ning to You speak,

Leads me to love You, Lord,

More throughout the week.

Growing in Your grace, Lord;

Live for You each day;

How I love to worship

You throughout my day.

https://vimeo.com/125863486 

Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength

“And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, ‘Which commandment is the most important of all?’ Jesus answered, ‘The most important is, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” The second is this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.’” (Mark 12:28-31 ESV)

So, the most important commandment of all of God’s commandments is that we love the Lord our God with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength. But this “love” is not an emotional feeling, though our emotions are definitely engaged in loving God. But to love God with this kind of (agape) love is to prefer what he prefers, which is what is godly, holy, morally pure, upright, honest, and faithful, etc. 

For the believer in Jesus Christ it means to prefer to live through Christ, to embrace God’s will, to choose his choices, and to obey them through his power. So, it means that we are actively doing what God prefers, which means we are walking in obedience to his commands under the New Covenant, we are no longer walking in sin, but now we are living holy and godly lives to the praise, honor, and glory of God, in his strength.

And to love him with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength, is to love him with this kind of love with our entire being – physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, verbally (but not just verbally), and with our actions (our behaviors, including our attitudes). It means our lives are dedicated to serving the Lord, to obeying him in all things, to going where he sends us, to say what he wants us to say, and to be who he called us to be.

And then and only then can we truly love other people with the love of God, with this love that prefers what God prefers, and which serves the Lord with our lives and not self. For this kind of love is self-sacrificial. And when we love others with this kind of love we will willingly lay our lives down for them to see them be free from their slavery to sin and to walk in holiness and in righteousness. And we will speak the truth in love to them for their good.

And if we are loving other people with this kind of love we are not going to sin against them, not deliberately, not habitually, and not premeditatedly. But we are going to do for them and say to them what is for their good, as God defines good, which is for their benefit morally, spiritually, and materially, where there are genuine needs. So we will not lie to them to make them feel good or so they will like us. For that is not loving them. 

Love and Obedience

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 8:31-32,51; Jn 10:27-30; Jn 14:15-24; Jn 15:10; 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 15:2; 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; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 5:9; Heb 10:26-31; Jas 1:21-25; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10,24; 1 Jn 5:2-3; 2 Jn 1:6]

Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength

Video Talk

July 8, 2023

https://youtu.be/oOY0uM5DXM4

Caution: This link may contain ads

Songs in the Night  

An Original Work / December 18, 2013

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” Acts 16:25 NIV ‘84

Lord, I praise You forevermore.

You, my Savior, I now adore.

Hope in heaven awaiting me,

Because You died at Calvary.

I have been forgiven,

And I’m bound for heaven.

Jesus set me free from

All my sin, I say.

I will praise Him always!

Lord, I love You for all You’ve done:

Overcame death, my vict’ry won!

Jesus saved me, and now I’m free!

I rejoice in His love for me.

I will walk in vict’ry!

My sin is but hist’ry!

I am free to please Him

With my life today.

I will love Him always!

Lord, I thank You for giving me

A new life bought at Calvary.

Loving Jesus, I meet with Him.

Tender mercies now flow within.

Lord, I am so thankful;

Through my Lord, I’m able

To sit at His table;

Fellowship with Him.

I will thank Him always!

https://vimeo.com/379484387

Babylon Under Judgment

 

To the Love of My Life

To the love of my life

Not a husband nor a wife

Not in flesh, not on earth

But the one Who’s given birth

He Who created us

Who breathed in us breath of life

He Who died on a cross

Who’s freed us from sin and strife

My beloved Jesus Christ

Who died so I would be free

The only begotten Son

Of God, in Him I believe

He’s my Savior and my Lord

He’s the King of my life

In Him I’m forgiven of sins

And now I have eternal life

An Original Work / May 15, 2024

Known By God Intimately

“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.” (John 10:14-15 ESV)

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” (John 10:27-28 ESV)

Now God knows who all of us are, because he created us. But this is speaking of knowing more in an intimate relationship sense. This is to know someone experientially via first-hand acquaintance. The same word “know” was used by the virgin Mary when the angel of God informed her that she would be with child and would give birth to the Christ. She asked the angel, “How will this be since I do not know a man?” So this “know” has to do with intimate knowledge via intimate (personal) relationship with God.

Those who are known by God in this intimate of relationship sense then are those who listen to him, but not just with their ears, but who give heed to his words, who are receptive and attentive to the words of the Lord, and who respond to what they have heard from the Lord with obedience. For to follow Jesus is to obey him in all that he says that we are to do and to be and to say. It doesn’t mean that we will be absolutely perfect in every way (1 John 2:1-2), but that heeding his words and obeying him is our practice.

Many people are teaching John 10:28-30 absent of verse 27, and they are applying these promises broadly to all who give lip service to the Lord Jesus, even if by their actions they deny him. So to leave out verse 27, which gives us the knowledge of who these promises are for, appears to be purposeful in order to deceive. For why else leave out verse 27 when it specifically tells us who the promises are for? They are for those who are heeding God’s words and who are following him in obedience to his ways and to his commands.

“And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says ‘I know him’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” (1 John 2:3-6 ESV)

And this word “know” in this passage has the same meaning as that of John 10:27. This knowing has to do with intimacy of relationship and not just the knowing of God, of his existence. And this intimacy of knowledge is formed through experience in this relationship with God via paying attention to what he teaches and then to follow what he says with obedience. And his word teaches us that we come to know him via us dying with him to sin and us being raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, and us denying self and us following him in obedience to his commands (see Romans 6:1-23).

But this is not optional! For Jesus said that to come after him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for Jesus’ sake we deny self, die daily to sin, by the grace of God, and follow him in obedience to his commands, then we have the hope of salvation from sin and of eternal life with God (see Luke 9:23-26). And we are to follow his example in living the kind of life that he lived.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” (Matthew 7:21-23 ESV)

So, knowing Jesus/God intimately is not via just making a profession of faith in the Lord Jesus. We must walk the walk and not just talk it. We must live the life that Jesus died to give us, which is a life free from slavery to sin and empowered of the Spirit of God to live holy and obedient lives to our Lord. For the faith that comes from God and is persuaded of God, and is gifted to us of God, involves us dying with Christ to sin and us now walking in obedience to our Lord and to his commands. It is not lip service only.

[Hebrews 12:1-2; Ephesians 2:8-10; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; Ac 26:18]

So, for us to be in this intimate relationship with God – Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit – we must deny self, die with him to sin (not just once, but daily), and walk (in conduct, in practice) according to his commandments, and according to his will and purpose for our lives. For God has a plan and a purpose for our lives collectively and individually, and so we are to, by the grace of God, find out what that purpose is and then follow our Lord in obedience in doing what he says, as empowered by God.

But if we refuse, and we decide to go our own way, instead, while still claiming Jesus as Lord and salvation from sin and eternal life with God as our possession, we must know that he will declare to us that he never knew us (in an intimate relationship), and that we must depart from him, because we are workers of lawlessness because we refused to obey God (Matthew 7:21-23).

[Matt 7:13-14; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 10:27-30; Ac 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; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10]

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

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

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

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

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

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

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