Darling, Where are You?

Many of us have loved ones we care about who are professing faith in Jesus Christ but who are not living what they profess. We are concerned for them for we can see the damage they are doing to their lives, and we know that there is a better life for them if they will repent of their sins and walk with God. So, this is a letter to our loved ones:

Darling, Where are You?

An Original Work / June 26, 2021

Darling, where are you tonight?

Has your heart now taken flight?

Business as usual? Tell a fib?

Pretending righteousness?

Is that your gig?

Dearest, what love now pursuing?

Are you cruising for a bruising?

Tell tale signs of something not right

Suggesting truthfulness

Is not in sight.

Dear one, what’s your temperature?

Are you cold and unconcerned?

Are you hot to trot on this night

To engage in what you 

know is not right?

Darling, when will you awake

To the fact you’ve made mistakes

That are costing what you could have

If you’d do what is right

And not do bad?

Dearest, there’s a life for you

Better than you’re going through.

Freedom is being offered you

If your sins you’ll leave and

Abide in truth.

Dear One, please take this to heart,

So, from your God you not depart.

Surrender your life all to HIM.

Turn now from your sins and

Live in freedom.

Old Testament, New Testament

Leviticus 19:1-2 ESV

1 Peter 1:14-16 ESV

 

“And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.’”

 

“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’”

 

Much of what was taught to God’s people in the Old Testament is repeated for us in the New Testament. Yes, as followers of Jesus, we are not under the Old Covenant liturgical, ceremonial, sacrificial and purification laws the Jews were required to follow, but we still must follow God’s moral laws.

 

Holiness was required then, and holiness is required now of God’s people. Only now God’s people are followers of Jesus Christ. For, in Jesus’ death on that cross he destroyed the barrier that stood between Jew and Gentile, and he made us both one via faith in Jesus Christ (Gal 3:26-29; Eph 2:14-18).

 

And holiness is godliness, purity, righteousness, honesty, and uprightness. And it is living lives which are separate (unlike, different) from the world because we are being made into the likeness of Christ. And holiness involves forsaking our sins and following Jesus in obedience in all our conduct.

 

Leviticus 19:4 ESV

Ephesians 5:5 ESV

 

“Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves any gods of cast metal: I am the Lord your God.”

 

“For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.” (cf. 1 Co 6:9-10; Gal 5:19-20; Col 3:5)

 

Idolatry was wrong in the Old Testament, and it is still wrong. We are not to have any other gods other than the One and Only True God – Father, Son (Jesus Christ) and Holy Spirit. Anyone who does not believe in Jesus Christ to be their Lord and Savior does not believe in the One True God.

 

And an idol isn’t just something made out of wood, but it can be anything in our lives which we worship above God/Jesus, that we give our hearts, devotion, passions, and desires to. It can be sexual immorality (a big one), or lying, or cheating, or entertainment, or self, or possessions, etc.

 

Anything that comes between us and our Lord is an idol. It can be wanting to maintain control over our own lives, wanting the approval of humans over the approval of God, being ashamed of the gospel out of fear of being rejected, or holding on to any sin which keeps us from obeying our Lord.

 

Leviticus 19:11 ESV

Ephesians 4:25-28 ESV

 

“You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another.”

 

“Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.”

 

The “shall nots” did not disappear under the New Covenant. If anything, the list of “shall nots” appear to have increased in number, or at least in detail of what they mean and in how they are to be applied to our lives. Like for example, Jesus said that to commit adultery is to lust after another in our minds. It isn’t just the physical act of sexual relations with another outside of marriage. It can also include the viewing of porn or R-rated movies.

 

God hated lies in the Old Testament, and he still hates lies. He did not change his mind about sin when we went from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant. Yes, Jesus died to forgive us our sins, but he also died that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness.

 

Jesus died on that cross to free us from our bondage (slavery) to sin and to empower us to live godly and holy lives, pleasing to him. So, as followers of Jesus, we are to stop lying, and we are to tell the truth, and we are to stop taking from others what it not rightfully ours, and we are to be generous and give to others in need.

 

We are to put away from ourselves our old lives of living for sin and self, and we are now to walk in obedience to our Lord in righteousness and holiness.

 

Leviticus 19:12 ESV

Matthew 15:8-9 ESV

 

"You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.”

 

“This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” (cf. 1 Co 15:2, 58; 2 Co 6:1; Gal 3:4; Php 2:16)

 

We are not saved from our sins and bound for heaven on the mere profession or confession of faith in Jesus Christ. Genuine faith comes from God and thus it submits to Christ as Lord, leaves behind us our lifestyles of sin, and it walks now in obedience to our Lord and to his will for our lives.

 

If all we do is give lip service to the Lord, but our hearts are far from the Lord, for we are still walking in sin, doing what we want to do, holding on to sinful practices, and refusing to surrender our lives to the Lord and to walk in obedience to his commands, we do not have eternal life with God.

 

So, to say that Jesus is our Lord and Savior while we continue living in habitual and deliberate and premeditated sin against our Lord is to swear falsely by his name, for it is to claim him as our Lord and Savior while we do not submit to him as Lord, and while we do not leave our lives of sin behind us in order to follow our Lord in obedience to his commands.

 

Leviticus 19:17-18 ESV

1 John 4:20 ESV

 

“You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.”

 

“If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.” (cf. 1 Jn 3:15; 1 Jn 2:9-11)

 

We read in the New Testament, under the New Covenant, that if we hate another person, but yet we say that we love God, that we are liars. We also read that if we say we have fellowship with God, but we walk (in conduct, in practice) in darkness (sin, wickedness), that we are liars. And we read that if we say that we know God, but we don’t do what he says, we are also liars.

 

So, knowing God and knowing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and to be saved from our sins and to be in fellowship with him, and to have the hope of eternal life with God, has conditions. We must not hate others. We must not walk in sin (in practice). And we must obey his commands.

 

For, the Scriptures teach that if we continue living in sin, habitually and deliberately sinning against God, and if sin is what we practice, and righteousness is not what we practice, we will not inherit eternal life with God no matter what we profess with our lips. We will die in our sins.

 

And they teach that we will be judged by our works (deeds). Yes, we aren’t saved by our own works done in the flesh, but we are saved to good works which God prepared for us that we should walk in them. So, if we sow to please the flesh, from the flesh we will reap destruction. But if we sow to please the Spirit, from the Spirit we will reap eternal life. Believe this!

 

[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:9-10, 19-20; 2 Co 5:10, 15; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Rom 12:1-8; 1 Co 12:1-31; Eph 4:1-16; Jn 6:44; Eph 2:8-10; Heb 12:1-2]

 

All I Ask of You

 

by Andrew Lloyd Webber

 

No more talk of darkness,

Forget these wide-eyed fears;

I'm here, nothing can harm you,

My words will warm and calm you.

Let me be your freedom,

Let daylight dry your tears;

I'm here, with you, beside you,

To guard you and to guide you.

 

Let me be your shelter,

Let me be your light…

 

Love me, that's all I ask of you

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uahlf4fo3iQ

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Have You Made that U-Turn?

Romans 6:1-4 ESV

 

“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”

 

We who are believing in Jesus Christ with God-given faith have died with Christ to sin that we might live to Christ and to his righteousness. Therefore, how can we live in sin any longer? For when we shared with Christ in his baptism into death, it was so that we might walk in newness of life in him.

 

For, Jesus died on that cross that we might no longer live for ourselves but for him who gave his life up for us. And he shed his blood for us on that cross to buy us back for God (to redeem us) so that we would now be God’s possession, and so we would now honor God with our bodies.

 

So, our new lives in Christ Jesus aren’t supposed to be like our old lives. For, we should have made a spiritual U-Turn when we believed in Jesus Christ to be Lord (owner-master) and Savior of our lives. We were going one direction, and now we should be going the opposite direction.

 

Romans 6:6-8 ESV

 

“We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.”

 

This is the reason Jesus died for us on that cross, and it is what should occur when we believe in Jesus Christ with God-given faith. Our old lives of living for sin and self should have died with Christ so that we no longer live in the way we did before, but so we now walk in the way of the Spirit.

 

For, by faith in Jesus Christ we were set free from our slavery (bondage, addiction) to sin so that sin would no longer have dominion over our lives, so that it would no longer be our master. Sin should have no more sway in our lives, but our lives should now be under the control of the Holy Spirit.

 

But this is not a one-time event which takes place in our lives, then we live our lives, and then when we die, we get to go to heaven. This dying with Christ to sin is to be daily and ongoing, and we are to be walking in the ways of the Lord, obeying his commands, doing what he says to do.

 

Romans 6:15-16 ESV

 

“What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?”

 

God’s grace to us is not freedom to continue living in sin, only now without guilt or punishment. God’s grace delivers us from our bondage to sin and it empowers us to live holy lives. For it trains us to say “No!” to ungodliness and fleshly lusts and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives.

 

For, we are slaves of the one whom we obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness and to sanctification and its end is eternal life. So, if we are addicted to sin, it ends in death, not in eternal life with God. A walk of holiness ends in eternal life.

 

So, do you see what this is saying? Our salvation from sin and our eternal life with God are conditional upon the conditions stated for us in Scripture. If we are obeying the flesh, as a matter of practice, and we are not obeying righteousness, as our life course, we will not inherit eternal life with God.

 

Romans 6:20-23 ESV

 

“For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

 

We were all slaves of sin before we believed in Jesus Christ, if indeed we are believing in him with genuine faith. We were under the control of sin and Satan, and we walked according to the flesh and not according to the Spirit. But if we have died with Christ to sin, that should no longer be our practice.

 

So, if after we confess faith in Jesus Christ, we continue in deliberate and habitual and premeditated sin and rebellion against our Lord, and against his commands, those things end in death. They do not end in eternal life with God unless we repent of our sins, and turn, and follow Jesus in obedience.

 

So, please take note of this that this is what the Scriptures teach, for many people are being lied to, and they are being convinced that faith in Jesus Christ makes no requirements of them – no repentance, no obedience, and no submission to Christ as Lord. But that lie will end you in hell, not heaven.

 

So, if we are truly set free from our bondage to sin, and thus from the punishment of sin, we should be becoming slaves of God and of his righteousness. For, this is the U-Turn I am speaking of. We once lived in sin and for self, and now we live for Christ and his righteousness.

 

And what is the fruit (the result, the outgrowth) of a life that is free from bondage to sin and is now a slave of God and of his righteousness? It is a lifestyle, and conduct, thinking, speaking, and behaving which are transformed of the Spirit of God, and it is holy living, pleasing to God.

 

And the end result of such holy and righteous living, in the power of God’s Spirit, as a result of a life committed to Jesus Christ, is sanctification (being made holy), and it is eternal life with God. For the wages of living in sin, making it our practice, is death, but the gift of God, his grace, which delivers us from slavery to sin, and which empowers us to live righteously, is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:9-10, 19-20; 2 Co 5:10, 15; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 3:4-10]

 

The Lord’s Anointed  

 

An Original Work / December 16, 2011

Based off Isaiah 61

 

The Spirit of the Sov’reign Lord on me;

Anointed to preach the Good News;

Sent me to bind up the brokenhearted;

Proclaim freedom for the captives.

He sent me to preach release for pris’ners

Who are walking in sin’s darkness;

Proclaim God’s grace to all men who’ll listen;

And tell them about God’s judgments;

Comfort all who mourn;

Give crowns of beauty;

Oil of gladness and thanksgiving.

 

They will be called oaks of God’s righteousness,

A planting of our Savior, God,

For the display of our Lord’s splendor, and

They will rebuild God’s holy church.

God will renew them, and will restore them,

And you’ll be called priests of the Lord.

You will be ministers of our God, and

You will rejoice in salvation.

The Lord loves justice;

He is faithful to

Reward those who are seeking Him.

 

I delight greatly in the Lord;

My soul rejoices in my Savior, God.

He has clothed me with His salvation,

And in a robe of His righteousness.

He has given me priestly garments to wear,

As the bride of Jesus Christ.

As the garden of our Lord and Savior,

He causes us to grow in Him.

He makes righteousness,

Praise, and thanksgiving

Spring up before all the nations.

 

https://vimeo.com/114836524

But You Do Not Believe

I Told You

John 10:22-26 ESV

 

“At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, ‘How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.’ Jesus answered them, ‘I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep.’”

 

Today there are many people professing to have faith in Jesus Christ, but they do not have believing faith, the kind of faith which saves, the kind of faith which comes from God, which is gifted to us by God, and is persuaded of God, and originates with Jesus, and is perfected by Jesus Christ.

 

And the Jesus they are believing in is not the Jesus of the Scriptures. He is not the divine Son of God. They are believing in “another Jesus” who is a creation in the minds of humans, who has many semblances of the true Jesus, but who has been altered to fit with the flesh of humans.

 

And they are following a false gospel, which is also a creation in the minds of humans, which is half true, but since it is a purposeful half-truth, that makes it a lie. For this “different gospel” teaches “another Jesus,” and it twists the truths of the Scriptures to make them say what they don’t say.

 

For, they remove these Scriptures from their context, and they teach them out of context, and thus they misinterpret them to fit with the sinful desires of human flesh in order to appease the flesh. And those who are doing this, who are the ones creating this false gospel, they know better.

 

It isn’t that they don’t know the truth, the ones who are creating this. They know what Jesus taught. They know what the apostles taught. It isn’t that they are ignorant of the truth. It has been told them plainly. They just refuse to believe because they don’t like what the truth tells them.

 

And they don’t believe with genuine believing faith in Jesus Christ, because they are not his true sheep. They have a head knowledge of who Jesus was and is, which they distort for their own purposes, but they do not have an intimate relationship with our living Lord, the Savior of the world.

 

[Jn 6:44; Eph 2:8-10; Heb 12:1-2; Gal 1:8-9; 2 Co 11:2-4; 2 Jn 1:9-11]

 

My Sheep

John 10:27 ESV

 

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”

 

So, those who are promoting this “another Jesus” and this “different gospel,” and those who are believing in this “another Jesus” and this “different gospel” are not the Lord’s true sheep. They may profess to be his sheep, but they don’t fit the profile for what a sheep genuinely is.

 

Yet, they will claim the promises given here for the Lord’s true sheep while they leave out the description of who those promises are for, and while they apply those promises across the board to anyone who makes a profession of Christ as their Lord, even if they never submit to him as Lord.

 

So, if you have been quoting John 10:28-30, and if you have been applying it to anyone who professes faith in Jesus Christ, you need to go back and read verse 27 which explains who these promises are for. For these promises are conditional on the conditions of v. 27 being met.

 

So, the first criteria for being one of the Lord’s true sheep is that we listen to our Lord, not just with our ears, but with our hearts. And we listen to his heart, and to what he says. And we pay attention carefully to what he says, and we take heed to his words. We do not ignore them nor twist them.

 

The second criteria is that we are known by the Lord, not just in the sense that he has created us, and so he knows us inside and out, but this is an intimate knowing of us, i.e., in the sense that there is a personal and vital relationship between our Lord and us. We are his bride.

 

If we love God, which means we obey him, we are known by him. Those who are known by the Lord depart from iniquity. If we say we know him, but we do not keep his commandments, we are liars. For, whoever keeps his commandments abides in God and God in him. But if sin is our practice, we do not know him (1 Co 8:3; 2 Tim 2:19; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10, 24).

 

And the third criteria is that we follow him. And to follow him is to do what he says and to emulate him. It is to become one of his disciples. And a disciple is a student, a learner, one who holds fast to and who sticks by the teachings of the master, who obeys what he says to do.

 

Therefore, if we are the Lord’s disciples, we are being conformed to the likeness of Christ, we are submitting to him as Lord, we are going wherever he sends us, and we are doing and saying whatever it is he commands us to do and to say. We are his servants to do his bidding. And He owns us.

 

I Give Them Eternal Life

John 10:28-30 ESV

 

“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one.”

 

So, here are the promises which many professers of faith in Jesus Christ are claiming for themselves, but again, we must read these promises in light of who they are for (v. 27). Eternal life with God is not promised to us on a mere profession or confession of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

 

For, if we have made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ, but we have not died with him to sin, and we are not daily dying with him to sin and living to him and to his righteousness, but we are still living to please our sinful flesh, still under the control of sin, then we don’t have eternal life with God.

 

The Scriptures make this real clear. Genuine faith in Jesus Christ, the kind that originates with Jesus Christ, submits to Christ as Lord, leaves lifestyles of sin behind us, and follows him in obedience to his commands. It doesn’t mean we never sin, but sin is no longer what we practice.

 

Instead, righteousness is what we practice. We no longer walk (in conduct) according to the flesh, but by the grace of God we now walk (in practice) according to (in agreement with) the Spirit of God. Now we live to please the Lord with our lives, and we no longer live to please our sinful flesh.

 

So, please know and believe the truth, and please don’t believe the lies which are teaching “another Jesus” and a “different gospel” from the Jesus and the gospel of the Scriptures. 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, then we will live for eternity with God.

 

[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:9-10, 19-20; 2 Co 5:10, 15; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 3:4-10]

 

He Gives Purpose 

 

An Original Work / June 9, 2012

 

“Listen to Me when I’m calling to you.

Obey freely My word.

Follow Me in all of My ways.

Do all that I say.

Hear Me gently whisper to you

My will for your life and future.

Give all of your life and heart to

Follow Me always.”

 

Repent of your sins and worship Jesus.

He’s your Lord and Master.

He died for your sins so you could

Live with Him today.

He has a plan for your life and

He gives purpose and direction.

He gives meaning to your life,

So follow Him today.

 

“I love you so much I gave My life for

You to walk in My ways,

Living for Me each day as you

Bow to Me and pray.

Witness for Me of your love for Me and

Of My grace and mercy,

How I died to save you of your

Sins now and always.”

 

https://vimeo.com/119038798

If They had Stood in God's Council

Jeremiah 23 ESV

 

This passage of Scripture begins with a charge against the shepherds (pastors) of the sheep of the Lord’s pasture (the believers in Jesus), and against the prophets (preachers of the word of God). And this should include husbands and fathers who claim to be Christians, too, who are responsible for their families’ wellbeing physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

 

Though all these charges do not apply to all pastors and preachers, nor to all dads professing to believe in Jesus Christ, the sad reality in today’s world here in America is that this does apply to many of them, perhaps to the vast majority of them who are more caught up with the world than they are with Jesus:

 

“You have not attended to the flock, but you have scattered them.”

 

So, how is this being realized? Many pastors and preachers of the word of God, and husbands and fathers who profess faith in Jesus Christ, are living in spiritual adultery against the Lord, and in adultery against their spouses, and they are living in immorality, impurity, ungodliness, and wickedness. And they are leading God’s people into living in spiritual adultery, too.

 

Not only are they living in adultery against the Lord, and not only are they leading their followers to do likewise, but they are also walking in lies, which go hand-in-hand with adultery (spiritual and/or moral). Thus, they strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns from his evil, and they have become like Sodom and Gomorrah to the Lord.

 

So, how is this being accomplished? This is happening via the turning of the church, the body of Christ, into a business (a corporation of the state), via marketing the church to the world just like any other business, appealing to the lusts of the flesh and to the desires of the ungodly, looking to please the world rather than seeking to please the Lord in everything that they do.

 

This is also happening via the distortion and the adulterating of the gospel of Jesus Christ in order to make it more attractive and acceptable to human flesh and to the people of the world. And this was done by removing God’s requirements for repentance (dying with him to sin), for obedience to the Lord’s commands, and for submitting to Jesus Christ as Lord.

 

Thus, they are now teaching a half-truth gospel (a lie) which delivers no one from their slavery to sin, and therefore does not give them new lives in Jesus Christ, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. The “believer” goes on in his sin, living however he wants, while he is being promised forgiveness of his sins and heaven as his eternal home.

 

Filling You with Vain Hopes

Jeremiah 23:16-18, 22 ESV

 

“Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, “It shall be well with you”; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, “No disaster shall come upon you.”’

 

“For who among them has stood in the council of the Lord

    to see and to hear his word,

    or who has paid attention to his word and listened?”

 

“But if they had stood in my council,

    then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,

and they would have turned them from their evil way,

    and from the evil of their deeds.”

 

So, we are not to listen to pastors, preachers, teachers of the gospel, and heads of households who fill our minds with “vain hopes.” For, God’s word (his gospel) turns people away from their evil way and from the evil of their deeds, and his truth turns their hearts to repent of their sins, to obey the Lord, and to submit to the Lordship of Christ over their lives.

 

But these who are filling people’s minds with “vain hopes” are telling them that all they have to do is “believe” in Jesus, which is rarely defined, and that heaven is now guaranteed them when they die, regardless of how they live their lives while they are still on the earth. So, they give them a false sense of security of heaven based on a lie (a half-truth).

 

Thus, those who despise the Lord are those who have not surrendered their lives to him, who are not walking in obedience to his commands, and who have not forsaken their lives of living for sin and self. For, they believe they don’t have to. They treat the Lord with contempt, therefore, when they claim him as their Savior while they refuse to submit to him as Lord (master).

 

And these false shepherds and teachers of the people are thus telling them that it will go well with them, that they can just claim who they are in Christ if they feel guilty about their sins, but that God, they say, can’t even see when they sin anymore, but that all he sees when he looks at them is Jesus, and that he is delighted in those who are living in immorality.

 

And they tell them that God will not judge them for their sins and that their deeds do not matter to God because they have convinced them that since they are not saved by the works of their flesh that God requires no works of them. But that is a big fat lie! Yes, we are not saved by our own works, but we are saved to good works which God prepared for us to walk in.

 

But here is the bottom line. We need to study the Scriptures in context. We need to read them one book at a time, chapter by chapter, and verse by verse, praying for the Lord to lead us to truth, and then compare Scripture with Scripture, especially where we see any discrepancies. And the Holy Spirit will show us both the lies and the truth.

 

When we do this, we will see that faith in Jesus Christ comes from God and thus those with faith will submit to the will of God. We will see, too, that faith in Jesus results in turning from our lifestyles of sin to follow the Lord Jesus in obedience, and that if we do not do that, we do not have faith, or salvation from sin, or eternal life with God.

 

For, if we die with Christ to sin, and if we live with him to righteousness, we have eternal life with God. But if we don’t die with him to sin, but we continue living in sin, and if we don’t walk in obedience to his commands, and if we don’t live to him and to his righteousness, then we are not saved from our sins, we don’t have eternal life with God, and heaven is not home.

 

So, don’t look to other human beings to tell you the truth. Don’t buy into the lies just because they sound good, and they tickle your itching ears. Seek the Lord and study his word (in context) and learn from him what his word teaches, and then follow the Lord in surrender to his will and in obedience to his commands, and then heaven is your eternal destiny.

 

[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:9-10, 19-20; 2 Co 5:10, 15; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 3:4-10]

 

I Will Lift My Eyes  

 

An Original Work / December 12, 2012

Based off Psalms 121-125

 

I will lift my eyes to my Lord Most High.

My help comes from Him, who saved me from sin.

He will not let your foot slip, and He who watches will not sleep.

Our Lord watches over you, and your life He will keep.

I will lift my eyes to my Lord Most High.

My help comes from Him, who saved me from sin.

I give thanks to Him.

 

I will lift my eyes to my God in heav’n.

I look to the Lord. My sins, He’s forgiv’n.

Because of His great love for us, He made us alive with Christ.

Through the kindness of our Savior, He gave us new life.

I will lift my eyes to my God in heav’n.

I look to the Lord. My sins, He’s forgiv’n;

My home, now in heav’n.

 

Praise be to the Lord, who is on our side.

Our help found in Him. He gives peace within.

Those who trust will ne’er be shaken. God will supply all we need.

Our Lord has done great things for us. He’s our friend, indeed!

Praise be to the Lord, who is on our side.

Our help found in Him. He gives peace within.

I can count on Him.

 

https://vimeo.com/379508241

God's Steadfast Love for Me

Psalms 57:1-3 ESV

 

“Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,

    for in you my soul takes refuge;

in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,

    till the storms of destruction pass by.

I cry out to God Most High,

    to God who fulfills his purpose for me.

He will send from heaven and save me;

    he will put to shame him who tramples on me. Selah

God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!”

 

I cry out to God Most High

 

My parents grew up going to the same church fellowship as each other, and their parents were friends with one another. My dad was in the army during WW2, and my mom wrote to the boys from the church fellowship who were at war. They developed a romantic relationship through writing, and by November of 1945 they were married. They were both 31 years old.

 

They had five children, 2 boys, then 3 girls. I was the oldest girl, so I was a middle child. My mom was 35 years old when I was born on the last day of 1949. My dad was an abuser physically, sexually, and verbally. He beat my mom up on a regular basis, and he was physically abusive to all us children, and sexually abusive to at least us three girls.

 

And my mom was emotionally withdrawn from us children. She told us she never wanted to have children but that my dad didn’t believe in birth control. She felt she was not cut out to be a mom. I never heard the words, “I love you” from her, nor did she ever hug me unless I was going off to summer camp. At least, this is what I recall. I did not feel loved by her.

 

When I was 15 years old my dad had my mom outside and was beating her head against a tree and was strangling her. I was not at home, but my youngest sister was, and she told my aunt about it, who then made an appointment with the pastor for me and my sister next in age to me. But the pastor said he could do nothing about it unless our mom pressed charges.

 

The bottom dropped out of my heart in that moment. Now what? I had come this far, which I would never have done on my own. I could not leave his office without telling him the rest of what my dad was doing, beginning when I was age 5. His response: “Did he force you?” Me: “Of course he did!” At age 5 I didn’t volunteer myself for his advances. I feared him greatly!!

 

The pastor spoke with my parents, and my dad willingly went into a mental hospital for 1.5 years. No one spoke to us kids about what had just happened. We received no counseling. My mom didn’t talk about it, either, only to tell us that we needed to forgive him. That year and a half was peaceful, though. He was gone. I didn’t have to be afraid.

 

But then… we were told he was being released from the hospital and that he was coming back home. Again, we were not given a choice in the matter. No one asked us how we felt about it. No one made sure we were okay with him being back in charge of us again. And I was scared to death of what was going to happen. And I cried and I prayed fervently all the way home from summer camp that year in 1967.

 

As soon as my dad was back home, he tried to get me to come into his room with him, but I refused, and I told my mom. I don’t know what transpired after that, but he never tried it again. But his anger against me was horrible, and the verbal abuse often sent me to my room in tears and caused my stomach to be tied up in knots. And I cried this out to the Lord, too. And he comforted me with his love and mercy. I felt His loving arms around me.

 

The Lord did put to shame my dad when he had to go into that mental hospital. So, he did suffer disgrace during that time. But that didn’t stop him from trying to pick up where he left off when he returned home. And although the physical abuse ceased, he continued to verbally abuse anyone he could, because he was a big bully who picked on those weaker than him.

 

But he was put to shame again in his last 6 months of life, for my mom died in June of 2000, but he lived until December of that year. He couldn’t take care of himself, so he was placed in a facility again, only this time a nursing home where he was not in charge of anyone, and where he could not bully anyone, but where they had control over him. But I have no confidence that he ever turned his life over to the Lord, and that is so incredibly sad, indeed.

 

Who Fulfills His Purpose for Me

 

Did you know that our Lord doesn’t promise us that we will never have to suffer abuse? In fact, Jesus said that as he was treated so we will be treated also. If they hated him and they persecuted him, so will they hate and persecute us. Now God hates sin, and he hates the hands of those who do evil to others, but he uses the circumstances of our lives for our good.

 

Yes, I went through some horrible suffering in my life which did not end when I left the home of my parents, i.e., more suffering was in store for me throughout my life coming from different people in various ways. Some of it I brought upon myself, but much of it I did not. Much of my suffering came as a result of my walk of faith in Jesus Christ.

 

But God used it all to fulfill his purpose for me. All my life he was preparing me for the calling he placed on my life in 2004, when I was 54 years old. All my life he was training me for this moment in time. Everything I went through helped prepare me to follow my Lord in obedience and to do his will and to stand strong in my faith despite much opposition and persecution.

 

I think that if I had had an easy life and loving and supportive parents, and much in the way of emotional and spiritual support from much of the church throughout my life, that I would not be ready for what the Lord is now having me do. For, I have to be willing to have no friends, to have people turn against me, and to be hated and rejected, and to be accused falsely.

 

I have to be willing to stand on the truth, and to speak the truth in love, even against lies which are being spread, and even at the risk of lies being said about me. I have to stand if I have to stand alone, though I am not alone. And I can’t be concerned about what people will think of me or if they will like me or not. So, the Lord prepared me for this through my suffering.

 

So, if you have suffered abuse in your life or if you are still suffering abuse and mistreatment for no fault of your own, and if people are lying to you and against you, and if you feel as though you are all alone, please know that Jesus cares. Please know that he died for you on that cross to save you from your sins and to give you a new life in Him with purpose and direction.

 

So, repent of your sins, follow Jesus in obedience to his will for your life, and surrender your life fully to him. Give him all your pain and suffering and let him heal you. And then let him use you for his purposes and for his glory as he had planned for your life from even before he formed the earth. And he will fulfill his purpose for you, and you will be blessed beyond measure.

 

YOU RAISE ME UP  

 

Brendan Graham / Rolf Lovland

When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary
When troubles come and my heart burdened be…

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders
You raise me up to more than I can be.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG-vD-kkQ24

Caution: This link may contain ads

 

For Not All Have Faith

Delivered from the Wicked

2 Thessalonians 3:1-5 ESV

 

“Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.”

 

The Word of the Lord is not what is speeding ahead and being honored here in America within today’s modern church movement. What is being honored and is speeding ahead like a tsunami is the cheap grace gospel which appeals to human flesh, and which pacifies them in their sins.

 

For, it requires no forsaking of sins or obedience to Christ or submission to his Lordship as part of believing faith in Jesus Christ, even though the Scriptures teach that the true gospel does make such requirements. Thus, the cheap grace gospel offers multiple alternatives to the true gospel of God’s grace.

 

The cheap grace gospel, therefore, is not of God but of man, and it is of the flesh of man. For, it allows the adherent to choose his own life course instead of submitting to God’s life course for him. He can choose his own path while claiming Jesus as his Savior and heaven as his eternal destiny.

 

It is the wicked and evil men (and women) who are spreading this false gospel of the flesh of man, but they are also the ones accepting and living in this cheap grace gospel, too. They are the ones in the driver’s seat, establishing their own relationships with God their way, not God’s way.

 

And they are not content just with making up their own gospel to suit their own fleshly desires, but they are fiercely coming against the true gospel of grace and its messengers, and they are attacking the truth with lies, and they are turning darkness into light and light into darkness.

 

For, they are teaching that the true gospel is works-based salvation, which is not to be followed, and that the false gospel is the true gospel which is to be followed. So, what they are teaching, in essence, is that to leave our lives of sin behind us and to follow Jesus in obedience is wrong, while deliberately continuing to live in habitual sin without guilt is right.

 

So, we need to pray against these lies, and it is essential that we pray for the truth to speed ahead and to be honored, instead. And it is of necessity that we pray for deliverance from evil people who are opposing the truth of the gospel and who are attacking the Lord’s messengers with lies.

 

And it is critical for us to not let this opposition take us out, but we must remain strong and steadfast in our faith which comes from the Lord and which will be perfected by him. And we need to continue in him in obedience to his commands and in dying daily with him to sin and to self. For, the Lord will give us all that we need to endure and to persevere.

 

Any Brother who is Walking in Idleness

2 Thessalonians 3:6, 13-15 ESV

 

“Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us.”

 

“As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.”

 

Idleness is not just the refusal to work for a living, but it includes spiritual laziness and apathy. A person can still work and earn a living but be spiritually idle, refusing to follow the Lord in obedience, and by choosing to chart his own course and to not follow the ways of righteousness.

 

“But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one.” 1 Co 5:11 ESV

 

And bearing the name of brother (or sister) does not mean he or she is an actual brother or sister in Christ, but that they are professing to be in Christ by faith in him, but that by their lifestyles they are living in opposition to the will of God in deliberate disobedience to him.

 

So, if anyone is claiming to be a brother or a sister in the Lord, but spiritually they are idle (inactive, lazy), and if they are living in deliberate sin against God, with a refusal to turn from their sins to walk with the Lord in obedience, we are not to have close associations with them.

 

This would mean there is no Christian fellowship between them and us if we are walking by the Spirit and not by the flesh but if they are willfully living in adultery, sexual immorality, idleness, greed, idolatry, and/or in intoxication to sin. So, we shouldn’t try to engage in Christian fellowship with them.

 

So, instead of treating them as though they are living for the Lord, when we know they are not, we are to warn them against the way in which they are living, and we are to speak the truth in love to them in hopes that they will turn from their sins and follow Jesus in obedience to his ways.

 

And this is not being mean or hateful. This is showing them genuine love and concern for their welfare. It is for their good that we not closely associate with them as though there is true Christian fellowship between us, so that they may be ashamed of what they are doing and turn back to God.

 

Now, if they are in need, we should help them in their need and not neglect them, for we are taught in Scripture to love even our enemies, and to do good to them, and to pray for them, and to do to them and for them what is for their good (what is God’s best for them).

 

But doing for them and to them what is for their best also includes tough love, i.e., speaking the truth in love to them, confronting them in their sins, calling them to repentance, warning of judgment, and backing away from close contact with them if they refuse to repent and they continue in their sinful practices deliberately, habitually, and even premeditatedly.

 

And then we must continue in the Lord, in following him in obedience, in doing what he asks of us, and in praying for wisdom and guidance in doing what is right, and for him to rescue us from the enemy of our souls. For, we do need the Lord’s help, power, and strength to obey him. Amen!

 

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