My Comfort in Affliction

Your Promise Gives me Life

Psalm 119:49-50 ESV

 

“Remember your word to your servant,

    in which you have made me hope.

This is my comfort in my affliction,

    that your promise gives me life.”

 

When we are going through trials, things which test our faith, things which cause pain and suffering and sorrow, we need to be reassured of God’s promises from his word to us who love (obey) God. For, they bring comfort to our hearts and to our minds. They fill us with God’s peace and assurance that God is sovereign and that he is in control.

 

So, it is important, too, that we understand who those promises are for, in context, and what conditions are attached to those promises. For most of God’s promises to us do come with conditions. We must believe on him. We must follow him in obedience. We must not be making sin our practice, but righteousness should be our practice, etc.

 

For, if we apply Scriptures to our lives out of context, we may be applying God’s promises erroneously. For not all promises in Scripture are to be applied across the board to everyone who believes in Jesus Christ. And all God’s promises to his followers do not apply to everyone who merely professes faith in Jesus, but only to those living out that faith.

 

Yet, to those of us who are walking by that faith, by the grace of God, and in his strength and power, who are dying with Christ to sin and who are living to Christ and to his righteousness, God’s promises to us give us much hope and comfort. They fill our hearts with peace. And we can rest securely in knowing that God is in control and that he is working all for our good.

 

They Utterly Deride Me

Psalm 119:51-53 ESV

 

“The insolent utterly deride me,

    but I do not turn away from your law.

When I think of your rules from of old,

    I take comfort, O Lord.

Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked,

    who forsake your law.”

 

For those of us who take God and his word seriously, who are walking the walk, and who are not just talking it, we will be hated and persecuted by those who reject true faith in Jesus Christ, even by many who profess faith in Jesus Christ but who are not living it.

 

And that is because we are an offense to them. And that is because we are walking by faith, and they are living in disobedience to the Lord, and so our lives are an offense to them, for they are a reminder to them that what they are doing and how they are living is against God and against his word.

 

For, even though some (or many) of them profess faith in Jesus Christ, they do not honor Christ as Lord, and they are not obeying his commands, and they are not forsaking their sins to follow Christ in his way. But they are still walking by the flesh, living to please themselves and not God.

 

Thus, they will mock us, ridicule us, treat us with disdain, sin against us, falsely accuse us, betray us, put us down, make fun of us, or they will viciously attack us for our stand on the truth of God’s word and for our belief that we must walk in that truth and not just give lip service to God.

 

But we must not let their treatment of us get us down, discourage, or dishearten us to the point to where we give up, we back down, and we cease to live for the Lord and to do what he has called us to do. We must stand strong in our faith despite all opposition against us.

 

We must remain so passionate about our Lord and about his word and about following him with our lives that we hate what he hates, and we love what he loves to the point to where we will feel what he feels when people profess him as Lord and yet turn away from him and do as they please.

 

We especially should feel that “hot indignation” when those professing faith in Jesus Christ are diluting the gospel of Jesus Christ to make it more palatable to human flesh, and when they are leading people astray by the thousands while promising them heaven as their eternal destiny.

 

They Have Been my Songs

Psalm 119:54-56 ESV

 

“Your statutes have been my songs

    in the house of my sojourning.

I remember your name in the night, O Lord,

    and keep your law.

This blessing has fallen to me,

    that I have kept your precepts.”

 

I had to smile when I read this first verse here, for since 2011 the Lord Jesus has given me nearly 200 songs to write, over half of which the words came directly from Scripture and were just put to music. Most of the rest of the songs’ lyrics were still based off the teachings of Scripture.

 

Thus, the word of God has literally become my songs, and that is good because when words are put to music I remember them a whole lot better. The Lord can just put a tune in my head to one of those songs and I remember enough of the words to look them up and then I can read the lyrics and be encouraged in the Lord and in his word.

 

Oftentimes when I am hurting, when I am lonely, or when I am going through a trial or a time of testing in my life, God will put one of those songs in my mind, and the words, which are from his word, will be just the words I need to hear at that moment.

 

I do not have a regular schedule. I am on the Lord’s time schedule. So sometimes I sleep nights and sometimes I sleep days, depending on when he wants me to write and to post something on the internet. So, whether in the middle of the day or the middle of the night, I am listening to my Lord and I am doing what he wants me to do.

 

And it is a blessing to follow the Lord Jesus in obedience and to know that you are right in the center of his will, doing what he has called you to do, making a difference in other people’s lives for their good and for the glory of God. There just is no better place to be.

 

So, my prayer for you today is that you will be in that place, too, if you are not already. I pray that you will surrender your life to Jesus Christ to do his will, that you will forsake your sins, submit to Christ as Lord, and that you will walk in his ways and in his truth. I pray you will let him guide you in what he wants you to do, and that you will serve him always.

 

Broken and Contrite  

 

An Original Work / May 13, 2012

 

I come before You, Lord, my Savior,

With humble heart and crushed in spirit.

I bow before You, I implore You,

Heal my broken heart, I pray.

Love You, Jesus, Lord, my master,

You are the King of my heart.

Lord, purify my heart within me;

Sanctify me, whole within.

 

Oh, Lord, I long to obey fully

The words You’ve spoken through Your Spirit.

I pray You give me grace and mercy,

Strength and wisdom to obey.

Father God, my heart’s desire,

Won’t You set my heart on fire?

Lord, cleanse my heart of all that hinders

My walk with You, now I pray.

 

Oh, Jesus, Savior, full of mercy,

My heart cries out for understanding.

I want to follow You in all ways,

Never straying from Your truth.

Holy Spirit, come in power,

Fill me with Your love today.

Lord, mold and make me;

Your hands formed me;

Live Your life through me, I pray.

 

https://vimeo.com/118841304

Shall I Accept that From Your Hand?

Where is God’s Honor?

Malachi 1:6-8 ESV

 

“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’ By offering polluted food upon my altar. But you say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ By saying that the Lord's table may be despised. When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the Lord of hosts.”

 

As followers of Jesus, we are to honor God, to revere, respect, and obey him. We are to submit our lives to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, leave our sinful practices behind us, and now walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands (New Covenant). And we are to love God with our whole being, and to love others as we love ourselves.

 

We are to give to God our lives as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to him, which is our acceptable worship of him. And we are to no longer be conformed to the ways (patterns) of this sinful world, but we are to be transformed of the Spirit of God in our hearts and minds away from living in sin to now walking (in conduct) according to the Spirit of God.

 

But many people today who profess faith in Jesus Christ, and even many pastors and elders and deacons in our local church fellowships (or fellowships of what is falsely called church) are not living what they profess. They are not teaching the faith they profess to believe in, either, but they are teaching a diluted half-truth gospel that does not put sin to death.

 

So, they are not honoring God, but they are dishonoring him. He is not the master of their lives, for they are still their own master. The offerings they give to God are of their own flesh, and they are hypocritical offerings because they are knowingly, deliberately, and habitually living in sin, doing what their flesh desires, while they ignore the Lord’s commands.

 

They make a pretense of righteousness, of holiness, of faithfulness, and of devotion to God, but it is all a lie. It is all for show in order to hide the truth of the evil they are doing in secret when they think no one can see, and that no one knows. But God knows, and he can see, and he is not okay with his people (or anyone) living in deliberate sin against him.

 

Who Would Shut the Doors

Malachi 1:9-11 ESV

 

“And now entreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious to us. With such a gift from your hand, will he show favor to any of you? says the Lord of hosts. Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand. For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts.”

 

Our hands are our deeds, and our deeds are what we do, either for good or for evil. If what we are offering to God is half-hearted, uncommitted, cowardly, weak-willed, pathetic, ineffectual, and diluted faith and devotion to the Lord, which is useless and worthless in God’s sight, because it is a false righteousness, then we will not receive God’s favor (grace).

 

And, oh, how I feel God’s passion with this next statement:

 

“Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand.”

 

God is not going to show you grace if you are deliberately and habitually doing what is evil in his sight while you put on a show of righteousness. Jesus’ words to the Pharisees bear this out. God is not happy with you! He is not happy with those who profess his name and who gather together supposedly in his name while they dishonor him with their lives.

 

And so much of what is called “church” today, at least in America, fits with this description. And God passionately wants the doors of these gatherings shut because they are a disgrace to the name of Jesus. For, they worship him in vain, for their worship is a false worship based in human emotions and not in heart surrender to the Lord Jesus.

 

For, what the Lord desires, what he requires of us is a pure offering, from a pure heart which is surrendered to him, and which is committed to his service and to obedience to his will and to his ways. He doesn’t want from us only what we are willing to give, but he wants it all. For, Jesus said that whoever will not take up his cross and follow (obey) Jesus is not worthy of him, and he/she will not have eternal life with God.

 

But You Profane It

Malachi 1:12-14 ESV

 

“But you profane it when you say that the Lord's table is polluted, and its fruit, that is, its food may be despised. But you say, ‘What a weariness this is,’ and you snort at it, says the Lord of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the Lord. Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock, and vows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. For I am a great King, says the Lord of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations.”

 

Not content with merely ignoring the Lord’s commands, and refusing to obey him, these who dishonor the Lord also do so by teaching a false grace gospel which makes no demands for repentance, obedience, or submission to the Lordship of Christ. And not only that, but they attempt to discredit the true gospel of our salvation which Jesus and his NT apostles taught.

 

For, they teach that to repent, to obey, and to submit to Christ as Lord is “works-based salvation,” or they call it “Lordship salvation,” which they say is wrong and to be avoided and not adhered to. And they accuse us who are teaching the full gospel (the whole counsel of God) of being hateful, prideful, self-righteous, judgmental and of teaching what is false.

 

So, they have turned the truth of God and of his gospel and of his holiness and righteousness into a lie while they have raised the lie up and have turned it into what they claim is the truth. And many are falling for this cheap grace gospel and are being promised heaven when they die while they are still living in bondage to sin and are headed straight to hell.

 

So, they pretend righteousness, piety, and religious commitment while they live in secret sin, in rebellion against the Lord, in adultery against their spouses, cheating on their marriage partners with other lovers, and while they profane Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins which was intended to deliver us from our slavery to sin so we would now become slaves of righteousness.

 

So, the bottom line in all of this is that God is not interested in your half-hearted commitments to him, which are no commitment at all, while you sin in secret, in open rebellion against the Lord, and while you feign righteousness and holy living. For, if we live to please our flesh, we will die in our sins, but if we live to please the Lord, then we have eternal life.

 

[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]

 

More Than Words

 

Nuno Bettencourt / Gary F. Cherone

 

Saying I love you

Is not the words I want to hear from you

It's not that I want you

Not to say, but if you only knew

How easy it would be to show me how you feel…

 

Hold me close don't ever let me go

More than words is all you have to do to make it real

Then you wouldn't have to say that you love me

Cos I'd already know

I Entreat the Lord's Favor

The Lord is My Portion

Psalms 119:57-60 ESV

 

“The Lord is my portion;

    I promise to keep your words.

I entreat your favor with all my heart;

    be gracious to me according to your promise.

When I think on my ways,

    I turn my feet to your testimonies;

I hasten and do not delay

    to keep your commandments.”

 

The Lord is my everything. He is my inheritance, he is my treasure, he is my joy, my song, my purpose, my Lord (master), my helper, my strength, my Savior, my deliverer, my salvation, my life, my friend, my comforter, my healer, my husband, my counselor, and my sustainer. He gives me life and love and purpose and direction for life. I thank him and I praise him!

 

My desire is to obey him, to do what he has called me to do, according to his will and purpose for my life. I know that I am who I am, living the life I am, living for the glory and praise of God, all because of who He is. It doesn’t mean I am perfect, but that I am not living in deliberate and habitual sin against him. I am living in obedience to what he has called me to do.

 

I can’t do what I do each day in my own strength or wisdom. I am absolutely totally dependent on the Lord for every breath that I breathe and for every word of wisdom of God which comes out of my mouth. He is the one who determines my life course, and who leads me in his ways and in his righteousness day after day after day.

 

I am so grateful for his love and for his grace. I would not be where I am today, doing what I am doing, if it were not for the grace of God. For, there was a time in my life when I didn’t follow in his ways, and I did what I should not have done, and I didn’t listen to his counsel, but I followed my own emotions, instead. But then his grace delivered me.

 

The Lord turned my life around and he gave me a new purpose for living, and a new assignment from him unlike what I had ever had before, and one I would not have ever anticipated, either. He called me to write out what he teaches me each day from his word, and from my time spent with him in worship of him, and to place that on the internet so that the internet could run with it and so that the Lord would take that where he wanted it to go.

 

Though the Wicked Ensnare

Psalms 119:61-64 ESV

 

“Though the cords of the wicked ensnare me,

    I do not forget your law.

At midnight I rise to praise you,

    because of your righteous rules.

I am a companion of all who fear you,

    of those who keep your precepts.

The earth, O Lord, is full of your steadfast love;

    teach me your statutes!”

 

When you are walking according to the ways of the Lord, doing what he has called you to do, going wherever he sends you, and saying whatever it is he commands you to say, you will have enemies, and those enemies may exist within your own family, among your own relatives, and among your own friends or fellow Christians (or professers of Christianity).

 

Some of them may just ignore you and want nothing to do with you while others may befriend you only to betray you and to turn against you. They may lay traps for you, too, in order to try to trip you up with your words, just like the Pharisees did to Jesus. And they will do this because they are jealous of you or they hate and resent you, and they wish you harm.

 

They may falsely accuse you of what you did not do, or they may twist your words to make it sound like you said what you didn’t say, or they may trick you into saying something that sounds worse than what it really is, and this is because they hate you, and they want to ruin you, and so they will plot evil against you in hopes that they can destroy you.

 

But even if this happens to any of us, which it may, or it may not, we are to remain steadfast in our faith and keep obeying the Lord in doing what he has called us to do, and in saying what he commands us to say. For, the truth still needs to go forth. The lies still need to be exposed. And the full gospel message still needs to be heard. So, we trust Him with our lives.

 

Whenever I read this verse where it says, “At midnight I rise to praise you,” I identify. Because what the Lord gives me to write goes to people across the globe, and they aren’t all on the same time zone as me, the Lord often has me get up at around midnight to hear what he wants to say to me and to write what he gives me to write.

 

And I am encouraged in my walk with the Lord by other brothers and sisters in Christ of like mind who fear the Lord and who walk in his ways. We encourage one another, and that is such a blessing. I don’t have much of this kind of fellowship live and in person with people, but I do on the internet on the various sites where the Lord has me post what he gives me to write.

 

I am eternally grateful for the love of Christ, for his grace and mercy to me, for delivering me from my sins, and for giving me purpose and direction in life, and for strengthening, helping, and sustaining me, and for calling me to his will and purpose for my life and for using me in the way that he does to encourage other believers in their walks of faith.

 

But not everyone has faith, and if we walk in that faith, again we will have enemies who will want to take us out and to destroy us. But the Lord is our protector, and the enemy of our souls will not be able to touch us but what God allows it, and he allows it for his purpose, and that he will work it all out for the good of us who love him and who have been called according to his purpose (Rom 8:28).

 

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

The Generation of the Upright

The One who Fears the Lord

Psalms 112:1-6

 

“Praise the Lord!

Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,

    who greatly delights in his commandments!

His offspring will be mighty in the land;

    the generation of the upright will be blessed.

Wealth and riches are in his house,

    and his righteousness endures forever.

Light dawns in the darkness for the upright;

    he is gracious, merciful, and righteous.

It is well with the man who deals generously and lends;

    who conducts his affairs with justice.

For the righteous will never be moved;

    he will be remembered forever.”

 

To fear the Lord is to honor him as holy and righteous. It is to bow before him in humility and in submission to him as Lord (owner-master). And it is to show him respect, reverence, obedience, and worship. And acceptable worship of God is to give our lives to him as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is our acceptable worship of him (Rom 12:1-2).

 

If we walk in the fear of the Lord, which all believers in Jesus are commanded to do, we will want to obey him and to do what he says. We won’t be looking for loopholes to get out of obeying him, and we won’t be accepting a diluted gospel which teaches we don’t have to obey the Lord. Our desire will be for our Lord to do his will (Php 2:12-13; Acts 10:34-35).

 

Thus, the offspring of those who fear the Lord are not necessarily physical offspring, just like not all who are physically descended from Abraham are true Israel, but only those who have trusted Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of their lives. We alone are the chosen of God and heirs of the promise God gave to Abraham and to his seed, namely Jesus Christ.

 

[Gal 3:16, 26-29; Rom 9:4-8; Gal 4:22-31; Eph 2:14-18; 1 Jn 2:22]

 

So, I see in this context that this is speaking mainly of spiritual offspring, for it speaks of the “generation of the upright,” not of physical descendants. These are the people with whom we have shared the love of Christ, both in our actions and in our words, who have thus turned from their sins and have turned to follow Jesus Christ in obedience to his ways.

 

Also, although this speaks of wealth and riches, the rest of Scripture does not support the idea that if we are spiritually righteous that we will also be physically wealthy. In fact, it often warns of the dangers of having too much wealth and of the pitfalls that may bring about. So, I take from this that this is speaking of spiritual wealth and riches.

 

And the rest of this context bears that out for it is speaking of the one who fears the Lord and of his righteousness enduring forever, which has nothing to do with physical wealth and riches. And it speaks of light (truth, righteousness) dawning in the darkness (wickedness, evil) for the upright, and that he is gracious, merciful, and righteous.

 

His Heart is Firm

Psalms 112:7-9

 

“He is not afraid of bad news;

    his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.

His heart is steady; he will not be afraid,

    until he looks in triumph on his adversaries.

He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor;

    his righteousness endures forever;

    his horn is exalted in honor.”

 

When we live righteously, and we do what is right in the eyes of the Lord, and especially if we are sharing the truth of the gospel as Jesus and his New Testament apostles taught it, we are going to be opposed. We are going to be attacked, mocked, ridiculed, falsely accused, called crazy, and perhaps even threatened with some kind of repercussions if we continue.

 

But we are not to fear their threats, for although they are able to kill the body, if God permits, they cannot kill our souls. They cannot thwart God’s purposes no matter how hard they try, for God can bring good out of evil done to us. And since God is absolutely sovereign over our lives, they can’t touch us unless God allows it.

 

But the wicked, those who do evil, who oppose God and Jesus Christ (God the Son), and who oppose the gospel of Jesus Christ as he taught it, who oppose righteousness, holiness, godliness, purity, morality, and honesty, and who resist all correction, but who continue to go their own sinful way, will fear bad news if that bad news threatens their security.

 

They may not show any signs of fear as long as they are getting away with their evil deeds, but if the truth comes out into the open, and they are discovered for the evil they are committing, and if their future is being threatened in any way, they may fear bad news, for it may mean that they will now have to pay for the evil that they have done.

 

But if our consciences are clear, not that we are perfect, but if we are certain that we are not in any way living in disobedience to our Lord, and that we are being honest, and that we are walking (in conduct) according to the Spirit, and not according to the flesh, then we have no reason to fear anything or anyone, for our God is with us.

 

The Wicked Ones See

Psalms 112:10

 

“The wicked man sees it and is angry;

    he gnashes his teeth and melts away;

    the desire of the wicked will perish!”

 

When you are living righteously, and you are living for the Lord Jesus, and you are not controlled by fear, even when you are attacked and opposed and even threatened, the wicked who are trying to unsettle you, in order to accuse you, are going to be angry, because their evil plan against you did not work. You did not cave to the pressure.

 

They will be angry if they see you going through hardship after hardship, and persecution after persecution, and yet you remain strong in the Lord and in his mighty power, and so you keep on sharing the gospel even though you have faced strong opposition and threats against you, even from pastors, elders, church people, and/or family and friends, too.

 

And this is because they oppose the full gospel message, and many have adopted a cheap grace gospel in its place which makes no demands for repentance, obedience, or submission to Christ as Lord. So, if you are sharing (teaching or preaching) repentance, obedience, and submission to Christ as Lord, they aren’t going to be happy with you.

 

The cheap grace allows them to continue living in sin, living for themselves, living in mediocrity, making no room for the Holy Spirit, living ineffectual lives with regard to Christ and salvation and eternity. Thus, they are not committed to Christ and to his salvation, but they are holding on to their sinful flesh, and thus they have adopted a lie which permits them to do so.

 

But, unless they repent (turn from their sins to follow Jesus in obedience), they will perish. The desires of their hearts will perish with them. They will get their due reward for the evil that they have done and for opposing Christ and his gospel and his gospel’s messengers who are bringing them the Good News. So, if this is where you are, I pray you will repent of your sins today.

 

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

From Now on Sin no More

John 8:1-6 ESV

“But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, ‘Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?’ This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him."

Caught in Adultery

Have you ever been caught in sin? How did you respond? Were you embarrassed? Ashamed? Sorrowful? Or did you make excuses for your sin? And did you blame someone else for your sin? And/or did you attack the person who discovered your sin? How we respond makes all the difference in whether or not we ever become free from our slavery (addiction) to sin.

Jesus caught the Pharisees in their sins many times, and he confronted them with their sins, but their response was just to get angry with him and to get even with him, and that is what this is really all about. This had nothing to do with justice or the law, for if it did, where was the man? Wasn’t he caught, too? Certainly, she was not caught in adultery with herself.

So, this was about revenge. The scribes and the Pharisees brought this woman before Jesus to test him, in hopes they would have cause to accuse Jesus. But Jesus knew their hearts, and he knew the woman’s heart, too. He knew what they were all thinking. And he knew the motivation of the men who were trying to trip him up with his words.

For, they cared nothing about this woman or her sin. They were just using her to get at Jesus. She was just a pawn in their hands. They looked down on her as though she was less than them, as though she was sinful, but they were not. They had a high opinion of themselves which was not merited, for Jesus often took them to task for their hypocrisy.

And there are hypocrites among us still today who pretend to be religious, who put on a performance of righteousness for an audience, and who in their hypocrisy easily point a finger at those who have sinned far less severely than them, and yet they will be quick to the trigger to accuse while they fail to point the rest of their fingers back at themselves.

John 8:6-11 ESV

“Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, ‘Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.’ And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more’.”

Jesus Wrote with His Finger

No one knows exactly what Jesus wrote with his finger on the ground. So, any suggestions of what he wrote are just that, suggestions. But I think it is fair to assess the situation at hand, and to look at who these men were, and at what we know about them from other Scriptures, and I think we can pretty much surmise what Jesus may have written.

For, we know these men were very proud and self-righteous, and we know that they were envious of Jesus and that they were out to get him in any way that they could. We know they were hypocrites who liked looking good on the outside while they were doing all kinds of evil behind closed doors. So, they were not the type to easily be persuaded to back down.

They also didn’t seem to have a conscience, so I don’t think they all of a sudden got a conscience and that is why they backed down. So, based on what we know of these men and their character, I surmise that Jesus wrote something that let them know that Jesus knew of their specific sins, too, like perhaps names of prostitutes they had slept with.

Since they were very prideful men, and they wanted everyone to think well of them, if they realized that Jesus could expose their sins publicly, although he had certainly done that, at least generally many times, they might be inclined to drop their stones because they knew that if they went ahead with stoning the woman that they could be next to be stoned.

Let Him who is Without Sin

I think that when Jesus finished writing, and when he stood up, that the men could now see what he had written. And it was at this point that Jesus said, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And then he continued writing, thus making a connection between what he was writing and his statement to them about being without sin.

But let me interject something here before I move on. Not one of us is without sin. We are born into sin with sin natures, so all have sinned and have come up short of attaining God’s divine approval, i.e., his acceptance. Now, if we are believing in Jesus, we have died with Christ to sin and we are to be living to Christ and to his righteousness, but we still are capable of sin.

But just because we have all come into this world with sin natures, and just because we still have the propensity to sin against God, and it is possible that we may sin against God (1 Jn 2:1-2), that doesn’t mean that we are all living in sin. For, if we are believing in Jesus, we should now be walking (in conduct) not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

And let me say something else here. Many people quote Jesus’ words to say that none of us should ever judge anyone else’s sin because we are all sinners. The Bible doesn’t teach that, though. The Bible teaches that we should not judge hypocritically, or unjustly, or by human standards, or by comparing others to ourselves, but we are to judge righteously.

So, Jesus wasn’t teaching that we should never judge sin, but that we should not judge hypocritically, or in hate, or with the wrong motives, or prejudicially, or by human standards, or by comparing others to ourselves, etc. We who are walking righteously are to judge sin, but in order to rescue people from bondage to sin and to save their souls from hell.

But our judging needs to be done lovingly, speaking the truth in love, and always with a goal to restore the person sinning to a right relationship with God. It should be for the good of others, not to harm them. 

Go and Sin No More

Also, when Jesus forgives sin it is not so that we can continue living in sin only now without guilt or punishment. For, Jesus died to deliver us from our slavery to sin so we would now be slaves of God and of his righteousness. He died that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness and that we might walk according to the Spirit, not by the flesh.

When Jesus said he did not condemn her for her sin, he wasn’t saying that she didn’t sin or that what she did wasn’t a sin, nor was he giving her a free pass to continue living in sin. He was just letting her know that he forgave her, but that forgiveness meant she was to go and from that moment on sin no more. And that is what our salvation from sin is about, too.

Living by Faith

Lyrics by James Wells, 1918

v. 4 by Robert E. Winsett, 1918

Music by J. L. Heath, 1918

I care not today what the morrow may bring,

If shadow or sunshine or rain,

The Lord I know ruleth o’er everything,

And all of my worries are vain.

Living by faith in Jesus above,

Trusting, confiding in His great love;

From all harm safe in His sheltering arm,

I’m living by faith and feel no alarm.

Though tempests may blow and the storm clouds arise,

Obscuring the brightness of life,

I’m never alarmed at the overcast skies—

The Master looks on at the strife.

I know that He safely will carry me through,

No matter what evils betide;

Why should I then care though the tempest may blow,

If Jesus walks close to my side.

Our Lord will return for His loved ones someday,

Our troubles will then all be o’er;

The Master so gently will lead us away,

Beyond that blest heavenly shore.

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Avoid Fruitless Discussions

Pursue Righteousness

2 Timothy 2:22 ESV

 

“So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.”

 

As followers of Jesus Christ, we are to flee sinful passions. They are to no longer be part of our lives. For, Jesus Christ died to put sin to death in our lives so that we would no longer be slaves to sin but so we would now be slaves to God and to his righteousness.

 

We are not supposed to live any longer like we did before we believed in Jesus. We are not to engage in all manner of evil and wickedness, and we are not to be sexually immoral or adulterous or idolatrous. And we are not to be liars but truth tellers.

 

For, when we believe in Jesus Christ with God-given faith in him, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and we are resurrected with Christ to newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Now we walk according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh.

 

And instead of pursuing what is of the flesh, we now are to pursue righteousness (what is right in the eyes of God), faith (divine persuasion as to God’s holiness and righteousness), love (to prefer what God prefers), and peace (with God). And we are to have pure (unadulterated) hearts.

 

[Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; Lu 9:23-26; Gal 5:16-21]

 

Foolish Controversies

2 Timothy 2:23-25 ESV

 

“Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness.”

 

If you are on any kind of discussion site or on social media or in the blogging world, where people share their beliefs and their thoughts about various subjects, you are likely to run across political discussions where people argue with each other regarding the political right vs. the political left.

 

Christians should not engage in such discussions, for they are fruitless, and they most always end up in fights and in the participants insulting one another. For one, Jesus is our commanding officer, and we are not to get involved in civilian affairs. And fighting over who is right, the left or the right, accomplishes nothing.

 

In addition to this, Christians end up fighting with each other, usually publicly, and they end up insulting each other, and this is not how Christians should treat anyone, let alone one another. Therefore, they are a poor witness for Jesus Christ, and they are not leading anyone to Jesus Christ by their fighting and quarreling, either.

 

Also, what are we called to do as Christians? What are we to be passionate about? And what message are we to be spreading throughout the world? It isn’t a political one, I guarantee you. We all are to be passionate about sharing the full gospel of Jesus Christ with the world around us.

 

So, what if we open up a discussion which is not political in nature, but our responders turn it into a political discussion, and they begin to argue and fight with one another and to insult one another as they each blame the right or the left for the problems in the world? What should be our response?

 

Well, first off, this Scripture says we are to have nothing to do with such discussions. So, if the discussion is on a site over which we have some say as to what is posted or not posted, then we are responsible to curb that discussion so that it does not continue on our watch.

 

But we shouldn’t get nasty or hateful in how we handle this. Yet, that doesn’t mean we are weak and say nothing and let things get out of hand, either. We must speak the truth in love, but it must be in love. And gentleness means controlled strength, not weakness.

 

For kindness is also not weakness, and it is not letting things get out of hand and allowing others to insult one another and to be unkind to one another just because we are trying to not upset anyone. Kindness never lies, but kindness always tells the truth, but the truth in love.

 

And if we are insulted, we do not insult back. We don’t trade “tit for tat.” But this doesn’t mean we don’t set reasonable boundaries for what we will allow or not allow on something for which we have responsibility for the content. For, God sets boundaries for us to follow, and we should thus follow them.

 

And so we focus our attention on sharing the word of God with others and on leading others to the truth of the Scriptures, and we have nothing to do with fruitless discussions which end in heated arguments and people insulting one another, for that accomplishes nothing good, but only bad.

 

He’ll Grant Them Repentance

2 Timothy 2:25-26 ESV

 

“God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.”

 

Our faith to believe in Jesus Christ originated with Christ and is perfected by Christ and is a gift to us from God. We can’t even come to faith in Jesus Christ unless God first draws us to Christ, and he persuades us to turn our lives over to Jesus Christ and to follow him in obedience to his ways.

 

Thus, even repentance is granted (gifted) to us by God because repentance and obedience and submission to Christ as Lord are all part of believing faith in Jesus Christ. And repentance is turning away from our sinful lifestyles and turning to the Lord to follow him in surrender and in obedience to him.

 

But we must apply these gifts of faith and repentance to our lives, by faith, and in the power and working of God’s Spirit in our lives. And we must walk (in conduct) according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh, by the Spirit, and we must be living for the Lord, doing what he commands.

 

So, we don’t get involved in foolish arguments where we end up destroying our faith and witness for Jesus Christ. We keep our focus on Jesus Christ and on his word and on getting his word out to the people of the world so that they can believe in Jesus and live for him, too.

 

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.

 

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And Forsaking all Others

Matthew 19:3-6 ESV

 

“And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, ‘Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?’ He answered, ‘Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh”? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate’.”

 

Divorcing One’s Spouse

 

The word “divorce” means to separate, disconnect, distance, detach, disunite, and break apart. It also is defined as “The legal dissolution of a marriage by a court or other competent body” (Google). But can it be both? Or either? Can one divorce his/her spouse without the legal dissolution of the marriage? I believe so.

 

For, what do the Scriptures teach about marriage? Is a marriage just a legal contract or a legal union between a man and a woman? Or is there more to a marriage than that?

 

Let’s start at the beginning. God first created man, and then he created woman out of man’s side to be his helper, to come alongside him, to assist him, to encourage and to help him. They were to work together side by side. God never intended man to dominate the woman, but God intended that he be her protective head, to love her, to honor her, and to treat her kindly.

 

He was to leave the authority and influence of his parents, and now he was to unite physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually with his wife. And they were to become one flesh, united together under the love, the rule, the authority, and the wisdom of God in order to love one another with his love.

 

And the man is supposed to hold fast to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. So, I find that a particularly interesting order of things. For, if the man does not hold fast to his wife, or her to him, how can they become one flesh? They can’t! If each goes his or her own separate way, they can’t be united as one.

 

For, this term “hold fast” means to be glued together, to join oneself closely to another, and to cleave. And to cleave is to cling to, to embrace, to hold on to, to stick like glue. It means to bond with another. And this isn’t just about a sexual union. This is a union of heart and soul and mind and emotion.

 

Marriage Vows

 

For an example of this are the marriage vows many couples of my age, anyway, took when they got married:

 

"I, ___, take thee, ___, to be my wedded husband/wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part, according to God's holy ordinance; and thereto I pledge thee my faith [or] pledge myself to you."

 

I think our wedding vows added, “and forsaking all others keep thee only unto her/him as long as you both shall live.” Thus, it is a vow of purity, of fidelity, of faithfulness, of love, and of devotion. And it is a commitment to leave the single life behind to be united as husband and wife forever.

 

Therefore, if one or the other does not keep those vows of marriage but separates himself or herself from his/her spouse via adultery, or via living like he/she is single and that he/she is independent of the other, then that is where the marriage breaks apart. In essence, this is divorcing one’s spouse when you or anyone breaks the vows of marriage with adultery.

 

This is not to say that we can’t each have our individual assignments from God or that we can’t be gifted in different ways, or that we have to do everything together. But it means that we are not to be unfaithful, we are not to commit adultery, and we are not to treat one another like trash. But we are to be united spiritually, and in mind, heart, body, and emotion.

 

So, when this says, “What God has joined together, let not man separate,” he is not talking just about a physical or a legal separation. He is saying that we are not to disunite from our spouses. We are not to commit adultery against them via romantic of sexual affairs, via porn, via self-gratification, or via any other emotional or sexual entanglement outside of marriage.

 

If one spouse does this, i.e., commits adultery against the other and lives like he/she is single rather than married, he/she is separating from the other and is thus breaking that union so that the other spouse is forced to live in that separated state or else leave and/or literally ask for a divorce.

 

And this is because the unfaithful spouse has pushed the other away and has disunified with him/her via adultery, which God commands we should not do, thus bringing about this separation (divorce). Therefore, they are no longer united as one flesh, because one spouse became one flesh with another and another, and perhaps many others, especially via porn.

 

Matthew 19:7-9 ESV

 

“They said to him, ‘Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?’ He said to them, ‘Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery’.”

 

When a man or a woman decides to be unfaithful to his/her marital partner, he/she may make many excuses or justifications for why he/she thinks that is acceptable. They will rationalize that they are justified in their actions because of whatever excuse they come up with, and so they act on their choice to be unfaithful based on the excuses they make for themselves.

 

And they will come up with these excuses or rationalizations because their hearts are hard, and because they have already determined in their hearts the course that they want to take, and so they are just looking for any kind of loophole to excuse away what they know is wrong.

 

But this goes against God’s design for the marriage. So, God does not approve. For marriage is to be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure. Wives are to yield to their husbands’ authority, and they are to submit to one another. And husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her (Eph 5:15-33; Col 3:18-19; Heb 13:4).

 

But we are never to submit to sin. We are not to obey orders to sin against God. God always trumps! There are biblical exceptions to obedience to all human authority, and the line is basically drawn at the point where we are being asked or required to sin against God. The answer is always “NO!”

 

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.

 

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