Keeping Our Lord's Commands

“Bless the Lord, O my soul,

    and all that is within me,

    bless his holy name!

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

    and forget not all his benefits,

who forgives all your iniquity,

    who heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit,

    who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,

who satisfies you with good

    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. 

The Lord works righteousness

    and justice for all who are oppressed.” (Psalms 103:1-6 ESV)

“For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

    so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;

as far as the east is from the west,

    so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

As a father shows compassion to his children,

    so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.

For he knows our frame;

    he remembers that we are dust.

As for man, his days are like grass;

    he flourishes like a flower of the field;

for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,

    and its place knows it no more.

But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,

    and his righteousness to children's children,

to those who keep his covenant

    and remember to do his commandments.” (Psalms 103:11-18 ESV)

Whether in the Old Testament or in the New Testament, God’s promises to us always come with conditions. We just have to read them in their context, and not out of context, and we will see this plainly. For far too many people these days are claiming the promises of God over their lives but absent of the biblical conditions. And many of them do not meet the conditions for those promises to be fulfilled in their lives. 

Let me give you one New Testament example. Many people are quoting John 10:28-30 out of the context of verse 27 which explains the conditions for that promise to apply to them. So they are claiming that they have eternal life with God, that they will never perish, and that no one can snatch them out of God’s hand. But verse 27 says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” We are those who are listening to the Lord with our hearts and minds, he knows us, and we are following him in obedience. We are those who have eternal life and who will never perish, etc.

Okay, so back to today’s passage of Scripture. It begins with many of the promises of God to his people – the forgiveness of sins, his healing mercies, the redemption of our lives out of slavery to sin so that we can now honor him with our lives, his steadfast love and mercy, his goodness to us, and the strength that he gives us so that we can make it through each and every day. And then he also works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed, i.e. he is on our side and he will be there to meet all our needs.

But then look at the conditions for those promises to be fulfilled. So great is his steadfast love toward those who FEAR HIM. The Lord shows compassion to those who FEAR HIM. The steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who FEAR HIM, ..to those who keep (obey) his covenant and remember to DO HIS COMMANDMENTS. And this isn’t just Old Covenant teaching. This is also New Covenant teaching. This is what is taught in the New Testament, too. See:

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

And what does it mean to FEAR THE LORD? It means we take God to heart. We take him and his word seriously, we believe what he says, and we act on that faith in him and in his word in walks of obedience to him and to his commandments (New Covenant). We honor him with our lives, we revere him, and we respect him. Thus, we forsake our lives of living in sin and for self, we deny self, die daily to sin, and we follow him in obedience.

So we no longer make sin our practice, but now righteousness, holiness, godly living, moral purity, honesty, faithfulness, and integrity are what we practice, by the grace of God, and in the power of God’s Spirit now living within us. And we are steadfast and continuous in those walks of faith and we are not like the double-minded who go back and forth in opinion and in practice, on again, off again, still walking in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord and against other humans, in a cyclical pattern.

So, we need to know and to understand this. For the Scriptures teach that if sin is what we practice, and if righteousness, holiness, moral purity, honesty, faithfulness and obedience to our Lord are not what we practice, then we do not have the hope of eternal life with God (see all the noted Scriptures above). We will die in our sins regardless of what faith we profess with our lips. For Jesus said that not everyone professing him as Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING the will of God (Matthew 7:21-23).

What a Savior

By Marvin P. Dalton

Once I was straying in sin's dark valley

No hope within could I see

God sent from heaven a loving Savior

To save a poor lost soul like me

He left the Father with all His riches

With calmness sweet and serene

Came down from heaven and gave His lifeblood

To make the vilest sinner clean

Death's chilly waters I'll soon be crossing

His hand will lead me safe o'er

I'll join the chorus in that great city

And sing up there forevermore

O what a Savior O hallelujah

His heart was broken on Calvary

His hands were nail-scarred

His side was riven

He gave His lifeblood for even me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRWCM-PFO8Y

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Jesus Came to Bring Division

“I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” (Luke 12:49-53 ESV; cf. Matthew 10:34-39)

John the Baptist told us that Jesus Christ would baptize us with the Spirit and with fire (Matthew 3:11). And Jesus’ baptism, in this case, was not his water baptism, but his baptism into death, in which he was crucified on that cross, wherein he put our sins to death with him so that we might also be crucified and buried with him in death to sin so that, in the power of God, we might now walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but as slaves to God and to his righteousness (Romans 6:1-23).

“Fire” here appears to speak of judgment, and in Jesus’ death on that cross he judged our sins and he put them to death with him. For he died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, and that we might now live for him and no longer for self. And he shed his blood for us to buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of our bondage to sin so that we might now honor him with our lives. So we are not to let sin have mastery over our lives to make us obey its desires, for if sin is what we obey, it leads to death.

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

So, Jesus didn’t come to this earth to be born as a human baby and to grow to manhood just so people would like him, and so that people would think that he was a great guy. He didn’t come here with smooth-sounding messages to tickle itching ears to make people feel good about themselves, either. He came to shake things up. He came to bring division and to turn family members, one against another. So how did he do that? By teaching them the truth of God’s word.

In other words, Jesus came to draw people to himself, to faith in him. He came to call them to deny self, to die daily to sin, and to follow him in obedience to his commands. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for his sake we deny self and we die with him daily to sin, and we now walk with him in obedience to his commands, then we have the hope of eternal life with God. But if we deny him, then when he returns he will deny us (See Luke 9:23-26).

So, when people make the choice to leave their old lives of sin behind them to now follow the Lord Jesus in obedience to his commands, that becomes a sticking point (obstacle, hindrance to relationships) when others in the family or in the same household do not hold to the same beliefs and values. And this can happen among people who all profess faith in Jesus Christ, too, for some people accept an altered gospel message while others accept the true gospel that Jesus taught, and so it can still divide families.

So the division is not just those who make no profession of faith in Jesus Christ and those who profess faith in our Lord. But it is those who walk in obedience to the Lord, by faith, by the grace of God, and those who continue to walk in deliberate and habitual sin. For both may profess faith in Jesus Christ but it is only those who deny self, die daily to sin, and follow Jesus in obedience who have salvation from sin and the hope of eternal life with God. But many who profess faith in Jesus Christ will contend with that division.

And since you have two schools of thinking on the subject of what constitutes genuine faith which saves, and you have the division of those who make no profession of Christ and those who do, you are going to have conflict in families and within the gatherings of the church, too. For there will be those who take a much more liberal approach to Christianity while others will take the approach that Jesus taught and that his NT apostles taught which requires death to sin and living to God and to his righteousness.

But please understand that it is not the thinking of humans that determines where we will spend eternity. It is the word of God, taught in context, that lets us know that if we walk in sin, if sin is our practice, if we are still living in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord, and if holiness and godliness and moral purity, honesty, and faithfulness and obedience to our Lord are not what we do, in practice, then we will not inherit eternal life with God regardless of what faith in Christ we have professed with our lips.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

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

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

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

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

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

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Where is Jesus in Your Celebrations?

Is He there, or barely mentioned?

Does He fit with all the tension?

Is He in the ribbons, wrappings?

Is He in the culture’s trappings?

Is He in the food and parties?

Overeating, faith departing?

Is He in the twisted humor?

Is He in the stories rumored?

Is He in the decorations?

Is He in the mild flirtations?

Is He in your conversations?

Or from Him you take vacation?

Where is Jesus being honored?

What about Him do you holler?

Do you share the truth of Gospel?

Or of that thought, are you hostile?

Are you living for Him truly?

Or, in truth, are you quite worldly?

Do you want to please Him daily?

Or that thought you think it’s crazy?

Jesus wants that you obey Him

Die to sin not follow your whims.

Follow Him where’er He leads you,

Take in now all that He feeds you.

Take the gospel now to others –

Strangers, friends, and sisters, brothers.

Tell how we must die to our sin

So in truth we now live for Him.

An Original Work / December 26, 2023

And Jesus said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23 ESV)

Keep Your Lamps Burning

“Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Luke 12:35-40 ESV)

 

Jesus Christ is the one speaking here. Early on in this chapter he warned us against false teachers who are hypocritical liars. And he warned us against fearing people in positions of power and authority, fearing their opinions of us or what they might do to us or say about us or to us. For “killing the body” includes slaying (destroying, defeating, shooting down) what is in our minds and hearts and words and beliefs. It isn’t all about physical death.

 

And he warned us that we must fear him who has the authority and power to cast people into hell. For to fear the Lord is to take him and his word seriously, to believe what he says, and then to act upon that belief with our actions and thinking and attitudes and behaviors. For if we truly believe God will cast us into hell if we walk in sin and not in righteousness and holiness, then it should keep us from following after sin, and we should obey the Lord.

 

And now we are being strongly encouraged to remain faithful in our walks with the Lord in holiness and in righteousness and not in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord Jesus. We are to keep following the Lord in obedience to his ways, and we are to keep sharing with others the truth of the gospel which can save their souls from hell. We are to remain sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit and to keep following his daily leading.

 

We need to be those who are spiritually ready all the time for our Lord, our spiritual husband, to return for us, his bride, if indeed we are his faithful bride who is not living in adultery against her husband. For, despite what many are teaching today, we are not saved from our sins and on our way to heaven based on a confession in Christ as Savior and Lord but if we continue living for self and in deliberate and habitual sin against our Lord Christ.

 

For if we get cocky and think that God now owes us his heaven based on our confession of him as Lord and Savior, and so we get lazy and careless and so we keep on living in sin and for self, or we return to walking in sin and no longer in holiness and righteousness, then we must know what the Scriptures teach on that subject. For they teach that if sin is our practice and not obedience to Christ, we will not inherit eternal life with God.

 

So don’t get this idea that if you make a confession of Christ as your Lord and Savior that all your sins are forgiven (past, present, and future), that now heaven is guaranteed you when you die, and that it can’t be taken away from you, regardless of how you live. For the Scriptures teach that we must deny self, die daily to sin, and follow our Lord in obedience to his commands, in practice, if we want salvation from sin and eternal life with God.

 

So don’t think that all these biblical warnings are not for you. Most of these warnings in the Scriptures against living in sin and against disobedience to the Lord and the end results are given to those who profess the name of Jesus. They are given to the church so that they should not be prideful and cocky and think that God will not judge them. For Jesus said that not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING the will of God the Father in heaven (Matthew 7:21-23).

 

“Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.” (Luke 12:48 ESV)

 

Just please know what the Scriptures teach (in context), for they teach that if we walk in sin and not in righteousness and not in obedience to our Lord that it will mean death for us, not life eternal. We can profess faith in Jesus Christ all we want and yet he will say to us, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness,” if we do not obey him but we continue to live in deliberate and habitual sin against our Lord and against other people.

 

[Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 9:23-26; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Corinthians 5:15; Galatians 5:16-21; Galatians 6:7-8; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Hebrews 10:23-31; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10]  

 

My Lord, What a Morning  

 

Spiritual, United States, 18th or 19th Century

My Lord, what a morning!
My Lord, what a morning!
Oh, my Lord, what a morning
when the stars begin to fall.

Oh, you will hear the trumpet sound
to wake the nations underground,
Looking to my Lord's right hand
when the stars begin to fall.

Oh, you will see my Jesus come,
His glory shining like the sun,
Looking to my Lord's right hand
When the stars begin to fall.

Oh, you will hear all Christians shout,
'Cause there's a new day come about,
Looking to my Lord's right hand
When the stars begin to fall

My Lord, what a morning!
My Lord, what a morning!
Oh, my Lord, what a morning
when the stars begin to fall.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YIYxwnqcTM

 

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Acknowledging Christ Before People

“In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, ‘Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.’” (Luke 12:1-3 ESV)

The Pharisees were learned people. Many of them were teachers of the Scriptures. But many of them were spiritual predators who fed off others. They were false teachers. And they were the impure, the wicked, and the unholy, but while they made an outward appearance of righteousness and goodness. For they were fakes and phonies who pretended all goodness on the outside while on the inside they were full of evil. They had heads full of knowledge but they did not put that good knowledge into practice.

Now we have many of these people in the gatherings of what is called “church” today. They are wolves in sheep’s clothing who appear righteous on the outside but who are not who they appear to be. Many of them are smooth talkers, charmers, and manipulators, who know how to smooth-talk people into believing their lies and who prey upon the unlearned and the naïve. They oppose the truth of the gospel and, instead, they teach an altered gospel created in the minds of human beings to lead people astray.

So, if you are someone who is following the Lord with your life, and you are walking in his ways and in his truth and righteousness, and you are believing the truth of the Scriptures, and you are sharing what the Lord is teaching you, you may be attacked and opposed and falsely accused of what you did not do by these charlatans (Pharisees, fakes) who are teaching a diluted and altered gospel message. And they may come up against you fiercely and harshly and cruelly, and if you are not strong you may be defeated.

“I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.” (Luke 12:4-7 ESV)

Don’t let them take you down! Don’t let them intimidate you and make you afraid. Don’t let the opinions of other humans determine who you are and who you become. Stay the course! And I am speaking from experience here. For I got beat down so many times by so many of these Pharisees over so many years that there was a time in my life when I gave up, and I gave into the intimidation and the cruelty and the abuse, and I stepped outside of God’s protective care and I became who they wanted me to be, instead.

But thanks be to God, he did not give up on me even though I had given up on me and I had given up on him to rescue me from all the evil and all the abuse. For I let the fear of man consume me rather than the fear of the Lord. I feared man and what he could do to me more than I feared God. And I became a person I did not recognize who did things I never thought I would ever do. Please don’t ever go there! Keep trusting the Lord even when others who pretend to serve him oppose you for serving the Lord.

For, if truly we belong to the Lord, even if we are not valuable to other humans and so they stomp on our hearts and they treat us as though we are nothing and not worth their time, we can be assured that our Lord cares about us. We are valuable to him. He cares about us even when other humans don’t. So we can’t let the treatment and the opinions of other people keep us from obeying the Lord, not even those of people in positions of authority who portend righteousness but who are worldly in action.

“And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God.” (Luke 12:8-9 ESV)

This is absolutely the truth, and we need to take it seriously. Like I said, although I had once given into the intimidation and abuse, which had been going on most of my life, the Lord rescued me, not from the abuse, but from my fear of what man might do to me. He taught me that I could be strong in the strength of the Lord and I could keep moving forward in his strength and wisdom despite what other humans do to me or say to me or say about me to others. In the strength of the Lord I can move forward, by his grace.

And then he gave me a new assignment which was and is to write down what he teaches me from his word each day and to post it on the internet and then he takes it where he wants it to go. And I have no control whatsoever with regard to where these writings go or how they are being used of God in other people’s lives. I am just obeying the Lord in writing whatever he wants me to write and then he takes it where he wants it to go. And sometimes I still get opposed, but I trust him in that, too.

So the encouragement here today is for you to not let other humans determine who you are and what you do and who you become. Give all of your opponents over to the Lord and keep moving forward in obeying the Lord and in doing what he says to do and in sharing with others what he is teaching you through his word each day. For denying Christ before men is not only saying, “I don’t know him,” but it is refusing to acknowledge him and his word before other humans out of fear of what they will say or do.

[Matthew 7:21-23; Matthew 10:32-33; Matthew 15:7-9; Luke 9:26; 2 Timothy 2:11-13; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; Titus 1:15-16; 2 Peter 2:1-3; Jude 1:3-4]

My Sheep  

An Original Work / June 24, 2012  

Based off John 10:1-18 NIV

My sheep hear me. They know me.

They listen to my voice and obey.

I call them and lead them.

They know my voice, so they follow me.

They will never follow strangers.

They will run away from them.

The voice of a stranger they know not;

They do not follow him.

So, I tell you the truth that

I am the gate, so you enter in.

Whoever does enter

Will find forgiveness and will be saved.

Nonetheless whoever enters

Not by the gate; other way,

He is the thief and a robber.

Listen not, the sheep to him.

Oh, I am the Good Shepherd,

Who laid his own life down for the sheep.

I know them. They know me.

They will live with me eternally.

The thief only comes to steal and

Kill and to destroy the church.

I have come to give you life that

You may have it to the full… 

They know my voice, so they follow me.

https://vimeo.com/114938263 

Learning from Jesus with Childlike Faith

“In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.’

“Then turning to the disciples he said privately, ‘Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.’” (Luke 10:21-24 ESV)

I am going to use a personal illustration here to communicate what I believe is the message here. So, I was brought up poor. My father was an abuser and my mother, although a good woman, was emotionally distant and neglectful. But we went to the gatherings of the church every Sunday, morning and night, and every Wednesday evening, and for all other special services, too. We were faithful in our attendance of such gatherings.

Because my father was an abuser I was a fearful child. I believed in Jesus at age 7, but my understanding of his sovereignty over my life was incomplete. So I feared what other people could do to me, especially my father. And I did not have much in the way of self-confidence, and I was a slow learner, mainly in areas that required much reading, for my reading comprehension level was very low. I entered college reading on a 4th grade level.

So, I didn’t try to tackle subjects which I felt were too hard for me, and I didn’t seek out knowledge other than I did read my Bible and I loved listening to my pastor and youth pastor teach the Scriptures, and I learned much through them. And I was very trusting of people, in general, and I believed what I was taught at church and at school and what I heard on the news and I think I only questioned what did not agree with the Bible.

I really believed most things were beyond my ability to learn and so I greatly limited myself in what I was willing to learn. And I had a terrible time trying to grasp all the teachings on the last days and from the book of Revelation, and no matter how many times I heard teachings on this subject, I did not retain it. So, basically I was not a biblical scholar and I was not a great student in school and I was not a brainy person. But I believed Jesus.

I had a very simple childlike faith in Jesus Christ. I believed what the Bible taught and that if it said I should do something that is what I did, as far as I understood it. But now I am not claiming that I was a perfect child, but that I had a simple trust in the Lord and I believed his word and early on I realized that the legalism and hypocrisy I saw in my father was not of God and not taught in the Scriptures and so I wanted real Christianity.

And so I sought out the Lord and the truth of his word, and my desire was for him and to grow in him and to learn of his ways so that I could walk in them. But let me fast forward to me at age 52. The Lord led me to go back to college, so I did. But I struggled to learn, still convinced in my own mind that I could not learn, but the Lord encouraged me to keep at it and to trust him, and so I did, and at the end of four years I finished with a 4.0 GPA.

Now this is me who graduated high school with a 1.4 GPA and who had a 2.5 GPA in college the first time around only because I was good in music and that is what I majored in and that brought up my GPA. So, it was only by the grace of God that I was able to learn what I did this second time around in college. But what I learned the most is that I could learn. I had to believe that I could learn for what came next.

For then God called me to this present ministry of writing down what he teaches me from his word each day and to post these writings on the internet. But he didn’t have me just reading the Scriptures. He had me researching all sorts of subjects I would never have tackled before, like science and history and government and geography and other nations and politics and what our government is doing in other countries, etc.

For all that relates to what the Scriptures teach are taking place in the world and will take place in these last days. And the Lord was teaching me how what the Scriptures teach relate to current events going on in our world today. And he was opening my heart and mind to hear and to read and to understand so many things I would never have adventured into myself, not ever! Only by the Holy Spirit was I able to learn these things.

But I believe it was good that I was not a book smart person who had a lot of head knowledge about a lot of things because then the Lord was able to teach me what he wanted me to learn and my mind did not automatically block out what he was trying to teach me because I didn’t have all that head knowledge combating what he was wanting me to learn. I was teachable because I didn’t have a bunch of knowledge fighting against him.

Does this all make sense? It is sometimes harder for people who have a lot of head knowledge and book smart to hear what the Lord wants to teach them because their book smarts serve as barriers a lot of times to hearing what the Lord wants them to learn which may be in contradiction to what they learned in their books. Those who don’t already have their minds made up about a lot of things who have childlike faith in the Lord are more apt to hear from the Lord and to believe him and to follow in his ways.

So, what can we all learn from this? We need to humble ourselves before the Lord with childlike faith and be willing to unlearn things we learned wrongly and be willing to learn things we have been afraid to learn before and be willing to be corrected and to have our thinking and believing changed when the Lord shows us that what we believed previously is not the truth. Then he can use us to be his servants and messengers in speaking the truth in love to others in hopes that they will surrender their lives to Jesus Christ and that they will now follow him in obedience to his commands.

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

With Justice and With Righteousness

“For to us a child is born,

    to us a son is given;

and the government shall be upon his shoulder,

    and his name shall be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and of peace

    there will be no end,

on the throne of David and over his kingdom,

    to establish it and to uphold it

with justice and with righteousness

    from this time forth and forevermore.

The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.” (Isaiah 9:6-7 ESV)

This is a prophecy from the Old Testament concerning the birth and life of Jesus Christ, and regarding who he is and was and the purpose for why he was born and lived upon this earth. For Jesus Christ always existed, for he is God, the second person of our triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He was with God in the beginning, he is God, and he is our creator God. And when he lived on the earth he was fully God and fully man (human).

Now Jesus Christ, who is God, willingly left his throne in heaven, came to earth, and was born as a baby to a human mother, but was conceived of the Holy Spirit and not of man. So Jesus wasn’t born with a sin nature in the image of Adam like the rest of humankind. But he had the ability to sin because he lived in a flesh body, and he was tempted to sin, but he did not sin. For he came to this earth to die on a cross to deliver us out of our lives of slavery to sin so that we can now live for him in obedience to him.

[John 1:1-36; John 8:24,58; John 10:30-33; John 20:28-29; Romans 9:5; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 2:9; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 1:8-9; 1 Peter 1:20-21; 2 Peter 1:1]

Jesus Christ lived on the earth for about 33 years. At the age of 30 he began his earthly ministry, at which time he called 12 men to be his disciples and to follow him and to work alongside him in feeding the hungry, comforting the sorrowful, raising the dead, delivering people from demons, healing their diseases and their infirmities, and preaching the good news of the gospel. And his gospel message was not like what many are preaching today.

For Jesus said if anyone would come after him, he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for Jesus’ sake we deny self, die daily to sin, and follow him in obedience to his ways and to his commands, then we have eternal life. For if we deny him on this earth he will deny us when he returns for his bride (Luke 9:23-26). 

See also: [Matthew 10:32-33; Matthew 15:7-9; Luke 9:26; 2 Timothy 2:11-13; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; Titus 1:15-16; 2 Peter 2:1-3; Jude 1:3-4]

He also taught that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one DOING the will of God the Father who is in heaven. For many will stand before him one day and will profess him as Lord and will claim many things they believed they did in his name, but he will say to them, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness,” for they refused to obey the Lord (see Matthew 7:21-23).

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

Now Jesus did gain some popularity, for a time, because of all the miracles that he performed, and because of him feeding the hungry, and because he raised the dead and delivered people from demons and because he healed their diseases and their infirmities. But his gospel message was not this light and fluffy stuff that is being offered up as his gospel message in today’s world here in America. For he taught death to sin and to self, and obedience.

And the stronger his message became in relation to the cost of following him as our Lord and Savior, the less popular he became, and the more rejection that he faced. And this will be the same with us. If we teach and preach the gospel he taught, we are going to be hated and rejected and mistreated like he was, and we will not have huge followings and lots of “likes” on our internet posts. But if it saves people’s lives from hell, it is worth it all!

Jesus also was not a friend of the religious leaders in the temple of God. They did not like him, and so they continually hounded him and persecuted him and falsely accused him of what he did not do, and they plotted evil against him, and tried to trick him into saying something to where they could accuse him of wrongdoing. And we may experience the same from pastors in “churches” where they don’t like the gospel Jesus taught.

So, those leaders who hated him plotted his murder, and they incited the people into joining in with them in calling for Jesus’ crucifixion. And so they falsely arrested Jesus, and gave him a mock trial, and they beat him beyond recognition, and they spat on him and mocked him, and they put a crown of thorns on his head to mock him. And then they hung him on a cross to die as though he was a common criminal worthy of death as punishment.

But this was God’s will for him. For in his death he took upon himself the sins of the entire world. He who knew no sin became sin for us on that cross so that when he died our sins died with him. But he didn’t stay dead. God the Father raised him from the dead on the third day. So by faith in Jesus Christ we are crucified and buried with Christ in death to sin, and we are raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness, no longer to walk in slavery to sin. Amen!

[Isaiah 53:1-12; Matt 26:26-29; Lu 9:23-26; Lu 17:25; Jn 1:1-36; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 8:24,58; Jn 10:30-33; Jn 20:28-29; Rom 5:8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 9:5; 1 Co 6:19-20; 1 Co 11:23-32; 1 Co 15:1-8; 2 Co 5:15,21; Eph 4:17-24; Php 2:5-11; Col 2:9; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 1:8-9; Heb 2:14-15; Heb 4:15; 1 Pet 2:24; 2 Pet 1:1]  

Hark, the Herald Angels Sing 

By Charles Wesley / Mendelssohn / Cummings

Hark! The herald angels sing,

“Glory to the newborn King;

Peace on earth, and mercy mild,

God and sinners reconciled!”

Joyful, all ye nations rise,

Join the triumph of the skies;

With th’angelic host proclaim,

“Christ is born in Bethlehem!”

Christ, by highest Heav’n adored;

Christ the everlasting Lord;

Late in time, behold Him come,

Offspring of a virgin’s womb.

Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;

Hail th’incarnate Deity,

Pleased as man with men to dwell,

Jesus our Emmanuel.

Hail, the heaven-born Prince of Peace!

Hail the Sun of Righteousness!

Light and life to all He brings,

Ris’n with healing in His wings.

Mild He lays His glory by,

Born that man no more may die.

Born to raise the sons of earth,

Born to give them second birth.

Hark! the herald angels sing,

“Glory to the newborn King!”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z67EXPODXO8

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