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Psalms 119:17-18 ESV
I am seventy years old. That is a lifetime. I am amazed that I survived my childhood, let alone adulthood, but God had a plan for my life, so he sustained me through the years. And I know that if I am to continue to live, it will also be because of God’s love and grace and his sustaining power.
If I am to go on living, it will continue to be as the Lord’s servant, by the grace of God. And it will be so that I will keep his word, and that I will continue to share his word with others so that they can know him, too. And it will be to share his word as he gives me instruction into what it says.
Psalms 119:19-20 ESV
As a follower of Jesus Christ, I am a sojourner on this earth. This world is not my home. I am just passing through on my way to heaven. I am a temporary resident here. I don’t fit in. I am not one with the world. For the Lord called me (all Christians) out from the world to be different (holy).
And when we are different from (unlike) the world, the world and the worldly church will think us odd, strange, weird, crazy, self-righteous, superior, snobs, legalists and/or intolerant, etc. And they will try to convince us that we need to be more like them, i.e. more “normal.”
I even had a friend of ours one day try to convince me that the majority is always right, and since I was in the minority, that must mean that I was wrong, no matter what the Scriptures taught. For, it didn’t matter to him what the Scriptures said. What mattered was that I be unified with them.
And I had a pastor one day who told me that in his training he was warned about people like me with “strong convictions,” so he recommended I go “someplace else” where I would be a “better fit.” But I don’t fit here!
Where I fit is with my Lord in his heavenly kingdom. But yes, we are to live on this earth. And yes, we are to live and work among the people, and we are to minister God’s love and grace to our fellow humans, for God placed us on this earth for a purpose. But we are not to make ourselves at home here.
We are not to immerse ourselves in our culture or to blend in with the world so that the world will like us or so that they will come to “church” gatherings which are more like businesses. And we are not to compromise our faith or to be silent with regard to the gospel so as not to offend people.
We are to be those whose souls are consumed with longing for the word of God, which includes the teachings of Christ and of his New Testament apostles. And we are to be those who love the commandments of our Lord (under the New Covenant) and who desire to obey them and our Lord.
Psalms 119:21-24 ESV
Who are the insolent? They are those who are disrespectful, presumptuous, defiant, arrogant, and obstinate toward God and toward his commandments. They have no fear of God. They do not take him seriously. They think they can continue living in sin and ignore God’s commands and that God will do nothing about it, and that he will still take them into his heaven.
But he doesn’t honor the insolent. He rebukes them. He lets them know that he is not okay with them living in sin, doing what they want to do, without care or concern for the Lord or for his commandments. He lets them know that it is not the majority who are right in his eyes, but the minority who are following him who are on the narrow path.
So, he upholds those who are the “odd” ones for the sake of Christ and for his gospel, and he rebukes those who are rebuking the Lord’s peculiar ones, and who think they don’t have to live like that. He rebukes them because they are in the wrong while claiming they are in the right, and for leading others to follow the broad road leading to destruction.
Many of these insolent ones are also those who are plotting evil against the Lord’s righteous ones who are keeping his commandments. So, they will come against those who are living for the Lord and who are speaking the truth in love and who are sharing the true gospel of salvation.
They will attack them verbally, call them names, insinuate things about them that are not true, make snide and cutting remarks, accuse them falsely, and they will try to incite them or to trip them up with their words as they did to Jesus in order that they might have cause to accuse them.
They will fight against what the godly are teaching, too, for they will ignore what is being taught, and they will just state the lies as though they are fact, for their goal is to shut them up so that they will stop sharing the truth of the gospel and the whole counsel of God.
But no matter what other people are saying about us or scheming against us or saying to us or believing about us, if our consciences are clear, for we know we are following the Lord in truth, then we must remain steadfast in what we are doing and in where God is leading and in what he is giving us to say. And we must never compromise to keep people from disliking us.
We must trust the Lord, do what he says, go where he sends us, and continue to say whatever he gives us to say, no matter what opposition we face. For he will use us for his glory to impact the lives of others he is drawing to himself. We will bear fruit. All glory to God!
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.
“Deal bountifully with your servant,
that I may live and keep your word.
Open my eyes, that I may behold
wondrous things out of your law.”
that I may live and keep your word.
Open my eyes, that I may behold
wondrous things out of your law.”
I am seventy years old. That is a lifetime. I am amazed that I survived my childhood, let alone adulthood, but God had a plan for my life, so he sustained me through the years. And I know that if I am to continue to live, it will also be because of God’s love and grace and his sustaining power.
If I am to go on living, it will continue to be as the Lord’s servant, by the grace of God. And it will be so that I will keep his word, and that I will continue to share his word with others so that they can know him, too. And it will be to share his word as he gives me instruction into what it says.
Psalms 119:19-20 ESV
“I am a sojourner on the earth;
hide not your commandments from me!
My soul is consumed with longing
for your rules at all times.”
hide not your commandments from me!
My soul is consumed with longing
for your rules at all times.”
As a follower of Jesus Christ, I am a sojourner on this earth. This world is not my home. I am just passing through on my way to heaven. I am a temporary resident here. I don’t fit in. I am not one with the world. For the Lord called me (all Christians) out from the world to be different (holy).
And when we are different from (unlike) the world, the world and the worldly church will think us odd, strange, weird, crazy, self-righteous, superior, snobs, legalists and/or intolerant, etc. And they will try to convince us that we need to be more like them, i.e. more “normal.”
I even had a friend of ours one day try to convince me that the majority is always right, and since I was in the minority, that must mean that I was wrong, no matter what the Scriptures taught. For, it didn’t matter to him what the Scriptures said. What mattered was that I be unified with them.
And I had a pastor one day who told me that in his training he was warned about people like me with “strong convictions,” so he recommended I go “someplace else” where I would be a “better fit.” But I don’t fit here!
Where I fit is with my Lord in his heavenly kingdom. But yes, we are to live on this earth. And yes, we are to live and work among the people, and we are to minister God’s love and grace to our fellow humans, for God placed us on this earth for a purpose. But we are not to make ourselves at home here.
We are not to immerse ourselves in our culture or to blend in with the world so that the world will like us or so that they will come to “church” gatherings which are more like businesses. And we are not to compromise our faith or to be silent with regard to the gospel so as not to offend people.
We are to be those whose souls are consumed with longing for the word of God, which includes the teachings of Christ and of his New Testament apostles. And we are to be those who love the commandments of our Lord (under the New Covenant) and who desire to obey them and our Lord.
Psalms 119:21-24 ESV
“You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones,
who wander from your commandments.
Take away from me scorn and contempt,
for I have kept your testimonies.
Even though princes sit plotting against me,
your servant will meditate on your statutes.
Your testimonies are my delight;
they are my counselors.”
who wander from your commandments.
Take away from me scorn and contempt,
for I have kept your testimonies.
Even though princes sit plotting against me,
your servant will meditate on your statutes.
Your testimonies are my delight;
they are my counselors.”
Who are the insolent? They are those who are disrespectful, presumptuous, defiant, arrogant, and obstinate toward God and toward his commandments. They have no fear of God. They do not take him seriously. They think they can continue living in sin and ignore God’s commands and that God will do nothing about it, and that he will still take them into his heaven.
But he doesn’t honor the insolent. He rebukes them. He lets them know that he is not okay with them living in sin, doing what they want to do, without care or concern for the Lord or for his commandments. He lets them know that it is not the majority who are right in his eyes, but the minority who are following him who are on the narrow path.
So, he upholds those who are the “odd” ones for the sake of Christ and for his gospel, and he rebukes those who are rebuking the Lord’s peculiar ones, and who think they don’t have to live like that. He rebukes them because they are in the wrong while claiming they are in the right, and for leading others to follow the broad road leading to destruction.
Many of these insolent ones are also those who are plotting evil against the Lord’s righteous ones who are keeping his commandments. So, they will come against those who are living for the Lord and who are speaking the truth in love and who are sharing the true gospel of salvation.
They will attack them verbally, call them names, insinuate things about them that are not true, make snide and cutting remarks, accuse them falsely, and they will try to incite them or to trip them up with their words as they did to Jesus in order that they might have cause to accuse them.
They will fight against what the godly are teaching, too, for they will ignore what is being taught, and they will just state the lies as though they are fact, for their goal is to shut them up so that they will stop sharing the truth of the gospel and the whole counsel of God.
But no matter what other people are saying about us or scheming against us or saying to us or believing about us, if our consciences are clear, for we know we are following the Lord in truth, then we must remain steadfast in what we are doing and in where God is leading and in what he is giving us to say. And we must never compromise to keep people from disliking us.
We must trust the Lord, do what he says, go where he sends us, and continue to say whatever he gives us to say, no matter what opposition we face. For he will use us for his glory to impact the lives of others he is drawing to himself. We will bear fruit. All glory to God!
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.
