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Psalm 19:1-6 NASB
The heavens are telling of the glory of God;
And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.
Day to day pours forth speech,
And night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words;
Their voice is not heard.
Their line has gone out through all the earth,
And their utterances to the end of the world.
In them He has placed a tent for the sun,
Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber;
It rejoices as a strong man to run his course.
Its rising is from one end of the heavens,
And its circuit to the other end of them;
And there is nothing hidden from its heat.
When I read this passage of scripture this morning, I was reminded of Romans 1 where we are told how what is known about God is evident within each one of us, for God has made it evident to us. How did he do this? He did it through his created works.
“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse” (Rom. 1:20).
So, even if we did not grow up attending gatherings of the church or in families who made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ, and even if we have never read the Bible (Genesis to Revelation), we cannot claim that we didn’t know about God. For, God’s creation speaks to us every day in declaring his glory, but without words.
But, it isn’t just that creation speaks volumes to us every day about the glory of God, so that we know that he exists, but instinctively we understand about his holiness, his righteousness and his purity, and that we also should live righteously and not in sin.
So, it isn’t that we, as humans, are not aware of God and his holiness, but that many people refuse to acknowledge God and to submit to his Lordship over their lives, even many who profess to believe in Him. Thus, they refuse to honor him for the God that he is, and they choose to go their own sinful way, instead. And, that is why they are without excuse.
Psalm 19:7-11 NASB
The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether.
They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover, by them Your servant is warned;
In keeping them there is great reward.
But, praise the Lord, we don’t have to remain in that state of mind of living to our sinful flesh, instead of living to God. We can go from hopeless to hopeful. We can be delivered out of our slavery to sin and walk in freedom and live to righteousness.
It is all possible because Jesus Christ, God the Son, gave his life up for us on a cross, taking our sins upon him. On that cross he put our sin to death so that we might die with him to sin and live with him to righteousness. He is the living Word of God who revives our souls and who gives us new life in him, if we turn away from our sins and turn to follow him in obedience. And, because he was resurrected from the dead, we can be, too.
When he comes to live within us, in the person of his Spirit, we then have the Word of God within our hearts and minds. And, the Holy Spirit guides us into all truth. But, we also have his written Word, which also guides us into all truth. And, the written Word of God gives light to our spiritual eyes, and directs us in the way we should go. But, it is the Holy Spirit who makes it alive to our hearts and who speaks God’s Words into our lives.
But, the Word of God is not just for the purpose to teach us right from wrong or to give us direction for our lives. Through the reading of the Word we get to know our Lord in intimate relationship with him. He speaks comfort to our hearts. He encourages us when we are feeling down. He counsels us when we need to make decisions. And, he brings joy to our hearts, and sometimes even laughter, but the right kind of laughter.
So, we should desire, not only the Living Word, Jesus Christ, and our times of fellowship with him, but we should desire His Word, i.e. we should find great joy in listening to him every day speak his truths to our hearts.
For, the Word of God speaks volumes to us, not only about God’s divine character and his will for our lives, and not only in giving us guidance, counsel and words of hope, healing and encouragement, but also to warn us, too, against making the wrong choices and suffering the consequences.
Psalm 19:12-14 NASB
Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults.
Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins;
Let them not rule over me;
Then I will be blameless,
And I shall be acquitted of great transgression.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.
Some people claim to not know about their sins or about what to do to rectify their sin issues when they do know, because they repeat the same ones over and over and over again fully knowing what they are doing, but doing them anyway, because that is what they choose, to follow the flesh instead of to follow God and his ways.
Nonetheless, it is possible to have those times when we do not discern our own errors, perhaps because we have desensitized ourselves to the truth through repeated offenses to where we believe the lies instead of the truth and we truly are no longer even cognizant that we are doing wrong. In other words, it is possible for people to sear their consciences to where they no longer feel guilt for sin or even think of it as sin anymore.
It is also possible for us to give way to the flesh, at times, in a hurried moment or when life’s pressures are shouting at us from different sides, and for us to not be immediately aware of wrong attitudes or actions or words until in a quiet moment the Holy Spirit speaks conviction to our hearts. Then, we have to confess the sin to God, and if we offended someone else, we need to apologize to him or to her, as well.
But, then there are those sins which are blatant rebellion against God, which are arrogantly executed, in full and direct disobedience to God’s commands. These are the presumptuous sins which must not rule over our lives, and which we must make certain are no longer what we practice. For, Jesus delivered us from the control of sin over our lives so that we would now walk (conduct our lives) according to the Spirit, and not according to the flesh.
God never said that we would never sin again once we believe in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, but his Word does teach that we should no longer conduct our lives in the way of our sinful flesh (See: 1 Jn. 2:1-2; 1 Jn. 1:5-9). We should no longer make sin our practice. It should no longer be what rules our lives. Sin should not be what we choose in place of obedience.
Instead, our attitude should be that we want our words and our thinking to be what brings honor, glory and praise to God, and that they should be what are acceptable and pleasing to God, in his sight. This should be our hearts’ desires, not to see how much we can get away with without being caught, and not looking for loopholes around having to obey the Lord.
We should desire our Lord above all else, and our desire should be to please him in every way, and to never do what is displeasing in his sight. And, this is our desire because we love him, because he died and rose again that we might be delivered from our bondage to sin and so we might walk in freedom from the control of sin, and now be able to walk in holiness, purity and righteousness the rest of our lives. Amen!
Give Me Jesus
Oh, What Gladness!
An Original Work / December 2, 2013
Give me Jesus. He’s my Savior.
I’ll walk with Him in His favor.
I’ll abide in His love always;
Follow His ways to the end.
Jesus is the Son of God.
He died upon a cruel cross.
He’s forgiven all my failures
By His mercy and His love.
Give me Jesus – His compassion,
And His mercy; loving kindness.
Let Him teach me how to love Him,
And to please Him. He’s my friend.
Jesus died for all our sin
So we could have eternal life.
He will free you from your bondage
If you trust Him with your life.
Give me Jesus. Let me trust Him.
May I listen to His teachings.
May I follow where He leads me
In His service. He’s my Lord.
Jesus Christ will come again
To take His bride to be with Him.
Oh, what gladness; free from sadness
When I meet Him in the air.
Tuesday, October 16, 2018 – Thank You, Jesus/God, for all that you have done for us. May we love you and desire you above all else. Amen!
The heavens are telling of the glory of God;
And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.
Day to day pours forth speech,
And night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words;
Their voice is not heard.
Their line has gone out through all the earth,
And their utterances to the end of the world.
In them He has placed a tent for the sun,
Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber;
It rejoices as a strong man to run his course.
Its rising is from one end of the heavens,
And its circuit to the other end of them;
And there is nothing hidden from its heat.
When I read this passage of scripture this morning, I was reminded of Romans 1 where we are told how what is known about God is evident within each one of us, for God has made it evident to us. How did he do this? He did it through his created works.
“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse” (Rom. 1:20).
So, even if we did not grow up attending gatherings of the church or in families who made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ, and even if we have never read the Bible (Genesis to Revelation), we cannot claim that we didn’t know about God. For, God’s creation speaks to us every day in declaring his glory, but without words.
But, it isn’t just that creation speaks volumes to us every day about the glory of God, so that we know that he exists, but instinctively we understand about his holiness, his righteousness and his purity, and that we also should live righteously and not in sin.
So, it isn’t that we, as humans, are not aware of God and his holiness, but that many people refuse to acknowledge God and to submit to his Lordship over their lives, even many who profess to believe in Him. Thus, they refuse to honor him for the God that he is, and they choose to go their own sinful way, instead. And, that is why they are without excuse.
Psalm 19:7-11 NASB
The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether.
They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover, by them Your servant is warned;
In keeping them there is great reward.
But, praise the Lord, we don’t have to remain in that state of mind of living to our sinful flesh, instead of living to God. We can go from hopeless to hopeful. We can be delivered out of our slavery to sin and walk in freedom and live to righteousness.
It is all possible because Jesus Christ, God the Son, gave his life up for us on a cross, taking our sins upon him. On that cross he put our sin to death so that we might die with him to sin and live with him to righteousness. He is the living Word of God who revives our souls and who gives us new life in him, if we turn away from our sins and turn to follow him in obedience. And, because he was resurrected from the dead, we can be, too.
When he comes to live within us, in the person of his Spirit, we then have the Word of God within our hearts and minds. And, the Holy Spirit guides us into all truth. But, we also have his written Word, which also guides us into all truth. And, the written Word of God gives light to our spiritual eyes, and directs us in the way we should go. But, it is the Holy Spirit who makes it alive to our hearts and who speaks God’s Words into our lives.
But, the Word of God is not just for the purpose to teach us right from wrong or to give us direction for our lives. Through the reading of the Word we get to know our Lord in intimate relationship with him. He speaks comfort to our hearts. He encourages us when we are feeling down. He counsels us when we need to make decisions. And, he brings joy to our hearts, and sometimes even laughter, but the right kind of laughter.
So, we should desire, not only the Living Word, Jesus Christ, and our times of fellowship with him, but we should desire His Word, i.e. we should find great joy in listening to him every day speak his truths to our hearts.
For, the Word of God speaks volumes to us, not only about God’s divine character and his will for our lives, and not only in giving us guidance, counsel and words of hope, healing and encouragement, but also to warn us, too, against making the wrong choices and suffering the consequences.
Psalm 19:12-14 NASB
Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults.
Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins;
Let them not rule over me;
Then I will be blameless,
And I shall be acquitted of great transgression.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.
Some people claim to not know about their sins or about what to do to rectify their sin issues when they do know, because they repeat the same ones over and over and over again fully knowing what they are doing, but doing them anyway, because that is what they choose, to follow the flesh instead of to follow God and his ways.
Nonetheless, it is possible to have those times when we do not discern our own errors, perhaps because we have desensitized ourselves to the truth through repeated offenses to where we believe the lies instead of the truth and we truly are no longer even cognizant that we are doing wrong. In other words, it is possible for people to sear their consciences to where they no longer feel guilt for sin or even think of it as sin anymore.
It is also possible for us to give way to the flesh, at times, in a hurried moment or when life’s pressures are shouting at us from different sides, and for us to not be immediately aware of wrong attitudes or actions or words until in a quiet moment the Holy Spirit speaks conviction to our hearts. Then, we have to confess the sin to God, and if we offended someone else, we need to apologize to him or to her, as well.
But, then there are those sins which are blatant rebellion against God, which are arrogantly executed, in full and direct disobedience to God’s commands. These are the presumptuous sins which must not rule over our lives, and which we must make certain are no longer what we practice. For, Jesus delivered us from the control of sin over our lives so that we would now walk (conduct our lives) according to the Spirit, and not according to the flesh.
God never said that we would never sin again once we believe in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, but his Word does teach that we should no longer conduct our lives in the way of our sinful flesh (See: 1 Jn. 2:1-2; 1 Jn. 1:5-9). We should no longer make sin our practice. It should no longer be what rules our lives. Sin should not be what we choose in place of obedience.
Instead, our attitude should be that we want our words and our thinking to be what brings honor, glory and praise to God, and that they should be what are acceptable and pleasing to God, in his sight. This should be our hearts’ desires, not to see how much we can get away with without being caught, and not looking for loopholes around having to obey the Lord.
We should desire our Lord above all else, and our desire should be to please him in every way, and to never do what is displeasing in his sight. And, this is our desire because we love him, because he died and rose again that we might be delivered from our bondage to sin and so we might walk in freedom from the control of sin, and now be able to walk in holiness, purity and righteousness the rest of our lives. Amen!
Give Me Jesus
Oh, What Gladness!
An Original Work / December 2, 2013
Give me Jesus. He’s my Savior.
I’ll walk with Him in His favor.
I’ll abide in His love always;
Follow His ways to the end.
Jesus is the Son of God.
He died upon a cruel cross.
He’s forgiven all my failures
By His mercy and His love.
Give me Jesus – His compassion,
And His mercy; loving kindness.
Let Him teach me how to love Him,
And to please Him. He’s my friend.
Jesus died for all our sin
So we could have eternal life.
He will free you from your bondage
If you trust Him with your life.
Give me Jesus. Let me trust Him.
May I listen to His teachings.
May I follow where He leads me
In His service. He’s my Lord.
Jesus Christ will come again
To take His bride to be with Him.
Oh, what gladness; free from sadness
When I meet Him in the air.
Tuesday, October 16, 2018 – Thank You, Jesus/God, for all that you have done for us. May we love you and desire you above all else. Amen!
