- Aug 10, 2006
- 14,955
- 3,824
- 74
- Country
- United States
- Faith
- Christian
- Marital Status
- Married
Psalm 119:1-8 ESV
Blessed are those whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the Lord!
Blessed are those who keep his testimonies,
who seek him with their whole heart,
who also do no wrong,
but walk in his ways!
You have commanded your precepts
to be kept diligently.
Oh that my ways may be steadfast
in keeping your statutes!
Then I shall not be put to shame,
having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.
I will praise you with an upright heart,
when I learn your righteous rules.
I will keep your statutes;
do not utterly forsake me!
As followers of Jesus Christ, this should be the attitude of our hearts. We should have forsaken our former lives of living for sin and self to now follow Jesus Christ in his ways and in his truth. We should have been crucified with Christ in death to sin and have been raised with Christ to newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness (Lu. 9:23-25; Rom. 6:1-23; Eph. 4:17-24).
Our old dead lives should have been done away with, and now we should be living new lives in Christ Jesus, our Lord, free from our slavery (bondage, addiction) to sin, and free to now become slaves of righteousness, all in his power, working, and strength within us (Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17).
We should now be walking (in lifestyle, in practice) according to (in agreement with) the Spirit of God, following the teachings of scripture, i.e. the whole counsel of God, and not following only several hand-picked scriptures which we can use to justify continuance in sinful practices. The law (commandments) of the Lord Jesus should now be our delight.
We should no longer be walking in cycles of addiction, living to please the lusts of our flesh, but now our desire should be for our Lord, to walk with him in his ways and in his truth. We should not just be hearers of the Word, but we should be doers of the Word, i.e. those who put the Word of God into practice in our daily lives, living to please our Lord in all that we do.
And, what we teach (share with) others regarding the Word of God should not be surface-level only, but it should include the meat of the Word where it talks about us leaving our lives of sin behind us to follow our Lord in obedience. We should be teaching holiness, righteousness, and godliness and not just being “nice” to people, as though that is going to bring them to genuine faith in Jesus Christ. We should be loving and kind, and considerate of others, but never placating sin or compromising the holiness of God.
Psalm 119:9-16 ESV
How can a young man keep his way pure?
By guarding it according to your word.
With my whole heart I seek you;
let me not wander from your commandments!
I have stored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.
Blessed are you, O Lord;
teach me your statutes!
With my lips I declare
all the rules of your mouth.
In the way of your testimonies I delight
as much as in all riches.
I will meditate on your precepts
and fix my eyes on your ways.
I will delight in your statutes;
I will not forget your word.
Many people who call themselves Christians and followers of Christ are still walking in darkness, in the lusts of their flesh, doing what their sinful hearts desire. They are evading and dodging the Word of Truth in order to justify their continuance in what they know is wrong and is evil in God’s sight. They have not died to their former way of life of living for sin and self, but they have continued in the cycle of addiction in order to fulfill their lusts.
They find their delight and pleasure, not in the Word (commandments) of God, but their delight is in the flesh, to do what ought not to be done. For, many of them find extreme pleasure in unregulated indulgence in sexual activity that is outside of God’s boundary lines for our lives and for our marriages, too. They are so intoxicated with the lusts of the flesh that it renders them senseless, stupid, with markedly diminished mental control.
So, they find themselves continually thirsting after what is of the flesh, and looking for ways to indulge in what their flesh desires. Some of them look for and seize every opportunity presented to them to indulge in the lusts of their flesh. And, many of them today are addicted to inappropriate content, to sexual fantasies, and to having sex or romance outside of marriage and/or to dream about it. They oppose what they know is right in order to do wrong, and then they cover up the wrong with lies and deceptions in order to appear as though they are doing right and that they are not doing wrong (evil).
So, many of them chase after and pursue a cheap substitute for the true gospel of our salvation in order to appease the lusts of their flesh. They hold on to a false gospel with a false hope and a false god because it makes them feel that their eternal destiny is guaranteed them, i.e. that they are going to heaven no matter how they live while they are on this earth.
For this cheap grace gospel with its false Jesus and with its false hope of heaven teaches its adherents that they don’t have to die to sin and self, that they don’t have to repent of their sins, and that they don’t have to surrender their lives to Christ or follow him in obedience to his commands. But, they can just say they “believe” in Jesus or “ask him into their hearts,” but it doesn’t have to impact their lifestyles. They can still indulge in their sinful lusts while believing that heaven is still guaranteed them when they die.
But, this is a lie of Satan who wants us still addicted to sin and following after him rather than us following after Jesus in obedience to his Word.
So, if you want to keep your way pure, and you don’t want to wander from his commandments, and you don’t want to live to fulfill the lusts of your flesh, then you have to die with Christ to sin and to self, and you have to be reborn of the Spirit to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus our Lord, free from slavery to sin, and free to now become slaves of his righteousness.
And, then you must walk (in lifestyle) according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh. You must resist Satan and flee temptation and you must draw near to God in full assurance of faith, and daily put on the armor of God with which to fight off Satan’s evil schemes against you. And, you must throw off those things that lead you into sin and those weights that hold you down and that keep you walking in the flesh.
We have to not only be in the Word of God, daily bathing our minds with the truth of God’s holy Word, but we have to be walking in obedience to his Word, doing what it says, too, in the power and strength of the Lord. And, we have to be proactive, too. We know our weaknesses, and we have to guard against them by not denying them and by not ignoring them. For, as the saying goes, if we don’t plan to succeed, then we plan to fail.
Praise Be Told!
An Original Work / December 28, 2013
Based off Various Scriptures
He was pierced for our transgressions.
He was crushed for all our sin.
Our chastisement was upon Him.
By His stripes, we now are healed.
He has witnessed all our trials,
And the sins we choose to wear.
Yet, while we were dead in our sin,
Jesus died, our sins to bear.
He himself bore all of our sins
In His body on a cross,
So that we might die to our sin,
And live for His righteousness.
By faith in the pow’r of Jesus
And His blood shed for our sins,
We can be forgiven our sin,
And have life with God in heav’n.
He will lead us and He’ll guide us
In the way that we should go.
He will comfort and protect us,
Because Jesus, we do know.
Though He disciplines for our good,
He will heal us – Praise be told!
Do not fear, your Lord is with you.
Just have faith in Christ your Lord.
Thursday, July 18, 2019
Blessed are those whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the Lord!
Blessed are those who keep his testimonies,
who seek him with their whole heart,
who also do no wrong,
but walk in his ways!
You have commanded your precepts
to be kept diligently.
Oh that my ways may be steadfast
in keeping your statutes!
Then I shall not be put to shame,
having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.
I will praise you with an upright heart,
when I learn your righteous rules.
I will keep your statutes;
do not utterly forsake me!
As followers of Jesus Christ, this should be the attitude of our hearts. We should have forsaken our former lives of living for sin and self to now follow Jesus Christ in his ways and in his truth. We should have been crucified with Christ in death to sin and have been raised with Christ to newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness (Lu. 9:23-25; Rom. 6:1-23; Eph. 4:17-24).
Our old dead lives should have been done away with, and now we should be living new lives in Christ Jesus, our Lord, free from our slavery (bondage, addiction) to sin, and free to now become slaves of righteousness, all in his power, working, and strength within us (Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17).
We should now be walking (in lifestyle, in practice) according to (in agreement with) the Spirit of God, following the teachings of scripture, i.e. the whole counsel of God, and not following only several hand-picked scriptures which we can use to justify continuance in sinful practices. The law (commandments) of the Lord Jesus should now be our delight.
We should no longer be walking in cycles of addiction, living to please the lusts of our flesh, but now our desire should be for our Lord, to walk with him in his ways and in his truth. We should not just be hearers of the Word, but we should be doers of the Word, i.e. those who put the Word of God into practice in our daily lives, living to please our Lord in all that we do.
And, what we teach (share with) others regarding the Word of God should not be surface-level only, but it should include the meat of the Word where it talks about us leaving our lives of sin behind us to follow our Lord in obedience. We should be teaching holiness, righteousness, and godliness and not just being “nice” to people, as though that is going to bring them to genuine faith in Jesus Christ. We should be loving and kind, and considerate of others, but never placating sin or compromising the holiness of God.
Psalm 119:9-16 ESV
How can a young man keep his way pure?
By guarding it according to your word.
With my whole heart I seek you;
let me not wander from your commandments!
I have stored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.
Blessed are you, O Lord;
teach me your statutes!
With my lips I declare
all the rules of your mouth.
In the way of your testimonies I delight
as much as in all riches.
I will meditate on your precepts
and fix my eyes on your ways.
I will delight in your statutes;
I will not forget your word.
Many people who call themselves Christians and followers of Christ are still walking in darkness, in the lusts of their flesh, doing what their sinful hearts desire. They are evading and dodging the Word of Truth in order to justify their continuance in what they know is wrong and is evil in God’s sight. They have not died to their former way of life of living for sin and self, but they have continued in the cycle of addiction in order to fulfill their lusts.
They find their delight and pleasure, not in the Word (commandments) of God, but their delight is in the flesh, to do what ought not to be done. For, many of them find extreme pleasure in unregulated indulgence in sexual activity that is outside of God’s boundary lines for our lives and for our marriages, too. They are so intoxicated with the lusts of the flesh that it renders them senseless, stupid, with markedly diminished mental control.
So, they find themselves continually thirsting after what is of the flesh, and looking for ways to indulge in what their flesh desires. Some of them look for and seize every opportunity presented to them to indulge in the lusts of their flesh. And, many of them today are addicted to inappropriate content, to sexual fantasies, and to having sex or romance outside of marriage and/or to dream about it. They oppose what they know is right in order to do wrong, and then they cover up the wrong with lies and deceptions in order to appear as though they are doing right and that they are not doing wrong (evil).
So, many of them chase after and pursue a cheap substitute for the true gospel of our salvation in order to appease the lusts of their flesh. They hold on to a false gospel with a false hope and a false god because it makes them feel that their eternal destiny is guaranteed them, i.e. that they are going to heaven no matter how they live while they are on this earth.
For this cheap grace gospel with its false Jesus and with its false hope of heaven teaches its adherents that they don’t have to die to sin and self, that they don’t have to repent of their sins, and that they don’t have to surrender their lives to Christ or follow him in obedience to his commands. But, they can just say they “believe” in Jesus or “ask him into their hearts,” but it doesn’t have to impact their lifestyles. They can still indulge in their sinful lusts while believing that heaven is still guaranteed them when they die.
But, this is a lie of Satan who wants us still addicted to sin and following after him rather than us following after Jesus in obedience to his Word.
So, if you want to keep your way pure, and you don’t want to wander from his commandments, and you don’t want to live to fulfill the lusts of your flesh, then you have to die with Christ to sin and to self, and you have to be reborn of the Spirit to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus our Lord, free from slavery to sin, and free to now become slaves of his righteousness.
And, then you must walk (in lifestyle) according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh. You must resist Satan and flee temptation and you must draw near to God in full assurance of faith, and daily put on the armor of God with which to fight off Satan’s evil schemes against you. And, you must throw off those things that lead you into sin and those weights that hold you down and that keep you walking in the flesh.
We have to not only be in the Word of God, daily bathing our minds with the truth of God’s holy Word, but we have to be walking in obedience to his Word, doing what it says, too, in the power and strength of the Lord. And, we have to be proactive, too. We know our weaknesses, and we have to guard against them by not denying them and by not ignoring them. For, as the saying goes, if we don’t plan to succeed, then we plan to fail.
Praise Be Told!
An Original Work / December 28, 2013
Based off Various Scriptures
He was pierced for our transgressions.
He was crushed for all our sin.
Our chastisement was upon Him.
By His stripes, we now are healed.
He has witnessed all our trials,
And the sins we choose to wear.
Yet, while we were dead in our sin,
Jesus died, our sins to bear.
He himself bore all of our sins
In His body on a cross,
So that we might die to our sin,
And live for His righteousness.
By faith in the pow’r of Jesus
And His blood shed for our sins,
We can be forgiven our sin,
And have life with God in heav’n.
He will lead us and He’ll guide us
In the way that we should go.
He will comfort and protect us,
Because Jesus, we do know.
Though He disciplines for our good,
He will heal us – Praise be told!
Do not fear, your Lord is with you.
Just have faith in Christ your Lord.
Thursday, July 18, 2019
