Lead Me, O Lord

Ten Prayers for Christians in General

but Especially for those aspiring for Leadership

Lead describes not an exalted status or unquestionable spiritual authority or superior value within a flock, but a sober calling to follow His Shepherd in such a way that others can “consider the outcome of [his] way of life, and imitate [his] faith,” [Jn 13:15; Eph 4:20; Phil 2:5; 1Pet 2:21; 1Jn 2:6] to speak to them “the word of God,” and to keep watch over their souls, as one “who will have to give an account” (Heb 13:7, 17).

And to know when to leave it in God’s hands [Lk 19:41-44; Acts 13:44-52].

I.        Call to Prayerful Dependence

Every believer [and especially those aspiring to leadership] are called to prayerful dependence each praying for one another. For who is adequate knowing that each of us is accountable to Jesus for how he models what it means to be a Christian; for how rightly he handles the word of truth (2 Tim 2:15), and for how the souls he’s influencing spiritually fare? Every sheep needs to pray for those God has placed over him [1Tim 2:1-8; Heb 13:17]. It has been said that “how well a pastor leads hangs on how well he follows the Great Shepherd’s lead,” but it is equally true that as the Jews demonstrated, some will never follow even the greatest leader – Jesus.

The following suggested areas of prayer are offered to help those interested in developing a prayer life.

1.                    Following: Lead me as my shepherd.

Ps 23:1–3 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Lord Jesus, I am a sheep of your pasture and one with influence by your appointment [Acts 20:28], therefore, I am all the more dependent on you to shepherd me, since apart from you I can do nothing (Jn 15:5). Help me keep looking to you for everything I need (Phil 4:19) and seeking to serve in the strength you supply (1 Pt 4:11). Lead me in paths of righteousness for your name’s sake. Thank you for restoring my soul in right attitude and humility.

2.                   Wisdom: Lead me in your understanding.

Ps 119:34–35 Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart. Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it. [Pr 3:5-7]

Lord Jesus, The “fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” and “those who practice it have a good understanding” (Ps 111:10). Therefore, I delight in your word: it is the source of understanding for how I may “walk in a manner . . . fully pleasing to” you (Col 1:10). Because I love you, grant me the understanding to wisely observe your commandments with my whole heart, (Jn 14:15). I meditate your words and keep them in my mouth that I might see how to keep them and make my way prosperous and with good success. [Joshua 1:8]

3.                   Teaching: Lead me by your Spirit.

Ps 143:10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground!

Lord Jesus, as a believer you’ve called me to teach others to observe all you’ve commanded (1 Tim 3:2; Titus 1:9, Mt 28:19-20). I have nothing to teach that I have not received from you through others by your Spirit (1 Cor 4:7). Help me remember that I teach not just through my words, but through my attitude and actions as a doer of the Word and not a hearer only. (Jas 1:22). So lead me by your good Spirit and teach me to do your will. Direct my steps in ways that demonstrate your righteousness and compassion. Let me walk in love, joy, peace, longsuffering, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control [Gal 5:22-23].

4.                  Purity: Lead me in your righteousness.

Ps 139:23–24 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me and lead me in the way everlasting! … Ps 5:8 Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness.

“Lord Jesus, lead me in your righteousness — don’t let me try to lead with mine.”

Lord Jesus, apart from your sovereign keeping, I am vulnerable to temptation and prone to wander so I ask you to lead me not into temptation but deliver me from the evil one [Mt 6:13]. I stand on your promise to move me keep your decrees and precepts by Your Spirit [Eze 36:27]. You know the state of my heart and my inmost thoughts [Ps 19:12-14]. Do whatever you must to reveal any grievous way in me so that fellow believers “who hope in you” never have cause to “be put to shame through me” (Ps 69:6). Help me be an example being a 1^st responder to confess, repent, receive grace, and pursue holiness. Lead me in your righteousness — not mine.

5.                   Guidance: Lead me in your truth.

Ps 25:4–5 Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.

Lord Jesus, all your paths “are steadfast love and faithfulness” (Ps 25:10). But I often do not know the right path to take. I am utterly dependent upon you to lead me. Make me humble enough to remember that “in an abundance of counselors there is safety” (Pro 11:14), patient enough not to move until you grant sufficient clarity, and bold enough to follow you when your guidance becomes sufficiently clear. Lead me in your truth to teach me.

6.                  Courage: Lead me because of my enemies.

Ps 27:11 Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies.

Lord Jesus, you showed wisdom, grace, and courage before your spiritual and human adversaries. Train me to show such courage. Teach me to be “quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger” (Jas 1:19), to seek Your glory as He who sent me, and not my own (Jn 7:18). Teach me to truly love my enemies and seek their good (Lk 6:27) but remaining courageous enough to speak the truth in love even if it is unpopular and despised (Eph 4:15). Lead me on a level path because of my enemies.

7.                   Discouragement: Lead me with your light.

Ps 43:3 Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me.

Lord Jesus, when I am assaulted with discouragement because of opposition from adversaries; criticized by fellow believers, sorrow from tragedies within my church, difficulties within my family, my besetting weaknesses, or fatigue from long, strenuous labors, have mercy on me. Send out your light and your truth and let them lead me to once again “take courage” (Ps 27:14). Remind me you are working all things out [Rom 8:28].

8.                  Protection: Lead me to your refuge.

Ps 31:3 You are my rock and my fortress; and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me.

Lord Jesus, you laid down your life for us to deliver us from your Father’s wrath (Jn 10:11; Ro 5:8–9). You warned that we would experience tribulation in the world, but not to fear because you have overcome the world (Jn 16:33). And you promise to “rescue [us] from every evil deed and bring [us] safely into [your] heavenly kingdom” (2 Tim 4:18). Protect me from being faithless. Protect me from discouraging others through my fear of what man can do to me more than I fear the destruction of shrinking back (Heb 10:39; Mt 10:28). You are my rock and fortress; when I am afraid, lead me to seek my only safe refuge in you.

9.                  Overwhelmed: Lead me when my heart is faint.

Ps 61:1–2 Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

Lord Jesus, I take comfort that I am surrounded by a great cloud of faith-filled, strong, courageous witnesses [Heb 12:1] like David who also felt overwhelmed by his circumstances and became faint of heart. I take comfort that you know my frame and remember that I am dust (Ps 103:14). At such times, “lift me high upon a rock” (Ps 27:5), above the fray, where I can rest and regain perspective. I take refuge in your word to “not let my heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” [Jn 14:1, 27] What you command to do we are equipped to do. I cast out all fear with its torment and remember your perfect love [1Jn 4:18]. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

10.                Spiritual Desertion: Lead me through my darkness.

Ps139:7–12 Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there!  If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning. and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.

Lord Jesus, when darkness has covered me, and I have lost sight of you; when I can’t discern your presence, and your voice seems like a distant echo; when a spiritual storm overtakes me, and I become disoriented and confused, remind me that saints through the ages have also endured such experiences. Remind me that even my darkness is not dark to you. And reveal yourself — not only to me, but also to my brothers and sisters — as the Shepherd who never loses a sheep (Lk 15:4), even in the valley of the shadow of death (Ps 23:4). Even there, let your hand lead me until the storm passes and “light dawns in the darkness” (Ps 112:4). Help me grow strong in the faith as Abraham [Rom 4:20], remind me that I follow “the light of the world” and as I follow Jesus I won’t “walk in darkness but have the light of Life [Jn 8:12].

 

All Of Jesus

In our study on the thinking of Jesus we soon realize that He KNEW His Father the way WE can know Jesus – as LORD, healer, savior, deliverer, encourager … Jesus told Philip in Jn 14:7-8 that he who knows Jesus knows the Father and John tells us that this is the true God and eternal life [1Jn 5:20]. But this knowledge requires a supernatural encounter and change through the Spirit of God.

Eph 3:14-19 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, 16 that (1) He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, (2) to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 so that (3) Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able (4) to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that (5) you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

To quote an anonymous saint: “Our problem is that we have all of Jesus we want. Not all of Jesus we need, but all of Jesus we want.” He was speaking for more people than his immediate congregation.

“We have all of Jesus we want”

Billy Graham knew how much he needed Jesus. He told a 1993 crusade in Portland, Oregon, “I can’t live the Christian life alone. I’m a failure. Billy Graham cannot live the Christian life. I’ve tried. I can’t do it. But with the help of the word of God and the help of the Holy Spirit, I can live the Christian life. But he lives it through me.”

Acts 17:28 for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’

John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

Rev. Graham knew that we need Jesus as much as he did. In 1955, he said on “The Hour of Decision,” “The regeneration of the individual is much more needed than the revolution of society.” He stated that same year, “If I didn’t believe that the Bible and the gospel of Jesus Christ held the answer to this world’s baffling problems, I would go back to the farm and the rural life that I love and spend my days in peaceful solitude.”

He declared, “When our minds are on Christ, Satan has little room to maneuver.” And he knew that when we are changed by Jesus, everything about us is changed: “The transformed man loves when others hate. He is just when others are prejudiced. He is understanding when others misunderstand, and he is poised when others are frantic.”

I.        How does this happen?

Gal 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”

1.                    Desire

Psa 63:1-5 O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water. 2 Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory. 3 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips will praise You. 4 So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. 5 My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth offers praises with joyful lips.

Dr. Graham was convinced: “If Christianity is important at all, it is all important. If it is anything at all, it is everything. It is either the most vital thing in your life, or it isn’t worth bothering with.”

Paul writing to the Philippians lays out his pedigree and then discounts it entirely:

Phil 3:7 But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, 9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;

Paul’s ultimate purpose and passion were clear: “That I may know him” (v. 10).

2.                   Pursue

We often seek after God the way a thief seeks after a policeman.

Phil 3:12-14 Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. 13 Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Jeremiah 29:13 ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

Knowing Christ is the purpose of the Christian life. Everything else about our faith is secondary and derivative. We were created for an intimate, daily, personal relationship with our living Savior.

So, let me ask you: How well do you know Jesus today?

The answer is simple: You know Him as well as you want to know Him. And knowing Him is by His Word and faith, not our opinions and ideas. Hear Paul on this:

Ro 10:2-8 For I testify about them [his own countrymen] that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. 3 For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

5 For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live by that righteousness. 6 But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: “DO NOT SAY IN YOUR HEART, ‘WHO WILL ASCEND INTO HEAVEN?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), 7 or ‘WHO WILL DESCEND INTO THE ABYSS?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).” 8 But what does it [the word of righteousness] say? “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART” — that is, the word of faith which we are preaching,

You can know him just as you can know any other living person, but with greater connection because He promised His Spirit would live in those chosen to be His sons and daughters.

1 Cor 3:16 Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

2 Cor 6:17-18 “Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE,” says the Lord. “AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you. 18 “And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” Says the Lord Almighty.

3.                   Practice

James 1:23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; 24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. 25 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.

You get to know Jesus just like you get to know anyone else: by spending time with him.

Read his word to hear His voice. Listen for His Spirit as He speaks to your spirit. See His hand in His creation (Col 1:16) and be thankful. Speak to Him through the day. Practice His presence by seeing yourself in His presence, and it will be so. Guard your heart against the assaults and lies of the enemy – Let His Word dictate your thinking.

Too many want a relationship with God AND a relationship with the world. This is impossible.

2 Cor 6:14 Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?

Ro 8:34 “Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.

Jesus is as close as your next prayer.

A final quote from Billy Graham: “My one purpose in life is to help people find a personal relationship with God, which, I believe, comes through knowing Christ.”

Matthew 6:33-34 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

 

Dystopia or utopia

Rev 22:3 “… there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him.”

Frequently, Christians and non-Christians alike have a misconception about the nature of a perceived life in heaven. I do not see us merely “going to heaven” and sit around in some semblance of holy laziness.

2 Peter 3:13 But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

I.        a new earth and new heavens

While the exact nature of this new earth and heavens are not fully revealed -- we will be given jobs to do!

Just what those jobs may be, or what they may require, is not specifically revealed to us, but it is abundantly clear that the kind of job, or the degree of responsibility, will be a privilege based on what we do here on this earth now.

We do know that righteousness dwells there – I take that to mean that everyone allowed to go will do things correctly and godly. Believers are to be “practicing” [Phil 4:9] these things NOW in preparation for the “new earth”. Imagine this earth without the compounded ravages of sin since the fall. What would this earth be like? That seems to me the closest image I can envision for what’s coming. We’re in training now. [Heb 5:12-14; 1Jn 3:2; 1Cor 15:50-55]

II.     according to one’s labor here

 In the parable of the pounds (Lk 19:11-27), Jesus illustrates judgment based on productivity. The same amount of money was given to each of the servants, and only one general instruction was issued: “Occupy till I come” (v. 13). The reward that each servant received was in direct proportion to how much profit he had earned on the nobleman’s money.

In the parable of the talents (Mt 25:14-30), the nobleman gave differing amounts to each of his servants, “to every man according to his several ability” (v. 15). The reward was based on efficient use of abilities, not on amount of profit produced.

Both of these parables have a common thread: The rewards (analogous to our rewards when the Lord returns), based on their productivity or their effectiveness, were rewards of responsibility. To those servants who had proven themselves capable of leadership, the Lord delegated “authority over cities” and rulership “over many things,” indicating that there will be some sort of social order in the age to come. Imagine the “woke” among us learning that God’s order is not based on gender, race, or convenience.

Likewise believer, in our present service for the Lord, we are now given the opportunity to earn both God’s commendation and His future greater stewardship. It would seem that God created productivity to be part of the human personality and those who won’t work won’t eat [2Thes 3:10-13]. The law was not made for the righteous man but for the unrighteous [1Tim 1:9], the lazy, the proud, the busybody, and anyone else who would see their personal agenda as greater than God’s purpose.

And God’s “equity” is based on one’s ability not some artificial standard where everyone lives as Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos. We need to be content and happy at what our hand finds to do and do it well. From the very beginning every human being was gifted toward a unique function within the body of Christ [Rom 12:4-21].

1 Peter 1:17 If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth: NASU

III.   What is Dystopia and Where Do We See it in Real Life?

Contrast this with the “utopian” idea of a perfect society as envisioned by man. The communists, socialists, and elitists have and are trying to move society toward that end. Look at any large city with the myriad of problems created by their social policies of “equality” and “equity”.

Here are some excerpts from an article I found regarding what secular writers are calling “dystopian” regarding the present direction of our world.

A dystopia is an imagined state or society in which the conditions of life are extremely bad, as from deprivation, oppression, or terror.

We see dystopias in books and movies all the time. But where do we see them in reality? There are many examples of dystopian societies throughout history, fiction, and even right in front of our eyes today.

1.                    Dystopian Societies in Fiction

There are many examples of dystopian societies in fiction. A few examples include The Hunger Games, 1984, and Brave New World. In each of these stories, the society is controlled by a powerful government or dictator who restricts freedom and imposes strict rules on the citizens. These societies are often characterized by poverty, oppression, and inequality.

The Hunger Games is a dystopia because the citizens are forced to fight each other to the death in an arena for entertainment.

1984 is dystopic because people are constantly being watched by “Big Brother” and their freedom of speech, thought, and expression is restricted.

Brave New World portrays a dystopia where people have no freedom or individualism; they exist only as part of society’s collective consciousness.

Fahrenheit 451 is dystopic because the government has banned books and reading. People are forced to live in a society where they cannot be educated or learn about anything new.

V for Vendetta: The government controls every aspect of people’s lives and oppresses them through fear and violence.

2.                   Dystopias in History

There are many examples of dystopian societies throughout history.

The Soviet Union under Stalin; Nazi Germany; China during the Cultural Revolution. All of these societies have one thing in common – they are repressive, totalitarian regimes where the government controls all aspects of people’s lives. People are not free to speak their minds or criticize the government. They are often poor and oppressed and live in fear of the authorities; they are constantly monitored for compliance and all levels of public communication are censored and filtered. Under such a regime, atrocities can take place under the noses of its citizens with very little protest. Consider the governments mentioned above. They are still among us and are manifesting everywhere.

3.                   Dystopian Societies Today

A dystopia, by definition, is a society that is characterized by the absence of individual freedom and happiness. In other words, it’s a society in which the citizens are not able to live a happy and fulfilling life.

While we’ve seen that such dystopian societies can be found in books, movies, and TV shows, they can also be seen in our world today.

a)    For example, the dystopian society that we see in North Korea.

In North Korea, the citizens are not allowed to have any freedom of expression or freedom of movement. They are also not allowed to own anything, and they are constantly watched by the government.

b)   Another example of a dystopian society is China.

In China, the government monitors all internet activity, and there is a great deal of censorship. Additionally, the citizens are not allowed to protest or speak out against the government.

In such a society life is extremely bad or oppressive due to deprivation, oppression, or terror. With the growing wealth gap, poverty level players in first world economies are progressively asserting that they too live in a dystopic world. One where a wealthy few control the masses.

In summary: A dystopia is a society that is characterized by its negative aspects. It can be defined as a society where the conditions of life are extremely bad, often due to poverty, war, or political repression. A dystopia can also be seen as a society that is in decay or decline. It’s important to remember that dystopias are not just fictional worlds; they exist all around us.

Matthew 24:12-13 “Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. 13 “But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. NASU

 

BLESS GOD FOR FURNISHING THE BREASTPLATE

Now through His grace you are able to defend yourself with the continual comforts which heaven sends to withstand Satan’s power.

People are destroyed by the devil every day because they do not have the breastplate of righteousness to defend their hearts against his murdering shot. If God had made you famous and rich in the world, but not holy, He would have given you nothing more than fuel for hell. How then can we forget to thank God for His precious breastplate of righteousness?

2 Cor 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

When an enemy approaches a city without walls or arms for defense, the wealthier the city the worse the destruction. And each time Satan comes to a man who has much of the world but nothing of God in his soul to defend him, he makes a miserable wreck of the person. He takes whatever he pleases and does whatever he wants with such souls. The devil’s plundering possession is so thorough that the captive would not think of postponing or denying a lust. Although he knows what this fulfillment will cost him in hell, he goes ahead and damns his soul rather than stand against the burning demands of temptation.

Romans 1:32 “… although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.”

Herod threw down half his kingdom at the feet of a malicious wench; and when she decided this was not enough, he sacrificed everything he had. But if the blood of John the Baptist cost Herod his throne in this life, surely it was nothing compared to the wages of divine providence paid immediately when he met death.

But let the saints humbly shout “Hallelujah!” When God made you a holy man or woman He gave you gates and bars to your city. Now through His grace you are able to defend yourself with the continual comforts which heaven sends to withstand Satan’s power. Once you were a timid slave to him but now he is under your feet. The day you became holy God firmly planted your foot on the serpent’s head. Your lusts—mighty strongholds which gave him easy control—have been taken out of his hand.

Galatians 5:24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Satan has been dislodged and can never again set himself up as king of your soul.

Because Satan has nothing in Jesus with which to grab, neither has he anything in you who are in Christ. Christ is our righteousness.

1 Corinthians 1:30 But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption…”

Not only are we alive by faith in Christ, but we are also to LIVE by such faith.

Romans 1:17 For in the Gospel a righteousness which God ascribes is revealed, both springing from faith and leading to faith [disclosed through the way of faith that arouses to more faith]. As it is written, The man who through faith is just and upright shall live and shall live by faith.

 

KEEP YOUR BREASTPLATE ON

Faith is a shield. Will a soldier drop his protection unless he has been seriously wounded?

David expressed keen sorrow for the unholiness in his life: “O spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence, and be no more” (Psalm 39:13). He did not want to die until holiness ruled his heart again. Ungodliness is a poison which drinks up all serenity of conscience and inward springs of joy. If you throw a stone into a clear brook it will soon become muddy.

Psalm 85:8 “He will speak peace unto his people but let them not turn again to folly”.

Carelessness in the walk of holiness dangerously exposes your faith, which is kept in good conscience as a jewel is protected in a cabinet.

Faith is an eye, and sin casts a hazy mist before it. To faith, a holy life is like pure air to the eye; we can see farther on a clear day. Thus faith sees further into God’s promise when it looks through a holy well-ordered life.

Faith is a shield. Will a soldier drop his protection unless he has been seriously wounded? If faith fails, what will happen to hope, which cleaves to faith and draws strength from her as a nursing child takes nourishment from its mother? If faith cannot see pardon in the promise, then hope cannot look for salvation. If faith cannot claim sonship, hope will not wait for the inheritance. Faith informs the soul it has “peace with God” and then the soul rejoices “in the hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:1-2).

Are you trying to use the sword of the Spirit? How can you hold it when unholiness has seriously maimed the hand of faith that must carry it?

This sword has two edges—one side heals but the other wounds. With one it saves and with the other it damns. The Bible does not speak a single kind word to the person who practices sin. Now—think and then think some more—is any sin worth all this confusion which will inevitably strangle and smother your soul?

 

 

Counting The Cost

Luke 14:28-32 “For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? 29 “Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 “Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 “Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. NASU

Counting the cost as Jesus commands requires a calculation based on what we’re willing to pay rather than what we expect or hope to pay.

Both nations and individuals get into trouble when they make decisions based on the latter of those prices.

One of the most indispensable helps in avoiding that mistake is the self-awareness to fully appreciate the fact that we often do not get to dictate what that price will be. And that self-awareness is especially difficult to maintain when one becomes accustomed to acting from a position of strength.

Throughout history, one of the primary reasons that nations fall from greatness is the inability to recognize when the reasons for their prior success no longer apply to their current situation. Allegiances can shift, strength can wane, opposition can grow stronger, and each can occur in ways that are easy to miss if we’re not paying attention.

What is true of nations can be equally true for each of us.

Whether it’s in our walk with the Lord, our relationships with other people, or any other facet of our lives, when we act as though past success guarantees success in the present, we’re setting ourselves up to fail.

1 Corinthians 10:11-13 Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. 12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.

Fortunately, God stands ready to help if we’re willing to ask.

So, as Paul advised, pray for the “sober judgment” needed to make an honest evaluation of your life today (Romans 12:3).

Romans 12:3 Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.

Ask the Holy Spirit to show you any areas where you might be thinking more highly of yourself than you should, as well as any areas where that problem is reversed.

After all, God isn’t interested in false humility but rather, as Charles Spurgeon described it, “the proper estimate of oneself.”

A New Adventure

 It's been some time since my last post and for a variety of reasons. We'd all like to say we've been busy but in my case it's true. I've been reticent to enter into the realm of the internet and social media because of the learning curve. 

So I'm going to try and put some ideas, thoughts, on the edge musings. Perhaps some will read them, perhaps not. 

I'm praying for a way to reach the lost, backslid, discouraged, and mad at God here in Pekin, IL. 

Much of the reasons for such feelings is exactly that: feelings. 

God didn't do what they expected Him to do.

People didn't act the way they expected them to act.

God isn't like what they thought He was like.

Rom 1:16-32 give all the consequences of rejecting the knowledge of God and it is clear that Paul had the anointing of the Holy Spirit when he penned those words. 

I write a lot of stuff as it's a way for me to think things through. So if things here aren't exactly the way you think they are, make your comments. 

THE PICTURE IS FROM THE WINDOW OF OUR FIRST CHURCH BUILDING IN KATMANDU, NEPAL.

That's where I first started to try my hand at blogging. I've not been very consistent about it.

Later -- Keep serving Jesus.