Don W

Yes, many churches don’t have much if anything to do with the Old Covenant in teaching, in obeying (especially the moral laws such as the Ten Commandments) nor seeing how the Lord Jesus fulfilled each and every prophesy and Law of the Old Testament; but the Lord Himself thought this was very important to teach some of His first disciples on the road to Emmaus when He opened all the Scriptures to them and told how He had fulfilled them all. Christian legalism is the making of everyone in the church to obey the law or legalism of the Word of God outwardly but not in an inner manner of which is being led by the Holy Spirit of God. First, a body of believers in a church must have their inward hearts and minds changed to repent of their sins and to turn back to know the Lord Jesus as their Lord and Savior, and then to obey Him and His Word to us through the prompting and guidance of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Legalism is when some people try to obey the Lord and keep the moral standards of the Law on their own and think that they don’t need the Holy Spirit to guide them into obedience but they can do it on their own and in their own way. WRONG!!!!!!! One of the reasons why the Law was given to mankind was to help point us to our sinfulness and our need for a Savior so we cannot make it on our own but need Jesus who fulfilled the entirety of the Law to be our Lord and Savior in order to ultimately fulfill the Law ourselves in Him and to be taken to heavenly glory forever to be with Him since He did all of this for us forever. I’ve been in such a church (unnamed) and there is no church discipline in it but only chaos and most everybody there seems to be “doing their own thing” as far as learning and obeying God’s Word in their lives. I have since left and I am going to a different church now that takes seriously church discipline (when needed) and church order, and obeying the Word of God through the Holy Spirit, from both covenants (the Old and New Testaments) because they both have the Lord Jesus Christ in them as the New Covenant is a fulfillment of the Old because of Him. The people in the church I’m attending now seem to be growing in their obedience to the Word and growing closer to the Lord every day, and much more loving and Scriptural then the first church I mentioned above. And I’m doing the same and much more happier and joyful then I was before this time.

Just as was said before, when we live for God’s Word and give Him all the glory and don’t try to hide His light reflecting off of us to others, then we may be shunned, ignored, and even hated and persecuted by those in the world who don’t want to hear or come into the light of the Lord Jesus Christ or to come out of their darkness of their sin. If we hide our light, this will affect others and may keep them from seeing God’s glory and believing in Him, but nothing anywhere or anybody will ever affect any of the all-inclusive attributes of God including His glory and majesty! God is and always will be glorious in eternity and nothing we do or say or nothing that happens will ever change this fact! But our hiding our lamps (or light) from reflecting His glory to others won’t change Him in the least, but it may change how others see and come to know Him as their Lord and Savior, too. But if we do let our lights shine out before people we come across in our daily walk with the Lord, then the Lord Jesus’ promise for us and others is in verse 16: “that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Amen! Jesus’ suffering here on the earth and His death were for several reasons, but were necessarily vital for our salvation in Him; and one of the main reasons for His suffering is so we Christian believers can see His good works and glorify our Father in heaven because of them. It is the same thing for us as Jesus’ followers (verse 16). This is related to Romans 12:2 in that when we’re transformed by the renewing of our minds in Christ Jesus, then we are able to prove with the Lord’s light shinning in our lives to others “what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God”; and then they, in turn, will see His light in us and will glorify our heavenly Father because of it. Amen!

Jesus is warning us against the danger of hiding our witness of Him as our Lord and Savior by hiding the reflection of His light (the light of the Word of God) in our lives, both by our deeds and by the words we use, whether at work, home, or any other place we Christians are to let our lights shine forth for Him; to God be the glory, Amen!

The ones that the Apostle John speaks of in Revelations as those “who have lost their first love” for the Lord Jesus, such as those who make up excuses for disobedience to the Lord, or leave the witnessing and talking about the Lord to their pastor or other preachers. Those who leave the church for one of the cults, I believe, were never really saved and were not Christians in the first place but just pretended to believe. Yes, believers can and need to detect such symptoms of lost saltiness in their own lives, as Paul tells us to examine ourselves to make sure that we’re still walking in the Christian faith (my wording because I don’t know the exact words in the passage but do know that I have the meaning of the verse); as well as to listen to the godly counsel from other Christians (and then to be sure that you check their counsel with the words of the Bible as the Bereans did in Acts). Then be sure to follow and obey all the biblical advice given to you so one doesn’t fall into sin and disobedience to the Lord. Secular people think that a “de-salted” Christian is really a hypocrite whose walk doesn’t follow his/her talk about the Gospel of the Lord Jesus. Other Christians notice the lack of interest in biblical things in one’s life, such as no time to worship the Lord on the Lord’s Day or lack of enthusiasm in worshiping and serving the Lord, etc. Yes, indeed, I believe that the Lord Jesus through the Holy Spirit will in someway get a hold of a “de-salted Christian” and turn him/her around if one really is a believer in the first place; and that believer will eventually repent of his/her sins and return to his/her first love—of Jesus Christ—once again. Some times it takes time to convict the person by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, and many times it takes the loving discipline of the Lord God and His children who know the person; and sometimes it takes even sickness and death to be in the presence of Jesus forever, but it always eventually happens to those who really and truly have fallen in love with the Lord Jesus in their lives as it has happened to me before and He used a couple of other Christians to tell me God’s Word against what I was doing, and to repent and come back to my wonderfully precious Lord Jesus Christ. I never have ended His great love and mercy He has for me, and His grace will never end for any of us who are true believers in Him as it lasts forever and ever, even unto eternity in His presence! Amen!

Christians are to be the “salt of the earth” as preservatives in praying and seeking the Lord God in our lives in order to preserve mankind upon the earth—both those who live godly lives and those who live sinful, ungodly lives—that is, until the Lord Jesus comes again for His own at His Second Coming. We are to be “seasoning of the earth” by not only trying to preserve life here upon the earth but to witness to those who are unsaved by the way we live our lives and the words we use in giving them the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. In this day-and-age, most of the worldly unbelievers and mockers of our Lord have such sinful life-styles that it shouldn’t be hard at all for us to show them what it means to be Christians as we choose to follow Christ and live His way and not our own or in the ways of the world around us. But the church has gotten so caught up in adopting the ways and methods of the world, even in their deeds and their talk, that it has become pretty hard to tell the differences between the true Christian and those who either pretend to be “Christians” or those who outwardly hate and mock Him and don’t want anything to do with Him (or us, either). This shouldn’t be the way it is and we who are true, born-again believers need to become more “salty” in our lives not only to preserve mankind upon the earth, but also to testify for the world around us that we do truly belong to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! Help us to be the “salt of the earth” upon this planet, Lord, and grow in our “saltiness” until You come again for us in Your Second Coming. Come quickly, Lord Jesus! Amen!

We should rejoice when persecuted because we have been counted worthy to suffer in a little way as our Lord and Savior suffered while here upon the earth, and the prophets of the Old Testament before Him. None of us ever enjoys pain and suffering, but even during it, we always need to keep our eyes on Jesus and the goal set before us of heavenly glory—to be with Him in His presence forever and ever—even if we have to suffer a little for our faith in Him. The blessing that follows our being persecuted that ours is the Kingdom of heaven because then we have passed the test of our faith in our God even in the midst of our being persecuted, and because of the Lord’s sufferings by those who persecuted Him, He set us free from all of our sins and we will someday be called home in heavenly glory to be with Him forever and ever! “Lord, I pray for all of those in various countries over the whole world who are facing horrible persecutions and even death for their faith in You, that You will be present with them in their times of great need, and help them to stand up and be counted worthy of their faith in You, Lord Jesus, and to be true to You no matter what befalls them. Help them to grow in their faith despite the persecution that may follow and for them to remember Your great promise to them that they will inherent the Kingdom of Heaven. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

When God gave us Christians His cleansing from all of our sins and then we seek Him, the Lord Jesus Christ, and to know and discern Him in our lives, then He gives us pure hearts as we draw closer and closer to Him and know and obey His Word. This is how we obtain the pure or clean hearts that Jesus describes in His Word to us; and those who don’t really know Him personally, those of whom He hasn’t really drawn them to Him to be their Lord and Savior, “chronic sinners” in other words, they can’t possible see God or to know Him because they love darkness rather then the light of the Lord Jesus in their lives. It’s all up to our sovereign God as to who will see and know Him and have pure hearts before Him (having been cleansed from their sins and putting on Christ Jesus as their righteousness before God the Father) and those who don’t know Him that He will leave in the darkness of their sinfulness and they won’t see the Lord’s pure heart or their own before Him.

This intense desire for the righteousness of God in our lives puts us at odds with the rest of the world because they think that this is all foolishness and not at all the way they desire to live—in the darkness rather then in the light. The righteousness of God from His Holy Bible is the way we are live with the help of the Holy Spirit, and this is what Jesus is speaking here. The promise for those who live such lives of seeking His righteousness is that they will be filled and blessed by such righteousness of God that they are seeking from Him—both now in this life, and even more completely in the life to come—in eternal glory with Him in heaven. Thank You, Lord, for Your tremendous promise of blessing us always when we seek Your righteousness. Help us to do so now and from now on in our lives and to stop wasting so much of our times in pursuits that don’t even count for eternity!!!!! Amen!

The world’s ideal for most men and women is to push their way to the top and to make something of themselves by their own power and thoughts; in other words, to promote themselves and to be proud of their own accomplishments whatever they may be in the world. The idea of gentleness and meekness means that the godly person does just the opposite in knowing, following and obeying our Lord Jesus Christ and letting Him either exalt us in Himself or to humble us in and with His own power and might. It is to be content with where we are in the world, as Paul was as a Christian, and to let God take command of our thoughts, our place in the world and what we do in the world as believers in Him as our Leader and Guide.

It is necessary to become aware of our spiritual poverty

The 2 parts of each of the Beatitudes are those who are blessed by God for their seeking and knowing God, and the reasons why they are blessed (or the results of them being blessed by God). Jesus probably made each one a paradox, or riddle, so that only those in the Kingdom of God (or those who are of the elect) would understand and apply the answers to these riddles to their lives (via the Holy Spirit); and the rest would not know exactly what He meant by them and they would go on their merry way living for the world and it

I believe as does Pastor Wilson that the Lord Jesus, on the cross bearing all of our sins upon Himself as the sacrificial Lamb of God, felt a spiritual separation from His Father, the holy God, for the first time in all of eternity; and He was seeking to express this to us who know Him as our sacrifice for our sins (including the disciples near the cross at that time). God answered His Son

Sorry, I didn't mean to enter my song twice but don't know how to delete the second time entirely from this posted window? Many times I do much better spending time with the Lord and worshiping Him then I do trying to get my computer to do what I want it to do. Does anyone else out there have this same problem? What can you tell me that would help me with this problem, besides throwing the computer away (which is too expensive a thing to do for me at the moment)? I guess one more experience this whole Psalms Bible Study has taught me, at least at this moment, is to rely on God to help me over these problems I have in my life and not any mechanical things such as computers!!!!!! But I still need my computer to study these Bible studies so I guess I'll have to rely on my old (mechanical) computer for at least something besides getting my email!!!!! But I need God to be much more important (actually NUMERO UNO) in my life and this old computer to be way down on my list of important things to rely upon for me, like maybe #99th on my list? I'm not sure exactly what Psalm I'm writing about my experience right now but there are plenty of Psalm verses that tell us to put God first and foremost in our lives--I'm just not sure which one speaks of what to do with old computers that don't do what you want them to do? Anyway, God bless you all!!!!! Don W

A long time ago I wrote a simple children

I

The imagery of the river and stream elsewhere in the Holy Bible is of the Holy Spirit flowing out of the throne of God and filling us believers up with Himself, and even over-flowing within us as the Holy Spirit fills us. One of attributes of the Holy Spirit is the giving of peace in our lives (one of His gifts to us) and this is exactly what He brings to us as we believe and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for the eternal life He gives to us. Even though at times we can allow ourselves to be harassed and harried by the world, such as at work in this secular society or at other times, in relationships, etc., we can still know and appreciate the inward peace in us that only the Holy Spirit brings to us, and as we grow in the knowledge and wisdom of God

Just as the Lord Jesus said these words when He was dying on the cross at Calvary, so we who are born-again Christians in Him say the same thing as we commit our lives unto the love and care of our heavenly Father in this life as well as in the next heavenly existence. Knowing that our heavenly Father loves and cares about us so much more then we could ever imagine, brings peace and joy to my troubled soul when I

I wrote a song a few years ago on a similar portion of Scriptures called

My prayer has the same elements as the author

In order to believe and trust in God, we must first believe that He is much bigger and much more powerful then we are which takes humility in us, first, so we can then pray in faith trusting in Him as our great and Almighty God, the One who controls all the universe and has us in the palms of His hands so both our humility and our faith is necessary in order to pray to God and to expect an answer from Him to our prayers. Otherwise, if one of these qualities is missing, then we cannot expect an answer to our prayers and probably won

When I realize these things about our great and everlasting God, I want to respond by worshiping and praising Him and giving Him thanks for who He is as well as all that He has done for us who believe and trust in Him. What else can I do but to thank and praise Him for His thoughts and plans are focused on me in particular, and I

I wrote a song awhile back using the first two verses of Psalm 122 for a Christian friend of mine who told me this was her favorite Psalm because when she looked towards the hills surrounding her house, this reminded her of the Lord’s protection for her family and herself. Sometimes the Lord reminds me of the same thing about the Lord when I see some hills at a distance. Praise the Lord!!!!

In between answering question 3 about God’s protection of His people, and this question 4, I watched on the news a deadly attack on two Christian establishments in Colorado in which 4 people were killed and this 20-year old gunman wounded others as well. I asked myself, why would God allow this to happen to His own people, two who were training other Christians for the Youth With a Mission organization? I guess that what the pastor said about Judgment Day coming and then we’ll find out why this happened but from my right now earthly viewpoint it doesn’t make any sense to me why God said (and does) protect us (from Psalms 91; 121; etc.) from all harm but what about those Christians seemingly in the midst of His will who were cut down and murdered in the prime of their lives? But then I went to Romans 11 and read Paul’s doxology to the Lord in that which one of us can ever question God’s wisdom in doing what He does in the universe: “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor? Or who has first given to Him and it shall be repaid to Him? For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:33-36) Then all I can do is to bow down before our great Almighty God and worship Him for He has all things (even as awful to us as these murders of Christians in Colorado) under His complete control and none of us can question any of His doings on earth! This acceptance of God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, I believe, leads to God’s protection of His people and we cannot question God’s wisdom or judgment over any of us as His people, whether it is to live a long life under His protection, or to get their lives seemingly cut short in order to be taken home to be with Him in heavenly glory forever. All of this is totally up to our heavenly Father to do and accomplish what is for our best for those who love Him here on the earth; and even though I cannot understand what just happened to 4 Christians, I have to believe that it is all allowed to take place somehow for God’s honor and glory. God does really protect us in many ways—many which we don’t really know how nor see, and others which we can know and see His hand of protection—but one way of His protection is seen by us as not good but in actuality, it is one of the best ways—that is to take us home to be with Him in heavenly glory forever and ever!!!!! Once we are in heaven in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, then we will know the innumerous ways and forms of God’s protection in our lives and we’ll all fall down before Him and give Him all the honor and glory due to Him as our Lord and Savior forever and ever!!!!! To God be the glory for all the things He has done!!!!!!! Amen!

The reassurance of this Psalm to me that God keeps me and watches over me 24/7 is found in all of the verses of Psalm 121, and is adequately described by Dr. Wilson, the author of this Bible Study. I especially like verses 7 and 8 in their description of the all-encompassing descriptions of God’s loving care for us. This makes me feel totally secure in God’s arms as a young child would feel safe in his much bigger father’s arms as the child sits in his father’s lap in the safety of their own home when all outside their house the night-time winds howls and darkness surrounds them but never touches them. I have experienced this feeling of complete, total safety in my home as a child, myself, and I think that this is the type of security in the Lord (and only found in the Lord God) the Psalmist is describing to us in these Psalms about God’s protection of His children.

Psalm 91 uses many illustrations or metaphors about God