Lead with Singing

Not long ago I wrote about singing continuously and a part of that is to open with singing praise and thanksgiving to God. This morning I was again reminded to come to the LORD first with that singing. I am to lead off with singing.

In church services as I have known are generally, with few exceptions, opened with singing. In fact, that opening is labeled the call to worship. In this opening, there is singing of praise and thanksgiving to get the heart in a place that is open to the receiving of God’s Word.

“¹Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!

²Serve the LORD with gladness!

Come into his presence with singing!”

— Psalm 100:1-2 (ESV)

I have to remember to first come to the LORD with gladness in my heart and praising Him for all that He has done and will do. I have to be open to receiving that which He has for me. In business, when there is a difficult conversation to be had, the first thing done is to first build some rapport with the others so that they are free to receive that which is being brought to them. So, NO it is not just a religious thing to sing praise and thanksgiving to open the heart and mind.

There is plenty of time to express needs and wants and give requests to God. He wants to hear from us. I have to remember that He also already knows that which I am going to say and therefore my saying it does not need to be reverberated constantly. I have to let the LORD know of the adoration I have for Him and that I know that He will provide that which I need and be thankful for all that He has already provided. That all comes in the form of song of praise and thanksgiving to Him as I come to Him.

As I noted earlier, in church services, we are called to worship with singing of praise and thanksgiving. When we pray, Jesus tells us to open with adoration and thanksgiving for all that has been provided. I have to remember that God has already done way more than I could imagine for me. He suffered and died so that I would not have to. He rose again and provided salvation to me as a free (yes free) gift and all I have to do is accept. I believe this is all worth my praise and thanksgiving and what better way than to sing.

How are you opening your communications with God? Are you immediately jumping to all that you need Him to do for you? What if you got your heart right by praising and thanking Him through song first and letting Him know that you are ready to receive all He has for you?

Justified by Faith, Not Works

I know, I just recently wrote “Doers are Those Justified”, so how does all of this fit. Well, what I wrote in the first paragraph is more indicative of what is meant: “It is NOT about the works, although the works are an indicator.” It is not what you do that is justified, I do the works because I am justified. My being justified comes through the gift of God through Jesus Christ.

“²³for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,” — Romans 3:23-24 (ESV)

I have to remember that it is not what I do that justifies me. My faith in Him and His salvation for me is what justifies me in His sight, and that is what matters.

“²⁸For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” — Romans 3:28 (ESV)

I am justified in spite of my works. Once I have have accepted Christ as my Savior, I am justified regardless of my past and in spite of my future. The LORD gifts salvation and justification to me at that moment. I am then to follow Him and in doing so, will do the work He has for me. I will do the work, not to gain favor, but because I have been given favor already. I am now in the position to do the work of God within the boundaries of the law and not because of the boundaries of the law. I do not have some cornering on the law and do not have the right to go outside the boundaries, I will do that which is right, because it is right.

“³¹Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.” — Romans 3:31 (ESV)

It is my faith in Jesus Christ that justifies me. I have been given the opportunity to be free from the sins of my past and those sins I will commit in the future. Where the sins of the future have been forgiven already, I am less likely to commit conscious sin thanks to the salvation I have received and will do the work of the LORD thanks to my salvation and justification. I will no longer do the work in hopes of justification.

What works are you doing? Are you doing them to gain some kind of favor with God? What if you simply accepted the salvation given, knowing that it is enough and then did works because of your justification as opposed to gain it?

Justified, Yes, But Now We Know Sin

“²⁰For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” — Romans 3:20 (ESV)

I have been justified by the works of the LORD and have been and will be held accountable to the sins I have and will commit as I continue in this world. And that is the thing, I have and will continue to commit sins. And to go along with those sins, I have to continue repenting and seeking forgiveness for those sins I know of and even those that I am unaware.

Just because I have been justified does not mean that I am out of the woods as relates to accountability. It does not mean that I can just do whatever I want and not have to worry with pleasing or displeasing God. I am still a sinner, and even more importantly I now know of sin and that makes me even more accountable. I now know right from wrong and my sin is a choice at each instance. I now choose to sin.

As a small child, I was given certain liberties to knowing right from wrong. I did not know that taking something from the store was a crime and sin because I did not know the law. I did not know that lying was a sin as someone had not explained it to me yet and I did not understand the concept. But now that I am older (Ha Ha), I do know and if I do indeed take something from the store or tell a lie, I choose to do so and will be held accountable to that choice. The same holds true for the other sins in my life.

As a Christian and child of God, I now am aware of my sin and am held accountable to knowing when I am about to or have sinned. I have the knowledge and it is up to me to use that knowledge each and every moment of the day. I know what is right and what is wrong in the eyes of the LORD and I am responsible to abide by His Word each and every time.

How do I know? I have to study His Word each day. I have to dig into and work to understand what it is to abide in the LORD. He tells me in His Word and it is my duty to read study and understand so that I can abide in Him at all times.

Am I going to sin, yes, I am a sinner and just because I have been given and accepted salvation does not absolve me of what I am. I do however have a better knowledge of what I am doing and when I work to align myself with His teachings and doing as instructed by Him, I will find myself sinning less and those sins I do commit will impact others less. I will know I have sinned as some point in the day and I will know to ask God again to forgive me of those sins I have committed.

What knowledge do you have of right and wrong? Are you continuing to actively sin even though you know? What if you were to get into God’s Word and understand so that you would have a better chance to avoid sin?

Doers are Those Justified

“¹³For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.” — Romans 2:13 (ESV)

The first thing I think when reading the above is that my justification is based on works. It is this “first thing” that gets the headlines and the lack of fully understanding. It is NOT about the works, although the works are an indicator. There has to be more study in place to understand. I have to dig deeper than just the single verse which is likely to be taken out of context when used in a discussion.

Doers of the law are those that use their salvation and relationship with God to do His work. It is not the work that leads to the justification, but the doing of the work in the name of God and for His glory. It is not about being seen by the world doing the work, but about being seen by God.

Knowing that which is right and doing that which is right are two very different things. Paul makes it clear as he continues his letter that it is the doing of what is right and not just knowing and professing which is right.

“²¹you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? ²²You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? ²³You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law.” — Romans 2:21-23 (ESV)

See what Paul says here that even knowing what is right does not make your actions right. It is possible to even teach one thing and do another whether, stealing, adultery, robbing temples, and any breaking of God’s law. It the keeping of God’s law that we should be concerned with. It is doing the law of God for all to be aware. Even if no one of this world sees, God sees and It is what He sees that brings our justification.

I want God to see me doing His work and not doing the work of the world. Yes, is some cases those works align, feeding the hungry, caring for the sick, and the like. But, largely, the world sees things only from their own eyes and focus on doing things that others can see to ensure that they are “being good” and then behind the scenes, there is a full on assault on that which is good. Let it be known that where the world may not know, God does and it is in those actions that we are judged by God. It is “the doers of of the law who are justified”.

What are you doing, the work of God? Are you focused on pleasing the world because you know what is right and teach others, all the while going against it? What if you focused on doing the work of the LORD to ensure that you are justified for that work in the eyes of God?

Temptations are NOT Random

I have noticed as I study temptation that those that come my way are not of random sort. All of the temptations that come from the evil one are designed to take advantage of those things in my life that are of importance. I am tempted with control as I have a role where I am to be the leader in an environment. I am tempted with boasting as I have experience in my career. And there are are plenty others as well. This is not a coincidence, but targeted.

“³And the tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’” — Matthew 4:3 (ESV)

I read and studied and wrote on this same passage just a bit ago. I realized then that if Jesus can and was tempted, then it is not unusual at all that I am. This morning I am led back to the passage and pick up that the evil tempts by design and in those areas where he knows we may have weakness. Here in this passage, the evil one tempts Jesus by coming after his status as the Son of God. The evil one comes after the power that Jesus has and looks to feed Jesus’ ego and allow Him to prove Himself, which would certainly be easy for Jesus to do, and He would not have to apologize for doing it. But Jesus does not take the bait and instead turns it into the learning moment for all.

It may seem easy for Jesus to turn away from the temptation, and frankly I believe it is. What I see here is the map to the avoidance of the temptation. It all starts with knowing that the evil one is coming after me in the place where he knows I am weak and vulnerable. I have to be prepared for the temptation and prepare for how to combat it. When I am in a position of leading, I have to know that the temptation is there to control the environment and turn that into serving those in my charge and allow them to lead and I simply guide. There, I have avoided the temptation already. When I am coaching a peer in my role, I have to remember the experience I have and teach as oppose to direct so that they have the opportunity to learn and grow themselves as opposed to listen to be talk about all of the experience I have. There, I have avoided the temptation again.

When defending an area from others, those defending it first look at all of the area where there are weaknesses and work to fortify those prior to planning on the counter attack. Once the areas are fortified, the planning begins at how to continue to maintain that fortification and how to move forward with the counter attack. Planning is the way to avoid temptation. It is important to know where I have weakness so that first I can fortify and maintain those weak areas so that I can then move forward with the plan the LORD has for me.

I have to know that the evil one is coming after me and that when doing so, he is coming after the weakest point. It is not random. It is targeted. I have to know this and prepare and fortify against the attack. I have to maintain that fortification and not be distracted by the attack in the strong areas I have in my life. I have to know that the attack on the strong areas is just that distractions while the evil one is quietly coming after my weaknesses to destroy my and the relationship I have with God. Temptation from the evil one is NOT random and I have to be prepared.

Where are you protecting against the temptations from the evil one? Are you protecting against the attack at your strongest points? What if you take a look at your weaknesses and fortify them first, knowing that is where the evil one will be coming?

Tempted by Desires

“¹³Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. ¹⁴But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.” — James 1:13-14 (ESV)

I have already studied and written that all will be tempted. I cannot escape temptation as I am human and the evil one is constantly seeking to destroy me and those temptations are just the beginning. I have only the chance to work toward avoiding the temptation or, once tempted, to be delivered. I would like to notice that the temptation comes from the evil one and not God. I can see in the above verses from James, that God will not tempt me as He “cannot be tempted with evil, and He himself tempts no one”. He does however allow us to be tempted.

I am tempted with that which I desire. That desire is usually not in the best interest of me or in those around me. I desire it only to serve the now and to gain some momentary distraction with happiness and there is no joy in the result. It is the evil one that drives the temptation to give in to my desires. I even recall in the television program titled “Lucifer” that the line from the “Lucifer Morningstar” character that drives the solving of crimes was, “What is it that you truly desire?”. This desire is usually self-serving and will only solve the now and does not get at the true joy that is sought.

God allows me to be tempted. He does so to give me the opportunity to avoid and resist. I am human and certainly have those desires. I will fall prey to them when I am not focused on Him and doing the work that He has for me. I have to remember that those temptations are from the evil one and will always be there. Yet I have to remember to fight back against those desires in order to work to avoid sin.

“¹⁵Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” — James 1:15 (ESV)

It is not the desire that is bad or sinful. It is what that desire gives way to and that is the sin. Admiring a beautiful person is not sinful, it is working to be with them that is. It is not wanting that second bowl of ice cream, it is actually getting the bowl. It is not wanting to have more monetary possessions, it is taking them from others. All of the firsts in the above sentences are the desires and they, in an of themselves are not bad. It is when acted on that they become sin.

Yes, God allows me to be tempted by the beautiful person, the second bowl of ice cream, the monetary possessions. He also knows that I belong to Him. I have given myself to Him and by doing so have gained the protections from and guidance to avoid the sin that comes after the desire. I have to remember that He is not tempting me, He is allowing me to have free will and make decisions for myself to demonstrate my love for Him and that I do belong to Him in the end.

What are the things that you are tempted? Are you blaming God for tempting you with those things? What if you understood that the temptations are coming from the evil one and are there to lure you into sin and you only need to lean on the LORD to avoid and be delivered?

Temptations and Sin Will Come, We Must Forgive

As I have continued to study “temptation” I have noted that no matter where I find myself, temptations will come and present themselves to me. I have to be aware of this and look for every opportunity to avoid them. I have to associate with others as accountability partners, I have stay working and avoid idleness, I have to be content with what is provided by God and not fall to the ways of the world. And not only do I have to do my work to avoid temptation, I have to know that the LORD will deliver me when I fall to that temptation. But, how will I get that deliverance, by repenting and asking for forgiveness.

It is up to me to repent of all of the sins that I have committed and will commit. Being human, I know that I will commit them. I have to admit to my failures and the sins and allow God to forgive me and I have to accept His forgiveness, even though I do not deserve it. And this brings me to my study today, forgiveness of those who are tempted to or actually sin against me. I have to forgive them as Christ has and does forgive me.

“³Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, ⁴and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.” — Luke 17:3-4 (ESV)

Above are the words of Jesus as He speaks about temptation and sin. He is very clear that those who sin against us are not to get off without consequences. Notice that one should first “rebuke” the one who sins against you. I have to let them know that it is unacceptable to treat others that way. And once there is repentance of the sin to me, I have to then forgive. And this is not just the one time. Remember that as often as we sin against God, He ALWAYS forgives us, and I am to do the same. When repentance is displayed, forgiveness follows.

I know what you are thinking and you are not wrong in your thoughts, how much is too much to forgive. Well, notice the number that is stated here, “seven times in the day”. And elsewhere it is noted as seventy-seven.

“²¹Then Peter came up and said to him, ‘Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?’ ²²Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.’” — Matthew 18:21-22 (ESV)

I look at what Jesus says in Luke and have to take the full statement into account. He says “in the day”. This to me indicates that we give our brothers and sisters seven times each day, and even looking in Matthew, that should be seventy-seven times each day. What this tells me is that we are to forgive our brothers and sisters that are repentant, continuously and an infinite number of times. The thing is that there has to be the repentance that comes before the forgiveness. Without the repentance, I am only tasked with loving them. I will love them always and when they come to me repentant, I will forgive.

When has someone done to you that they were repentant for doing? Were you forgiving of their transgression against you and were you each time? What if you loved until repentance and the forgave infinitely for the sins against you?

Temptation Will NOT Be More Than You Can Handle

As noted, temptation will be there for all of us. There is no one who is exempt from it as we are all human and will be tempted by the evil one, regardless of our relationship with Christ. I am a sinner and it is my nature to want to sin. Temptation will drive me to sin, that I know for certain.

“¹³No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” — 1 Corinthians 10:13 (ESV)

Here Paul tells the Corinthians again that they will be tempted, and even that God will allow it to happen. This further demonstrates that we are not exempt from temptation, no matter our standing with Christ. But, God will also ensure that we have a way to avoid or be delivered from that temptation. We do not have to be slaves to the temptation.

I have noted in previous writings that temptation can be avoided by continuing to do work. By staying busy with the LORD’s work, my heart and my mind will be focused on the work and does not have a chance to wander into the realm of that temptation. I have also the ability to lean on a partner, my wife, to keep me from the temptations that will come from the evil one as relates to sexual immorality. I have Lori to be with and therefore will lean away from the temptations that will steal my heart.

I have a way out, as you can see in the above paragraph, and that is noted by Paul there in verse 13 above. I can and will endure the temptation, but not on my own. I have to have a place to be and someone to be there with. The place is in the doing of God’s work and the person is the LORD and an accountability partner such as fellow Christians, or the one closest to me in Lori.

God provides me the way to avoid or be delivered from the temptations of the evil one, and He also will not allow me to be tempted with more than I can handle. It must be noted that the amount I can handle is not left for me to decide, but left for God to allow. When left to it on my own, I will take the path of least resistance. God will take me on His path, which may be paved with difficulty, adversity, and plenty of temptation. But that path will always be the one that I can follow and reach the end. God will NOT ask me to take on something that I am not able to complete for Him, after all, it is His will NOT mine.

So when looking at temptation and my relationship with it, I have to remember that first of all, it will be there. I will always have those things that will tempts me to fall away from the path that God has me on. But, God will provide me the way that I can avoid the temptations and not allow them to over take and derail my work that I am tasked with for Him. And, when I am not able to avoid the temptation, He will provide the way to be delivered from it.

What temptations are in your life? Are you allowing them to stop you from proceeding with the work that God has for you? What if you took the approach that God will NOT allow temptations in your life that are more than you can handle?

Pray to Avoid Temptation

I wrote recently about avoiding temptation by being with others. This morning I was brought to the passage of Jesus praying in Gethsemane and the actions of those who were with Him at that time. Jesus was with the three and as He went a bit further to pray and converse with God alone, He left them to keep watch. When one is to keep watch, it is understood to be awake and alert to that which is going on around so as to warn or take action as needed.

“⁴⁰And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, ‘So, could you not watch with me one hour? ⁴¹Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’” — Matthew 26:40-41 (ESV)

The three could not even keep watch for one hour while Jesus was praying. They fell asleep and lacked awareness and alertness to anything that was going on about them. Jesus returned to find them this way and coached them to the need for them to stay awake and gave them instruction as to how to and why it was important, pray to avoid temptation.

Jesus understands that it is important to have others around you to avoid temptation, hence the reason for bringing the three disciples with Him to pray so that they could keep one another. Yet, the disciples did not hold each other accountable and allowed one another to fall into temptation and fall asleep. They were tempted by their in action and even though they were not alone, they were on their own as they did not work together.

Jesus gave the disciples simple instructions to stay awake and watch out. The disciples could not do it. So, Jesus gave them additional instruction to avoid the temptation of sleep and that was to remain active with prayer. Jesus went again to pray additionally with God and then returned to find the disciples, you guessed it, asleep again.

“⁴²Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, ‘My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.’ ⁴³And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. ⁴⁴So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again.” — Matthew 26:42-44 (ESV)

Notice as He returned after prayer and finding them asleep, Jesus did not coach them again as he knew that they had fallen to the temptation and would continue doing so. He returned to pray once again and left them to sleep. Jesus had asked and asked again for the disciples to follow His example and pray, and when they demonstrated that they were not capable, He left them to continue on their own and fall to the temptation.

Jesus will deliver us from the temptations that we fall to as He did with the disciples here. He will “wake” us and provide the instruction to avoid that temptation and it is up to us to take that instruction and learn from it to improve. When we do not, Jesus will allow us to fall to the temptation and will wait for us to come to Him and seek the deliverance.

Jesus will also come to us when it is time and deliver us as needed. He did so with the disciples at the appointed time and provided some final coaching and instruction for them before He would be taken away and led to His crucifixion.

“⁴⁵Then he came to the disciples and said to them, ‘Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. ⁴⁶Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.’” — Matthew 26:45-46 (ESV)

I have to note here that Jesus did not give up on the disciples, He simply allowed them to fall to the temptation knowing that He would be able to deliver them at the appointed time. Jesus will not abandon me. He is always with me, yet He will allow me to live with free will and make my own decisions. He will be there waiting for me to come to Him.

The disciples fell to their temptation as they were idle. They were not doing anything to stay awake and alert and keep watch. They were men and they were tired. I know that I have fallen prey to being idle and have fallen to the temptation of sleep when I could have taken action to avoid that temptation. I will teach my trainees that when there is nothing to do, there is always something to do. They should not just sit idle, they should find something to take up their time so that they are able to stay alert and continue to learn. I have to remember to take my own advice and remember that when I am idle, there is always something to do to avoid temptation and that something is to pray.

What are you doing when you are idle? Are you looking to simply rest and are you falling prey to temptation? What if you found that one thing that would fill your idleness and pray to the LORD?

Not Just Delivered from Temptation, but Not to Even Experience It

We live in such a reactive society that there is the tendency to not take any action until the event or issue has already presented itself. That is what I think about as I read this morning’s passage in Matthew. Yes, the passage, Matthew 6:5-15 is the Lord’s Prayer and how to pray, but in verse 13 I am reminded that I have to work to stay out of temptation and not just be delivered when it is presented. I have to take and act proactively and not just react to that which I need assistance.

“¹³And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.”

— Matthew 6:13 (ESV)

One of the temptations that I know I struggle with is what I am doing when I have nothing to do. In other words, what fills my idle time. It is natural to want to have some down time to rest after a long period of intense work. The challenge is that we tend to dive into the rest and take that time up with something else entirely and it ends up consuming us and we lose sight of what our goal is. It is in these times that I find myself tempted with those things that are of the secular world and not focused on those things that are of God.

I take social media as an example of that which is tempting. I remember my first introduction to to them where I sat on the side of the tub in the bathroom for 1.5 hours, just scrolling. I did not learn anything and lost that time to the screen and frankly, got dumber. Even today, when I have nothing to do, I find myself searching for something on my phone to keep my attention all in the name of resting, when in reality, it is just filled with temptation. The temptation to criticize others, the temptation to look at things I shouldn’t, the temptation to just disappear into the technology world and frankly, struggle to come out having learned anything at all.

I have to continue to pray to the LORD and ask for His guidance and strength to avoid those temptations before I am even sucked into them and need delivering. I have to keep my hands, heart, and mind active and busy doing the work of the LORD so that those things are not even in my mind.

Now, I will admit that there are things in life and in society that are worth noting and learning and those may only come to us when we are idle and resting. In fact, it is when the mind is clear that our mind can reason and deliver those things that may be of great value. The thing is that in those times of resting the mind, it is just that, resting the mind and allowing it to explore those items freely without influence. It is that free resting that is avoiding being tempted as it is resting with intent and there is an actual purpose to it.

I need the help of the LORD in my rest. I need Him to deliver me from the temptations of the world. More importantly, I need Him to lead me in avoiding the temptations that will be presented. I need to lean on the LORD for my actions and deliberateness in all that I do, even in my times of rest.

What are you doing when you are “resting”? Are you truly resting or are you allowing yourself to be sucked into temptation? What if you rested with intent and allowed the LORD to guide you away from temptation and not just deliver you from it once you are sucked in?