Recently, I have been asking the Lord to show me what my sins are, and my impression is a lot of them. As it is written in Psalms 40:11-13
Do not withhold your mercy from me, O Lord; may your love and your truth always protect me.
For troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me.
Be pleased, O Lord, to save me; O Lord, come quickly to help me.
Now I know why I have been meditating this title for many days, because “my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head“. Then this scripture of Acts 9:31 came to me, Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord. I can sense the Spirit is telling me, I have been living not in the fear of the Lord.
I have sinned, I know I suppose to tremble at His Word, as it is written in Isaiah 66:2 (NASB) “For My hand made all these things, Thus all these things came into being,” declares the LORD. “But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word. I know this verse is important and marked it on my Bible many years ago. It is also one of my favorite verses, but I still failed to put it into practice.
I have had too little respect for the Word. then this scripture came to me, Acts 3:22-23 (NKJV) “For Moses truly said to the fathers, ‘The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. ‘And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’
This means we have to listen to all Jesus’ teaching, every soul who will not listen (maybe even just a few), he should be utterly destroyed. This is serious. Maybe my heart didn’t like to hear it so I can’t recall reading them. To fear God means not “brave enough” to do the opposite against the Word from the LORD Most High. Ezra chapter 9 described what does it mean to fear God;
Ezra 9:1-7 After these things had been done, the leaders came to me and said, “The people of Israel, including the priests and the Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the neighboring peoples with their detestable practices, like those of the Canaanites, …… And the leaders and officials have led the way in this unfaithfulness.”
When I heard this, I tore my tunic and cloak, pulled hair from my head and beard and sat down appalled. Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel gathered around me because of this unfaithfulness of the exiles. And I sat there appalled until the evening sacrifice.
Then, at the evening sacrifice, I rose from my self-abasement, with my tunic and cloak torn, and fell on my knees with my hands spread out to the Lord my God and prayed:
“O my God, I am too ashamed and disgraced to lift up my face to you, my God, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens. From the days of our forefathers until now, our guilt has been great. Because of our sins, we and our kings and our priests have been subjected to the sword and captivity, to pillage and humiliation at the hand of foreign kings, as it is today.
They disobeyed one instruction of God, and see what Ezra had said, “I am too ashamed and disgraced to lift up my face to you, my God“. I don’t know what to say, for I have failed to keep so many of the Lord’s teachings. Such as Jesus said in Matthew 5:43-48 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. …… And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
I am too careless about everything, including the scriptures. I can’t find excuse for being unfaithful to the Lord’s teaching, as I do remember the passage from Ezra chapter 9. Don’t know why I have almost no fear in disobeying His Word. I feel psalms 40:11-13 was written for me;
Do not withhold your mercy from me, O Lord; may your love and your truth always protect me.
For troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me.
Be pleased, O Lord, to save me; O Lord, come quickly to help me.
For those who fear God, please pray for me.
We have to learn the fear of God
Today we are living in the last seasons that God’s people should learn “living in the fear of the Lord“, because (1 Peter 4:17 KJV) “That judgment must begin at the house of God“. In fact the time has started already in some areas, but with lesser intensity.
The time to play church is over. The need of preparing God’s people for the end time is very urgent. For it is written in Daniel 11:33-35 “Those who are wise will instruct many, though for a time they will fall by the sword or be burned or captured or plundered. When they fall, they will receive a little help, and many who are not sincere will join them. Some of the wise will stumble, so that they may be refined, purified and made spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time. The goal is spotless and blameless, but we are still proud and complacent, thinking , “we are saved, and have got the ticket to heaven”. but we have no idea what is coming and who will be left behind.
The prophet Malachi warned us not to be proud, Malachi 3:14-16 (NKJV) You have said, ‘It is useless to serve God; What profit is it that we have kept His ordinance, And that we have walked as mourners Before the LORD of hosts? So now we call the proud blessed, For those who do wickedness are raised up; They even tempt God and go free.’ ” Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, And the LORD listened and heard them; So a book of remembrance was written before Him For those who fear the LORD And who meditate on His name.
Malachi 4:1-3 (NKJV) “For behold, the day is coming, Burning like an oven, And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up,” Says the LORD of hosts, “That will leave them neither root nor branch. But to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings; And you shall go out And grow fat like stall-fed calves. You shall trample the wicked, For they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet On the day that I do this,” Says the LORD of hosts.
The day is getting closer everyday, therefore let us go to the word of God for knowledge and wisdom, Because we have to understand that;
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge
- Proverbs 1:7 (NIV) The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
- Proverbs 9:10-12 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. For through me your days will be many, and years will be added to your life. If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you; if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer.“
- Proverbs 14:27 The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death.
- Proverbs 15:33 The fear of the Lord teaches a man wisdom, and humility comes before honor.
- Proverbs 16:6 Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for; through the fear of the Lord a man avoids evil.
- Proverbs 19:23 The fear of the Lord leads to life: Then one rests content, untouched by trouble.
- Proverbs 23:17 Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the Lord.
Listen to God’s warning again, Proverbs 1:22-33
“How long will you simple ones love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge? If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you and made my thoughts known to you.
But since you rejected me when I called and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand, since you ignored all my advice and would not accept my rebuke, I in turn will laugh at your disaster; I will mock when calamity overtakes you — when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you.
“Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me. Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord, since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes. For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.”
Very soon many will find out the hard way, what is the consequence of not fear God.
A real world test
We live in a world full of deceptions and is getting worse each day, many are deceived so badly that they have no way to tell the difference between what is true and false. That is because people love not the truth, so they have no wisdom nor knowledge of God. Then I was led to watch the #132 from astrongerfaith.org, after watching it, I sense something is different, the guest is not a disciple of Jesus yet, although she had supernatural experience. I don’t see her passion for Jesus’ word. It seems to me she is not on the narrow way, and I am not so sure whether they can differentiate Jesus’ voices from other spirit. So I asked the Lord to tell me what should I write.
I woke up next morning with the following thoughts;
For centuries, lots of people have read the Bible, some even had supernatural experiences, but many still prefer men-made versions of “jesus” who only require no smoking, no drinking, no killing and a few similar things. But their hearts dislike or hate His words on the important commandments, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
This podcast can serve as a test of our discernment. We have no idea what a deceiving spirit will say or do. We are warned In Matthew 24:4-5 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.” Many are deceived already. The deceiving spirit and deceiver will not say or do anything superficially contrary to the scripture, but something sound similar to cover up their hidden scheme. Without wisdom and knowledge from God, we are helpless. Therefore, remember Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. Do not be that fool.
Below I listed a few questions to help us identify a true follower of Jesus Christ;
- Can anyone love Jesus but has no passion for His Word?
- Can anyone love God but not His commands and His righteousness?
- Can anyone follow Jesus without confessing sin and repent?
- Can anyone know God but not doing His will?
- Can anyone enter the kingdom of God without being Jesus’ disciple?
- If anyone do not love the conversations of the Spirit, like the Psalms, can he be filled with the Spirit?
The body of Christ is in crisis today more than ever, as it is written; Amos 8:11-12 “The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine through the land — not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. Men will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it.
This famine has been here already. God’s people are not used to inquire of the Lord, because they simply can’t hear Him. Most walk in the flesh, deceiving and being deceived. It is written in 1 John 4:1 Test the Spirits Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. Religious leaders and teachers have no idea how to test, so are their followers, all pretend it’s not important. Too many people make mistake by turning to men for knowledge, but that’s very foolish and dangerous. It is written, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.
Bring the heart into agreement
After years of praying the Psalms, I just learned a bit deeper. The goal is to bring my heart into agreement with the word. Doing this can bring our heart and soul closer to the Holy Spirit. Because we have disagreed with the Holy Spirit more often than agree with him. We need this process of cleansing and renewing our heart and mind. We can take a close look at 2 verses, Psalms 119:124, 125. They are prayer templates for helping us to inquire of the Lord.
- Psalms 119:124 (NKJV) Deal with Your servant according to Your mercy, And teach me Your statutes.
This verse is saying, a servant have to ask the Lord for instruction and show him how to put the law and regulation into practice in everyday life. “Your statutes” can be any of Jesus’ commands and teachings. And we can pray something like this;
“Deal with Your servant according to Your mercy, And teach me how to forgive, teach me how to fear your name and keep the great commandments.”
Then wait for the Lord to work inside us, so our hearts may truly come into agreement with this. As the Psalms says; “I wait for you all day long.” It took me a very long time to understand this, because I am not really poor in spirit yet, I have to humble myself first. - Psalms 119:125 (NKJV) I am Your servant; Give me understanding, That I may know Your testimonies.
Lots of things happening around us everyday, such as disinformation, propaganda, fake news and false teaching etc. But we only need to know what is from God and where He guide us to, or simply to know the truth about something. For example, about the podcast #132 from A Stronger Faith, we can take verse 125 as a template to inquire of the Lord;
“I am Your servant; Give me understanding, That I may know what was truly happened in episode 132.”
Although we may not get answer every time, but we have to keep practicing until it becomes a habit, so that we can serve truly as a servant.
These two verses are calling us to deny our own understanding and trust God for everything. This is what a servant suppose to do, not to be proud or arrogant. This is how we can take up our cross daily so that we may not be deceived. Otherwise, we may not be able to survive in the near future. Now let’s pray 129 to 144;
Your testimonies are wonderful; Therefore my soul keeps them.
The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.
I opened my mouth and panted, For I longed for Your commandments.
Look upon me and be merciful to me, As Your custom is toward those who love Your name.
Direct my steps by Your word, And let no iniquity have dominion over me.
Redeem me from the oppression of man, That I may keep Your precepts.
Make Your face shine upon Your servant, And teach me Your statutes.
Rivers of water run down from my eyes, Because men do not keep Your law.
Righteous are You, O LORD, And upright are Your judgments.
Your testimonies, which You have commanded, Are righteous and very faithful.
My zeal has consumed me, Because my enemies have forgotten Your words.
Your word is very pure; Therefore Your servant loves it.
I am small and despised, Yet I do not forget Your precepts.
Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, And Your law is truth.
Trouble and anguish have overtaken me, Yet Your commandments are my delights.
The righteousness of Your testimonies is everlasting; Give me understanding, and I shall live.