A Crucified Life - - Answers The Call to Commit

 

    Psalm 37:5

Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass.

    Most of us think we know what 'commit' means. But what is God's definition of commit? 

    To make a commitment to another person is to be faithful in that relationship, whether we are friends, spouses, colleagues or coworkers. 

    To make a commitment to an employer is to make a promise to abide by company rules and regulations; to be on time and do the work for which one is hired according to the pay one is promised. 

    To make a commitment to one's country is to pledge one's self to obeying the laws of the land as long as these laws are not contrary to God's laws. 

COMMITMENT GOD's WAY

    What does it mean here when it says we are to Commit our ways to the Lord? God wants us to trust Him. And talk with Him.

>1 Peter 5:7 tells us to cast all our anxiety on Him, which lines up with Matthew 6:25-34 where Jesus tells His disciples to not worry about the necessities of life, but seek the kingdom of God and all His righteousness. 

>Psalm 55:22 says "Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken."

>Psalm 62:8 "Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts before Him. God is our refuge. Selah.''

    God wants to meet us in prayer. Committing our way to The LORD means living our lives according to His Word and His Way. When we become born again believers, we stop being the person we were before we got saved and begin to live the life of a new creation, for we are a new person in Christ. 

    When we repent (confess our sins and turn away from them, stop doing those sins), God promises, makes a commitment to, forgive the repentant sinner. Our sins are washed away by the blood of God's Lamb, His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. We are clean and fresh and new. 

    Making a commitment to God is making a promise to God that we will be faithful in obeying His Word, faithful in seeking Him out, faithful in trusting Him to care for us in everything; faithful in doing the work He entrusts us to do. 

    I, like the faithful servants in the parable, also seek to hear those beautiful words from my Lord and Master, "Well done, My good and faithful servant." (Luke 19:17, 19) I do not wish to hear what He told the unfaithful servant (Luke 19:22-27). 

    Hear the Word of The Lord. Today is your day to surrender your hearts and your lives to Christ. Tomorrow is not promised. And our days are shortened and getting shorter. This, too, is promised. (Matthew 24:22)

 PEACE OF MIND COMES FROM TRUSTING THE LORD

    Proverbs 3:5

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. 

SUCCESS COMES FROM A COMMITMENT TO THE LORD

    Proverbs 16:3

Commit your works to the LORD and your plans will be achieved. 

   A relationship without communication is an empty relationship: you're existing but not living. There are no anchor points to hold together the relationship. 

  We need God. By His Word we are formed and in His Word we are made complete. Let us commit our lives even now to loving Him, obeying Him, adoring Him. Let us live joy-filled faithful lives as we await His return to bring us home with Him. 

CALLED TO COMMIT 

Only Trust Him - Alan Jackson

Down To the River to Pray - Allison Krauss

Trading My Sorrows - 

Baptized In Fire - Ecclesia

Burn For You - Rivers & Robots

Here's My Life - Planetshakers

    

A Crucified Life - - Is A Repentant Life

 

2 Corinthians 7:10

For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There is no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No.

Worldly (in this context): ungodly, alienated from God and hostile to the cause of Christ

From the Greek word 'kosmos' (pronounced kos'-mos)

Sorrow: pain, distress, grief, emotional pain that weighs on a person

From the Greek word 'lupé' (pronounced loo'-pay)

    Being sorry and apologizing for that offense which we say we are sorry for is not godly sorrow. 

    We can regret the words we have said but we cannot take them back. The damage has been done and cannot be undone. Remorse is not godly sorrow. 

    Though a person may change on the outside, and believe themselves to be fine, better or good enough, but have not repented of the sin they have committed, there is no forgiveness, no salvation, no real change in the heart. 

    Repentance activates God's forgiveness and makes it possible for God to change the repenter's heart. It is impossible to change ourselves by ourselves. We need God to change our hearts by the blood of His Lamb, His only begotten Son Jesus Christ, Who became sin for us and died on the cross so we wouldn't have to die and pay the penalty for our sins.

    Hebrews 9:22

In fact under the Law almost everything is cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness [neither release from sin and its guilt, nor cancellation of the merited punishment].

     1 John 2:2

And He [that same Jesus] is the propitiation for our sins [the atoning sacrifice that holds back the wrath of God that would otherwise be directed at us because of our sinful nature—our worldliness, our lifestyle]; and not for ours alone, but also for [the sins of all believers throughout] the whole world.

    Romans 3:25

God presented Him as the atoning sacrifice through faith in His blood, in order to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance He had passed over the sins committed beforehand.

 INTO GRACE   

The Secret Place - Phil Wickham

The More I Seek You - Kari Jobe

Jesus Have It All - Jeremy Riddle

I Need You - Jessie Harris

Run To The Father - Cody Carnes

Jesus Messiah - Chris Tomlin

Washed By The Blood - CityAlight

At The Cross - Chris Tomlin

Thank You Jesus For The Blood - Charity Gayle

A Crucified Life - - Incurs Godly Repentance

 

2 Corinthians 7:8,9

Even if I cause you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Although I did regret it, I now see that my letter caused you sorrow, but only for a short time.

And now I rejoice, not because you were made sorrowful, but because your sorrow led to repentance. For you felt the sorrow that God had intended, and so were not harmed in any way by us.

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 2596

Sorrow that God intends: according to, by way of, daily, day-by-day.

From the Greek word 'kata' (pronounced kat-ah')): that which pleases; according to the will of.

    That which Paul had written to the Corinth church concerning their lack of love and support to him and his companions as they spread the gospel had a marked effect on them. They recognized they had wronged them, repented of their faithlessness and changed the direction of their loyalties.  

    The Word tells us in Proverbs 4:27 to not turn to the right or to the left. In fact throughout Scripture we are informed to maintain our ways before the Lord and walk where He tells us to walk. He is the One, after all, Who directs our steps on the Way of Holiness He has mapped out for us. 

Jeremiah 7:23

Isaiah 35:8

Galatians 5:16

2 Corinthians 5:7

    Every time it feels like we are slipping away from faithfulness, we need to pay attention to the nudgings of the Holy Spirit. We, too, need to repent of our both our inaction (lack of support) and our action (leaving the path of righteousness) on a day-by-day basis. 

    Having received salvation when we first believed on Jesus' Name, and having received the Holy Spirit when we earnestly sought and waited for Him, we need to remain in close contact with our Savior and Advocate. We need to remember that a relationship of any kind, especially our born again relationship in Christ, requires constancy and consistency. 

    Constancy in that we need to remain in His vicinity. When we become aware of any sin we have committed, we need to immediately repent of it. Whether it is unkind words or seeds of doubt or failure to obey when the Spirit gives us God's Word to share with someone. It is as if we have stepped away, even if only slightly, from the side of our Savior.

    I lost another friend this month. He was younger than me. He got sick and died of respiratory failure and cardiac complications. I never failed to share God's love and my friendship with him. Though he never said anything, I hope that both made a difference in his heart and his life. 

    Consistency is remaining faithful to God's Word regardless of what or who comes against me when I am living it, breathing it, speaking it, sharing it, praying it, singing it. We need to walk the walk and talk the talk. That's consistency. To do otherwise is to fail to be the examples of righteousness we are supposed to be; it is being a two-faced double-minded irresponsible hypocrite. And I can't do that.

    Let us come to God now and repent of all our unrighteous acts and thoughts and words. There we will find forgiveness from God. And we need, if possible, to go to the person we have sinned against and apologize. It is there at the throne of grace that we receive wisdom and strength to go on in our walk with Christ. 

THIS IS AMAZING GRACE by Phil Wickham