A Crucified Life - - Answers The Call To Wait & Keep

 

    Psalm 37:34

Wait on The LORD and Keep His Way, and He will exalt you to inherit the land: you will look on when the wicked are cut off.

    We know that to wait on The Lord is to come near when called and to serve Him in whatever capacity He has called us to serve. Whether we wash dishes, fix engines, build houses, mop floors, prepare lessons, drive trucks, scrub toilets, change diapers, fix leaky pipes, etc. Wherever we are, as long as our hearts are right with The Lord, we are in His service. 

    Many preachers have been called to not only serve in the pulpit but to build it, as well. The Lord builds His church and designates who does what. But sometimes the pastor does more than "just preach". He is the plumber, the electrician, the janitor, the spackler, the sweeper, the window washer. In each he waits on The Lord, he serves. 

    Many a parent multitasks throughout parenthood. This is a job that never ends. Here we wait on The Lord as parents, doing double duty: in the home we are parents; on the job we are the employer/employee. 

    No service is too mean when we are in The Lord's service. Colossians 3:17 "And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him."

    Keeping His Way is to guard, to protect, to hedge ourselves with His Word. It is to surround ourselves with The Word of God. We pray that He leads us, guides us, guards us (Psalm 23). We pray that He carries us through, and walks with us. We pray that God surrounds us with Himself, keeping our enemies at bay as we wait on His purpose to be accomplished within us and through us. 

    We surround ourselves with like-minded praying people in our lives that we may strengthen each other in The Lord. The hand washes the foot, the heart pumps the blood, the diaphragm gives voice to the mouth. This is the body of Christ in service to God. 

(1 Corinthians 12:12-26)

    If I step on a sharp object, the immediate acknowledgement of pain comes out of my mouth. The body knows when the foot is in pain. If I gaze longingly at that maple doughnut, the stomach knows the eyes have seen something good and the nose has smelled a fantastic aroma, immediately the mouth waters. The body knows what satisfies the stomach. 

    So, if we remain in His service, waiting on His commands and keeping them, we will receive our reward in due time. We are to wait and keep with joy and honor. We are people of integrity. We are people of praise. 

    We are the body of Christ: we will be broken and poured out when we humble ourselves to wait on God's timing and keep living our lives in obedience to His Word. 

CALLED TO WAIT

Wait On You - Elevation Worship & Maverick City 

Surrounded - UPPERROOM

Talking To Jesus - Elevation Worship & Maverick City

Build My Life - Pat Barrett

Jesus At The Center - TRIBL

I Will Serve The Lord - Carman

Walking Free - Micah Tyler & Matthew West

Promises - TRIBL

     

Guard Your Heart - - Keep His Word

 

John 14:23

Jesus replied, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him."

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 

Keep: to watch over, to guard

From the Greek word 'téreó' (pronounced tay-reh'-o): I watch, I guard, I maintain, I keep intact. 

    I keep intact His Word. Not a phrase one would normally associate with keeping God's Word, yet it is completely accurate. For what does Christ say in Revelation? Revelation 22:18, 19 "I testify to everyone who hears the words of prophecy in this book: If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes away from the words of this book of prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and the holy city, which are described in this book."

    If anyone 'adds to' or 'removes from (takes away) the Book of Prophecy, God will take away that person's share in the Tree of Life and the holy city. A person will lose their life and their spiritual inheritance, when they detract from The Word. Death and destruction will be their reward. 

    Denying The Word, ignoring The Word, living in defiance of The Word is not keeping The Word. Twisting The Word to suit your own selfish agenda is not keeping The Word. 

     

KEEP MY WORD

>Be Diligent

2 Chronicles 31:21 "And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered."

>Be Careful

The Lord's instructions to Joshua: 

Joshua 1:7, 8 "Above all, be strong and very courageous. Be careful to observe all the law that My servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may prosper wherever you go. This Book of the Law must not depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in all you do."

>Be Faithful

John's revelation from Christ: 

Revelation 22:9

"Behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of prophecy in this book."

THE WORD IS LIFE

John 8:51

"Truly, truly, I tell you, if anyone keeps My word, he will never see death.”

John 11:26

"And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?"

John 3:16

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

Philippians 2:16

"Holding forth The Word of Life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain."

THE WORD IS THE FATHER'S WORD

John 14:24

"Whoever does not love Me does not keep My words. The word that you hear is not My own, but it is from the Father who sent Me."

John 7:16

"Jesus answered them and said, “My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me."

John 12:49

"I have not spoken on My own, but the Father who sent Me has commanded Me what to say and how to say it."

John 8:26

""I have much to say about you and much to judge. But the One who sent Me is truthful, and what I have heard from Him, I tell the world."

THE TRINITY TAKES UP RESIDENCE

Our key verse for today:

John 14:23

Jesus replied, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him."

Revelation 3:20

"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me."

Matthew 28:19, 20

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

    Let us open the doors of our hearts, invite Jesus in and He will feed and sustain us with The Word of God in The Spirit of God. Let us put out the welcome mat for The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit now that we may dine at the welcome table. Believe, Receive, Rejoice.  

Words of Life - Statler Bros. 

Ancient Words - Michael W. Smith

Abide In Me - Andrew Marcus 

Abba - John Mark Pantana

Welcome, Holy Spirit - Jimmy Swaggart