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

    

Repent and Be Baptized

"The sermon preached in the power of the Holy Spirit invariably commanded men not only to repent, but to be baptized with the Holy Spirit." --Cortland Myers, 1909



In Matthew 3 we meet up with John the Baptist again, who is now calling men to repent and be baptized with water, for "the kingdom of heaven is at hand", meaning near. But what did he say a few days on?

Matthew 3:11-12 "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but He that comes after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. Whose fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner; but will burn up the chaff with an unquenchable fire."

And who could do that? Jesus the only begotten Son of God, who must first go through a time of testing and temptations in the wilderness. Did He bring Himself there? No. Matthew 4:1 "Then was Jesus LED up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil." To prepare for that part of His journey Jesus fasted 40 days and 40 nights.

When He was hungry, He was tempted by the tempter to turn stone into bread. When the devil brought Him to Jerusalem (the holy city), he tempted Him to jump off the highest pinnacle of the temple to see if God's angels would catch Him. When the devil took Him to a very high mountain, showing Him all the kingdoms of the world in their glory, the tempter offered Jesus these if only Jesus would worship him.

But none of these temptations did Jesus give into. Not just because He is God's Son, The Lord Jesus Christ but because Jesus had the Holy Spirit with Him. As an example for us, Jesus showed us that WE CAN OVERCOME TEMPTATION when we have JESUS, THE WORD OF GOD, and THE HOLY SPIRIT of GOD upon us! That is exciting news!

And what were the first words out of His mouth afterwards? Matthew 4:17 "Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." And while He made the rounds of the cities healing the sick, teaching in parables and raising the dead, He was forgiving sins, too, to the heart that sought Him in earnest.

Now, we move to Acts 1:4-5 "And being assembled together with them, He commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith He, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence."

Which brings us to Acts 2:1-4 wherein the 120 men and women are in the upper room fellowshipping and praying together waiting for the Promise of God to arrive. Fifty days after the Passover Sabbath had passed is the Day of Pentecost (Leviticus 23:15-16), the feast of weeks (Deuteronomy 16:10), the feast of harvest (Exodus 23:16), and the day of the firstfruits (Numbers 28:26).

Afterwards, these men and women went out into the city streets proclaiming the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ, with the power of the Holy Spirit. It is here in Acts 2:38 that we hear Peter say to us, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."

But this Promise/Blessing is not given just to them/us, Acts 2:39 "For the Promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." Whether 'afar off' means geographically or genealogically, that Promise is still active today; just as the call of God on our lives is!

So, today, we say "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. You and your children and those that are afar off."

----Oh, Father God, I repent of all my wicked ways, of the sins in my heart and my life. Have mercy on me and forgive me. Deliver me from an unrighteous lifestyle and lead me in Your Word. Give me Your gift of the Holy Ghost that I might walk and live in Your power. Teach me Your ways and Your will that I might never stray from You again. Fill me and feed me that I may not hunger for the things of this world but be content in You. Be glorified, O my God, in me. In Jesus' Name, Amen. And amen. ----

God's Promises Never Change

GOD'S PROMISES NEVER CHANGE

• GOD WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU NOR FAIL YOU ~Hebrews 13:5
• IF YOU USE WISELY WHAT YOU HAVE, YOU WILL BE GIVEN MORE~Matthew 25:29
• YOU CAN ACCOMPLISH GREAT THINGS WITH GOD'S HELP~Psalm 60:12
• GOD IS OUR REFUGE IN TIMES OF TROUBLE~Psalm 9:9, Isaiah 43:2
• GOD DOES NOT IGNORE US WHEN WE ARE IN TROUBLE~Psalm 9:12
• GOD OFFERS REST FROM OUR BURDENS~Matthew 11:28
• GOD GIVES GOOD ADVICE~Psalm 32:8
• GOD IS SLOW TO GET ANGRY WITH US~Psalm 103:8

• BLESSINGS WILL COME TO US THROUGH APPLYING GOD'S WORD~Luke 11:28
• BLESSINGS WILL COME TO FROM OBEYING GOD~Psalm 1:1
• GOD BLESSES THOSE WHO DO WHAT IS RIGHT~Psalm 84:11
• GOD BLESSES THOSE WHO HELP THE POOR~Proverbs 19:17
• GOD TAKES CARE OF US~Psalm 23, Isaiah 46:4
• GOD IS CLOSE TO ALL WHO CALL UPON HIM~Psalm 145:18
• GOD BRINGS GOOD OUT OF BAD CIRCUMSTANCES~Romans 8:28, Genesis 45:7, 8
• WHEN YOU BECOME A CHRISTIAN, YOU ARE A NEW PERSON~2 Corinthians 5:17

• GOD COMFORTS THE BROKEN-HEARTED~Psalm 34:18, 147:3
• GOD COMFORTS THOSE WHO SUFFER~2 Corinthians 1:5
• THOSE COMMITTED TO GOD FIND NEW RENEWED STRENGTH~Isaiah 40:31
• THOSE COMMITTED TO GOD WILL SHARE IN ALL HIS RICHES~Hebrews 3:14
• GOD IS IN CHARGE OVER THE WORLD~John 16:33
• GOD SATISFIES THE SOUL~Psalm 107:9
• GOD GIVES COURAGE WHEN YOU ARE AFRAID~Psalm 56:3
• KNOWING GOD IS WITH US GIVES US COURAGE~Joshua 1:6,7, 9, 18

• DEATH IS NOT THE END BUT THE BEGINNING OF ETERNAL LIFE~Psalm 49:15, John 11:25
• GOD WILL FIGHT FOR YOU~Joshua 23:10, 2 Chronicles 20:22
• GOD WILL GUARD YOU FROM THE EVIL ONE~2 Thessalonians 3:3
• ALL WHO BELIEVE WILL ONE DAY PRAISE GOD IN HEAVEN~2 Thessalonians 1:10
• GOD IS FAITHFUL TO THOSE WHO LOVE HIM~Deuteronomy 7:9
• WHEREVER WE GO, GOD IS THERE~Genesis 28:15
• GOD HAS WONDERFUL PLANS FOR OUR LIVES~Jeremiah 29:11
• GOD WILL LIVE AMONG US FOREVER~Revelation 21:3

• GOD FORGIVES OUR SINS~Daniel 9:9, Ephesians 4:32
• GOD IS PREPARING A WONDERFUL PLACE FOR US IN HEAVEN~John 14:2,             1 Corinthians 2:9
• IF YOU SEEK GOD, YOU WILL FIND HIM~1 Chronicles 28:9, Matthew 7:7
• JESUS IS COMING BACK!~Matthew 26:64, Acts 1:11, Matthew 24:30,                              1 Thessalonians 4:16
• THE JOY OF THE LORD IS OUR STRENGTH~Nehemiah 8:10
• WHOEVER BELIEVES IN GOD'S SON WILL NOT PERISH BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE~John 3:16, Romans 10:13
• THE WORD OF FAITH IS NECESSARY~Romans 10:8-10
• WHEN WE CONFESS OUR SINS, GOD FORGIVES US~1 John 1:9