Life in Christ

“The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning a person from the snares of death” – Proverbs 14:27.

“Turning a person,” I noted this today in my Quiet Time with the Lord Jesus. To have a fear of the Lord Jesus turns us in the direction of “a fountain of life.”

The book of Proverbs is full of reminders to possess the fear of the Lord. To fear the Lord Jesus in conflict with others, in peace of mind, in all circumstances because we steer ourselves a miss. Our human compass leads to destruction. And, it is weak against the Devil’s divisive tactics, leading us to stay on his path. But to have a fear of the Lord Jesus turns us away and is a fountain of life.

So, whatever decision you need to make today, sieve it through the fear of the Lord Jesus. Will your responses or actions contain a fear of the Lord? The fear of disobeying His commands to turn the other cheek, take the insults or be a servant of all; a slave to God. We, as Christians, don’t belong to ourselves. The blood of Christ purchased us to be “a kingdom and priests to serve His God and Father” (Revelation 1:6). That kingdom and service in that reign is in reflection of Him! – the new life that sets us apart, governed by the fear of the Lord producing a fountain of life. But if people are experiencing bickering, fighting, hate, criticism, and resentment, there is no love of God flowing forth. No fountain of life. Or if we are running around pursuing our dreams and hopes, we also have lost focus.

Where is Jesus turning us away from? Proverbs 14:27 reveals the answer – from “the snares of death.” To have a fear of the Lord Jesus leads to a reliance on Jesus Christ, which, my friend, is a friendship with eternal life.

The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning a person from the snares of death.”

Proverbs 14:27 NIV

I chose this image for this post because trees are a great picture of the longevity of life and blessings. A tree stands against the changing seasons. And a gift because it gives shade and provides refuge for birds and animals. Its roots aerate the soil and provide a place for animals to shelter underground from rain. A tree represents the picture of a person in love with God’s ways and abiding by His word. Psalm 1 gives this picture.

When I first came to receive Jesus as Lord into my heart, I told the girls that they didn’t need to celebrate Mother’s Day. I told them this because it’s a forced event set out by the world that doesn’t know God. Jesus doesn’t force us to love Him. It’s a willing action from a thankful heart to hear and do what He says to honor Him. I wanted the girls to do the same – if they wanted to give me a Mother’s Day card or something special to show me their love, they could. But I didn’t want them to feel compelled to do it because a day on the calendar told them it was what they were to do.

The Lord Jesus said to me when I was new in the Lord was – “Don’t teach them how to love you. Teach them how to love Me!” It was a sobering thought – opposite to the world’s ideas. Most people want others to love them. It’s a practice pushed everywhere – self-love, self-promotion, self, self, and more self, positive thoughts, positive reflections all centered around yourself, to feel good about self! But it is not helpful to be full of self before the Almighty God. Humility is valued.

I had tried to teach my children that having a relationship with Jesus and loving Him above everything else is the most crucial aspiration to have. He is our protection above all the storms and troubles of life. I can’t help my children all the time. And there is a greater war that I can’t win – the battle over sin and the tactics of the Devil to make me fall. I must continue my relationship with Jesus just as firmly as I started. It’s that relationship where I sit with Christ every day and read His Word for myself, learning and growing in what righteousness looks like in the real world. I walk out of that room and take the knowledge I’ve learned with me to show it to the world, to show my children, and progress down this path until my life here is over.

It might not always be a popular message, my reflection of Christ. Or one my children won’t to easily comply with. But it’s my duty. I am not teaching others to love me, but Christ, and to follow eternal life, rather than short-term gains here.

One of the last things Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount to the crowds gathered to hear Him was –

“So in everything do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 7:12).

This morning, after I read this Scripture, I started thinking about what it is that I don’t like people doing to me. And the first thing that came to my mind was “selfishness.” Then I listed a few more in my journal – 

• Thinking yourself better than others (Philippians 2:3)
• The proud, arrogant
• Aggressive
• Bully

I could have kept going but soon realized I was listing the characteristics of our human nature – the human nature that needs to submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and be “reckoned dead!” (Romans 6:11) And just like this Mother’s Day message where I have told you I didn’t want my children to feel compelled to buy me a card or give me flowers, Jesus doesn’t want us to feel obligated to obey Him – He wants You to see it from His point of view and love Him for His incredible love for us! Jesus laid down His life for us. And as mothers, we do it every day. We lay down our lives for the well-being of our children. But above it all, we must remember. Our job isn’t to get our children to love us, but to love the higher calling – to love and willingly obey the Lord of their Life – Jesus Christ!

The natural person, if they keep living to please “self,” God will not raise them on the Last Day to eternal life, but to face destruction. It is a sobering warning, but one we must heed and understand. (Galatians 6:8).

My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.
Those who are far from you will perish;
you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.
But as for me, it is good to be near God.
I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge;
I will tell of all your deeds.

-	Psalm 73:26-28 NIV

Self

“Self” is a big enemy, and the Devil is right there to justify our needs to “look out for self!” But, on the end day, self can’t save our souls, the price was too high for us to pay, and Jesus did it for us. In my song, “A Soul’s Worth,” it talks about the incredible sacrifice of Christ, and ends with the lyrics – 

“Teach me to get them to love You
In this world, for it is nothing
Teach me to take no praise
For it’s by Your grace
The gospel of Jesus Christ” – Lyrics, “A Soul’s Worth by Josephine Mary Schmidt.

So, on Mother’s Day, a day when we could think – “It’s all about us!” Let us remember life is about pleasing Jesus and loving Him by representing Him to others, especially our children, teaching them to love Christ above our desire and need to be loved by them.

But before closing, my mind thinks of Proverbs 31:28-30 –

Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
“Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all.”
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

This post talks about a woman who fears and has her confidence in the Lord. And this woman should be praised and highly valued in her household. I want to encourage you. God sees, but we are not to force this praise. God’s Word declares that she “is to be praised.” But let our words and actions bring this praise, not a day on a calendar! Let our children learn to value the godly woman who deserves respect and praise continually.

This world will praise every mother on Mother’s Day, regardless. Many will go into church establishments and have their photos taken. And again, regardless of how they are acting in their households. But it is the godly woman who fears the Lord that God will make sure gets praised. God might not do it this day, but He will. So be blessed today as you soldier on doing the work of the Lord, if not silently, bringing Christ’s sweet-smelling aroma to your children.

A Soul’s Worth

We shouldn’t be reading the world’s story for us, but God’s! All around us, the world is telling us what it means to be useful, purposeful. But today, I was reading in God’s word the message He wants me to believe – “up is down,” or as Jesus’ puts it, we must lose our life to find it. At the end of this life’s journey, we are going to face Christ. He will immediately know, if we’ve done what we were supposed to -lose our life to find it for eternity. It won’t matter at that moment how well-dressed you were, or how well you could fix yourself up, or the house you lived in, or the holidays you went on. It will be your every day, small moments, when you were alone, your thoughts, the sum of them, the sum of you as a person – did you live for Christ and His gain, or something less important? Were you robbed by the Devil, the ruler of this world’s ways to believe you could have it all, a good life here, as well as in the next?

I hope not! Because God doesn’t have favorites, and He doesn’t show favoritism. What matters is whether we have abided in His Son and the Words He taught. Was His character in you? Or were you a stranger, someone who didn’t want to partake in the sufferings of Christ, the persecution, the exclusion, the low-position, the dismissal of those looking for a reward in this life?

I wrote the chorus of Keep Believing at a time when I was disillusioned. I’ve spent years recording in my studio, and often many songs never see the light of day. I’ve been excluded as an artist, even by the body of Christ. I’ve been persecuted by believers, snubbed by those protecting their positions as singers and worship leaders for the Lord. I’ve been invisible. “Keep believing, keep believing in the Son of God.” It doesn’t matter what others think of you or their take on the gospel if it’s not rooted in truth. What matters is – are you abiding in Jesus? We must know Him personally, and we should be aware of what He’s calling us to do – our race.

Paul, the apostle, clearly knew his race. And he told others about it. Not is a boastful way, but in a protective way for the sheep. You see, our gifts and what Jesus is asking us to do, isn’t for ourselves. It is for the building up of the body and for it to come to the full measure of Christ. We have things that no one else can do, experiences, a relationship with Jesus that no one else can bring to the table. So, because of this truth, I’ve persevered, labored almost out of sight from others, to get the job done that Jesus has given me, to sing, and tell others about Him. I haven’t waited to get approval from others, or for the resources, or the abilities – I’ve always stepped out like the woman who gave her two pennies and put them in the offering box for God to use however He wanted. If I valued and assessed myself to the world’s standard, and sadly, so often to the “church’s” worship standards, I would have gone home, packed my bags and studio gear up, given away my guitar and left sulking. But that was my old life, and who knows to the extent of things God is doing with the little I have, and that brings me back to the song – Keep Believing. We all know what we are supposed to be doing, not looking by sight at our circumstances and the world’s story for us. But by faith we walk. And it’s lonely. There are only a few, Jesus said on His path; His flock is small, and not many are “sold out” for Christ. Are you sold out? What’s leading you? Is it your knowledge of the truth, or have you got side-swiped?

“Run your face, as He said. Do the work of an evangelist as He led,” (Verse – Keep Believing).

I wasn’t going to finish this song I had started one day in the studio while recording something else. But Jesus wouldn’t let it go. Before it was finished, He kept bringing the chorus, often, to my mind. I prayed, and He wanted me to work on it. I prayed, and the verse was written. I prayed, and the studio production was finished. But its release was stalled. And then, when released, it was met with opposition, and iTunes didn’t release it. 

Constantly, every time I try and move in any direction regarding my music, bang – problems! I’ve come to expect them, but I’m never ready for them! It’s always a blow to the wind in my sails, and Jesus’ strength is knocked out of me, and I must hide myself in Him again and realize – don’t take it personally. It’s an attack on what I believe and an attack on Christ Jesus. It’s an attack on the message, the efforts to build up the body, speak truth and live the life of truth that Jesus led us to live – be the example, take the low-position, speak the truth, and not hold grudges!

“Keep Believing, keep believing in the Son of God.” 

We can look at other people’s lives and think they are fantastic. Or we can be thankful that whatever is happening to them isn’t happening to us. But the test is what the Bible says in 1 Peter 5:9 – that the same kind of suffering is happening to all the believers worldwide. 

Resist him, (the Devil) standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings (1 Peter 5:9).

That’s the hardest battle to win, the most challenging race to run – the race of faith because persecution and exclusions, and the desires for other things hit us when night after night, day after day, you are trying to live for Jesus, and it just gets harder and harder with more and more opposition and difficulties. We must keep our mind and heart on the prize. With no grumbling and complaining, grab this truth of 1 Peter 5:9 by the horns, and it’s an incredible release from what wants to drag us down to the pits of despair and never let you breathe. We fight the battle with faith, believing in the unfailing love of Jesus and the faithfulness of God that He will do, exactly, as He has said. We can put all our weight and soul on the truth of His Word, even our life, knowing that He will not fail to do as He has promised. Death’s door might be hovering over us, we might not have a cent to our name, and in deep despair. But if we put our faith in Jesus, He will see us through no matter, according to His Word and promises.

This world values amounts – amount of money, amount of time, number of sponsors, or likes, number of followers or influences, and number of friends and clients. I’m so glad Jesus didn’t grade or value our need in the same manner. For, He said, few find it, the narrow path. 

So, what motivates you? – love, is it your motivator and the truth of God’s word? Do you long to be correct, activated by pleasing the King and helping just one person in the gospel of freedom. There is no other name under heaven and earth that anyone can call on to be saved. That name is Jesus Christ, but it brings judgment to many because they refuse to listen, accept and desire to be saved. They love darkness more than light, and I’m afraid we are seeing it more and more. People are less ashamed of evil. They are more out in the open about it, and they have little regard for one another. But today, I read, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit (excessive pride in oneself). Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, (Philippians 2:3). Let’s put that on a bumper sticker and drive across town and see what happens! Of course, I’m not going to do that because judgment immediately falls on me for shoving the truth in front of someone else without love. 

It is through love and gentleness that we are to shine, by accepting that we will be hated and persecuted. But it’s okay, it’s what is to be expected, and it keeps us in check from stepping on the broad path, the path that doesn’t keep company with the One who humbled Himself, even to the point of death on a cross for our sake, to save us out from an eternity of utter darkness without Him.

“Keep Believing in the Son of God.”

Jesus said to Martha at the grave site of her brother, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” (John 11:40). Jesus and Martha had a conversation in the garden, outside her home. He had told her that her brother would live and that He was the resurrection and the life. Jesus hadn’t come right away to heal Lazarus but allowed death to take its grip for greater understanding to be made known. And isn’t that God’s way with us! He allows suffering, hardships so that we see His glory and experience the true victory He wants us to have. So often, we can let the things of this world, the setbacks to stop us from reaching our full potential – and not run our race!

I want to encourage you today, don’t look at the standards this world gives you. Look to Jesus and know that His flock is small, and these times are evil where few are willing to lose their life to find it. Don’t measure yourself on others’ success but measure yourselves against the apostles and prophets of God and allow faithfulness to be your guide and measure of success. Because at the end of the day, it is what Jesus will measure our worth – were we faithful with what He had given us and what He wanted us to do? Our plans don’t amount to anything, 

I’d rather do one thing of lasting value than nothing at all, having wasted this whole life trying to satisfy my own desires and cravings. “Run your race, as He said, do the work of an evangelist as He led.” This song has encouraged me over and over to do just that when I’ve become jaded by the world and its relentless attack on the gospel, and anything related. The gospel must be the most important thing to us and persevering in it. Jesus stated this in Matthew 24:13-14. And it must be. If this is what Jesus is concerned with, then it’s your race to run. And you can only do it by believing in the Son of God.

But the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come, (Matthew 24:13-14).

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