“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
So I will bless you as long as I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands.” (Psalm 63:1-4 ESV)
This is what the relationship between a Christian and God/Christ Jesus should look like, in reality. And if he is our God, then he is our Lord. And if he is our Lord, he is the Master (Owner) of our lives. He is the one guiding and directing us in the way that we should go, and not our own flesh. And if earnestly we seek (pursue, go after, follow) him, then we are those whose lives are surrendered to him to doing his will, who no longer walk in sin, but who walk in accord with and in obedience to his commandments.
Now we are not under the Old Covenant liturgical, ceremonial, sacrificial, purification, circumcision, dietary, and Sabbath laws. God did away with those when Jesus died on that cross to put our sins to death with him. But we are not now lawless. We still have to obey God’s commandments as taught us in the New Testament, under the New Covenant God has with all who believe in Jesus Christ in truth and righteousness. And God requires that we die to sin and we now obey him in living holy lives, pleasing to God.
And if our souls thirst for God, as one might thirst for water where there is none, God is who we hunger and thirst after, the primary source of life for us, the one we cannot live without. Like I keep a bottle of water right next to me to drink from throughout the day, we should keep the Lord close to our hearts, and we should drink from him and his word all throughout the day, as though necessary for our survival, for our spiritual health and strength. We should long for him and for his word that we might do what he says.
Now, what does God’s steadfast love look like? It is what sent Jesus Christ to the cross to take upon himself the sins of the world, and to put our sins to death with him so that, by God-persuaded and God-gifted faith in Jesus we will now die to sin and obey God in practice, by the grace of God, in the power of God. For God’s love and grace are not a free pass to get into heaven based on lip service to God only. God gives us commands we must follow, for they are for our good, that we may no longer walk in sin.
Sadly, many people today are teaching God’s love and grace as a free pass to heaven based on lip service only, and that is not love, and it is not grace. For God’s grace, which is bringing us salvation, is training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return. Jesus’ sacrifice on that cross was so we will now die to sin daily, by the Spirit, and obey God and his commands in daily practice, by the grace of God, in the power of God.
For Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).
For by God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own doing, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to righteousness in walks of obedience to God’s commands. We are no longer to permit sin to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it results in sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God (see Romans 6:1-23).
And we bless the Lord, not by lip service only, but by our obedience to him and to his commands, and by our submission to him and to his will and purpose for our lives. For our faith in Jesus Christ, if it is genuine biblical faith which comes from God, and which is persuaded of God, and which is not of our own doing, it will be shown by our deeds, by how we live our lives day in and day out, in practice. And if sin is what we practice, and not obedience to God, we will not inherit eternal life with God. Believe it!
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]
As the Deer
By Martin J. Nystrom
Based off Psalm 42:1
As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after You
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You
You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart's desire
And I long to worship You
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My Soul Thirsts for God
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