Effie Darlene Barba

Romans 6:15-17

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁵ What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.

¹⁶ Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

¹⁷ But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.

Romans 6:15-17

Amplified Bible (AMP)

¹⁵ What then [are we to conclude]? Shall we sin because we live not under Law but under God’s favor and mercy? Certainly not!

¹⁶ Do you not know that if you continually surrender yourselves to anyone to do his will, you are the slaves of him whom you obey, whether that be to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience which leads to righteousness (right doing and right standing with God)?

¹⁷ But thank God, though you were once slaves of sin, you have become obedient with all your heart to the standard of teaching in which you were instructed and to which you were committed.

Whose servant are you?  To whom do you surrender your heart, your thoughts, your body, your future, your finances, and your life?  Is there anything, any desire, or any person that you place before Him?  Do you think to yourself, that after all God has loved me and saved me; His mercy will cover this sin I continue to cling to or this pride which I cannot let go of.   Oh, yes for those who know Christ as their Savior the sin is covered; yet, our joy as well as our testimony can be destroyed by sin.  In fact, I have learned that whenever my heart becomes heavily burdened or fearful; I certainly must look for what has entered my life that clouds my view of God.  That is a moment when I must ask Him like David to search my heart–to shine His light so brightly in my heart that I might see clearly His will.  I want to surrender everything to Him; because this I KNOW.  In His presence is fullness of Joy.  So I ask you again, Whose servant are you?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=HcnfT4arZtI

 

Hebrews12 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

² Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Philippians 3:  ¹³ Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

¹⁴ I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

¹⁵ Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.

¹⁶ Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.

¹⁷ Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an example.

Our only hope of walking in this world as a Christian is to fix your eyes on Jesus.  We are to fix our hearts upon God and our eyes upon Jesus.  Whenever we let our eyes stray to look at the trials, tribulations, temptations, and things of this world; we will become anxious, frustrated and our testimony will be placed in jeopardy.  Do you need hope for today?  Turn your eyes upon Jesus.  Do you need joy?  Look upon His love for you.  Do you feel sorry for yourself?  Look at Jesus and all that He suffered willingly for you.  You may be the only Christ some people ever see, are you willing to suffer so that your testimony is stronger were God to ask you to?  Do you trust Him to do what is best for you, even when you do not understand?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO4uIyz_d90

 

Psalm 57:  57 Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.

² I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me.

³ He shall send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth.

⁴ My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.

⁵ Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth.

⁶ They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down: they have digged a pit before me, into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves. Selah.

⁷ My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise.

⁸ Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early.

⁹ I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto thee among the nations.

¹⁰ For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds.

¹¹ Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: let thy glory be above all the earth.

David knew where to turn in the midst of every trial.  When it would seem that the whole world had turned against him, he turned his thoughts, his cries, his heart over to God in prayer.  He would tell God of the trials he saw before him, cry out from a broken heart, and pour out before God his repentance for his own sin.  Notice in this prayer song (as you will note throughout the psalms); once David lays all his burdens before the Lord, he then begins a praise song.  David trusted that God would accomplish God’s purpose and plan, fulfilling all the promises He had made to David.  Once David had spoken to God about the trials, David stopped the fear, sorrow, and worry.  Instead, David would preach to himself; many times he would tell himself "Awake, my soul"  With full determination not to let Satan’s whispering lies to seep into thoughts; David would declare boldly, "My heart is fixed on you and I will sing you praise."   My heart is fixed–firm, unmovable, unshakably standing firm on the promises of God and on who God IS and forever will be.   Is your heart fixed on God?  Do you grasp the power of His might and the depth of His love for you? Note as David commands, "Awake up my glory!!"  "What glory?" you might ask.  Let me lead you back to one of my favorite verses, 2 Corinthians "¹⁸ But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."   So, simple the only way that I may awaken any semblance of glory within me is by gazing upon the Glory of the Lord and reflecting that same glory back to Him.  Just like the moon has no light of it’s own and reflects the light of the sun; I too can reflect the light of the Glory of Christ as I remain steady fixed upon Him through prayer, praise, and steady reading of the word of God.  "Awake, psaltery and harp."  Sometimes we need to awaken the joy, the praise song and the love song within our hearts.  Just as in any relationship there are moments in the which we fall into a "humdrum" pattern and need to flame the fires of our hearts to remember the feelings when we first fell in love; so, to in our relationship with Christ, we must not allow our hearts to reach that humdrum state which leads to wandering hearts.  We must flame our hearts with a love and praise song each morning.  So, in closing; bring your trials, sorrows, and sins–lay them before God.  Then fix your heart upon God, awaken your reflections of His Glory by steadily gazing upon Him, and sing out a love song to God praising His Wondrous Name.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbNK50T35wY&NR=1&feature=endscreen

 

Ephesians 1:  ¹⁷ [For I always pray to] the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, that He may grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation [of insight into mysteries and secrets] in the [deep and intimate] knowledge of Him,

¹⁸ By having the eyes of your heart flooded with light, so that you can know and understand the hope to which He has called you, and how rich is His glorious inheritance in the saints (His set-apart ones),

¹⁹ And [so that you can know and understand] what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power in and for us who believe, as demonstrated in the working of His mighty strength,

²⁰ Which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His [own] right hand in the heavenly [places],

²¹ Far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named [above every title that can be conferred], not only in this age and in this world, but also in the age and the world which are to come.

²² And He has put all things under His feet and has appointed Him the universal and supreme Head of the church [a headship exercised throughout the church],

²³ Which is His body, the fullness of Him Who fills all in all [for in that body lives the full measure of Him Who makes everything complete, and Who fills everything everywhere with Himself].

This was a prayer that Paul prayed for the Ephesian people.  This is the prayer that I would pray for you.  Though this is a prayer for those who know Christ as their Savior.  I would like to pray it for all who read this.  I would pray that the eyes of your heart be opened to see the light of His Glory that you would understand, desire, and seek Him.  I, too so desire that He so flood the eyes of my heart with His light that I may be blinded to all that surrounds me and would try to draw me away.  If I truly understand the richness of His Glorious Inheritance and the hope to which He has called me; then all the "other stuff, trials, and tribulations that make up this life" become mere triviality.  If I understand the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power in and for me; what would I ever worry about?  If I truly have been swept off my feet; having so fallen in love with my Savior, would there be any task too great?  Go back and read these words of Paul once more, very slowly let them become a prayer for yourself and for someone else.  Do you want to see His Face, His Grace, and His Magnificent Beauty with the eyes of your heart?  Do you want to sit a moment at His feet and be so filled with His presence?  Let me tell you that your entire day with be changed by that moment spent with Him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRtCGCGxsDw&playnext=1&list=PLC551B09066BD6B58&feature=results_video

 

Psalm 118: ⁴ Let those now who reverently and worshipfully fear the Lord say that His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever.

⁵ Out of my distress I called upon the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free and in a large place.

⁶ The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?

⁷ The Lord is on my side and takes my part, He is among those who help me; therefore shall I see my desire established upon those who hate me.

⁸ It is better to trust and take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in man.

⁹ It is better to trust and take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.

Grace, Mercy and Loving-kindness surrounds me because I know, love, and trust my omnipotent, omniscient Heavenly Father.  He knows what is best for me.  He is my provider, my protector, my joy, my love, and my guide through life.  No sorrow comes into my life, no trial presses against me, no human causes harm, no financial disaster arrives but that it first was sifted through the mighty and loving hands of my Father.  If I awake tomorrow and like Job, everything is gone; save my relationship with Him, I will still praise Him.  My joy does not nor ever will depend upon this stuff that surrounds me; it is found in God Alone.  He knows when other things get in the way of my joy because I have allowed them to have too much importance.  Sometimes He has pried them out of tightly closed fist and I am so grateful He did.  No government is in place; but He has allowed.  He will accomplish all that He has planned in my life, in the world, and in the universe that He has created with His Breath.  For that reason, I have nothing to fear in life or death.  Though He may allow evil to continue for a while, He is never surprised by it.  He hates sin with a ferocious wrath.    He would be Just and Righteousness to say "Enough" and in one powerful breath destroy all of mankind; so, if He tarries one more day–it is Mercy and Grace that has allowed each sinner one more day, one more chance to call upon His name and accept His gift of Salvation (free to you and at a tremendous cost to God).  So my question is, "If you have never accepted Christ as Your Savior, why are you waiting?" and you Christians "Who are you going to tell about Christ today?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtPAIWevsNA