“THE GIFT FROM GOD!”

Ephesians 2:8-9                 (ESV)

“[8] For BY GRACE you have been saved through FAITH. And this is not your own doing; IT IS “THE GIFT OF GOD”, [9] NOT A RESULT OF WORKS, so that no one may boast.”

In the period of time that the book of Mark was penned, about 65-70 AD, many people “believed” that “Gentiles” were thought to be people who were NOT CHOSEN by GOD to be a part of HIS KINGDOM?  Most “Gentiles” (people born outside of the Jewish faith) were considered to be “unclean” with NO HOPE of redemption.  

The caption A GENTILE MOTHER’s FAITH was used in this week’s Sunday School lesson.  It must have been a title used by the societal elite to place others “in their place”?!?  FAITH 

Suppose if I were born in 65-70 AD?  A child fathered by a man who left his family and moved out of the country to avoid paying child support?  I had NO INPUT into my ancestors.  HOWEVER, GOD doesn’t issue limitations based on your lineage.  HIS OWN SON was born in a cattle “stall”, certainly not a place where THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSES should have to experience?  

Then JESUS, GOD IN FLESH, CHOSE me, BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD, to be a follower of HIS, as pitiful and pathetic as I am!  I have NOTHING to offer HIM, only MY ALL!  It is SOLELY “THE GIFT OF GOD” that HE CHOSE me!!!

“QUICK TO HEAR!”

 

James 1:19-21               (ESV)

Hearing and Doing the WORD

“[19] Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be “QUICK TO HEAR”, SLOW to speak, SLOW to anger; [20] for the anger of man DOES NOT produce the righteousness of GOD. [21] Therefore PUT AWAY ALL FILTHINESS and rampant wickedness AND RECEIVE with meekness THE IMPLANTED WORD, which is able to SAVE your souls.”

Mankind seems to be “wired” to act and react extremely abruptly to anything that enters our minds?  It is very common for me to be “quick on my feet” with a response to whatever is placed before me.  

Directly following the Brain Hemorrhage my ability to react to adversity in my life was greatly affected, maybe even “retarded”.  I can NOW SEE that this inability to quickly respond to an adverse situation “might” have been DIVINELY orchestrated by OUR CREATOR???

In the Scripture above, the LORD is telling me to TWICE to be SLOW!  HE also instructs me to be “QUICK TO HEAR”, and in my case I need to be “QUICK TO HEAR” from HIM before my lips engage with a response!!  How many times did I have “forge ahead” with someone or something WITHOUT being SLOW to SPEAK and SLOW to get ANGRY???

LORD, please forgive me for NOT being SLOW to SPEAK and SLOW to be ANGRY, but MOST OF ALL for NOT being “QUICK TO HEAR” from YOU to guide me to GUIDE and DIRECT my steps!!!

“HE WILL!”

 

Isaiah 40:10-11                 (ESV)

    “[10] Behold, the LORD GOD comes with MIGHT,

        and HIS arm rules for HIM;

    behold, HIS reward is with HIM,

        and HIS recompense before HIM. 

    [11] “HE WILL” tend HIS flock like a SHEPHERD;

        “HE WILL” gather the lambs in HIS arms;

    “HE WILL” carry them in HIS bosom,

        and GENTLY LEAD those that are with young.”

I am aware that this is third day I have shared these verses, but GOD IS STILL SPEAKING TO ME, and I am unable to move away from HIM!!!  As I have previously written, “The LORD GOD comes with MIGHT” is a POWERFUL statement that should cause humanity to be tremble at HIS POWER!!!  Or should WE be consoled???

The WORDS of the next verse however begins with “HE WILL”!!!  Those WORDS are NOT a “hope so”, or a “might be”, or anything indefinite that humans try to interject!  GOD is saying “HE WILL” to assure we whose FAITH is STILL being grown that HE IS IN CONTROL, whether we understand EVERYTHING about HIM, or not!!!

One of the greatest examples of FAITH that I have been made aware of was when I was in the seventeen day coma in 2007.  My wife was telling people that “he is going to be okay”!!  They would think that she was being overly optimistic?  One of my nurses later told me that IT APPEARED that she was showing signs of Brain Damage, and I was the one who was being treated!!!  But ultimately my health was restored, and even my doctor wrote that it was “a miracle from GOD” after I was released from the hospital!!!  My wife’s FAITH was EVIDENT, even when mine probably wouldn’t have been!!!

When GOD says “HE WILL”, we need to REST ASSURED that HE does precisely what HE SAID HE WOULD DO!!!  I tend to be more pessimistic than others when GOD has said “HE WILL”!  But my wife REFUSED to have “weak FAITH” and she BELIEVED that “HE WILL” meant that “HE WILL”!!!

I PRAY that my FAITH will become everything HE causes it to be!!!

“GENTLE SHEPHERD!”

 

Isaiah 40:10-11                 (ESV)

    “[10] Behold, the LORD GOD comes with MIGHT,

        and HIS arm rules for HIM;

    behold, HIS reward is with HIM,

        and HIS recompense before HIM. 

    [11] HE will tend HIS flock like a “SHEPHERD”;

        HE will gather the lambs in HIS arms;

    HE will carry them in HIS bosom,

        and “GENTLY” LEAD those that are with young.”

https://youtu.be/jPBydcYD_lM?si=Qnn_PbodH3ffJbm-

No sooner had I posted the previous devotional recently did my thoughts turn to another song entitled “GENTLE SHEPHERD”, sung by The Gaither Vocal Band above.  

Isaiah 40:10 begins with saying that “the LORD GOD comes with MIGHT, and HIS arm rules for HIM; behold, HIS reward is with HIM, and HIS recompense before HIM”.  When we TAKE THE TIME to consider that JESUS SPOKE THE UNIVERSES into existence during CREATION, AND THEN molded man out of dust, HOW can we think that HE IS MIGHTY??  HE IS THE definition of MIGHTY!!

BUT HE IS also akin to a “GENTLE SHEPHERD”, guiding HIS illiterate FOLLOWERS along the path HE has assigned each of us!  WHY would HE, THE CREATOR of EVERYTHING, be so concerned with me that HE paid an UNIMAGINABLE price for me to spend eternity with HIM in HEAVEN??  I AM CHOSEN is the only answer to that question!!  I certainly don’t deserve it, BUT I AM CHOSEN!!!

The “GENTLE SHEPHERD” that is sung about in the video above is THE SAME CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSES!!!  HE loved me SO MUCH that HE PAID THE PRICE FOR MY SALVATION!  And HE will be LEADING me until HE LEADS me home!!!

“GENTLY LEAD!”

 

Isaiah 40:10-11                 (ESV)

    “[10] Behold, the LORD GOD comes with MIGHT,

        and HIS arm rules for HIM;

    behold, HIS reward is with HIM,

        and HIS recompense before HIM. 

    [11] HE will tend HIS flock like a shepherd;

        HE will gather the lambs in HIS arms;

    HE will carry them in HIS bosom,

        and “GENTLY LEAD” those that are with young.”

https://youtu.be/N6ser9IET_k?si=bB4Q_yAZ3TluLOrz

This morning I woke up with the song above playing in my brain damaged mind!  I’m no music expert, but Elvis Presley was one of the most popular artists, certainly of my lifetime.  

With all of the hype and notoriety surrounding the legacy of Elvis, is it possible to wrap your mind around THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSES being tasked with “GENTLY LEADING” us through the distractions and challenges of “this world”?  

Understanding that BELIEVERS have such a powerful HOST ABIDING inside of us isn’t something that I can wrap my faulty brain around.  Reading the Scriptures above lets me know that JESUS was willing to “GENTLY LEAD” those who THE FATHER has given HIM (John 6:37-47)!!  HE could have NOT GIVEN US A CHOICE, but HE was willing to physically LIVE for over 33 years, then suffer and die on Calvary for THOSE that were CHOSEN BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD (Ephesians 1:4)!!

It is blatantly clear that MY ONLY HOPE is to apply HIS GRACE to my wretched existence!  My prayer is that HE will “GENTLY LEAD” me through my remaining time in “this world”, and then I will be CALLED HOME to reside with HIM in HEAVEN, FOREVER AND FOREVER!!!

“HE WILL TEACH YOU!”

 

John 14:26                 (ESV)

“[26] But the HELPER, the HOLY SPIRIT, WHOM the FATHER will send in MY name, “HE WILL TEACH YOU” and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”

Mortal humans DO NOT have the capability to do anything we desire, otherwise we would live longer than the 120 years or so before we die!  BUT GOD has given us the possibility to LIVE FOREVER, as long as we TRUST in HIM!!

Sometimes I can’t remember ANYTHING, especially since the “massive brain hemorrhage” I experienced on July 09, 2007!  The frailty of the human body is greatly misunderstood, for the most part?  We THINK and ACT that we are going to “be here” forever, but of the humans who have been created there are exactly -0-that are still here!  Hebrews 9:27-28 explains this rather plainly!!

The HOLY SPIRIT, also known as the HELPER, has been sent live inside of we who are BORN AGAIN to perform whatever HE desires from our bodies!  GODS PERFECT PLAN uses a portion of THE GODHEAD to inhabit the bodies of BELIEVERS in our assignments.  We WILL accomplish HIS PLAN, regardless of our selfish desires or wishes!  

How can we be “for sure” that we are fulfilling our “assignment”???  “HE WILL TEACH YOU” is something that GOD CAN AND WILL accomplish in our lives, regardless of our own desires.  HE used a seventeen day coma to OPEN my EYES in 2007!  I earnestly pray that I am MORE READY to SEEK and LISTEN to what “HE WILL TEACH YOU” in my latter years!!!

“HE CHANGED HIS MIND!”

 Matthew 27:1-10                 (ESV)

JESUS Delivered to Pilate

“[1] When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. [2] And they bound HIM and led HIM away and delivered HIM over to Pilate the governor.

Judas Hangs Himself

[3] Then when Judas, HIS betrayer, saw that JESUS was condemned, “HE CHANGED HIS MIND” and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, [4] saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? SEE TO IT YOURSELF.” [5] And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and HE WENT AND HANGED HIMSELF. [6] But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is blood money.” [7] So they took counsel and bought with them the potter’s field as a burial place for strangers. [8] Therefore that field has been called the FIELD OF BLOOD to this day. [9] Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel, [10] and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the LORD directed me.””

In my younger years, when my EYES had yet to be OPENED, Pilate was “always” the bad guy because he was “in charge” during the crucifixion of my LORD!  

JESUS could have called 12 legions of Angels to “bail HIM out” of this supposed trial.  In biblical terms, a legion typically consists of about 6,000 soldiers. Therefore, 12 legions equate to approximately 72,000 angels. Only “one Angel” annihilated 185,000 Assyrians in 2 Kings 19:35, so “12 Legions of Angels”could kill more than the world population at the time of THE CRUCIFIXION!

THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSES SPOKE the ENTIRE WORLD into existence FROM NOTHING in just seven days, so HE could have easily halted HIS BRUTAL DEATH!!  HE CHOSE to purchase my salvation, because I had NO HOPE without HIS SACRIFICE!  Judas had to have experienced a weak moment to deny JESUS for 30 pieces of silver, didn’t he??  But the fact is that he DID deny JESUS when he needed to, because it was THE PLAN OF GOD!!!

The mere fact that Judas had been WITH JESUS for three years was NOT enough save him from selling out to “the chief priests and the elders” for 30 pieces of silver.  The fact that “HE CHANGED HIS MIND” was TOO LATE to change his fate!!  ONLY JESUS CAN CHANGE A HEART!!  “HE CHANGED HIS MIND” did not save Judas’ soul!  JESUS STILL DIED BECAUSE OF MY SINS!  But HE overcame death and I AM SO GLAD HE DID!!!