“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!!!

“LET HIM DENY HIMSELF!”

 

Matthew 16:24-26                 (ESV)

Take Up Your Cross and Follow JESUS 

“[24] Then JESUS told HIS disciples, “If anyone would come after ME, “LET HIM DENY HIMSELF” and TAKE UP HIS CROSS and follow ME. [25] For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for MY sake will find it. [26] For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?”

These three verses of Scripture have TREMENDOUS meaning, in a myriad of different ways!  

To begin with, THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSES tells HIS Disciples that “If anyone would come after ME “?  Then after the message for today, HE commands them to “TAKE UP HIS CROSS” and follow me!  But the Disciples had NO IDEA the price that HIS WORDS would cost them!

For us to understand what “LET HIM DENY HIMSELF” sounds pretty drastic knowing what we NOW know.  JESUS was destined to SUFFER “cruel and unusual punishment”, unlike anything mankind has ever known. Yet HE was instructing HIS Disciples to be willing to give up their lives, just as HE was about to do for mankind!  

The LORD has not given this brain damaged man the mental capacity to comprehend anything that GOD has prepared for us……yet!  But please know that THE SAME GOD WHO CREATED THE UNIVERSE is preparing UNFATHOMABLE surroundings for we who have served HIM on earth!  

Understanding that my time in “this world” has to be drawing to an end, I am COMMITTED to fulfilling THE PLAN that HE has for my life!  I’m not smart enough to know precisely what HIS PLAN is right now, but my desire is to “LET HIM DENY HIMSELF” and to be used by JESUS while I am still here!!!

“I WILL!”

 

Ezekiel 36:25-32                 (ESV)

“[25] “I WILL” sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols “I WILL” cleanse you. [26] And “I WILL” give you a NEW HEART, and a NEW SPIRIT “I WILL” put within you. And “I WILL” remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. [27] And “I WILL” put MY SPIRIT within you, and cause you to walk in MY statutes and be careful to obey MY rules. [28] You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be MY people, and “I WILL” be your GOD. [29] And “I WILL” deliver you from all your uncleannesses. And “I WILL” summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you. [30] “I WILL” make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field abundant, that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations. [31] Then YOU WILL REMEMBER your evil ways, and YOUR DEEDS THAT WERE NOT GOOD, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominations. [32] IT IS NOT FOR YOUR SAKE THAT “I WILL” ACT, declares the LORD GOD; let that be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel.”

THE CHOSEN are NOT “more righteous” than others, nor are we “more worthy”!  But we are CHOSEN RACE it pleased GOD to do so (John 15:16)!  

The verses of Scripture listed above illustrate numerous times that GOD says “I WILL”, meaning that HE is the ONE that with the onus of keeping us!  We (mainly “I”) do not possess the power, nor ability, to FOLLOW HIM!  HE ALONE has the ABILITY to instill within us a NEW HEART and a NEW SPIRIT, transforming our lives into a NEW BEING!

Simply because we have been CHOSEN by HIM, BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD (Ephesians 1:4), gives us the FREEDOM to serve HIM!  Serving HIM will carry a huge burden, but HE HAS PROMISED that “I WILL” keep you, and that is ENOUGH for me!!!

“ENDURANCE PRODUCES CHARACTER!”

 Romans 5:1-5                 (ESV)

PEACE with GOD Through FAITH

“[1] Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with GOD through our LORD JESUS CHRIST. [2] THROUGH HIM we have also obtained access BY FAITH into this GRACE in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of GOD. [3] Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, [4] and “ENDURANCE PRODUCES CHARACTER”, and character produces hope, [5] and hope does not put us to shame, because GOD’S LOVE has been poured into OUR HEARTS through the HOLY SPIRIT WHO has been given to us.”

GOD HAS A PLAN!  Regardless of what mankind does “on his own”, GOD USES those deeds, and misdeeds, as parts of HIS PLAN!  

Remember Moses, a man whose oratory skills were EXTREMELY flawed, was trying to explain to GOD why he wasn’t the best choice to lead the Children of GOD out of Egyptian captivity?  GOD explained to him in Exodus 14:4 when HE says “I WILL GET GLORY OVER PHARAOH…..AND ALL HIS HOSTS!”  And sure enough, the most powerful kingdom known to man at the time was buried in the Red Sea by the CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSES!!!

When GOD SPOKE this world into existence, HE KNEW that mankind would require a SAVIOR for the redemption of our sins.  HE CREATED us in HIS IMAGE, but with a free will to CHOOSE or REJECT HIM.  HE KNEW what would be NEEDED for our redemption, yet HIS LOVE was EXPRESSED as HIS SON paid that PRICE on Calvary!

Slow-Tongued Moses was used in THE PLAN!  GOD caused Moses to be reared by Pharaohs daughter, and then Moses slayed an Egyptian guard because of the hatred of the Israeli people, causing Moses to flee to “the wilderness”!  But remember, GOD USES those deeds, and misdeeds, as parts of HIS PLAN!  GOD HAD A PLAN’!

GOD USES “our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and “ENDURANCE PRODUCES CHARACTER”, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because GOD’S LOVE has been poured into OUR HEARTS through the HOLY SPIRIT WHO has been given to us.”  

It is IMPERATIVE to remember that no matter how difficult and painful our situation is, “ENDURANCE PRODUCES CHARACTER”, not so that humanity can be GLORIFIED, but so that GOD WILL BE GLORIFIED!!!

“THE POWER!”

 

Ephesians 3:20-21                 (ESV)

“[20] Now to HIM WHO is able to do FAR MORE ABUNDANTLY than ALL that we ASK or THINK, according to “THE POWER” at work within us, [21] to HIM be glory in the church and in CHRIST JESUS throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

It is difficult beyond belief to describe exactly what these verses say to this soldier of the Cross!  Reading these very familiar verses causes me to very humbly ask WHY HE CHOSE me???

When we attempt to imagine “THE POWER” of THE CREATOR, words of mortals are simply not adequate.  I have “THE POWER” of JESUS CHRIST is living inside of me (Galatians 2:20), so why should I doubt myself?  “THE POWER” of THE CREATOR lives inside of me, but I have to YIELD to HIS direction and leadership.  

Verse 20 above states that HE (JESUS) is able to do FAR MORE ABUNDANTLY than ALL that we ASK or THINK!!  So why do I fret and worry about ANYTHING?  Our CREATOR literally CONTROLS what we DO and THINK, so we just NEED to TRUST and OBEY HIM!!!

Could this be the reason why being Brain Damaged in 2007 by the Brain Hemorrhage gave me such PEACE??  I did not even have the capability to “get in out of the rain”, but GOD HAS ME, which gave me PEACE beyond description!  “THE POWER” of THE CREATOR was in CONTROL of my life!!  HE IS FAR MORE COMPETENT THAN I WAS/AM/EVER WILL BE!!!

“THERE IS NO WATER!”

 

Psalm 63:1                 (ESV)

My Soul Thirsts for You

A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.

    “[1] 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”.”

Have you ever been SO THIRSTY that the ONLY way to satisfy yourself is a drink of water??  Nothing added to it!  So sweetener!  No artificial coloring!  Nothing but PURE, COOL, REFRESHING, WATER!!!

As I mature, both physically AND SPIRITUALLY, I am becoming more and more attracted to PURE WELL WATER. We are BLESSED to have well-water at our home that is EXCELLENT!  We had a friend selling water purification systems come to our house earlier in life and tried to “test” our water to see if we could benefit from a new filtration system that he was selling.  He had test tubes to analyze the water in, but our water tested perfectly and he didn’t try anything else to make the sale!

The sense of having JESUS in your life is that multiplied by infinity!!  There is NOTHING that SATISFIES like JESUS CHRIST in your life.  HE was with me when I was UNBEARABLE in my early years!  HE was with me and my friend walking the mall in August 1982.  HE was with me on February 17, 1984 when I was BLESSED in marrying a girl I met while walking the mall in August 1982.  HE was VERY MUCH with me in July 2007 when my Brain developed a near fatal leak.  HE was with me in April 2017 when I experienced a “pulled muscle” in my chest that was alleviated with QUADRUPLE BYPASS SURGERY the following week.  HE has NEVER let me down, regardless of how many times I have been moving TOO FAST to get HIS INSTRUCTIONS for the PATH HE has PLANNED for me!!!

“THERE IS NO WATER” that can satisfy you, WITHOUT JESUS in your life!  HE is the ULTIMATE SATISFACTION!  When wealth, possessions, and THINGS become more important than THE THINGS OF GOD, you can REST ASSURED that HE hasn’t left you!!  Even though I don’t treat HIM as I should, and don’t give HIM the PRAISE and ADORATION HE deserves, HE NEVER LEAVES me!!!  Even when “THERE IS NO WATER”, JESUS IS STILL THERE FOR ME!!!

“Psalm 63:1