“AND THERE HE PRAYED!”

 

Mark 1:35                 (ESV)

JESUS Preaches in Galilee

“[35] And rising VERY EARLY in the morning, while it was still dark, HE departed and went out to a desolate place, “AND THERE HE PRAYED”.”

JESUS IS FULLY GOD (John 1:1) AND FULLY human (John 1:14), so why did HE need to go to a desolate place “AND THERE HE PRAYED”?  Maybe HE needed to set an example FOR US that no matter how “close” we may get to THE LORD, we will ALWAYS have a need to seek HIS guidance and direction before proceeding WHEREVER we need to go??  We have HIM living inside of us so that HE “abides” with us, protecting us from going “astray”!  

The “METHOD” that HE CHOOSES can be uncomfortable at times, but HE promises to never leave us, not that the journey will be smooth and without conflict!  JESUS CHOSE to come to earth, AND SUBMIT HIMSELF to unimaginable scorn and humiliation, all so this “reject” could have eternal life WITH HIM!!!  Why do I fail to ELEVATE HIM with every breath of HIS that I consume???  Instead, I would rather be BUSY with the cares of “this world”, neglecting to make HIM THE FOCUS of my being?  

JESUS AND THE FATHER ARE ONE (John 10:30), yet when GOD ALMIGHTY came to earth for thirty-three years HE didn’t come as a powerful potentate!  HE came in a cattle barn, because there was NO ROOM for HIM anywhere else!!  HIS Majesty can be seen THROUGHOUT CREATION, yet humanity couldn’t recognize HIM walking in their midst!  

JESUS, UNREMARKABLY and VERY OFTEN (Luke 5:16), got ALONE with GOD to pray!  What makes me think that I should not be surprised by this???  A reprobate at best, I am UNWORTHY to even come into HIS PRESENCE, but I am to follow the direction given to me by THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSES!!!  Wherever HE LEADS, I should be able and willing to remember “AND THERE HE PRAYED”!!!

“YOU ARE WITH ME!”

 

Psalm 23:4                 (ESV)

    “[4] Even though I WALK THROUGH

the valley of the shadow of death,

        I WILL FEAR NO EVIL,

    for “YOU ARE WITH ME”;

        YOUR rod and YOUR staff,

        they comfort me.”

While posting this on my social media sites recently, my mind was caused to remember July 2007, when I was in the coma following the Brain Hemorrhage.  Although I thought I had visions while in the coma, I don’t remember ANYTHING from the morning of July 10th until seeing my doctor walk by my ICU room on July 30th!  I was TOTALLY NOT IN CONTROL of anything in my life!!!  Even my breathing was controlled by machines, for the most part!!!

I was unable to pray that GOD would deliver me through the place I was in, nor anything else??  I HAD TO BE TOTALLY DEPENDENT upon my life being CONTROLLED without any CONTROL …..of ANYTHING!!  Being TOTALLY DEPENDENT wasn’t something that I was consulted about before the decision was made to place me in the coma. Seventeen days later, GOD brought me through “the valley of the shadow of death” without even checking with me for my opinion???

Although I have inquired about what was going on during those days, I still don’t have a TRUE KNOWLEDGE about “my journey”.  Without a doubt, I DID GO THROUGH A BRAIN HEMORRHAGE, but I DID NOT go through it alone!!  My wife, my sons, my mother, and people from all over the world were praying for me!  But THE LORD was walking with me through “the valley of the shadow of death” and HE was THE ONE making the decisions for me!!!  NO CONTROL…….AT ALL!!!

Nineteen years ago my wife was at the hospital EVERY DAY for 52 days, from early in the morning until late at night!  My mom was also at the hospital, but not as much as my wife!  Friends were there, but not as frequent.  But to have your EYES OPENED to SEE that “YOU ARE WITH ME” unmistakably means that HE WAS/IS THE ONE WHO WAS/IS IN CONTROL!!!

“YOU ARE WITH ME!”

 

Psalm 23:4                 (ESV)

    “[4] Even though I WALK THROUGH

the valley of the shadow of death,

        I WILL FEAR NO EVIL,

    for “YOU ARE WITH ME”;

        YOUR rod and YOUR staff,

        they comfort me.”

There are many things that are running through “this brain” of mine today.  Keep in mind that “this brain” was in a different position nineteen years ago!  Recovering from a “massive brain hemorrhage” is not an experience that I would want anyone else to have to go through, but I wouldn’t change the path GOD has given me to travel with any other person either!!!

THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE has explicitly CHOSEN me to survive, NOT ONLY the Brain Hemorrhage, but also QUADRUPLE BYPASS SURGERY on my heart ten years later, with very little changes in my activity!  Why would I be GRANTED such MIRACULOUS recoveries without a reason behind them???  WITHOUT A DOUBT, GOD is THE REASON for my recovery, as indicated by my doctor’s notes on my first checkup.

King David might have been a little more BLESSED than I as far as physical BLESSINGS are concerned, but I was not even able to walk for over a month!  Being in a drug induced coma means that I was unable to do ANYTHING without assistance!  

Seeing the words “YOU ARE WITH ME” in the verse above let’s me understand that HE IS THE REASON that I survived everything that I have ever faced!  Not just a Brain Hemorrhage and open heart surgery, but through every crook and crevice of my life I can TESTIFY that “YOU ARE WITH ME”!  I’m not worthy, but “YOU ARE WITH ME”!!!

“THE WIFE WHOM YOU LOVE!”

 Ecclesiastes 9:9-10                 (ESV)

“[9] Enjoy life with “THE WIFE WHOM YOU LOVE”, all the days of your vain life that HE has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. [10] WHATEVER YOUR HAND FINDS TO DO, DO IT WITH YOUR MIGHT, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol (grave, pit), to which you are going.”

Most believe that Ecclesiastes was written by King Solomon later in his life, probably around 935 BC.  Solomon was very wise (1 Kings 4:30), so it wasn’t as if he was ill-informed.  While it is true that he had 700 wives and 300 concubines (1 Kings 11.3), it is very interesting that he writes in the Scriptures above “Enjoy life with THE WIFE whom you love”, NOT enjoy all “the women” you have been given the gods?  He wrote about “THE WIFE WHOM YOU LOVE”!!!

“I am not a smart man” was quoted by Forrest Gump in the movie over 30 years ago.  Well I AM a brain damaged hemorrhagic stroke survivor, and was probably (NO DOUBT) not the smartest person beforehand?!?  However, I am QUITE CERTAIN that I married the woman who ABSOLUTELY completes me!  She is EXACTLY what I am not, at PRECISELY the right time when I am not!  In my brain damaged opinion, she is SENT BY GOD ALMIGHTY to UNIQUELY satisfy the INCOMPLETENESS of me FOR HIS GLORY!!!

February 17, 1984 was the date that GOD selected to be the day that HIS CHOICE for HIS ONENESS to be completed.  She arrived on earth August 04, 1963, but she was DEFINITELY a part of HIS PLAN since before THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD (Ephesians 1:4)!  She not only was the most BEAUTIFUL girl for me, but she became “THE WIFE WHOM YOU LOVE”!!!

As I continue with the aging process, I am growing more and more convinced that GOD HAS A PLAN, not only for me, but also “THE WIFE WHOM YOU LOVE”!  

R.C. Sproul

 

“DID GOD ACTUALLY SAY?”

Genesis 2:15-18; 3:1                 (ESV)

“[15] The LORD GOD took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. [16] And the LORD GOD commanded the man, saying, “You may SURELY EAT of every tree of the garden, [17] BUT OF THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL you shall NOT EAT, for in the day that you EAT of it YOU SHALL SURELY DIE.”

[18] Then the LORD GOD said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.””

Genesis 3:1                 (ESV)

The Fall

“[1] Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD GOD had made. 

He (the serpent) said TO THE WOMAN, “”DID GOD ACTUALLY SAY”, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?””

Taking NOTE of what ALMIGHTY GOD has said to you is MORE than important to your life, it is IMPERATIVE to those who GOD has given you!  Genesis 2:24 says “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and THEY SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH.”  

To my knowledge, it isn’t recorded in Scripture that GOD gave instructions to Eve ANYWHERE to NOT eat OF THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL, but Adam was told, and VERY EXPLICITLY!!!  However, Adam must have tried relating to Eve what GOD had said to him about “the forbidden fruit”, for her reply to the serpent was something more than that he was told by ALMIGHTY GOD had said.  

It is MORE THAN IMPORTANT to share PRECISELY what SCRIPTURE says when we share GODS WORD with others, and NOT “the best we can do”!!!  In making an effort to make HIS WORD more plausible and understandable, we MUST NOT alter what HE has said!!!  GOD uses HIS WORD to accomplish HIS PLAN, even when we DO NOT understand it!  We must be FAITHFUL to share HIS WORD as HE makes it known to us!

So when “the enemy” approaches us and says “DID GOD ACTUALLY SAY” this or that”, it imperative to us to use SCRIPTURE, AND PREFERABLY have it memorized!  With FEAR AND TREMBLING, we MUST KNOW “DID GOD ACTUALLY SAY” what HE said and live our lives accordingly!!!

“YOU ARE MINE!”

 

Isaiah 43:1-2                  (ESV)

Israel’s Only Savior

    “[1] But now thus says the LORD,

    HE WHO created you, O Jacob,

        HE WHO formed you, O Israel:

    “FEAR NOT, for I have redeemed you;

        I have called you by name, “YOU ARE MINE”!. 

    [2] When you pass through the waters, I WILL BE WITH YOU;

        and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;

    when you walk through fire YOU SHALL NOT BE BURNED,

        and THE FLAME SHALL NOT CONSUME YOU.”

Many years ago I THOUGHT I was in a tremendously trying time!  Things weren’t going as well as I expected at work, so I went to a park near my house and just “got alone” with my CREATOR!  Within a few minutes, HE had me reading Isaiah 43 and my apprehension was swallowed up with FEAR NOT!  

Recently I was “scrolling” on a social media page and I saw a meme that had Isaiah 43:1-2 on it!  My brain damaged mind very quickly returned to the time when I was SEARCHING for an answer to “my problem” so many years ago.  I couldn’t SEE then what GOD was trying to TELL me so long ago.  Or could it be that HIS WORD “alive and active” (Hebrews 4:12) and was QUITE CAPABLE of providing PEACE with the same verses in a TOTALLY DIFFERENT time and place???

GOD was telling me recently that I WILL BE WITH YOU, because “YOU ARE MINE”!!  The MESSAGE I was hearing so long ago was FEAR NOT, and now it is “YOU ARE MINE”!!!  The next verse (Isaiah 43:3) begins with “FOR I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD”!  Since THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSES is THE LORD YOUR GOD, my mortal being has NO LIMITS to its capabilities!

The MESSAGE from THE LORD might be ONE THING for a certain period of time, and something TOTALLY DIFFERENT for another period of time!  The MAIN THING for this humble servant RIGHT NOW is that I should FEAR NOT, because I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD lives inside of me and “YOU ARE MINE”!!!