“I HAVE CHOSEN HIM!”

 

Genesis 18:16-21                 (ESV)

“[16] Then THE MEN set out from there, and they looked down toward Sodom. And Abraham went with them to set them on their way. [17] The LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, [18] seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and ALL THE NATIONS OF EARTH shall be BLESSED in him? [19] For “I HAVE CHOSEN HIM”, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring to Abraham what HE has promised him.” [20] Then the LORD said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, [21] I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I WILL KNOW.” 

Abraham had a child (Ishmael) through Hagar (someone other than his wife) at 86 years of age, yet GOD still BLESSED Abraham with HIS CHOSEN son Isaac 14 years later by his wife Sarah.  This occurred AFTER she was past the time of conceiving children (Genesis 16)!!!

There are several lessons that can be learned from this glimpse of history!  The main lesson is that ALMIGHTY GOD IS THE CREATOR, and HE IS NOT LIMITED by ANYTHING, including what “the enemy” wants us to BELIEVE!  

Another lesson is that ALMIGHTY GOD doesn’t OPERATE on humanity’s timeline!  GOD “ordained” Isaac to be born several years after Ishmael was born, yet Abraham’s BLESSING went to Isaac!  Ishmael was NOT CHOSEN, but Abraham and Isaac were CHOSEN!!!

Abraham nor Isaac were HOLY, but they WERE CHOSEN by their CREATOR “before the foundation of the world!  Thank the CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSES that HE CHOSE ME as well and NOTHING ELSE matters!!!  

Thankfully “I HAVE CHOSEN HIM” was said about me a LONG TIME ago and I am serving HIS PURPOSE, FOR HIS GLORY!!!!

“DECLARES THE LORD!”

 

2 Kings 19:33-35                 (ESV)

“[33] By the way that he (King Sennacherib) came, by the same he shall return, and HE SHALL NOT come into this city, “DECLARES THE LORD”. [34] For I WILL defend this city to save it, FOR MY OWN SAKE and for the sake of MY servant David.”

[35] And that night THE ANGEL OF THE LORD went out and STRUCK DOWN 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were ALL DEAD BODIES.” 

When GOD ALMIGHTY has a work to perform that HE doesn’t want to share HIS GLORY with anyone else, HE has a myriad of other means at HIS disposal!  HE WILL GET GLORY!!!

In 2 Kings 19, what was written about Assyria is now “modern-day northern Iraq, southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, and northeastern Syria”.  Keep in mind that the world population was VASTLY different over 2,700 years ago.  If THE ANGEL OF THE LORD eliminated 185,000 people in today’s society it would be catastrophic, so 2,700 years ago it must have been devastating?  GOD IS ABLE to accomplish FAR MORE than our feeble minds can fathom!  HE doesn’t need our understanding to limit HIS effectiveness!

KNOWING GOD ALMIGHTY and having a personal relationship with HIM is so very comforting, yes, even AWE INSPIRING!  If the ONE WHO “DECLARES THE LORD” can cause 185,000 individuals to lose their lives in one night is against you, it SHOULD have a tremendous impact on your decisions???

Having the PEACE OF GOD is a BLESSING that CANNOT be described!  ON THE OTHER HAND, the King of Assyria was murdered by two of his sons, and a third son assumed his throne!  NO MATTER who a person is, when a MESSAGE is heard and it has “DECLARES THE LORD” inside of it, the MESSAGE needs to be heard and listened to FERVENTLY!!!

“LONGING TO GO TO ROME!”

 

Romans 1:8-15                 (ESV)

“LONGING TO GO TO ROME”

“[8] First, I thank my GOD through JESUS CHRIST for all of you, because your FAITH is proclaimed in all the world. [9] For GOD is my witness, WHOM I serve with my SPIRIT in the gospel of HIS SON, that without ceasing I mention you [10] always in my prayers, asking that somehow by GOD’S WILL I may now at last succeed in coming to you. [11] For I long to see you, THAT I MAY IMPART TO YOU some spiritual gift to strengthen you—[12] that is, that we may be MUTUALLY encouraged by EACH OTHERS FAITH, both yours and mine. [13] I DO NOT WANT YOU TO BE UNAWARE, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. [14] I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. [15] So I am EAGER to preach the gospel to you also who are IN ROME.”

Recently I was given the opportunity to meet with a friend who GOD has used to BLESS me with many years ago.  He and his brother were present as we had lunch and spent a couple of hours together.  Our time was completed by each of us thanking GOD ALMIGHTY for HIS orchestration and deliverance of our time together.  It was a great afternoon with longtime friends!!!

The Apostle Paul wrote a letter to the Church in Rome in the midst of the first century A.D.!  In reality, the writings of Paul are Spiritually Inspired and have been used to grow MANY BELIEVERS in their FAITH.  KNOWING that JESUS CHRIST came to earth is something that many people have rejected, but that is simply because their EYES have yet to be OPENED to SEE and understand the TRUTH about HIM!!

My friends and I are BLESSED to share a relationship with each other.  My friend now lives in Arizona, so our visits are not as common.  But just as Paul was “LONGING TO GO TO ROME” to visit his friends that GOD had brought together, I was BLESSED seeing my friends from afar!!  It “won’t be long” before we will be together again around the THRONE of JESUS celebrating HIM FOREVER!!!

“HUMBLED HIMSELF GREATLY!”

 2 Chronicles 33:9-13                 (ESV)

“[9] Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray, to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the people of Israel.

Manasseh’s Repentance

[10] The LORD spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they paid no attention. [11] Therefore the LORD brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh with hooks and bound him with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon. [12] And WHEN HE WAS IN DISTRESS, he entreated (begged) the favor of the LORD his GOD and “HUMBLED HIMSELF GREATLY” before the GOD of his fathers. [13] He prayed to HIM, and GOD was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. THEN MANASSEH KNEW THAT THE LORD WAS GOD.”

From time to time I just CANNOT get a Scripture “out of my mind”!  The verses above seem to be ONE OF THOSE TIMES!!  

King Manasseh “led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray” from the LORD.  How do you think King Manasseh felt about this statement being written for us to read over 2,500 years later?  

But what about my imperfections and shortcomings?  Will they be remembered like King Manasseh’s?  Will they EVER be forgotten by THE LORD?

King David wrote in Psalm 103:13-14 “As a father shows compassion to HIS children, so the LORD shows compassion TO THOSE WHO FEAR HIM. For HE knows our frame; HE remembers that we are dust.”  Our bodies are DUST and HE KNOWS that we are WITHOUT HOPE!  So HE SENT HIS SON JESUS to PAY the PRICE for our sins, something that CANNOT be duplicated by humanity!!

HIS SACRIFICE was completed when HE said “IT IS FINISHED” (John 19:30)!!  JESUS “HUMBLED HIMSELF GREATLY” when HE paid the price for our sins!  We mustn’t look past HIS GOODNESS to and for HIS CHOSEN!!!

“Psalms 73”

 Psalm 73                 (ESV)

Book Three

GOD Is My Strength and Portion Forever

A Psalm of Asaph.

    “[1] Truly GOD is good to Israel,

        to those who are pure in heart. 

    [2] But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,

        my steps had nearly slipped. 

    [3] For I was envious of the arrogant

        when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

    [4] For they have no pangs until death;

        their bodies are fat and sleek. 

    [5] They are not in trouble as others are;

        they are not stricken like the rest of mankind. 

    [6] Therefore pride is their necklace;

        violence covers them as a garment. 

    [7] Their eyes swell out through fatness;

        their hearts overflow with follies. 

    [8] They scoff and speak with malice;

        loftily they threaten oppression. 

    [9] They set their mouths against the heavens,

        and their tongue struts through the earth. 

    [10] Therefore HIS people turn back to them,

        and find no fault in them. 

    [11] And they say, “How can GOD know?

        Is there knowledge in the MOST HIGH?” 

    [12] Behold, these are the wicked;

        always at ease, they increase in riches. 

    [13] All in vain have I kept my heart clean

        and washed my hands in innocence. 

    [14] For all the day long I have been stricken

        and rebuked every morning. 

    [15] If I had said, “I will speak thus,”

        I would have betrayed the generation of your children.

    [16] But when I thought how to understand this,

        it seemed to me a wearisome task, 

    [17] until I went into the sanctuary of GOD;

        then I discerned their end.

    [18] Truly YOU set them in slippery places;

        YOU make them fall to ruin. 

    [19] How they are destroyed in a moment,

        swept away utterly by terrors! 

    [20] Like a dream when one awakes,

        O LORD, when YOU rouse YOURSELF, YOU despise them as phantoms. 

    [21] When my soul was embittered,

        when I was pricked in heart, 

    [22] I was brutish and ignorant;

        I was like a beast toward you.

    [23] Nevertheless, I am continually with YOU;

        YOU hold my right hand. 

    [24] YOU guide me with YOUR counsel,

        and afterward YOU will receive me to glory. 

    [25] Whom have I in heaven but YOU?

        And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides YOU. 

    [26] My flesh and my heart may fail,

        but GOD is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

    [27] For behold, those who are far from YOU shall perish;

        YOU put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to YOU. 

    [28] But for me it is good to be near GOD;

        I have made the LORD GOD my refuge,

        that I may tell of all YOUR works.”

“THEN MANASSEH KNEW!”

 

2 Chronicles 33:9-13                 (ESV)

“[9] Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray, to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the people of Israel.

Manasseh’s Repentance

[10] The LORD spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they paid no attention. [11] Therefore the LORD brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh with hooks and bound him with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon. [12] And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the LORD his GOD and humbled himself greatly before the GOD of his fathers. [13] He prayed to HIM, and GOD was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. “THEN MANASSEH KNEW” THAT THE LORD WAS GOD.”

Manasseh was king for 56 years, the longest in the history of Judah.  He was known for leading “the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray”, something that must have FINALLY impacted him!  However, that did NOT happen until his captors humiliated him, something that apparently GOD used to awaken him!

Isn’t it amazing how humanity tends to react to adversity in humility, especially when your freedom is being taken away by others??  Manasseh had been king over Judah for so long that he must have thought he was invincible?  But an enemy came from Assyria and caused swift and decisive action against Judah, causing King Manasseh to be bound “with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon”.  

When the EYES of someone has been OPENED where they are able to SEE clearly, they are able to SEE things a LOT differently than before!  GOD could have made Manasseh AWARE of his position beforehand, but Manasseh (and Judah) wasn’t ready to comprehend what was coming!  GOD had to PREPARE them for what was coming!

Only when GOD has brought us through the trials and adversity to prepare us for HIS BLESSINGS will we be ready for them.  King Manasseh wasn’t the best took that was CREATED by the HEAVENLY FATHER, but he ultimately had his EYES OPENED and saw what was happening in his surroundings!!  When the timing was right, “THEN MANASSEH KNEW” what he needed to understand for GOD’S PURPOSE TO BE FULFILLED!!!

“THOSE WHO WAIT FOR HIM!”

 

Lamentations 3:25-27                 (ESV)

    “[25] The LORD is good to “THOSE WHO WAIT FOR HIM”,

        to the soul who seeks HIM. 

    [26] It is good that one should WAIT QUIETLY

        for the salvation of the LORD. 

    [27] It is good for a man that he bear

        the yoke in his youth.”

Understanding that THE LORD is GOOD is something that is OBVIOUS to my brain damaged mind!  The also OBVIOUS thing that I have trouble understanding is that “THOSE WHO WAIT FOR HIM” plainly means that HIS BLESSINGS REQUIRE people to WAIT……FOR HIM!!!

Getting a GLIMPSE of HIS PLAN for our lives can be a burden…….IF WE ARE IN A HURRY!  We don’t have ANY control over what HIS PLAN is for us.  When I was in the coma in 2007, I was TOTALLY removed from the decision making process!  Yet seventeen days later was PRECISELY the time HE required to SLOW ME DOWN!!!  Remembering my medical records from September 25, 2007 that read “However, he has had a remarkable recovery that could only be defined as a MIRACLE from GOD” PLAINLY indicates WHO was behind my HEALING!!!

It is TRULY a BLESSING to be alive with very few disabilities from an event that took eighty percent of the people who experienced one in 2007.  So why not RELAX and NOT BE IN SUCH A RUSH for the next chapter to be read???  

Remember, The LORD is good to “THOSE WHO WAIT FOR HIM”, to the soul who seeks HIM. It is good that one should WAIT QUIETLY for the salvation of the LORD”.  I vow to be one of “THOSE WHO WAIT FOR HIM” in my life and understand that I wouldn’t be here without HIS GRACE!!!