“PEACE OF GOD!”

Philippians 4:4-7                     (ESV)

“4 REJOICE in the LORD always; again I will say, REJOICE.

5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The LORD is at hand;

6 do not be anxious about anything, but IN EVERYTHING by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving LET YOUR REQUESTS be made known to GOD.

7 And the “PEACE OF GOD”, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in CHRIST JESUS.”

So many times it can become real easy to be fixated on one part of a verse of the Bible and never SEE a message from GOD written right before our eyes.  One “for instance” could be in the passage of scripture above.  It can be difficult to encourage people to “REJOICE in the LORD always; again I will say, REJOICE” when they have just experienced the physical death of a loved one, or when we get a bad report from the doctor, or when your house has just burned to the ground!  

When my younger sister was diagnosed with stomach cancer at the age of 33, my REQUEST to GOD was that she would be healed because I love her and didn’t want to see her suffer.  I became so focused on what I wanted that I couldn’t SEE that GOD had a different Plan.  After all, there are plenty of Scriptures where JESUS HIMSELF “healed” people from their physical ailments and restored their health.  Why wouldn’t GOD heal my sister?  

Then July 09, 2007 comes around and my Brain Hemorrhaged!  One of the greatest “miracles” GOD ever worked in my life was to put me into a drug-induced coma until July 29, 2007.  This removed any possibility of my taking credit or glory for HIS Work!  Since I have regained my physical functions completely, I was left wondering WHY GOD chose to heal me and not my little sister?  Isaiah 55:8-9 tells me that HIS ways are not my ways, and HIS thoughts are not my thoughts!  How can I question the CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSES when HE acts in a way that I don’t understand? 

It’s not as if GOD has ever, or will ever have, a momentary lapse of judgment.  The Bible is FULL of instances where GOD demonstrates HIS Sovereignty.  Just in my life alone HE has displayed that HE IS IN CONTROL.  The fall of man caused sickness and disease to enter “this world”.  However, knowing that GOD IS IN CONTROL brings the “PEACE OF GOD” that is unmistakable!  FATHER IN HEAVEN, please forgive me for my unbelief, or that YOU need to explain to me why YOU do the things YOU are doing, and to TRUST that the “PEACE OF GOD” is sufficient for me!!!

“WHO CHOSE ME!”

2 Samuel 6:20-23                      (ESV)

“20 And David returned to bless his household. But Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, "How the king of Israel honored himself today, uncovering himself today before the eyes of his servants' female servants, as one of the vulgar fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!"

21 And David said to Michal, "It was before the LORD, “WHO CHOSE ME” above your father and above all his house, to appoint me as prince over Israel, the people of the LORD-and I will celebrate before the LORD.

22 I will make myself yet more contemptible than this, and I will be abased in your eyes. But by the female servants of whom you have spoken, by them I shall be held in honor."

23 And Michal the daughter of Saul had no child to the day of her death.”

Michal was a daughter of King Saul, predecessor of King David, a man after GOD’s own heart, who understood that GOD, “WHO CHOSE ME”, could have picked anyone to be the King of Israel.  It can be perplexing to the human mind to try to figure out what GOD is doing when HIS ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9).  She thought that the way King David worshipped GOD was unseemly, and she told him so.  But David told her that “....the LORD, “WHO CHOSE ME” above your father and above all his house, to appoint me as prince over Israel, the people of the LORD-and I will celebrate before the LORD”, and he did.   

As Believers, we don’t appreciate enough “WHO CHOSE ME” out of HIS entire Creation to become HIS servant.  And remember, we are HIS SERVANTS.  Kind David was the “prince over Israel, but he also was a servant to GOD ALMIGHTY!  Could it be that acknowledging that we are subservient to ALMIGHTY GOD is quickly being replaced with pride and arrogance, so much so that we don’t/won’t seek HIS guidance and leadership with our daily decisions?  Perhaps we have the idea that god we can handle things on our own and we don’t need to “bother” GOD with our menial tasks?   Our CREATOR provides even our every breath, we aren’t “bothering” HIM with our concerns, but mostly our PRAISES!  King David was PRAISING GOD for restoring HIS presence in the ark of the Covenant to Israel.  We must be extremely careful about criticizing the worship of others, for GOD is worthy of ALL our praises (Psalms 145:3).  

Even King David questioned GOD when he didn’t understand what GOD was doing.  In 2 Samuel 6:8, after Uzzah was stricken down for steadying the ark of the covenant, King David was “ displeased” with GOD.  But GOD didn’t change HIS requirements just because “a man after HIS own heart” didn’t understand HIS ways!  GOD is HOLY and HIS WORD had forewarned about how the ark of the Covenant was to be transported.  When GOD’s Law was ignored, payment for the transgression was demanded, even though King David didn’t understand.  

We will not fully understand the ways of GOD ALMIGHTY until we are in HIS presence.  Even though Scripture tells me “For GOD so loved the world that HE gave HIS only SON....”, I still cannot fathom HIM sacrificing JESUS just because we had no other was to REDEEM us!  John 15:16 says “You did not choose ME, but I chose you and appointed you that you....”.  Just as King David said that GOD, “WHO CHOSE ME”, selected him over the rest of the world, ALMIGHTY GOD chose me to be one of HIS flock.  I may dance like King David!!!

“LET HIM ASK OF GOD!”

James 1:5-6                                (ESV)

“5 If any of you LACKS WISDOM, “LET HIM ASK GOD”, WHO GIVES GENEROUSLY to ALL without reproach, and IT WILL be given him.

6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.”

This passage of Scripture has so many lessons, and mankind is in such great need, it causes us to wonder why we can’t SLOW DOWN and absorb what we don’t?  To begin with, “If any of you LACKS WISDOM” is akin to asking if any of us need oxygen?  Everyone MUST HAVE oxygen to survive.  But some choose to ingest other items into their bodies to replace oxygen, something we MUST HAVE!  For most of my adult life I was one of these people, but was delivered from the habit in 2007.  

The word WISDOM is mistaken sometimes for KNOWLEDGE as some people have a tendency to think that a degree from a institute of higher learning indicates WISDOM.   However, Proverbs 3:6 says “For the LORD gives WISDOM; from HIS mouth come knowledge and understanding;”.  A person can have unlimited college degrees and still be the most illiterate person known to man.   Unless we recognize that GOD ALMIGHTY is the source of true WISDOM, HE is not apt to bestow tremendous amounts on us.  

GOD tells us in James 1:5 when we recognize that we need WISDOM, “LET HIM ASK OF GOD”, WHO GIVES GENEROUSLY to ALL....!  Now in my personal experience, most of the time GOD doesn’t necessarily act on our timetable.  As a matter of fact, GOD still has to SLOW DOWN my life because I try to “make things happen”!  GOD may give GENEROUSLY to ALL, but HIS timing can scare us immensely!  Chapter 14 of Exodus should teach us that.  

“LET HIM ASK OF GOD” isn’t a promise that GOD will reply on out timeline.  Scripture does indicate that GOD GIVES GENEROUSLY to ALL.......on HIS TIMELINE!  We serve, not A creator, but the CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSES, and we needed to recognize that HE loves us unconditionally.  HE WILL give generously to ALL as HE gets Glory for doing so.  My prayer is that I will be one who “LET HIM ASK OF GOD” is like breathing air, I will do it because I have to have it!!!

“WITHOUT GRUMBLING!”

1 Peter 4:7-11                 (ESV)

“7 The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.

8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

9 Show hospitality to one another “WITHOUT GRUMBLING”.

10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of GOD’S varied grace:

11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of GOD; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that GOD supplies-in order that in everything GOD may be glorified through JESUS CHRIST. To HIM belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

Not knowing how to accomplish something that will survive for eternity?  One week ago today I celebrated my 58th birthday.  Celebrating another 58 years on earth isn’t likely to happen.  As I continue getting closer to my exodus from “this world”, my thoughts become more and more about what I am doing that will make an eternal difference.   

It can be really easy to become so fixated on others perceived shortcomings that we waste our valuable time we have left talking about how pitiful they are instead of how loving and gracious our SAVIOR is to us!  Peter instructs us to show hospitality to one another “WITHOUT GRUMBLING” in the Scripture above.  And to whom should we show hospitality!  Obviously he is directing us to serve those who would normally induce us to GRUMBLE?  Why else would he interject to show hospitality “WITHOUT GRUMBLING”?  

Peter begins the passage above by saying “the end of all things is at hand”!  For some, “the end of all things” on this earth was when they were extremely young.  For my little sister, it was when she was 34 years old.  My mom lived to be 77 years of age.  I ate dinner with a friend recently who has celebrated her 99th birthday already, and plans are being made for her 100th Birthday celebration.   While we are left here in this world, we are instructed “to serve one another”, using whatever gifts HE bestows on us to HIS GLORY, not for our good!!

GOD gives life, and HE takes life (1 Samuel 2:6)!  Although we can do things to improve our health, ALMIGHTY GOD determines when we will expire.   MANY people have told me that GOD wasn’t ready for you in 2007 when my Brain Hemorrhaged.  Experiencing life can be a challenge sometimes, especially when you have been “in the valley of the shadow of death” and others are facing ravaging diseases such as cancer.  GOD’S Word tells us to accept our grace “WITHOUT GRUMBLING”, and allow GOD to be GOD!  HE doesn’t require our help!!!

“FEAR NOT!”

Exodus 14:10-14                                 (ESV)

“10 When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD.

11 They said to Moses, "Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt?

12 Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: 'Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians'? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness."

13 And Moses said to the people, “"FEAR NOT”, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.

14 The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent."

Moses was in the process of leading the Children of Israel FROM captivity and into the Promised Land.  The Israelites had just spent hundreds of years being enslaved to the Egyptians, and ALMIGHTY GOD delivered them.  Now they were begging to be back in slavery because ultimately they didn’t want to WALK BY FAITH!!!

Who do you know that would CHOOSE to be slave?  Who would yield to the temptation to being in bondage versus freedom?   Yet every time I knowingly and willingly surrender to temptation, I am CHOOSING to be a slave to the enemy.  This quote is at the top of my PRAYER LIST:  Only by choosing NOT TO BE SLAVES to our own reasonings and emotions can we win the battle for our minds and begin hearing the voice of GOD within us.  

Romans 14:23b says “....FOR WHATEVER DOES NOT PROCEED FROM FAITH IS SIN." And John 15:15 says “You did not CHOOSE ME, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the FATHER in MY name, HE may give it to you.”

We can “choose” to walk by sight and do only what we can see as the best way forward, or we can “be CHOSEN” to WALK BY FAITH and reap the rewards that comes only from trusting in HIM!  Sometimes I am “chosen” to WAIT ON THE LORD?   Maybe HE has limited my choices, but HE is doing it, not for my health, wealth and prosperity, but for HIS Glory!!  We can’t expect GOD to bless us if we are bound and determined to walk by sight.   On the other hand, we won’t be able to process all of HIS Blessings if we WALK BY FAITH!   

Then why do I cry and moan when things become a little uncomfortable?  GOD ALMIGHTY could be getting ready to part my Red Sea!  Then again, HE might be allowing me to drown for HIS Glory?!?  Whatever HIS Plan is there is no room for me to be scared!  “FEAR NOT” is a most definitely a fruit of WALKING BY FAITH!  

“ENMITY WITH GOD!”

James 4:1-4                     (ESV)

“1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?

2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.

3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to SPEND it on YOUR PASSIONS.

4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is “ENMITY WITH GOD”? Therefore whoever wishes to be a FRIEND of the WORLD makes himself an ENEMY of GOD.”

One of the most difficult precepts that JESUS ever taught was to LOVE YOUR ENEMIES.   “This world” lives and teaches that we are to our do anything we can to be friends with anyone we come in contact with.  However , GOD says in Scripture that “friendship with the world is “ENMITY WITH GOD”?  

But how can we LOVE our enemies and not be friends with them?   I’m sure most of you know there are different kinds of LOVE.   I LOVE my wife differently than I LOVE my children and grandchildren.  I LOVE ice cream differently than I do people.  I LOVE JESUS more and differently than ILOVE anything and anybody else.  

Since CHRIST lives in us as Believers (at least to some degree), it would behoove us “to have others in our midst who have CHRIST in them so that we are strengthened by HIS presence in their lives.  JESUS states that we should LOVE our neighbors (Mark 12:31), and HE said in Matthew 5:44 that we should LOVE our enemies.  We MUST realize, AND admit, that living for JESUS does NOT indicate that we will please everyone we come in contact with.  After all, JESUS was crucified even though HE was not guilty of any sin.  One might say HE was crucified BECAUSE HE had no sin?!?  HE LOVED “this world” while HE rebuked those living in sin. 

In 1 Timothy 1:15, the Apostle Paul writes “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that CHRIST JESUS came into the world to save sinners, of whom I AM THE FOREMOST.”  We can LOVE the sinner without approving of their choices.  To be FRIENDS with “the world” is to be at “ENMITY WITH GOD”, and that is something I prefer not to do.  

“WE ESTEEMED HIM NOT!”

Isaiah 53:3-5                                  (ESV)

“3 HE was DESPISED AND REJECTED by men, a MAN of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces HE was despised, and “WE ESTEEMED HIM NOT”. 

4 Surely HE has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed HIM stricken, smitten by GOD, and afflicted. 

5 But HE was pierced for our transgressions; HE was crushed for our iniquities; upon HIM was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with HIS wounds we are healed.”

The hurt of having a friend embarrassingly deny and reject you, even though they know how many good things you have done for everyone, especially them, cannot be understood.  We can only hurt for the offended.   When you see this being manifested before you, only then can you just begin to minutely imagine the loneliness and desertion that JESUS experienced during HIS trial and crucifixion.  There wasn’t anybody, including family and friends, who stood up and said “NOT GUILTY” as GOD IN FLESH sacrificed HIMSELF for the sins of ALL mankind!

It is estimated that Isaiah 53 was written around 700 years before JESUS came onto the scene.  How did Isaiah know that JESUS would be DESPISED AND REJECTED by men?  It has been estimated that over 400 prophecies about JESUS were made in the Old Testament.  The odds have been calculated by someone smarter than me and if my recollection is correct it seems like if someone fulfilled only eight of the prophesies it would be described as such:

"The prospect that anyone would satisfy those EIGHT prophecies was just 1 in 10 to the 17th Power.  Let us try to visualize this chance. If you mark one of ten tickets, and place all of the tickets in a hat, and thoroughly stir them, and then ask a blindfolded man to draw one, his chance of getting the right ticket is one in ten. Suppose that we take 10 to the 17th power silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state.”

What Isaiah wrote about JESUS wasn’t an educated guess, it was Divinely inspired by ALMIGHTY GOD over 700 years before JESUS made HIS appearance.  And yet mankind, “WE ESTEEMED HIM NOT”!  Our CREATOR intermingled with humanity and our EYES did not SEE HIM as being WHO HE said HE was!  Like I said, HIS family and friends didn’t even fight for HIM.  “WE ESTEEMED HIM NOT” because it had been prophesied that HE would be DESPISED AND REJECTED by us.  

GOD’s WORD WILL BE FULFILLED!  It took AT LEAST 700 years for JESUS to fulfill some prophecies, but even today “WE ESTEEM HIM NOT”!  GOD, our CREATOR, giver and sustainer of life, is waiting for us to recognize HIM as our KING, and “WE ESTEEMED HIM NOT”!!!

“SPIRIT of HIM!”

Romans 8:9-11                     (ESV)

“9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the SPIRIT, if in fact the SPIRIT of GOD dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the SPIRIT of CHRIST does not belong to HIM.

10 But if CHRIST is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the SPIRIT is life because of righteousness.

11 If the “SPIRIT of HIM” WHO raised JESUS from the dead dwells in you, HE who raised CHRIST JESUS from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through HIS SPIRIT who dwells in you.”

It can be extremely frustrating to get down on ourselves, to begin focusing on the negative things that are happening in our lives rather than the good.  Getting a confidence boost can be something that helps, but often the “boost” doesn’t overcome the valleys we are traveling through.  But when we KNOW WHO lives within our lives we can be assured that “HE WHO began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of JESUS CHRIST.” (Philippians 1:6).  

The “SPIRIT of HIM” WHO raised JESUS from the dead (the SPIRIT OF GOD) dwells in me is not just some mythical supposition, it is TRUTH!  John 4:24 tells me that “....GOD IS SPIRIT...”, and we need to yield to HIS leading and direction while journeying through “this world”.  Why would we have the CREATOR of the universes living inside of us and NOT listen to HIM about everything we are doing?  

GOD ALMIGHTY quietly lives inside of some of us, but we have to BE STILL and listen for HIS guidance.  HIS SPIRIT lives, not just within our bodies, but HE conquered death, Hell, and the grave and we need to live like it!  So many times I revert to “living in the flesh” and trying to figure things out on my own when GOD already has my life orchestrated with HIS Plan!  The darkest hours of my life were overcome with ABSOLUTELY no input or help from me.  GOD is enough!!!

My wife bought me a coffee cup a few years ago with a simple inscription on it, “I GOT THIS—-GOD”!  If GOD can separate the sky from the dirt, if HE can guide the water between the banks of a river, if HE can save my wretched soul from eternal damnation, HE can certainly lead me through “this world”!  The “SPIRIT of HIM” WHO created everything that was created wants to be LORD of our lives.  Do we have time to listen to HIM???

“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.”

As I meditate and ponder my purpose and existence on this earth, I sometimes have to re-establish WHO is truly “driving this train”!  For years I lived my life with somewhat of a “reckless abandon”, not taking time to approach the HEAVENLY FATHER for guidance and direction.  But living on the backside of a Brain Hemorrhage, major facial surgery, and bypass surgery opens your eyes to SEE things through a totally different prism.  

Maybe it is time that I realize that “HIM (JESUS) WHO is able to do far more abundantly than all that WE ASK OR THINK, ACCORDING TO “THE POWER” at work within us (JESUS) is living inside of me, NOT ME MYSELF, and cease striving to be the one in control???

“LOVE ONE ANOTHER!”

John 15:12-17                      (ESV)

“12 "This is MY commandment, that you “LOVE ONE ANOTHER” as I have loved you.

13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

14 You are MY friends if you do what I command you.

15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from MY FATHER I have made known to you.

16 You did not choose ME, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the FATHER in MY name, HE may give it to you.

17 These things I command you, so that you will “LOVE ONE ANOTHER”.”

Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend a meeting at our state capital where members of several “religions” were speaking about being “inclusive” of all “religions”.  The concept sounds noble as everybody has a free will to make their own choices regarding how they worship, or even if they worship, and who they worship!  Some were even present who chose to worship satan.  The main problem with any of the “choices” is when we “choose” a god of our “choice” then we become a determiner of how that god will act and react to our sins?  It is my understanding that this would make us a god, and that hasn’t turned out that well for those who have tried that before!!!  And ALL “choices” have consequences!  

Seeing the people who cannot SEE their error is a tragic thing.   2 Corinthians 4:4 says “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of CHRIST, who is the image of GOD.”  They are correct in that they have the right to reject JESUS as the SON of GOD, just like the Jews of 33AD did.  But the price those are now paying for being wrong is an eternity experiencing the WRATH of GOD ALMIGHTY!  That, my friend, is a price that is far greater than anything they can imagine. 

It is easy to just say that everyone has a choice, BUT that choice has consequences, and the consequences are REAL!  Not wanting anybody to experience the consequences is part of “LOVE ONE ANOTHER”, but Scripture tells us very plainly “For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and THOSE WHO FIND IT ARE FEW”!  

Yes, we can “LOVE ONE ANOTHER”, but at the same time we have a duty to alert them that the path they are on leads to death, hell and destruction.  When we “LOVE ONE ANOTHER”, we are not to rubber stamp anything and everything they do, just as CHRIST didn’t condone sin.  HE told the woman supposedly caught in adultery in John 8:11 “Go, and from now on sin no more”!  We are to “LOVE ONE ANOTHER” enough to show the error of their ways, but not in a hateful manner, then leave the “choice” and consequences up to them!!!

“LOVE OF CHRIST!”

2 Corinthians 5:14-19                 (ESV)

“14 For the “LOVE OF CHRIST” controls us, because we have concluded this: that ONE has died for all, therefore all have died;

15 and HE died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for HIM WHO for their sake died and was raised.

16 From now on, therefore, WE REGARD NO ONE ACCORDING TO THE FLESH. Even though we once regarded CHRIST according to the flesh, we regard HIM thus no longer.

17 Therefore, if anyone is in CHRIST, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

18 All this is from GOD, who through CHRIST reconciled us to HIMSELF and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;

19 that is, in CHRIST GOD was reconciling the world to HIMSELF, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.”

Bishop Robert E. Smith, Sr. can most eloquently speak more accidentally than I could ever say on purpose in days (or maybe weeks) of diligently trying.  On August 15, 2017 he wrote these words and I shared them then.  Yesterday morning, I was led to put these Scriptures on my notepad.  Then later on in the day I saw his “memory post” and knew why I was led to type these verses.   Read with a humble heart!  

I received a letter of invitation which reads as follows: "To All Black Leaders and Pastors who are Biblically-Centered not Politically Correct!"

My response was and is as follows: With respect to your intended purposes, in bringing Leaders and Pastors on line; may I emphatically state, that there are NO such persons as Black Leaders and Pastors who are Biblically Centered not Politically Correct.  If I am incorrect in my spiritual understanding, please introduce me to these persons you write about.  Becoming "all things to all men (such as Black, White or Other), that some might be saved", has nothing to do with the fellowship and collaboration of Christian Leaders.  I am privy to testimonies of more and more Leaders who are sore vexed with the duplicity of adjectives, which modify the Nowness of our Is-Ness in Christ Jesus. Please desist in the manipulation of the flesh of one's Humanity, to act like Christianity, while denying the power of Divinity.  We need tutoring in the School of Christ, in order to put the flesh mess to rest, and get God's best!

With Christ Like Regards,

Bishop Robert E. Smith, Sr.

The “LOVE OF CHRIST” controlled the Apostle Paul (2 Corinthians 5:14).  My prayer is that the “LOVE OF CHRIST” will control me as well!!!

“PRAYING AND SINGING!”

Acts 16:20-31                               (ESV)

“20 And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, "These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city.

21 They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice."

22 The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods.

23 And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, THEY THREW THEM INTO PRISON, ordering the jailer to keep them safely.

24 Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to GOD, and the prisoners were listening to them,

26 and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and EVERYONE’S BONDS WERE UNFASTENED.

27 When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and WAS ABOUT TO KILL HIM SELF, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.

28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here."

29 And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas.

30 Then he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"

31 And they said, "Believe in the LORD JESUS, and you will be saved, you and your household."”

We “ALL” experience trials and tribulations in this life and we need to accept it.  Being incarcerated in prison is not something I have ever experienced, but I doubt seriously that “PRAYING AND SINGING” hymns to GOD would be very high on my “to do list”!  Paul and Silas had their focus solely on JESUS and HIS ministry, and they weren’t about to allow the enemy to distract them with circumstances, as severe as it might have seemed, and rob GOD of being Glorified!  

The ones who encouraged Paul and Silas to be jailed had recently lost their ability to manipulate people from their MONEY and they brought them before “the rulers” who agreed to jail them.  But GOD had a Plan and this was part of that Plan!  About midnight, Paul and Silas were “PRAYING AND SINGING” when an EARTHQUAKE shook the jail.  The EARTHQUAKE was so fierce that it MIRACULOUSLY caused EVERYONE’S BONDS to be UNFASTENED.  It also awakened the guard who was about to kill himself (because of all the prisoners escaping) when Paul shouted to him, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here."  The prison guard and all his family BELIEVED and were baptized.

It can be so easy to allow our circumstances to determine our attitude in a given situation.  ALMIGHTY GOD isn’t constrained by time nor problems.  HE has done some of what we see as HIS greatest miracles when all hope seemed to be vanished.  One might have said that Paul should have not ever have rebuked the girl who was being used for financial gain by others, but praise for her efforts were going to someone other than GOD.  Paul was certainly not going to allow GOD to be mocked.

How many times do we (mainly I) experience setbacks in life and almost immediately recoil into a cocoon-like position of “woe-is-me”?  GOD might have a prison in my future for HIM to be Glorified through?  Will I be in the doldrums, or will I be “PRAYING AND SINGING” because of GOD being GOD?  

“HE DECEIVES HIMSELF!”

Galatians 6:3                     (ESV)

“For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, “HE DECEIVES HIMSELF”.”

There are times when we need to allow the WORD to be the WORD!  The enemy is the great DECEIVER and he always has been (John 8:44)!  When our EYES are set on JESUS, it becomes awfully difficult to get too high of an opinion of ourselves.  When we look at other humans, our vision is flawed already.   

What are your EYES set on????

“THE MAJESTY OF GOD!”

Luke 9:43-45                                  (ESV)

“43 And all were astonished at “THE MAJESTY OF GOD”. But while they were all marveling at everything HE was doing, JESUS said to HIS disciples,

44 "Let these words sink into your ears: The SON of MAN is about to be delivered into the hands of men."

45 But they did not understand this saying, and IT WAS CONCEALED FROM THEM, so that they might not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask HIM about this saying.”

Lately I have been entranced for “THE MAJESTY OF GOD “, much like the people of Luke 9 must have been in the Scripture above.  Imagining that the CREATOR of the universes humbled HIMSELF, even to death on the cross (Philippians 2:8) because HE loved us so much, and desired a relationship with us.  HE offered us a free pardon for sin, as we had no chance of salvation except through HIM.  

Even though JESUS plainly told them that HE would be delivered into the hands of men, they could “not perceive it”.  HIS own disciples even allowed HIM to journey to the cross alone, maybe because IT WAS CONCEALED FROM THEM by a Higher Power that the SON OF GOD would willingly sacrifice HIS LIFE for mankind.  How many times did JESUS foretell of HIS sacrifice, only to be abandoned by those who pledged allegiance to HIM?  

But don’t we act similarly when we are placed in a situation where we have the opportunity to speak up for JESUS?  We don’t testify about the things of GOD because we don’t want “this world” to be offended by our words of BELIEF.  The people surrounding JESUS “were all marveling at everything HE was doing”, yet they wouldn’t testify about HIM even minutes later.  They had become so captivated by DEITY being in there midst that they were prevented from absorbing that their CREATOR incarnate was literally among them, AND would ultimately sacrifice HIS life for us.  

How could HE?  Why would HE?   HE could have annihilated HIS entire creation and started from scratch with beings that would honor and obey HIM, but HE chose to be ridiculed, rejected, and denied by even HIS closest followers.   ”THE MAJESTY OF GOD” cannot be properly observed without SEEIng the LOVE OF GOD.  HE offered HIMSELF as a substitute for me as my sin was so heinous that “THE MAJESTY OF GOD” was/is my only hope!  Can you SEE that???

“DESPERATELY SICK!”

Jeremiah 17:9-10                         (ESV)

“9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and “DESPERATELY SICK”; who can understand it? 

10 "I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds."  

So many times we hear it said to “follow your heart” and you will do the correct things.  However Scripture seems to indicate something entirely different?  The HOLY SCRIPTURE is GOD’s inerrant, infallible WORD and we need to pattern our lives after its precepts and instructions, and NOT do what our hearts lead us to do!  

Jeremiah 17:9 says “The heart is deceitful ABOVE ALL THINGS, so why is it that we so often do whatever our heart is leading us to do, when we are told by our CREATOR that we ALL are “DESPERATELY SICK”?  When we are physically “DESPERATELY SICK” we go see a physician because they are trained to diagnose what is wrong with us.  Last year it felt like I had pulled a muscle in my upper chest.  After getting checked out by a trained professional, quadruple bypass surgery was performed to alleviate the self-diagnosed “pulled muscle”???

Sometimes we are “deceived” into believing that we are “not that bad”, that our HEARTS ARE IN THE RIGHT PLACE, all the while we have “blockages” (SIN) that is preventing THE BLOOD from getting where it needs to go!  Being physically self-diagnosed could have been a fatal mistake for me.  Being Spiritually self-diagnosed can be just as tricky when our “..... adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)!  

NEVER trust YOUR HEART when you are trying to find out what isn’t right with your body.  But more importantly, NEVER trust YOUR HEART when you are “DESPERATELY SICK”, in need of a RISEN SAVIOR!  Trusting in “your goodness” will be a costly mistake by MANY people who claim that they are “just as good” as others.  They might be “DESPERATELY SICK” and are self-diagnosing themselves into an eternal Judgement???

“MY WEAKNESSES!”

2 Corinthians 12:1-10                            (ESV)

“1 I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the LORD.

2 I know a man in CHRIST who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven-whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, GOD knows.

3 And I know that this man was caught up into paradise-whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, GOD knows-

4 and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter.

5 On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of “MY WEAKNESSES”-

6 though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that NO ONE MAY THINK MORE OF ME than he sees in me or hears from me.

7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, A THORN WAS GIVEN ME in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.

8 THREE TIMES I pleaded with the LORD about this, that it should leave me.

9 But HE said to me, "MY grace is sufficient for you, for MY power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of “MY WEAKNESSES”, so that the power of CHRIST may rest upon me.

10 For the sake of CHRIST, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

There is much to be said about the Apostle Paul’s message in 2 Corinthians 12, so much that I will only scratch the surface.  To begin with, Paul  was permitted to “be caught up to the third Heaven”, but (other than writing to the church at Corinth) he didn’t try to make a huge public spectacle of his experience.  In fact, Paul wrote, I “heard things that cannot be told, which MAN MAY NOT UTTER”.  Just because we experience some things doesn’t mean we are to try and use them for our Glory!  

What the Apostle Paul DID share with us is “MY WEAKNESSES”, A THORN THAT WAS GIVEN ME in the flesh that humbled him greatly.  Paul doesn’t come right out and say what THE THORN was, he was certain that it was meant “to keep me from becoming conceited”, therefore drawing man’s glory to him rather than THE ALMIGHTY!  

This journey we are engaged in is NOT all about what we can accomplish during our time on earth, but rather what GOD is able to USE us to perform for HIS Glory!  If we are “weak”, the power of CHRIST is allowed be made manifest in our lives.  We therefore should BOAST of “MY WEAKNESSES” and shift ALL of the Glory to the ONE WHO deserves it in the first place.  

While it is true that I have “MY WEAKNESSES” that I would truly love to overcome, I will relish in the fact that the sacrifice of JESUS is sufficient for ALL of my sins.  For HIM to be Glorified should be our focus, not on “our goodness”, which is “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6) in HIS sight!  

“HIS WILL!”

1 John 5:13-15                       (ESV)

“13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the SON of GOD, that you may KNOW that you have eternal life.

14 And this is the confidence that we have toward HIM, that if we ask anything ACCORDING TO “HIS WILL” HE hears us.

15 And if we know that HE hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of HIM.”

Seeing so many people who claim to have the answers about how to correct where we have erred in the rearing of our children (most of whom are already grown!) is really asinine.  The blueprint for the entire family structure is plainly described within the pages of Scripture, and mankind doesn’t seem to want to TRUST GOD with our children?  Seeing people who have answers to the social injustices that have existed since creation is another area of concern.  We ALL have, shall we say “imperfections”, therefore we need a Savior!

The answers for ALL of the “imperfections” have ALL been given to us, but it appears that no one is interested in seeking answers from a HOLY GOD?  We ALL have been “assigned” (1 Corinthians 7:17) difficulties in this life.  How those problems are dealt with says a lot about who our trust is in!  If we believe that we can handle them by ourselves, then our trust is in our own abilities and so-called wisdom.  If we rely on GOD ALMIGHTY to lead us, then we are submitting to “HIS WILL”, HIS Plan, for our lives.  

We can be “doing things” supposedly for GOD and still be missing “HIS WILL”!   In July 2007 my plans were to begin a Non-Profit helping students with little or no parental support navigate their way through high school and hopefully into college.  Of course, GOD had a different Plan and HE abruptly got my attention July 09, 2007 when my brain sprung a leak. The two years recovering helped me SEE that my plans, although noble, weren’t HIS Plans (Isaiah 55:8-9) and I needed to SLOW DOWN and seek HIS guidance in my life!  

When we are seeking “HIS WILL” in our lives, we have to let our own desires die a sometimes slow death!  Allowing GOD to use us for HIS Glory should be our goal, not for HIM to glorify us!  While we can ask anything FOR HIM, asking ACCORDING TO “HIS WILL” requires us being SUBMISSIVE to HIS Plan, AND on HIS timeline!