“SET YOUR MINDS!”

Colossians 3:1-4                               (ESV)

“1 IF THEN YOU HAVE BEEN RAISED WITH CHRIST, SEEK THE THINGS THAT ARE ABOVE, where CHRIST is, seated at the right hand of GOD.

2 “SET YOUR MINDS” on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with CHRIST in GOD.

4 When CHRIST WHO is your life appears, then you also will appear with HIM in glory.”

A recent meme displayed the deceptive traits of “the enemy” and how he attempts to manipulate our MINDS to believe whatever he is selling at that moment.  Displaying numerous “catastrophes” that never came to fruition, his lies are always exposed to be exactly that, LIES!   “The enemy”, and all of his minions, aren’t interested in sharing TRUTH, for TRUTH brings PEACE, and he thrives in chaos!

No matter how STRONG we are Spiritually, we are all susceptible to FEAR unless we daily “SET YOUR MINDS” on TRUTH!  When that happens, PEACE floods our lives, fear subsides, and “the enemy” must flee!  

The thing we must realize is that PEACE comes only after YOU HAVE BEEN RAISED WITH CHRIST. not just because we THINK we have been “good”.  Only CHRIST can supernaturally change a life!  Believing anything different is a lie, the antithesis of TRUTH.  That is precisely the reason that we must “SET YOUR MINDS” on things that are above, NOT on things that are on earth.

Make certain that YOUR EYES aren’t swayed by the beautiful things of “this world”, but are FIXED on JESUS CHRIST!  Genesis 3:1 says that the serpent was more “subtle” (deceitful) than ANY other creature that GOD had made.   His trickery can fool even the most mature saints, as evidenced by Peter numerous times in the New Testament.  INTENTIONALLY and PURPOSELY “SET YOUR MINDS” on THE ONE WHO has overcome!!!

Points to Ponder!

1 Corinthians 7:17                   (ESV)

“Only let each person lead the life that the LORD has assigned to him, and to which GOD has called him. This is my rule in all the churches.”

“The church” would be a LOT less contentious if we would get our own ship on course and let the LORD straighten everyone else’s out!  I am not saying to not offer loving correction on occasion, but make sure that your words are “loving”, that they are “correct”, and only on “occasion”!!!

“HE WOULD WITHDRAW!”

Luke 5:12-16                                (ESV)

“12 While HE (JESUS) was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy. And when he saw JESUS, he fell on his face and begged HIM, "LORD, if YOU will, YOU can make me clean."

13 And JESUS stretched out HIS hand and touched him, saying, "I will; be clean." And immediately the leprosy left him.

14 And HE charged him to tell no one, but "go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, for a proof to them."

15 But now even more the report about HIM went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear HIM and to be healed of their infirmities.

16 But “HE WOULD WITHDRAW” TO DESOLATE PLACES AND PRAY.”

Most are more than likely aware of my love for Psalms 46:10 and it’s encouragement to BE STILL, AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD!  While reading the above passage of Scripture recently I was made to STOP upon reading Mark 5:16.  However, the verse “But “HE WOULD WITHDRAW” TO DESOLATE PLACES AND PRAY” does not reveal the obvious things that me praying would be saying.  This prayer was from GOD IN THE FLESH, WHO glorified GOD on earth with the same “glory that I had with YOU before the world existed” (John 17:5).  Yet JESUS still, on numerous occasions, would “WITHDRAW” to be alone with HIS FATHER and pray!

In these verses, JESUS has just healed a leper, a man who was “full of the disease”.  A mortal man would have more than likely stayed around and gloried a bit in his accomplishments.  But JESUS “WOULD WITHDRAW TO DESOLATE PLACES AND PRAY.”  Spending time with HIS FATHER was something that HE cherished, probably far more than we would imagine.  Receiving adulations from humans wasn’t even on the same stratosphere as communing with GOD ALMIGHTY!  

We humans have a difficult time tuning out “this world” and listening to the ONE WHO created us.  Honestly, if we could “get just a glimpse” of WHO GOD really is, I doubt that I would want to do anything BUT speak with and to HIM!  There is a meme showing “us” going into prayer as little kittens, and coming out from praying as MIGHTY LIONS!  Perhaps JESUS was the same way?  When HE spent time with HIS FATHER, HE was energized and emboldened, knowing that HE was empowered by GOD ALMIGHTY?  

JESUS was not just trying to get away from others, “HE WOULD WITHDRAW” so HIS PRAYER time wasn’t interrupted.  There was NOTHING more important than HIS fellowship with the FATHER!  Why do I seem to always find other “things” to place ahead of my spending time with my FATHER?  Perhaps I should get alone with GOD and PRAY more often, more diligently, more frequently?  If I relished PRAYING as much as GOD wants to hear from me, maybe I would have a different view of “HE WOULD WITHDRAW”???

“HOW THEN?”

Proverbs 20:24                                                     (ESV)
“A man's steps are from the LORD; “HOW THEN” can man understand HIS way?”

A few weeks back my wife and I attended a church in another town. The minister preached about Ruth and Boaz, and how GOD orchestrated them meeting in the fields and ultimately getting married.  When I met my wife, she was working in a hosiery store in a local mall.  DON’T ASK!  Neither of us had any idea what GOD was about to perform in our lives.  My wife would have certainly ran had she a clue!

We talk about it all the time, how GOD IS IN CONTROL, but do we actually BELIEVE that?  GOD may not have caused it, but HE undoubtedly orchestrated my Brain Hemorrhage PRECISELY the way HE ordained it.  Had HE decreed that I have nothing affected by the hemorrhage, nothing would have changed!  I would be just the same as before.  To survive an event that was 80% fatal at the time is huge, but to do so with almost no disabilities is......you might say, MIRACULOUS!

When GOD causes change in your life, accepting where HE has put you can go against what we had in the plans for our future.  GOD restored my health EXACTLY how HE prescribed it, regardless of my (or my therapists (BLESS THEIR HEARTS!)) efforts.  Now I can wish that my word-recall was like it was July 08, 2007, but GOD chose otherwise!  My friend was killed in October 2007, and I would most assuredly want that changed.  But GOD hasn’t invited me to be co-god with him, so I am not consulted on matters so vast.  As a matter of fact, I couldn’t even breathe on my own when I was placed in the coma!

We tend to believe that we know what is best for ourselves, and as many people who will listen to our advice.  “HOW THEN” do we expect man to listen to us when we slaughter our unborn in the womb of their mother?  “HOW THEN” can we expect to lead a family when we are watching television/movies that GOD detests?  We cannot understand GOD’s ways, so “HOW THEN” is it so difficult to admit that we are NOT GOD, and that only GOD is?  “HOW THEN”???

“HE WHO WORKED!”

Galatians 2:6-10                                          (ESV)

“6 And from those WHO SEEMED TO BE influential (what they were makes no difference to me; GOD shows no partiality)-those, I say, WHO SEEMED influential added nothing to me.

7 On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised

8 (for “HE WHO WORKED” through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles),

9 and when James and Cephas (Peter) and John, WHO SEEMED TO BE pillars, perceived the GRACE WAS GIVEN given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.

10 Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.”

Everyone SEEMS to assume that the Apostles never had to experience the growing of their FAITH as they matured in their Spiritual lives.  However, in the relatively small amount that I have studied Scripture, it seems that GOD uses DIFFICULTIES to teach FAITH (in most cases) displaying that HE IS ABLE to overcome whatever arises to accomplish HIS Plan!

The Apostle Paul was blinded on the road to Damascus when the LORD instructed Ananias “Go, for he (Saul/Paul) is a chosen instrument of MINE to CARRY MY NAME BEFORE THE GENTILES AND KINGS AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL.  For I will show him how much HE MUST SUFFER for the sake of MY name” in Acts 9:15-16.  Paul was educated to the hilts, yet he was ASSIGNED to we WHO SEEMED TO BE lower class people, who needed to have the GOOD NEWS shared with them.  

The Apostle Peter, on the other hand, (an uneducated fisherman) was mainly targeting Jews, or the circumcised.  Galatians 2:7b reveals that “....Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised”.  Both of these Apostles were “selected” (CHOSEN) in spite of their insufficiencies to perform the task assigned to them.  But through FAITH IN JESUS, they were able to accomplish GREAT THINGS for the Kingdom of GOD, because they were serving “HE WHO WORKED” without worrying about their insufficiencies, or their bank accounts.  

Operating in a “comfort zone” is what most of us end up doing with our lives.   We don’t exhibit the FAITH we need for our Spiritual Maturation, so we settle for what SEEM TO BE suited for (in our eyes) because we don’t want to experience the growing pains associated with Spiritually growing up!  Both Peter and Paul were CALLED to serve with their own personalities, in their own paths, to people in need of a SAVIOR.  “HE WHO WORKED” doesn’t require a college degree, a seminary degree, or any other man made requirements.  It is “HE WHO WORKED”, not we who HE works through!  Find out where HE wants to WORK through you.  Then allow “HE WHO WORKED” to build HIS KINGDOM by using you!!!

“IF YOU KNEW!”

John 4:7-26                                       (ESV)

“7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. JESUS said to her, "Give me a drink."

8 (For HIS disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.)

9 The Samaritan woman said to HIM, "How is it that YOU, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?" (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)

10 JESUS answered her, "IF YOU KNEW” the gift of GOD, and WHO it is that is saying to you, 'Give ME a drink,' you would have asked HIM, and HE would have given you LIVING WATER."

11 The woman said to HIM, "Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?

12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock."

13 JESUS said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again,

14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

15 The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water."

16 JESUS said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here."

17 The woman answered HIM, "I have no husband." JESUS said to her, "You are right in saying, 'I have no husband';

18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true."

19 The woman said to HIM, "Sir, I perceive that YOU are a prophet.

20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but YOU say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship."

21 JESUS said to her, "Woman, believe ME, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the FATHER.

22 You worship what you do not know; WE WORSHIP WHAT WE KNOW, for salvation is from the Jews.

23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the FATHER in Spirit and Truth, for the FATHER is seeking such people to worship HIM.

24 GOD IS SPIRIT, and those who worship HIM must worship in Spirit and ruth."

25 The woman said to HIM, "I know that Messiah is coming (HE WHO is called CHRIST). When HE comes, HE will tell us all things."

26 JESUS said to her, "I WHO speak to you am HE."”

Not long ago I wrote these words on my Prayer List, “Trusting GOD completely is something that I am being taught, not just for finances, but for doing exactly what HE wants me to do, not just “good things” for good people! (Ephesians 3:20; Job 42:2)”.  Our humanity has a bent to help others, especially those who we love.

In the Scripture above, JESUS has sent HIS disciples into the city to buy food.  HE is alone at the well of Jacob, about 40 miles north of Jerusalem with a woman who was near the bottom of the social ladder of current society. A Samaritan was as lowly a class of people around during the time JESUS walked the earth in HIS physicality.  On top of that, this woman had five failed marriages, and the man she was with now was not even married to her!  Yet, the HOLY ONE WHO spoke the worlds into existence CHOSE her to share the GOOD NEWS with, in spite of how it looked to “this world”!

JESUS told her “IF YOU KNEW”, which is to say her EYES were not yet opened to SEE eternal things, WHO you are speaking with “HE would have given you LIVING WATER."  Of course, John 4:39-42 tells us more, “Many Samaritans from that town believed in HIM because of THE WOMAN’S TESTIMONY, "HE told me all that I ever did."  So when the Samaritans came to HIM, they asked HIM to stay with them, and HE stayed there two days.  And many more believed because of HIS word.

They said to the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and WE KNOW that this is indeed the SAVIOR of the world."”

JESUS wasn’t TOO BUSY for a woman who couldn’t seem to get the marriage thing correct.  HE was TOO HOLY to be exposed to a segment of society that others saw as reprobates.  JESUS even spent two more days with the Samaritans ministering to them.  HIS earthly ministry only lasted a little over 1,000 days, yet HE spent at least three of those days with the Samaritans.  HE must have had a different opinion of them than “this world”???

The lesson for this lowly Servant of the MOST HIGH is that whoever JESUS shed HIS royal blood for is surely worth my time to be able to share the GOOD NEWS.  “IF YOU KNEW” how many people you (or I) have passed by to avoid catching a disease, or catching a bad reputation, or catching a BLESSING, would it change your life?  LORD IN HEAVEN, open my EYES and show me how I can be used by YOU “IF I KNEW” what YOU know!!!

“WE ARE HIS WORKMANSHIP!”

Ephesians 2:8-10                                        (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.
10 For “WE ARE HIS WORKMANSHIP”, CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS FOR GOOD WORKS, which GOD prepared BEFOREHAND, that WE SHOULD WALK IN THEM.”

Hearing Ephesians 2:8 quoted in church since I was a child, it comes as no surprise to me that JESUS CHRIST was required to purchase my salvation.  HE gave me a gift, something that I would never be able to purchase on my own, because of what I am made of, the seed of corruption (Galatians 6:8)!

This morning I choose to focus on Ephesians 2:10, “For “WE ARE HIS WORKMANSHIP”, CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS FOR GOOD WORKS, which GOD prepared BEFOREHAND, that WE SHOULD WALK IN THEM.”  Since we know that Colossians 1:16-20 says that through JESUS, everything that was CREATED came to be, how did we CHOOSE to be CHOSEN when we were DEAD IN OUR TRESPASSES, living for ourselves?

A wise man once said “Within the covers of the Bible are the ANSWERS for ALL THE PROBLEMS men face."  A description of the word “WORKMANSHIP”, according to one dictionary is “something effected, made, or produced : WORK”!  So Ephesians 2:10 is saying that “WE ARE SOMETHING AFFECTED, MADE, OR PRODUCED BY JESUS”, in the long version.  Even through my darkest, sin stained past, JESUS was protecting and guiding me, preventing me from drinking enough alcohol to ever be controlled by it, protecting me from ever trying illicit drugs, controlling my raging hormones as a teenager, and countless other things that GOD guided me through the wilderness by HIS GRACE and MERCY!

It took WORK by our CREATOR to get me to this point in my life, and HE’s not finished with me yet.  “WE ARE HIS WORKMANSHIP” is something that we should NEVER forget.  It required the PERFECT SON OF GOD living a spotless, blameless life to cover the sins that this wretched soul could never pay for.  And some people question my sanity when I worship and praise JESUS once or twice a week???  A better question might be, how can I NOT give all I have to honor and praise the ONE WHO said that “WE ARE HIS WORKMANSHIP” simply by Believing in HIS WORK on our behalf?

“THE GOVERNMENT!”

Just thinking this thing through a bit.......

Socialism seems to have some good characteristics, at least on the surface.  Everyone gets what they need from THE GOVERNMENT.  Healthcare, housing, food staples, and on and on.

However, THE GOVERNMENT will not always have your best interests in mind when determining what your needs are.  I experienced a Brain Hemorrhage in 2007 at the age of 46 years and 11 months old.  I was hospitalized for 52 days, in a coma for 17 of those days.  Even almost 13 years later, doctors and nurses who treated me during the darkest hours exclaim that GOD was the only reason that I made it through.

THE GOVERNMENT might not have been so understanding.  THE GOVERNMENT might have stopped treating me when the costs became exorbitant.  I CHOOSE to TRUST GOD rather than THE GOVERNMENT, for GOD has proven HIMSELF to me time and again, while THE GOVERNMENT most often displays its ineptness in everything attempted.

I might have even CHOSEN to deny care to myself during this time.  That’s right, I don’t always know what is best, even when it involves my own health!  THE GOVERNMENT has CHOSEN (even encouraged) some females to allow their offspring to be “terminated” in the womb, even paying for the act with our tax dollars.

Okay........ I think I have thought this through enough!  THE GOVERNMENT does not, will not, CAN NOT have the same qualities of GOD, no matter how much they try to convince you otherwise!  Genesis 3:1 (NKJV) says “Now the serpent was more CUNNING than any beast of the field which the LORD GOD had made....”.  CUNNING is defined by a dictionary as a “skill employed in a shrewd or sly manner, as in deceiving; craftiness; guile.”  Are you going to Believe TRUTH, or will you be deceived by a lie????

“HE STOOD CONDEMNED!”

Galatians 2:1-14                                             (ESV)

“1 Then after fourteen years I (Paul) went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me.

2 I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) THE GOSPEL that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I WAS NOT running or had not run in vain.

3 But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek.

4 Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in-who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in CHRIST JESUS, SO THAT THEY MIGHT BRING US INTO SLAVERY-

5 to them WE DID NOT YIELD in submission even for a moment, so that the TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL might be preserved for you.

6 And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; GOD shows no partiality)-those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me.

7 On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised

8 (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles),

9 and when James and Cephas (Peter) and John, WHO SEEMED TO BE PILLARS, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.

10 Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.

11 But when Cephas (Peter) came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because “HE STOOD CONDEMNED”.

12 For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party.

13 And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.

14 But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas (Peter) before them all, "If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?" 

Far too often try to ADD to Scripture with WORDS that are”less offensive” than Scripture, losing some of the effectiveness of those WORDS!  Paul said I AM NOT RUNNING from TRUTH and confronted Cephas (Peter) to correct his behavior of Jewish supremacy.  

In 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, Paul also writes “And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with LOFTY SPEECH or WISDOM.  For I decided to know nothing among you except JESUS CHRIST and HIM CRUCIFIED.  And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and MY SPEECH AND MY MESSAGE were NOT IN PLAUSIBLE WORDS OF WISDOM, but in demonstration of the SPIRIT and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of GOD!”

Anytime we start to think that we can change peoples minds with our LOFTY SPEECH, we are elevating ourselves above them, maybe with no intention of doing so.  The HOLY SPIRIT of GOD is the ONLY method of changing a heart!  Even Peter was falling into this trap and Paul says “HE STOOD CONDEMNED”!  We must return to preaching JESUS CHRIST alone and HIM CRUCIFIED and let the HOLY SPIRIT clean up their acts!!!

“BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS!”

Deuteronomy 31:3-6                         (ESV)
“3 The LORD your GOD HIMSELF will go over before you. HE WILL DESTROY these nations before you, SO THAT YOU MAY DISPOSSESS THEM, and Joshua will go over at your head, AS THE LORD HAS SPOKEN.
4 And the LORD will do to them as HE did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, WHEN HE DESTROYED THEM.
5 And the LORD WILL GIVE THEM over to you, and you shall do to them according to the whole commandment that I have commanded you.
6 “BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS”. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your GOD WHO goes with you. HE will not leave you or forsake you."”




Regardless of what revisionists may try to make us believe, the United States of America was not always the most prosperous nation in the world.   Most pilgrims were seeking to escape the restraints of others who thought they knew best on how mankind should live, including how we worship the GOD of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  WEALTH was an added benefit of serving GOD ALMIGHTY.  When our prosperity became more important than our Spiritual freedom, we began to drift away from our founding principles.  

As I sit drinking coffee some mornings:, the cup I used has this inscription::  “I GOT THIS—GOD”.  This country, but one person at a time, has a need to return to the GOD WHO protected and guided us through the wilderness of infancy and into the most powerful nation in history.  As long as our EYES were on GOD, the results were indisputably great.  As we started to admire our successes instead of the ONE WHO GAVE THEM to us, we have seen a decline in victories.

In today’s focal Scriptures GOD tells Moses that HE HIMSELF WILL GO OVER BEFORE YOU!  GOD doesn’t require our money, our efforts, our intervention, HE only requires us to “BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS” in the face of our enemies!  Many times Scripture states HE WILL FIGHT OUR BATTLES FOR US!  “BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS” doesn’t mean that we should spend all of our free time increasing our physical strength, rather in Joshua 1:7 HE tells us “Only BE STRONG AND VERY COURAGEOUS, being CAREFUL TO DO ACCORDING TO ALL THE LAW that Moses MY servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.”  We MUST return to searching HIS WORD for our success and allow HIM to make us “ BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS”!!!

“MUST!”

John 4:24                          (ESV)

“GOD IS SPIRIT, and those who worship HIM “MUST” worship in spirit and truth."

In years past, one of my greatest desires was to have GOD speak to me in audible, easy to understand, words with no chance of hearing what my desires were instead of what HE was actually saying!  It wasn’t until I realized that HE required me to SLOW DOWN my life to a pace that I could HEAR HIS instructions that I was able to detect HIM gently guiding and directing me in the paths HE was leading me.  

It’s not as if we have an option to have it our way, like a fast food joint used to say.  In the Scripture above HE says WHO HE IS and what we “MUST” do to WORSHIP HIM.  WORSHIP defined by one standard is “honor given to someone in recognition of their merit.”  For far too long I have lived my life in the drive-through lane, trying to get what I wanted instead of what HE knew I needed!   When GOD was leading the Children of Israel through the wilderness, HE already KNEW where they were going to be and what they were going to need.  HE calmed them down and gave them exactly what they needed to perform the work HE had planned for them......without any helpful advice from them!  

Knowing that our CREATOR, the ONE WHO spoke the universes into existence, is leading us through our wilderness is both comforting and assuring.  When we TRUST that HE IS GOD and I am not is where I need to be!  I “MUST” slow down and gets my marching orders from HIM, and not try to get them in the drive-through lane!!!

“CLOUDS WITHOUT WATER!”

Jude 1:8-13                                (NASB)

““Yet in the same way these men, ALSO BY DREAMING, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile angelic majesties. But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, “The LORD rebuke you!” But these men revile the things which they do not understand; and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed. Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and FOR PAY THEY HAVE RUSHED HEADLONG INTO the ERROR of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. These are the men who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; “CLOUDS WITHOUT WATER”, carried along by winds; autumn TREES WITHOUT FRUIT, DOUBLY DEAD, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the BLACK DARKNESS has BEEN RESERVED FOREVER.””

Recently while on vacation I noticed when I began typing my devotional one morning that it began to be in my iPhone when I was typing on my iPad, and I was over 150 miles from my house WiFi network.  Apple products have what is called an iCloud, where when two Apple products are near each other, they share data without wires!  I don’t know the details of how it works, but my wife’s Android’s won’t join the iCloud.  They aren’t “connected”!  

Justin Peters is a man of GOD like few others who attempt to relay what the ALMIGHTY has revealed to them.  For your review, his website is https://justinpeters.org.  We were privileged to have him in our fellowship awhile back and he mentioned his seminar “CLOUDS WITHOUT WATER”, which can be ordered on his website, or just let me know and I will forward a dvd to you.  “CLOUDS WITHOUT WATER” is a Biblical Critique of the Word of Faith Movement

(more commonly known as the Health and Wealth or Prosperity Gospel)”.  Justin Peters is “connected” with the HOLY SPIRIT.  He has been given a gift for discerning FALSE TEACHERS, identifying those who“FOR PAY THEY HAVE RUSHED HEADLONG INTO the ERROR of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah”.  

“CLOUDS WITHOUT WATER” in Jude talks about “These are the men who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; “CLOUDS WITHOUT WATER”, carried along by winds; autumn TREES WITHOUT FRUIT, DOUBLY DEAD, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the BLACK DARKNESS has BEEN RESERVED FOREVER.””  The lies spoken by these FALSE PROPHETS will cause many to believe in another gospel, one that is filled with error!  ANYTHING other than the WORD OF GOD is ERROR and causes confusion.  

Now I am not as sharp as some, but I have FAITH that if GOD is telling me something through HIS WORD and the enemy is twisting TRUTH to fit into his narrative, the “CLOUDS WITHOUT WATER” will leave you in the wilderness with no cover!  When GOD was leading the Children of Israel in the wilderness, HE went before them, “The pillar of CLOUD by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people”.  The CLOUD protected them then from the enemy!  “CLOUDS WITHOUT WATER” will wind up burning those who follow them in the end!!!  BE CAREFUL!!!

“WHOEVER GIVES THOUGHT TO THE WORD!”

Proverbs 16:18-22                                     (ESV)

“18 Pride goes before destruction, and a HAUGHTY spirit before a fall. 

19 IT IS BETTER TO BE OF A LOWLY SPIRIT with the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud. 

20 “WHOEVER GIVES THOUGHT TO THE WORD” will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the LORD. 

21 The wise of heart is called discerning, and sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness. 

22 Good sense is a fountain of life to him who has it, but the instruction of fools is folly.”

There are many people convinced that THEY are the answer to every problem that has ever presented itself to mankind.  One of the WISEST men (in my eyes) I was privileged to know often used Proverbs 16:18 in the sermons he preached, “Pride goes before destruction, and a HAUGHTY spirit before a fall”.  He wasn’t “wimpish” in his theology, but he was humbled that ALMIGHTY GOD “chose” him to be a vessel for HIS KINGDOM.  

Finding ourselves in a world of self-edification and glorification has to be a sickening aroma to a HOLY GOD?  When we remove ourselves from what our NATURAL eyes can behold, the pride and arrogance of humanity has to fill the nostrils of our CREATOR with a stench that is directly opposed to Isaiah 45:5, “I AM THE LORD, and there is no other, besides ME there is no GOD;...”!  Yet, we give medals to others for human excellence and ignore that our very breath comes from ALMIGHTY GOD.  IF we could SEE HIS GLORY more readily with our human eyes we would probably be humbled to praising HIM twenty-four hours a day, saying HOLY, HOLY, HOLY?!?

“WHOEVER GIVES THOUGHT TO THE WORD” is not just meant to be for people that fill a ministerial position with a church.  The word “WHOEVER” doesn’t limit who “will discover good”.  The words “GIVE THOUGHT TO THE WORD” might be more impactful.  We don’t have to have a seminary degree to be eligible to HEAR FROM GOD, we simply have to “GIVE THOUGHT TO THE WORD” that HE has given us!  

Over time and in our limited wisdom, mankind has convoluted FAITH into what we THINK it should be!  “WHOEVER GIVES THOUGHT TO THE WORD” will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the LORD” is something that should be written on my forehead!  We can not THINK our way into Heaven, or do enough GOOD to earn our way out of hell.  JESUS CHRIST completed the requirements when HE said “IT IS FINISHED” (John 19:30)!  “WHOEVER GIVES THOUGHT TO THE WORD” will be able to SEE this!!!

“THIS IS A HARD SAYING!”

“THIS IS A HARD SAYING!”

John 6:60-65                                       (ESV)
“60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, "”THIS IS A HARD SAYING”; who can listen to it?"
61 But JESUS, knowing in HIMSELF that HIS disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, "Do you take offense at this?
62 Then what if you were to see the SON of MAN ascending to where HE was before?
63 It is THE SPIRIT WHO gives life; THE FLESH is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.
64 But there are some of you who do not believe." (For JESUS knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray HIM.)
65 And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to ME unless it is granted him by the FATHER."”

There are MANY things in life that I cannot understand.  How GOD is getting Glory from them?  Heinous, brutal deaths inflicted on people who are indefensible.  Innocent children with a terminal cancer diagnosis, or even worse, children who are aborted before even being born just doesn’t make sense to me.  Now I’m not trying to say that this feeble mind is bright enough to grasp all of the the intricacies of our FLESH, but THE SPIRIT WHO GIVES LIFE is definitely above my pay grade!

Jeremiah 1:5 states “"Before I FORMED YOU IN THE WOMB I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations."  Now since “GOD IS SPIRIT” (John 4:24), and “It is THE SPIRIT WHO gives life” (John 6:63), it seems to me that OUR BEINGS exist BEFORE the FLESH even exists!  The person who is BLINDED by the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4) must think “THIS IS A HARD SAYING” that a loving ALMIGHTY GOD would permit such atrocities when HE IS LOVE and OMNIPOTENT?

Understanding how MERCIFUL, forgiving, redeeming, and long suffering GOD is will probably be understood by no one greater than the Apostle Paul!  He was breathing “threats and murder against the disciples of the LORD” in Acts 9:1.  But in verse 26 of the same chapter, it is recorded “And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And THEY WERE ALL AFRAID OF HIM, for they did not believe that he was a disciple.”  “THIS IS A HARD SAYING” when you can’t understand how GOD transforms a sinner into a Believer that quickly!

The SPIRIT OF GOD is not constrained by the thoughts of man.  HIS capabilities are beyond even our wildest imaginations.  When “THIS IS A HARD SAYING” is exposed to me, I should be excited, and not FEAR GREATLY, as the Children of Israel on the banks of the Red Sea (Exodus 14:10)!  GOD might be preparing to part my Red Sea!  I need to remember that HE IS SPIRIT, and because of JESUS, I AM TOO!!!

“LET US GO ACROSS TO THE OTHER SIDE!”

Mark 4:35-41                                         (ESV)

“35 On that day, when evening had come, HE (JESUS) said to them, "LET US GO ACROSS TO THE OTHER SIDE."

36 And leaving the crowd, they took HIM with them in the boat, just as HE was. And other boats were with HIM.

37 AND A GREAT WINDSTORM AROSE, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling.

38 But HE was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke HIM and said to HIM, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?"

39 And HE awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

40 HE said to them, "Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?"

41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, "WHO then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey HIM?"”

Why do we hear what we want to hear, especially when GOD is speaking to us, and not what HE is saying?  Although the disciples had heard many, many times in various ways that “I AND THE FATHER ARE ONE” (i.e. John 10:30), experiencing it was something that they weren’t accustomed to.  JESUS and the disciples had been ministering to “a very large crowd” most of the day when HE told them, “LET US GO ACROSS TO THE OTHER SIDE."

HE didn’t tell them the journey to the other side was going to be smooth and easy.  HE didn’t alert them that A GREAT WINDSTORM might arise.  Increasing the FAITH of HIS CHOSEN disciples was far more important than just telling them HE is GOD incarnate.  Maturing their FAITH through life’s difficulties was invaluable to the disciples, even when FEAR reared its ugly head.

When JESUS told them “LET US GO ACROSS TO THE OTHER SIDE”, it was that was a promise that they were going to make it.  Remembering the Children Of Israel, Moses was told by YAHWEH that the Israelites were going to the Promised Land, but GOD didn’t promise a smooth journey.  Their trek through the wilderness took them 40 years for a two week trip.  But GOD received Glory from their battles!  

And leaving the crowd, they took HIM with them in the boat, JUST AS HE WAS. And other boats were with HIM.  One commentary nails it with this explanation: This is a theme in Scripture that we often miss. God does not promise His ministers an easy life. He promises to equip us for ministry; failures are on our account, not His. He ensures we can bear any circumstances (Philippians 4:13) and reject any sin (1 Corinthians 10:13), and that He provides what we need in the moment, whether food (Matthew 6:11), clothing (Matthew 6:24–25), or words (Mark 13:11). He does not promise us worldly comforts, or even safety. Just what we need to do His will”!!!

Finally, one last “lesson” the disciples “experienced” was that JESUS IS IN CONTROL!  HE controls even the wind and the sea, so nothing is outside of HIS hands.  When a difficulty reveals itself to you and JESUS has already told you “LET US GO ACROSS TO THE OTHER SIDE”, DO NOT FEAR!  HE might be teaching you the lessons so HE can be Glorified!!!

“SET YOUR MINDS!”

Colossians 3:1-4                                 (ESV)

“1 If then you have been raised with CHRIST, seek the things that are above, where CHRIST is, seated at the right hand of GOD.

2 “SET YOUR MINDS” on things that are above, NOT on things that are on earth.

3 For you have died, and YOUR LIFE IS HIDDEN WITH CHRIST IN GOD.

4 When CHRIST WHO is your LIFE appears, then you also will appear with HIM in glory.

Recently my writings were based on Colossians 3:1-11 and entitled CHRIST IS ALL, AND IN ALL.  Since posting that message I have seen many people posting about being lonely, losing a spouse, having all sorts of needs that need to be met.  My heart wants to financially help with each need, but my wallet doesn’t have the means of helping them all.

Until our EYES are opened to SEE that our satisfaction and fulfillment can only come from a desire to more FULLY KNOW JESUS and HIS 

Providence, we will continue to be swayed and moved by circumstances.  One of my best friends watched his spouse exit this world less than 18 months ago.  He loved his wife immensely.  But his joy was never seen to be affected as he KNEW that his wife was now in the presence of JESUS! 

This week another friend experienced the same thing.  My heart is greatly saddened by the circumstances he finds himself in.  But his wife left this world to enter into the Presence of her Savior, a place I will one day be called to enter!  

The easiest thing we can do is throw a few dollars at a problem and go ahead with our active lives.  The answer is never money, we are deceived if we think it is.  Mark 4:18-19 says “And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the DECEITFULNESS OF RICHES and the DESIRES FOR OTHER THINGS enter in and CHOKE THE WORD, and it proves unfruitful.”

On my prayer list, I have Colossians 3:2 “SET YOUR MINDS” on things that are above, not on things that are on earth."  Intentionally and Purposefully fix your thoughts on THINGS above!”  Especially in the dark, difficult times, we must Intentionally and Purposefully look to JESUS, to “SET YOUR MINDS” on HIM and allow our hearts to be healed by our CREATOR!!!

“CHRIST IS ALL, AND IN ALL!”

Colossians 3:1-11                                 (ESV)

“1 If then you have been raised with CHRIST, seek the things that are above, where CHRIST is, seated at the right hand of GOD.

2 SET YOUR MINDS on things that are above, NOT on things that are on earth.

3 For you have died, and YOUR LIFE IS HIDDEN WITH CHRIST IN GOD.

4 When CHRIST WHO is your LIFE appears, then you also will appear with HIM in glory.

5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

6 On account of these the wrath of GOD is coming.

7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them.

8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the OLD SELF with its practices

10 and have put on the NEW SELF, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its CREATOR.

11 HERE THERE IS NOT Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but “CHRIST IS ALL, AND IN ALL”.”

Living in the realization that in my mortality the answers to life’s problems cannot be attained, leaves me dependent on THE BIBLE for WISDOM to get through every day!  Any human must realize that they are NOT GOD, and even their “good ideas” originate from ABOVE!  Regardless of denomination, ethnicity, social class, or any other degree of physicality, “CHRIST IS ALL, AND IN ALL”.  

I am a BELIEVER IN JESUS CHRIST!  Anything further than that is superfluous.  When we begin trying to ADD to what CHRIST has performed, we initiate a process of trying to boast of our goodness.  Ephesians 2:8-9 (ESV) says “For by grace you have been saved through faith. AND THIS IS NOT YOUR OWN DOING; IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD, NOT A RESULT OF WORKS, SO THAT NO ONE MAY BOAST.”    JESUS knew that people like me would “brag”, so HE said “IT IS FINISHED” on the cross “SO THAT NO ONE MAY BOAST.”   

Former President Ronald Reagan once said “Within the covers of the BIBLE are the ANSWERS for ALL THE PROBLEMS men face."  We can pass laws (legislation), incentivize, and encourage people to be better humans, but until and unless we admit and understand that “CHRIST IS ALL, AND IN ALL” we will continue to digress into chaos.  Mankind is unable to improve upon perfection.  JESUS is our answer, we just won’t acknowledge HIM!  “CHRIST IS ALL, AND IN ALL”!!!

“FEAR NOT!”

Haggai 2:1-5                                            (ESV)

“1 In the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet:

2 "Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, and say,

3 'Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes?

4 Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the LORD. BE STRONG, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. BE STRONG, all you people of the land, declares the LORD.  WORK, FOR I AM WITH YOU, declares the LORD of hosts,

5 according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt.  MY SPIRIT remains in your midst. “FEAR NOT”.”

As I mature (I will be 60 this year!), my thoughts are obviously thinking about my future and what GOD’S Plan is for me.  Obviously, I don’t KNOW what is ahead for me, as telling the future hasn’t always been one of my strongest suits!  But really, when we WALK BY FAITH (2 Corinthians 5:7), knowing that we are being led by OUR CREATOR is all of the PEACE we need! 

The book of Haggai, chapter two so adeptly speaks to me when it says in verse five “MY SPIRIT remains in your midst. “FEAR NOT”.” No matter the valley in our future, ALMIGHTY GOD plainly tells us that HE will be in our midst, that HIS SPIRIT will lead us through our “wilderness”!  HE IS IN CONTROL, the same SPIRIT that has overcome death, hell, and the grave!  

“WORK, FOR I AM WITH YOU, declares the LORD of hosts” is what HE says in verse four!  Although HE might be leading us to a PROMISED LAND, we will have to WORK through some wilderness experiences getting to our PROMISED LAND, but “MY SPIRIT remains in your midst”!  How can we do anything but “FEAR NOT” when the CREATOR of the universes is leading us???

The future is something that even a chosen leader, such as Moses, couldn’t foresee.  GOD wants us to TRUST IN HIM and leave the “heavy lifting” to ONE WHO is able!  BE STRONG....WORK, FOR I AM WITH YOU.....”FEAR NOT” are words that need to be solidified in our hearts and lives as we live for HIM!  

“NO ONE KNOWS!”

Matthew 24:36-44                                        (ESV)

“36 "But concerning that day and hour “NO ONE KNOWS”, not even the angels of heaven, nor the SON, but the FATHER only.

37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the SON of MAN.

38 For as in those days before the flood THEY WERE EATING AND DRINKING, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark,

39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the SON of MAN.

40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left.

41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left.

42 Therefore, stay awake, for YOU DO NOT KNOW on what day your LORD is coming.

43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into.

44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the SON of MAN is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

Far more often than I care to focus on there is family members, a friend, or simply an acquaintance whose days in “this world” are declared over and they are transitioned to their eternal reward.   I’m not trying to say that everyone is going to Heaven.  As a matter of fact, Scripture says in Matthew 7:13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is WIDE and the way is EASY that leads to destruction, and THOSE WHO ENTER BY IT ARE MANY!!!”  

We can get so consumed with the cares of “this world” that we ignorantly allow the SPIRIT WORLD to get no attention.  Worse than that, the attention bestowed on our Spiritual Health can be less than a check up at the doctors office.  There are those who think that THEY KNOW what is best, that they can steer themselves on the best path for THEIR LIVES?!?  Everyone THINKS they KNOW what is THE WAY that they should go.  But just like a man driving in a foreign land WITHOUT A ROADMAP, we have NO CLUE how to get through this journey we call LIFE!

We are just as lost trying to get through LIFE with no ROADMAP (BIBLE!). GOD has given us HIS WORD as a guide to guide us.  Joshua 1:7b says “....Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go!” Yet in my “vast knowledge” I try to venture through the wilderness ON MY OWN, constantly getting lost in the jungle of life!  

JESUS HIMSELF told me in Matthew 24:36 that “NO ONE KNOWS” as much as we need to as we travel in”this world”!  It is IMPERATIVE that we follow OUR LEADER, the SPIRIT OF GOD, WHO JESUS called our COMFORTER (John 14:16 KJV), to lead us to our PROMISED LAND!  In my limited wisdom, there was NO INDICATION that on July 08, 2007 that I would experience a Brain Hemorrhage in less than 12 hours.  On April 08, 2017 there was NO INDICATION that I would have quadruple bypass surgery within a few days.  “NO ONE KNOWS” what is just around the corner for them.  All we can do is TRUST OUR CREATOR, the ONE WHO IS IN CONTROL OF EVERYTHING, to lead us through to the PROMISED LAND!!!