“TWO BASKETS OF FIGS!”

Jeremiah 24:1-10                                                             (ESV)

“1 After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me this vision: behold, “TWO BASKETS OF FIGS” placed before the temple of the LORD.

2 ONE BASKET had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the OTHER BASKET had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten.

3 And the LORD said to me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" I said, "Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten."

4 Then the word of the LORD came to me:

5 "Thus says the LORD, the GOD of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans.

6 I will set MY eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will BUILD THEM UP, and NOT TEAR THEM DOWN; I will plant them, and not pluck them up.

7 I WILL GIVE THEM a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their GOD, for they shall return to ME with their whole heart.

8 "But thus says the LORD: Like the BAD FIGS that are SO BAD THEY CANNOT BE EATEN, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt.

9 I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them.

10 And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be UTTERLY DESTROYED from the land that I gave to them and their fathers." 

The message to me this morning is rather clear.  In Jeremiah’s vision, there were “TWO BASKETS OF FIGS”, ONE BASKET had very good figs, and the OTHER BASKET had very bad figs.  

Scripture doesn’t indicate that the ONE BASKET that contained very good figs had any characteristics setting them apart from the OTHER BASKET, other than they were GIVEN A HEART TO KNOW WHAT I AM THE LORD! The OTHER BASKET was SO BAD THEY CANNOT BE EATEN!  Both were CREATED by the same CREATOR, but some were delicious, HE has planted them and HE would not pluck them up, and some of them were so bad they could not be eaten!

So it is with we humans.  Some of us have the opinion that we are special and can do NO WRONG.  Scripture states that the ONLY REASON we are going to Heaven is because ALMIGHTY GOD has CHOSEN us to be redeemed by the sacrifice of JESUS.  John 15:16 tells us that we did not choose HIM, but HE CHOSE us!  We are chosen to be GOOD FIGS for HIS GLORY, not to be set on a shelf and be admired by “this world”!  The OTHER BASKET of people won’t understand what they have done wrong, but they have never been CHOSEN by their CREATOR!

While it is true that GOD creates some of us who won’t qualify to be one of the CHOSEN, we must do our part to share the GOOD NEWS of JESUS, and how HE “transforms” lives from the rejected to THE CHOSEN!  Our CREATOR states there are “TWO BASKETS OF FIGS”!  Which one will you be in???

“EXAMINING THE SCRIPTURES DAILY!”

Acts 17:10-13                                       (ESV)

“10 The brothers (in Thessalonica) immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue.

11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the WORD with all eagerness, “EXAMINING THE SCRIPTURES DAILY” to see if these things were so.

12 Many of them therefore Believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men.

13 But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of GOD was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, agitating and stirring up the crowds.”

Most people, even people who are in the church, are so in tune with the narrative being fed to them, not just by the mainstream media, but social media, celebrities, and basically anyone who has a platform that they accept what is proclaimed as truth with no proof!  Accepting untruths is similar to drinking poison and expecting not to be affected by it.  Researching what one hears BEFORE it is accepted as TRUTH is imperative to making sure that we don’t ingest poisoning.  

The church at Berea would not accept what Paul and Silas were preaching without “EXAMINING THE SCRIPTURES DAILY” to see if these things were so!  Yes, I have used these Scriptures in the past, but it is vital to understand that the Jews at Berea were all about “EXAMINING THE SCRIPTURES DAILY” to make certain that they received the unadulterated TRUTH!  Even though their preachers included the author of a majority of the New Testament, they STILL “EXAMINED THE SCRIPTURES DAILY”.  

Hebrews 4:12 says “For the word of GOD is living and active, SHARPER THAN ANYt TWO-EDGED SWORD, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and DISCERNING the THOUGHTS and INTENTIONS of the heart.”  As I have been “EXAMINING THE SCRIPTURES DAILY”, I am noticing how the WORD OF GOD is separating me from the former lusts of the flesh, the old man!  Allowing GOD to slowly mold this old vessel into what HE is calling me to be is not always painless or enjoyable, but HE is doing it FOR MY GOOD and to draw Glory to HIM!

We must VERIFY in Scripture everything we allow to enter our minds.  Doing so will CHANGE our response, even if their message doesn’t change!  While I can complain and criticize others actions, even when I am correct, when I am “EXAMINING THE SCRIPTURES DAILY” my ideas is the first I see that needs to be changed!  Perhaps ALMIGHTY GOD is trying to get me “cleaned up” for HIS Glory and let allow HIM to work on others?  For me, it is difficult to complain about other when I am “EXAMINING THE SCRIPTURES DAILY”!!!

“WE RECOGNIZE NO ONE ACCORDING TO THE FLESH!”

2 Corinthians 5:16               

(ESV)

“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”

(KJV)

“Wherefore henceforth KNOW WE NO MAN AFTER THE FLESH: yea, though we have known CHRIST after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we HIM no more.”

BEREAN STUDY BIBLE 

“So from now on WE REGARD NO ONE ACCORDING TO THE FLESH. Although we once regarded CHRIST in this way, we do so no longer.”

(NASB)

“Therefore from now on “WE RECOGNIZE NO ONE ACCORDING TO THE FLESH”; even though we have known CHRIST according to the flesh, yet now we know HIM in this way no longer.”

(NIV)

“So from now on WE REGARD NO ONE FROM A WORLDLY POINT OF VIEW. Though we once regarded CHRIST in this way, we do so no longer.”

Never have I listed five (5) translations of the same verse all at once.  With all of the uproar over skin color, how can we justify calling someone white, black, Asian, European, Arabic, or anything else with this Scripture verse in our memory banks!  Sure, “this world” doesn’t follow Scripture, but at least the church should?  The NASB gets the point across rather plainly to this humble servant, “WE RECOGNIZE NO ONE ACCORDING TO THE FLESH”!  

All of us RECOGNIZE people of ALL colors who are Believers, Saved, Born Again, Regenerated, or whatever else we RECOGNIZE them as.  Most of us CHOOSE the words that come from our mouths.  (MOST OF US!).  We either CHOOSE to honor GOD and HIS WORD, or we CHOOSE to use A WORLDLY POINT OF VIEW!  

For FAR TOO LONG I have tried to be “non-offensive”, letting others go down whatever path they CHOSE!  But Romans 10:14 says how can THEY know unless someone tells them?  As humans, we are CREATED by a HOLY GOD!  We don’t get to CHOOSE our skin color, our parents, nor our heritage.  We ALL are given the opportunity in life to CHOOSE the ONLY THING that can OPEN our EYES to SEE TRUTH!  Will you “RECOGNIZE NO ONE ACCORDING TO THE FLESH”, or continue looking at them through A WORLDLY POINT OF VIEW?  How will you CHOOSE???

“O LORD, PLEASE OPEN HIS EYES THAT HE MAY SEE!”

2 Kings 6:15-18                                      (ESV)

“15 When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, "Alas, my master! What shall we do?"

16 He said, "Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them."

17 Then Elisha prayed and said, "”O LORD, PLEASE OPEN HIS EYES THAT HE MAY SEE”." So the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

18 And when the Syrians came down against him, Elisha prayed to the LORD and said, "Please strike this people with blindness." So he struck them with blindness in accordance with the prayer of Elisha.”

It has been said that if you are dealing with a crucial issue, you had better make certain that your facts are correct.   In recent times, social media sites have even used the services of “independent fact checkers” to “verify” the assertion of stories that they choose to scrutinize or support.  Of course, what man sees as truth can usually depend on the lenses through which he is observing the matter.  What we SEE is not always what we are looking at, especially when the matters are Spiritual in substance.  John 4:24 says “GOD IS SPIRIT...”.  Yet most people want to believe what they can see, feel and touch.  Spiritually SEEing what is around us has to be done by someone who can Believe what they are SEEing!

Elisha was in a precarious situation, in the eyes of “this world”!  His servant awoke to see  “an army with horses and chariots was all around the city”!   But Elisha KNEW (FAITH IN ACTION!) that THE LORD was his protection and he prayed “O LORD, PLEASE OPEN HIS EYES THAT HE MAY SEE” what the REAL situation was.  Yes, an army is of “the enemy” was surrounding them, but the ARMY OF THE LORD, full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha” was deployed to protect HIS soldiers.  

When we are in situations where it seems all hope is lost, we need to pray “O LORD, PLEASE OPEN HIS EYES THAT HE MAY SEE” what the real battle is shaping up to be.  We need to SEE that our “battle is not yours but GOD’s”! (2 Chronicles 20:15)  Allowing GOD to fight on our behalf is the best possible option that we can have.  “O LORD, PLEASE OPEN HIS EYES THAT HE MAY SEE” YOU encamped all around us, and YOU have never been wrong and YOU ARE UNDEFEATED!!!

“YOU ARE OUR POTTER!”

Isaiah 64:8                                                         (ESV)

“But now, O LORD, YOU are our FATHER; we are the clay, and “YOU ARE OUR POTTER”; WE ARE ALL THE WORK OF YOUR HAND.”

This verse speaks so loudly, but sometimes we (mainly I) don’t listen as we should.  We become so involved, busy, maybe even caught up in living our lives that we don’t take time to get proper instructions on how our CREATOR would have us grow and become.  Trying to BE ALL WE CAN BE might be a good slogan for a branch of the military, but we cannot SEE the future and we are at HIS MERCY when our future is in question.  

Remembering July 05, 2007 illustrates this more clearly than ever, but only when I take time to ponder things in a Heavenly perspective.  Dreams of starting a Non-Profit to help disadvantaged kids get through childhood and through college were flooding my mind, AND MY PLANS!  Personal gain wasn’t the main focus, building productive young people who didn’t have the support system needed was.  But July 09, 2007 I awoke to a “massive brain hemorrhage” and GOD displayed to me that HE WAS IN CONTROL of not only my future, but everything else in the world! 

When my EYES were finally OPENED to the TRUTH that “YOU ARE OUR POTTER”, and YOU ARE IN CONTROL, only then would the realization that unless MY PLANS must be within YOUR PLANS before success would visit my efforts!  A potter may have to tear down and reshape a piece of clay many times before the vessel achieves what the person molding it envisions. Only when it is what the MOLDER intends can it be finished.  

Only when we come to the realization that we are NOT in charge of our future can we surrender to the CREATOR and acknowledge that “YOU ARE OUR POTTER”!  GOD is the ONE directing our paths, and we are simply vessels used for HIS GLORY.  Proverbs 19:21 states “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.”  “YOU ARE OUR POTTER”, so make me into a vessel that Glorifies YOUR NAME!!!

“LED UP BY THE SPIRIT!”

Matthew 4:1-11                                                   (ESV)

“1 Then JESUS was “LED UP BY THE SPIRIT” into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, HE was hungry.

3 And the tempter came and said to HIM, "If you are the SON of GOD, command these stones to become loaves of bread."

4 But HE answered, "It is written, "'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every WORD that comes from the mouth of GOD.'" 

5 Then the devil took HIM to the holy city and set HIM on the pinnacle of the temple

6 and said to HIM, "If YOU are the SON of GOD, throw YOURSELF down, for it is written, "'HE will command HIS angels concerning YOU,' and "'On their hands they will bear YOU up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'" 

7 JESUS said to him, "Again it is written, 'You shall not put the LORD your GOD to the test.'"

8 Again, the devil took HIM to a very high mountain and showed HIM all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

9 And he said to HIM, "All these I will give YOU, if YOU will fall down and worship me."

10 Then JESUS said to him, "Be gone, Satan! For it is written, "'You shall worship the LORD your GOD and HIM only shall you serve.'" 

11 Then the devil left HIM, and behold, angels came and were ministering to HIM.”

Being “LED UP BY THE SPIRIT” as JESUS was in Matthew 4:1 has to be uniquely extravagant!  To have the same SPIRIT leading HIM that hovered over the face of the waters IN THE BEGINNING (Genesis 1:2) had to be something beyond comprehension.  Yet “the enemy”, Satan, tried to convince JESUS, the ONE WHO CREATED everything (Colossians 1:16), that he would “give HIM” all HE had created IF JESUS would bow down to him?!?  Did Satan have a lapse in judgement, or maybe a misconception of reality?  JESUS had created everything that was created, and now Satan was trying to give it back to HIM!  

JESUS was fully GOD, yet fully human, and maybe Satan thought HIS humanity would be as frail as mine?  My “nature” is to yield to my carnality and ignore the SPIRIT that was provided by the sacrifice of JESUS.   Doing what is “natural” is precisely what we should not be inclined to do.  We should be “LED UP BY THE SPIRIT” to perform the tasks that ALMIGHTY GOD has laid out for our lives, not to build bigger churches and collect bigger offerings.  JESUS came to earth explicitly to SACRIFICE HIS LIFE because I had NO POSSIBLE WAY of achieving righteousness outside of HIS provision.  

Satan did everything he could to convince JESUS that his offerings were more beneficial than the PLAN OF GOD for HIS LIFE.  However, JESUS never once was fooled by the “great deceiver”.  How do I perform under pressures from the enemy?  Can I be bought by his false claims of grandeur, riches and fame?  Or maybe by a long life and great health?  I need to remember what the response JESUS gave to “the enemy”, "Be gone, Satan! For it is written, "'You shall worship the LORD your GOD and HIM only shall you serve”!  JESUS created everything so why would I yield to a forgery when I can be “LED UP BY THE SPIRIT”???

“SPIRIT OF GOD!”

Romans 8:13-15                                                    (ESV)

“13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the SPIRIT you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

14 For all who are led by the “SPIRIT OF GOD” are sons of GOD.

15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the SPIRIT of adoption as sons, by WHOM we cry, "ABBA! FATHER!"”

The are many living “good” moral lives where they don’t murder, steal, nor speak falsely about others and actually think they are “good” enough to make it to Heaven. Yet the same people have lives that are “in-sync” with “this world” and are not separated from it by their actions and lifestyles.  They aren’t SEPARATE from the things of “this world”!

According to the focal passages today, “if you live according to the flesh you will die”!  Notice that it doesn’t say YOU MIGHT DIE, it says YOU WILL DIE!  When we are saved, changed, transformed into A NEW CREATION (2 Corinthians 5:17), the “old has passed away, the NEW has come“!  When JESUS CHRIST enters our lives, HE alters the way we do things so completely that the way we USED to do things is liken unto a DEAD MAN, one who has “passed away”!  

Why would anyone whose LIFE IS NEW want to return to the DEAD MAN that he formerly was?  Yet I still have the inclination to wallow in the body of sin that I have been delivered from by JESUS.  Romans 7:24 says “Wretched man that I am! WHO will deliver me from this body of death?”  Our ONLY HOPE is JESUS, the AUTHOR and FINISHER of our FAITH (Hebrews12:2), not in anything we can say or do!  Mankind is INCAPABLE of doing this miraculous work.  ONLY JESUS!!

Everyone and Everything is apart of a FALLEN CREATION.  Jeremiah 17:9-10 says that our hearts are “deceitful above all things, and desperately sick;”!  NO ONE will enter HEAVEN without JESUS being LORE of their life.  NO ONE!!!  If we live according to the flesh, WE WILL DIE!  Only by being led by the “SPIRIT OF GOD” can we experience LIFE IN CHRIST!  I am so Blessed and thankful that HE chose me for the “SPIRIT OF GOD” to indwell!  

“CLAIMING TO BE WISE!”

Romans 1:18-23                                                           (ESV)

“18 For the WRATH of GOD is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the TRUTH.

19 For what can be known about GOD is plain to them, because GOD has shown it to them.

20 For HIS invisible attributes, namely, HIS eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

21 For although they knew GOD, they did not honor HIM as GOD or give thanks to HIM, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

22 “CLAIMING TO BE WISE”, they became fools,

23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal GOD for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.”

Perusing social media almost makes me shake my head!  Then I quickly remember that it is ONLY because ALMIGHTY GOD has revealed HIS TRUTH to HIS CHOSEN that any of us can SEE through all of the darkness in this world!  Those who are of this world are ABSOLUTELY CONVINCED that they have the answers to what is going on, but they can’t SEE what is coming to prepare for it.  

Scripture doesn’t make unfulfilled prophecies.  It has been, AND WILL ALWAYS BE, exactly correct.  So when Romans 1 is read, it should illuminate us to understand that just because people have a doctorate, PhD, or even a GENIUS tagged onto their names, it generally means that they were good in studying the books assigned by others “CLAIMING TO BE WISE”!  Instead, they became fools, chiefly because they ignore what GOD has said! 

When mankind has to rely on knowledge passed on from anything other than the BIBLE and the SPIRIT OF GOD, certain PERIL is not far from reality.  Romans 1:18 says “For the WRATH of GOD is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the TRUTH.”  Can anyone deny that this is what playing out right before our very eyes?  Mankind, in all of his supposed wisdom, is trying its best to solve the social difficulties, economic problems, and even spiritual turmoil, but our wisdom is no match for the WRATH of GOD!

Can you imagine trying to communicate to GOD that, even though HE CREATED the universes and everything in them (Colossians 1:16), we know better than HE about our own selves?  We seem to THINK (in our limited wisdom) that the answer lies within our minds, within the finiteness of our abilities!  We are “CLAIMING TO BE WISE” to our CREATOR while HIS WRATH is being poured out on us!  May the GRACE OF GOD be granted on HIS CHOSEN!!!

“SHAMEFUL GAIN!”

1 Peter 5:1-5                                                    (ESV)

“1 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of CHRIST, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed:

2 shepherd the flock of GOD that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as GOD would have you; NOT FOR “SHAMEFUL GAIN”, but eagerly;

3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.

4 And when the CHIEF SHEPHERD appears, you WILL receive the unfading crown of glory.

5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, ALL OF YOU, WITH HUMILITY toward one another, for "GOD OPPOSES THE PROUD but GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE."”

Usually when searching for a passage of Scripture, I have an idea of what GOD is wanting to speak to me.  This morning as I opened the BIBLE app and it was on 1 Peter 5, and I couldn’t get past the first few verses!  Although I am almost 60 years old, considering myself an “Elder” is not a name that I feel comfortable with.  For me, the term has always carried a certain amount of respect, and I don’t feel like I deserve the Spiritual respect of being a an elder Spiritually. 

Seeing those who tie Spiritual maturity to financial gain bothers me more than just a little bit. Peter writes in his first letter various churches for elders to be HUMBLE and be an example to those in your charge.  For me, it would be awkward, almost offensive, to minister to the poor while living in a mansion in a gated community?  JESUS, our example, never owned a house during HIS 33 years of being on earth physically.  Why is it that I have a desire to build something that I will not spend long occupying and neglect my Heavenly abode?  

The term “SHAMEFUL GAIN” doesn’t adequately reflect what GOD must think about such misconceptions.  We build grand earthly dwellings with every luxury that can be imagined and hardly ever contemplate eternity?  JESUS “knew” HIS time on earth was limited to a few short years, but shouldn’t we also KNOW that?  My prayer is that the “SHAMEFUL GAIN” that some experience will be rejected for serving JESUS and HIS Kingdom! 

“IN THE PLACE OF GOD?”

Genesis 50:19-21                                 (ESV)

“19 But Joseph said to them, "Do not fear, for am I “IN THE PLACE OF GOD”?

20 As for you, YOU MEANT EVIL AGAINST ME, BUT GOD MEANT IT FOR GOOD, to bring it about THAT MANY PEOPLE SHOULD BE KEPT ALIVE, as they are today.

21 So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones." Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.”

Joseph was sold into slavery around 1733 BC, if my calculations are correct and remained a slave for 13 years.  It would seem that slavery is as old as mankind?  Like Joseph, what we elect to do with the position we find ourselves in can determine our future.  Joseph knew the dreams that GOD had given him when he was a young lad, and while he had to experience slavery and imprisonments, he never lost sight of what GOD had told him so many years before.  

Although “this world” has become a “microwave society”, GOD operates on HIS OWN timeline.  HE is GOD and HE doesn’t need to satisfy anyone’s time constraints but HIS.  Joseph was a slave to Potiphar, and then imprisoned after denying an encounter with Potiphar’s wife, which might have caused a weaker man to give up and think that GOD wasn’t going to keep HIS Promise.  But Joseph just kept on serving GOD, and ultimately wound up second to only Pharaoh in Egypt and the world!  

Do I have the yearning to GIVE UP when the fire gets a little warm?  Does my focus shift to the dilemma that I am in instead of fixing my EYES on JESUS?  “The enemy” has to resist JESUS.  1 Peter 5:8 says “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”  Satan is defeated, we just need our FAITH to grow to recognize THE VICTOR lives inside of us!  

Joseph had an uncanny ability to look past his trials and SEE that GOD was using him for HIS GLORY!  When Joseph said “... YOU MEANT EVIL AGAINST ME, BUT GOD MEANT IT FOR GOOD, to bring it about THAT MANY PEOPLE SHOULD BE KEPT ALIVE, as they are today”, he recognized that his own brothers selling him into slavery WAS PART OF GOD’S PLAN!  Maybe I should realize that I am “IN THE PLACE OF GOD” and not trying to get away from where GOD has me?  When I am “IN THE PLACE OF GOD”, HE might use me to keep others alive???

“FOR THE SAKE OF CHRIST!”

2 Corinthians 12:9-10                                   (ESV)

“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.”

Most people desire to be STRONG and resolute, determined to be the best at what they attempt in life.  Although my DESIRE is similar, my abilities to live the aforementioned manner is pathetically weak!  Why can’t I be more devoted and committed to THE LORD, setting an example for others to follow? After all, showing weakness is not an attractive trait of a follower of JESUS CHRIST!

The writer of this letter to the church of Corinth is the Apostle Paul.  The Apostle Paul also letters to Timothy, in the first one saying in verse fifteen “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!”  There has to be something about growing closer to JESUS and recognizing how “undone” (Isaiah 6:5 KJV) we are?  Comparing ourselves to each other’s can bring about pride and boasting.  Comparing ourselves to the HOLY GOD will allow us to see how WEAK we really are?!?

The GRACE OF GOD is something that cannot be understated. We cannot find words to describe the POWER OF GOD, however!  HE WHO literally spoke and the entire worlds came to be!  JESUS, GOD in the flesh, created ALL THINGS through HIM, AND FOR HIM (Colossians 1:16)!  So it is understandable for Paul to submit himself to being subordinate to our CREATOR “FOR THE SAKE OF CHRIST”.  We are simply the CREATED in service to the CREATOR, not visa versa!  

When I am CALLED to perform task that seem outside of my comfort zone, it would do me good to remember that I am a SLAVE (Romans 6:17) to righteousness!  I don’t have the privilege of saying what I think might be better, OR MORE PROFITABLE!  I am CALLED to be a servant “FOR THE SAKE OF CHRIST”, and fulfill HIS mission for my life.  We love to hear about the “unsearchable riches” (Ephesians 2:8) of CHRIST, but we must remember that we are CREATED by CHRIST, “FOR THE SAKE OF CHRIST”!!!

“DO YOU NOT KNOW?”

1 Corinthians 6:9-20                              (ESV)

“9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of GOD? Do not be deceived: neither the SEXUALLY IMMORAL, nor IDOLATERS, nor ADULTERERS, nor men WHO PRACTICE HOMOSEXUALITY,

10 nor THIEVES, nor the GREEDY, nor DRUNKARDS, nor REVILERS, nor SWINDLERS will inherit the kingdom of GOD.

11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the NAME of the LORD JESUS CHRIST and by the SPIRIT of our GOD.

12 "All things are lawful for me," but not all things are helpful. "All things are lawful for me," but I will not be dominated by anything.

13 "Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food"-and GOD will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.

14 And GOD raised the LORD and will also raise us up by HIS power.

15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of CHRIST? Shall I then take the members of CHRIST and make them members of a prostitute? NEVER!

16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, "The two will become one flesh."

17 But he who is joined to the LORD becomes ONE SPIRIT with HIM.

18 FLEE from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.

19 Or “DO YOU NOT KNOW” that your body is a temple of the HOLY SPIRIT within you, whom you have from GOD? You are not your own,

20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify GOD in your body.”

To admit that I am not a legal scholar should not be surprising to anyone who knows me.  The recent Supreme Court ruling that people of the “LGBTQ” persuasion could not be discriminated against in the workplace is a huge win for those who are in said lifestyles.  There is no place for “hate” for these people. They choose to live a life that Scripture says they will not inherit the Kingdom of GOD!

But they are not alone!  Anyone who tries to enter Heaven on their own merits is guilty of rejecting the Sacrifice of JESUS, and thusly will hear DEPART, I NEVER KNEW YOU on Judgement Day!  The church has a responsibility, however uncomfortable it may be, to alert people to the consequences of their choices.   

Some people might not know that I experienced Aspartame Poisoning in 2011 or 2012.  For awhile I was very vocal about those who chose to pour this sweetener into their bodies when it was reportedly discovered by tasting spilled wood preservative!  Aspartame doesn’t have the effects on everyone, BUT SIN DOES!  Unless a person allows JESUS to transform their life they will NOT enter the Kingdom of GOD!  A person who truly loves you will never allow you to drive over a cliff without alerting you of the danger ahead.  

The notion that Believers are judging others because of their actions could not be further from the TRUTH!  JESUS says in Matthew 7:15-20 that we will KNOW them BY THEIR FRUITS!  Since I have been BORN AGAIN, do I always exhibit CHRISTLIKE characteristics?  I am sorry to say that I cannot answer that in the affirmative?  But I will continue to show LOVE in that I will alert those who are unaware that the proverbial cliff is ahead.  “DO YOU NOT KNOW” that GOD cannot fellowship with sin?  My only HOPE is that the Promise of JESUS to propitiate (implies averting anger or malevolence especially of a superior being) HIS LIFE for my worthless life will SAVE me from Judgement?  “DO YOU NOT KNOW” that HE can do the same for you???

“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 THE 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.”

It was last Saturday evening and I very was tired from working in the outdoors most of the day.  I had mowed two yards and began cleaning a fence row belonging to a family member.  The Saturday before I worked in a neighbors yard, cleaning limbs and mowing grass all day.  The feeling of working hard, sweating out impurities and losing a pound or two, gives me a good feeling that is hard to explain!  That is until I realize that the inundation of doom and destruction from social media has been absent from both of the Saturday’s past!

Allowing my MIND to be free from where “this world” wants you to be, involved with riots, viruses, stock markets, and anything else, prevents me from being on edge, worries, tense and out of control!  “This world” and the enemy tries to get us so consumed with THINGS THAT ARE ON THE EARTH when ultimately GOD IS IN CONTROL and has a Plan!  Why should we let the happenings that surround us frazzle our emotions when “have been raised with CHRIST”?  Since HIS SPIRIT lives within us, we should be boldly reflecting HIS Light in the darkness where we are placed.  

When we “SET YOUR MINDS” on things that are above, NOT ON THINGS THAT ARE ON THE EARTH, we will experience resistance from “this world” and those who are comfortable with how they live.  “YOUR MINDS” will not just gravitate to where GOD is Glorified, you will have to make sure that GOD has “SET” it on course where HE wants it to go.  Our “nature” (our NATURAL MAN (1 Corinthians 2:14)) is unable to go where GOD directs (Romans 8:7-8).  We cannot even understand Scripture unless GOD “opens our EYES to SEE”!  “This world” will continue to do everything possible to have our MINDS focused on the problems and cares surrounding us, when ALMIGHTY GOD is in CONTROL and directing our paths.  

1 Corinthians 14:33 lets us KNOW “For GOD is not a GOD of confusion BUT OF PEACE.”  When there is confusion, you can rest assured that “the enemy” is behind it.  Our MINDS cannot be free to wander, free to do whatever it pleases, free to do that which we choose.  Romans 12:3 says “Do not be conformed to “this world”, but be TRANSFORMED by the RENEWAL of YOUR MIND, that by testing you may discern what is the WILL OF GOD, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”  “SET YOUR MINDS” is allowing GOD to TRANSFORM YOUR MINDS into what can Glorify HIM!  

“ABOUT MIDNIGHT!”

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 himself, 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."”



As members of the greatest nation in history, Americans need to ask themselves who is benefiting from keeping a controversy stirred in our country?  Why does turmoil rear its ugly head when GOD is about to perform a mighty work?  Since I Believe that Scripture holds the answer to ALL of life’s problems, when things get crazy I try to remind myself WHO is in control!

Paul and Silas were in what MOST would consider a time where GOD was punishing them for being the “chief” of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15).  Being typical humans, one would expect them to be telling everyone how they had been wronged, how the system had not given them justice.  But they were NOT typical humans!  They were CALLED to serve the MOST HIGH GOD!  When we are serving HIM, our thoughts and actions are not typical.  We do things that “don’t make sense”, that are hard to explain!

Again, Paul and Silas were NOT typical humans!  “ABOUT MIDNIGHT” they were imprisoned, and instead of crying and complaining about their predicament, they were “singing hymns to GOD”!  When an earthquake broke their chains, did the escape from their confinement?  No, they told the jailer “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here."  Their concern was NOT ABOUT THEMSELVES, but about the one assigned to keep them captive.

How many times have I been “imprisoned” and been guilty of “singing hymns to GOD”?  When I was released from my captivity, did I run with joy, or did I show concern for the ones inflicting punishment?  Maybe I AM more typical than I want to be?  Maybe I need to EXPECT a hardship so that my jailer can be SAVED, “you and your your household”?  And when should I look for the adversity to come and trouble me?  “ABOUT MIDNIGHT”, of course!!!

“THE TRUTH!”

John 14:5-7                                          (ESV)

“5 Thomas said to HIM, "LORD, we do not know where YOU are going. HOW CAN WE KNOW THE WAY?"

6 JESUS said to him, "I am the WAY, and “THE TRUTH”, and the LIFE. No one comes to the FATHER EXCEPT THROUGH ME.

7 If you had known ME, you would have known MY FATHER also. From now on you do know HIM and have seen HIM." 

Yesterday morning I listened to Pastor John MacArthur preach a sermon entitled “Who’s to blame for the riots”?   There can be differing OPINIONS on this subject, but the TRUTH is indisputable.  An OPINION is defined as “a view or judgment formed about something, NOT NECESSARILY based on fact or knowledge.  TRUTH is defined as “the body of REAL THINGS, EVENTS, and FACTS : ACTUALITY”.  Being able to SEE “THE TRUTH” is a gift from GOD, lest anyone should boast, something that everyone should remember!  

I am only responsible for one person!  ME!  The President’s actions are not my responsibility. The lost and unregenerate are not my responsibility.  The members of my church are not the responsibility of the pastor or leaders of the church. One day we will ALL be held accountable for our own actions, NO ONE ELSE!!!  

One’s OPINION is only their point of view , until and unless you accept it as your own!  It doesn’t have to be based on TRUTH.  In fact, by definition an OPINION is “NOT NECESSARILY based on fact or knowledge.”  When we allow our OPINIONS to escape for others to filter, we are allowing something NOT NECESSARILY based on fact or knowledge” to be considered instead of TRUTH!  

JESUS says in John 14:6 “I am the WAY, “THE TRUTH”, and the LIFE”!  HE is the only example of “THE TRUTH” that can be trusted in life.  “No one comes to the FATHER EXCEPT THROUGH ME”.  Everything else is subject to changing, or better yet, subject to “THE TRUTH”!  Politicians, Pastors, and basically People in general are not “the body of REAL THINGS, EVENTS, and FACTS”!  They are ALL broken and undone.  Humanity and all of its imaginations are creations for HIS Glory.  We must open our EYES and SEE that HE is “THE TRUTH” and nothing else can be substituted for HIM!  

“NEW CREATION!”

2 Corinthians 5:1-5; 16-21

“1 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from GOD, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling,

3 if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked.

4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened-not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

5 HE WHO has prepared us for this very thing is GOD, WHO has given us the SPIRIT as a GUARANTEE.”

“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.

20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for CHRIST, GOD making HIS appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of CHRIST, BE RECONCILED TO GOD.

21 For our sake HE made HIM to be sin WHO knew no sin, so that in HIM we might become the righteousness of GOD.”

People who have known me since before July 09, 2007 can verify that I am different in many ways since the Hemorrhagic Stroke.   It is not that I determined that I was going to be a better person since GOD chose to leave me on earth awhile longer.  The changes were made by THE LORD while I was in the seventeen day coma without any input from me. GOD knew that if I were sedated I could not take credit for anything that HE accomplished in my life!  HE has a Plan, and now I understand that!

The “tent” that I have lived in for almost 60 years has required a few modifications in my lifetime, but the changes GOD has made, not to the “dwelling” but the “dweller, are difficult to ignore.  Sometime around 2010 I met Bishop Robert E. Smith Sr. who introduced me to a passage of Scripture that I had never been adequately exposed to, 2 Corinthians 5:17.  His personalized license plate is 1NEWMAN.  He explained to me that since he was IN CHRIST, he was a “NEW CREATION”, no longer to be known by his flesh!  Bishop Smith, along with every Believer, is a “NEW CREATION” because he is IN CHRIST, whether the carnality of the human mind can accept that or not.  What he is IN CHRIST is not determined by what others understand about the BIBLE, but on GOD’S WORD!  Our finite minds are incapable of grasping the magnitude of the POWER of GOD!  

The verse above that is so convicting to me is “From now on, therefore, WE REGARD NO ONE ACCORDING TO THE FLESH.”  When society calls me a “white man”, it refers to me being a lighter tone of skin than those who have a lot of melanin in their skin.  Being fairer skinned is NOT a privilege, especially when I am in the sun for an extended period of time.  Being known as “poor white folks” was what the people we admired were called growing up!  I’ve heard people say that “we didn’t know we were poor”!  We knew it and were reminded about it every time a birthday or Christmas came around and we didn’t get the things other children were blessed with.  It took me a long time to REGARD NO ONE ACCORDING TO THE FLESH, not in a haughty way, but looking up from the hole I placed myself in as “poor white folks” as a child!  The discrimination I was dealing with was mainly self-imposed as I had an extremely poor view of who I saw myself as.   

In a synopsis, from now on, therefore, IN CHRIST, I am a “NEW CREATION”!  The old man I used to be is now a NEW MAN!  GOD could have taken me to Heaven in July 2007, but HIS Plan for me wasn’t yet fulfilled.  It is difficult to SEE myself as “poor white trash” when the CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSES died for me on Calvary!  That is who I am, an adopted child of GOD!  In CHRIST, I am a “NEW CREATION!!!”