“I CAME THAT THEY MAY HAVE LIFE!”

 John 10:7-10                        (ESV)

“[7] So JESUS again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. [8] All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. [9] I am the door. If anyone enters by ME, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. [10] The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. “I CAME THAT THEY MAY HAVE LIFE” and have it abundantly.”

Thomas Jefferson was the third President of the United States.  But he also was the second Vice-President and the first Secretary of State of the United States of America.  On the Jefferson Memorial in Washington D.C. a quote is written “GOD WHO GAVE US LIFE” gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of GOD? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that GOD is just, that HIS justice cannot sleep forever. Commerce between master and slave is despotism. Nothing is more certainly written in the book of fate than that these people are to be free. Establish a law for educating the common people. This it is the business of the state and on a general plan."

Thomas Jefferson was mortal. Even though he was a patriot and revered as a founder of the United States, he was flawed!  But he apparently KNEW the “GOD WHO GAVE US LIFE”!  He understood that it is GOD WHO GAVE US LIFE!  

JESUS, the CREATOR and the CHRIST, told “the Jews”, “I AM COME THAT THEY MAY HAVE LIFE”.  JESUS also said in John 6:44a “No one can come to me unless the FATHER WHO sent ME draws him.”  Ephesians 1:3-4 says “Blessed be the GOD and FATHER of our LORD JESUS CHRIST, WHO has blessed us in CHRIST with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as HE CHOSE IS IN HIM BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD, that we should be holy and blameless before HIM.”  

We were CHOSEN IN HIM BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.  “I CAME THAT THEY MAY HAVE LIFE” says that JESUS CHOSE us before HE CREATED this world and “this world” has no authority over us!  We are HIS, and we are only passing through this foreign territory!  When “the enemy” tells us about his future, remind him that “I CAME THAT THEY MAY HAVE LIFE” has CHOSEN us!!!

“SIXTEEN YEARS!”

Luke 2:25-35                   (ESV)

“[25] Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the HOLY SPIRIT was upon him. [26] And it had been revealed to him by the HOLY SPIRIT that he would not see death before he had seen the LORD’s CHRIST. [27] And he came in the SPIRIT into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child JESUS, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, [28] he took HIM up in his arms and blessed GOD and said,

    [29] “LORD, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,

        according to your word; 

    [30] for my eyes have seen YOUR salvation 

    [31]     that YOU have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 

    [32] a light for revelation to the Gentiles,

        and for glory to YOUR people Israel.”

    [33] And HIS father and HIS mother marveled at what was said about HIM. [34] And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary HIS mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed [35] (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.””

How long are the blood vessels in a human brain?  Why did PRECISELY the exact vessel that broke in my Brain Hemorrhage of 2007 control the “word recall” for me, and it rupturing caused me to lose my ability to formulate sentences???  There are approximately 100,000 miles of blood vessels in an adult human body, so the probability other areas of damage occurring is very remote, to put it mildly!  Admittedly, before the Brain Hemorrhage, I thought I was “in charge”, always “in control”!  But July 09, 2007 I was SHOWN exactly how little I was in control and WHO REALLY was in CONTROL!

Recently I was perusing a social media site and saw a video which stated “The purpose of prayer is to remind me that I am NOT in control, and it keeps me CLOSE to the ONE WHO is!”  GOD doesn’t make mistakes, HE isn’t interested in speculations, nor does HE guess what MIGHT happen!  ALMIGHTY GOD has a PLAN, just like HE did when HIS CHILDREN of Israel was led from Egypt over 3,500 years ago.  The Children of Israel were in captivity for over 400 years, YET they “encamped” on the western side of the Red Sea WAITING for GOD to deliver them from the Egyptians who were unknowingly pursuing them!

ALMIGHTY GOD has a PLAN, and we mortals are UNABLE to figure HIM out, to KNOW what is coming next!  The Children of Israel WAITING at the Red Sea?  Abraham and Sarah WAITING on Isaac?  David WAITING on King Saul to be removed?  Simeon WAITING for “the LORD’S CHRIST”!  Many other instances of man WAITING on GOD are recorded in Scripture, but GOD has YET to completely fulfill HIS PLAN!  We need to be WAITING for HIS PLAN to be fulfilled!

Shouldn’t a person inquiring about THE PLAN OF GOD be interested in STUDYING HIS WORD and finding out how HE has worked MIRACLES in the past?  Don’t we understand that a HOLY GOD can get through to us, even if it means placing us into a coma for seventeen days!  If we fail to LISTEN to GOD ALMIGHTY and HE has CHOSEN us to perform a task, HE WILL orchestrate events that WILL bring about HIS PLAN!  WAITING for HIS PLAN to be unfolded for us might take longer than we think it should?  But Moses kept his father-in-laws sheep for a number of years before he was spoken to in the “burning bush”!

WAITING on GOD can bring about tremendous apprehension and anxiety.  When we REALIZE that are NOT in CONTROL, the apprehension and anxiety tends to evaporate.  I was so far from being in control of my speech and other bodily functions that I was placed into a drug-induced coma for seventeen days.  I literally had NO CONTROL over anything, including my breathing!  

When I was “brought out” of the coma on July 29, 2007, I was WITHOUT A DOUBT “changed” by my predicament.  The medicine used to place me in the coma still had to work its way out of my system, but I KNEW that I had NO CONTROL of being DELIVERED from where I was only a few days earlier!  

I’ve shared many times what my doctor wrote in my medical records in September 2007, “However, he  has had a remarkable recovery that could only be defined as a miracle from GOD”!  No one else gets credit or GLORY, for GOD ALONE brought me through this “valley of the shadow of death”!  The story might get old or monotonous to some, but I HAVE TO GIVE PRAISE TO THE LORD for my DELIVERANCE!  Brain Hemorrhages we’re 80% fatal in 2007, so for me to be on the “other side” with very few deficits is TRULY “a miracle from GOD”.  

WAITING on the recovery from ALMIGHTY GOD was/is a lengthy process.  DELIVERANCE from the deficits is an ongoing issue.  I am no longer in a drug-induced coma, and I have l learned to TRUST HIM for HE has displayed HIS SOVEREIGNTY to me in ways that few people can understand!  

SIXTEEN YEARS have taught me that HIS PLAN is what I long for in my life.  FATHER IN HEAVEN, help me to be a patient as Simeon!!!

“PURPOSE OF PRAYER!”

 

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1501476443990758?fs=e&s=TIeQ9V&mibextid=E4tZtc

“THE WRATH OF GOD!”

 Ephesians 5:6                            (ESV)

“[6] Let no one deceive you with EMPTY WORDS, for because of these things “THE WRATH OF GOD” comes upon the sons of disobedience.”

Sixteen years ago next week I was released from the HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital after a 21 day stay.  One of the things that took me LOT of getting used to following the Brain Hemorrhage was NOT having the same ability to use “sarcastic” responses to show wit (or disdain) for the ongoing conversation.  Sometimes GOD doesn’t permit everything to be “restored”, especially when HE removes it from your life!

When THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSES decides to “change” something, HE doesn’t require our submission, nor even our acknowledgement!  I was placed into a seventeen day coma and when I was brought out of it I was extremely slow to think, almost “retarded”!  I am BLESSED that GOD has restored most of my “deficits”, but searching for the proper words is something that I STILL struggle with, and I am convinced that is “beyond me”!  It is something that GOD has used to SLOW me down, to WAIT ON HIM for the words I need to say!!!

As a child, using EMPTY WORDS may have been a tool that I used because I didn’t have a father in the house?  Regardless, GOD used the Brain Hemorrhage to take that away from me as only HE could!  I don’t Believe “THE WRATH OF GOD” was required to change me, for THE CREATOR could have CHANGED me in however HE desired.  I DO KNOW that the Speech Pathologists working with me did everything they could to improve my “word recall”, but GOD made it known to me that when HE CHANGES something, man HAS TO accept it!!!

Why does humanity think that we can do whatever we choose with our bodies?  We simply have been BLESSED by ALMIGHTY GOD with every breath we breathe (Isaiah 42:5) and sometimes we need to SLOW DOWN and recognize WHO HE is, and what we are!! None of us can handle “THE WRATH OF GOD”, so we need to be mindful that!!!

“WAITING???”

 

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From Bishop Robert E Smith, Sr.

“God and His Word are one (John 1:1,2).  "Our knowledge" of God, His Word, and Jesus Christ are the same (John 1:14; 2 Peter 1:2,3; Rev.19:11-13).”

“THE TRUTH!”

John 8:31-33                                             (ESV)

“THE TRUTH” Will Set You Free

“[31] So JESUS said to the Jews who had believed HIM, “IF you abide in MY WORD, you are truly MY disciples, [32] and you will know “THE TRUTH”, and “THE TRUTH” will set you free.” [33] They answered HIM, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?””

The Jews written about in the Scripture above were NOT “CHOSEN before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4) to be HOLY and blameless before HIM.  As a matter of fact, JESUS plainly says in verse 33 above “You will become free”, meaning that they were still enslaved by sin.  “THE TRUTH” was the only WAY to be “set free” from the bondage of sin!

Recently I was reading about a well known pastor, someone who is known by many to be at the top of the hierarchy in “the church”.  It is very easy to be misled by a popular figure who doesn’t espouse “THE TRUTH”, because they won’t address difficult issues that require delineating “THE TRUTH” from a lie that will send people to hell!  The Jews above were singing the praises of being “offspring of Abraham” when FAITH IN GOD was “THE TRUTH” that would deliver them from their “captivity”!!!

JESUS (GOD IN FLESH) comes right out and tells “these Jews” in John 8:44-45 “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.  But because I tell “THE TRUTH”, you do not believe ME,”   The Jews wound up picking up stones to throw at JESUS, but HE escaped from them, because HIS time had not yet come.  

We need to be VERY CAREFUL about what we accept as being “THE TRUTH”!  John 14:6 says “JESUS said to him, “I am the way, and ”THE TRUTH”, and the life.  No one comes to the FATHER except through ME.”  For someone searching for “THE TRUTH”, the best bet would be to look for “THE TRUTH” while searching for JESUS!!!

“BE SEPARATE!”

 2 Corinthians 6:16-18                    (ESV)

“[16] What agreement has the temple of GOD with idols? For we are the temple of the living GOD; as GOD said, 

    “I will make MY dwelling among them and walk among them,

        and I will be their GOD,

        and they shall be MY people. 

    [17] Therefore go out from their midst,

        and  “BE SEPARATE” from them, says the LORD,

    and TOUCH NO UNCLEAN THING;

        THEN I WILL WELCOME YOU, 

    [18] and I will be a FATHER to you,

        and you shall be sons and daughters to ME,

    says the LORD ALMIGHTY.””

Separate: to “keep apart” or “divide”, as by an intervening barrier or space:

A reminder to me: “BE SEPARATE” means that I should DIVIDE myself from the things of “this world”, permitting GOD ALMIGHTY ample opportunity to FILL me with HIMSELF!  

FATHER IN HEAVEN, it is my desire to have YOU making decisions in my life, not my will, but YOURS BE DONE!!  DIVIDE me from the things of “this world” causing me to “BE SEPARATE” for YOUR GLORY!!!

“The earth is the LORD’s!”

 Psalm 24:1-2                              (ESV)

The KING of Glory

A Psalm of David.

    “[1] The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof,

        the world and those who dwell therein, 

    [2] for HE has founded it upon the seas

        and established it upon the rivers.”

“A CHOSEN RACE!”

 1 Peter 2:9-10                       (ESV)

“[9] But you are “A CHOSEN RACE”, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for HIS own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of HIM WHO CALLED YOU OUT OF DARKNESS into HIS MARVELOUS LIGHT. [10] Once YOU WERE NOT A PEOPLE, but now YOU ARE GOD’s PEOPLE; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

Being “A CHOSEN RACE” might indicate that we are better than those who haven’t been CHOSEN by the ONE doing the CHOOSING?  JESUS CHOSE us before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4), long before we proven assets to the Kingdom of GOD. 

WHO determines fits into “A CHOSEN RACE”?  The phrase YOU ARE GOD’s PEOPLE sets us apart from others as we are CHOSEN doesn’t mean that we are wealthy, famous and beautiful to others!  

We are “A CHOSEN RACE” means that we have been selected by the CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSES to GLORIFY HIM for eternity, not to be the most popular and richest people in society.  

FATHER IN HEAVEN, cause me to live with YOU  and for YOU humbly, but to humbly KNOW that I am “A CHOSEN RACE” for YOUR GLORY!!!

“BE SEPARATE!”

 2 Corinthians 6:16-18                    (ESV)

“[16] What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, 

    “I will make MY dwelling among them and walk among them,

        and I will be their GOD,

        and they shall be MY people. 

    [17] Therefore go out from their midst,

        and  “BE SEPARATE” from them, says the LORD,

    and TOUCH NO UNCLEAN THING;

        THEN I WILL WELCOME YOU, 

    [18] and I will be a FATHER to you,

        and you shall be sons and daughters to ME,

    says the LORD ALMIGHTY.””

Separate: to keep apart or divide, as by an intervening barrier or space:

A reminder to me: “BE SEPARATE” means that I should DIVIDE myself from the things of “this world”, permitting GOD ALMIGHTY ample opportunity to FILL me with HIMSELF!  

FATHER IN HEAVEN, it is my desire to have YOU making decisions in my life, not my will, but YOURS BE DONE!!  DIVIDE me from the things of “this world” causing me to “BE SEPARATE” for YOUR GLORY!!!

“DOING THE WORD!”

 James 1:19-25                   (ESV)

Hearing and “DOING THE WORD”

“[19] Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; [20] for the anger of man DOES NOT produce the righteousness of GOD. [21] Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness AND RECEIVE with meekness the implanted WORD, which is able to save your souls.

[22] But be DOERS OF THE WORD, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. [23] For if anyone is a hearer of the WORD and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. [24] For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. [25] But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but A DOER WHO ACTS, HE WILL BE BLESSED in his doing.”