“RESCUE ME!”

 Psalm 31:14-15                             (ESV)

    “[14] But I trust in YOU, O LORD;

        I say, “YOU are my GOD.” 

    [15] My times are in YOUR hand;

        “RESCUE ME” from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!”

This morning the temperature was 33 degrees and the wind chill was 29 degrees  Just last week I was camping in a tent about three hours NORTH of here and late at night the temperature was 72 degrees, almost sweating!!!

We must NEVER be dismayed about where we are, but always remember WHO is in control of EVERYTHING……..not just the weather!!!  GOD has displayed many times that HE IS ABLE, so why can’t I learn this like I should?  

When my Brain Hemorrhaged occurred, they were having trouble controlling my blood pressure.  One day I received a tremendous amount of blood pressure medication. Early the next morning my blood pressure tanked!  

One day JESUS was crucified, a few days later HE arose from the grave victorious and triumphantly!  

When GOD moves, we need to understand that HE does it on HIS timeframe, not to satisfy our expectations!  Sometimes I need to be reminded that GOD can “RESCUE ME”, even from a seventeen day coma, and HE hasn’t lost any power since!!!

“YOU ALONE ARE GOD!”

 Psalm 86:8-10                              (ESV)

    “[8] There is none like YOU among the gods, O LORD,

        nor are there any works like YOURS. 

    [9] All the nations YOU have made shall come

        and worship before YOU, O LORD,

        and shall glorify YOUR NAME. 

    [10] For YOU ARE GREAT and do WONDROUS THINGS;

        “YOU ALONE ARE GOD”.”

“YOU ALONE ARE GOD” isn’t anything that should be debated, especially by we who have been redeemed!  WHO else has the POWER to regenerate a lost soul, doomed for an eternity separated from GOD, into a BELIEVER of CHRIST and HIS REDEMPTION?  NO OTHER god is ABLE to forgive sins and grant eternal life except the PRECIOUS SON OF GOD! 

We are NOT the ruler of our fates!  That has become very evident to me following the events of July 09, 2007!  Proverbs 19:21 says “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.” The finiteness of our “plans” could be engulfed by the “purpose” GOD has for us.  

We MUST understand that HIS PURPOSE for our lives is the ONLY thing that can satisfy us as we serve HIM!  “YOU ALONE ARE GOD” doesn’t carry with it a caveat that fulfills our plans, but HIS PLAN is what I need to strive for in my life!!!

Psalms 100

 

“HE CHOSE US!”

 Ephesians 1:3-4                           (ESV)

Spiritual Blessings in CHRIST 

“[3] 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, [4] even as “HE CHOSE US” in HIM before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before HIM.”

Regardless of what you might have been taught , The HOLY BIBLE states very plainly “HE CHOSE US” in HIM before the foundation of the world !!!

From what I understand, I was CHOSEN before the foundation of the world, not because I was worthy, but a simply because HE LOVED ME!!!  HE doesn’t make mistakes, so when “HE CHOSE US”, HE knew what HE was doing!!!

“LET YOUR WORDS BE FEW!”

 Ecclesiastes 5:21       (Berean Standard Bible)

“DO NOT BE QUICK TO SPEAK, and do not be hasty in your heart to UTTER A WORD before GOD. After all, GOD is in heaven and you are on earth. So “LET YOUR WORDS BE FEW”!!!

Far too often I awake almost feeling like I “need” to talk to someone to announce that I am okay, that I have made it through the night without harm!  Maybe my medical history has something to do with it??

GOD has a WAY of getting my attention sometimes, especially when I am trying to “do it on my own”!  Isaiah 42:5 (ESV) says “Thus says GOD, the LORD, WHO created the heavens and stretched them out, WHO spread out the earth and what comes from it, WHO GIVES BREATH TO THE PEOPLE ON IT and Spirit to those who walk in it:”.  I can’t even BREATHE without permission from GOD ABOVE, so why don’t I AWAKE seeking to get directions from HIM for the day ahead???

“LET YOUR WORDS BE FEW” needs to be adhered to more frequently by this humble servant!  

“GOD GRANTED WHAT HE ASKED!”

 1 Chronicles 4:9-10                    (ESV)

“[9] Jabez was more honorable than his brothers; and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.”[10] Jabez called upon the GOD of Israel, saying, OH THAT YOU WOULD BLESS ME and enlarge my border, and that YOUR HAND might be with me, and that YOU would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!” And “GOD GRANTED WHAT HE ASKED”.”

The name Jabez is only recorded very few times in the BIBLE.   But “Jabez was more honorable than his brothers”, according to the Scripture above and that needs to be noticed!  Jabez wasn’t just “honorable” among others, but he was BLESSED by ALMIGHTY GOD because it is recorded “GOD GRANTED WHAT HE ASKED”!!

What “others” see in us could be tainted by the lenses they observe through?  But when the CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE rewards one, the validity of their lives has to be recognized as nothing other than BLESSED BY THE ALMIGHTY!!  Was Jabez “better” than the rest of us?  No, but he was CHOSEN by his CREATOR to accomplish HIS PLAN, therefore “GOD GRANTED WHAT HE ASKED” so that Jabez could GLORIFY HIM!!!

“I AM HE WHO COMFORTS YOU!”

 saiah 51:12-13                           (ESV)

    [12] “I, “I AM HE WHO COMFORTS YOU”;

        who are you that you are afraid of man who dies,

        of the son of man who is made like grass, 

    [13] and have forgotten the LORD, your MAKER,

        WHO stretched out the heavens

        and laid the foundations of the earth,

    and you fear continually all the day

        because of the wrath of the oppressor,

    when he sets himself to destroy?

        And where is the wrath of the oppressor?”

From time to time we are faced with waiting on the LORD!  Social media will not satisfy, television is not capable of delivering comfort, nothing seems to fulfill like being alone with GOD!  Our COMFORTER is the ONLY ONE WHO can deliver us free the entrapments that are used by the enemy in an effort to rob GOD from the GLORY HE deserves!  

“Where is the wrath of the oppressor” is a question that can be difficult to ask by humans ….and answer!  The Children of Israel had just been delivered from Egyptian captivity and were following “the CLOUD” which led them to the banks of the Red Sea in Exodus 14.  They HAD to wait on GOD’s Deliverance for quite some time before the Egyptians caught up with them WAITING FOR THEM at the Red Sea!  That is where ALMIGHTY GOD got GLORY over Pharaoh and ALL his hosts (Exodus 14:28) WITH NO HELP from mankind!

Modern Day BELIEVERS are no different!  Even I have DIFFICULTY accepting how GOD DELIVERED me from the “valley of the shadow of death” almost 17 years ago.  But when GOD does what ONLY HE can do, humanity has no explanation for the results!  Peter and John say in Acts 4:19-20 “Acts 4:19-20 “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to GOD, you must judge, for WE CANNOT BUT SPEAK OF WHAT WE HAVE SEEN AND HEARD.”

The STORY that I share might be repetitive to some, but when you are the one who is DELIVERED from the banks of the Red Sea, it is something that you HAVE to make sure everyone HEARS!  When you have experienced “I AM HE WHO COMFORTS YOU”, you have to tell the world about HIM!!! 

“DEPART FROM ME!”

 Luke 13:22-27                      (ESV)

The Narrow Door

“[22] HE (JESUS) went on HIS way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. [23] And someone said to HIM, “LORD, will those who are saved be few?” And HE said to them, [24] “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. [25] When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘LORD, open to us,’ then HE will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ [26] Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in YOUR  presence, and YOU taught in our streets.’ [27] But HE will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. “DEPART FROM ME”, all you workers of evil!’

In a previous life (before the Brain Hemorrhage), my reputation was to “cut people down”, brutally quick most of the time with very little time to consider the consequences!  

The NEW MAN that resulted from that traumatic experience has slowed down considerably and has been given a new perspective on what should be coming out of my mouth!  JESUS says in the latter part of Luke 6:45 “for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks”!   I am humbled to report that HE might not have been pleased with the OLD MAN, so HE adjusted a few things and made me a bit more in HIS IMAGE!!

The almost brutal events of 2007 were in fact some of the most precious times in my life!  The Head Nurse in the ICU where I was treated said when I inquired about my temperature change, “Mr. Nelson, you might be Brain Damaged”, something that has stuck with me since!  Out of the over 50,000 miles of vessels in a body, GOD was able to have a blood vessel in the portion of my brain that controls the “word recall” for me to spring a leak that slowed me down rather intensely.  

One thing that I am SO grateful for is that HE CHOSE me to display HIS long suffering and patience through!  HE just as easily could have NOT CHOSEN me and I would have had to HEAR one day “DEPART FROM ME”, all you workers of evil!!!

Yes, I can’t get over how HE worked in my life (and is STILL working), when HE could have just said “DEPART FROM ME”, all you workers of evil!!!

“HEAR THIS!”

 Jeremiah 5:21                       (ESV)

    [21] “HEAR THIS”, O foolish and senseless people,

        who have eyes, but see not,

        who have ears, but hear not.”

When you have been to a place that few others have been, it gives you a “perspective” that others cannot easily comprehend.  You want them to see what you are able to SEE, but they won’t be able to grasp the reality unless they are where you have been!  Even though you try to make them understand, they cannot fathom what you are saying to them!

The verse of Scripture above says it very clearly that there are people “who have eyes, but see not, who have ears, but hear not.”  I cannot imagine not being able to see or hear?  But not being able to HEAR or SEE SPIRITUALLY has to be the most debilitating experiences in creation!  To not be able to communicate with our CREATOR is something that is unfathomable to me!  But there are those who EYES and EARS have never seen nor HEARD, and THAT is tragic!  

FATHER IN HEAVEN, I pray that those who are moving so fast that they can’t SEE or HEAR from YOU will have their EYES and EARS OPENED to experience YOUR GLORY!  Cause them to “HEAR THIS” MESSAGE from YOU and turn their lives over to YOUR PLAN!!!

“BE STILL!”

 Psalm 46:10                         (ESV)

    [10] “BE STILL”, and know that I am GOD.

        I will be exalted among the nations,

        I will be exalted in the earth!”

Today, as a dear friend is nearing the end of their earthly journey, I am led to simply “BE STILL”!!!

“PUT ME TO THE TEST!”

 Malachi 3:6-12                           (ESV)

Robbing GOD

“[6] “For I THE LORD DO NOT CHANGE; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. [7] From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from MY statutes and have not kept them. RETURN TO ME, AND I WILL RETURN TO YOU, says the LORD of HOSTS. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ [8] Will man rob GOD? YET YOU ARE ROBBING ME. But you say, ‘How have we robbed YOU?’ In your tithes and contributions. [9] You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing ME, the whole nation of you. [10] Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in MY house. And thereby “PUT ME TO THE TEST”, says the LORD of HOSTS, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. [11] I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the LORD of HOSTS. [12] Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the LORD of HOSTS.”

Since GOD is ALL KNOWING, HE “KNEW” that some of us were going to be “withholding” our tithes and offerings in an attempt to “pay our bills” or accumulate more wealth!  In the text above we are being told “PUT ME TO THE TEST”, in other words, LET ME SHOW YOU WHAT I CAN DO when you remove your interference and you ABSOLUTELY TRUST IN GOD above!

We tend to want to “figure” out things on our own, but GOD placed me in a seventeen day coma in 2007 so I COULDN’T “help” HIM!

When our EYES are OPENED and we understand that ALMIGHTY GOD has EVERYTHING under HIS CONTROL, then we are able to SEE the mighty and wondrous WORKS that ONLY HE CAN perform!  Our “help” isn’t required!  We just need to “PUT ME TO THE TEST” and watch HIM work!!!

“HEAR!”

 Deuteronomy 6:4-9                            (ESV)

“[4] “HEAR”, O ISRAEL: The LORD our GOD, the LORD is ONE. [5] You shall love the LORD your GOD with ALL YOUR HEART and with ALL YOUR SOUL and with ALL YOUR MIGHT. [6] And THESE WORDS that I command you today SHALL BE ON YOUR HEART. [7] You shall TEACH THEM DILIGENTLY to your children, and shall TALK OF THEM WHEN YOU SIT IN YOUR HOUSE, and WHEN YOU WALK BY THE WAY, and WHEN YOU LIE DOWN, and WHEN YOU RISE. [8] You shall BIND THEM AS A SING ON YOUR HAND, and they SHALL BE AS FRONTLETS BETWEEN YOUR EYES. [9] You SHALL WRITE THEM ON THE DOORPOSTS OF YOUR HOUSE AND ON YOUR GATES.”

………..and I think that spending a little bit of time most mornings in HIS WORD is a tremendous “sacrifice”?????

FATHER IN HEAVEN, forgive me for looking through the prism of “this world” and not looking through the Spiritual EYES YOU have given me!!!!

Cause me to “HEAR” from YOU, and NOT allow distractions and distortions interfere with YOUR VOICE!!!!

“OH THAT YOU WOULD BLESS ME!”

 1 Chronicles 4:9-10                    (ESV)

“[9] Jabez was more honorable than his brothers; and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.”[10] Jabez called upon the GOD of Israel, saying, “OH THAT YOU WOULD BLESS ME” and enlarge my border, and that YOUR HAND might be with me, and that YOU would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!” And GOD GRANTED WHAT HE ASKED”.”

My self-centered mind is not focused on the THINGS OF CHRIST a lot of the time.  In the Scripture above, Jabez asked of GOD, “OH THAT YOU WOULD BLESS ME”, not with whatever might be placed in our minds, but that GOD would “enlarge my border, and that YOUR HAND might be with me, and that YOU would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!”

I am no doubt nearing the backside of my time on earth.  My prayer is “OH THAT YOU WOULD BLESS ME”, not so I can have “things”, but that YOUR NAME can be GLORIFIED to accomplish YOUR PLAN for my life!!!

“THERE ARE SOME OF YOU WHO DO NOT BELIEVE!”

 John 6:64-67                            (ESV)

“[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.”

[66] After this many of HIS disciples turned back and no longer walked with HIM. [67] So JESUS said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?””

There are those who DO NOT BELIEVE that JESUS IS GOD IN THE FLESH and HE CAME to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15), of whom I am the “foremost”!  The WORDS escape me, especially since the Brain Hemorrhage in 2007, but the Apostle Paul wrote in his first letter to Timothy that he was the worst of sinners, but JESUS left HIS THRONE in GLORY to redeem his soul, and this I can’t get over at times!

“THERE ARE SOME OF YOU WHO DO NOT BELIEVE” was spoken by JESUS, not by anyone else!  Our CREATOR said that some of us ones HE gives physical life to will reject HIM.  It isn’t as if they were oblivious, but they couldn’t SEE because their EYES were not OPENED!  

We need to understand that we are CHOSEN by GOD (Ephesians 1:4) before the foundation of the world, and THAT is the only way we can spend eternity with HIM!  We are no better than the rest of “this world”, but we are CHOSEN by HIM to praise HIM forever!  “THERE ARE SOME OF YOU WHO DO NOT BELIEVE” aren’t able to grasp any need for redemption, but WE CHOSEN have a HOPE that will NEVER PASS AWAY!!!