Once Again!!!!

 

“BE STILL!”

 Psalms 46:10                    (KJV)

“BE STILL, and KNOW that I am GOD: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.”

“THE WORD!”

 John 1:1-5                    (ESV)

“THE WORD” Became Flesh

[1] In the beginning was “THE WORD”, and “THE WORD” was with GOD, and “THE WORD”  was GOD. [2] HE was in the beginning with GOD. [3] ALL THINGS WERE MADE THROUGH HIM, and WITHOUT HIM WAS NOT ANYTHING MADE THAT WAS MADE. [4] In HIM WAS LIFE, and the LIFE was the LIGHT. [5] THE LIGHT SHINES in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

Before anything that was made was ever made or CREATED, “THE WORD” WAS!!!  HE FATHOMED everything from HIS BEING, AND NOTHING BECAME OUTSIDE OF HIS PLAN!

NOTHING WAS MADE OUTSIDE of HIM!  HE IS “THE WORD”!  EVERYTHING MADE is after HIM, because HE IS “THE WORD”!!!

“THE LORD CHALLENGES JOB!”

 Job 40:6-14                    (ESV)

The LORD Challenges Job

“[6] Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:

    [7] “Dress for action like a man;

        I will question you, and you make it known to ME. 

    [8] Will you even put ME in the wrong?

        Will you condemn ME that you may be in the right? 

    [9] Have you an arm like GOD,

        and can you thunder with a voice like HIS?

    [10] “Adorn yourself with majesty and dignity;

        clothe yourself with glory and splendor. 

    [11] Pour out the overflowings of your anger,

        and look on everyone who is proud and abase him. 

    [12] Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low

        and tread down the wicked where they stand. 

    [13] Hide them all in the dust together;

        bind their faces in the world below. 

    [14] Then will I also acknowledge to you

        that your own right hand can save you.”

 

“Bishop Robert E. Smith Sr!

 From Bishop Robert E Smith Sr!

“ Tempting the Lord forfeits promises (Num.14:22,23; Heb.4:1,11), not believing the finished work of Christ, forfeits the kingdom reign (Heb.3:12; 6:4-6).  So, keep believing (Heb.10:39).”

“YOUR WORD IS TRUTH!!!”

 Psalm 119:160                     (ESV)

    “The sum (entirety) of “YOUR WORD IS TRUTH”,

        and EVERY ONE of YOUR righteous rules ENDURES FOREVER.”

The longest chapter in the Holy Bible is Psalms 119. It has 176 verses!!  Not being remotely where I should be when it comes to searching for the things that are LIFE CHANGING, I usually just read a few verses of Scripture and try to let those verses MOVE me to GLORIFY HIM.  

It has been written “GOD SAID IT, I BELIEVE IT, AND THAT SETTLES IT!?!”  But I think it makes no difference if you Believe it or not!  If GOD says it, IT IS TRUTH!  At times humanity attempts to put words into a way that sounds more fluent and palatable to attain the desired result from the hearers.  ALMIGHTY GOD needs no flowery words to CHANGE the heart of anyone.  HE simply needs us to “listen” to HIM!!!  We don’t need to turn our music up, we don’t need to have jokes, we don’t require pomp and circumstance!  We NEED to HEAR FROM HIM!!!

There are people who actually think that portions of the Holy Bible are added by mankind???  Mortals may have a part in the writing of HIS WORD, but humans don’t operate without oxygen, and that doesn’t come without HIS provision!!  

Even 176 verses of Scripture IN ONE CHAPTER of 150 Psalms, of ONE BOOK of 66 books, written over thousands of years, can’t say it more plainly and accurately than what is in today’s single verse, and that is “YOUR WORD IS TRUTH”!!!  “YOUR WORD IS TRUTH” “YOUR WORD IS TRUTH”!!!

“ESCAPED!”

 John 10:39                    (ESV)

“[39] Again they (the Jews according to John 10:24) sought to arrest HIM, but HE “ESCAPED” from their hands.”

Misinterpreting words can lead to tumultuous results!!  When a word is used in Scripture, I look at other translations to see how they interpret the text.  In most translations that I have seen and used, the word “ESCAPED” used in John 10:39 was letting people know that THE CREATOR wasn’t taken by “the Jews”.  HE apparently had a timeline that HE needed to follow and “this world” had NO authority to change HIS PLAN!!  JESUS left even HIS closest friends TO BE ALONE WITH GOD several times.  Yes, GOD IN THE FLESH HAD TO SPEND TIME ALONE WITH HIS HEAVENLY FATHER!!!

JESUS had the capability to escape from everything and everyone, and AT ANYTIME!  Yet several times HE “withdrew” from HIS earthly demands to commune with THE FATHER!!  Do we take the time from our “busyness” to, not only get directions from GOD, but PRAISE HIM FOR WHO HE IS???  HE has put me in a “position” in the past where I had NO CHOICE but to BE STILL and LISTEN to HIM!!

No matter how “busy” the circumstances of your life becomes, GOD IS STILL GOD!!  While JESUS wasn’t required to yield to earthly interruptions, HE “willingly” (John 10:17-18) laid down HIS LIFE according THE PLAN!!  Yet humanity as a whole doesn’t have the default to submit to HIS GUIDANCE, even when difficulties arise!  We have the PERFECT opportunity to “ESCAPE” from trouble, but we fail to RUN to HIM???  

ALMIGHTY GOD, please OPEN our EYES to understand that we have been provided an “ESCAPE” from the snares of “the enemy”!!!

“GLORY OF GOD!”

 Psalm 19:1                   (ESV)

The Law of the LORD Is Perfect

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

    “[1] The heavens declare the “GLORY OF GOD”,

        and the sky above proclaims HIS handiwork.”

King David was “a man after GOD’s OWN HEART” (1 Samuel 13:14).  Yet he failed to live a perfect life, something that is greatly described in Scripture!  How could “a man after GOD’s OWN HEART” live a life that failed to Glorify GOD in so many ways?  

David must have had a repentant heart, for he had a lot of practice confessing his failures to GOD ALMIGHTY!  He MUST have grasped that GOD was THE ALMIGHTY CREATOR?  How else could a person who was SO powerful still understand the “GLORY OF GOD”?  

Seventeen years ago today I celebrated my 47th birthday at HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital while recovering from the Brain Hemorrhage.  Although I was glad to be alive in 2007, I couldn’t process the severity of my condition. But gratefully I KNEW that I was alive by THE GRACE OF GOD!!!  Like King David, there was NO DOUBT that GOD had delivered me from “the valley of the shadow of death” and I am STILL HUMBLED by this!  

The “GLORY OF GOD” isn’t something that this humble servant can easily forget, nor can I fully understand!  Why did ALMIGHTY GOD CHOOSE to DELIVER me from such a precarious condition?  “However, he has had a remarkable recovery that could only be defined as a miracle from GOD” is what my doctor wrote on my first office visit following my release from the Rehabilitation Hospital.  

King David is/was certainly more recognized than me, but the SAME GOD that delivered so many MIRACLES for him certainly delivered at least one for me in 2007!  The “GLORY OF GOD” will forever be on my lips as I praise HIM for HIS HANDIWORK!!!

“CHOSEN PEOPLE!”

 1 Peter 2:6-10                    (NASB)

“For this is contained in Scripture (Isaiah 28:16): “Behold, I am laying in Zion a choice stone, a PRECIOUS CORNERSTONE, And the one who believes in HIM WILL NOT BE PUT TO SHAME.” This precious value, then, is for you who believe; BUT FOR UNBELIEVERS, “A stone which the builders rejected, This became the CHIEF CORNERSTONE,” and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to THIS THEY WERE ALSO APPOINTED. 

But you are a “CHOSEN PEOPLE”, a ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, a HOLY NATION, a PEOPLE FOR GOD’S OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of HIM WHO HAS CALLED YOU OUT OF DARKNESS into HIS MARVELOUS LIGHT; for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now YOU ARE THE PEOPLE OF GOD; YOU HAD NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but NOW YOU HAVE RECEIVED MERCY.”

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BELIEVERS ARE A “CHOSEN PEOPLE”!!!  But WHY do we BELIEVE?  WHY have our EYES been OPENED?  WHY have our HEARTS been made to BELIEVE?

In Romans 10:10-11 Scripture records “for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in HIM WILL NOT BE PUT TO SHAME.”

Personally , I might NOT have experienced some of the “finer things in life”, but ALMIGHTY GOD has delivered me through some experiences that VERY FEW can relate to.  WHY has HE CHOSEN me for this specific journey???  Because I AM HIS “CHOSEN PEOPLE“!!!!

“IN MY FLESH!”

 Romans 7:15-20                    (ESV)

“[15] For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. [16] Now if I DO WHAT I DO WANT, I agree with the law, that it is good. [17] So now it is no longer I who do it, but SIN THAT DWELLS IN ME. [18] For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, “IN MY FLESH”. For I have the DESIRE to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. [19] For I DO NOT DO  the good I want, but THE EVIL I DO NOT WANT IS WHAT I KEEP DOING. [20] Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.”

Why do I do an innumerable amount of things that violate the LAW OF GOD, especially if HE LIVES within me?

THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST lives within us, but we are still “IN OUR FLESH”!  We won’t be FREE FROM SIN until we enter our “Glorified” BODIES, a BODY that GLORIFIES JESUS!  

The Apostle Paul dealt with the conundrum of THE SPIRIT living inside of his mortal body.  He recognized that his sinful nature WASN’T what he was going to be when he was Glorified!  

Right now I am “IN MY FLESH”, but PRAISE JESUS I will one day lay down this shell and acquire what JESUS is preparing for me (John 14:3)!!!

“FAR MORE ABUNDANTLY!”

 Ephesians 3:20-21                    (ESV)

“[20] Now to HIM WHO is able to do “FAR MORE ABUNDANTLY” than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, [21] to HIM be Glory in the church and in CHRIST JESUS throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

Typically we don’t have the capability to fathom how MAGNANIMOUS our LORD can respond to any request that is made to HIM.  While it is TRUTH that GOD HAS A PLAN and it WILL BE FULFILLED, HIS WORD instructs we BELIEVERS (Philippians 4:6) “make your requests known to GOD”!  

Now in our humanity, we do NOT have the capability of knowing precisely what THE PLAN OF GOD is, not only for us, but for those in our “community”!  Why else does GOD say to us in Hebrews 11:6 “…WITHOUT FAITH it is impossible to please him”??  We MUST (we have no choice!) LIVE by FAITH (Romans 1:17)!!!

ALMIGHTY GOD could have “FAR MORE ABUNDANTLY” planned for our lives……IF WE JUST BELIEVE!!!  Why do I want to live “in defeat” when “FAR MORE ABUNDANTLY” could be available??  

FATHER IN HEAVEN, cause YOUR humble servant to NOT look through the pessimistic eyes of “this world”, but to constantly be reminded that YOU can do “FAR MORE ABUNDANTLY” than all that we ask or think!!!

Romans 5:6

 Romans 5:6                    (ESV)

“For while we were still weak, AT THE RIGHT TIME CHRIST died for THE UNGODLY.”

“A TIME FOR EVERYTHING!”

 Ecclesiastes 3:1-8                    (ESV)

“A TIME FOR EVERYTHING”

“[1] For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

    [2] a time to be born, and a time to die;

    a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; 

    [3] a time to kill, and a time to heal;

    a time to break down, and a time to build up; 

    [4] a time to weep, and a time to laugh;

    a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 

    [5] a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;

    a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 

    [6] a time to seek, and a time to lose;

    a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 

    [7] a time to tear, and a time to sew;

    a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 

    [8] a time to love, and a time to hate;

    a time for war, and a time for peace.”

Ecclesiastes 7:14

 Ecclesiastes 7:14                    (ESV)

“In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: GOD has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after HIM.”

“HE WILL BE MY SON!”

 Revelation 21:5-8                    (ESV)

“[5] And HE WHO was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also HE said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” [6] And HE said to me, “It is done! I am the ALPHA and the OMEGA, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life WITHOUT PAYMENT. [7] The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his GOD and “HE WILL BE MY SON”. [8] But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.””

JESUS HIMSELF is speaking above, and HE leaves NO question that HE will “give from the spring of the water of life WITHOUT PAYMENT”!!!  JESUS paid an incredibly HIGH PRICE for our salvation and HE WILL NOT permit us to suffer when we are at the JUDGMENT!  

Imagine if you will, THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSES sacrificing HIMSELF for a lowly servant such as me, then HIM causing us to continue to be ridiculed while giving us our reward???  NO, JESUS will let everyone know that “HE WILL BE MY SON”!!!  No longer will we be male and female, we will be SPIRITS, defined by our FAITH that HE IS THE CREATOR OF EVERYTHING!!!

We have been CHOSEN before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4) to celebrate JESUS forever!!!  “HE WILL BE MY SON” will be our new name for ETERNITY and we shall wear it victoriously!!!

“HOLY, HOLY, HOLY!”

 

Revelation 4:6b-8                    (ESV)

[6b] …And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind:  [7] the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. [8] And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, 

    “”HOLY HOLY HOLY” is the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY,

        WHO WAS and IS and IS to come!””

Why doesn’t ALMIGHTY GOD take us to HEAVEN as soon as we surrender to HIS CALLING, similar to the thief on the Cross?  There are limitations to how much humanity can worship the TRUE GOD because we have to eat and sleep and sometimes earn a living?  

There are people who are so caught up in making a living that we in can’t give THE LORD HIS “adequate” PRAISE?  We don’t have the wherewithal about us to give HIM HIS proper “due” for being WHO HE really is!!

In Heaven, all of that will surely change?  As much as I love my wife, I am of the BELIEF that when I am in the PRESENCE OF GOD that I will be SO awestruck by HIM that I will only be able to say “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY”, for NOTHING else will be able to come out of my mouth!!!