“YOU ARE NOT MY SHEEP!”

 John 10:22-30                 (ESV)

I and the FATHER Are ONE

“[22] At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, [23] and JESUS was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. [24] So “the Jews” gathered around HIM and said to HIM, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the CHRIST, tell us plainly.” [25] JESUS answered them, “I TOLD YOU, and YOU DO NOT BELIEVE. The works that I do in MY FATHER’s NAME  bear witness about ME, [26] but you do not believe because “YOU ARE NOT MY SHEEP”. [27] MY sheep hear MY VOICE, and I KNOW THEM, and they follow ME. [28] I give them eternal life, and they will NEVER PERISH, and no one will snatch them out of MY HAND. [29] MY FATHER, WHO has given them to ME, is GREATER THAN ALL, and NO ONE is able to snatch them out of the FATHER’s HAND. [30] I AND THE FATHER ARE ONE.”

Recently I was at a restaurant eating and a child was in the same establishment eating with his family.  The child was apparently operating on a shortage of sleep, for he was not acting appropriately.  A lack of sleep can cause a person to do some crazy and irresponsible things!!!

But I was “pondering” the restaurant situation a few days later and my EYES were OPENED to SEE what my HEAVENLY FATHER observes when HE looks at me trying to live a life without being IN TUNE without HIS GUIDANCE in my life!!  GOD IS SO VERY PATIENT with me, and I am not nearly as patient with others!  

However, JESUS told “the Jews” in the Scripture above that “YOU ARE NOT MY SHEEP”, something that we might think would be DEVASTATING to hear!!  But their EYES were yet to be OPENED to SEE (and understand!) WHO JESUS really was!  The CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSES was walking among them and they couldn’t even recognize HIM!!

We SHOULD RECOGNIZE that just because we can SEE things that others can’t doesn’t make us any better than them, we aren’t better than them!  Our EYES are able to SEE TRUTH, yet their EYES can’t recognize HIM right in front of them…….because “YOU ARE NOT MY SHEEP”!!!

“I WILL HASTEN IT!”

 

Isaiah 60:22                 (ESV)

    “[22] The least one shall become a clan,

        and the smallest one a mighty nation;

    I AM THE LORD;

        in its time “I WILL HASTEN IT”.”

James 4:7                 (KJV)

   “SUBMIT YOURSELVES THEREFORE GOD. RESIST THE DEVIL, AND HE WILL FLEE FROM YOU.”

Briefly this morning, I was viewing videos this morning and James 4:7 was placed into my thoughts.  Shortly afterwards I see in one video Isaiah 60:22, so I looked up this verse and to SEE what it was saying to me.  About twelve years ago or so I saw a movie where I BELIEVE GOD SPOKE to me that HE was going to BLESS me with an inordinate amount of resources FOR HIS GLORY!  I have NEVER let HIS MESSAGE slip from my mind!!!

I BELIEVE that the two Scripture verses above TELL me that it is TIME for GOD’S PROMISE to take place!  Fearing that I am being “misled” by “the enemy” is ALWAYS a possibility, but James 4:7 says that BELIEVERS should “RESIST THE DEVIL, AND HE WILL FLEE FROM YOU.”!!  However it begins with ““SUBMIT YOURSELVES THEREFORE GOD”!!  The enemy isn’t afraid of this humble servant, but HE WILL FLEE from WHO LIVES inside of me (Ephesians 3:7)!!!

When I turn to Isaiah 60:22 it says “I AM THE LORD; in its time “I WILL HASTEN IT”!  Not just that HE is THE LORD, but that “I WILL HASTEN IT”!!!

I am LED to BELIEVE that I AM CHOSEN BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD by THE CREATOR to SERVE HIM at a place where HE has selected a LONG TIME AGO!!!  I could be wrong, but I wouldn’t get in HIS WAY, because “I WILL HASTEN IT” will always win!!!

“HE KNEW!”

John 2:23-25                 (ESV)

JESUS Knows What Is in Man

“[23] Now when HE (JESUS) was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many BELIEVED in HIS NAME when they saw the signs that HE was doing. [24] But JESUS on HIS part did not entrust HIMSELF to them, because “HE KNEW” all people [25] and needed no one to bear witness about man, for HE HIMSELF knew what was in man.”

There are people (MANY) who believe that they had something (ANYTHING) to do with their salvation?  They “responded” to the drawing (or wooing) of the HOLY SPIRIT and “gave” their lives to HIM?  I was probably one of the most misinformed people in the world regarding this subject??  That is UNTIL the Brain Hemorrhage of 2007!?!

Formerly, I WAS IN CHARGE OF EVERYTHING!!  I was doing my best to change the world, supposedly for HIS GLORY?  But when my beautiful bride found out that I needed medical attention that morning, she and my youngest son carried me to the hospital and entrusted me to the professionals!  I didn’t disagree, but I DID NOT CHOOSE to go where the doctors and nurses were either!!!  I was MOVING TOO QUICKLY to HEAR from HIM!!!

“HE KNEW” what I needed to experience to get me to HEAR that “still small voice” (1 Kings 19:11-13)!  And even almost 19 years later, I STILL have to be reminded that I need to GET ALONE WITH GOD to RECEIVE my instructions from HIM!  “HE KNEW” all people, but most importantly “HE KNEW” this humble servant REQUIRED HIS DIVINE LEADERSHIP in my life to accomplish HIS PLAN!!!

To “claim” that I would have “done it on my own” is as absurd as anything I have ever heard!  My feeble mind WOULD NOT, nor COULD NOT, have conceived what HE has PLANNED (Isaiah 64:4) for me to do FOR HIM!!!  “HE KNEW (from the FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD) (Ephesians 1:4) and I must YIELD to HIS LEADERSHIP to accomplish HIS PLAN!!!

“ALL THINGS!”

 

Matthew 19:23-30                 (ESV)

“[23] And JESUS said to HIS disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with DIFFICULTY will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. [24] Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of GOD.” [25] When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” [26] But JESUS looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with GOD “ALL THINGS“ are possible.” [27] Then Peter said in reply, “See, we have left everything and followed YOU. What then will we have?” [28] JESUS said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the SON OF MAN will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed ME will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. [29] And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for MY NAME’S sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. [30] BUT MANY WHO ARE FIRST WILL BE LAST, AND THE LAST FIRST.”

As I write this devotional, my mind goes back to the night before the Brain Hemorrhage in 2007.  My plans were to arise July 09, 2007 and begin working to build a foundation for underprivileged children to help them graduate from high school and either go to college or trade school and have a respectful career.  BUT GOD had a different PLAN (Proverbs 19:21)……!!!

Having a part of me that was seemingly pulling for the underdog has consistently been a trait that I followed.  A person COULD NOT have made me BELIEVE that I would spend the next month in the hospital, and another three weeks in a Rehabilitation Hospital, only to walk out of it on August 29, 2007 with solely a walker assisting me!!!  Now, almost 19 years later, I am retired, but waiting on my instructions from ABOVE, WHATEVER GOD HAS IN HIS PLAN for my life!!!

My story has been written about MANY TIMES, but when a person has traveled such a rocky road, the path MUST BE recalled from time to time, if for nothing else, to remind myself where I COULD be if “my plans” were still being played out!  Even though I have “walked through the valley of the shadow of death” (Psalms 23:4), I still have to be reminded that HIS PLAN is what I long for!  NOTHING ELSE!!!

JESUS THE MESSIAH was speaking to HIS disciples in the passage of Scripture above when HE said, “With man this is impossible, but with GOD “ALL THINGS“ are possible.”  My medical records indicate that I couldn’t have made it WITHOUT DIVINE INTERVENTION in my life!  But none of us could have made it through our lives without HIS GOODNESS AND GRACE!  But with GOD “ALL THINGS“ are possible, and I’m sure THANKFUL that HE CHOSE ME BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD (Ephesians 1:4) to be USED by and for HIM!!!

“MY WORD!”

John 15:18-20                 (ESV)

“[18] “If the world hates you, know that it has hated ME before it hated you. [19] If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. [20] Remember THE WORD that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted ME, they will also persecute you. If they kept “MY WORD”, they will also keep yours.”

In the REAL WORLD, things are a LOT different than they are in life!  The first verse of the first chapter of John PLAINLY states “In the beginning was “THE WORD” (JESUS), and “THE WORD” was with GOD, and “THE WORD” was GOD,”. This same JESUS is saying in John 15:20 “If they kept “MY WORD” (as referred to in John 1:1), they will also keep yours”!!!

“The enemy” doesn’t have to work very hard to get me to lose focus on “MY WORD”!  Yes, he is the “master deceiver”, but I seem to yeild to his deception far too easily when it comes to choosing the path I need to be traveling.  Why do I do that which seems correct rather than obey “MY WORD”???

FATHER IN HEAVEN, cause my weaknesses to become stronger and my wishes to be replaced with “MY (YOUR) WORD”!!!

“I HAVE CHOSEN HIM!”

 

Genesis 18:16-21                 (ESV)

“[16] Then THE MEN set out from there, and they looked down toward Sodom. And Abraham went with them to set them on their way. [17] The LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, [18] seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and ALL THE NATIONS OF EARTH shall be BLESSED in him? [19] For “I HAVE CHOSEN HIM”, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring to Abraham what HE has promised him.” [20] Then the LORD said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, [21] I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I WILL KNOW.” 

Abraham had a child (Ishmael) through Hagar (someone other than his wife) at 86 years of age, yet GOD still BLESSED Abraham with HIS CHOSEN son Isaac 14 years later by his wife Sarah.  This occurred AFTER she was past the time of conceiving children (Genesis 16)!!!

There are several lessons that can be learned from this glimpse of history!  The main lesson is that ALMIGHTY GOD IS THE CREATOR, and HE IS NOT LIMITED by ANYTHING, including what “the enemy” wants us to BELIEVE!  

Another lesson is that ALMIGHTY GOD doesn’t OPERATE on humanity’s timeline!  GOD “ordained” Isaac to be born several years after Ishmael was born, yet Abraham’s BLESSING went to Isaac!  Ishmael was NOT CHOSEN, but Abraham and Isaac were CHOSEN!!!

Abraham nor Isaac were HOLY, but they WERE CHOSEN by their CREATOR “before the foundation of the world!  Thank the CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSES that HE CHOSE ME as well and NOTHING ELSE matters!!!  

Thankfully “I HAVE CHOSEN HIM” was said about me a LONG TIME ago and I am serving HIS PURPOSE, FOR HIS GLORY!!!!

“DECLARES THE LORD!”

 

2 Kings 19:33-35                 (ESV)

“[33] By the way that he (King Sennacherib) came, by the same he shall return, and HE SHALL NOT come into this city, “DECLARES THE LORD”. [34] For I WILL defend this city to save it, FOR MY OWN SAKE and for the sake of MY servant David.”

[35] And that night THE ANGEL OF THE LORD went out and STRUCK DOWN 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were ALL DEAD BODIES.” 

When GOD ALMIGHTY has a work to perform that HE doesn’t want to share HIS GLORY with anyone else, HE has a myriad of other means at HIS disposal!  HE WILL GET GLORY!!!

In 2 Kings 19, what was written about Assyria is now “modern-day northern Iraq, southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, and northeastern Syria”.  Keep in mind that the world population was VASTLY different over 2,700 years ago.  If THE ANGEL OF THE LORD eliminated 185,000 people in today’s society it would be catastrophic, so 2,700 years ago it must have been devastating?  GOD IS ABLE to accomplish FAR MORE than our feeble minds can fathom!  HE doesn’t need our understanding to limit HIS effectiveness!

KNOWING GOD ALMIGHTY and having a personal relationship with HIM is so very comforting, yes, even AWE INSPIRING!  If the ONE WHO “DECLARES THE LORD” can cause 185,000 individuals to lose their lives in one night is against you, it SHOULD have a tremendous impact on your decisions???

Having the PEACE OF GOD is a BLESSING that CANNOT be described!  ON THE OTHER HAND, the King of Assyria was murdered by two of his sons, and a third son assumed his throne!  NO MATTER who a person is, when a MESSAGE is heard and it has “DECLARES THE LORD” inside of it, the MESSAGE needs to be heard and listened to FERVENTLY!!!

“LONGING TO GO TO ROME!”

 

Romans 1:8-15                 (ESV)

“LONGING TO GO TO ROME”

“[8] First, I thank my GOD through JESUS CHRIST for all of you, because your FAITH is proclaimed in all the world. [9] For GOD is my witness, WHOM I serve with my SPIRIT in the gospel of HIS SON, that without ceasing I mention you [10] always in my prayers, asking that somehow by GOD’S WILL I may now at last succeed in coming to you. [11] For I long to see you, THAT I MAY IMPART TO YOU some spiritual gift to strengthen you—[12] that is, that we may be MUTUALLY encouraged by EACH OTHERS FAITH, both yours and mine. [13] I DO NOT WANT YOU TO BE UNAWARE, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. [14] I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. [15] So I am EAGER to preach the gospel to you also who are IN ROME.”

Recently I was given the opportunity to meet with a friend who GOD has used to BLESS me with many years ago.  He and his brother were present as we had lunch and spent a couple of hours together.  Our time was completed by each of us thanking GOD ALMIGHTY for HIS orchestration and deliverance of our time together.  It was a great afternoon with longtime friends!!!

The Apostle Paul wrote a letter to the Church in Rome in the midst of the first century A.D.!  In reality, the writings of Paul are Spiritually Inspired and have been used to grow MANY BELIEVERS in their FAITH.  KNOWING that JESUS CHRIST came to earth is something that many people have rejected, but that is simply because their EYES have yet to be OPENED to SEE and understand the TRUTH about HIM!!

My friends and I are BLESSED to share a relationship with each other.  My friend now lives in Arizona, so our visits are not as common.  But just as Paul was “LONGING TO GO TO ROME” to visit his friends that GOD had brought together, I was BLESSED seeing my friends from afar!!  It “won’t be long” before we will be together again around the THRONE of JESUS celebrating HIM FOREVER!!!

“HUMBLED HIMSELF GREATLY!”

 2 Chronicles 33:9-13                 (ESV)

“[9] Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray, to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the people of Israel.

Manasseh’s Repentance

[10] The LORD spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they paid no attention. [11] Therefore the LORD brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh with hooks and bound him with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon. [12] And WHEN HE WAS IN DISTRESS, he entreated (begged) the favor of the LORD his GOD and “HUMBLED HIMSELF GREATLY” before the GOD of his fathers. [13] He prayed to HIM, and GOD was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. THEN MANASSEH KNEW THAT THE LORD WAS GOD.”

From time to time I just CANNOT get a Scripture “out of my mind”!  The verses above seem to be ONE OF THOSE TIMES!!  

King Manasseh “led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray” from the LORD.  How do you think King Manasseh felt about this statement being written for us to read over 2,500 years later?  

But what about my imperfections and shortcomings?  Will they be remembered like King Manasseh’s?  Will they EVER be forgotten by THE LORD?

King David wrote in Psalm 103:13-14 “As a father shows compassion to HIS children, so the LORD shows compassion TO THOSE WHO FEAR HIM. For HE knows our frame; HE remembers that we are dust.”  Our bodies are DUST and HE KNOWS that we are WITHOUT HOPE!  So HE SENT HIS SON JESUS to PAY the PRICE for our sins, something that CANNOT be duplicated by humanity!!

HIS SACRIFICE was completed when HE said “IT IS FINISHED” (John 19:30)!!  JESUS “HUMBLED HIMSELF GREATLY” when HE paid the price for our sins!  We mustn’t look past HIS GOODNESS to and for HIS CHOSEN!!!

“Psalms 73”

 Psalm 73                 (ESV)

Book Three

GOD Is My Strength and Portion Forever

A Psalm of Asaph.

    “[1] Truly GOD is good to Israel,

        to those who are pure in heart. 

    [2] But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,

        my steps had nearly slipped. 

    [3] For I was envious of the arrogant

        when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

    [4] For they have no pangs until death;

        their bodies are fat and sleek. 

    [5] They are not in trouble as others are;

        they are not stricken like the rest of mankind. 

    [6] Therefore pride is their necklace;

        violence covers them as a garment. 

    [7] Their eyes swell out through fatness;

        their hearts overflow with follies. 

    [8] They scoff and speak with malice;

        loftily they threaten oppression. 

    [9] They set their mouths against the heavens,

        and their tongue struts through the earth. 

    [10] Therefore HIS people turn back to them,

        and find no fault in them. 

    [11] And they say, “How can GOD know?

        Is there knowledge in the MOST HIGH?” 

    [12] Behold, these are the wicked;

        always at ease, they increase in riches. 

    [13] All in vain have I kept my heart clean

        and washed my hands in innocence. 

    [14] For all the day long I have been stricken

        and rebuked every morning. 

    [15] If I had said, “I will speak thus,”

        I would have betrayed the generation of your children.

    [16] But when I thought how to understand this,

        it seemed to me a wearisome task, 

    [17] until I went into the sanctuary of GOD;

        then I discerned their end.

    [18] Truly YOU set them in slippery places;

        YOU make them fall to ruin. 

    [19] How they are destroyed in a moment,

        swept away utterly by terrors! 

    [20] Like a dream when one awakes,

        O LORD, when YOU rouse YOURSELF, YOU despise them as phantoms. 

    [21] When my soul was embittered,

        when I was pricked in heart, 

    [22] I was brutish and ignorant;

        I was like a beast toward you.

    [23] Nevertheless, I am continually with YOU;

        YOU hold my right hand. 

    [24] YOU guide me with YOUR counsel,

        and afterward YOU will receive me to glory. 

    [25] Whom have I in heaven but YOU?

        And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides YOU. 

    [26] My flesh and my heart may fail,

        but GOD is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

    [27] For behold, those who are far from YOU shall perish;

        YOU put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to YOU. 

    [28] But for me it is good to be near GOD;

        I have made the LORD GOD my refuge,

        that I may tell of all YOUR works.”

“THEN MANASSEH KNEW!”

 

2 Chronicles 33:9-13                 (ESV)

“[9] Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray, to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the people of Israel.

Manasseh’s Repentance

[10] The LORD spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they paid no attention. [11] Therefore the LORD brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh with hooks and bound him with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon. [12] And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the LORD his GOD and humbled himself greatly before the GOD of his fathers. [13] He prayed to HIM, and GOD was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. “THEN MANASSEH KNEW” THAT THE LORD WAS GOD.”

Manasseh was king for 56 years, the longest in the history of Judah.  He was known for leading “the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray”, something that must have FINALLY impacted him!  However, that did NOT happen until his captors humiliated him, something that apparently GOD used to awaken him!

Isn’t it amazing how humanity tends to react to adversity in humility, especially when your freedom is being taken away by others??  Manasseh had been king over Judah for so long that he must have thought he was invincible?  But an enemy came from Assyria and caused swift and decisive action against Judah, causing King Manasseh to be bound “with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon”.  

When the EYES of someone has been OPENED where they are able to SEE clearly, they are able to SEE things a LOT differently than before!  GOD could have made Manasseh AWARE of his position beforehand, but Manasseh (and Judah) wasn’t ready to comprehend what was coming!  GOD had to PREPARE them for what was coming!

Only when GOD has brought us through the trials and adversity to prepare us for HIS BLESSINGS will we be ready for them.  King Manasseh wasn’t the best took that was CREATED by the HEAVENLY FATHER, but he ultimately had his EYES OPENED and saw what was happening in his surroundings!!  When the timing was right, “THEN MANASSEH KNEW” what he needed to understand for GOD’S PURPOSE TO BE FULFILLED!!!