“LET NOT YOUR HEARTS BE TROUBLED!”

 

John 14:1-7                 (ESV)

I Am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life

[1] “”LET NOT YOUR HEARTS BE TROUBLED”. Believe in GOD; believe also in ME. [2] In my FATHER’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? [3] And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to MYSELF, that where I am you may be also. [4] And you know the way to where I am going.” [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.”

I BELIEVE that EVERY WORD spoken by THE WORD (John 1:1) was spoken for HIM to be GLORIFIED!  In the first verse of the captioned passage, JESUS is quoted as saying “LET NOT YOUR HEARTS BE TROUBLED”.  We also know that only a few verses earlier that JESUS told Judas “What you are going to do, do quickly.”  We now know what it was that Judas would do, and JESUS knew it as well!!!  JESUS KNEW that Judas WAS going to betray HIM.  HE even told Judas to DO IT QUICKLY!  Yet HE proceeded with things without fear or trepidation.  

“LET NOT YOUR HEARTS BE TROUBLED” is followed very closely with “Believe in GOD; believe also in ME”.  Could GOD IN THE FLESH have been telling this uneducated fool that SINCE HE and the HOLY SPIRIT lives inside of me, that I should just TOTALLY rely on HIM???

JESUS said in John 10:30 “I and the FATHER are ONE.”  In John 14:16-17 JESUS says that HE WILL SEND the HOLY SPIRIT to be with us.  HE does this in Acts 2.  So we have THE TRINITY abiding with us, WHAT SHOULD WE BE CONCERNED WITH???  Most modern day people don’t familiarize ourselves with THE TRUTH enough to understand precisely what we HAVE, nor the PRICE that was PAID by our REDEEMER …….on our behalf!!!

My FAITH is far greater than it was, but I am remorseful that I can’t SEE that HE IS IN CONTROL……OF EVERYTHING……especially when I am not able to physically SEE evidence of HIM!!!  “LET NOT YOUR HEARTS BE TROUBLED” isn’t for the SPIRITUALLY weak or timid!  It is for the SPIRITUALLY MATURE!

“A CHOSEN INSTRUMENT OF MINE!”

 

Acts 9:10-19                 (ESV)

“[10] Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The LORD said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, LORD.” [11] And the LORD said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, [12] and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him SO THAT HE MIGHT REGAIN HIS SIGHT.” [13] But Ananias answered, “LORD, I HAVE HEARD from many about this man, how much evil he has done to YOUR saints at Jerusalem. [14] And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on YOUR NAME.” [15] But THE LORD said to him, “Go, for he is “A CHOSEN INSTRUMENT OF MINE” to carry MY NAME before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. [16] For I WILL SHOW HIM HOW MUCH HE MUST SUFFER FOR THE SAKE OF MY NAME.” [17] So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the LORD JESUS WHO appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and BE FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT” [18] And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; [19] and taking food, he was strengthened.”

Saul (later renamed Paul) was VERY ZEALOUS about his goal, to strengthen “the so-called church” of the Jewish people.  Acts 9:1 that we went “breathing threats and murder AGAINST the disciples of the LORD”!  BUT JESUS knew (before the foundation of the world) that Saul was “A CHOSEN INSTRUMENT OF MINE” to perform a task that ONLY JESUS could do through Saul…..after a brief “cooling off” period!!!

ALMIGHTY GOD has done something very similar in my life!  I too was VERY BUSY doing whatever I felt that I was being led to do, but I was moving so quickly that I never made sure of what was leading me!  At least for me, I have found that the HOLY SPIRIT gets through my thick skull when I ‘LET GO’ and permit myself to be LED , AND NOT attempt to run things myself!!!  LETTING GO and permitting GOD to LEAD, GUIDE and DIRECT my actions is something that I MUST become more proficient at if I want to SEE HIS BLESSINGS!!!

On July 09, 2007 I HAD TO be put into a drug-induced coma BEFORE I was able to LET GO and GOD was able to “miraculously” heal me!!  HE wasn’t through with me yet, but HE had to alter my position to show me WHO WAS IN CONTROL!!  WHAT will it take NOW for me to GET MY HANDS OFF OF HIS WORK???  HE used the coma to “get me out of HIS way”, so THAT HE COULD DO WHATEVER HE NEEDED TO DO TO GET ME INTO COMPLIANCE WITH HIS WILL!?!

There were NO surprises in THE PLAN for ANYTHING that happened, from CREATION to current day happenings.  JESUS KNEW when HE was speaking to Ananias that the “murderous” Saul had been rendered useless and was patiently waiting for Ananias to visit him.  How could that information be available at this time?  JESUS KNEW that Saul was “A CHOSEN INSTRUMENT OF MINE”because GOD IS IN CONTROL OF EVERYTHING, and GOD WORKS ALL THINGS FOR HIS GLORY (Romans 8:28!). 

GOD HAS A PLAN!!!  HE responds to whatever HIS subjects do with HIS PRE-PLANNED response.  HE KNOWS PRECISELY how HE will respond to our actions…. or our inactions!  This is coming from someone who USED TO THINK that this humble servant could be used to make changes FOR HIS GLORY???  HE exquisitely displayed to me that HE is capable of doing ANYTHING - without any assistance from HIS CREATION - simply because HE IS GOD!!!

The FACT that HE uses AN INSTRUMENT OF MINE (Exodus 7:3-4; Hebrews 11:29) doesn’t make us any more acceptable to HIM, but being “A CHOSEN INSTRUMENT OF MINE” (Acts 9:15) certainly does!!!

“AND THERE HE PRAYED!”

 

Mark 1:35                 (ESV)

JESUS Preaches in Galilee

“[35] And rising VERY EARLY in the morning, while it was still dark, HE departed and went out to a desolate place, “AND THERE HE PRAYED”.”

JESUS IS FULLY GOD (John 1:1) AND FULLY human (John 1:14), so why did HE need to go to a desolate place “AND THERE HE PRAYED”?  Maybe HE needed to set an example FOR US that no matter how “close” we may get to THE LORD, we will ALWAYS have a need to seek HIS guidance and direction before proceeding WHEREVER we need to go??  We have HIM living inside of us so that HE “abides” with us, protecting us from going “astray”!  

The “METHOD” that HE CHOOSES can be uncomfortable at times, but HE promises to never leave us, not that the journey will be smooth and without conflict!  JESUS CHOSE to come to earth, AND SUBMIT HIMSELF to unimaginable scorn and humiliation, all so this “reject” could have eternal life WITH HIM!!!  Why do I fail to ELEVATE HIM with every breath of HIS that I consume???  Instead, I would rather be BUSY with the cares of “this world”, neglecting to make HIM THE FOCUS of my being?  

JESUS AND THE FATHER ARE ONE (John 10:30), yet when GOD ALMIGHTY came to earth for thirty-three years HE didn’t come as a powerful potentate!  HE came in a cattle barn, because there was NO ROOM for HIM anywhere else!!  HIS Majesty can be seen THROUGHOUT CREATION, yet humanity couldn’t recognize HIM walking in their midst!  

JESUS, UNREMARKABLY and VERY OFTEN (Luke 5:16), got ALONE with GOD to pray!  What makes me think that I should not be surprised by this???  A reprobate at best, I am UNWORTHY to even come into HIS PRESENCE, but I am to follow the direction given to me by THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSES!!!  Wherever HE LEADS, I should be able and willing to remember “AND THERE HE PRAYED”!!!

“YOU ARE WITH ME!”

 

Psalm 23:4                 (ESV)

    “[4] Even though I WALK THROUGH

the valley of the shadow of death,

        I WILL FEAR NO EVIL,

    for “YOU ARE WITH ME”;

        YOUR rod and YOUR staff,

        they comfort me.”

While posting this on my social media sites recently, my mind was caused to remember July 2007, when I was in the coma following the Brain Hemorrhage.  Although I thought I had visions while in the coma, I don’t remember ANYTHING from the morning of July 10th until seeing my doctor walk by my ICU room on July 30th!  I was TOTALLY NOT IN CONTROL of anything in my life!!!  Even my breathing was controlled by machines, for the most part!!!

I was unable to pray that GOD would deliver me through the place I was in, nor anything else??  I HAD TO BE TOTALLY DEPENDENT upon my life being CONTROLLED without any CONTROL …..of ANYTHING!!  Being TOTALLY DEPENDENT wasn’t something that I was consulted about before the decision was made to place me in the coma. Seventeen days later, GOD brought me through “the valley of the shadow of death” without even checking with me for my opinion???

Although I have inquired about what was going on during those days, I still don’t have a TRUE KNOWLEDGE about “my journey”.  Without a doubt, I DID GO THROUGH A BRAIN HEMORRHAGE, but I DID NOT go through it alone!!  My wife, my sons, my mother, and people from all over the world were praying for me!  But THE LORD was walking with me through “the valley of the shadow of death” and HE was THE ONE making the decisions for me!!!  NO CONTROL…….AT ALL!!!

Nineteen years ago my wife was at the hospital EVERY DAY for 52 days, from early in the morning until late at night!  My mom was also at the hospital, but not as much as my wife!  Friends were there, but not as frequent.  But to have your EYES OPENED to SEE that “YOU ARE WITH ME” unmistakably means that HE WAS/IS THE ONE WHO WAS/IS IN CONTROL!!!

“YOU ARE WITH ME!”

 

Psalm 23:4                 (ESV)

    “[4] Even though I WALK THROUGH

the valley of the shadow of death,

        I WILL FEAR NO EVIL,

    for “YOU ARE WITH ME”;

        YOUR rod and YOUR staff,

        they comfort me.”

There are many things that are running through “this brain” of mine today.  Keep in mind that “this brain” was in a different position nineteen years ago!  Recovering from a “massive brain hemorrhage” is not an experience that I would want anyone else to have to go through, but I wouldn’t change the path GOD has given me to travel with any other person either!!!

THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE has explicitly CHOSEN me to survive, NOT ONLY the Brain Hemorrhage, but also QUADRUPLE BYPASS SURGERY on my heart ten years later, with very little changes in my activity!  Why would I be GRANTED such MIRACULOUS recoveries without a reason behind them???  WITHOUT A DOUBT, GOD is THE REASON for my recovery, as indicated by my doctor’s notes on my first checkup.

King David might have been a little more BLESSED than I as far as physical BLESSINGS are concerned, but I was not even able to walk for over a month!  Being in a drug induced coma means that I was unable to do ANYTHING without assistance!  

Seeing the words “YOU ARE WITH ME” in the verse above let’s me understand that HE IS THE REASON that I survived everything that I have ever faced!  Not just a Brain Hemorrhage and open heart surgery, but through every crook and crevice of my life I can TESTIFY that “YOU ARE WITH ME”!  I’m not worthy, but “YOU ARE WITH ME”!!!

“THE WIFE WHOM YOU LOVE!”

 Ecclesiastes 9:9-10                 (ESV)

“[9] Enjoy life with “THE WIFE WHOM YOU LOVE”, all the days of your vain life that HE has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. [10] WHATEVER YOUR HAND FINDS TO DO, DO IT WITH YOUR MIGHT, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol (grave, pit), to which you are going.”

Most believe that Ecclesiastes was written by King Solomon later in his life, probably around 935 BC.  Solomon was very wise (1 Kings 4:30), so it wasn’t as if he was ill-informed.  While it is true that he had 700 wives and 300 concubines (1 Kings 11.3), it is very interesting that he writes in the Scriptures above “Enjoy life with THE WIFE whom you love”, NOT enjoy all “the women” you have been given the gods?  He wrote about “THE WIFE WHOM YOU LOVE”!!!

“I am not a smart man” was quoted by Forrest Gump in the movie over 30 years ago.  Well I AM a brain damaged hemorrhagic stroke survivor, and was probably (NO DOUBT) not the smartest person beforehand?!?  However, I am QUITE CERTAIN that I married the woman who ABSOLUTELY completes me!  She is EXACTLY what I am not, at PRECISELY the right time when I am not!  In my brain damaged opinion, she is SENT BY GOD ALMIGHTY to UNIQUELY satisfy the INCOMPLETENESS of me FOR HIS GLORY!!!

February 17, 1984 was the date that GOD selected to be the day that HIS CHOICE for HIS ONENESS to be completed.  She arrived on earth August 04, 1963, but she was DEFINITELY a part of HIS PLAN since before THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD (Ephesians 1:4)!  She not only was the most BEAUTIFUL girl for me, but she became “THE WIFE WHOM YOU LOVE”!!!

As I continue with the aging process, I am growing more and more convinced that GOD HAS A PLAN, not only for me, but also “THE WIFE WHOM YOU LOVE”!  

R.C. Sproul

 

“DID GOD ACTUALLY SAY?”

Genesis 2:15-18; 3:1                 (ESV)

“[15] The LORD GOD took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. [16] And the LORD GOD commanded the man, saying, “You may SURELY EAT of every tree of the garden, [17] BUT OF THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL you shall NOT EAT, for in the day that you EAT of it YOU SHALL SURELY DIE.”

[18] Then the LORD GOD said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.””

Genesis 3:1                 (ESV)

The Fall

“[1] Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD GOD had made. 

He (the serpent) said TO THE WOMAN, “”DID GOD ACTUALLY SAY”, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?””

Taking NOTE of what ALMIGHTY GOD has said to you is MORE than important to your life, it is IMPERATIVE to those who GOD has given you!  Genesis 2:24 says “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and THEY SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH.”  

To my knowledge, it isn’t recorded in Scripture that GOD gave instructions to Eve ANYWHERE to NOT eat OF THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL, but Adam was told, and VERY EXPLICITLY!!!  However, Adam must have tried relating to Eve what GOD had said to him about “the forbidden fruit”, for her reply to the serpent was something more than that he was told by ALMIGHTY GOD had said.  

It is MORE THAN IMPORTANT to share PRECISELY what SCRIPTURE says when we share GODS WORD with others, and NOT “the best we can do”!!!  In making an effort to make HIS WORD more plausible and understandable, we MUST NOT alter what HE has said!!!  GOD uses HIS WORD to accomplish HIS PLAN, even when we DO NOT understand it!  We must be FAITHFUL to share HIS WORD as HE makes it known to us!

So when “the enemy” approaches us and says “DID GOD ACTUALLY SAY” this or that”, it imperative to us to use SCRIPTURE, AND PREFERABLY have it memorized!  With FEAR AND TREMBLING, we MUST KNOW “DID GOD ACTUALLY SAY” what HE said and live our lives accordingly!!!

“YOU ARE MINE!”

 

Isaiah 43:1-2                  (ESV)

Israel’s Only Savior

    “[1] But now thus says the LORD,

    HE WHO created you, O Jacob,

        HE WHO formed you, O Israel:

    “FEAR NOT, for I have redeemed you;

        I have called you by name, “YOU ARE MINE”!. 

    [2] When you pass through the waters, I WILL BE WITH YOU;

        and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;

    when you walk through fire YOU SHALL NOT BE BURNED,

        and THE FLAME SHALL NOT CONSUME YOU.”

Many years ago I THOUGHT I was in a tremendously trying time!  Things weren’t going as well as I expected at work, so I went to a park near my house and just “got alone” with my CREATOR!  Within a few minutes, HE had me reading Isaiah 43 and my apprehension was swallowed up with FEAR NOT!  

Recently I was “scrolling” on a social media page and I saw a meme that had Isaiah 43:1-2 on it!  My brain damaged mind very quickly returned to the time when I was SEARCHING for an answer to “my problem” so many years ago.  I couldn’t SEE then what GOD was trying to TELL me so long ago.  Or could it be that HIS WORD “alive and active” (Hebrews 4:12) and was QUITE CAPABLE of providing PEACE with the same verses in a TOTALLY DIFFERENT time and place???

GOD was telling me recently that I WILL BE WITH YOU, because “YOU ARE MINE”!!  The MESSAGE I was hearing so long ago was FEAR NOT, and now it is “YOU ARE MINE”!!!  The next verse (Isaiah 43:3) begins with “FOR I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD”!  Since THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSES is THE LORD YOUR GOD, my mortal being has NO LIMITS to its capabilities!

The MESSAGE from THE LORD might be ONE THING for a certain period of time, and something TOTALLY DIFFERENT for another period of time!  The MAIN THING for this humble servant RIGHT NOW is that I should FEAR NOT, because I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD lives inside of me and “YOU ARE MINE”!!!

“YOU DO NOT KNOW!”

 

James 4:13-17                 (ESV)

Boasting About Tomorrow

“[13] Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”—[14] yet “YOU DO NOT KNOW” what tomorrow will bring. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE? For you are a mist that appears for a little time AND THEN VANISHES. [15] Instead you ought to say, “IF THE LORD WILLS, we will live and do this or that.” [16] As it is, you boast in your “arrogance”. ALL SUCH BOASTING IS EVIL.  [17] So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”

For someone who has travelled the journey that I have been assigned, “YOU DO NOT KNOW” has a TOTALLY different meaning NOW than it did previously!!  Others probably have a different understanding, but the PATH that has been ASSIGNED to me makes it CLEAR, VERY CLEAR, that I AM NOT in control of anything, much less tomorrow!!!  “

YOU DO NOT KNOW” whether or not you will be alive for your next breath!  Your confidence in your ability to “produce” air isn’t very reliable, as I found out very distinctly a few years ago!!  

To say that I was “arrogant” might be a bit over the top, but I certainly thought that I could “get things done”!!  But a seventeen day coma OPENED my eyes to understand that I had NO ABILITIES outside of the LORD JESUS CHRIST!!!  Yes, my breathing is “reflexive”, but those “reflexes” originate from SOMEWHERE???  Where does the oxygen that is REQUIRED for humanity to exist come from???  Will it EVER run out???

ULTIMATELY, GOD has THE END OF TIME all figured out!  HE had it figured out when HE SAID LET THERE BE anything!!! HE even figured out that HIS servants would ALL go against HIS PLAN!!  One thing I DO KNOW is that “YOU DO NOT KNOW” what tomorrow will bring,  but I DO KNOW WHO IS BRINGING IT!!!

“NINETEEN YEARS AGO!”

 

Nineteen years ago (July 29, 2007) the world was celebrating for the 77th time the birth of my mom!  She would never experience another birthday, as on February 27, 2008 cancer would claim her earthly life. 

But, it was another day of celebration for me as I was being brought out of a 17 day coma following a “massive brain hemorrhage” on July 09, 2007.  On Friday, July 27, 2007, I was scheduled to have a tracheotomy, but the ENT doctor was “too busy” and when he came to my ICU room they told him that plans were being made to bring me out of the coma in a couple of days?!?  The ENT said that the tracheotomy procedure “could wait” a couple of days!!!  That was nineteen years ago Monday evening!!!  There has been STILL NO TRACHEOTOMY for me!!!!

They DID bring me out to the coma on my mom’s birthday, and I was never returned to that condition!!  My mom stated “that’s the best birthday present I ever received”!!!  It took a couple of weeks to get me released to the rehabilitation hospital, and then a week or so to get my bearings back, but on August 29, 2007 I walked out of rehab (with the assistance of a walker), something that I only used a couple of months (or so) after I was “let go”!!!  The insurance agency that I had sold in 2006 was available to repurchase in 2009, so I bought it back and ran it until my retirement in 2024.  

The medical records from my initial office appointment with my physician following my release from the rehabilitation hospital was on September 25, 2007.  His notes say “However, he has had a remarkable recovery that could only be defined as a miracle from GOD”!  I asked my “same” doctor about these comments in a recent visit and he replied, “ABSOLUTELY!”  

A Bible verse came to my recollection shortly afterwards, “I AM THE LORD; THAT IS MY NAME; MY GLORY I GIVE TO NO OTHER, NOR MY PRAISE TO CARVED IDOLS.”!!!  ALL of my doctors and nurses and rehabilitation staff deserve recognition for their work and dedication in my recovery!  But GOD GETS ALL OF THE GLORY for EVERY BREATH that I will EVER take……until HE CALLS me to Heaven!!!