“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!!!

“BE STILL, AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD!”

The more that everything continues to get “out of control”, the more that “BE STILL, and KNOW that I AM GOD” seems like our best option?!?!?

“I WILL!”

 

Leviticus 26:11-13                 (ESV)

“[11] “I WILL” make MY DWELLING among you, and MY SOUL shall not abhor you. [12] And “I WILL” walk among you and WILL be your GOD, and YOU SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. [13] I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD, WHO brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should NOT BE THEIR SLAVES. And I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.”

THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSES doesn’t just do ANYTHING without a purpose and a reason behind it!  GOD didn’t give us BLESSINGS or CURSES without HIS PLAN being fulfilled.  I’m not smart enough to understand “why” sometimes, but as HIS PLAN is revealed to me I am humbled to SEE HIS HAND ALL OVER it!!!

Being just a small part of HIS PLAN for my life is a HUGE BLESSING that I am so grateful to have a part in.  To UNDERSTAND that the same “I WILL” WHO CREATED THE UNIVERSES makes HIS DWELLING INSIDE of my heart is a mystery that is above my current pay grade, but HE is working ALL THINGS (Romans 8:28) for HIS GLORY!!! I simply have to WAIT FOR THE LORD (Psalm 27:14) and HIS PLAN to come to fruition in my life!!

ALMIGHTY GOD didn’t “require” me to do ANYTHING to make it through the Brain Hemorrhage in 2007!  Just like HE didn’t need my assistance in securing my beautiful wife in my younger years.  HE DID require me to WAIT for HIS PLAN to unfold in BOTH scenarios though!  HIS PLAN had my wife and I getting married on February 17, and HIS PLAN had me in a coma for 17 days before HE WOULD GET GLORY for the restoration of my brain activity.  HIS PLAN IS BEST, however it needs to be WAITED on, FOR HIS GLORY!!!

WAITING FOR THE LORD can be a very uncomfortable, even debilitating, experience?  But when one backs away and SEES from where HIS PLAN is leading us, it all becomes VERY CLEAR!!!  “”I WILL” walk among you and WILL be your GOD, and YOU SHALL BE MY PEOPLE” isn’t something that we should EVER forget!!!  I can TESTIFY that it is TRUE!!!

“SET YOUR MINDS!”

 

Colossians 3:1-2                 (ESV)

“[1] If then you have been raised with CHRIST, seek the things that are ABOVE, where CHRIST is, seated at the right hand of GOD. [2] “SET YOUR MINDS” on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”

A dear friend of mine passed away earlier this week.  He was older than I, and was used in my life to get me through my rough developing teen years.  I was a “handful” back then, and I a challenge to most who GOD used to mature me.  He used to take me fishing, teaching me to SET THE HOOK at a.body of water near where he lived!  

When I saw “SET YOUR MINDS” recently, my mind was taken back to my friend’s words of SETTING THE HOOK, which assured that your “catch” would not get away.  The Apostle Paul was instructing us to FIX OUR THOUGHTS on THINGS ABOVE, trying to get us to focus on us not letting our Spiritual endeavors get away from us.  Far too often we tend to be so busy that we don’t “SET YOUR MINDS” on the PERMANENCY of HEAVEN, even when WE KNOW that is what we should be looking towards!!!

This humble servant doesn’t do a very good job of making sure that I “SET YOUR MINDS” on things that are ABOVE!  Making certain that I “don’t let the big one” get away should be FOREMOST in our lives?!?!  

Missing a big fish is not an enjoyable experience!   But missing out on GODS BLESSINGS is FAR MORE IMPORTANT!!!  “SET YOUR MINDS” on things that are ABOVE!!!

“THAT THEY MAY BELIEVE THAT YOU SENT ME!”

 

John 11:38-44                 (ESV)

JESUS Raises Lazarus

“[38] Then JESUS, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. [39] JESUS said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “LORD, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead FOUR DAYS.” [40] JESUS said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of GOD?” [41] So they took away the stone. And JESUS lifted up HIS eyes and said, “FATHER, I thank YOU that YOU have heard ME. [42] I knew that YOU always hear ME, but I said this on account of the people standing around, “THAT THEY MAY BELIEVE THAT YOU SENT ME”.” [43] When HE had said these things, HE cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” [44] The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. JESUS said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

How many times did JESUS resurrect a body that had been dead for four days???  As a matter of fact, some were concerned that there would be an odor when the tomb was unsealed.  There was numerous reasons to believe that Lazarus should have been forgotten about, especially since he had been dead for FOUR DAYS!  But when JESUS was in the equation, NOTHING IS/WAS IMPOSSIBLE!!!

JESUS was in an interesting spot in the Scriptures above.  It was apparent that HE KNEW that HE was GOD IN FLESH, but some people who were “in the midst” may not have been SURE that HE was DIVINITY!  He simply had to cause a dear friend, Lazarus, to be DEAD for FOUR DAYS and then raise him from the dead!!  No problem, since HE WAS/IS GOD IN FLESH!!!

HE IS STILL working miracles that are readily apparent to EYES that are able to SEE!  Nineteen years ago I was in a drug induced coma and the supposed outcome wasn’t very good!!  But on July 25 in the early hours of the morning my blood pressure plummeted!  This story is difficult to tell because I was healed so totally and quickly!  

There are many people who still say that it might have been “not as bad as it seemed”, but my personal physician wrote in my medical records on September 25, 2007 “However, he has had a remarkable recovery that can only be described as a miracle from GOD”!!!  My doctor for almost 40 years makes no qualms about anyone knowing “THAT THEY MAY BELIEVE THAT YOU SENT ME”!!!

I am CERTAINLY BLESSED to be used by GOD for people to SEE HIS GOODNESS through my life!!!

“HAVE YOU NEVER READ?”

 

Mark 2:23-28                 (ESV)

JESUS Is LORD of the Sabbath

“[23] One Sabbath HE was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, HIS disciples began to pluck heads of grain. [24] And THE PHARISEES were saying to HIM, “Look, WHY are THEY doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” [25] And HE said to them, “”HAVE YOU NEVER READ” what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: [26] how he entered the house of GOD, in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” [27] And HE said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. [28] So the SON of MAN is lord even of the Sabbath.”

THE PHARISEES were always very “critical” of JESUS, and HE was very critical of what THE PHARISEES “taught”!  It was as if THE PHARISEES wanted to make a way to PROVE that “their religion” was TRUE, and JESUS IS TRUTH (John 14:6)!  Part of THE PLAN was that ultimately THE PHARISEES had JESUS crucified, but HE DEFEATED death, hell and the grave when HE said “It is FINISHED”!!!

JESUS KNEW that mankind needed to have REST!  This FACT was emphatically proven to this humble servant in July 2007!  Genesis 2:3 says “So GOD blessed the seventh day AND MADE IT HOLY, because on it GOD RESTED from all HIS work that HE had done in creation.”  HE CREATED the Sabbath, not because HE was overworked, but because humanity needed to have a time to WORSHIP HIM!!!

Humans sometimes get the idea that they have everything “figured out”, like we KNOW “what is needed” for our lives to be better???  But JESUS exquisitely said that “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”  We don’t need to assume that we know better than what JESUS “prescribed”!  We need to humbly acknowledge that HE IS THE CREATOR and we are simply THE CREATED!!!

But reality is that we are humanity and from time to time have to be reminded of that position.  THE PHARISEES (for the most part) were used to illustrate that “HAVE YOU NEVER READ” the Scriptures and what they were missing in their lives!!!  They weren’t familiar enough with THE WORD to acknowledge WHO was right in front of them!!!  Only GOD can know if we are CHOSEN, and whether we classify as “HAVE YOU NEVER READ”???

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.”

“YOU DO NOT HAVE THE LOVE OF GOD WITHIN YOU!”

 

John 5:39-42                 (ESV)

“[39] You (the rebellious Jews) search the Scriptures because you “think” that in them you have eternal life(;) and it is they (the Scriptures) that bear witness about ME, [40] yet you (the Jews) refuse to come to ME THAT YOU MAY HAVE LIFE. [41] I do not receive glory from people. [42] But I KNOW that “YOU DO NOT HAVE THE LOVE OF GOD WITHIN YOU”.

“The Jews” are very often referred to as GODS CHOSEN PEOPLE??  But these are the very people who pushed for JESUS (GOD IN FLESH) to be crucified (Acts 4:10)!!  The precise reason why GOD would permit HIS CHOSEN PEOPLE to be the chief enemy of JESUS is something that is difficult to understand.  The Apostle Paul writes in Romans 11:5 and says “So too at the present time there is a “remnant” (a small surviving group), CHOSEN BY GRACE”!!  

JESUS testified in John 5:42 that “YOU DO NOT HAVE THE LOVE OF GOD WITHIN YOU”, identifying these Jews as NOT being a part of the CHOSEN people of CHRIST.  The people who JESUS were addressing WERE NOT a part of THE CHOSEN……, they were ANYTHING BUT CHOSEN by the Heavenly FATHER!!!

It is VERY CLEAR that heritage, nationality, religion, nor anything else can make a person a part of being CHOSEN BY GRACE!!  If GOD IN THE FLESH says that “YOU DO NOT HAVE THE LOVE OF GOD WITHIN YOU”, your salvation needs to be of concern to you (Acts 9:4-6)!!!

LISTEN!!!

 There are a few times that I am led to simply permit the HOLY SPIRIT to speak to me!!!  

If GOD displayed anything to me 19 years ago, it was that HE doesn’t require ANYTHING from

me!!!

 https://youtu.be/GWhUuGN59Nk?si=w_b1uHh9m85WPNmR

“WHOSE MIND IS STAYED ON YOU!”

 

Isaiah 26                 (ESV)

You Keep Him in Perfect Peace

“[1] In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: 

    “We have a strong city;

        HE sets up salvation

        as walls and bulwarks. 

    [2] Open the gates,

        that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in. 

    [3] You keep him in perfect peace

        “WHOSE MIND IS STAYED ON YOU”,

        because he trusts in YOU. 

    [4] Trust in the LORD forever,

        for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock. 

    [5] For HE has humbled

        the inhabitants of the height,

        the lofty city.

    HE lays it low, lays it low to the ground,

        casts it to the dust. 

    [6] The foot tramples it,

        the feet of the poor,

        the steps of the needy.”

    [7] The path of the righteous is level;

        YOU make level the way of the righteous. 

    [8] In the path of YOUR judgments,

        O LORD, we wait for YOU;

    YOUR name and remembrance

        are the desire of our soul. 

    [9] My soul yearns for YOU in the night;

        my spirit within me earnestly seeks YOU.

    For when YOUR judgments are in the earth,

        the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. 

    [10] If favor is shown to the wicked,

        he does not learn righteousness;

    in the land of uprightness he deals corruptly

        and does not see the majesty of the LORD. 

    [11] O LORD, YOUR hand is lifted up,

        BUT THEY DO NOT SEE IT.

    Let them see YOUR zeal for YOUR people, and be ashamed.

        Let the fire for YOUR adversaries consume them. 

    [12] O LORD, YOU will ordain peace for us,

        for YOU have indeed done for us all our works. 

    [13] O LORD our GOD,

        other lords besides YOU have ruled over us,

        but YOUR name alone we bring to remembrance. 

    [14] They are dead, they will not live;

        they are shades, they will not arise;

    to that end YOU have visited them with destruction

        and wiped out all remembrance of them. 

    [15] But YOU have increased the nation, O LORD,

        YOU have increased the nation; YOU are glorified;

        YOU have enlarged all the borders of the land.

    [16] O LORD, in distress they sought YOU;

        they poured out a whispered prayer

        when YOUR discipline was upon them. 

    [17] Like a pregnant woman

        who writhes and cries out in her pangs

        when she is near to giving birth,

    so were we because of YOU , O LORD; 

    [18]     we were pregnant, we writhed,

        but we have given birth to wind.

    We have accomplished no deliverance in the earth,

        and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen. 

    [19] YOUR dead shall live; their bodies shall rise.

        YOU WHO dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy!

    For YOUR dew is a dew of light,

        and the earth will give birth to the dead.

    [20] Come, my people, enter your chambers,

        and shut your doors behind you;

    hide yourselves for a little while

        until the fury has passed by. 

    [21] For behold, the LORD is coming out from HIS place

        to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity,

    and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it,

        and will no more cover its slain.”

“TO HIM!”

 

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.”

This morning, while going over the Scripture that I wrote about previously, I observed a passage displaying the WORDS “TO HIM”???  I hardly ever “take the time” to delve into exactly what each word delineates, but I researched them and discovered something that still has me in awe of HIS MEANING for “people who have ears to hear”!!

To understand precisely WHO “TO HIM” is referring to causes this “brain damaged” soldier of the cross to S-L-O-W D-O-W-N and “take in” exactly what GOD is saying to me?  The GODHEAD (FATHER, SON, and HOLY SPIRIT) is trying to get me to ABSORB (soak in) in this time of my life.  I have always been SO HURRIED in my actions that GOD “used” a seventeen day coma to illustrate HIS TOTAL and COMPLETE OMNIPOTENCE over EVERYTHING!!!  

GOD IS NOT required to do ANYTHING too quickly OR slowly to PROVE HIS AWESOMENESS to HIS CREATED people!!!  WHO is GOD?  The Bible describes for us WHO GOD is. GOD is the All-Powerful Creator of the universe.  The LORD is ONE in THREE DIVINE PERSONS, FATHER, SON, and HOLY SPIRIT.  HE is holy, loving, and perfect. GOD is totally trustworthy and safe. HE ALONE is our salvation.  John 1:3 PLAINLY states “ALL THINGS were made through HIM, and without HIM was NOT ANY THING made that was made.”  HE IS LIFE and we must have our EYES OPENED to SEE that!!!

“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” are simply words to most people, but TO HIS CHOSEN they are WORDS that say that “TO HIM” lives inside of me and HE wants to make that KNOWN to “this world”!!!