“THE LORD SAID!”

Exodus 14:1-3                                 (ESV)

“1 Then “THE LORD SAID” to Moses,

2 "Tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea.

3 For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, 'They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.'”

There are times when we ALL experience tremendous difficulty in our lives.   Whether it is the death of a loved one, or a personal illness, or any other circumstance that takes our focus away from ALMIGHTY GOD, we are human and we NEED a Savior!   

This morning I have had a song by the Gaither Vocal Band on my heart and mind.   “Sometimes it takes a Mountain” (https://youtu.be/xNT7EeF0NUA) is a reminder for me that those mountains are divinely places in our paths so GOD can receive glory from them.   

Do you think the Israelites just stumbled to the banks of the Red Sea while on their way to the Promised Land?  No, GOD sent them to the EXACT SPOT in the face of the earth where HE could be the only ONE WHO could get Glory from what was going to transpire!  GOD had a Plan for the Israelites and Pharaoh to bring HIM Glory by being used for HIS purpose.  The Israelites weren’t happy about it and Pharaoh wasn’t happy with the results, but GOD received Glory from it and that’s all that mattered!  

It is my desire to be used to bring GOD Glory with my life, even though it may bring me to the banks of my own Red Sea!    This world may think “They are wandering” in the wilderness, GOD may be setting me up to Glorify HIS NAME?  We cannot HEAR the Voice of GOD speaking to us if we aren’t listening for HIS direction.  LORD, cause me to be IN TUNE with YOU when “THE LORD SAID” HIS direction to me!!!

“THEY WHO WAIT!”

Isaiah 40:30-31                           (ESV)

“Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; 

but “THEY WHO WAIT” for the LORD shall renew their strength;

    they shall mount up with wings like eagles;

they shall run and not be weary;

    they shall walk and not faint.”

From time to time I wake up in the middle of the night with a Bible verse on my mind.  Recently I did just that and was up in the wee hours of the morning writing what GOD was speaking to me.   I do this trying hard not to rely on my memory, as it is becoming more and more unreliable as I age.  Is this because I am getting old, or do you think I am FINALLY learning to listen when HE speaks and document what I’m being told?  

Waiting for the LORD has never been a strong suit of mine.  To be honest, if stubbornness and pig-headedness were positive traits, I would probably be a saint!  Finding myself barreling full speed ahead and doing what “I think” is best was how I lived most of my life, and it is how I developed this lifestyle that I am having a difficult time breaking free from.  The Apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 that he asked GOD to remove a “thorn in my flesh” three times, but GOD told him “MY grace is sufficient” for you.  

Do you think GOD is telling me that HIS grace will be sufficient for me until I learn how to be one of “THEY WHO WAIT”?  Do I pause hoping that ALMIGHTY GOD will deliver HIS Plan for me in a “fast-food drive through” time span?  Or is GOD patiently waiting for me to learn to become “THEY WHO WAIT” for HIS direction before I try to forge ahead?

“THEY WHO WAIT” are people who can see past what they want and SEE forward to that which GOD has Planned for their lives.  There is NO FEAR in waiting for THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE to deliver HIS Promise, only when we are operating on our own timeline!  

HEAVENLY FATHER, cause me to be one of YOUR chosen who have become “THEY WHO WAIT” and trust, not only in YOU, but in YOUR timing!!!

“HAPPY THANKSGIVING!”

1 Chronicles 16:34                          (ESV)

“Oh give THANKS to the LORD, for HE is good; for HIS steadfast love endures forever!”

As I sit in my recliner this morning, my wife has the television on watching a parade celebrating “Thanksgiving Day”?  It seems “this world” commercializes everything in effort to minimize the effect that GOD and HIS Goodness brings.

“Thanksgiving Day” was initially intended to give thanks to ALMIGHTY GOD for HIS providence and sustenance.  An Internet search of “original Thanksgiving celebration” brings this response....

“The English colonists we call Pilgrims celebrated days of thanksgiving as part of their religion. But these were days of prayer, not days of feasting. Our national holiday really stems from the feast held in the autumn of 1621 by the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag to celebrate the colony's first successful harvest.”

Just for one day, perhaps we could eliminate most of the “noise” offered by the enemy and truly be THANKFUL to ALMIGHTY GOD for allowing us to be used by HIM today?  Maybe we can make these “days of prayer, not of feasting”?!?  Happy Thanksgiving doesn’t mean eat all you can.   A day where we GIVE THANKS should be all about GOD and HIS MERCIES.  

“LEAVE THAT HOUSE!”

Matthew 10:12–15                          (ESV)

“12 As you enter the house, greet it.

13 And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.

14 And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you ”LEAVE THAT HOUSE” or town.

15 Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.”

Several years ago while my family was on vacation in another town, we encountered an area of that town known for its sorcery and evilness.   I told the LORD (and my wife) that if HE got me out of this part of town, I would never come back!  And to this day I have never gone to that place again.  

In the passage of scripture above, JESUS is speaking to HIS disciples about “recognizing” when we are in circumstances where HIS Spirit isn’t welcome.  The “modern day” church has become so weak and ineffective that we don’t have any Power!  In an attempt to “not offend” we have become like watered down coffee that is cold with no flavor.   It isn’t worth drinking!  

Oswald Chambers reminds us that, "The words of the Lord hurt and offend until there is nothing left to hurt and offend."  We have to realize that it isn’t always us who is offensive, but the SPIRIT of JESUS CHRIST WHO lives inside of us!  No matter what sin it is, the one’s who are in that sin WILL BE OFFENDED if we present the GOSPEL to them.  

We can be exposed to the sin, but scripture says that we must “LEAVE THAT HOUSE” once we have identified the sin.  Over exposure to a disobedient spirit can cause “weeds” to grow in our garden of life.   When we SEE growth that isn’t originating from ABOVE, we need to remove that growth from our lives and “LEAVE THAT HOUSE”!!!

“THEY REMEMBERED HIS WORDS!”

Like 24:1-8                                      (GNV)

“Now the first day of the week early in the morning, they came unto the sepulcher, and brought the odors which they had prepared, and certain women with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulcher, And went in, but found not the body of the LORD JESUS. And it came to pass, that as they were amazed thereat, behold, two men suddenly stood by them in shining vestures. And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said to them, Why seek ye HIM that liveth, among the dead? HE is not here, but is risen: remember how HE SPAKE UNTO YOU, when HE was yet in Galilee, Saying, that the SON of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. And “THEY REMEMBERED HIS WORDS”!

Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt, these women had witnessed JESUS CHRIST be crucified only days before and NO ONE had ever survived that punishment.  They brought with them ointments and oils that were known for burial procedures, but they weren’t able to do what they were prepared to do.  JESUS had been resurrected by GOD THE FATHER just as HE said HE would but they were having a difficult time remembering what HE said. 

Don’t we do the same thing in our lives?  We get caught up in the circumstances of life and fail to remember GOD’s Promise to us about how HE will come through for us.   Then the HOLY SPIRIT kindly reminds us that the GOD of CREATION HAS SPOKEN and HE never fails to keep a promise!  Sometimes HE has to use circumstances to improve our FAITH, but HE only does that for HIS Glory and our benefit.  

These followers of JESUS CHRIST weren’t “blessed” with a formal education with which to cloud their minds.  When it was ordained by GOD, “THEY REMEMBERED HIS WORDS” and KNEW HE had risen from the dead!  Anything HE does in our lives will NEVER rise to the level of defeating the enemy and the grave!  So why do we doubt ANYTHING HE has promised?  All it should take is “THEY REMEMBERED HIS WORDS” and the enemy AND hIs DOUBTS will flee!!!

“PROVE YOURSELVES!”

James 1:19-25                                 (NASB)

““This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of GOD. Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the Word implanted, which is able to save your souls. But “PROVE YOURSELVES” doers of the Word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.”

When a baby is born most of them hear adequately.   As we mature we develop an ability to better understand what is being said to us and are better able to satisfy what is being requested of us.  Likewise, just because we can HEAR Spiritually the Word doesn’t mean we are doers of the Word.  As we Spiritually mature we are able to HEAR more clearly what GOD may be saying to us,and we are expected to obey!  

There are some of us who are Spiritually malnourished and underdeveloped as Believers.  James (believed to be the half-brother of JESUS) wrote that we should “PROVE YOURSELVES” as doers of the Word, not merely hearers!  When JESUS came into my heart HE began to make radical changes for the glory of GOD!  While it is true that I am ashamed of my actions since, HIS Blood forgives me and I “press on toward the goal” (Philippians 3:14) of living for HIM!  My goal is to live the remainder of my earthly life as a servant of HIS and a defender of the FAITH!  

Heavenly Father,  my prayer is that my heart will be changed by the Word being engrafted into my life and I will continually strive to be more like YOU everyday.  Cause me to “put aside” anything and everything that separates me from YOUR love and to “PROVE YOURSELVES” worthy of being chosen by YOU!!!

“THEIR EYES WERE OPENED!”

Luke 24:13-32                                (ESV)

“13 That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem,

14 and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened.

15 While they were talking and discussing together, JESUS HIMSELF drew near and went with them.

16 BUT THEIR EYES WERE KEPT FROM RECOGNIZING HIM.

17 And HE said to them, "What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?" And they stood still, looking sad.

18 Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered HIM, "Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem WHO does not know the things that have happened there in these days?"

19 And HE said to them, "What things?" And they said to HIM, "Concerning JESUS of Nazareth, a MAN who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before GOD and all the people,

20 and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him.

21 But we had hoped that HE was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened.

22 Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning,

23 and when they did not find HIS body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that HE was alive.

24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but HIM they did not see."

25 And HE said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!

26 Was it not necessary that the CHRIST should suffer these things and enter into HIS glory?"

27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, HE interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning HIMSELF.

28 So they drew near to the village to which they were going. HE acted as if HE were going farther,

29 but they urged HIM strongly, saying, "Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent." So HE went in to stay with them.

30 When HE was at table with them, HE took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them.

31 And “THEIR EYES WERE OPENED”, and they recognized HIM. And HE vanished from their sight.

32 They said to each other, "Did not our hearts burn within us while HE talked to us on the road, while HE opened to us the Scriptures?"

How many times do I set something in my vision AND CLAIM IT IS FROM GOD only to have the ALMIGHTY reveal to me later on my misconception of what HE was trying to get me to understand?  We mustn’t be so convinced that what we SEE or HEAR is from GOD, because we may have gotten HIS method or timing off just a little!  GOD didn’t mess up HIS Plan, but we surely may have experienced faulty vision or hearing!  

These followers of JESUS had been told what to expect in the future by THE LORD, but their mind couldn’t imagine that JESUS would have to SUFFER and DIE for the sins of ALL mankind.  Scripture says their EYES were even KEPT from recognizing JESUS, a man they had previously spent numerous hours with before.   Surely JESUS could have selected Peter or someone more notable than “Cleopas” and his friend.  

Could it be that ALMIGHTY GOD knew that many of us in years to come would need to HEAR how JESUS, in HIS resurrected form, would spend time with a “Cleopas” to clarify with him that HE is/was the CHRIST and get a better understanding of what HIS Words that were said before HIS crucifixion really meant?  “Cleopas” and his friend were thoroughly confused, until “THEIR EYES WERE OPENED” to THE TRUTH!   

Don’t be surprised when something comes to be different than what you thought it might!  GOD has a way of doing things that completely make NO SENSE to “this world” to prove that HE is not limited by “this world”!  Only when “THEIR EYES WERE OPENED” were “Cleopas” and his friend able to SEE WHO JESUS was.   When “THEIR EYES WERE OPENED” we will SEE what lies in front of us, for HIS GLORY!!!