“PROSPERITY and ADVERSITY!”

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.”

How often have I proclaimed that “GOD certainly has blessed me”?  Most everyone that hears the account of the Brain Hemorrhage in 2007 readily admits that ALMIGHTY GOD has other Plans for my life.  Was that a day of prosperity or a day of adversity though?  How could something as serious as a Brain Hemorrhage be considered a day of prosperity?  It HAD to be a day of adversity...........DIDN’T IT???

The Spiritual lessons that GOD continues to teach me as a result of the Brain Hemorrhage are endless.  To say that GOD IS IN CONTROL and say that HE couldn’t have allowed the enemy to cause my brain to leak so that HE would receive Glory from it is a contradiction, in my humble opinion.  The Children of Israel were exactly where ALMIGHTY GOD directed them to be in Exodus 14:1-2.  But then Pharaoh and his army (Exodus 14:9-10) pinned them at the Red Sea and their demise was looking rather certain!  Of course l we know what happened next.  

Exodus 14:19-20 states “Then the angel of GOD who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And IT LIT UP THE NIGHT WITHOUT ONE COMING NEAR THE OTHER ALL NIGHT.”  How could the Egyptian army be deterred from overtaking the Israelites ALL NIGHT after pursuing them from Egypt?  GOD had to allow them (Egyptians) to catch up with the Israelites so HE would be able to receive GLORY over them.  

Exodus 14:4 is rather plain when it says “And I (GOD) will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he (Pharaoh) will pursue them (the Israelites), and I (GOD) will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD." And they did so.”  Yes, GOD does make the day of “PROSPERITY” and the day of “ADVERSITY”, but HE does so to be GLORIFIED!  It is not about our “PROSPERITY” or our “ADVERSITY.   It is, however, ALL about HIM being GLORIFIED!!!

“BELIEF!”

Going to church your entire life with no transformation from within will not save you from an eternity of punishment, for ONLY JESUS was able to withstand the wrath of ALMIGHTY GOD for the entire world!  Belief in HIS work for us is my, our, only hope!!

“I CAN DO NOTHING ON MY OWN!”

John 5:30-47                                                              (ESV)

“30 "I CAN DO NOTHING ON MY OWN”. As I hear, I judge, and MY judgment is just, because I seek not MY own will but the will of HIM WHO sent ME.

31 If I alone bear witness about MYSELF, MY testimony is NOT TRUE.

32 There is another who bears witness about ME, and I know that the testimony that he bears about ME is true.

33 You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth.

34 Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved.

35 He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.

36 But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the FATHER has given ME to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about ME that the FATHER has sent ME.

37 And the FATHER who sent ME has HIMSELF borne witness about ME. HIS voice you have never heard, HIS form you have never seen,

38 and you do not have HIS word abiding in you, for you do not believe the ONE WHOM HE has sent.

39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about ME,

40 yet you 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.

43 I have come in MY FATHER’S name, and you do not receive ME. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him.

44 How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only GOD?

45 Do not think that I will accuse you to the FATHER. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope.

46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe ME; for he wrote of ME.

47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe MY words?"

All of us that are CHOSEN to represent the KINGDOM OF GOD are to follow the example lived by JESUS CHRIST.  Seeing a Bible verse recently declaring “I can do all things through HIM who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13), it caused me to wonder why I wasn’t doing more for the KINGDOM I am supposed to be representing?  

Then I remembered that JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF declared that “I CAN DO NOTHING ON MY OWN”!  JESUS is the ONE that spoke the world’s into existence, so why would HE require any assistance from anyone to do anything?  If JESUS CHRIST must have the FATHER to accomplish what the FATHER wants HIM to do, what makes me think I am any better?

While “I CAN DO all things through HIM who strengthens me”, we MUST come to the point in our lives (as CHRIST did in Luke 22:42) where we are able to pray “Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done”! If JESUS said “I CAN DO NOTHING ON MY OWN”, we might learn that neither can we do it on our own???

“ENDOWED!”

July 4th isn’t just another day where we don’t have to go to work, where we celebrate at the lake or river, where we make ice cream and rejoice that we no longer live under the authority of an earthly king, but only our CREATOR!  The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America was ratified July 04, 1776 and the second sentence is perhaps the most well known of all:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are “ENDOWED” by their CREATOR with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

To be “ENDOWED” is to be “furnished, as with some talent, faculty, or quality; equip:” according to one dictionary.  When ALMIGHTY GOD “ENDOWS” us with something, the only was we can lose that is to freely give it up!  We can elect to serve a GOD WHO defines FAITHFULNESS, or we can try to figure it out on our own?  Since HE is our CREATOR, I choose to serve HIM!  

“A PROPHET OF THE LORD!”

1 Samuel 3:19-21                                                     (ESV)

“19 And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.

20 And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as “A PROPHET OF THE LORD”.

21 And the LORD appeared again at Shiloh, for the LORD revealed HIMSELF to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the LORD.”

Samuel was “A PROPHET OF THE LORD”, not because he was holier than others, not because of his royal blood, not because he was worthy, he was “A PROPHET OF THE LORD” because GOD CHOSE HIM!  He anointed Saul the first king of Israel, then had to tell King Saul that GOD had rejected him (1 Samuel 17-17) as king over Israel.  Samuel then was told by ALMIGHTY GOD that a young shepherd boy would be the next king, something that made absolutely no sense at all!  What kind of person would ALMIGHTY GOD choose to deliver HIS Message to people who were as helpless as little sheep?

The WORD OF THE LORD can come to us in various ways.  GOD uses a donkey to speak to Balaam in Numbers 22!  When HE uses “A PROPHET OF THE LORD”, GOD means to be heard.  We can do whatever we want with the Message, but THE WORD OF THE LORD doesn’t change to meet our wishes, only to accomplish HIS PURPOSE!  

Are we listening to “A PROPHET OF THE LORD”?  Or do we do what is best IN OUR OWN EYES?  As for me and my house, we will listen to “A PROPHET OF THE LORD” for our guidance and direction.  

“NEW EVERY MORNING!”

Lamentations 3:19-23                          (ESV)

“19 REMEMBER MY AFFLICTION and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! 

20 My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. 

21 But this I call to mind, and THEREFORE I HAVE HOPE: 

22 The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; HIS MERCIES NEVER COME TO AN END; 

23 they are “NEW EVERY MORNING”; great is YOUR faithfulness.”

There are MANY times in life that I get in a rut of REMEMBERING MY AFFLICTIONS, wallowing in my pity thinking “woe is me”?  But I was CREATED to REFLECT the LOVE OF GOD, not to walk around talking about my problems.  

Why do I want to allow the enemy to burden me with the cares of “this world” when I am only a sojourner here, headed for my HOPE in THE PROMISED LAND!  Satan loves to have us focus on our current problems, but in John 16:33, JESUS says “But take heart; I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD!”  

When my eyes are clouded by situations that I find myself in, I must remember that I am just passing through this world, that my home is in Heaven (Ephesians 2:6-7)!  REMEMBERING MY AFFLICTIONS will do nothing but cause me to fret over happenings in my life.  Why don’t I remember that HIS MERCIES NEVER COME TO AN END; they are “NEW EVERY MORNING”?  

The enemy certainly doesn’t want me to dwell on great is YOUR faithfulness.  Misery and fear are some of his greatest attributes.  We can choose to surrender to his tactics, or we can remember that GREAT IS YOUR FAITHFULNESS, and YOUR MERCIES are “NEW EVERY MORNING!!!”  

“DO YOU NOT FEAR ME?”

Jeremiah 5:18-23                                                          (ESV)

“18 "But even in those days, declares the LORD, I will not make a full end of you.

19 And when your people say, 'Why has the LORD our GOD done all these things to us?' you shall say to them, 'As you have forsaken ME and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.'"

20 Declare this in the house of Jacob; proclaim it in Judah: 

21 "Hear this, O FOOLISH and SENSELESS people, WHO HAVE EYES, but SEE NOT, WHO HAVE EARS, but HEAR NOT. 

22 “DO YOU NOT FEAR ME?” declares the LORD. Do you not tremble before ME? I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass; though the waves toss, they cannot prevail; though they roar, they cannot pass over it. 

23 But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart; they have TURNED ASIDE and GONE AWAY.”

The book of Jeremiah was purportedly written in 13th year of the reign of King Josiah (627/626 BC) and continued he his ministry until after the siege and capture of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 BC.  The nation of Israel was in a terrible rut ‘as you have forsaken ME and served foreign gods in your land’.  Why did the forsake ALMIGHTY GOD, their CREATOR?  Why would a people that had been BLESSED with so much seek to serve other gods, to voluntarily surrender to their enemy???

Then again, why has the AMERICAN CHURCH become so weak and ineffective to be led astray by every wind of doctrine (Ephesians 4:4)?  Could it be that we have become a “...FOOLISH and SENSELESS people, WHO HAVE EYES, but SEE NOT, WHO HAVE EARS, but HEAR NOT”?  Have we become the people who “DO YOU NOT FEAR ME?”  

This land was founded on July 04, 1776 by a document that begins with these words, “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness”.  A definite FEAR (Respect) for our CREATOR existed then, but it appears that, ESPECIALLY THE MEDIA in our country, has deliberately excluded ANY reverence to GOD ALMIGHTY as our CREATOR and SUSTAINER?  

GOD’S WORD doesn’t change to fit the sins of the day, nor does HIS JUDGEMENT.  The Believers that we’re used to found our country were NOT perfect people.  They ALL were sinners, but were used to give us the gift of FREEDOM that we have enjoyed for 243 years this week.  And we show our thanks by our arrogance and pride???  There have been MANY WARNINGS sent by GOD ALMIGHTY in the last 50+ years, but we have become they “WHO HAVE EYES, but SEE NOT, WHO HAVE EARS, but HEAR NOT”.  GOD is quietly asking “DO YOU NOT FEAR ME”!!!  What will your response be???