“ANXIOUS HEART!”

 Isaiah 35:1-7                               (ESV)

“1 The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; 

2 it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. THEY SHALL SEE THE GLORY OF THE LORD, THE MAJESTY OF OUR GOD. 

3 Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. 

4 Say to those who have an “ANXIOUS HEART”, "BE STRONG; FEAR NOT! Behold, your GOD will come with vengeance, with the recompense of GOD.  HE WILL COME AND SAVE YOU." 

5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; 

6 then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; 

7 the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down, the grass shall become reeds and rushes.”

In times of doubt and dismay, I at times find myself with an “ANXIOUS HEART”, not trusting that GOD is in CONTROL!  Although I do my best to keep my mind on things that are above (Colossians 3:2), “the enemy” is ever trying to infiltrate all of our minds, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8)!  When he has our minds on daily problems, we live in fear of what might happen instead of living in JOY of who we are in JESUS CHRIST!  

Recently “the enemy” was playing deceitful games with my mind concerning an issue that is WAY BIGGER than I know how to deal with.  Like the Apostle Paul in Romans 7:15-20, I “still” want to do things my way and try to figure out how GOD is going to resolve the issue at hand.  GOD isn’t confined by the limits of the human imagination, nor by the way “this world” always does things.  HE has a PLAN, and that PLAN will be fulfilled!  

In the passage of Scripture above, Isaiah tells us “THEY SHALL SEE THE GLORY OF THE LORD, THE MAJESTY OF OUR GOD”!  Blind eyes will be opened, deaf ears shall hear, and a lame man shall leap like a deer when GOD IS ON THE SCENE.  Luke 1:37 says “For NOTHING will be IMPOSSIBLE with GOD”, so the mind of man should definitely NOT think it can comprehend what is possible with the ALMIGHTY calling the shots!  Why, then, do I have an “ANXIOUS HEART” when I experience hardships and turmoil in my life?  I am NOT IN CONTROL, but HE IS!

The psalmist writes in Psalms 23:4 “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.”  FEAR and DOUBT can only visit me when my eyes wonder to what “the enemy” wants me to gaze upon.  JESUS, the VICTOR, says to keep my EYES on things that are above, which will remedy the consequences from an “ANXIOUS HEART”!!!

“WE ARE CHILDREN OF GOD!”

 Romans 8:16-17;28                           (ESV)

“16 The SPIRIT HIMSELF bears witness with our spirit that “WE ARE CHILDREN OF GOD”,

17 and IF CHILDREN, then HEIRS-HEIRS OF GOD and FELLOW HEIRS WITH CHRIST, PROVIDED WE SUFFER WITH HIM IN ORDER THAT WE MAY ALSO BE GLORIFIED WITH HIM.

28 And WE KNOW that for those who love GOD ALL THINGS WORK together for good, for those who are called according to HIS purpose.”

Occasionally my MIND is infiltrated by “the enemy” and I begin to question WHY things aren’t going just as I think they should.  Why do BAD things happen to GOOD people?  Making sure you are following GOD‘S PLAN for your future is something that I desire for my life, but the key to that statement has to be that GOD’S PLAN is being achieved, NOT MY PLAN!  

Dr. John MacArthur has been quoted as saying “A right attitude during a SEASON OF TRIAL only comes when you have an eternal perspective.”  When I get disgruntled about the position I find myself in, I have to remind myself that ALL THINGS WORK together for good, PROVIDED WE SUFFER WITH HIM IN ORDER THAT WE MAY ALSO BE GLORIFIED WITH HIM!  Scripture never says that we will live on EASY STREET with no challenges.  As a matter of fact, PROVIDED WE SUFFER WITH HIM IN ORDER THAT WE MAY ALSO BE GLORIFIED WITH HIM is the complete opposite of everything going the way WE WANT!

What I need to keep at the forefront of my MIND is “The SPIRIT HIMSELF bears witness with our spirit that “WE ARE CHILDREN OF GOD””!  My “children” are young adults now, but both can testify that being raised by one of the parents GOD assigned to them was “challenging”, to say the least!  My methods were not always the best, but they have grown into fine young men, despite my imperfections.  

“WE ARE CHILDREN OF GOD”, fellow HEIRS with CHRIST, so we can expect, even prepare for, SUFFERING to come our way!  While we WILL experience SUFFERINGS, knowing that we WILL receive a reward in HEAVEN (Romans 2:6-8) will far exceed our pain.  

FATHER IN HEAVEN, open my EYES to SEE that YOU are WORKING ALL THINGS for YOUR GLORY and I am BLESSED just to be apart of YOUR PLAN.  They persecuted and crucified YOUR SON, so since “WE ARE CHILDREN OF GOD”, we are to gladly SUFFER WITH HIM!!!

“FOLLOW ME!”

 John 1:35-43                                        (ESV)

“35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples,

36 and he looked at JESUS AS HE WALKED BY and said, "BEHOLD, THE LAMB OF GOD!"

37 The two disciples heard him say this, and THEY FOLLOWED JESUS.

38 JESUS turned and saw them following and said to them, "What are you seeking?" And they said to him, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher), "where are you staying?"

39 HE said to them, "COME and you will SEE." So they CAME and SAW where HE was staying, and they stayed with HIM that day, for it was about the tenth hour.

40 One of the two who heard John speak and FOLLOWED JESUS was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.

41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, "We have found the MESSIAH" (which means CHRIST).

42 He brought him to JESUS. JESUS looked at him and said, "You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas" (which means Peter).

43 The next day JESUS decided to go to Galilee. HE found Philip and said to him, "FOLLOW ME."”

Sometimes I am guilty of searching so hard for an ANSWER to a problem in my life that I can’t SEE it right in front of my EYES!  There are things that we overcome with within OUR OWN ABILITIES, and then there are those things that are FAR TOO BIG to us to handle.  Always being a person who desired to make things happen, when things happened that were TOO BIG for anyone to take credit for them, I usually was forced to admit that ALMIGHTY GOD was in control!  HE was leading, and I was relegated to FOLLOWING HIM!

Playing the game “FOLLOW ME” as a child, I was always interested in doing my “own thing”!  Doing your “own thing” is not good when you are playing “FOLLOW ME”, and it is NOT GOOD when we are living for CHRIST! When JESUS instructs us to “FOLLOW ME”, HE is doing it for our good, and for the GLORY OF GOD!  Like the immature servant that I was, we can TRY to do things for JESUS in our own strength and abilities, but until we “FOLLOW ME”, walking where HE has gone before us, we are setting ourselves up for our own glory, and ultimately failure!  Romans 14:23b says “...For whatever does not proceed from FAITH is sin”!  Walking by FAITH is to “FOLLOW ME” in everything we do.  

We may have to “FOLLOW ME” through a wilderness, and we might get to “FOLLOW ME” through some good times?  But in Matthew 16:24 JESUS says “...”If anyone would come after ME, let him deny himself and take up his cross and “FOLLOW ME””!  

FATHER in HEAVEN, cause me to keep my EYES fixed on JESUS (Hebrews 12:2) and never more be guilty of setting my own agenda!  Move my steps to “FOLLOW ME”, but only when that ME is JESUS!  

“FOR THEY FEARED THE PEOPLE!”

 Luke 22:1-6                                                     (ESV)

“1 Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, WHICH IS CALLED THE PASSOVER.

2 And the CHIEF PRIESTS and the SCRIBES were seeking how to put HIM to death, “FOR THEY FEARED THE PEOPLE”.

3 Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve.

4 He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray HIM to them.

5 And they were glad, and agreed to give him money.

6 So he consented and sought an opportunity to betray HIM to them in the absence of a crowd.”

The really difficult times in our life can be when we are trying to do the right thing, but “the enemy” is working in others to accomplish things that we can’t SEE, or even imagine.  The CHIEF PRIESTS and the SCRIBES were originally used by ALMIGHTY GOD, but as “the enemy” had time to work through fallen man, they became fools (Romans 1:22), trying to elevate themselves beyond their calling.  “Originally their name (Heb. sōperêm, writers) was used MERELY of clerks whose function was to copy royal and sacred manuscripts” is written of the Scribes.  They gave the appearance of WISDOM, when they only knew how to write in their own language.  JESUS came to identify “the enemy”, of whom most Scribes were identified.  

Satan, “the enemy”, uses FEAR as one of his most effective tools.  When I am facing a difficult situation that I feel can’t be “messed up”, my tendency is to try and figure out an escape route, to contribute to the solution!  The CHIEF PRIESTS and the SCRIBES were simply men, “FOR THEY FEARED THE PEOPLE”!  If they were really so much WISER than the supposed underlings they “ruled” over, then WHY did THEY FEAR THE PEOPLE?  Even Moses led the Israelites to a hopeless situation, BUT GOD had other Plans!  

GOD had a Plan for JESUS, and HIS PLAN displayed how the hierarchy of the Jewish people were NOT the answer to “this world”!  Today, we try to elevate humanity to be some sort of ruling class when they are simply people who are flawed, EMPOWERED by GOD to preside over HIS domain for a finite time.  Our RULER is ALMIGHTY GOD and we must recognize that anything/anyone trying to rise above HIM is of “the enemy”!  

JESUS CHRIST defeated “the enemy” when HE overcame death, hell and the grave!  No longer should it be said “FOR THEY FEARED THE PEOPLE” as the victory belongs solely to JESUS.  Although “the enemy” will try to make us think that he is still “in the game”, JESUS is the VICTOR over all and deserves our PRAISE and ADORATION!  “FOR THEY FEARED THE PEOPLE” is for those who are of this world, not for we who are from above (Ephesians 6:12)!  “FOR THEY FEARED THE PEOPLE” is for those who have yet to be regenerated!  Who am I???

“A THORN WAS GIVEN ME!”

 2 Corinthians 12:7-10                        (ESV)

“7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, “A THORN WAS GIVEN ME” in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to KEEP ME FROM BECOMING CONCEITED.

8 THREE TIMES I PLEADED with the LORD about this, THAT IT SHOULD LEAVE ME.

9 But HE said to me, "MY grace is sufficient for you, for MY power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, SO THAT THE POWER OF CHRIST may rest upon me.

10 FOR THE SAKE OF CHRIST, then, I AM CONTENT WITH WEAKNESSES, INSULTS, HARDSHIPS, PERSECUTIONS, and CALAMITIES. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

2 Corinthians 12:9, “But HE said to me, "MY grace is sufficient for you, for MY power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, SO THAT THE POWER OF CHRIST may rest upon me”, was shared recently on my social media site, and once again it stirred me!  Admitting that we have some weaknesses can be quite uncomfortable, even HUMILIATING!  Being exposed as being weak is not something that you would expect to see on a resume, but the Apostle Paul states that he will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, SO THAT THE POWER OF CHRIST may rest upon me!  

Being married to the most giving person I know, it is more than obvious that ALMIGHTY GOD orchestrated our union.  She is patient, and I am not!  She is forgiving, and I am learning how!  She has so many great qualities that I wish I had, but one of us HAD TO BE WEAK to compliment the other one.  Of course, I’m not speaking of physical strength, I am referring to inner strength, someone who has a PROVEN track record of being there through the hard times.  GOD obviously uses my wife to be STRONG in my weaknesses, complimenting me in my many flaws!  

One of the most painful and difficult times of my life was when my younger sister was diagnosed with Stomach Cancer in 1996.  Within three months she went from a vibrant looking 33 year old woman to a lady who looked 100+ years old displaying the effects of chemotherapy and the disease that wound up claiming her PHYSICAL life 3 days after her 34th birthday. The most comforting statement I have ever heard was made by my little sister after the diagnosis.  In telling her that IF this disease was successful, she would get to see our grandmother, a lady she was named after, she stated “I want to see JESUS when I get to Heaven”!!!  Being older than her, I should have been more Spiritually mature, but I had to SHUT UP when hearing her proclamation.  

The Apostle Paul says “A THORN WAS GIVEN ME” in the flesh TO KEEP ME FROM BECOMING CONCEITED!  GOD knows when “A THORN WAS GIVEN ME” and how we are going to react to the adversity.  HE USES THE DIFFICULTIES OF OUR LIVES FOR HIS GLORY, just ask Joseph in Genesis!  Just because we can’t understand the why and how of the things we are going through is part of HIS PLAN, GOD IS STILL IN CONTROL, and WE ARE NOT!  We don’t get to KNOW everything, we HAVE to TRUST HIM!  My little sister has been celebrating in Heaven since December 26, 1996.  When “A THORN WAS GIVEN ME”, my prayer is that I will realize that GOD loves me too much to ever hurt me, and HIS PLAN always works for my good!!!

“HE WHO HAD SET ME APART!”

 Galatians 1:11-17                                               (ESV)

“11 For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is NOT man's gospel.

12 For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a REVELATION of JESUS CHRIST.

13 For you have heard of MY FORMER LIFE in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of GOD violently and tried to destroy it.

14 And I WAS ADVANCING IN JUDAISM beyond many of my own age among my people, SO EXTREMELY ZEALOUS WAS I FOR THE TRADITIONS OF MY FATHERS.

15 But when “HE WHO HAD SET ME APART” before I was born, and WHO CALLED ME by HIS Grace,

16 was pleased to reveal HIS SON to me, in order that I might preach HIM among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone;

17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.”

It has been said by many to “Believe nothing of what you hear, and only half of what you see”.  This might be a catchy statement, but the reality of this statement could be fatal!  Can you SEE the breath you breathe?  Yet each of us continue to inhale and exhale without ever consciously putting much thought into the process!  Even when we are asleep the inhaling and exhaling continue with no pre-planned efforts of our own!

Why, then, do we think that we need to micromanage everything else that we accomplish?  In his letter to the church at Galatia, the Apostle Paul let’s it be known that he FORMERLY was a zealot FOR THE TRADITIONS OF MY FATHERS!  In Acts 9 he was carrying out his orders,  persecuting the church, the Body of CHRIST, when he was all of the sudden CHANGED by a LIGHT from Heaven.  He was blinded by the LIGHT, so much that he had to be led by those assigned to assist him in his duties of persecuting the church!  He had NOTHING to do with his sight being restored, and certainly nothing to do with his entire life being TRANSFORMED!  The SPIRIT OF GOD completely changed Paul from a PERSECUTOR into THE PERSECUTED all by HIMSELF, with no assistance from anyone!

Paul writes in Galatians 1:15-16 “... when “HE WHO HAD SET ME APART” before I was born, and WHO CALLED ME by HIS Grace, was pleased to reveal HIS SON to me, in order that I might preach HIM among the Gentiles...” that a TRANSFORMATION was begun in his life!  When JESUS does a work in our lives, we cannot take any credit for work that only HE could accomplish.  Paul was unable to physically see for three days, but when Ananias spoke TRUTH to him, he was THEN able to Spiritually SEE like NEVER before!  There is no mistaking when JESUS is present!  

Consider if you will, from mankind’s limited intelligence, what other planet is there with oxygen that is required for every living being to survive, other than Earth?  GOD grants us the oxygen we need to live, yet we think we don’t have time to acknowledge OUR CREATOR?  JESUS (Colossians 1:16) doesn’t need us to do ANYTHING for HIM, HE lets us SERVE HIM with our lives!  HE created everything without any assistance from humankind.  When we are CHOSEN by “HE WHO HAD SET ME APART”, we are just a small part of a magnificent Plan of our CREATOR!  “HE WHO HAD SET ME APART” is worthy of PRAISE, HONOR and GLORY!!!

“BELIEVED NOT THE TRUTH!”

 2 Thessalonians 2:7-12                            (Geneva Study Bible)

“For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the LORD shall consume with the SPIRIT of HIS mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of HIS coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received NOT the LOVE OF THE TRUTH, THAT THEY MIGHT BE SAVED.  And for this cause GOD shall send them STRONG DELUSION, THAT THEY SHOULD BELIEVE A LIE: THAT THEY ALL MIGHT BE DAMNED who “BELIEVED NOT THE TRUTH”, but had PLEASURE in UNRIGHTEOUSNESS.”

When a LIE is spoken for TRUTH, it becomes the responsibility of we who KNOW TRUTH to expose the LIE!  Those who aren’t familiar with TRUTH are susceptible to being in error, with no idea they have been DECEIVED, nor that they are promoting a LIE.  LIES and DECEIT are two of the most effective tools of “the enemy”!  

We must not think that those who believe the LIE are simply terrible people, although they are doing terrible things to others.  2 Thessalonians 2:11 says “And for this cause GOD shall send them STRONG DELUSION, THAT THEY SHOULD BELIEVE A LIE”!  Whether they believe in GOD or not, if GOD sends them a STRONG DELUSION, they are going to believe that DELUSION!  Romans 9:15 states “For HE (GOD) saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”  If some can SEE things that others cannot SEE, how can the latter know what they can’t SEE?  

Exposing LIES can become tiring and monotonous!  But unless the people HEAR TRUTH, they cannot/will not know THE TRUTH (Jeremiah 6:10)!  Romans 10:17 tells us “So then FAITH cometh BY HEARING, and hearing by the WORD OF GOD”.  Lost people will generally NOT LIKE HEARING “GOOD NEWS”, but we are COMMANDED to tell them, and let the HOLY SPIRIT deal with them.  Those who don’t listen BELIEVE A LIE: THAT THEY ALL MIGHT BE DAMNED who “BELIEVED NOT THE TRUTH”

It is not easy to tell people, especially people that you LOVE, that they are in danger of ETERNAL JUDGMENT.  But people deserve to know what the consequences are for their choices.  If you “BELIEVED NOT THE TRUTH”, you might rethink your position on things?  Being a good person won’t get you anywhere.  People can think that you are the BEST person they have ever met.  But if you “BELIEVED NOT THE TRUTH”, you will be DAMNED to eternity in hell!  If you “BELIEVED NOT THE TRUTH”; the only alternative is to believe a LIE!!!