John 17:14-15 (ESV)
“14 I (JESUS) have given them YOUR WORD, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
15 I do not ask that YOU take them out of the world, but that YOU keep them from the evil one.”
Luke 21:7 (ESV)
“And they ( the disciples ) asked HIM, "TEACHER, “WHEN WILL THESE THINGS BE”, and what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?"1 Corinthians 10:13-14 (ESV)
“13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. “GOD IS FAITHFUL”, and HE will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation HE will also provide the way of escape, THAT YOU MAY BE ABLE TO ENDURE IT.
14 Therefore, my beloved, FLEE FROM IDOLATRY.”
Addictions can appear in a variety of ways that REMARKABLY difficult to identify. Since I am over three score years old, one might assume that I am able to identify when a weakness is trying to find a way to manifest itself in my mind, but so often temptation is upon me before I know it! When that occurs, I am usually living at a pace set by “this world” instead of WAITING ON THE LORD to guide my steps.
The Apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 12:5-10 that THREE TIMES I pleaded with THE LORD to take this “messenger from Satan” from me!
“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”!
Although I am 6’6” tall and weigh 300 lbs and have been physically STRONG even beyond my knowledge, MY WEAKNESSES have always been something that I have had difficulty accepting. But James 4:7 instructs us to “RESIST THE DEVIL and he will FLEE from you”! The best way for me to RESIST THE DEVIL is to quote Philippians 2:10 which says “so that AT THE NAME OF JESUS EVERY KNEE SHOULD BOW, IN HEAVEN and ON EARTH and UNDER THE EARTH”!
It can be very tempting upon sitting to relax to open a social media site, or watch the television, or read an article written by man. But when we are reminded that GOD desires to have us sharpening our hearts and minds with HIS WORD (Hebrews 4:12), only then can we SEE that HE wants us to acknowledge our weaknesses and let HIM be GOD! “GOD IS FAITHFUL”, but how FAITHFUL am I to be in Scripture? “GOD IS FAITHFUL” to continue mold us into vessels that GLORIFY HIS NAME (Isaiah 64:8-9)! “GOD IS FAITHFUL”!!!
Matthew 27:11-14 (ESV)
“11 Now JESUS stood before the governor, and the governor asked HIM, "Are you the King of the Jews?" JESUS said, "You have said so."
12 But when HE was accused by the chief priests and elders, “HE GAVE NO ANSWER”.
13 Then Pilate said to HIIM, "Do YOU not hear how many things they testify against YOU?"
14 But HE GAVE HIM NO ANSWER, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.”
The trial and crucifixion of JESUS was THE MOST blatant display of WHO HE is in contrast to who the enemy is! HE freely gave HIMSELF, while the enemy THOUGHT he was taking what he wanted! Even though JESUS KNEW that HE was being falsely accused, HE remained silent to allow THE WILL OF GOD to be completed. HIS silence wasn’t a sign of weakness or ignorance, it was so THE PLAN OF GOD would be carried out! JESUS IS THE ANSWER to every question in life, yet HE CHOSE to remain silent during the most crucial of times, for the GLORY OF THE FATHER!
Trusting THE PLAN OF GOD for our lives while being silent is NOT what our “NATURAL MAN” is built to do. According to HIS WORD, the NATURAL MAN MUST DIE and we MUST BE BORN AGAIN (John 3:7)!!! JESUS was brutally tortured and crucified, but HE was raised from the dead by the SPIRIT OF GOD, for the GLORY OF THE FATHER!
HIS LOVE for we who are CHOSEN has to be far more than we can fathom. HE left HIS THRONE IN GLORY to be born in a cattle stable, among the least of HIS CREATION, so that we could be AS HE IS! JESUS created (Colossians 1:16) everyone and everything that ever was, yet HE willingly debased HIMSELF because we couldn’t live the perfection required to enter HEAVEN and live forever with HIM! Our CREATOR overcame sin just because HE LOVED ME!
In order for me to have the gift of salvation, “HE GAVE NO ANSWER” in the midst of LIES and severe persecution! It was something that JESUS was compelled to do by HIS DIVINE LOVE for us, and obedience for THE FATHER. HE wasn’t tricked into it! HE wasn’t surprised by it! HE could have beckoned twelve legions (144,000) of angels on HIS behalf (Matthew 26:53), but HE CHOSE to SUFFER to pay for our sins! “HE GAVE NO ANSWER” and kept HIS silence, even though HE HAD THE ANSWER!!!
John 17:22-26 (ESV)
“22 The glory that YOU have given ME I have given to them, that they may be one even as WE are ONE,
23 I in them and YOU in ME, that they may become perfectly one, SO THAT THE WORLD MAY KNOW THAT YOU SENT ME AND LOVED THEM EVEN AS YOU LOVED ME.
24 FATHER, I desire that they also, whom YOU have given ME, may be with ME where I am, to see MY GLORY that YOU have given ME because YOU loved ME before the foundation of the world.
25 O righteous FATHER, EVEN THOUGH THE WORLD DOES NOT KNOW YOU, I know YOU, and these know that YOU have sent ME.
26 I made known to them YOUR NAME, and I will continue to make it known, THAT THE LOVE WITH WHICH YOU HAVE LOVED ME MAY BE IN THEM, AND “I IN THEM”."”
It is IMPOSSIBLE to be IN THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST while simultaneously while living in FEAR! If we are the bride of CHRIST and have THE SPIRIT OF THE CREATOR living inside us, how can we be AFRAID of anything? Colossians 1:15-20 says JESUS was before ALL THINGS which were created by HIM and for HIM! When we allow something or someone that JESUS has CREATED to be used to infiltrate and control our minds with FEAR, we are exhibiting a belief that GOD may not be able to conquer something that HE has created????
Ephesians 6:12 says “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places”! “The enemy” can be manifested in several ways, even though fellow Believers! Peter was used to show this in Matthew 16:23 when JESUS said “Get behind ME, Satan! You are a hindrance to ME. For you are not SETTING YOUR MIND on the things of GOD, but on the things of man."”
How many times have I been guilty of SETTING MY MIND on the cares of “this world” instead of on WHO is living inside of me?!? “I IN THEM” should be so tremendously evident in my life that Satan will flee (James 4:7) when I enter a room! As Believers that JESUS and GOD ARE ONE (John10:30), it is our calling to display this TRUTH in our everyday testimony! The Children of Israel were entrapped at the Red Sea and we know that GOD buried their enemy in the bottom of the sea. But GOD could have caused an earthquake to fall onto the Egyptians! Or GOD could have struck the Egyptians dead while they pursued the Israelites.
When we allow our MINDS to try and figure out how GOD will deliver us, we are basically saying that our FAITH is limited to what “we think” GOD can accomplish. GOD PROVIDED my beautiful, fantastic wife to me without me having a clue how HE WAS WORKING FOR MY GOOD! HE is NOT losing strength nor ability! By HIS WORD, the worlds were spoke into existence. “I IN THEM” is living in me and my actions need to reflect that!
HEAVENLY FATHER, make the TRUTH of “I IN THEM” evident in my actions FOR YOUR GLORY!!!
1 Kings 19:9-18 (ESV)
“9 There he (Elijah) came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and HE said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
10 He said, "I have been very jealous for the LORD, the GOD of hosts. For the people of Israel have FORSAKEN YOUR covenant, THROWN DOWN YOUR altars, and KILLED YOUR PROPHETS WITH THE SWORD, and I, “EVEN I ONLY”, am left, and THEY SEEK MY LIFE, to take it away."
11 And HE said, "Go out and stand on the mount before the LORD." And behold, the LORD passed by, and a GREAT AND STRONG WIND tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, BUT THE LORD WAS NOT IN THE WIND. And after the wind an earthquake, but THE LORD WAS NOT IN THE EARTHQUAKE.
12 And after THE EARTHQUAKE A FIRE, but THE LORD WAS NOT IN THE FIRE. And after the fire THE SOUND OF A LOW WHISPER.
13 And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE, Elijah?"
14 He said, "I have been very jealous for the LORD, the GOD of HOSTS. For the people of Israel have forsaken YOUR covenant, thrown down YOUR altars, and killed YOUR prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away."
15 And the LORD said to him, "Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria.
16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place.
17 And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death.
18 Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.””
There are those who believe that they are able to stack the odds in their favor so dramatically that they are untouchable! Jezebel was the daughter of Ithobaal I of Tyre and the wife of Ahab, King of Israel. Ahab was one in a line of increasingly evil kings in Israel’s history, starting with the reign of Jeroboam. King Ahab “did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him” (1 Kings 16:30). Among the events chronicled in Ahab’s life that led to his downfall was his marriage to an evil woman named Jezebel who had a particular hatred for God’s people (1 Kings 18:4). Because of his marriage to a pagan woman, Ahab devoted himself to the worship of the false gods Baal and Asherah in Israel (1 Kings 16:31–33).
Jezebel believed that she could not be challenged because of who she was. She sent a message to Elijah in 1 Kings 19:2 “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow." Elijah had just killed the prophets of Baal, the god that Jezebel worshiped. Because of her “reputation”, Elijah was fearful and “came to a cave and lodged in it”. There he remained until GOD came to him and inquired “What are you doing here, Elijah?"
Don’t we do the same thing in our lives? We allow FEAR because of an enemy’s reputation, but JESUS told us HE would NEVER leave us nor forsake us (Hebrew 13:6)! I Samuel 6:20 says “Who is able to stand before the LORD, this Holy GOD? And to whom shall he go up away from us?" Our GOD isn’t impressed with money, fame, power, or popularity! Isaiah 48:11 states “For MY OWN sake, for MY OWN sake, I do it, for how should MY NAME be profaned? MY GLORY I WILL NOT GIVE TO ANOTHER!”
Jezebel was bestowed with a TESTIMONY, one that most would prefer avoiding! In 2 Kings 9:30-37 Jezebel was thrown into the ground from her window and the horses trampled her. After eating Jehu, King of the Northern Kingdom, told his servants to bury her. They went to the ground where she landed and reported that “the dogs” had eaten her! The enemies of GOD don’t understand WHO HE really is! Yet neither did Elijah, or he would have never said “EVEN I ONLY” to his CREATOR! The devil tries everything in his power to get us to “give up” on GOD, to doubt HIS ability to deliver us. Elijah said “THEY SEEK MY LIFE”, but GOD quickly showed him WHO was in control! When the devil attempts to cloud our vision, remember that “EVEN I ONLY” and GOD can change the world!
Psalm 86:1-5 (ESV)
“1 Incline YOUR ear, O LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.
2 Preserve my life, for I am godly; save your servant, who trusts in YOU-YOU are my GOD.
3 “BE GRACIOUS TO ME, O LORD”, for to YOU do I cry all the day.
4 Gladden the soul of YOIR servant, for to YOU, O LORD, do I lift up my soul.
5 For YOU, O LORD, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon YOU.”
It can be comforting to know that even King David, a man after GOD’S OWN heart (1 Samuel 13:14), cried out to THE LORD, not once, but many times, “BE GRACIOUS TO ME, O LORD”! When I look back on the many times I have needed THE LORD to supernaturally intervene in my life, HE almost always has to HUMBLE my spirit, therefore HIS is elevated!
When GOD humbles someone (or a group of someone’s), most of the time HE doesn’t do it in a punishing manner, but rather a loving way to display that HE IS ABLE, but HE WILL NOT SHARE HIS GLORY WITH ANOTHER (Isaiah 42:8)! Exodus 14:14 states “The LORD will fight for you, and YOUR HAVE ONLY TO BE SILENT."
When things are TOO BIG, TOO DIFFICULT, and TOO COMPLEX for our abilities, GOD may be humbling us and longing to HEAR “BE GRACIOUS TO ME, O LORD” before HE DELIVERS US???
