“LET NO ONE DECEIVE HIMSELF!”

 1 Corinthians 3:18-23                                (ESV)

“[18] “LET NO ONE DECEIVE HIMSELF”. If anyone among you THINKS THAT HE IS WISE in this age, LET HIM BECOME A FOOL that he may become wise. [19] For the wisdom of this world is folly with GOD. For it is written, “HE catches the wise in their craftiness,” [20] and again, “The LORD knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” [21] So LET NO ONE BOAST IN MEN. For all things are yours, [22] whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, [23] and you are CHRIST’s, and CHRIST is GOD’s.”

One of the most hurtful experiences in life is being DECEIVED by someone that you love.  To trust someone to the point that you bring hardship to yourself while they escape the same difficulty brings about a wide range of emotions, such as anger, regret, retribution, and a general hurt because of the misplaced trust.  

But what about when we DECEIVE ourselves?  Hurting yourself shows that we are not nearly as wise as we thought!  Going through the Brain Hemorrhage 14 years ago is still teaching me lessons.  In those days I THOUGHT that I was indestructible, that nothing was able to stop me!   I was DECEIVED by my own mind, thinking I was “all that”!  But when GOD OPENED MY EYES are allowed me to SEE (Luke 24:16;31;45) the TRUTH of my frailty in HIS KINGDOM, my entire perspective changed.  

ONLY when GOD performs HIS WORK in our lives can we be used for HIS GLORY and HIS PURPOSE.  When WE THINK that we are able to glorify anything outside of the infilling of the SPIRIT OF GOD, we are in danger of “LET NO ONE DECEIVE HIMSELF”!  “You are CHRIST’s, and CHRIST is GOD’s” is WRITTEN for we who are enamored by ourselves so much that we CANNOT SEE that we belong to someone else!  

When our EYES are opened to observe that we are simply TOOLS in HIS KINGDOM, we are finally getting to the point where we can be used by our CREATOR!  Mortal mans intelligence is minuscule compared to the WISDOM OF JESUS.  GOD is in JESUS and JESUS is in us (John 17:23) is the ONLY redeeming value any of us can claim!  Not our wealth, intelligence, or anything else.  “LET NO ONE DECEIVE HIMSELF” to believe anything else!!!

“NO LONGER MUTE!”

 Ezekiel 33:21-29                                  (ESV)

Jerusalem Struck Down

[21] In the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, a fugitive from Jerusalem came to me and said, “The city has been struck down.” [22] Now the hand of the LORD had been upon me the evening before the fugitive came; and he had opened my mouth by the time the man came to me in the morning, so my mouth was opened, and I WAS “NO LONGER MUTE”.  [23] The word of the LORD came to me: [24] “Son of man, the inhabitants of these waste places in the land of Israel keep saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he got possession of the land; but we are many; the land is surely given us to possess.’ [25] Therefore say to them, Thus says the LORD GOD: You eat flesh with the blood and lift up your eyes to your idols and shed blood; shall you then possess the land? [26] You rely on the sword, you commit abominations, and each of you defiles his neighbor’s wife; shall you then possess the land? [27] Say this to them, Thus says the LORD GOD: As I live, surely those who are in the waste places shall fall by the sword, and whoever is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in strongholds and in caves shall die by pestilence. [28] And I will make the land a desolation and a waste, and her proud might shall come to an end, and the mountains of Israel shall be so desolate that none will pass through. [29] Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have made the land a desolation and a waste because of all THEIR ABOMINATIONS THAT THEY HAVE COMMITTED.”

When you can’t understand why ALMIGHTY GOD seemingly is allowing us to continue in Judgment for an extended period of time, yet we know HE is a faithful and just CREATOR, we might need to review Ezekiel 33 a little closer?  Ezekiel 33:12 says in part “…The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him when he transgresses, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall by it when he turns from his wickedness, and the righteous shall not be able to live by his righteousness when he sins”!  

Ezekiel had to endure being exiled just like the rest of the children of Israel.  But he also MUTED about speaking about the sins of Israel UNTIL GOD released him to speak about their failure to obey GOD.  

We can try to alert people to the error of their ways, but until ALMIGHTY GOD changes the hearts of HIS CHOSEN they will continue to be IN EXILE, doing things THEIR OWN WAY!  When GOD has their hearts where HE needs them to be, only THEN can HE use a tongue that is “NO LONGER MUTE”!  HIS WORD is POWERFUL (Hebrews 4:12), but unless it falls on OPEN EARS it will NOT facilitate the CHANGE that is needed.  

FATHER IN HEAVEN, we beseech YOU to change hearts and lives to Glorify YOU and use us to be “NO LONGER MUTE” at the appropriate time!!!

“THE FUTILITY OF THEIR MINDS!”

 Ephesians 4:17-24                               (ESV)

“[17] Now this I say and testify in the LORD, that you must NO LONGER WALK AS THE GENTILES DO, in “THE FUTILITY OF THEIR MINDS”. [18] They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of GOD BECAUSE OF THE IGNORANCE THAT IS IN THEM, due to their hardness of heart. [19] They have become callous and have given themselves up to SENSUALITY, greedy to practice EVERY KIND OF IMPURITY. [20] But that is not the way you learned CHRIST!—[21] assuming that you have heard about HIM and were taught in HIM, as the TRUTH is in JESUS, [22] to PUT OFF YOUR OLD SELF, which belongs to YOUR FORMER WAY OF LIFE and is corrupt through DECEITFUL DESIRES, [23] and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, [24] and to PUT ON THE NEW SELF, CREATED after the likeness of GOD in TRUE RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HOLINESS.”

Many times I have written about THE JEWS, the ones who crucified JESUS and did everything possible to make HIS LIFE a constant struggle.  Today we are led to describe THE GENTILES, according to some, “Gentile is a term that usually means "someone who is not a Jew”.   Using the terms THE JEWS and THE GENTILES can cause confusion, and we should all understand who it is that is behind confusion???

 2 Corinthians 5:17 plainly states “Therefore, IF ANYONE is in CHRIST, he is a NEW CREATION. The old (man and his actions) has passed away; behold, the new (man with his SPIRIT led life) has come.  IF ANYONE means what it says, ANYONE!  We cannot be satisfied with our OLD SELVES, for that is from the NATURAL MAN.  When JESUS CHRIST transforms our lives HE gives us a NEW SELF to replace the OLD MAN and his DECEITFUL DESIRES.  Whether a descendant of Abraham, or a descendant of the ungodliest of reprobates, GOD IS ABLE to transform ANYONE into a tool for the GLORY OF CHRIST!  Look no further than the ninth chapter of Acts where JESUS converted Saul into Paul!

If we focus on THE OLD MAN we negate THE FINISHED WORK OF CHRIST and the unimaginable sacrifice HE paid for us!  THE NEW MAN should be what we SEE when any Believer, not how HOLY they are, but how JESUS has been made manifest in their lives.  The OLD MAN is limited by “THE FUTILITY OF THEIR MINDS”, but the NEW MAN is only limited by GODS PLAN and Glorifying JESUS in their actions!  When we accept that “THE FUTILITY OF THEIR MINDS” is part of the OLD MAN, we become FREE to live as the NEW MAN we were CREATED for!!!

“OPPOSED TO EACH OTHER!”

 Galatians 5:16-25                    (ESV)

Keep in Step with the Spirit

“[16] But I say, walk by the SPIRIT, and you will NOT GRATIFY THE DESIRES OF THE FLESH. [17] For the DESIRES OF THE FLESH ARE AGAINST THE SPIRIT, and the DESIRES OF THE SPIRIT ARE AGAINST THE FLESH, for THESE ARE “OPPOSED TO EACH OTHER”, to keep you from doing THE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO. [18] But if you are led by the SPIRIT, you are NOT under the law. [19] Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, [20] idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, [21] envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD. [22] But the fruit of the SPIRIT is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. [24] And those who belong to CHRIST JESUS have CRUCIFIED THE FLESH with its passions and desires. [25] If we live by the SPIRIT, let us also KEEP IN STEP WITH THE SPIRIT.”

There is a song from a few years ago entitled “I’m not the man I used to be”.  Having our CREATOR sanctify (purify) us over time into vessels that Glorify HIS NAME is a sign that HE is working in our lives. Conversely, when an attitude of GRATIFYING THE FLESH is displayed in the actions of a person, the witness of their life is not one of service to others, rather than getting what they want.  

According to Scripture, satisfying the desires of the flesh is something that we must CRUCIFY if we want to INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD.  Whether GOD is sanctifying you or not will be up to HIM on JUDGMENT DAY.  Personally, I have enough imperfections in my life to not be worried about others.  Romans 3:23 says “for ALL HAVE SINNED and fall short of the glory of GOD,”, and like the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 1:15, I am the chief of sinners!  

While I am not the man I used to be, ALMIGHTY GOD still has a lot of work to do in this servant.  As Believers, maybe we need to do more self examination than identifying faults of others WHO ARE JUST IMPERFECT VESSELS LIKE US?  We must recognize our OLD SELF and our NEW MAN (Ephesians 4:20-24) and realize that THESE ARE “OPPOSED TO EACH OTHER” and WILL cause conflict in our lives.  The OLD MAN must be CRUCIFIED DAILY, for the NEW MAN and he are “OPPOSED TO EACH OTHER”!!!

“SPEAK, FOR YOUR SERVANT HEARS!”

 1 Samuel 3:10-11                                     (ESV)

“[10] And the LORD came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “SPEAK, FOR YOUR SERVANT HEARS.” [11] Then the LORD said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle.”

There are times in my life where I am so involved with the things of “this world” that hearing from my CREATOR seems like it is listening to a foreign language.  During these times I usually find that getting alone with GOD and intently listening for directions from HIM makes me remember that hearing from HIM is what my soul needs.  

Samuel was not accustomed to hearing from GOD ALMIGHTY.  1 Samuel 3:7 says “Now Samuel DID NOT YET KNOW the LORD, and the WORD of the LORD “had not” yet been revealed to him.”  Samuel kept going to Eli the priest saying that he heard his name being called.  Eli told Samuel to “…“Go, lie down, and if HE calls you, you shall say, ‘SPEAK, LORD, FOR YOUR SERVANT HEARS.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.”

Samuel not only was required to say “SPEAK, FOR YOUR SERVANT HEARS”, but he had to lie down first …………and LISTEN!  So many times I have EXPECTED GOD to give me directions in the midst of moving like a hurricane.  But that is when I most often do the most damage and destruction, attempting to do things on my own without the leadership of the LORD when I need to be lying down and awaiting instructions from HIM!

FATHER IN HEAVEN, forgive me for not WAITING ON THE LORD to guide me through life.  Cause me to implement a strategy of saying “SPEAK, FOR YOUR SERVANT HEARS” after I have LAID DOWN IN MY PLACE!!!

“TEST YOURSELVES!”

2 Corinthians 13:5-9

“[5] Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the FAITH. “TEST YOURSELVES”. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that JESUS CHRIST is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! [6] I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test. [7] But we pray to GOD that you may not do wrong—not that we may appear to have met the test, but that YOU MAY DO WHAT IS RIGHT, THOUGH WE MAY HAVE SEEMED TO HAVE FAILED. [8] For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. [9] For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. YOUR RESTORATION IS WHAT WE PRAY FOR.”

“ALL FOR YOUR UPBUILDING!”

 2 Corinthians 12:11-21                              (ESV)

Concern for the Corinthian Church

“[11] I have been a fool! You forced me to it, for I ought to have been commended by you. For I was not at all inferior to these super-apostles, even though I am nothing. [12] The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works. [13] For in what were you less favored than the rest of the churches, except that I myself did not burden you? Forgive me this wrong!

[14] Here for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be a burden, for I seek not what is yours but you. For children are not obligated to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. [15] I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved less? [16] But granting that I myself did not burden you, I was crafty, you say, and got the better of you by deceit. [17] Did I take advantage of you through any of those whom I sent to you? [18] I urged Titus to go, and sent the brother with him. Did Titus take advantage of you? Did we not act in the same spirit? Did we not take the same steps?

[19] Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves to you? It is in the sight of GOD that we have been speaking in CHRIST, AND “ALL FOR YOUR UPBUILDING”, beloved. [20] For I fear that perhaps when I come I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish—that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder. [21] I fear that when I come again my GOD may humble me before you, and I may have to mourn over many of those who sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and sensuality that they have practiced.”