“CERTAINLY NOT!”

 Galatians 2:17-19                           (ESV)

“[17] But if, in our endeavor to be JUSTIFIED IN CHRIST, we too were found to be sinners, is CHRIST then a servant of sin? “CERTAINLY NOT!” [18] For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. [19] For through the law I DIED TO THE LAW, SO THAT I MIGHT LIVE TO GOD.”

Living IN CHRIST does NOT indicate that we will never sin again!  As a matter of fact, in his first epistle to Timothy the Apostle Paul writes “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that CHRIST JESUS came into the world to save sinners, OF WHOM I AM THE FOREMOST”, or the KJV uses the word CHIEF!  In my opinion, the Apostle Paul was probably the most dedicated servant we have the privilege of reading about.  Yet, he called himself the chief of sinners???

When we SEE where we are IN CHRIST compared to who we KNOW we were when we were lost, it is an EXTREMELY HUMBLING experience!  The Apostle Paul, the author of Galatians as well, was rather clear (yet emphatic) about he was the FOREMOST of sinners, but JESUS CHRIST WAS NOT!!  He wrote in the today’s focal passage that JESUS was “CERTAINLY NOT” a sinner, but in 1 Timothy that he was the FOREMOST of sinners!

It is difficult for me to rank myself above anyone about anything!  But in 1 Timothy 1:16, the verse where he admits he is the worst of sinners, Paul writes “But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the FOREMOST, JESUS CHRIST might display HIS PERFECT PATIENCE as an example to those who were to Believe in HIM for eternal life.”  HE displays HIS PERFECT PATIENCE for the FOREMOST OF SINNERS because HE LOVES US!  And is it because we are worthy, “CERTAINLY NOT!”, but because of HIS LOVE for us!!!

“I AM SURE OF THIS!”

 Philippians 1:3-11                      (ESV)

Thanksgiving and Prayer

“[3] I thank my GOD in all my remembrance of you, [4] always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, [5] because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. [6] And “I AM SURE OF THIS”, that HE WHO began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of JESUS CHRIST. [7] It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. [8] For GOD is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of CHRIST JESUS. [9] And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, [10] so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of CHRIST, [11] filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through JESUS CHRIST, to the glory and praise of GOD.”

This “letter” written to the church at Philippi was written from the Apostle Paul while he was imprisoned under the authority of Nero, Emperor of the Roman Empire until his death in June of 68 AD.  Paul was in prison, but he wrote “I AM SURE OF THIS” to the Philippian church “that HE WHO began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of JESUS”!  The KJV of Philippians 1:6 begins with “Being CONFIDENT of this very thing”!  The Apostle Paul KNEW that JESUS WOULD COMPLETE HIS WORK, regardless of how bleak the prognosis appeared!

Noting several friends who have lost loved ones and are grieving their “departure” from “this world”, one might consider the “sympathetic” response would be to grieve with them?  However, whenever one removes themselves from the human ties and considers that the WORK of JESUS supersedes ALL, it becomes very clear that the cares of humanity aren’t as important as we might think?  When the doctor spoke the words to my 77 1/2 year old mom that she had breast cancer, my brain couldn’t process that information!  Only 8 months prior my brain had hemorrhaged, very nearly causing death!  She refused treatment and 22 days later left to enter her eternal reward!  Her focus was on where she was going, regardless of what my Brain Damaged mind was dreaming up!  

As stated, Apostle Paul wrote the letter to the church of Philippi from a Roman prison.  One might believe that he would be discouraged and fretful about his immediate future?  He KNEW where he was going and he couldn’t act as though he didn’t!  He understood that ALMIGHTY GOD had a Plan for his life and he was trying to fulfill that Plan whatever it cost!  

The Apostle Paul “probably died sometime around AD 64” around the age of 60, according to some.  He KNEW that he was prepared for what lay ahead of him, just like my mom did, “I AM SURE OF THIS”!!!  The same author who penned the passage of Scripture above also wrote 2 Timothy 4:7 which says “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith”.  Let the same be said of me when my time is completed.  But let me plainly and boldly say on this side of the grave that “I AM SURE OF THIS”, as to where I am headed!  

“OPEN MY EYES!”

 Psalm 119:17-24                           (ESV)

    “[17] DEAL BOUNTIFULLY  WITH YOUR servant,

        that I may live and keep YOUR WORD. 

    [18] “OPEN MY EYES”, THAT I MAY BEHOLD WONDROUS THINGS OUT OF YOUR LAW. 

    [19] I am a sojourner on the earth;

        hide not YOUR commandments from me! 

    [20] My soul is consumed with longing

        for YOUR rules at all times. 

    [21] YOU rebuke the insolent, accursed ones,

        who wander from your commandments. 

    [22] Take away from me scorn and contempt,

        for I have kept YOUR testimonies. 

    [23] Even though princes sit plotting against me,

        YOUR servant will meditate on YOUR statutes. 

    [24] YOUR testimonies are my delight;

        they are my counselors.”

It might seem a bit presumptuous, but when you Believe ALMIGHTY GOD has placed a VISION in your heart and soul, asking HIM to “OPEN MY EYES” to SEE what HE requires me to do is the ONLY option available to this follower of CHRIST!  When HIS PLAN is what you desire,  experiencing resistance from “the enemy” is to be expected.  We should expect to encounter a “rough road” on our journey, but with the HOLY SPIRIT as our GUIDE we should always expect to be victorious in HIS MISSION!  

Walking with the HOLY SPIRIT as the Navigator of our bodies should be the preferred method of travel for the Believer.  Why do we “mortals” sometimes appear to surrender our FAITH to do anything less than what ONLY GOD can do to COMPLETE HIS PLAN?  

FATHER IN HEAVEN, “”OPEN MY EYES”, THAT I MAY BEHOLD WONDROUS THINGS OUT OF YOUR LAW” and know PRECISELY what it is that I need to do for YOUR GLORY!!!  There is NOTHING that I prefer doing other than YOUR PLAN for my life!  “OPEN MY EYES” to SEE YOUR PLAN!!!

“BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS!”

 Deuteronomy 31:6-8                                 (ESV)

“[6] “BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS”. DO NOT FEAR or BE IN DREAD OF THEM, for it is the LORD your GOD WHO goes with you. HE WILL NOT LEAVE YOU OR FORSAKE YOU.”

[7] Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS”, for you shall go with this people into the land that the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it. [8] IT IS THE LORD WHO GOES BEFORE YOU is the LORD. HE WILL BE WITH YOU; HE WILL NOT LEAVE YOU OR FORSAKE YOU. DO NOT BE AFRAID OR BE DISMAYED.””

Moses begins Deuteronomy by reminding the people of their journey with GOD from slavery into the Promised Land thus far. He reminds them of the victories GOD gave them over their enemies, and how GOD wanted Moses to pass the baton to a new generation of Israelites led by a next-generation leader, Joshua, the son of Nun.  By the end of the book of Deuteronomy Moses dies, but not before instructing Joshua to “BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS”!

Moses was known as someone who GOD ALMIGHTY would “speak to face to face”, according to Exodus 33:11.  Moses KNEW that GOD was capable of speaking to Joshua, but he wanted to make certain that Joshua was LISTENING TO GOD and not children of Israel, like Aaron had done in Exodus 32.  That brought about worshiping the Golden Calf, a low point of the Exodus.  Moses surely didn’t want this to occur again!

Far too often in my walk with GOD I have failed to “BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS”, relying on my own wisdom or ideas to guide my steps.  Anytime “the enemy” can cause our focus to on ANYTHING other than GODS PURPOSE for our lives, he isn’t far from having us defeated!  We MUST “BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS” and keep our focus on doing what HIS PLAN is for us, and in HIS TIMING!  For us to “BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS” means that we MUST rely on the HOLY SPIRIT living inside of us (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19) for our guidance, NOT our own wisdom!

Relying on ourselves to “BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS” is a recipe for disaster!  Our INDWELLER, the HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD, must be given freedom to guide and direct our lives.  Our choices are we can either attempt to go where we want to go, or we can travel where we are LED, as we “BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS”, yielding to HIS LEADERSHIP!!!

“DO NOT CONDEMN ME!”

 Job 10                          (ESV)

Job Continues: A Plea to GOD

    “[1] “I loathe my life;

    I will give free utterance to my complaint;

        I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. 

    [2] I will say to GOD, “DO NOT CONDEMN ME”;

        let me know why YOU contend against me. 

    [3] Does it seem good to YOU to oppress,

        to despise the work of YOUR hands

        and favor the designs of the wicked? 

    [4] Have YOU eyes of flesh?

        Do YOU see as man sees? 

    [5] Are YOUR days as the days of man,

        or YOUR years as a man’s years, 

    [6] that YOU seek out my iniquity

        and search for my sin, 

    [7] although YOU know that I am not guilty,

        and there is none to deliver out of YOUR hand? 

    [8] YOUR hands fashioned and made me,

        and now YOU have destroyed me altogether. 

    [9] Remember that YOU have made me like clay;

        and will YOU return me to the dust? 

    [10] Did YOU not pour me out like milk

        and curdle me like cheese? 

    [11] YOU clothed me with skin and flesh,

        and knit me together with bones and sinews. 

    [12] YOU have granted me life and steadfast love,

        and YOUR care has preserved my spirit. 

    [13] Yet these things YOU hid in YOUR heart;

        I know that this was YOUR purpose. 

    [14] If I sin, YOU watch me

        and do not acquit me of my iniquity. 

    [15] If I am guilty, woe to me!

        If I am in the right, I cannot lift up my head,

    for I am filled with disgrace

        and look on my affliction. 

    [16] And were my head lifted up, YOU would hunt me like a lion

        and again work wonders against me. 

    [17] YOU renew YOUR witnesses against me

        and increase your vexation toward me;

        YOU bring fresh troops against me.

    [18] “Why did YOU bring me out from the womb?

        Would that I had died before any eye had seen me 

    [19] and were as though I had not been,

        carried from the womb to the grave. 

    [20] Are not my days few?

        Then cease, and leave me alone, that I may find a little cheer 

    [21] before I go—and I shall not return—

        to the land of darkness and deep shadow, 

    [22] the land of gloom like thick darkness,

        like deep shadow without any order,

        where light is as thick darkness.”

These thoughts and words were written about Job while he was in the midst of severe angst over the persecutions and temptations of Satan, but only after GOD told Satan in Job 1:12 “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” 

“The enemy” is ONLY allowed to take what THE LORD permits, and ALMIGHTY GOD gave Job TWICE AS MUCH (Job 42:10) as he had previously and Satan was unable to stop GOD’s goodness!!!

Job was in a place where GOD permitted, not from punishment, but because GOD wanted to display HIS Sovereignty over “the enemy”!  “DO NOT CONDEMN ME” was his prayer to GOD at this time, but it was brought about by the trials and tribulations of the unholy one!  “DO NOT CONDEMN ME”, LORD, amidst the attacks from the destroyer!!!

“I AND THE FATHER ARE ONE!”

 John 10:22-31                    (ESV)

“I AND THE FATHER ARE ONE”

“[22] At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, [23] and JESUS was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. [24] So the Jews gathered around HIM and said to HIM, “How long will YOU keep us in suspense? If you are the CHRIST, tell us plainly.” [25] JESUS answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my FATHER’S NAME bear witness about ME, [26] but you do not believe because you are not among MY sheep. [27] MY sheep hear MY voice, and I know them, and THEY FOLLOW ME. [28] I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of MY hand. [29] MY FATHER, WHO has given them to ME, IS GREATER THAN ALL, and no one is able to snatch them out of the FATHER’S hand. [30] “I AND THE FATHER ARE ONE”.”  [31] The Jews picked up stones again to stone HIM.”

Acknowledging that “the Jews” what some would consider to be “bad people” is something that I have never been able to completely wrap my mind around!  They were GODS CHOSEN PEOPLE As a matter of fact, Scripture indicates from the beginning that HE “laid down HIS LIFE” for us!  How, why, and couldn’t HE have devised a better plan to CHOOSE HIS Beloved is something that my mind has never been able to comprehend. As far back as Genesis 12 Abram was CHOSEN by GOD to be separated as a BELIEVER in GOD, not because he was better than others, but because he was KNOWN BY GOD ALMIGHTY, “before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4)!  

Deuteronomy 7:6 plainly states “For you are a people HOLY to the LORD your GOD. The LORD your GOD HAS CHOSEN YOU to be a people for HIS treasured possession, OUT OF ALL THE PEOPLES who are on the face of the earth.”  The definition of the HOLY begins with “to be set apart”!  “The Jews”, and most of Creation, did not accept JESUS as GOD, not because they were intellectually lacking or inferior.  Their EYES were not OPENED to the TRUTH to SEE GOD walking in their midst, even though they were about to CRUCIFY HIM!  As GOD CHOSE Abraham in Genesis 12 to bless, HE also CHOSE me to be drawn out of the darkness and into HIS marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9)!  

ALMIGHTY GOD CHOSE to allow HIS SON to 

suffer the gruesomeness of Calvary because I could NEVER measure up to HIS perfection!   JESUS CHRIST was submissive because “I AND THE FATHER ARE ONE”!  John 17:23 says “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”.   Even though I am FAR from perfect, JESUS IS IN ME therefore I can be seen by the FATHER AS PERFECT because “I AND THE FATHER ARE ONE”!!!

“IN PRETENSE!”

 Jeremiah 3:6-10                      (ESV)

Faithless Israel Called to Repentance

“[6] The LORD said to me in the days of King Josiah: “Have you seen what she did, THAT FAITHLESS ONE, Israel, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and there played the whore? [7] And I thought, ‘After she has done all this she will return to ME,’ but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. [8] She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore. [9] Because SHE TOOK HER WHOREDOM LIGHTLY, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree. [10] Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but “IN PRETENSE”, declares the LORD.””

In a dictionary, the word PRETENSE is defined “A false appearance or action INTENDED TO DECEIVE; A professed but feigned reason or excuse; a pretext; Something imagined or pretended”.  

Israel had broken her relationship with THE LORD and HE “sent her away with a decree of divorce”(v8)!  To have ALMIGHTY GOD, our CREATOR and SUSTAINER, put HIS CHOSEN away in divorce would have been devastating to me, but the penalty for their sins DID NOT turn Judah back to THE LORD!  “Judah did not fear” and “SHE TOOK HER WHOREDOM LIGHTLY”!  She was “cheating” on her CREATOR with with NO REMORSE!!!

Are our actions and better today?  We tend to think that we can have an adulterous affair on our SAVIOR with no consequences?!?  ALMIGHTY GOD promises in Scripture many times that HE will never leave us nor forsake us, yet we tend to BULLDOZE through life without SLOWING DOWN and listening to our MAKER!  Isaiah 44:6 “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides ME there is no god”, and we listen to heretics and false teachers instead of searching HIS WORD for TRUTH!

Are we actual BELIEVERS exhibiting FAITH in our CREATOR, or are we acting “IN PRETENSE” trying to “fit in” where we are NOT welcome in “this world”?  Is our FAITH in our wealth, retirement or financial stability?  Or do we rely solely on our relationship with JESUS?  Professing “IN PRETENSE” is precisely what “the enemy” wants from each of us’. Will you FOLLOW HIM, or is your belief only “IN PRETENSE”???