“BLOOD!”

Hebrews 9:18-22.                                   (ESV)

“18 Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without BLOOD.

19 For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took THE “BLOOD” of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people,

20 saying, "This is THE “BLOOD” of the covenant that GOD commanded for you."

21 And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship.

22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and WITHOUT THE SHEDDING OF “BLOOD” there is no forgiveness of sins.”

When mankind first sinned in the garden of Eden, GOD had to give them clothing made from the skins of animals to cover their sin.  Now I am no animal psychiatrist, but I would suggest that these animals had NO say as to whether their lives would be spared because of the sin of man?  When the Children of Israel were held captive in Egypt and ALMIGHTY GOD told Moses that deliverance was coming, the Israelites were COMMANDED to sprinkle BLOOD over the entry of their house so the death angel would PASSOVER their house.  

It should not surprise us then that “BLOOD” is REQUIRED to forgive sin?  We don’t have to understand or explain, just accept it and Believe it!  Mankind cannot understand nor explain why a HOLY and RIGHTEOUS GOD would send HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON as the ULTIMATE SACRIFICE, never to be improved upon.  HIS SACRIFICIAL work was completed at Calvary.  

Then why do I try to offer my “good deeds” as a sacrifice when JESUS PAID IT ALL?  My righteousness is but “filthy rags” according to Isaiah 64:6 and we can do nothing to merit eternal life.  However, we are to DAILY SACRIFICE OUR WANTS and WISHES to HIM and accept HIS Plan for us.  

Just like the animals sacrificed for the sins of Adam and Eve, most of the time I don’t SACRIFICE willingly!  JESUS left HIS position in Heaven WILLINGLY to live the life of a carpenter’s helper, die a brutal death on Calvary, and defeat death, hell, and the grave for ALL MANKIND!  No longer do we depend on the “BLOOD” of goats and lambs, but we have FAITH IN THE “BLOOD” OF JESUS!!!

“PEACE!”

Matthew 10:34-39                                                  (ESV)

“34 "Do not think that I have come to bring “PEACE” to the earth. I have not come to bring “PEACE”, but a sword.

35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

36 And a person's enemies will be those of his own household.

37 Whoever loves father or mother more than ME is not worthy of ME, and whoever loves son or daughter more than ME is not worthy of ME.

38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow ME is not worthy of ME.

39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for MY sake will find it.”

John 14:27                                                                (ESV)

“”PEACE” I leave with you; my “PEACE” I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

WORDS!  Using words at the wrong place or wrong time can be very hurtful, even when they aren’t meant to be.   Recovering from the Brain Hemorrhage has taught me how critical WORD SELECTION really is.   Before, I would simply almost disregard poor WORD SELECTION as talking too fast, not paying attention to what was being said.  Since, I am more CONSCIOUS of what words are coming out of my mouth because of where in my brain the hemorrhage occurred.  Desiring to select the correct word to verbalize exactly my thoughts is almost paramount now!

JESUS didn’t have the same problem that I do.  HE had an uncanny, maybe DIVINE (?), way of saying EXACTLY what HE needed to say to accomplish HIS FATHER’s Plan.  To say “Do not think that I have come to bring “PEACE” to the earth. I have not come to bring “PEACE”, but a sword”, and then in another place say “PEACE” I leave with you; my “PEACE” I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” sounds extremely contradictory!  If HE didn’t bring “PEACE”, how was HE going to leave “PEACE” with us?

Despite some current day teachings, JESUS didn’t come to UNITE the ungodly with HIS CHOSEN.  That doesn’t mean that we are to be hateful or condescending to one’s whose EYES haven’t been opened, but we should treat them as blind people who cannot see.  Most people would try to prevent a physically blind person from crossing a busy street unprotected.  Why do we act as though the Spiritually blind people are like piranhas that are going to annihilate us?   We can minister to them without being “yoked” (2 Corinthians 6:14) with them.  You don’t have to ABIDE with someone to offer assistance to them (Luke 10:25-37), as the Good Samaritan displayed.  

Yes, JESUS came to separate the “wheat” from the “chaff” (Matthew 3:12), but HE also came to give we who Believe on HIM “PEACE”!  Being HOLY, by definition, does not allow for ANY SIN.  We should reject ANY SIN, but we should not reject a sinner.  Remember, JESUS saved Saul, turning him into possibly the greatest example of TRANSFORMATION in the New Testament.  JESUS changed me, and IS STILL changing me, to become more in HIS IMAGE.  The more I become like HIM, the more at “PEACE” I will be!!!

“HE MUST SUFFER!”

Acts 9:1-25                                                                (ESV)

“1 But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the LORD, went to the high priest

2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to THE WAY, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

3 Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, AND SUDDENLY a light from Heaven shone around him.

4 And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting ME?"

5 And he said, "Who are you, LORD?" And HE said, "I am JESUS, WHOM you are persecuting.

6 But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do."

7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one.

8 Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, HE SAW NOTHING. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.

9 And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

10 Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The LORD said to him in a vision, "Ananias." And he said, "Here I am, LORD."

11 And the LORD said to him, "Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying,

12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight."

13 But Ananias answered, "LORD, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to YOUR saints at Jerusalem.

14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on YOUR NAME."

15 But the LORD said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of MINE to carry MY name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.

16 For I will show him how much “HE MUST SUFFER” for the sake of MY name."

17 So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, "Brother Saul, the LORD JESUS who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the HOLY SPIRIT."

18 AND IMMEDIATELY something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized;

19 and taking food, he was strengthened. For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus.

20 AND IMMEDIATELY he proclaimed JESUS in the synagogues, saying, "HE is the SON of GOD."

21 And all who heard him were amazed and said, "IS NOT THIS THE MAN who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?"

22 But Saul increased all the more in strength, and CONFOUNDED THE JEWS who lived in Damascus by proving that JESUS WAS THE CHRIST.

23 When many days had passed, THE JEWS PLOTTED TO KILL HIM,

24 but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night IN ORDER TO KILL HIM,

25 but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, LOWERING HIM IN A BASKET.”

Twelve years ago I lay in a hospital about to embark on what would prove to be a journey where ALMIGHTY GOD would lead me with HIS merciful HAND, for HIS Glory.   Most are aware of the MIRACULOUS (all Praise to HIM) recovery that I have been Blessed with, but very few are interested, or want SEE and experience, the “valleys” where GOD grows me and restores me, again for HIS Glory!  Very few are chomping at the bit to sign-up for a 52-day hospital incarceration, a two-year hiatus from a life of productivity, AND an apparent permanent inability to select my choice of words to be used by ALMIGHTY GOD?  But when you are granted by our CREATOR with an extension of Grace, you accept it with thanks and humility, wondering why you were chosen to be a vessel for HIS purposes?

In Acts 9, Saul was “breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the LORD” in verse one, but less than twenty verses later “he proclaimed JESUS in the synagogues, saying, "HE is the SON of GOD."  What kind of transformation happened to so radically change the actions of Saul?  What about him was it that makes his story so special to be repeated all these years later?

The health, wealth and prosperity gospel charlatans prefer not to talk about how “HE MUST SUFFER” for the sake of MY name!  Saul was debilitated to where he had to WAIT ON THE LORD for Ananias to come and restore his sight.  He had to WAIT!  ALMIGHTY GOD had a Plan for Saul (later known as Paul) to SUFFER for CHRIST, for HIS Glory.  SUFFERING usually brings humility, something that is required to be used by GOD.  Proverbs 16:5 says “Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the LORD; be assured, he will not go unpunished”!  When GOD intends to humble you, HE generally accomplishes HIS Plan!

When JESUS spoke to Ananias that “HE MUST SUFFER”, HE more than likely didn’t have Rolls Royce’s and private jets in mind!  I’m sure that most of us wouldn’t volunteer to be at the front of the line for the “HE MUST SUFFER” brigade that Saul was about to join.  But JESUS CHRIST can accomplish ALL THINGS through our lives, even in twenty verse of Scripture!  HE can do it in a 52-day hospital stay as well!  When HE says “HE MUST SUFFER”, we are pleased to accomplish HIS PLAN!!!

“WAIT FOR THE LORD!”

Psalms 27:14                                        (ESV)

“”WAIT FOR THE LORD”; be strong, and let your heart take courage; “WAIT FOR THE LORD”!”

Twelve years!  When I was 12, it seemed like it was a lifetime.  The last 12 years seems so brief, yet so long ago, that is almost like a separate life???

Twelve years ago today I awoke with my brain experiencing a leak, a Hemorrhage, that slowed my life down in every way possible.   The 52 days in a hospital, the almost two years out of the workforce, and searching many, MANY times for the correct words to say has become almost a science, rather than a game.  ALMIGHTY GOD carefully orchestrated a recovery that restored my physical attributes to nothing short of MIRACULOUS levels, but HE caused my WORD RECALL to frequently be less than optimal, knowing that I would have to completely lean on HIM for saying exactly what HE desires me to say.  

Of course, Psalms 46:10 has spoken to me immensely during the elapsed time, but Psalms 27:14 has also been used to help me to “WAIT FOR THE LORD”!   It is easy to say “BE STILL, AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD” when you have been in a coma for three weeks, but to “WAIT FOR THE LORD” means yielding to HIS DESIRES for your life.  It means giving up what “you thought” was the best way to go and doing what HE IS LEADING YOU TO DO!  

July 09, 2007 my journey took a major detour, not from GOD’S PLAN, but from my plan?!?  Driving to and from the hospital all of those days must have been trying for my wife.  However, a song was on the radio one evening called GOD IS IN CONTROL.  Looking back, since GOD IS IN CONTROL why is it so difficult for me to “WAIT FOR THE LORD”?   ALMIGHTY GOD IS IN CONTROL, and if we know what is best we will “WAIT FOR THE LORD”!   

“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???