By: J. Farrell Fisher, July, 2017

There’s a powerful, eye-opening, convicting statement when Isaiah said in Isaiah 64:6-7, “But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. And there is no one who calls on Your name, who stirs himself up to take hold of You; for You have hidden Your face from us, and have consumed us because of our iniquities. [You are aware, I would think, that the ‘unclean thing’ or ‘filthy rags’ are rags stained, like a woman’s disposable rags, from her menstrual cycle!). And, how many do you know outside the ‘redeemed community’ who ‘appreciate’ Holy God’s description of their sinful lives and condemned position as ‘a menstrual rag’ prior to its ‘waste basket’ tossing?

In another prophetic book, Ezekiel 37, the prophet, in Verse One, describes, in a vision, “The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones.” In Verse Three God asked Ezekiel, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And Ezekiel said to Him, “O Lord God, You know.” Oh, and then there is the eternal calling of Holy God upon His ‘chosen people’ saying to an Ezekiel and every true, blood-bought servant of the Most High God, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! Thus says the Lord God to these bones: ‘Surely I will cause breath to enter into you (physical breath or the spiritual breath of Holy God?), and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring (new) flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.’”

You are, more than likely, fully aware that many within the professing ‘church family’ are void of understanding or comprehension of “sinners made saints,” the “lost being found,” the “ungodly declared godly through God’s grace,” or the “worldly becoming true citizens of the Kingdom of our Lord and Savior”! The unredeemed have only a “grave address”, living without any hope in themselves to influence their world redemptively, but can do an admirable job in “fleshly best” living apart from God, leaving their “friends” as unredeemed as themselves! Only God’s amazing grace unveils what human nature looks like apart from “Christ in you the hope of glory”!

I’M SURE YOU’RE AWARE OF WHAT Genesis 6:5 DECLARES early in ‘human history’! It says: “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Romans 3:23 clearly says: “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” And, sadly, many are aware of the glory of God but more devoted to their sin and sin nature! But they do not understand that “the wages of sin is death” when they are so alive in themselves to what their fallen flesh dictates! And impregnation with devotion to the old sin nature continues until convicted by the Holy Spirit and converted to “new life” in Christ! It was Spurgeon who once said: “Sin is a sovereign till sovereign grace dethrones it.” So true!

The counterfeit of obedience to God, if there is any inclination to that ‘thought’, is one’s “best effort” of determination to prove what many perceive “ought to please Him as He sees my strong self-will”! And nowhere in the Word of God do you find any indication of God desiring you to do your ‘best’ but acknowledging and resting in YOUR “crucifixion with Christ at the Cross” and receiving the fullness of the blessing of His Resurrection Life as you repent! Isn’t this what Paul was telling us in 2 Corinthians 7:10? “For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation; but the sorrow of the world produces death.”

You haven’t forgotten already Isaiah’s declaration of fallen men’s hearts before Holy God in Isaiah 64:6-7a? “But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; [and in the ‘flesh’, the old sin-nature] we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. And THERE IS NO ONE WHO CALLS ON GOD’S NAME, who stirs himself up to take hold of you,” BUT Jesus tells us in Revelation 3:20, “BEHOLD, I stand at the door (of your heart!) and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.”

And this is why I know Paul wrote in Romans 15:13, “NOW may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing (trusting in, relying upon, adhering to!), that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Several things I want you to “rest in” as you see: “It’s A Matter Of The Heart!” FIRST, IT’S A MATTER OF HEART CONVICTION INITIATED BY THE MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT! Receive Spurgeon’s words in “My Utmost For His Highest,” (p.255), when he wrote: “The entrance into the Kingdom is through the panging pains of repentance crashing into a man’s respectable goodness; then the Holy Ghost, Who produces these agonies, begins the formation of the Son of God in the life.”

In 1 John 4:9-13 the beloved John wrote: “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. By THIS WE KNOW THAT WE ABIDE IN HIM, AND HE IN US, BECAUSE HE HAS GIVEN US OF HIS SPIRIT.” Have YOU received, rested in, and relying upon the Holy Spirit daily?

Even in the short ‘epistle’ of Jude he wrote: Verses 20-21, “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”

SECOND, IT’S A MATTER OF THE HEART CONCERNING HEART PREPARATION DAILY FOR NOT ONLY ACKNOWLEDING HIS PRESENCE WITHIN US BUT YIELDING TO HIS LEADERSHIP THROUGH US IN GLORIFYING AND HONORING THE LORD JESUS! In the Galatian letter Paul wrote: Galatians 6:8, “For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” How vital is it to you in your journey of faith to be daily yielded to the ministry of the Holy Spirit in you and through you?

There Is, for some, a counterfeit of allegiance apart from full desire to be one WITH God and honoring the Christ within by being yielded to the Holy Spirit! It’s as if for them the Holy Spirit is an unnecessary part of the Godhead! But for true believers who honor Christ in their daily walks of faith, there is a deliberate, daily determination to be “led by the Holy Spirit”!

The Lord Jesus said in John 16:13-14 of the work or ministry of the Holy Spirit in every true believer: “…when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears (from God the Father) He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine, and declare it to you.”

You do realize, out of spiritual immaturity or out-right rebellion, that some believers live with a pious attitude worked up in their flesh and minds with ‘good intentions’ but fall far short of glorifying or honoring Christ Jesus when we’ve just read King Jesus saying, “He, the Holy Spirit, will glorify Me!” Grace includes God’s gift of the Holy Spirit to the true child of the King! In John 7:37-38 we read: On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believed in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

Do you remember Jesus’ conversation with “the woman at the well” in John 4:23-24? He said: “…the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.”

THIRD, IT’S A MATTER OF HEART-AND- MIND TRANSFORMATION BY THE HOLY SPIRIT! Paul told us in Romans 12:2, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be (being) transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

Even in the Old Testament, Ezekial 11:19, as God informed Israel and the world-at-large of a coming “new covenant”, He declared, “Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of the flesh and give them a heart of (tender) flesh”, willing to follow His Word and His Spirit!

In 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 Paul also exposes ‘fleshly’ disciples and pretenders, even demonic presence, desiring to keep people from the “eternal Truth”! He said: “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to THEIR works,” not God’s work through Spirit-anointing, presence, and power within His true disciples!

Do you ever find yourself in a “so-called spiritual gathering” where some are so easily led astray, even falling away, because they bought in to ‘fleshly lies’ substituted for spiritual, eternal Truth? In 1 Timothy 6:20-21 Paul wrote to his spiritual son and us saying, “O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge – by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith.”

The Spirit-inspired Word of 1 Peter 4:1-2 says, “Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.”

Disciples of Christ today are often challenged, criticized, condemned, or ostracized by the ‘kingdoms’ or ‘worldly men’ of devotion to the “best of human ability”, whether by godless governments, spiritually-mindless educators, unbelieving entrepreneurs, or unredeemed neighbors who see your love of Christ, His Word, and His church as ‘misplaced, brainless devotion’ to an empty cause! But in 1 Peter 4:13-14 Peter went on to say: “…rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, FOR the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.”

FOURTH, IT’S A MATTER OF HEART-ILLUMINATION AS TO THE REALITY AND EVIDENCE OF SPIRIT-ANOINTED SERVANTS OF CHRIST! In Matthew 7:15-20 our Lord and Savior warns us, saying, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn-bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”

Paul had given a substantive challenge when in Galatians 5:16 he said: I say then: “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” In Verses 22-25 he then instructed us: “But the FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” There are no ‘short-cuts’ to victorious living as a disciple of Christ or “cheap-shots of my best effort” – Death to self only and life in His Resurrection fullness, no fleshly, personal ambition but only His revelation and unveiling of the Spirit, no individual determination to reveal or unveil Christ ‘through me”, but only, as Jesus said, “You’ll know them by their fruit!”

Isaac Watts and George F. Handel really nailed it when they wrote the old Christmas classic together entitled “Joy To The World.” It says: “Joy to the world! The Lord is come; Let earth receive her King; Let every heart prepare Him room, and Heaven and nature sing!

Joy to the earth! The Savior reigns; Let men their songs employ; While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains Repeat the sounding joy!

No more let sins and sorrows grow, Nor thorns infest the ground; He comes to make His blessings flow Far as the curse is found! He rules the world with truth and grace, And makes the nations prove The glories of His righteousness, and wonders of His love!” What song of faith do you sing right now in your life?

J.FARRELL FISHER, MAY 31,2019

HOW AWARE ARE YOU OF, YES, THE DANGER OF “ZEALOUS SELF-DESIRES”? THOSE SATAN-INSPIRED & FALLEN-NATURE ‘DISEASES’ HAVE ALWAYS BEEN COMMON & ACCEPTABLE, EVEN BY ADAM & EVE THO’ EMBARASSED WHEN THEY REALIZED THEIR ‘NAKEDNESS’; GENESIS 3:7 SAYS, “AND THE EYES OF THEM BOTH WERE OPENED, & THEY KNEW THAT THEY WERE NAKED; & THEY SEWED FIG LEAVES TOGETHER, & MADE THEMSELVES APRONS.”

IN HUMAN NATURE, VOID OF SOVEREIGN PRESENCE THROUGH THE “BLOOD OF THE LAMB OF GOD, THE RESURRECTED SAVIOR”, THERE IS NO HOPE OR TRUE ACCEPTANCE OF THE ETERNAL SALVATION THAT PROPERLY “DRESSES THE SPIRITUALLY NAKEDNESS IN UNREGENERATE LIVES” APART FROM GOD’S KNOCK ON A NAKED ONE’S HEART, HIS KNOCK TO ALERT THE NAKED ONE’S MIND, & BY HOLY SPIRIT CONVICTION TO UNVEIL THE WILL OF FALLEN MAN OF HIS/HER NEED TO “REPENT, REST IN, REACH FOR THE FREE GIFT OF AMAZING GRACE” & BE WRAPPED IN THE “FREE GIFT OF THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST” SINCE “ZEALOUS SELF-DESIRE” IS DESCRIBED BY HOLY GOD IN ISAIAH 64:6 AS: (LET ME SHARE THE WHOLE VERSE!),

“BUT WE ARE ALL AS AN UNCLEAN THING, & ALL ‘OUR’ RIGHTEOUSNESSES ARE AS FILTHY RAGS (THAT’S MENSTRUAL RAGS!); & WE ALL DO FADE AS A LEAF; & OUR INIQUITIES, LIKE THE WIND, HAVE TAKEN US AWAY.” ZEALOUS SELF-DESIRES IS A “NEVER LOOSING TIME EFFORT” & A“BINDING,BLINDING,BELITTLING, AND SAD BESMEARMENT OF THE SOVEREIGN PRICELESSNESS OF GOD’S GRACE”!

CERTAINLY HOLY GOD, IN HIS OMNISCIENCE, “KNEW” WHEN HE CREATED MANKIND WITH FREEDOM OF CHOICE OF ALLEGIANCE TO “HIM” OR ALLEGIANCE TO “SELF” THAT “SELF” WOULD HAVE A CRUDE CROSS TO WALK OVER THAT LED TO HELL ITSELF, BUT GOD WANTED THEM ON THE “BRIDGE OF AMAZING LOVE, GRACE, & MERCY, TO BE BEFORE THEM WITH A CHOICE: FAULTY BRIDGE OR THE FAITHFUL BRIDGE OF THE FINISHED WORK OF CHRIST HIS SON”! “ZEALOUS SELF-DESIRES”? IT WAS ALEXANDER MACLAREN WHO LONG AGO TOOK THE STRONG, RIGHT, CONVICTING STAND SAYING,”THAT WHICH OF ALL THINGS UNFITS MAN FOR THE RECEPTION OF CHRIST AS A SAVIOR, IS NOT GROSS PROFLIGACY & OUTWARD,VEHEMENT TRANSGRESSION, BUT IT IS SELF-COMPLACENCY, FATAL SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS, & SELF-SUFFICIENCY.” WOW! OH, HOW TRUE!

“ZEALOUS SELF-DESIRES” ARE ALSO CONSTRUCTED ON THE ‘FAULTY FOUNDATION’ OF ‘FLESHLY INFIDELITY’! RICHARD CECIL ONCE SAID, “THE NURSE OF INFIDELITY IS SENSUALITY.” AGAIN, SO TRUE! AND IF THAT’S ‘BLIND REASONING’ TO YOU, BE ASSURED THERE IS THE “GREAT PHYSICIAN”, CHRIST JESUS WHO DOES “OPEN BLIND SPIRITUAL EYES”! IN MATTHEW 9:1-13 THE WORD DECLARES: AND JESUS ENTERED INTO A SHIP, & PASSED OVER, & CAME INTO HIS OWN CITY. & BEHOLD, THEY BROUGHT TO HIM A MAN SICK OF PALSY, LYING ON A BED; & JESUS SEEING THEIR FAITH SAID UNTO THE SICK OF PALSY: “SON, BE OF GOOD CHEER; YOUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN YOU.”

AND, BEHOLD, CERTAIN OF THE SCRIBES SAID WITHIN THEMSELVES, THIS MAN BLASPHEMES. & JESUS KNOWING THEIR THOUGHTS SAID, “WHEREFORE THINK YOU EVIL IN YOUR HEARTS? FOR WHETHER IS EASIER, TO SAY, ‘YOUR SINS BE FORGIVEN YOU; OR TO SAY, ARISE, & WALK? BUT THAT YOU MAY KNOW THAT THE SON OF MAN HAS POWER ON EARTH TO FORGIVE SINS, (THENSAID HE TO THE SICK OF THE PALSY), ARISE, TAKE UP YOUR BED, & GO INTO YOUR HOUSE.” AND HE AROSE, & DEPARTED TO HIS HOUSE.

BUT WHEN THE MULTITUDES SAW IT, THEY MARVELED, & GLORIFIED GOD, WHICH HAD GIVEN SUCH POWER UNTO MEN. & AS JESUS PASSED FORTH FROM THERE, THEY MARVELLED, & GLORIFIED GOD, WHICH HAD GIVEN SUCH POWER UNTO MEN. & AS JESUS PASSED FROM THERE, HE SAW A MAN NAMED MATTHEW, SITTING AT THE SEAT OF CUSTOM: & HE SAID UNTO HIM, “FOLLOW ME.” AND IT CAME TO PASS, AS JESUS SAT AT MEAT IN THE HOUSE, BEHOLD, MANY PUBLICANS & SINNERS CAME & SAT DOWN WITH JESUS & HIS DISCIPLES. & WHEN THE PHARISEES SAW IT, THEY SAID UNTO HIS DISCIPLES, WHY DOES YOUR MASTER EAT WITH PUBLICANS & SINNERS? BUT WHEN JESUS HEARD IT, HE SAID UNTO THEM, “THEY THAT BE WHOLE NEED NOT A PHYSICIAN, BUT THEY THAT ARE SICK. BUT YOU GO & LEARN WHAT THAT MEANS, I WILL HAVE MERCY, & NOT SACRIFICE; FOR I AM NOT COME TO CALL THE RIGHTEOUS, BUT SINNERS TO REPENTANCE.”

“ZEALOUS SELF-DESIRES?” COULD IT BE, THAT EVEN IN ‘TOUGH TIMES’, ‘SERIOUS,PERSONAL WARFARES’, ‘QUESTIONS ABOUT VICES,IMMORAL HABITS, OR A ‘FAULT’, A ‘SLIGHT DEFECT’, OR ‘A LITTLE BIT OF DEGRADING BEHAVIOR’,THAT MEN & WOMEN, & YOUTH & KIDS TODAY, SEE THEIR EXPERIENCE AS ‘LEARNING TO GROW UP & MATURE’, RATHER THAN ROBERT BURNS’ FAMOUS STATEMENT, “PERHAPS THE CHRISTIAN VOLUME IS THE THEME, HOW GUILTLESS BLOOD FOR GUILTY MAN WAS SHED, HOW HE WHO BORE IN HEAVEN THE SECOND NAME HAD NOT ON EARTH WHEREON TO LAY HIS HEAD.” ROBERT BURNS WAS SPEAKING OF KING JESUS WHO “LIVED & DIED, NOT “IN” SIN, BUT HE LIVED, THEN DIED “FOR SIN” TO WASH AWAY ITS PENALTY IN THE ROYAL BLOOD OF THE LAMB OF GOD WHO’D NEVER SINNED!

IN PHILIPPIANS 2:5-13 PAUL WROTE, “LET THIS MIND BE IN YOU, WHICH WAS ALSO IN CHRIST JESUS: WHO,BEING IN THE FORM OF GOD, THOUGHT IT NOT ROBBERY TO BE EQUAL WITH GOD…(I MUST INSERT AN AWAKENING WORD FROM GOD IN JEREMIAH 17:5, “THUS SAYS THE LORD: CURSED BE THE MAN THAT TRUSTS IN MAN, & MAKES FLESH HIS ARM, & WHOSE HEART DEPARTED FROM THE LORD.” WELL, CONSIDER THIS: CHRIST JESUS NEVER DEPARTED FROM GOD THE FATHER,NEVER! HE WAS & IS GOD IN HUMAN FORM! THERE “IS” THE HOLY TRINITY: GOD THE FATHER, GOD THE SON, & GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT, THE ETERNAL “THREE IN ONE”!!), NOW, BACK TO PHILIPPIANS 2:7-13, BUT MADE HIMSELF OF NO REPUTATION, & TOOK UPON HIM THE FORM OF A SERVANT, & WAS MADE IN THE LIKENESS OF MEN;

AND BEING FOUND IN FASHION AS A MAN, HE HUMBLED HIMSELF, & BECAME OBEDIENT UNTO DEATH, EVEN THE DEATH OF THE CROSS.WHEREFORE GOD ALSO HAS HIGHLY EXALTED HIM, & GIVEN HIM A NAME WHICH IS ABOVE EVERY NAME: THAT AT THE NAME OF JESUS EVERY KNEE SHOULD BOW, OF THINGS IN HEAVEN, & THINGS IN EARTH, & THINGS UNDER THE EARTH; & THAT EVERY TONGUE SHOULD CONFESS THAT JESUS CHRIST IS LORD, TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER. WHEREFORE, MY BELOVED,AS YOU HAVE ALWAYS OBEYED, NOT AS IN MY PRESENCE ONLY, BUT NOW MUCH MORE IN MY ABSENCE, WORK OUT YOUR OWN SALVATION IN FEAR & TREMBLING. FOR IT IS GOD WHICH WORKS IN YOU BOTH TO WILL & TO DO OF HIS GOOD PLEASURE.”

THAT LAST SCRIPTURE EXPLAINING “IT’S GOD WHO WORKS IN YOU,” SHOCKS THE ‘SELF-CENTERED “CHRISTIAN” DEVOTEE’ WHO SEES HIMSELF BEING A GOOD ‘FOLLOWER’, BUT IS EASILY ENRAGED WHEN HE/SHE LEARNS THEY’VE BEEN SHAMMED BY ‘RELIGIOUS LEADERS’ RATHER THAN “SHIELDED” BY THE SPIRIT, WHO,YES, INFORMS US OF BEING ‘INFLAMED’ BY THE “STAR” IN THE EAST! MATT.2:2 SAYS, “WHERE IS HE THAT IS BORN KING OF THE JEWS? FOR WE HAVE SEEN HIS STAR IN THE EAST, & HAVE COME TO WORSHIP HIM.” A “STAR” GIVES LIGHT! OH, & IN JOHN 8:12, THE LORD JESUS SAID: “I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD: HE THAT FOLLOWS ME SHALL NOT WALK IN DARKNESS, BUT SHALL HAVE THE LIGHT OF LIFE.”

BUT, SELF-CENTERED ‘PROFESSORS OF FAITH’ WHO PROFESS BUT KNOW NOTHING OF BEING “POSSESSED, OWNED, RULED OVER BY THE INDWELLING CHRIST WHO DOESN’T TAKE YOU INTO DARK PATHWAYS”, BUT “ZEALOUS SELF-DESIRES” WILL CAPTURE YOU IN “DARKNESS” RATHER THAN YOU FAITHFULLY BEING LED BY “THE LIGHT OF LIFE, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST IN HIS RESURRECTED PRESENCE IN YOU AFTER YOUR FINISHED WORK OF FAITH & TRUST IN HIM ALONE – NOT “BEST EFFORT, FALSE ‘CHRISTIANITY’”!!!

AND TO THOSE “ENSLAVED” TO THE FALSE CLAIMS OF JUDAISM IN HIS DAY, REJECTING HIS JOHN 8:12 CLAIM, JESUS THEN SAID IN JOHN 8:24, “I SAID THEREFORE UNTO YOU, THAT YOU SHALL DIE IN YOUR SINS; FOR IF YOU BELIEVE NOT (TRUST NOT,ADHERE NOT TO ME) THAT I AM THE “TRUE MESSIAH”, “GOD IN FLESH”, YOU SHALL DIE IN YOUR SINS”; & THAT INCLUDES, “REGARDLESS HOW ‘RELIGIOUS’ YOU THINK YOU ARE”!! OH, THE LORD JESUS WASN’T FINISHED YET IN HIS EXPOSURE OF THE “JEWISH RELIGIOUS PRETENDERS”! IN JOHN 8:38 JESUS SAID: “I SPEAK THAT WHICH I HAVE SEEN WITH MY FATHER, & YOU “DO” THAT WHICH YOU HAVE SEEN WITH YOUR “father”, (OR SATAN HIMSELF, THE DEVIL OF HELL!).” AND EVEN THOUGH PAUL UNDERSTOOD CLEARLY ‘RELIGIOUS DECEPTION’ IN HIS JEWISH COMMUNITY, AS HE WROTE TO HIS SPIRITUAL SON IN THE FAITH, TIMOTHY, IN 2 TIMOTHY 2:15-26, HE WROTE: “STUDY TO SHOW YOURSELF APPROVED UNTO GOD, A WORKMAN THAT NEEDS NOT TO BE ASHAMED, RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD OF TRUTH. BUT SHUN PROFANE & VAIN BABBLINGS: FOR THEY WILL INCREASE UNTO MORE UNGODLINESS. AND ‘THEIR’ WORD WILL EAT AS DOES A CANKER; OF WHOM IS HYMENAEUS & PHILETUS; WHO CONCERNING THE TRUTH HAVE ERRED, SAYING THAT THE RESURRECTION IS PAST ALREADY; & OVERTHROW THE FAITH OF SOME.

NEVERTHELESS THE FOUNDATION OF GOD STANDS SURE, HAVING THIS SEAL, “THE LORD KNOWS THOSE THAT ARE HIS.” &, “LET EVERY ONE THAT NAMES THE NAME OF CHRIST DEPART FROM INIQUITY. BUT IN A GREAT HOUSE THERE ARE NOT ONLY VESSELS OF GOLD & OF SILVER, BUT ALSO OF WOOD & OF EARTH; & SOME TO HONOR, & SOME TO DISHONOR. IF A MAN THEREFORE PURGE HIMSELF FROM THESE, HE SHALL BE A VESSEL UNTO HONOR,SANCTIFIED,& MEET FOR THE MASTER’S USE, & PREPARED UNTO EVERY GOOD WORK. FLEE ALSO YOUTHFUL LUSTS: BUT FOLLOW RIGHTEOUSNESS, FAITH, CHARITY, PEACE, WITH THEM THAT CALL ON THE LORD OUT OF A PURE HEART.

BUT FOOLISH & UNLEARNED QUESTIONS AVOID, KNOWING THAT THEY GENDER STRIFES (OR SPECULATIONS!). AND THE SERVANT OF THE LORD MUST NOT STRIVE; BUT BE GENTLE UNTO ALL MEN, APT TO TEACH, PATIENT, IN MEEKNESS INSTRUCTING THOSE “THAT OPPOSE THEMSELVES”; IF GOD PERADVENTURE WILL GIVE THEM, REPENTANCE TO THE ACKNOWLEDGING OF THE TRUTH; & THAT THEY MAY RECOVER THEMSELVES OUT OF THE SNARE OF THE DEVIL, WHO ARE TAKEN CAPTIVE BY HIM AT HIS WILL.”

‘SNARED BY SATAN’? ‘TAKEN CAPTIVE BY SATAN AT HIS WILL’? IT WAS JOHN DRYDEN, IN HIS WRITING, “ABSALOM & ACHITOPHEL”, (PT.1,L.79), WHO SAID: “WHEN TO SIN OUR BIASED NATURE LEANS, THE CAREFUL DEVIL IS STILL AT HAND WITH MEANS.” OR, EVEN ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING’S WRITING IN “AURORA LEIGH,” (BK.7,L,105), WHO WROTE: “THE DEVIL’S MOST DEVILISH WHEN RESPECTABLE.”

OH, BUT ONE OF THE BEST STATEMENTS I READ ABOUT SATAN’S ‘BEST’? IN HIS WRITING: “SUENOS”,BY SIR ROGER L’ ESTRANGE, HE SAID: “WHEN THE DEVIL PREACHES THE WORLD’S NEAR AN END.” AND HE, SATAN, PREACHES “ZEALOUS SELF-DESIRES”, EVEN PROCLAIMING, “APPROVED BY GOD HIMSELF”! REALLY? ARE YOU AWARE THAT THERE ARE THOSE “RELIGIOUS FOLK” WHO “FEEDS ON ASHES”? THAT’S ISAIAH 44:20! “HE FEEDS ON ASHES; A DECEIVED HEART HAS TURNED HIM ASIDE, THAT CANNOT DELIVER HIS SOUL, NOR SAY, ‘IS THERE NOT A LIE IN MY RIGHT HAND’?”

“ZEALOUS SELF-DESIRES”? PAUL SAID IN GALATIANS 6:3, “FOR IF A MAN THINKS HIMSELF TO BE SOMETHING, WHEN HE IS NOTHING, HE DECEIVES HIMSELF.” IT’S TRUE! “ZEALOUS SELF-DESIRES” ARE THE FOUNDATION STONES OF “RELIGIOUS PRETENCE” & “RELIGIOUS FABRICATIONS” WITH NOTHING TO DO WITH THE SACRIFICIAL BLOOD OF THE LAMB OF GOD ATONING FOR THEIR FALLING AWAY FROM GOD’S GRACED WAY OF LIVING, GOD HAVING CRUCIFIED THE OLD SIN-NATURE WITH CHRIST, & OFFERING JESUS’S RESURRECTED PRESENCE IN THE BODY GOD HAS DESCRIBED AS ‘WORTHY’ ONLY OF BEING CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST!

“ZEALOUS SELF-DESIRES”? IN GENESIS 11:4 WE READ ABOUT WHAT FALLEN MEN CONSIDER THEIR ‘REMEDY’FOR THEIR ‘RELIGIOUS PRETENCES’: AND THEY SAID, “GO TO, LET US BUILD A CITY & A TOWER, WHOSE TOP MAY REACH TO HEAVEN; & LET US MAKE A NAME, LEST WE BE SCATTERED ABROAD UPON THE FACE OF THE WHOLE EARTH.” BUT, ZEALOUS SELF OR RELIGIOUS DESIRES, HAVE NOT, CANNOT, WILL NOT BE RECONCILED TO HOLY GOD – ONLY BY CHRIST’S SHED BLOOD ON THE CROSS DO MEN FIND THEIR SINS WASHED AWAY & “NEW BIRTH” GENERATING, BY GOD’S GRACE, HIS ABIDING PRESENCE IN THE REDEEMED HEART & LIFE!!

OH, BUT THERE IS: “THE SOVEREIGN PRICELESSNESS OF GOD’S GRACE”!!! ROMANS 6:23 ILLUMINATELY DESCRIBES IT AS PAUL, INSPIRED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, WROTE: “FOR THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH; BUT THE GIFT OF GOD IS ETERNAL LIFE IN OR THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD.” WHAT DID PAUL ALSO TELL US IN ROMANS 8:32? HE (GOD) THAT SPARED NOT HIS OWN SON,BUT DELIVERED HIM UP FOR US ALL, HOW SHALL HE NOT WITH HIM ALSO FREELY GIVE US ALL THINGS?” IN ERIC METAXAS’ BOOK, “7 MEN & THE SECRETS OF THEIR GREATNESS”, INTRODUCED THE BOOK, SAYING, (P.XIV),

“NOW, MY OWN PERSONAL ‘GREATEST’ ROLE MODEL IS JESUS. &YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED THAT HE DIDN’T JUST TALK. OF COURSE HE SAID A LOT OF EXTRAORDINARY THINGS, BUT HE ALSO LIVED WITH HIS DISCIPLES FOR THREE YEARS. THEY SAW HIM EAT & SLEEP& PERFORM MIRACLES. THEY SAW HIM LIVE LIFE & SUFFER & DIE. THEY SAW HIM INTERACT WITH ALL KINDS OF PEOPLE, INCLUDING THEMSELVES. HE LIVED AMONG THEM. THAT’S THE MAIN WAY THAT HE COMMUNICATED HIMSELF TO THE MEN WHO WOULD COMMUNICATE HIM TO THE WORLD. THAT’S HOW HE MADE DISCIPLES – WHO WOULD MAKE DISCIPLES, WHO WOULD MAKE DISCIPLES. SO FROM THE GOSPEL STORIES OF JESUS’ LIFE, YOU GET THE IDEA THAT SEEING A PERSON’S LIFE IS AT LEAST AS IMPORTANT AS GETTING A LIST OF LESSONS FROM THAT PERSON. YES, SERMONS ARE IMPORTANT, BUT SEEING THE ACTUAL LIFE OF THE GUY WHO GIVES THE SERMON MIGHT BE EVEN MORE POWERFUL. AND YOU GET THE IDEA THAT HOW YOU LIVE AFFECTS OTHERS. IT TEACHES THEM HOW TO LIVE.”

IN PROVERBS 3:5-8 THE “WISE MAN” WROTE, “TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART; & LEAN NOT UNTO YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING. IN ALL YOUR WAYS ACKNOWLEDGE HIM ( THAT’S GIVING JESUS THE REINS OF YOUR LIFE, NOT YOU ‘PERFORMING’ FOR HIM!), & HE SHALL DIRECT YOUR PATHS. BE NOT WISE IN YOUR OWN EYES; FEAR THE LORD, & DEPART FROM EVIL. IT SHALL BE HEATH TO YOUR NAVEL, & MARROW TO YOUR BONES.” HOLY GOD SAID TO ISAIAH IN ISAIAH 55:11, “SO SHALL MY WORD BE THAT GOES FORTH OUT OF MY MOUTH:IT SHALL NOT RETUTN TO ME VOID, BUT IT SHALL ACCOMPLISH THAT WHICH I PLEASE, & IT SHALL PROSPER IN THE THING WHEREIN I SENT IT.”

ARE “YOU” FACING LIFE’S “ZEALOUS SELF-DESIRES”, REJECTING THEM, ABANDONING THEM, & SHUTTING THE DOOR ON THEM? THEN ARE “YOU” ACCEPTING “THE SOVEREIGN PRICELESSNESS OF GOD’S GRACE”? THERE’S AN OLD “BENEDICTION” CHORUS IN THE BACK OF THE 1940 BROADMAN HYMNAL THAT SAYS: “MAY THE GRACE OF CHRIST OUR SAVIOR, & THE FATHER’S BOUNDLESS LOVE, WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT’S FAVOR, REST UPON US FROM ABOVE. AMEN, OR SO BE IT.” IS THERE A “SO BE IT” IN YOUR SPIRITUAL VOCABULARY & YOUR DAILY SPIRITUAL PILGRIMAGE?

ALSO IN THAT SAME OLD HYMNAL IS ANOTHER “SONG-MESSAGE” ENTITLED, “FOLLOW, I WILL FOLLOW THEE”. IT SAYS: “JESUS CALLS ME, I MUST FOLLOW, FOLLOW HIM TODAY; WHEN HIS TENDER VOICE IS PLEADING, HOW CAN I DELAY? JESUS CALLS ME, I MUST FOLLOW, FOLLOW EVERY HOUR, KNOW THE BLESSING OF HIS PRESENCE, KNOW THE FULLNESS OF HIS POWER.

JESUS CALLS US, I MUST FOLLOW, FOLLOW HIM ALWAYS; WHEN MY SAVIOR GOES BEFORE ME I CAN NEVER STRAY.

FOLLOW, I WILL FOLLOW YOU, MY LORD, FOLLOW EVERY PASSING DAY; MY TOMORROWS ARE ALL KNOWN OF THEE; YOU WILL LEAD ME ALL THE WAY.” BEING LED BY GOD TRULY IS BEING LED BY HIS GRACE, HIS MERCY, & HIS LOVE!

EXODUS 13:18 TELLS US THAT GOD LEADS US THROUGH LIFE’S WILDERNESSES. ISAIAH 63:12 SAYS GOD LED US WITH HIS RIGHT HAND.ROMANS 8:14 SAYS WE’RE LED BY GOD’S HOLY SPIRIT, & ESPECIALLY SINCE THE WORD SAYS, THE SPIRIT GUIDES US INTO ALL TRUTH! WHAT ABOUT THE INSPIRATION OF GALATIANS 5:16-25? THIS I SAY THEN, WALK IN THE SPIRIT, & YOU SHALL NOT FULFILL THE LUST OF THE FLESH. FOR THE FLESH LUSTS AGAINST THE SPIRIT, & THE SPIRIT AGAINST THE FLESH: & THESE ARE CONTRARY THE ONE TO THE OTHER: SO THAT YOU CANNOT DO THE THINGS THAT YOU WOULD.BUT IF YOU BE LED OF THE SPIRIT, YOU ARE NOT UNDER THE LAW.

NOW THE WORKS OF THE FLESH ARE MANIFEST, WHICH ARE THESE: ADULTERY, FORNICATION, UNCLEANNES, LASCIVIOUSNESS, IDOLATRY, WITCHCRAFT, HATRED, VARIANCE, EMULATIONS, WRATH, STRIFE, SEDITIONS, HERESIES, ENVYINGS, MURDERS, DRUNKENNESS, REVELLINGS, & SUCH LIKE: OF THE WHICH I TELL YOU BEFORE, AS I HAVE ALSO TOLD YOU IN TIME PAST, THAT THEY WHICH DO SUCH THINGS SHALL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD.BUT THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT IS LOVE,JOY,PEACE, LONGSUFFERING,GENTLENESS,GOODNESS,FAITH, MEEKNESS,TEMPERANCE; AGAINST SUCH THERE IS NO LAW. AND THEY THAT ARE CHRIST’S “HAVE CRUCIFIED THE FLESH, WITH THE AFFECTIONS & LUSTS. IF WE LIVE IN THE SPIRIT, LET US ALSO WALK IN THE SPIRIT.”

TELL ME ABOUT YOUR WALK? “BEST EFFORT”? “TRYING HARD”? OR, DAY BY DAY, “TAKING THE SENTENCE OF DEATH DAILY TO THE OLD SIN-NATURE, THE OLD MAN, THAT THE RESURRECTION LIFE OF CHRIST MAY BE MANIFESTED IN YOUR MORTAL FLESH”? IN THE OLD “THE AMERICAN HYMNAL”, (PUBLISHED IN 1933, BY BROADMAN PRESS, NASHVILLE,TENN.P.43)IS A HYMN ENTITLED “MOMENT BY MOMENT.” IT SAYS: “DYING WITH JESUS, BY DEATH RECKONED MINE; LIVING WITH JESUS, A NEW LIFE DIVINE; LOOKING TO JESUS TILL GLORY DOES SHINE, MOMENT BY MOMENT, O LORD, I AM THINE.

NEVER A TRIAL THAT HE IS NOT THERE, NEVER A BURDEN THAT HE DOES NOT BEAR; NEVER A SORROW THAT HE DOES NOT SHARE, MOMENT BY MOMENT, I’M UNDER HIS CARE.

NEVER A HEARTACHE, & NEVER A GROAN, NEVER A TEARDROP & NEVER A MOAN;NEVER A DANGER BUT THERE ON THE THRONE, MOMENT BY MOMENT HE THINKS OF HIS OWN.

NEVER A WEAKNESS THAT HE DOES NOT FEEL, NEVER A SICKNESS THAT HE CANNOT HEAL; MOMENT BY MOMENT, IN WOE OR IN WEAL, JESUS, MY SAVIOR, ABIDES WITH ME STILL.

MOMENT BY MOMENT I’M KEPT IN HIS LOVE; MOMENT BY MOMENT I’VE LIFE FROM ABOVE;LOOKING TO JESUS TILL GLORY DOES SHINE; MOMENT BY MOMENT, O LORD, I AM THINE.” FOR YOU,IS IT “ZEALOUS SELF-DESIRES OR THE SOVEREIGN PRICLESSNESS OF GOD’S GRACE”? I MUST SHARE COLOSSIANS 2:6-17!! “AS YOU HAVE THEREFORE RECEIVED CHRIST JESUS THE LORD, SO WALK IN HIM; ROOTED & BUILT UPON HIM, & STABLISHED IN THE FAITH, AS YOU HAVE BEEN TAUGHT, ABOUNDING THEREIN WITH THANKSGIVING. BEWARE LEST ANY MAN SPOIL (OR TAKE YOU CAPTIVE!)THROUGH PHILOSOPHY & VAIN DECEIT, AFTER THE TRADITION OF MEN, AFTER THE RUDIMENTS OF THE WORLD, & NOT AFTER CHRIST. FOR IN HIM DWELLS ALL THE FULLNESS OF THE GODHEAD BODILY. & YOU ARE COMPLETE IN HIM, WHICH IS THE HEAD OF ALL PRINCIPALITY & POWER: IN WHOM ALSO YOU ARE CIRCUMCISED WITH THE CIRCUMCISION MADE WITHOUT HANDS, IN PUTTING OFF THE BODY OF SINS OF THE FLESH (OR OLD ‘SIN-NATURE’) BY THE CIRCUMCISION OF CHRIST: BURIED WITH HIM IN BAPTISM, WHEREIN ALSO YOU ARE RISEN WITH HIM THROUGH THE FAITH OF THE OPERATION OF GOD, WHO HAS RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD.

AND YOU, BEING DEAD IN YOUR SINS & THE UNCIRCUMCISION OF YOUR FLESH HAS HE QUICKENED TOGETHER WITH HIM, HAVING FORGIVEN YOU ALL TRESPASSES; BLOTTING OUT THE HANDWRITING OF ORDINANCES THAT WAS AGAINST US, WHICH WAS CONTRARY TO US, & TOOK IT OUT OF THE WAY, NAILING IT TO HIS CROSS; & HAVING SPOILED PRINCIPALITIES & POWERS, HE MADE A SHOW OF THEM OPENLY, TRIUMPHING OVER THEM IN IT.

LET NO MAN THEREFORE JUDGE YOU IN MEAT, OR IN DRINK, OR IN RESPECT OF AN HOLYDAY, OR OF THE NEW MOON, OR OF THE SABBATH DAYS; WHICH ARE A SHADOW OF THINGS TO COME; BUT THE BODY IS OF CHRIST.”IN CLOSING, CONSIDER SERIOUSLY COLOSSIANS 3:1-5A,PLUS VERSES 15-17! “IF YOU THEN BE RISEN WITH CHRIST, SEEK THOSE THINGS ABOVE, WHERE CHRIST IS SITTING ON THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD. SET YOUR AFFECTION (MIND) ON THINGS ABOVE (ETERNAL), NOT ON THINGS ON THE EARTH. FOR YOU ARE DEAD, & YOUR LIFE IS HID WITH CHRIST IN GOD. WHEN CHRIST, WHO IS OUR LIFE SHALL APPEAR, THEN SHALL YOU ALSO APPEAR WITH HIM IN GLORY. MORTIFY THEREFORE YOUR MEMBERS WHICH ARE UPON THE EARTH…” VERSES 15-17, “AND LET THE PEACE OF GOD RULE IN YOUR HEARTS, TO THE WHICH ALSO YOU WERE CALLED IN ONE BODY; & BE THANKFUL. LET THE WORD OF CHRIST DWELL IN YOU RICHLY IN ALL WISDOM; TEACHING & ADMONISHING ONE ANOTHER IN PSALMS & HYMNS & SPIRITUAL SONGS, SINGING WITH GRACE IN YOUR HEARTS TO THE LORD. AND WHATSOEVER YOU DO IN WORD OR DEED, DO ALL IN THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS, GIVING THANKS TO GOD & THE FATHER BY HIM.” AMEN? I PRAY SO!

OR THE ETERNAL TRUTH: “GOD LOVES ME”!”

APRIL 25-26, 2019 BY J.FARRELL FISHER

IN THE DOCTOR’S OFFICE FOR AN APPOINTMENT TODAY, AS I WAITED I BEGAN TO READ A CURRENT “SPORTS ILLUSTRATED” MAGAZINE. THERE WAS AN ARTICLE ENTITLED “DONTE’S EPIC” WITH AN EARLY MAGAZINE ADVERTISEMENT CALLED “WRANGLER” WITH A STATEMENT: “STAY IN YOUR ELEMENT: EVERYDAY VERSATILITY, OUTDOOR CREDIBILITY”.

I WAS STARTLED,DISTURBED,AGITATED,‘BECAUSE’, I WONDERED,WHAT DOES ‘EVERYDAY VERSATILITY OR OUTDOOR CREDIBILITY’ HAVE TO DO WITH “RECONCILED TO GOD”,BY BIBLICAL REPENTANCE AND TRUE FAITH, WHERE ONE FINDS “RECONCILED” TO GOD BY THE CONVICTION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, THE HOLY SPIRIT GUIDING US INTO ALL TRUTH, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT SEEING TO IT THAT OUR HEARTS HAVE BECOME FERTILE GROUND OF THE FRUIT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, THE RESURRECTED CHRIST, AND THE THRONE OF GOD ERECTED IN THE TRUE DISCIPLE’S HEART!

HOW EASY, YET STRONGLY POISONOUS IN THE HUMAN HEART AND MIND IT IS TO LIVE WITHOUT GOD’S LOVE, GRACE, AND MERCY, OR THE TREE OF DIVINE LIFE SURELY PLANTED, THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT NOT BEING PRODUCED IN THE CONVICTED HEART, PLUS FAILING TO ALLOW THE INDWELLING GUIDANCE OF GOD HIMSELF TEACHING US BECAUSE, THERE IS NO FERTILE SPIRITUAL SOIL FOR THE SCHEDULED ERUPTION OF THE SEED PLANTED!?! “FLESH”, ONE’S OLD SIN NATURE IS UTTERLY UNABLE TO ‘PRODUCE’ THE LIFE OF GOD WITHIN APART FROM BIRTHED,MATURED,&GUIDED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT!

I’M SURE IT’S EASY IN DECEIVED MINDS AND HEARTS TO RELY UPON ONE’S ‘INNER SOCIAL AGENDA’ – TRYING TO BE THE FRIEND OF GOD WITHOUT “TRUSTING”, RELYING UPON A SOCIAL INNER SPIRITUAL ADVENTURE WITHOUT GOD ENLIGHTENING A TRUE REPENTANT, TRUSTING HEART! “BEST EFFORT” IS MAN’S ‘SICK THEOLOGY’ WHILE GOD’S DIVINE CONVICTION, GRACIOUS “GIFT”, AND, HAVING TRULY REPENTED, TO THEN KNOW THAT HE,GOD,OPENED THE DOOR OF ONE’S HEART, AND THEN THEY HEAR JESUS SAY: “I’LL COME IN!”

I’M NOT OPPOSED TO ‘OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES’, BUT ‘EPIC’ LIVING APART FROM “RECONCILED TO GOD”? NO DOUBT MILLIONS AND MILLIONS ACROSS THE WORLD, INCLUDING AMERICA,ARE FLOUNDERING, DROWNING, IN SOCIAL,PHYSICAL,& SELFISH SATISFACTION, WITHOUT BEING CONVICTED,CONVERTED,COMPOSED, FULLY AWARE OF CHRIST’S PRESENCE WITHIN THE HEART AS HIS NEW TABERNACLE OF “PRESENCE” AFTER OPENLY REPENTING& TRUSTING IN A HEART, MIND, & SOUL,

WHO WANTS “RECONCILED TO GOD” BY HOLY SPIRIT CONVICTION, “RE-BORN” BIRTHED BY THE SPIRIT, NURTURED, MATURED, & REVEALING CHRIST IN THE “NEW-BORN LIFE”, & IN EVERY “NEW-BORN LIFE”,REVEALING WHAT THEIR CALLING, MISSION, & MINISTRY IS IN HONORING THE “RESURRECTED CHRIST” WITHIN THEM!

IN HEBEWS 12:28 WE READ: “WHEREFORE WE RECEIVING A KINGDOM WHICH CANNOT BE MOVED, LET US HAVE GRACE, WHEREBY WE MAY SERVE GOD ACCEPTABLY WITH REVERENCE & GODLY FEAR!” THIS REMINDS ME OF SOLOMON, IN 1 KINGS 3:5-15! IT SAYS: “IN GIBEON THE LORD APPEARED TO SOLOMON IN A DREAM BY NIGHT: & GOD SAID, ‘ASK WHAT I SHALL GIVE YOU.’ AND SOLOMON SAID, “YOU HAVE SHOWN UNTO YOUR SERVANT DAVID,MY FATHER, GREAT MERCY,

ACCORDING AS HE WALKED BEFORE YOU IN TRUTH,&IN RIGHTEOUSNESS,&IN UPRIGHTNESS OF HEART WITH YOU; &YOU HAVE KEPT FOR HIM THIS GREAT KINDNESS,

THAT YOU HAVE GIVEN HIM A SON TO SIT ON HIS THRONE,AS IT IS THIS DAY.AND NOW,O LORD MY GOD,YOU HAVE MADE YOUR SERVANT KING INSTEAD OF DAVID MY FATHER;& I AM BUT A LITTLE CHILD:I KNOW NOT HOW TO GO OUT OR COME IN. AND YOUR SERVANT IS IN THE MIDST OF YOUR PEOPLE WHICH YOU HAVE CHOSEN, A GREAT PEOPLE,THAT CANNOT BE NUMBERED NOR COUNTED FOR MULTITUDE.

GIVE THEREFORE YOUR SERVANT AN UNDERSTANDING HEART TO JUDGE YOUR PEOPLE, THAT I MAY DISCERN BETWEEN GOOD & BAD: FOR WHO IS ABLE TO JUDGE THIS YOUR SO GREAT A PEOPLE? AND THE SPEECH PLEASED THE LORD, THAT SOLOMON HAD ASKED THIS THING. AND GOD SAID UNTO HIM, BECAUSE YOU HAVE ASKED THIS THING, & YOU HAVE NOT ASKED FOR YOURSELF LONG LIFE;NEITHER HAVE ASKED RICHES FOR YOURSELF, NOR HAVE ASKED THE LIFE OF YOUR ENEMIES;BUT HAVE ASKED FOR YOURSELF UNDERSTANDING TO DISCERN JUDGMENT; BEHOLD,I HAVE DONE ACCORDING TO YOUR WORDS; &LO, I HAVE GIVEN YOU A WISE AND AN UNDERSTANDING HEART; SO THAT THERE WAS NONE LIKE YOU BEFORE YOU, NEITHER AFTER YOU SHALL ANY ARISE LIKE UNTO YOU.

AND I HAVE ALSO GIVEN YOU THAT WHICH YOU HAVE NOT ASKED, BOTH RICHES & HONOR:SO THAT THERE SHALL NOT BE ANY AMONG THE KINGS LIKE UNTO YOU ALL YOUR DAYS. AND IF YOU WILL WALK IN MY WAYS, TO KEEP MY STATUTES & MY COMMANDMENTS, AS YOUR FATHER DAVID DID WALK, THEN I WILL LENGTHEN YOUR DAYS!” OH,! WHAT A WORD OF CONVICTION,

CONVERSION, CONSECRATION, COMFORT&CHALLENGE! AND “YOU” MUST REMEMBER 2 TIMOTHY 3:15-17 AS PAUL CHALLENGED A YOUNG SPIRITUAL SON & US!! HE SAID: “AND THAT FROM A CHILD YOU HAVE KNOWN THE HOLY SCRIPTURES,WHICH ARE ABLE TO MAKE YOU WISE UNTO SALVATION THROUGH FAITH “WHICH IS IN CHRIST JESUS”.ALL SCRIPTURE IS GIVEN BY INSPIRATION OF GOD, & IS PROFITABLE FOR DOCTRINE, FOR REPROOF, FOR CORRECTION, FOR INSTRUCTION IN RIGHTEOUSNESS: THAT THE MAN OF GOD MAY BE PERFECT, THOROUGHLY FURNISHED UNTO ALL GOOD WORKS.”

ARE “YOU” LIVING IN THE DECEPTION OF A FALLEN WORLD?” OR DO YOU KNOW THAT HOLY GOD “KNOCKS” ON YOUR HEART’S DOOR & MIND &WILL, TO SAY TO YOU, “OPEN THE DOOR & I WILL COME IN & I WILL GUIDE YOU INTO ALL BIBLICAL TRUTH!”?? I WROTE WORDS OF POETRY RECENTLY THAT SAYS: “STRANGERS IN A GOD-BLESSED LAND,SELFISHLY LIVE AS ‘SLAVES’ TO A WORLD, A DEVIL, & A ‘FLESHLY’ BAND;IGNORING GOD & SINGING THEIR OWN SONG, ‘OFF-KEY’, THEY’RE LOUD & SINFULLY STRONG.

STRANGERS TO “TRUTH” & ALL THINGS “RIGHT”, THEY WANDER ON EARTH IN THEIR ‘SOULISH NIGHT’ IGNORING THE GOD OF LOVE & LIGHT, DANCING &PRANCING & JUMPING IN THEIR SIN, THEY EASILY TUTN AWAY FROM “GOD’S MIGHT HAVE BEEN”.

“NEW LIFE IN CHRIST” IS TO THEM A ‘BORE’, BECAUSE LIFE ON THEIR OWN IN SINFUL PLEASURE, VOID OF GOD IS THE SIN-NATURE’S ‘LEISURE’:SO DAY BY DAY IN THEIR SELFISH WAY, THEY WILLFULLY LIVE BLINDED TO GOD’S “BEST DAY”; THE DAY OF REDEMPTION FOR SOULS N SIN, BUT MANY WILLFULLY CHOOSE WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN!”

ARE “YOU” LIVING IN “THE DECEPTION OF A FALLEN WORLD-CULTURE OR “LIVING IN” THE TRUTH: “GOD LOVES ME & SO WANTS TO REDEEM ME,RECONCILE ME,& RE-TRAIN ME ABOUT “TRUE DISCIPLESHIP”, SO THAT I,YOU, THE “BODY OF CHRIST” IN EVERY CONTINENT & NATION, STATE & CITY, MAY TRULY BE HIS “ROYAL AMBASSADORS” EXTENDING THE KING’S MINISTRY!!!

“GOD LOVES ME, THIS I KNOW, FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO; LITTLE ONES TO HIM BELONG, THEY ARE WEAK, BUT HE IS STRONG! YES, JESUS LOVES ME,YES, JESUS LOVES ME; YES, JESUS LOVES ME – THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO!” IN THE OLD “THE AMERICAN HYMNAL”PUBLISHED IN 1933 BY ‘THE BROADMAN PRESS’, NASHVILLE,TENN.,IS A HYMN ENTITLED, “O COULD I SPEAK”,(P.11), THAT SAYS: “O COULD I SPEAK THE MATCHLESS WORTH, O COULD I SOUND THE GLORIES FORTH WHICH IN MY SAVIOR SHINE, I’D SOAR, &TOUCH THE HEAVENLY STRINGS, AND VIE WITH GABRIEL AS HE SINGS IN NOTES ALMOST DIVINE, IN NOTES ALMOST DIVINE.

I’D SING THE PRECIOUS BLOOD JESUS SPILT, MY RANSOM FROM THE DREADFUL GUILT OF SIN, & WRATH DIVINE: I’D SING HIS GLORIOUS RIGHTEOUSNESS, IN WHICH ALL-PERFECT, HEAVENLY DRESS MY SOUL SHALL EVER SHINE, MY SOUL SHALL EER SHINE.

I’D SING THE CHARACTERS HE BEARS, & ALL THE FORMS OF LOVE HE WEARS, EXALTED ON HIS THRONE:IN LOFTIEST SONGS OF SWEETEST PRAISE, I WOULD TO EVERLASTING DAYS MAKE ALL HIS GLORIES KNOWN, MAKE ALL HIS GLORIES KNOWN.

WELL,THE DELIGHTFUL DAY WILL COME WHEN MY DEAR LORD WILL BRING ME HOME, AND I SHALL SEE HIS FACE; THEN WITH MY SAVIOR, BROTHER, FRIEND, A BLEST ETERNITY I’LL SPEND, TRIUMPHANT IN HIS GRACE, TRIUMPHANT IN HIS GRACE.”

FOR YOU,YOUR CHOICE! SELF OR THE SAVIOR,LUST OR HIS LOVE, MY WORLD OR HIS KINGDOM, MY FLESHLY PLEASURES OR HIS ETERNAL PEACE, MY DARKNESS OR HIS LIGHT, MY ‘TRYING’ OR HIS WORD OF “TRUST”, MY SELF-EFFORT OR HIS SAVIOR’S LOVE EXCELLING, MY NATURAL BREATH OR HIS BREATH OF THE LOVING SPIRIT, MY ‘SPOTS’ AS SATAN’S MARKING OF SIN-CAPTURED LIVING OR HIS “SPECIAL GRACE” OF ‘NEVER-FAILING’ PRESENCE & POWER TO LIVE AS “MORE THAN CONQUERORS, BUT ETERNAL VICTORS” BECAUSE OF HIS BLOOD, HIS DEATH, HIS RESURRECTION, HIS ASCENSION, & HIS ETERNAL EYE ON YOU TO MAKE SURE YOU WALK IN HIS VICTORIOUS CONQUEST OVER SATAN, OVER SIN, & OVER PHYSICAL DEATH! CAN “YOU SAY, ‘HALLELUJAH! GLORY TO THE NAME OF KING JESUS!”