Enduring struggles is like lifting weights. They either make us stronger or we will buckle under the pressure of them. That's why not many people are body builders, and not many Christians are overcoming Christians. But in all reality, life is one long enduring struggle with a pit stop here and there to refuel and prepare for the next leg of the journey. I don't know about you, but it seems to me like I overcome one problem only to encounter another and another and another. And from my experiences, I have come to understand hardships to a certain degree. Struggles are life learning experiences from which we glean valuable information that will cause us to rise above similar situations, or we will keep enduring the same struggle over and over again until we learn to overcome it. In an earlier writing I called our life experiences "pass fail courses in reality" because we either pass the course, or we keep retaking the same course over and over again. (2) The second thing I have learned about struggles is that even though we resist them they move us from one place in life to another. To explain my last statement, let me say that when I think about the struggles I undergo, I think of the waves of the sea. They just keep coming and coming and I either learn how to get through them or I will find myself washed ashore upon the rock infested beach of life. (3) And the third thing I have learned about my struggles is that the power of the wave is not on the surface of the water, but is a result of something far more powerful going on below the surface. And every seaman who sails the high seas understands that every wave of the sea between him and his destination must be overcome if he is to safely reach the shores of his destination. Since some storms at sea are stronger than others the seaman must be fully assured that his ship is seaworthy if the ship is to endure the beatings it will take from the continuous pounding of the waves it will encounter during the trip, or the seaman will not only suffer the lost of his ship and its cargo, but the crew as well. (4) The fourth thing I have learned about life's struggles is that each one will come to an end at some point in time just as every sea voyage has a destination when the ship sets sail, so our struggle has a destination that must be attained before it terminates. (5) It will also help us if we understand that every struggle we encounter in life comes to pass, they never come to stay despite the severity of them. Let me say our life's struggles are like the storms that sweep across the land. We know they are coming, so the better prepared we are to face them, the better our chances are of surviving them. When dealing with natural storms a person must know when to hunker down and endure, and when to move to another location to avoid them. It is the horrible storms with destruction capabilities that overtake us by surprise that our survival instincts kick in and we do whatever we can to preserve our life, but despite all of a persons efforts to survive some people still become victims of these storms. Our struggles serve a purpose, but we oftentimes struggle to understand what that purpose might be. We understand that a physical fight with another person is a struggle, but do we realize that each day we struggle with many issues that may be more intense than a physical fight? If we look at the struggles we have overcome in our life we can see they were directed at a part of our life in which we needed to be strengthened. The bully attacks because he sees physical weakness, and his desire is to prove his strength. He doesn't attack people who are his equal or stronger than he. I know this sounds funny, but struggles are a necessary part of life if we are to become a stronger person. They point out the area in which we are weak and if we don't strengthen ourselves in our weak areas we may be dealing with a continued struggle in that area until we become strong enough to overcome the opposition.

 

In talking about struggles we are talking about our fight against the resistance to our normal way of life. I hope we realize everything in life faces resistance in some way or another. Even the earth on which we live is resisted by wind, water, heat and cold, and we have learned from experiencing them first hand they are a natural part of life, but they all have an effect upon the earth. We call that effect erosion because that resistance is moving some part of the earth from one place to another, thus the landscape has changed over the eons of time since the earth came into existence. What the landscape looks like now is vastly different from what it looked like in the beginning. And our life like the landscape of the earth is shaped by the resistance we face. Our struggle against the resistance is what causes our bodies to grow older. And as our bodies grow older they undergo change as the resistance gradually takes affect upon them. For some that change takes place much faster than it does for others, but we are all changed by that resistance, and as our body starts to weaken the change begins to take place at a much faster pace than in our earlier years. We call this change "the aging process," but the change actually comes from our daily struggle with the resistance we encounter. If our natural bodies faced no resistance in life, our body would live forever, but since we face continual around the clock resistance upon our natural bodies no one is going to make it out of this world alive because that resistance eventually will win out. 

 

The resistance that wears our earthly bodies down also makes us a stronger person in our spirit and soul. These two aspects of the human being are eternal and the resistance our earthly body encounters in this life has no effect upon them. They are made of a substance we cannot see even with the greatest of microscopes, but we know they are alive because they direct our struggle against the resistance we encounter according to the knowledge we possess. It is a common fact that everything in life wears out. It does so because of the effects of the resistance at work upon it from the time it comes into existence. The proud ship that once sailed the mighty seas will one day give way to rust and will no longer be a useful, trustworthy vessel; and the human body will wear out and pass away because of the resistance is constant and never lets up. It is the knowledge of this fact that is passed on from one generation of human beings to the next that sets mankind apart from all other species of life living upon the earth. Many people have ideas about how we are to best defend ourselves against the resistance we face. Some try to fight it with plastic surgery, exercise, education, and by many other methods, but in the end the resistance always wins out. It will win out because of a single incident that took place a long time ago. The resistance we face in this life has a name; God calls it Sin. Sin is the resistance all natural things in life encounters and which contains within itself the ability to break all things down. We are told in God's Word the results of sin will continue its devastating effects upon all things living and dead until the end of time when He causes the heavens and the earth to pass away and recreates all things new. Until then we can expect to struggle against the never ending resistance that opposes all things. OTBP 

Do I go for the gusto as the old saying goes? Or, do I let the gusto come to me? Since the word gusto is referring to life, the question is do we make the determination of what our life is going to be? Or does life determine what we will do and become? Those are the only two options available to man. Either we are doing the one or the other. The person who lets life come to them will settle for what it throws at them. But the person who gets the most out of every waking moment and sets the limits on what he will and will not settle for, can affect change in the things around him. Since life flows out of us and not into us, we have the right to determine how much external influences affects our lives. That is why the person who thinks they can let life come to them will always suffer the affects of what it throws at them. Man has the capability of changing the things around them they don't like, but if they won't change the things affecting their life, those things will change how they live. Most people fall into the second category of people who let life come to them and by their very actions they get worn down after a relatively short period of time. Man was born to rule in life, he wasn't made to be ruled over. If we live life to the fullest and affect change in the things around us, we reign, but if we let our life be dictated by outside influences which includes other people as well as circumstances, we are being ruled over. Man was born a king, but most live as serfs. Why is that? Is it because we are just naturally lazy and don't want the responsibility of fulfilling our role in life?  Or, are we ignorant of what our role is to be? What we know and what we do with that information determines the course our life will follow. We cannot act upon information we do not possess, and we will never become an overcomer in life until we refuse to be overcame. Our life really begins the moment the hunger for life takes affect. Nothing changes for the better until a desire for change is formed in our heart of hearts. And once that internal desire takes root, change will come. However slowly change may begin, change will come and it will pick up speed the longer we stay the course. But, if we never desire change, change still occurs on our external person and within our inner being, but not necessarily in the manner we will like.

 

The life within us is a river of life to the things around us; and if we get that role reversed we are adversely affected both externally and internally. The life that lives in us is eternal and everything outside of us is temporary, and the temporary things around us draw their life from the eternal source within us. I know some people will think that is far fetched, but think about it for a moment. Our natural body draws its sustenance from the temporary things living on this earth, while our internal life gives birth to new ideas that keeps life flowing into the existing things that support our natural bodies. The internal source of life within us uses the natural resources of this earth to shelter, feed, and cloth our natural bodies, but our internal being replaces those natural things so they are in a never ending supply. I am not talking about the natural resources such as gold, oil etc, which are in limited supply, and of which men of greed extort other men for the privilege of possessing; and which are luxuries that are not needed to support or provide the creature comforts of our natural bodies.

 

There are a multitude of books written on the power of positive thinking and confession that if followed will change our lives. It has been proven time and time again, what we think, say, and do, which comes from the life source within us, determines the outcome of our situation. So once again, we see that the power to think and act will change external circumstances or the external forces that apply themselves against us. However positive thinking and speaking by themselves will not change our eternal destination, but they will affect change in our circumstances. If positive thinking and confession will affect change in our circumstances for the better, negative thinking and confession of which most people are acquainted affects our life adversely. If we want to change our circumstances, we have to change the way we think and speak. If want to change our eternal destination, we have to submit to the the source of eternal life and request to be accepted into His family.

 

In the Book of Revelation we are told there is a River of Life that flows out from under the throne of God and gives life to the Tree of Life that bears twelve manner of fruit each year for the healing of the nations. The River of Life that flows out from God is the thing that touched the life of man in the beginning and is passed down to each generation thereafter that gives us the power to affect change in the external surroundings around us. If we do not understand where the source of life is located, we can be affected by things that have no power over us, but if we know life is within us, we can change our life and the lives of other people as well. In the Gospels we see Jesus using the life that was in Him to teach and change the lives of those He came into contact with. The Gospels gives us a glimpse of the power that lives within each of us, and what the power is capable of doing when it is released into the world around us. Man has been given a natural power that resides within him and when coupled with the power or anointing of God's power is added to it, the combined power of both will trump all power in both the spiritual and natural realms because we are drawing our power straight from the power source itself which is God Almighty. Man can function quite well in this life with the life source that is within him if he uses it to change his life and the circumstances that confront him, but if we go the extra mile and combine the power of life within us with the power of life that flows out to us from God, we become a special creature in the eternal kingdom. So let us go for the gusto in life and make a difference not only in our own life, but in the world in which we live. Peoole in this world are crying out for world peace not understanding that peace comes from within us, and if we have no peace within ourselves, we cannot reproduce peace in the things we want to change. Peace is a by product of life, and if we do not understand that life is within us we cannot give away what we do not know we possess. Therefore let life live big in us and the by products of life such as peace will be available to share with others. OTBP

Have you noticed when something good happens to you there are well meaning people who will question you in such a way that they make your good fortune seems like a bad thing? In the Gospel of John the same thing happened to a blind man who had received his sight. [John chapter nine] "Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him... When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay... So he went and washed, and came back seeing. Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, "Is not this he who sat and begged?" Some said, "This is he." Others said, "He is like him." He said, "I am he." Therefore they said to him, "How were your eyes opened?"

 

The man who had the good thing happen to him wound up defending himself later in this chapter from the very people who should have been happy for him; and eventually they got him excommunicated from the temple where he worshiped. Look at all the different people who got involved in this man's good fortune. They are listed as his neighbors, some, others, they, and lastly the religious leaders from the temple where he worshiped and who brought what every one was thinking about his good fortune into a nice bundle by calling his miracle a bad thing because it happened to him on a religious day. Since it didn't happen when they thought it should have and it didn't happen to them, it was a bad thing. It didn't matter to any of these people that the man who received his sight could now find gainful employment to support himself instead of begging from others, or that he would stop being a burden on his family and become a productive tax paying citizen of Jerusalem.

 

As long as this man was beaten down, a burden, a beggar, and a bum, the people were okay with that, but when something good happened to him, the first thing they did was question him about how it happened, who did it for him, and completed their selfishness by calling it a bad thing. Is the picture of the selfishness of man beginning to take shape now? The picture that is portrayed in this story is how the devil operates in our society through people, and yes, even through well meaning people in the church as shown in this story. If we had an ounce of brains we would understand that there is a God who loves doing things for us, and there is a devil who literally hates our guts and will do whatever he can to hurt us through whomever he can because he simply cannot stand to see people blessed by God. We read stories like these and say, "How could any one be so selfish?" And then go down to the coffee shop where we gather with our friends and do the same thing ourselves by talking about people we know.

 

I have heard such comments time and time again and I know you have as well, "How did that preacher get his money? He must be stealing from his congregation. How did that man ever get that beautiful wife? Or how did that woman ever get that hunk for a husband? Why was that person chosen to lead a particular group? They are dumber than a stump. I should have been the one chosen. I know a lot more about _______ then they ever will." And the list goes on and on and the selfishness never ends. People have a hard time understanding that God blesses whom He will, with what He will, when He chooses. If they would honor Him for who He is, they too would receive some of the blessing, instead their selfishness won't let them do what is right, so they complain and wonder why every good thing always seems to happen to other people. OTBP

After the disciples of Jesus had attempted to cast a demon out of a small boy and failed, they asked Him the question, "Why could we not cast it (the demon) out?" Jesus responded to them, "Because of your unbelief;" for assuredly, I say to you. "If you had faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, (our problem) move from here to there, and it will move; and nothing shall be impossible for you. "However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting." [Matthew 17:19-21]

 

There are two stories in the gospels where Jesus referenced the moving of a mountain or a tree from one place to another, and in both cases He is talking about the problems His disciples (which includes you and I) will encounter in life. In the above instance His disciples had attempted to remove a demon from a small boy and failed even though in [Mark 3:14] He had given them power to cast out devils and heal the sick. [Mark 3:14] "Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to peach, and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons." And in [Luke 9:1-6] "Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick... So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere." And again when He sent out the seventy in [Luke 10:17-20] "Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name." And He (Jesus) said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven."

 

So we see the disciples (which includes you and I) of Jesus had been given power and authority over all the power of the enemy, but the demon in the young boy did not leave when they told it to go. They were stumped and did not understand why this one demon didn't leave when all the others had. Then Jesus told them the demon didn't go because of their unbelief. Their faith failed because they failed to understand that some problems in life are more difficult to solve than others and require a different approach. Notice Jesus didn't leave them wallowing in their failure, He told them what their problem was, and how to fix the problem, "However, this kind goes out by prayer and fasting." The demon in this little boy was different than the demons they had previously encountered. He was a more powerful demon of higher rank and would require more effort on the part of the disciples to remove him. Jesus didn't tell them the demon was greater in power then they were, He simply told them if they had faith the size of a mustard seed, the demon would be removed. Then He told them if they prayed and fasted, their power and faith level would rise to the level that would force the demon to leave.

 

In the spiritual kingdom it is all about who has the authority to do what. Those with less authority give way to those who possess more. The scripture in [Luke 10:19] tells us Jesus told His disciples which also includes His modern day disciples He has given us power over all the power of the enemy. (Demonic forces that operate in this world) "Behold, I give you the authority... over all the power of the enemy, and nothing (demonic spirit) shall by any means hurt you." All spiritual demonic power is under our authority, but our lack of knowledge of the authority we have been given hurts the modern day church more than anything else. The power structure in our social order is much more loosely associated than it is in the spiritual realm of which our military rankings mirror. And because of our social power structure being more loosely associated we struggle with understanding our power and authority in the kingdom of God, so the world doesn't see us exercising our authority, and because they don't see the power we have been given in operation, Satan operates pretty much unhindered in this world. The second thing that hinders the Christians progress is our lack of understanding concerning the spiritual realm. Our world is controlled by the realm which we cannot see, therefore Satan is able to operate in our lack of knowledge of that realm and get away with things no earthly criminal could. Mankind knows evil exists because of the results we see, but we have failed to associate that evil with Satan, and the good that takes place in this world as coming from God. Until we can understand there is a spiritual force behind the evil and the good we experience, we will continue to suffer at the hands of Satan and blame one another instead of directing our God given power and authority at the one who is behind the sicknesses, disease, famine, war, drought, murder and every other malady known to man. The early disciples were taught by the Son of God Himself where evil comes from, and the authority they had been given to confront it. The demon possessed boy in the story above is a prime example of evil taking control of a human, but when confronted and commanded by a higher authority to leave the boy, the demon could not stay, he had to vacate the premises and the boy's life was returned to normal. This illustration given to us in the Book of Matthew is an illustration of the duty of man towards mankind. Use what we have been given and lives will be changed, if we fail to use our authority, we have what we presently have; and the hopes of it getting better is only wishful thinking because evil doesn't intend to let things get better. It's intent is death and destruction of any thing that even remotely looks like God is in it.  

 

We, Christians run into difficulties like the one above all the time. We may not be demon possessed, or suffering from some great disease, but we are all suffering in one area or another in life that we just can't seem to get the victory over. And many times when we struggle with a problem we simply give up because we do not understand that some problems in life are more powerful than others and require more effort/faith to solve. We live in a world that wants everything right now, but in the spiritual realm things move at God's pace. So if our problem isn't solved in a moment of time we try to ignore it not understanding that the demon behind the problem is in all likelihood a more powerful demon that we usually run into and will require more faith on our part to drive him out. Just as in the case of the early disciples, we have the power and the authority to deal with every situation, but when we do not understand what is required of us, we fail. Our authority and power is just as great on what we deem to be a bad day as it is on our best days, but if we do not understand that precept, we fail. Jesus told His disciples they needed to pray and fast if they wanted to increase their faith level to the point the most powerful demon confronting them would be removed. He used the example of a mountain to illustrate His point. He said if their faith level was where it needed to be, they could speak to any problem (mountain) in their life and command it to be removed from here to there and it would move. That is important for us to understand because as we move closer to the end of time our problems are going to be magnified and we will need to know how to access the extra power we will need to win over our situations.

 

When Jesus told His disciples, "I have given you power over all the power of the enemy," He meant every demonic power in the spiritual realm was subject to them and would obey them. If that power didn't move right away as was the case with the demon possessed little boy, then do what is needed to raise our power level and tackle the problem again and it would move. With His statement, He was telling them the demon didn't have a choice in the matter because spiritual beings understand authority and when a higher authority issues a command they obey. Jesus came demonstrating the authority of the believer. The Gospels are full of stories where Jesus, acting as a man, exercised His God given authority over every kind of demon and sickness that was brought to Him, and He healed or delivered them all. Even in the Book of John on the day of His crucifixion, Jesus told Pontius Pilate, the Governor of Judea, and commander of the Roman army, "You have no power over me. but only what has been given you from above." Meaning, if it hadn't been His will to die for man, there wasn't anything anyone could have done about it. He made the statement in another place that He could call twelve legions of angels to protect Him if He wanted, but His purpose in coming to earth as a man was not to set up an earthly kingdom, but rather to die that men might regain their rightful position in God's kingdom as children of the Most High God.

 

In [Mark 11:12-14 & 20-24] Jesus uses a fig tree to illustrate a troublesome problem. "Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. In response Jesus SAID to it, "Let no one eat fruit from you ever again..." Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter, remembering, said to Him, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree which you cursed has withered away." So Jesus answered, "Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever SAYS to this MOUNTAIN, be removed and be cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he SAYS will be done, he will have whatever he SAYS. Therefore I say to you, "Whatever things you ASK for when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them." Here again Jesus addresses problems we encounter in life. The fig tree that should have had fruit on it had nothing but leaves. As a non producing fruit tree it was good for nothing, so Jesus cursed it. The problem/tree did not die immediately, but later when Jesus and the disciples passed by it, Peter noticed the tree had died from the roots up. Some of our problems are like the demon and the fig tree, they do not stop being a problem the minute we make the decision to take care of them, but with time they will cease to be a problem if we keep working on them. Jesus told His disciples this tree/problem would be moved into the sea if they would SPEAK and make the determination to solve their problem, it would move into nonexistence.

 

In the case of the demon possessed boy, Jesus told His disciples to pray and fast to increase their level of power, but in the story of the fig tree, He told them to SPEAK to their problems and no matter how long it took for the problem to go away, it would move and pass away. So we see the answer to our problems require different methods to deal with them, but they both require SPEAKING to the problem followed up with the required ACTION to move the problem. OTBP

There is a story of a leper in [Matthew 8:1-4] that reads, "When He (Jesus) had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed." Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to him, "See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them." The will of God for the healing of our bodies is forever settled in the response of Jesus to this short prayer of the leper. "I am willing; be cleansed." If we have ever had any doubts about the will of God for the welfare of man, this scripture should dispel our doubts. It is unequivocally the will of God for man to be free of sickness, disease, poverty, mental illness, demon possession, or any other thing that can attach itself to man. 

 

Let's go to the Book of Isaiah chapter fifty-two and fifty-three and see what Jesus suffered so that we might enjoy the blessing of God upon our lives. Beginning in verse thirteen of chapter fifty-two: "Behold, my Servant shall prosper prudently, and be lifted up and be very high. Just as many were astonished at you. So His visage (appearance) was marred more than any man. And His form more than the sons of men; So shall He sprinkle (startle) many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths at Him; for what had not been told them they shall see, and what they had not heard they shall consider. Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender root out of dry ground. He has no splendor; and when we see Him there is no beautiful appearance that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected (forsaken) by men. a man of sorrows (pains) and acquainted with grief. (sickness) And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has born our griefs, (sicknesses) and carried our sorrows; (pains) yet we esteemed (reckoned) Him stricken, smitten (struck down) by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded (pierced through) for our transgressions. he was bruised (crushed) for our iniquities, the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes (blows that cut in0 we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, ever one, to his own way; and the Lord (has caused to land on Him) has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep is silent, so He opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison (confinement) and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken. And they made His grave with the wicked - but with the rich at His death. Because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise (crush) Him; He has put Him to grief. When you make His soul and offering for sin, He shall see His seed, (you and I) he shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied, By His knowledge my righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil (plunder) with the strong, (you and I) Because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."

 

This is God's description of what Jesus, the Word of God, the Son of God, would suffer for mankind when He visited the earth as told through the mouth God's prophet, Isaiah, centuries before the event took place. Everything Jesus underwent He did so for you and I. He didn't need to suffer any of these things, but all men would have if He had not taken it upon Himself to suffer our punishment. As you read through the description of what Jesus suffered you will find that everything man could suffer in life at the hands of Satan He took upon Himself so that we could live free of them. The crown of thorns was placed upon His head so we could have a sound mind and never have to be concerned with mental illness, and the stripes He received upon His back was put there so we could enjoy good health, and finally His death on the cross and His time in Hades were to break the power of death, hell, and the grave so that we would never have to be concerned about going to hell when we die and suffer a punishment that was never intended for man, but for the rebellious angels and Satan.

 

It is forever settled in heaven that man does not have to be sick, broke, nor disgusted in this life. If we are these things we are so because we choose to remain in this state and not because God is punishing us. Jesus died so that we might live; He suffered so that we might be free of suffering; and He lives forevermore so that we might live eternally with Him. So when the leper came to Jesus worshiping Him, he came with the full assurance that Jesus would cleanse him of his leprosy, and because he believed, he left their cleansed. So when we pray and attach, "Lord, if it be your will" to the end of our prayer, we do so in ignorance not understanding that these things were provided for us when Jesus suffered and died in our place. Let us go to the Lord as the leper did in full assurance that after making our request known to the Lord we will hear Him say, "I am willing; be _________." OTBP

[Matthew 7:21-29] "Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. Therefore whoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock; and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand; and the rain descended, the bloods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell; and great was its fall. And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes."

 

Jesus is talking about two people who heard the same set of instructions. The wise man acted upon the teachings he heard and when troubled times came, as they do upon all people, he stood firm. But the second man who heard the same set of instructions did not do as he was instructed and when trouble came, he fell. Jesus said, "The fall of the man was great." Jesus who was using the building of a house to emphasize building a person's life, told both men to build their houses or lives upon the rock and their houses or lives would stand against the storms of life. The one man ignored the instructions and took the easy way and chose to build his house upon sandy ground doing just the opposite of the Lord's instructions. We have seen what happens to houses that are built upon the sandy shorelines of our coasts when strong storms come the waves wash the sand out from under the structures and they fall ruined into the ocean. Even the world understands how risky it is to build along the sandy shores of the ocean, therefore the insurance companies will not issue insurance policies on those homes because the risk factor is too high. This is precisely what Jesus was telling the two men when he told them to dig down and build their lives upon the solid Rock foundation of His Word. If they would follow His instructions, when the storms came, they would stand. The wise man followed the instructions he received; the fool disobeyed and paid the price for his disobedience. 

 

Both of these people were in the presence of the Lord and heard the instructions given by the Lord. That would relate today to people who attend church and for whatever reason many of them when they leave church they leave the teaching of God's Word in the church pew where they sat. When they leave the Word of God behind, they leave with the same problems they came with, and when they run into trouble they don't understand why things don't work out the way they want them to. They don't seem to understand that the Word of God is still God's Word regardless of whether it came out of the mouth of Jesus two thousand years ago, or out of the mouth of the preacher behind the podium. If we don't do as instructed because we have something against the preacher who is preaching the Word of God, or we think God's Word is foolishness, we need to wise up because our eternal future depends upon our hearing and obeying God's Word. When Jesus said the fall of the man was great, He was referring to the wasted life of a man who was born full of potential, and whose life would have ended differently had he listened and acted upon the instructions of the Lord. If you listen closely to the Words Jesus is speaking you can hear the sound of disappointment in the Lord's voice as He tells the story of the man who chose destruction over a fulfilled life. But, you know, each day we walk past many people who are making the same choices as the man in this story. These people don't have a clue as to what the future holds for them. They spend each day steadfastly working at building a future upon the sands of man's intelligence, and when the storms of life come everything they have worked so hard to attain is taken from them because their life's work is not built upon the Rock, the Word of God.

 

People in America should know better because the wisdom of God rides upon the air waves surrounding this earth crying out to the people twenty four hours a day, "Let me help you!" His words are largely ignored by the majority of the population who go about their business as though they never heard them. What a shame. What a waste of a good life. They are making the same choice as the man in the story who chose eternal destruction over everlasting fulfillment and Jesus said the ruin of that man was great. Did you know that almost every family in America has at least one bible, but not many of them can quote three scriptures out of the sixty-six books that make up the bible. And as Jesus said, "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness." Jesus tells us, "If we want to go to heaven, we have to hear and obey," and to go to hell we don't have to do anything but ignore His teachings; and when our time comes we will wake up in a place we can't begin to fathom in our minds how horrible it is. Therefore, it is important that we understand that God does not decide who goes where; we do by the choices we make in this life. The wise man acknowledges God as being God, and the fool, even though they may attend church, refuses to follow His instructions thereby they ignore God, but will one day say to the Lord, "Did we not do all these wonderful things in your name in our lifetime." And Jesus will say to them, "I never knew you, depart from me, you who practice lawlessness." OTBP

The king of who I am is whoever or whatever I submit to that dictates the outcome of events in my life. We don't often think of how our life is being affected by the things we do because we seem to be drawing life from them, but they have no life in them and have a far more reaching affect upon our life than we know. The things we serve are either adding something to our life, or they are robbing us of life and time that could be better spent doing other things. The thing that is not benefiting our life is a thief that has its eyes upon our eventual destruction. Most of the time we get involved in things because we have nothing better to do, or so we think. It may take a little searching, but we can find things to spend our time doing that are beneficial to life and will make our life more complete. As a young man I tried wine, women and song, throw in a few drugs and I thought I was on top of the world, but as time would tell as it does in all cases I found I was a fool. The things I was spending my time doing was stealing life from me and only when I grew up at the age of thirty-three did I realize I had wasted a lot of time on things that helped to make other people rich while I went without. I was spending what little money I did have on things that were only temporary pleasures that lasted for a short time and I had to do them all over again to reach that euphoric feeling I was in need of.

 

But one night my internal eyes were opened and I saw myself and the people I hung with for what we were; poor, miserable people searching for something that continually evaded us, and searching for it in all the wrong places. My life flashed before my eyes in a second of time while I was sitting in a bar surrounded by people that were all doing the same things I was, and when I understood what I was seeing it became clear to me that my life was on a fast track leading nowhere. I was like a dog running around in circles chasing its tail with no chance of catching up to it. And it dawned on me that night, if I was to break the habit of spending all I had on things that only provided a temporary relief from my misery, I was going to have to start searching in places other than where I was looking. Of course my friends didn't see what I saw in my inner most being that evening because they were caught up in the moment and thought I was just having a bad day when I told them, "I was leaving and I wouldn't be back." They didn't miss me for a couple of weeks, but eventually they did call to see how I was feeling and what I had been doing. When I told them I wasn't returning to the old life I had been living, they deserted me faster than a snowflake melts on a warm sunny day.

 

The event I was watching that evening that allowed me to see myself and where I was going was a waitress with a tray full of beer bottles balanced on her hand threading her way through the couples on the dance floor. As I watched her work her way over to the table that requested the drinks, the thought came to me, "OTBP, you are a fool! You are paying the man who own this bar to make you sick. How smart is that?" It was at that moment that I knew the king of wine, women and song I had been serving for most of my adult life intended to kill me and if I was going to escape his grasp I would have to make a change in my lifestyle. I didn't find the life I was searching for right away, but I had broken the hold the former king had on my life. For me the king of who I was at that time was an activity that I had turned into a sport, but I have since learned that the king we serve can be one of many things, or a person, as well as an activity. A person could be a servant of money, or sports, or hunting and fishing, or sex, drugs, alcohol, etc. But all of these different things that people are investing their precious time and money in is something that is in all actuality robbing them of the very life they are searching for.

 

There is only one source of life and everything else that presents itself as a life force is a liar and a thief that is stealing life from us. The methods the thief uses to steal life from us are things that provide only a temporary fix and a temporary satisfaction that is not only expensive, but must be renewed often. The Lord God knows the weaknesses of man and goes out of His way to help us with our search and to sort through all the things that separate us from Him who is the source of all life. Behind every king there is a force that not only supports him but keeps him in power. In the natural world a king is kept in power by the army that protects him from his enemies and the people who make him rich; and in the spiritual world there is also a force behind the king we serve and to whom we submit our time while searching for the meaning of life. Many people search their whole life and never find anything but disappointment at the end of it, and in almost every case as their life winds down, they come to the realization that they have wasted a life that could have been very full if they had just changed their lifestyle and looked in the right places instead of for things that provided only short term relief.

 

There is nothing more sad than to see a life wasted searching for things in which there is no life. We are too often too willing to settle for so little when so much has been offered to us. The person is a fool who listens to another person that is searching for the same things in life that we're searching for attempt to convince us there is life in people and activities. Anybody that has been down these roads know they are nothing more than dead end streets. The one who leads us into these quagmires of life is the thief who pursues us to take our possessions from us. And if our eyes are not opened to his schemes, we will continue to go to these places until we have lost everything that is important to us. But if we will truly examine our life to see where it is going, we will come to understand that we have squandered so much of our life on things that have added nothing but heartache to it. It doesn't have to be that way. God tells us that Wisdom stands on the street corners of life speaking to us as we pass by telling us there is another way, a better way to live life. But most people are spiritually deaf and pass by Wisdom many times a day without ever hearing a single word of His warning telling us to leave the path we are presently following and make a right turn onto the pathway that leads to life.

 

What people think of as fun when they take a drink of alcohol is really death in liquid form they are pouring down their throats. What people perceive as fun always come with strings attached to it. It surely seems like fun for awhile, but at some time reality sets in. Especially so when the doctor's diagnosis of Psoriasis of the liver comes back, or your girlfriend tells you she is pregnant and the child is yours, or you find there is more month left than money. These are but a few of the possible outcomes for a person who is searching for life in all the wrong things. All of these sad events could be avoided if we would examine our life to see where we are headed before we cross the point where there is no turning back. When the bad news reaches our ears it is too late to turn back, but it does not have to be the end of the story for us. If we want to change the king of who we are, we have to find a new king to serve. There is only one real King and His name is Christ Jesus, Savior of the world. He has a plan for us that will not fail and it isn't full of deadly surprises as is the one under the king we are presently serving. If we want life, we have to go to the life giver. If we want change, we have to go to the one who can change our life. The fool who believes the lies of his pursuer says in his heart, "Eat, drink and be merry, for today we live, and tomorrow we die, for there is no God but pleasure." There is indeed a God who is above all and has a better way of living life so that when we reach the end of ours, we will not be disappointed at the life we lived in this present time, and as a reward He has promised us we will receive an eternal future beyond our wildest dreams and expectations. OTBP

 

 

Life is full of trouble, but trouble comes so we as Christians might have the opportunity to draw near to God and be changed from the weak person we are to the person He wants us to become. God never made any failures nor did He make weak people. That is not to say Christians do not fail and some are not weak, but God did not make us that way. We become what we are in life because of the choices we make.

 

Every time a problem comes into our life and there will be many, we have the opportunity to overcome it, or bow the knee to it. Those are the only two options available to the Christian. If we bow the knee to the problem, we are saying to the world that problem is greater than the God we serve. This is a sin of the greatest magnitude in the eyes of God. It's a sin because God tells us in His Word, "I alone am God, besides me there is no other." And it is God's desire that His children come to that same conclusion. When a man bows their knees to a problem, that man becomes a servant to that problem and it will have its way in their life. What we do not overcome, overcomes us. If we do not overcome a problem, by our very action we are submitting to the problem, and anything we can't overcome becomes a god to us. A god is anything that man cannot overcome and which dictates to the man the outcome of the situation. Now the question is, "What action indicates when we have submitted to a problem?" The answer is; "When we quit fighting against it and accept whatever the consequences of our action might be." The dictate of the problem to the child of God will always be, "There is no hope for you in God this time. He has not heard your prayer because you have sinned some great sin and it is keeping you from getting your answer, so you might as well face facts, you are beat." Everything the problem speaks to us is a LIE! It's a lie because "Nothing is impossible to the child of God, because nothing is impossible with God. If God is for us, who can be against us?" Therefore, when we submit to a problem, we are saying to the world some things are impossible even for God to overcome. And when we give up on a problem, our actions is telling the world a lie. For the child of God, God has taken everything out of the realm of the impossible and brought it into the realm of the possible, and we WILL OVERCOME every situation in life IF WE DO NOT GIVE UP. There is not a single thing in life that God has not made a provision for in His Word; and if we will dig into His Word we will find the solution to our problem and overcome it.

 

 

Every time we bow the knee to a problem, we are in reality bowing down before Satan paying tribute to him because he is the author of all of our problems. Difficulties do not come from God and He does not use difficulties to correct us, but He will allow them to overcome us if we will not use our faith in Him to fight back against them. Problems are training devices used by Satan and nothing more. God made us greater than any problem that can confront us, but if we do not know who God is and that He is for us all the time, we will bow the knee before the problem and it will overcome us. If we understand why problems come, we will overcome all of them and be a better person for it. The Apostle Paul wrote his young protege Timothy and said to him, "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind." In that one verse of scripture, Paul tells us what we are in Christ Jesus and the way God sees us. We may see ourselves as being weak, but God made us a person of boldness, possessing power and gave us a sound mind that is greater in strength and power than anything the devil can throw against us.

 

In the Book of Judges chapter six beginning in verse eleven there is a man by the name of Gideon who was an Israelite that God had chosen to deliver His people from the hands of the Midianites, a group of people that had moved into Israel and were terrorizing God's people. Gideon was just as afraid of the terrorist as everyone else; and when the angel of God came looking for him, he found him hiding in a wine press. The angel of God said to Gideon, "The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor." This was the way God viewed Gideon, but not the way Gideon viewed himself. We know this is true by Gideon's response to the angel, "O my Lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us, and where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about?" Well, to make a long story short, Gideon finally understood that the way God saw him was the way he really was, and when he learned this valuable lesson, he saved Israel from the hand of the Midianite terrorist and became a judge over God's people. We, too, may be like Gideon and see ourselves one way, but God does not see us anyway but the way He made us, and that is a person to whom He has given a spirit of boldness, power, and a sound mind who will do exploits once we understand who we are in Christ Jesus.

 

Satan cannot come up with a problem that is so big we cannot defeat it if we will not give up and we come to understand that problems only come because God is working something out in our life that will strengthen us and make us draw closer to Him. God has a plan for our life, but it cannot come to fruition if we are not overcomers. The mission God has in store for us is not for the faint of heart. God's missions are only for the bold and daring who do not look at the number of the enemy facing us nor the weapons that are in their hand, but our eyes and our trust is in and upon the living God. I wrote the other day in a message entitled, "God of the Valley" where David in Psalm twenty-three said, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me." Though we may find ourselves in the valley of the shadow of death, we have nothing to fear. The valley of the shadow of death is the place where our enemies are going to meet our God. David told us while the enemy was preparing for his death, he was sitting down on the battlefield eating a banquet meal prepared for him by the Lord. This is not the picture of a man afraid, but the picture of a man full of confidence in the God he serves. OTBP

When we think of the midnight hour we think of the middle of the night when the sky is the darkest and evil is out in force to do things it doesn't dare do in the daylight hours. In the Book of Acts there is a story about Paul and Silas, two apostles of the Lord on a missionary trip to the city of Philippi in central asia. They been arrested for preaching the gospel and are now locked up deep inside the prison in what is referred to as the inner prison. To make sure they don't escape, the prison guard has placed their feet in stocks, a wooden device that prevents the prisoner from standing or moving about. They are sitting in the dark on the floor of the prison cell at the midnight hour singing songs of praise to the Lord God they serve. Just a few hours before they had been arrested and beaten with many stripes for preaching the gospel of the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and for setting a slave girl free of a fortune telling demon that possessed her. Most Christians about this time would be wondering, "Where is God in all of this?" "Why did God let this happen to me?" But, Paul and Silas knew where God was. He was right there in that stinking cell in the middle of the prison with them enjoying the praise and worship flowing out of their mouths so much so that when He couldn't contain Himself any longer, He began to dance, and danced so hard He caused an earthquake so severe that the very foundations of the prison were shaken and the chains on the other prisoners and the locks on their cell doors fell off and the prison doors sprung open.

 

[Acts 16:25-34] "But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened and every one's chains were loosed. And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, Do yourself no harm, for we are all here." Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. And he brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" So they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household." Then they spoke the Word of the Lord to him and and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes, and immediately he and all his family were baptized. Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household." What an amazing story of two Christians who understood that God is not far from us, ever. Wherever we are, He is there with us. The bible tells us, "He inhabits our praises." So if He inhabits our praises, He is as close to us as the words of our mouth.

 

I have always wondered, where were the demons that caused all of Paul and Silas' problems when the events listed above took place? If we look at the reaction of the unsaved jailer to the aforementioned events, we can see a picture of the reactions of the demons. When God showed up, the demons fled the area. They cannot stay in the presence of real praise and worship any more than darkness can stay around when light is present. If we could just understand that when we begin praising God, He comes on the scene and gets really personal with us. When we are in prayer and praise we are communing with or talking directly to God Almighty and when we talk directly to Him, loving on Him, He loves back. And when He loves back, He draws just as near to us as we do to Him. It is hard to hug and love on another person if you are not near them. So when we start loving on God, He starts loving back. And this is what we see taking place in the above story. Even though Paul and Silas were hurt, and locked in stocks behind locked prison doors, they were loving on God in their darkest hour, and when God showed up in that prison and started loving on them, the jailer and his family got saved. The story doesn't say, but I would be willing to bet some of the other prisoners got saved as well. Dear God, help us to understand how much we are loved and that you are never far from us at any time and especially during our times of trials. God was in the inner prison with Paul and Silas and whatever trial we might be going through, He is right there in the middle of it with us.

 

There is another story found in the Book of Daniel that tells us of three Hebrew boys who were about to be thrown head first into a fiery furnace for their belief in the Lord God of heaven unless they denied Him and bowed down before a heathen idol of a man. [Daniel 3:14-18] "Nebuchadnezzar, in rage and fury, gave the command to bring Shadrach, Meschach and Abed-Nego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the gold image which I have set up? Now if you are ready at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp. lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, and you fall down and worship the image which I have made, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnalce, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image you have set up. [Daniel 3:23-25] And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Then King Nebuchadnezzer was astonished; and he arose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, "Did we not cast three men bound into the mist of the fire?" They answered and said to the king, True, O king." Look! he answered, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. [Daniel 3:27-28] And the satraps, administrators, governors, and the king's counselors gathered together, and they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them. Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meschach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own!"

 

Let me tell you it takes guts to stand in the face of the enemy trusting in something you cannot see, hear, taste, smell or feel and speaking boldly of His greatness when the enemy is threatening to follow through with his evil plan to destroy you if you don't give up your faith in the living God and bow before him. The jailer in the first story of Paul and Silas in the Book of Acts and King Nebuchadnezzer in this story in the Book of Daniel learned that the living God is with His children wherever they might be. The devil knows God is with us, but we as Christians need to learn that God is with us and will do whatever is necessary to protect us when we need protecting even if it is in the inner sanctum of the worst prison, or in the fire of an overly heated furnace. God is with us and will see us through all of our difficulties. The second thing the Christian needs to understand is that trials come upon God's children so that God has the opportunity to show forth His power and strength to an unbelieving world. The Philippian jailer and his family got saved after God shook the foundation of the prison he was guarding, and Nebuchadnezzer, king of the greatest empire on earth at the time saw the power of God manifested right before his very eyes and immediately promoted Shadrach, Meschach, and Abed-Nego to fill high ranking cabinet positions in his government. Nebuchadnezzer may have been an idol worshipper, but when God showed up in the middle of that fiery furnace and protected His children to the point that their hair wasn't singed, nor did the smell of smoke get on their clothing, he quickly responded in a positive manner to that demonstration of power.

 

Isaiah writes in [Isaiah 43:1-4] "But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, (representing the children of Israel) And He who formed you, O Israel (representing God's children of all ages) Fear not, for I have redeemed you: I have called you by my name, Your are mine, When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned. Nor shall the flame scorch you, for I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place. Since you are precious in my sight. You have been honored, and I have loved you..." These few lines of scripture give us an overview of all the miraculous things God has done in the past and will do in the future to protect His children from the enemy who would destroy them. He did so because He said in the last line, "You have been honored, and I have loved you." Let us understand, He did these things not because we earned the right to them, but because He loves us and has chosen to honor us and protect us from the enemy who would destroy us. This kind of love goes far beyond our ability to understand, and He does so according to His great mercy through which we were saved. Why He chose us I do not know, but He did and that is all that matters, and I am extremely thankful that I was chosen, just as I am sure all of you are. Jesus said in [John 15:16-17], "You did not choose me, but I chose you and and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in my Name He may give you. These things I command you, that you love one another." OTBP

[Matthew 24:4-14] "And Jesus answered and said to them: "Take heed that no one deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am the Christ, and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nations will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there shall be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. And all these things are the beginning of sorrows. They they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise us and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come."

 

As Jesus tells us of events leading up to the end of time, He isn't painting a very pretty picture for His latter day saints. He begins His message with a warning, "Take heed that no one deceives you." This simple statement tells us there are going to be many people speaking things into this world during the time preceding this event that are designed to lead God's people away from the very truth He has given us to defend ourselves, and if we do not know what is happening when it comes into the world, we can be one of those that will be deceived. If Jesus didn't feel this warning was important, the warning would not have been at the beginning of His message, but rather in a less conspicuous place. Since it came at the beginning of His message, we would do well to read the whole passage concerning the end of times. If we want to avoid entering into the great tribulation period coming upon the whole world beginning in verse fifteen of this same chapter and continuing through verse thirty-one, we would do well to pay careful attention to His warning and try with all of our might to avoid this time in history. Unimaginable pain and suffering are upon the horizon for mankind because man has and is attempting to remove God from our lives by denying the Word of God which is the revelation He gave us of His Son.

 

God destroyed the world by water during the days of Noah because the people rejected Him as being God, and during the next phase of history His chosen people, the Jews, rejected His Son who came to save them and killed Him on an old rugged cross overlooking Jerusalem, the city of peace, and this last phase of history will make the rejection of God complete when the whole world rejects the Holy Spirit, thus rejecting God in His totality and receiving the damnation of God for not recognizing Him as being God throughout all the ages since time began. OTBP

[John 13:7] "What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this." Haven't we all been in this spot a few times in our Christian walk. I know there have been times when I didn't understand why certain things were happening to me. What I was experiencing just didn't make sense at the time, but as Jesus told His disciples in this scripture, "You will know after this." We suffer from limited intelligence and are slow of understanding about some things. So I have described this aspect of our life in this way; looking into the future we are as blind as bats, (limited intelligence) but, while looking back on past events our eye sight is twenty-twenty. We can look back into our past and see clearly where we made mistakes and then turn right around and make the same mistakes again. (slow of understanding) This is what Jesus is telling His disciples is going to take place in this scripture. They presently do not understand what He is doing to them, nor the reason for it, but they will at some time in the future. Jesus didn't do anything without a reason, and nothing in life just happens. Everything that happens to us is a life lesson to be learned from. In this particular instance Jesus is teaching on the importance of servitude and the setting for the life lesson takes place in the upper room of the house owned by the mother of John Mark, one of Jesus' teen age disciples. Jesus is moving from one disciple to another washing their feet when He comes to His brash disciple, Simon Peter. Peter says to the Lord, "Lord, are you (intending to wash my feet) washing my feet?" Jesus says to him, "What I am dong now you do not understand, but you will know after this." To which Peter replies, "You shall never wash my feet!" Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no part with me." To which Peter replied, "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!" Jesus said to him, "He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you." For he knew who would betray Him; therefore He said, You are not all clean." So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one anothers feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them." [John 13:7-17]

 

Most of us are a lot more like Simon Peter in this story than we like to think. We want to be buddy buddy with the next fellow, but when it comes to serving them, we draw the line. Simon Peter did not want the one person he looked up to more than any other person on this earth to wash his feet. His attitude was that what Jesus was doing was below Simon Peter's expectation of Him. Jesus was a great man who performed great deeds, but washing another person's feet was not greatness in the eyes of Simon Peter, but Jesus was telling him, "Peter, if you want to be a great leader, learn to serve others." Simon Peter's thoughts were that leaders made decisions and led by command, but Jesus was teaching them that leaders lead by example more-so than by words. It would take a few more months before the disciples learned this lesson, but Simon Peter did learn it, and learned it well. Peter, after learning this very important life lesson on servitude would go on to become the Apostle to the Jews and eventually die for his beliefs in his service to the Lord. Servants perform services for another, and Peter learned what it meant to serve, to be available for service when called upon, and this is the understanding Jesus desires for all of us to arrive at. "If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one anothers feet." Jesus concluded His teaching on servant hood with theses words, "If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them." Each of us want to be great, but we fail to understand what it takes to be great. Greatness doesn't come by assuming control. Greatness comes from being an example and living life in such a manner that others want to follow your lead. This was the lesson Jesus was teaching His disciples on this day. He wasn't asking His disciples to go around washing other people's feet as was thought for so long in some churches, but rather how to become a servant, and how to be an example of a godly person living in an ungodly world. OTBP