Corrected by God

Forgive Me.

Heb 13:2  Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

Heb 13:3  Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.

Forgive Me.

1Jn 3:17  But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?

How?  God's love cannot dwell in a heart that is closed to compassion.

1Jn 3:18  My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

Love in DEED.  It's better than saying you love. It's easy to say you love someone with your Christian love, but is your love revealed in action?

1Jn 3:19  And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.

Loving in ACTION.  This is TRUTH!  All my words mean NOTHING! NOTHING! I must love in my actions!

1Jn 3:20  For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.

THANK YOU GOD for being GREATER than my heart!

1Jn 3:21  Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.

Truly IF we confidence toward GOD when our hearts are not condemned. Truly we cannot have confidence towards God if our heart is condemning up beyond any shred of hope. GOD is our hope! We CANNOT have hope outside of GOD. GOD will do all things, we can do NOTHING to save ourselves. Our confidence is sorely misplaced if it is with ourselves.

1Jn 3:22  And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

We make the choice to KEEP GOD'S COMMANDMENTS.

We make the choice to DO THOSE THINGS THAT ARE PLEASING IN HIS SIGHT.

Keep and Do- two actions we must choose, and will choose if our CONFIDENCE is towards GOD.  He will work through us.

1Jn 3:23  And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.

1Jn 3:24  And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.

Do we keep the commandment to believe on the name of God's Son Jesus Christ?

Do we keep the commandment to love one another?

Believe and Love.

Keep and Do.

He abides in us by the SPIRIT He gives us.

Joh 14:26  But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

Joh 14:27  Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

The Holy Spirit will bring ALL things to our remembrance.  The Holy Spirit will bring our need to believe God, Believe in God's Son Jesus Christ, and our need to love one another.  When we might be tempted to be unloving, the Holy Spirit will convict our hearts! The Holy Spirit will teach us, and as we know in the realm of the flesh sometimes learning lessons isn't easy and we need to learn them over and over again constantly studying, constantly taking refresher courses, constantly being tested.  We are being taught by the Holy Spirit and we cannot DESPISE the chastening of the Lord!

Job_5:17  Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty

Pro_3:11  My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction

Heb_12:5  And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him

Heb_12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

Heb_12:11  Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby

A teacher often corrects a student, why? Because the student doesn't have all the answers but must be taught the answers.  Sometimes we learn better through mistakes we've made, they bring the lesson home harder than if we'd not made a mistake.  Being corrected by God through the Holy Spirit sent to us by the Savior Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son - this is what we need and should NOT despise.

Perhaps rather than being upset because of our error being pointed out to us, rather than being upset because we are shown our sinfulness more and more we need to praise God, look outward away from our self to the God who is correcting us so wonderfully.  No, our chastening isn't joyous, it is grievous, but we must ENDURE it as we are sons of GOD. We cannot get tired of being corrected as we are prone to do if we look at God's correcting as our just being shown over and over again how awful we are, and we don't want to recognize our awfulness. We need to recognize our unworthiness, knowing our worth is ONLY found in GOD.  We would have the peaceable fruit of CHRIST'S righteousness!

By the Grace of our LORD, by HIS mercy, His everlasting love now and always in His name, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior now and forever!

AMEN.

Our faith stands in the power of God

Enticing words of man's wisdom…. 

We get so caught up in the words of mankind and their supposed wisdom.  I couldn't speak eloquently not even if my life depended upon my doing so. I have little to NO charisma, that special charm some people seem to ooze so that others are drawn to liking them even if logic tells them they've no real reason to do so. I've met eloquent people and for the most part they intimidate me because of their ability to speak in ways I can't fathom ever speaking. I've met people that by a mere glance I'm all but captivated by their charisma and it amazes me. We all know these sorts of people, and some of us are those sorts of people but bottom line- that ability to speak eloquently and the ability to charm people in a special way is not necessarily from God.  We like to believe the pastors, preachers, ministers, priests and so on and so forth who have been blessed with these gifts all have them from God and are being used for His will, but the truth is, the majority are probably NOT using their gifts for God's will but for their own.  No, I will NEVER judge them ALL or condemn ANY of them, that's not my place. What I think I'm trying to say here is we that we need to be very, very careful of falling into the trap of eloquence and charisma thinking these men and women are God's just because they have those qualities in abundance.  There are preachers who gain great followings preaching FALSE religion. Their untruths are so sugar coated that people don't even want to think for a moment they could be following someone who is deceiving them.   Do we WANT truth?  If we want truth and not someone to sooth our ears, and make us feel good then God will give us truth. If we simply want to hold fast to something that will appease our conscience the devil has all sorts of lies set up to do just that. 

Paul said this…

1Co 2:1  And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.

1Co 2:2  For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

1Co 2:3  And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.

1Co 2:4  And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:

1Co 2:5  That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

He was with them in WEAKNESS, he was with them in FEAR, he was with them in much TREMBLING, he spoke NO enticing words of man's wisdom, this is the truth. 

The SPIRIT and POWER OF GOD- this is truth, not our wisdom, not in our attributes whatever they may be!

Our faith needs to stand ONLY in the power of GOD and no other.

Our faith needs to stand when we have NO man to preach to us of worldly wisdom.

We need to hear the words of the SPIRIT not man's words!

The power of GOD.

Mat_22:29  Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.

Luk_22:69  Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God.

Rom_1:16  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

1Co_1:18  For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

1Co_1:24  But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

2Co_13:4  For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you.

2Ti 1:8  Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God

1Pe 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

1Pe 1:4  To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,

1Pe 1:5  Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

THE POWER OF GOD- JESUS CHRIST-THE GOSPEL-SALVATION IN OUR SAVIOR!  The power of GOD- JESUS!

Redeemed by God, Condemned by Man

Christians are called fools, and some can be.

Christians are call delusional, and some are.

Christians are thrown in a single group and condemned by the name Christian.

Christians are sinners, some of the worst sinners.

Christians are humans, made of flesh and subject to fleshy lusts.

Christians can excel, or fail.

Christians can be evil.

The thing is…  I am a Christian and to me the cross is everything, the cross is the power of God.  Just because there are FALSE Christians, evil loving Christians, Christians who are fools, Christians who are delusional, Christians who live for their flesh lusts, JUST BECAUSE they exist does not mean there are not TRUE Christians!

You can call Christians evil, no one can stop you. You can call me evil.  You can call me and my beliefs foolish I cannot stop you and won't try to stop you. I was told that it would happen…

1Co 1:18  For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

This is truth. 

1Co 1:19  For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.

1Co 1:20  Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

1Co 1:21  For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

1Co 1:22  For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:

1Co 1:23  But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;

1Co 1:24  But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

1Co 1:25  Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

1Co 1:26  For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

1Co 1:27  But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

1Co 1:28  And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:

1Co 1:29  That no flesh should glory in his presence.

1Co 1:30  But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

1Co 1:31  That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

I glory in GOD!

I will not glory in myself, of myself I am nothing. I lay claim to nothing good in me on my own. Christ alone is all things for me, He is any of the good that may appear in me.  Christ is my Redeemer!

By His GRACE I live.

In His name always and forever!

Amen.

Dust

Gen 3:19  In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Before man was created- he did NOT exist. Before the dust was formed into man- he did NOT exist! The dust was formed and then the BREATH of God was given to man so he would live, the dust would come to life.  Man would return to dust, the breath would go back to God.  

God did NOT take a spirit being and put it inside a body.  No spirit body will live after the body returns to dust. No intelligent being was put into the body made of dust. The body was given the ability to live and it is that life that gives it the intelligence. Once dead the intelligence is gone.

Psa 146:4  His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

Psa 104:29  Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.

Gen 2:7  And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Job 14:10  But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?

gâva‛

gaw-vah'

A primitive root; to breathe out, that is, (by implication) expire: - die, be dead, give up the ghost, perish.

NOT GHOST as we imagine ghost to be- but BREATH -  giving UP our breath.

Job 17:1  My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves are ready for me.

Job 27:3  All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils

Ecc 12:7  Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

Job 7:21  And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take away mine iniquity? for now shall I sleep in the dust; and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be.

So much points to there being a finality of thought, of communication, of living in any way remotely as we do now- able to speak, to know, to do anything at all after we die.  The spirit part of us is the spirit God gives to us and Jesus living in us through that spirit, it isn't us stripped of our flesh and filled with knowledge able to communicate and live on and on and on without end ever.

We fool ourselves when we choose to believe our intelligence lives on after death when so much tells us otherwise.  We know evil spirits (angels) can portray human beings to others. We know evil people will try to bring these evil spirits (angels) to convince others that their dead loved ones are alive just in another form.

Where is the penalty in sin if disobeying God simply means being stripped of our flesh and living as a spirit being? How many people would prefer that life to this?  How many would think God only blessing us when He allows us to die as young as possible? Death is a punishment, it is that way throughout the Bible. Death is something Job begged for to be released from his suffering because he knew he would be fleshless and without all ability to think and know anything in death. The solace death offers is an end to our thoughts entirely on every level there is. Death is a SLEEP.  By the grace of God, death is just a sleep!  God is able to restore to the dead their bodies made incorruptible and their ability to know things, their intelligence, their spirit the part of Him He has given them restored but ONLY in the last day, after the last trump sounds then and ONLY then will the dead in Christ rise and be given new bodies, new flesh unable to deteriorate. 

Death is a punishment because as soon as we die any opportunity we have for eternal life has been decided and we've NO more opportunity to choose to be saved by the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

Death is a punishment because we leave behind all those who love us to keep on living but without us.

Death is a punishment because there are two deaths.

Rev_2:11  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

Rev_20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Rev_20:14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

The second death is the death that all the wicked who have died in sin, who have died unrepentant, who have died without God, who had died unforgiven because they sought no forgiveness, these all will die the final death from which there is no resurrection because it will be as if they never ever existed.

Sin and all sorrow will be wiped away after the second death.

What harm is believing we shed our flesh and go on to live intelligently with all our memories and the supernatural ability to view our relatives and friends still in their flesh on? It lulls us into believing the first lie ever told to mankind- 'you shall not surely die'

Gen_3:4  And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die

Did she die?

Yes.

Did she die right then?

No.

Satan would have us believe that because Eve did not die instantaneously that what he said was true.  And Satan goes a step further and wants us to believe that death is no punishment at all, but simply a new way of living. 

I've talked about it before but I cannot stop talking about it, not ever, because people are deceived. People are caught up in the lies that are far from harmless.

Our loved ones are sleeping and they will awake either to life everlasting or death forever, to non-existence.  Their sleep is peaceful because we know all their thoughts cease. 

Their ultimate fate is in God's hands and we who remain can only hope and pray they are God's, that they've chosen to be His and God has saved them through the sacrifice of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Amen.

Jesus knew

Joh 7:14  Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught.

Joh 7:15  And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?

Joh 7:16  Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.

Joh 7:17  If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.

Joh 7:18  He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.

Our Savior was NOT a scholar according to man's way of learning. Our Savior had NO formal education. Our Savior was NOT sent away to study. Our Savior did NOT study in the synagogues as one interested in becoming a teacher.

We know this--

Luk 2:42  And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast.

Luk 2:43  And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it.

Luk 2:44  But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance.

Luk 2:45  And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him.

Luk 2:46  And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions.

Luk 2:47  And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.

Luk 2:48  And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.

Luk 2:49  And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?

Luk 2:50  And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them.

At twelve years of age Jesus went into the temple at Jerusalem and sat among the doctors - men of great learning- and He listened to them and answered the questions they had of Him.  These men of learning were ASTONISHED at the understanding Jesus possessed. They were ATONISHED by the answers He gave them.  Learned men astonished by Jesus at twelve years old. And yet Jesus had not been given any education into the things they talked about.  It wasn't COMMON for a boy of twelve to have the understanding and answers Jesus had. And Jesus had no real reason for His knowledge, no earthly reason. No one could understand, no one could comprehend this strange occurrence yet Jesus Himself understood. Jesus knew. And we know…

Joh 7:15  And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?

Joh 7:16  Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me

Jesus' truth, Jesus' teachings ALL came from His Father, God in Heaven. God, who by decree sent God who became the Son in flesh to earth. Jesus' knowledge was given to Him supernaturally.  Those who had the opportunity to hear Jesus speak were amazed and some believed, but more found excuses NOT to believe.

Joh 8:47  He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.

Joh 8:48  Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?

Joh 8:49  Jesus answered, I have not a devil; but I honour my Father, and ye do dishonour me.

People will NOT hear, they will claim Jesus a devil and all things in between. And what I mean by that is, people will choose not to believe at all, they will choose to believe in a Jesus they make up - giving him attributes that please them attributes they can live with, without having to give up their cherished sins, they coveted self.

Jesus had knowledge He had NO EARTHLY right in knowing!  There was NO LOGICAL way for Jesus at twelve or thirty to know the things He knew! Logic, man's LOGIC means NOTHING in the face of GOD!

All of mankind can talk about logic, about sense, about intelligence, about science all they want to and it ALL means NOTHING, truly nothing without GOD.  God CREATED them! God created those men of logic, of sense, of intelligence, of science! And what do those men do? They deny God even exists.

Joh 7:18  He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.

People heap glory upon themselves when they choose to believe their ideas, their thoughts, their beliefs are superior to God. 

Please Father God, please keep us in YOU, keep us seeking YOUR glory! PLEASE!

 In the name of Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, now and forever and ever, AMEN!

No more curse

Rev 22:1  And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

Rev 22:2  In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

Rev 22:3  And there shall be NO MORE CURSE: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:

Rev 22:4  And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.

Rev 22:5  And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

The future.

No more curse.

What curse?

Gen 2:16  And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

Gen 2:17  But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

(Curse- eat this and die.)

Gen 3:14  And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

Gen 3:15  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

(Satan's form cursed (snake) ).

(Satan told that between him and God's people there would be an enmity, also between the seed of God's people (JESUS) who would KILL Satan by bruising his head, even though Satan would be allowed to bruise Jesus' heel (crucify Him).

Gen 3:16  Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

(Cursed- sorrow in conception, sorrow in bringing forth children, and a husband would rule over the wife.)

Gen 3:17  And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

Gen 3:18  Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

Gen 3:19  In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

(Cursed- man because he listened to his wife and NOT God. The ground would be cursed- in sorrow man would eat of the produce the ground would give- work, hard work to live.  Cursed in dying- returning to dust.)

Deu 27:26  Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen

God gave LAWS to follow and those who don't follow are cursed.

Deu 11:26  Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;

Deu 11:27  A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day:

Deu 11:28  And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.

Deu 29:20  The LORD will not spare him, but then the anger of the LORD and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven.

Jer 11:3  And say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant,

Jer 11:4  Which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Obey my voice, and do them, according to all which I command you: so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God

Gal 3:10  For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

Gal 3:11  But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.

When we read this --

Rev 22:3  And there shall be NO MORE CURSE

We comprehend that until the New Heaven and New Earth come into existence, the curse still exists.  Until the very last unrepentant sinner is gone, and Satan and all his evil angels gone with them, the curse exists.  The curse disappears when sin and all sinners are gone.  Sin is gone when there is NO one left to break the laws of God which are written in the hearts and minds of His people.  

The choice will have been made by all and those who choose salvation through Jesus Christ, will have made a permanent choice. 

We all know what a permanent choice is, we make them all the time. A choice you cannot make over again, the consequences of it are irreversible. Sometimes these choices are wonderful, amazing choices and we'd never want to reverse our choice. And sometimes we make the wrong choices and  we wish we could reverse our decision, our choice.

There will be a permanent choice made by all of us at some point in our lives before we die, or before our Savior returns. That choice will either be for eternal life through Christ, or for eternal death, eternal nothingness, eternal never being.

There will be NO more curse, PRAISE GOD! May we live in that time, in that new world in Jesus Christ!

By HIS grace always!

In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, now and FOREVER!

Amen.

We need to recognize our self-serving.

1Ki 21:20  And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? And he answered, I have found thee: because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the LORD.

1Ki 21:21  Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy posterity, and will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel,

1Ki 21:22  And will make thine house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the provocation wherewith thou hast provoked me to anger, and made Israel to sin.

1Ki 21:23  And of Jezebel also spake the LORD, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.

1Ki 21:24  Him that dieth of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat.

1Ki 21:25  But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.

1Ki 21:26  And he did very abominably in following idols, according to all things as did the Amorites, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.

1Ki 21:27  And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.

1Ki 21:28  And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,

1Ki 21:29  Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days: but in his son's days will I bring the evil upon his house.

Working evil.

To work evil is to work contrary to the love of God- which is loving Him and loving Others.  So many live simply to serve self. In the above passage Ahab a king of Israel desired a vineyard that someone else owned. He told the man to give it to him in exchange for money or another vineyard, but the man refused him and this upset the king who wanted it for a garden because it was next to his palace.  Telling all this to his wife, the wife decided that through deceit, false accusation, and murder of the vineyard owner that her husband the king would have this vineyard.

All this was the work of EVIL. All this was the work of self- serving. Some might argue that the wife of the king was serving her king when she arranged the evil, but she was serving self not Him. By giving her husband something he desired she hoped to please him and in pleasing him she would heap accolades upon herself- the end of her evil was self-serving.

After all that evil unfolded (and so much more evil over the course of their lives), a prophet of God revealed to the king and his wife that PUNISHMENT would befall them for their evil. 

What did the king do upon hearing his fate from the prophet of God?

He rent his clothes, he put on sackcloth, he fasted, and he lay down in sackcloth and went softly. 

The king HUMBLED himself before God.

The king knew he was evil and didn't try to talk himself out of the punishment he so justly deserved. He didn't make excuses for his evil. He didn't continue in the evil. He HUMBLED himself.  He denied himself the luxuries of his position. He was a king with all the amenities of a king. He had the best clothes, the best food, the softest beds, and the authority to be as commanding as he desired ordering all those around him to do his bidding.  Instead of embracing all the things so readily available to him, he gave them up. He didn't wear his kingly robes, he didn't eat of his bounty, he didn't tout his authority- but rather he humbled himself before GOD be such self-denial.

Are we to humble ourselves before God?

Ahab the king humbled himself and for this God gave him more time, his punishment was not instantaneous, he was given a stay.  He would receive his pronounced punishment but not just then.  By humbling himself in TRUTH and SINCERITY, because any falsehood in his humbling would have been known of God, Ahab altered God's judgement upon him as  to WHEN the judgement would take place.  And WHO among us would not consider that a blessing, to receive a temporary stay of execution, no matter how truly the execution is deserved?

We are told by our SAVIOR-

Mat_18:4  Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Mat_23:12  And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

We are told by the HOLY SPIRIT-

Jas_4:6  But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

Jas_4:10  Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

1Pe_5:5  Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble

1Pe_5:6  Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time

Ahab humbled himself by DENYING himself, why do we imagine we don't need to deny ourselves anything? Why do we believe we deserve all we can get through work, gifts, or in any way and these things are our rights to exploit as we please? We tell ourselves it's crazy to deny ourselves things available to us.  We tell ourselves God would NOT want us to deny ourselves anything and we BELIEVE ourselves. We excuse away any reason for self-sacrifice, and we even tell ourselves we don't know how to humble ourselves. We don't comprehend how we are in modern times to array ourselves in sackcloth, to fast, to go softly. And truthfully, maybe we need to deny ourselves MODERN things.  To exalt ourselves in our THINGS, our possessions, to turn our heart only to ourselves is not humbling ourselves. 

Do we truly know any longer what self-denial is?  Do we imagine it is denying ourselves luxuries because we have to use our money for something that isn't a luxury? Do we believe it is not buying ourselves something we want and can afford?  Do we believe it is passing up a dessert? Do we believe when we allow another driver to move ahead of us, letting them out into traffic that we are humbling ourselves?

I'm NOT saying some of those things are NOT humbling ourselves because they can be. We need life changing humbling and by the grace of God He will teach us how we are to do this in our modern lives. We have to do this - we are told to HUMBLE OURSELVES, we are told Ahab humbled himself. We have to choose to be humble in a real way because any false humbling is known of God to be anything but humbling.

When we think that our life's pursuit is our OWN happiness, our OWN desires, our OWN self-serving, we have lost sight of GOD and God's love!  Yet in our world today this is exactly what we believe from our childhood on up, some might say from birth to the grave and they wouldn't be far off because sin will reign in all of us- self-serving will reign in all of us if we do not humble ourselves before God and seek forgiveness, repenting, and turning to God and God's ways.  Recognizing our self-serving in all its insidious ways and choosing to humble ourselves rather than serve self, this is what we need.  We can only hope and pray that we are able to sincerely humble ourselves and be used in God's service rather than our own.

All by the grace and mercy of our Savior may this be so.

In the name of our SAVIOR, Jesus Christ our Lord, now and FOREVER! Amen.