NO MORE SOUR GRAPES....OUR ACTIONS DO MATTER

MAY 7, 2019

I AM BLESSED TO START EVERY WEEK OFF WITH A FELLOWSHIP TIME WITH AN AMAZING GROUP OF BROTHERS. WE ARE ALL DIFFERENT, FROM OUR AGES, TO OUR CAREERS, TO OUR FAMILIES, TO OUR PLACE ON LIFE’S JOURNEY. WE HAVE ALL COME FROM DIFFERENT CIRCUMSTANCES OF LIFE, OUR CHOICES, AND THE PATHS WE HAVE FOUND OURSELVES ON. ARE DIFFERENT, AND YET….I LOVE THESE GUYS WITH ALL MY HEART. WHAT WE SHARE TOGETHER IS A DEEP LOVE FOR GOD. A DEEP DESIRE TO HAVE A DEEPER PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD. WE DO A SCRIPTURE READING, AND THEN, DEEP DISCUSSION ABOUT WHAT IT MEANS. HOW DOES IT RELATE TO OUR LIVES ? MOST IMPORTANTLY, WE SHARE SALVATION IN JESUS. WE ARE HIS, AND WE WORSHIP HIM, PRAISE HIM, PRAYING DEEPLY FOR THOSE IN OUR LIVES WHO NEED HIS LOVE AND HELP. AND WE GET REAL WITH EACH OTHER. WE BARE OUR STRUGGLES, OUR VULNERABILITIES, AND WE SHARPEN EACH OTHER. WE MAKE EACH OTHER BETTER. WE LEARN, WE SHARE, WE TEST, WE PONDER, WE TEACH, WE QUESTION, AND IN THE END, WE ARE STRONGER AND MORE COMPLETE AS MEN.

TODAY OUR THREE READINGS FROM SCRIPTURE WERE GENESIS, ISAIAH, AND GALATIANS. IT WAS A DISCUSSION ABOUT ABRAHAM, HIS WIFE SARAH, HER HANDMAIDEN HAGAR, AND HIS SONS ISHMAEL AND ISSAC. LOOKING AT HOW THESE SONS WERE BORN, THE DIFFERENCE IN THEIR MAKEUP, AND HOW THEY COULD BE SO DIFFERENT. AS OUR DISCUSSION CONTINUED, WE TALKED ABOUT HOW THE INFLUENCE OF ONE GENERATION COULD HAVE ENORMOUS EFFECT ON SEVERAL OF THE FOLLOWING GENERATIONS. AND WE ENDED UP IN EZEKIEL, AND “SOUR GRAPES”.

THE WORD OF ADONAI CAME TO ME SAYING, “WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY USING THIS PROVERB IN THE LAND OF ISRAEL SAYING, ‘ THE FATHERS HAVE EATEN SOUR GRAPES, SO THE CHILDRENS TEETH ARE SET ON EDGE'“. AS I LIVE, IT IS A DECLARATION OF ADONAI; “YOU WILL NEVER AGAIN USE THIS PROVERB IN ISRAEL, BEHOLD, EVERY LIVING SOUL IS MINE- THE SOUL OF THE FATHER AS WELL AS THE SOUL OF THE SON-BOTH ARE MINE. BEHOLD, THE SOUL WHO SINS IS THE ONE WHO WILL DIE”. Ezekiel 181-4

IT SEEMS FOR MEN, OFTEN WE FOLLOW IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF OUR FATHERS. OFTEN THIS CAN HAVE GOOD CONNOTATION, BUT SOMETIMES IT CAN BE THE OPPOSITE. WHAT A MOM OR DAD IS LIKE, WHAT THEY TEACH, AND WHAT THEIR VALUES AND CHARACTER ARE LIKE CAN OFTEN SET THE STAGE FOR WHAT THEIR SON OR DAUGHTERS CAN BECOME RIGHT ? WELL, WHAT GOD’S MESSAGE TO EZEKIEL TELLS US IS THAT GOD GIVES EACH OF US THE CHOICE TO CHOOSE WHO WE WILL BE, ACCORDING TO OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM. WE ARE HIS. NO ONE NEEDS TO BE TRAPPED INTO A LIFESTYLE JUST BECAUSE THEY GREW UP IN IT. WE CAN ALL CHOOSE TO TRUST IN GOD TO LEAD US, AND AS WE GROW INTO A DEEP PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM, WE CAN BE LIKE HIM !

NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE IN LIFE, GOD CAN MAKE YOUR LIFE MUCH MORE COMPLETE IF YOU BUILD A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM !

I OFTEN WONDER WHEN I COME ACROSS PEOPLE WHO REJECT GOD, AND THEY VILIFY HIS WORD, IF THEY HAVE EVER WANTED TO OPEN THEIR HEART AND MIND TO THE POSSIBILITY THAT THERE MIGHT ACTUALLY BE JUST A LITTLE MORE TO WHO THEY ARE ? OR WHO THEY COULD BE ? ULTIMATELY BECOMING MORE INTERESTED IN HOW THEIR ACTIONS MIGHT LIFT OTHERS UP, AND PLANT SEEDS OF HOPE AND JOY ALL AROUND THEM ? ARE WE SHOWING THOSE AROUND US THAT PICTURE, OR ARE WE BEING HYPOCRITICAL ? ARE WE BEING LAZY IN OUR TIME AND EFFORT EVEN IN OUR OWN PLACE OF FAITH ? ARE WE ACTING JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE, WITH SELF FOCUS, MAYBE GOSSIP, MAYBE ENGAGING ACTIONS THAT SEEM CONTRARY TO GOD’S PICTURE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS ? I THINK WE ARE ALL LESS THAN WE WOULD LIKE TO BE AT TIMES…..

WELL, NO MORE SOUR GRAPES ! WHEREVER WE ARE, WE CAN MAKE A CHOICE TO GIVE GOD A CHANCE. WE CAN CHANGE OUR ACTIONS FROM WHERE WE ARE, TO WHERE WE WANT TO BE. RESULTS ARE SO OFTEN DETERMINED BY HOW MUCH EFFORT WE PUT INTO SOMETHING, AND EFFORT IS ALWAYS ABOUT HOW MUCH SOMETHING WE ARE DOING OR PURSUING MEANS TO US. I KNOW ONE THING FOR SURE ABOUT MY LIFE….GOD LOVES ME UNCONDITIONALLY, AND HE WANTS ONLY THE BEST FOR ME. HE IS AN AWESOME FATHER, AND I LOVE MY TIME WITH HIM IN PRAYER, STUDY, AND JUST BEING CLOSE. MY FINAL THOUGHT COMES FROM A QUESTION I OFTEN HEAR FROM PEOPLE WHO HAVE A HARD TIME BELIEVING GOD IS REAL. “REALLY, HOW CAN YOU BELIEVE IN A GOD YOU CAN’T SEE, OR TOUCH, OR TALK TO FACE TO FACE” ?

MY ANSWER ? I SEE HIM EVERYWHERE, IN EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE AROUND ME. I TALK TO HIM ALL THE TIME, ALL DAY LONG. WE SHARE THE BIG THINGS, AND EVEN THE SMALLEST PIECES OF EACH DAY. HE CAPTIVATES MY HEART AND MY MIND. I FEEL HIS PRESENCE AND HIS LOVE IN ALL I AM, AND IN ALL I DO. AND THE BEST THING I CAN TELL YOU IS SO CAN YOU. IT STARTS WITH A CONVERSATION. “HEY GOD, ARE YOU REAL, CAN YOU HEAR ME”? OPEN YOUR HEART, AND HEAR HIS VOICE, OPEN YOUR MIND AND SEE HIS PLAN, OPEN YOUR LIFE AND FEEL HIS LOVE :)

BEHOLD, I STAND AT THE DOOR AND KNOCK. IF ANYONE SHOULD HEAR MY VOICE AND OPEN THE DOOR, THEN I WILL COME IN TO HIM, AND WILL DINE WITH HIM, AND HE WITH ME. Revelation 3:20

MAY YOU OPEN THE DOOR AND FIND LIFE. JA