Choices
Does this thought ever come into your thinker; I wonder if
what I just read in Scripture is taking place in my time on earth? Often in the gospels Jesus claimed that He
and the Father are One, and this we know about God; He changes not, in fact a
modern song sung in church is “You are God Alone” and the lyrics go like this: “You are God alone from before time began You were
on Your throne, You're God alone And right now, in the good times and bad You
are on Your throne and You're God alone, Unchangeable Unshakable, Unstoppable,
That's what You are.” Phillips Craig & Dean
In that I lack much in the understanding of the English
language, I’ve come to understand that the meaning of words is essential to any
communication, so when I ran across the word “Immutability” and wanted to
define it for the few like me who need such help. Immutability: unchanging or
unchangeable. That would not describe
our culture for it is ever changing; in fact, many today are looking for
something that does not change. The
Psalmist had this to say about immutability; “Of old you laid the foundation of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will remain; they
will all wear out like a garment. You
will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but you are the same, and your years have no end. (Psalm 102;25-27 ESV) The Holy Spirit said this, “Jesus Christ is
the same yesterday and today and forever.”
(Hebrews 13:8 ESV) as He spoke thought the author of Hebrews. And just incase you are in need of more
information, go to Malachi 3:6, “For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of
Jacob, are not consumed.” (Malachi 3:6 ESV) Yesterday pastor Will Steven’s topic was
Choices, and his Scripture was Luke 8:26-38, and as often my mind or what I
choose to believe the Spirit taking my mind in a direction that was not the
same as the speaker. Let me be quick to
state that I was also able to stay with the message and it was very useful and
the Spirit showed me application for my life.
If we began in Luke 8:22, we would see Jesus getting into a
boat with His disciples and telling them to go to the other side, and then
Jesus went to sleep. At some point a
windstorm came on them and they were in danger and in fear they awoke Jesus and
He commanded the wind to be still, and if you had been in the boat would you
have thought any different. We are told
they marveled, saying even the winds and water obey him. So they sailed to the country of the
Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee.
And a man of that city who had demons met them and this is Dr. Luke’s
account of what took place. “When Jesus had
stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a
long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the
tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a
loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I
beg you, do not torment me.” (Luke
8:27-28 ESV) We must clarify a few
things, Jesus did not have an advance team that went before him as Billy Graham
and other evangelists that we know about in our modern times, but have no doubt
the demons living in this man knew who got out of that boat. “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High
God? I beg you, do not torment me.” The
demons understood authority, and they were in fear, for they knew Jesus had all
authority over them. Picking up the
account in verse 30, “Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. And
they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. Now a large herd
of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him to let them
enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man
and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and
drowned.”
A man is restored to being a man, free from demons that had
destroyed his manhood, and it was done at the exchange of a large herd of pigs
and pigs being smarter than man made a choice to die before allowing demons to
live in them. And the people of that
area were happy because now one of their sons, one of their neighbors was
restored, a sound man, but that is not what happened, they were in fear of a
man who had authority and ask him to leave.
And guess what, Jesus left! Now
these thoughts came into my thinker, and I choose to believe that the Spirit
put them into my mind. Is God
unchangeable, and my reply is yes, Scripture is clear on that issue. Then will Jesus leave in the same way if our
nation ask Him to, and I believe the answer is yes.
Just a few weeks back, one of my neighbors and I were having
that conversation and I told her that I was concerned that God would do what
our nation was asking him to do. And so
she bit and said what is that? My reply
was to leave; to stay out of our schools, and our government, and so much more,
and her reply was, I sure hope you are wrong. In the
last few days I’ve listened to a report that states why the USA is in so much
trouble, this is a summation of what was said: “Middle Class White folks are moving from self-reliance to
dependency on government. He gave study after study to show how this has
caused us to get to this point. He talks about the moral bankruptcy but
not once does he address the real cause, the spiritual bankruptcy of our
nation. Not once did he address
how our pastors and leaders and we the people have sat quietly while evil men
and women changed our laws to disallow God’s authority over our nation. Now we have told God to butt out of our
schools and our government, and we have made a choice, and I believe God who is
the same today, as He was yesterday has honored our choice.
Now
let me return to Pastor Will’s beginning Scripture, because this Scripture is
not addressing the demon possessed, nor evil Politicians, nor the growing
numbers of atheist in our culture, but it is addressing those who believe in
Christ. “So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed
him, “If
you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth,
and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32 ESV) It is our time to choose, will we serve and
believe God or will we send Jesus away?
From
the Back Porch,
Bob
Rice
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