September 12, 2020

 Good morning

Yesterday was 9/11. What a sad time in America. I found myself thinking back and remembering my deployment to the middle east. I was serving my first year in the United States Army and I was eating breakfast when the events of 9/11 hit the news. My Non-commission and commissioned officers reveal to us that we were being shipped out immediately. I had to say goodbye to my car, my family, my home. Whatever did not fit into an army duffel bag had to be left in Fort Campbell Kentucky. We were the first soldiers deployed. We had to live in tents and we established a supply system as well as good living conditions. The soldiers today have it easy but we had to make way.  The memory will always stay with me. 

I happen to glance at yesterday post and it is not showing the entire chapter so today will be a double post. I am going to complete the book of acts by Sunday. Starting on Monday; I want to dive into prophecy. Basically the books labeled the major prophets. 

I am a person who has always had dreams, visions, and sight. Even as a child I would experience dreams that troubled me. I wanted to know what do they mean. Sometimes God warns me. People don't always listen so I keep things to myself but God does warn us. He uses nature. He uses animals. He uses dreams. He uses circumstances. He can send the dream to an ungodly person and it can be troubling that they need an answer. What does it mean?

As an adult I have learn that the mind can also be faulty and we can be tainted. So as we dive into the major prophetic books I want to focus on the voice of God. Everything that drops into our mind may not be from God. I think it takes years of studying and learning to learn what is God and what is self? 

For example we get mad at people and we think negative about them. It does not mean that God is mad at them. Secondly I want to focus on the lifestyle of the prophets. Where did they find themselves. We have to look at circumstances. 

It is September and we have covered many books. Can you agree on one thing we have learned........... the devil will do anything to stop God. But if we think on the book of Acts and the gospels God is one step ahead of the devil. God never reveals his entire plan and he is always aware and active against Satan and his devices. 

But as we look at the prophets we are going to witness what happens when they speak the word of God. Basically they are going to find themselves in trials and tribulation. It is natural for the enemy to be upset and mad because he wants to block man from the word of God. I was listening to the radio and a young man stated that we are the cause of our pain. He stated that we cause ourselves to be hurt. I have to admit his message made me think. I want to state that when I disagree with this man because when I think about life I believe man has a hard time learning between good and evil. 

If we travel back to Genesis we have a model of life and mankind. If I told someone to travel to a land; and at that place they will find gold, and lets say I represent God.  It is natural for every person to desire good. What person hurts or causes them-self pain? I know some people cut themselves and that is a mental instability but when I think about the average person if we knew something would lead to pain would we really do it? 

I want to say the devil deceived Eve; and Eve lead Adam astray. There is no place in the bible where people cause themselves pain. The bible does talk about the works of the flesh and the works of the spirit. I want to express that the devil is good at convincing people that he does not exist. 

He wants you to think...its just you...... you just think like that. You just act like that. I want to say hog wash. He always influencing. In Genesis he is the serpent; and in the book of Revelation he has gotten so good at what he does he is called the Dragon. He used a snake to talk to Eve can you image how clever he is today. 

He uses radio, television, movies, and people. He always seeking someone to devour. If I could speak to that young man I would tell him to turn off the radio, avoid television and watch God be an influence. We are not design to cause ourselves pain because we like pleasure. 

THE PAIN OF THE CROSS

It is God who says pick up your cross and follow me; it is not natural for us to want pain. We shun pain and discipline but we welcome pleasure. How is it possible to say that man is the cause of his troubled life. How can avoid the fact that the devil made the suggestion. I am sorry but what that young stated does not line up the bible. When I go through the bible I see the apostles were imprisoned because of wicked leaders in the land. It would be equal to saying Jesus put himself on the cross. No. It was wicked religious leaders that put him on the cross; but it was the will of God for him to suffer. 

When we suffer how can we say we are causing ourselves to go through this pain. Do I understand pain and trials...by no means but I want to say that we are pawns in the Master hands. What man does not want a good life? I cannot image a person who would say no..I want pain so I am going to contribute everything wrong in my life to myself. What a burden to carry. The devil wants you to think he does not exist but he does. He is so manipulative. 

MONDAY

We are diving into the prophets. We are going to learn how does God influence? Let's learn about the voice of God. This is before Christ so the purpose is the voice of God. I want to prove that we are always moving and being influenced by the spiritual world. Now let's not get confused. When the devil INFLUENCED Eve she listened and God punished her. He punished the man. He punished the serpent. So consequences and influence is difference. But Eve was minding her own business and along came a snake. 

But she could have used the word of God or obedience to avoid falling into the trap. I want to say that influence is unseen to the eye what people may see is the consequences and then I can see someone thinking well......... you are causing yourself pain why not obey God? But man was not created EVIL. The bible says Satan fell from heaven and his mission on the earth has been to get mankind to rebel against God.

 I think that is why God goes to war for us. He has weapons to help us fight the battle raging in our minds. It is a war of words, powers, and thoughts and mankind is not the ONLY cause for his pain. There is a devil and every time you want to do GOOD evil is present. It is a fight to do right. It is painless to do wrong and it is easy. But there is pain in doing right. 

 I hope that young man does not walk around blaming himself for pain but he needs to change what is influencing him. If I change my environment, company, or what I watch on television, or whom I listen to on the radio, I change my influence. 

What is being influenced? They are influencing our minds which determines what we do. What I do determines what fruit I bare on the earth. The bible does not give man pleasure but it speaks of righteousness. 

Paul Sails for Rome

Acts 27

Back Track from yesterday Post

When it was decided that we would sail from Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to a centurion named Julius.

Did Paul cause himself pain?

They wanted flog him; they caused the people to hate him. Did he cause himself pain. Was he in the way of experiencing a good life. 

Did Paul cause himself to be imprisoned? NO

He did what was right.

When you do right, evil is angry and it is in the earth. Did Jesus kill himself? No. But he did the will of God and evil showed up to kill him; but God had a plan. He told his son you will die but you will rise again. 

When we do good we can expect the devil and the kingdom of darkness to be upset. No man lives in pain; it is unnatural and it is not an example in the bile. However disobedience can lead to pain. Paul was not disobedient and neither was Jesus and they had pain. It was not caused by them.

We suffer for two reasons

We did Good. We did was right;

Or we choose to ignore God and do what we want.

What we want is a great life. How do I know?  It natural for us to want to be a star, to be famous and rich. It is the dream life. What man dreams of being poor and causing himself great pain. It does not make sense. Even the undisciplined person needs the holy spirit they cannot make themselves do right. We have to encourage people to stop being their own God and find God. When a man has God spirit they can do the things they cannot do in there flesh. We are not in control and please do not let anyone tell you that you have to change you. The change that Jesus speaks of is spiritual and it comes through prayer and fasting. The fact that a person is going through maybe means they are doing good or it could be that they need God's spirit to enable to change their life. 

The bible is a light.... we have to use it in the dark. All pain is not self inflicted and even those whose mind is messed up they still need God. It is a issue for God. It is not an issue man can fix on his own.

 It is a change in the voice or in the mind that changes the life not a person saying; all these things are happening to me because I am in the way. 

Even if you are in the way of your blessing through second guessing, a lack of faith, it is still a mission for God to get to you. 

You cannot change yourself. You cannot help yourself. Man is dependent on God. Even when my thinking is so bad I need God. When my actions is bad, I need God. I need God like I need water. I need God daily. Please don't see me as capable of fixing me. I am unable to fix me. If I was in control my life would be perfect but life reveals that we are not in control. We need just need to surrender. 

Who belonged to the Imperial Regiment. We boarded a ship from Adramyttim about to sail from ports along the coast of the province of Asia and we put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was with us.

The next day we landed at Sidon; and Julius, in kindness to Paul, allowed him to go to his friends so they might provide for his needs. 

When a person is in prison they need someone to provide.

Today people put money on their books. 

They are incapable of working. 

They are being held captive and it is not pleasant. 

From there we put out to sea again and passed to the lee of Cyprus because the winds were against us. When we had sailed across the open sea of the coast of Cilicia adn Pampyhlia, we landed at Myra in Lycia. There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy and put us on board. We made slow headway for many days and had difficulty arriving off Cnidus. 

When the wind did not allow us to hold our course, we sailed to the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone. 

Who is causing the wind?

Is is Paul? The Prison Wardens? Is is God?

Something is contrary to them.

We moved along the coast with difficulty and came to a place called Fair havens, near the town of Lasea. Much time had been lost, and sailing had become dangerous because by now it was after the Day of Atonement. 

So Paul warned them, Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also. But the centurion, instead of listening  to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and the owner of the ship. 

Paul spoke to this man the words of God but this man listen to the pilot instead. He is somewhat the cause of his pain but he is influenced. If this man had God; God warns us against future calamity and problems. I am sure this man did not choose calamity on purpose but he did what he thought was right in his own eyes. 

Shall we blame the man? 

Or shall we say the man is in need God. He thinks he knows what is best. He needs God. He cannot save himself. The problem is in himself but he needs God. We cannot tell people go fix yourself but we can say God is good and if you believe on him you will be saved. 

Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided that we should sail on, hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there. 

There hopes were good; no man causes himself intentional pain. But we know that God has spoken through Paul and he has chosen to ignore it; and he is hoping that things work out. 

This was a harbor in Crete, facing both southwest and northwest. 

The Storm

When a gentle south wind began to blow, they saw their opportunity; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete. Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the Northeaster, swept down from the island. The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along. As we passed to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were hardly able to make the life boat secure, so the men hoisted it aboard.