“Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.” Jeremiah 17:5-6 KJV
Before I became radical - that is where I lived! It was dry; parched! It was wilderness; there was no life; all around me was death. I knew of God, and I said the right words, but I was not obedient to His Commandments. I did what I wanted; rebelling against authority. I did what was right in my eyes. My existence was plagued with struggle after struggle to make ends meet. No joy; no peace; momentary happiness was quickly replaced by despair. I was in continual torment, not calmed by drugs.
“Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.”
Jeremiah 17:7-8 KJV
This is where I now live. I have peace and around me is life! Prospering is the norm and it's only because I am submitted to God and walk in obedience to His Word! I seek Him first; His will is my desire. I got there through repentance.
I began reading my Bible and He opened my eyes; He showed me my heart. I saw the sin hiding there and was ashamed. I was at the end of my rope and had tried everything the world had to offer. I figured I had nothing to lose, and everything to gain, by surrendering to God!
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.” Jeremiah 17:9-10 KJV
It was easy to confess and repent of the big "barroom" sins; it was the hidden, acceptable sins that I had to be made aware of; bitterness, judgments, fear and worry (which is unbelief), grumbling and complaining, gossiping, doubt, anger. Those, with the sin of unforgiveness, were so stuffed down in my heart they had become a part of me. That is the wickedness! That is the hardness that God has to break up; to tenderize our heart to make it pliable for Him to use.
We all say, "He knows my heart!" but few know their own! We think we are okay, but our words betray us.
You can't fake fruit!
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23 KJV
“For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” Matthew 12:37 KJV
We can speak "churchy" words, but when the heat is on; when we are not paying attention; our heart will expose itself with words of doubt, anger, gossip, fear, not to mention profanity and slander. We aren't even aware; because of pride we want to believe we are good.
“And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.”
Mark 10:18 KJV
Have I got it all together? No, and I'm the first to tell you! I have to walk in repentance daily. I blow it regularly, but He is quick to forgive me, for He is faithful even when I am not!
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 KJV
I am so thankful that a friend pointed me in the right direction! I am forever grateful that God opened my eyes to see the Truth; that He opened my ears to hear Him calling me out of darkness; and that He brought me to repentance. I am His “hook, line and sinker.” I love being radical.
I love being His servant.
Even so - MARANATHA!
From 8/5/18
If you would like a copy of the cd that God used to reach me; PM me your address and we'll send it to you free of charge. We will even pay the postage.
