Taken for Granted
Pastor J. R. Wilhite, author
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I was just sitting, contemplating all we take for granted and without any real thought all these came up.
The list goes on and on and, no, I am not one that would be called a tree hugger or an activist of any of these. Then of course we take our health, our children's, and loved ones health for granted at least until it is in danger.
We even take love for granted, love for and of our children, for each other, but mostly for and of God.
We take life itself for granted; what little or much of it we may have is taken for granted.
I take it for granted that you believe in God or you would not be reading this. So, if you do beleive in God, how often do you take the time to listen to Him? Before you think you can not hear from Him go look up all the verses where Jesus is describing His sheep knowing and hearing His voice. Also there are numerous verses that are based on hearing not reading that deal with growth. I am not referring to your hearing from a man or woman talking.
Realize that it is arrogant to think you can talk to God, but He can not talk to you. Since we can and should hear from God, our lives and very existence are only due to Him. Then why do we take Him for granted? Most who do not hear from God do not because they either do not realize they can or will not because they are too busy.
The one that always gets to me is when a pastor says "I am too busy doing His work".
Would someone show me in the NT where it states we are to do His work as far as anything more than being obedient to Him? You can not be obedient if you are not listening.
Most parents who complain about their teenage children say, "They do not listen to me." I am sure you have heard, "You reap what you sow." or "What goes around comes around."
If you want anyone to listen to you, first you must become a listener yourself. The first one you should listen to is God, first and foremost. Then your parents (until you marry) then your spouse, and when you have children listen to them.
Now you may be thinking, "But it sounds like all we are to do is listen!" That is partly correct, first you must STOP to listen. No one who is rushing, or doing, or TALKING can really listen.
What if I told you and could prove it to you that God's will is not for you to work in the world as we all do. Not to ever be sick, poor, sad, depressed or even work in any ministry? I bet you would not believe me, right? You would be wrong because in Matthew 6:10 it tells us what God's will is:
Matthew 6:10
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
"Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Do you believe any of what I listed above is in heaven? Of course not, none of it is.
Here is one little multipart question you need to think very carefully about before you answer. When you go to church on Sunday, Wednesday, both, or whenever - do you start dosing off, hoping it will hurry up and end, or do you go hoping it will not end and go on and on?
I have heard pastors say that the congregation can not handle a sermon longer the 18 minutes. Then I have been in some that last 45 minutes.Then there are those that last an hour or two.
Guess what three things Jesus did not have or do:
Most people attend church either because they feel they have to or it is a tradition. Then there are those chasing after "goose bumps" or a "burning in the breast". God forbid if you have a service and they do not feel something in the FLESH.
Galatians 5
24. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
25. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
There are numerous verses about how we are to be of the Spirit and not the flesh.
In Revelations 1:1-3, for the most part most if not all, religions are listed and out of the seven churches Jesus mentions only one is correct and "His church". The rest are not. One out of seven, that means 6 out of 7 are not His church and the odds are more are of those 6 than the one.
So what is His church? I will tell you what it is not:
He was referring to Himself and the human body as the temple.
Do you know that 2000 years ago they did the same thing you do? They attended church once a week to listen to a man of God; they gave their tithes and offerings, and they served and helped out as well. So what has changed other than we do it on Sunday and they did it on Saturday?
What I am talking about started almost 2000 years ago and even Paul tried to address it:
1 Corinthians 1
11. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
12. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.
13. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?
Some of you have read the above before an just thought he was talking about people who lived back then. Read it as if Paul would have written it today:
1 Corinthians 1
12. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am a Methodist; and I a Baptist; and I a Catholic; and I of Christ.
Matthew 23:13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
Here is the problem - it is a lack of knowledge. Just as Jesus said then that the leadership withheld their flock from entering the kingdom of heaven, the same thing is happening today.
Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
(Before you get the idea the above verse does not relate to you because you are not a priest, read Revelations 1:6)
I hear people all the time say, "I know the church is the body", but then they go on as if it means nothing. It is not the body anyway; it is the soul and the body. The body is the temple for the Spirit and the soul is the source for its growth.
Now a little history lesson.
In Genesis 1:28 the word for "replenish" is "male'" in Hebrew and the word replenish in 1612 AD was a correct word to use, but it did not mean what it means today.
Examples:
UK (present day) the word "lift" means "elevator"
UK (present day) the word "solicitor" means "lawyer"
UK (present day) the word "replenish" means to RE-fill that something was once there and is now deminished.
In 1612 AD they read "replenish" correctly, as it was meant to be understood - to FILL - for the first time. Due to the difference in the language and understanding of ONE WORD a whole belief has formed that there once was life before Adam. All because those who teach it never looked it up to find out what it really meant. This has led to the belief that dinosaurs were from a PREVIOUS CREATION not mentioned in the Bible. How could there have been all that death - MILLIONS of creatures if there was no sin? There was no death before sin. Death came after Adam sinned. No animals, birds, fish, no plants, and no people died until AFTER the first sin of the one person who had the order from God. Adam disobeyed God's order and brought death into the entire creation.
Genesis 1:28. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish (male') the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Strong's Ref. # 4390
Romanized male'
Pronounced maw-lay'
or mala' (Esth.7v5) {maw-law'}; a primitive root, to fill or (intransitively) be full of, in a wide application (literally and figuratively):
KJV--accomplish, confirm, + consecrate, be at an end, be expired, be fenced, fill, fulfil, (be, become, X draw, give in, go) full(-ly, -ly set, tale), [over-]flow, fulness, furnish, gather (selves, together), presume, replenish, satisfy, set, space, take a [hand-]full, + have wholly.
Notice the word "replenish" is not even in the Hebrew translation for the word male' but that does not mean it was incorrect to use it the year it the KJV Bible was written. Unless the intent was to decieve, but out of the years (decades) I have read and translated the word using the King James I have only found two words incorrectly used or understood today.
In some of the other English translations out there I found hundreds of mistakes, not just wrong words but mistakes. The worst is the NIV.
The other word I found that was in Matthew 16:18 was the name Peter. Now the church which was the first church that is now the Catholic church must have this word to mean Peter - the man - or else the entire idea of the Pope is a lie.
The Pope is supposedly a man chosen by God to be the intermediary between mankind and God based on Matthew 16:18. That is why he is considered to be able to fit into the shoes of the fisherman Peter. That is because of the way the church translated it into Latin, which was the only Bible that was available before it was finally translated into English. Like those who did not look up "male'" to verify what it meant, and built a lie around it, so did the translators of this verse in the KJV. They read it, had always read it as "Peter" and left it that way.
Matthew 16:18. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter (Petros), and upon this rock (petras) I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Strong's Ref. # 4074
Romanized Petros
Pronounced pet'-ros
a primary word; a (piece of) rock (larger than GSN3037); as a name, Petrus, an apostle:
KJV--Peter, rock. Compare GSN2786.
In all fairness since it does mean Peter as far as a name, Jesus was not creating a new name for Simon Barjona, but describing His church.
Strong's Ref. # 4073
Romanized petra
Pronounced pet'-ra
feminine of the same as GSN4074; a (mass of) rock (literally or figuratively):
bedrock
KJV--rock.
Matthew 16
15. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
16. And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
17. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
Notice in the above verse Jesus states "flesh and blood hath not REVEALED it unto thee, but my FATHER which is in heaven". Simon had a revelation and from the revelation of who Jesus is as the Son and THE Christ he became a piece of the rock and upon this revelation (ROCK) I will build my church.
18. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
So when God reveals to someone who Jesus is as the Son of God and THE Christ they are then a piece of the rock or the church. Not when they are saved, not when they are born into a family who has some religious bent, but when they HEAR from God who Jesus is as the church.
Jesus is three things to us.
If you believe the spirit, as some do, ended in the first century church then you do not believe in Christ today, and that God ended in the first century.
John 4
23. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
24. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
First you are called by God to Jesus. Then God will reveal, only when you listen, who Jesus is as the Son and the Christ then you are a piece of the church.
Then to be of Christ requires even more.
You see "Christ" in English is "Anointing", and Jesus said in Luke 4:18 He was anointed with the Spirit of God. So we know the anointing or Christ is the Spirit of God. To better understand the word anoint, think of a sponge saturated with water; the sponge then is anointed with water.
Did you know to be of the promises of God to Abraham you have to be of Christ. It does not say you have to be "saved" or of the "church" only that you are of "Christ".
Galatians 3:29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Until you are of Christ you are not of the power or the wisdom of God.
1 Corinthians 1:24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
Being of the Spirit is required to be of all that God offers; I mean fully of the Spirit as in the anointing.
The idea is this; we have an enemy; he is real and he has been around longer than everyone you know put together and he is not stupid or a fool. He knows just how to manipulate us and use us against each other and ourselves.
Lets see what Jesus and Paul said about what I am talking about:
Matthew 12:25 And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:
Jesus said it - a house divided will fall. So Satan set out to do three things, first to divide us, then to steal our knowledge or keep us from it then to kill us. We are told he comes to steal, kill and destroy, and he does. He steals our knowledge and in time kills us and then if we are not saved he destroys us.
2 Corinthians 10
5. Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
The battle is our thoughts, first of all understand you do not have an original thought. Every thought you or I or anyone has had or will have has been thought before. Next understand that Satan forces his thoughts on us, but we have to seek God's thoughts.
You can not seek that to which you do not even listen.
Something you need to understand is that there are two elements or beings at work, one good and one evil. The good being, God, is with us and Satan, the evil, is forcing himself on us.
Notice in both only one element of us is in both our soul and our soul is our mind, will and emotions. Where did Paul say the battle was? The mind, to cast down all thoughts that are not of God.
You can believe me or not. If you do not, you still might make it, but for me "might" is not good enough.
I am not trying to get you to join our ministry or follow me. I am trying to get you to listen to God and follow Him.
John 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.
The Spirit is to teach us all things, not just things of God, but all things.
1 John 2:27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
Not man but the anointing (spirit) that resides in you is to teach you.
1 John 4
1. Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
2. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
3. And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
Why in the world would we be told to ask if Jesus came in the flesh if we could not hear?
There are some religions that do not believe Jesus came in the flesh and they profess to believe in Jesus. If I was a member of one and just read I John 4:1-3, I would be running away from them. Remember Satan can appear as light, he will do whatever it takes to steal, kill, and destroy you and me.
Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Faith comes by hearing, not reading, and hearing by the word of God.
John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
We are to hear from Jesus, and He said in John 14:26 He would teach us through the Holy Ghost and that is how faith comes.Maybe this can explain why faith is so low in the world today. If you believe faith ended in the first century church then you do not believe in salvation because we are saved by grace through faith.
Oh does that mean I am not saved because I have not heard so I have no faith?
What it means is that faith is required for salvation and faith comes from hearing. You as Simon (Peter) may have heard enough from God to be saved, but I would not want to live on that thin line myself I would want to increase it.
Hearing is only made hard by the world and ideas of the world. Remember what is foolish to the world is wise to God and what is wise to God is foolish to the world.
So be foolish by the world standards and do the following:
It took me two years to hear, for the average it is about 6 weeks.
One last thing before you spend another day racing around in the rat race of the world, take a day and really look at the beauty of the world God created. Flowers, sunsets, birds, etc.
By the way for those who can not believe in creation and believe in evolution, research how many chance things had to happen for life as we know it to have happened. The placement of the earth in relationship to the sun, the tilt of the axis of the earth, the atmospheres and what each do, the location of the moon, oxygen, and the list goes on and on. The idea that over 1000 chance happenings all happened at the right place at the right time for evolution is the biggest and saddest joke of all.
The reason I say it is sad because the joke is on those who believe in evolution.