Nevertheless

WHAT WE DESERVED

Psalm 106:1-8 “Praise ye the Lord. O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: For his mercy endureth for ever. Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? Who can shew forth all his praise? Blessed are they that keep judgment, And he that doeth righteousness at all times. Remember me, O Lord, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people: O visit me with thy salvation; That I may see the good of thy chosen, That I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, That I may glory with thine inheritance. We have sinned with our fathers, We have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly. Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt; They remembered not the multitude of thy mercies; But provoked him at the sea, even at the Red sea. Nevertheless he saved them for his name’s sake, That he might make his mighty power to be known.”

See we like our fathers have sinned, we just like them have committed iniquity, we have even done wickedly. Our fathers didn’t understand thy wonders, neither did we, they didn’t remember all of the times he was merciful, and we forgot too, they provoked him at the sea, even at the red sea, and so did we! How? we’ve never been to the red sea!

(Reference Matthew 14:29-31 “And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me don’t that sound like something, that sounds like when the Egyptians were hot on Israels trail and they began to cry out you brought us to this water to die. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, in the same manner that moses stretched out his rod, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?”

We may not have been at the red sea, and we may not have been on the water like Peter, but there are some situations that we face that are just like the red sea, and the boisterous winds. Sometimes things can be so turbulent in your life that you might even call out and say MASTER CAREST NOT THAT WE PERISH!!

But lets dissect this for a moment...

When Israel was at the red sea the almighty moved the water out the way and they walked across dry ground....and while I can only imagine the amount of trust that they had in that moment to actually walk though without fearing that it will come crashing down at any moment, because I probably would have been a little sceptical if I can be honest! I don’t care for large bodies of water and being in the middle of it! But they may have just finished complaining and displaying a lack of faith but each step they took to get to the other side was a step of faith…Lord you done moved this sea of trouble out of my way, you gave me clearance to get to the other side, but I can still see my enemy behind me, and theres still trouble all around me these great walls of water but I’m going to keep pressing forward and eventually they made it over and God defeated the Egyptian army.

So God MOVED the problem to the side...

but when you look at Peter and Yahshua and you see the similitude to being at the red sea and how Moses stretched forth his hand after they cried out, just like Yahshua stretched his hand to help Peter after he cried out you begin to see the only difference is thats now instead of going through the water, you are now walking ON the water, walking ON TOP of your problems and your situations. See now we are in a different position, so if you understood the authority that you have over the sea or “your troubles” and if you understood that Yahshua was endowing us the power to not only walk through our situations but we now have the authority to walk over our situations.

I heard God say in Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”

and if you break down the meaning of “bruise thy head” you will learn that it literally means that you will TRAMPLE over, step on, stomp on, or WALK OVER! Somebody say O PETER! DON’T BE AFRAID! This was yet ANOTHER promise fulfilled through the testimony of this account. God told us we will trample over our enemy Yahshua showed us that we could do it and told us how we could do it. THROUGH FAITH, YOUR OBEDIENCE TO HIS WORD.

So yes, we too provoke him at the sea, we provoke him in our troubles because we don’t really believe. As soon as things start to get a little shaky we want to abort mission.

BUT NEVERTHELESS He said for my namesake, because my reputation is on the line I’m gonna go ahead and save you because the people know that I told you I would do this, the people have witnessed me save you, and just because you’re not upholding the end of our agreement doesn’t mean that I wont. SO NEVERTHELESS for my name sake I will save you. Then you will understand my mighty power.

When I think about some of the major things that I’ve gone through in my life, I can’t help but to remember how while going through, my posture was different than what it is now. I took on the posture of victim. I would always say things like “Why am I going through this” or “This is too much” “What did I do to deserve this”....as if I was too good to go through anything! Who am I that I would have the audacity to think even in the slightest bit that I was above reproach, I was above judgement, I was above living according to the standard set by his word and the repercussions that followed my disobedience . Me....my sinful self! I could not imagine that no matter how much I disobeyed The Almighty, I suffered consequences. Not me, no way! WHO AM I! I can hear the Almighty saying

Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?

Declare, if thou hast understanding.

Job 38:4.

He said tell me if you know, he said I want to hear this! Because the only one that was there was me.

King James Version Chapter 1

IN the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

And because I am the only Just One deserving of nothing but love and adoration, then I am the only one who can say I don’t deserve this!

I DON’T DESERVE YOU BACKSLIDING, I DON’T DESERVE THE STRANGE FIRE THAT YOU CALL WORSHIP, I DON’T DESERVE BEING TAKEN FOR GRANTED, I DON’T DESERVE YOUR UNBELIEF, I DON’T DESERVE YOUR DISOBEDIENCE, I DON’T DESERVE YOU ROBBING ME AND NOT PAYING YOUR TITHES, I DON’T DESERVE YOU PUTTING WORDS IN MY MOUTH BECAUSE MY WORD HAS ALREADY BEEN SPOKEN YET YOU CAN’T SEEM TO GET IT RIGHT!

Can you imagine the Almighty saying this to you?

After we question why is this happening, I don’t deserve this.

If you heard him audibly say this to you, what would be the first thing you do. CLEAN UP! Unfortunately, the reality is that if you hear him say these words to you Audibly, then it is too late, thats your judgement! So as you hear me speak these words to you, NOW is your opportunity to correct the situation.

Take accountability for your actions.

When you know that you’ve sinned against The Almighty, expect some consequences because there will be, whether you believe it or not.

King James Version Chapter 11

13 And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, 14 That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.

King James Version Chapter 11

26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; 27 A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day: 28 And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known

So this is how we know that you can expect some consequences if you disobey The Almighty. And if you say to yourself, well that’s the old testament....lets hop over to the new.

Galatians 6:7 “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”  

Learn to Cope With the Past “You”

Once you come to the realization that a good amount of the horrible things that happened to you, is a result of your sin and disobedience to The Almighty, aside from those things that happened during those vulnerable years of your life, cause lets be honest, there are some things that happened to us as infants and little children that should have never happened! You’re going to feel some kind of way. This isn’t the time to beat yourself up to the point that you feel inadequate and unable to fully serve him because the truth of the matter is…YOU CAN. You can serve him, even with all of your past mistakes. We also know that there are some circumstances beyond your control bible says that “Time and Chance” happens to all! Ecclesiastes 9:11-12 “I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all. For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.” So that is saying that sometimes trouble will find you, even if you are the most devout person on this planet…Somebody say Come on JOB....but aside from that, all of your disobedience is what held you back for so long....and that is something that you will have to learn to Cope with.

So, 1 take accountability and expect consequences for your disobedience. 2 Learn to cope with the past you especially when you truly understand that your delay was caused by your defiance!

Be Honest about What You Were Deserving of.

Death

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Demotion

Luke 15:11-32 “And he said, A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; Isn’t it funny that when we fall on hard times when we know we not living right, instead of going to the Almighty, we go to the same people that we hung out with that contributed to our disobedience, we go to them and we become even more like them instead of becoming more like our Eternal Father.... and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself.....he came to his senses, he WOKE UP, he began to get the picture, he understood what he had done....he came to the realization, he began to understand, he could see clearer because the rain was gone, remember it was a time of famine so there literally was no rain so he began to see things for what they were, see people think he just partied and went home....but the reality is he partied and got lost on his way home, not only did he get lost but he forgot who he was down there feeding the swine and eating the husks…there is a common knowledge that when your body lacks sustenance in essence in a state of “fasting” remember “this kind goeth out but by fasting and praying” your body is getting rid of toxins, you’re detoxing and as you begin to detox, you start to think clearer, your mind begins to sharpen, and then you get motivated bible says and when he came to himself, see the only way that he was going to wake up was if he starved. For most people you would think one experience where you are literally starving would be enough that you will do everything that you can to never get in that position again…so this famine motivated him involuntarily might I add, God said let me show him something…when I get done with him he will be crawling back to me with the little strength that he has, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose, and came to …” We should have been demoted in every aspect of our lives…we are the Kings Children but we deserve to be an hired servant.

WHAT WE RECEIVED

Ezra 9:13-14 “And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this;

What I hear is ABUNDANTLY PARDON Isaiah 55:7 “Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts: And let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; And to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”

The Almighty took it easy on us. He could have done much worse than what has happened to us collectively and that still won’t equate to the punishment we were worthy of! Listen if you haven’t been utterly destroyed you should have a THANK YOU LORD in your mouth right now! GOD I DESERVED TO DIE BUT YOU LET ME LIVE!

Psalm 106:43-45 “Many times did he deliver them; But they provoked him with their counsel, And were brought low for their iniquity. Nevertheless he regarded their affliction, When he heard their cry: And he remembered for them his covenant, And repented according to the multitude of his mercies.”

So Nevertheless!

I was a wretch undone but NEVERTHELESS

I was a liar but NEVERTHELESS

I was a cheater but NEVERTHELESS

I was a backbiter but NEVERTHELESS

I was a whoremonger but NEVERTHELESS

I was an unbeliever but NEVERTHELESS

I was an idolator but NEVERTHELESS

I didn’t always pay my tithe but NEVERTHELESS

I was a fornicator but NEVERTHELESS

I carried hatred in my heart but NEVERTHELESS

I wasn’t always fair, I was sometimes mean, I laughed when I shouldn’t have, I didn’t listen when I should’ve, I doubted, I strayed, I gave up, I lost hope, I used to burn sage, I took his grace and mercy for granted, I plotted, I schemed, I, was, iniquitous but NEVERTHELESS YOU REGARDED MY AFFLICTION, YOU HEARD MY CRY, YOU REMEMBERED FOR YOUR NAME SAKE YOUR COVENANT, YOUR WORD, AND YOU REPENTED ACCORDING TO THE MULTITUDE OF YOUR MERCIES!!!

This is what we got when we disobeyed! See we were still punished, but he held back his fury!

Some would now pose the question.

Why would God do this? What about me is causing all of this grace and mercy in my life, I can see what I should have received, in comparison to what I actually received, and when I think about it, the things I went through weren’t that bad. Somebody say Light affliction! But here we go again back at the same question, what have I done to deserve such grace? And the answer yet again is NOTHING! IT IS NOT ABOUT YOU! God has so much mercy towards us because HE SAID HE WOULD! This is what I mean when I say there is a simplicity to his mighty power, not in the action of his power but in the understanding of his might power and that simplicity is, its because he said so. Because his mouth literally spoke these words “ I will have mercy on you

Isaiah 54:7 “For a small moment have I forsaken thee; But with great mercies will I gather thee.”

He said in Exodus 33:19 “And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.”

So grace and mercy exist simply because it’s found in his word?

EXACTLY!

Jeremiah 4:28 “For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: Because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, And will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.”

We often hear people say “I don’t know why he loves me, I don’t know why he cares, what is man, that thou art mindful of him?

BECAUSE HE SAID IT!

Hebrews 6:17-18 “Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:”

WHEN I SAY WORD IS BOND…IN THIS CASE I MEAN IT!

See I’m getting ready to bring some folk down…you are not special because God had mercy on you! He did not individually come to you alone and tell you that he will be merciful to you. But what he said was he would have mercy on thousands of them that LOVE ME AND KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS! He also said that he will have mercy on the wicked

Ezekiel 33:11 “Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?”

This plea is a display of The Almighty’s MERCY even to the wicked…

So what I’m really trying to get you to understand is that you have a NEVERTHELESS, and your NEVERTHELESS wasn’t earned, it wasn’t prayed hard for, it wasn’t given because of fasting, and praying, it was not, it was not, your NEVERTHELESS didn’t come from being a commandment keeper, your NEVERTHELESS didn’t come because you smile at everybody. Your NEVERTHELESS WAS SPOKEN FROM THE MOUTH OF GOD! I don’t mean to rain on anyones parade because if you think your mercy is a result of abstaining from jumping on billy keep on keeping on, and if you’ve been staying at home and going to bed with your own wife and you’re on a streak, don’t stop… but when you see it for what it is you will understand the vastness and the awesomeness of his mercy and it should blow your mind…Mercy exist because God spoke it and even he has to obey his word. This is a constant! He will always obey his word and he will not change it. Us on the other hand, we have a choice…he said I set before you life and death…CHOOSE YE THIS DAY!! So we have a choice but God doesn’t have a choice on if he is going to keep his word because that would make him a liar which is why he said IM DOING THIS FOR MY NAMESAKE God has to be faithful consistently, and no that faithfulness isn’t always going to be a ram in the bush, sometimes it may be in the form of a famine, or it may be in the form of captivity because even in that, he is honoring his word because thats what he told you he would do if you disobey. So you mean to tell me that even when we don’t uphold our end of the bargain, The Almighty still uphold his. THATS THE MESSAGE! Be encouraged that you have a nevertheless but understand its because only ONE was faithful to the agreement and it wasn’t us.

Should we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations? wouldest not thou be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant nor escaping?”

Nevertheless he saved them for his name’s sake, That he might make his mighty power to be known…What is his mighty power....HIS WORD!