THE OPPORTUNITY: Faith Fruit or Flesh Deeds

Greetings and Salutations O Ye Free People...are ya still FREE?!?

You may be asking yourself..."Self...why is Rod asking if I am still FREE?" Well...I'm glad you asked yourself that question. Here's my answer....because...I know what it is like to be set free from my sins...and return to them like a dog returns to his own vomit. I know what it is like to be a prodigal son...who had FREEDOM lavished upon him...only to be lavish in my squandering of grace...and have nothing but HOG FOOD. I know from very personal experience of going from FREEDOM back into the BONDAGE that I was set FREE from...by MY OWN CHOICE...and I see the same thing happen over and over again...to young believers who allow the little foxes to spoil their vineyard.

"Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you...but you were WASHED, but you were SANCTIFIED, but you were JUSTIFIED in the name of the LORD JESUS CHRIST and in the SPIRIT OF OUR GOD." (I Corinthians 9-11)

Paul is writing a letter of correction to the church in Corinth. They had a relationship with God through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. He starts of the letter by praising them..."I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus...that in EVERYTHING you were enriched in Him, in all speech and in all knowledge, even as the testimony concerning Christ was CONFIRMED IN YOU...so that you are NOT LACKING in any gift, awaiting the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also CONFIRM you to the end, blameless in the Day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ." (I Corinthians 1:4-9)

These people were FREE...but they were slowly sliding into BONDAGE again...and Paul is writing a warning and correction. They were ALLOWING thing within the body at Corinth... that was not BENEFICIAL FOR THEM.

Paul wrote another letter to the church in Galatia...about FREEDOM and BONDAGE.

"It was for FREEDOM that Christ SET US FREE...therefore KEEP STANDING FIRM...and do not be SUBJECT AGAIN to a YOKE OF SLAVERY." (Galatians 5:1)

Here is a picture from the movie BRAVEHEART...where William Wallace leads the people with the cry of FREEDOM.

The church in Galatia were allowing things back into the grace that they had in the D.B.R....Death, Burial, Resurrection of Jesus only...by allowing things to be added back into the mix. Some of the things were not necessarily bad things...but when you add anything to unmerited favor aka grace...then the allowed things become NOT BENEFICIAL.

"For you were called to FREEDOM, brethren...only do not turn your FREEDOM...into an OPPORTUNITY FOR THE FLESH...but through LOVE...SERVE ONE ANOTHER."
(Galatians 5:13)

If you don't deal with the little things...they can turn into the big things...and before you know it...you are back in a worse state than you were before you started. Check out the deeds of the flesh...that we as believers are capable of doing...if we all our FREEDOM...to turn into AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE FLESH (Galatians 5:19-21)

Again...as someone who has fallen...to the level of the pig sty and dog vomit...I know whereof I speak...and I see the same thing happen over and over to other believers...especially to the young lions and lionesses who are transitioning from child to adulthood... and they think that their chronological age...must mean they can do "adult things". Some of these "adult things" may be allowable...but they are not "beneficial."

NOTE: This is not limited to by young people...old people...doing "adult things" get bound again also.

Thanx and a Tip O Da Hat to my son Phillip for the cross artwork.

"All things are lawful for me...BUT...not all things are profitable/beneficial all things are lawful for me...BUT... I WILL NOT BE MASTERED BY ANYTHING." (I Corinthians 6:12)

FREE INDEED (Janny Grein)

"I was bound by the forces of evil
Lived on lies and the love I could steal...until I was told...that I could be set free...then He came and He told me He loved me...and I knew it was true when He touched me...through it all..I have been set free. I've been set free, free indeed...I got nothing that's binding on me...Oh Lord I'm free, free indeed...your love has set me free."

"But I say, walk and live habitually in the (Holy) Spirit--responsive to and controlled and guided by the Spirit; then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh--of human nature without God." (Galatians 5:16 The Amplified Bible)

FINAL THOUGHTS...FINALLY

When you begin to write things like this...there will be those who will think...or some even say..."Who do you think you are to tell me how to live?" Or they will begin to misquote..."Judge not...lest you be judge." Or they will begin speaking about specks and 2 x4 in my eyes. Or they will ask..."Who died and made you the spiritual sheriff over me?"

Well...I always filter these things through my experience...so I won't be pontificated about something I don't know about. If I truly love you...ya gotta expect that I will try to restore you in the spirit of gentleness. (Galatians 6:1-5) If you received a box of rattlesnakes...and I knew what was in the box...don't you think I would do everything I could...to stop you from opening the box...and placing your hands in there to get snake bit?

I'm just saying...don't let your freedom turn back into bondage. I have been there and back... and it is fun for a season...but reaping is harsh.

Love and Loving Kisses
Rodney "Sheriff Elderodo" Boyd

FREEDOM...JUST ANOTHER WORD?

Greeting FREE PEOPLE What are you doing with your FREEDOM? The word freedom evokes many images with each individual. You hear the word free... you thing of no cost...no attachments...no responsibilities...no nothing.

Kris Kristofferson penned the song ME AND BOBBY MCGEE...that was made popular by Janis Joplin...and declared that..."Freedom's just ANOTHER WORD for nothing less to lose...nothing don't mean nothing honey if it ain't free." Is it really JUST ANOTHER WORD...or is it a word that carries deep meaning that will have a deep impact on the way the we live our lives.

Harry Houdini...master of escape...would self inflict himself to shackles chains, imprisonments...and would always effect an escape based on illusion. Houdini would live a well calculated life of bondage and freedom...to leave the effect of one who could set himself free...but he was bound in the mind about the other side once someone died.

At the mythic 3 day festival...Woodstock...that started out as a capitalistic endeavour to cash in on the freedom mindset...and only turned into a free concert when people exercised their freedom to tear down the fences (don't fence me in)...turned in to three days of sex, drugs and rock and roll...Richie Havens opened up...with the song FREEDOM. It started out by Richie playing guitar with background of various drums...singing the word FREEDOM 8 times,
followed by..."sometimes I feel like a motherless child (sung 3 x)...a long way from home." In this quest for freedom...there is a loneliness. It is like being alone in a crowd. The theme/thoughts of freedom...is not a new thang...but an age old cry of the heart...of either people who were bound against their will in slavery...inflicted by either an oppressive nation...or sold into slavery by their own people...bound and brought to another land against their wills. There are those who are bound into mental slavery as their environment, family, experiences dictate how they act out their bondage by fear, anger, humor, intimidation...anything to act as if they are free. Some are bound by the tyranny of the urgent as we fill our time with whatever we want to fill it with...and push out the things that we need to fill it with...resulting in being bound by the clock. Stephen Stills sang a song that epitomized the carnal nature of what we call freedom..."If you can't be with the one you love...honey...love the one you're with...love the one your with." Of course that FREEDOM PHILOSOPHY ended up in a generation bound by self desire...manifested in alcoholism, drug dependency, social diseases and unwanted pregnancy that was easily dealt with with abortion. As Steve Taylor sang in his song...WHATEVER HAPPENED TO SIN..."If you can't support it...why don't you abort it instead." This leads us into the ultimate form of bondage...SIN....thus the need for a Saviour...Jesus... who hung on the cross in our place to redeem us from sin. There was a saying that I hung up on my door at Tennessee Temple Bible School...that got me into some trouble...because it was viewed as sacrilegious...JESUS HUNG UP FOR OUR HANG UPS. I still stand by that statement.

Freedom...the release from the pressure of stuff...feels REFRESHING. The misconception of freedom is...that I am free...not bound by anything...no responsibilities....no pressures...not nothing....just free to do anything I want to do...not answering to anybody.

Teenagers long for this freedom...away from parental guidance...free from rules and regulations...free to do what they want to do. Again...their ain't nuttin' new under the sun...this has been the age old struggle between kids and parents. The only problem is...they have idealistic views of how things ought to be in this world called freedom...but they can't afford to live in the lifestyle that they are accustomed to...without their parents. The sad thing for the parents...is to watch their children make mistakes...get bound into sin...and generally make a mess of their lives. The happy thing for the parents are to watch their children... make wise choices...leave the nest...and learn to fly.

The question is...how can we make FREEDOM...MORE THAN JUST ANOTHER WORD...FOR NOTHING ELSE TO LOSE?


"My son (daughters can also follow this advice)...do not forget my law, but let (or allow) you heart to keep my commands (it always starts in the heart before being manifested in actions)...for length of days and long life and peace they will add to you (cause and effect)...Let not (don't allow it to happen) mercy and truth forsake you. Bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart (keep them near you) and so find favor and high esteem in the sight of God and man (cause and effect in heaven and on earth)." (Pro-Verbs 3:1-4)

The above passage is the ideal for freedom. The next verses is the HOW.
"TRUST in the Lord with all your heart and LEAN NOT on your own understanding; In all your ways ACKNOWLEDGE Him...and He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes...FEAR THE LORD and DEPART EVIL. It will be health to your flesh and strength to your bones."
(Pro-Verbs 3:5-8) The old hymn says..."trust and obey...for there's no other way...to be happy in Jesus...but to trust and obey." The flip side of that song is..
"Don't trust and don't obey...for there is no other way...to be miserable in life..but to not trust and not obey."

The heartbeat for humanity was...and still is FREEDOM. Galatians 5:1 says it all.

"Stand fast therefore in the LIBERTY by which Christ has made us free, and DO NOT BE ENTANGLED again with a YOKE OF BONDAGE."
(Galatians 5:1 New King James Version)

"It was for FREEDOM that Christ set us FREE; therefore KEEP STANDING FIRM and DO NOT BE SUBJECT AGAIN to a YOKE OF SLAVERY."
(Galatians 5:1 New American Standard Bible)

"In [this] FREEDOM Christ has made us FREE--completely LIBERATED us; STAND FAST then, and DO NOT BE HAMPERED and HELD ENSNARED and SUBMIT AGAIN to a YOKE OF SLAVERY--which you once put off."
(Galatians 5:1 The Amplified Bible)

This is the revealed WILL OF GOD...for your life. The thing is...there are a couple of aspects about God's will...one is His sovereign WILL...because He is God and He can do whatever He wants...and it does not matter if you get in line with His plan or not....HE IS KING...HE IS LORD...HE IS SOVEREIGN. The other aspect of His will...is His wish...His desire...BUT...His wish and His desired...IS HINGED ON YOUR RESPONSE.
His WILL IS FOR YOU TO BE FREE AND STAY FREE...but His will...is hinged on YOUR RESPONSE. You can choose NOT TO BE FREE.

"For you brethren...were [INDEED] called to FREEDOM; only [do not let your] FREEDOM be an incentive to your flesh and an OPPORTUNITY or excuse [for selfishness], but THROUGH LOVE you should SERVE ONE ANOTHER." (Galatians 5:13 The Amplified Bible)

The starting point of this thing called FREEDOM is to have a relationship with the one who sets you free. Become a follower of Jesus. If you are a follower of Jesus...and you are following Him to where He goes...He will lead you into the PRESENCE OF THE LORD...THE FATHER. No longer will SIN separate you from the Lord...but now...you are FREE.

For more information about this FREEDOM...you can contact me...Ruminatin' Rod...as 415-7577 or by email... ruminator12@comcast.net

Love and FREEDOM KISSES
Rodney "Free At Last...Free At Last...Thank God All Mighty I'm Free At Last" Boyd

ROUND TRIP TICKET TO EGYPT

Hello Fellow Free People. SO...how's your SOjournings? Do ya feel like turning around and going back to the place where you first started. Did you have it better before you became a follower of Jesus. Did someone talk you into being a Christian with a line like..."Come to Jesus and all your troubles will disappear."?

Don't feel like you're alone. There were a group of people in Egypt...who were groaning from release of the bondage they were experiencing...only to get into a perseverating rut...and casting an eye back to the good old days...when the were slaves. At least they had good eats back in Egypt.

When you read the Exodus Experience...in the Book of Exodus...you encounter a people...who at one point experienced freedom and prestige...with their brother (Joseph) being in charge. Once he died...so did their influence. The sons of Israel...still were fruitful and increased greatly, and multiplied, and became exceedingly mighty, so that the land (Egypt) was filled with them. (Exodus 1:7)

Enter a new king. This king did not know their connection...Joseph. The new king's perspective was that the sons of Israel are more and mightier than they were (Exodus 1:8,9)

The solution to the problem...deal wisely with them. If you don't deal wisely with them...they will multiply...and in the event of a war, they will join in those who hate us and fight against us and depart from the land. (Exodus 1:9,10)

The response to this reasoning was BONDAGE...SLAVERY....FORCED LABOR. They appointed TASKMASTERS over them to AFFLICT them with HARD LABOR. They were forced to build for the Pharaoh storage cities (Pithom and Raamses) (Exodus 1:11). The problem for the MASTERS...the more they afflicted them...the MORE THEY MULTIPLIED...and the more they SPREAD OUT. (Exodus 1:12) The cause and effect was that they were IN DREAD of the sons of Israel. (Exodus 1:12). They had to pull an Emeril on them...and TAKE IT UP A NOTCH...BAMMMMM! The EGYPTIANS...compelled the SONS OF ISRAEL...to LABOR RIGOROUSLY....made their lives bitter with HARD LABOR in mortar, bricks and all kinds of labor in the field. The sons of Israel...needed a deliverer. God was already setting that into motion...but more on that later.

In comparison....we as the human race were originally free...but because of disobedience of one man...we all became slaves (Romans 5:12) We needed a deliverer....and that was already prophesied in the beginning (Genesis 3:15). We were bound by sin...with the devil, satan, the liar, the deceiver, the accuser of the brethren, the stealer, the killer, the destroyer...being a type of PHARAOH...and his taskmasters the little demonic forces.

Over the course of time...of many days of bondage...that the king of Egypt died. At that time...the sons of Israel sighed/groaned...BECAUSE OF THE BONDAGE...and they CRIED OUT. Their CRY FOR HELP...because of their BONDAGE...ROSE UP TO GOD. (Exodus 2:23)

God heard their GROANING...and as a result of their GROANING...GOD REMEMBERED HIS COVENANT with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God SAW the sons of Israel...and God TOOK NOTICE of them. (Exodus 1:24,25).

NOTE: I have to believe that over their period of slavery...they had sighed and groaned before...but this time...something clicked with their groaning and with God. I think it may be...like me...before I became a Christian...I would moan and groan about the condition I was in...and with all of the consequences of my actions...BUT...one day...I CAME TO A PLACE...where my moaning and groaning....was a SINCERE CRY FOR HELP...and God knew I was serious.

God already had a plan in motion for their deliverance with a baby named Moses being born...and He already had a plan for our deliverance with Jesus entering planet Earth as a baby born to a virgin in a small land, in a small city with no fanfare.

God called on Moses....who had been through the process of being placed in Egypt's royalty...and then ran off to the desert for 40 years in the real preparation for a stuttering shepherd to walk back into Egypt...and demand...LET MY PEOPLE GO. Wh..ho...ho...should he said sent him? I AM THAT I AM. (Exodus chapters 3-4)

Moses and Aaron...came in and said to Pharaoh...."Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel...LET MY PEOPLE GO...that they may CELEBRATE a feast to Me in the WILDERNESS." (Exodus 5:1) Eventually after the various plagues....PHARAOH relinquished...and LET THE PEOPLE GO. (Exodus 5-13)

After the Pharaoh....wised up...and let them go...he began mulling over what he had done. "What is this we have done, that we have LET ISRAEL GO FROM SERVING US?" So...he sent his army after them...to RECAPTURE THEM....ENSLAVE THEM AGAIN. God provided the EXODUS ROUTE....with a miracle through the Red Sea....or as some theologians spin it...the REED SEA. They say the REED sea...was a little trickle of water....that was not deep at all...some say ankle deep. Hmmmm...that would make it even a bigger miracle as the armies of Egypt died in a bathtub instead of a sea.

NOTE: Once you become a follower of Jesus and are set free from you bondage of sin...even though there is a great peace and joy that comes into your life...and what once held you captive was now released and you were FREE...the devil....does not GIVE UP on you. He pursues....he attacks...he schemes...with well orchestrated plans and armies against you. (Ephesians 6). If you are not careful...you will let your FREEDOM...turn into an OPPORTUNITY for the FLESH....and be RE-SLAVED again. (Galatians 5:1,13,16,17-26)

When God set them free by HIS POWERFUL HAND...AND BROUGHT THEM OUT OF EGYPT (Exodus 13:16)...He led them...not by the shortcut...or the WAY THAT WAS NEAR... but led them the long way..."lest the people (ex-slaves)...CHANGE THEIR MINDS...when they see ware...and THEY RETURN TO EGYPT." (Exodus 13:17) God led them AROUND BY THE WAY OF THE WILDERNESS to the RED SEA...and the SONS OF ISRAEL went up in MARTIAL ARRAY from the land of Egypt.

So many times....since 1970...I have experienced warfare on the journey...and in 1972...I returned to EGYPT...a slave again. I thought I was missing out on something...and it appeared to be easier than this thing called CHRISTIANITY.

The cause and effect for the children of Israel...was that a 12 day journey...turned into a 40 year fiasco. They even got to the point of speaking out against God...and God's man, Moses.
"Why have you brought us up out of EGYPT to DIE IN THE WILDERNESS? For there is NO FOOD....and NO WATER, and we LOATHE THIS MISERABLE FOOD. (Numbers 21:5)

NOTE: I thought they said there was no food...they must have meant...no food that WE LIKE.

They already had the grumbling mindset...with their minds set on there stomachs..."...who will give us meat to eat? We REMEMBER the fish which we used to eat FREE IN EGYPT (they were not free but apparently the fish were)...the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic...but NOW...our appetite is gone. There is nothing at all to LOOK AT...except this MANNA."(Numbers 11:4-6)

This entire scenario...was but a blip on the time-space continuum...but still speaks loudly to me in 2008. The things that they went through were EXAMPLES to us followers of Jesus...as a warning not to get LAID LOW/CUT OFF IN THE WILDERNESS.
(I Corinthians 10:6,11)

They (1) craved evil things (2) were idolaters (3) they partied...ate, drank, stood up and played (4) they acted immorally (5) they tried/tested the Lord (6) the were grumblers (against God and their leader). The cause and effect is THEY WERE DESTROYED BY THE DESTROYER. (I Corinthians 10:5-10) They OPENED THE DOOR...by REMEMBER...THINKING... and RUMINATING...on EGYPT.

The same thing will KEEP US from enjoying the PROMISED LAND....as we plow this field....and we take our hands off of the plow...and we look back...to where we were...instead of keeping our eyes on where we are going. In my new job...at Gentiva Home Health...I have found the secret of getting the allotted amount of patients that I need to see...by KEEP ON MOVING. Don't look back...keep the FOCUS.

Jesus did this on his JOURNEY here on earth for 33 years...and what we are called to do...as we WALK OUT THIS LIFE.

"Therefore...since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us...(former saints in Hebrews 11)...let us also LAY ASIDE EVERY ENCUMBRANCE, and the SIN which so EASILY ENTANGLES/BESETS us...and let us RUN with ENDURANCE the race that is set before us...FIXING OUR EYES ON JESUS...the author and perfecter/finisher of faith...who for the JOY SET BEFORE HIM...endured the CROSS, despising the shame and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:1-2)

If you hung in there through this long Rambling (some would say longer than a 40 year journey)...thanks. I have real empathy...for those who start out great guns...released from sin...only to be bound again...BECAUSE...I was one of those. This one thing I do know...that THE WORK THAT WAS STARTED IN YOU WILL BE FINISHED...and together...we cross the finish line...in Jesus. Don't look back...and don't give up...KEEP ON KEEPIN' ON!!!!!!

Love and Egypt Free Kisses
Rodney "The Sojourner" Boyd