TELL MY PEOPLE ABOUT TRUTH

When I was asked to bring a message to our morning prayer group, I normally have quite a few messages in my pocket because over the past 25-plus years that has been what I do most.  I write, but more specifically, I write about the messages the Lord gives me. At one point back during my early transition I would write eight or ten hours a day once I am in the spirit. I would release my mind and allow the Spirit to use it. There was a time when I would write book after book not knowing where, if, or who they would land upon. My job was to write as I was inspired by the Spirit. The Lord would place the work where it needed to go on His time. I needed not to worry about His part of the plan. Obedience was what He required of me.  I do as I do and let God be God. That was how my life was for over seven years straight until God allowed a rock to be thrown into that shallow pond causing ripples that altered my state. I got prostate cancer which turned things around in my orbit.

As I was dealing with my health issues my mental and spiritual faculties became preoccupied with this killer that was living in my body. My focus changed towards doing what was necessary to rid myself of cancer. I couldn’t concentrate on doing what I had grown fond of doing. This caused me to introspect more and to read more. The books that were coming to me appeared to have been divinely sent to me. I read up on diseases and cures. I read up on philosophy and how the mind works. I read books such as The Meaning of Life by Victor Frankel. I was curious as to how our mind works and why we didn’t seem to have absolute control over it. The list of books and subjects did not appear to have a rhyme. I would read them as they came to me, at one point some eight or more hours a day while I was recuperating from my cancer surgery and removal.

That happened back in 2007. With the knowledge I acquired from my experiences, I would go around to various churches telling our Black Men about prostate cancer and how we are very susceptible to it. It was among the top killers of older black men because it comes in our blood. However, some things can be done to avoid death from that cancer if you catch it early enough and take the right steps to eradicate that disease.

After that phase, I went back into the work world. I had been practicing real estate for many years but apparently, the Lord had other plans for me. I went to work mentoring children. In 2011 I worked for and with Dr Sandra E. Thomas with the Bright Futures Scholars Program helping our smart minority children with resources to get them on the fast track in life. To do that we had all the top politicians in the area come to speak directly to our children inspiring them to reach for the stars. We provided scholarships and other resources that greatly assisted these smart children. We were not limited to a particular race of the child. The parents were delighted with the program, and we had so much success.

I had the privilege of being the office manager for Dr Thomas whose job was to schedule all these professionals including police chiefs, judges, and all the political representatives in our area. I got a chance to get to know them and their handlers. Next, I went to John Muir High School serving as the Executive Director of a mentoring program specifically targeting black males. That was a very rewarding experience but also very taxing because it was at times like running up against a brick wall when you were trying to change the mindsets of black boys from socially deprived areas. Unless you spend enough time figuring out how their mind processes things or how their personal life is at home… you have no idea what is going on in their lives.

Many of our mentees were from single-parent families where the mothers had to work to support the family and did not have time to nurture their growing boys who would often overpower their mothers. Many of the boys would turn to gangs and drugs because when in Rome you are almost forced to do as the Romans do. Although it was a good program we were not able to dig deeply to accomplish more impactful changes. We did what we could. We were funded by County grants and the support of the political community and fundraising events. It was a very tall task. Getting volunteers to spend time with these boys was tough because men had their own lives to deal with. Most didn’t have spare time to deal with a suffering teen that needed a mentor.

In case you think this message is about me, think again. It is about the truth that God allowed me to see. He opened a window into the needs of our people and a desire to do something about what I was shown. I was able to see many of the dysfunctions in our society and how there are possible remedies if people would simply engage. I found out that realistically everyone is naturally preoccupied with taking care of their issues. It’s difficult to reach out and touch someone else who is in need when you have needs of your own. If we were to all bring our burdens to the table and let others see what we are dealing with, it would be overwhelming for each of us to the point that we would just pray for each other and do the best we can with what we have. If you think you are the only one suffering or the one suffering the most, there is always someone who has it worse than you. God will allow you to see that if your heart is open. I caution you, that is a heavy burden to carry once you are shown what God sees.

This finally brings me to the message the Lord gave me to share with you. TELL MY PEOPLE ABOUT THE TRUTH. What is the truth?

GOD IS TRUTH! All things created by God in the beginning were from truth. In God, there is only pure holiness that IS Truth personified. From the purity that is in God came forth what His thoughts manifested which were particles of truth manifested in physically formed things.

GOD IS LOVE! He is agape love… not the stuff people use as bartering chips between them. If you do for me I will do for you. That’s not love. Love needs no return from the sender because it delights in giving of itself to improve, enlighten, enhance, embellish, or otherwise lift the receiver.

GOD IS SPIRIT! God says, “He who comes to me must… MUST! Accept Me as I am! In Spirit and in Truth.

There was a curious passage that was given to me as I started to write this message. It’s from the book of Hosea 4: 1-3 entitled, God’s Charge Against Israel.

“Hear the word of the Lord, you children of Israel, for the Lord brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land: “There is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land. By swearing and lying, killing and stealing, and committing adultery, they break all restraint with bloodshed upon bloodshed. Therefore the land will mourn, and everyone who dwells there will waste away with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; Even the fish of the sea will be taken away.”

That wasn’t where I was going with this message but decidedly where the Lord wanted me to go. My message was to be about the truth. In this passage, the Lord told the children of Israel there is no truth or mercy, or knowledge of God in the land.

Could it be that truth is no longer in us? Is the knowledge of God no longer in our land? We tend to like our version of the truth that satisfies our carnal desires. We want things to be as we desire them to be and not necessarily what God’s truth says it IS. When you lean upon your mortal mind to do spiritual things, you are like the blind following the blind. Our minds are hostile to God because it does not want to obey God. It wants to appease the desires of the flesh. Romans 12: 1-2.

“I beseech you therefore, brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

We are to offer our minds, bodies, and souls to God as our living sacrifice to God and allow Him to do what is Holy right and best in His eyes… not in our minds that are mostly corruptible.

So where do we start? It is one thing to know the truth but another to act upon what we know. For example, I have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, Type II diabetes, thyroid issues, glaucoma, and a host of malfunctions in my carnal body. I have been diagnosed with these abnormalities and told what to do to exacerbate the issues but am I doing what is required of me to deal with my health issues? I know I should cut back on salt and preprocessed foods but does that keep me from eating fast foods? I know I should not be eating my favorite ice cream too often, but do I say no to the things I like to eat that satisfy my taste buds?

I’m told that I must take these eyedrops to maintain the pressure in my eyes otherwise I will go blind. I have been told all these things and more, but how many of the things I know about do I do? Romans 7: 15-20

“For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.  If then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.”

Ah Ha! Perhaps we see the culprit. It’s sin that lives in us. What are we going to do about what we know or have been told? I don’t know about you, but the Lord told me that I alone do not have the power to do certain things that are required of me. He told me that I do not wrestle with flesh and blood alone but with powers and principalities from the dark side of the spiritual kingdom. (Ephesians 6) Therefore I must turn, humble myself, and face the Lord asking Him to do for me that which I cannot do for myself. I know that! I have been told that dozens of times before so why am I not doing what I have been told to do? Do I have a death sentence? We are all going to die but do we need to die with all this stuff in us that is manageable if we do what is right?

For me, and this is Greg, I am convinced that I am a weak bag of flesh with a corruptible mind that is incapable of doing what the Lord wants me to do. That which is holy, right, and good. That is based upon His Truth. Truth IS God! How can I get there?

I am told if I humble myself, pray, and seek God’s face, He will then hear from heaven and come down here and save me from the thorns of hell that incarcerated my body and further grasp at my soul. So all this stuff that I told you all about me is worthless if I am unwilling to surrender to the Lord. As long as I think I am strong enough to handle my affairs by myself the Lord will allow me to do so. But when I humble myself and let go to God He will be standing by to catch me in His loving and forgiving arms of truth, love, joy, peace, longsuffering, goodness, kindness, and faithfulness. He will give me the fortitude to stand firm with self-control because it will not be my power but the power that He has placed in my when I accepted His Son as my Lord and Savior.

Therefore I come before the Holy throne of God right here and right not to confess my sins before God and the congregation. I am no longer afraid of the light of truth and what it may reveal to others about me. I want to be fully exposed to the truth, and to my Heavenly Father so He can provide whatever is necessary to change me into something usable for Him… in His mind’s eye, and not as the world sees and judges. By confessing my sins to and before you I am held accountable to God and to you, and mostly to myself who seems to war against me.

Are you willing to expose yourself to the truth before God and His congregation of saints so He alone can fix what is not right in you? IT IS ALL ABOUT GOD’S TRUTH!