 Back in 1993 The Steeles had our very first Number One song. It was a song God allowed me to write about the biblical character known as Blind Bartimaeus. He is a very interesting man to study…at least to me anyway. What does the Bible tell us about him? First that he was a desperate man. Most of us hate the feeling that comes from desperation. Many great things though are born of desperate situations. Would Abraham Lincoln have ever run for or even been elected President of the United States if he hadn’t LOST so many (and there were a bunch of them) OTHER elections? Colonel Sanders (of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame) amounted to nothing until he was well into his 60’s…old, desperate and running out of time. Seven times at the bankruptcy court. You don’t think THAT will make you desperate? Yet Walt Disney was there seven times when he doodled on a piece of paper an image he had in his head of a Mouse named Mickey and old Walt would never be bankrupt again. Let your desperation push you to the edge of reason. Try something new, exciting and different. You’re already desperate…what’s the worst that can happen to you? Take a chance. Make an investment. Leave excuses behind and go forward today!
Yeah Bartimaeus was desperate. He was blind. He couldn’t see…anything! He was sightless. He took his desperation and turned it into a crazy plan. He meant to get the attention of the most famous man in town…Jesus Christ. Now Bart couldn’t see (not a lick) but he was a blue ribbon winning hollerer. He could out yell anybody he knew and THAT is how a desperate man developed a plan to get the attention of the Savior of the World. Of course we know (don’t we) that Jeremiah 33:3 says all we have to do to get His attention is to “call unto me…and I will show you great and mighty things that you don’t even know!” Doesn’t even have to be loud…just call. He probably would have never done it because he didn’t want to embarrass himself…but remember…he’s now driven by desperation and desperation will make you do a LOT of things you might NEVER do without it! You know like walk down an aisle…kneel at an altar, go to church… maybe make friends with a preacher!! OK so he (driven by desperation) born of blindness starts screaming. Jesus…Son of David…Have mercy on me!! Over and over again…and again he keeps yelling. He’s blind and now he’s begging! Jesus give me something YOU have the power to give that I don’t have! THAT’S quintessential BEGGING! But he’s not just blind and begging…scripture says he’s beside the highway! All this behavior is taking place in full view of everybody! He isn’t like Nicodemas who came (trying to keep his visit secret) at night. No this guy is too desperate to be bothered by what others thought of him. It’s now or never! See he wasn’t just beside the highway yelling like a mad man he was also beside himself at the idea that Jesus…the one he had heard so much about was passing the same place where he was. You might say THIS was his fried chicken, Mickey Mouse, Presidential moment and he was just desperate enough NOT to miss it!! It’s a pretty desperate thought how close you are to dying without Christ. No second chances…no other way…no other hope! I believe Bartimaeus’ advice to you would be to jump up, act a fool, overcome your pride and do a little calling out to Jesus yourself. Romans 3:23 says For ALL (yes you too) have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The time is now. You’re not only desperate…you’re more desperate than you think you are. Jeff
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 I have a few medical problems that creep up from time to time. It will surprise some of you that they center around my brain! See some are surprised to know I even have a brain. Thanks to those of you in that camp. I will give you a second to contain yourselves. This morning I had to have a doctor ordered MRI on my (here it is guys) brain! I HATE MRI’s. The noise in those things is about deafening. It is really tight in those contraptions too. You have to wear something akin to a football helmet…at least the facemask anyway. You are almost constantly admonished to “not move.” Did I mention I HATE MRI’s?? Thirty minutes of no movement.
Today as I was in there my ear started to itch and so did my eye. I WOULD say it was a mental thing but since some of you have already decided I have no brain I won’t even bother. An itching eye and an itching ear are pesky anyway but when you can’t move to scratch it let me promise you IT IS WORSE! And so with about 17 minutes left to go in this gigantic electronic “coffin” the thought hit me to pray. Of course I thanked God that NONE of my children have ever been in one of these things! That got me to thinking that they have never been diagnosed with any type of life threatening disease. The one that was thus far told she could never have children is the mother of our two award winning grand babies…#butGod!!! Our son sings with us now and does a great job. He has become a wonderful songwriter and is the Worship Pastor at our church! The girls have married two very decent young men who have made me a proud father-in-law. By now I’m thinking to myself I can’t shout in this machine! I can’t move! But I am shouting in my soul!! Back to the eye and ear itch… I began to think about people I know who have those itch’s all the time and because of the inability to move they CAN’T do anything at all about it! They are at someone else’s mercy for something this small. I’m not one of them! In just a few minutes I will scratch to my heart’s content! When the lady who administered the MRI got me out she came to help me off the table. She reached to help me stand up and apologized that she could only help me with one arm because she was lame in her other one. I raised both of mine and kicked one of my feet to make up for her bad arm and rather loudly proclaimed “glory” because BOTH of my arms are attached and working! She asked me why I was so happy and I told her what I have now written here. SHE said “glory?” She told me that” everybody who comes out of this thing comes out complaining about their experience” She continued “I have a major appendage that just doesn’t work and I praise the Lord for the one that does! I’m glad you’re happy today…you blessed me!” It just reminds me…are you a whiner…a complainer or a praiser? Which one am I? I used my time in the “electronic coffin” (did I mention I hate MRI’s) to turn this thing around. My mentor and longtime friend Dr. Jerry Goff penned it best when he wrote… “I am blessed, I am blessed! Every day that I live I am blessed! When I wake up in the morning till I lay my head to rest…I am blessed…I am blessed!! Jeff  Jesus Christ said “take no thought for tomorrow…what you shall eat or what you shall drink or what you shall wear because today has enough trouble of its own.” A few days ago I suffered a Grand Mal seizure. I was in the privacy of my own home. There was nobody here but me. Don’t cry about that. Think about all the times you are home alone for extended periods of time. It happens all the time. I didn’t even realize I had, had one until the next day! I ended up with a LARGE bruise on the right side of my back…a small stone bruise on my left hip and according to the doctors was very fortunate to have NOT severed my tongue. With no one there I would surely have bled to death. I made a big deal about having been here “alone” when it occurred and a preacher friend of mine from Kentucky texted me and quickly reminded me that I was NOT alone! Your point was well taken sir. Our middle daughter recorded a tearful video in which she said “we don’t know what happened in that room.” SHE said based on the success God had given our church that she felt like the Adversary had tried to take me out. I very much felt like I had been beaten…like I had been thrown around and beaten by a bigger, stronger man. I’ll tell you what I think…I think that when the Adversary was beating me and trying to deal me a “death blow” that he discovered what I discovered and that was that “greater is He that is in ME than he that is in the world!” I’m not stupid…I KNOW I am going to die at some point unless the Lord returns first. However God Himself has set that appointment and there isn’t one thing Satan can do to kill me until God has predetermined that it’s my time to go! That should breed confidence in all of us. Yes Satan KNOWS our address. He knows where we live and there is “some” evidence that he has access to our domicile. God knows where I live too and scripture tells us that “the Holy one of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps.” He is on constant patrol around me and my “place!” Yes the Adversary can enter but he can never “sneak up” on me when God doesn’t know he’s coming! How breathtakingly reassuring that the Devil who would like nothing better than to kill me (steal, KILL and destroy me) cannot do it until God says he can…and a few nights ago God said he couldn’t! I have scrapes, bumps and bruises but think about the scrapes, bumps and bruises HE must have!! I only had to take the beating from him. HE had to take the beating from GOD! One of my son-in-laws is a Chief of Police in the next community over from us. I often joke with him and tell him he should quit that job and become my Chief of Security. Hey… don’t laugh…have you ever heard me preach?? Chris…keep your “day job.” When I pass through the fire I will not be burned. No weapon formed against me shall prosper. It is appointed to me ONCE to die and God has set the appointment. No one can take me till then. I am protected…safe, sealed and to be delivered in God’s time. Jeff
In Proverbs 23:17 Solomon is speaking to his son and giving him advice. One of the things he said was "fear the Lord ALL day long and don't be envious of those that do evil. We've discussed how we should fear the Lord (respect, give reverence and remember HIS position in respect to YOUR position) in the morning when we awake, at noon in the middle of our day and at night when the day is behind us. As far as that is concerned when we're drifting off to sleep before we lose consciousness as it were...we should ask God to help us "fear" Him even while we're sleeping when we don't even know we ARE fearing Him! If there's one thing I think our families need...that our churches need and yes I dare say our nation needs it is an old fashioned return to the fear of the Lord. I don't mean the kind of fear that is afraid God is behind the next tree with a baseball bat waiting to bop you over the head. I mean a respect for God. A reverence for Him. An actual understanding that He's God and we're not! We really DO seem to have that mixed up. It seems like we think WE'RE in charge and GOD is working for US! No, no that is not and has never been true. Again Solomons said to his son and to us we should fear the Lord...ALL DAY LONG!!!
Another thing I'd like to mention in that regard are the days you HAVE feared God all day long and it seems like it's just not worth it. It seems like it's just not working out. I've heard people say "I've feared the Lord and I see others getting ahead while I am lagging behind. I see others get well and I'm still sick. I've feared the Lord and it seems like others are getting the desires of MY heart." It doesn't help much when the adversary pours gas on that fire either does it. I would remind you that weeping may endure for a night BUT joy comes in the morning! It's not over because YOU declare it over. It's not over because the adversary says it's over. It's not over till God says it's over and HE is still speaking, working, watching and making all things work for your good and His glory. I had a preacher friend share this story with me once. He said "Jeff I was an associate pastor at a Baptist church in Georgia once. There was a lady who attended the Church of God in our community. She started calling around looking for a ride to the Baptist church (ours) for the upcoming Sunday. Somebody asked her why and she said it was because her son was going to be saved there this Sunday. They asked ma'am did he tell you that? Have you heard something to let you know that he's "coming forward" this week? She said no...God told me! She got the ride and showed up at the Baptist church. At invitation time she watched as her son "walked the aisle." It was announced that he had indeed given his heart to the Lord. That Church of God lady started shouting for all she was worth at the back of that building and shouted herself all the way down the aisle heading for the front of the building. She shouted her hair down! Finally the pastor looked at me and said Bro. Bill would you see if you can help that lady and see if she'll calm down some. I went over and asked her if she would quiet down some and this lady who was in her mid eighties literally put both hands on my shoulders and lifted me up off the ground and said 'I've been praying for that boy to be saved for 35 years! I'll have you know I'll shout as loud and as long as I want to shout!' I just said go ahead lady...you just shout on!" Three months later she was in Heaven but God let her see the results of fearing HIM all day long even though it was a lot of days she spent fearing Him! Hang on...the answer is coming as sure as God is God. I was young and now I'm old but I've NEVER seen the righteous forsaken! The grass is NOT greener on the other side! This sickness is NOT unto death. He is the deliverer of your soul and that deliverance is on the way!! My part and your part is to fear the LORD....ALL DAY LONG!!! Jeff I truly believe the cross changed everything! If you are under the weight of sin that has you burdened down and feeling like you can't go forward it's not the fault of the cross. Through the sacrifice of Jesus and the shedding of His blood for your sin to be forgiven you can be FREE! If you're sick and can't seem to get well the stripes placed on the back of Jesus as He was going to the cross can heal your sickness. I don't just believe in healing...I believe God heals EVERY time we pray for healing. 1) He heals instantaneously and miraculously. Don't tell ME He doesn't...I have SEEN it! 2) Through the process of time and the help of doctors and medicines...they SHALL recover. And then 3) The sick will awake in Heaven at the feet of Jesus never to need a prayer for healing again! At any rate...the cross changed it ALL!
I also believe the cross changed the way we feel about one another. If you hate someone...because they don't look like you or act like you or believe like you...whatever the reason for the hate you feel it can be resolved at the cross! In Christ there truly is no east or west...bond or free...male or female. When we meet at the cross we ALL meet on and at the same level. The rich MUST come down...the poor MUST come up. The Have Not's must have and the Have's must Have Not! The ground is level there...at the cross! Equality is everywhere...THERE! If you say you have been to the cross and you still hate then check your geography. You've been SOMEWHERE...but it wasn't the CROSS! Jeff Some of you have been given a talent to sing but you don’t sing. For some it’s an ability or talent to teach but you don’t teach. Some have an incredible knack for selling. You could sell a health club membership to a dying man but it’s been fifteen years since you told anybody about Jesus. Still others have been blessed with the means to give…to the work of the Lord…and you guessed it…they don’t. You know what the real problem is? You don’t believe in God. See if you really believed in God and that He would take away that talent to sing that you don’t use…wild horses couldn’t keep you from singing that song. If you really believed your talent to SELL would be lost if you didn’t TELL others about Christ…an atomic bomb couldn’t keep you from telling about Him to others. If you REALLY thought God wouldn’t allow you to participate in HIS economy if you were greedy with your money you’d rob a bank to get out your own funds to give in the offering. That’s our problem…we really don’t believe in God!
Jeff In the parable of the talents the boss left for vacation and left with his three servants...talents...or abilities One of them got five, one got two and the other received one. The one with five and the one with two invested theirs and doubled their investments. The fellow with one buried his and earned nothing. Watch this please. The fellow who received two talents was just as accountable for what he was given as the one who received FIVE! He couldn't do what we do and that's complain about how much somebody else was given to start with. He not only couldn't complain about the seeming inequity it wouldn't do him any good to do so. He's only responsible for what he HAS. I have people all the time tell me "if I ever hit the lottery preacher and win 25 million dollars you won't have to worry about that building fund or special ministry at the church because I'm gonna give that money to the Good Lord!" You know what? I'm not nearly as concerned about the imaginary 25 million that you DON'T have as I am the $25.00 you DO have in your pocket right now that you won't use for God NOW!! Hear me...God will never trust you with two until He can trust you to do the right thing with ONE. He won't trust you with THREE until He can trust you to do the right thing with TWO! He won't trust you with four until He can trust you to do the right thing with THREE... This could go on into infinity but you get the point. Our problem is not that we CAN'T...it's that we WON'T.
Jeff |
AuthorDr. Jeff R. Steele 
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