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TRANSCRIPT
Turn your heart
over to
Jesus!
A book for struggling Christians
By:
Dale Lee Gordon Copyright 2010
A Struggling Christian
I have been struggling as a Christian for as long as I
have been a Christian. I think a lot of us struggle
with maintaining a close relationship with God.
Often it is the little foxes that stir up a number in
our lives.
Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the
vines: for our vines
have tender grapes. Songs of Solomon 2:15
It is like the computer which I am writing this book
on. Back in 2007, it was a good computer. I noticed,
however, the performance kept getting worse. Now
I can’t shut it down without hoping and praying it
will start again. It crashed twice and crashed hard.
Just as my computer crashed so did my life. While I
do not want to dwell on my past negative life issues
because I would rather give glory to God, in this
book I will touch on a few personal issues that will
give struggling Christians hope.
In the past I used to dwell on all the negativity in
life, seeing the glass empty. I was a mouse in search
of cheese and that was all I wanted. I wanted the
fast and easy way to life but crashed so many times
on the way to where I was headed. Rather than
looking around for a better way I would use a
hammer and chisel to try and knock down walls. I
even talked about how love was like a hammer that
was needed to knock on my door to reach me. I tore
down more than I built up wondering if there could
be an easier way. The only easy way I found is by
hard work and turning your heart over to Jesus.
As we travel on the road to success we may fail
several times along the way. But we shall reap a
harvest if we do not faint. Often life is a struggle of
a trail of tears. I got off on a very rough road as a
new Christian, and later made a vow to become a
preacher for God if He would help me through a
most difficult part of my life. In my vows I have
often felt I needed to give something in order to be
loved. In other words, I felt I needed to earn love.
So I gave of myself so much that there was just
nothing left of myself to give. I quite literally out
tithed God’s requirements and instead of giving
tithe according to Bible teaching, I tossed my pearls
before the swine that so quickly turned and
rendered me.
Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither
cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample
them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.
Matthew 7:6.
I refuse to dwell too much on my past since no one
wants to hear a person whining, instead I look to a
solid future; one where God’s love prevails ( I am
not just referring to heaven). When you give your
best to the worst sometimes your prize becomes
null and void. I gave of myself so much and it hurt
so badly. I gave to a pastor who later, and just as
Matthew 7 states, turned and attacked me. It was a
painful lesson that was not fully understood until
sometime later. I started seeking ways for the quick
buck, however, I learned that the quick and easy
way is the most unrewarding way. Satan’s idea of a
“silly season” isn’t fun nor does it last long. It is like
the artificial high a drug gives. It may be fun for a
season but it bites like a serpent in the end. I call
drugs “Satan’s candy,” though money can truly be
classified in the same category. Our silly seasons
abruptly end when Satan retracts his golden hand
and quickly robs you of what little pleasure you
thought you had. What you may find is that you are
sitting in a rubber room with only a safety smock, a
hole in the floor for a toilet, and three meals a day.
You think to yourself, “Reality has set in.” When the
silly seasons of life end and we are left holding the
empty bag, or worse, someone else holds it, and
you think to yourself, “What went wrong?”
Questions arise and there is often no answer.
The Shoulda Woulda Coulda’s
What should I have done differently? It’s the “if
only” stage. If only I had not cast my money to
swine maybe things would have worked out but the
path has been set. Perhaps you, like me, are headed
towards an iceberg on your maiden voyage. The
course is set and the speed is high. You think to
yourself, “I am the ship that cannot be sunk!” I have
said in my heart, “Satan doesn’t even exist,” but
God taught me a lesson; Satan is real and if Satan is
real, God must be real as well.
Smash!!! Your ship collides with a huge iceberg. The
damage is done and now your ship is slowly sinking
into the dark abyss. Cold waters are on every side
and it has become evident there are not enough life
rafts. Perhaps you, like me, created a nightmare of
your own doing. The ship you thought was Noah’s
Ark turned out to be another Titanic. You know of
the fearful sharks, and you know you can’t tread
these waters; what do you do? As you observe the
last life raft depart you know how this story is going
to end. You are in a trap and there is no way out of
this sinking ship. You should not have opted to go
on this horrible journey; but there is no turning
back now. What you thought was just a small
iceberg turned out to be the final voyage to the end
of life. Is there an answer? Yes! While others might
be drinking their last drink or running around trying
to save themselves by putting on a life jacket and
plunging into the water to prolong the inevitable,
hoping to escape, but in the end these are the
people crying out, “Oh, God, oh, God!” Meanwhile,
a poor, but content family gathers together, reading
the Bible, speaking of how they shall meet Jesus in
the end. They read their Bible that promises
everlasting life to those who love God, and they are
prepared. As for the others, all they could think of
was rescuing themselves.
Sometimes the damage is so severe and the gouge
so deep into the hull of the ship there are no
solutions. Sometimes God has to stand back and
say, “You didn’t need my help getting into your
problems, now you have to solve this one on your
own.” Though there are no life rafts left, there is
one life preserver left, and that is Jesus. He is the
one thing we have to hang onto. We have to
remember that God is still in control and He still
loves us.
…I WILL NEVER LEAVE THEE, NOR FORSAKE THEE.
Hebrews 13:5
God isn’t through with you yet. Are things in your
life as this Titanic? Then know that your only life
preserver is Jesus Christ. Are you sinking and don’t
know if you will be able to go on? Perhaps there is
one last place in the life raft. Perhaps there is just
one seat left with your name on it. I write in haste
because I know the time is short. I can’t be real
preachy adding a lot of verses because my
computer won’t let me download www.e-
sword.com an electronic Bible. My internet doesn’t
work very well and none of my USB ports are
working. My bank account has been closed and I
wonder if there is no escape from this impossible
nightmare. I am hoping to write my way out of the
damage done of casting my pearls before the evil
swine. God only knows the answers. As for me I
don’t have a clue. This is a problem that cannot be
easily remedied. All I know is God is in the business
of making the impossible possible and I have a
dream to achieve. There is a prize, restoration and
life at the end of the tunnel. I just have to find the
way there.
Exhausted Resources
I have lost almost everything and so little remains. I
have just enough of a computer to get this book
finished. If it fails it will have the same fate as all
other things in my life. They are piled deep under a
total loss of shattered dreams. In my quest for
making more money, I lost even more. All I had, I
gave away, and now what?
The most painful thing about disasters in life, are
the ones we know we created ourselves. I used to
live in a self-suicide of life where all that I had were
goals that failed. Have you ever had enormous
dreams only to find out they were not God’s will?
As for me I like to write. The problem is when I
made writing an
obsession and put it before God. I would go to bed
thinking of typing on my computer and how to
make something work. The very machine I loved
became an idol and essentially a god. God broke
this god and wiped the slate clean. I often blamed
Satan for the total loss, however, I realize now the
loss was due to my own folly. I was the fool that
said in his heart there is no God. The only true god I
found myself worshipping was the works of my own
hands. Today I sit in a trailer park having little
money to survive off of.
In just days more unpaid bills will hit, I ask, have you
ever been in this situation before? What little you
have is breaking whether it is a leaky roof, a
computer on its last dying leg, or a car that barely
runs. You already know there just isn’t enough
money but you press on praying that all will come
through. Thinking of the widow’s last two coins, you
end up doing the same, giving the last that
remained. Does this sound like you? Well, welcome
to our world. The ship is listing hard now, it is
beginning to take a plunge. It bucks and kicks like a
beast as it drifts off into the dark waters. You feel
yourself saying, “This is it, prepare to meet your
God.”
Cleaning the Slate
The hardest thing for me to do was to let go and let
God. It was a hard decision to make, just letting go,
but there were no other choices. You can hang on
to what you think you have, or you can reach out
and hold God’s hand, take off your shoes, get down
on the floor, and cry out to God. He will come
through. Looking back, I trusted in things that failed
me rather than in Jesus. I can’t sit here and expect
seeds to firmly plant themselves in the ground.
People may have hurt us but we must let go and let
God be the medicine made from the mud. As I sit
here I think of what I do have.
When I look at my past I like to see what led to the
slate being cleaned. It was me with the problem,
not everyone else. I had the beam in my own eye
while I was trying to clear the speck from my
neighbor’s eye. I forgot my own house was not kept
while I was keeping others. Because of my bad
mental state I was not being a good steward of my
money.
What God had been trying to tell me I did not want
to hear. Other good advice would go from one ear
to the other and I relied on my own
misunderstandings that were not from sound
advice. Many of the past books I wrote had the
entire scope off. The focus was strictly on me and
no emphasis on God.
One Step Forward Ten Steps Back
My dad told me never to sweep dirt into the tide or
it will come right back at you in greater force. Do
you ever feel in life that the harder you work the
quicker you fail? Right now as I sit and think of all I
have done, words escape me. I was always trying to
find some new way. There is only one way, and that
is Jesus.
Perhaps, if in the past I had thrown in the towel
after the first computer crash, I would not be sitting
here as broke and destitute. If I had not spent
money on trying to start a computer business but
rather on durable goods that could help me, I would
not be in this situation. Sometimes it seems that
God’s quiet gentle voice has faded and all that
remains are lies from the enemy. This is however,
not the end.
Changing Your Frame of Mind
The mind plays a critical part in life. It can be the
glue that bonds life together when times are at
their hardest. You can choose to build up your
mind, like building a muscle. I used to read Dale
Carnegie books and they put me in a stronger piece
of mind where I had more confidence. People used
to laugh at me for reading such books saying, “Why
try to win friends and influence people. Who
cares?!” The person receiving the love you offer
sure cares.
Thinking Things into Action
You can make up your mind to succeed or you can
set your mind to fail. It all depends on the old story;
is the glass half full or half empty. I’ve often thought
both are poor choices. The answer is given in the
Bible and it is simple.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of
mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my
cup runneth over. Psalm 23:5
Even Elijah, one of the greatest men of the Bible, at
one point just wanted to lie down and die. Look at
Jonah who lay in the hull of a ship thinking he could
hide from the face of the living God. He then went
from the hull of the ship to the depths of hell. Here I
am LORD, crying out from the pit of hell for
salvation from all I am facing. Often we think of
God’s saving grace as only being good for salvation
from damnation. However, the Word of God is open
ended when it speaks truth. It doesn’t say, “Saved
from hell,” or “Saved from your situations,” no,
rather, God leaves the equation an open format for
us to be able to provide what solutions we need
solved. The problem is we close our minds because
we think we already understand the truth and have
things clear in our head as to what we can and can’t
be saved from.
I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not
seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging
bread. Psalm 37:25
Could this be the reason we are begging God to
help us? Perhaps we are not righteous. Or could it
be that we suffer for a season and now the season
is ready to change. Furthermore the Bible tells us:
FOR WHOSOEVER SHALL CALL UPON THE NAME OF
THE LORD SHALL BE SAVED. Romans 10:13
I know I have called upon the LORD in the past and
He saved me from my enemies and from my own
destruction, but perhaps now He is allowing room
for a lesson to be learned. It is a hard lesson and
one that has been following me around for quite
some time. It is like sinful Israel in the book of
Judges. The Israelites would go astray and God
would jump in and save them after they repented.
Each time they would repent and the sin cycle
continued, the period of time of suffering increased.
This happened so many times until God was fed up
with Israel and finally took away their nation for
good and sent them back into captivity once and for
all. Though a new generation, almost entirely of
people who had never seen Jerusalem, returned to
Israel once again it was only for some to be witness
of the now destroyed Jerusalem from its glory days.
As they watched the temple’s foundation being laid,
some cheered while others cried. The ancient men
who remembered the former glory of Solomon’s
temple recalled its beauty and seeing the smaller
less elaborate temple being built, wept on its
behalf. I am experiencing the same thing in my life
and perhaps you are too. Though things are
different they just aren’t the same as the former
glory days when I was healthy and strong and could
get any job. When I look back to my life in the
Marines and all the former glory days when I had a
vehicle, I cringe knowing the bicycle I ride now is
not for pleasure; it is my primary mode of
transportation. The God-given finances that I was
supposed to nurture and raise, I gave unto my
enemy. A pastor took what I had for himself and
went on a spending spree, lavishing his friends and
lovers with my money. Though I don’t want to
whine or bore you with details, the lesson that can
be learned here is be careful who you trust. I feel I
took God’s very gift and despised it. Even the car my
parents gave me I allowed another to drive it who
then completely destroyed it. From here on out it is
all hard work, trying to rebuild my life from the
ashes of all the mistakes I made. I lived without
God’s blessing for so long thinking that what I was
doing was right, when all was wrong. There is an
answer I beg of this book and I will go on with the
answer.
A Sinner’s Cry to the Almighty God
Is there a sacrifice left for sins when a sinner does
so wrong? Do you find yourself in a bitter crossroad
wondering which way to turn? It seems like
everyone I know is broke. I go past fast food
restaurants smelling just how good the food would
be to eat, and knowing I cannot afford it. Movie
theaters are long a thing of the past. I look down
the road and there is a prize of a new life and life
more abundantly but in the past all I could see was
darkness. Do you have a sting of pain that you
cannot forget? We must learn to deal with it and we
must learn to forgive. What I can do is pray for the
men who wronged me so wickedly. Can God forgive
us? I am a sinner who really messed things up. I
took God’s blessing, and yes, even my parents
blessing and despised it. The question is, can I ever
be forgiven? Can I still have salvation and peace of
mind from the ever burdening question of where
will I spend eternity? They were mistakes and costly
expensive ones at that.
God is allowing me time to think about what I did; a
time out in the corner, so to speak. Do you want a
shot at the American dream but the possibility is
fading, falling, and failing. Are you tired of empty
cupboards and empty dreams? We want life and
happiness but we are miserable. Where do we go
from here?
One cannot know what the right thing to do is and
yet do what is wrong in such a way it harms others
at the cost of the other person’s expense. Is this
what I have done? Yes! I stand guilty as charged.
Confess your faults one to another, and pray one
for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual
fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
James 5:16
Please join me in the following prayer: I confess my
sins to you LORD. I have fought you, I have hated
you, I have been angry with you, I have not
understood you, and now I know my faults. I
confess the secret sins of my life. I am wrong and
you are right. You gave me the tools to survive and I
despised and rejected them. In folly and my own
madness I destroyed the love you gave me when I
first accepted you. I confess my sins and beg you to
restore this sinner to the level I was once at.
Restore the years that the locust have eaten. Your
Word promises the healing, the mud that becomes
medicine, and the healing of a broken heart. I ask
you to return me to my former glory, minus the
years of a foolish atheistic past. Remember my
vows I vowed on a night’s sky looking up to you.
Recall my words ten years ago before all things
really went wrong (another story). I vowed to be a
preacher for you, yet here I sit, life in shambles
wondering what to do or where to turn. LORD I take
full responsibilities for my actions, knowing it was
my fault for all I did wrong. LORD I want to live and
to love, please restore what was taken and remove
the curses put on me so long ago. I believe in your
promises to refill the storage vats.
I thank you, LORD, for the pain and trials. I thank
you for the years the enemy laughed at me while
robbing me right before my eyes. Grant salvation
and peace within the storm. LORD I recall the dream
last night. I recall the violent twister. In my dream
its path was nine miles long. It was a picture of the
destructive forces that terrorize our lives. I know
now I am a sinner and I come to you for mercy. Your
loving kindness I seek. Please help me to survive
and bless me with a future and an outcome.
LORD I am here to worship you. I repent of all I am
or all I ever thought I was. I am sorry. Please come
into my life and save me. AMEN…
Where to go from here?
In life there is nothing we can do to earn God’s
grace. The harder we work at it the more the Devil
will fight us. Your works aren’t good enough.
...My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is
made perfect in weakness… 2 Corinthians 12:9
It is in these weakened times our character is truly
tested. We can come out a victor or cowering under
Satan’s grip and his force of evil. We can go through
a trial to find out if we are made of gold or made of
unfired clay. Trials will come and trials will go. For
me I have lived in a season of trials. It took a lot of
prayers and GOD Almighty to bring me out of the
slump I was in. Now I can look into the mirror and
know I am a wonderful person, confident but not
overly proud. I know when I see my reflection in the
mirror that I am wonderfully and beautifully made
in God’s image. If I say I am ugly I am reflecting that
God is a horrible artist. Whatever state I am in, no
matter what I look like, or what I have done, I will
know from here on out that I am loved.
How to React When You Think God Hates You
This is a hard pill to swallow. You may think to
yourself, “Does God care about me? My life is
destroyed, He mustn’t care!!!” I lived this way for
years crying out “Why, why?” wondering what is
going on.
Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting
them to continue in the faith, and we must through
much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
Acts 14:22
God never did say life would be easy, and no, life is
not a box of chocolates. Life can be a series of
hurdles we have to overcome to get to where we
are going and in the end there is a prize, so keep
your eyes on the prize of life.
I know in my life there is a prize ahead and I know
its potential as long as God’s blessing is in it. One of
life’s prizes is the restoration of a sinner’s life, and
serving Him and others with the love of God. Is it
working out? Yes, because I believe in love. I believe
in a love so strong the gates of hell cannot
extinguish it. One of Satan’s greatest fears is the
love we have with GOD. It becomes the inseparable
threefold cord that cannot be quickly broken. It is
love with peace and hope.
Man wasn’t meant to live alone. I am beginning to
feel and see the importance of marriage. That is, of
course, one that honors God. Though I may not be
perfect in this matter, (explanations withheld and
details left vague) I still want a marriage that is
made of love. I have likened it to a building. The
foundation of a marriage is friendship and the trust
you build. This is the most important part of
courtship because without a solid foundation the
walls and roof will sink into the sand. The walls, of
course, are romance. I thought for a while that the
first kiss should be under the altar in front of a
minister, but seasons change. Just don’t let kisses
escalate into something they should not be. Make it
a passionate kiss but don’t act like you own the
donut shop unless you have purchased the building.
Make your marriage vows honorable to the Mighty
God who will help you keep your love from growing
cold. In a marriage there must be a chief
Cornerstone and that Cornerstone represents the
LORD who will guard you and bring peace to your
lives. The roof to your house is the icing on the cake
and that, of course, is intimacy. Being intimate in
marriage is a God given gift which should be valued
and guarded above all else.
God’s Word tells us the following:
Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed
undefiled… Hebrews 13:4
There is a beautiful love song by Garth Brooks. The
song is called “Shameless.” It is a story of how a
man can love his wife without shame or guilt.
Marriage should be a lasting relationship only
separated by death but reunited in God’s kingdom.
Many waters cannot quench love, neither can
floods drown it... Song of Solomon 8:7
There is a power in love beyond anything in this
world. Love opened the grave of Jesus and brought
Him back to life. Love heals, love protects, and love
is always there when you need it. Love will travel,
forsaking all just for a kind word. Love pleases and
love thanks. Love is the power to restore and to
rejuvenate.
All my life I have always wanted LOVE. Now I have
found it. Though we have the love of the LORD in
our lives we need human love. In the midst of my
pain, in the depths of hell, love found me. Love has
a power to win and rule over our lives. Love can and
will surprise you. I write this book with the love
Jesus Christ gave me, knowing I am forgiven. It is
like a young man who is given a brand new car. He
loves and cherishes it, yet in a fleeting moment
destroys it. Though his family forgives him, the
second car he will have to work for. I know because
that is my life story.
Only God can restore you. I can only hope that the
whirlwind I saw in last night’s dream was that of
Job’s answer to prayer. Our life cannot be restored
unless it is blessed by God. I know I can no longer
run ahead of God expecting Him to catch up. It may
not be in His will for me to run at all. I know God’s
will for us is to rest because in rest there is strength.
All we can do is pray and ask the good LORD to lead
us. If we have been given a second chance in life,
follow where the LORD leads. The children of God
were guided by a pillar of cloud in the day and a
pillar of fire at night, not by the wanderings of their
own way. Peter walked on water only when his eyes
were fixed upon Jesus. Like Peter I failed and
though I wanted to move forward and press on I got
bogged down with the demons, worries, and fears
of life. Soon I was sinking and crying out from the
billowing waves, “LORD, save me!!!”
I know there is a future for me and it won’t be
eternity in hell. I simply had a lesson to learn that
God is God and to let Him do what He does best. I
cast my burdens and cares to the mighty God to let
Him handle the things I cannot.
A Picture of King Solomon
Pride got a hold of King Solomon and as intelligent a
man as he was, he lived on his own, outside of
God’s glory. There is a little known fact about this
unusual king. It all began with the temple which
bore his name. Studying the names of the pillars in
front of the temple gives insight to who Solomon
truly was. Boaz was the name of the left pillar, but
the right pillar was Jachin. Yawkeen is the Hebrew
pronunciation meaning; “he or it will establish.” So
who is this he or it who established the temple?
Perhaps Solomon thought of himself as establishing
this temple. Could he establish it, giving honor to
himself, claiming the glory of his own? Well,
apparently he did and because of his folly God saw
that the temple and his very own pillar would not
be left standing. This may not make any sense, but
now I will clarify his folly in one word, Yekonehyah.
The meaning of this word is important. It means;
“Jah or Jehovah will establish.” Doesn’t it make
more sense to have Yahweh power our lives rather
than our own understanding? If we Yawkeen our
lives we see the results… destruction, chaos, fear,
and uncertainties. However if we Yekonehyah our
lives we allow God to be the creator and builder of
our lives. When we tend to rely on our own
understanding we fall short of the glory, however,
when we lean on the strong arm of God He catches
us when we fall. The question is what pillar would
you rather be called?
Solomon’s Repentance
Solomon was a man of much love. With his love he
married far too many women and pulled his heart
down and away from his loving Creator. Every time
he saw a beauty he added her to his harem.
Straying away from his loving Maker he sought the
gods of this world to please that many wives. As he
began to lose ground, he came to grips with the
God of grace and understanding. He was forgiven
when he wrote the book of Ecclesiastes. In
Ecclesiastes he writes of folly and the vanities of
life. It is evident when reading this book that
Solomon’s intelligence had become his own
destruction, and similarly, my ways that I thought
were honorable had become my own destructive
paths. It is interesting how we see what appears to
be righteous, in reality can be our folly. Solomon
finally saw his own hurt.
…There is a time wherein one man ruleth over
another to his own hurt. Ecclesiastes 8:9
Solomon saw his own folly and the LORD gave him
time to write it down and repent of his actions. In
my life I have done unspeakable things (again not
for the scope of this book) yet God has not only
forgiven but rescued me from my own madness.
There is one true God and His ways are holy.
Manasseh’s Madness
King Manasseh was a man of much speculation. I
have seen him categorized with King David which is
wrong. Manasseh means to forget. This king is the
example of someone who had the chance at
salvation but took the LORD’s forgiveness in vain. If
I was a betting man I would venture to suggest
Manasseh will not be in God’s kingdom. The reason
I say this is the idols he erected and once
worshipped, he forgot to destroy. King Manasseh’s
repentance was not complete. For one in the
Apocryphal book of Manasseh this wicked king does
not send this letter to every tribe and tongue as
King Nebuchadnezzar did in Daniel chapter 4. Three
times in the Bible God says He will do something
not once but twice. It is recorded in 2 Chronicles 33
that Manasseh repented, however, in 2 Kings 21
Manasseh is not seen repenting. Here a twofold
cord must be fulfilled to have full repentance. Since
he is seen in 2 Chronicles 33 repenting but not 2
Kings 21 his repentance was not from a fully
repentant heart. Here are the verses from 2
Chronicles 33. (2Ch 33:11) Wherefore the LORD
brought upon them the captains of the host of the
king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the
thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him
to Babylon. (2Ch 33:12) And when he was in
affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and
humbled himself greatly before the God of his
fathers, (2Ch 33:13) And prayed unto him: and he
was intreated of him, and heard his supplication,
and brought him again to Jerusalem into his
kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD he
was God. Here are the following verses that speak
of a twofold cord: (Job 33:14) For God speaketh
once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. (Job
40:5) Once have I spoken; but I will not answer:
yea, twice; but I will proceed no further. (Psa 62:11)
God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that
power belongeth unto God. For Manasseh to
completely be forgiven his forgiveness would have
to been recorded in both Kings and Chronicles. In
this case God literally brought Manasseh to his
knees in repentance. This was so that he could
pave the way for King Josiah to be anointed as king
so that Josiah could lead Israel back to God. When
repenting we can learn from the mistakes of
Manasseh that we must fully pursue God with all of
our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Even in
Jeremiah God had this to say about King Manasseh:
(Jer 15:4) And I will cause them to be removed into
all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the
son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did
in Jerusalem. See from Bible language like this God
is still mad and though God forgave for a season to
see what Manasseh might do God did not fully
forgive the king. I look at my own life and wonder
what it is I am to do? I have idols that needed to be
destroyed and I went overboard and destroyed
everything from my evil past. These were the works
of my own creation and the folly I created before I
ever accepted Christ in my heart. King Manasseh
was much like me however, I learned from
Manasseh’s mistakes that I too must repent for real
or face God’s eternal judgment. King Manasseh was
much like me. He built his life on the shifting sands
of false dreams, a life of idolatry and violence. The
example here is spoken as I wrote above in 2 Kings,
chapter 21, we see the violent evil acts of this king,
however, in 2 Chronicles, chapter 33, we see a
picture of his repentance. Which is the truth and
which one is the lie? The answer is both. He repents
but not with a full heart. Manasseh is seen:
He took away the strange gods, and the idol out of
the house of the LORD, and all the altars that he
had built in the mount of the house of the LORD,
and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city. 2
Chronicles 33:15
Though he cast out his strange gods there is no
record of him destroying his gods. It was not until
later when the most righteous king ever, King
Josiah, came along and destroyed the idols of
Manasseh.
And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his
presence; and the images, that were on high above
them, he cut down; and the groves, and the carved
images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces,
and made dust of them, and strowed it upon the
graves of them that had sacrificed unto them. 2
Chronicles 34:4
Repentance is more than just half way actions; you
must do your full part of destroying the evil you
create. I may be just as guilty and that could be part
of the reason I failed. Does it ever seem that the
very hand of God is against you? Don’t blame God,
perhaps He has stopped us because our works need
improvement. Perhaps it was God’s plan to bring
me to this point in my life so He can show that:
The difficult can be done, the impossible takes a
little longer. Dale Lee Gordon
I want to prove Satan to be the evil liar he is but if I
can just step out of my own folly for a while I can
see the blemishes in my character. It becomes
evident our lives are a mess when we start seeing
the destructive forces coming in from every side.
An Example from King David
King David was said to be a man after God’s own
heart. He had gentleness on one hand and a
Goliath-sized strength on the other. He cared, he
loved, but he, like so many of us, later fell. It was
the pride of life, the “Oh, look at me” spirit. It was,
however, the times he was at his worst, were the
times he was at his best. With the words, “Thou art
the man!” it was then that King David became
repentant. He wrote Psalm 32 and 51, begging and
pleading with God to restore him to the glory of the
former years. Later on his wives were raped by his
own son in full view of everyone. It was at this
point, when his son was finally overthrown, that
King David had to make the hardest choice of his
life. Was he to morn over the death of his son or to
rejoice in the salvation and saving grace of the
LORD? After a bitter taste of reality he chose the
love of the Almighty God. The soured grapes he had
eaten truly had set his children’s teeth on edge.
Life is full of challenges and hardships. For King
Herod his fate was sealed at the death of John the
Baptist. Pontus Pilate had a chance to step down as
governor and gain salvation. When his wife spoke to
him of her dream of his folly, Pontus Pilate still
allowed the King of Glory to be tortured to death.
We have choices in life. We can go around as
Pontus Pilate trying to wash our hands in innocence
all the days of our lives hereafter, or we can do
what is right when the time comes. The question is
what will it be? Will you bow down from whatever
position of evil you are doing and will you follow
God’s lead and forsake all things? Temporary riches
can be elusive and so unfulfilling. Are you facing
some serious bills? Don’t let them beat you down to
the dust of the earth but rather we must learn to
press on. I have come to grips with life and its
difficult challenges. For so long I just wanted out,
but now I can see there is a prize waiting around
the corner and it is a ministry of blessing. God will
give you a reason to go on even if you do not have
one. God showed me His love, when love was
fleeting and seemed hopeless. God does interesting
and amazing things when it comes to life and love.
He warms our heart at just the right point and even
though we can’t earn God’s love, we need to show
Him that we do love Him.
I have often wondered how many people will be
saved.
And IF THE RIGHTEOUS SCARCELY BE SAVED,
WHERE SHALL THE UNGODLY AND THE SINNER
APPEAR? 1 Peter 4:18
It doesn’t say it is impossible to be saved it just ain’t
all that easy. Perhaps that is why so many Christians
struggle through life because they are still in the
oven waiting to be kiln dried. The question is; will
we explode because we did not take the time to
work out the bubbles or will we crack and be good
for nothing. Satan is looming around every corner
to tear your world apart. DO NOT GIVE THE ENEMY,
SATAN, ANY GROUNDS FOR ATTACK IN YOUR LIFE! I
recall some time ago I created a Power Point
presentation. I broke down in tears as I was
recording. I then told Satan to bring it on. Sure as
ever, he did. I invited Satan to attack me. What I
should have done was digested God instead. God’s
Word proves this in the following verse.
Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy
word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine
heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of
hosts. Jeremiah 15:16
We reap what we sow and if we sow bad seeds we
will reap a bad harvest. We have to learn to do
what is right and sow goodness into our lives. For so
long I felt I was undeserving of a good life so I
bound curses to me or made impossible vows,
which I later paid. For every action I reaped an
action similar but effectively worse. I could never
face the fact that God just simply loves me for who I
am. Nothing I can do will pay for the bloodshed at
Calvary! Nothing I can do will ever reach a point
where God will say, “Good enough.” There are no
works that God sees as good, for all they are, all
filthy rags. We are not on a point or merit system
with God. To indulge yourself in a pork chop or a
bunch of donuts is not going to make God hate you.
What God gets upset about is when we ignore Him,
rejecting His sound advice, and doing things our
own way and staying away from God. You see, God
wants to be a part of our lives. He stands at the
door knocking, yet it is our responsibility to either
let Him in or shut Him out. I could list verse after
verse about the follies of legalism but that is not
what this book is about. It is important to work out
your salvation, but not work for your salvation.
Nothing will please the Almighty God as much as a
genuine heartfelt prayer on your knees with shoes
off. Get down in that position now and renew your
love for God. Have you gone astray and walked
away from the love of the LORD? As soon as we
start becoming a servant to sin, and its enticing
lusts, we lose track of who we are. We lose our
meaning of serving God and soon we come crashing
down as reality takes a full grip, knowing we fell
away from our one true God. The only way to get
right and get out of the pit you dug for your own
burial, is to slowly start filling it back in, cover it
with grass, walking away from the sins of our lives.
Start a new life free of your sins. Sometimes God
cleans the slate because we won’t return to Him. An
example is Lot’s wife who became a pillar of salt
because she wanted that one last look into a sinful
past. Her heart wasn’t made clean and God knew
she would always hold on to the past with
admiration and lusts. The two husbands-to-be of
Lot’s daughters perished along with the city, all
because of unbelief. Not believing God is a sin I am
guilty of. God could have struck me down for so
many things, but never did.
An Example of Aaron
When I cook a meal I often joke around saying that I
cook “Aaron style.” I throw all this stuff together
and out comes a great meal and if you don’t know
the story, find it in Exodus, chapter 32. I used to
think of salvation with Pharisaical thinking, that I
could gain it by some kind of point system. Then I
looked at the picture of Aaron in the following
verse:
It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that
ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that
went down to the skirts of his garments. Psalm
133:2
Here is an example of someone who had really
blown it but God showed him favor in the end. God
can and will show you the same favor. The question
is, will you give up the idols you are carrying and
hand them over to Jesus or will you try to hide them
in your tent by lying and sitting on them? My friend,
tell the world or just simply someone you know,
about what Jesus has done for you. Share this book
and share the love Christ has given you. Don’t be
like the person I used to know who was always
complaining about the church wanting money. He
never paid tithes but was quick to want a handout.
Now he sits in a wheelchair, unable to walk.
Perhaps it was God’s way of getting his attention, I
don’t know. What I do know is it was a freak
accident, and one that could have been prevented
had he said and done the right things. The man
hanging on the cross next to Jesus, though he said
few words, his words will forever be remembered in
the greatest book ever, the Holy Bible. By our words
we can be justified or condemned. It just depends
on our sincerity. What I tell you is; God knows your
heart. My best advice is not to listen to the
preacher, but rather the spoken words of God’s
book, the Bible. The most important thing I can tell
you to do is: Turn your heart over to Jesus. AMEN…
God is so good! Much has happened since the
writing of this book in late winter of 2009. My web
site www.coloryourworldwithlove.com, which is a
ministry that GOD gave me to help people, has
blossomed and is continuing to be blest by GOD. My
computer runs great and my life has improved as
GOD restores and rebuilds me. GOD is setting up
pillars all around me, recreating me brand new and
uplifting my life. My dream of creating a ministry of
blessing has come true. GOD is doing more things in
my life than you can possibly imagine and in ways I
never could at one time believe. GOD has protected
me from the worst. GOD truly lives up to the name
of LOVE as we turn our hearts over to Jesus.
I have to apologize for the formatting of this book. I
had to convert the original pdf back to Word 7.
When I did so the formatting would not work and as
a result I lost half the pictures. Nothing I could do
would change these errors. This book was fought
from day one when I originally wrote it. I worked
with a computer that was barely working. Within
that time the computer crashed completely and
that is when I lost the original Word document.
Fortunately I had a pdf file uploaded to my server
on my website otherwise this book would be lost.
The good news is Satan hates this book. That must
mean I did a good job on it. Thanks to my editor she
did a great job on the grammar and wording of this
book. She made what was good even better.
Amen
Turn Your Heart over to Jesus…
Hearts shatter but they rebuild.
Love matters and love can be refilled.
It is the heart that God sees, not the appearance.
Though love flees, it stands a second chance.
God is the victor as you shall find.
Love can last forever, though sometimes love is
blind.
Just turn your heart over to Jesus for He has paid
the price.
Give your Heart to Jesus my friend, this is the best
advice.
Written by, Dale Lee Gordon
See www.dalegordonbooks.com May come up as:
www.dalesbooks.org