The Stickman's Understanding...

Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord GOD of hosts: for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee. -Jeremiah 50:31 P oorly  R egarded Irritating and Deeply Errant or P.R.I.D.E. Lol Good morning and God bless you. In prayer this morning the thought came to me how many miss the blessings of God because of self. Many come to the brink of a blessing but then fall into the trap called pride.  Pride is as dangerous as it is prevalent in church leadership and pride is as subtile as it is sneaky. God stands against it because it causes chaos. The holder of pride desires to be more than they are even at the expense of coveting what others have.  I recall the story of Saul who went from pitiful to prideful and of course pride comes before the fall.  In many scriptures we find God opposes the proud. Why? Glad you asked. An arrogant and haughty spirit is found in the serpent and in his arrogance he pulled mankind into a tainted...

For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. -Psalms 30:5 Good morning and God bless you.  The comedian Chris Rock once quipped, “If you are mean all the time, it’s not a mood swing, it’s your personality.”  Though that is fraught with humor, it is as well full of truth. Many saints of God are so full of anger that they can’t think clearly. And their anger is the lens that they see everything through.  You could say oh it’s cold outside and they’d argue “what’s wrong with the cold. Are you a cold bigot?” So great is the anger of people in the church that you can hardly use light humor as everything is taken as an offense.  It is why I thank God His grace will not allow Him to remain angry, nor in His anger will He make a judgement. Because where would we be if He had uncontrolled rage?  Now take the entire scripture in context. In the moment of His anger you...

And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him. -Matthew 12:10 God bless and good morning you. How excellent is the name of the Lord!!! I was reading this morning and the Lord touched my heart saying to tell people don’t miss out.  The story above calls us all on the carpet as Jesus chides the faithless religious Pharisees. He baits them to expose their fallacy and religious agenda, asking them what’s more important a sheep or man?  They used for an excuse the Sabbath to withhold anything that would benefit man; that included was a man whose painful obvious need fell within that preview.  You can become so religious that you lose empathy. God has rules but His grace is bigger than His rules which is why Jesus died on the cross instead of us.  Be careful and not tell God when He can’t heal. We miss out on timely blessings because we restr...

34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things?  for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.  35  A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.  36  But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.  37  For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.                    Matt 12 God bless and good morning. On social media this morning and saw some of the vile rhetoric spews from the fonts of those on my news feed.  And as I saw what they wrote my first instinct was how could they write things that they couldn’t be sure of, proven lies and to defend/justify their lies based on past hurts.  The hurts used to justify how they feel may hav...

Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; -Psalms 91:5 Careful of the hype, if it is not proven certainly do not spread it.  God bless and good morning. Oh that God would be glorified. I have been following with intensity the story of Bubba Wallace, the AA NASCAR driver and what was said to be a noose left in his cars stall.  Fortunately the story has proven to be a mistake as the “noose” turned out to be a pull down cord for the garage door of his stall.  Initially I thought that he had been the one to find the noose; how spine chilling such an experience would be, but it was another NASCAR employee who was white. Then the President of NASCAR another white gentleman brought it to his attention.  Rightfully it should have been brought to his attention, but the fear it brought was premature. We are in a crucial time in the history of not just this nation, but mankind. And every word, understood or not...

And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; -Luke 18:1 God bless you and good morning. This morning during prayer I received the proverbial ruler across my knuckles from the Lord.  Does it seem that when others pray    you have to focus twice as hard not to faint?  A preacher once lamented this in a parody of a given inattentive saint. He used the Lord’s Prayer and added what must have been the thoughts of the man as he gazed at another imperfect being... “Our Father... ( wonder if he is that child’s father? don’t look nothing like him) who art in heaven... ( the child’s name of all things is heaven), hallowed be thy name... (and why they name that child that, never live up too it or be able to spell it)...” Though many may not go this far I can now understand what Jesus meant by fainting.  If we are not leading prayer we must be careful not to become distracted or a distraction. It is ...

And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: -Genesis 3:4 Good morning and God gets the glory!!! As of late there has been more than an abundance of rumors, innuendos and things written from the pen of the heartbroken.  Many things have validity, but some of the most vicious and viral things, none the less have been twisted truths and downright lies.  Lies will often take bits of truth and build on and around truth. For example truth was Germany was financially defeated after WWI, but the lie was the Jews caused their defeat.  In a more recent posting I saw that some believed that the monkey wrench was name after black boxer Jack Johnson. Jack Johnson was a great boxer and great man who did indeed invent a wrench albeit 75 years after the monkey wrench.  The wrench was named after its inventor Charles Moncky...see how close the lie is to the truth? The enemy used the same tactic to create a sense of uncertainty in Eve and s...

And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: -Joel 2:28 God bless you and happy Friday. Beloved please know that time is wrapping up. Joel the prophet spoke of last days and what could be expected. As a precursor of the tribulations to come God send warnings.  What is of note is that God chooses young people and older people, but missing distinctly are middle age folks.  It may mean nothing or it may be of great significance that those with the most influence, in positions of power, CEOs, Captains of industry are left out of the grace of knowing what is coming. There is an significant number of Pastors and others in church leadership who fall into this age category.  I believe that God has already sent the warning to the middle age group. His abundant grace has allowed time for us to teach truth but mo...

I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. -1 Corinthians 15:31 I recently read of a conversation held between a babe in Christ and a very seasoned saint.  The seasoned saint said, “I have not sinned in about 35-40 years.” The new saint responded, “How is that possible?” The more experienced saint then used the flaw theology, “Once saved.” How far off we can be when Jesus is only your savior and not Lord? The belief that sinning is no longer possible after you have made your initial faith confession is foolish and downright dangerous.  That belief is not just held by babes in Christ but others with long tenure. Thinking that one is perfect belies the process of being in this life... Christ is coming after a church with no spot or blemish, therefore if you are without sin keep casting stone and your fiery chariot is outside waiting to whisk you away, Elijah is at the wheel.  Paul the apostle was inspired to war...

Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. -Isaiah 40:1 Good morning and God bless you... On this morning I heard of the passing of another pillar of the family and hearing the anguish, my heart recalled the scripture found in Isaiah 40.  This scripture comes on the heels of the prophecy of Isaiah in chapter 39. His prophecy told the newly healed Hezekiah that by his bragging to the Babylonians, Israel would be invaded.  I feel that this nation as a whole through arrogance has been invaded. Both physically and spiritually visited by virus which was drawn by our spiritual voidness.  But do not lose hope as the Lord provided comfort them to a repent Hezekiah, so will    He provide hope and comfort to us all.  Our role though is as Isaiah 40 later says, perseverance, and trusting God gives strength that is supernatural.  I encourage you to trust in His plan and even as you endure and go through, He yet provides comfort i...

You can pray right but think wrong And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; -Luke 18:1 God bless you and good morning. I learned the meaning of the word incongruent some years ago and in a very profound way, which I will tell about some other time.  The word simply is when two things that should agree don’t. Those things can be what you are doing versus what you are saying.  For example some years ago there was a vine video of a little girl dancing. In the background someone is saying “Do it for the vine”, to which she while dancing up a storm say, “I ain’t gonna do it!”    That is being incongruent.  The scripture above contains instruction from the Lord. Direct instructions that are often being ignored. Not as much out of rebellion as out of not really knowing.  Man ought to always pray what they think and think what they pray. An incongruent prayer would be praying for a fina...

1 Blessed  is  the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2 But his delight  is  in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.                          Psalms 1 God bless you and happy Friday. The scripture above deserves one of those “This”    emoji you know with fingers above it pointing. But often it gets the “meh”. There are three warnings given here. The writer extols how blessed you are when you do not allow yourself to be inundated by a chorus of ungodly advise by the obviously ungodly, nor hang too tough with sinners, or hang back and allow yourself to become critical.  The ungodly usually has an agenda that is not only self serving but will be so even at your great expense. Judas showed what could be greed disguised as concern in John 12, wh...

And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright. -Genesis 25:31 Good morning and God bless you. While meditating this morning it came to me the question, what do you value?    In the story behind the scripture above we see twins striving to get the better of the other.  Esau the eldest was brilliant as a hunter perhaps capable of great feats of strength that required little thinking.  Whilst Jacob used more of his mind and wit to secure a trade epic in its inequality.  Though Esau obviously was not as bright as his brother he was not ignorant of the customs and traditions of his time.  He knew that the first born received the greater of inheritance while the others born after got less.  His choice to give up his inheritance shows us how you protect what you value.  And that value can’t always be determined by the present. A lump of coal over time can become a diamond.  The story is such a great lesson in patience...

Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: -James 1:19 Good morning and God bless you. Ever notice how fast things are as compared to yesteryear?  I was just taking a course on Heat Illnesses and of note of the different types of injuries (stroke, cramps, exhaustion,etc), that one piece of advice of medical personnel is the same, simply to slow down.   This is true in many areas of our lives. We rush to complete tasks, we rush to appointments, and this trait or tendency is shared by all. Due to this tendency many opportunities, relationships, and even lives have been lost.  James reminds us of this important when it comes to living a godly life. More often than not invaluable information and understanding is loss in the rush.  A habit I took up as a young boy is I sat and listened to older people and it built in me an appreciation for taking knowledge from their experiences. In that way I’...

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. -Proverbs 4:23 Good morning and God bless you!  I have been really looking at the source of the heart ache in this current crisis we as a nation face and I can say with all conviction that these things are a matter of the heart.  The heart is the center of our moral consciousness and what takes root in the heart grows and the vines eventually proceed out the mouth.  Children are born innocent except the sin seed which is the desire and propensity to commit sin. We often capture scenes of children playing together without regard to ethnicity, culture or privilege. The shaping of prejudice has not yet taken root in their heart and therefore the fear of it is not yet present.  Not only are parents guilty of shaping a child with fear but society in general plays a role. We are constantly bombarded with stereotyping    that are may be no way a part of the upbringing of th...

Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. -Ephesians 4:29 The scripture above refers to gossip but gossip is a life partner with fear.    Do you remember the “in crowd” of high school.  That crowd always had one leader and that leader was in place because of one ability. It wasn’t so much looks, smarts, athleticism or even financial privilege as it was the ability to out talk others.  What drives them is not just wanting to be on top per se as it is a deep rooted insecurity.  So at any cost they will propel the bullet points of their agenda to the forefront. Be by flat out lies, insinuations, snubs or worst.  In each of us exist insecurities and to combat them a desire to be on top is cultivated. Either as THAT leader or another type of leader and that desire unchecked makes it just that much easier to promote what may not be truth...

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. -2 Timothy 1:7 Good morning and may God bless you real good. It’s Friday. Made it another week despite all challenges brought against us.  The scripture above is often quoted but only partly understood. People will read it but not the many explanatory verse before it. If you read the verse before you will see Timothy in a very corrupt country at a very trying time.  False prophets are attempting to corrupt the gospel, government is opposing via greediness, lustful and pride driven egos have platforms.  So that said the truth which is strong has to shed those things. Those things have one thing in common, they are some of the weapons fear form against us.  Fear attacks our love by vetting us against each other, fear saps our power by disunity and our sound mind endures great hardship as what we believe is constantly put in trial.  The very platf...

We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us,  what  work thou didst in their days, in the times of old.                  -Psalms 44:1 Good morning and God bless you. Can I say faithful? God is faithful! I was observing the differences in generational norms with a friend recently and noted that what each generation value is different based mostly on current needs.  Whereas my generation valued simpler things, our shoes sometimes were hand me downs or purchased at the Supermarket in the frozen food section ( ☺️ ).  Things such as my kids asking to ride city buses for the joy of it? I can recall many frost bitten days waiting for the bus.  We often value what we don't know. What we have have little exposure too and not knowing allows the bliss of ignorance. This is why it is so important to correctly share life experiences with our children.  In the book of Joshua chapter 24,...

Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. -John 16:13 Good morning and God bless you. My silky Terrier Samson is aging, he will be 14 this year. With aging comes the issues such as hearing and his main issue is blindness.  When I let him out for a potty break, I have on more than one occasion opened the screen door and he runs into the wall next to the door.  Then when I let him in...if he has ventured too far from the door he gets lost in the back yard.  Too further complicate his life (which is what he is thinking) I have been doing projects at home and the screen porch; his path in and out for potty have my tools everywhere.  And this complication has set the stage for many adventures of getting him in and out the door.  Our latest adventure sparked my memory of the scriptur...