"Hero To Zero", He Is Able Page 100 at http://www.he-is-able.com/page100.html


	Hero To Zero


...Whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil. Proverbs 1:33


	When I first started this article, it was going to tell the story of how the people cheered and waved palm fronds and laid down their garments as Jesus rode toward them on a donkey. But as is always the truth, and I so thank the Lord for it, His Ways are not my ways: His Ways are always perfect. We just can't understand why the folks back in Jesus' days on earth couldn't see Him for Who He is (again, He is always spoken of in present tense, because He is eternally existent, so it's not bad grammar there). Countless sermons have been preached about "Peter's denial" of Jesus in that courtyard, but I ask you, who are we to condemn Peter?
And those Pharisees! Who did they think they were? Why EXACTLY THE SAME FOLKS WE ARE!! If we aren't chasing images on screen doors, we're waiting on gold fillings or under a shower of gold dust!! We're after the creation, not the Creator! Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous. Matthew 23:27-29. We spend gazillions on mighty cathedrals, places to "please the eye" under the stupidity that it's God's House. Excuse me? How much of a place does it take to invite the Holy Spirit to be in our midst as we worship and adore our Lord and Savior? Yet we allow everything in the world in: all kinds of PAGAN rituals and symbols that have nothing whatsoever to do with the sanctity of God! God doesn't dwell in any earthly building, for what building could hold Him? He's supposed to dwell in our hearts, but our hearts are so corrupted and filled with everything else, there's no room for God! And just look at those Publicans! Beating their chests and bleating out their good works for all to know! We forget our own attitudes of "What's in it for me?" Why just let the preacher not call us when we're sick or shake our hands at the front door or not visit us in the hospital! Or for that matter, hold a bit long in the service and make us miss our favorite table at the local hog trough!

When we first accept the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, He is our HERO. Why there's not another person as fantastic as He, there's never been a more wonderful, marvelous experience than when we accepted forgiveness of our sins. 'Tis the grandest thing--you just can't shut us up about it. For too many of us, however, the new quickly wears off and that Person, that Experience, is shuttled aside and stored away and we sink into complacency about it. Too many of us never get past the Salvation Experience. We fall into snares that Satan has prepared for us: we don't witness (it's not the popular thing to do, you know), we don't praise (we might get embarrassed), we don't study (favorite show is on tv), we don't pray (don't "need" anything right now or "we can handle it"). Our Hero becomes a Zero. And let's not forget about old "self"--he (or she) has got a few tricks up his/her sleeve for us, too: self-love, self-esteem, self-deification, self-indulgence, self-improvement, self-will, self-image, self-pity, self-righteousness, self-exulation.

If we are faced by any storms or controversy--when OUR plans go awry, Jesus is not only a "Zero", He's a Heel. Hero to Heel. Now we haven't told Him we love Him in weeks or months or even years, but we suddenly want to know "Why He let this happen to us?" The old "Why Me?" whine. What does the Word of God say? I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. John 15:1,2. So many of us who profess "Christianity" live from crisis to crisis. God is our santa claus, our lawyer, our "let's make a deal guy". Something comes along to thwart our greedy little plans and it's suddenly, "God if you'll _______________ (fill in the blank), then I'll ______________________ (fill in the blank). When we get what we want, He's our Hero! When we don't get our way, He's a heel! "He doesn't care anything about me. If He did, He wouldn't have let this happen to me!" Whine, whine.

As usual with carnal man, that is in direct opposition to what the Bible says. All through the Word of God we find, "If You, Then God". Everywhere, it is "If You, Then God". We have to conform to His Ways, His Will, His Plan--not the other way around, folks. We keep trying to bring Him down to our level of carnality, sin, immorality. The Word of God says, Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. II Corinthians 5:20,21. We need to remember: He's the Hero: we're the zero. We think if we merely "believe in God", that's enough. Sorry, won't cut it. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. James 2:19. Satan's been to Heaven and knows God personally. Jesus Christ, Himself said, "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven." (Luke 10:18). Let me tell you, Satan knows the scriptures, expert level. He has to--he uses them to deceive "Christians", because they won't study the Word of God, thus they don't know if what they're being told is Biblical or not. If it "sounds right", they swallow it all: gold dust, gold fillings, images on this door or that wall. They are making a mockery of God and His Magnificence. Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favour. Proverbs 14:9. Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Ephesians 6:7.

While it saddens me to see those foolish enough to follow after them and their kind in all parts of this world, God will take care of it in His Time, His Way. But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord: They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil. Proverbs 1:25-33. Just as we saw in James 1:19 above, it's NOT enough to merely "believe in God". You've got to go through Jesus Christ, the Son of God, to have a relationship with God, the Father. Look what Jesus told Thomas in John 14:5-7: Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. We've got to know Jesus Christ, the Son of God, BEFORE we can know God! You understood that last scripture, right? It is Jesus Christ, Himself speaking: "No man cometh unto the Father but by me." Not Mary. Not Joseph. Not Peter. Not Paul, nor any other name. You don't have to believe me: What does the Bible say? Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:5-11. My HERO! Jesus Christ, King of Kings and Lord of Lords! Do you know what those terms mean? He is King over all other kings--He is Lord over all other lords. He is The King. Pontius Pilate meant mockery of the Jewish people, when he had the sign (written in Hebrew, Greek and Latin) placed over Jesus' head on the cross. The people wanted it changed to read, "He said He was the King of the Jews". Pilate defied the Jewish leaders and rebelled against the pressure they were trying to put on him. Thus, the truth, the absolute truth was forever preserved throughout all eternity. He is MY King, "King of Kings!" Well, Glory to God!
(all emphasis on scriptures, such as bold, underline and uppercase, is mine) "Hero to Zero" Copyright © 2000 by Patricia Sikes. All Rights Reserved.


My HERO, Jesus Christ! There is none like unto You, Jesus! You are worthy of ALL praise and honor and glory!


Name Above All Names

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