“Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest thy trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.” Matthew 7:6

This was just on my heart this morning and it was used in yesterdays post, we looked at the verse that tells us that the preaching of the cross, the retelling and proclamation that Jesus was real and was everything the Bible says that He is and that to those whose minds have been trained and saturated by this world, it is just too much for them to believe.

So they don’t.

And when you think about it, everything we are taught in this world is completely contrary to the Word of God.

We are all born EQUAL, we are all created by the same Creator and as babies we know nothing but basic needs and as we grow we become toddlers and we all can remember being children and even in terrible upbringings most can still look back and remember that feeling in your heart and your soul that you are connected to something so much greater than yourself.

And that trust, trust in something that you can’t see but you know in your heart that there is more, that is why as children we have that faith and trust that allows tears to dry and laughter and joy to spring forth out of even the smallest of things, what may seem silly to  an adult is a source of endless merriment for a child.

We can fall down, get scraped up, maybe cry for a second and then in an instant get right back up on our feet and take off running again.

No fear because we have just recently learned how to run.

Jesus also said a little something else, Matthew 18:3: “And he said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted and become as little children,ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” 

And this is the condition we suffer from that He was warning us against in this verse.

It is as we grow and as we develop and our minds are influenced by everything we hear and everything we see, we start to learn some very damaging lessons, lessons that we’d be far better off had they been left untaught.

But life does not work that way, it is not meant to work that way, at least not here.

When we begin to be taught fear, when we begin to be taught that we are not invincible, when we begin to be taught that if we are different, we will be rejected and when we begin to be taught that those who question and those who rock the boat will be  labeled, isolated, and made to stand in the corner alone and separated from the “rest of the class” until they can conform to the popular and expected thoughts.

That is the fear, that is the destruction that leads to the loss of the faith that we are born with, as we are told in Romans 12:3(c):”…according as God hath dealt every man (human being) the measure of faith.”

So we know  the faith is there, we just need to a little help sometimes in remembering where we hid it when we had to hide it from the world, when we cast our pearls and the swine ran over them and then attacked us for having that faith in what we cannot see.

The warning Jesus gave us means exactly that.

And I think sometimes even in our zealous attempt to win others to Christ, we will just throw those pearls out there.

And they represent wisdom and the holy things unto dogs means close to the same.

If a person is NOT feeling conviction for their sins, if they are not coming under the prompting of the Spirit and we try to witness to them and we give the scriptures that they will NOT understand without divine revelation, the enemy and their flesh immediately kick into action.

They feel “judged” they feel like we are hypocritically accusing them and then they resort to exactly what they world has taught them, they attack, they attack us, they attack the word of God, and it only drives them further from the cross.

And what you are trying to share with a pure heart and sincere caring can actually cause a stumbling block for you.

Once we have been hurt while trying to witness, we feel dejected and question sometimes our own testimony, but remember you ARE right in trying to reach out to them but this can only been done by shining His light.

Being that light to them and praying constantly and standing in the gap through intercessory prayer for them and then as God draws them to Him, you can be there to answer questions only as that person opens the door and God always takes care of the rest.

We do get worried and often as we have been enlightened to the truth, we can become horrified, I know I was, when I realized just how real God is and just how His mercy had kept me and how close when we are not saved ARE truly standing over the mouth of hell.

Anyone who is saved HAS that testimony and when we will only remember who ministered to us and what events led us to the cross, when we think about who was effective in showing us the love of Christ

And to recover from the influence of this world, remember from our last post, this world referring to the teachings that are against God, making it declared an enemy of God, requires faith and faith is described as this:

Hebrews 11:1:”Now faith IS the substance (REALIZATION) of things hoped for, the evidence (CONVICTION) of things NOT seen.”

And THIS  is the kind of faith that Jesus refers to when He said this from Matthew 17:20: “…IF ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and IT SHALL BE REMOVE; and NOTHING SHALL BE IMPOSSIBLE UNTO YOU.”

And of course, yonder place just means telling the “mountain” to go and it WILL go.

And I know that this verse is classically taught dealing with the fact that a mustard seed is tiny.       

But I want to look at it from a different perspective, how about IF think of ourselves AS mustard seeds?

How about if we just have faith and know that we are exactly what Jesus says we are and that we do have that access to Him and every promise in His word and not be afraid because the world has taught us that is foolish to actually believe that He could have possibly came to earth through a virgin, been the only Son of God, died and even harder to believe that He rose from the dead and that if we believe  that He did all these things, that one day we will also raise from the dead.

The world says that IS impossible, but God said IF we will BECOME like a little child (again in our thinking and innocence of heart) and be CONVERTED.

Which literally means, being changed, adapted for a NEW purpose and accepting that new purpose in Him and for His kingdom and then become a mustard seed in our FAITH in HIM and KNOW that He will do the miraculous simply because we believe that He will because as His child and Him as our Father, we have asked .

Be a mustard seed and just grow and hold onto those pearls, they serve a much better purpose displayed as a symbol of the love God bestowed on you when He gave you that precious strand, never take them off, certainly not to please this world and most definitely not to be thrown down and trampled.

If you have not accepted Jesus as the Lord of your life and you are feeling that pull, Him drawing you into a relationship with him, don’t be afraid of what others will think, what your friends will say or how you could possibly be shunned and ridiculed, you are where ALL of us who are saved have been.

We all face certain fears when we make the decision to break out of the mold this world shapes us in, so here is one last verse, I have used many times and have prayed it for MYSELF many times:

Romans 12:29(a,b): “And be ye NOT conformed to this world; but be ye TRANSFORMED by the renewing of your mind…” he does NOT expect us to be perfect or even close, He just expects us to at least make an effort!

Thanks for reading! Have a great week, love & peace till next time!

Σαλπιζω Φλογιζω NBJ2018 Rev. N. Brown Johnson Revisited 03/14/2023