COPING SKILLS: COCK—A—DOODLE—DO! DELUSIONAL!
By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com (YouTube: Wade Hughes)
**DELUSION: mistaken, a false teaching despite evidence, believing what is not true. CAN I GET AWAY WITH THIS.?
THERE ARE SEVERAL DEEP THOUGHTS THAT ARE HARD TO CATCH THE TRUE UNDERSTANDING. LET US LOOK AT ONE.
** YOU DON’T SEE THINGS AS THEY ARE… YOU SEE THINGS AS YOU ARE!
I had a friend with an ear trained for music. 5 guitars were playing. Someone was a little out of tune. This man would walk over to one of the 5 guitars and tune the third string. How did he know which guitar? Which string?
I was riding with a friend that had a fence business. I was amazed. He counted the fence post and he told me how many feet was between the posts. Then he told me how much a foot cost. Then he told me that fence cost so much money. I had never thought about how many feet between fence posts. I had never thought about the cost of a fence. He was an expert with a trained eye on fences. He would say with authority that is a $1700 fence.
We were going to a rest home in Tennessee. We had the music and people loaded in the van. A very experienced mechanic was with us. When we got on the interstate he made an observation. He said you have an out of balanced tire on the left rear. He hears things that you don’t hear.
There are 10 babies in a room. One of the babies started crying. The moms were all listening. One mom jumps up and goes into the other room. The mom hears a baby’s cry and she immediately knows that cry is her baby.
WHAT DO YOU SEE? DO YOU SEE THINGS AS THEY ARE? DO YOU SEE THING HOW YOU SEE THINGS?
Jeremiah 1:11 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.
JEREMIAH KNEW SOMETHING ABOUT THIS ROD. WHEN MOSES AND AARON’S CALL OF GOD WAS QUESTIONED… AARON’S WALKING STICK, BUDDED AND GREW ALMONDS.
God is speaking to Jeremiah. God asked the Preacher what do you see?… JEREMIAH SAYS I SEE A MIRACLE. There is a rod cut off an almond tree. OK? WHAT’S THAT MEAN? Jeremiah knew the ALMOND TREE was the tree that lost everything in the fall and winter. The almond is the FIRST TREE TO WAKE UP IN THE SPRING.
Jeremiah understood beyond WHAT HIS EYES SAW. The Spirit of God was speaking to Jeremiah to be:
*ALERT, TO BE AWAKE, BE READY, BE DILIGENT, DON’T BE PASSIVE --- TAKE ACTION.
THE SECOND TOUCH OF GOD: WHAT DO YOU SEE? GOD SAYS: JEREMIAH YOU SEE THINGS WELL… GOD SAYS I WILL PERFORM MY WORD. THEN GOD SAYS THERE IS MORE THAN THE AWAKENING. YOU NEED TO SEE THE BIGGER PICTURE.
Jeremiah 1:13 And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is toward the north.
** Seething: BOILING, sin costs and God will use nations from the north, judgment is coming, it will appear.
HUMANS HAVE A COPING MECHANISM THAT THEY CAN DISTORT REALITY AND KEEP US FROM FACING THE TRUTH.
SEEMS WE HAVE THE GREAT ABILITY TO LIE TO ONESELF… GOD HATES LYING. TO LIE HAS GRAVE CONSEQUENCES. YOU CAN NOT TRUST A LIAR. THE TROUBLE WITH LYING IS WE BELIEVE OUR OWN LIES.
This coping skill of denial is true in our eating habits, alcohol, drugs, tempers and laziness.
Let me illustrate THE POWER OF A LIE AND DENYING OR COMPROMISING THE TRUTH. The best player on the team developed some bad habits. His coach told him HE WAS “HOOKING” the opponents ball players with his arm behind him. HE DENIED THAT HE WAS DOING THIS. Not me! I talked to him and told him if he would quit “hooking” he would not foul out. He told me he never “HOOKED.” The referee’s picked on him. Everyone picked on him. The coach talked and talked. He denied with everything in him. The world was against him. He fouled out every game, while denying he never hooked another player. The coach had a professional photographer start taking pictures.
THE BEST PLAYER LIED TO HIMSELF. He was the only one that believed himself. Even his parents warned him. He was believing his OWN LIES which kept him from developing to be better. The camera does not lie. When he was shown his arm hooking around the other player, he still denied it.
PETER IS A SOLID EXAMPLE OF DENIAL. NOT JUST ONCE BUT 3 TIMES--- THE ROOSTER MADE PETER SEE HOW WEAK HE REALLY WAS… WHO WAS PETER LYING TO? NEVER! NEVER! PETER DENIES TO JESUS’S FACE.
** YOU DON’T SEE THINGS AS THEY ARE… YOU SEE THINGS AS YOU ARE!
Matthew 26:33 Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended. 34 Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.
35 Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples.
WILL WE IGNORE THE ROOSTER CROWING? JESUS I WILL DIE FOR YOU. I WILL GO TO JAIL WITH YOU. PETER SLEEPS THROUGH PRAYER ON MORE THAN ONE OCCASION. DENIAL AND REJECTION?
Matthew 26:45 Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
When the rooster crows PETER HAS TO ACKNOWLEDGE his pride and weakness. JESUS TURNS AND LOOKS PETER IN THE EYES. PETER REPENTS!!! CHANGE. COCK--A--DOODLE –DOO.
Matthew 26:75 And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.
AFTER THE BITTER TEARS WE SEE GOD BRINGS US TO A NEW DAY… THE ROOSTER CROWING SYMBOLIZES, I QUIT LYING TO MYSELF. IS THAT YOUR FINAL ANSWER? MY DENIAL AND FAILURE DOES NOT HAVE TO BE “THE END!”
WE CAN ERASE UNPLEASANT FEELINGS OF PRIDE, HATRED AND ANGER BY IGNORING AND THEN EXCLUDING OUR AWARENESS. WE MUST COME CLEAN AND BE WILLING TO HONESTLY SEARCH OUR PERSONAL STRUGGLES. THIS DEFENSE MECHANISM WILL DAMN MANY PEOPLE.
Psalm 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
Psalm 139:23 (NLT2) Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
We must recognize how DENIAL and REFUSAL of things we don’t like by acknowledging and correcting them.
WE ARE TRADING GODS COMMANDMENT TO MERE SUGGESTIONS. IN A DAY OF “I JUST WANT TO BE HAPPY!” LET ME DO MY OWN THING? HOW SAD THE DAY OF COMPROMISE AND RE-WRITING THE BIBLE TO LOWER OUR EXPECTATIONS ARE SO REAL TODAY.
Matthew 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. 26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
YOU MIGHT BE EATING BITTER JAM, YOUR HARVEST WILL DEPEND ON THE SEEDS YOU HAVE SOWN. REDEFINING AND COMPROMISING GOD’S WORD MAKES GOOD PEOPLE DELUSIONAL. I HEAR OVER AND OVER ABOUT PEOPLE THAT HURT ME!!! DENIAL: WHO HAVE YOU HURT? TELL ME HAVE YOU WRONGED OTHERS?
CONCLUSION: TRADING? DENIAL? DELUSIONAL? GAMBLE?
Matthew 16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
Matthew 16:26 (MSG) What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself? What could you ever trade your soul for?
Let me be real honest: I was just out of college and I thought I knew a lot. I went home to where my dad was the pastor. The church was in a state competition who had the best choir? The choir practiced hard, they wanted the trophy? (Why do we need trophies?) My sister was in high school and loved to sing. After practicing several hours the choir director asked a young lady from a terrible home to linger behind. He informed her until after the competition was over please do not come to sing. He knew she sang off key. This would mess up their chance of winning. This girl was my sister’s best friend. My sister came home and was crying so hard! I asked her what happened? She informed me her best friend was dismissed from the choir! My sister was so hurt for her friend. My sister said: I WILL NEVER SING AGAIN. She was serious. This so upset me, my sister was talented. In anger I said: YOU CAN’T QUIT SINGING. Our discussion got heated. She raised her voice, this is not fair. I raised my voice, YOU CAN’T QUIT SINGING. In anger she slapped me. I raised my hand to protect myself. As she pulled her hand away I scratched her arms. She went in her bedroom and fell on the bed crying. I went in the front room and cooled down. I quit my denial. I was wrong. I was not wrong in what I said, I was very wrong by not understanding her pain. I didn’t listen to her. I was wrong in the way I said it. My attitude was wrong. Later I went in my sister’s room and laid down next to her. We were both crying. I said: I AM SORRY. I LOVE YOU! THIS SHOULD HAVE NEVER HAPPENED. I UNDERSTAND! FORGIVE ME. MY TIMING WAS ALL WRONG. At my dad’s funeral, I stood next to my sister and we sang a song my dad wrote about the family reunion.
So you may be right. Quit the denial. If I err may I err to the side of tender mercy and amazing grace.
His servant, Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com (YouTube: Wade Hughes)
