” For all who call on the name shall be saved. But how are they to call upon Him of whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of Whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher? And how can men be expected to preach unless they are sent?”
(Romans 10:14-15)
Even this very day, I have been asked by one partner and sometimes by others of you, how much of these flying stories are true and how much or many are made up. Trust me every single one of them is true.
It took me a long time/ many flight hours to get the Knack of flying. A safe smooth flight is all about co-ordination and balance, both of which totally eluded me at birth. My flight instructor Mr. Bob was a very forgiving and gentle man. Sometimes though, I pushed his endurance to the limit. In addition to basically being a scatter brained stumble bum I had a severe case of numeric and alphabetic dyslexia and ADD. Often in my early days, and I mean often; I committed every error common to student pilots. The only exception was speeding through or halfway pre-flights. I never did that.
Frequently I didn’t apply enough or applied too much rudder, which makes an airplane uncoordinated and out of balance. A few times, Bob caught me with my head stuck in the instruments (as opposed to glancing occasionally at the instruments and keeping a sharp eye for what was occurring outside) and I missed something important like a landmark and/ or failed to see traffic in my area. That would garner a rare and deeply troubling scowl.
It took forever to get good at what is known as “flaring”. This is the point at which you change the attitude of the plane to a nose up position just before touchdown. That really frustrated Bob who would repeat. Flare, flare. flare!!!!! Frequently I flared too early or too late. But the ditty that made Bob apoplectic and the controller to go berserk was the time I over shot my final approach.
In my defense (the only one I can conjure up) landing an airplane is a very busy time of putting in flaps. watching airspeed and altitude, managing the throttle, communicating with the tower and attempting to put the aircraft in perfect position to make an excellent on the mark landing. Being distracted is very easy.
By failing to turn from the base leg to final early enough, I found myself on top of the parallel runway which could have been fatal if another plane had been on final for that runway, which at our home airport was a very common occurrence. Two planes landing simultaneously was not at all unusual. The Controller in the tower went ballistic. I can still hear his obscene comments. Now Bob was not the least bit foul mouthed. I never heard him swear on the ground. But at that moment, Bob wove a tapestry of profanity the likes of which I have never heard, including in a football team locker room. If that diatribe had been a painting it would have made Van Gogh cringe with jealousy.
Some of the claims he made at that moment about my parents could possibly have been true, and in fact were, (I have never seen their marriage license) but others were physical impossibilities involving a kind of cross species mutation. To say that I was more embarrassed than I have ever been would be the understatement of all time. I had done many bone-headed things in my life but that one took the cake. I called a go around and made a perfect approach and landing. By the time we got the plane buttoned up, Bob’s complexion had changed from dark purple to bright red and was fading back to its original pigmentation. But mine had turned to green. Later (several weeks) we were able to snicker then laugh, then belly laughs about it.
I learned later, much later, that this is a fairly stupid mistake made by many student pilots.
Bob told me that he accepted my dufusness because of my Spirit. My sincere desire to work hard and learn to correct mistakes kept him from sending me packing. He told me that I had a different attitude and spirit about my work than most of his students. That was the highest of all compliments to me. Bob told me that even if I was far from his best student, that I was his favorite, (a mystery that I still struggle with) I almost killed him on at least 2 occasions.
Did you know that The Triune God, Daddy God, Our King Jesus and The Holy Spirit have favorites? It is true!!!!!
Caleb was God’s favorite!!! When God sent the 12 spies from every tribe of the Children of Israel to explore and return and report on the land of Canaan, which He gave to them. Ten of them returned with negative reports about how the land was impossible to take. Here is their report:
They told Moses, “We came to the land to which you sent us; it surely flows with milk and honey. This is its fruit. But the people who dwell there are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; moreover, there we saw the sons of Anak [of Great Stature/Giants, and courageous]. Amalek dwell in the land of the South (the Negeb); the Hittite, the Jebusite, and the Amorite dwell in the hill country; and the Canaanite dwells by the sea and along by the side of the Jordan River.”
Now notice the difference between the negative naysayers and Caleb’s view:
“Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, LET US GO UP AT ONCE AND POSESS IT; WE ARE WELL ABLE TO CONQUER IT!”
Back to the faithless mumblers:
“But his fellow scouts said, we are not able to go up against the people of Canaan, for they are stronger than we are.”
“So they brought the Israelites an evil report of the land which they had scouted out saying, the land through which we went to spy it out is a land that devours its inhabitants. And all the people we saw in it are giants. There we saw the Nehalem (Giants), the sons of Anak, who come from the giants; and we are in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight”
(Numbers 13)
The story continues and is too long to continue here. I strongly urge you to read and study the 13th and 14th chapters of the book of Numbers.
In essence all of the Children of Israel including Moses and Aaron cried that night. They collaborated to elect a captain to return them to Egypt to be slave laborers rather than trust God and live in a state of Grace through Faith. Because of their faith, Caleb and Joshua were the only people present at that meeting who lived to see the Promised Land because the people had made God so mad with their lack of belief that He swore that they would die in the dessert for their rebellion. God was so furious that He decided to smite them all! But later repented of the evil that was in his heart to do
(Exodus 32:14)
CALEB WAS GOD’S FAVORITE! WHY?”CALEB HAD A DIFFERENT SPIRIT”. THE SPIRIT OF BELIEF!
When we, as Caleb, make a decision to believe Jesus beyond the shadow of a doubt, we walk the very narrow path, which very few ever find and we become God’s favorites.
Each time I speak to a group, I begin by asking, how many among the folks believe in Jesus. Almost everyone raises their hands. Next, I ask how many people believe Jesus. Some honest people keep their hands down. Then after I teach them for an hour what Jesus said, I repeat the question. Then most people are upset and very few raise their hands. Some want to fight me in the parking lot.
HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE GOD’S FAVORITE? HERE’S HOW:
“But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever comes to God must believe that He is, and believe that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” FULLY UTILIZE JESUS’ FAITH WHICH HE GAVE US WHEN WE ACCEPTED HIM!
(Hebrews 11:6)
ABEL WAS GOD’S FAVORITE!
“Prompted by faith, Able brought God a better and more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, because it was testified of him that he was righteous and in right standing with God, and God bore witness accepting and acknowledging his gifts. And though he died, yet through this act of faith, he is still speaking.”
(Hebrews:11-4)
ENOCH WAS GOD’S FAVORITE!
Because of faith Enoch was caught up and transferred to heaven, so the he did not have a glimpse of death; and he was not found because God had translated him. For even before he was taken to heaven he received testimony still on record that he had pleased and been satisfactory to God.
(Hebrews 11:5)
NOAH WAS GOD’S FAVORITE!
Prompted by faith Noah, being forewarned of God concerning events of which as yet there was no visible sign, took heed and diligently and reverently constructed and prepared an ark for the deliverance of his own family!
(Hebrews 11:7)
Doubt the Noah and Jonah stories? To smart to believe in such far fetched reports of things that you think science rejects? Do you believe Jesus? If so explain how when the Pharisees demanded that Peter on behalf of the disciples pay a temple tax, Jesus put a Gold Coin in a fish’s mouth. Explain how the instant Jesus entered the boat it was on the other side of the lake 10 miles away. Is molecular transformation impossible for God?
ABRAHAM AND SARAH WERE GOD’S FAVORITES!
Abraham did not have like us the faith of Jesus. He had to rely on his flesh faith; which Jesus described as being no faith, little faith, great faith and ever-increasing faith. Abraham had great faith. He offered up Isaac. He moved to a strange land because the Holy Spirit asked him to. He produced two sons at the age of 100 and 115, because he believed the Holy Spirit’s declaration that Abraham would be the father of many nations. Thereby receiving the birthright passed to Isaac and Jacob.
(Hebrews 11:8-12)
DAVID WAS GOD’S FAVORITE!
God called David “a man after mine own heart!”
(Acts 13:22)
MARY WAS GOD’S FAVORITE
Here is the message, which God spoke to Mary through the Holy Spirit. Using the voice of her cousin Elizabeth:
“AND BLESSED HAPPY, TO BE ENVIED IS SHE WHO BELIEVED THAT THERE WOULD BE A FULFILLMENT OF THE THINGS THAT WERE SPOKEN TO HER FROM THE LORD!” Every Christian should have these words burned into their Lexicon!
(Luke 1:45)
I am certain that you dear reader have grasped by now the commonality among those who are God’s favorites. They made a decision to believe God regardless of the circumstances they saw. They heard, listened to and believed God or His Messengers. They took action based on the direction given them by God. They were all richly rewarded for their acts of belief and faith.
God cherishes every living being. If however you want to BE GOD’S FAVORITE, Make a decision to fully use the faith that Jesus gave us all; and make a decision to believe every single word that Jesus, Daddy God and the Holy Spirit speak or have spoken, beyond even the shadow of a doubt!!!!! Buy into Jesus not 40%, nor 60% but 100%. To determine whether you have, read John 14:12-14.
My belief is that this teaching has blessed you and that you have passed it freely among your mailing lists. By doing so, you can help us spread Jesus’ blessings, Love, Grace, Mercy, Hope and Joy to those who so desperately need it in these times.
Please go to our website: KNOWJESUSKNOWGRACE.COM or Amazon.com and order our book:
“WHAT IF JESUS TOLD THE TRUTH?”
When you read the book and study the contents, you will learn if you truly believe in Jesus. Also on our site you will find hundreds of teachings on various topics. The teachings are in written, audio and video formats.
Here is a link to a very powerful teaching by the Holy Spirit delivered at our Sunday Bible Study Group:
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Throne of Grace
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