July 8, 2025

“and [Jesus] said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” mat 18:3-4 nkjv   We could say humility saves us from worldliness, and its damage to our spiritual lives… you think?

“Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.” prov 16:18 nkjv   AND  James tell us in the NT:

"But He [Yeshua] gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”

"Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

"Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?" ja 4:6-12 nkjv – (My comment: this is not about lovingly confronting a brother, in the faith, with corrective instruction of the Torah, who is out of line with his doings… we owe that to one another.) ­

What about us “imperfect” humans, who are to be Yeshua’s witnesses for Him in our living out our fellowship with others in this earthly walk? First we need to understand that Yahweh’s plan was/is to use imperfect people to deliver His “perfect” message… think about it. No one in the Biblical narrative, except Yeshua was perfect, but we are taught to walk in a perfect way… i.e., walk in the Spirit, which simply is to walk as the Word teaches us. Our walk will mature more “perfect,” after being born again, as we take our first “obedient” step with a genuine and sincere heart as we walk faithfully with Yeshua.

Now, with the above for a backdrop to the point I wish to make. This past week I read where the Evangelists Jimmy Swaggart, at 90 years old, had passed away… NY Post, at this link: [Televangelist Jimmy Swaggart dead at 90, weeks after heart attack] The headlines focused on his failures, sad to say. The same news day, the NYP ran another story of a prominent man who was unfortunately killed, along with some of his family, in a tragic airplane accident. The industrialist was given a great number of accolades and praise [which may well been due him], but the point is no one is perfect, and when one man is praised for his life's “value” and another is devalued because of the “headlines” value… it is a tragic error of journalism, and a very disrespectful jab at a time of mourning which is due to all people. There are many people who probably died the same day, and some could have had much worse lifestyles than JS, but lacking the “Christian” bashing news potential of a prominent televangelist, none were reported. Shame on the NYP.

I heard a pastor tell of a story of an elderly saint, a devoted Christian woman, who was touring Westminster Abby with a group of tourists. The tour-guide was telling of all the famous events of that place and of all of the important persons buried there, etc. Near the end of the tour, the tour-guide asked if anyone had any questions… the elderly saint asked, “has anyone ever been saved in this place?”

Yahweh uses imperfect people, always has, to give His perfect message… and sad to say, because us humans have all our unsavory baggage, and being so imperfect… otherwise the perfect message would not be given… I am thankful, that since I was child in elementary Sunday School, I have been taught many perfect truths and Biblical instructions that I would never have heard if perfect people would have been necessary for me to hear them. And certainly, who am I that I should be useful to Yahweh's purpose. I think all people, in their imperfections, can be useful if they will choose too.

This reminds me of what the Apostle said:   “For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence. 30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— 31 that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.” 1 cor 1:26-31 nkjv

This brings me to my closing thoughts, how many people do you think Jimmy Swaggart ministered the eternal values of the Kingdom of Heaven to, during his long ministry, in many different ways, especially with his anointed music​? Such talent, I think, was a gift Yahweh put in Jimmy for just such a purpose. Now consider Jimmy’s cousin, Jerry Lee, who undoubtedly was his equal in piano talent. One for the good news and one for the squalor of honky-tonk dungeons. Yahweh can use any means, or people, He wishes to rip up the hardened soil in our hearts… most of us need that. King David, and his son Solomon, were imperfect people who have places in human history that few even come close to achieving. When I consider their lives, I think the NYP wold have had a field day with their obituaries… as long as they could mock the “Christian” element. In the end, they are not really mocking Christians, they are mocking Yahweh, and if they don’t repent, as Jimmy did publicly, they will by no means enter the Kingdom of Heaven, because Yeshua said so. Perhaps this message resonates with us as well. As a final thought, Jimmy recorded many songs with great spiritual messages… such as this one: listen to the words… [Who Am I]

Shalom, John