Ecclesiastes 1:15 – That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.

Jeremiah 13:23 – Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.

Romans 1:16 – For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Hello readers, new blog today. In Ecclesiastes 1:15, we see a verse saying that which is crooked cannot be made straight. Yet in the New Testament we see that crooked can be made straight! Luke 3:4-6 – As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God. So what’s going on here? What can we learn? A simple truth. Because we are all crooked. We are born crooked. We are crooks. First of all, that’s a fact, it’s just a matter of whether we see it, admit it, confess it, do something about it or not. The Bible makes it clear we are born in our sins, we sin, we have sinned, we are sinners. You have sinned, I have sinned. Furthermore, ALL our righteousnesses, the best we can muster, all our morality, all our self effort, our intellect, our reasoning, our wisdom, our name, our achievements, anything and everything we bring to the table is worthless. There is none that doeth good, no not one. The Bible says there is one good… God. Humans are utterly depraved, and so far fallen from the glory of God we don’t even begin to grasp it. But deep down you still feel like you’re a decent guy or gal. But you’re not. You deceive yourself. After all the Bible says the heart is desperately wicked, deceitful above all things, who can know it? God knows what’s in our hearts, God knows what we are. We have sinned, we sin, we are sinners… the penalty is death, and eternity in hell. God does not pervert justice. He is the righteous Judge. That’s where MERCY comes in. We need mercy! We are guilty. We are crooked. And that which is crooked cannot be made straight… YET it can! There is only one way. There is only one way someone every truly changes, and it’s not self change, its the change of being saved and born again of the Spirit of God. Galatians 6:15 – For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.

That which is crooked cannot be made straight by anyone, by anything – other than by the Lord Jesus Christ. When you are convicted of sin, and you repent and place your faith in him as Lord and Saviour. You receive what he has done for you, you receive who he is, you receive HIM. He that HATH the Son hath life, and he that HATH NOT the Son of God hath not life. Simple as that. And that’s what produces true change. The Holy Spirit in you. Who “born again”s you, who transforms you into the image of his Son, who renews your mind, who enlightens your eyes. Someone who is born again is QUICKENED, made alive toward God. The dead spirit is now alive, you are alive toward God. You were alienated, but now are made nigh by the blood of Christ. And noone sees it happen. Salvation is a miracle. It is of God. John 3:7,8 – Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

Ecclesiastes is written from the human perspective. It is “under the sun”. And under the sun, you will not be able to make the crooked straight. Under the sun is all of humanity, all of humanitys works, efforts, religion. We can laugh and scoff at legalistic people. But “liberty” Christians are just as bound as legalists. It’s still the flesh, it’s still tiring self effort. It’s still VANITY. Only where the Spirit of God is, there is liberty. True liberty is freedom to do right, we can now live for God, we are now alive to God, we are set free from slavery to sin. Because people in both legalistic and lascivious situations are just as bound as each other. Under the sun is vanity. Your life is a joke. So is mine. We are all headed to hell unless we get saved. The Bible says we are condemned already. If you are not truly saved, you are going to hell. Doesn’t matter how moral you are, how reformed you are, how good you are, whether you go to church, whether you got baptized, what family you are from. Nothing matters. God is no respecter of persons. He respects the Lord Jesus Christ, he is well pleased in his Son. But you do not please God. I do not please God.

And what are you trusting in? Are you trusting in your baptism? In a prayer you once prayed? In an experience? In a feeling? In your family name? In your riches? Because the only thing that counts, that is faithful, is Jesus Christ and his blood shed for you. HE IS FAITHFUL. We are unfaithful to him, but he is faithful to us. And our salvation hinges on his faith to us. We are not in control at all. We are depending upon him to keep his promises to us. And he does. And you also may say… but everyone has some good in them! Sure, but that good is God’s goodness and grace. Jesus has lighted every man that has come into the world. We all have the knowledge of God, we have a conscience. Anything good is God. But you yourself have no goodness. We possess no goodness. Period. God sends rain on the just and the unjust. And he has grace and mercy and longsuffering. Why do we need mercy? Because we are hopeless, helpless sinners, rightfully we should be in hell… but God has compassion and mercy on us. Doesn’t matter how “good” you are and have been. And a good person still goes to hell. The five virgins who were not ready were shut out. You could be a virgin and going to hell. Circumcision and uncircumcision don’t save you. When will we get it…there is nothing you can do. We are nothing. We are utterly lost, utterly depraved. Once you are saved though, you love God, and you want to obey him, salvation does produce works, not works to be saved, but works because you are saved.

So the crooked can’t be made straight, the leopard can’t change his spots. In fact people spend a lifetime trying EVERYTHING and ANYTHING except truly repenting and beliving in the Lord Jesus Christ. Namaan was angry at Elisha for telling him to go and dip in the Jordan. Such a simple thing, wash and be clean. But no. He brought money, he was expecting some big miracle, some big show. But no, it’s simply down to believing God’s word. It’s so simple. It’s too simple. Simple childlike faith. We all must become as little children. Humble before God. The children of Israel saw the miracles, signs, wonders… yet did not believe. You can wait for the moving of the water as the man in John 5 did your whole life. You need Jesus. He is the only person in the world who can make us crooked people straight. You can change your spots in Christ. Look at Saul (Paul) he went from Christian killer to preaching the gospel, to turning many to Christ! Salvation is a miracle. The light shone from heaven… Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? It is hard to kick against the pricks. And we all kick against the pricks our whole life. We go our own way. We go astray. Everyone gone his own way. We all need to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Born again of the Spirit of God. A work completely of and done by God. It’s his work. I can talk till blue in the face, but salvation belongs unto the Lord, and all I can do is hold forth the word and pray that God will move in the reader’s life. As he needs to move in mine. We can’t “work” it up, but we do have a part in it. Because yes, salvation is of the Lord, but we also have responsibility. Seek God, set yourself to seek him, truly seek him. Lay hold on him, don’t let him go until he blesses you, just like Jacob did. He’ll see how much you truly want him.

But many people have head belief, intellectual knowledge of and assent to Jesus. But they are still not saved. James 2:19,20 – Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Many people today claim and name the name of Jesus. But they are as dead as a doornail. Unsaved, unregenerated, not born again, and their lives show it. They have no signs of being saved… there is no changed life, no conviction of sin, no fruit of repentance, they don’t want to read God’s word. If you look like the world, talk like the world, behave like the world, love the world… maybe you’re just OF the world. You haven’t been saved. 1 John 4:5 – They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. If it looks like a duck, sounds like a duck, behaves like a duck… it’s probably a duck… right? When someone is truly saved there is change. You don’t change to be saved, but you’re changed because you are saved. The Spirit of God in you. He will make change.

Here’s the missing link today. Repentance. Because before we saw Jesus, we saw John the Baptist. Why did John the Baptist have to come first? He preached repentance, repentance is what prepares the way of the Lord. Repentance is what will prepare the way of the Lord in your life. Confess your sin, humble yourself, seek God. Matthew 3:1-3 – In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Repentance is what prepares the way of the Lord in your life. Many people miss repentance. Satan has “sanitized” the gospel, and things like conviction of sin, repentance, judgement, hell, wrath of God are missing today. Jesus loves everybody, and a false gospel declared by false preachers/teachers produces false converts. Tares amongst the wheat, sowed while men slept… and Christendom is sleeping today. It’s time to wake up. High time. Acts 20:21 – Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Have you repented toward God? Not sorry for the consequences of your sins, not sorry because your sins have come back to bite you, not a temporary sorry, but a sorry where you end up at the foot of the cross mourning over your sin, humbled, broken before him… not a repentance that is repented of… but a repentance that works eternal life. God doesn’t just break you, he fixes you too. Repentance and faith in Christ are simultaneous.

Have you ever been convicted of your sin by God? Peter preached at Pentecost to the crowd that had put Jesus on the cross. Preaching is what we all need. It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. And Acts 2:36,37 – Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Peter really whacked them, well God through Peter did, because Peter was filled with the Holy Ghost. And they were pricked in their heart, they were convicted of their sin. But the received the gospel. They put Jesus on the cross, and so did we. All humanity did, Jesus died for the sin of the world. And these people repented of their sin, and got saved. But will you harden or soften to the Holy Spirit moving on the deep of your heart?

Matthew 3:7-9 – But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. Have you brought forth fruits meet for repentance? How do you line up to God’s word? Do you even know God’s word? Or are you a “Lord, Lord”er? Are you a fraud? A fake? A phony? Of course you don’t think you are, you are willingly deceived, willfully ignorant, and the Pharisees and Saducees SINCERELY thought they were right. But they were playing the game. They were wicked, but they claimed to be godly. But their lives showed no repentance. Does yours? And don’t think you’re so special. They were the seed of Abraham… doesn’t matter what family you are from, what your family heritage, NOTHING. You can be the son/daughter of a preacher, you can be rich or poor, small or great, Jew or Gentile, you can be a churchgoer your whole life… and LOST. We all need to come to the cross of Jesus Christ.

The good news, the gospel news, is that the gospel is extended to you and to me today. Today is the day of salvation. Matthew 4:16 – The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. Let the light of Christ shine into your heart today. It’s not rocket science, it’s not a riddle. Just get honest with God. He already knows the truth about you. Just get honest with God. 2 Corinthians 4:6 – For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. New leaves dont change anything. No amount of reformation changes anything. You can stop sinning even. But the sins are still not washed and cleansed by his blood. Ahab stopped sinning, but his sins were not dealt with. And he got the same judgement that was coming to him. The blood of Jesus Christ, applied to your heart by faith, is the only way you are going to get to heaven. The death angel passed over in Egypt when he saw the blood. There is nothing you bring to the table. It is all the blood of Christ. Your crooked life, my crooked life, can be made straight. A new creature in Christ. Christ in us, the hope of glory. And yes, life is tough, but it’s time to make a change. God makes a change. You want to see a miracle? Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s the ultimate miracle this side of glory. We can’t do it. He can do it. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the POWER of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth!

Jesus can and will change your life. It’s good that it seems impossible… all things are possible unto God! He gets the glory! The crooked that couldn’t be made straight… CAN BE made straight! Today!

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