Man of God! One of the hardest things to do is walk in a God-like manner. I know you understand what I am saying. I have been taking another look at the gates around Jerusalem during the time of Nehemiah. These same gates were standing before Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom--of "Babylon, God's servant" came storming down the dusty plain (it took awhile to get there) to DESTROY the CITY of Israel, the WALL of Jerusalem, the GATES of the WALL of Jerusalem and the MAGNIFICENT TEMPLE of God! Judah's affluent leaders, the king and several other important people were taken into captivity (this is the first wave). To make it worse, they were paraded and lead about the city like poor, helpless, defenseless dogs. I understand that is a mouthful to get to this point. THEY WERE WARNED!!! This warning was much the same as the previous multiple others, but the people ignored the Word of the Lord God Himself! Sure, He used the mouth of Jeremiah (and others), but the fact is....it was His Word. Why do you think we as a people (Christians and Messianic Believers alike) suffer undue pain, setbacks, and afflictions? Yeeaaaahh, MAN's SIN is a pretty good point to start; but let us not look any further than to the end of our very noses. What is attached to that nose? …A person who will mock the Truth of God. Who cares if we don't like what is spoken? Who cares if our skin doesn't tingle each time we are corrected? It is not going to be pretty each time. The last time I remembered getting correction, I don't recall skipping through the meadow and singing at the top of my lungs "How Great is Our God." Nope, I was sifting through the rubble that remained after my SELF MADE city, MY OWN KINGDOM I erected with MY subjects that follow me like a puppy who has nowhere to turn for home. Men, when we do UNGodly, UNHoly, UNScriptural, NONBible-based things and declare it is a Word from the Lord, and our "followers" get hurt, God is coming for YOU! This reminds me of the people during Jeremiah's time, when they wanted to KILL him because of the Word of Truth God told him to speak! When was the last time someone who wasn't in YOUR circle came up to you and gave you SOUND correction, and you REJECTED it? Yep! Here comes Nebuchadnezzar.... God is and has never been pleased with UNGodly men who proclaim that said God one thing, and He in FACT, had NEVER said it! See where Jeremiah has been obedient to proclaim the Truth of Adonai to Jerusalem and surrounding nations, and Hananiah came and proclaimed something else that attempted to UNDO what the Word of God Jeremiah spoke. Let me say this... God sent Jeremiah to that lying Hananiah to tell him that he will die within a year. He did--the 7th month of that next year. The question still remains... "What are you gonna do" when the words you speak against God's Bible (you say YOU don't believe, or it is NOT for TODAY) declare what Truth is and you have chosen to live by a Doctrine that is not God's, but your own? Here comes Nebuchadnezzar.... You will cause all those people who trust and follow you and your misleading lies to get dragged into captivity. How’s your fruit? Are those people getting ill because it is rotten? Do they eat certain pieces of that fruit and find it has HALF a WORM? We NEED to remember that the Word is God's, not our own. We can become one with the Word, if we choose to SUBMIT, OBEY and FOLLOW IT. Don't get taken into captivity because of your sins. Stay free. God trusts you with His Son (His Word). Those people....? They trust us with their lives. Those sheep...? They are looking for some water and grass. Show them the Good Way. If not, God says, He will raise up NEW shepherds to shepherd His people, because His current shepherds are scattering His sheep all over the pasture . "What Are You Gonna Do?"