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SCRIPTURE – Psa 24:1-2                                                                                                                                                           DECEMBER, 2023
The earth is the LORD's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.

SUBJECT – THE LANDLORD!!!!

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This month's message, concerns an area in which many of us can identify with, and that is relationships.

However, this is not on the level of relationships between family, and/or friends. This has to do with the type of relationship that many of us have, or have had in the past when we were either renting a room, house, or apartment from/or to someone.

In situations like these, you have 2 individuals, in 2 different positions. You have a landlord, and you have a tenant.

The tenant, is the person who resides in a place that is made available to rent from a person that owns that particular place. That person is the landlord.

Now, there are all sorts of differing variations to how this relationship is set up. However, I will just keep it simple.

When a person seeks to rent from the landlord, there is usually some type of agreement as to how much it will cost to rent the place, and what all is included in that cost [lights, heat, water and such].

Other things may be included in that cost, but, not in all cases.

Now, part of the agreement between the 2 parties involved, are usually certain rules as to what the tenant is/is not allowed to be doing in/on/to the property.

Any violation of the rules on their part, could cause them to be evicted. And, if there was any damage, they would have to pay for repairs.

These rules are in place to protect the property of the landlord.

Now, just as the landlord has rules to protect their property, so too does the tenant have laws that protect them from being unfairly treated by the landlord.

Every city that I know of offers a pamphlet that gives the tenant, and landlord instructions on what the landlord can, and can't do to their tenants.

It also outlines what the tenant can/can't do.

These rules are to protect both parties that have entered in to the landlord-tenant relationship.

Now, the purpose of this message is to give you a little insight in to this area, and compare it to the same type of situation that all of us are involved in when it comes to God.

When a person seeks to rent a living space, they agree to specific rules of behavior, that serve to maintain the place they are renting in a certain condition that will not cause the landlord to lose any of that property's value.

The landlord expects the tenant to treat the property as if it were their own.

Barring any violations of the rules, the relationship between the 2 parties, will be as smooth as clockwork.

However, if violations occur, then there are several ways to handle them.

The first is the landlord can speak to the tenant about it, and hopefully that will be enough to correct the problem.

If that doesn't work, and the violation continues, the landlord can take it to court, to have the tenant either fined, or evicted, depending on the violation.

Now just for the record, the same procedure is in place for the tenant, except obviously, the landlord can't be evicted from their own property.

In the past, I have been on both sides as a tenant, and as a landlord. So, I have experience in all the intricacies of this type of relationship.

In each case, I had no problems from my tenants when I was their landlord, or when I was a tenant, I followed the rules.

Okay, so you may be asking, just what does this have to do with this message??

Well, you can get the first hint by looking at the subject verses of scripture.

The first verse says that the earth is the Lord's, and everything on, and in it.

That means, it is His property!!

Not only that, but, every thing that lives on it, above it, or beneath it, belongs to Him as well.

Now, since we live on/in something that belongs to Him, then, that essentially makes us His tenants, doesn't it??

And as a result, just like tenants in the world spectrum have rules that they have to live by, then, when it comes to God, He gives us Rules we are to live by, as long as we live here.

As long as we abide by those Rules, there is no problem. The problem is, most of us are choosing to ignore those Rules and do whatever we like.

Well, when something like this happens, then God, being the merciful individual that He is, sets about to first, have a conversation with the offenders to let them know that they are not following the Rules.

This is the same procedure that landlords in the world follow, to make sure that the tenant is made aware of their failure to live according to the agreement they agreed to.

The integrity of an individual can be easily measured by that person keeping their word. If they say they are going to do something, then, you can rest assured that they will, or at least, try to do it.

It is only when a person is unable to follow through with what they agreed to because of some factors beyond their control, have prevented them from doing it, like illness, loss of a job, or something like that.

Just as an understanding landlord, would work with the tenant, to cut them some slack in times like this, so too, does God work with us.

Given the condition of mankind's relationship with God in the old-testament times, God sent His prophets to the people to let them know when He was displeased with them.

If they received the warning and changed their ways, then He would forgive them, and continue to bless them.

If, on the other hand, they rejected the message His prophets gave them, then, He would summarily punish them. The worse the offense, the worse the punishment.

However, God, from the beginning realized that mankind was limited in what they could do, even if their hearts were such that they wanted to obey the rules, but, they were not able to because of circumstances beyond their control.

It is because of that particular situation that He sent His Son to us, to give us what we needed to be able to live here according to the rules, and fulfill our side of the deal.

This is the main reason we celebrate the Birth of Jesus Christ. He came to make sure we had what we needed to be able to remain in good standing with the Father/Landlord!!

However, just like back before Christ, there are those of us today, that, despite what God has done for them, as far as going easy on them [showing Grace], they still want to reject that Grace, and continue in their evil ways.

There was a time when He would have wiped them out, right on the spot, and been justified in doing so.

But, what He is doing is what you would call, giving them enough opportunity to get right before He goes to the next step!!

You know, when you actually take time to think about it, it is really a bit ridiculous. Here you have someone willing to work with a person, to get them to 'do the right thing', as Spike Lee would say, but 'no', they want to continue violating the rules.

Well, because they want to ignore His generosity, then, He will then proceed to make it clear that if the person won't change their ways, then He will begin to take actions that will begin to make the person experience some sort of negative ramifications.

If you think about it, all of what I have been describing, is the way God deals with all of us.

There is a parable that Jesus spoke of, that relays this message. It is found in Mat. 21:33-41.

In short, it is the story of a landowner that built a profitable business on the land, and rented it out to some people to run it and pay him some of the profits when the season for selling was over.

When the man sent his servants to them to receive what was due him, they beat, stoned and killed some of them.

After that, he sent his son to them to receive what was due him, and they killed him.

The last verse of the story tells us what this landowner/landlord would end up doing to them.

For those of you that don't know what a parable is, it is a fictional story, that illustrates real-life situations. You can know it is a parable when there are no names of individuals/places given.

Now, for the record, we are double tenants.

We are spirit-beings that reside in bodies, so we are tenants in those bodies, which God has built.

Secondly, since we reside on this earth, which God has also built, then we are tenants in that area as well.

Now, as I mentioned, God has set the Rules for us to live by, both in these bodies, and on this earth. Both are actually intertwined.

And as I said earlier, God sent His servants to tell us what we needed to do in order to remain in good favor with Him. But, most of us, this is not an exaggeration, are choosing to reject what they say, and even go so far as to attack them.

When God sent Christ here as a last resort, they crucified Him.

The last verse of the parable above, represents the real-life response that the Father/Son, are getting ready to pour out on all those that think that they can just do what they want, and not face any consequences.

As I said, it is sad and ridiculous to know that there are people among us that have the mindset that they can live in/on someone's property, and say that they will do what they want to do, and that there is no one that they have to answer to.

Have you ever heard terms like 'Separation of Church and State??' Or how about 'We don't live in a Theocracy, but a Democracy??'

These are their vain attempts of rejecting the Rule that God has set for all of us to follow. You can ignore them at your own peril. But, the consequences of doing so are going to prove to be horrific.

Have you ever seen what happens when some of these people have to face the reality of being evicted from a property that they were renting?? They vandalize it, or try to burn it down.

Here is another familiar term that many people use. They say, 'Give them enough rope, to hang themselves!!'

We are living in a time where more and more people are turning away from what God says we need to be doing, if we want to reap the rewards/blessings that He says are waiting for us. They want to act as if God has no 'say so' in how they live their lives.

Well, they can keep that opinion, and live by it. The thing is, when the time comes, and they are standing in front of the Judge, and Jesus Christ says, to them 'You said I had no say so in your lives when I was your landlord, so, I have nothing to say about what the Father is going to sentence you to!!'

That is a sad commentary on the state of most of mankind.

If you are one of those, as long as you have breath in your bodies, you can change your position with your Heavenly Landlord, before it is eternally too late.

Just pray this simple prayer, meaning it from your heart, 'Lord Jesus, I am sorry for my wicked ways, and ask you to forgive me, and be Lord of my life. Help me to be the type of servant you want me to be. I ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen!!'

That's all it takes to get all past violations wiped off the books, and to start with a clean slate.

That is the main reason that we celebrate this time of the year. Because if Christ had never been born, then, there would be no chance for any of us to escape the consequences imposed on us, because of Adam.

May you and yours have a Merry, Blessed and safe Christmas, and Happy New Year!!