Category: Food For Growth

¹⁹ Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, ²⁰ but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. ~ Matthew 6:19-21

We brought nothing into this world, and we will take nothing out. All that we will have in eternity is what we send on ahead of us. And that is the reason why Jesus warned us to store up for ourselves treasures in heaven.

This world and the things of this world will pass away. We can’t take what is perishable with us to a place that is imperishable. Eternity is forever. This earth is not. So, why are we obsessed with what the world has to offer? The LORD has in store for us treasures and joy that none can even imagine. Therefore, focus on eternal treasure, not the temporary treasures of this world.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Focus On Eternal Treasures.

³ For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, ⁴ and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. ~ 2 Timothy 4:3-4

The King James says that, “… they will not endure sound doctrine …” People don’t want to hear sound doctrine but want their itching ears scratched. They leave the Truth of the Church and cling to a lie because they love this world and want their own lusts and passions satisfied. But friend, this world is passing away and eternity is hurdling toward us at a breakneck speed.

Now, hear me… eternity is forever. Jesus is coming back. Paul said that a crown of righteousness is laid up for all those who love His appearing and look forward to it (2 Timothy 4:8). These earthly desires (the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life) are all of the evil one, the devil, and those who are of him will cling to the fables of this world.

But as for us we are to remain sober-minded. We are to endure suffering. We are to win souls. We are to be ready to suffer for the sake of the Gospel if necessary. We must run our race with endurance and finish our course in victory. Then we will receive the crown of life that is laid up for us.

Don’t get caught up in the things of this world and miss out on all the good things God has in store for us. Greed is sweeping the pulpits and washing over the congregations. The Gospel is being twisted into a self-help, wealth-building message that reduces God merely to a means of personal gain.

I’m not preaching against prosperity. I believe in sowing and reaping, but when the blessings of the LORD are being sold from the pulpit. When the increase of wealth without repentance is trumpeted. When the promise of power without purity is condoned. We’ve corrupted the Word of God. The Church is not all about the here and now, but the here and now in preparation for eternity.

We brought nothing into this world, and we will take nothing out. All that we will have in eternity is what we send on ahead of us. And that is the reason for Jesus’ warning to us:

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Build For Eternity.

Matthew 22:37-40

You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ³⁸ This is the great and first commandment. ³⁹ And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. ⁴⁰ On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.

Jesus said that all of the Law and the Prophets depend on two commandments: Love the LORD your God with all your heart, mind, and soul; and love your neighbor as yourself. In other words, you can do all things for God, preach and teach accurately, you can even give your life for the sake of the Gospel, but if you do not have love, you are a resounding symbol and you gain nothing (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).

And if we keep all the law, but we fail in the part of loving our neighbor as ourselves, what will become of us? We will be found without fruit. The LORD said that if we don’t bear fruit, we will be cut off and the thrown into the fire (John 15:1-6). So, what are we to do? Love. Love as Jesus did. He didn’t condemn. Insult. Demonize. Demean. Instead, we share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others. Yes, we need to point out sin. But we have to do it without condemnation and insult.

So many of us claim to be Christians but insult and tear down others. What kind of testimony is that? If we, who are supposed to be Christ to the world, can’t do the basic foundational act of loving our neighbor (which is everyone), how can we expect the world to change? How we treat others matters. How we love matters.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Watch How You Love.

³ Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth. ~ Numbers 12:3

Moses was referred to as meek. Many believe that means weak, but Moses was far from being weak. Moses was actually a powerful leader, and Israel prospered under his leadership. But to say he was weak is not a statement that can be attributed to Moses, the man of God.

For instance, Moses was up on the mountain with God for forty days and forty nights, during that time the people of Israel created for themselves a god. So, what did Moses do? He took the god that they had made, the golden calf, and burned it with fire, and then ground it to powder and scattered it on the water, and made the people drink it.

That meek man does not sound like a weak man because he wasn’t. He did not back down from confrontation. He was not skirmish about fighting battles in the time of war, nor was he timid in correcting insolence against God.

What he was meek in doing was defending himself and rising up against any and all false accusers against him. A lot of the time, we Christians spend too much time fighting the small things. We feel the need to defend ourselves because, after all, if we don’t, who will? But Moses did not have that desire.

He did not feel the need to defend himself when his sister and his brother, Miriam and Aaron, spoke against him.

But God, his defender, came down and straightened the whole thing up for him. He didn’t even have to ask or pray about it. God rose up and defended him. Because Moses was no longer his own, he was completely and totally sold out to the service of God.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Learn Meekness.

Matthew 5:3 NIV

[3]  “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus made the kingdom of heaven is accessible now through faith in Him as the ultimate sacrifice (1 Corinthians 5:7-8), and then will be fully realized when He returns to make all things new.

Therefore, we don’t have to wait for the physical manifestation of God’s kingdom of heaven to enjoy its royal decrees and privileges, such as:

• No weapon formed against us will prosper, and we will refute every tongue that accuses us (Isaiah 54:17)
• By His stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5; 1 Peter 2:24)
• He will never leave us nor forsake us (Deut. 31:6; Heb 13:5)
• We will renew our strength and we soar on eagles’ wings (Isaiah 40:31)

But here is the thing, Jesus only promises this kingdom to the “poor in spirit”—those who humbly acknowledge their need for God’s grace by fully submitting to His authority, as I described with the Greek term ptōchos meaning to bow down timidly and the Hebrew concept of “afflicting” one’s soul (ʿānâ with ně·p̄ěš) (Leviticus 16:29-30).

Matthew 5:3 is a promise to those who live humbly, seeking God’s forgiveness, as foreshadowed in the Day of Atonement when the high priest made atonement for Israel’s sins.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Live Humbly.

Matthew 7:13-14 NIV

[13]  “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. [14] But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

I recently went back and watched the Land Before Time movie series for the first time in over 20 years. It had been so long, it was like I was watching it for the first time. And as I watched I realized that the teachings of the Bible will always be seen in everything, whether we want them or not. For instance, these kids got separated from their parents and had to make a long journey by themselves to the meeting place.

So, as they’re going along they reach a split in the journey, if you will. One tells them they have to go one way the other says to go another way. Why the disagreement? Because the one leading was taking them through a path the rest deemed too difficult when there was a perfectly good easy path next to it. Why did he choose that path? Because that was the way his mother had told him to go.

So, what happens? They split from the leader and follow another one down the easy path. The issue? It leads them to tar. To lava. To unforeseen dangers. The path the leader was taking them was rougher. It would take more work and effort but it was the safest way. It was the most reliable. The best way to go.

The life God has called us to isn’t an easy one. It’s a rough one. It’s one of denying our flesh. Picking up our cross and carrying it. It’s one of rejection from the world. Sometimes, it’s even lonely. But it’s the only path to Christ. It’s the only path to salvation. No it Isn’t easy, but won’t lead you to destruction.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Beware The Easy Path.

“Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.” ~ 1 John 2:6 (NIV)

Following Jesus isn’t just about belief—it’s about living differently. Every day presents choices: respond with patience or anger, give generously or hold back, speak truth or stay silent.

John pushes us to examine how closely our lives reflect Jesus’ example. It’s a call to intentional living, not just empty words. We aren’t to live our lives however we want. We are called to live as Christ. How will you reflect Jesus in your actions today?

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Reflect The Son.

²⁴ Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. ~ Genesis 2:24

After God created woman and brought her to man, it says that the two shall become one flesh. Jesus recites the same words in Matthew 19:5 and again in Mark 10:7. Love binds together, hate scatters apart.

A man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one. And so, that is the reason why husbands must love their wives as Christ loved the Church, because they have become one flesh with us. Therefore, if we do not love our wives, we do not love ourselves.

In the same way, if we do love our wives, then it shows that we also love our own selves. It’s a win, win kind of situation. We are not in competition with each other. We are not envious of each other. When one succeeds, we both succeed. We have become one flesh. This is An Acceptable Kind of Love.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Love Each Other.