Category: Food For Growth

⁹ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. ¹ My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. ~ 1 John 1:9-2:1

I believe Repentance is an ongoing thing. We are instructed not to sin, but if we do sin, and I am not talking about deliberate sinning, the kind where we are now taking advantage of God’s grace but honest mistakes, we have Jesus as our Advocate. We confess, repent, and endeavor not to commit the same sin again and again. Otherwise, we will be crucifying the Son of God over and over again. No one who has repented, or changed their worldview, continues to willfully sin just because they feel they can repent for it later because of grace.

Grace isn’t a license to sin. It’s not an indulgence. When you get saved, a temptation will come. It will be a really good opportunity, one that you feel you cannot pass up, because it’s a chance of a lifetime, at least you feel it’s a chance of a lifetime. A chance like Joseph had to sleep with the master’s wife, but it’s a lie, DO NOT FALL FOR IT. Look out for temptations by the enemy. Be on guard.

John told us that Jesus is faithful and just to forgive anyone who asks Him to, and we can rest assured in that promise. So, we endeavor not to continue living in the flesh, or in other words, we stop willfully sinning. Why? Because you change in pursuit of dwelling forever in the presence of the LORD.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be Aware of Temptations By The Enemy.

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²¹ And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the Lord and praise Him in holy attire, as they went before the army, and say, “Give thanks to the Lord, for His steadfast love endures forever.” ²² And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed. ²³ For the men of Ammon and Moab rose against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, devoting them to destruction, and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they all helped to destroy one another. ~ 2 Chronicles 20:21-23

The king did not send out spies, nor did he set up his battle lines, nor did he arrange the artillery of longbows to volley arrows. He doesn’t even set a plan B, just in case. Just in case Brother Jahaziel had gotten it wrong. What he did was; after taking counsel with the people, he appointed singers. Praise and worship leaders in holy attire to go before the army.

These were not men who were all tatted up and looking like the world with their pants hanging off. They weren’t dressed in torn-up jeans and worn-out T-shirts, nor were they dressed in Bermuda shorts and shoeless. Their toes weren’t grabbing the grass. They weren’t flipping dirt with their big toes. No, they were dressed in their Sunday best, not in their Saturday worst. It was in holy attire singing:

“Give thanks to the Lord, for His steadfast love endures forever.”

I want you to understand something. The word Judah means “Praise” or “Praise Yahweh.” Now, Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir are always associated with occult and idol worship, and they were always hostile to Judah. Judah was the tribe of singers, worshippers, and praisers. That was who they were. That’s what the LORD intended our worship leaders to be today. He didn’t intend for us to look like the world; instead, He intended for us to come out of the world. For the world to know who we are, which is why the world doesn’t accept us but hates us.

Yes, God can use all people, regardless of their outward appearance or their past. Yes, we are to come as we are, but we aren’t to stay as we are, nor are we to try to imitate the world in order to intrigue the world. We are to be a light in this dark world because we are to guide those in the darkness to the light. To God. To Jesus. We are to mimic Christ, not mimic the world.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Mimic Christ.

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⁷ If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. ~ John 15:7-8

Jesus is making a covenant promise to us. He said all you have to do is to abide in Him and let His words abide in you, then you can ask whatever you wish, or whatever you desire, and guess what? He will do it for you just because you have asked Him. Why? Because we have a covenant relationship, and I am a covenant-keeping God.

Now I want you to notice that the granting of our prayers and petition is directly connected to bearing fruit. It is directly connected to the harvest and to the increase. Why? Because the Father is glorified every time we have answered prayer because every time we have an answered prayer, we increase and bear fruit, and it leads to the Father being glorified.

I want to challenge you to take Jesus up on His offer of you abiding in Him and His word abiding in you. Then ask whatever you desire and see the Father glorified.

LORD Jesus, please show us what it means to abide in You and Your word to abide in us. Then give us the faith to receive what we ask for in prayer, that we might glorify the Father, for it is in Your name that we pray, amen.

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²² He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in His mouth. ²³ When He was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but continued entrusting Himself to Him who judges justly. ²⁴ He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed. ~ 1 Peter 2:22-24

As Jesus was on the cross, the crowd and soldiers reviled Him. They mocked Him and spit on Him. They taunted Him and even went as far as to gamble for His clothes in front of Him. The Roman soldiers beat Him until He was unrecognizable; nevertheless, He never returned evil for evil. Jesus only responded to their evil with good. He even went as far as to pray for their forgiveness as they reviled and mocked Him. This is the love of God.

While we were still sinners, God Himself set off His Godliness and took on the form of man so that He might take our sin upon Himself. Jesus overcame the world and made a way for all people to be saved. Our God’s love for us is greater than we could ever comprehend or imagine. Never forget the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, who poured out His blood for us. Give thanks and praise to the LORD who first loved us by giving His life for us on the cross.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Love He Who First Loved Us.

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²⁴ No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon. ~ Matthew 6:24

We often quote this last verse as “you cannot serve both God and money.” In doing this, we miss Jesus’ point; the love of money, greed, is the god Mammon. You can’t serve Mammon and God. When we leave it as just money, we allow this idea that money is evil or having money is evil to enter into our thoughts. Let me make this very clear; money is not evil. You don’t need to go and sell everything you have and become poor in order to be saved.

There’s only one account of the rich having to sell all that he has in order to be saved. This is because the rich man had a love of money. We can be sure of this because when it came to the rich man, Zacchaeus, Jesus never told him to sell all that he had. Why? Because Zacchaeus didn’t have a love of money. He automatically repented and promised to restore fourfold to anyone he cheated. He even promised to give half of his wealth to the poor. Money wasn’t Zacchaeus’ love; Jesus was. This is the desire of God. Not that all be poor in order to serve Him, but that all love God more than anything else in this world.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Love God Most.

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⁴ Woe to those who lie on beds of ivory and stretch themselves out on their couches, and eat lambs from the flock and calves from the midst of the stall, ⁵ who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp and like David invent for themselves instruments of music, ⁶ who drink wine in bowls and anoint themselves with the finest oils, but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph! ~ Amos 6:4-6

Many of us sing the popular worship songs but never change. Does that mean there’s something wrong with the worship songs we’re singing? I don’t believe so. I believe it’s a problem with us. Our hearts aren’t in it. Worship is meaningless unless the heart of the worshipper is aligned with the heart of God. If we seek God and follow Him, then our hearts will match the heart of God. And our heart will weep for what the heart of God weeps for.

Sin should grieve our hearts. The pain of others should grieve our hearts. The darkening of this world should grieve our hearts. If our hearts don’t match the heart of God, then no amount of worship will save you. You have to change by letting God melt your heart. Worship is important; it can be a gateway to the presence of the LORD, but worship only works when you leave changed. If you don’t change, if your heart doesn’t match the heart of God, your worship is meaningless and just empty words.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Grieve The Ruin of Joseph.

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¹³ each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. ~ 1 Corinthians 3:13

All things we do, whether good or bad, will be manifested before God at the Final Judgment. There’s nothing we can hide from God. He is the Light in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome Him. Our lives here on this earth aren’t pointless. We were each created for a great purpose. What we do on the way to fulfilling that purpose will be placed before the LORD. God knows that we aren’t perfect. He knows that we make mistakes, so He gives grace to those who follow Him and are striving for righteousness.

On that day, when the LORD will test the works of all of mankind, He will take into account grace. The grace that comes with salvation. We should never live stagnant in fear of making mistakes; neither should we live without regard for the laws of God. We have to hold the Word of God within our hearts. We have to live with the fear of the LORD. Not fear that causes us to live stagnantly, but the righteous fear of the LORD that shows us the difference between righteousness and unrighteousness. Good and evil. The fear of the LORD that guards our hearts against evil thoughts and intentions.

LORD God, please fill me with a healthy fear of You. Help me to not count You as common or without regard to the Holiness of who You are. Help me to strive for righteousness and goodness all the days of my life. Teach me right from wrong that I might not sin against You. Please give me a Spirit of Discernment that I might discern all that comes before me. So, that on that great day of Judgment, my works might withstand the test of Your righteous fire. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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¹ Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John ² (although Jesus Himself did not baptize, but only His disciples), ³ He left Judea and departed again for Galilee. ~ John 4:1-3

The Messiah taught, led, performed miracles, healed the sick, and even raised the dead, but He didn’t baptize. Why? Because Jesus knew His call. He understood His purpose. Many of us would see baptizing people as no big deal, but Jesus saw it as straying from His call. He didn’t have time to stray from His call because He knew He only had a short time. We each only have a short time to fulfill our call; we can’t afford to do someone else’s job. This life is so short; never stray from your call and your God-given job.

We are each given a job to do, but we can’t try to do it all ourselves. We have to stick to our God-given call. This is because we are the body of Christ. The foot cannot try to do the work of the hand, or the body will be unable to properly function. Therefore, we each have to follow our God-planned road and run the race set before each of us, not the race set before someone else. If we are busy trying to run someone else’s race, we’re going to get burnt out and not be able to finish our own race. God uses more than just one person. Pray for discernment that He might show you your call and who you are in His Church.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Only Run Your Race.

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³ My anger is hot against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders; for the Lord of hosts cares for his flock, the house of Judah, and will make them like his majestic steed in battle. ~ Zechariah 10:3

We are all given different responsibilities in life. Some of us are given more responsibility than others. And when we’re put in places of leadership, it’s on us to guide the sheep to plains of green pasture regardless of whether the sheep want dry, dead lands or lush green pastures. They can always stay there, but you can’t let the 99 die in the dry, dead land because 1 wants to stay in the wilderness. You have to first get the 99 safely to lush green pasture, and then you go after the 1.

As a shepherd, you can’t sacrifice the 99 for the 1. You can’t put the entire flock in jeopardy because one wants to live in sin. You have to teach them all the Truth even if they don’t want to hear it. That’s the job of the shepherd. You’re supposed to lead the sheep. Why? To whom much is given, much is required.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Lead The Sheep.

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³¹ But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way. ~ 1 Corinthians 12:31

Paul said to seek the higher gifts, and he would show us a still more excellent way. We can never know too much of and about God. There will never be a time when we get bored with God. His ways and thoughts are higher than our ways and thoughts. But the only way to see higher and greater things is to seek higher and greater things.

So many of us are missing out on the greater things God has in store for us because of doctrines created by men and not God. These false doctrines keep us blinded just like they kept the Pharisees blinded during the time of Jesus. They were so blinded in fact, that they couldn’t recognize God when He came as flesh and stood before them. God is standing before us with something greater in store for us, don’t miss it.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Don’t Miss Out On God’s Greater Things.

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