Category: Food For Growth

⁷ Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. ~ Galatians 6:7

Paul is giving the Galatians a warning. The devil will slither in and tell you all kinds of lies. “Oh, the Church only wants your money.” And in some cases, it’s true, some do preach the Word for profit, but that does not negate our obligation to support our local church leaders, or whoever is spiritually feeding you. And it’s easy to get caught up in the rhetoric, and Paul knows that. So, he writes a warning—don’t let yourself be misled or fall into false thinking.

The Church, as a whole, is not after your money. Look, Paul wrote: “God is not mocked,” which literally means, “He is not to be sneered at or turned up the nose at.” You can’t fool or bypass Him. So, you can’t treat God’s commands lightly or flippantly. God will hold you accountable.

And here is the consequence: for whatever one sows, that he will also reap. It is a universal spiritual law. Every action (seed) will produce a corresponding result (harvest), whether good or evil. In other words, what you plant determines what you harvest. This applies to how we use:

• Our time
• Our money
• Our influence
• Our obedience
• And even our words

You can’t sow apathy and expect to reap a spiritual breakthrough. Therefore, sow wisely.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Watch What You Sow.

⁵ Then I set before the Rechabites pitchers full of wine, and cups, and I said to them, “Drink wine.” ⁶ But they answered, “We will drink no wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, ‘You shall not drink wine, neither you nor your sons forever. ⁷ You shall not build a house; you shall not sow seed; you shall not plant or have a vineyard; but you shall live in tents all your days, that you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.’ ⁸ We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, ourselves, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, ⁹ and not to build houses to dwell in. We have no vineyard or field or seed, ¹⁰ but we have lived in tents and have obeyed and done all that Jonadab our father commanded us. ¹¹ But when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, ‘Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans and the army of the Syrians.’ So we are living in Jerusalem.”

¹² Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ¹³ “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Go and say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will you not receive instruction and listen to my words? declares the Lord. ¹⁴ The command that Jonadab the son of Rechab gave to his sons, to drink no wine, has been kept, and they drink none to this day, for they have obeyed their father’s command. I have spoken to you persistently, but you have not listened to me. ¹⁵ I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending them persistently, saying, ‘Turn now every one of you from his evil way, and amend your deeds, and do not go after other gods to serve them, and then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to you and your fathers.’ But you did not incline your ear or listen to me. ~ Jeremiah 35:5-15

Jonadab had given his children clear, godly instructions—but it wasn’t just about wine, but about how to live, how to remain set apart, and how to honor the LORD with their lifestyle. These commands were not arbitrary. Jonadab’s instructions kept his family separate from the idolatrous, indulgent culture of Israel, which was steeped in Baal worship and moral decay.

By living simply and staying mobile, the Rechabites remained a distinct people, loyal to God’s values in a world pulling them away from Him. Today’s fathers face a similar challenge—to lead their families in holiness amidst a culture that often opposes God’s truth.

He wasn’t around anymore. By now, Jonadab had been dead for centuries. And yet, his words lived on. His children and their children after them, not only remembered what he taught—they obeyed it! Fathers, your words matter. Mothers, your words matter. Teachers. Leaders. Mentors. Your example matters. What you teach, how you live, and the standard you set can echo for generations.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Teach The Next Generation.

⁸ but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ~ Romans 5:8

It wasn’t for the righteous that Jesus died, nor was it for a good person that He died.  We weren’t His friends … we were His enemies.

We were unlovable, hateful toward Him, and everything that He stood for—yet still, He chose the cross. Still, He loved us. Still, He laid down His life for us.

He didn’t wait for us to get better or to turn our lives around. He died for us while we were still sinners—while we were still rejecting Him. That’s the depth of divine love. That’s the kind of love that doesn’t make sense to the natural mind.

Therefore, encourage yourself and others in this. Don’t be too quick to condemn and cast judgment, but instead when your brother sins be there to help pick them back up again. No one is perfect. No one is even good. Not one.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Remember God’s Love.

¹ And when the Day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. ² And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. ³ And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. ⁴ And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. ~ Acts 2:1-4 ^KJV

The Scripture states, “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come…” ^NKJV We have to understand that Pentecost wasn’t just an arbitrary day or a random time in the life of Israel. And it didn’t all start with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. From the time of the Exodus under Moses, about 1,475 years earlier, the Israelites were celebrating Pentecost as the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot).

God had instituted this festival as one of the three mandatory pilgrimage feasts. It was a celebration of the wheat harvest. For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things… (Hebrews 10:1a) What does that mean: the Law was a shadow of the good things to come?

Well, the day of Pentecost is a prime example of the fulfillment of the shadow of the good things to come. The Day of Pentecost, or the Feast of Weeks, as it was called, was celebrated 50 days counting from Resurrection Sunday. The Death and Resurrection of Christ Jesus started the made a way for us to be reconciled to God. Then, 50 days later, God poured out His Holy Spirit on all flesh so that Salvation was obtainable and retainable.

No, longer do we have to count solely on someone else connecting us to God or giving us a Word from God because now, God dwells in us and with us. Now, our God guides anyone with a willing and obedient heart. That is why we celebrate Pentecost because we are living in the days of The Holy Spirit.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Dwell With Him.

¹ And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. ~ Acts 2:1

When the day of Pentecost had fully come, one person was not professing one thing, and another person prophesying something else. They were all in agreement with the promise. They were all of one mind.

You may be saying to yourself, Oh, brother Kenny, why are you so old school? We don’t have to all agree. Look, the Scriptures ask, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” (Amos 3:3 KJV).

In other words, we will never experience “The Hope of Pentecost” unless we all agree together as one church body. And unless we understand what we believe, live what we believe, and agree to what we believe, we will never experience what Jesus has for us the hope of Pentecost with signs and wonders, miracles, and many great acts of healing. We must believe and agree together so that we will receive the promise. We must become one body, mind, and goal in Christ Jesus.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Become One.

Leviticus 23:15-21

15 You shall count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering. 16 You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall present a grain offering of new grain to the LORD. 17 You shall bring from your dwelling places two loaves of bread to be waved, made of two tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour, and they shall be baked with leaven, as firstfruits to the LORD. 18 And you shall present with the bread seven lambs a year old without blemish, and one bull from the herd and two rams. They shall be a burnt offering to the LORD, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the LORD. 19 And you shall offer one male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old as a sacrifice of peace offerings. 20 And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the LORD for the priest. 21 And you shall make a proclamation on the same day. You shall hold a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work. It is a statute forever in all your dwelling places throughout your generations.

This passage describes a special festival that God instructed His people, the Israelites, to celebrate called the Feast of Weeks, or Shavuot. It was a time to thank God for the wheat harvest and worship Him with offerings.

But there’s something even bigger going on here. These feasts weren’t just about crops or sacrifices—they were like a map pointing to Jesus and God’s plan to build His Church (Hebrews 10:1).

God’s feasts and rules in the Old Testament, like Shavuot (The Feast of Weeks), were shadows pointing to the real thing—Jesus Christ. They showed God’s people what He would do through His Son.

The Feast of Weeks, or Shavuot, happened 50 days after Passover. In the New Testament, this is called the Day of Pentecost.

On Pentecost, after Jesus rose from the dead, God poured out His Holy Spirit on His followers. That was the birth of the Church!

For hundreds of years, God’s people, the Israelites, celebrated Shavuot, not realizing it was a shadow of the Holy Spirit coming to live in us and unite us as God’s family.

The two loaves in Leviticus, offered during Shavuot, can remind us of how Jesus brings all people—Jews and non-Jews, or what is called gentiles—together through His love and the gift of the Holy Spirit. God’s plan was always to make us one family, forgiven and filled with His Spirit.

Sometimes, God’s plans aren’t always clear to us. Sometimes, it isn’t even fulfilled in our lifetimes. Even though we may not always know God’s plans, we can know one thing, His plans are for our good and not to harm us, but to give us a hope and a future. So, follow the plan of the LORD, even if you’re not quite sure where He’s leading you.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Join His Plan.

Romans 5:5b

“…because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

By the grace of God, we are now no longer weak or powerless, but rather, we have been empowered by the pouring out of the Holy Spirit into our hearts.

We are to love others as Christ has loved us. We are to be Christ to the world. How? Christ stepped in at our moment of helplessness. In other words, when we were weak, when we were powerless, Christ stepped in to help us. Therefore, we are to help others when they are weak.

We are to bear each other’s burdens. How? Through prayer, fasting, and worship together. Through being the shoulder to lean or cry on. We all need someone to help us at some point, therefore, we should always be willing to be that help for someone else.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Help Carry Their Burden. 

John 15:1-6

[1]  “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. [2] Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. [3] Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. [4] Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. [5] I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. [6] If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

Jesus isn’t talking about the world when He refers to the branches that will be cut off. Jesus is talking about the Church. Jesus is the True Vine and we are the branches. If we bear fruit, the Father will prune us, so that we might bear more fruit, but if we don’t bear fruit, then He will cut us off and throw us away.

What fruit is Jesus talking about?

Galatians 5:22-23

[22] But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

If we don’t bear these fruit then we cannot remain in Christ. We are called to bear all of these fruit, but at the very minimum, we are called to bear love. If we don’t bear love, then we do not have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us.

Love is the foundation for every other fruit, and is the fruit absolutely required in order to remain in Christ. Therefore, don’t be deceived by man-made doctrines, we must work in Christ if we are to remain in Christ. The gift of salvation is free to everyone who believes but to continue in the faith means you must do more than believe. You must change. You must bear fruit.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Bear.