Category: Food For Growth

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.

Hebrews 5:12-14 ESV

[12] For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, [13] for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. [14] But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

Christianity is many things but it’s not about easing your conscience. So, what’s it about then? It’s all about growing and maturing in the things of God, making disciples, and equipping the saints for good works.

We have the greatest heritage ever, because we have the LORD Jesus, and He has given us His Holy Spirit. And has endued us with power from on high!

We are Spirit-filled! Water baptized and running for our lives!

That is what gave Jesus the confidence to say, “…All things are possible for one who believes (Mark 9:23b). Therefore, don’t continue on milk. Strive to grow. Seek out the meat of the Word.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Mature. 

Exodus 2:5-10 NIV

[5] Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. [6] She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said. [7] Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?” [8] “Yes, go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother. [9] Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. [10] When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “I drew him out of the water.”

I feel like there’s one mother in the Bible that really doesn’t get a lot of credit, and that is Moses’ mother. No, not his biological mother but his adopted mother. Pharaoh, the man who sent out the command to kill all the Hebrew male babies born during the time of Moses, was her father.

Now, Pharaoh could have easily looked at the Hebrew male child, sentenced him and his daughter to death, then called it a day. Even though this was a high possibility, Pharaoh’s daughter still took the Hebrew baby as her own and named him Moses.

There are so many children out there seeking a mother figure in their lives. You don’t even necessarily need to adopt them, that may not be in your cards, but just loving another as you would love your own child is sometimes all it takes to make a positive difference in the life of another.

Dear LORD, please help me to be the mother my children need and a mother to any other child that may need a mother’s love. Show me how to love and care for someone in need so that they might not be alone but might see You through me. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

⁶ So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as LORD, continue to live your lives in Him, ⁷ rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. ⁸ See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. ⁹ For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, ¹⁰ and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. ¹¹ In Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, ¹² having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through your faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. ~ Colossians 2:6-12

In this passage, Paul urges all believers to stay firmly rooted in their faith in Christ, encouraging them to grow in Him and overflow with gratitude, while cautioning against deceptive philosophies grounded in human traditions rather than in Christ’s truth. Like preaching that Jesus was out of order 85% of the time. Or preaching a message of racism and bigotry.

He highlights that Christ embodies the fullness of deity in human form, meaning that all the attributes, power, and essence of God—His wisdom, authority, and divine nature—are perfectly and completely present in Jesus, even as He walked the earth as a man, bridging the divine and human in a way that reveals God fully to us.

We reject any religion that displaces Jesus from His rightful place as the second member of the Godhead. Likewise, we do not embrace any belief system—even one professing to be Christian—that diminishes Jesus’ divine role as Creator God to merely a human figure, or that elevates His earthly mother or His followers to the status of deity.

We keep our religion pure by not being polluted by the philosophies of this world, as James advised us to do (James 1:27). Paul goes on to use vivid imagery like spiritual circumcision and baptism to show how faith in Christ transforms believers, stripping away our sinful nature and uniting us with His death and resurrection, securing victory over sin and death through His supreme authority over all powers.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Keep The Faith Pure.