Tag: Food For Growth

³ A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. ⁴ Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. ⁵ And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” ~ Isaiah 40:3-5

I remember when I first got saved in the early 90’s, the Reverent Billy Graham was preparing for a worldwide crusade. Churches all over the world, including the islands of the Caribbean, from every denomination were preparing for the crusade. We had training classes for the altar call, in anticipation for vast amount of people who would respond to the Gospel.

He never actually physically came to a lot of the places, like the little islands of the sea, but places of worship were prepared, and big screens were setup that those in attendance could see and hear the Reverent Billy Graham preach the plain and honest word of God’s truth.

God prophesied the same thing through Isaiah. He said He would send a forerunner, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the LORD.” That was fulfilled in Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist. John was the voice preparing the people to receive their Messiah. He came preaching, and baptizing, and pointing people to the truth. Many came out to him and were baptized by him. Many asked, what must we do…? And he pointed them in the right direction.

Today, God is not looking for forerunners, He has already come in the form and fashion of the LORD Jesus. He lived and died, and was dead and buried for three days and three nights, but on the third day, He rose again and is now seated at the right hand of the Father, and He is coming back to get all those who are waiting for His return. But you know what He is looking for? He is looking for Christmas Ambassadors, those who will spread the Good News of the Hope that we have in His death and resurrection. He is looking for those who will tell of all the good things He has done for them, and point the loss in the direction of the cross.

There are many people who are still asking, “What must we do…?” They need one of God’s Ambassadors to point them in the right direction. Yes, there are those who do not want to hear, but I believe God is doing something great. He did not give us one more opportunity for no reason. Let us, therefore, strive to please Him and Him alone. Let us not live to our own selves, but let us live to please our LORD and our Savior, Jesus Christ.

This is your opportunity to partner with Jesus to be a Christmas Ambassador and to tell others about Him and what He has done for us and for our family.

Dear Heavenly Father, if you can use anything, please use me to be a Christmas Ambassador so that I can point others to You so that they may live and not die. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

¹² Moses said to the Lord, “See, you say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ ¹³ Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.” ¹⁴ And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” ¹⁵ And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. ¹⁶ For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?” ¹⁷ And the Lord said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” ¹⁸ Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” ¹⁹ And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. ²⁰ But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” ²¹ And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, ²² and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. ²³ Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.” ~ Exodus 33:12-23

Moses is actually complaining to the LORD, and his first statement is a little deceptive to us. So, let me explain. Moses starts out beating around the bush, so to speak. He claims that God told him to bring this people up but did not tell him who will go with him. But that is not the real issue.

Why do I say that?

Because the chapter before (Exodus 32:34) God had already assured Moses that He Himself will go with him. But see, Moses is asking for much more than God to just go with him. He’s asking to know God (Exodus 33:12b-13). Moses’ complaint is, “You know me, but I don’t really know You, and that ain’t fair. I want to know You too. I want to know You as well, God.”

That is his real complaint, and it is not a complaint as much as it is a request. And a very good request at that. Because God wants us to know Him, and He wants to reveal Himself to us. We don’t serve a God that is distant and far off. We serve a God that is close and loving. A God that sticks closer than a brother. A God that laid down His life for us so that we could have the choice to spend eternity with Him.

When God seems distant, all you have to do is call to Him. Spend time in His Word meditating on it day and night, praying and seeking Him. Then He will come to you. He will meet with you. He will make himself known to you. Because He loves you. He cares for you.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Seek God’s Friendship.

⁶ If we say, “We have fellowship with Him,” and yet we walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth. ⁷ If we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. ~ 1 John 1:6-7 ^CSB

John said that it is literally impossible to have fellowship with Jesus and continue to walk in darkness. But what does it mean to walk in darkness? Well, for one, you walk in darkness when you refuse to see truth even when it’s right there in front of you. For another, you walk in darkness when you have fellowship with the world and accept their definition of morality even if it contradicts Scripture just because it is the popular thing or the cultural thing to do.

It does not matter what the world says or what the world thinks; it is only what God thinks and what God says that is right. It is God who we, as Christians, aim to please. Nothing else matters except His approval. If you obey His precepts and follow His commands, you will walk in the light just like He is in the light. And if you walk in the light like He is in the like, the blood of Jesus will cleanse you from all sin.

But if you continue to walk in darkness, there will be no unity within the brethren. It’s only when you walk in the light of Jesus that you will have true fellowship with one another. You cannot be constantly bickering and arguing with each other and still say that you’re walking in the light, or in the knowledge of who Jesus is. If you find yourself constantly in fights and arguments with a brother, first evaluate your own life and be thorough and sincere. If your evaluation finds something, then change that thing or things. If it is not you, maybe you might need to help that brother evaluate his own self. If he or she refuses, then maybe you need to make a change.

Father, help me to constantly evaluate myself, my words, my motives, and my actions. Help me to change for the better so that I might walk in fellowship with You and with my fellow brethren. In Jesus name, I pray, amen.

²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. ~ Galatians 2:20^CSB

There’s a Gospel song by William McDowell that says:

I give myself away
I give myself away
So You can use me
Take my heart
Take my life
As a living sacrifice
All my dreams all my plans
Lord I place them in your hands

When you really think about it, these words are so powerful. Think about what you’re saying every time you sing this song. You’re saying it’s no longer about me. It’s no longer about my flesh and my feelings; it’s now about Christ. It’s no longer about my ego but the Kingdom of God.

Imagine if we, as a Church, lived our lives like this. Just think about that for a second. Every single action we make directly impacts our testimony. We overcome the Devil by the Blood of the Lamb and the Word of our Testimony. If we accept Christ but don’t live as Christ, our Testimony is useless, and if our Testimony is useless, then we make the Blood of the Lamb void.

Our Testimony will make void the Blood of the Lamb if we refuse to allow the Blood of the Lamb to change us. We have to live as Christ each and every day in order to truly make an impact on the world for Christ. This is our call as Christians. We aren’t called to just accept Christ and continue on our way. We are called to change and then change the world. We are not our own; we are bought by the Blood of The Lamb. Therefore, live your life as such and change the world around you.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Give Your Life Away.

³¹ When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. ³² Before Him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ And he will place the sheep on His right, but the goats on the left. ~ Matthew 25:31-33

Two groups of people stood before Jesus. One was the sheep, and the other was the goats. Then Jesus separated the two groups. To one, He gave eternal life to the other, He gave eternal damnation. Now, here’s the thing, these two groups don’t represent the Church and the world. They are both Christians. The difference is one represents the Christians who followed Christ and lived their lives for Him, the other only said they did, but their actions spoke otherwise.

See, they accepted salvation, but they didn’t allow Christ to sanctify them because they refused to be set apart from the world and their own sin, taking up their cross and following Christ. They didn’t allow salvation to change them, instead, it became a one time event that didn’t impact the rest of their lives.

Today, don’t take your salvation for granted. Each day strive to growing in the LORD. Strive to bettering yourself. Strive to bettering the world around you.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Strive For More.

²⁰ But that is not the way you learned Christ!— ²¹ assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, ²² to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, ²³ and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, ²⁴ and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. ~ Ephesians 4:20-24

Jesus saves us, but we put off our own selves by refusing to think the way we used to and by not doing the things we used to. What does that mean? Whatever is false, wrong, evil, or wicked, we must lay those things aside and cling to what is pure, right, holy, true, and just. We must not only think about these things, but we must also put them into practice as well. This is the call of the Church. This is for all of us, not just the early Church.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Refocus On Good.