Tag: Food For Growth

¹³ Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners. ⁷ And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. ~ Matthew 9:13; 12:7

Jesus was actually quoting Hosea 6:6 “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.” From the very beginning, God was concerned for the lost, those who are stumbling through life. He wants them saved. But not even some of our church elders are interested in evangelism. Most churches do not prioritize targeting and evangelizing the lost; they are without a plan, neither to reach nor to equip the saints for good work and maybe that is the cause of the lack of motivation to reach the lost.

The early Church made evangelizing a priority with their preaching. Paul single-handedly turned the whole world upside down. Men, women, and children were coming to the saving knowledge of Jesus by the thousands on a daily basis.

They endured ridicule, whippings, prison, and the confiscation of their property for the right to evangelize. We, today’s Christians, are so lukewarm with our beliefs that the people we work with don’t even know we are Christians, and if they catch wind that we are, it is plain that it is in religion only. But God is not pleased with our lack of evangelizing. That is our great commission. Be His witnesses because He is concerned about the lost.

The Church has become lazy and apathetic, with no sense of urgency to reach lost people. We sit back and think to ourselves that evangelizing is the pastor’s job; that’s what he gets paid to do. Others are embarrassed or too politically correct to witness to a lost and dying world who do not know their right hand from their left.

LORD forbid we offend someone trying to save their soul from an eternity in a burning fiery lake of fire. How is it that we can have unrepented members coming to church Sunday after Sunday for years and never accept Jesus as LORD and Savior? That is incredulous. We may not be concerned about the lost, but trust me, God is very, very concerned. Will He come back and find us doing what he left us to do? Finding the lost and disciplining them.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Evangelize.

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¹⁹ Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, ²⁰ for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. ~ 1 Corinthians 6:19–20

We are not our own. In other words, “we DO NOT belong to ourselves.” Therefore, we must honor God with our bodies. When we begin to do what pleases us, and we try to protect our little feelings, then we are usurping the authority God has over us. I want you to think about that for a moment. This is pretty deep, and I want you to fully understand what I’m saying here.

So, what I’m saying is that when we are offended at what someone says to us or about us, we are now taking offense for God because it is Him that they are insulting, right? I mean, since we’re not our own and all of that, we should no longer be offended for someone else, namely God!

God is big enough to be offended for Himself. This is why God says so many times that vengeance is His. Because whatever people do to us, or say about us, is not to us but to and about God Himself. It’s like when Samuel felt rejected by the people of Israel because they no longer wanted a judge, but instead, they wanted a king like the other nations. God told Samuel not to feel rejected because the people weren’t rejecting him; they were rejecting God, who was their King.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be God’s.

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¹ But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. ² For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, ⁴ treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. ~ 2 Timothy 3:1-5

Paul lists several last-day characteristics. Lovers of self. Lovers of money. Proud. Arrogant. Abusive. Disobedient to their parents. Ungrateful. Unholy. And several other things. These will be the characteristics that will run the world. The majority of people will fall into, at the very least, one of these categories. We can see it all around us today. People can no longer call sin, sin. We can no longer correct with love because it’s called hate. People who were standing for what is right are standing against it because of money.

The love of many is growing colder and colder. We’re running out of time to seek ye first the Kingdom. The world is getting darker and darker. Evil is being called good, and good is being called evil. Jesus will soon be breaking that eastern sky. He will soon be coming back to get His people. Are you ready? Are your family members ready? Are your neighbors and co-workers ready? This is the time to get ready. Seek the LORD while He can still be found. Don’t wait for tomorrow, for tomorrow is promised to no one. Today is the day of Salvation. Don’t wait for tribulation to come your way to turn to God. Turn to Him while it’s still summer and all is well.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Pay Attention To The People.

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¹⁵ I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! ¹⁶ So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. ~ Revelation 3:15–16

They say come as you are. The songs say come as you are. And we do. We come as we are, but we do not, we cannot, and we must not stay as we are. We must change as we are led by the Holy Spirit. But why? If we do not grow, we will become lukewarm, and the LORD will spew you out of His mouth.

God says He knows their deeds. God knows all of our needs. There is nothing that catches Him by surprise or that He is unaware of. Nothing escapes the attention of God. He knows all of our ways, all of our thoughts, and all of our motives. He knows where we are and what we are doing. He knows all things.

No one can hide anything from God. Everything is open and laid bare before Him, and He weighs all of our words, all of our acts, and all of our thoughts in the balance, and He ponders or considers all of our ways. He is a great God. Loving and kind. Merciful and forgiving, but we have to be obedient to His word and all that He commands us. Don’t waste the time you have left. Don’t be deceived by this world. Nothing can compare to the plans God has in store for you.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Obey All His Commands.

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² For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. ³ While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:2–3

Paul warns us that the Day of the LORD will come like a thief in the night because while people are oblivious to the signs around them, sudden destruction will come upon them, and they won’t be able to escape. The LORD is righteous, and all of His judgments and deeds are righteous. Yet so many declare and proclaim to others that the LORD won’t punish the wicked. That the LORD loves you regardless of how you live your life, so He won’t punish you. They whisper sweet words of false hope into the ears of the people, and the people are eating up these false teachings, not realizing the coming destruction.

Paul clearly states that they will not escape the sudden destruction that is coming on all people who have rejected the LORD Jesus. This why it’s so important that we tell everyone that the return of Christ is near because His return is coming when all the walls of the wicked are down, and they have no discernment of the times. He’s coming like a thief in the night because the wicked will be unaware that He came into the world until it’s too late and all the righteous are gone.

Paul and the other disciples understood this and gladly carried this weight on their shoulders, preaching the Gospel for the sake of others. They didn’t care about their own comforts or lives. They cared only about sharing the true love of God. They loved others more than they loved themselves. Jesus warned His disciples that one of the signs of His return was that the love of many would grow cold (Matthew 24:12).

Today, the Church’s love is growing cold. The oil in our lamp is dwindling. We have unsaved loved ones that we’d rather leave in their sin than spend time planting and watering seeds in hopes that they will be saved and escape the coming destruction. The LORD’s return is closer now more than ever before. Signs are being fulfilled. Trumpets are being sounded. Jesus will soon be returning, so eagerly teach, pray, and fast for those who are still lost in sin, for unrighteousness will never be able to dwell with righteousness.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Tend To The Seeds.

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¹⁵ Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶ You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. ~ Matthew 7:15–27

Jesus said to beware of false prophets dressed in sheep’s clothing. And don’t worry about how to identify them; you will know them by their fruit. So, we would do well to watch out for the type of fruit we are being served.

Sometimes it is hard to tell the fruits one from another because they sometimes look so similar. But here is a good acid test.

1. If the fruit or doctrine trivializes the need for evangelism, it is false
2. If the fruit downplays or minimizes the importance of holy living, it is false

Scripture can never contradict itself. Anytime a teaching or a message, or a doctrine, stifles or belittles, or relaxes either one of those two tests, it is false. Don’t just eat up whatever fruit is served to you. Test the fruit against Scripture. Does it confirm or contradict? Don’t just go by the way it looks, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Don’t just go by the way someone else believes, for people will deceive you with flattering lips that tickle your ears. Go by what the Scriptures say. If the Bereans tested all that Paul taught them, how much more should we test those teaching us today?

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Judge The Fruit.

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²³ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴ “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation. ²⁵ You shall not do any ordinary work, and you shall present a food offering to the Lord.” ~ Leviticus 23:23–25

It’s believed that today, Rosh Hashanah, God looks down on all of mankind and takes special note of our behavior, attitude, and our relationship with Him. It’s also the day when He decides who will live and who will die that year.

Therefore, the next ten days, the Days of Awe, which will culminate on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), is a time of reflection and self-evaluation. It’s a day of paying special attention to things you have done that aren’t right. People you may have hurt and need forgiveness for. Areas where you need improvement. In other words, it is time for spiritual realignment with God. It would do us well to do the same, not just on this day alone, but every day of the year, to make sure we are living right and the way God expects us to live.

It’s so easy for us to get caught up in the world because the grass tends to look greener on the other side. We often feel like we’re missing out on something but let these next 10 days (starting today) be days to truly seek the LORD and all that He has in store for each and every one of us because there is nothing on God’s beautiful green earth that can compare to what God has for us in eternity with Him.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Seek In The Days of Awe.

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⁹ When the people of the land come before the Lord at the appointed feasts, he who enters by the north gate to worship shall go out by the south gate, and he who enters by the south gate shall go out by the north gate: no one shall return by way of the gate by which he entered, but each shall go out straight ahead. ~ Ezekiel 46:9

In the days of Ezekiel, the people were required to leave the Temple through a different gate than they came. In fact, they were to leave in the exact opposite direction they came. The Scriptures tell us that the Law and the Prophets are just a foreshadowing of good things to come. Then wouldn’t it stand to reason that this is also a foreshadowing of things to come? So often in the Church today, we leave the presence of God the way we entered. We don’t leave changed.

See, today isn’t like the days of Ezekiel when they had to go to the Temple to worship and commune with God. Today, the LORD Himself dwells in us. Jesus lives through us. His Spirit dwells, guides, and transforms us into the image that was lost so many years ago. Therefore, we should never leave the presence of God, worship, the same way we entered. We should always be leaving the presence of God changed for the better. We should always be leaving His presence transformed.

We have the LORD God dwelling in us like never before; take advantage of that. Don’t allow the cares of this world to pull you away from all that God has in store for you. They can’t compete with His plans for your life. Cling to Him. Grow in Him. Be transformed in Him so that one day He’ll come back to take you home to Him.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Don’t Leave The Way You Came.

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⁴ But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. ~ Revelation 2:4

Jesus prophesied that the days are coming when the love of many will grow cold. What love? The love God gave us. The love for Him. The love for people. The love for life. The love for good. Those days are drawing nearer and nearer every day. Why is this love growing cold? Because Christ is no longer our chosen Savior. He’s no longer our betrothed because another has caught our attention. The world has caught our eyes and all its shiny toys. We’ve become like the Church in Ephesus, we do much good, but while doing good, we lose our first love. I once heard a pastor say that the Devil gets us by doing a good thing instead of the right thing. Not every good thing is for us to do because not every good thing is for us to do.

For instance, King David could’ve gotten caught up in building God a temple for Him to dwell in, but when God told Him it wasn’t for him, David didn’t lose sight of his first love. He kept his eyes on God and all that God had in store for him. Jesus only had 3 ½ years to complete all He had to do, yet He always made time to pray and seek His Father in Heaven. Jesus didn’t get caught up in all that He had to do; He made sure His love never grew cold. He made sure He was on fire for God, regardless of the amount of work ahead of Him. As Christians, it’s easy to get caught up in doing good things, but we must never let that keep us from doing the right thing, which is seeking God first and His Kingdom.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Don’t Do The Good Thing.

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