Tag: Food For Growth

¹³ Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. ¹⁴ Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. ~ James 5:13-15

James tells us that if we are suffering, being oppressed, then we should pray that we might be freed from this suffering. But when it comes to being sick, James tells us that we need something a little more. Why? When the disciples couldn’t cast out a specific type of evil spirit causing an illness in a boy, Jesus basically told them that they were too childlike in the faith. Not that they had childlike faith, but that they were children in the faith. They weren’t mature Christians. They were children, not elders. Their faith and relationship with God weren’t where they needed to be to have the authority and power to heal this boy.

Many of us miss out on our healing because we aren’t elders in the faith. It’s not about the length of years you’ve served Christ but what you’ve done in those years of serving Him. The disciples of Christ were serving Him the longest; nevertheless, Paul (who persecuted them and other Christians) was the greatest apostle who ever lived, doing things and understanding things that they didn’t. Though their relationship with God was longer than Paul’s relationship with God, Paul had to correct some of them as well as some of their followers. So, I said all of this that you might understand that just because by Jesus’ stripes we have been healed unless we or the person anointing us and praying for us is an elder in the faith-filled with power and Truth, we just might miss out on our healing.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Go To The Elders.

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⁸ And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. ⁹ Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. ¹⁰ But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. ¹¹ Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” ¹² And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, ¹³ and they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, ¹⁴ for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.” ¹⁵ And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel. ~ Acts 6:8-15

Stephen is recorded in the Bible as the first martyr. He was stoned to death because those around him who refused to accept the Truth could not disprove the Truth he spoke. Stephen wasn’t stoned for the good things he did. He wasn’t even stoned for the signs and wonders he did. He was stoned because of Jesus. Stephen set aside himself, and with great power and authority, he followed in the footsteps of Christ. He made a difference wherever he went to the point that the heads of the synagogues came to disprove all that he said, but because Stephen was a Spirit-filled man of God, they couldn’t. This is what angered them the most. This is what they arrested him for because they couldn’t dispute the Truth.

The Word of God is Truth. It is irrefutable. There is no flaw or contradiction in it because it was breathed out by God-Himself. God authored the entire Bible through the men He used to write the words down. Because of this, we can stand in confidence when we read our Bible. Some will say many are leaving the Church right now because of the flaws in the Bible. This isn’t a flaw in the Bible; this is a flaw in the Church. The Church today is no longer full of grace and power as the early Church was 2,000 years ago. We can no longer defend our own beliefs as Stephen could because we no longer read our Bibles through unbiased eyes seeking the Truth. We no longer fast, pray, and worship as the early Church did. They were Spirit-filled Christians who didn’t just say they were Christians, but they had the power of Christ dwelling in them that manifested in their speech and their actions.

Even though it’s our natural response to being questioned, don’t lean on your own understanding. Listen for the Spirit, and He will give you the words to speak. He will show you what you don’t yet know or understand. Seek God as the early Church did. Study the Scripture as the early Church did. Allow God to use you as the early Church did. If you do these things, when you are confronted, you will be able to defend your faith as Stephen, and the rest of the greats of the early Church did.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be Filled with Grace and Power.

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⁴¹ Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. ⁴² For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. ⁴³ I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’ ⁴⁴ Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’ ⁴⁵ And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’ ⁴⁶ And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.” ~ Matthew 25:41-46

So many of us have become centered around our own needs and our own goals in life. It’s easy to do this in our fast passed society. Unless we focus on our dreams, we won’t ever achieve them, but what if we’re meant for more? The early Church understood something that we struggle with in the Church today. We struggle with having a Kingdom mindset because we’ve grown up in a self-centered world. We’ve been taught evolution and natural selection from elementary school that tries to convince us that only the strong will survive and the weak will perish alone, so don’t help them. We have to allow the natural order of things to take place. The problem with this is that we are blinded by the self-destruction argument of natural selection and evolution. Unless we help each other, then the human race will cease to exist.

No person can succeed on their own; someone had to help them get to where they are today. Why? Because humans aren’t perfect. We make mistakes, we fail, we fall down, and unless we have someone to help us get back up again, then we will remain there. Humanity is a single race of people that are connected to each other by the same flaw that makes us human in the first place. Unless we help each other, we cannot survive. In fact, if Jesus had never taken the form of man and died on the cross for us, then we wouldn’t even have salvation. Jesus got off of His throne to not just help us but to literally do it for us, for we could never pay our own debt. So, why can we not help another human in need? Show the love that Christ has first shown you.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Help Another Human.

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¹⁵ So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), ¹⁶ then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. ¹⁷ Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, ¹⁸ and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. ¹⁹ And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! ²⁰ Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. ²¹ For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. ²² And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. ²⁹ Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ³⁰ Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. ³¹ And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. ~ Matthew 24:15-22, 29-31

2,000 years ago, the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans. We still await the building of the third temple. What many Christians don’t realize is that the building of the third temple is one of the signs of Jesus’ return. Many Christians also don’t realize that the Jews are preparing to build that third temple. They’re getting the special paints, lumber, bricks, etc. needed in order to build the temple as commanded by God so many years ago. The third temple isn’t far from becoming a reality. In fact, I believe that we will see it built in our time. If this is true, then that would mean Jesus’ return is soon at hand.

Are you prepared for Jesus’ return? Are your family and loved ones ready? Are your neighbors and co-workers ready? Don’t be fooled. That day isn’t far off. And for all who don’t believe, it’s a day of much terror and fear, for the kings of the earth will see the Lamb of God seated upon His throne full of glory, and they will cry out to the rocks to crush them. None can escape the wrath of God nor the coming judgment unless they bow down at the feet of Jesus, repent, and then get up and follow Him. There’s no way around it. The only way to salvation is through Jesus. Don’t be one of those who are taken by surprise when Jesus comes like a thief in the night, taking His bride to be with Him. Be prepared. Be on guard. Stay awake, for the end is close at hand.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Watch For The Third Temple.

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⁶ So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. ⁷ For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. ⁸ That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God. ~ Romans 8:6-8^NLT

In the Church today, we don’t seem to desire the Truth but our own version of the Truth. We want to believe that because God loves everybody, He won’t punish sins. In fact, we argue that the word sin not only doesn’t have a place in our society but also has no place in our churches. We push a corrupted love that directly contradicts God’s word instead of the true love of God. See, love is patient, kind, and doesn’t keep a record of wrong, but love also doesn’t rejoice in wrongdoing. True love corrects because it loves.

If a blind person is walking towards the edge of a cliff and will fall to their death, do you cheer them on because they feel as though they’re walking towards the finish line? No. Of course not. You try your best to stop them. The world is blind because they don’t have the Light of God to guide them in the darkness around us. Many are walking off the edge of the cliff to their death because we, the Church, are too afraid to stand for what’s right. We have to first make a stand for righteousness regardless of the backlash if we ever want to have a friendship with God.

Dear Lord, help us that our flesh does not control us, but that we submit everything to You and that we follow You in all that we do. We don’t want to pretend or play church; we want to be totally Yours. Help us to lead others to Your glorious light, for only you can open their blind eyes. Please remove the fear of rejection from us that only forces us into hostility with You. Strengthen our hearts as we face the nature that tries to overcome each and every one of us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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¹³ The next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening. ¹⁴ When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?” ¹⁵ And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God; ¹⁶ when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I make them know the statutes of God and His laws.” ¹⁷ Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good.” ~ Exodus 18:13-17

Moses’ father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people of Israel. Moses was the only person leading all the people of Israel, and his father-in-law told him it wasn’t good. Why? Because he was taking on too much. He was taking on roles that weren’t intended for him. Even though Moses was hearing directly from God, he still needed the advice of his father-in-law. God still used someone else to correct Moses. No matter how close we are to God, we are never too close to Him that He won’t use another person to correct us and give us advice.

Does that mean all advice is good advice? By no means. We should take all advice and instruction back to God and His Word. This is the importance of having a close relationship with God because the closer you are to God, the stronger your Spirit of Discernment will be. So, don’t just take advice blindly; neither should you refuse to take any advice. In all matters, you should go to the LORD for guidance. No matter who gives you the advice, including us here at HoldToHope, always pray that the LORD will give you the Spirit of Discernment that you may know the Truth from a false statement.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Hear Good Advice.

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¹⁵ Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. ~ 1 Peter 3:15^NLT

We live in a world that doesn’t know God, nor does it desire to know God. In fact, it desires to shut God out and silence His believers. The world tries to put us on the spot and intimidate us into not believing by mocking our beliefs in front of others, but don’t let them get the best of you. Stand up for your faith. The message of the cross is foolishness to the unbeliever, but to us who believe it is the very power of God. And who knows, maybe a seed will be planted that will one day grow into a fruitful tree of faith.

This is the importance of knowing your Bible. This is the importance of knowing and understanding why you believe what you believe. How can the unbeliever ever understand and come to acceptance if the believer doesn’t know or understand what they believe? We have to be ready to explain our hope in God. We have to be ready to explain our love for God. We have to know what we believe and why. The only way we can do that is if we read our Bible and strengthen our relationship with God. We have to go deeper than just a Sunday Christian. We have to be an everyday Christian who seeks and worships God every day. We have to lead the world to the light; if the light in us is dim, how can we lead anyone through the darkness? So, strengthen your faith so that you may lead others to Jesus.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Plant Many Seeds.

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⁴ who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. ~ 2 Corinthians 1:4

Often times when someone is going through a tragedy, we don’t know what to say or so. Sometimes, we even avoid them because we feel uncomfortable and don’t know how to handle it, but we don’t have to overthink it. In times of hurt, pain, oppression, devastation, tragedy, etc. God comforted us. And in doing so, He taught us how to comfort others.

We don’t have to overthink these things; we just have to allow God to move in us. We just have to allow God to comfort someone through us. Not everyone has a relationship with God, so God can’t comfort everyone the way He comforts His children. God dwells in us, and Christ lives through us; therefore, we can allow God to comfort those in pain and suffering by comforting them ourselves in the same love that God comforted us.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Comfort As God Does.

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⁴ For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. ~ Romans 15:4

All Scripture has been given to us by God that we might learn and grow in Him. Even though we may not be under the Law of Moses, we can still learn from the Law of Moses. God said that the Law was a shadow of good things to come. So, let us look to the past in order that we might be thankful for the present and hope in the great future ahead of us.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Learn From The Past.

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²¹ For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. ~ Philippians 1:21

When Saul encountered Jesus for the first time, that was it. His entire life changed. He never looked back. Not even once. It didn’t matter the persecution he suffered nor the tribulation he would have to endure. Saul understood that no matter what might come his way from the world, whether good or evil, he knew it could never compare to his encounter with Christ. In fact, after he became Paul, he went as far as to say it was no longer he that was living his life, but it was Christ, and if he were to die, then it’d be gain.

Today, every decision we make is with us at the center of it. We’re focused on our own goals and our own desires. We live our lives for us instead of for Jesus. See, Paul was ready to not only give up everything he wanted in life, but he was also ready to give up his very life as well.

Today, we can’t even give up a few minutes of our time to read our Bible or pray; then, we wonder why we no longer see signs and wonders or why our prayers aren’t being answered. If we want to hear from God, we have to seek Him. If we want to see the power of God, we have to have a relationship with Him. When we stop living for ourselves, and we start living for God, that’s when we will begin to see a change. That’s when we will begin to see the hand of God move in our lives as it did so many years ago.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Let Go of Yourself.

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