Tag: Food For Growth

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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¹¹ I will teach you wisdom’s ways and lead you in straight paths. ¹² When you walk, you won’t be held back; when you run, you won’t stumble. ¹³ Take hold of my instructions; don’t let them go. Guard them, for they are the key to life. ~ Proverbs 4:11–13

Fathers, it’s our job to teach our children wisdom and to lead our family in straight paths. Sanctus Real has a song called, Lead Me. In the song, his wife is asking him to lead her with strong hands and to stand up when she can’t. Then it’s the children’s turn to ask for leadership and direction. Then it is the father’s turn to ask for strength and wisdom from our Heavenly Father in order to lead them. He says, “Father, lead me cause I can’t do this alone.”

As fathers, we have to come to the realization that we cannot do this without our Heavenly Father. It is by His strength. It is by His might. It is by His wisdom that we lead and guide our families.

Our Heavenly Father, take us by the hand. Guide us and teach us how to lead our families so that they may walk in the ways of righteousness and not be held back. Help us lead and guide them that they may run and not stumble. May they take hold of our good instructions and not let go of them. May they guard our Heavenly Father’s instructions, for they are the key to life. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

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¹³ As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. ~ Psalms 103:13 ESV

So many of us have a misunderstanding of what it means to fear God. The fear of the LORD isn’t about being afraid He’ll smite you down as punishment for wrongdoing. It’s about fearing Him as you would fear your earthly father. I get that many still can’t understand because they had poor earthly fathers, so let me try to paint a picture of our Heavenly Father.

God the Father loves us so much that when we betrayed Him and chose death over Him, He did everything in His power to save us. Instead of only blessing those who love Him, He blesses all people with good gifts from above. In fact, even when we push Him away and run after destruction, He seeks us out and calls us back to Him. See, fearing the LORD isn’t about being so afraid to mess up that you stop living your life, God the Father isn’t abusive. He gently corrects and guides us back onto the path of righteousness when we fall astray. The fear of the LORD is truly about loving Him, for He is a good good Father.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Love Our Compassionate Father.

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⁷ The righteous [man] who walks in his integrity—blessed are his children after him! ~ Proverbs 20:7

Fathers pave the way for their children. Their actions and decisions affect their children. Abraham believed God and followed Him with all of His heart, and generation after generation after generation, his descendants are still being blessed because of this. God says He blesses to the 1000^th generation of those who love Him. Imagine that just loving God would bring blessings upon not only your children and grandchildren but 1000 generations.

Your life isn’t your own. You not only affect the lives of those around you, especially your children, but you pave their way. What they see you do, they do. How they hear you speak, they will speak. You are the leader of your family, so don’t allow anything of this world to take away from your children and your children’s children. Love the LORD, seek Him, walk in His ways, and teach your children to do the same.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Lead Them Into Blessings.

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¹³ And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. ~ 1 Samuel 3:13^ESV

Eli didn’t reprimand nor guide his two sons in any way. He didn’t raise them to fear God nor to love righteousness. Because of this, he brought punishment on himself and his entire household. This is like us today.

We say that our children are adults who can make their own decisions and parents have no control over them, but we should never turn a blind eye and refrain from addressing and correcting them. Children have to be guided so that they learn right from wrong. This is why we teach children not to touch the stove or not to put their finger in the light socket.

Children need to be taught right from wrong by their parents so that when they are older, they will do what is right. Even though our culture continuously changes, the fact that children need to be guided and taught right from wrong doesn’t change. It’s very important to correct your children when you know they are doing wrong against God, lest you and your children one day have to face the wrath of God.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Guide Your Children.

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