Daily Word – Page 8 – Daughters of Z

Ears to Hear/Hearts to Obey

Good morning,

Today I just want to talk a little bit about trusting God, especially when you haven't seen anything manifest in your life that you long for. “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts." (Is.55:8-9) We may have insight to some of God's ways, those things that He reveals to us, but no one knows all the thoughts of God. Together collectively we can even compile a lot of His thoughts, but we would be omniscient, God, if we did know all of His thoughts. That's why even to people of faith God does things in his timing, not in ours. We usually want God to explain Himself. Tell us the why of everything! I know I am guilty of wanting explanations to why He doesn't do things the way I expect Him to do it, and when I want Him to do things, given a little time of waiting. "The secret things belong unto the Lord our God, but the things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all of the words of this law." (Deu. 29:29) The Word of God is enough for us to do, and whatever He does open and show us is what we need to know in order to walk the Word out in our lives. That is why we have help from on high, so that when things are revealed to us that is to deep for our understanding, Holy Spirit comes to our aide and assist us into actually understanding and then doing it, "The beginning of Wisdom is: get Wisdom (skillful and godly Wisdom)! [For skillful and godly Wisdom is the principal thing.] And with all you have gotten, get understanding (discernment, comprehension, and interpretation"). (Pro. 4:7) "Yet to us God has unveiled and revealed them by and through His Spirit, for the [Holy] Spirit searches diligently, exploring and examining everything, even sounding the profound and bottomless things of God [the divine counsels and things hidden and beyond man's scrutiny]." (1 Corin. 2:10) If we are honest, we know that most spiritual things bypass our earthly reasoning and goes to our born-again spirit man to be processed, spirit to Spirit. We can't even reason why the Word of God actually produces a transformation in us, but our spirit knows that the Word works that way. So, we will never on this side of earth know the answers to all things concerning God, but that's what faith really is, right? "Since we consider and look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are visible are temporal (brief and fleeting), but the things that are invisible are deathless and everlasting." (2 Corin. 4:18) Focusing our gaze upon the everlasting things instead of the temporal things that tries to block the eternal view, that is part of our fight. That which is genuine and real sometimes become overshadowed by temporal things, and we really have to make ourselves focus.

When this happens and you find your mind hanging around the old flesh pots of Egypt, remember there is a promised land worth having. [And said to them, Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger; Ex. 16:3] Talk to your mind, your self and tell it, "I don't know how or when it is coming, but I do know that it is going to happen just the way He said it would." Always remember that those fleshpots, old haunts, habits, pleasures, thoughts, ways, were hooked to the ways of the world. Talk to yourself, God said,"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end."(Jer.29:11) It doesn't matter how long, stay with Him, as long as you know and understand that God has a plan to give you hope in your final outcome. Expected equals, cord, hope, ground of hope, things hoped for, outcome. God's thoughts are towards us for peace and hope! Keep praying in the spirit and doing the Word, don't allow yourself to be discouraged, you will reap the promise if you don't faint. Don't faint, don't let your grip go! Let's practice staying in joy and rejoice while we are waiting, and before you know it we will walk right into your promise land!

Love,

Pastor D.

Ears to Hear/Hearts to Obey

Good morning,

"There's nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God's way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us." (2 Tim. 3:15-17; The Message Bible) Training us to live God's way. That is why we need this steady diet of the Word of God, it is shaping us up for the tasks that God has for us! How much training does it take to live like God? Training is the education, instruction, or discipline of a person or thing that is being trained; to develop or form the habits, thoughts, or behavior by discipline and instruction; to make proficient by instruction and practice. Throughout our lives no matter how long we live we will be continually in some form of training, for we are always developing or forming new habits, thoughts, or behaviors. Training is not always something we love to have happen, but it is necessary in order for us to become proficient. Proficient is well-advanced, expert, and competent. We must allow the Word to continue to work in us, in order to make us +

competent in assisting us in correcting our mistakes, exposing our rebellion, showing us truth, and living His way. We are not leaning on our understanding, we have Holy Spirit to aid us in practicing and becoming more proficient. Don't forget the anointing!

"But when He, the Spirit of Truth (the Truth-giving Spirit) comes, He will guide you into all the Truth (the whole, full Truth). For He will not speak His own message [on His own authority]; but He will tell whatever He hears [from the Father; He will give the message that has been given to Him], and He will announce and declare to you the things that are to come [that will happen in the future]. He will honor and glorify Me, because He will take of (receive, draw upon) what is Mine and will reveal (declare, disclose, transmit) it to you." (John 16:13-14) Just think on that today. I have help, supernatural help to take the Word of God and reveal it to me clearly. Every time I choose to walk in the Word to correct mistakes, expose rebellion, show me truth, and live God's way, I have Holy Spirit right alongside me giving me a hand. "Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world." (1 John 4:4) We have been given everything necessary to live God like. So, no matter what as long as you stay in Christ, you are headed to becoming more like Him. His DNA is stronger than all others, we are going to be like Him! We are being changed daily into His likeness. This is the great transformation, more of Him and less of us. "And all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we] continued to behold [in the Word of God] as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another; [for this comes] from the Lord [Who is] the Spirit." (2 Corin. 3:18) So, let's continue in the Word and behold the transformation!

Love,

Pastor D.

Ears to Hear

Good morning,

"But when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and in a great rage, and he ridiculed the Jews. And he said before his brethren and the army of Samaria, What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore things [at will and by themselves]? Will they [try to bribe their God] with sacrifices? Will they finish up in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, seeing they are burned? Now Tobiah the Ammonite was near him, and he said, What they build — if a fox climbs upon it, he will break down their stone wall." (Neh.4:1-3) Nehemiah's account is one of courage, even when being taunted by the enemy. Nehemiah means Jehovah comforts. This book shows us the Comforter, the precious Holy Spirit and His aid, and assistance in our lives as we work with the Lord to restore the broken walls in our lives and those of our families. Remember; " You'll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew, rebuild the foundations from out of your past. You'll be known as those who can fix anything, restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate, make the community livable again." (Message Bible; Is. 58:12)

Listen to the voice of Sanballat and Tobiah and you will recognize and be able to stop the enemy when he starts taunting you, as you work with God to rebuild new strong walls from the rubble of your past. Remember the devil uses the same tactics over and over again, he relies on the fact that we won't apply what we know to change our course. We must trip him up by doing the Word of God! Let's break it down, with the questions and taunts of those who yielded themselves to the enemy, be cognizant of the fact that the enemy whispers these same things to try to get us to come down off the walls that will restore and fix many generations. First, "He ridiculed the Jews", by saying, "what are these feeble Jews doing?" Ridicule means to mock, to deride, make fun of insultingly; to be unkind with the intention of humiliating; to be malicious. He attacks us, to try to get us to doubt ourselves and our abilities. He wants us to think that we could never affect a change in our generation or, our own lives. Secondly he said; "will they restore things at will and by themselves?" Next, he tries to make you think that your motives are wrong, or, at least done out of pride, or some other "self promotion" reason. If that doesn't succeed, then he uses his weapon of choice, to " throw doubt, suspicion, mistrust, and wrong beliefs about God. "Will they try to bribe their God with sacrifices?" Whatever it takes, to get us to think less of our faith in God and the things of God. Another tried and true way is to whisper to us about "time". Most of us believers give up because of, 'time'. We want everything done before we ask, or at least by the time the thoughts have words and leave our mouth. Why is it taking so long? "Will they finish up in a day?" Time, time!

If we persevere beyond these attempts to stop us from continuing to rebuild, then he pulls out the "impossibility card". "Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, seeing they are burned?" Notice, he uses our senses against us. Can't you see that rebuilding these walls are impossible, they are burned into ashes, how can you be expected to do anything about the mess your life is in? Just in case you have been bold and brave enough to believe God, then he pours acid into the wound with subtle comments, that eat like rot on a piece of fruit. What they build — if a fox climbs upon it, he will break down their stone wall. In other words, even if you do something it is insignificant, and in the great scheme of things it is to small to matter. Lies, lies, lies. Let's not listen to him any longer, let's receive the counsel and help of the Comforter and keep building just as Nehemiah did. "So on October 2 the wall was finished — just fifty-two days after we had begun. When our enemies and the surrounding nations heard about it, they were frightened and humiliated. They realized this work had been done with the help of our God." ( =Neh. 6:15-16) We bring humiliation to the enemy's camp when we rebuild with the help of God by Holy Spirit, when we are bold in Him, then the wicked will flee from us. "Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world!" (1 John 4:4) Let's believe the truth and not a lie, we can do it, rebuild those walls, let's finish it.

Love,

Pastor D.

Ears to Hear/Hearts to Obey

Good morning,

As a teacher and a minister of the Word of God, you learn early that you are not going to please everyone when you open your mouth to speak Truth. There will be those who you can minister to with ease and those who reject you. This should not bother you, for there are people that prefer Wendy's hamburgers to Burger King. But we as Christians must remember that we are told to, "Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm." (Ps. 105:15) David knew something that the modern day saints have forgotten or never learned, and it is that, "God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another." (Ps.75:7) Even when Saul was losing his mind, and was hunting David down to kill him, and was no longer behaving as God's anointed, David's attitude remained the same. He said of Saul when others were trying to instigate him, “No!” David said. “Don’t kill him. For who can remain innocent after attacking the LORD’s anointed one? Surely the LORD will strike Saul down someday, or he will die of old age or in battle. The LORD forbid that I should kill the one He has anointed! But take his spear and that jug of water beside his head, and then let’s get out of here!” (1 Sam. 26:9-11) Proper Kingdom protocol! God is the One in charge,and He knows exactly how to deal with His leaders. Our part is to pray, intercede, and God will then see our right standing as He did with Saul and David. Hear the heart of David;"The LORD therefore be judge, and judge between me and thee, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of thine hand." (1 Sam. 24:15) I write this because quite often when we are wronged by our brother, we try to get God and others to agree with us. Obviously God already had dealt with Saul, after he blatantly disobeyed God when he offered sacrifices and did not have a repentant heart. God had taken the kingdom from him then, it took time for it to come to pass. (1 Sam.15:28-29) God is always for right, it doesn't matter what it looks like. We think that God has not dealt with vindication, or righting a wrong that has happened to us, God is faithful to His Word. His desire is for us to be more like Him and even David, the man after His own heart. (1 Sam. 13:14)
Remember what we are told to do when we feel like someone has hurt us or wronged us. "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? Do not even the publicans the same?" (Mtt. 5:43-46) We are often struggling to love those who love us, yet alone loving those who hate us. "Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily. It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God's love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]. It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail. Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]. Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end]. As for prophecy (the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose), it will be fulfilled and pass away; as for tongues, they will be destroyed and cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away [it will lose its value and be superseded by truth]." (1 Corin. 13:4-8) Yes, we are here again loving and praying, behaving like God's children. Children after God's own heart!

Love,

Pastor D.

Ears to Hear/Hearts to Obey

Good morning,

"Now it came to pass when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had builded the wall, and that there was no breach left therein; (though at that time I had not set up the doors upon the gates;) That Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me, saying, Come, let us meet together in some one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do me mischief." (Neh. 6:1-2) I have been thinking about how when we are busy living for God, how the enemy will not just leave us alone. He is like Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem, tormenting and taunting us with all kinds of "little foxes" and some not so little to try and get our minds off of God and His promises to us. Notice that Nehemiah had closed all the breaches [gaps or broken places], around the walls of Jerusalem. We, like Nehemiah are called to repair the broken and open places in our lives and our families, to stop giving the enemy access into our lives, to steal, kill, and destroy. "And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in." (Is.58:12) Build [establish; cause to continue; to rebuild walls to last;temples] those places in our lives and in the lives of our family that are in ruins. We came to God that way, in ruins, wasted! Yet look at us now, we have come a mighty long way, right? This should encourage us to continue to build to last. Raise up [become powerful; to maintain, confirm, to fix to endure]. We are fixing up to be able to endure and become more powerful in our generation and for generations to come. We build and raise up the broken places and the gaps in our lives as we lean upon the Word of God. We learn by practicing, walking in love, extending mercy and forgiveness, breaking the cycles of sin, speaking truly, believing the promises of God to us, rebuking the enemy at every turn, never quitting, this is our building, this is our closing and repairing the breaches. Restorer [to refresh, repair in order to turn back to] of paths, where we are to travel on, the highway to heaven. We have the greatest help, the precious Holy Spirit comes alongside us and gives us all the grace necessary in order to fulfill this part of our destiny. It is not by our power, except the power to yield to His work in us! As long as we work with the Repairer and the Restorer, we will not fail. You may feel like you have not built very much, but lining up with the Master builder we will be doing a great work. "According to the grace (the special endowment for my task) of God bestowed on me, like a skillful architect and master builder I laid [the] foundation, and now another [man] is building upon it. But let each [man] be careful how he builds upon it, For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is [already] laid, which is Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One)." (1 Corin. 3:10-11) We are building upon a firm foundation. As we bind up all breaches, we will bring our lives and those of our family, back to God's way, back to His paths. Let us not give any place to the devil, let us continue building in order to close all gaps and openings. We will join Nehemiah in our response to the enemy of the work; "And I sent messengers to them, saying, I am doing a great work and cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave to come down to you?" (Neh.6:3) Now that's giving no place to the devil!

Love,

Pastor D.

Ears to Hear/Hearts to Obey

Good morning,

Peace. When you think of that word, do you envision you on a beach with waves crashing in the distance with a somewhat shady day, or, maybe you see yourself curled up in a corner reading a book (or any other hobby or past time that you enjoy) without a problem in the world? Well, I have it on God's authority, that is not what peace is. Jesus said; "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33) I am always reminded that peaceful outward situations may change at anytime, storms are always brewing, and we are not always aware from which direction, but we that are spirit-filled can sense when trouble is on the horizon. So, if we are told that in the world you and I would have tribulations, then we need to learn and be constantly practicing staying in Him, because He said He has overcome the world! The peace that we are longing for is in Him, not in pleasurable moments of peace. You know those times when we experience the absence of storms, troubles, or tribulations. I hate to say the old adage, "that it is during the most difficult times, if we trust and lean [our whole human personality] on Him, that we become the strongest." But remember what was said to Paul as he was struggling with an issue and desiring 'peace' from it; "And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong."(2 Corin. 12:9-10) So our peace [exemption from the rage and havoc of war; harmony, concord, security, safety, prosperity, felicity, (because peace and harmony make and keep things safe and prosperous); the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is] this tall order that we all desire, can be had at all times irregardless of the outward signs of storms, tribulations, or troubles, it is as we are hidden in him. That is what the psalmist discovered as he was dealing with all kinds of war and tribulations from the outside, but being kept by the peace from within. "For this [forgiveness] let everyone who is godly pray–pray to You in a time when You may be found; surely when the great waters [of trial] overflow, they shall not reach [the spirit in] him.You are a hiding place for me; You, Lord, preserve me from trouble, You surround me with songs and shouts of deliverance. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!" ( Psalm 32:6-7) Yes, it is for all who know the Lord to have this access to the hiding place, the place of peace, even while the great waters of trial overflow, they will not reach our spirit. Why? Mainly because we have learned by practice that; "You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You." (Is.26:3) There is no doubt that the enemy is always trying to get us to move away from this peace by creating storms and overflows of trouble, but don't let him have your peace. Stay secure, safe, prosperous, out of the rage of war, and enjoy the hiding place of God!

Love,

Pastor D.

Ears to Hear

Good morning,

Always, always, always, God has provided and made a way for His children. Sometimes we tend to forget that he is well able and He knows all things and even the times and seasons that we are in. He is our Jehovah Jireh, the Lord who sees ahead and provides. We need to trust that even if there is a famine of any kind or capacity, God knows ahead of time, and He has already made a way for you. He is the same God who rained manna from heaven, sent quails by a wind, called water from rocks, and turned bitter water into sweet. (Ex.chapters 15;16;17;) He fed the prophet Elijah by the brook and then He sent ravens to feed him. (1 Kings17) This same God who changes not, caused a widow's cruse of oil not to run out during a time of famine, gave wisdom to Joseph to feed an entire nation plus the surrounding communities through seven years of famine.(2 Kings 4:2; Gen:41) At another time when Elisha was prophet, during a famine, God caused two lepers to walk into the enemy's camp and scare off the army, leaving behind enough food for the nation of Israel. (2 Kings 7) Then we know that our Lord fed five thousand plus, with five loves of bread and two fish. (Mtt.14 and 15) The ways that God provided was different and unique, but what remained the same is that He always provided. James 1:17 "Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow." "For I [am] the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed." (Mal.3:6)

"Be not afraid of sudden terror and panic, nor of the stormy blast or the storm and ruin of the wicked when it comes [for you will be guiltless], For the Lord shall be your confidence, firm and strong, and shall keep your foot from being caught [in a trap or some hidden danger]. (Pro. 3:25-26) The Lord should always be our confidence [hope]. The devil tries to get us into fear by moving us to do things from a place of fear, and it being the motivator. I know that God is requiring that we believe that He can do anything that He needs to do to preserve us during all phases of tribulations and difficult times. He knows where our level of faith is, but he is all about us growing up in Him. "That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ". (Ephes. 4:14-15) We can't start out in faith and be moved by fear, no, we will trust God and His proven faithfulness. This verse has helped me and one that I have been meditating on it helps me to realize that I must not lean on my own understanding;"I have seen that everything [human] has its limits and end [no matter how extensive, noble, and excellent]; but Your commandment is exceedingly broad and extends without limits [into eternity]." (Psa.119:96) It doesn't matter how great our ideas, plans, or thoughts are about how to provide for ourselves during difficult times, if it isn't a God idea, it will be limited at best, at worst it can be destructive. Don't spend all of your time trying to be God, let Him be God, He has an awesome track record of doing a miraculous job of it!

Love,

Pastor D.

Ears to Hear

Good morning,

"As for me, I will call upon God; and the Lord shall save me. Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and He shall hear my voice. He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me: for there were many with me." (Ps.55:16-18) When we call on God He will save [deliver; liberate; make victorious] us. He has delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me, what a great promise to us. When I call to God He answers me with His deliverance for my soul [mind, will, emotions, appetite], by giving me His peace. Peace means soundness, wholeness, and completeness, health, prosperity, quiet, tranquility, and contentment. As we experience God's deliverance it causes us to be complete in our body, mind, emotions, appetites, our will, His peace makes us whole in every area of our lives. We have a lot to be thankful for! The greatest part of this verse to me is that God gives us this completeness, right when the battle is against us. In the midst of warfare, we need to have soundness of mind, body, emotions, and tranquility, so that we can hear God's directions and instructions for our next step. Remember we must be able to run this race without being so encumbered by so many weights. "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us." (Hebrews 12:1) Weights are whatever is prominent, bulky, a mass, hence a burden or an encumbrance. The very things that we carry in our minds, will, emotions, and our body too. Causing us to not be complete, or sound, or tranquil. Weights keep us burdened down and not moving as the Lord desires us to do. It is hard to run with a mass in your mind, or your body, or your spirit. We must desire peace, not drama and chaos.
Let's put a stop to the lawlessness, disorder, discord, and anarchy that runs rampant in our souls, if we allow it to. Let's strive for the peace of God. Listen to the way peace is described; "And God's peace [shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 4:7) That is the peace that God gives right in the midst of the battle. The kind of peace, that transcends [over the top; rises above;to surpass; be superior; go beyond] all of our understanding. I will seek this kind of over the top and superior peace. God is not the author of confusion, chaos, or disorder, but He is the God of over the top and surpassing peace. We can always have it by practicing, keeping and fixing our mind, our emotions, appetites, and our will on the God of peace. You can have it on your job, at home, at church, in your relationships, and in all kinds of trouble. "You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You." (Isa. 26:3) Our soul, our mind, will, emotions, and appetites, can always be in a superior state of peace, even in the midst of the battle, but it can only be accomplished by keeping our mind on Him, and then He guards our mind. In peace we can truly hear Him, irregardless of the battles. Keep crying out to Him, evening, morning, and noon, let your voice be heard!

Love,

Pastor D.

Ears to Hear

Good morning,

Let's begin by discussing one of the verses that was given in last week's Word. Here is the complete verse, "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine and all the hills shall melt [that is, everything heretofore barren and unfruitful shall overflow with spiritual blessing]." (Amos 9:13) Thatis a wonderful promise to all who have sown the good "God-kind" of seed, but I always think about the seeds that we sow that we may not want to bring forth a bountiful harvest. You know, like the last fleshly fit that you had, that one you did not repent of. That is a seed that was sown that will bring a harvest as well. How often do we plant seeds in our lives and never recognize that it is part of our harvest too? I am always amazed when the saints treat others (especially other saints) with disrespect, rudeness, anger, fits of flesh, and the list could go on and on, yet in return they actually expect other people to treat them tenderly, with respect, and with high regard. Why? That's not what your harvest should be. The Word that we love to use for our financial harvest, actually covers all seeds sown, not just finances. Everything we do in our lives is a seed for a future harvest. If you lie to others, you can expect others will lie to you, that's your harvest. If you never support other people, eventually, others will not support you, that will be your harvest. If you walk out while others are talking, eventually, others will walk out when you talk. If you gossip, backbite, and slander others, eventually, somebody is going to slander, backbite, and gossip about you. If you are always late to work, church, etc., when you have something, and want others to show up on time, there will be people who will give to you your harvest. As time speeds up, your harvest will come faster, whether it is for good or bad, you are the one who sows or plant the seeds. "Do not be deceived and deluded and misled; God will not allow Himself to be sneered at (scorned, disdained, or mocked by mere pretensions or professions, or by His precepts being set aside.) [He inevitably deludes himself who attempts to delude God.] For whatever a man sows, that and that only is what he will reap. For he who sows to his own flesh (lower nature, sensuality) will from the flesh reap decay and ruin and destruction, but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life". (Gal. 6:7-8) What is one of the greatest precepts of God that we must never set aside, or push aside, in order to pursue our gain, ease, or pleasure? "You do well when you complete the Royal Rule [precept] of the Scriptures: "Love others as you love yourself." But if you play up to these so-called important people, you go against the Rule and stand convicted by it. You can't pick and choose in these things, specializing in keeping one or two things in God's law and ignoring others." (James 2:8; Message Bible) You know that is exactly what we do, pick and choose the part of the Word that we want to do. The royal or the highest precept is love and it can never be set aside as you sow, and do not think that your harvest will be great, it will eventually begin to decay and destruct in your life.

The New Living Translation of Galatians 6:7-8 says; "Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit." You will harvest what you plant, that is plain and straight forward. We can only expect to come up what we put in, if we are only sowing to our flesh, getting our own personal gain, it will eventually bring a harvest of decay and death. Remember, "Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life." (Prov. 4:23) You are the only one that can keep yourself in the love of God, (Jude 1:21) which will determine the course or path of your life, or your harvest. You want a harvest that is worthy of the Kingdom and that will bump up your financial seeds as well, then sow great seeds of love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self control. Saints, this is how we are to be recognized! When we begin to sow seeds consistently with the force of love, then when our grain and grapes grow faster than they can be harvested we will be glad to see our harvest come. We won't be scratching our head in unbelief, asking, "Is that my harvest? What did I do to deserve that?" Now we can weed our garden and get rid of some of the insects that infect our production and cause everything that has been barren and unfruitful to begin to overflow in blessings in our lives!

Love,

Pastor D.

Ears to Hear

Good morning,

"Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding". (Pro. 3:5) Trust means to have confidence and to be secure in Christ and His faithfulness to keep and work His promises out in our life. For some of us this is a little easier than others of us. Quite often because someone who we held in high esteem or respected, or, some other authority figure in our lives, that we have trusted has let us down, or have not kept their promises.

One day when I was a young Christian, I told God in a fit of anger that He was just like my parents. That he made promises to me, like them, and never kept them. There have been few times in my life that God's voice came across so stern and forceful as that day. He said, "do not ever equate Me to anyone else that you have known!" I remember that day and have to remind myself often of it, whenever I began to distrust His Word or His promises to me. Maybe you know what I am talking about, maybe you've felt like that before. Feelings are so fickle, we all have experienced times that we felt so strong about something and as time past our feelings about those convictions wained. So we can't let what we feel, dictate to us whether we should trust God or not. That is why the rest of the verse tells us not to rely on our own insight or understanding. 'Rely not or lean not ' means not to depend on confidently; or, not to be supported by our understanding. We can not think to much of our insight about the situation because at best it is limited to your own knowledge and wisdom. As smart and knowledgeable as some of us are about some things, none of us are all knowing. We don't know what will happen in the middle or the end, [unless God has revealed it to us], but God does know all things. "Declaring the end and the result from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure and purpose.." (Isa. 46:10) It doesn't matter what it looks like at anytime during the process of our believing, God's purpose and pleasure will be accomplished in our lives if we trust Him. Trust is a major issue of the heart and mind that we must settle. Every situation and in every circumstance, we must remember to put our confidence in Him and be secure in His faithfulness.

"For surely there is a latter end [a future and a reward], and your hope and expectation [the thing hoped and longed for]; shall not be cut off." (Prov. 23:18) Don't give away your hope because you don't see it right before your eyes now, you will not be disappointed. Most of the time we must encourage ourselves, by reminding ourselves that God is unlike anyone we know. He outshines the most faithful person that you have encountered. The second part to the verse we started with is; "In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths." (Pro.3:6) Our part to not having our end disappointed, is trusting God, and, not thinking we know it all, and, seeking His will in all that we do, then, even crooked paths will be made straight and plain. Today is as good a time as any, to do just that. It is never to late, as long as we are in the land of the living, we can have a new beginning so that our expectation will not be cut off. In fact, "better is the end of a thing than the beginning of it, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit." (Eccles.7:8)

Love,

Pastor D.