Month: January 2023

GOD’S WORD FOR JANUARY 21 ~ ~ “John 12:24 ~ ~ “Truly, truly, I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a seed; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”

Back when I was still working on my dairy farm, I was in the field, when the Lord brought this verse to mind.

He asked me, “what happens to a dry, ripe seed from the harvest when it falls to the ground?” I answered that the first thing is it gets soft. Then it hit me…..That’s what the Lord does for us in our lives….not only in the sense of what Our Lord was talking about in John 12, but there is more detail. Let’s personify that seed as our being—our mind, heart, and spirit—-all which determine our relationship to Our Lord and to others. Sometimes, in our Christian walk, we feel like we have fallen to the ground, and are dying…..not physically, but, our relationship with the Lord seems to wane. But, remember what happens to the seed when it falls? It softens!!!! The Lord uses these times to soften us….to make us pliable, and loosen up our “outer core”. If that seed could think, it would wonder why God seemed to abandon it to the ground, to be trampled on, run over, scorched by the sun, and ……what now????? Oh No!!!!! COLD!!!!! SOOOO COLD!!!!! Winter is coming…the ground is freezing, along with the poor, lonely, depressed seed…….

But, the Creator knows what He is doing in our lives!!!! When the ground freezes, the frost crystals break up the soil, and as it expands from the frost, it cracks….and there is a crack just under the little seed!!!! It is a door….God has opened a door….as He does for us….but the seed is fearful of what is beyond the door……… The poor little seed hangs on for dear life, not unlike how we want to hold onto our way of thinking….our faults….anything from temptations to sin outwardly, to pride, envy, deception, or, most importantly, not being totally open to God. This many times, is our greatest fault, because lack of total honesty and submission to The Lord is the beginning of all our other sins and faults.

But, back to the seed….it is holding onto the very piece of ground that it so despised a while ago!!!! Things are getting worse!!!! It is slipping into a crack….so dark and cold it looks down there!!!!! DOWN IT GOES!!!! All is quiet….the little seed, now cold and soggy on the outside of itself, is now surrounded by more ground, and it feels, like we do at those times, that it will never be able to please God, or even hear Him again…The seed went through God’s open door, but it wasn’t a glorious change….it wasn’t the bright, beautiful world that he thought doors from God should be…..like we sometimes, the seed was disappointed in what God had shown him…..Have you been there?

Maybe you married the one that you were sure the Lord showed you, but soon found that person disappointed you? Or you began a ministry, being sure the Lord opened the door, but nothing is happening? Maybe you lost a dear loved one, and didn’t think you could go on …….

But, in time, the seed thinks in the darkness, and comes to the realization that it can do nothing aside from God, and since God doesn’t seem to be around, it might as well rest in the knowledge that He will do His will to the seed in His time, as He does with us. So, the seed rests……all winter……

WHAT’S THIS????? WATER???? Warm water!!!! Spring has sprung, but the seed knows nothing of this. All it knows is that some change is coming, and it feels good. But wait….what’s happening? The winter has softened the seed even more, and it hurts when its outer shell opens and its insides swell!!!! What is happening?????!!!!!

Just like this, the Lord does a work in us when we don’t know it, in the “winters” of our lives, behind the door we fell through. Then the rains of the Holy Spirit come down on our spirit and bring it to a new life!!!! A life of growth. But, sometimes, like the seed, we may not like the change. The revelations and the commands the Lord shows us may make us feel like we will explode….like our life as we know it is gone…rotted away as the outer shell of the seed. Sometimes, we want to just leave things alone………….

But, LOOK!!!!! What is the result of the swelling of the seed….of the changes within our hearts and spirits…….the result is GROWTH……Beautiful growth of our ability to hear the Lord and obey Him. Beautiful fruits of the Holy Spirit coming out from us that we know were not in there previously…..The Lord is bringing forth fruit as a result of our “winter softening” As a result of each obedient act, another leaf, another twig, another branch will show on the beautiful garden that the Lord is growing. Remember, we are nothing without Him, and we are the branches, while He is the vine. We get our spiritual and physical nourishment from Him, and He continues to make us grow in His image, as we “Put on the mind of Christ” in every situation and relationship in our lives.

Thank you, Father, that You put us through what we need to go through, even though we may “kick and scream” about it at first. Thank You that You send Your Holy Spirit to comfort us and teach us what is going on, and show us that our Savior is right here with us all the time, and fell to the earth Himself, physically, to take the punishment for our sins. Please help us to live in joyful thanksgiving for these things and much more, as we fall, and rise again in Your great plan of Redemption. We ask these things in the name of Your dear son, Jesus Christ.

GOD’S WORD FOR JANUARY 20 ~ ~ James 4:4 ~ ~ “…. do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

Isaiah 5:20

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

Proverbs 17:15—He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous, Both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord.

Demonic forces are clearly at work in our world today. Governments and some of the populace seem to be going “crazy”. Leaders seem to have no accountability, no honor or honesty, and many people have lost their innate knowledge of right and wrong, especially those educated under the public education in the last two generations.

The Word said that in the last days right will be called wrong, and wrong will be called right. We are clearly seeing that now.

But God’s people have to be on His side. He will win this war, and which side we are on will determine our hearts, and therefore, our destiny.

Paul told us in 2Timothy 3:1-3 “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, …”

It’s not difficult to see this in our world today.

How long do the end times last? We don’t know. Jesus said that when we see these things, “the end is not yet”. (Mt. 24:6)

I believe we are in the end times, but not the end portion of it. Either way, it is a test for Believers. Everything in our lives is a test. We need to react to everything with our hands in the Hand of Our Lord, and our eyes looking into His.

We are to trust in God, knowing that He has it all under control, and is allowing what, in His Great Wisdom, He deems necessary, remembering always that trust and faith are not passive traits. They are active.

Among other places in the Word, Hebrews 11:1 shows us that Faith is a living, active virtue that involves an act of obedience to prove the faith. “ Now faith is the certainty of things hoped for, a proof of things not seen.  For by it the people of old gained approval.”

Many are just sitting in their pews, waiting for Jesus to return, for the rapture to happen. But waiting and trusting are action verbs.

What we do during that time will have great bearing on what we will hear from Him when we see Him. That time is NOW!!!

We are to be salt and light. They are active. We are to put on the full armour of God. This is not a physical fight, but some physical obedience is necessary.

Since this is a spiritual war, we must fight on the three fronts of spiritual warfare:

1. Within ourselves. Before we can stand for Our Lord, we must be fully submitted to Him, and fully repentant to Him. We must be on our faces before Him, confessing, repenting, and submitting, so that we stand before Him in the purity of Our Saviour’s righteousness, drawing closer to Him, and allowing Him to teach us, increasing the virtues that can only come from Him. This is how we put on the armour spoken of in Ephesians chapter 6.

2. Spiritual warfare. We must know within ourselves that we have the power of God, (after true repentance above). We must never confront the demonic powers without being in right standing with the Lord first. It is His power, not ours, that we stand in. When the demonic forces see us, they see Jesus, if we are standing purely for Him.

But, remember, the devil knows what our standing with Jesus is, so we need to be sure of that first. Our protection is the spiritual armour of Ephesians 6, and our weapon is the Word of God. If the whole Church would do these things, we could do the will of God in these situations, and many more will be able to come to Him. The battle rages in the heavenlies between angels and demons. The stance of God’s people has a great bearing on how that battle goes. OH!! If the people only knew how important that is!!!!!

3. Physical obedience.. After we have put on the armour as, above, and positioned ourselves against the demonic powers, we can stand in the power of Almighty God in the physical world. Sometimes it is in silence, when the Holy Spirit is working in the other person, or in us, and sometimes it’s in speaking the Right Word at the right time, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We need to speak out in public ways, however He leads us, and we are not to be afraid of the persecution which inevitably will come, for He will be with us no matter what happens, and He will give us the Words and courage at the time. We can be sure of that!!!

We need to educate people on what is going on, and how it pertains to God’s people and salvation of new believers. We need to evangelize the unsaved. The devil’s best defense is ignorance. Silent Christians play right into his hands.

Hosea 4:6 tells it well:

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: ….”

Who we call a friend, or acquaintance, if they are not saved, is our mission field. Time is short, and if we don’t tell them, their spiritual blood will be on our hands. God tells us this in Ezekiel 33:6:

Ezekiel 33:6 ~ ~ “But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the horn and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is taken away for his wrongdoing; but I will require his blood from the watchman’s hand.”

Proverbs 15:3

The eyes of the Lord are in every place,

Watching the evil and the good.

Let’s make a difference in the midst of the evil.

GOD’S WORD FOR JANUARY 19 ~ ~ Jeremiah 6:16 ~ ~ “Thus says the Lord, Stand in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and you shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.”

In these tumultuous times, we are standing “in the way”—on a fork in the road….. Things are changing in the world faster than we can keep track of. We seem to be sliding into the Book of Revelations at a tremendous pace.

We are encouraged by our leaders to change. We are told that what we were taught is wrong. We are told to be tolerant of every sin in the name of peace and acceptance, and brotherly love. Many people accept all this because of fear.

But this is not what Our Lord wants us to do. He is saying in Jeremiah 6:16 that we should look at the fork in the road, and choose the old paths…which is the good way, and walk that way. Look to Him and His Word, which are everlasting, and all-wise, and follow that path, not what we are told now is the right way.

John also tells us this:  “Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does what is good is of God; the one who does what is evil has not seen God.”

This world will get worse and worse, maybe the end will come in our lifetime, and maybe not. Only God knows this.

But this we do know. God is everlasting, and He will win in the end. The short time that we may have to suffer here, if it is His will for that to happen, is not even measurable to the eternal happiness that we will have with Our Victor and King!

So, no matter how much pressure is put on us, let us hold each other up, to choose the “old path, where is the good way”. Let His people be the ones to say “Yes, Lord”, while the others say they will not walk there. “We will follow, Lord, through whatever Your will for us would be.”

As Jesus said:

Mt 9:9— “…and He said to him, “Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him.”

Joshua 24:15

“And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

We, in these days, live among the Amorites.

We need to pray:

Ps 119:116 “Uphold me according unto Your word, that I may live: and let me not be ashamed of my hope.”

And Jesus has already answered:

Isaiah 41:10 “Fear not; for I am with you: be not dismayed; for I am your God: I will strengthen you; yes, I will help you; yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness”

CHOOSE THE OLD PATH!

GOD’S WORD FOR JANUARY 18 ~ ~ John 15:1-7 ~ ~

 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vine dresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

Much of the meaning of the Wondrous Word of God is not reaped by His people because of not understanding the deeper meaning of key words. Modern translations have changed the word “abide” to “remain” or other words. The original Greek has deeper meaning than our modern English words.

In the above verses, the word translated “abide” means to stay in the relationship or place; to remain attached, whether physically, emotionally, or spiritually. It involves a very deep, close relationship of mutual thoughts and desires.

We are to abide IN HIM. That means we receive all our spiritual and material nourishment from Him.

We are nothing without Him, because as we see in Acts 17:28 “…. in Him we live and move and have our being….”

In Verse 7, Abiding in Jesus and His words abiding in us, is the key to the entire spiritual walk in this world.

The word means that the Words of Jesus are part of us, we have a relationship with His Words, as with Him. (He is the Word of God…..John 1:1-4).

Then we will be one with Him and His Words, and the Father will be listening to the Words of Jesus, coming through us. When we ask, it will be His Words, put there by the Holy Spirit, because of the place we hold in the Vine, which is Jesus:

If we keep that position with Him, we cannot pray from our minds, we can only pray His Will, because it will be His Words, which we are drawing from our relationship to Him. Then Psalm 37:4 comes true:

“Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.” because our delights line up with His perfect will for us.

We can only draw those Words after we have settled, and resettled, in our minds and hearts that we want, beyond a shadow of doubt, nothing other than the Will of God.

This is the power of Christianity, and a necessary decision to true salvation. It is NOT to be taken lightly!!!!!!

It means that we will be willing to accept death, pain, sickness, even the death of a loved one, financial ruin,….whatever the Lord wants to use to sanctify us or someone else in our path, and for His glory.

We want safety, comfort, and peace. But Jesus said that in this world, it will not always be that way.

He said not to worry because He has overcome the world….He did not say He will always take that pain away, but that He has something far beyond the pain of this world, —that clinging to, and abiding with Him that defies worldly understanding.

Eventually, we will begin to understand whatever wisdom He chooses to give us, when we truly want His will instead of what our ignorant minds think is best.

Jesus relates the same idea in John 14:13, when He speaks of praying in His Name. That doesn’t mean robotically saying “in Jesus’ name” at the end of every prayer! It means that same abiding, staying, overcoming, rightly relating to Him, so that we are in a position for His Words to come through us for His Will to come forth in the situation, and His Name be glorified! It means acknowledging that He is the only mediator between us and the Father. It means ABIDING IN HIM…..living in Him.

GOD’S WORD FOR JANUARY 17~ ~ Zephaniah 3:12 ~ ~ “But I will leave among you
a humble and lowly people, and they will take refuge in the name of the Lord.”

As I was taking a break from my work outside, on a rainy autumn day, years ago, I noticed an eagle sitting on the highest branch of the highest tree. The rain had increased to almost a deluge, every living thing had headed to some type of cover, but there he was, seeking no shelter.

At first, it looked like a large arrowhead shape, then, as I looked closer, I could see his head, which he had tucked as close as possible to his shoulders. His head blended in with the gray-white sky behind him, as he stood perfectly still most of the time, except for short times of shaking the water off his feathers.

As I watched him in that pouring rain, through the barn door, I thought, isn’t that the way the Lord wants us to be? The Word is full of comparisons between the believer and eagles.

I believe He wants us, too, to be out in the midst of trials, not hiding in our churches in fear.

He wants us out there in whatever His will has put us into, whether it’s physically going out or working for the Kingdom in various ways, taking the risks. He wants us wherever His Spirit has led us, trusting Him, and blending with Him so that what we do, what we are, what we say, what we think blends in with Our Lord’s Will, as this eagle’s head blends in with the heavens behind him.

This way, people won’t see us, and won’t hear what we say with our minds, because we will be one with the Father, as He wants us to be and as Jesus prayed that we will be. If we are open to the Holy Spirit’s leading, they will hear God’s words through us.

This eagle didn’t take shelter in worldly things. He was out there looking to our heavenly Father, his Creator, looking to the heavens, and trusting God and the armor that He gave him to withstand anything that was in the Father’s will that he would have to endure.

We have storms in our lives. This is the time to bundle up in the everlasting arms of the Father, and trust the Holy Spirit to show us what to do next. He is the Spirit of Peace, and Jesus promised to give us peace. He told us not to be anxious about anything.

If you are saved, if you have repented of your sins and you trust that Jesus died to FULLY pay for ALL your sins, without requiring works….. If you believe He was resurrected from the dead….. If you are living for Him, as the Lord of your life, and the ONLY way to the father (not praying to anyone except the Trinity) then you can depend on the Holy Spirit showing you what you need to know in every circumstance., Withstand the storm, and ~ ~ Be still and know that He is God.~ ~ Trust Him as His creatures trust their Creator, for “you are worth far more than many sparrows” (or eagles).